Across the Otherverse

by Thiocyanate

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Crossover, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Main 6, Comedy
Length: 12365

When a spell performed by Twilight Sparkle goes wrong, a power-hungry dimensional rift appears and sends her and the rest of the gang to a world known as Arad. Now it is up to a cursed man named Jonas and his group of friends to help guide the ponies back to the world they once knew and unlock the potential they all possess.

Published 2011-07-15 14:54:27 UTC
Last updated 2011-07-19 03:43:59 UTC

A Fondness for Machines

The opening with Pinkie Pie IS relevant. I'm not spoiling anything, but...

It was a cool evening out in Ponyville. A slight breeze picked up as a pink mare returned to her home for the evening. Pinkie Pie, never being one to concern herself with slight chills, just shrugged off the breeze and continued in her usual bouncing, bubbly manner. She had just finished helping Applejack with a few chores on the farm. Even though she thought of the work somewhat boring, it didn't stop her from attempting, and ultimately succeeding, in making the most of the time with her hard-working friend, having turned it into a fun enough time that she would consider more apple bucking in her daily life. Her day was complete and she was content with the way things went.

Suddenly, she began to shake violently in all manners of places, a few she never even knew she had.

"Oh, what could this mean?" she said as a moderate expression of apathetic confusion rolled over her face.

She took a quick glance at her surroundings but figured it would just be best to move on, knowing her luck with these things, she wouldn't have been the target of her own foresight.

The colorful gingerbread layout of Sugarcube corner took her mind off of the shaking as she got herself ready for bed.

The bright light of a new day had shone upon the bedroom of one perpetually excited pony, who hopped out of bed just in time to avoid the alligator falling from her overhead light.

"Gummy, what are you doing up there silly?"

The alligator just simply tilted its head and stared at her.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." She had said while trotting out the door.

Pinkie hadn't necessarily come up with any plans for today, so she quickly made her own. Pinkie always had a number of random things around her room for such an occasion, so she took a look and immediately noticed her favorite. Taking the helicopter bicycle that she had lying around for her random desires, she sped up into the clouds.

"I can't believe I never found the time to do this." she said to herself in a slightly disappointed tone.

Almost immediately after finishing her thought, she began to flip a few switches and pedal vigorously. 'This'll surely look amazing!' she thought as the cloud began to fall into the blades of the bicycle. The cloud bits that fell in spun out like cotton candy, also taking the signature blue and pink coloring as the blades dyed them on the way out.

The clouds had begun to take the shapes of delicious sweets.

"Well I certainly feel like this calls for a celebration!" she cried out as the population of Ponyville began to acknowledge the work of the pink pony.

"Hey Pinkie! Wait up!" That was the first time Pinkie had ever heard those words come from that familiar voice.

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a bright blue pony with a rainbow mane dashed through the scene, carrying behind her a few clouds that had not only been dragged along by the sheer speed of her flight, but also stained rainbow as they streaked along through Pinkie's cloud art.

Ponies up and down the streets could be heard cheering at the unexpected show in the sky, eventually calming down and carrying on with their usual day to day activities.

"Wow Rainbow Dash, that was amazing!"

"Hah, you call my little finishing touch amazing? Pinkie helloooo, you just colored the skies of ponyville, and without wings no less" Rainbow Dash's excitement was covered by a sound of almost familial pride. "But uh, why did you decide to do that..."

"I don't know... The idea just came to m-" Pinkie's voice had been cut off by the same violent shake as before.

This had sent her tumbling off her bicycle and plummeting straight for the ground.

This would have been bad had it not been for the fact that Rainbow was the best flyer that had been seen within a huge distance. Saving Pinkie was as easy of a task as it came.

"You ok there?"

"Yeah I'm fine, but there's that odd twitch-a-twitch again..."

"What did this one mean?" Rainbow's face began to grow worried. It was obvious to anypony who knew Pinkie that her twitches were never good, except tail flick to the left and eyebrow wiggle, Dash liked that one.

"I don't kn-" She had been interrupted by a large shattering noise, it was safe to assume that's what it was about.

"That sounded too loud to be a vase or a window, we should check it out"

Excited by the new twist on her day, Pinkie just agreed and followed Dash in the general direction of the notice, keeping an eye out for anything broken.

After walking for a few minutes, and finding nothing other than confused ponies, Dash finally had to stop and wonder what the heck could have caused the shatter if nothing broke...

"Yeah... Pinkie, I'mnot seeing anything, what about you?" Dash turned her head to see that Pinkie was gone, only to turn once more and find her in a flower pot looking
for the noise.

"Uh, right... Good luck with th-" Dash cut herself off at the light glowing from the inside of the Ponyville library. 'If the library glowed like that' Dash thought, 'then it's probably just a misfired spell'

"Hey Pinkie, come on, let's go see what Twilight is up to."

The pink pony simply fell from a roof "Alrighty Dash!"

Inside of the library, a violet pony and purple dragon just stared in awe at what the had before them. It was a crack, but not a simple crack in the walls, this crack simply floated in the air and shimmered.

The dragon spoke first, "What do you suppose it is Twilight?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself Spike." replied the Twilight, "I don't remember anything like this in anything I've ever read..."

Her voice trailed off in thought for a minor second before being interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Spike, if you would please?"

Spike agreed and walked to the door to greet the Pink and Blue ponies that had arrived.

Both stared in pure amazement at the right before them. It was literally a crack in air, or something if the sort, but it shimmered and glowed so beautifully.

"That's a neat-o trick Twilight! But what is it..."

"I don't even know Pinkie, it just appeared with a loud shattering noise when I tried to teleport myself to my room."

"So... You broke the air?" A slight skepticism radiated from Dash.

Unamused, Twilight simply looked over at Spike, who immediately took the hint and traveled a scroll followed by a quill.

"Dear Princess Celestia" Twilight began, "It has come to my attention that an
anomaly of magic, the likes of which I have yet to have seen before, has conjured itself out of a mishap of one of my spells. I can not give much explanation other than that as of yet. I will keep you informed on the current situation as I learn. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

The scroll then disappeared in a puff of green flame.

"For now, why don't we get the rest of the group here, I understand it's my fault and I'm probably the only one who can fix it after some studying, but I don't know... I just get the strangest feeling from this. I would feel much more comfortable knowing the rest of the elements of harmony are here just in case." Twilight had expressed some concern, but not much, it had an overlaying tone of reassurance to it that had kept anypony from worrying.

Rainbow Dash sped out the door of the library, leaving nothing but a small cloud of dust and a small rainbow trail. Anything less of Dash wouldnt have been normal.

Pinkie's attention finally snapped away from the beautiful colors of the crack in the air as another thought filled her mind, it was a similar sensation she had felt for the past few days. The sensation to do anything really, she just couldn't handle sitting around or wait for a reason to throw a party. The hyperactive pink mare would never admit to it, but she was starting to get bored of her normal ponyville routine. Her life was just too big of a rut, she needed a distraction but there was nothing to do in the library, no apples to buck, no clouds to shape, but at this point she would have been willing to try underwater bb stacking if it meant a change.

"Pinkie?" Twilight wasn't sure what to thinly at her friend's blank staring but took it
upon herself to ask anyway.

"Huh, what? Yes Twilight?"

"You ok over there?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine Twilight. Why do you ask?"

It was useless to try lying if you were a citizen if ponyville, the town was just too friendly and honest to just stick with skeptical answers. Many Ponyville citizens also found that they were terrible liars when it came to personal issues.

"Pinkie, something doesn't look right, normally you don't just stare into space. I figured you would at least try to do something silly like watch me over my shoulder or play with Spike or something that even physics couldn't explain..."

Pinkie might have been an exception amongst the citizenry.

"Oh Twilight, Nothing's wrong you silly. I was just wondering why the crack sparked so pretty and then about what it tasted like, what it would feel like, how can I get more of these at my parties, what wou-"

"Alright, alright." Twilight's gaze went back to her books.

Pinkie's body began to twitch again.

"Uh Twilight?"Pinkie's voice shook due to the twitching.

Twilight didn't need a second reminder what that meant. Giving a scared look around the room and then finally to Pinkie. The question just came automatically, "What does this one mean?"

"I think I have an idea but-" Pinkie's voice got cut off over the sound of another large shatter.

Both ponies had the same expression of worry.

"Twilight? Is that supposes to happen?"

"Probably not." came the slightly sarcastic but curious voice from Twilight.

Just then, the door of the library bolted open as Rainbow Dash rushed in with a heroic "Are you three ok?"

Spike, had just simply went back to bed with so much passion for sleep that he didn't even stir at the loud ruckus coming from downstairs, Pinkie just simply have a happy nod, completely shedding any trace of concern, as was Pinkie's way. Twilight directed the group's attention to the gaping hole that replaced the crack. Twilight had felt a sort of energy coming from the hole. A sort of other worldly energy that was drawing the surrounding area in. She couldn't figure out what this hole had meant despite anything she had tried to skim through.

The library had soon been filled with the other three ponies Rainbow Dash was assigned to go get.

Applejack entered the library first

"Rainbow, ah understand that this is an important issue an' all, but please stick around the group long enough for us to ask single darn question." Applejack got herself in the library and finished her statement just in time for the hole to catch her attention. It had to be no bigger than the size of a filly, but it just floated there. Following after Applejack came the same confused expressions from Fluttershy and Rarity as they both stepped in the library.

Twilight addressed the crowd, "Sorry to get you all out of your houses so late, but I figured this would be something each of you should see." Twilight left out the part that they might need the elements of harmony that had been bestowed upon each of them in case anything goes wrong, which as luck would have it, would.

As if on cue, at the presence of all the elements together, the hole let out a moan that quickly got everypony's attention and sent poor Fluttershy hiding behind Rarity. The hole had seemed almost attracted to the power of the combined elements, grabbing and pulling air around it more and more violently. Pinkie, ever eager to see what the fuss was about bounced up to the hole to and stuck her head in to the swirling mass of colors, feeling little resistance, Pinkie just pulled out and gave a look of childish excitement.

"Girls, you have to try this! It's like a swirling bowl of candy and balloons and its all mixed together by sonic rainbooms! I can't really describe it!"

Slowly and carefully, each pony, except for Fluttershy, who was still hiding behind whatever she could find, approached the hole to examine it. Nobody decided to put their head in thankfully, but it was a terrible mistake and Twilight was the first to realize it, the growing intensity of the elements' power had caused the hole to viciously pull everything in. Pinkie, who was closest to the hole, flew in first and hit the sides of the hole, causing it break open even farther and increase the velocity at which the hole pulled things in. Applejack and Rarity had flown in through the hole next. Twilight could only hold on for so long but fell in too. Rainbow Dash kept the fight up but as her friends fell in, the force against her increased. Her wings began to burn as she attempted to flee, but failing to gain any ground.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow pleaded, "Help!"

This had been a futile request as all it did was draw Fluttershy from her hiding place and cause her to smack into Rainbow as the hole sucked them both in.

With the power of the elements of harmony ceasing to exist in the plane that the hole appeared, the hole closed up, leaving nothing but strewn papers and overturned furniture.

The Curse Afflicted Boy

Jonas had been asleep in a bed of foliage in the shade of the Lorianne forest, which was near a small town he called home. Home being wherever he could interact with a group of people without being shunned. It wasn't an easy life for Jonas, having been a bearer of the Kazan curse since the final days of the black crusade, which for Jonas, had been about the time of his eighth birthday. 20 long years of nightmares followed his story and his person. And it's not like its easy to hide the mark of the Kazan curse, it literally engulfed his left hand to the point that his entire arm looked more like the arm of a demon. It hindered the movements of his demonized hand and burned ferociously at times. Thankfully, his curse had been held at bay by a pair of shackles with runes inscribed on them, it wasn't very pretty, but it beat turning into a demon.

This handicap that Jonas had had turned into an advantage. Power still leaked from his arm, spreading to the rest of his body. he learned to control the flow into the arm he could fully control. It gave him an almost super human strength, allowing him to wield even a zanbato in a single hand.

A flash of light and a loud sound of shattering glass woke him from his slumber, and not a moment too soon. Goblins had snuck up on him in his sleep.

"Hehe, I could always use a sparring partner." snickered Jonas.

Jonas reached up to the tree above him and tore a branch down.

"This will work nicely." Jonas had said in a menacing tone.

"C'mere goblins!"

Twilight woke up first. Her gaze looked around to see her friends asleep around her in some sort of open meadow. It was too bright to be the Everfree forest, unless she happened upon an opening in the trees that she was unaware of. Taking one last look around, she realized she had never seen trees like this before. The scent had also been more refreshing than that of the Everfree forest, it wasn't damp and bitter, it was almost sweet and crisp, like a field of flowers.

"AHH!"

A sound shrieked out from some direction, instinctively, she decided to leave a small trail and went to check it out. She decided the more she knew , the less time they would need to spend worrying about it when the rest of her friends woke up.

"BLECH!"

Twilight's concern grew with her pace as she began to speed to the sound of the deathly screams.

"AGH!"

Twilight stopped just short of another break in the trees, there she saw a strange two legged creature mercilessly beating down a group of what she recognized as goblins, there had been quite a few mentions toward goblins in her books. Although scared, she couldn't help but be impressed at the strange creature's strength. One swing nearly tore a goblin in two. Twilight, being fully aware of goblins' naturally brutal nature, decided to help the strange creature. Her horn had begun to glow a powerful purple as she tripped a goblin approaching the creature's backside. Her horn began to glow again, this time a huge limb of a tree came collapsing down on to three more goblins right before the creature's eyes.

The creature had begun to notice the strange phenomenons that had turned the already one sided, or at least in the creature's mind, battle into a pure slaughter. It took a few more occasions until he noticed that there was a small glow coming from the side of a tree every time something strange happened.

The final goblin fell under the combined weight of a sixty-five pound rock and a bludgeon fashioned from a tree branch.

"Sonya, this telekinetic power is a bit odd for your style, I always figured you would just burn them down with one of your firebomb spells."

Twilight jumped at a combination of being discovered and learning the creature could speak Equestrian. She had to resist the urge to teleport away, mostly because she had no idea where she could teleport to.

"Sonya?" the voice grew closer and slightly inquisitive at the lack of response.

Twilight figured the only thing to do was inform the creature that she was not an enemy.

"Wait, please don't come any closer!" Twilight's voice sounded from behind the tree.

"Oh, you're not Sonya, or at least you certainly don't sound like her... Let me at least thank you for helping me out." the creature's somewhat gruff but mostly sensitive voice showed honest desire to show gratitude.

"So please come on out?"

Twilight obliged with the request and stepped out from behind the tree that was shielding her from his sight.

"Wait what... Sonya, is this some kind of joke!?" disbelief clouded the creature's eyes

"No, I'm the one that helped you, but I've never seen anything like you or this place so I'm going to make the assumption you aren't used to my kind either."

'A talking pony...' Jonas thought to himself, 'Well, there is Grubeck, and I know plenty of civilized monsters, the devolution did have some positive side effects...'

"I'm used to ponies, but you're the first one I've seen talk, or perform magic..."

The gears began to click in Twilight's head, "Ah... So I am nowhere near home then, great..."

An expression of confusion appeared on the creature's face, but it was quickly dispelled when the realization dawned upon him, this pony was homeless, if that was even possible for a pony.

"Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt but, if you're lost, why don't we take you to some shelter where you can rest up"

Twilight's ears perked up at the thought of seeing some society, maybe it might let her know where her relative position was.

"Alright, I guess that sounds like a plan Mr..."

"Jonas, just call me Jonas, and you?"

"Twilight Sparkle, but uh... just call me Twilight."

It was at this time Twilight had taken in the sight of the creature who towered over her. He had a muscular build, or what she figured was muscular for his species, he wore a white and blue vest with grey and white bagging cloth pants and shoes. His left foreleg, that he didn't walk on, which Twilight assumed was natural, was blood red and had shackles at the halfway points between joints. His other foreleg appeared to look less menacing, not having the distinct coloring or the claws at the end. Finally she took notice of the sword he had strapped to his side, it was an enormous square sword that looked as heavy as herself. Why he used the stick had confused her.

Jonas had also taken a quick second to examine the soft violet pony before him, he had never seen such a colorful horse before, let alone one that could talk.

"Ok, Twilight, I'll take you over to Elvenguard so we can clear some thing up. Seria loves to see new faces in town."

"Ok thank you Jonas, but we first need to go get my friends."

Jonas's face showed a confused look, 'More ponies?' he thought.

"Huh... I suppose its for the best, Lorianne forest isn't a safe place for people to just wander, ok take me to them, I'll guide them back safely."

The Talk of the Town

The five ponies that Twilight left unconscious in the meadow were still there when she got back, almost none of them stirred from the comforting soft grass and warm sunlight that made a makeshift bedding. Twilight decided on trying to wake up Fluttershy first, she would probably handle the sight of Jonas much more appropriately than the others. Twilight then decided it would be a good idea to have Jonas pretend he was unconscious off to the side of the ponies, it would not only make Fluttershy more sympathetic, but also lesson her fear of him if he acted friendly and grateful for her aid. Jonas, laughed at the idea but agreed, he was convincing, sprawled out in such a way that it looked like he collapsed involuntarily.

Twilight softly nudged Fluttershy, and urged her to get up. The small yellow mare gave out a startled squeak at being suddenly woken out of such a peaceful slumber. Before she could notice Jonas, Fluttershy erupted into questions about where they were and what happened to the hole and why everyone was out cold.

"I'll answer later when everypony's awake, I'm sure I'd have to answer the same questions over and over aga-" Fluttershy quickly interrupted Twilight and ran over to Jonas as Twilight hopes she would.

"Oh dear... Twilight, what is this creature? I've never seen anything like it before..."

Jonas let out a small disgruntled moan as he rolled over slightly to allow the pegasus a better look at him.

'He is certainly a good actor.' Twilight thought to herself as she began to smile inwardly.

"Don't you worry, whatever you are, we will keep you nice and safe from..." Fluttershy's voice cut off as she remembered her predicament in the unfamiliar environment, the thought of which nearly petrified her with fear. Her voice managed to squeak just a little before cutting off, "Wherever we are..."

With Fluttershy looming over the creature in her caring way, it would be much easier for the rest of the ponies to accept that the creature meant no harm and, hopefully, keep panic to a minimum.

Soon, Pinkie Pie and Rarity roused from their nap and then Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Each of them gave a curious look at the brand new plant life and scenery before them. Each of them then gave the same curious look to the creature that had still occupied Fluttershy's attention. But now that Twilight could explain everything to everypony, she wouldn't hesitate to share her limited knowledge of the situation.

"...And that's when I came across Jonas here" Twilight finished explaining, giving a cue for Jonas to get up, which he followed perfectly, although trying to act hurt so as to not frighten the timid yellow mare looming over him.

"Everypony, meet Jonas, I'm not exactly sure what he is..." admitted Twilight in a sort of embarrassed manner.

Still trying to get over the fact that he stumbled upon a group of talking, colorful, magical ponies, Jonas simply leaned back and said, "I'm a human, and here on this planet, humanoids, which consist of elves and dark elves too, have the domain over the planet. If you are unsure of who is what, sometimes it is hard to tell an elf from a human, don't worry, most other humans look just like me, well... Minus the red arm, that's sorta rare."

Twilight shared the same dumbfounded look as the others.

She stepped back in again, "Jonas here has allowed to take us back to his home town to give us some shelter and hopefully find some way out of this mess. If there is any reason you girls disagree, let us know now."

Applejack stepped up to speak first "Now Twi, ah know your heart is in the right place with this one, but when my first impression of a guy is, look how well he cuts down goblins using just a stick, ah tend to steer clear. What's t' stop him from doing the same t' us?"

Twilight recognized the point Applejack was trying to make, but had to object, "Applejack, there just aren't alot of options for us right now, we had been taken to someplace unfamiliar and he is the only person we have found so far that isn't part of a pack of mindless goblins." Twilight tried her to best to sound supportive, but knew that Applejack was onto something with her argument.

"Ah don't know Twi... Ah just want the safety of the group, but you seem t' know what's going on so ah'll just leave it up to you."

"I actually kinda like this... Human... He certainly doesn't feel like a bad character... And plus, he's hurt... He needs our attention." defended Fluttershy in her usual quiet voice.

"Actually..." Jonas chimed in, "I wasn't actually hurt, we sorta planned that out so you wouldn't be afraid of me. N-not that you guys should!" extra emphasis was placed on should, "Just that you guys are in a pretty rough situation and that's happened to me on more than one occasion, I really wanted to make sure you guys wouldn't scare off."

Twilight gave him a sharp glare for revealing that he tricked the group.

"Oh..." Fluttershy let out a small disappointed sigh. "Well, I still want to know a little more about him... That is if everypony else is ok with going."

"I personally enjoy the idea of being escorted around by such a gentlecolt." Said Rarity in her ever present aristocratic voice.

The thought of being called a colt put an odd look on Jonas' face, he wasn't ready to be referred to in such a manner, but like most other things, he quickly shrugged it off to the fact that there were 6 talking, colorful, magical, ponies in front of him.

Each pony eventually got their say in on the subject and minor arguments continued for a short time, nothing more severe than "Just think about what you are saying Rainbow." and "You couldn't possibly think that anybody who dresses like THAT would be capable of hurting someone innocent." It was decided, they would head back to Elvenguard with Jonas before it got too late out, which would had to have been soon, the sun was just starting to set over the tips of the break in the trees. Nopony was really aware of what time that meant it was, probably around four.

The forest seemed to be cut out clearly with pathways for the ponies to go, there were also little glowing archways that helped light the pathways to more note-worthy parts of the forest, including one with a decrepit sign that lead into a cave with the words, "By the order of the Royal Myre guards, no person is allowed past this point."

It had taken them all of 20 minutes from where they had started originally, which made them feel silly for spending almost the same amount of time debating over it, to reach yet another break in the trees. This time, the trees gave way to what looked like a cobblestone pathway. followed up by a few flags that held an insignia that Twilight was curious about.

"It's the insignia of the Belle Myre Principality, and for most of us, a much needed welcome home sign." Jonas explained.

The pathway had lead to a small village with a few huts lying around, the huts were simply nothing more than what they sounded like, small tents and a few cabins, nothing really too extravagant to be referred to as anything more than just a hut. Tall trees adorned the surrounding area, the trees in the forest had been tall but not like this, which provided the area with a very beautiful glow as light penetrated random spots in the branches. In the far distance their had appeared to be a lake, it couldn't technically be considered far, but from the ponies' low view point it looked alot farther than what it was. In the far end of the town, a tree with a huge trunk had been carved out and made into a residence, this caught the eye of Twilight, who remembered that the only other time she saw a building like that was her own lodging back in ponyville.

Twilight's curiosity got the better of her, "And what building is that?"

"That, my little pony, is the library, of course, we call it Seria's gate. It is where Seria makes her home, creates the clothing, and offers to help those in need."

Almost in unison, the eyes of Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy grew instantaneously as they asked and pleaded for Jonas to take them to her.

Jonas couldn't help but laugh as the three of them became excited, but he had to rope them back in "Now hold up, there are a couple people we need to meet along the way."

By now, most people came out of their homes or respective places of employment and began to wander the streets and stop and give passing glances to the 6 ponies and Jonas. Jonas was used to people stopping and taking a look at his arm with a moment of uncertainty, he was sure that this must feel somewhat awkward for the ponies as they walked along.

A familiar voice stopped Jonas during his tour, "Well well, I didn't take you to be the guy who would bring back all of the colorful woodland creatures Jonas, I always took you to be the guy who would come back wearing one as a suit! Hahaha-"

The voice had been settled by a slap right across the face. "Richter, shut the hell up, I've been following Jonas into the woods and these things aren't just mindless ponies." The second voice was a woman's voice, sort of deep and commanding.

Rainbow Dash didn't take too well to either comment, but she let the second comment slide and immediately flew into the face of the man behind the first voice, "WHAT THE HAY DID YOU JUST SAY TO M-" her voice stopped and turned into a small squeak as the man she rushed after, Richter, grabbed her and pinned her to the ground with a pistol aimed straight at her head.

"Sweet Empyrian Rose, the bloody pony can not only fly, but it can talk too!" Richter's voice wasn't surprised as much as it was teasing, "Jonas, why didnt you warn me before this little one almost got blown away."

Another Slap rang out as Richter spun around a few times and then fell to the floor, "Because your mouth is as fast as her attitude" The woman shot a look down to Rainbow, who just slinked away. "Now how about we get things cleared up before we move on, I'm Kyria."

A Way With Ladies

"Alright, I think I'm understanding this a bit, outside of the multidimensional travel part, I doubt I can help you with that." Kyria's expression had been that of understanding but with a grim overtone to it.

"But I suppose if you're gonna need a way to get back home, you're gonna want to try to find some information on it. I'm not sure if Jonas has shared the whereabouts of the library with you six, he has right?"

Kyria's gaze shifted to Jonas in a particularly cool, yet piercing manner. Before Jonas had a chance to answer, Twilight stepped up and said, "Don't worry about it, Jonas has been very kind to us since our arrival and has made sure we got a proper tour."

"Hehe, ooh Jonas, you're such a sweetheart~" teased Richter in a sing song voice, who flinched somewhat expecting a slap from his female companion. To his surprise, Kyria simply looked over at Jonas and chuckled at the thought of Jonas trying to romance some ponies. Jonas, never one to be too proud, simply went along with the laughter.

"Soooo, I hate to break up the love fest but, this isn't really helping us get out of here..." Rainbow Dash said impatiently, her nerves were still too racked to fly properly so she just sat down lazily to cover up any shaking.

Twilight and Applejack both shot her harsh looks of disapproval. "I am sorry to break this up but we do need to get to the library and hopefully learn more about this. We have a home to get to."

A look of humiliation spread over Jonas' face, "Right... Well, Richter, Kyria, if you two aren't planning on anything why don't you tag along with us and try to find some information to help these poor things home." Jonas' sincerity was pronounced, as was usual to his two companions.

"Alright alright, fine but first, let's learn each other's names." Richter's face showed some honest seriousness for the first time since meeting the ponies. "So, I'm sure you've already got that Jonas is him, Kyria is her, and I'm Richter. Hell, I'd be surprised if you didn't." His tone slowly reverting back to his carefree attitude.

"So as far as ah take it, you're the slacker." hissed Applejack, never being one to tolerate people with his sort of attitude.

"Whoa whoa there sweet thing, I'm just as hard working as anybody. You must not be aware of my fighting skills."

"Er, fightin' skills?" Applejack's voice had risen in a slight confusion, 'What good would fightin' skills do anypony...' She thought for a quick second before Kyria broke her thought

"Yeah, honestly the only reason we keep this loud mouth around is because of his ability to hold his own in a fight."

"Ouch Kyria, I'm hurt..." Richter said in a fake sympathetic voice, only to receive a full throttle slap to the face which sent him flying off his feet.

"Hehe... How about now..." Kyria's smile of self satisfaction appeared along with a chuckle from Rainbow and Applejack.

The library was just within reach, each pony each eagerly waiting to see what was inside, although none more than Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy. The first thing that the ponies had noticed were the walls, which were made from the base of the tree and adorned with majestic patterned windows that depicted on one side, a man in a white cloak who shined light over every shadow, and on the right, a man in a black cloak that showered the land in darkness. Rarity looked up to admire the artwork on the tree, for being such a simple village, they sure knew how to make it look presentable. Twilight also noted the resemblance to Princesses Celestia and Luna and figured this was this world's equivalent.

The group passed by two statues of men wielding spears in a suit of sharply pointed armor as they entered the arching doorway that lead into the tree. It was the sight inside that nearly made all of the ponies' jaw's drop, the exception being Pinkie Pie who was preoccupied in her own thoughts of finding brand new places to party. The floor and walls were so elegant! It rivaled that of Princess Celestia's chamber! The floors were a delicate light blue marble tiling that spread out in designs of sharply angled purple walkways. The walls were partially hidden by the columns that dropped from the ceiling in a manner far from ordinary, yet kept its regal appearance. The only thing amiss was that there were only a couple of bookshelves that had been purposefully shoved to the side to let in the light of more elaborately designed windows.

"This Seria certainly knows how to live in style! Oh I can't wait to see just what kind of clothes she designs!" Rarity couldn't help but think out loud in an excited voice.

"But, that's it on the books?" The disappointment in Twilight's voice was evident, "This just won't do at all!" Her voice trailed off as she began to sort through whatever was available, Jonas and Kyria right behind her.

Rarity and Fluttershy broke off from the group to try and find Seria. Rainbow Dash and Applejack stayed back, only to be involuntarily forced to chat some more with Richter. Needless to say, Richter liked these two ponies with attitude.

"So anyways, you two never told me your names." Richter said with a smooth touch to his voice.

"Well since you're so gosh dang persistent." Mumbled Applejack. "Ah'm Applejack, ah'd say pleasure t' meet ya but ah'm sure you're enjoyin' this way more than ah am."

"Oh please, Applejack I know you find me annoying but we can be friends right? I'm sure we come from the same tree, you know... Rough and tough past amongst the other kids you grew up with, you were the only one to want to get dirty, am I right?"

"Yeah, ah'd say you're as close as ya'll can get."

"You are an honest hard worker, I respect that in anybody, much more from a pony. I would imagine being a pony has a lot of hardships compared to being a human. In fact, I think you probably work three times as hard as any human could possibly, and that's only going off of your lack of hands!"

It became hard for Applejack to stay angry after hearing Richter get it so perfectly.

"Haha. Maybe ah was a bit too quick t' judge" Applejack couldn't really hold her grudge against Richter for having a quick wit, especially not when they had quite a bit in common.

"And now for you." Richter's eyes turned to Rainbow Dash, she had started to lighten up but wasn't fully recovered from her brush with Richter. "Care to tell me your name?"

Rainbow couldn't figure out the proper words to come to her mouth, she was still shocked that anybody, let alone this guy standing right before her, could be fast enough to simply slam her out of the air. Her! The only pony able to break the sound barrier, had been just grabbed like some baseball casually tossed aside!

"I'm Dash..." Was all that Rainbow could formulate as her ego got the best of her.

The next feeling caught her completely off guard...

Richter had placed his gloved hand on her rainbow mane and said, "Look, I'm sorry if I upset you by how rash I acted." It was almost as if he could read her mind, "I'm loyal to my friends almost to a fault. Naturally I'd be a little skeptical about you. Just as I'm sure you were about me."

Rainbow's eyes brightened as she turned up to look right at Richter, "You think you can forgive me?"

Rainbow, who was moved by the words but wouldn't dare let it show simply said, "Yeah yeah, I forgive you, but next time you try me in a speed contest." Her words paused as a fire burned in her eyes "You're toast!"

Scars Run Deep

After a few dozen books had been thrown aside, a disgruntled Twilight let out an annoyed groan, "There is nothing here but stories on Elven Mythology and potion making!"

Jonas gave a concerned look as he had to remind the little violet pony "Twilight, what you and your friends accomplished is completely unheard of in our world, and our world certainly isn't lacking in any magical or technological knowledge by any standard. Unless you compare it to Empyrian or Pandemonium"

"Well if you look at it that way" Kyria chimed in, "We look fresh out of the cave era. It wouldn't hurt to look there for an answer. The only issue is, Empyrian is completely caught up in the civil war with the Kartels and Pandemonium has been completely destroyed by the apostles..."

Jonas jumped back in reassuringly "But if it happened once in this world, it will most likely happen again. It would be impossible for a similar anomaly to not occur if one reacted so strongly to you"

That was Jonas' way, Kyria thought to herself. He was a true friend, and an unbeatable ally. She smiled as she began to get lost in thought, 'He would never let anybody down, not even a pony. Ha... perfect to a fault'

It was the thought of Jonas even having a fault that sent her memory reeling back. It was only 5 years ago...

The area was getting dark, Kyria had lost a lot of blood from a wound see received. And was barely holding on. "Jonas, get out of here" She pleaded in a weak voice.

Jonas looked unnaturally furious as his partner struck the ground. "I won't allow anything to take anything from me any more..." Jonas' eyes began to glow red with fury, "This demon has already taken enough!" His neck began to pulsate, "My family..." His arm began to bulge with demonic energy, "My friends..." His voice began to sound maniacal. "BUT I WILL NOT LOSE YOU KYRIA, NOT TO YOU MONSTERS!"

He began to slash down one Tau warrior after another, slicing his sword through them and sending whatever was left of the corpse through the air. The Tau already knew they had to back off, sand began to retreat,

"OH YOU AREN'T GETTING AWAY THAT EASILY!" Jonas shrieked as he leapt onto one of the Tau's, placing his demonic arm over the Tau's face. Kyria could only watch in horror as the Tau's coloring began to grow pale. It was losing all of it's blood to the demonic energy contained in Jonas' arm. The Tau quit struggling and slumped over dead, it's blood had literally been ripped from it's face.

"I WON'T LET ANY OF YOU LIVE AFTER WHAT YOU DID!" The blood that he had extracted had began to form into a flamberge in his spare demonic hand. Using the ludicrous amounts of strength his body possessed at the moment, he jumped into the air and came slamming back down with both of his swords. Their was enough strength to rip a hole in the earth, a tremor shook the ground as the forest bed was literally ripped asunder . The hole erupted in a burst of hell fire that consumed the surrounding area in a tainted, bloody flame.

Whatever hadn't been killed by the immediate explosion and following flames had been plagued by Kazan's tainted blood. The area had been completely eviscerated by the flames and left a complete ghostly husk of it's former appearance. Many of the trees on the outskirts of the area had become warped and cursed, Kazan had infected the area, including it's wildlife and plantlife, with his mark.

The last thing Kyria remembered before passing out was the demon she had come to know of as her friend walking towards her. And then, darkness.

Kyria awoke from her daydream to find the pink pony staring at her odd clothing. She simply stood there, waiting for the pony to say something, but just ended up waiting as minutes passed and the pony just idly looked at her clothes in a confused manner.

It was obvious that nothing was going to be accomplished if she just kept waiting for the pink pony to say anything, so she spoke up first "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Oh! You're awake!" Pinkie said in a partially surprised but mostly anxious manner " I was trying to figure out what these clothes were about until I noticed that you were staring off into nowhere in particular, so I just waited for you to wake up. I know how it can be when I don't want to be talked to"

Kyria looked down at the pony with a smile, 'She would love Sonya' She thought to herself.

"These clothes aren't like the other clothes that you have seen around town are they?"

"I think I would have remembered seeing clothes that were patterned like that, but then again, I have worn some pretty weird stuff too so I guess I can't really tell, well except now, I can tell pretty easily now"

"These are Dark Elven clothes, they are endowed amongst thieves at a young age to help with training"

"Thieves?" Pinkie had become confused, "I never took you to be a girl who was up to no good. Why would you go around telling people you are a thief? I suppose that takes away from your sneakiness. Wait! You're just that good aren't you!"

Kyria had to explain this so many times to normal humans, "See, thief has a different meaning amongst the Dark Elven kind, Thieves are an elite group of warriors trained in the arts of dagger fighting, it's sort of a specialty amongst dark elves to use daggers so masterfully. Not just anybody can be a thief, you must prove you are quick and agile" On cue with her saying that she leapt into the air, "Decisive and deadly, she came down so fast that Pinkie lost sight of her, only to realize that she had a dagger right next to her throat that wasn't there a second ago.

Richter approached from the far corner with Applejack and Rainbow Dash on both sides, reassured in their new found friendship with the gunslinger. Richter simply looked at Kyria disapprovingly, "Stop showing off, she's a pony for heaven's sake"

Realizing she might have gotten a bit carried away, she withdrew the dagger from Pinkie's neck, who didn't really feel like she was in any danger, but involuntarily collapsed as a muscle response to all the adrenaline that knife had sent through her.

"Pinkie!" Came a unison shout as both Rainbow and Applejack ran over to see their friend who just had fallen on the floor.

"Ya'll ok sugarcube?" Applejack began supporting Pinkie's head while Rainbow fanned her with her wings.

"Ugh..." Pinkie groaned for a sec before snapping back into life, "Dashie! Did you see that!?! She was almost as fast as you! She even flew into the air like a pegasus! Is she like your sister or something!?"

"Yeah! What Pinkie said, you guys shoul- wait what...." The realization dawned on Rainbow Dash that Pinkie wasn't upset at all, in fact, she was absolutely amazed by the way her life had been endangered.

Rainbow began to blush, "Do you really think I'm cool enough to be an assassin? I mean, I know I am, but I never thought about it before..." Her head began to fill with visions of herself with a dagger in her mouth and razor pins attached to the tips of her feathers. Rainbow couldn't help but laugh excitedly at the thought of it.

"Ok, fine, hey Kyria! Maybe you can teach me some cool tricks if we get the time!"

"Aww, Kyria found herself another admirer, just like that adorable young boy back in Hend-" Richter couldnt even finish the statement before a slap knocked him twirling in the air and onto the pile of books that Twilight had began to stack"

"Oh sorry about that, uh Twilight right?"

Twilight just looked over and rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry to say this, but any book on the subject is just not here. We're just going to have to look elsewhere"

Rarity and Fluttershy had gone to the upper levels of the library without notice of the rest of the group, both extremely eager to meet Seria. As the two mares entered the room, the light shined upon the faces of the two as the windows let in a serene image of a bird with a piece of rosemary in it's mouth.

Again trying not to get to distracted, the two got to work trying to find anything in the home of Seria

"Rarity, we have been searching for almost ten minutes... She isn't in the library... Don't you think we should... go?" Fluttershy asked softly, as usual from her.

"I simply can not leave yet until I discover what kind of clothes she makes. These elegant patterns are so new and yet they are so welcoming, I simply must find a nice example for my own selection." Rarity's fantasies seized a hold of her. They were so new and fresh! She would be the talk of the town with her trendsetting Arad line of clothing! "Now come on Fluttershy, help me look!" Her voice turning from romanticizing to commanding in almost an instant.

"Alright Rarity..." Fluttershy had no choice to be submissive, there wasn't anything else to be doing that she felt would be a better alternative.

Rarity began to dig around through each peace of furniture that was in Seria's bedroom, there just had to be some design or something! Piece after piece of furniture checked, nothing. The word echoed in her mind like a wedding bell in a lonely chapel. Her mind began to poetically break down as she started to dramatically replay the scene in her head: Seria, keeping the pony from her rightly deserved fortune all because of a prank! It wasn't fair, she deserved to know where the clothes had been. She deserved to see what only people on this world have seen! She deserved-

"Rarity?" Fluttershy asked curiously as she noticed the pony with her front hooves up in the air dramatically.

"Oh hehe, silly me. I got carried away" The bright red flush of embarrassment stained her face for only a brief moment, until she noticed a note on Fluttershy's ear, "How on earth did you get that on your ear?"

"It fell there when you hit the lamp..."

"Oh..." Again Rarity's face burned bright red.

Rarity snatched the note and began to read it aloud, "Ahem! Dear Jonas, I am sure that by the time you find this note, I will have already left for Hendon Myre. I have been requested as a call to aid the war time efforts against the dark elves. Should you find this note, please do not follow me here, you have already done so much for the town of Elvenguard and it's citizenry. With love, Seria Kirmin"

Partners in Harmony

Rainbow landed on her back with a thud as she tried to sweep through the trees with Kyria. It hadn't been too hard to avoid the encroaching branches as she blazed through the trees, but every so often, there would be that one branch that she just couldn't avoid. Kyria had an idea about Rainbow Dash, she was fast, even through the tree branches, the pony was easily able to outrun Kyria. The only issue was that Rainbow Dash used her speed recklessly. It was ok to be fast, and it was ok to use it the way she had, but she obviously never practiced at anything other than just raw speed. She knew Dash had began to fantasize about Kyria's profession, at which she felt flattered, but it still didn't qualify Dash for the job. Dash needed to learn to know everything about her surroundings and become two steps ahead of her enemy. So Kyria proposed the next step in training.

"Alright Rainbow Dash, get up. It's no doubt you are fast, but you wouldn't survive an encounter with anything faster than an Alex." Kyria retained the same straightforward voice she had since Rainbow first met her.

Rainbow knew this commanding attitude would get annoying quickly, but Rainbow wasn't one to stand down from a challenge, "Ok... So what do you want me to do?" Rainbow just barely kept the hint of irritation out of her voice. Kyria didn't notice it.

"Ok Dash, here" Kyria tossed Dash a small stick, barely any bigger than a foot long, "Pretend that's a dagger. Come at me" Before Rainbow had been able to obtain a full grip on the stick, Kyria had already been rushing at her.

Rainbow got struck on the side with an upward blow from Kyria's stick, "You're dead, try again"

Rainbow got irritated at the lack of preparation time she had received, "Not fair! You hardly gave me any time to even hold onto the stick!" Rainbow picked it up in her mouth and then stared aggressively at Kyria, "Come at me"

Pinkie had forgotten all about the boredom that loomed over her back in Ponyville. The new sensations and places to explore had filled Pinkie with a new excitement to play and party. Still, one thought had stayed in her mind. Her toys. While Pinkie had never been too obsessed with her little inventions, she still relied on them whenever she couldn't find something fun to do, which she had noticed there wasn't a lot to do in a place where she figured nobody would attend a party held by her. Still, the resilient pink pony had kept her head up high when she heard she was heading to a much bigger city the following day. 'There has to be somepony who enjoys a good laugh and might help me throw a welcome to Arad party for my friends and me'

A rough voice broke her thoughts, "Hey you, Yes you! The pony! Come here for a second!"

Pinkie looked at the source of the voice, it was the weirdest looking thing she ever saw, a man who wore deep purple a deep purple and lush green armor and a deep purple cloak. It wasn't the odd coloring that caught her attention as much as the odd pot that the man was wearing as a mask, if it even was a mask. Pinkie just couldn't contain her curiosity. She hopped over to him with a few delighted bounces and stopped about 2 feet away from him.

"Ahh... So I was right, you can speak" He let out in a fascinated tone

"Well of course I can speak, silly" Pinkie had completely forgotten that she wasn't in Equestria any more.

The man in the pot just went along with it, "Oh of course, how silly of me to think otherwise. Well no matter what you are or what you speak, your money is good here"

Pinkie's head tilted to the side in confusion, but was quickly snapped out of it when her stomach grumbled. She connected the dots in her head, "OH! You sell apples don't you! I mean, I've been dying for an apple ever since I woke up. I'll take a red delicious please!"

The man in the pot mask stayed silent for a second. It was safe to assume that he had been a little overwhelmed with her odd reaction. He quickly gathered his bearings and stated, "I hate to disappoint but I am not that kind of shop proprietor. I sell these hand-made pots, each one destined to contain a dream, a fantasy, a wish, a-" Pinkie cut him off in mid statement.

"A chocolate cake?" Pinkie asked hopefully.

The man continued to play along, "Or a chocolate cake..."

"Oooh! I hope they taste like the one's Mrs. Cake makes! Ok, I'll take a pot!" Pinkie flipped her mane wildly until a small pouch dropped out of the curls, "How much will that be!"

"Hmmm, let's just say 5 gold will work"

"Ok!" Pinkie reached into her pouch and pulled out 5 bits and dropped them before the masked man, "Here you go!"

The masked man let out a curious "hmmm" as he examined the money set before him. It featured an alicorn on it that held it's head up over the outline of what the masked man thought was a sun.

"Alright, well it's made of gold. I'll take it. Here is your pot. Just break it open to see what's inside"

Pinkie happily took the pot and set it down. With a quick smash, the pot broke open. Pinkie gave off a look of disappointment as she realize there was nothing edible on the pot. In fact, it looked like there was nothing in the pot at all. Pinkie's mind didn't register that she might have gotten played for a fool. Instead she simply let out a huge disappointed sigh.

"Awwww, I'm not a winner am I..."

The masked man, who had already tensed his muscles to run away, stopped and stared. He was absolutely dumbfounded at how well losing 5 gold had been received by the pony. He had to take a moment to recollect his thoughts, "Care to try again?"

Pinkie began to nod and readied her mouth to say yes before a voice interrupted her

"Now hold up there Danjin" The voice said, "Don't you think it's a little mean to be taking advantage of someone not only new, but also incredibly naive?"

Pinkie thought she recognized the voice, it sounded a lot like Fluttershy's, only a little more rich, and a lot more pronounced.

"And besides, the little pony never even looked close enough at her first pot to notice it"

At the mention of it, Pinkie looked down at her first pot and began to notice something moving under a small pile of shards. It was a small white serpent with very underdeveloped wings from it's sides. Pinkie looked down at it with wide eyes, "Awwwww! It's so adorable!" she said in what anybody else would have thought was an over-exaggeration.

It looked up at Pinkie and coo'd like an infant then began crawling it's way over to Pinkie, who simply kneeled down and allowed it some refuge in her mane. Even Danjin was surprised at the small creature in the pot. He had made it his policy to never put anything alive in his products.

Pinkie looked over to thank the voice that told her about the creature, which she would figure out a name for in due time. The voice belonged to a smaller human girl, Pinkie assumed she was a filly, or whatever you called a younger human. The small girl had bright red hair tied into a small ponytail at the end, she wore a black and red dress that had been adorned with odd little charms that looked like Jack-O-Lanterns, her legs were completely covered with huge orange knee socks that crept all the way into the flared dress, and she wore a small black top hat that was barely bigger than her fist. Unlike the other humans Pinkie had seen, this one had long, pointed ears.

"Thank you sooo much! I would have missed out on this cute little guy if it wasn't for you! I'm sure he will be just as good at partying as my other pet! Hey wait! What's your name anyways? It really isn't nice to thank someone and not ask their name. Oh and what's with your ears and that dress! It looks like something Rarity designed!" The questions just seemed endless, but the little girl didn't mind. She just thought it was funny of the pink pony to be so curious.

After Pinkie stopped her barrage of questions, the girl finally said, "Let's start from the beginning: My name is Sonya, I have these ears because I am from the world known as Pandemonium, I got this dress from a woman who saved my life, sorry if it isn't your Rarity" She went on and on too, following the precise order of Pinkie's questions from what is your favorite flavor of cupcake to what is your favorite color.

Danjin couldn't take any more, "SONYA! I understand you have a lot to say about who you are and where you came from and why the sky is blue, but PLEASE take it somewhere else so that I can check my pots for any more of those, things..."

Sonya laughed and said, "Danjin, don't worry, I'm sure you don't have any more like it. These creatures are incredibly rare. In fact, this is actually the first time I've seen a familiar of light"

Danjin took a step back at the news, "A FAMILIAR OF LIGHT!?! AND I JUST GAVE IT AWAY FOR 5 GOLD?!"

Pinkie had become confused, "I'm happy that I guess I got a discount, but what is a familiar of light? It doesn't sound familiar to me"

Sonya giggled at the pun, "A familiar is the living manifestation of elements in nature. In a sense, they are the advocates of what keeps the world in harmony. When one becomes attached to you, it grants you some of it's power, which very greatly depending on the species of familiar and it's own individual personality" Sonya took a look at the little serpent that was playing around with a bouncing puff of Pinkie's hair, "It looks like this little one is a bit of a fun-lover"

Sonya looked back at Danjin who was distracted with checking his pots for other valuable merchandise, and then over to Pinkie who was looking down to her stomach as it growled, "Hey, would you care to tell me your name?"

Pinkie looked up and found it silly that she had never told Sonya anything about herself, "OH! I'm super duper sorry! I'm Pinkie Pie!"

Sonya laughed at the fitting name, "Alright Pinkie, well why don't we go meet my friends and go get something to eat" Pinkie's stomach growled again, "I'm sure you're hungry"

Pinkie nodded quickly, which through the little serpent out of her hair and onto her nose. It just stared at her with expressive eyes, "Awww... Ok Sonya, but you have to also come with me to see my friends, now that I have two new friends to show them!"

Pinkie returned the small white familiar into her mane and hopped alongside Sonya, both eager to see each other's friends.

First Relevations

"She WHAT?!" Jonas' attitude went straight from concerned to absolute panic, "Seria is not a fighter! She is like a mother! What was Lady Myre thinking!?"

Everypony and person gathered around in the center of the library's grand, open hall. The news was obviously not easy for Jonas to hear, although the only two who could really understand were Richter and Kyria. It was obvious that Jonas was going to go against the wishes of note, he had to go keep Seria safe. She took him in when nobody else would, there would be no way he would let her off to support the war effort without him to protect her.

Jonas' voice started to shudder as his objection to her leaving grew, "Guys, we have to head off to Hendon Myre. So long as Seria is out of reach, your paths home are as good as impossible to reach"

Twilight's gaze slowly scanned across her friends, each giving a concerned yet determined look. It was clear to Twilight that there was no arguing with a situation she was still unfamiliar with. "Ok" Twilight had agreed in a stern and straightforward voice, "We have to make sure Seria is safe, she is our only way back home..."

Kyria intervened, "Don't you six think you are getting a little over your heads? I mean, you're ponies... And not anything too threatening, in fact each of you look like you belong in a kids show" Kyria hadn't meant to demean the ponies through her realization, she just simply wanted to point out the journey had been dangerous. The mere mention of having a dangerous time ahead simply raised the fervor of Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy had always cowered from conflicts, and this wasn't about to change, and Twilight kept her level head and rationalized that it had to be done for the good of not only the ponies, but for Seria.

"Ya'll have your family t' care for ya, once they're gone, they're gone" Applejack's eyes faultered, " Ah know what that's like..."

"Yeah! We got your back, I'll take down anything that tries to hurt her!" Rainbow flew up in the air and dashed between the crowd as a passion that had grown inside her became visible to anybody talking to her.

Richter laughed at the energy erupting from the two ponies but had to stop himself, "I like your styles ladies but the world is dangerous, and without magic, you're gonna need weapons..." His voice became serious until he laughed at the thought, "Hey Applejack, how do you think you could handle a revolver?"

Applejack and Kyria both looked at her in the same way but with two completely different questions:

"What's a revolver?"

"You do know she has no fingers right?"

Richter gave a sly smile as he began to appreciate his genius, "A revolver my dear, is a six shot gun with a little revolving area for the bullets" He thought his explanation would be simple until he realized that the pony had no idea what a bullet was. For the next few minutes, Richter explained all about guns and how they worked and what they were used for.

Applejack, who was beginning to understand the idea, still kept the confused look, but with a different question, "So why do you think ah might be able t' use one of these revolver things effectively?"

Richter gave another sly smile, "You remind me a lot of me when I was little, just trust me..."

"You know, this bonding is great and all but it still doesn't answer my question as to how you expect a pony to wield a revolver, much less like an Empyrian ranger!" Kyria's lack of faith in Richter was as plain as the sky was blue.

"Linus might have some ideas, heck, if he hasn't come up with something by now then I'm sure he would be able to forge something before the end of the coming day! And I'm willing to bet my prized Rude Boy Jack on it." Richter hesitated at the mention of bringing up his prized revolver. It wasn't often that you found a revolver light enough to hold on your finger, yet sturdy enough to hit with a boulder.

"Haha, well this will definitely be funny to watch, alright. Hey Jonas, why don't we get a little rest before we have to move out to Hendon Myre tomorrow?" Kyria's voice was still a little lighter from laughing at the thought of a gun slinging pony.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to leave these ponies alone. Even sometimes Elvenguard can't be trusted at night"

The three humans nodded in unison as each had noticed the light on the window started to fade.

Night fell early upon Elvenguard, the trees ensure that the place had been surrounded by it's own artificial lighting or the lighting of fireflies. It was far from a bad thing, in fact, night time in Elvenguard was beautiful, each light had a style derived from ancient elven architecture. The lights had had a few swirls along the edge, but mostly rough, jagged points that had illuminated the makeshift cobblestone streets of the town. Across the horizon, the lake had started to glow a bright orange as the final burst of sun illuminated it to the town of Elvenguard. Even though Twilight had a lot to think about, she certainly had to stop and take a moment to really enjoy the area in the break of the trees. She had almost a new take on life as Elvenguard's beauty settled in on her. She closed her eyes for a slight second to take a breath and relax.

What she saw nearly threw her backwards. When she closed her eyes, the image of the world disappeared, yet, she could still see the presence of things around her. It was a slight blur, but she could see the blurs of colors around her where companions went off to. She looked to her left to find her image clouded in pure blue, which made her open in her eyes in fright. Sitting next to her, where the blur was, was Jonas, who had also decided to sit himself down and enjoy the beauty of what was sure to be his last night in Elvenguard for a while.

"I knew that I would have to say goodbye eventually..." He said in a lamenting tone, his head drooped down to the ground before his feet, "But I always put it out of my mind, I sorta hoped this could have been my permanent home"

Twilight wasn't fully sure of the situation but took a guess, "It has something to do with your arm doesn't it?"
The question had no intention of being hurtful, but it made Jonas cringe.

"This damn thing has caused me so much trouble in my life. I know it's no use dwelling on things in the past, but I just wish I could change some things" His gaze went back to the lake.

Twilight had become curious but decided to save her comments so she wouldn't hurt him further. She just wanted to sit and take in the sights of this new world before her. There would be so much to learn, so much to see, so much to do, but her mind kept telling her to close her eyes again. Like an eager filly, she quickly closed her eyes again to see the world as she had before, but nothing appeared. She couldn't keep herself from getting somewhat frustrated that she couldn't see the world as she had before.

Jonas looked at her with more curiosity, "You ok Twilight?"

Twilight stopped trying to think about it again and just not explain things fully, "Yeah, I just thought I saw something"

Twilight wasn't sure what set him off, but his expression sprung to life, "Wait, Twilight, what did you see?"

Somewhat confused Twilight just replied as best as she could, "Uh... It was like I saw the life of things expressed through colors."

She still wasn't sure what she said, but he quickly ran off in the direction of the library, telling her to stay there. He was back almost a few minutes later with an old brown book, certainly not old by comparison to some of the things Celestia had kept, but old by normal standards, it read The Legendary Slayers. Twilight was sure he was getting somewhere with this, but still couldn't help her confused look.

"Ahh... here is the page." Jonas began to read from a section on a specific man, "The Asura G.S.D. : The third of a group of slayers who had fought off the evils of the Screaming Cavern to save Roxie from the curse of Kazan and hopefully end the last of the Black Crusade revivals. He had given up his eyesight to Kazan for near omnipotence. G.S.D. The demon in his body graciously accepted it's new position of power over G.S.D.'s body, it linked with his life force and gave him the ability to manipulate the forces of the world around him. These forces had been known by many scholars as waves." A note on the side of the page had been kept to explain waves, "Waves are the basic outline of magic, people who could manipulate waves are different from users of magic, as magic is a combination of wave energy and physical elements, waves are the raw outline of almost everything on this world" The note cut off and Jonas began to read the page further, "G.S.D. used his ability to manipulate waves to help the group of slayers defeat the last of the Black Crusade, and hopefully remove the last trace of evil from the world."

Twilight didn't know what to make of it. She had just been told that she shared the power of a great hero of their world. As soon as the thought began to excite her. She began to remember what he said, "Did you just say that he had to give up his eyesight...?"

"Well Twilight, that's what has me so confused, you accomplished what he could only do after infusing with Kazan" His thoughts turned grim, "Twilight, I think you have been cursed by Kazan..."

Twilight's pupil retracted at the sound of the news, "I'VE BEEN WHAT?" She knew getting scared wasn't going to help anything but she still couldn't shake the fear that grabbed a hold of her.

"It's the conclusion I'm coming to Twilight, but normally victims of the Kazan curse get deranged at the initial contact with the demon. It's leading me to believe that you have something special about you that's keeping him at bay. Allowing you to harvest his power without actually succumbing to it"

This lightened the expression on Twilight's face, but not by much. She still couldn't believe that inside of her, a demon was festering, but what about her could stop the demon from growing... The realization hit her like an apple falling from a tree. "It's got to be the Elements of Harmony..."