Twilight awoke in a dark forest, her head still spinning from the desperate teleportation spell she’d just used. She looked around, trying to gain her bearings. She listened for her friends, but there was no sign of them nor the monster that had suddenly attacked.
Nothing but the sound of crickets.
“Spike? Rainbow?” she called, getting unsteadily to her feet. She tried to flap her wings, only to cry out in pain. Her left wing was damaged. She examined it and found parallel claw marks across her shoulder where that thing had raked her. They weren’t deep, but they hurt very much. She only hoped they weren’t also poisonous.
She looked around again. These trees were different from the ones she usually saw in the Everfree. She noted that they were coniferous pines, which further confused her. Evergreens had never been seen in the Everfree, as those trees mostly consisted of deciduous oaks and spruce. So this couldn’t be the right forest, she concluded. Where in the world could she be?
Now her worry for her friends increased. In desperation, she had performed a teleport on all of them at once, but she had never done a simultaneous teleport before. She doubted she could have done it if she hadn’t been a princess, but she wasn’t sure where they’d all ended up. Even worse, she didn’t know where that creature was. She seemed to be alone for the moment, but that thing was like nothing she’d ever seen nor read about. She had to find a way home quickly and warn Princess Celestia before somepony else got hurt.
Twilight wandered through the unfamiliar trees, seeking some kind of landmark. Above her, the moon appeared as the clouds scuttled past. She froze. That moon was much smaller, and she could not recognize any of its craters. She looked closer and realized the stars were also out of alignment. None of the constellations she knew were in view. Fear crept up on her as she realized she was somehow no longer in Equestria.
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Applejack gave an involuntary shudder as she remembered the recent events. They had all spent the day doing further repairs, and had been walking back from the Castle of the Two Sisters. The hour had grown later than they’d realized as they had put further efforts into restoring the castle. The only warning they’d gotten before the attack had been a low growl. The creature had leapt from the shadows, all claws and teeth, and had raked at them as they had stood there rooted with horror. Just at the last second, she had pushed Fluttershy aside, as she had been closest to the monster, but she feared she had been a second too late as she’d heard Fluttershy cry out in pain. All pandemonium had broken loose as they’d scattered for cover.
Then Twilight had taken charge.
“Rainbow! Grab Fluttershy! The rest of you, get out of here! I’ll hold it off!”
“No way, Twilight!” yelled Applejack. “We’re not leaving you!”
Twilight blasted the creature with multiple energy bolts, but they only slowed it down.
“There’s no time! GO!!” she yelled.
Then the creature emitted a high-pitched scream, which made them cover their ears. It leaped at Twilight just as there was a flash, and then everything went black.
All was silent as Applejack got up and looked around. Rarity, Pinkie and Spike were with her, but there was no sign of Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy or the creature.
“Y’all okay?” she asked, as the others got to their feet.
“I think so,” said Rarity. “Wait, where is Twilight? And that thing?!”
“Ah don’t know,” and here she took a good look at their surroundings, “but where in the hay are we?”
Pinkie spoke up. “Twilight must have teleported us away. I hope she’s not hurt!” She noticed some flowing water nearby. “I know where we are. We’re on the southernmost edge of the forest. I recognize that stream with the big rocks next to it.”
“That means we’re at least a mile from where we were,” said Spike. “We gotta get help! Twilight and the others need us!”
“But none of us can fly, dear, and I don’t know any teleportation spells,” said Rarity.
Applejack stood on her hind legs and cupped her hooves around her mouth. “TWILIGHT! FLUTTERSHY! DASH! ANSWER ME!” They listened for a reply, but none came. She turned to the others. “Looks like we’re hoofin’ it. On my back Spike, we need to git a goin’!” As soon as he was seated and had tightly gripped her mane, she took off in the direction of Ponyville, with Rarity and Pinkie running closely beside her.
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Rainbow Dash held an unconscious Fluttershy as she called out to the others.
“Applejack! Pinkie! Rarity! Spike! Where the heck are you guys?!” She looked down at Fluttershy, hoping the wound wasn’t as bad as it had first seemed. It was worse. She was bleeding slowly, and her yellow coat was now stained. Dash didn’t know how they’d all gotten separated, but she knew she had to get Fluttershy some medical help. Where was Twilight? She could have teleported them both to the hospital in an instant, but even she was gone.
Dash was torn with indecision. If she took the time to find the others, Fluttershy could get worse or even…even die. But the others may need her help as well. She couldn’t hear them, but there’s no way they could’ve have all gotten out of the Forest in so short a time. Just then Fluttershy gave a little moan, and that decided her.
“Hang in there, Flutters. I’m taking you to the doctor.”
As she spoke Fluttershy winced as she tried to open her eyes. She just managed, then quietly asked, “But...but what about our friends? Whe…where are they?”
“I don’t know. I’ll find them, don’t worry, just you hang on. Can you fly?”
“I…I’ll try.” Weakly she flapped her wings, but only made it a few feet before collapsing back to the ground and holding her side. “I can’t make it.”
“Then there’s only one thing left to do,” Dash said as she bent down and gently cradled her friend in her forelegs. Slowly she took flight in order to jostle Fluttershy as little as possible while scanning the ground below hoping for a glimpse of her friends.
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Twilight had limped painfully along for almost an hour before she finally noticed some lights in the distance. She was coming to the edge of the strange forest, and by squinting she could just make out a clearing ahead of her. She stood at the tree line and gazed out.
She was at the top of a valley, and she could see many lights from the houses spread out before her. They weren’t the kind of houses she was used to seeing in Ponyville. Wherever this was, the dwellings were much bigger.
Then it hit her. She remembered the buildings she’d seen when she had gone through that enchanted mirror not so long ago. It had teleported her to a strange land where equines were not the dominant race and was ruled by beings who had called themselves “humans.” She now noticed those funny things the humans had called “cars” sitting in front of the houses. She hadn’t liked the cars because they were noisy and smelly, but she felt some relief as she now knew where she was. She wasn’t sure, but this did not look like the same town she’d visited before. She hoped that wasn’t the case, because if this was somewhere else she would have a difficult task finding that mirror again. Plus, the last time she was here she herself had been a human, and as such, she’d little trouble going unnoticed. Though equines existed in this world, she didn’t suppose these humans had ever seen an Alicorn. Even so, she’d have to find some way to reach that mirror, for it may be her only way home.
She sat and thought. She couldn’t just walk down among the humans and ask her way. She considered using a transformation spell, but she hadn’t practiced one and she had no idea if she could duplicate the appearance she’d had before. She still had her magic, so that was some relief, but she couldn’t fly with her wing in the shape it was. She sensed she wasn’t permanently damaged, but it might take some time before she could fly again. For now, she needed to find out exactly where she was while staying out of sight.
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Rage. That was its name now, a name that suited it best. A being from neither Equestria nor Earth, it was the dark embodiment of a single emotion.
Find it.
It had existed for millennia, long ago trapped with others of its kind when the universe was a much darker place.
Track it!
Through cunning and stealth, it had made its escape and had fled to the first planet from which it had been banished.
Seek it!
The six hunters had been smaller than its captors, and all but one had been less powerful. The purple one, with the searing beams, it had been the real threat.
Sense it!
And now, the purple hunter was here with it, with Rage, on this unknown world. If Rage would stay free, there was only one thing to do.
Kill it!
The creature sniffed the early morning air. All around it, the woods were completely silent. Not even the birds dared rustle in the presence of the predator, as it moved among the trees. The scent of the purple one showed it was near, that much it knew. The creature knew the purple one had pulled some sort of trick on it before, one that had almost failed, as it knew its claws had raked it. If it was stealthy and was able to take it by surprise, it knew it could succeed in bringing it down. It faded into the shadows and changed its color to match its surroundings. Now, it just needed to come upon it while it was unaware, for in the brief fight it knew the foe was afraid.
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The wind steadily grew chillier as Twilight looked down upon the houses. She shivered as she tried to make up her mind what to do next. She couldn’t stay out here much longer if it got much colder, but what else was she supposed to do? The “humans” had been friendly towards her the last time she’d been here, if it was the same place, but Celestia only knew if they would be that way towards a talking equine. And one with wings and a horn to boot. She sat and thought. She couldn’t transform herself into a human, but maybe she could disguise her wings and horn? A simple illusion spell should do the trick, so she concentrated, grunting and closing her eyes as she poured her magic into the incantation.
After a few moments, she opened her eyes and looked at herself. It had worked! Her horn and wings were now obscured from her sight, so it should work on anypony that looked at her. Now disguised as best as she could, she made her way down to the houses. Maybe she could find some kind of shelter away from the wind. Her concern for her friends still plagued her, but she reasoned she couldn’t help them if she couldn’t help herself, so on she went. She could only hope for the best at this point.
The sun made its way over the horizon by the time she reached the town, bathing the houses in its early morning glow. She felt her spirits rise with the sun. She knew she’d find help.
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The alarm went off shrilly as Susan grunted and turned to slap it off, her hand landing on the nightstand. That’s right, she thought to herself, I moved it last night. Heaving herself to her feet, she walked grumpily to the desk where she’d set it and turned it off. She stretched and yawned. Now that she was fully out of bed, instead of going back to sleep when her alarm was right by her bed, she turned towards the bathroom and turned on the shower. It was going to take some getting used to getting up at this hour, but she had little choice. Her new job required her to be up this early, as much as she hated it. But she had an annoying habit of wanting to eat and live indoors, so she had little choice.
After the shower and brushing her teeth, she went downstairs to grab a quick bite to eat and then to her car. She yawned again as she went to her carport. Then she froze. There, huddled next to her car, was a purple horse. No, it wasn’t a horse, was it? From its size, she guessed it was a pony. The pony startled as she walked towards it, and got to its hooves.
“Hey, sweetie...what are you doing out here?” she cooed softly as she approached it. The pony shook its head and backed away from her, whinnying as it went.
“I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to know what you’re doing here,” she said softly, trying to win its confidence. The pony looked at her with an unusually intelligent expression but kept its distance. Susan held out her hand, but the pony shook its head and tried to back away more. Susan sighed and said, “Alright, I guess you’re not a fan of being touched. I can certainly understand that.” The pony cocked its head at her while she spoke, so much so Susan remarked, “Can you understand me?” The pony whickered at her, which made the human smile and say, “That’s about the answer I was expecting. Now, where did you come from? There are no farms for miles around here.” Then something clicked. The pony’s coat. She’d never heard of a pony being this color before, but then again, she was no expert. Maybe they’d developed a new breed of pony for whatever reason. In any case, she knew she was going to be late for work, so she took out her cellphone and called in.
I can’t understand a word this human is saying, Twilight thought to herself. This can’t be the same place I was in before. Just then her stomach rumbled, which the human took notice.
“Are you hungry? I think I might have some apples.” Making a “stay” motion with her hands, she added, “Now, you wait right there. I’ll be back with some food.”
Did...did I hear the word...’food?’ I understood that! Twilight could hardly contain her excitement. Maybe it was just taking a while to adjust to this place, and the language would come back to her. A million possibilities raced through her mind as to why this might be so. By the time she’d pondered a few, the human returned with some apples. Twilight’s ears pricked up and her nose flared at the scent. As the human held one out to her, she took a few careful steps forward and took it in her mouth, remembering just in time not to use her magic. The human smiled.
“I knew you’d like them! Now, what am I going to do with you?” Maybe she should call animal control, and see what they could do. Yes, that was probably best. She set the remaining fruits upon the ground in front of the pony and reached into her pocket for her phone.
Then several things happened at once.
There was a low growl, then something knocked her down from behind. As she fell, she saw a flash of light appear from the pony as it screamed and fought...some...thing. Susan froze and stared at the scene before her. All she could see was a dark shape that lifted her car in the enclosed place and heave it at the pony, who threw up some kind of shield to protect itself. The pony blasted it once more, which caused it to stagger. Then, before the dark shape could recover, the pony ran forward, quickly placed one of its hooves on her shoulder, then there was another flash of light.
The next thing Susan knew, she was in the forest. The pony was panting beside her, then looked at her with what seemed to be a pained expression. Susan got to her feet and backed away.
“What are you?”
