Unity: One Year Later

by Kieva Lynn

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Human, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Adventure, Science Fiction, Crossover
Length: 12000

One year after the end of 'Unity,' life continues with new friends and a new threat...

Singularity: A vast, indescribably advanced machine designed to save sapient species threatened with extinction by abducting whole cities and teleporting them to a safe world. For aeons, the facility performed it's job admirably. But now, grown old, it is beginning to malfunction. Ponyville, Equestria, and Fallow Meadows, Indiana, should never have been on the list. Taken anyway, the ponies and humans of the towns have had to learn to work together with each other and new allies to survive on Singularity's planet. Now, nearing the one year anniversary of restored contact with Eqqus and Earth, window facilities large enough for civilian use are online and friends and family left behind are able to make contact. But new contact also comes from an unexpected source, and new friends may bear tidings of new dangers as well...

Published 2019-01-02 20:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-02-13 12:39:23 UTC

Prophecy

Author's Note

Some warnings before we start. This is not the Unity sequel I originally envisioned three years ago. With everything that's happened in my life, I'm afraid that one is gone forever. This also isn't a full length story, though I do have one coming. This is a short story (seven chapters) bridging the gap between Unity and my next tale. There's some slice of life, but it's also pretty heavy on worldbuilding and exposition for what is to come. If you didn't really care for the crossover dynamic of Unity, you really won't like where I'm going with this. On the plus side, all seven chapters are finished, and planned to release one a week. So unless something happens to me in the interim this won't be abandoned unfinished.

Finally, in case you've not read Unity, this is pretty AU to canon past about late season two early season three, though I may grab elements from later seasons that are useful. So no Twilicorn, no reformed Discord, no EQG or Sunset or Starlight, and Changelings very different to canon.

Prophecy

Earth, One Year Ago:

"Hello... My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I guess I'm here to answer any questions you might have for me..."

President Whitmore watched from behind the curtains as Twilight Sparkle's press interview started. After the first few minutes, confident she would be able to handle it, he turned and walked down a hallway further into the portal facility, accompanied by a pair of secret service agents. They came to a locked door, which Whitmore released by pressing his hand to a scanner. “Wait out here. I don't expect this meeting to take very long.” He said, then went through the door leaving the agents to stand guard.

Beyond the door was a large circular chamber with a high arched ceiling. The walls were lined with computers and other advanced machines with several work stations which were manned when a private meeting like this one was not underway, and at the center stood one of the small dimensional 'windows' through which other worlds could be explored, or the beings on those worlds communicated with. As expected, Whitmore was the last to arrive. Already present was Agent Marsh, and Celestia and Luna watching through the window on their end. Also present was a projection of Pazu, the A.I. that controlled Singularity. Most startlingly, had the President not already known about it, was the second Celestia, actually in the room with him.

“How is she doing?” the first Celestia asked through the window.

“Quite well.” Whitmore answered as poured tea for himself and the Celestia actually in the room. “I was concerned, given what you've told me of her personality quirks, and frankly what I know of our reporters but Twilight is handling the media expertly.”

“Perhaps then, we should turn our attention to the true importance of this meeting.” Luna said, eyeing the second Celestia. “I'm will to trust you, since we've confirmed that you are not a changeling, though the idea of another Tia who knows spells mine own sister does not troubles me. Putting that aside though, are you truly certain that not telling them is the right thing to do?”

“I am.” The second Celestia answered. “The spell to truly move between worlds is difficult, and draining. I will of course teach it to you before I return to my own Eqqus, but to use it to attempt to return the population of Unity to their homes... Even I could manage no more than a few dozen each year...”

“Not to mention, even if you did try it, who's to say that no sooner than you were finished, Singularity grabs another large city from one world or another?” Whitmore said.

Pazu nodded. “Valid. My ability to control the systems is almost totally deteriorated.”

“But to tell them nothing...” The first Celestia argued.

“But sister we have given them hope.” Luna said. “Twilight has been informed that there may be a way to accomplish the feat 'someday.' And of course if the beacon works we will be able to at least communicate freely.”

“Exactly.” The second Celestia said. “But as I was going to say, that's only the lesser reason for silence. You already know of the greater. You may not have learned the Dimensional Transilience spell I did. But you do remember Mother's final prophecy?”

Luna nodded, and began to quote:

"Wheels within wheels,
Worlds without end;
Of the distant future
Do my words portend;

Darkness spreads,
All light to end,
Emptiness, entropy,
Inherit the wind;

Come my daughter,
You I send;
Beyond the veil,
To worlds forfend:

Pony and human,
Must together contend,
And then the paths
Of fate may bend..."

“Mother spoke those words five thousand years ago.” Second Celestia said. “Their 'distant future' is today. Already her machinations have bought my own Eqqus and our version of earth together. The nations of earth here are warned and preparing. And none too soon, when we saw Mother briefly, a year ago, she said the threat was drawing near. But I could not be still to ignore the fates of other realities- Yes? You have a question?” She was looking at Agent Marsh.

“Apologies sir, ma'ams... I'm just still confused as to how there can be another Princess Celestia who is basically the same person but from some 'other' Eqqus.” Marsh said.

“Allow me to explain.” Pazu said. “You already have an understanding of time as a fourth dimension alongside the three spatial dimensions. You speak of length, width, height, and duration. What I would ask you to do is expand on this: If you can, envision time as itself having three dimensions. The first, the length, is like the duration you think of. If you could build a time machine, and travel back and forth along that axis of time, you would go into the past or the future...”

“With you so far.” Marsh said.

“Yes, but what are the other two dimensions of time?” Luna asked.

Pazu continued “The second temporal dimension, which we will compare to width, is that which separates earth from eqqus, from hydealyn, from singularity. Build your time machine to cross time sideways, over this dimension, and you will find all the other worlds you have explored. Which of course is basically what you have already done in a limited sense with this portal facility, and what serves as the basis for Singularity's operation. But there is also a third dimension to time.”

“The third temporal dimension, compare it to height in spatial terms, separates alternate versions of the same world from each other. If you traveled along that axis from here, you would find other earths where history unfolded differently, and if you traveled along that axis from Eqqus you would find variants of that world's history, and so on. The differences range from subtle to gross, and are semi random though in general the further you go from your world the greater the differences are likely to be.”

“And that's where my twin here has come from.” First Celestia said. “One of these alternate timelines.”

Second Celestia said “Indeed, and where I must return to presently. But as for revealing the totality of this: ponies, and I suspect humans too, would not take kindly to knowing we could rescue them a few at a time. There would be demands to begin at once, and anger from those who had to wait, and as President Whitmore says all for naught since Singularity cannot be shut down and might undo all the work at any moment. And, as much as I hate to take such a hard view, a colony of our peoples somewhere beyond the looming threat is a good insurance policy.”

“We'll need to have a summit. With other heads of state from both worlds, to plan out our best course of action.” Whitmore said.

“Yes, but give me a week to learn this spell.” First Celestia said. “That way we can meet in person, on earth, without the limitations of the window.”

“An excellent idea. Are there any other questions?” Whitmore asked.

“Apologies sir,” Marsh said, “But I have two. The first is for you Mister Pazu. It sounds like your Singularity only takes places from along the second of those three time dimensions you talked about. But is it possible that it could also take from one of the others? Could our people there someday encounter new arrivals from our past or future? Or even alternate world copies of themselves?”

“As Singularity is designed, no.” Pazu said. “We hoped and assumed that our counterparts in other timelines would do much the same as we did, and understood the difficulties which might arise from someone in essence meeting themselves.” He glanced at the two Celestias. “However... The technology to move in any one temporal dimension is exactly the same as that needed to move in the other two, just, well, aimed differently I suppose you could say. As built, Singularity has inhibitors to prevent what you've suggested. But if they were to begin malfunctioning too, which is indeed a distinct possibility...”

“Something to keep in mind.” Luna mused.

“Right. As for my second question: I look at things from a military perspective. Anything at all you can tell us about this approaching threat...” Marsh asked Second Celestia.

The alicorn shook her head. “All mother said is that it comes from across what we call 'The Bleed,' the empty space between realities, and that it was so powerful as to be immune to both magic and technology, but not the merger of the two.”

“Hence the need for us to work together to combat it.” Whitmore nodded. “I'm not exactly thrilled by the prospect of an enemy we know nothing about though. How do you prepare for the unknown on this scale?”

“A fair question.” Luna agreed. “Flexibility for one. And running with what we do know... As soon as possible we should begin having experts learn about each others strengths and abilities, and searching for ways to combine them.”

“If it could be done without them knowing why, what our people in Unity have already accomplished in that regard might be very useful.” Marsh suggested. “Certainly this power source they built sounds like an impressive accomplishment.”

“Agreed.” Whitmore and both Celestias said at once.

“It's a six month head start, if nothing else.” Whitmore concluded.

“I'll see about putting the Arcanum in touch with the scientists at your facility.” Luna said, “Ideally as soon as tomorrow.”

“Okay then, I think we're finished for now.” The President said.

“Agreed. We will be in contact soon.” First Celestia said,

And Luna added “Let us hope we are in time...”

Tour

Unity: Today

Twilight Sparkle stood just inside the front door of the Golden Oaks Library and sighed deeply. This was going to be a long day. A year and a half earlier, a mysterious storm had struck Ponyville, transporting the entire settlement and it's population to an alien world. It hadn't taken long for Twilight and her friends to discover Fallow Meadows, a town of humans from yet another world also abducted and bought here by the storms. In time, the towns had been merged for mutual defense from the local wildlife and renamed 'Unity.' Meanwhile, the storms kept coming, bringing both new friends and terrible enemies.

Six months after arrival, Twilight and several others made the long journey to what they had come to suspect was the source of the storms. Instead of the expected confrontation, they found a would-be ally; Pazu, an A.I. recreation of a long dead alien, explained that his people had built the storm generator, called Singularity, as a way of saving sapient species threatened with extinction. Sadly, at an age of well over two billion years, the facility is malfunctioning, bringing in targets even when they aren't in any danger at all.

With Pazu's help, they managed to make contact with Eqqus and Earth, who it turned out had been searching for the missing towns, and had already made contact with each other, and with a beacon provided by the human scientists it became possible for windows to be opened for communication. A human on Earth or a pony on Eqqus, standing inside the window when it is open, can be seen, heard, and interacted with by those in Unity as if they were actually there, and vice-versa. At first, the windows were small, only a few feet in diameter, and reserved for official use. But over the past year larger window facilities had been built on both homeworlds, large enough to encompass the entire downtown area of Unity.

Which leads us back to Twilight's sigh. Today was the grand opening of the new windows. People on Earth and Eqqus with family in Unity were now welcome to visit. As were the media. The Equestrian media, who insisted on Twilight as their tour guide thanks to her status as Celestia's student. The Earth media, who insisted since she had given the one first-hoof interview they had with a pony, a year before. The media, who were standing right outside the door, waiting for her...

"You know Twi, we could still probably get Sheriff Tucker to do this." Spike suggested. "Or Trixie, you know she'd eat up the attention."

"Thanks Spike, but this is my responsibility. (And besides that, Trixie's in Shetland Crossing for a show today...)" Twilight answered. She took another deep breath. "Let's get this over with..."

A podium stood just outside the door, and Twilight climbed to the stage and reared up on her hind legs, forehooves balanced on the podium, and looked out over the crowd. Close in were perhaps two dozen ponies, divided evenly between the tribes, along with a pair of gryphons and three zebras. Half again as many human journalists stood just behind them, along with a trio of minotaurs. Curious Unity townsfolk of various kinds stood at a distance beyond them, intermingled with visitors from other nearby towns: Sylphs, Yilane, Goblins, and free-hive Changelings.

"Hello everyone!" Twilight called out, "Hello and welcome to Unity! For those who don't know, my name is Twilight Sparkle, student to Princess Celestia, and I've been asked to be your guide today. I've designed an itinerary that will take about two hours to complete and will show you around all the major sites in Unity's downtown area. Before we begin, though, I'll take any questions you may have!"

A human journalist called out "Why just the downtown!?"

Twilight replied "Remember, all of you are actually still on Earth or Eqqus. Your ability to 'travel' and interact with things here is limited to the size of the window facilities there, which have been positioned to be centered on downtown. Next question... You sir?"

A Unicorn asked "How can we interact with physical objects here then?"

"The interaction is virtual. I wouldn't recommend trying to eat or drink anything. It would just vanish from your body when you left the window, which would probably be harmless but why take the chance?"

"What about how you were able to come to Earth?" A human women asked.

Twilight shook her head. "That was a function of the Singularity facility. It's still an option if needed, but considering that we would need to fly eight thousand miles round trip to access it, combined with the fact that it is very limited in the number of passengers it can accept, automatically recalls those passengers after one day, and is itself malfunctioning now which is why my friends and I ended up on Earth, and our human counterparts on Eqqus, I would call it a last resort." She motioned to a Minotaur. "Yes miss?"

"Will these 'windows' ever be made into doors? Will we ever be able to travel freely?" The Minotaur asked.

"Both Equestria's Arcanum Guild and the humans' newly formed Department of Transtemporal Physics are researching the possibility." Twilight answered. "Both are confident it can be done, but there's not any specific timetable yet. All I can say is, 'Someday.'"

"And in the meantime, we all have to live in fear that this 'Singularity' will decide to snatch up our town next!" Someone shouted.

"A valid concern." Twilight admitted. "But there's just nothing we can do about that. Singularity is too big and too advanced for us to be able to do anything to stop it, even with Pazu's knowledge to assist us. And, in fairness, it has been quite some time since any additional towns have been taken from either of our worlds... I think this would be a good time to go ahead and start our tour. If you'll all follow me, our first stop is the town hall..."

XXXXX

Halfway between Unity and Shetland Crossing, Trixie Lulumoon trotted through the forest pulling her new cart and keeping a wary eye open for dangers. Her friends had been concerned the first time she made a trip like this on her own, given just how dangerous the alien forest could be. She had been forced to demonstrate to them that she wasn't taking any chances: The new cart had a magicite power source hooked up to an array of gems enchanted with shield spells. If anything did come after her, she could be in the cart, protected, in a matter of seconds.

It had only been put to the test once, three month prior, when a slavering... ...something... ...had exploded out of the forest and tried to swallow the cart whole. Teeth broken on the shield, it left faster than it had arrived and never showed it's face again. Indeed, while Trixie would never be so foolish as to get complacent she honestly felt pretty safe knowing how much punishment the cart could handle. As in, safe enough to regularly book shows in the other towns near Unity.

And so it was that she was concerned, but not truly alarmed, when while crossing a small meadow a shadow suddenly fell over her head, accompanied by a long low sound like a horn being blown. Trixie looked up and saw something descending towards her slowly. It was, she saw after a moment, an airship of some kind. But it was not the sole vessel which had been built so far in Unity, not the small balloons Sylphs sometimes used to save their wing power over long distances. And the design also wasn't Equestrian in origin. Trixie decided to hide in the cart, powering up the shields just in case.

Inside, she heard nothing for several minutes. Then there were footsteps, and words she could not make out. Then, to Trixie's shock, the back door was knocked from it's hinges and fell away in spite of the shielding gems. Three beings peered in at her. They were human-like, yes, but not quite like any human Trixie knew. “Just make it quick!” Trixie exclaimed.

Two of the beings looked at each other, and then one of them began to laugh as another spoke in, to the unicorn's surprise, perfect English. “We are not monsters. We mean you no harm.”

“So... You won't hurt Trixie?” Her eyes went wide. “You won't make Trixie into pony-kabobs using her own horn as the skewer!?”

“Of course not. We are lost, is all, and hoped you could give us directions.”

“Lost?” Trixie asked. And then a lightbulb went on for her. “Waiiiit.... Let me guess. Your being lost started when you flew into a really bad lightning storm that came out of nowhere?”

“Indeed.”

“Okay, I guess I'm gonna have to postpone my show. Come on, if you can carry my cart in your ship I'll show you the way to town...”

XXXXX

Twilight Sparkle led the tour group all through the center of Unity. "As you can see," She said, motioning to the tree which held Golden Oaks Library, now planted just outside the old Fallow Meadows Library, "We had to take advantage of whatever open space we could find within the town limits, in order to keep everything inside the outer defensive walls. This world's wildlife would give the Everfree's fauna a run for it's bits."

"And you grow crops out beyond the walls?" A reporter asked.

"Correct. Care and harvesting of the crops is done under the watchful eye of the guard in case someone needs rescued in a hurry."

"And does that happen often?" One of the humans following Twilight asked.

"Happily no." Twilight answered. "The local apex predators seem smart enough to have learned their lesson the first time they tried to attack us. We've had no issues with them since. Of course, there are other dangerous animals about, but so far no one has been killed and we've managed to avoid killing any of them as well."

A Sylph flew by, catching the amazed eyes of several visitors from Earth. "Was that a fairy?" Several asked.

"They live in their own town, Sylph Hollow, a couple miles north of us." Twilight explained. "We trade regularly. Now then, as we continue on our way, we'll come to the Town Hall next. Sheriff Tucker heads up the combined guard out of offices there, and it's also where the Provisional Council meets.”

Before Twilight could say any more, she was interrupted by the sound of a long low horn. It sounded close, and then closer when it rang out again perhaps ten seconds later. “What in the-?” Twilight wondered.

“Look!" A Minotaur exclaimed, pointing up. Everyone looked, and there above the town hall, slowly descending towards a landing in the courtyard before the hall, was some type of small airship.

"More friends of yours?" Someone asked. Twilight shook her head no, wondering how much busier her day was about to get.

Reunion

By the time the mysterious airship had settled to the ground, Sheriff Tucker and his unicorn second in command, Midnight Steel, were present, standing in between the ship and the reporters who were kept back to a safe distance. Mere moments after the ship landed, a door opened and a ramp extended down.

To everyone's surprise, the first passenger off the ship was Trixie, who trotted up to Twilight and said “New storm arrivals.”

A short, but heavily built and heavily armored being, humanoid, with a long thick beard then strode down the ramp and stopped before Twilight and the guard. "Well then!" He spoke in perfect English to the further surprise of the crowd, "What have we here?"

Before anyone from the town could respond, a second voice, female, spoke out of the airship. "What we have, Durban, is something I had never expected to see..." The speaker appeared at the top of the ramp. She was taller than the bearded male, and thinner, lithe even, though still somewhat short by human standards, and very beautiful with braided dark-blonde hair, and skin of that shade often called porcelain. A pair of goggles was over her forehead, and she was dressed in an odd mix of robes and more modern-looking clothing. She was also, quite plainly, an Elf.

"When did Tolkien start writing our lives?" Burt Gumbal muttered as he stepped in next to Twilight and the Sheriff.

"After the Mor-tax, we probably shouldn't be surprised." Tucker whispered back.

The Elven girl came down the ramp and stood next to her companion. As she did so, several other faces appeared at the top of the airship's ramp, both Elves, and what, based on appearance, had to be Dwarves, and also a couple of what Twilight (who had of course read Tolkien since the founding of Unity) was certain would prove to be Hobbits.

"My name is Tessindra Fairwind." The elf said, "And this is Durban." She shot a bemused glance back at the others looking out of the ship, "And we have other companions too."

Durban said "We departed from our homes in the Mines of Zeruhn in route to Rivendale. Instead, we strike a sudden storm, and now find legends and myths not seen since the Sundering at the end of the fourth age."

"Yes, is it true what Trixie has told us?" Tessindra asked, "Are you of the race of Man?"

"If by that you mean human, then yes." Bert replied.

Tessindra's calm stereotypical Elven facade crumbled, to be replaced by a wide grin. "Incredible! It's been over six thousand years since the race of man has been seen or heard from in Arda! Were you taken away in the Sundering!?" She looked at Twilight and Trixie. "And unicorns as well of course! It's been even longer since we heard even myths of your people."

Sheriff Tucker glanced sideways at Bert, then said "I... Think we need to talk..."

"Oh of course!" Tessindra agreed. "Shall we meet aboard our ship, or do you have a meeting place?"

"We can meet in the town hall." Twilight said. "Though, given that this is technically a first contact we should probably send runners to Shetland Crossing, Sylph Hollow, and the Longstop in case they want to send representatives too."

"Right." Tucker agreed. To Tessindra and Durban he said "Can you wait? We should be ready in a couple of hours."

"Absolutely." Tessindra agreed. "We'll be waiting..."

XXXXX

Shetland Crossing, former Equestria/Gryphonica border town, now located ten miles south of Unity. The town's Minotaur mayor, Steel Forge, stood by the town gates alongside his Gryphon assistant Gerolt, waiting for the third member of his team. She was running late, which was not like her at all. Just as the mayor was about to send Gerolt looking, a loud clatter of hooves arose and the Changeling Xix-xax galloped around a nearby corner and braked to a halt. "Sorry Forge." She said.

One eyebrow raised, Steel Forge asked "Everything okay?"

"It's just Nyma again..." Xix replied. "Always wanting to come with me."

"Let her." Forge said.

"Sure, why not?" Gerolt agreed.

"You both know why not." Xix answered. "We have to keep her safe. She's too important to the hive, now that we're here on this planet."

Forge said "Perhaps. You don't know for sure. If it were me, I'd be more concerned about life experience."

"We'll know in a couple of years, tops. There's plenty of time for life then. So, what's this about anyway? The comm windows?" Xix asked.

"No, there's been a new first contact." Gerolt explained. "Arrived in an airship I guess, three different species, all somehow known about from human fiction."

"That again?" Xix asked as the trio turned and started the long trip to Unity, "Is there anyone they haven't already heard about?" She failed to notice that the saddlebags over her back, which she had packed with three loaded pouches, contained a fourth as well...

XXXXX

The meeting took place in the Unity town hall an hour later. From the ship, Tessindra was present, along with two other elves, both male. The dwarf Durban came with two of his fellows, and a trio of hobbits rounded out the group. From Unity, there were Twilight, Rarity, Macintosh, and Fluttershy rounding out the ponies and Sheriff Tucker, Bert, and Roger for the humans. Steel Forge, Gerolt, and Xix were of course present for Shetland Crossing, the goblin Brayflox had come from their settlement at the Longstop, and a pair of Sylphs, Belle and Terrance, were also present. Finally, Spike was seated in a corner taking notes on the proceedings.

Sheriff Tucker spoke first. "As we begin, I think we should get something out of the way before it can cause any confusion with our new arrivals... Miss Tessindra-"

"Tess is fine." The elf said.

Tucker nodded, "Tess, then. You clearly have records, or for all I know, being an elf, memories, of humans from thousands of years ago. But, we don't have anything but myths and legends and stories about elves and dwarves and hobbits. Stories we thought were fictional."

"Ye had no idea we were real!?" Durban exclaimed. "How odd."

"Very odd." Tess agreed. "You have no records of the great war?"

"You wouldn't be talking about the ring would you?" Twilight asked. Tess nodded and Twilight explained "There is a novel, I've read it. But it was written less than a century ago, and like the Sheriff said it's supposed to be fiction." A thoughtful expression came over her face. "Then again, Tolkien's notes did indicate he based his work on a translated copy of Bilbo and Frodo's writings..."

"The red book!" One of the hobbits said. "Yes, even after all this time, several pages of the original are intact back home. They're carefully preserved in Rivendale."

"Perhaps it has something to do with the Sundering..." Tess mused.

Bert said "You mentioned that before. What does it mean?"

"Maybe, if it's okay with you, you should tell us your story first." Fluttershy whispered.

"A fair request." Durban agreed.

"Very well." Tess said, and began her tale: "The fourth age began ten thousand years ago, after the ruling ring was destroyed. Most of the Old High Elves, the immortals, heard the call of the sea and departed for Valinor, the undying lands, where all true immortals must go sooner or later. Those who remained, who never heard the call, became mortal and the ancestors of my people..."

"And I have a question or two there." Twilight interrupted. "What is this about immortals having to leave? Our pony rulers, Celestia and Luna, are immortal and they've not gone anywhere."

"How old, exactly, are these princesses?" Another elf, Gillas, asked.

"About fifteen hundred." Twilight replied.

"And they have magic?"

"Oh yes, very powerful magic."

"Then there is your answer." Gillas said.

Tess explained, "Immortality and entropy... Don't play well together. You can get away with it for awhile, a couple of millennia, even five or six with strong enough magic. But sooner or later you have to leave, for a place like Valinor where things work differently, or become mortal, or else you... fade. Your princesses are young enough, in immortal terms, to have a long time yet, but eventually..."

"I also have a question then, before you continue." Nigel Bakker said. "Tolkien's book records both Elrond and Galadriel as being certain that any elves who didn't go would regress back to a primitive rustic life. Yet, you've clearly advanced instead."

Gillas spoke, "Indeed... What you need to understand about the immortals is, they hated change. Despised it even. So much so that the first three great rings, the rings made by the elven smiths before Sauron's betrayal, were in essence proof of concept prototypes for what would have become, had it not been for the One, a network of such artifacts forcing the entire world into an unchanging stasis."

Tess added "Because accepting change was so contrary to their ways, the High Elves couldn't conceive of any elf thinking differently. Elves embracing change was unthinkable to them. Yet they knew that those who stayed would become mortal, and lose most of their magic, two factors that would require accepting change as a part of life to survive. We would need to change, yet they were sure we wouldn't actually do so. So they didn't see any way for us to survive."

"But you did and here you are." Twilight said. "What about the others? The ents, the orcs, trolls, goblins, (Not your race Brayflox, different people by the same name,) What about them?"

"The male ents never found the missing entwives." Durban said. "They slowly died away over the centuries."

Gillas said "And as for the others, during the fourth age they were pushed back. Out of Mirkwood, out of the Misty Mountains-" (Here Durban interjected, "Even out of Khazad-dum eventually!") "-Yes, that as well, until they controlled naught but the shattered remnants of Mordor itself. But there they remained ensconced, until the Sundering."

"And that," Tess picked up, "Brings us to your original question. The Sundering. At the end of the fourth age the world was shattered. The territories of men, Rohan, and Gondor, and several others, simply vanished from the face of Arda, taking all of the race of man with them. Mordor vanished as well. We never figured out what had happened, or why, though we had assumed, falsely I now see, that both had gone to the same place."

Burt said "And from there, you kept going, over the centuries, and now Singularity has kidnapped your ship and brought you here.."

"Yes." Gillas said. "But what is Singularity? Have you learned what bought us here, and why?"

Twilight smiled. "I think it's time for our story..."

Author's Note

Apologies to any hardcore Tolkien fans that might be annoyed by this development.

While it's not a perfect match, this image on DeviantArt ('Elf Archer' by user Costurero-Real) is pretty close to what I imagine Tessindra looking like:

Mac Beth

Bethany Stanz peered carefully around the corner of the Spoony Bard Diner, sighed in relief at what she didn't see, and quickly ran the length of the building before ducking into the next alleyway. She waited to a count of ten, peered around the next corner, then quickly ducked back again. Eyes closed, the girl thought to herself "Chill Beth. You knew this day was coming. Just get what you need from the store and get back out of the window's range..." She couldn't help but chuckle. "...And then keep doing it for the rest of your life..." Eyes open, Bethany steeled herself to take another look, then peaked around the corner... And screamed at the waiting, broadly smiling face of Pinkie Pie right there.

"Hiya Bethy! Who 'ya hidin' from?" The Pink One asked, hopping about as Bethany stumbled back into the alley. "O.o! Is it ninjas? Or xenomorphs? Or xenomorph ninjas?"

"Pinkie! You scared the crap outta me!" Bethany exclaimed. "What are you doing skulking around?"

"Pot and kettle! You're the one skulking!" Pinkie argued.

"Yeah but with a good reason... Can we do this later!? I'm in a hurry." Bethany said, peaking around the corner again.

"Oh, so it is xenomorph ninjas! Well don't worry, I know their weakness!" Pinkie reached into her mane and produced a box of baking soda. "Little of this, little acid blood, messy but effective!"

Bethany could only shake her head. Ponies in general were a little odd by human standards. This one cranked it up to eleven. "There are no xenomorphs Pinkie. Or ninjas." She sighed. "I'm hiding from my parents."

"Your parents!?" Pinkie exclaimed, eyes going wider than normal. "But why!?"

"Look, Pinkie, you do understand how humans are funny about mixed relationships right?"

"Well sure, but isn't that just for things that aren't smart?"

"That's the intent... But back home on Earth, there isn't anything else smart in the way you mean... So we tend to be funny about it either way." Bethany explained.

Understanding dawned in Pinkie's eyes. "Ooooh.... So they might have a problem with you dating Mac."

"There's no might to it. And since dating is the least of things..."

"Huh!?" Pinkie cocked her head to the side.

Bethany blushed slightly. She wished she'd not said that last part. "The point is, with the public access window online now, they're bound to be here looking for me. And I'd rather avoid that meeting for now, which means hiding out at home where the window doesn't reach... But I'm out of food." She peeked again. No parents in sight. "So if you'll excuse me, I gotta get to the store..." Not waiting for Pinkie to answer, Bethany ran around the corner and further down the street.

"'Dating is the least of things...'" Pinkie mused. "Could she mean... Nah, we know they're doing that... But what else..." And with realization came the biggest, brightest, most disturbingly enthusiastic smile the pink pony had ever worn...

XXXXX

Sometime later, Raymond and Martha Stanz stood at the very edge of the window from Earth to Unity, looking across the width of two streets to the back of their home. "I always knew we should have lived closer to town... So close and yet so far." Martha said.

Raymond nodded. "But why? Why wouldn't Beth be out here to see us? It's been eighteen months!"

"Can I help you folks?" A voice asked from behind. Turning, Ray and Martha found a blonde maned grey coated pegasus in a postal uniform. "I don't recognize you, so you must be visitors. I'm Derpy!"

"Um, Ray and Martha Stanz..."

"Stanz? So you're Bethany's family then?"

"Her parents. You know her then?" Ray asked.

"Oh sure. You do mail delivery in a town no bigger than this you get to know everyone! Though then again, I'd say everyone knows Beth anyway, she's done a lot of good since we've been here..." Derpy looked around. "Where is she anyway?"

"That's what we're wondering." Martha said. "She hasn't come to meet us."

"We think she might be at home, but we can't get that far to check." Ray added.

"That's weird... Wait here, I'll go knock."

Derpy flew up and over the roof of the house, landing at the front door and knocking. Bethany answered and ushered the pegasus inside. "Whoa! Where's the fire!?" Derpy exclaimed.

Shutting the door behind them, Bethany knelt down in front of Derpy. "The fire is you talking to my parents! I saw through the back windows! What did you tell them!?"

"Nothing major... Just that I know you and you've been a big help to making the town work. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong..." (Here Bethany slipped into a whisper even though no one else was possibly in earshot,) "What's wrong is... ...I'm pregnant!"

Derpy's eyes uncrossed in surprise. "Oooooh..... So that explains it..."

"Yes! That explains it! My parents will freak if they find out about Mac and me1!"

"Oh... The whole 'Humans are funny about mixed relationships' thing... Um, I don't know how to tell you this, but that's not what I meant. What I meant was, I dropped the mail off at Sugarcube Corner a little bit ago, and Pinky was in a tizzy about some 'Super-Duper-Ultimate-Mega-Surprise-Party' thing. Wouldn't tell anyone what it was about, but knowing Pinky I'd say she knows somehow."

As Derpy spoke, Bethany had turned white as a sheet. "Oh no! I've gotta stop her!"

"Well, maybe, but... Everyone in town already knows... Isn't someone gonna say something to them sooner or later anyway?" Derpy asked.

"Everyone knows about us dating." Bethany corrected. "Only you, me, and Pinky know about the baby. I haven't even told Mac yet... Look, can you maybe distract them away from the bakery while I go try to talk Pinky down?"

"Well, all my deliveries are done... I can try to think of something I guess..."

"Great!" Bethany hugged Derpy. "Just don't let them get to Sugarcube Corner, or anywhere on my path from here to there and back, for an hour. " She rushed out the door and Derpy followed...

XXXXX

Bethany burst through the door of Sugarcube Corner, to find Pinkie Pie busily crafting triple-decker cake that was pink on one side and blue on the other. "Hiya Bethie!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I figured I'd go half and half since we don't know yet if the ba-" She was silenced by a hand covering her mouth as Beth dragged her into the back room.

Seeing that the Cakes were thankfully out of the room, Beth hissed "Who else have you told!?"

"Told? No one!" Pinkie answered.

Beth slumped back against the wall. "Oh thank God." She looked Pinkie in the eyes. "You can't say anything Pinkie. Please. No telling, no party, no anything."

Pinkie gasped. "No party!?"

"Well, not yet. Pinkie, my folks..."

A rare serious expression came over the pink pony's face. "Okay, but... You know you can't hide it forever."

Nodding, Bethany said "I know, I know. I don't plan to. I'm just not ready yet, that's all. I need some answers you know... Like, what to expect. And I need to tell Mac myself."

Pinkie nodded sagely. "Well, I can at least help you with the answers. Come on, I bet Twilight's finished talking with those elves by now..." She bounded away, clearly expecting Beth to follow.

Bethany did, though as she rose to her feet a thought occurred to her: "Elves!? Pinkie what!?"

XXXXX

They found Twilight in Golden Oaks, nose in an ancient tome, muttering to herself. Once Bethany explained what was going on, Twilight was more than happy to pull away from her books. "When two distinct species reproduce, the magic required to make it work tends to favor the female's species. Probably because the environment within the womb is different from one species to another and you need a match for the baby to survive."

"So, the baby is most likely human then?"

"Most likely, yes, though there could easily be relatively subtle variances caused by the paternal genetics being pony. For example, the baby might have skin and hair pigmentation you don't see in humans. Or ears like ours. A tail, maybe. Again, mostly human, I doubt we'll see more than one of these things." Twilight walked up to Beth. "Now, what's the real problem?"

"My... parents are here?"

"Oh my."

"I have to tell them. But I don't know how."

Twilight grinned. "I might have an idea. They've been in town since the window opened right? Someone has surely said something about you and Mac to them by now. Sorry, just how it is. So, what I think you should do is just... approach them. Get the first part of it over with, and deal with the second part when it feels right."

XXXXX

Ray and Martha Stanz sat on a park bench. "Do you think it's true?" Martha asked.

"We heard it from too many people not to be." Ray answered.

"It bothers you?"

Ray nodded. "Of course it does. And yet... I wonder... It's not as if this isn't a person instead of just an animal."

"You're thinking of your father." Martha said. "How he was towards other races."

"Yeah... I mean, how different is this? I mean... Those elves that showed up today. I know for a fact that I wouldn't have a single thing to say if I found out she was dating one of them... Is there really a difference, other than looks? It bugs me... But I know it shouldn't..."

"...Dad?"

Ray and Martha looked to see Bethany standing behind them. They jumped up and ran to their daughter, embracing her tightly.

"So, I guess you've heard...?"

Ray nodded. "We have. And, it's rough for me. But I think you already heard what I said before. That's me, and I know it's wrong of me even if I can't get past it yet. So, you've got nothing to worry about from me or my reaction."

Martha added "Though that said, I must insist on meeting this fellow."

"Absolutely." Ray agreed.

"I'll see what I can do about that." Beth said. "But... before we do... There's one more thing I think I should get out of the way..."

Author's Note

1: Not the movie Mac and Me. Though, you should really watch the MST3000 of it on Netflix.

Arcadia

Author's Note

Tales of Arcadia timeline branches from series canon just after Trollhunters season three episode six, before the quest for Merlin's tomb begins in the next episode. (And yes, 3 Below has already begun by that point so Aja, Krel, and Varvatos are present as well.)
To avoid the confusion of multiple very different species with the same name, Arcadia Goblins will be called Gremlins, and Arcadia Changelings will be called Aufs (from my research, it's a fifteenth century Middle-English word that predates the term Changeling but means the same thing.)
Also, of course, Spoiler Warning for Tales of Arcadia.

Arcadia

Arcadia Oaks, California
One week after the public windows were opened in Unity

Javier and Ophelia Nunez sat in the Lake family's dining room, across the table from their daughter Claire and her boyfriend Jim. Having only just learned of the city of trolls beneath their very feet, of the battles the pair and their friend Tobias were involved in, having just minutes before survived an attack of gremlins, the couple can be forgiven for being a little shell-shocked. "Mom?" Claire asked, concerned.

"Claire... I hate this. Do you understand me? I hate this. You're teenagers! You shouldn't have to be involved! But... Barbara's right. I can't try to stop what you kids do. Not without making it even worse. And, I also understand that we can hardly get involved in the fighting ourselves. But: That doesn't we can just stay totally out of things. The world is in danger! We have to help you somehow!"

"I'm with her on this one." Barbara Lake agreed, sitting next to her son Jim.

"But how?" Jim asked. "I mean, the only smart thing would be to evacuate Arcadia. With Gunmar's army in Trollmarket right beneath us, if this does come to open fighting it'll be the first place to come under attack. But you can't do anything until it starts and it'll be too late then."

In the corner of the room stood a four-armed, six-eyed troll, Blinkous Galadrigal (Blinky to friends) the teen's mentor and trainer. "Perhaps we should focus on the matter at hand: Merlin's Tomb." He said. "If we can acquire the Staff of Avalon before Gunmar does, the Eternal Night will be rendered an academic issue."

The front door slammed open. Walter Strickler, a history teacher at the local high school who had also turned out to be a shape changing Auf (On top of trying to kill Jim multiple times before changing sides) rushed in and slammed the door behind his back. "I'm afraid that too is academic! Haven't any of you looked outside!?"

A peal of thunder rumbled through the air, and then more, a steadily increasing roar. Everyone ran outside, where they saw a terrible storm bearing down on the town, lightning flashing ceaselessly in the clouds. "Is this-?" Jim started to ask.

"No it can't be. Gunmar can't have freed Morgana yet!" Blinky answered. "This is something else!"

The lightning began to strike down from the clouds to the ground. "Something else, but no less dangerous!" Claire said. "Everyone inside!"

XXXXX

Unity. The terminal storm had formed with shocking speed, boiling out of a clear mid-day sky in seconds, it's outer fringes less than a half-mile from the southern wall. Citizens of all species poured out of homes and workplaces to watch in awe as the clouds spun about and the lightning crackled about, dancing through the clouds and slamming to the ground. Everyone was forced to look away as a brilliant flash of white light came from the clouds. And when they could look again the storm was gone, and the outer fringes of a new town was plainly visible.

While a trio of pegasai made high-altitude recon flights over the new town, Twilight rushed to the roof of Unity's tallest building. Sheriff Tucker and Midnight Steel were already there, looking out over the new town with binoculars. "What can you see?" She asked.

Steel passed Twilight his binoculars while Tucker said "It's from earth, for certain. And probably America, or somewhere in Australia or Western Europe from the design of the houses."

Twilight floated the binoculars to her eyes and looked. As she did so, she also subconsciously extended her magical senses in the same direction. And gasped at what she felt.

"Twi?" The Sheriff asked.

"I don't know... I know there's not supposed to be magic on your world, but... There's something mystical over there."

"You don't say? Well, I suppose we'd better see about making contact..."

XXXXX

"Um... Why is it suddenly daytime?" Toby wondered.

"A valid query." Blinky said, from his spot in the hallway where he had retreated to hide from the sudden sunlight which would turn him to stone.

While the trolls waited inside, the humans in the house rushed outside. All around, other people were coming out of their homes, confused. Someone shouted out, pointing up, and in the clear sky above a trio of small objects could be seen moving slowly over the town.

"Hey! Look at that!" The Lake neighborhood sat on a low hill higher than the rest of the town, and looking to the north it was apparent that the forest which should have been there was gone, replaced by another town.

"What the...?" Claire wondered.

"This... Has to be something... magic. Right?" Barbara asked.

"Absolutely." Strickland nodded.

"Back in the house!" Jim hissed, and everyone followed. Once inside he said "Whatever those flying things are, they're all moving in the same direction, coming from that town. Maybe we should take a look."

Claire activated her staff. "I can portal us near that edge of town."

"Do it." Jim said. "Blinky, stay here where it's safe."

"Of course Master Jim. I'll be in the basement."

A few seconds later, a swirling black portal appeared in an alley along the side of Arcadia nearest the mystery town. Claire was through first, followed by Jim and Toby, and then- "Ugh! Mom what are you doing!?" Claire hissed.

"I'm on the city council Claire." Ophelia said. "I need to see what's going on." She stumbled slightly. "That takes some getting used to doesn't it?"

Claire snorted. "Yeah."

"And the rest of you?" Jim asked, hands on his hips, staring at his mother, Claire's father, and Strickler.

"Well, you might need... Backup."

"So much for staying out of the fighting." Toby said.

Jim rolled his eyes. "Ugh... All right, let's see what's going on."

They slipped down the alley, which suddenly ended at the edge of town, not at a forest as it had been before, but a field of soybeans. The other town was visible, and from this closer range they could tell that most of the structures looked like the types of buildings they were familiar with. There were some unusual features however, such as homes that looked a little too small, seemingly permanent clouds hovering just above the roofs of their neighbors, a large rounded tower glowing a faint violet/pink, and of course the twelve foot wall surrounding it all.

All of this was secondary, however, to the much closer presence of two men and a young girl, armed, and accompanied by a pair of- "Are those... ...unicorns?" Strickler asked.

"Sure looks like it." Jim said. "Where the hell are we?"

Ophelia steeled herself. "Let's find out... Hello!"

"Hello!" The approaching group called back.

The two groups were in speaking range of each other two minutes later. Ophelia held out her hand, introducing herself, and the older of the two men called himself Sheriff John Tucker. He then introduced his companions, "Bert Gumbal, Bethany Stanz. And I saved our other friends for last since you won't have met ponies yet, this is Twilight Sparkle, and my second in command Midnight Steel."

"Ma'am." Steel said, causing Ophelia to jump.

"Talking unicorns even..." Strickler mused.

"Look, can you tell us what happened?" Jim interrupted. "It was night time, there's a weird storm, now we're here."

"Son, this is Unity. Your town's been abducted." Bert said.

"Okay, you say that like we should know what it means." Claire said.

"Well really you should." Tucker said. "Twilight here even did a interview last year in the news."

Everyone in the Arcadia group looked at each other, confused. Finally Ophelia said "Sheriff, I'm sorry but I have no idea what you're talking about. And I keep up, I have to in my position. There has never been any press interview with a unicorn!"

"Mom's right, we would know about that." Claire said.

Tucker shook his head. "Great... It sounds like there's something else going on now. Twi? What do you think-?" He stopped and looked at Twilight, who had been unusually quiet through the entire exchange. "Twilight?"

Twilight was staring at the trio of teenagers. "These three have magic artifacts on them." She said after a moment. "Potent ones, too."

Jim and Claire began to deny any such possibility, but a stern look from Ophelia and Barbara shut them down. "Okay okay, yeah, but can you keep it quiet?" Jim said, glancing back to where a crowd had begun to form at the edge of Arcadia, thankfully out of earshot. "Please?"

"For now, okay." Twilight said. "But I want an explanation, seeing as how magic isn't supposed to be a thing on earth."

"If it helps," Barbara said, "That's what we thought too until recently."

"Recently as in two hours ago for Javier and me." Ophelia said. She turned to Jim. "But kids, I'm not sure quiet is gonna keep long now."

Jim said "I'm... actually fine with that, so long as exactly who it is with the magic stuff is a secret." Claire and Toby nodded vigorously.

"I have my doubts on that. But we'll try."

"Okay then... I guess we need to explain some thing to you folks then." Tucker said. "And we should do it somewhere private, and preferably where you can sit down, 'cause you're not gonna like it..."

XXXXX

Though it had seemed odd to the Unity envoys, an agreement was made for everyone to meet at the Lake home in an hour. "We've got some things to tell you as well." Ophelia had said. And so, using the direction and distance coordinates provided Twilight teleported herself, her friends, the Sheriff, and Bert, into the living room. The curtains were all tightly drawn which made some sense to Twilight given the councilwoman's desire for secrecy in the first meeting. Soon, everyone was gathered together. Ophelia motioned for Tucker to begin. "Before I tell you our story though, I should tell you that we have communications with the U.S. government, and they just confirmed to us that Arcadia Oaks California has not vanished. They think there may be some kind of alternate timeline thing going on, whatever that exactly means."

"Which explains why we don't remember a unicorn press conference!" Claire said. "It did happen. On your earth."

Barbara said "You said we'd need to be sitting down for what you had to tell us. This gets worse, doesn't it?"

Tucker nodded. Over the next hour, he and Twilight laid out the story of Unity. What had happened, how and why, and most importantly that fact that everyone was stuck there.

Then it was Jim's turn, to tell the group from Unity about the trolls, and the magic power Twilight had sensed. Tucker and Bert, along with the ponies, agreed to keep quiet about Jim and his friend's identities unless it was absolutely necessary. "But it sounds like we have a problem." Twilight said.

Jim nodded. "Yeah... Gunmar and Angor Rot should be back on our earth. They'll get the Staff of Avalon, but that doesn't matter with Morgana trapped here. What I'm worried about is what's going to happen with his entire army beneath our feet."

"Assuming of course, that Trollmarket was bought here along with Arcadia." Another voice said. The entire Unity group jumped to their feet at the sight of Blinky, who had come up from the basement.

"It's okay! This is Blinky. He's a friend." Claire said.

Blinky bowed. "Blinkous Galadrigal at your service." He looked at Jim. "Of course, the Gumm-Gumm army won't march without orders from Gunmar. They're not an immediate threat even if Trollmarket is here."

"Even if Usurna is down there with them?" Jim asked.

Blinky's many eyes went wide. "Hmmm... I hadn't considered that. Still we should have some time, if only because she likely doesn't yet know anything has happened."

"So... What should we do then?" Toby asked. "About all of this?"

Ophelia grinned. "I'm not a politician for nothing... I have a plan..."

Epilogues

Epilogue One: (Window Opening Day)

Near the end of the day, with the sun setting in the west creating a vibrant riot of colors in the sky, Twilight Sparkle trotted towards the Town Hall Building, a large ancient book held in her magical aura. It had been a busy day, what with the public windows opening and the arrival of Tess and her friends, but the unicorn had one more duty to perform, which she was concerned couldn't wait. Not that the knowledge underlying Twilight's concern was new to her. But prior to this day, she had thought it a mere coincidence. Now she was less certain.

So Twilight went into the hall, to a locked chamber in the back, which had been set aside for this special purpose after contact with Eqqus and Earth had been reestablished. She undid the locks, stepped through the door, and re-locked it behind her. The chamber was twelve feet square, with a nine foot ceiling, devoid of furnishings or decorations. It contained only a small magical glyph drawn on the floor. Twilight stepped to the glyph, tapped the middle three times in quick succession, then stepped back to wait.

She didn't have to wait long. By tapping the glyph, Twilight had essentially 'rang the bell' at the private window facility back in Canterlot, letting the princesses know she needed to speak with them. In less than three minutes, both Celestia and Luna appeared. “Good evening my student.” Celestia said. “What have you?”

“Something weird. And probably nothing. But after today, I feel you should be aware.”

“Yes?” Luna asked.

“You remember Starswirl's twenty-seventh prophecy? The one that we still have only a fragment of, and so far as we can tell the only one that hasn't yet come to pass?” Twilight asked. As both Alicorns nodded, she continued “In our time here, I've read a lot of human books. Fiction as well as non-fiction. In one of those novels, there is a passage which bears an uncanny resemblance to the prophecy. I actually noticed it nearly a year ago, but dismissed it as coincidence.” Here Twilight looked up from the book she was holding, meeting each of the Princesses' eyes in turn. “Today, we met a kidnapped airship full of the peoples the book talked about, who insisted that the book was a mostly accurate account of historical events.”

Luna looked at Celestia. “A moment sister?” She asked, and stepped out of range of the window. Celestia followed.

XXXXX

“Could this be the beginning?” Luna wondered.

“Possible but not probable.” Celestia answered. “Remember, Mother's warning concerned a threat from outside.”

“Strewth. But we should have the Skybolts perform recon on the valley, just to be sure she's still there and nothing has changed.”

“Agreed.”

XXXXX

They were only gone for a moment before returning to the window. “You are wise to bring this to our attention Twilight.” Luna said. “We will begin investigations into the matter at once.”

“Thank you Princess.” Twilight said. “I'll do the same here.”

“Excellent. Then if there is nothing else-” (Here Celestia yawned deeply, to Luna's amusement) “We will end this meeting.”

“Of course. I'll let you know if I learn anything.” Twilight said. The window vanished, and she looked down at the book she held, and read again the last surviving fragment of Starswirl's twenty-seventh prophecy:

“One ring for the dark queen,

Who reclines on her throne,

In the changeling vale,

Where magics fail...”

Epilogue Two: (Two Days Post-Arcadia Arrival)

Fluttershy rose with the sun and tended to the morning needs of her animal friends before returning to her house to prepare breakfast. Silver Spoon was still in bed sound asleep, hardly a surprise on a Saturday. The smell of cooking breakfast would wake her, Fluttershy thought with a smile. She cracked a trio of eggs into a bowl, whipped them up, and was just about to turn on the stove when a knock sounded at her door. “Who could it be this early?” She wondered.

Fluttershy opened the door, and squeaked out a slight 'Eep!” as she beheld the caller: He was easily the tallest human she had ever seen, or so she thought at first. A second, closer look revealed he wasn't that tall at all; his fashion choices just made it seem that way.

“Oh my, forgive me my dear, I had no intentions to startle you.” The man said.

Fluttershy studied the man. In spite of his odd manner of dress he had a kindly glint in his eyes and she somehow felt sure that here was one who could indeed be very dangerous, but had no desire or plan to do so. “Oh, that's okay.” She whispered. “You didn't really scare me, I just didn't recognize you and you're dressed so oddly... Would you like to come in? I have water hot for tea.”

“Tea would be lovely, thank you.”

A few minutes later, they were drinking tea together in the kitchen. “Um, if it's okay for me to ask, why did you come to my door?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well your home is the first one comes to after entering the gates. And I very much need your assistance. You see, I'm searching for a very old friend of mine.”

“A friend? And you think he might be here?”

“Well I don't know about that. But I do know that he was living among you ponyfolk the last time I saw him.”

“And, um, when was that?”

“Oh, it's hard to remember precisely that far back... well over a thousand years, at least.”

Fluttershy cocked her head in confusion. “Um, but, humans don't live that long. Ponies either. And, even if we did, we only met humans less than two years ago.”

“Well I never said he was human or pony did I?” The man sipped his tea. “Never said such of myself either. And as for the other, man and pony did indeed meet long ago, not that such matters now.”

“But you hope to find this friend, and thought he might be here?”

“Oh yes it is imperative that I find him. A great many prophecies are coming to a head. And even if he's not here well, perhaps you or one of your brethren can point me in the right direction.”

“I'd be happy to try... What was his name?”

“Well like myself he has many. Among your people, I believe he was known as Starswirl-”

“Starswirl the Bearded!?” Fluttershy exclaimed.

“'The Bearded'? No, no, he did indeed have an impressive beard but it wasn't a part of his name. No, I knew him as Starswirl the Violet.”

“I've never heard of him called that before.” Fluttershy said.

“Hmmm... Nevertheless it is true... I remember his name and color as well as I remember my own.”

“Your own?”

“Oh dear me. I've done you a discourtesy my dear, and forgotten to introduce myself.” He bowed. “I am Gandalf... Gandalf the Gray...”

Author's Note

I know, I know... Trust me, there is an explanation for how he's here, and why he's still the Gray, in the coming story.

And speaking of the coming story: I'm currently working on chapter fifteen. I want a buffer of at least twenty-six (six months basically) before I start publishing. At the rate I'm currently writing, that should take about six weeks. Finally, to those who have been concerned that the chapters here haven't been building on each other, fear not. Things do begin to link together in the next installment.

Dauphin

The meeting was breaking up and everyone was engaged in smaller conversations, when the door of the meeting room slammed open, admitting the changeling Bzzzz. "Xix!" She called out, "Nyma is missing!"

"What!?"

"Yes! She's not been seen since just before you came to Unity! We think she must have disguised herself as something one of you was carrying!" Bzzzz said.

"Okay slow down!" Bert said. "Who exactly is missing?"

"Yeah, I've not heard of a drone named Nyma." Tucker agreed.

Xix shook her head. "Nyma's not a drone yet. She's a larva, the only one we had in Shetland Crossing when the town was taken. We've kept her in the hive safehouse for her own protection."

"Just a larva... Can she already change form?" Twilight asked.

"Oh yes, we can do that as soon as we hatch."

"So there's a shapechanger hiding somewhere in this town?" Tess asked.

"Xix's hive is our allies." Twilight said. "This Nyma won't be a threat. But finding her..."

"Xix and I can narrow it down maybe." Bzzzz said. "We can sense when there's another changeling close by. But it's a general sense, not a precision target kind of thing... If Nyma insinuates herself into a large crowd we'd know she was in there but might never figure out which one was her."

XXXXX

The Cutie Mark Crusaders (Original trio plus Dinky Hooves, and human friends Micheal and Sarah) were headed to the town arcade. "It's too bad the others couldn't come." Sweetie Belle said.

"Ahh, you know Silver and Tiara. Arcade games aren't their thing." Scootaloo said. "Besides, there's Silver's party at Fluttershy's tomorrow."

"That's true." Sweetie agreed.

Micheal said "I feel bad for Paul not making it though."

"Oh yeah! He's like this close to beating the high score on Galaga!" Scootaloo agreed.

Rounding a corner, Apple Bloom let out a yelp as she trotted headlong into the running Bethany. "Whoa Beth! What's the rush!?"

"Sorry 'Bloom can't talk now!" Bethany shouted back as she continued to run as fast as she could down the street.

"You okay?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Apple Bloom shook her head. "I think so. Let's not do that again though, eh?"

As she spoke the last word, Bloom was struck again, this time by a mint-green pegasus filly with an orange mane and tail who had been galloping down the sidewalk. "Oh! I'm sorry!" The filly said, helping Apple Bloom to her hooves.

"It's all right... Say, I don't recognize you... Are you one of the ponies visiting through that window?"

"Oh! Um, yeah, yeah that's right." The pegasus answered.

"So what's your name?" Micheal asked.

"I,m, um, Mythril Wind." she answered after a short pause.

Apple Bloom passed around introductions, then said "We're goin' 't play some games. Y'all wanna come?"

"You're inviting me? Okay!"

"Let's go then!" Scootaloo groused, "We're losing time and I wanna finish Dragon's Lair finally!"

Two humans, four ponies, and a disguised changeling larva ran for the arcade...

XXXXX

“I'm actually a little concerned here, about something else...” Bert said. “You never let the kid out of the house?”

“Yes darling, I understand wanting to protect your little sister, but children need the world.” Rarity agreed.

Xix shook her head. “There's more to it than that. Forge and Gerolt already know this, but... Like I said Nyma is a larva. She won't cocoon and morph into her adult form for at least eighteen months, probably closer to two years-”

“And when she does, she'll become either a worker drone like Xix or a soldier drone like Bzzzz?”

“That's exactly the issue. Yes, most likely, that's what will happen. But there is also a very small chance, about one in four hundred, that she will become a new queen.” Bzzzz explained.

Twilight's eyes went wide with understanding. “Oohhhh... Because without a queen, you can't...”

“Right.” Xix confirmed. “Without a queen there are no more of us here. We'll die out within a century. And we really don't wanna lose the chance to be a part of what's being built here.”

“So you tried to protect her. But she wanted to see what there was to see in the world...” Roger said.

“And broke out.” Macintosh finished.

Steel Forge asked “And you are certain she is not hiding somewhere in Shetland Crossing?”

“We all canvased the town. No sense of her presence.” Bzzzz replied. “And she's smart enough to know better than to run off into the forest. So she's got to be here in Unity. Somewhere...”

XXXXX

After an hour at the arcade, the Crusaders and their friends were headed to Sweet Apple Acres, and the Crusader's clubhouse. 'Mythril Wind' trotted happily by their side, delighted to have made friends and buoyed with the fun she had experienced playing the arcade games. “I could get used to this.” The disguised changeling larva thought to herself.

The group reached the clubhouse and piled inside. It was getting a bit more crowded than it used to be, but there was still enough room for everyone present. Apple Bloom stood on her hind legs behind the podium and said “This meetin' of the Cutie Mark Crusaders is called 't order! Any old business?” No one spoke. “Any new business?” Silence. “Alright then, I gotcha all some new business then. Mythril Wind, seein' as y'all don't got a cutie mark neither, I was gonna ask if you wanted to be a member. But then I remembered that yah ain't really here. But then I realized that yah are really here, 'cause we're outside the range of that window thing!”

“Hey yeah!” Scootaloo exclaimed, staring at the filly. “What gives?”

“Um, I, Umm... I have to go!” the changeling shouted and fled as fast as her hooves would carry her.

“So we're going after her right?” Micheal asked.

“Dern tootin' we are.” Apple Bloom agreed, and the group gave chase.

Nyma fled towards town, hoping to lose herself in a crowd. “I should have known better. Of course I'd trip up I've never done this before! I just wanted...” She considered changing forms, but even here on the outskirts of the town there were too many people in range to see her do it, not least of which the Crusaders following behind. Then, as she reached the town center, Nyma also saw her hivemates flying by above, seeking her energy signature, and heard voices calling out her name: Her real name. The crowds were heavy, especially with all the window visitors, but the Crusaders were right there, and then from the other side there was Xix speaking to a human she recognized from pictures as Sheriff Tucker..

“She's very close.” Xix said. “Nyma? I know you're here! Please show yourself!”

“No one is mad Nyma. You're not in any trouble. Your sisters just wanna know you're okay.” Tucker said.

Nyma lowered her head and sighed deeply.

“Are you alright Mythril Wind?” Dinky asked, a forehoof on her shoulder.

“I'll be okay... But...” She looked over her shoulder at Xix, who she could tell had realized, “But my name isn't Mythril Wind...” Green magic flared as Nyma resumed her usual form.

There was a commotion in the crowd, but it was subdued and limited mainly to the visitors. “You're a changeling!? Cool!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

“Why didn't you just tell us?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Xix-xax stepped forward. “That was our fault. We've been so focused on protecting Nyma that we didn't let her do anything. She hid it from you because she was hiding from us.” Xix looked the young larva in the eyes. “Nyma, I'm sorry...”

“I know, I know... Let's just go already.”

Xix chuckled. “You didn't let me finish. We cannot leave you unguarded. You're too important. But... We have maybe been going about it the wrong way...”

“Wait so... I can go out? I can do things?”

“You can.” Xix smiled. “There will be one of us close by at all times of course. We'll do our best to stay out of sight and out of the way.”

“Thank you.” Nyma smiled, and she turned to the Crusaders, “And thank you for a fun day.”

Before Nyma knew what was happening, she was at the center of a four-way hug. “You'll always be Mythril Wind to us.” Sweetie Belle said.

“And who said the day was over?” Scootaloo added. “Race you all to Sugarcube Corner!”