Author's Note

The characters are now going to be following the canon episodes, as they have taken 'care' of the other multiversal threats. You'll find out what I mean.
Also, sorry about the long delay, but a week long vacation with no wifi and no cell phone service makes it hard to type up a Google Doc. Thanks for sticking by my story, and enjoy this chapter that is finally complete!

Chapter 12: Lost And Found

I had gotten everyone together. Everything was set. My switch was ready, the wiring was placed, the Explosives were primed, and the target unsuspecting. I chuckled darkly, rubbing my hands together in anticipation. “Light show in 3…

“2…

“1…”

I flicked the switch as I shouted, “ZERO!” A massive explosion sounded, throwing up a massive cloud of dirt, flesh, and a black material. Said shards flashed, before evaporating. A sound like a foghorn came, as well as a large blast of wind, blowing the Element Bearer’s manes back. The debris cleared, and where the Marker sat, there was nothing. “Damn. Didn’t think it would work.” I said, grinning wildly underneath my helmet. “That’s the Cthulhian biome taken care of.”

Isaac scratched his head, “You sure? I can’t really tell.” Everyone else squinted, with Pinkie Pie grabbing a telescope out of nowhere. “I’m sure. See? All the nasty shit is gone.” I pointed out, and sure enough, the Everfree had returned to normal. “Whoa. I need some.” Alec muttered, with Isaac nodding in agreement. Rainbow Dash grabbed me and hugged me closer, smiling in pure glee. “Terra, that was so AWESOME! Not as cool as me of course, but still a good effort!” Spike suddenly burped, green fire and a scroll appearing. “Hey Twilight, it’s for you.”

The lavender unicorn grabbed the letter, and read it. “Princess Celestia wants me to go to Canterlot?!” I sidled over, looking innocent, before snatching it. “Tut tut, miss Sparkle. Celestia wants you to go there immediately. It appears to be some form of, I don’t know, exam.” That set her off, as she ripped the letter from my hands and rushed back to the library, panicking. Rainbow Dash was rolling on the floor laughing, while I had doubled over guffawing. “That unicorn takes this stuff way too damn seriously.”

A while later, we were all gathered on a train to somewhere. “What’s this place we’re going to, again? And why the fuck is it so far away?” I asked, slumped against a chair. “It’s the Crystal Empire, and it’s in the far north. It’s been missing for a thousand years, and only recently reappeared.” Twilight responded, lecture voice on. “Well, it would certainly explain the snow.” I said, pointing out the window. Outside, there was nothing but white.

“I get the feeling that this is our stop,” Isaac quipped, his helmet folding back up. Rarity had a fancy scarf on like it would help, Alec materialized his armor, and I just waited. Soon the door to our car was opened, and I stepped out. “Just so you know, I can’t feel the cold.” I said, turning to Rainbow Dash, who was shivering. “N-n-nice to know.” A figure appeared in the blizzard, walking towards us. It came into the light, and I saw it was Shieldbutt, with a scarf and snow gear on. “Twilight!” Said unicorn perked up, “Shining Armor?”

“Twily! You made it! We’d better get moving. There are things we really don’t want to run into after dark.” I smiled, straightening a bit. “Shieldbutt, what kinds of things? I haven’t had a good fight in… Who knows how long. Other than the changeling invasion, but that was more of a one-sided juggernaut thing.” Shining Armor glared at me. Fluttershy gulped, “What kind of things?” The stallion sighed, saying, “Let’s just say the Empire… Isn’t the only thing that’s returned.” He began explaining about some dark asshole who enslaved the Crystal Ponies, and vanished with the Empire. “Something keeps trying to get in! We think it’s the unicorn king who originally cursed the place.”

Twilight spoke up, “But Princess Celestia said I was being sent here to find a way to protect the Empire! If King Sombra can’t get in, then it must already be protected. A piercing howl came through the snow, and a dark silhouette formed. It appeared to be made of smoke, and a pair of glowing green eyes formed, with red slits for pupils. “We have to get to the Crystal Empire! Now!” Shieldbutt yelled, as everyone else began running. I struck a battle pose, smiling underneath my helmet and my Megashard in hand. “Terra! Let’s go!” RD called, looking back. I waved her off saying, “Don’t worry about me, I need a good boss fight! Just get to safety!”

A piece of smoke detached and chased after the others, while the remainder coalesced into the form of a unicorn with dark armor. “Bring it, asshole. I got time.” I said, switching to my Hardlight Blade. The creature just growled, before a large blast of dark magic came from its horn. I rolled out of the way, before flying forwards and slicing the head off. “Too easy.” The head turned into smoke and reattached to the neck, forming an unharmed monster. “Shit. Spoke too soon.” Another growl, and another blast. I quickly equipped my Megashard and began pumping rounds, smiling as the stream of death pushed back the black lightning. My mana clicked empty, and the dark magic quickly overtook my bullets, lashing out to my gun. I jerked it away and began running, switching to my sword as I followed the others. “ShitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitSHIIIIIIIIIT!” I yelled, rapidly approaching a pale blue dome. I dove forward, barely managing to tumble in as the dark monster hit the shield.

I panted, on my hands and knees. I stood up and found everyone, including a Shieldbutt who had small, black crystals on his horn. “Damn. What the fuck happened to you?” I asked, looking at the stallion. “Sombra did. That was exceedingly foolish of you, you could have died,” Shining Armor said, frowning. “Oh, calm down. That bitch survived a good old beheading, but couldn’t fight the magic crystals from my Megashard. Thing is, I don’t have enough mana to keep a sustained fire.”

I took a look at my inventory, noticing a status effect, “Shadow Blockade” ‘Unable to use magic.’ I frowned, removing my helmet. “Shit. Looks like when Sombra touched my Megashard while I was holding it, he got me with a debuff. Can’t use my magic.” Shining frowned again, “Maybe it’s a good thing. Freak.” He said, before turning around and heading to a massive castle in the distance. “Hey Sparkle, is he usually such an ass?” I asked, walking beside Rainbow Dash. “No, I don’t know what’s wrong.” I heard Twilight mutter, “Other than you.” I glared at her, before continuing walking.

The Crystal Palace was, for lack of better terms, incredible. Every surface was carved out of shining mineral, pale blue with some transparency, and reflective enough to bounce endless copies of you around. As I continued through the halls, I stumbled, a sudden pain resonating throughout my body. My health dropped to half. “W-wait. I’m not regenerating?” I said, now terrified. For all my life, when I was injured my hearts would regenerate. But now… Nothing.

“Lemme see if I can find what’s wrong,” Twilight Sparkle said, her horn lighting up. She cast a spell, and I felt cold splashing inside me, chilling my soul and shattering my will. In the middle of the examining spell, darkness rushed in.

And I died.

-------------------- Twilight Sparkle’s POV --------------------

Right when my spell was midway through completion, Terra Firma suddenly… Evaporated. One second he was there, and the next he flaked away, patches vanishing in bursts of light. And there was nothing I could do. “Spike? Send a letter to Princess Celestia, asking her to check if Terra Firma is back home. I think something bad just happened.”

My number one assistant nodded, wrote quickly on a scroll, then sent it away in a burst of dragon flame. A few minutes later and a reply came, and I quickly scanned it. Rainbow Dash burst in, anxiety creeping into her voice, “What’s it say?”

I gulped, suddenly finding it hard to speak. “He… He’s gone.”

Silence ruled the area, as my words sunk in. RDs ears drooped, as she repeated, “Gone…”

-------------------- Five Months Later --------------------

“Rainbow Dash! You gotta come out!” Pinkie Pie yelled, bouncing outside the cloud home.

“...Go ‘way!...” Came the muffled reply, scratchy from either lack of use or crying. Pinkie Pie frowned, before opening the door.

“Twilight said she figured out a way to find Terry!” The pink party pony said, before getting bowled over by a rainbow blur. She giggled, before heading back to the surface and then to the Golden Oaks Library.

“Okay everypony, now that you’re all here, we can try this.” Twilight said, gazing around the room, which held the Element Bearers and Isaac, Alec, and Tohl. “I finally found a way to travel between dimensions, and I believe I’ve discovered the one Terra Firma is in. However, it’s very dangerous, and hasn’t been tested yet. I’m not even sure if it IS the right place.” She looked about, taking in the hopeful look on Rainbow Dash’s face, and the other expressions.

Applejack spoke up, “Ah shucks, Twilight, we’re all in with ya’. Jus’ do your thing, and we’ll be right there with ya’.” Various signs of agreement came, and Twilight let out a breath she hadn’t noticed she’d been holding.

“All right, everypony. Here goes…” Her horn lit up, and a large black square formed on the ground, a lime green outline showing the edges. The inside swirled with a multitude of colors, all of them mixing together in a sea of darkness. She stepped in, and the others soon followed.

-------------------- Terra Firma’s POV --------------------

I stood up, head aching. I attempted to walk in a circle, and found I couldn’t. I was restrained to left and right. I opened my eyes, and gasped. A sight greeted me, like an old friend. A large forest in the midground, at the top of a large hill. Patches of floating grass and dirt were here and there, revealing veins of clay and stone. “I’m… Home.” I said, eyes watering from joy. I lifted my face to the heavens, yelling with all my might, chest bursting from emotions, “I’M HOME!”

I began cutting trees, gathering the wood and laying down the foundation for a house. Cutting the odd Green Slime to shreds, I built and built, finally getting twelve working rooms, with the current Guide, Steve. I had gathered multiple chests, tossing the junk into my trash and drinking the potions, then placing them at home. I smiled, closing my eyes and listening to the peaceful music that signified the start of night. It had been too long since I heard it, the relaxing tones that warned me of the world. Opening them once again, I saw the text on the screen that appeared before the dark fell, “Isaac the Merchant has arrived!” I grinned and dropped down the platforms to the bottom to greet the NPC, and opened the wood door to find nine unexpected guests.

All were the same height as me, but had obvious differences. One was lavender, with purple hair that had an impossible pink stripe in it, and a spiraled horn, and purple eyes. A white one with blue eyes, curly purple hair, and also a horn was gazing at its… Hooves? I saw that seven of them had hooves instead of hands and feet, and I started to realize what happened. The next one was a vibrant pink, puffy hair exactly like the Party Girl, and blue eyes. The fourth one was orange, had long blonde hair tied with a red band, green eyes, freckles, and a hat which I had learned was a Stetson. The fifth one was butter yellow, had long pink hair that hid one of its eyes, and… Wings. The other eye was also blue, and shone with kindness.

And the sixth one… “Rainbow?” I said, eyes widening in surprise. My friend nodded, her magenta eyes sparkling. She was light blue, had impossible rainbow hair, and wings. Isaac Clarke looked the same, Alec was bright blue, had grey and green hair, and grey eyes, and Tohl was completely silver, except for his orange eyes. “Is it… Is it really you?” Another nod, and I rushed forward to hug her, sobbing openly. Rainbow tensed for a second, before relaxing and wrapping me in a hug as well, beginning to cry. And we stood there, reunited, as everyone else looked around in wonder, viewing my version of reality, on my new world of Reconciliation.

And we were happy.