Thirteen Moons

Chapters

I: Prelude
II: Beginnings, Part I
IV: Fortress
V: Separate Ways
VI: Ghost Town
VII: The Woman with the Machine Gun
VIII: Liberi Fatali
IX: The Beast Within
X: The Beasts Without
XI: Hunters
XII: Viva Las Pegas'
III: Beginnings, Part II

I: Prelude

The sun rose slowly over the sleeping city of Canterlot. Nestled in a blanket of thick spring fog, the city and its inhabitants had yet to wake from their slumber. But though the city slept, the world outside its confines had long since awoken, already deeply immersed in its routines and motions.

It was in this early hour that two people emerged from the brush on a bluff overlooking the city- the first was a boy, clad in armor of deep purple and pale green, carved to resemble a dragon. He was followed by a young woman wearing dark blue robes and a pointed, wide-brimmed hat that obscured most of her face.

The young woman approached the edge of the bluff, lifting up her brim to get a better view. “We are here at last,” she said.

The boy in the dragon armor approached the edge as well. “So, this is it?”

“If all of my calculations are correct- and I have no reason to doubt myself- then yes. This is the epicenter.”

“Huh...” The boy in the dragon armor put his foot up on a nearby rock, and leaned out to get a better view of the city. “I have to admit, it’s not at all what I was expecting. It seems so... plain.”

“Places such as this most often are. Now…” The young woman turned away from the edge. “…are you ready?”

The boy turned as well. “Well yeah, I’m ready, but... are you sure this is really necessary?”

The girl brought up a hand. “We are faced with energies the likes of which threaten to destabilize the very structure of the world itself- a certain level of coercion may become necessary.” She closed her eyes and concentrated- as she did, a white glow appeared around her hand. “And at any rate, the chimera will sniff out and lead us to the catalyst.”

She pointed, and a glowing sigil appeared on the ground in front of her, before it let out a brilliant flash of light. The two shielded their eyes; when they looked again, a massive beast stood where the glyph had been. Its four heads roared in fury as soon as it laid eyes on the two- the boy reached, and gripped the spear hanging from his back… but the beast suddenly stopped. It lifted its heads, one-by-one, and began sniffing the air. Then the chimera’s attention snapped towards the town- it snarled, before it charged forward and without hesitation, leapt off the cliff.

A few moments later, the earth shook as the chimera struck the ground, but as the boy and the young woman looked over the edge, they could see the chimera sprinting towards the town, unaffected by the fall.

The young boy pulled the spear from his back. “What now?” he asked the girl.

“Now...” She drew a long curved dagger from her belt. “It begins.”

A piercing sound filled the air. Sunset Shimmer jolted awake and let out a startled cry, flailing wildly.

It took a moment for her to remember that it was her alarm.

Sunset took hold of the buzzing, shrieking cellphone lying next to her and silenced it. It was one of Rarity’s old cellphones, the kind with no touchscreen, and on which one had to slide the screen up in order to use the dial. But while it might not have had the features of newer models, Sunset had found that in this world even an old cellphone was better than no cellphone at all.

Setting the phone aside, Sunset dressed herself and stepped out of her tent- the athletic fields were still covered in a heavy fog, but it would soon disperse as the sun rose. In spite of her jacket, she crossed her arms over her chest and shivered- the morning air still held the cold bite of winter, even this late into March. With little else to do, she pocketed her phone and broke down her tent, storing it in a safe place, before walking around to the front side of Canterlot High.

The front of the school- normally bustling even at this early hour- was deserted, and it would stay deserted for the whole week. Spring Break had come to Canterlot High once again, and everyone who could had already left the town to enjoy their vacation. Even the others- Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy- had left town to go camping. They had invited her, but Sunset couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Canterlot even for a week. So here she was, alone.

Sunset Shimmer had settled into a comfortable routine over the past year and a half: she woke up and went to classes at Canterlot High to fill up the seemingly endless amounts of free time she now found herself with. When the school day ended, one of her new friends might invite her to participate in some activity- if not, then she explored this world’s Canterlot, noting any similarities between this one and the Canterlot of her own world. She was always surprised to find more similarities than differences. At the end of the day, she returned to the school to camp out in the fields for the night (or, in the gym, during the winter).

Sunset Shimmer approached the statue set at the front of the school. The statue depicted a horse rearing up on its hind legs, but her focus was not on the statue itself, but its base- specifically, on an unassuming stone slate set on the back. The slate reflected Sunset with surprising clarity, even through the water droplets that had condensed on its surface.

Then, Sunset brought up her hand, and pressed it against the slate. Every morning, and every evening, she did this. And twice a day, every day, she received the same result.

The stone refused to yield.

Sunset looked down sadly. To be so close, to be separated from her world by mere millimeters… it frustrated her to no end. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy the time she had spent in this world- she did. She would always be grateful to her friends, and remember their time together fondly. But she missed her world, her old life. She had been in this world for so long, that she could barely remember what she looked like as a pony, what it felt like to stand on four hooves. And, she missed her magic- the technology of this world, wondrous as it may have been, couldn’t replace everything.

“Ya know, standin’ there starin’ at that portal ain’t gonna make it open any faster.”

Sunset jumped up in surprise, not anticipating company, much less a very familiar drawl. She turned around; sure enough, Applejack was standing behind her, accompanied by Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. Sunset noticed that all five wore large, heavy-looking packs.

“Guys?” she asked. “What are you doing here? I thought you already left town.”

“About that…” Rarity began. “We all know how reluctant you are to leave Canterlot. So, we had a discussion about our camping trip and decided-”

Pinkie Pie leapt forward, interrupting Rarity. “We decided to camp out on the football field with you!”

Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’d… do that?” she replied, stunned. “I… that’s…”

“Alright, alright, don’t get all weepy on us,” Rainbow Dash said. “Now come on. We’re gonna go get breakfast.”

Sunset nodded. “Alright.” And with that, she followed her friends down the path to the sidewalk, away from the statue.

Chapter I: Prelude

As the group walked alongside the empty street, Sunset looked to Applejack. “Hey, Applejack…” she began. “How are, um… Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh?”

“They’re doin’ alright,” Applejack replied. “Why do ya ask?”

“Well, I haven’t seen them around lately…”

“Big Mac graduated last year, remember? And Apple Bloom just transferred to a school back in Ponyville is all. Granny Smith said somethin’ about needin’ extra help ‘round the farm.”

Rarity then added, “You know, my parents transferred Sweetie Belle back to Ponyville, too. And their friend Scootaloo is gone as well.”

“It’s not just them, you know,” Pinkie said. “Half the students are gone. Haven’t you noticed?”

Sunset hadn’t really thought about it before then, but now that Pinkie had mentioned it, she was right. Ever since the spring semester had started, the number of students in Canterlot High had been declining, slowly but steadily- all of her classes, which had been full in January, now had at least five students who never seemed to show up.

“Oh, I do hope it’s nothing too serious…” Fluttershy said.

The six of them eventually reached their destination: a small diner about a block away from the school. It was normally a popular hangout for Canterlot High’s students, but with everyone gone for the week, combined with the early hour, it was nearly deserted when they entered.

“Hey guys,” the young man behind the counter called. He was short and stocky, with greyish skin and dull orange hair, wearing an apron over his usual ensemble. “What can I get for you?”

“Hey Snips!” Pinkie called back. “Six orders of pancakes, on the double!”

“Gotcha!” He then called to the back, “Yo Snails! Six orders of flapjacks! Make it snappy!”

“Since when have Snips and Snails worked here?” Rainbow asked, as the group sat down at an empty table.

“Since October. They mostly work on weekends, though,” Pinkie replied. She then leaned over the table and asked, “So Fluttershy, how have things been at the animal shelter?”

“Busy,” Fluttershy replied. “There’re lots of lost animals and strays around town this time of year. But things have gotten easier since Sunset Shimmer started volunteering.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Rarity replied, before she looked to Sunset. “Speaking of which, you know you can stay with any of us, don’t you, Sunset? Surely it would be better than having to sleep out on the football field every night.”

“Thanks for the offer,” Sunset began “but I’d rather stay here in Canterlot. If I leave, something might happen to the mirror.” She rested her arms on the table, before resting her head on top of them. “Besides, I’m not sure I deserve that sort of hospitality just yet.”

Applejack let out an exasperated sigh. “This again?” she said. “C’mon Sunset. Ya gotta stop beatin’ yerself up over all that already. I’m pretty sure everyone forgave ya by the time ya finished rebuildin’ Canterlot High’s front entrance.”

Sunset looked up at Applejack. “Have you ever thought that maybe you forgive people too easily?”

Applejack glared and opened her mouth to reply, before Snips interrupted her. “Here you go,” he said as he laid a plate of pancakes in front of each person, six in total. “Six orders of pancakes. Hope we didn’t keep you waiting.”

“Alright!” Pinkie exclaimed, before she began shoveling pancakes into her gullet with reckless abandon.

Applejack picked up her fork, and pointed it accusingly at Sunset. “Don’t think yer off the hook just yet, Shimmer,” she said, before she cut into her pancakes as well.

I never did, Sunset thought to herself, as she reflected on the events of that night yet again. Destroying the school, hypnotizing most of the students, almost killing Twilight and the others… those weren’t things that were easily forgiven, if ever. If she was in Applejack’s position, she’d certainly resent her for what she’d done. Heck, she was the one who attacked Twilight and the others, and she hadn’t forgiven herself for it.

However, Sunset’s introspection was interrupted as she happened to overhear the conversation at the table behind her: “Hey. Have you heard?”

“Heard what?”

“People say there are monsters out in the countryside. From what I heard, all the towns around Canterlot have started building walls to keep ‘em out.”

“Is this another one of those ‘friend of a friend’ things?”

“What- no! It’s true! The wall part is, at least. When I went up to Whinnyapolis a few weeks ago, people were building a huge wall around the whole town.”

After the events of the Fall Formal, Sunset had chosen to set herself apart from the rest of Canterlot High’s students, but that didn’t mean she was unaware of the gossip that passed among them. And this was not the first time she had heard this particular rumor. As far back as the previous year, there had been persistent rumors of strange things happening in the world outside of Canterlot: eerie lights, strange creatures, and the like. Sunset had always dismissed those rumors, but the fact that they had endured for so long suggested there was some sort of truth to them.

So she asked, “Hey girls… have you heard about anything… strange happening lately?”

“I can’t say that I have,” Rarity replied.

“Me neither,” Pinkie somehow replied through a mouthful of pancake.

“Well, I’ve been hearing about a whole bunch of weird stuff on the news lately,” Rainbow said. “But I don’t think it’s anything we need to worry about.”

There was an explosion.

Sunset was thrown from her seat and hit the ground hard. Her vision went black, and she could hear nothing,save for the beating of her heart. But slowly, her vision returned, and she staggered to her feet. But as soon as she was upright, heavy footfalls thundered toward her, and something seized her by the throat, hoisting her into the air. She gasped, and her hands immediately shot up to the massive arm holding her. She pulled, she twisted, she flailed her legs, but the viselike grip on her throat refused to loosen even slightly. She’d been holding a fork, but the explosion had thrown it from her grasp- now she had nothing, no weapon with which she could free herself.

The air was filled with a thick cloud of dust, but though it she could see a feral, bestial face glaring at her. The sound of Sunset’s heartbeats hammered in her eardrums, drowning out the cries of the others, and the deep growls of the beast. She couldn’t even cry out in pain as the massive hand tightened around her throat. Her edges of her vision darkened, and her struggles began to weaken…

…until a furious cry met her ears, and a blue hand stabbed a knife into the arm holding her.

A screeching, howling roar drilled into Sunset’s ears as the massive arm released her. Sunset fell onto her knees, gasping, her hand clutching her aching throat. She looked up; a thick cloud of dust swirled through the diner. But even so, Sunset could see two shadows a short distance away: a large, lumbering shadow, and a smaller, much more agile shadow. Only one person Sunset knew was that fast, and the shout that came to her ears confirmed it: “Come on, ya dumb ape! Catch me if you can!”

Rainbow Dash.

In an instant, Sunset was on her feet. Rainbow may have been fast, but it would only take one slip-up for that beast to gain the upper hand and end her life. And after everything Rainbow had done for her- after everything everyone had done for her, she would be damned before she let that happen.

Sunset hadn’t used magic for nearly a year and a half. She’d known for far longer that the world she now lived in was one without magic. But in that moment, she forgot all of that. Her years of training kicked in- she focused, picturing a flame in her mind, oblivious to the bright wisps that surrounded her arms. She took aim at the larger shadow- not a difficult feat, as it struggled to keep up with Rainbow’s superior speed. Then, she thrust her arms forward.

And Sunset Shimmer could only watch in stunned silence when a blazing fireball left her hands.

The fireball shot through the air, and struck the beast. It roared in a mix of pain and fury, the discordant sound echoing in the tiny diner, and stumbled forward. Then, its attention snapped to Sunset. It let out another furious roar, and charged at her, batting aside everything in its path.

There was no time to prepare another spell. And trying to fight this monster unarmed would be suicide. There was only one thing Sunset could do- she leapt out of the way, avoiding the beast’s charge, barely. As she got to her feet, she made a fairly obvious observation.

There was no way she could fight this thing in the diner.

And she couldn’t look for her friends while this thing was chasing her down, either.

But after being hit by her fireball, the beast seemed to completely forget about Rainbow’s existence, which gave Sunset an idea- if she could lure the beast out of the diner, away from her friends, then maybe they would be safe. She looked around, spotting a large hole in the diner’s wall- presumably where the monster had entered. But of course, the beast was standing between her and the hole. However, Sunset was undeterred, and braced herself. “Rainbow Dash!” she shouted. “Find the others! Make sure they’re okay!” And then, Sunset began to sprint towards the hole.

If Rainbow answered her, Sunset didn’t hear it. All of her attention was focused on the beast in front of her, trying to predict its next move. The world slowed as the beast drew back its arm in preparation to deliver a bone-shattering punch. But at the last possible moment, Sunset leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the beast’s massive fist. She rolled, and in an instant was on her feet once again- it seemed all those times she’d helped Rainbow practice her soccer skills hadn’t gone completely to waste.

She dashed through the hole, and out into the street. There were people there, no doubt drawn by the commotion. “Get out of here! It’s not safe!” she shouted. But it wasn’t until the sound of splintering wood and bending metal met her ears that the crowd turned and fled. And there could only be one reason why. She looked back- sure enough, climbing through the hole after her was the beast.

Now that they were both in the open, Sunset could see the beast clearly. It seemed to be a mixture of several different creatures- it stood on two hoofed legs, and thick, heavy arms grew from its muscular torso. But what truly astounded her were its heads. There were three: a lion’s, an eagle’s, and a goat’s. And all three had their attention firmly fixed on her.

Sunset focused, and flames appeared in her hands. The beast must have realized what she was doing, because at that moment, it charged at her again with a furious roar. But Sunset held her ground as she threw another fireball at the beast, striking it square in the chest. The beast didn’t slow, but as it thrashed in pain, Sunset was easily able to sidestep its charge.

But as the beast passed, something whipped out toward her. Sunset jumped back, narrowly avoiding the fangs of a snake, sprouting from the beast’s lower back like a tail.

The beast slowed itself to a stop before it crashed through the storefront opposite the diner, and turned to face her again. Sunset focused, her hands coming alight, and thought to herself, This just couldn’t be easy, could it?

The beast charged her twice more; each time, Sunset conjured a fireball, threw it at the beast, and evaded its attacks. But with each pass, Sunset slowed, but it wasn’t her muscles that tired. She felt as though a thick fog had settled in her mind, clouding her thoughts; her temples ached, and each fireball she threw took more concentration to conjure than the last. It became clear to her that if she was going to survive, she had to end this, now. Sunset’s head pulsed in pain as she held out her arms and focused, picturing in her mind not a flame, but a powerful thunderbolt. The palms of her hand crackled with electricity…

But the beast struck first. It charged Sunset with incredible speed and struck her with its arm, sending her tumbling across the asphalt. She eventually skidded to a stop- she was battered and bleeding, but Sunset didn’t think anything had been broken. But her relief was short-lived, as she saw that the beast was already almost upon her. Sunset tried to conjure another fireball, but none appeared- instead, she doubled over and clutched her head as a sharp pain stabbed into the sides of her head. The beast reached out toward her…

Suddenly, a black streak shot into the air behind the beast. One of the beast’s head must have seen it too, because all four looked to the sky. Sunset looked up as well- there, seemingly suspended in midair, was a boy holding a long spear, drawn back to strike. As he landed he swung his spear, slicing off the beast’s eagle head in a single motion.

The beast roared, hissed, and bleated in a mix of pain and fury, and charged the boy, drawing back its fist to deliver yet another bone-shattering punch. The boy jumped back, evading the beast’s fist, and swung his spear again, slicing off the beast’s arm with ease. The beast turned, and its snake head struck; the boy dodged again, before swinging his spear, severing the snake from the beast’s body. It lunged forward, the goat’s head lowered in an attempt to gore the boy with its horns; again, the boy evaded the attack, before slicing off the goat head in a single stroke. The beast drew back its remaining arm, but the boy sliced the arm off before it could strike. The loss of several limbs seemingly did nothing to deter the beast, however, and it charged again, the lion’s head roaring and baring its fangs. The boy stood his ground, and thrust his spear directly into the lion head’s face- he slid back as the beast continued to march towards him, but he did not falter.

Gradually, the beast began to slow. Its roars had diminished to little more than deep, growling breaths. It dropped to one knee, and then the other. The boy pulled out his spear and stepped back- with one last snarl, the beast collapsed onto its face, falling still and silent.

The boy remained motionless with his spear at the ready for several more moments, before he stood up straight, and hung his spear from his back. Now that he was standing still, Sunset could see that the boy was wearing what looked like a suit of armor, colored a dark purple with pale green highlights. And when he turned to face her, she could see that his helmet was carved to resemble the visage of a dragon.

The strange boy approached. “Are you alright?” he asked.

Sunset slowly rose to her feet. “Yeah, I’m fine, but…” She remembered something. “Guys?” She looked to the diner.No one else had emerged from within. “Guys!” Without another word to the stranger, she stood and sprinted to the diner.

As she approached, she heard Rainbow Dash call, “Hey Snips! Snails! You aright back there?”

“Yeah, we’re-” Snips’s response was interrupted by several seconds of coughing. “…we’re okay.”

“Oh man… Joe’s gonna kill us when he sees this…” Snails complained.

Hearing Rainbow’s voice did little to calm Sunset- she still had four more friends, and no way of knowing where they were and if they were alright.

She climbed through the hole in the diner’s wall- the dust had finally settled, leaving a thick layer over everything inside. The lights had gone out. Behind the counter, Snips was on his phone, presumably calling the police, while Snails merely stared blankly at the destruction before him. But a pink blur at the edge of her vision caught Sunset’s attention- she looked, her eyes falling upon…

“Pinkie!” Sunset rushed over and embraced Pinkie. “You’re okay!” She pulled away- Pinkie had a few cuts, and a few more tears in her clothes than usual, but otherwise appeared unhurt. “…Where’re the others?”

“Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and I are okay. Applejack’s unconscious, but I don’t think she’s too badly hurt. But Fluttershy…”

Sunset leaned in. “What happened?”

“Well… look.” Pinkie pointed to the far side of the diner.

The others were there. Rarity was sitting at one of the tables, resting a hand on her forehead, covered in a thick layer of dust- at her feet sat Applejack, slumped over and seemingly asleep. At another table were two boys Sunset didn’t recognize, sitting in silence. On the floor between the tables were Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. At first, Sunset couldn’t see anything wrong with Fluttershy. She did seem to be in pain, though; tears streamed from her eyes, and Rainbow sat on the floor next to her, speaking comforting words to her. But as she approached, Sunset saw the problem.

A large piece of wood had lodged itself in Fluttershy’s right leg.

Sunset knelt down to get a better view- the wooden fragment had pierced one side of Fluttershy’s calf, and emerged through the other. From its position, it didn’t seem to be passing through any bones, but such an injury would still be very debilitating.

…at the same time, however, such an injury would be trivially easy to mend with a healing spell.

Sunset looked up to Fluttershy’s face. “Okay Fluttershy,” she began, “I can fix this. But I’m not gonna lie- this is gonna hurt. A lot.” She looked over to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, I need you to hold her down.” She looked back. “Pinkie, I need you to help Rainbow Dash.”

“Sunset, you’re not supposed to-” Rainbow began.

But Sunset cut her off. “I know what I’m doing. Hold her.”

Pinkie and Rainbow glanced at each other nervously, but complied, and held Fluttershy down. Sunset gripped Fluttershy’s ankle with one hand, the piece of wood with the other… and tore it out of Fluttershy’s calf. Fluttershy thrashed and cried out in pain, but the others held her down firmly. As she expected, blood began to pour from the wound, so Sunset wasted no time placing her hands over the holes. She focused, ignoring the pain in her head, and a white light shone from beneath her hands as she recalled Celestia’s lessons, encouraging the wound to heal- for new muscle, skin, and arteries to knit themselves into existence.

When Sunset removed her hands a few moments later, the wound was gone, as though it had never existed in the first place.

She looked up to Fluttershy again. “Can you stand?”

“I… guess…” Fluttershy stammered. Pinkie and Rainbow released her, and slowly, she rose to her feet. She stumbled for a moment, but did not fall.

“Joint stiffness is normal,” Sunset continued. “It’ll subside after a minute or two.”

“What- how did you do that?” Rainbow asked, shocked, as she looked at the place where Fluttershy’s would had been.

Sunset answered truthfully, “…with magic.”

Pinkie looked to Sunset. “But I thought you couldn’t do magic anymore.”

“That’s what I thought too…” Sunset replied.

Just then, Applejack groaned, before suddenly jolting awake, shouting “Apple Bloom!” She looked around the diner, before her hand shot up to her head. “…where’s mah hat?”

Rarity handed Applejack her hat as the latter stood up. “Are you alright, dear?”

Applejack looked down at herself. “Ah think so… but what in the hay just happened?”

The others were silent, attempting to formulate a response. Finally, Rarity replied, “A… giant monster just crashed through the wall and tried to kill us all.”

“No,” a strange voice said. Sunset and the others looked to its source- standing just outside the hole was the boy in the dragon armor. “That chimera wasn’t trying to kill all of you,” he continued, and then pointed to Sunset Shimmer. “Just her.”

Before anyone could stop her, Applejack strode toward the strange boy, glaring. “And just what makes ya so sure of that?” she snapped.

“Hold on, Applejack,” Sunset said. “That guy killed that monster. Why would he do that if he wanted to hurt us?” But Applejack ignored her.

Before the boy could answer, a woman’s voice outside the diner called, “There you are. And I see that you have neutralized the chimera.” Another person approached the hole- she wore dark blue robes, and a pointed, wide-brimmed hat which hid her face. “Does that mean you have located the catalyst?”

The boy looked back. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Excellent work,” the woman in the steeple-hat replied. “Now, it is time for me to begin my work.” The woman stepped into the diner and approached Applejack, putting her hand on Applejack’s forehead.

“Hey what’re you-” Applejack protested.

But the woman paid no attention to Applejack’s protest. Rather, she looked down at her other hand, but after a moment, nothing seemed to happen. So, she shook her head and turned away, before doing the same to Rarity, again ignoring her protests; but again, seemingly nothing happened. It was not until she reached Rainbow Dash that something happened- a faint blue glow appeared in her free hand. Her eyes, now visible in the faint glow, widened slightly in surprise, but once again she shook her head and moved on. Fluttershy whimpered as the stranger touched her forehead- a much brighter white glow emerged from her hand, but as before, the stranger turned away.

Finally, the stranger approached Sunset, and placed her hand on her forehead. As soon as she made contact, a brilliant red light shone from the stranger’s free hand. The stranger looked at the light for several moments, before she pulled her hand away.

“I found you at last,” she said.

Sunset yanked her hand out of the stranger’s own. “What did you just do?” she demanded, as flames erupted from her hands.

The stranger didn’t flinch. “Your aggression is unwarranted. I am not your enemy.”

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow asked. “Then who are you?”

The woman removed her hat- a length of long purple hair parted by a magenta streak fell to her shoulders. Sunset and the others could see that she was young, with violet eyes and lavender skin. And what’s more, she looked extremely familiar…

Sunset stepped back, the fires in her hands snuffing out. “Wait a minute… you’re…”

“My name is Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight Sparkle said.

II: Beginnings, Part I

Chapter II: Beginnings, Part I

Twilight motioned the boy in the dragon armor. “And this is Spike, my assistant and bodyguard.”

The boy in the dragon armor- Spike- waved to the group. “Hey.”

Sunset stumbled back, eyes wide, struggling to string her words together. “H… How… How did you get here? The portal isn’t supposed to open for another year.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion. “…I do apologize, but I do not believe I have ever met you before today. Have you perhaps mistaken me for someone else?”

Sunset was just about to say something else when a hand rested on her shoulder. She looked back- it was Rainbow Dash. Rainbow shook her head wordlessly, before she looked back and beckoned to the others.

As soon as everyone had gathered around her, Rainbow said bluntly, “I don’t like this.”

“No kiddin’. Ah thought the portal was still closed,” Applejack added.

“It is,” Sunset replied, “and it won’t open for another fourteen moons.”

Fluttershy stuttered, “…Do you think she had something to do with that… monster?”

“No way,” Sunset replied. “I mean, it doesn’t make sense. Why would they make a monster attack us, and then turn around and kill it?”

“Well duh!” Rainbow whispered harshly. “They’re trying to lead us into a false sense of security!”

Rarity looked to Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash, you’re being far too paranoid about this.” She then looked to Pinkie and said, “You’ve been awfully quiet, Pinkie. What do you think of all this?”

Pinkie wordlessly rubbed her chin in thought, before she snapped her fingers as though she’d had a sudden realization. “What if this is the Twilight from this world?” she asked.

Applejack looked to Pinkie. “Huh?”

“Think about it. Twilight said her world had counterparts for all of us. So what if the opposite is true? What if this Twilight is our world’s counterpart for that Twilight?”

Applejack merely raised her eyebrow and repeated, “…Huh?”

Fluttershy asked, “You really think so, Pinkie?”

“You have to admit, it certainly isn’t impossible,” Rarity replied.

Sunset had to admit, Rarity did have a point. It wasn’t impossible that a Twilight Sparkle could exist in this world as well, residing in some distant region she’d yet to visit.

“I s’pose it ain’t,” Applejack said in agreement. “‘Sides, the first Spike we met was a dog, wasn’t he?”

“Why don’t we just hear her out?” Sunset asked. “Once we find out what she wants, we’ll decide what to do then.”

The others agreed with Sunset’s idea… save Rainbow Dash. “Well I still don’t like this…” she said glumly.

“Come now, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity admonished, “You’re overreacting.”

The six broke their huddle and looked over to Twilight. “You were right,” Sunset said. “We confused you with someone else we know.”

“But why are you here?” Rarity asked. “And what do you want with us?”

“And why did you call Sunset a ‘catalyst?’” Pinkie added.

Before Twilight could answer, the sound of approaching sirens met their ears. “…Maybe we should talk somewhere else,” Fluttershy said.

“Agreed,” Sunset replied. “Let’s head back to the school. We can talk there.”

But Pinkie stopped them. “Hold on just a sec.” She reached into her pocket and tossed a roll of bills onto the counter. “There you go, Snips! Sorry about the diner!” She then climbed through the hole, saying to her friends, “Okay. Let’s go.”

As the group left the diner, Snips replied, “Yeah um… no, no problem… Pinkie.”

A few minutes later, the eight were in front of Canterlot High. A few police cars had passed them as they made their way to the school, but seemingly found nothing suspicious about them, since they continued on their way. “Well here we are,” Applejack said. “Now Ah believe ya were just about to explain what y’all were doing here.”

“Wait wait wait!” Pinkie shouted, stepping into the middle of the group. “Sorry. But it’s just that we’ve gotten this far, and we haven’t even introduced ourselves yet.” She pointed to herself. “I’m Pinkie Pie.” She then pointed to each of the others. “That’s Applejack, Fluttershy, Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity.” She looked to Twilight. “Okay, you can keep going.”

Twilight looked at Pinkie for several moments in annoyance, before she said, “I have spent the last several months studying numerous abnormal phenomena that have manifested across the globe over the past year. I have traced these various phenomena to their point of origin, and they have all led me here, to this nation, to this city…” She pointed to Sunset. “…to you.”

“O… kay…” Rainbow said slowly. “…So what?”

Twilight’s jaw dropped slightly, seemingly in disbelief. “…You have absolutely no idea what your actions have unleashed upon the world, do you?”

Sunset crossed her arms over her chest. “Should I?”

Twilight held up her hand. “Yes. You should.”

Twilight then snapped her fingers- immediately, flames erupted around her hand.

The others gasped- even Sunset Shimmer’s eyes widened in surprise. She was no stranger to using magic, but it was the first time Sunset had ever seen one of this world’s inhabitants use it. At least, since over a year and a half ago.

“What you see is no trick, no illusion,” Twilight said. “It is magic. Real magic, returned to our world after an absence millennia long.”

“Wait, returned?” Rainbow said, incredulous. “That’s impossible! Our world’s never had magic!”

“Oh, but it did,” Twilight replied. “There is evidence demonstrating that this world was once saturated with magical energies. But approximately three thousand years ago, the magic simply… vanished.” She clenched her hand into a fist, extinguishing the flames. “…sealed away by the sages of old, if the legends are to be believed. And now, after all this time, it has reappeared. But make no mistake- the return of magic is not a natural phenomenon. I do not know how, nor for what purpose, but whether unintended or deliberate, I know that the return of magic has come through human action.”

Sunset and the others were silent for several moments, before Fluttershy finally said, “…I think we might know what ‘human action’ brought magic back.”

Twilight looked to her, surprised. “Do you?” She held out a hand invitingly. “Then by all means. Share what you know.”

The group looked to each other briefly, before Applejack said, “Ya might wanna sit down for this one.”

Twilight sat, as did the others. And after a moment, Sunset began to tell Twilight everything that had happened. How she had initially discovered the human world after passing through a magic mirror, and how she’d quickly established herself at the top of Canterlot High’s pecking order. How when thirty moons had passed, she returned to her original world and stole a powerful magical artifact- the Element of Magic- and how its owner, Twilight Sparkle, followed her in order to retrieve it. How she used the Element’s power to transform herself into a monstrous demon, hypnotize the students of Canterlot High, and nearly kill Twilight and the others. And how Twilight and the others had used their own magic- the magic of friendship- to defeat Sunset. And, she told how Twilight had taken back the Element of Magic, and returned to her world.

Twilight sat in silence, her hand on her chin. “Hmm… and when exactly did this conflict take place?”

“It would have been… nearly seventeen moons ago,” Rarity replied.

Twilight rose to her feet. “I see. Around that same time, cities across my homeland suffered electrical overloads and blackouts. No doubt they were caused by the magics unleashed during your conflict.”

“Alright, so we know who you are, and why you came here,” Sunset said. “But what does all of this have to do with us?”

Twilight replied, “Simple: You are the cause of all of this. Thus, you will aid me in setting things right.”

“Hey, hold on!” Rainbow shouted. “You can’t just come here and dump this on us! …Well, I guess it is kinda Sunset’s fault, but the rest of us had nothing to do with it!” Sunset immediately shot a dirty look at Rainbow.

Twilight crossed her arms and gave Rainbow a hard glare. “I am not ‘dumping’ anything on you, as you put it. And blame is irrelevant. I require assistance in my mission, and thus am requesting it from you.” She looked back, in the direction of the diner- the faint sounds of sirens could still be heard floating over the buildings. “You saw that chimera with your own eyes, did you not?” She looked back to Rainbow. “Mutations such as those have been occurring almost from the moment magic reemerged. And the situation will only continue to worsen. If the levels of magic are allowed to rise unregulated, they will begin to mutate humans, and eventually destabilize the world itself.” She looked to Spike. “Spike? The map please.”

Spike pulled out a rolled paper from inside his armor as he approached, and laid it out on the ground in front of everyone. On its surface was drawn a map of the world, covered in various multicolored lines, circles, and other shapes.

Twilight tapped her finger on the map. “Ever since my abilities first manifested, I have studied all the documents pertaining to magic that I could find. From my research, I have learned that in ancient times, there were four locations which play some sort of role in directing the flow of the world’s magical energies. Their exact locations have been lost to time, but I-”

“Just a moment, if you would,” Rarity interrupted. “What exactly will happen when the world destabilizes?”

“I cannot say with any certainty what will happen if the world reaches that point. What I can say is that whatever event take place, it will result in the death of every living thing on this planet. Now as I was saying, these locations-”

But Twilight was interrupted again, this time by Fluttershy: “Um, excuse me? How much time do we have before the world is… you know.”

“I cannot give an exact estimate. But if we were to simply do nothing, and taking into account the damage that has been done thus far… then the world will be utterly destroyed in less than a year. Now-”

“Then what’re we wasting time fer?” Applejack said frantically. “We need ta get the hell outta here! Sunset, d’ya think-”

“Calm yourself.” Twilight ordered. “The destabilization will slow as each site resumes regulating the world’s magic currents. But unless all four are activated, this will merely delay the inevitable.”

Twilight looked to the others, agitation evident on her face, as if waiting for another interruption. But there was none.

So she continued, “...Now as I was saying, the exact locations of these four sites have been lost to time, but through my research, I’ve narrowed down a number of potential locations. From this city, Canterlot, the first is far to the north, within the ruins of the Crystal Empire. The second is to the southeast, near the Griffon Islands. The third is to the south, beyond the Zebra Nation and somewhere in the vicinity of the Cape of Storms. And the last is to the far west, somewhere in the Long Zhao Mountain Range in the Land of Fire, across the Ceres Ocean.” As she spoke, Twilight’s hand glided over the map, tracing lines to each location, which were marked by a red circle.

“Those places seem awfully specific,” Rainbow Dash said, narrowing her eyes.

“I have taken dozens of other potential locations into consideration.” Twilight pointed to several other circles scattered across the map. “And from information I have gathered in my research, I have concluded that the four previously mentioned locations have the highest probability of containing a magic site.” Twilight began rolling up the map.

At that moment, Pinkie leapt forward. “Alright!” she cheered. She then cleared her throat and said calmly, “Everyone, please line up in an orderly fashion so I can give you your gear in a timely manner.”

“Gear? Wait, you planned for something like this?” Rainbow asked.

“An adventure all around the world with monsters and magic? Are you kidding? I made costumes for everyone!” Pinkie dropped her backpack on the ground and opened it. “I’ve been carrying around all this stuff for five months. It was killing my back, but today makes it all worth it!” She reached inside. “Okay Sunset, you’re up first! And after what happened at the Fall Formal, I knew there was only one job for you- Red Mage!”

Pinkie pulled something out of her bag and dashed towards Sunset- a moment later, Sunset was suddenly wearing a long red cloak, a black undershirt, white pants, boots, and a red hat with a feather in it. Sunset looked down at her new attire, stunned. “What the- how did you even do that!?”

“Oh you’ll need this, too!” Pinkie continued, and pushed a sheathed sword into Sunset’s hands. Sunset could only look down at the blade in stunned silence as Pinkie moved on.

“I have to admit, I wasn’t sure who else would get magic- so I made sure the White Mage robe would fit everyone. And it looks like Fluttershy is the one who gets to wear it!” Pinkie pulled a long swath of cloth from her bag and sprinted to Fluttershy- Fluttershy yelped, and in an instant was wearing a hooded white robe lined with red triangles. “You get to keep this, too.” Pinkie then gave Fluttershy a carved wooden staff.

“Um, thank… you?” Fluttershy replied, unsure of how to respond.

Pinkie returned to her bag. “Figuring out your job was actually the toughest part, Rainbow Dash. But after reeeeally thinking about it, I figured it out: you’re the fastest runner out of all of us. Which makes you the perfect Thief!” She ran towards Rainbow, holding a green bundle close to her chest…

But she skidded to a stop when Rainbow said, “Just… hand it to me.”

Pinkie did as Rainbow asked, and handed her the bundle. “Here you go!” Rainbow unrolled it, revealing a white shirt, green athletic shorts, and a dark green bandanna. “Oh, you’re gonna need this too.” Pinkie then held out a very strange object to Rainbow- it looked like a wheel the size of a large dinner plate, lined with blades, and with a cross-shaped handle on the inside.

Rainbow took the object, albeit reluctantly. “Uh, Pinkie? Should you really be handing out deadly weapons to all of us?”

“The world outside of this city is not as kind as you may believe it to be,” Twilight said. “You will need means to protect yourself.”

Pinkie skipped over to Applejack. “Applejack, you told me once that you knew your way around guns. So I knew that Gunner was the only job for you. So I got you these!” She handed Applejack a rolled bundle, smiling broadly.

Applejack unrolled the bundle, revealing it to be a long, dark brown duster coat, a pair of long black pants, and a pair of holsters. It was exactly the sort of outfit that would be right at home in a cowboy movie. She looked at the outfit with disapproval. “Yeah… I ain’t wearin’ this.” She began rolling up the outfit, mumbling to herself, “…Ah will take those pants, though…”

“Oh, you’ll need these, too.” Pinkie held out a pair of guns toward Applejack, grip-first- a boxy black semiautomatic pistol, and a dull grey revolver.

Applejack took the guns. “Sugarcube, Ah’m not even gonna ask how ya…” She trailed off, amd looked at the revolver more closely. “…Wait a second… this one’s mine!” She looked to Pinkie. “Pinkie, did ya take this from mah house?”

“No way! It’s the same kind as the one you showed me over Winter Break, but it’s a different gun, I promise!” She then continued as if nothing had happened, saying, “I wasn’t sure if you liked semiautomatics or revolvers more, so I got you one of each!”

“Um… thanks…” Applejack said. She began inspecting the guns as Pinkie turned away, saying to herself. “…well at least they weren’t loaded.”

Finally, Pinkie approached Rarity. “Hey Rarity, remember freshmen year when you told me you were taking martial arts? Because I do!” She reached into her bag. “So there was only one job for you- Monk!” She then handed Rarity a light blue gi with navy trim, before she skipped away.

“Pinkie, dear…” Rarity began, as she looked at the gi with a slight touch of disapproval. “I don’t mean to… question your methods, but where’s my weapon?”

Pinkie turned and smiled cheerfully at her. “Monks don’t use weapons, silly! They fight with their bare hands!” She quickly added, “And sometimes knuckles, but I don’t have any of those.”

Rarity looked at Pinkie in disbelief, before looking down at her own hands. “My… bare hands?”

“Wait, why’re you the only one who doesn’t hafta wear a goofy costume?” Applejack asked. “What the heck are ya supposed to be anyway?”

“Easy. I’m...” Pinkie pulled off her clothes to reveal... the exact same outfit underneath. “…the Mime!”

Rainbow looked at the others, and after a moment of thought exclaimed, “Hey wait a minute, I recognize all this stuff! This is from that game you showed me!”

“That’s right!” Pinkie replied excitedly, as she tied her first skirt around her neck to make a sort-of cloak. “Isn’t it neat?”

“Are you quite finished?” Twilight said impatiently. “The fate of our world hangs in the balance, and you choose to waste time with these frivolities. Now, if there are no more interruptions-”

“Now hold on just a minute,” Applejack interrputed.

“What is it!?” Twilight snapped, making everyone- Spike included- jump in surprise.

Applejack continued reluctantly, “Uh… ya see that statue over there?” She pointed to the statue in front of the school. “That statue ain’t just an ordinary statue. It’s a portal to another world. Sunset Shimmer’s world.”

“The portal is closed right now,” Rarity continued, “but after thirty moons- well, fourteen presently- the portal will reopen. But it’ll only be open for a short time- three days to be precise. After that, it’ll close, and Sunset Shimmer will have to wait another thirty moons for it to open again.”

Twilight’s anger faded, to be replaced by seemingly genuine surprise. “Is that so? May I examine it?”

All eyes fell on Sunset. She hesitated for several moments, before she reluctantly answered, “…go ahead.”

Sunset watched as Twilight approached the statue, tensing up as Twilight reached toward the slate. But Twilight merely rested her hand against its surface and closed her eyes, as if concentrating. She then pulled her hand away, and looked to the group. “The concentration of magic at the base of this statue is abnormally high. This suggests the statue is indeed a magical artifact of great potency.”

Twilight returned to the group. “The full moon is tonight- this means there are only thirteen moons between now and when this portal opens. Having taken this new information in consideration, I believe the best course of action would be to divide our current group into four pairs. Each pair will then venture to one of the four sites independently, and activate it. You may decide amongst yourselves both your travelling partner, and your destination.” Twilight looked to the road. “Afterwards, we must be on our way.”

“Now hold on,” Applejack said. “We hafta leave, right now?”

Twilight looked to her. “Yes. We cannot afford to waste even a second. We must leave, now.”

“Okay listen,” Rainbow began. “I’m not gonna lie- I still don’t trust you. But that thing back at the diner was real enough, and that tells me we need to do something. So we’ll help you out with whatever it is you want us to do, but you gotta give us time first.”

Twilight crossed her arms and asked, “Time to do what?”

“To pack supplies!” Rainbow responded, incredulous. “To map out where we’re going! To say goodbye to our families!”

“Journeying halfway around the world isn’t business that can be done at the drop of a hat, you know,” Rarity added.

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but was stopped when Spike rested a hand on her shoulder. “They do have a point, Twilight,” he said. “Not to mention, we need to restock our own supplies.”

Twilight looked at Spike, before returning her attention to the others. “…Very well. We will reconvene here at noon. Do not be late.”

Twelve chimes rang out over Canterlot. The sun was high overhead, and the mist of the morning had long since been driven away.

Sunset and Rainbow walked down the sidewalk leading back to Canterlot High. Their packs were laden with supplies for the journey ahead. For a few moments, the two girls simply walked in silence, until Rainbow said, “I can’t believe you’re still wearing that thing.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Sunset asked in reply. “Sure, the hat was a bit much, but it’s comfortable, and it beats having to fight monsters in a skirt.”

Rainbow adjusted her pack. “Yeah, fighting in a skirt’s a real pain in the ass.”

“And yet you’re still wearing one.”

Rainbow lightly punched Sunset in the arm. “Oh shut up, you.” The two finally reached the school, passing by the sign out front. Only a few hours prior, the sign had read, “Have a Great Spring Break!” Now, it said:

“Closed Indefinitely for the Foreseeable Future.”

Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were already waiting in front of the school statue. Fluttershy was still wearing the robe Pinkie had given her, while Applejack had traded her skirt for her black pants; Rarity’s outfit remained unchanged. “Hello darlings,” Rarity said. “Did you happen to see Twilight and Spike out there?”

“We didn’t, sorry,” Sunset replied.

“Hey guys, can I say something?” Rainbow asked. “And can it stay between us?”

“What is it, Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked.

“Aren’t you weirded out by all of this?”

Applejack asked, “What, with Twilight and Spike showin’ up?”

“Yeah! I mean, don’t you think it’s a little too convenient? First, we get attacked, then they come and save us. And then they explain everything that’s going on, and what we need to do to fix it. You don’t think all that’s suspicious? Not even a little bit?”

Before anyone could answer, Pinkie’s cry of “I’m back!” filled the air. She ran up to the others, smiling broadly, but her smile rapidly faded as she looked upon her friends. “Aw man,” Pinkie said, slumping over. “It took me forever to make all those costumes and you’re not even wearing them!”

“Uh… green isn’t really my color, Pinkie,” Rainbow replied sheepishly.

“I’ll… change when we’re on the road,” Rarity replied, her tone unconvincing.

“I’m wearing mine,” Fluttershy said, trying to cheer Pinkie up.

“Ah’m wearin… half,” Applejack said. “That counts fer somethin’, right?”

“Excellent, you’re all here,” the group heard Twilight say. She approached the group, followed by Spike. “Now, we still have the matter of deciding each of our destinations. The four are-”

“We know what they are,” Rainbow interrupted. “The Crystal Empire, the Griffon Islands, the Cape of Storms, and the Land of Fire.”

“So you do. In that case, I choose to venture to the most inhospitable of the four sites- the ruins of the Crystal Empire.”

“I’ll go with you,” Spike replied.

But Twilight’s response was a flat “No, you will not.”

Spike looked up at her, surprised. “What? But Twilight-”

“You know as well as I do that I am perfectly capable of defending myself. But there are others in this group who require your skills more than I.”

Spike was silent for a moment. “…Alright, I guess I’ll head east, then. Even without the monsters, the Land of Fire is supposed to be one of the most dangerous regions in the world.”

“Hey Twilight, since Spike can’t go with you, can I go with you?” Pinkie asked, beaming. “I’ve always wanted to go up to the north pole.” In the background, Rainbow called, “Pinkie, there’s nothing at the north pole. We talked about this.”

Twilight brought her hand to her chin and was silent for several moments, in deep thought. Pinkie’s smile slowly faded, until Twilight said, “…You may.”

“I’ll go to the Griffon Islands,” Sunset said as Pinkie cheered excitedly. “I’ve always wanted to go, but I never got the chance to back home.”

“I’ll go with you,” Rainbow said. “I went there once a long time ago. Maybe I can show you around.”

Applejack looked to Rarity and Fluttershy. “…Well, Ah guess that leaves us with either the Land of Fire or the Cape of Storms.” She added, “Personally, Ah’m partial to the Cape of Storms. I got some family down near the southern border- maybe they could help us out.”

“I don’t know…” Fluttershy said. “Both of those places sound awfully dangerous.”

“Well, in either case, Ponyville is just a few miles southeast of Canterlot,” Rarity said. “Perhaps we should make a stop there before finalizing any decisions.”

Twilight replied, “Fair enough. But I recommend you not spend too much time dwelling on your decision. We have precious little of it.” She adjusted her pack. “Now that everyone has their destinations, let us be off.”

“One moment please,” Rarity interrupted. “Suppose we do split up and reach one of these… sites. If we find that there’s nothing there, and with all of us are scattered to four corners of the globe, how are we supposed to contact you?”

Twilight looked to Rarity, crossing her arms. “I was under the impression that the vast majority of individuals within your particular age group owned a cellular telephone.”

Rainbow pulled out her cellphone. “Okay. So why don’t we swap numbers, and we’ll all head out.”

“Very well.” Twilight pulled out a cellphone from her bag- she looked down at it for several moments, before she said, “Spike? Assistance please.”

Spike looked over her shoulder. “Dial pound-100. Then push the green button.”

“…which is the pound button?”

“The one that looks like a number sign.”

Twilight dialed the numbers, and held out her phone. “This is my telephone number.” The others crowded around Twilight’s phone, trying to read her number on the small screen. “Spike, show them yours, please.”

Spike complied, and held out his phone for the others to see. After a flurry of clicking buttons, Sunset said, “Alright. We’ll all call both of you later today. It’ll be faster than for us to try and give you our numbers one at a time.”

“Fair enough,” Twilight replied as she put her phone away.

For a few moments afterward, the pairs simply looked at one another: Twilight and Pinkie; Sunset and Rainbow; and Applejack, Fluttershy, Spike, and Rarity.Eventually, Rainbow said, “Okay guys… I guess this is it.”

“Be safe everyone!” Twilight said cheerfully.

“Guys?” Applejack asked. “Ah want ya ta promise me something. Promise me that when these thirteen moons are up, we’re all gonna come back to this spot, and we’re all gonna come back alive.” She held out her hand. “Okay?”

Sunset reached out, and rested her hand on top of Applejack’s. “Don’t worry. We’ll all make it.”

Then, one by one, each of Sunset’s friends wordlessly put their hand on top of Sunset’s. The girls held their circle for several moments… before their hands fell away. Then, slowly, the eight turned, and began to go their separate ways.

IV: Fortress