A Crack in the Glass

Chapter Seven: Out From Murky Waters

The doors of the entrance to Canterlot Tower’s hall opened steadily with separate glows around their handles, the royal guards standing inside stepping off to the side as Princess Celestia walked out from the carpeted floor. The cool breeze of the fall air slid a smile onto her face as memories of past autumns slithered through her head, and the array of warm colored leaves dancing along the ground, scratching and crinkling against one another in the wind, whispered that her favorite time of year was passing by. While the residents of Canterlot wouldn’t dare touch a pile of leaves, without having to take three showers afterwards, Celestia couldn’t wait to visit Ponyville once more to see the joy that the ponies would have in the chilly weather, and she felt even more excited for going to see The Running of the Leaves again. Something about the fall seemed like it would be one of the best ones yet, though Celestia found herself thinking so every time the season strolled in. The city of Canterlot was already beginning the changes of the stores stocking up on supplies for fall, some of them already displaying some decor for Nightmare Night. It stayed true for autumn to be Celestia’s favored season of them all, and as always, nothing seemed like it would ruin it.

“Princess Celestia?” Cadence called out from inside of the hall.

Celestia turned to face the crystal princess and her husband, both of them making their way toward her. “Yes?” she asked.

“I know this may be getting a bit repetitive,” admitted Cadence, smiling uneasily. “But when is this Varkrai going to be here? It has already been an hour since the scheduled time. Is there something wrong?”

A sigh escaping her mouth, Princess Celestia looked out at Canterlot. “I was hoping that he would be on time, but I’m starting to think I should have given him directions around the city in advance,” she conceded. “Don’t worry, though. I’m confident that he will show up soon. He isn’t from here, after all. I’d have to assume that things may be different compared to where he is from.”

“Speaking of where he is from,” Shining Armor began. “You mentioned that he’s not of any kind of blood we’ve known in Equestria or our neighboring nations. Is there a... reason why we can’t know what species he is?”

Celestia giggled quietly. “I think it’s best if you see him first before I explain where he’s from. It’s probably for the best.”

Cadence and Shining Armor gave each other a subtle shrug before walking out onto the bridge. “Well, is there anything we should know about him other than his name?” Cadence asked. “We are going to be talking with him, after all.”

“I believe he has a bit of a negative attitude towards talking a lot without proper reasoning,” Celestia noted. “I wouldn’t expect him to be quite happy with repeating much of what he had spoken with Twilight and I yesterday. It might be best to ask his companion, Noitorum, about anything first.”

“In that case, princess, why can’t you tell us what they explained yesterday?” Shining Armor suggested, an uncertain and nervous tone in his voice.

Smiling, Princess Celestia turned back to Cadence and Shining Armor. “As I’ve said before, they are not from here.”

A loud stamp of two feet crashing down on the bridge shook the entire construct, the three ponies standing on it jumping in place at the sudden noise. Their eyes quickly snapped to the figure that had abruptly landed atop the pathway, curious as to what could have made such an entrance. The sight of two white wings spread out over a bipedal figure was familiar to Celestia, and she smiled at the sight of Noitorum showing up, but the situation wasn’t as comfortable to Cadence and Shining Armor. The eyes that glanced up at them from the tall figure, despite being surrounded by a surprised and cheerful expression, sent a shiver down both of their spines. Celestia’s earlier words were true in that they had never seen such a creature before, but both Shining Armor and Cadence hadn’t expected something so different.

Noitorum stood up straight, fixing her hair from sticking straight back to laying down on her shoulders. “Hi!” she greeted Celestia. “Sorry about the entrance. I got caught up with something on the way here. Had to make a bit of an abrupt stop.” She looked back at Cadence and Shining Armor. “Are these the ponies you said were going to join us?” Noitorum opened her eyes wide at the sight of Cadence’s wings and horn, glancing back at Celestia. “Oh! She’s like you! Is she your sister?”

Princess Celestia uncontrollably smiled as she heard Cadence stutter quietly. “No, we are not sisters,” she explained. “She is actually a princess of another nation here around Equestria. This is Princess Cadence a-”

Another loud crash on the bridge cut of Celestia’s sentence, making all three of the ponies jump another time. Noitorum grinned and looked down at her side to find Varkrai laying face down, a band of a white fiery substance tied around the tips of the larger feathers of his wings and also around his wrists. He remained unmoving for a second, the silence that became the bridge ringing of worry if he was conscious or not.

“As you can see, Varky here was caught up in something, too,” Noitorum said confidently, prodding Varkrai’s side with her foot. A muffled, frustrated yell escaped the pavement under Varkrai, but died as soon as it had come. Noitorum snapped her fingers and the bands around Varkrai’s hands and wings disappeared, Varkrai’s previously tied appendages flopping limply on the ground. With a blank expression, Varkrai cautiously stood up on his feet, letting his arms hang dead by his sides. He silently stared off into the building behind Cadence and Shining Armor, though the direction of his gaze appeared as if he were staring right at them.

“Is... he okay?” Celestia asked. She backed away slightly as Varkrai coughed out a few of Noitorum’s feathers, some of them sticking to his mouth.

“He’s gone through worse,” Noitorum assured, patting Varkrai on the back.

Beginning to get worried as Varkrai didn’t blink for a while, Celestia nodded unsurely and spoke, “I see.” She stepped to the side and smiled. “As I was saying, this is Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. They’ll be accompanying us today to hear about the situation and what needs to be done.”

With a grin, Noitorum skipped her way past Celestia and headed straight for Cadence and her husband, both of them shifting uneasily in place. “Hello! My name’s Noitorum!” She held her hand out in front of her. “We’ll clear everything that’s hazy up once we get started.”

Hesitantly, Cadence lifted her hoof up to Noitorum’s hand, jerking away slightly at the feeling of her fingers gripping it. “Uh... it’s nice to meet you,” said Cadence. She looked back at Varkrai, who seemed to be having a staring contest with Celestia. “Are you sure he’s okay? He’s not really moving.”

“I’m fine,” Varkrai mumbled. Finally unlocking eyes with Celestia, he casually walked over to Noitorum’s side and examined the two ponies in front of her. No warning given, Varkrai quickly mimicked the binds that Noitorum had put on him back onto her in a split second and, as hard as he could, kicked her to the side. He sniffed dryly as Noitorum fell over the edge of the bridge yelling angrily in shock, Celestia, Cadence, and Shining Armor running to the side and looking down. Her landing was familiar, though she didn’t seem as content with it as Varkrai had.

Varkrai joined the group looking over the bridge, all six eyes staring down quickly shifting to him. He reflected the stare accompanied with a satisfied smile. “She’s gone through worse,” he spoke confidently.

Not quite sure how to react, Princess Celestia backed away from the edge with Cadence and Shining Armor. “I’m sure... she has,” she started hesitantly. “But if we could get started, I would be grateful.”

With a nod, Varkrai snapped his fingers and the distant sound of Noitorum squirming around ceased. He stood still as Noitorum gradually floated up from under the bridge. Her arms crossed and her face scrunched in a pout, she set down on the bridge next to Varkrai, who stood with his hands in his pockets had a smug grin directed toward the three ponies. The feers subtly batted at each other with their wings before they came to a standstill, both of them setting their eyes on Cadence and Shining Armor.

“So, let’s start, shall we?” Noitorum asked with a newfound smile, shoving in one last feathery slap at Varkrai. Cadence, Shining Armor, and Celestia exchanged a quick glance before they nodded.

Princess Celestia began toward the building behind them. “We’ll talk inside,” she directed. Her voice elevated for the royal guards to hear, “Guards, we’ll need the hall with only our presence.”

A collective salute sounded off within the hall, and the guards gathered by the doors of the building began to march outside. They didn’t shy away from sneaking a glance at Noitorum and Varkrai as they passed the two, though their eyes snapped forward as soon as Noitorum waved and Varkrai glared intently at each of them. The hall was soon void of the royal guards’ presences and the doors slammed shut, leaving the ponies and feers facing each other in an anxious silence. The hall managed to echo with Cadence uneasily adjusting her wings as Varkrai refused to stray his eyes from her and her husband.

Celestia cleared her throat. “I’ve asked Princess Cadence and Shining Armor to come here today so the Crystal Empire may assist us in the task at hand,” she explained. “However, they aren’t familiar with the situation as much as I am. I decided it would be best if you two delivered the message rather than me. It would make more sense coming from the two that understand it and have had up-close experiences with the phenomena.”

Noitorum smiled and laced her fingers at her waist. “To be put short, this world is in danger of being destroyed, taken over or inhabited by force, absorbed, stripped of its population for slavery, used a war-zone between two or more potentially apocalyptic-level individuals or armies, abused for its valuable materials, or a combination of at least three of the previous a month from now! Varkrai and I are here to help stop that from happening and hopefully adapt this dimension to the dimensional wastelands that you have recently become a part of. We’re hoping that things don’t go wrong!” She set her heels back on the ground and took a breath in.

Unfortunately, the explanation hadn’t been quite enough. While Celestia, slightly disturbed by the new examples Noitorum had provided, understood her, Cadence and Shining Armor remained in place with blank stares.

Varkrai stepped forward and crossed his arms. “Why don’t we take a walk around outside,” he suggested. “This’ll take a while.”

______________________________________________________________________

“It’s kinda weird, really,” Varkrai spoke sloppily, trying to pick something out of his teeth. “They start doing this strange sorta chant thing and they get all riled up over one of them dancing in the middle with a pot on his head. I’m just glad before we left before the ‘fertilization’ process began. I heard it’s actually quite peaceful from one of the locals later on. You know, once you get past the gobbling like a turkey perio-” He turned his head to look at Shining Armor. “You do have turkeys here, right?”

A disgusted look remaining on his face as he stared at Varkrai, Shining Armor subtly nodded his head.

Varkrai clapped his hands together. “Yeah, it sounds like that, just more wet and angrier.” He stopped as he remembered what he was describing and stared out at the mountains in the distance. “What were we talking about again?”

“You were... telling me about a ritual in one of the species out in the dimensions,” Shining Armor reminded him, but he felt that doing so would only further lead to the description going on. “But, if we could, it would be nice if we could move on from that. Please.”

Thinking back on what he had been saying, Varkrai tapped his fingers together and agreed, “Yeah that’s probably for the best.”

The sun had already reached the point of falling to early evening. A cool breeze had begun to blow through Canterlot while Varkrai and Noitorum elaborated on dimensions to Cadence and Shining Armor, and the clouds above the city had slowly accumulated in a soft grey blanket. The large hill at the edge of Canterlot provided enough space for Varkrai and Shining Armor to be in silence for the time being, along with Noitorum and Cadence further off down the curve of the leave-ridden incline. The hill gave all four a clear view of the lower mountain ranges in the region, though Celestia remained shy away back near Canterlot Tower and the neighboring royal structures and buildings. She knew the time it would take for Cadence and Shining Armor to fully understand what was going on, and with how long her four guests had been away, her assumptions proved to be correct.

Shining Armor glanced at Varkrai out of the side of his vision. The newfound knowledge that Varkrai even existed and that he was from another dimension still remained strange to Shining Armor, and he never felt that he would ever get used to knowing that such vastly different worlds existed all around him. Life in Equestria was simple when it wasn’t under the threat of being taken over by some familiar force, but with the addition of the threat of being taken over by a force that he knew nothing of, Shining Armor couldn’t hold back the shadow of dread lingering over him. He didn’t want to know about what else would come through to their world, whether friendly or hostile. Equestria was full of adventure on its own with new friends to meet and new things to discover, but it seemed like it was the right amount, and that anything more would only be a burden and a hindrance. Varkrai and Noitorum were only a preview of what would happen later down the road, and even they didn’t know what would happen next.

A burst of laughter further along the hill caught Varkrai and Shining Armor’s attention. They both looked in the direction of the sound, catching Noitorum and Cadence in the middle of some sort of handshake. Varkrai gazed back out at the mountains. “She’s the princess of another nation around here? Cadence?” he asked as he leaned back on his elbows.

Shining Armor took a moment to answer as he watched Cadence. “Yeah, The Crystal Empire up in the northern parts of Equestria,” he explained, turning back to the mountains.

“Are there any other leaders that could be of help?”

“What do you mean?”

“From the amount of units within the royal guard here, there isn’t quite much of an army. It looks more like a large group of dedicated patriots rather than a full blown military. There are armies out in the dimensions, which I can guarantee, are one thousand and maybe even more times the amount of your royal guard, and I can promise you they have more advanced technology than just spears, swords, and that stuff they’re using to hold them.”

“Magic. It’s magic.”

Varkrai chuckled lightly. “Not very subtle with the name, huh?”

Shining Armor shot him a scowl. “Is there something wrong with it?”

Waving a hand lightly, Varkrai shook his head. “No, it’s nothing.” He let out another small laugh. “It’s just that ‘magic’ is kinda bland with all the other words that could be used to describe...” Varkrai got a glance of Shining Armor’s expression and sighed. “Nevermind. I’m not one to judge what goes on here. It’s not much different from some of the other worlds, quite honestly. I kinda like it.” Sitting up, he looked up at the clouded sky. “So? What else can this magic do other than hold things?”

His eyes drifted back to the mountains, Shining Armor smirked. “I think there’s a little too much to the point where I can’t think of what to say. Magic has been studied and hollowed out ever since it existed beside us. There’s so much that it can do and so much that it can offer, and its limits are so stretched and cut and worn out that it’s hard to single it down to just one or two things.” He looked to Varkrai. “That answer your question?”

“Well, no, not really,” Varkrai admitted. “But I get your point. Is it accessible to everyone?”

“Not everyone. I think you’ve noticed by now that there are three different, four including the princesses, types of ponies. Earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, and alicorns. Celestia and Cadence are what are known as alicorns, while I am a unicorn. Alicorns and unicorns can utilize magic to its full extent, but earth ponies and pegasi have a weaker link to it. They have passive abilities with magic, so it’s not completely accessible to everypony.”

“That so?”

“Yes.”

“You might want to start thinking up more ways of defending yourselves, then. A simple spear won’t do much against more than five hundred ton, flying, energy breathing leviathans with scales constructed out of the very matter they use to attack with. Not to mention they’re under the influence of a disease that drives them to absorb everything they can.”

Shining Armor felt his stomach flip. “Th- they?”

Laughing, Varkrai patted Shining Armor’s shoulder. “I’m just joking with you. I’ve only ever seen one ever since Noitorum and I have been jumping dimensions.” His face quickly straightened. “But seriously it won’t do a damn thing.”

Not sure whether to frown or smile, Shining Armor felt his mouth twitch confusedly. “Uh... right. That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it? Letting us know what we’re up against and hopefully helping us overcome it?”

Varkrai shrugged and put his arm back on his crossed legs. “We may have been doing this for longer than you think, but that doesn’t mean we’ve seen everything. For all we know, something that we’ve never seen before could come through. It’s not very likely due to the common concentrations of certain dimensions and their parallels, but there’s a possibility.” He twisted at the grass with a finger. “Which is why you’re gonna need all the support you can get. Whatever The Crystal Empire has in stock in terms of an army, it’ll be better than just what’s here. Do you know of any other nations around that have strong armed forces?”

“There are the griffons, I suppose. They could be of help. Of course, they’ll need a proper explanation from the proper... feers. It is feer, right?”

“Yeah.”

The two sat in silence for a second, staring up at the clouds shifting around peacefully. A casual drop of rain fell from the sky every few seconds, though it was barely noticeable even in the stillness of the hill. Shining Armor flinched as he felt a drop land on his hoof, a small quiver running up his leg.

Rubbing the drop away, Shining Armor spoke, “Celestia said something about you having an effect on the weather a couple nights ago.”

Varkrai stretched his arm out in front of him. “Oh yeah?”

“Yes. She didn’t go into too much detail, but she recommended that we asked you rather than her.” Shining Armor glanced at Varkrai. “So what happened?”

A drop fallen on his hand, Varkrai closed his fingers on his palm. “It’s a side effect of the dimensional gate. It’s hard to understand how, but elements and components that make up a dimension will leak through the gate, creating an area around the origin of the gate in the dimension jumped to similar to the dimension that was jumped from. Not that complicated in general, but so little is known how the process works and what causes it, since dimensions are separated even through open dimensional gates.” He let his arm back down. “From what I heard from Celestia, the weather here is controlled by the population, and that a storm such as the one that came with Noitorum and I wasn’t exactly planned. Don’t worry, though. The effect doesn’t last forever. This rain’s probably it beginning to wear off.”

Shining Armor thought to himself for a second. “What was the dimension you came from like?”

Varkrai lowered his eyes. “Pitch black. Rainy. Quiet. Hostile. Lonely. A generally horrible place to stay for a single minute in.” He lifted his eyebrows. “So compared to other dimensions, I’d say it was average.”

“Things are that bad out there?”

“Even worse than you think.” Varkrai tilted his head slightly. “And yet there are worlds such as this out there amidst the calamity. A haven surrounded by death and suffering.” He looked at Shining Armor, the stallion with a troubled expression. “You should feel lucky being able to live here. Well, then again, this type of world is a perfect example of what some of the most vicious predators seek.” Varkrai sighed and gazed back out at the mountains. “Good luck’s hard to come by, I guess.”

The sound of foot and hoofsteps drawing closer caught Varkrai and Shining Armor’s attention. Noitorum and Cadence made their way over from where they were sitting, both of them with a smile.

“Hey, you two,” Varkrai said as he stood up with Shining Armor. “All wrapped up?”

“Yeah,” affirmed Noitorum, bouncing with the word. “How are things with the royal guard? Are they a good foundation for a defense forces?”

His eyes tilted down slightly, Shining Armor shook his head as Varkrai remained silent. “Unfortunately for what Varkrai has told me, the royal guard isn’t going to be quite much of an army on its own,” Shining Armor confessed.

“What?” Noitorum asked, shocked. She looked to Varkrai. “What did you tell him? The guards seemed like they were good. They could use some reinforcements, yes, but it’s not like they’re completely helpless. The Crystal Empire has some forces, too! Cadence told me about their magic abilities! It’s very powerful, apparently. And the pegasiuses here! They can help, can’t they?”

“Pegasi,” Cadence murmured.

“Right,” said Noitorum, smiling embarrassedly. “But still!”

“Noitorum, I shouldn’t have to tell you what could potential come through from the dimensional gates,” rebuked Varkrai with his arms crossed. “I figured you would remember what happened in that dimension with the humans.”

Noitorum’s face instantly flushed red. “That wasn’t because of us!” she fairly yelled. She lowered her voice and her shoulders deflated as she crossed her arms as well. “I... I know it wasn’t.”

Picking up what Shining Armor and Cadence were thinking from the looks on their faces, Varkrai explained, “There was a dimension far back, about fifty years ago, that we landed in the same situation we’re in now. The main species there were known as humans, and if our luck is as bad as it is, you two might be able to get a look at them up close.” Varkrai honed his eyes on Noitorum, who looked away from him. “But, anyways, things didn’t exactly go as planned on the first visit from the other dimensions. The defenses that we had weren’t enough against what was coming, and the spread of the war zone rushed across the planet like a bucket of water on the floor. We barely managed to escape before things started to get even worse than they had already gotten.” He focused on Cadence and Shining Armor, both of them with worried eyes. “The reason we weren’t prepared was because we thought the preparations we had were good enough to withstand whatever was coming. Turns out even ten thousand units, fully armed with weapons able to level buildings, wasn’t enough to stop one hundred thousand beings known as ‘demons’, and along with them, we hadn’t anticipated an infamously strong and merciless demon known as the ‘Mother Demon’, in english terms.”

“How were we supposed to know she was coming?” Noitorum asked under her breath.

Ignoring the question, Varkrai continued, “It’s pure chance at what comes through to here first, and I’d rather not risk my life again because the forces ready to retaliate weren’t enough to do so. The amount of guards here isn’t enough to take down a group of anything out in the dimensions one half their numbers, not to mention that their spears don’t appear to be quite the most powerful weapons. There are plenty preparations needed to be made here, and I’m sure whatever your ‘magic’ can do isn’t good enough to bolster the guards by itself.”

Instinctively, Shining Armor felt his heart beat faster in anger. “I don’t know what’s out there or what’s coming to us first, but our magic is not as dull as you think it is,” he declared. “While the royal guard’s numbers could use some improvement, do not underestimate our capabilities.”

“Then don’t underestimate the next thing you come eye to eye with that’s not from your world,” Varkrai snapped back, leaning forward slightly. He put his weight back on his heels and nodded once. “I’d rather this not get hostile, so let’s just get back to your princess. She’s probably waiting on us. I’m sure she’ll have some input on what needs to be done around here.”

Shining Armor and Cadence didn’t wait to begin trotting their way back to the inner parts of Canterlot. The light rain gently coating the hillside began to pick up into a delicate shower, the dampness on Varkrai’s shoulders becoming apparent to him. He shook his head as he turned away from Cadence and her husband with both of them walking out of sight. Noitorum still stood where she was with the top half of her body aimed at the mountains in the distance, her shoulders bunched up and her arms crossed. Despite her hair in the way of her face, Varkrai could sense she wasn’t as cheery as she had been not too long ago.

“N... Noitorum, I didn’t mean to-” Varkrai began, walking forward a step.

“Don’t,” Noitorum abruptly spoke. Her hair blew backwards as a calm breeze swept across the hill, granting Varkrai a momentary glimpse of her face, though he wasn’t sure if her cheeks were damp due to the rain or her glistening eyes.

Varkrai felt his arm twitch forward. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “But they need to know what can happen if something goes-”

“It’s not going to happen!” Noitorum quickly shouted, stepping up to Varkrai. “We’re not letting this dimension go! I don’t care what happens; I just don’t want to stand back and watch again!” She lifted her arms and grabbed her hair, pulling down on it as she turned away and walked towards Canterlot.

“Hey, wait!” Varkrai called after her. Noitorum’s pace picked up and she lifted off the ground, ascending over the buildings of the city and flying toward the mountains. His eyes flinching in the rain, Varkrai watched her disappear into the clouds. “I think you’d understand by now that everything can’t be given sweetly,” he whispered. He shook his head and began walking his way back to Celestia. “They’ll understand, soon enough.”

______________________________________________________________________

“More rain?” Twilight Sparkle asked aloud, tilting her head forward to look up at the darkened sky. The window panes in the library’s main room streaked with drops of water rushing crawling and down them, shining gently with the candlelight inside. The late evening sky was darkened further by the gathering of clouds letting a subtle storm fall onto Ponyville, a few of the clouds noticeably darker than the rest.

“Like we need anymore,” Applejack added, flipping through a book with an apple tree on its cover. “Sweet Apple Acre’s gonna drown if another cup settles down. Whatdaya figure is goin’ on in Cloudsdale? The pegasi must be crazy to think Equestria needs more rain.”

Twilight looked over the large puddles gathering throughout the streets in front of her home. “Either that or we missed more rain in the summer than we thought. At least this one isn’t as bad as the storm a couple nights ago.”

“Wouldn’t count on it being so easy goin’ just yet. The weather’s been mighty feisty lately, even before the hurricane that blew through. How do you think RD’s holding up with all this?”

“She can handle any storm, though clearing the skies must be a bit of a pain with how much cloud cover there must be.” Twilight turned away from the window and walked over to the center table where Applejack continued to read. “Where is she, anyways? I haven’t seen her in three days.”

Applejack scratched her head. “Pretty sure she and Pinkie have been doin’ something lately. I’m not sure what, but I’m startin’ to hear some ponyfolk around town about somepony pulling pranks. Not to mention Rainbow Dash has been clearing the skies with the crazy storms. I’d figure she has quite a bit of work on her hooves.”

The door of the library burst open with a heavy splash of rain. Twilight Sparkle and Applejack covered their faces from the monsoon invading the library, both of them gasping in surprise at the loud crash of the door slamming against the wall. The scurrying of hooves soon became apparent and Twilight and Applejack peaked out from behind their hooves. Pinkie Pie, soaked and shivering, laid flat on the floor in a ball, teeth chattering while she stared straight ahead of her with vacant eyes. She seemed unharmed, and more startled than anything, but the commotion she managed to cause, along with water she dragged in with her dampening quite a few of the books on the shelves, made Applejack and Twilight more upset with her than worried.

Pinkie Pie looked up at the two ponies, both of them glaring and their manes wet. Pinkie’s face instantly brightened. “Oh, hi! You’re home!” she greeted both of them, her teeth clicking in between sentences. “I wasn’t quite sure if you were so I just though I’d come in here anyways and ask Spike where you were and-”

“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted, shaking her mane, though she only caused Applejack’s to weigh down even more. “That’s... fine. Why couldn’t you have just knocked?”

“It was cold, and I was already running at full speed, so I just thought I could use the door to slow down,” Pinkie explained confidently, standing up. Her whole body wiggled as she shook herself dry. Twilight put up a spell to cover herself from the water. Applejack stood in place with her hat sunk over her head, a low growl rumbling from her.

“I’m gunna go dry off,” Applejack spoke after a sigh.

A snicker managed to escape Twilight’s mouth as Applejack trudged toward the bathroom. “We might as well stay here, then,” said Twilight Sparkle. She glanced back out the window, the echo of thunder rolling in the distance. “Varkrai can find his way to the library from Canterlot.”

Pinkie Pie’s smile straightened and she tilted her head at Twilight. “I thought he was coming back tomorrow. Isn’t that what Princess Celestia said in the letter?”

Twilight Sparkle shook her head. “She said it might be wise to talk to him tomorrow. Celestia wrote that he seemed troubled while they were talking.”

“Do you think it was because of earlier?”

Twilight reached for a letter and settled it down on the table, unrolling it with a levitation spell. “According to Celestia, Varkrai and... the other one-”

Her mouth a frown, Pinkie quickly slid over to Twilight’s side and poked her. “Noitorum, silly.”

Twilight shoved a book in her friend’s face and focused on the letter. “Varkrai and Noitorum seemed a little off. After they went for a walk with Cadence and Shining Armor, Varkrai came back alone and didn’t answer to where Noitorum had gone. Cadence mentioned that Noitorum had been upset with him, so I guess there might be something else going on other than our situation with him.”

Pushing the book off her nose, Pinkie Pie walked back over to Twilight. “Did you tell the princess about what happened at Sugar Cube Corner?”

“Applejack suggested that we just asked the princess when he was coming back and that we needed to talk with him.” Twilight bit her lip. “It... it’s not very important, anyway. Celestia doesn’t need to know. Besides, Applejack had already talked with him a little when we were looking for him. I think he really was sorry.”

“Say what now?” Applejack asked as she walked back into the room, blowing her hat upright on her head.

“You saw Varkrai after what happened at Sugar Cube Corner, right? That’s why we’re waiting for him to come back?”

The sound of the name squeezed Applejack’s heart. “Y- yes, I did,” she stuttered.

Twilight nodded at Pinkie. “See? He’s helping us, after all.” She shrugged. “Not to mention he probably wouldn’t be happy with the situation leaving Ponyville. Equestria wouldn’t be able to trust him if everypony heard about it.”

“But why can we?” Applejack quickly asked. “You’re the one he confronted, Twilight. What has you so eager to be on his side? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe... he isn’t saying what he means?”

Words were at a loss for a moment in Twilight’s mind. The possibility of Varkrai lying to her, though she didn’t know what he would be lying about, had only stayed for a short time the first time her eyes came across him. Now that the idea of Varkrai deluding Equestria came back, the display he showed to her and Celestia in Canterlot, the lectures he had given her and Pinkie in the library, and the whole suggestion that he was going to help Equestria seemed questionable. Twilight, along with everyone else in Equestria, had no solid knowledge of where Varkrai had come from, who he was, what he was capable of, or what his intentions were in the first place. The only information of Varkrai had come from his mouth and Noitorum’s, and with Varkrai’s suspicion now apparent, Noitorum didn’t seem all that likely of being reliable. Noitorum could be using a friendly approach to gain Equestria’s trust, and at the same time building a foundation of knowledge of how ponies worked and what they were susceptible to. The entire talk of dimensions could have been an elaborate hoax, and the dimensional gate and Varkrai’s solance might have been some sort of magic unknown to pony eyes. Perhaps Varkrai and Noitorum were part of some sort of species forgotten about long ago in Equestria. Perhaps they were some sort of shape shifting monster planning some sort of attack on Canterlot. Or, perhaps they were telling the truth.

“I... uh...” Twilight muttered, the scenarios bouncing in her head starting to become overwhelming. “But... why would he want to fortify our defenses? Is he trying to take guards away from other cities?”

“Wait, now hold on a second!” Pinkie interrupted. “Varky isn’t lying to us! Neither of them are!”

“But how do we know that for sure, Pinkie?” Applejack questioned with a look of worry on her face. “He’s spouted all this dimension mumbo-jumbo at you and you never thought that he could be the ones he’s warning you about? What if he isn’t even from another dimension in the first place?”

“No no no no no, this can’t be right,” Twilight quickly spoke, holding onto her head. “There would have to be something about their species! They can’t just pop out of no where. I- I would have read about them somewhere. And Princess Celestia! She’s... old. She would know about them! Wouldn’t she?”

Pinkie stepped forward and pleaded, “He’s not trying to lie to us! They’re helping us, remember?”

A splash from outside stopped the commotion within the library. Three pairs of eyes fixated on the window looking out in front of Twilight’s home, searching in fear, curiosity, and anxiousness as to what lurked in the rain. Over the sound of the weather pelting the ground and just past the rumbles of thunder rolling through the sky, the sharp pronunciation of some sort of speech reached into the library, coating the interior with its foreboding owner’s presence. The silence within the homely tree remained with a sense of necessity as footsteps outside splashed around in the rain. A brief flash of distant lightning periodically brightened the streets for a clear view of Ponyville, though whatever stood in the rain amidst Twilight Sparkle’s home remained out of sight. Whispers managed to overtake the static of the droplets outside, and a small thud into the door of the library burst like shattered glass.

“Luth yu foh lex’ent...?” a man’s voice whispered in frustration just barely in the doorway. A light knock sounded from the front of the library. “Twilight Sparkle? You in there?” The tip of a black feather peaked into the window near the door.

Her neck tensing up, Twilight Sparkle almost choked on her own tongue when Pinkie nudged her. Twilight quietly spoke, “Y- yes. Come in.”

The door of the library slowly opened with a dripping hand poking it ajar. Knelt down with his hair hanging limply from his head, Varkrai peered into the library, his eyes squinting as the rain pelted his face. Sweatshirt torn, soaking wet, numb, and tired, his presence wasn’t bouncing with delight or enthusiasm, but aside from his entire body dripping with rain, he didn’t seem all that different to the three ponies staring at him. He seemed to shake with the silent steps that he took into the library, and he closed the door as carefully as he could. His movements took a considerable amount of time to complete as he stood up, though it was difficult to distinguish whether it was because he was trying to seem peaceful or because he was soaked and freezing. He took a brief moment to fix himself up before he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked over Twilight, Pinkie, and Applejack. All three of them, relatively in the same place when he had knocked on the door, kept their eyes intently fixed on him, yet they tried to be as casual as possible.

Teeth chattering in his speech, Varkrai spoke quietly, “I take it from the letter you sent to Celestia that you’re not permanently exiling me from here.” He clenched his teeth shut and tapped a foot on the ground. “Sorry about the mess.”

Twilight abruptly glanced at the puddle at Varkrai’s feet. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it,” she assured him.

Varkrai nodded. Able to almost smell the tension between the three ponies, Varkrai took a deep breath in and twiddled his fingers in his pockets. “I wanted to talk with you three so I could apologize for what happened earlier.” He took a hand out of his pocket and rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s... become apparent to me that the kind of stuff that I tend to do isn’t quite normal here. I understand that the things I’ve said and done might seem strange on multiple levels, but it’s not intentional.” He let his arms hang loose as his sides. “You have to understand that I’ve come from places that aren’t like this. Noitorum and I have trained ourselves to keep a steady guard up in case of threats, and if that guard is needed, it’s hard not to react with force. From what I’ve seen here, you can go about your day without care or worry about something attacking you. There’s safety here, but I’ve maybe come across only one hundred dimensions out of fifty million that are like this. I’m not used to it, but you are. I didn’t mean to hurt you; I meant to protect myself.”

Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, all three of them exchanged a subtle glance. The sincerity of Varkrai’s tone and expression were real, and the three could sense it, but the question of the validity of him lurked just barely behind. Twilight and her friends remained still, continuing staring at Varkrai, but beginning to grasp his message.

“So why are you trying to protecting us?” Twilight Sparkle asked. “You’ve said before that you are going through dimensions trying to find your home. What’s the point of staying here?”

With a quick peek out the window behind him, Varkrai explained, “There isn’t a point. Quite honestly, I don’t know what I’m doing here, but Noitorum does. She finds sympathy in almost anything she comes across, and it’s something I’m a bit jealous of. Life isn’t very valuable in the dimensions, but to her it is. As much as I fight and disagree with her, I love her, and breaking her heart is something that I can’t do anymore.” He crossed his arms. “This may just seem like unneeded mushy-talk, but it’s the main reason why we haven’t left. She wants to help, and I’m with her from here on in. But if we’re to help you, your friends, and everyone else, you have to understand us and everything about dimensions if we’re to get along. I hope you can forgive my actions and move past them.”

Silence followed and the rain relentlessly went on. Varkrai moved his eyes across each of the ponies out in front of him, pleading without a single word. The regret that hovered on Varkrai’s face provided a mask for the three friends still wary of him, and they were finally able to feel like they weren’t being lied to. The ominous creature that stood before them now seemed more like them than they had known before, and the emergence of what his motivation was for staying, while still being faintly upsetting, made him sound more kind-hearted than what he had displayed before.

“You can mistrust me all you want, and I can understand why that is,” Varkrai continued. “But all I ask of you is to let us help you. We can seem cold and cruel, and maybe a little out of our minds at some points, but I think we’re more alike than you know. You want to protect your home and those you care about, everyone does. Noitorum and I just want to help and make sure everything pleasant out in the dimensional wastelands isn’t destroyed.”

Twilight Sparkle looked to Pinkie Pie as her friend poked her, and a smug ‘I told you so’ look grew on Pinkie’s face. A smile, no matter how hard Twilight tried to fight it, managed to force her mouth upwards. Varkrai had gotten his point across enough to where he could finally relax his body. Seeing even Applejack smirk just barely as Pinkie and Twilight looked back at her, Varkrai knew that his apology had been accepted, though unbeknownst to him, he had also given them a reassurance that they could trust him. Whatever fears they had were faded to where they didn’t feel a tremble in their body when they saw his eyes or when he spoke in his strange tongues, and even though he still carried the look of someone deprived of sleep and immensely frustrated, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack felt he wasn’t always angry at them.

“So where’s Noitorum?” Pinkie asked to break the silence, bouncing with her question.

Nodding to himself, Varkrai lowered his eyes. “We’re a little upset with each other right now. She’s just cooling off, I’m sure.”

“Varkrai,” Noitorum spoke softly. Ponies and feer alike opened their eyes wider as Noitorum’s voice whispered beside Varkrai. Oddly enough, she wasn’t in sight, but now that he heard her voice, Varkrai could sense her presence within him.

“Noitorum,” Varkrai responded, gently smiling. “I didn’t notice you came back.”

“Is that true why we’re staying and helping them?”

Giving Twilight Sparkle a nod, Varkrai smiled and said, “Yeah, it is. But it’s not just because I don’t want to hurt you anymore. It’s because I think it’s time we did something, no matter how small, to at least try and feel like we’re back home.”

“Thank you.”

______________________________________________________________________

“Myers? That you up there? Where’s everyone else?”

“About time you showed up. They’re in the back waiting. What took you so long? These masks are choking us to death.”

“Keep it on as long as you want to live. Got all the soldiers rounded up?”

“They’re set to go.”

“Good. The convoy’s comin’ in, so get those gates open nice and wide. Adrian’s got his hands full with a family that lost one of their children, so you and Nelson are going to have to operate the machine yourselves.”

“Ugh... fine. Where’s the convoy? Can’t see it through this damn fog.”

“They’re down the valley, I’m sure. You might want to start recharging your night lenses. It’ll be a while at the pace they’re going.”

“Why? What’s taking them so long?”

“The fog’s gotten thicker, and we’re trying not to lose any more trucks than we already have. Looks like It knows we’re leaving.”

“Well It better at least have the courtesy to say goodbye.”

“We’ll see. Hows ammo?”

“Locked and loaded. Still got a few crates left ready to be broken open.”

“Keep ‘em tight. We don’t want to lose them."

"Is everyone healthy in the convoy? No one's come in contact with the fog?"

"They're all fine since we last checked them. We'll run a test on everyone before they leave. We’re going to start back for the convoy and meet them halfway. Catch you later, Myers.”

“Hutch, wait!”

“What?”

“Are you sure this is going to work? What if we don’t have enough ammo?”

“It all depends on what we come across.”

“And if we’re not ready for it?”

“Then we can say we tried and that we finally saw a world that isn’t dead. If we’re lucky, we might even see a sun again. It’s all chance.”

“How’s our luck lately?”

“Not great, but it’ll do. We’re deserting this sonuvabitch one way or another.”

“Have any predictions where we’ll end up?”

“Wherever it is, I really just hope it isn’t cold.”