Realms of Existence

Chapters

II - Divided We Stand
III - Settlement
IV - Passing Moments
V - That Which is Dodged
VI - Mirror's Edge
VII - Relational Geometries
VIII - Interview
IX - Congeal
X - The Cyclic Nature
XI - Ascending Wings
XII - Doubting Minds
XIII - Implosion
XIV - Can of Worms
XV - Welcome to the Show
XVI - Interlude
XVII - Rarity's Realm
XVIII - Betrayal's Vectors
XIX - Meadowbrook
XX - Sperion's Story
XXI - The Eye of Sperion
Epilogue
Credits
I - The Will

II - Divided We Stand

Twilight lit her horn as bright as she could manage and yelled, tearing at the spot in reality the portal had been in moments before. Her purple aura tugged and stretched the space, warping the fabric of existence around her will. She reared back, pulling with all her might, cutting right through with a sickening rip that drove headaches into Rarity, Pinkie, and Spike.

She managed to tear a hole in reality eventually – but it led nowhere, a blackness devoid of anything that rapidly sucked in air from the snowy scene. Twilight closed it quickly. She subsequently stood there, staring, silent.

“Twilight…” Spike said, reaching out a hand.

“They’re gone. Sucked into Celestia knows where. And I brought them here…” She choked on her words. “…I should have just let this be…”

“Don’t be silly Twilight.” Pinkie said, picking up the Seven Sided Chest. “Ignoring a mystery is like receiving an invitation to a party and not going!”

“But-“

“No buts dear.” Rarity said. “While you may have rushed this, all of us agreed to come. There’s always danger in these outings, and we all know it. Now, chin up, and start thinking. How do we get our friends back?”

“How do we…” Twilight pondered this, looking up. “Ahuizotl might have known. He wouldn’t have been here without a reason.

Spike blinked. “Wait, wasn’t he sucked into the thing?”

“Yes.” Twilight said. “But he had to get here somehow. Maybe we can find some clues.” She glanced at the fallen pillar. “…Because frankly I don’t think I can fix that.”

The three mares and young dragon spread out, searching for any signs or clues. They mostly found snow, snow, more snow, and a shadow in the distance that was the Jove. It was really hard to see in the blinding whiteness – were it not for Rarity’s purple frills on her coat, she wouldn’t have been able to even see herself.

About three minutes into the search, Spike got an idea. He began breathing fire to melt ht snow around him. He didn’t actually see much for the longest time, but he eventually came upon a large mound of snow a few yards from the temple. He would have missed it had his flames not exposed the wooden tip of something.

“Found a thing!” Spike called. Twilight teleported there in an instant, carefully watching Spike remove the excess snow. Pinkie was somehow already there and Rarity arrived shortly thereafter, the group working to delicately remove the frigid covering. In a matter of minutes they had uncovered a rather large dogsled, in which many coats were placed, wrapped with twine.

“…He had those poor dogs pull him all the way here didn’t he?” Rarity observed. “My…”

“That is pretty brutal, even for dogs.” Spike said.

Pinkie began sifting through the coats like it was Hearthswarming Eve. “Loot! Loot! Loot! Loot!”

Twilight sighed. “What have you found Pinkie?”

“Let’s see… How to Use a Dogsled… Extra food… Candy canes… Mmmnamffmm…. A self portrait… And a journal.”

Twilight levitated the leather-bound book to herself while Pinkie continued enjoying the candy canes. Most of the book was filled with notes on the Aztrot civilization, the Seven Sided Chest, and a few pages showed diagrams of the temple they were at, labeling the two pillars the portal had formed between ‘the Gateway’

“Hrm…” She said, focusing as much as she could on Ahuizotl’s cryptic handwriting. Most of this was information she had already gleaned from Yearling’s study, but there was at least some new data here. Nothing about her or her friends – thank Celestia – but a lot of mentions of something called ‘The Realms.’

One line in particular stood out to her. They hide in the Realms and have the keys to what I seek… They will hide no longer! Twilight read it aloud.

“So… He was searching for sompony?” Rarity pondered.

“Someone.” Pinkie corrected. “Didn’t know if it was a pony.”

“Yes, well, someone with knowledge or power.”

“Or someone with an ancient artifact of unimaginable doom!” Spike shouted. “What? That’s know the Daring Do books went!”

“Her life was preeeeeeety weird.” Pinkie noted.

Twilight frowned, continuing to flip through the book. “This doesn’t tell us how to re-open the portal – he was depending on us to put the Chest in. He had no idea who built this place or how it worked… He just knew it was what he needed. A portal to another world. A Realm.” The journal began to tremble in her magic. “So this is useless!”

“Not completely!” Rarity said. “We know more now. Perhaps we can find a way to open our own portals to these Realms – or bring a team in to fix this one. You are a princess Twilight, and this is probably important enough for you to exercise your privilege.”

Twilight looked at Rarity thoughtfully. “You’re right. I just… Feel really bad about all this is all.”

Rarity put a hoof on Twilight. “I already told you to stop that. Something like this was bound to happen eventually. We’re all worried and scared – wondering what, if anything, could have been done differently.”

“No use dwelling on the past!” Pinkie chimed in. “Focus on the present! It has gifts!”

Twilight nodded. “Of… Of course. Get them back. Spike, ready a letter to Princess Celestia.”

“This is going to be a nightmare to do in gloves…” He muttered, pulling out a quill and scroll from his pockets. “Okay, Ready.”

Twilight cleared her throat.

Dear Princess Celestia

Our venture into Yakyakistan has been met with tragedy. We opened up a tear in reality and were attacked by the being known as Ahuizotl. Rainbow Dash, Starlight Glimmer, Applejack, and Fluttershy were all sucked into the tear before the temple broke from our conflict, preventing us from moving to rescue them.

We need to get them back as soon as possible, the real we saw was not a calm place. I do not know what we need to do this, I am still in a state of shell shock, but I do know we need ponies. Scientists, engineers, wizards, workers. We need them to study this place, tear the temple apart looking for answers.

In addition, order every book on Aztrot mythology, relics, and culture you can. I expect it may not be as much help as I hope, but we must leave no stone unturned.

Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Friendship.

Twilight stopped speaking. “And send.”

Spike lit it on fire and it carried away in the breeze, a small puff of green smoke.

“And now we start tearing this place apart before anything even arrives. Pinkie, lets see if we can move the fallen pillar…”

~~~

Infinite spheres of all sizes and materials. The world was filled with them. They ranged from sizes too small to see to tremendous globes that dwarfed the largest of stars. There was no pattern or organization to the spheres – giving the entire realm a look of rainbow static, nothing but the random objects visible in all directions for eternity. In the distance, spheres spontaneously burst into flames, producing all the light the world had.

Without light coming in from the portal, the small amount of light that came from the distant spheres wasn’t much, giving the world a dark ambience that readily flickered. The Realm was colorful – but dulled most of the time, and violent at others.

The combustion of a sphere of purple wood caused Rainbow Dash to stir. She opened her eyes to see the burning globe closing in on the blue one she was laying upon. She yelped in surprise and scrambled out of the way – the fireball missing her by mere inches.

“The heck?” She yelled, disoriented. “Where am I?”

She had to think for a moment… She was sucked into that weird portal and… She didn’t remember much else after that. It was just a bunch of spheres and a headache…

Why was it darker than before?

She didn’t have time to ponder this, for Starlight fell out of the sky at that moment, landing a few meters away with a sickening thud. Rainbow Dash rushed over to her – only to recoil when she saw the unicorn. Half of her face was caved in, pieces of her skull were visible, and blood was pouring down her entire face. Her winter coat was fading, her magic no longer keeping it active.

Miraculously, her horn was still in tact – and glowing faintly. A healing spell started to exert its power over her smashed skull, sliding chunks of bone back into place and resetting her jaw. She started screaming as soon as her mouth became functional again. Her skull popped back into shape with a sickening crunch, and her one swollen eye returned to normal.

She was still screaming in pain, even as she managed to stand back up.

“S-Starlight!”

“AAAAAAAAAH!” She yelled, slapping herself across the face. “Ah… Ah… Ah… ha…” She breathed in and out heavily, bringing herself to a calm mental state. “Okay… I’m fine now…” She shuddered. “Do not get crushed by the small ones…”

It was in this moment Applejack fell on top of Starlight, forcing her back onto the ground. “Ow.” Applejack muttered.

Starlight levitated Applejack off, standing back up. She was still somewhat shaky. “So… found Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow Dash was still in shock from seeing her friend’s skull reform itself.

Applejack blinked. “You okay Rainbow?”

“My skull got crushed by a stray sphere.” Starlight said. “The healing process wasn’t… Pleasant. For either of us.”

“No kidding!” Rainbow Dash blurted.

“Well…” Applejack looked up. “We’re stuck here for now.”

Starlight nodded. “At least there’s breathable air here. And a lot of other things…” She looked at the spheres that went on for infinity. “…Okay, I’m going to say it. What is this place!?”

“Ball world.” Rainbow Dash offered.

“Ah’m of the mind that’s not a good name.” Applejack said.

“Why not?” Rainbow Dash said, indignant. “Balls are all there are here! Nothing but balls for miles around!”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Perhaps we should find out how to get out of here rather than argue about what to call it?”

“And how are we going to do that?”

“Well-“ Once again, an interruption occurred. The blue sphere they were standing on just vanished into thin air. They were adrift, drawn slightly towards a tiny brick ball. Otherwise there was no way to orient themselves, no force keeping them on a ground.

Rainbow Dash tried to fly elsewhere, but found that her wings didn’t do so well without a ground of some sort. She bumped into a cork sphere. “Ow. This sucks.”

Applejack glared. “You’re one to talk – you have wings. Ah’m just sitting here, getting dragged along by Starlight.”

“Hey, it’s not that bad.” Starlight said. “This way you don’t have to worry about random balls crushing you, I can keep you away from them!”

The cork ball took this moment to explode violently, singing their coats and ramming them into a newly formed sphere of mossy substance.

“Great job.” Applejack muttered.

Starlight ignored her. “So soft and green… Bliss… Bliss…”

“Get ahold of yourself!” Applejack yelled. ”This place is dangerous! We’ve got to be on guard!”

Starlight shook her head. “Right.” She tied herself to Rainbow Dash with a magic rope. “Take off your coat Applejack, it’s only gong to hinder you.”

Applejack nodded, doing what was asked, while Rainbow Dash tried to tighten the magic rope further.

Starlight smiled. “Alright! Now we won’t be separated!”

A sphere appeared right in the center of the magic rope, severing it cleanly. It then started belching fire in all directions. Starlight teleported all of them to a large, metallic sphere where gravity was half of what they were used to.

Rainbow Dash blinked. “What the heck is this place?”

Starlight raised a shield, protecting them from a bullet-like sphere. “A very unstable place where matter and energy are in constant flux…”

“What?”

“Things explode and appear for little to no reason and things like gravity are arbitrary.” Starlight clarified.

At this remark, the gravity of the metal sphere increased tenfold, pressing the three mares to the ground.

Starlight yelled in frustration. “I can’t keep this up!” She teleported them to a pink bouncy ball. It cushioned them from the powerful gravity of the metallic sphere on the other side.

Applejack knew Starlight was telling the truth – she couldn’t keep them safe forever. Her power was being strained to its limit just to keep them alive, and she was going to be completely drained soon enough…

The gravity reversed, tossing them into the air towards a giant ball of fire. Starlight lit her horn, but had her focus broken by a stray concrete sphere that beaned her in the face. She could no longer stop their descent.

Rainbow Dash acted, grabbing the two of them in her hooves and flying away from the ball of fire, using it as the ‘ground’ in her frame of reference. Seconds later, the gravity abated and they were once again adrift. Starlight regained her focus at that moment. “…Thanks Rainbow. I…”

“We’ve got to look out for each other.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Incoming!” Applejack yelled. A red gelatinous sphere impacted the three of them, jiggling as it did so. There was no gravity coming from it, but it was sticky.

“Eech…” starlight shuddered, removing herself from the depression she made. “Disgustiong…”

Rainbow Dash liked it. “Mm. Cherry.”

“Discord’d be right at home here…” Applejack observed.

“Most certainly.” Ahuizotl said. The three mares looked up in alarm, seeing the doglike being standing on an onyx globe a few yards above them. “He does seem like the sort of person who would enjoy this delicious randomness.”

“Ahuizotl!” Starlight yelled, firing a laser at him. “This is all your fault!”

Ahuizotl leapt to a cloud-like globe, the laser hitting the onyx sphere and vaporizing it. “Ah, yes, this most certainly is my fault. But allow me to point out that we are all stuck here and have our lives threatened.” He smirked. “Perhaps we should consider-“

Rainbow Dash launched at him and socked him right between the eyes. “That’s for threatening my friends!” She bucked him in midair. “That’s for trying to take over the world!” She roared, charging again. “And this is for Daring Do!”

Ahuizotl grabbed her with his tail. “You know, you are just as headstrong as her as well.”

“Let… Go!”

“No. How stupid do you think I am?”

“Pretty Stupid.” Applejack said, landing squarely on Ahuizotl’s head and smashing him into the cloudy ground.

He stood up slowly. “You fools! We will die if we don’t work together!”

Starlight froze him in a magic crystal, her face contorted in rage. “I will die before I work with you!”

Ahuizotl managed to shatter the crystal, revealing some impressive strength. “Fine the-“

Then the cloud sphere vanished and the four of them fell onto a globe made of slime.

“Augh!” Starlight yelled. “Why does it have to be sticky again?”

The others were just as stuck as she was, none of them able to move a significant amount.

“Maybe we should be paying attention to the scenery…” Applejack muttered.

“Oh ho ha.” Rainbow Dash said, struggling wildly. “I’m going to get you Ahuizotl!”

A bright light suddenly shone down on all of them – a burning sphere the size of a castle had appeared above them and was on a collision course.

“Fools!” Ahuizotl yelled. “You’ve doomed us all!”

Starlight lit her horn, preparing a teleport she wasn’t sure she had in her. She was very low on power and couldn’t see her friends very well…

Then something unexpected happened.

Somehow Rainbow Dash tore herself from the sticky ground – snapping it as if it were chalk – and flew into the air. She pushed her hooves forward, yelling. The flaming sphere started to move backwards the moment she made the motion, no longer in danger of crushing them.

“…What?” Applejack said. “Did I just see what a think I saw?”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “…Did I do that?”

“You sure did.” Starlight said, staring. “I have no idea how though.”

Rainbow Dash grinned. “I’m just that awesome.”

Starlight finally managed to free herself and float over to Ahuizotl. She glared at his stuck form.

“You need me.” He said.

“No, we don’t.” She summoned a pointed spear. “You’ve hurt so many. Letting you continue would be wrong-“

“What are you doing Starlight!?” Applejack yelled.

“Taking care of him!” She yelled back. “He’s been offered Redemption multiple times- I read those books! He denied it every time!”

“But we don’t do it this way!” Rainbow Dash retorted.

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “Sombra?”

“That was regrettable.” Applejack said. “Ah wouldn’t do it again unless there was no other choice.”

Starlight twitched, getting the impression she wasn’t going to win this argument. “Then what are we going to do with him?”

Ahuizotl looked ready to speak, but Rainbow Dash took the moment to knock him out. “That.”

“Fine.” Starlight said. “But now he’s just another thing that’ll get in the way…”

The slime sphere burst into light, burning all four of them. They would have been goners in a matter of seconds, the intensity far too much for their bodies. But a streak of grey and red shot towards them in the nick of time. With a single motion, the sphere of light vanished, leaving three singed mares and Ahuizotl adrift.

Starlight healed herself again, dipping into the reserves of her power. She breathed heavily, beginning to heal her friends, growing more and more exhausted.

The streak flew into her sight.

It – he – was a grey Pegasus with a red and orange mane. His face was serious and his cutie mark was that of a red cube interlaced with a green sphere.

He spoke in a language none of them understood.

“Oh boy…” Starlight said, lighting her horn for another spell, filling them all with an 'air of translation.' She breathed heavily. “Can… You… Repeat that…?”

He raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing out here?”

“Lost.” Starlight said. “Got tossed into this place…” She blinked. “My gosh… How do you survive here…?”

“Who are you?” Applejack asked.

“I am Trekker.” He said. “I live in the nearby settlement.” He raised a wing, and an incoming sphere of tungsten was vaporized. “Come. We can talk where it’s safe for you.”

The mares glanced at each other, all nodding. Not like they had much of a choice.

~~~

Fluttershy was in midair, hovering.

She had been there for the last several minutes, slowly flapping her wings, otherwise motionless.

She was trapped here – here in this foresty area. She couldn’t see very far into it – all around there were dense branches with giant rustling leaves alit by a soft yellow glow that permeated the Realm from all directions. Left, right, forward, back – even up and down were all covered in trees – or perhaps, more accurately, one single tree. She couldn’t see the ground or the sky.

A small butterfly flew past her face – a blue species she wasn’t familiar with. It ignored her presence, moving on without a care in the world. Fluttershy watched it disappear behind a leaf, and once again everything was still.

She had to admit, there were worse places to be trapped. It was calm, peaceful, even pleasant here. Had she been in a happier mood, she probably would have explored the forest.

As it was, she just sat down on the nearest branch, waiting for her friends to reopen the portal. They wouldn’t just leave her here, after all. It’d be a bad idea to move, it’d make it hard for them to find her.

A long time passed – she didn’t know how long. She saw a few animals during her wait – mostly bugs, a snake that looked a lot like a vine, and a three-tailed squirrel. None of them paid her much mind, though the squirrel was spooked when she tried to talk to it.

She heard some birds tweet in the distance – a conversation about finding food and avoiding predators. Nothing unusual, though it confirmed that predators did exist. She’d have to make sure they knew who was boss if any showed up.

She heard a long, deep, droning noise in the distance – she had no idea what animal it was from, but it was the sound of a gentle giant who was a little bored.

Her stomach growled. She was getting hungry… How long had she been waiting here? Hours probably – though the yellow light hadn’t changed in intensity at all. Maybe this world had no night.

She heard a hiss to her left and whipped her head that direction. A green snake with an orange head at either end was preparing to bit her, fangs ready.

“Stop that.” She ordered.

The double snake stopped instantly, clamping its mouths shut.

“Not very nice, sneaking up on somepony you’ve never met.” She said.

The heads apologized in unison.

“Thank you. From now on, only hunt what you need to, okay?”

It nodded slowly, heads down.

“Aw… don’t be like that. Here.” She hugged the snake, smiling. “Nopony got hurt, all is forgiven.”

One of the heads smiled. The other didn’t seem happy yet.

“Oh, well, I suppose if you really want to make it up to me you can tell me where I am.”

The heads glanced at each other before hissing.

“The Tree?” She looked around once more. “How big is the Tree?”

The snake hissed again.

“It contains everything?” Fluttershy looked into space – that was certainly something. Assuming the snake was right, the entire world was just one big tree filled with animals and life of all kinds…

“Have you seen any ponies? Like me?”

The question confused the snake. It couldn’t decide – there were creatures like her, but none that felt the same as her. And it didn’t remember the last time it had seen anything like her.

“Hm… Thank you, you two. You’ve helped me a whole lot, really, you have. You can go back to hunting now.” She turned away, staring into space, thinking.

“You’re still here.” She said, several minutes later.

It hissed.

“Fine, you can stay. I have to know what to call you though.”

The heads blinked – the concept of a name was foreign to the snake.

“Can I name you then?”

The heads nodded, not sure what exactly was being asked.

“Then… You are Lou and you are Roy. How’s that?”

Roy liked his name, but Lou wasn’t so sure about his. But they accepted the labels in the end, slithering onto Fluttershy’s back and draping themselves around her neck.

“Now now, no chocking.” She said, smiling warmly. Her stomach rumbled. “I really am hungry… I don’t eat meat, know where to find some berries?”

Roy pointed his nose to the left, arcing over Fluttershy’s head. She nodded, spreading her wings and fluttering that direction. The very next clearing had a berry bush growing out of one of the many branches. The bush in question was filled with white and blue berries. She munched them eagerly, enjoying he minty taste of them... “Pinkie Pie would love these…”

She became sad suddenly. It had been hours – her friends were having difficulty getting to her. While they wouldn’t stop trying, they might have to work for days – weeks even – before they could get to her.

She’d have to live here until then…

While not horrible it would be incredibly lonely…

Lou and Roy nuzzled her – they didn’t know why she was sad but they knew she was. She smiled. Animals were almost always nice. Maybe they weren’t as deep or complex as ponies, but that was why she liked them.

So full of life…

She heard something rustle to her left, setting Lou and Roy on edge. She whipped her head that direction to see something long, black, and huge slithering around them. It was oily, leaving inky splotches on the leaves it touched.

Fluttershy began to shake – that was a huge creature, and it didn’t feel like a nice one.

Suddenly its front shot out of nowhere, revealing it to be a giant worm with many teeth in circular rows. Lou and Roy hissed in panic, and Fluttershy only had the briefest of moments to do anything. So she faced the beast directly and gave it the Stare.

Several things happened at once.

The creature stopped charging.

Its teeth retracted into its mouth.

A strange thing appeared between Fluttershy and the worm – a silvery urchin shaped creature, metallic and slightly smaller than a pony. It floated there, shifting its spikes around as if it were made of a liquid, yet never losing its hard metallic appearance.

The worm fled the moment it saw the urchin creature, yelling in fear.

Fluttershy looked carefully at the spiky thing, unsure of what to do. It had scared off that worm but it hadn’t done anything else…

Five long, winding threads shot out of the thing, wrapping together with each other and forming a single limb. The new limb rotated around for a while, always connected to the main body, but seeming to move independent of it.

“H-Hello?” She said.

It stopped moving the arm. “Oh! Sorry.” It spoke, stopping for a moment. Its voice was male, but didn’t sound right – there was a droning to it, the pitch was odd, and the syllables didn’t seem natural. “I had forgotten about speaking… Haven’t for ages.”

He used his limb to point at himself. “I’m Sperion. How have you managed to get into the Realm of Life, little pegasus?”

III - Settlement

The cold wind continued to blow more and more snow into the temple grounds. Twilight had realized long ago that attempting to clear the snow itself was a fruitless endeavor, doomed to be undone faster than it was accomplished. Instead, she was examining the place where the pillar had broken off. What was inside the lapis column amazed her – there were wires of magical crystal inside, laced in patterns far too complex for her to understand – she suspected some were even too small for her to see. She had determined the purpose of the pillar early on: draw tremendous quantities of vis from the surroundings in a particular way, and pump it all into the Gateway pillars.

The problem she had run into was that a simple mend spell wouldn’t work – she didn’t have all the pieces, since some of it had crumbled into dust. Such a spell cast without all the pieces would just guess what went in the empty spots, and with something this complex it was pointless.

She had tried reaffixing the column three separate times despite this. She made sure to undo the spell every time it failed to work, and lifting the tremendous column burned huge quantities of her energy. She ended up lying in the snow, exhausted. To put icing on the cake, they were losing light by which to work. It would be night in under an hour.

“Twilight…” Spike said. “You need to take a break. Let’s go to the Jove and sleep.”

“I can’t Spike! Every moment I wait something could happen to our friends! They could move further away! They could get hurt! They could… They could…” She started crying. “Spike, what have I done?”

“No, don’t do that.” He said. “You are Princess Twilight Sparkle, and you know your friends don’t want you blaming yourself! They want you on top of your game and ready to take on anything!”

“I… I know you’re right Spike.” She sniffed. “But I don’t know what to do… I feel helpless…”

“Wait for the team Celestia’s sending. Until then, you can go check in on Rarity, then maybe go to sleep.”

“That’s… a good idea Spike.” She picked herself up, and shook the snow off her coat. She trotted over to the table Rarity had set up – upon it was a lot of snow, dozens of empty cocoa cups, and a pile of a dozen or so spheres made out of seemingly random materials.

Rarity had a golf-ball sized globe of pure diamond in her telekinesis right now. “So sparkling… So wonderful! I’m going to turn you into a necklace!”

Twilight sighed. “Not now Rarity, we have to know what these things are before we start messing with them.”

“Well, I can confirm that your scans were right. They are perfect spheres made out of a uniform material – even when the material shouldn’t be uniform. See this?” She said, lifting up a green one. “Moss. Or, rather, the components of moss smashed up in a blender and arranged into a perfectly round shape.”

“None of them have changed since you’ve gathered them?”

“None I would have noticed. Maybe they just don’t change outside their world?”

“Maybe…” Twilight said, frowning. “It’ll require more research.”

Pinkie appeared, setting a tray of four cocoa cups on the table. “Back! Also found a radio in the Jove’s trunk!” She tossed the brown box onto the table and turned it on. The static-corrupted sound of Yak music came out of the speaker.

Rarity winced at the powerful thundering beats. “Er… Better than nothing I suppose”

Spike walked over and took a swig of cocoa. “Well, look at all these balls we have. Who wants to play marbles?”

“Spike, I’m not sure now’s the time…” Rarity said.

Pinkie shook her head. “Nah, we aren’t doing anything more right now anyway. It’s a perfect time! Might as well set it up.”

“No using the spheres as marbles!” Twilight twitched. “We’re studying them.”

Spike raised his hands in surrender. “O-Okay… Pinkie, got some marbles in your mane?”

“Do I ever!”

As the two of them set up the poorly planned idea of snow marbles, Twilight scrunched her muzzle, trying to fight back the biting cold.

Pinkie was just about ready to shoot a marble when she frowned. “Does anyone hear that thrumming?”

“That’s the ‘music’ dear.” Rarity said.

“No, the thrumming’s coming from above us.” Pinkie said, gesturing.

A dark form appeared in the skies where Pinkie was pointing, casting a dark shadow over them. The form moved past them, descending to a point where they could see it – a dull golden airship with the mark of Celestia imprinted on it. The cabin was large, metallic, and covered in military markings. The front hatch popped open, and a dozen royal guards in winter armor walked out in formation, alongside no small number of construction and scientist ponies.

“They’re here!” Twilight teleported over to them. “Okay, we’ve got a lot of snow to uncover. Who’s in charge of this expedition?”

“That’d be me.” A red and orange unicorn said, stepping into the light. She wore no coat and her cutie mark was that of a raging sun. The snow evaporated as it touched her.

“Sunset?” Twilight blinked. “How…? Why…?”

Sunset smirked. “Good to se you too. And good to be back as well. Anyway, to answer your questions, after you sent the message to Celestia she knew you’d have a snow problem, and since she couldn’t come herself, she contacted me.”

“What can you do about snow?” Twilight asked.

“My specialty was fire magic Twilight. Think about it.” She cleared her throat loudly, and looked behind Twilight. “CLEAR THE PREMISES!”

Twilight teleported her friends and the table right next to her. “Done.”

“Then stand back everypony…” Sunset said. “It’s about to get hot out here.” She paused for a moment, and then grinned. “Gosh, it feels good to be able to do this again.”

Pinkie wisely chose this moment to put on sunglasses.

Sunset shifted her head and a gigantic fireball appeared above the central pedestal, shining down with the power of a sun. The brilliance made all but Pinkie, Twilight, and Sunset look away in pain. The snow around the temple began to steam, wafts of vapor trailing into the air, creating a powerful current of warm air.

Twilight clapped. “That’s amazing Sunset! At this rate it’ll only take a few minutes!”

“Seconds.” Sunset corrected, adjusting her horn again. The miniature sun shot out a tremendous laser of fire that vaporized the snow in a large area instantly, cutting a circular path through the accumulation in a second, taking only six more cycles to completely uncover the blue temple.

The temple was a lot taller than any of them had previously thought – the columns had only been two thirds visible, and the pedestal had been raised well over a story off the ground. The ground itself was a smooth blue heptagon shape upon which everything stood. Beneath the two pillars that had housed the portal, several spheres that Rarity had missed in her search stood, mostly unharmed.

Twilight noticed runes in the bottom step of the seven-sided staircase that led up to the pedestal. It wasn’t Aztrot – it was something she had never seen before.

Despite herself, she grinned.

It was time to actually begin the study of this place.

~~~

Trekker was not a pony who answered questions, Starlight noted with immense annoyance. Nor did he talk much at all, beyond ‘don’t do that’ and ‘stop being stupid.’

He had just spread his hooves and created a smooth disc out of the air. She asked how he did it. He sad ‘the Power’ and refused to make any further comments.

When she asked how he got the disc to move, he said the same thing. Apparently it was the reason for every damn thing he could do – cancel unwanted gravity, blow spheres away with a look, and change the shape of whatever he wanted.

She got no explanation whatsoever for why the world seemed to be his to control.

“You’re pretty awesome with this Power stuff.” Rainbow Dash commented. Trekker made no response, instead focusing on moving the disc they were standing on top of through the world, destroying spheres in front of them with little to no effort.

Applejack and Starlight exchanged glances – they really didn’t trust this stallion. But he was effortlessly keeping them safe from the dangers of this world, so they didn’t really have much choice. He was a guide who refused to elaborate on anything.

Ahuizotl began to stir from his slumber. Starlight wasn’t having any of that, casting yet another sleep spell on him. She still thought he needed to be dealt with, but her friends objected, so she was refraining for now. But she would never take her eyes off him. He was not going to slip away.

They rode on in silence for several more minutes, until at last Trekker spoke of his own volition.

“There it is.”

Starlight looked ahead – and saw something that wasn’t a sphere. It was a well-lit structure composed of wood, glass, stone, and other materials arranged in a house-like formation that spread out in every possible direction. It was huge – Starlight estimated it could house ten thousand ponies – and it was shifting before her eyes, moving a section to the left, folding an entire tower upwards, expanding a hall… It never stopped the constant ever-changing motion. Ponies could be seen walking and flying around it – and every sphere that approached the structure vanished a few meters from contact.

“Woah…” Rainbow Dash said. “What’s it called?”

“New Mareu.” Trekker responded.

“Finally a legitimate answer…” Starlight muttered.

The disc carried them into New Mareu, passing several ponies on the way. Most treated the sight of the disc as something normal, but a few paused to look at them curiously. Rainbow Dash looked back, watching the citizens of this unusual city. She saw ponies conjuring things and shapes out of thin air, installing doors in walls they felt like walking through, and walking on the ceilings – or were they walls? It was all a little mind-bending, but she found it absolutely fascinating.

“So awesome…” She said.

The disc landed inside New Mareu, on a circular wooden outcropping. Trekker made it vanish with a stamp of his hoof; his four passengers drop a few feet to the ground. He gestured for them to follow, creating a doorway in a nearby wall.

Starlight lifted up the prone form of Ahuizotl, and they followed Trekker. They ran into a few ponies on the way – a few greeting Trekker, a few looking at Ahuizotl in confusion, but most left the group alone. Some even shot Trekker wary looks before scampering off. It was as if they knew to give Trekker some space and not ask him questions.

After a few minutes of walking through mazelike halls, rooms, walls, and balconies, they finally came to a strange place composed of ancient stone, upon which was engraved words in a language Rainbow Dash recognized.

“Aztrot!” She said. “Those are Aztrot glyphs!”

Trekker raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, continuing on.

“Do you know what it says?” Applejack asked.

“Er… No. Twilgiht would though.”

“I would very much like to meet this Twilight.” A new voice said – that of a unicorn mare. She stood in the center of the ancient seven-sided room they had entered, her sleek green form draped over a chair in the center. Her eyes matched her coat, and her mane was a brilliant, almost luminescent, white that contrasted deeply with the red sphere that was her cutie mark. She looked at all of them intently, face betraying nothing more than curiosity, before she looked back at the thousands of ancient words that lined the walls of the room. All were in Aztrot, and they seemed to scream out to the world that they were important beyond measure.

Starlight blinked. “Twilight? We’re… separated from her, sorry.”

The mare nodded. “Figured as much, judging from your tone earlier. I am Overglobe, welcome to New Mareu.” She folded her hooves and let a slight smile come to her face. “You no longer have to be afraid. You are among friends. New Mareu is safe from the chaos of the rest of our Realm.”

“That’s mighty kind of you.” Applejack said.

“It’s just what we do.” Overglobe stated. “Though you seem… different than most others we’ve found out there. You look surprised at everything. Shellshocked.”

“Yeah, see, we’re kinda not from around here.” Rainbow Dash said. “Where we come from giant spheres don’t constantly try to kill you and ponies can’t just make things appear out of thin air!”

Overglobe frowned. “That… sounds wonderful. I presume you’re trapped here?”

“Yes.” Starlight said. “This guy here – Ahuizotl – interrupted us when we activated a portal between our worlds. WE don’t have a way back right now, at last until someone figures out how to reestablish the connection.”

Overglobe nodded. “First, let me make it clear, you are free to stay here as long as you want, we won’t change or policies just because you are unusual.” She glanced at Ahuizotl again, furrowing her brow, as if she was not sure what to make of him. “Please, introduce yourselves and tell me your story.”

They did so – Starlight and Rainbow Dash doing most of the talking, Applejack making sure they didn’t exaggerate anything too much. Overglobe said almost nothing while they told their story, nodding and pondering what was being said.

“…And then we were led here.” Starlight finished.

“You’ve had quite the ordeal.” Overglobe observed. “Your world sounds so… serene. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be torn form that to this place.”

“You don’t know the half of it…” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“Mmm.” Overglobe nodded. “Can you wake Ahuizotl up? I wish to hear his side of the story.”

“I can…” Starlight paused. “But are you sure you want that?”

“I can take care of myself.” She said. “Do it.”

Starlight grimaced slightly, but lit her horn anyway. Oveglobe stared at the magic spell in fascination, but said nothing. She redirected her gaze at the waking form of Ahuizotl. “What do you want Ahuizotl?” She asked.

He stood up and rubbed his eyes, yawning. “Well, I see we’ve found the locals. Of course they won’t trust me now, shame. Would have made things so much easier.” He looked at Overglobe. “I am simply looking for the sage known as Meadowbrooke.”

“No idea.” Overglobe responded.

“Why are you looking for her? She’s long dead!” Starlight said.

“Oh, but you see little pony, that’s where you’re wrong. She unlocked the secret to eternal life, and then vanished. I’m sure she fled into the Realms to hide her discovery. Use that tiny brain of yours to figure out what I want.”

“Immortality…?” Applejack said. “Really? Aren’t there other ways?”

“This is not my first attempt.” He deadpanned.

Starlight nodded. “Yeah, haven’t you read the books Applejack?”

Applejack looked sheepish. “Ah... No?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “She’s not a big reader.”

“You weren’t either, at first.” Applejack reminded her.

“Well… Yeah fair enough.”

Overglobe seemed mildly intrigued by this exchange, but said nothing about it. “Well we will allow Ahuizotl to remain here, but he will be watched, as will all of you. If you prove yourselves to be harmful we will eject you, but I find that unlikely from what I’ve seen here” She looked at Starlight. “Is his race common where you come from?”

“He’s the only one I’m aware of.” Starlight said. “Though there are lots of other non-ponies in our world.”

Overglobe nodded. “Trekker, what do you make of them?”

“The dog is unusual, pathetically weak in the Power. The unicorn and earth pony have above average levels, though they’ve obviously never used it. The Pegasus has the highest presence of the Power I’ve ever felt.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Is… that good?”

Overglobe smirked slightly. “It is for living here. The Power is what we use to survive here – without the guardians like Trekker here New Mareu and any of the other settlements would just fall apart in a few seconds. The globes are just too violent and unpredictable for anyone to survive otherwise.“

“Ah. That explains a lot.” Starlight said.

“I’m sure it does. The Power allows us to manipulate matter and energy itself – we can change the composition and shape of anything, which is how we make things out of air itself. We can control an object’s temperature, can change the force of gravity itself, manipulate magnets and light, and convert matter directly into energy.”

Starlight realized something in that moment. ”Hey, wait a minute. That’s exactly what the globes are doing outside. Matter, energy, and forces – all being manipulated haphazardly!”

“I understand that it is very different where you come from.” he said. “I do not know if the power exists there… But you have it here.” She turned to Trekker. “Are you willing to show them some basics so they can get around here?”

“Fine.” He said. “I will show them. Not the dog though. Too weak.”

Ahuizotl shrugged. “My resources have always been more mental and charismatic, my fine Pegasus. I am not devastated that I will not be taught how to survive here by your obviously experienced and battle-hardened self, and will instead be content with meditating on pr.” He smirked.

Overglobe raised an eyebrow at him. “Feisty.”

Ahuizotl didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Come with me.” Trekker said. “We will practice just outside.”

Leaving Ahuizotl with Overglobe, Trekker led the three mares to a flat room. Starlight felt nervous about not being able to keep an eye on Ahuizotl, but Overglobe looked able to watch herself – and she probably had that Power up her sleeve as well.

“Lesson one.” Trekker said suddenly, spreading his wings.

“Wait, we’re starting?” Starlight said. “No dimension theory, no ex-“

“Gravity.” He said, flapping his wings and quadrupling the gravity in the room. Starlight and Applejack crumpled instantly. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth, keeping her footing. She grinned at Trekker. “That all you got?”

He flapped his wings again, doubling the force. Rainbow Dash flattened like a pancake while her friends roared out in rage at her arrogance.

“The lesson is over when you stand up.” He said.

Starlight lit her horn, lifting herself up – and the gravity increased again.

“No horn.” Trekker glared at her. “The Power needs no tricks.”

Starlight groaned. This was going to suck…

~~~

Fluttershy had determined that Sperion was an excellent listener, sitting completely quiet while she told her story. He didn’t ask questions, moved his center in a nodding motion when appropriate, and didn’t seem to look anywhere else the entire time. Though he didn’t have any ayes, so it was somewhat difficult to tell what he was actually looking at, if anything.

“…And then the worm thing attacked and you saved me.”

Sperion shook his center. “Actually, I only scared it away. You were the one who stopped it.”

“Oh?” She said. “So the Stare worked?”

“Definitely.” Sperion floated into the air and pointed at her with his limb. “It’s how I found you – you were giving off such a powerful signal that I had to come instantly just to see what it was.”

“Me? Oh no, I don’t have any sort of power…”

“Don’t sell yourself short.” Sperion said. “I can feel the strength inside you – you are connected to the very essence of this Realm, to life itself.”

“Oh. …That’s nice.”

“You have no idea what I’m talking about.”

Fluttershy blushed. “Yeah…”

Sperion chuckled - a strange artificial and flat sound. “You have the inflection of life, that means you can manipulate biology; you can control muscles, make animals like you, and incite growth in living beings. Like this.” He touched his limb to a trunk, and a small branch grew out of it into the air.

“Woah…”Fluttershy said.

“The essence of life offers much more than just that.” Sperion said. “With skill you can alter your own body – something I sadly cannot do – and even create life itself!”

“Create… life?” She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

“Like this.” He said, plucking a piece of bark from the tree. “Hard to find nonliving material in this realm, but bark is close enough.” He tossed it into the air, and the piece of bark opened up a pair of brown scratchy wings, flying away.”

Fluttershy stared at the place it had been moments before. “Uh… Will it be okay?”

“Unless a predator finds it, yes. I made sure to give it a mouth to eat with.”

Fluttershy looked at Lou and Roy. “And you say I can do that? That the Stare is… part of it?”

‘You have the strongest inflection of life I’ve ever seen; of course you can. Here, try making this leaf grow. It’s possible to-“

Fluttershy Stared at the leaf and it grew tenfold in under a second.

Sperion was silent for a moment.

“Did I do okay?” Fluttershy asked.

“…Excellent. You know most have to make some sort of physical motion or gesture to use their inflection. And even then most still need training. You really are amazing.”

“Oh. Um… Thank you.” She blushed.

“Anyway…” Sperion waved his limb around to initiate a topic change. “You say you arrived here through an ancient portal in your world?”

“Mhm.”

“And you have no idea how to get back?”

Fluttershy drooped. “No… I’m stuck here until they come for me. And it looks like it might be a while.”

“Don’t worry about yourself.” Sperion said. “You have the power to survive and thrive here.” He made a sighing noise – just as artificial and scratchy as every other noise he’d made. “I was hoping you knew how to travel the Realms…”

“You’re stuck too?”

“In a way. I rather like this Realm – it’s more peaceful than the others – but I have this ‘curse’ on me that makes me change Realms every couple dozen hours.”

“You can’t stop anywhere? That’s horrible!”

“Yeah, it is. Even though I’m used to it by now I’d like to stay somewhere awhile again… Or at least control where I’m going.”

Fluttershy frowned. “Do… Do you want to go to my world?”

“No. Your world is not for me.” He turned, Fluttershy getting the impression he was staring far into the distance.

“…Do you go to the place with the spheres?”

“The Realm of Power? Yes, why?”

“That’s where my friends are stuck.”

Sperion thought about this closely for the first time. “…I hope they found a settlement quickly, the Realm of Power is rather brutal.”

Fluttershy winced. “Can you go check on them? You will be taken there eventually right? Their names are Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Starlight Glimmer.”

“I’d be glad to, Fluttershy.” Sperion said, turning slightly. “But until I shift, we should make you a place to live. A cabin.”

“Do I have to Stare at the poor tree? I don’t want to force it…”

Sperion laughed. “You really are precious, you know that? You have a power – you shouldn’t be afraid to use it.” He touched his limb to a branch, and it began to grow dozens of branches out the side, forming a platform. Vines climbed upwards, creating walls, and a bunch of smaller branches clung together at the top of the growing enclosure, making a leafy roof.

“There, a single-room cabin. That should get you started. Alas, I am about to be swept away.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Thank you for your help mister Sperion. How long till you get back?”

“Seven jumps. It will be a while.” He said. “But I will return to you – just use that Stare from time to time. Don’t be afraid of it!”

“Okay.” Fluttershy agreed. “Bye for now!”

He was already gone, vanishing without so much as a flash of energy.

Fluttershy walked into the cabin, taking Roy and Lou off her neck. “I’m going to sleep for a while, okay? If anypony shows up you can wake me.”

They nodded.

Fluttershy curled up on the leafy floor and quickly fell asleep, dreaming of her friends… and Sperion.

IV - Passing Moments

Twilight once again woke up to the frigid feel of Yakyakistan air blowing through the flap of her thermal tent. The thing had never managed to stay closed an entire night, despite her best efforts. With a groan, she conjured up her winter garb and stepped outside, careful to close the tent flap so Spike could continue sleeping.

The night sky was brilliant – the stars flickered their light down on the snow, and the Aurora was at full strength, dancing across the sky towards the horizon. Not as brilliant as the lights at the north pole, but the magnetic phenomena was still breathtaking to behold.

She walked in the multicolored light, trudging through the deep snow, taking the view in as she went. It was beautiful, serene, almost perfect…. Would be perfect, if there were not one blemish on the snowy horizon, six blue pillars standing tall, a reminder that her friends were still gone. Had been gone for almost an entire week.

Twilight teleported herself to the temple, the area kept free of snow by a dozen mini-suns kept in place by Sunset’s magic. Their warmth was welcoming, though their dimming was a reminder that they’d just need to be recreated come morning. Which was in an hour or two, she judged from the stars’ positions.

She walked over to the tables covered in artifacts – all of which were either more spheres or Aztrot relics that didn’t match the design of the temple whatsoever. It was as if the Aztrot had just found this place and made it their own.

Which brought up the question of who built the temple and how? It was more advanced than anything anypony – or yak – had ever seen! It was decades, perhaps even centuries, more advanced than anything they had at their disposal!

How?

She combed through the artifacts again – all Aztrot living implements, things found at all the ancient sites all over the world. Though they were strangely far north, which raised a few questions, but the Aztrot were known for spreading over large distances. However, they usually kept records – and little to none were found at this site. There was no evidence that there had even been an archive building anywhere near the temple, and all Aztrot communities had a record hall. Plenty of regular building space had been uncovered, just adding to the mystery.

She shook her head. It was an ancient puzzle and the lives of her friends hinged on it. They’d had no luck whatsoever in repairing the temple, the pillar never reaffixing correctly, the wiring just too complex for any of them to figure out. The closest anypony had gotten was making the pillars spark violently, nothing more.

She walked to the central podium, looking intently at the heptagon shapes hole. She growled. “Why? What’s the point?”

“You probably don’t want the answer to that question.”

Twilight yelped in surprise, taking a few moments to realize whom it was. “Pinkie!? You scared me!”

“Yeah. Sorry about that.” She smirked. “Saw you awake. Thought you could use some company.”

“Thanks.” Twilight said. “I’m just… It’s hard. I don’t even know if they’re still alive.”

“They’re our friends Twilight! Do you think they’d ever give up?”

“No…”

“Then don’t lose your faith! We’ll open a portal and find our friends!”

Twilight sighed. “At this rate, that may take months, even years. The best mages cannot figure out how the portal was activated… We can’t fix it… And the Aztrot aren’t here to be answer questions!”

“Twilight.” Pinkie said. “We’ll figure it out. We just have to stay determined.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “You’re right Pinkie. I… I know that. Still hard, but thank you.”

“It’s what I do.”

The two mares sat, looking at the sky in silence for some time. Eventually, the sun rose, blanketing the snowy landscape in brilliant beams of sunlight. The team began to wake up, tent flaps opening by the dozen. Ponies and yaks once again stated studying the temple, discussing amongst themselves what they thought of during the night, and all in all working together as a good, functional team. It made Twilight smile – Yaks and ponies didn’t usually get along well, but here they were, trying to solve an ancient mystery together.

Rarity trotted up to Twilight and Pinkie, yawning. “What are you two doing up so early?”

“Talking.” Twilight said, looking at Rarity. “You sure you don’t need to go back to your boutique?”

“Darling, wouldn’t dream of it. I’m sure it’s running just fine without me – it’s not like Ponyville needs a lot of clothing. Though I do feel sorry for Coco, poor thing is overworked as it is.”

Twilight nodded. “Of course. Pinkie, you don’t have to-“

“I’ve missed two birthdays. But… This is more important.”

Twilight beamed. “Thank you girls. You are all that’s holding me together right now.”

“Same…” Rarity admitted.

The three hoofbumped and set to another day of work. Rarity went to the table to organize artifacts, cataloguing every trait she could think of. Twilight met up with the mages and scientists to discuss theory while Pinkie went around with a tray of warm baked goods on her head for everyone to take as they wished.

Sunset stood atop one of the pillars, looking down at the bundled up ponies and furry yaks below. She frowned. There wasn’t much progress here. They had learned a few interesting things on the first two days, but beyond that… Nothing much had turned up. They still hadn’t translated the writing on the steps, nobody had even the slightest idea where to start with it. They were sitting in this snowy place, freezing to death, finding nothing new…

The mini-suns went out, Sunset re-casting them over the course of the next fifteen minutes, using a lot of her energy in the process. Breathing heavy, she leapt off the pillar.

Back in Twilight’s tent, Spike woke up with a powerful belch. A letter appeared in his hand, addressed to Twilight. He quickly realized that it was day, running out in a mild panic. “Twilight! Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“You needed your sleep.” She said, a smirk on her face. “What do you have there?”

Spike handed it t her, and she read diligently.

Twilight,

We found the following image under a bookshelf in Yearling’s vault. Considering where you are, we thought it best to send it to you.

-Moondancer.

Affixed to the letter was a photo – dirty, colorless, and faded, but still decipherable. It depicted a vast, sprawling desert with a few cacti here and there. A temple composed of seven identical pillars stood atop the sands, their height basking the desert in shadow.

“Another temple…?”

~~~

“Don’t worry Mistletoe, it’ll all be ok!”

“Just try not to focus on the pain!”

Mistletoe cried, holding her broken leg. Her parents glanced to each other, trying to balance her on a disc and move her as fast as possible through the halls of New Mareu. It was a tricky proposition, but they managed to rush through the chaos, creating doorway after doorway in a rush to get their filly to the right mare.

They slid her into a perfectly cubical room fashioned out of a purple crystal. They paid no attention to the books, scrolls, and magic crystals littered, around, caring only to find the mare that lived here.

“Starlight!”

“Hm?” Starlight said, looking up from her book. “Oh.” She said, seeing the filly’s broken leg. “Let me fix that…” She trotted over to the whimpering filly, casting a mending spell on the broken leg. Mistletoe screamed in pain the moment the bone snapped into position. The pain ceased immediately after that.

“There you go, good as new.” Starlight said. “How did you ponies survive without me?”

Mistletoe’s parents thanked Starlight profusely, creating flowers from the air for her. “Thanks?” Starlight said, taking them in her telekinesis. “You really didn’t have to…”

“You saved our daughter.”

“Broken legs will heal eventually.” Starlight said. “But thanks anyway.”

They left shortly thereafter. Starlight chucked the flowers in the ever-growing pile of gifts she had received ever since the Ponies of New Mareu had discovered magic spells could heal all the injuries they kept getting. Using the Power to shape biological tissue had never gone well, and doing such a thing outside of a life-threatening emergency was banned in any case. Starlight had discovered first-hoof why the practice was considered diabolical, for she had been given a stallion to heal yesterday who’d had the Power used on him. It had been one of the most horrifying things she had ever seen, his mouth on the side of his head, while his tail was embedded into his leg, blood vessels flowing along the outside.

She had managed to help him, but he left with a faraway look in his eyes. She knew she would never forget those eyes…

Starlight turned back to her book - a New Mareu history book from the library, one of the rooms where using the Power wasn’t allowed since the objects within couldn’t be recreated. Starlight was let in regularly and allowed to borrow books since she had never been able to tap into the Power effectively – she did manage to eventually stand up hours after Applejack and Rainbow Dash that first day, but could hardly do anything beyond that.

No, instead, she was a new sort of guardian for New Maeru. None of the unicorns could craft spells of any kind – save Overglobe, and Starlight had to teach her. As a result, Starlight was unique, the only mage the ponies of New Mareu had, filling a hole their guardians couldn’t. So what if she had stopped training with Trekker? The ponies still loved her, and she was useful.

Plus, she didn’t like Trekker very much.

Starlight put down the book, sighing. Who was she kidding; her inability to use the Power bothered her. She had a latent inflection on the level of Applejack, and yet the earth pony was already making doors in walls, and all Starlight could do was keep from dying when a bowling ball was thrown at her head.

She frowned, deciding she should go take a walk. That almost always meant getting lost in New Maeru, but she had discovered that sometimes it was good to be lost in a safe place. She marched out of her private room and began her walk. A few ponies waved to her as she passed by, letting her know she was becoming part of the community. It was a nice feeling, she had to admit. A bit like how she felt when she moved to Ponyville, now that she thought about it.

A wave of sadness hit her and she drooped. She was trapped here – maybe forever – likely never to see any of her friends again. Trixie, Twilight, Pinkie, Discord, Thorax, Sunburst…

She shook her head – Twilight was probably hard at work fixing the portal. There was no reason to be worried about them; they were safe. Starlight, Rainbow, and Applejack were the ones in danger.

Starlight hoped they weren’t presumed dead.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she bumped into something large and furry.

“Ahuizotl.” She glared.

“Ah, fancy meeting you here.” He chuckled. “Last I knew you were on medic duty, staying where everypony could find you.”

“I can take walks. And breaks.” She said. She recognized where they stood, the grand hall outside Overglobe’s office. “Talking to Overglobe again are we?”

Ahuizotl grinned. “Jealous?”

“Suspicious.”

“Ah well, such is as it will be. You continue thinking what you think while I get what I want.”

Starlight bristled. “You want too much.”

“And yet, try as you might, you don’t see how I plan to get it or how to stop me.” He chuckled. “You’re cute when angry.”

Starlight twitched. “I am going to grill you one of these days.”

“You are welcome to try. Until next time, Starlight Glimmer.” He bounded off, a piece of parchment in his hand.

Starlight groaned – she hated him and his hammyness. She poked her head through the doors. “Overglobe?”

“Yes?” She said, looking at the writings on the walls.

“You do realize he’s selfish and cares only for himself right?”

“Oh definitely, he makes no attempt to hide his self-centeredness.” Overglobe tore her gaze away from the writings and stared Starlight right in the eye. “It’s just that right now being my ally is a good thing for him.”

Starlight sighed. “He will backstab you.”

“Not if I do it first.”

Starlight took a step back. “…Wow. You’re good at this.”

“There’s a reason I’m in charge.” She said, rubbing her hoof over the ancient inscriptions. “So much history here…”

“Has he been useful in the translations?”

“Extremely so. But nothing new today, just more of the same. Our ancestors found the temples, believed them to be gifts from the gods, and migrated much of their population through the portal to the Realms.” She shook her head. “Nothing but legends beyond that. Take this one for instance.” She cleared her throat.

Once the world was in turmoil. Demons ran free and peace was unknown. Everypony lived in fear of their lives, hundreds dying daily.

The world was about to end.

But heroes rose from the ashes, an alicorn, two earth ponies, two pegasi, and two unicorns banded together. Suing their impressive powers and knowledge of the Realms they banished all the Demons and paved the way for our society to form. The Seven passed to us one of their god-given blessings, a Seven-Sided Chest. Our king watched over it his entire life, using it to remind all of the day Demons used to rule the earth.

As for the Seven, none know exactly what happened to them. Many think they went to live normal lives, while others suggest they undertook adventures in far away lands. It is prophesied that one day, seven more heroes will rise to vanquish a completely new threat. We await their coming.

Starlight remembered something Twilight mentioned. Two earth ponies… Two pegasi… Two unicorns… An alicorn… That can’t be a coincidence… However, she didn’t vocalize her thoughts. She just shrugged. ”Interesting - what’s it mean?”

“No clue.” Overglobe said. “But it’s an important part of our culture.”

“Ours has something similar.” Starlight said. “Our history books start in the age of Demons – before the unicorn, Pegasus, and earth pony tribes existed the world was overrun with monsters. From what I understand the Mesoponies were the first to come out of the darkness, but I’m not a history buff.”

“Mmm…”

Starlight took the hum as a signal to leave. Overglobe was a mysterious mare who appreciated her space. Starlight wasn’t sure if she liked the mare or not.

Starlight stepped out onto a balcony, watching a few of the guardians shape New Mareu, keeping it safe from the random globes. She remembered that Rainbow and Applejack were out there training today. She wondered what they were doing…

~~~

Rainbow Dash grinned, her wings holding up a sphere the size of her house back home. “Ha! Look at that!”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Raw power doesn’t do it Rainbow, haven’t you been listening?”

“Yeah yeah, but come on, doesn’t this-“ She suddenly found herself pressed into her own sphere. “Hey! What gives!?”

“Increased the gravity of your sphere.” Trekker said, looking down at her disapprovingly. “You lost focus. Had a dark sphere appeared, you would be dead now.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Rainbow Dash said. “I’ve never seen one of those black-“

Trekker raised a hoof and transformed a very distant brick globe into something featureless and black. It twisted the fabric of reality around it, distorting the appearance of the spheres behind it, and furthermore devouring all the spheres around it in an instant. Rainbow Dash and Applejack felt it pull on them as well, forcing them to use the Power to maintain their stationary position.

Trekker made it dissapear, then glaced at Rainbow Dash, indicating she should respond.

“Th-Those can just appear?” She said.

“Yes. They are ne of the greatest threats our world has to offer. Luckily they are rare.”

Applejack nodded. “Very lucky. We woulda died had one of those shown up when we arrived…”

“You have the skills to deflect them now, as long as you remain aware.” Trekker looked into the clearing he had just created with the dark sphere. “While not perfect or skilled enough to be guardians of the settlement yet, you should be able to survive out here on your own. Though I have my doubts.”

“We’ll keep our guard up.” Applejack said. “Well… Ah will.”

“Yes.” Trekker turned to Rainbow Dash. “You have enough power to become a guardian. I would consider enrolling in the Academy once I am done cementing the basics into your head.”

“I… I’m honored.” Rainbow Dash said. She had long since given up on him complimenting her in any way, much less suggest she was ready for big things. “But… I have a home. This isn’t it.”

“You may be stuck here.” Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond but Trekker’s look told her not to interrupt. “You do not need to decide now. Just think about it.”

A high-pitched and unstable voice rang through the area. “Her future? Oh that’s rich! Considering you didn’t let me choose!”

Trekker’s eyes went wide. “Get down!”

All the globes in the nearby vicinity exploded. The three ponies diverted the light and energy around them with the Power, keeping themselves from intense burns.

“Oh look at that, they really are skilled!” The voice giggled. “Looks like you really found someone you could be proud of!”

“Daughter or student?” Applejack hissed to Trekker.

“Both.”

“That ain’t good. How bad’s her grudge?”

“Lethal and insane.”

“Mighta warned us about her… How do we fight her? We can’t see her!”

“Are you talking about me?” The mare in question asked, her location still unknown. “Silly, trying to plan against Implode Baskets! That-“

Rainbow Dash burst into laughter.

“…What’s so funny?”

“That name.” Rainbow Dash said. “Implode. Baskets. That just sounds ridiculous!”

“Rainbow Dash don’t antagonize her…” Applejack hissed, to no avail.

“I mean, what do implosions and baskets even have to do with each other?”

Implode was silent for a few seconds. “I am going to hurt you. I won’t stop. Even after you’re dead.”

“Try it missy.” Rainbow Dash dared her.

Implode dropped the rectangular shape she had created with an image of the distance on it. She was feet away from Rainbow Dash. “Okay.” She said, her smile splitting her face. She was a very red Pegasus, with yellow and orange tints in the mane, and powerful bloodshot eyes. Her left eye twitched as she created a ball of fire next to her. The ball of fire ejected a cone-shaped blast into Rainbow Dash at point blank range, sending her flying.

“Aw, that felt-“ Implode held up a hoof, stopping Trekker’s energy beam attack mindlessly. “-good.”

“What is your deal?” Applejack yelled, creating her own pony-sized sphere of fire and tossing it.

“Daddy issues.” She said, blowing the fireball away with her breath. “I was a gifted youth…”

Trekker hit her with a steel pole, sending her downwards. “No.”

“What? Don’t want them to know?” She growled. “I’m your daughter damnit!”

“You-“

“Blah, blah, heard the whole disownment thing before. Give it a rest for once.” She dodged several dozen of Trekker’s pillar-shaped attacks. “You’ve done it enough times.”

Trekker just glared at her, silent.

“You never could handle it.” She spread her wings, releasing pure light from them. Trekker intercepted the light with ease, but Implode took the opportunity to entrap him inside a concrete globe – that he promptly shattered.

“I hate you.” She growled. “You just can’t be hurt! You just stand there and take everything! Why can’t you let me win anything!?”

“There is no winning.” Trekker said.

At that moment Implode felt a rope tighten around her neck, making her gag. “Now Rainbow!” Applejack yelled, holding fast on her lasso.

From nowhere, Rainbow Dash charged with a burst of rainbow power, unleashing a Rainboom right in Implode’s face. She screamed in pain, drifting away from the explosion. “The Tartarus was that!? That wasn’t the Power!”

“Nope. But this is.” Rainbow Dash smirked, lifting her wings and generating a gigantic globe of coal. She ignited it, focusing its energy forward in a cone shaped explosion that completely engulfed.

“Oh yeah! I’m awesome! Totally awesome!”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Don’t get cocky…”

“So…” Implode coughed, holding her legs in pain, her mane heavily singed. “She’s got raw Power.” Her eyes focused, generating a dozen needles around Rainbow Dash’s neck, each one long enough to pierce all the way through. Rainbow Dash forced herself to be motionless.

Implode was about to make another remark when something appeared in front of the blue Pegasus. It was silver, spiky, flowing, and had a single limb.

Wait… Two limbs. It waved one of them, removing the needles from around Rainbow Dash’s neck. “Rainbow Dash, I presume?” He spoke in a synthetic voice. “Fluttershy sent me.”

“Wait, Fluttershy? How?”

“I’ll explain in a minute. Right now you appear to have a problem.” He rotated, directing one of his limbs towards Implode.

“The freak are you?”

“Sperion.” He waved a limb, and suddenly Implode’s wings disappeared. She began to scramble in a panic – she needed those! How had he gotten rid of them? The Power couldn’t do that so cleanly…

Sperion cuffed her hooves together with a silvery material he created from the air. “There we go, she’s all yours.”

Trekker narrowed his eyes. “…Thank you… Sperion.” The compliment came out with an undertone of distaste.

“Glad to help.” He turned to Applejack. “Applejack then?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. All I have to go off of are names here, sadly. And while you think pony names and appearances would match up, that’s not always the case. Starlight?”

“Back at New Mareu.” Applejack cocked her head. “You said you were from Fluttershy?”

“Oh yes, I found her in the Realm of Life.” He waved a limb. “Helped her find her inner strength. She asked me to check in on you. She’s fine herself, living in a tree cabin last I saw, waiting for me to come back with news.”

“She got stuck too?” Rainbow asked.

“Ah, yes, unfortunately. I take it this means you haven’t had any luck returning either?”

“Nah.” Applejack said. “We’re stuck livin’ here, waitng.” She frowned. “Can you take us to her? Or her to us?”

He paused for a moment. “Sorry. My curse is only applicable to me. I am doomed to wander the Realms in a never-ending circle, no choice really. I’ll be gone in a few dozen hours.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Well, any friend of Flutters’s is a friend of mine, no matter how weird they look.”

Sperion let out his synthetic laugh.

“…Or sound.”

Sperion laughed again.

“…Anyway, you need to show us what awesome stuff you can do! And what you know!”

“Starlight’d love to meetcha!” Applejack added.

“And I’d love to meet her!” He paused. “Stars, it’s been a while since I entered a settlement here…”

“Why?”

Sperion didn’t answer the question. It was as if he didn’t hear it.

Trekker watched the silvery being slowly, eyes narrow. He didn’t like unknowns. And they just kept showing up.

~~~

Fluttershy’s little cabin was now a twenty-story mansion filled to the brim with animals. She flew down the many floors, saying hello to all the birds, frogs, snakes, rabbits, butterflies, mushroom dogs, spore clouds, and mood grasses. It was even bigger and more diverse than her tree back home, and it had much more variety to it as well, thanks in no small part to her newfound abilities.

Fluttershy had to admit, the Realm of Life was lovely – and here she had the ability not only to build her own house, but mend any animal’s wound just by Staring at it – no more complex healing processes that took weeks to work, just a small tweak of life itself.

She feared using it at first, but once she saved a six-legged squirrel’s life with the ‘inflection’ she found it wasn’t something to fear, it was something to use, to help the animals. She could bring life! It was such a warm and happy feeling. The animals loved her, more so than they did even at home. More and more came in every hour – there was no day or night here, so she had no idea what day it was, but Fluttershy assumed she had been her for well over a week.

“Lou, Roy, share that mouse.” She chided. “You both have the same stomach so you won’t go hungry if you only get half a meal.”

Lou and Roy hissed, but obliged.

Fluttershy stuck her head through the fine-laced window, fixing her gaze outside. She had told the Tree of Life to grow away from the house, creating a rather large clearing with a ground – a pasture of sorts. She could see cows, giant flies, some of those black worms, and even a few dinosaurs roaming around out there.

And a pony.

Her wings shot up in alarm and she flew out quickly – a pony! Another pony to talk too! She just had to make sure the predators in the pasture didn’t try to eat them. Luckily, a certain dragonfly tiger saw her coming and backed off. Fluttershy landed, looking at the brown Pegasus closely. His wings were injured, so she Stared at them and healed them, almost without thinking. “There you go, good as new! Um, who are you?”

She frowned. There was something wrong with his eyes. They looked… shallow. And he had no cutie mark, despite being a full grown stallion.

Fluttershy paused. “Mister?”

He grunted, flapping his wings and smiling, walking closer to her.

“Well… come on in.” She said, frowning. He understood, but he understood her, not the words she was speaking. The understanding of an animal.

“Oh my…” She said. “What happened to you?”

He said something about breaking his wings in a flying accident.

Fluttershy shuddered – it felt so wrong to talk to him, a stallion, like he was an animal.

He ravenously dug into the grass Fluttershy had grown as a carpet, then curled up and started sleeping without another sound. He hadn’t been antagonistic, predatory, violent, or dominating…

But he still scared her.

He was wrong.

V - That Which is Dodged

The Jove was docked right outside Twilight’s Castle, casting a mildly ominous shadow on the town of Ponyville. Inside the castle’s library, three ponies and a dragon were pouring over dozens of books all sharing a similar topic.

Botany.

“Twilight!” Rarity shouted. “Perhaps this is it?”

Twilight teleported over to Rarity’s book and frowned. “The spines form in patches of twenty-three, not twenty-two.”

“Oh. Sorry, don’t mind me.” She bristled. “Stupid cactuses always look so similar…”

Twilight looked at the faded photo once more. All the cacti were of the same species, though only one was close enough to the camera for any detail to be seen. It was becoming very evident that the idea of a quick plant identification was a lost dream. They had been here for hours…

Spike groaned. “This sucks. We are close to something, we just can’t locate it!”

Pinkie pursed her lips. “Hrm… What we need is some kind of breakthrough…”

A deep amused voice filled the room. “Did someone say breakthrough?”

“Oh no…” Twilight said.

“Oh yes!” Pinkie shouted.

A hole was blasted through a wall in the castle, revealing Discord in a black suit and sunglasses. To everyone’s surprise, Trixie of all ponies was on his shoulder, also wearing a suit and sunglasses.

“Hi Discord! Hi Trixie!” Pinkie waved.

“Why hello there little pink fluff!” Discord said.

Trixie took of her sunglasses. “You find them yet?”

“Sorry…” Twilight drooped. “The Yakyakistan temple is still broken, and we have no idea where this image was taken.”

Discord teleported the image to his eyes. “A desert. Seems obvious.”

“There are over a hundred deserts worldwide, some tremendous in size.” Twilight said. “Just looking at them one at a time would be a pointless waste.”

Trixie shook her head, sighing. “We’re just worried, that’s all. Trixie hasn’t left town for a week…”

“I know.” Twilight said. “And I wish I had better news, but this image is all we-“

“Wha-ha-ha!” Rarity trilled. “Darlings! I found it! The northern giant barrel cactus!”

Twilight teleported over, and everyone else crowded around the small book. Twilight’s eyes lit up. “She’s right! This is it! It says here that they can only be found in the Zahara…”

Twilight facehooed. “The largest desert in the world. Just our-“

Discord snapped his fingers and suddenly the six of them were knee deep in sand, inches away from a northern giant barrel cactus. There was no evidence of a temple anywhere in sight.

“Discord!” Twilight yelled. “We needed to prepare! Pack water! Desert gear! Make plans for the expedition!”

Discord snapped his fingers and everyone was outfitted in sand-proof fabrics from head to toe, and everyone got a canteen. “You were saying?”

“We… We… We still need a plan!”

Rarity put a hoof on Twilight. “Twilight, you can’t honestly tell me we were going to do anything different from just wandering around the desert searching?”

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but then shut it, realizing Rarity was right.

“Woohoo!” Pinkie said. “Desert adventure! Let’s go… That direction!”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Wait! Do we have the Seven Sided Chest?”

Discord snapped his fingers and it appeared in his hands. “We do now.”

“Draconequus is OP, please nerf.” Pinkie said.

“Oh, like you aren’t.” Discord muttered.

Pinkie shrugged. “Eh, touché.”

Trixie started guzzling her canteen. Twilight was about to chide her on wasting water, but then realized that Discord was here and such worries were pointless. The four mares, Spike, and Discord travelled through the Zahara seeing the sights – which was sand, cacti, and not much else.

Trixie panted. “It’s… So… Hot…”

“Tell me about it…” Rarity said, looking equally as parched.

“We have an infinite supply of water and we’ve only been walking for ten minutes!” Twilight snapped.

“It’s… The heat…” Rarity said.

“Not thirsty…” Trixie continued. “Just… Being fried like an egg…”

Discord snapped his fingers and doused the unicorns in ice water. Trixie let out a sigh of relief while Rarity shrieked. Everyone started laughing. Rarity rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, I suppose it is a good way to stay cool isn’t it?”

They continued onward, leaving a miles long trail of their own foot and hoof prints behind them. They wandered the desert for the longest time, the sun beating down on them. The simile Trixie had offered earlier was well suited to the situation.

Trixie groaned. “Trixie hates walking.”

“Oh look, Trixie doesn’t like walking,” Discord muttered. “That remind you of anything? Hrm…?”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you and walking, riot.” She looked at Pinkie. “Trixie envies her energy.”

“Everypony does,” Rarity said. “It’s what makes Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie.”

“How can she be so happy at a time like this?”

Rarity smiled. “It’s her job to spread happiness. She can’t do that if she looks depressed. She is affected, and sad, but she doesn’t let it show most of the time for our sake.”

“Huh,” Trixie said, drooping. “She’s a great pony…”

“Now don’t get all self-pitying here. Not everypony can be Pinkie Pie. In fact I’m pretty sure Pinkie Pie is unique. You don’t have to be happy all the time – sometimes sadness is all you can be, and it’s perfectly fine.”

Trixie nodded. “…I miss Starlight.”

“Well then, let’s rectify that and find her!”

They continued on through the sand for a few more minutes.

“There has to be a better way to do this.” Twilight said. “We’re not covering much ground. And I think we’re lost.”

Rarity shrugged. “You could scan with your magic.”

“I’ve been doing that. Nothing.”

“Split up?” Spike offered.

Discord and Pinkie facepalmed. “That’s daft!” Discord said.

Trixie spoke up. “What if we have Discord make a plane and we fly over large portions of the desert at a time, all six of us looking out at different directions?”

Twilight blinked. “…That’s a good idea. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Fixated and worrying.” Pinkie said. “You need to loosen up a little.”

“I know… It’s just hard. Discord! Make that plane!”

Suddenly the six of them were inside a glass donut, sailing across the sands at high speeds. “This is your captain speaking, prepare for slight turbulence during our flight. And do keep an eye out for our destination; we seem to have lost it in a gambling accident. In other news, you have your refreshments; now stare out the window! Not like you have much choice in the matter unless you seal your eyes shut!”

“Peanuts for everyone!” Pinkie squealed, tossing peanuts everywhere. Trixie caught one in her mouth. “AGH! Salty!” She yelled, grabbing her neck and rolling onto the floor.

Pinkie just giggled.

They tore their attention from the peanut fun and onto the expansive desert. After about fifteen minutes they realized one thing – the desert was just as boring from above as below.

“There’s nothing here.” Trixie said.

“There was that zebra caravan a while back!” Pinkie reminded her.

“And that was different how? This is Zebrica! It’s where the zebras are!”

“Eh, not as many in the desert.”

Spike let out a cry of jubilation. “I think I se- oh wait. No, that’s just a bunch of cacti.”

“False alarms from Spike: 5,” Discord said. “At this rate he’ll win the competition by a landslide, seeing as no one else has had one yet.”

“H-Hey!” Spike said. “I’m doing just fine…”

“Pfft, you’re far too-“

“There it is!” Rarity yelled pointing a hoof into the distance. “Seven orange pillars, right over there!”

Everyone looked – sure enough, there it was, a temple identical to the one in Yakyakistan, except it was orange and half buried in sand instead of snow.

Discord landed the donut and made it vanish with a quick motion of his hands. Twilight stepped out and held up the picture – it matched perfectly, though the southern giant barrel cactus was much larger now due to decades of growth.

Twilight frowned. Something was eating at her – something about their location. “Hold on… Discord, what’s the closest Zebra settlement?”

Discord extended himself far into the sky and produced a pair of binoculars. “Clopro.” He said. “Several miles that direction.”

Twilight bit her lip. “Clopro… That was where they found A. K. Yearling’s body. We... might be in danger.”

Trixie tensed. “What!? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“It didn’t matter until now okay? Discord just swooped us to the Zahara and I didn’t have time to ponder where we were going!”

“Oh, blame this on me?” Discord looked offended. “I got us here faster than any other way, we’ll be able to save Fluttershy nearly instantly. Even if we were in quote unquote ‘danger,’ whatever it is could not take on the lord of chaos!”

A gigantic beam of energy shot Discord’s head off. He regenerated it with a ‘splat!’ sound effect. Fire burned in his eyes. “Someone is very, very stupid.”

Twilight raised a magic shield, the beams of energy coming at them from al sides. “Where are they?”

“How should we know!?” Trixie screamed. “You’re the alicorn!”

“I’m keeping this shield up!”

“I’ll find them,” Discord said, teleporting high into the sky, seeing instantly the magic source of the multidirectional beams. He appeared at said location and brought a giant hammer down upon the caster. The hammer snapped in half upon impact with its target, a very large pony in a dark desert cloak. The pony a strange silvery color about them, and a strong stance.

“Oh so you can take a hammer then? How about this?” A torrent of sand launched out of the ground, transforming into candy corn bullets and battering the target dozens of times a second.

The pony in question raised their snout to the sky – crating a giant sphere out of the air which promptly ignited, blasting Dicsord with a cone of energy. He deflected it with ease, only to see three copies of the pony charging him. He lashed out with his claws, tearing the cloak of one of them. He realized that another one of the cloaks already had a small tear identical to the one he just created…

“Hacks! I call time hacks!” He yelled.

The ponies said nothing, only revealing more copies of them.

“Badger, you’re annoying.” He said. He clapped his hands, transforming every last one of them into oranges – and they somehow changed themselves back. They blasted him with magic beams, ridding his snakelike form with holes that sealed up virtually instantly.

They charged him, and Discord decided he’d had enough. He snapped his fingers and stopped time. They kept moving anyway, creating dozens of spheres and tossing them at him. He even felt a few mental attacks hit him, trying to distract him.

He growled, pointing a finger at the sky. The entire area rippled with chaos energy, the ground transforming into a checkerboard pattern, and gravity becoming a mere suggestion. The ground itself latched onto all the ponies and smashed them into one being, which Discord pummeled with a thousand anvils. “And we’re not done yet!” He lifted the pony into the air and hit them with a baseball bat, making something inside them crack sickeningly. They went flying across the desert, no control over their trajectory. “Hooooome run! And now we hope for the hole in one!” He teleported back to Twilight’s shield, catching the pony before impact. “Score!”

“Did you really have to go full chaos?” Twilight said, finding it hard to stand on the new ground.

“Oh yes, they had a lot of tricks. Now, let’s see who they are…” He ripped the cloak away.

They were… a robot. The limbs were chrome, the eyes a bright yellow. It had both metal wings and a crystal horn, and instead of a cutie mark there was an engraving of a heptagon with a circle inside it.

“Robocorn!” Pinkie said. “So cool!”

Twilight frowned. “What are you?”

The robot said nothing. Twilight wasn’t sure if it could say anything. “Discord, imprison it in Tartarus, we’ll look at-“

Then it was gone, leaving nothing but a depression in the sand. Everyone was silent.

Trixie summed the mood up best.

“The buck!?”

~~~

New Mareu was abuzz with rumors - the ponies just couldn’t stop talking. It had been weird enough when Starlight, her friends, and Ahuizotl showed up, but now there was this Sperion thing as well?

Everypony got the impression that times were changing rapidly and that they needed to prepare for anything.

Overglobe was one of those ponies. Specifically, she prepared by talking to Sperion. A conversation that Starlight really wanted to be privy to, but was politely asked by Overglobe not to be involved in.

Starlight sighed. She hadn’t gotten a moment alone with the spiky ball yet. He was always either talking to somepony else, or in public talking with lots of other ponies and being sociable. She didn’t want to ruin that – judging by what she’d heard, he rarely just talked with ponies. But his time with them was running out, she knew it. She needed to talk to him about his curse – she needed to know what it was.

She sat down at a table Rainbow Dash was eating at. “You got to talk to our visitor on the way back from the outside right? What’s he like?”

“Oh well… He’s friendly. He didn’t get mad at anything anyone said… And Trekker was pretty rude to him almost the entire way back – though that may just have been because of Implode.” She snickered. “Anyway, Sperion… He likes everyone, helped all of us whenever he could, and hunted us down to give us Fluttershy’s message even though he barely knows her! He’s pretty cool!”

“Has he told you anything about himself?”

“That curse of his…”

“Anything else? About other Realms What he is? His history?”

Rainbow Dash blinked. “You know, now that you mention it… No. He hasn’t. But he just seems like the mysterious type, y’know?”

Starlight frowned, nodding. “…Still would like to know more.”

“You’ll get your chance Starlight,” Rainbow Dash said. “Then you’ll realize how much you like him!”

Starlight raised an eyebrow, a playful smirk on her face.

“Not like that! Yeesh.”

Starlight rolled her eyes, sighing. “I just… it feels like he knows something I might be able to use to get us home…”

“Maybe he does!” Rainbow Dash said. “And you’ll figure it out!”

“You are pretty optimistic Rainbow.”

“I try.” Her ears perked up. “I think he’s coming this way now, actually.”

“For the last time…” They heard Sperion’s synthetic voice echo through the halls. “The answer is no, I tell you nothing.”

The responding growl was that of Ahuizotl. “But you know!”

“My life has been defined by not telling people things. That will not change today, and definitely not for you.”

“This discussion isn’t over.”

“Yes, yes it is,” Sperion finalized, floating intot he room. “Rainbow. Starlight. How nice to see you!”

“Sperion!” Starlight said, standing up. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, do you think I could test your curse to see if I can find a-“

“No, sorry.”

Starlight blinked. “W-Well do you at least know how to help us? Have a spell you can teach us?”

Sperion paused, and Starlight got the impression he was choosing his next words carefully. “No.” He made a synthetic sigh. “Starlight, I will never let myself be experimented on. Ever. I will help you however I can, but you can’t use my curse. Anything but that.”

“It’s okay.” Rainbow Dash said. “We understand.”

“B-but…” Starlight stuttered.

Rainbow Dash glared at Starlight. “I said we understand. We can find another way.”

“Thank you.” Sperion said, stretching his two limbs. “If it makes you feel any better, my curse would not be able to take you back home, even if you could control it.”

Starlight sighed. “…Can I at least ask some questions?”

“Sure, ask away.”

“What are you, really? What is Sperion?”

Sperion was silent for a long while, thinking deeply. “…A flawed being.”

“That doesn’t really answer-“

“It’s all I have.” Sperion stated. “There’s nothing to compare me to. Nothing like me. I am unique. I am alone.”

“Sorry to hear that… Um… Have there been any others like us? Getting lost in the Realms?”

Sperion seemed to choke on something. “Yes. I’m pretty sure that’s how the settlements got started.”

“How many Realms are there?”

“Seven, but you probably know this already.”

Starlight pondered for a second. “…What do you know about an ancient Aztrot myth about the Seven?”

“Absolutely nothing.” Sperion responded instantly. Much too fast. For the first time Starlight was convinced he was outright lying, but she didn’t let it show. She tried to think of another question to ask to expose him, but he cut her off before she could ask again. “I’m afraid I must go, I have an errand to run for Overglobe. It was a pleasure, as always.” He left quickly.

“Well that was odd,” Rainbow Dash said.

“He was lying on the last one for sure,” Starlight said. “He knew something and he didn’t want to tell us. I don’t care if he keeps personal secrets, but lying about something like that? It’s not right.”

“You lie all the time.”

“Yeah, well, I…” Starlight bristled. “Fine. Just… I don’t trust him.”

“You can join Trekker in that club. Speaking of which, I need to go see him. Applejack’s probably already there."

“This about Implode?”

‘Yeah. We want to know who she is.”

“Go on then. Maybe you’ll get some actual answers.”

Rainbow Dash obliged, create a hole in a nearby wall and blasting through New Mareu at high speeds. She arrived at a particular room seconds before Applejack. “Ha! I’m here first!”

“Not a competition, Rainbow.” The two mares turned to the cell bars before them, two guardians standing at silent attention. Inside was the wingless form of Implode Baskets. She was sleeping, though twitchy madly as she did so.

“Why are you two here?” Trekker asked, walking into the room behind them. “You know I-“

“Exactly why we’re here. Who is she?” Applejack asked.

“My daughter and student.”

“There’s more to it than that.”

“Which is none of your business.”

“You’re training us,” Rainbow Dash said. “It’s now our business.”

“Fine. She was powerful but unstable. I denied her early entrance into the academy she was positive she earned. She was a brat about it, proving she was worthless and didn't deserve it. I gave her to Overglobe, washing my hooves of her existence. She was banished later for being an insane threat to society. She hates me for it. There you go.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were taken aback.

“You asked.”

“How… How could you disown your own daughter?” Applejack said. “Even if she was crazy you shoulda still watched out for her…“

“You’re wrong.” He glowered. “I care nothing for her. She’s peen a pain in my backside her entire life and I will be glad when she’s executed.”

“W-What?” Ranbow Dash blurted.

“She was still a danger to us in banishment. She cannot be allowed to stay.” He huffed.

Implode Baskets roared, letting everypony know she was awake. “Do you see now!? Do you see who’s training you!?”

“You are my daughter.” Trekker said. She roared – and the other guardians had to subdue her. Trekker left wordlessly.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were speechless. They looked at the prone form of the mare inside the cage and saw a battered and broken little filly… A girl whose father wanted her dead.

It was horrible. Even if she was insane… They felt like they had to do something.

~~~

Fluttershy watched the stallion she had named ‘Browncoat’ sleep. He had been there for several hours, largely unmoving. He was very mangy and wild – the coat was uneven, the mane unkempt, and the hooves cracked from far too much walking. He had many scars – presumably from encounters with predators or just plain dangerous creatures. Yet the scars didn’t seem to bother him whatsoever.

Fluttershy glanced behind her, noticing hundreds of eyes staring over her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes at the several dozen animals hovering behind her. “You know, the mansion has plenty of space elsewhere. Browncoat probably would like some privacy.”

The animals nodded and slinked away one at a time, eventually leaving only Lou and Roy behind. Fluttershy didn’t tell them to leave.

Browncoat yawned, stretching his hooves and rising to his full height – slightly taller than Fluttershy. He looked down at her with longing eyes and grunted.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “No, I amnnot interested.” She said. “Sorry.”

He made a whinnying noise of acknowledgement and proceeded to look out the window.

“What are you looking for?”

He said he was looking for his herd.

“Herd? How many more like you are there?”

Several fours.

“Are they all like you?”

He didn’t understand the question, giving her an odd look.

“Sorry. Do any of them talk like me?”

The response to that was a definite no.

“Oh.” Fluttershy said, sagging. Then a look of determination crossed her face. “You know what? Let’s find your herd. Come on. Lou, Roy, if my friends show up let them know I’ll be back soon. Wave the sign around a lot.”

The twin heads hissed in affirmation.

“Browncoat, I want to introduce you to someone.”

The stallion accepted his name without comment, following her with his mostly blank expression. They went to the top of the mansion, a small wooden spike that poked out of the ‘canopy’ and into a much larger clearing in the Realm of Life – one dozens of kilometers in diameter. Large winged creatures soared across the sky alongside floating serpents and aloof jellyfish. There were hundreds of them visible in the expanse. In the distance, more of the tree could be seen, the slight variations in leaf color visible at such a distance, ranging from blackish-blue to whitish-yellow, all basked in the constant warm glow that came from everywhere.

Floating nearby was a giant manta ray like creature Fluttershy had named Minarette. She was the size of a small boat and loved giving other creatures rides on her back. Browncoat saw her and took a step back.

“Oh it’s okay Browncoat, she won’t bite. She eats the tiny floating animals in the air – not you. She’ll help us find your herd.”

Browncoat agreed, but his pensiveness was still evident. Minarette mentioned that she had seen a herd less than a mile away during her last outing. Perhaps that was the herd?

“It’s worth checking out.” Fluttershy said, climbing onto Minarette and gesturing for Browncoat to follow. He eventually found his way onto the giant ray’s back, twitching nervously. Fluttershy stroked his mane, soothing him. Eventually he clamed down enough that Fluttershy believed he was ready. “Go ahead Minarette.” She said.

Minarette flapped her fins and lazily glided into the air, staying just a few meters from the tree. As they glided across the Realm, birds came to fly alongside them, their luminescent feathers flashing in the warm light. Larger creatures let out deep, droning calls of greeting to them before continuing on their way. Animals seemingly made out of light flashed into existence around them, made some strange geometric shapes, and vanished.

“Isn’t this beautiful Browncoat?” Fluttershy asked. He just stared ahead, face mostly blank, but with hints of concern and fear. She sighed. “Nevermind…” he was just… Different. He needed to be returned to his herd, with those who were like him. She mentally couldn’t handle an animalistic pony.

Minarette announced they’d be arriving soon with a trill. She dove down, through a weak spot in the branches, into a much smaller clearing roughly twelve times her size. The sight they beheld was horrifying.

The entire enclosure was red with blood – some fresh, most not. Bones Fluttershy recognized as pony were strewn about, most picked clean, a few covered in flies. There were dozens of skeletons, all equine in nature, and most brutally tossed aside like nothing.

There was a creature still alive in this carnage, sitting on a pile of the bones. It was red, it was sleeping. It was the largest dragon Fluttershy had ever seen, bigger even than Torch. A few scraps of old and degraded black armor were attached to its body, and a think trail of smoke blew out from its nose.

Fluttershy’s wings shot out in fear and she trembled, unable to say anything to Minarette or Browncoat. The two of them were nervous as well – big as Minarette was, she was also a delicate creature that was unlikely to survive an encounter with a dragon. However, she was still able to keep her wits about her and she slowly began to back out of the clearing.

It was at this point the scent of Minarette reached the dragon’s nostrils. Its eyes flew open wide, murder in its eyes.

Minarette dropped all attempts at stealth, flapping out of the celaring as hard as she could, launching back into the large clearing. The dragon wasn’t about to let her go – with a flap of its own tremendous wings he launched after her. It opened its maw, preparing to torch them.

“N-No!” Fluttershy yelled at the dragon. “Don’t do this!”

The dragon closed its mouth and growled.

“You’ve had enough to eat…” She shuddered, a few tears falling down her face. “Just don’t. Please. No more.”

The dragon said it was sorry, just protecting established territory.

Fluttershy tried to tell the dragon it was okay, but she choked on the words. Dozens of ponies… Or not-ponies… She didn’t know.. All eaten by this creature… She could barely comprehend it…

Wait. “Why aren’t you talking?”

The dragon was confused by the question.

“But… But you have armor! You’d have to make it…” nothing made sense.

The dragon said he’d had the armor as long as he could remember.

Fluttershy couldn’t think about this right now. “I… I’m sorry. Just go. Far away. I’m sorry.”

The dragon flew directly upwards.

“Take us home.” Fluttershy said, unable to look Browncaot in the eye.

~~~

Sperion came to a sudden stop. “You’re following me.”

Ahuizotl stepped out from a hallway. “Can you blame me? I’m curious. Very curious. You are… Unique. Something I have not factored or considered. And you know what I want to know.”

“I will not tell you. You know this.”

“Perhaps. But what if I offered you something?”

“Nothing you could-“

“A way out. There are-“

“Out?” Sperion interrupted, turning quickly. “You think I want to go to Central? You really don’t get me. I want choice. I don’t wa-“

Then Sperion as gone, his curse carrying him forward along his path.

Ahuizotl cursed the Stars for the horrible timing, stomping off in a huff. He was no closer to his goals, and who knew when Sperion would return, if ever.

After he left, Starlight removed her invisibility spell. She smirked. She had one perfect magical Scan of Sperion’s travel to another realm. And she was pretty sure she could mimic it.

She felt a little bad for going against his wishes – but she needed to take matters into her own hooves. She’d apologize to him later; offer him some magical insights, a favor, something. She was in his debt now even if he didn’t know it.

She returned to her room in preparation to use her newfound knowledge…

VI - Mirror's Edge

Twilight set the Seven Sided Chest in the central depression of the temple, the relic clicking into place. In a manner almost exactly the same to the one in Yakyakistan, a tremendous rectangular portal was ripped into existence, the otherworldly window rimmed in red energy. It led to a world no one had seen before, a strange, white expanse with nothing in it at all.

“Boring,” Discord said.

In the Realm, an eye materialized out of nothing and looked at them, a psychedelic pattern radiating from it, beginning to mesmerize the ponies.

Twilight grabbed the Chest with her telekinesis and rotated it. The image change to the world made of all the spheres, the psychic influence having vanished. However, the gravity was so strong that gallons of sand started pouring into the Realm. Strangely, nobody was sucked in.

“Discord-“ Twilight began.

“Yes I’m keeping you down, thank me later. Fluttershy in there?”

Rarity shook her head. “No, but Rainbow, Starlight, and Applejack are. We need to find them first.”

“…Why?”

“Because,” Twilight said. “The longer we leave them in there the less likely they are to… To…”

Pinkie put a hoof around Twilight. “We’ll find them Twilight! Don’t worry!” She turned to Discord. “Fluttershy’s world was a safe one.” She gestured at an explosion in the portal. “And this is nooooooot. So let’s hurry-harry up and search!”

Discord looked ready to let out a long-winded rant, but Trixie stopped him by butting a hoof on his leg. “Please Discord. Let’s get Starlight.”

Guilt crossed his features. “Okay. We find them first.”

“Hold it,” Rarity said. “Some of us need to stay here and watch this place in case there is another attack!”

“Good thinking!” Pinkie grinned, hugging Spike and Rarity close. “We’ll stay!”

Discord snapped his fingers, enchanting the three who were staying behind so the portal wouldn’t pull them in. He turned to Twilight and Trixie. “That leaves us then. Hey Trixiiiiixie!”

“What?”

“Smoke bomb.”

Trixie grinned, tossing a bomb to the ground. When the smoke cleared, Discord, Trixie, and Twilight were no longer in sight.

Spike shrugged. “Those two have a weird friendship.”

“Spike, it’s not nice to judge others.” Rarity admonished.

“Hey, I’m not saying it’s bad, just weird. And that can be very good.” To prove his point he directed Rarity’s gaze towards Pinkie – who was currently patrolling the temple like a guard dog. She was even barking.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Well, yes, I suppose so.” She shifted her gaze towards the open portal, studying the every-changing field of spheres. It was such a contrasting mix. Such order – every last thing in there was a perfect sphere. But also much chaos, for the explosions and collisions were nonstop.

Wait… was that a donut in there?

She did, in fact, see a donut. She rolled her eyes, quickly putting two and two together. “Can’t you do any shapes besides donuts?”

He didn’t hear her, enjoying the feeling of standing atop a donut like it was a spaceship flying through a danger zone. Twilight and Trixie held on for dear life while he sang.

“It’s a magical donut flying through the sky

On a magical adventure with balls everywhere

Oh who would come up with a thought so divine?

In this crazy world that just doesn’t care.”

“Discord!” Twilight and Trixie yelled.

Then he started rapping.

“That’s right, Discord’s the man

Flying foodstuffs are my game

Pound cake, hamburger, left ear corn

Stuffed puppy, ketchup, right bear horn!”

“Discord just take us to Starlight!” Trixie yelled. “I know you have a point-to-pony teleport!”

Discord blinked. “Oh yeah.” He snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. Just to make sure his powers were working he turned every sphere in a mile radius into freshly cooked strips of bacon. “Hrm…” He said. “Odd.”

“Maybe teleports don’t work right here?” Trixie suggested.

Twilight teleported them out of the bacon zone. “No, we’re good.” A mammoth sized sphere of acid appeared inches from their faces, dissolving half the donut. Discord quickly raised a magic shield, vaporizing anything in the immediate area.

“…Did that ball just take a bite out of my donut?”

“Looks like,” Trixie said, biting her lip. “So… If teleports work and we aren’t being taken directly to Starlight, what does that mean?”

Discord said nothing. He didn’t have to.

“Try the others.” Twilight urged. Discord nodded, snapping his fingers twice more, nothing changing.

Twilight began to panic. They weren’t here. She was too late. They were… They were… Tears began to form in her eyes. “N…no…”

Trixie winced. “Trixie… Trixie is… Sorry…” Trixie said, not at all sure what to do in this situation. She was freaking out herself, realizing what this meant about Starlight.

“No!” Twilight yelled again, spreading her wings wide, anger rolling through her wings. “No!” She yelled to the heavens, her eyes turning an intense white.

“APPLEJACK!” She yelled, sending her magic out as far as it could possibly reach.

“Twilight…” Discord said.

“RAINBOW DASH!”

“Twilight!” Discord yelled.

“STARLIGHT GLIMMER!”

“Twilight!” Discord grabbed her. “They aren’t here! They can’t year you! Stop wasting your effort!”

Trixie started bawling. “There’s nothing here! Nothing but stupid deadly balls! Why I oughta just… Just… I don’t know…”

Twilight’s eyes returned to normal. She put her face in her hooves. “D-discord… What have I done?”

“Oh really, putting me on the spot?” He lashed out. “Do I look like the kind of guy who knows how to deal with this?”

Twilight just hugged him, and Trixie did the same. For a moment he froze. Then, with sorrow in his ancient eyes, he returned the gesture. They sat there, on the half donut, amongst the spheres for quite some time, wordless.

“Were you the one calling the names?” A male voice asked.

Twilight looked up to the sight of a large grey Pegasus with an orange and red mane. He floated there, not even flapping his wings.

She sniffed. “…Yes.”

He nodded “I have someone who wants to see you.” He spread his wings, generating a disc to carry all of them. “It will take some time to arrive.”

Discord frowned. “Just tell us where it is and I’ll teleport us there. I don’t have all day.”

The Pegasus blinked. Then he pointed. “Several thousand miles that direction.”

Discord snapped his fingers a few times, initiating tremendous teleport jumps. It took five jumps, but they eventually arrived within sight range of New Mareu, the moving city shifting beneath them.

Twilight, her eyes red from tears, still managed to let out a childlike gasp when she saw the changing city. “I… I… What is this place? How does it work? How do ponies live here? How is it changing? How…”

The Pegasus said nothing. He walked up to a wall and created a doorway, gesturing for them to follow.

“Wh-wh-wha? How!?” Twilight shouted.

“Please stop being so confused. I answered enough questions last time. Overglobe will tell you what you want to know.”

Trixie sneered. “Trixie doesn’t like you.”

“Good.” He said, leading them into a large set of doors, essentially dragging them along with his Power. Twilight quickly recognized the room as Aztrot in design, and assumed the mare on the chair was Overglobe. This was all par for the course.

The fact that Ahuizotl was standing right next to her was not. Twilight yelled. “AHUIZOTL!”

Ahuizotl’s eyes widened. “Oh my-“

He found himself flung into a wall, the force of Twilights alicorn magic threatening to crush his ribcage. Overglobe lit her own horn and surrounded Twilight’s head in dozens of tiny spheres. Discord created a rocket launcher, directing it at Overglobe.

Nobody moved, save Trixie, who leapt into the hallway to take cover.

“Your friends aren’t dead.” Overglobe said.

Twilgiht’s face softened slightly. “…Really?” She said, not sure she believed it.

“We saw them alive and well two hours ago,” she affirmed. “They just left to another world.”

Twilight nodded, dropping Ahuizotl. The spheres vanished and the rocket launcher was dispelled. Trixie inched back into the room. “Why do you let him near you?” Twilight asked. ”Do you know-“

“Yes I know,” Overglobe sighed. “All are welcome in New Mareu until they prove themselves to be too much trouble.” She extended a hoof. “Welcome, Twilight Sparkle.”

“How do you-“

“Starlight told me. Let’s see if I can guess you two…” She frowned. “Discord… and… Minuette?”

Trixie facehooved. “The Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“Ah, of course. Now that we’re not threatening to kill each other, and have completed the formalities, I’m sure you have questisons?”

“Where are they now?” Twilight asked.

“The Realm of Magic, we think. According to our source it’s a purple cloudy place with floating crystals. Can’t be sure though.”

“Why’d they leave?”

Ahuizotl looked like he wanted to answer the question, but Overglobe indicated he should stay silent with a look. “We aren’t completely sure. Starlight somehow worked out a spell to travel with, and used it to teleport her friends and a criminal out of this world.”

Trixie blinked. “A… Criminal?”

“One Miss Implode Baskets,” Overglobe said. “A delusional and insane mare who has tried to kill Trekker over there numerous times, and has killed numerous others.”

Twilight took a step back. “Wh… Why would they release somepony like that?”

“She played them,” Trekker said. “Got them to pity her.”

“We don’t know that Trekker. We haven’t gotten to talk to them about it.”

Trekker said nothing.

Discord frowned, looking around. “Well this has been productive…”

Twilight shook her head. “Overglobe, I’m sorry, but we have to go find them. I’d love to return and learn more about your city, and I have many burning questions, but our friends might be in danger. I’ll see what I can do about this Implode if I find her – but I can give no guarantees. I’ve left them alone for too long.”

Overglobe nodded. “Of course. You will be welcomed back. I look forward to some answers to a few questions of mine.”

“As do I,” Twilight said. “Again, sorry, but we have to go. Discord! Teleport!”

The three of them were gone in a flash.

“Didn’t tell them about Sperion.” Ahuizotl observed.

“They didn’t need to know.” Overglobe said.

Ahuizotl grinned. “You are quite the little mastermind aren’t you?”

Overglobe didn’t respond, instead staring at the ancient text on the walls, brow furrowed. There was something important hidden in there… Something world-changing… And she felt like it was happening all around them.

She hated not being able to put her hoof on it.

~~~

Two hours ago…

There was nothing here. An expanse of a flat, reflective material, with only the blank whiteness of the sky to mirror. It was blank, empty, and eerie.

Then it was no longer empty, as four mares appeared in the realm without so much as a noise.

“…The heck are we?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking down at her reflection in the reflective ground.

“Another Realm, obviously,” Starlight said, looking around. “a rather empty one at that…”

Applejack frowned. “At least nothing’s trying to kill us.”

Implode spoke up. “I might…”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Do you want us to leave you?”

She ignored the question. “Why did you take me with you? Why did you save me?”

“Ask them.” Starlight muttered, scanning the area with her horn. “They talked me into it.”

“Couldn’t just let them execute you, sugarcube,” Applejack said. “That wouldn’t be right.”

“…You really don’t have a clue about me do you?” Implode said.

“Eenope,” she said. “And it don’t matter. Nopony deserves to die.”

“Sombra,” Starlight said without hesitation.

Applejack sighed. “He shouldn’t have died.”

“Just keep telling yourself that.”

Rainbow Dash sat down, the novelty of her reflection having worn off. “Well, this place is boring.”

A rectangular appeared in front of her, an image of herself on it. But it wasn’t an exact copy of her. “Well, this place is boring.” It said.

Rainbow Dash recoiled. “Woah…”

“Woah…”

“Huh.” Starlight said. “A delayed reflection that speaks. Most interesting.”

She heard her words echo back at her from the distance.

Implode blinked. “So, what, things reflect and repeat here? Where are the explosoins?”

“Don’t make any,” Starlight ordered. “It’s fine without them.”

“Fine.” She said, turning away. A mirror shot up beside Starlight, tossing Implode to the side. Implode’s voice came from the mirror. “Maybe I’ll blow something up anyway…”

Implode leapt to her feet, glaring at the mirror, having been too distracted to hear what it said. “Maybe I’ll blow something up anyway…”

Everypony stared at her, jaws agape. “…What?I didn’t do it yet! Don’t have wings anyway…”

Starlight looked around nervously. “The mirror said what you were going to say before you said it. It wasn’t a delayed reaction, it was a-“

“Time distortion.” A mirror reflecting her said.

“-a time distortion, yes… Waitaminute.” She took a step back. “I said that because it said it. How could it-“

A mirror appeared in front of her and said, with her voice, “you can shut up now.”

Suddenly, Starlight and Implode were miles from Applejack and rainbow Dash, as if the space between them had just inexplicably stretched a hundredfold.

“What the-“ Implode managed to get out before she just flat out vanished before Starlight’s eyes. Starlight took a few steps away from the place she had been moments before. A mirror slid up beside her, displaying Implode. “I’m Implode and I’m okay…”

“Implode!” Starlight yelled. “Can you hear me?”

“No, sorry.” The mirror slid back into the ground. That had been pretty weird.

Starlight turned to look at Rainbow Dash and Applejack, preparing to teleport back to them, but before she cast the spell she noticed something about her two friends. They were walking backwards. Then Implode and another Starlight appeared next ot them, and all four of them continued moving backwards! Starlight shook her head – what kind of time shenanigans were going on?

Then the four ponies in the distance vanished, leaving Starlight alone in the reflective expanse. She cowered, her ears laying flat. She couldn’t deal with this…

Then she saw two other version of herself to either side.

“Oh,” The one on her left said. “Well then.”

“What?” The one on her right said.

She took a breath and shouted. “The hell!?”

“Oh that is annoying…” The one on the right said.

“Told you,” The one on her left said.

Then she was standing with two Starlights to her left.

“Oh,” The one on the far left said. “Well then.”

“What?” She yelled, wanting to know what she meant.

“The hell!?” The one next to her yelled, the shouting making Starlight wince.

“Oh that is annoying…” She mumbled, shaking her head.

“Told you.” The one on the far left said.

“Oh,” Starlight said, this time standing with two mares to her right. “Well then.” She blinked, thinking she had it figured out now.

“What?” The far one yelled.

“The hell!?” The close one followed, as expected.

“Oh that is annoying…”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Told you.” Well, she did about five seconds ago… After she had been told… And the one before had been told…

“ARGH!” Starlight screamed, once again standing alone. The heck was going on? Freaky time loops, random teleportation, and freaking mirrors everywhere!

“Freakingmirrors!”

“You can shut up now!” Starlight growled. Then she facehooved. “My Stars…”

“Starlight… Starlight… Starlight… Starlight…” She heard Rainbow Dash call.

“Rainbow!” Starlight yelled. “Where are you?”

“Starlight… Starlight… Starlight… Starlight…”

For the briefest of moments a skeleton appeared in front of Starlight before vanishing. She reared in panic, hearing voices come from nowhere.

“What’s the legend?”

“Two pegasi, two earth ponies, an alicorn, and a unicorn.”

“Two unicorns!” Starlight yelled. “Get it right!” Then she blinked. “Waitaminute…”

A mirror slid into view, showing her an image of a blue unicorn stallion she had never seen before. “The Realm of Echoes gives glances of all times and places. Never forget.”

The blue unicorn physically appeared next to her. “Never forget.” He said.

“Forget what?” She asked.

“It’s different for everypony.” He smiled warmly. “You will make a good successor.” Then he vanished.

She blinked. “Seriously, what the actual hell?”

“We must be better.” Another voice said.

“What’s your deal!?” Seventeen Starlight’s said at once. They all looked at each other in fear. Then there was one again, mind swirling from seventeen memories of the same event. “F… F…Fun…”

Something exploded. She saw robot ponies crawling around. A mechanical alicorn appeared briefly before the entire white expanse was filled with yellow alicorns. Then it started raining Implodes, in the mist of which she could see a mirror displaying Sperion, limbless, motionless. Then with six limbs, moving faster than she thought was possible.

Then everything vanished, the expanse once again becoming empty except for Starlight herself.

“I’m going to go mad here.” She said. “I need to escape…” But what about my friends?"

Another Starlight fell from the sky. She looked bruised and battered. “Ow… Oh look,” She said, looking at Starlight. “Guess this is where this happens.”

“Where what happens?”

“You can control this place,” she said. “Just try it.” She shakily stood up, lit her horn, and in a flash of mirror shards she was gone.

Starlight blinked. “Did I just see my future self?”

“Yes you did!” She heard herself call from the distance. “And you’re hearing a different one now!”

“Why the heck would you say that to me?”

“Because I did earlier and it’s mind bending?”

“Where are you?”

“Somewhere. Not here anymore. Bye!”

Then there was silence.

Starlight sighed. She might as well try… She lit her horn – and a mirror instantly appeared in front of her. It showed an image of herself, horn glowing. She frowned, it frowned too. She focused, and the frown disappeared. The Starlight in the mirror dropped her magic, and began to look confused again.

Starlight blinked. She tried looking forward through the mirror. She saw herself stamp a hoof and cause another mirror to appear far away. She stamped her own hoof and the mirror in front of her instantly changed location.

“…The paradoxes…” She said, mind reeling.

She created another mirror, looking into the future again. She saw herself light her horn and create a copy of herself, so she tried it. There were now two Starlights physically at the location. “Weird,” the ones in the mirror said, quickly followed by the ones in reality.

The two heard a voice. “…Don’t bet on sinking ships…”

“This is a bad place,” Starlight A said.

“Yeah. We are not meant to exist in a state of temporal flux,” Starlight B agreed.

“We need to get the others.”

“Well, obviously we can control spacetime here, so why don’t we split up, gather them, and appear right back here?”

“Okay,” Starlight A said, teleporting right to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They blinked.

“Uh… Starlight? Where’s Implode?” Applejack asked.

“Wait, did that just happen? But when did I…” She paused, teleporting away for a moment, then teleporting back.

“Starlight!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Where have you been? It’s been hours! And we just saw a million copies of ourselves!”

“It was deeply unnerving…” Applejack muttered.

Starlight frowned. “We’ve got time problems. Sorry. Come with me.” She lit her horn and teleported them away. Starlight B was already there with Implode. Starlight A and B reconciled their timelines, forming into one…

“Hey Implode,” Starlight B said.

“I’ve been here probably about a day,” Implode said. “I’ve been alone. Going crazier. Hearing voices.” She began to cry. “Watching myself cry…”

Starlight B frowned, unsure about this. “I can fix that, I think.”

“What’s the point? Oh there it is, funny, I was wondering when that happened.” She chuckled. “This place knows Starlight! It knows! It’s gonna get to you!”

Then Starlight B saw an older Starlight and Implode in the distance, talking. The Implode next to her vanished.

“They make a circle…” implode said. “Make it stop…”

“Okay…” Starlight B agreed. Then teleported them away.

“Oookay…” Starlight said, reeling from the double memory. “Done with that! We’re out of here!”

“Did I just see my future self?”

Starlight sighed. This. “Yes, you did! And you’re hearing a different one now!”

“Why the heck would you say that to me?”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Because I did earlier and it’s mind bending?”

“Where are you?”

“Somewhere! Not here anymore! Bye!” She lit her horn, activating the Sperion spell, accelerating the cooldown to nothing. The four of them appeared on a blue cube with a pink pyramid floating above them.

“Finally!” Implode yelled. “Sweet freedom from that place!” She twitched her head, causing several explosions around her face. She basked in the heat of the Power – she didn’t care that it hurt, she just laughed.

Applejack let out a sigh of relief. “Good. I’m not sure I could have lasted many more hours…”

“Hours!?” Implode blurted. “Try a week! That’s torture!”

Starlight realized that for her, it had only been a few minutes in the Realm of Echoes. She shuddered at the thought.

“Who are you?” A monotone voice asked them. They were rather surprised who the speaker was.

~~~

Fluttershy laid in her bed made of bushes and leaves. Her nose twitched, and she shivered. She tossed and turned, groaning in her sleep.

The dragon bit through a pony’s neck, the head still screaming as it went flying.

Lour and Roy slithered onto her bed, concerned. Why would anyone act like this? Was she sick?

Minarette was burned to a crisp, the sickly smell making Fluttershy’s mouth water.

Fluttershy flailed with a hoof, kicking the twin snake to the ground.

Browncoat was swallowed in on sickening gulp, his neighs still audible as he slid further into the dragon.

The real Browncoat was sleeping soundly a room over, dreaming about eating leaves. How lucky he was not to be burdened with a full awareness.

The dragon turned to Fluttershy and laughed a truly evil laugh.

Fluttershy winced and started to cry

It opened its mouth wide… and chomped.

“AAAAAAAAAAA!” Fluttershy screamed, leaping out of bed. She flew to a window and into the warm yellow light of the Realm, breathing heavily. She looked out at the many animals prowling around, all minding their own business, hardly a care in the world.

But… They didn’t have everything. There weren’t complex and deep relationships. There were no ideas. There was no art. No happiness...

She found herself wondering who got the better slice of life… animals or ponies? Long ago she would have said animals. Recently she would have said ponies. Now… She wasn’t so sure.

She sighed, turning back to the home she had created, filled to the brim with critters of all kinds. They were her little friends that cared for her and kept her company. And yet, she felt horribly lonely. Here she had the power to control life itself, she could fashion just about anything she wanted…

But there wasn’t anypony to talk to. To challenge her. Just the animals.

To imagine that a place like this had once been her dream, a place alone, a place without other ponies to make her feel bad…

Tears fell from her eyes. She just wanted somepony with her. Someone she could share this pain with. Was that so bad?

It sure felt bad…

She slowly flew back to her room. On a whim, she stopped by Browncoat’s enclosure, watching him sleep. His ear twitched and he rolled over, but otherwise gave no indication his sleep was peaceful.

Fluttershy smiled at him. So peaceful, even after the trauma. But she knew he still wanted his herd. He needed ponies as well, others of his kind…

She couldn’t help with that though…

…Or could she?

An idea formed in her mind. She flew out of the house again, aiming for the top. She found Minarette sleeping on the canopy.

“Minarette?” Fluttershy asked the great ray gently. Minarette rose into the air and greeted Fluttershy. “Can you take me back to where we found the dragon?”

Minarette agreed, and they arrived there in short order. Fluttershy dismounted and flew towards one of the mostly full skeletons. She took a deep breath, and spread her wings, feeling the energies of life flow around her…

VII - Relational Geometries