Station Six

A large wooden table sat in the middle of the white walled meeting room. Two figures dressed in white lab coats and red name tags sat around it. One patiently waited for her superior to arrive. She rummaged through her binder, getting different varieties of papers in order.

Once she made sure she was ready for the fifth time, she raised her head to gaze at the slouching man across from her.

He was, for a lack of a better word, a mess. His brown hair looked as though it had been through a blender, and a fluffy, stained beard lurked on his face like a bad cold. His white lab coat had numerous dirt and food marks. He lowered his head down to the table, letting his arms wrap around it.

“Scott?” she asked softly. He didn’t move a muscle. Instead, he let out a short groan. “Scott, what’s wrong? You’ve been sitting there like a zombie for the last ten minutes.”

“Nothing,” he said with his head still lowered. “I’m just tired, Cassie.”

“Were you working all week, again? I know you like to do that.” With a sigh, Cassie ran her fingers through her blond hair before reaching her hand across the table to tap his arm.

“I’m fine,” he said, annoyance ripe in his voice. “I’m just a bit worried, is all.”

“About?”

As Scott lifted his head up, Cassie could see his bloodshot blue eyes and blue tint of the skin below them clearly. “They’re going to axe us, I know it.”

Cassie scoffed, “Why would they even think about that, Scott? We’re the only rift managers in this station, for godsake. If they rid of us, the whole station operation would fall apart.”

Scott rubbed his eyes and motioned to the metal door at the front of the room. “They’re going to come in through there with guns and remove us. Throw us back into the outside world where the damned government can scoop us up like the criminals they think we are.”

“I highly doubt tha-”

“Why?!” Scott slammed his fist on the table. “Just because they told us that we’re safe here?” He shook his head. “It’s not like they have laws, Cassie. They can throw us out anytime they want!”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “Look, you’re obviously not thinking straight. I assume that we’re here to address the rumors going around the staff.”

Scott lifted a brow. “Rumors? What rumors?”

“How have you not heard?”

“I’ve been working all week on the eighteen-sixty rift.” Scott removed a strand of hair from his face, letting some loose dandruff calmly float down to the table surface. “I managed to keep it open for an extra two weeks.”

“I knew you were working too hard.” She flashed him a look of disappointment, causing him to let out another groan. “Well,” she proceeded, “I’ve been hearing a lot about a German spy from the staff. It seems that everyone thinks they’re being watched.”

Panic flashed across Scott’s face. “German government?”

“Nope, just some small German rift station, probably trying to take some time rift coordinates.”

Scott smiled for the first time in a long while. “Oh,” he almost laughed, “I don’t see why that’s a problem! Why not share what we have with the others?”

“I wouldn’t advise that.”

“Why not?”

“Some don’t want to study the past like us. Some stations are built around the sole reason of messing with the past or selling it.”

Scott’s eyes widened. “W-well how do we know they haven’t changed things already?”

“We’re the only ones with the coordinates that allow us to enter. With numbers less precise, they can only look into the past, like snapshots. Probably why they want to steal them.”

“Jesus…” Scott rubbed his eyes again. Why do some people feel it necessary to screw up good things for everyone else?

It’d only been a few months since Scott arrived at the station. Promised a new life in its underground facilities, he jumped at the offer to finally be able to work without being chased endlessly by the government. Work was what he did, and he did it well, sometimes locking himself away from his own staff to work on a project alone. He guessed, from recently coming out for the urgent meeting he was now waiting for to start, that he may be missing more than he thought.

The metal front door to the room slid open revealing a tall man with thick glasses. His suit, unlike the others, was black. At the sight of the green name tag dangling from his pocket, Cassie stood up while Scott lowered his head back down onto the table.

With his own laptop being held under his right arm, the man waved his other hand slowly, and Cassie wordlessly followed his orders to sit. In a quick movement, he walked his way over to the two, at the end of the desk.

The leather chair squeaked as he sat on it and placed his laptop on top of the table. As he adjusted the chair’s height, he frowned. “Only room with no bloody cameras, and they go ahead put the awful chairs in here,” he muttered under his breath.

A set of brown eyes were on him as he finally found the right height to the chair. He looked up at Cassie and gave her a smile.

“Alright,” he finally said, “I think we should get started now. It’s about time.”

Scott lifted his head and loudly cleared his throat. “I’d hate to be rude, Phil, but what’s the meaning of this? A code red meeting out of the blue?”

Phil adjusted his glasses as he looked over Scott’s stained clothes and newly-grown beard since they last met. He opened up his computer. “Don’t worry, Scott, I’m sure you’ll know exactly why this meeting was called in a second.”

“Where are the guards, then?” said Scott.

“What?” Phil asked.

“Oh, hush, Scott. He’s not getting rid of you.” Phil looked over to Cassie, who was staring at Scott with a clear scowl.

“Scott, how long have you been in your project room?” said Phil.

Scott folded his arms as he tried to quickly blink back the tired feeling from his eyes. “One week.”

Phil nodded as he typed his password into his computer. “It’s silly that you’d even be thinking that, Scott. You’re a valued member of the team and station. But...”

“But?” Cassie asked. “What do you mean ‘but’?”

“We’ll talk about that a bit later. First, I’d like you two to take a look at this, you’ll take more of an interest in this time rift. It’s not the old human civilizations we normally get.”

“We’ve seen it all before,” Scott spoke up again, “The past isn’t something to call a meeting over. We have drones flying around in eighteen-sixty, seven fifty-one, and a few other time periods. So unless the boys somehow opened a huge rift allowing us to view dinosaurs for a few months, I don’t think a meeting is warranted.”

Phil reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wireless mouse. He placed it on the table beside his laptop before calmly speaking, “I didn’t call for this meeting, Scott. In fact, I was highly against it for the same reasons you brought up.”

Scott lifted a brow. “Who called it, then?”

“The board did.” Phil ran his mouse over the wooden desk. He clicked a few times as Scott turned his head and whispered to the man beside him, who only shrugged in response.

“What you got there, Twilight?” a joyful female voice said, blaring from the computer speakers before Phil quickly killed them with the use of the pause button.

The room went deadly silent. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of Phil’s mouse. After a long moment, he let out a sigh as he stood up from his seat, looking the two over.

“I’d like to apologize personally for the project time you’ll all be missing. I also hope it didn’t take too much time out of your day to leave your crews and walk down here.” He gave Scott a knowing look before continuing with a slightly more serious tone.

“Everything we’re about to discuss stays in this room. Not a single breath we take is being recorded by anyone, so it’s just us right now. If you’re caught talking, writing home, or even thinking too loudly about this before you’re given the go ahead, you’ll be detained. I’m not willing to argue about this to any extent.”

“Detained?” Cassie felt a small feeling of worry. “That’s a little overboard, don’t you think, Phil? I thought we were here to talk about the spy problem.”

“We have it handled already,” Phil said plainly. “Security is being sent over here from uptop. For now, though, please watch the video.”

The sound of snoring filled the room as Phil looked over to Scott. Phil rolled his eyes as he could only guess that he face-planted in the middle of the speech. “Get up.” Phil slapped him in the back of the head, causing him to spring up in attention.

“Wh-?”

“No talking about what you’re about to see, got it?” said Phil as he felt himself get slightly more annoyed.

“Got it…” Scott rubbed his eyes.

Phil grabbed his laptop and turned it around for them to see. The viewer on the computer’s tiny screen was hard to make out, even for Scott, who squinted his eyes and leaned to get a better look. As leaned in closer, he could make out two brightly coloured animals standing below the camera, as most of their drones recorded from heights.

“What am I looking at?” he finally asked, “I can’t really see what those things are through the viewer’s pause bars...”

Cassie also leaned in for a closer look at what they were supposed to be so secretive about. Even Phil, who had seen the footage a number of times, moved to a more comfortable position beside the computer for a better view.

Phil took control of the mouse and with a single click, the pause bars were removed as the video, audio and all, sprung to life.

Twilight made her way down the streets of Ponyville as she towed a small red wagon full of books behind her with her magic. A grin slowly formed on her face as the burnt out remnants of her treehouse came into view. She picked up her pace as she felt a eager feeling build up inside her.

“What you got there, Twilight?” Pinkie happily hopped her way over to Twilight's side from out of a line of one of the various market stalls.

“Hey there, Pinkie!” Twilight didn’t slow down in the slightest, instead, giving Pinkie a quick nod. Twilight turned her attention back to the approaching once-was treehouse. “You’re not going to believe what I’m about to do! I can hardly believe it myself, honestly.”

“Ohhh! Are you going to see if there’s any books around town you haven’t read yet?” Pinkie pointed at the small amount of books in the wagon.

Twilight chuckled, “No, Pinkie, I’m not collecting books to read. In fact, these books just came in from Canterlot.”

“Really?” Pinkie jumped up in the air and gasped in realization. “Are you opening up a new library?”

“Yep!”

“Wait…” Pinkie tapped her chin with a hoof. “Why are you taking the books way out here if you’re going to open up a new library in your new amazing castle? I would love to go there to rent out more cake books if that’s what you’re doing!”

“Well, as much as I would love to open it back up inside of the castle, it’s not really meant to be one. The treehouse, on the other hoof, was perfectly suited to house Spike and I while still holding all of the library books,” Twilight said as she slowly came to a stop in front of the burnt-out stump of her old house.

Pinkie stopped beside Twilight and cocked her head to the side. “Are you going to plant a new one? Ohh, maybe Applejack has a few seeds we can borrow! I could help you water it everyday and grow it to be really, really tall!” Pinkie pulled out some measuring tape from her mane, outstretched it, and placed it vertical to the ground. “It might take.” Pinkie squinted at the measuring tape then grinned at Twilight. “Four years, at most!”

Twilight chuckled and waved a dismissive hoof. “Don’t worry, Pinkie, I have a much faster acting solution.”

“You going to get Princess Celestia to come down here and zap you new one with her magic?”

“Nope, but close.” Twilight turned herself around and began carefully unloading the books into a small pile on the ground.

Pinkie rubbed her chin. “You going to get a whole new tree and put it here after you dig it up with a crew full of changelings?”

“No” Twilight shook her head as the last of the books her piled up neatly. She quickly flashed Pinkie a grin and turned to face the burnt remains of her old home. “Watch.”

Pinkie only nodded before sitting down on her haunches. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but whatever made Twilight so happy, she was sure it was going to make her happy.

Twilight’s horn began to light up as she lowered her face to point at the stump. Gritting her teeth, she felt the magic build up inside her slowly. She began to move the symbols in her mind to form the spell she desired, and before she knew it, her whole head felt like it was about to explode.

Her mind screamed for her to release the magic before it was able to hurt her, but she fought back the pain. The constant studying for the last week wasn’t going to be for nothing.

Two… More… Seconds… Twilight told herself as a new wave of pain washed over her whole body. Her thoughts strained to keep focus as they muddied from the intense exertion of constructing the spell.

Suddenly, a huge purple surge of energy cracked like lightning from the tip of Twilight’s horn and connected to the dull stump. Twilight blinked away the spots left over from staring into the spell and observed its result.

A large column of light quickly raised from the stump violently. Energy coursed around and throughout the column, pulsing like blood pumping through arteries.

Twilight stumbled backwards over the pile of books before regaining her footing. Like a second sun beating down on her, Twilight’s senses were engulfed in a combination of flashing lights and blistering heat.

Right when she thought she was on the edge of passing out, the light stopped, and so did the blaring heat. Twilight blinked and glanced around herself. Pinkie was jumping happily in place with a broad smile carved on her face.

Twilight could only share the same emotion of pure happiness as her gaze fell upon the stump. No, not a stump, but a home. Her once lost treehouse stood proudly in front of her. The green of the leaves were the same, as was the brown of the wood, and the quaint placement of the windows. Twilight tried to speak, but as she found herself at a loss for words, she resigned in merely smiling.

“It’s back!” Pinkie ran up to Twilight and hugged her tightly.

“I-It is back!” squealed Twilight as she returned the embrace.

The video stopped playing. A long moment passed before anyone said anything.

“Wha…” Cassie rubbed her forehead. “I-I… Are those talking horses?”

Phil nodded with a blank expression.

“Did that thing just make a tree appear out of thin air?” Scott asked. His once tired and drowsy face was now attentive and focused.

“Yes, it did,” Phil answered him.

Cassie leaned back in her chair. Her eyes darting around the room. “It can’t be real,” she said. “Are you telling me that you found that in the past? Are sure this isn't a joke?”

“I assure you, this is not a joke by any meaning of the word.”

“How far back is this in the past?” Scott spoke up. “Do you expect me to believe that this is real? That talking horses predate the dinosaurs? And they speak English?”

“They don’t predate the dinosaurs at all, I’ll give you that. In fact, they don’t even predate us.” Phil closed his laptop.

“Are you saying this is in the future?” Scott raised an eyebrow at the theory.

“Yes.”

“Impossible.” Scott shook his head quickly to try to dispel the revelation. “Rifts can only go into the past.”

“We also thought that was the case, but it seems we’re wrong.”

“And the English?” Cassie protested.

“We have no clue.” Phil shrugged then reached into his suit’s pocket and pulled out two purple clip-on key cards. He placed the both on the table. “You two are to be transferred to another station to work on this project.”

“What?!” Scott almost shouted as he stood to his feet. “I’ve been working on my project since I got here! You can’t just come in here and tell me to leave it!”

Cassie crossed her arms. “I want to know more about these things before I work on them.”

“You’re both being moved today.” Phil looked over at Scott and could almost feel the hatred resonating from him. “I didn’t order this, mind you. The board gave me orders to get you two down to Station Six as soon as possible.”

“But I need more tim-” Scott began protesting, but was cut off by Phil.

“You don’t need any more time for anything, Scott. It’s either this or nothing. Your team is trained well enough to run without you.”

“But…”

“I hope to see you two at my office in two hours.” He tightened his glare on Scott. “I would rather not throw you out on your ass for the bloody government to find… You have too much potential for that..”

Cassie and Scott watched wordlessly as Phil picked up his laptop and marched to the front door. “Make sure you’re both wearing the new tags when you get there,” he said as the door slid open. “I don’t want people to think I’m transporting a spy.” Phil exited the room and the door closed behind him.

Scott picked up one of the key cards from the table. He heard a sigh from Cassie as she stood up.

“I guess we’re going then.” Cassie picked up a new tag and clipped it on. Leaving the old green tag on the table.

Scott also clipped his new tag on. “Well… shit.”

Scott rattled in his seat as the train came to a stop at Station Six.

It had been a short ride from his old station once he’d finally gotten on the Board’s private subway, but the security measures seemed to be endless beforehand. If he wasn’t being asked constantly for his new tag to be scanned, or being questioned on his name countless times, he was almost positive that the journey would have taken less than an hour.

Once he and Cassie finally were allowed to be seated they had to wait for a security officer to arrive. The officer was young and dressed up in his station’s security uniform. A large two was plastered in the middle of his bulletproof vest and green stripes ran along his pants and helmet.

Phil had been absent after they met up at his office. In fact, Scott couldn’t remember exchanging a single word during the move. He reminded himself that Phil was the station board director, and he’d probably get a new one.

“Good…” Scott muttered to himself as the train’s doors opened and the a loud robotic voice announced came over the speakers.

“Welcome to Station Six,” it said calmly. “Please have your tags ready for security. If you have lost your tags, please speak to one of the security officers.”

Cassie was the first one to stand up from her seat. Scott took in the pleasant scent of strawberry perfume as she passed. He looked down at his lab coat. Still a mess, Scott.

The young security officer stood up beside him. “Time to move,” he said, putting his hand on Scott’s shoulder.

Just as the robotic voice said, guards were waiting for him at the other end of the doors with tag scanners in their hands. No words were exchanged as Scott got scanned and was allowed to walk past them.

Cassie moved to his side as they were herded into a tight, white walled, doorless hallway behind two guards. The guards weren’t like anything he’d ever seen. Unlike the officer who had sat beside him the whole ride, these guards wore all black, skin-tight ballistic armor from head to toe and helmets with tinted visors which hid their expressions. Their weapons, which they casually held in their hands as they walked, pulsed red from small seams engraved in the sides.

“So,” Cassie broke the silence, “How was your ride?”

Scott smiled. “Short.” He turned his head to see more armed guards behind him. “Do you think this is all necessary?”

She took a quickly look over her shoulder. “The guards?”

“Yes.”

Cassie shrugged. “This is Station Six, Scott, not the low security station you’re used to. They have armed guards at every corner here.”

Scott cocked his head to the side. “How do you know so much about everything around here?”

She grinned. “Been working for the board for two years. I’ve been tossed around from station to station like a tennis ball.”

“Really?” Scott chuckled.

“Yeah, you should see some of the stuff they’re working on in here. It blows everything we were working on right out of the water.”

They turned a corner and the hallway finally revealed itself to have some familiarity to Scott, who found himself happy at the sight of the sliding doors he’d seen hundreds of times over in the last station. As they passed, one opened up and a smaller man wearing the same white lab coat as him, except with a purple stripe running down his arm, waited for them to pass before walking out into the hall.

Scott got a brief glimpse of the contents of the room. He was able to see a bright red laser streaming into a test dummy with the same suited figures standing around, taking notes from what he could guess. He stopped in the middle of the hall, letting his mouth hang open in amazement.

Jesus! They test weapons here!

Scott jolted as he was forced from behind to keep on walking. “Keep it moving,” a guard said.

The guards in front of Scott and Cassie stopped moving as a voice behind them gave out a order. Scott looked over his shoulder to see a suited man parting the two guards behind him. He was dressed almost exactly like Phil except for the more common purple stripe which ran down one of his black pant legs.

He approached and reached out his hand to Cassie, who happily accepted the handshake. “So, you’re the Ivan project manager team?” He beamed as he spoke, like a man who just won the lottery.

The thought of the colorful horses suddenly came streaming back into Scott’s mind. He’d spent most of his time on the train trying to convince himself that what he saw was simply not real.

Talking horses? Maybe they’re just trying to get us to Station 6 to detain us. It would be much easier to keep us quiet if we never leave their custody... Scott shook his head. He rather not think the board was some sort of evil entity, after all, they did give him an escape from the surface. I’m too tired to be thinking like this, he thought.

Cassie gave the man a weak smile as she let go of his hand and he offered it to Scott. “I’m not too sure what Ivan team is at the moment,” she said.

Scott shook his hand as a smile formed on his face. “Trust me, you’re Ivan team. You two are the only ones to show up in this station for a few months.” He let go a Scott’s hand. “I’m Alex, the board director of this station.”

“Nice to meet you, Alex,” Cassie looked over his slim body and his well kept brown hair. It seemed like ages since his suit had seen a speck of dirt.

Alex looked over Scott’s stained coat and his mouth visibly curved downwards in disgust before being forcefully corrected. “Say...” he squinted at Scott’s tag. “Scott?”

“Yes?”

“Why don’t you meet us at the meeting room?” Alex flashed Scott a smile as his eyes wandered over Scott’s unkempt beard. “I’m sure you’ll love to look your best before you’re introduced to your new staff.”

Scott shrugged. “I think I’ll be alrigh-”

Ignoring Scott, Alex waved a guard in from behind. “Take Mr. Scott to his new chambers.”

The guard nodded before turning to Scott. “Follow me,” he said. Scott frowned as he was quickly led away from the group and down a separate hallway.

“Well, better not stand around.” In a quick movement Alex threw up one of his hands and ordered the guards to start moving again. “We have a meeting to get to.”

Shadows that were casted from the obstruction of the dim light of the stars visible through the window just above Rainbow Dash cascaded along her bed in which she attempted to slumber upon. She tossed in her bed once more before giving up. It seemed like forever since she climbed into her bed and she had began to hear a strange noise. It was a buzzing sound that kept her awake all night and she couldn’t hold back the urge to find it any longer.

Rainbow Dash hopped out of her sheets and onto the cushy cloud floor of her home. The soft buzzing was reverberated throughout her room, taunting her with its annoying sound.

“Dang it,” she groaned. “Why can’t the world just let me sleep for once in my life?”

She trotted out of her bedroom and into the kitchen. The buzzing grew louder as she made her way slowly past an island counter in the middle of the room.

It’s in the walls, she thought, Maybe some dumb bird got its head stuck in the clouds again.

Rainbow Dash could hear it much more clearly as she reached the end of her kitchen. Putting her ear to the cloud wall, Rainbow listened for the source of the blasted noise. It took her almost no time to pinpoint it. While smiling of the thought of finally getting some rest, she stuffed her hoof deep inside the wall.

The cloud gave way as she moved her hoof around. “Come on…” she mumbled. A cold object touched her hoof, causing her to pull away for a second. Suddenly, the buzzing became louder, and as Dash reached her hoof back in, she could feel the object frantically moving in an attempt to free itself.

“Come on,” Rainbow Dash said as she tried to get a grip on it. “I won’t hurt you. I just want some peace and quiet.” A strange sensation passed through her as her hoof touched its metallic surface. She felt no wings, no beak, just a round and cold body.

Finally, after a long while of just groping it, she felt a suitable surface to grab hold of. Rainbow Dash snatched it into her hoof and pulled as hard as her sleepy body would allow her.

Mid-pull, Rainbow Dash felt her hoof retract much faster than anticipated, and was stunned as the object slammed into her. Wheezing and out of breath, her mind seemed to spin in circles as the buzzing above resonated throughout the room and the object dashed from corner to corner in a frenzy to escape.

She heard it smash into her cabinets and fridge before moving into her bedroom.

“Errr.” Rainbow Dash stood to her hooves and rubbed her sore head. She stumbled forward, grabbing the counter for support as she walked.

She cringed in pain as a new, pulsing Beep from her room pierced her thoughts like a railroad spike. Dash pushed away from the counter, finding it slightly easier to balance herself than she was able to moments before. Her head was still spinning in circles, but she would manage through the cloudy pain.

Her room was a mess by the time she hastily stumbled into it. Her walls were covered in small dents and torn posters hung by the remaining strips that had survived the object’s rampage. All of her trophies, bed sheets, and pillows were scattered haphazardly on the ground. As she finally spotted the beast once more, it smashed into a mirror in an attempt to fly through the wall again.

Confusion and a hint of curiosity coursed through her mind as she looked at it. Just as she had felt, it was a round, dark, and metallic object. A long rod stuck out from what Rainbow Dash guess was its body. Everytime the accursed beeping sound violated her ears, a bright red light at the tip of the road blinked.

Rainbow took a step forward and it smashed into yet another wall. It recovered almost instantly and geared up to make another attempt on the wall opposite of itself. As it flew through the air and just overhead of her, she jumped at it, trying to snatch it out of the air.

Before she knew it, her muzzle met with the soft cloud flooring. She missed completely.

“Stop destroying everything!” she yelled as it bashed into her drawer.

Pulling her face up from the floor, Rainbow clenched her eyes shut as shattered glass plinked onto the floor, just in front of the newly-broken window which the object escaped through.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash screamed. “You can’t just break everything and fly off! Get back here!”

In a burst of energy and anger, Rainbow stood up and sprinted at the window. She made sure not to cut herself on the scattered shards of glass before jumping out into the dark sky of Equestria.

The chase was on.

Lights of every color flashed continuously on the small screens, buttons, and monitors lining the front of the room. Slightly above the blinking computers, an expansive sheet of strong, bulletproof glass looked over, and separated, a large chamber.

Alex looked down at his watch and sighed. With a scowl, he watched as three biohazard suit equipped workers performed their duties. He felt safe in knowing the lead walls would keep him safe from any potential radiation leakage from the portal mainframe in the chamber below.

Moving his mouth closer to a microphone protruding from one of the various machines, Alex pushed down on a button and spoke, “Scott will be here soon, Cassie. In the meantime, why don’t you run another test run with your new team.”

“Negative,” a scratchy feminine voice answered back. “The radiation reached an unusual level last test.” Cassie, donned in her bio-suit, turned to face the glass.

Alex sighed over the intercom, “The drone can still be safely received, right? I’m not pulling a retrieval over a little bit of extra radiation.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s safe. Not much more is required for it to become a health hazard for everyone present.” Cassie gazed down at her wrist, where a small, digital meter embedded in the suit greeted her. The device displayed three colors, green, yellow, and red. Yellow of which being the majority of the three. The words “danger” were shown clearly over the red area.

Calm down, Cassie. She thought. It’s only at yellow. Nothing to worry about…

“Can your team still perform adequately in these current conditions?” Alex asked.

Cassie turned to glance at her new crew. She hadn’t had much of an introduction to most of them, but she assured herself that they were all properly trained, else they would not be working in Station Six. A few who caught her glance nodded confidently before Cassie was able to ask anything. Reassured, she stated, “Yeah, I think it’ll be alright.”

“Good.” Alex looked down at his watch again. “We’ll start without Scott in a few minutes if he takes too much longer.”

“Roger.”

Twilight placed another book on the nearly completely barren shelves in her library. The spell did everything she hoped it would. It presented Twilight with a fresh copy of her home, but it didn’t come without a price.

Spike’s face was ripe with disappointment as he exited the kitchen. “Well,” he started, “The spell managed to replicate the fridge and oven, but everything else is gone…”

Twilight giggled. “Come on, Spike. I told you the spell wouldn’t replicate smaller objects from the past. The spell was only designed to replicate the basic infrastructure of a building.”

“Still.” Spike rubbed the back of his head. “I wish it made my bed appear…”

“Your bed was too small for it, but my bed made it through alright. You can have it for the night, if you want.”

Spike’s eyes glistened as a huge smile formed on his face. “You mean it?!”

Twilight trotted over and patted him on the head. “Sure thing! I’ll be heading out into town tomorrow to buy some things, so I’ll just sleep in the castle tonight.”

Without another word, Spike made a mad dash up the stairs and into his newly acquired bed. Twilight jokingly rolled her eyes as she made her way out the front door and into the night. A cold breeze ruffled her fur and chilled her spine as she walked underneath the light of the moon.

Twilight felt her ears twitch as a beeping sound off in the distance became audible. At first she thought nothing of it. A simple noise wouldn’t normally bother her, but it grew steadily louder, almost like a train approaching in the distance.

She looked up as Rainbow Dash’s voice thundered from above.

“Get back here, you dumb thing!” Twilight ducked just as a round object zoomed just over her head. The loud beeping ringed in Twilight’s ears as she quickly rose to her hooves.

“Rainbow?” Twilight yelled as Rainbow Dash’s wingspan fully expanded. “What’s going on?”

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash came to a screeching halt in the air just above Twilight. “Quick! Grab that thing with your magic!” She pointed urgently at the red light blinking in the distance as it rocketed away.

“Why?”

“It broke all my stuff and hit me! Just grab it before it gets away!” Rainbow Dash gave a mighty stroke with her wings and flew off after it. “Come on!” she called back from over her shoulder.

Twilight’s eyes darted around the scenery surrounding her as if searching for confirmation from someone. Realizing no one was going to answer her unspoken question, she extended her wings and pushed herself into the air. “Wait up, Rainbow!” She yelled after Rainbow Dash. “I’m coming!”

The metal door to the front of observatory opened. A guard stepped through the doorway with a nicely-shaven and newly-clothed Scott in tow. Scott brushed his new lab coat with his hand as he entered, making sure the purple stripe on his left arm was clean.

Alex’s face lit up with a smile. “Scott!” Alex offered his hand which prompted Scott to respond by clasping Alex’s hand in his own and shaking it firmly.

“Sorry I took a bit, but I almost forgot how nice a warm shower felt.” Scott’s cheeks tinted soft crimson as he scratched the back of his head. Regaining his composure, he rubbed his hands together. “So, what’s the meeting about?”

Alex pointed towards the glass. “We’re getting ready to receive a new drone from Ivan.”

“Ivan?” Scott asked as he looked down at the computers. He’d worked in a place like this before, it was nothing new; however a surge of excitement ran through his body as he saw Cassie in the other room preparing to open the portal. Despite having done so numerous times before, the thrill of exploration never diminished.

Opening up a rift was something he was only able to do once every week on the old station. He always found himself looking forward to doing so, even though it sometimes interrupted his periods of solitary work.

“Ivan is the name we gave the rift world,” Alex derailed Scott’s train of thought.

The computer in front of Scott sprung to life as he powered it on. A few seconds and several loading screens later, Scott frowned at the display. “The coordinates are already locked in?”

“Yep.” Alex pointed to two older looking men in a lab coats. “Your new crew took it upon themselves to do all the math while you were out.”

“Why was I called in, then?”

“You’re one of the project managers, Scott. You’re going to hit the button to start the rift, and you’ll be giving orders to your new staff. Why wouldn’t we call you in?”

“Oh.” Scott scratched the back of his head and looked down at the computer’s control panel. “I guess you’re right.”

I just don’t appreciate being a glorified button pusher, is all... thought Scott.

“One minute until retrieval,” the same robotic voice from the station entrance announced. Scott watched and listened as Cassie waved her hand around and shouted orders over the radio. The two subordinates responded almost instantly and rushed over to the far side of the chamber.

Alex turned to face Scott. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

Scott nodded, and after quickly punching in some passwords, the ceiling in the next room opened up. A basketball sized sphere with a long, but thin cylindrical cannon-esque barrel protruding from its center slowly lowered from the ceiling. Cassie shouted another order and the subordinates moved to either side of the wall, making sure they weren’t in the direct path of the machine’s barrel.

“Everyone good in there?” Scott asked over the intercom.

“Roger,” Cassie replied.

Scott positioned his hand over a flashing red button. He glanced at Alex, who nodded in reply. “Alright.” Excitement exploded throughout Scott’s body as he pressed down the on the activation button. “Here we go.”

The barrel of the cannon lit up in a spectacle of blue light. Cassie took in a deep breath and took another step to the side.

Barely a second passed until a stream of blue light shot out from the barrel of the machine. It impacted the wall and created a disruption in reality itself. Energy swirled within the impact zone before it began to slowly expand to enable a person of average height to pass through.

The swirling energy shimmered before dissolving into a crisp image of the portal’s view of the future reality. The stream of energy extruding from the machine shut off and it retracted back into the ceiling.

Scott grinned as he observed that the ground crew was still in one piece. He glanced down at one of the various monitors displaying statistical information and then back up to the portal. A soft glimmer of stars and a rolling landscape in the distance was visible through the portal. Looks normal… he thought.

“I can see it coming,” Alex’s voice boomed over the intercom. “Disable it right when it comes in. I don’t want it smashing anything in there, you got me?”

“Roger,” Cassie replied.

The rad level is a bit high, but it’s manageable. Scott thought as he scanned through the outputted measurements on the monitors. The cameras from here are getting a good view. I hope Cassie likes the stars.

Scott’s grin turned to full blown smile as he saw the drone approach from a distance. Suddenly, a small dot flying behind it came to his attention. His grin slowly deflated as he leaned in and squinted at the monitor. “No…” he whispered.

Alex shouted another order, but Scott didn’t hear it. The extra dot turned into another as the drone flew closer. A bead of sweat trailed down the side of Scott’s face as he tried to reach over Alex and activate the emergency shutoff.

Alex grabbed his hand before it could come down and snapped, “What are you doing?”

Scott’s panicked thoughts screamed for him to shut off the portal as he quickly tried to determine a different possibility for the dots as an excuse to not disable it. But logical reasoning held no remorse. It had to be a natural inhabitant of the future reality. It has to be!

Alex grimaced as his gaze burned into Scott like a raging inferno. “What do you think you’re doing?” he snapped.

Scott hesitated, his lips trembled for a moment before the words came screeching from his thoughts.

“It’s being chased!”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Alex tightened his grip on Scott’s hand. “You’re not touching the goddamn emergency shutoff!”

Scott ripped his hand away. “This isn’t the time to argue! Look at the damn monitor!”

Alex’s gaze followed Scott’s hand as he pointed to the portal. “What?” Alex asked, still with a trace of contempt, but was out shadowed by concern.

“Look at it!” Scott grabbed Alex by the shoulders and pushed him forward. He felt Alex push back against him before resigning and moving forward. Alex came to a stop just in front of the glass barrier. His eyes widened as he spotted two brightly colored animals tailing the drone.

Alex spent no time pondering the situation. He slammed his hand down hard on the intercom’s activation button. “Security to drone retrieval right now! I want two squads in there, ASAP! Discard bio-suits as a priority!”

“Shut it off!” Scott reached forward, once again attempting to disable the portal.

“No!” Alex shoved him away. “We’re getting this drone!”

“We’re about to have an alien lifeform in there, Alex! We don’t know what it can be carrying!”

“Shut up!” He pushed Scott against a wall. Scott’s head slammed against the wall. His head throbbed and his knees gave in as he slid down the wall and settled on the floor. “Just let me do my job!”

“What’s going on up there?” Cassie asked over the radio from below.

Alex ran his hand through his sweaty hair. “Security, how long until you’re in the chamber?”

“Alex!” Cassie asked frantically over the radio. “What the heck is going on? My rad meter is going nuts! It’s up to four hundred rads!”

The two lab assistants helped Scott up from the floor. He was ready to belt Alex in the face, but knew that it would be pointless.

“It’s going red!” Cassie desperately cried as her suit’s radiation meter dissolved from a dark shade of orange to a deep red.

The radiation… Scott thought. His head pounded like someone brained him with a bat, but he managed to lean himself over the monitor to analyze the various outputs of the measuring instruments in the portal’s chamber. This can’t be right. He blinked at the flashing warning signal. It’s over seven hundred rads!

Someone let out a scream as the chamber’s lights flickered out. A shrill siren reverberated as a bright, flashing red light lit up the facility. The heavy metal doors of the entrance opened up to reveal a dozen metal-suited guards who promptly poured into the room.

“Radiation level reaching critical,” a robotic voice announced over the intercom.

Cassie stood still. Panic sparked through her mind as she stared down at her suit’s radiation meter as it steadily increased.

Loud bangs came from the doors as they shut behind the last guard and bolted shut. “Get them outta there, Alex!” Scott pleaded. “Their suits can’t take that much radiation!”

Alex wiped his forehead of sweat as panicked workers screamed for help over the radio.

Scott gritted his teeth. The bastard was ignoring him. He was going to let them be irradiated just so they could wait for the drone to be retrieved.

The portal burst open with light. Everyone in the chamber shielded their eyes as the round, metal ball came zooming through the rift. It instantly began flying around the room, frantically trying to escape its pursuer.

Alex smashed his hand on the shutoff button and the portal closed in on itself. It was almost halfway shut when a second flying object passed through. Scott watched in horror as a blue horse rocketed across the chamber.

Cassie snapped and made a break for the entrance. She heard Alex’s orders blaring through her earpiece as she ran. Cassie slid her key-card over the door’s scanner.

She gasped as it responded, “Access denied.”

A light blue horse, similar to the ones Scott had seen in the video but with wings, twisted through the air as it attempted to maneuver around the chamber. Its jaw hung open as if it was screaming for help. It successfully turned to face the portal, but was too late to exit. It smashed into the wall and fell down to the base of the wall below.

“Subdue it!” Alex shouted into the intercom.

“Let me out!” Cassie screamed as she futilely pounded against the doors. “The radiation is going to kill us all!”

Scott let out a cry of desperation as he put his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Unlock the doors!” Alex responded by pushing Scott back, causing him to stumble. “Open the doors, Alex!”

“There’s too much radiation! I will not let the station be exposed!” Sweat glistened as it rolled down the side of his face. “I’ll open them up when the radiation is cleared, I swear!”

A guard positioned himself over Rainbow Dash who was splayed on the floor. He pulled out a metal rod, which with a click of a small button, sparks came to life and danced along the metal surface.

“Help!” Rainbow Dash screamed before she was hit with the stun baton and her body seized up. Her head slumped onto the floor as she passed out.

Cassie continued to slammed on the door. “Let me out! The radiation is climbing!”

“Impossible... the portal is closed!” Alex’s eyes darted around the monitors. He took a quick glance over his shoulder at the open door and swallowed heavily. Wincing, he turned his attention back to the microphone as another scream echoed through the room.

Scott’s eyes widened in realization. “It’s not the portal…”

Alex shot him a scowl and screamed, “Well, what is it, then?”

Scott took in a deep breath. He watched as Cassie continued to hammer on the lead door, and he could hear her, and many others, screaming for help.

The guards disregarded their duties as they crowded around the door, desperately demanding for it to be opened. One of them screamed for everyone to move aside as he lifted his laser gun.

The weapon’s barrel lit up brightly as a blast of red energy screeched towards the door. Sparks flew as the laser made contact, leaving behind a thin trail of smoke and a black burn stain on the polished metal. One by one, the guards turned and fired their weapons at the door, hoping that it would be their key to freedom.

Cassie pushed herself up against a wall. Tears streamed down her face as she slid down to the ground. “God help me,” she weeped.

Panic evolved to hysteria in the chamber as the door showed no signs of giving in. Some guards dropped their guns and fell out of the firing line, searching for another way out of the sealed off chamber.

Scott let out the breath he had been holding. “It’s the pony…”