Pompeii

Chapters

I: And I Can't Wait To See You Again
II: Haelan
III: The Valley Of The Dead And Wicked [WOEFULLY INCOMPLETE]

I: And I Can't Wait To See You Again

Rainbow Island was...different. Sure, it was still called 'Rainbow Island,' but the Richards' kids found the roads were in different places, the people they knew so well were either gone or didn't remember them, and they felt far too old to be back there, but somehow, it didn't forget them; and in some small way, they never let go of it, either. It was quite bittersweet...beautifully bittersweet.

~ "The Isle Beyond Imagining," page 5.

Even before she fully woke up, Twilight had the feeling today was not going to be a fun one. It manifested as feeling more tired than normal as she picked her head up from her pillow and cracked one eye open. Her room looked the exact same as it did last night, so something standing over the edge of her bed was mercifully out of the question. Twilight sighed, but wasted no time in pushing herself up off the mattress. She yawned and swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up to stretch before she levitated a skirt and tank top out of her closet and put them on.

Adjusting to being a princess was not exactly the smoothest transition she'd ever made; she'd spent the night after her coronation wide awake, and she'd run through her "Get-To-Sleep-Quickly" checklist at least twenty times with no luck. The day after, she'd shown up at the royal castle in person; it took Princess Celestia at least two hours to convince her she didn't need to do any of the kind of things Celestia did on a daily basis, like presiding over the court, which only served to make Twilight more anxious until Rainbow Dash and Applejack showed up and practically dragged her back to Ponyville.

Then to top it all off, the plunderseed vines started to invade. At least that fiasco was days behind them now.

Twilight left her room behind and gingerly made her way down the stairs to the main floor, where Spike was already busy at the stove, wearing his chef's apron. Twilight smiled

"Good morning, Spike!"

"Morning, Twi!" Spike replied. "I'm making omelettes with hash browns. Whaddaya want on yours?"

She pressed a finger to her lips and thought for a moment before she answered, "Green onions, bell peppers...and just go light on the cheese, please."

"Got it."

Spike reached over and chopped up a couple of the vegetables he had ready and let Twilight's breakfast cook. His own omelette was bedecked with rubies, sapphires, and a couple opals for good measure, and pretty soon the whole house smelled of fried eggs and fresh veggies, and Spike took both omelettes off the stove top and placed them on plates that quickly went on the table. Both he and Twilight sat down and got a couple bites in before Twilight said, "Gee, Spike, I'm impressed. I didn't even have to wake you up!"

"Yeah, 'cause you slept in. You've been really out of it the last few days," he quipped back.

"Then maybe you should try being a princess," she deadpanned as she pointed her fork at him. Before he could get a word in edgewise, Twilight suddenly blanched a bit. "...Wait, I slept in? What time is it?"

"Um, it's only a quarter past nine, Twi. I don't see what the big-"

"A quarter past nine!? Oh no, oh no, oh no, I'm late!" Twilight shouted as she launched herself out of her chair. "I should have been rearranging the encyclopedias an hour ago! That means I'm gonna have to push my Practical Applications of Color Spells study session back and now my schedule's a mess!"

She spread her wings and flew back up the stairs, with Spike remaining behind to shift his expression to a put-upon look. While he groaned and grabbed a box to put Twilight's breakfast into for later, she practically threw herself into her room and began ruffling through the pile of scrolls on her desk until she found one labeled "1853.1." At the top of a laundry list of tasks was "Rearrange encyclopedia sections by alphabetical and chronological order," scheduled to start at eight-fifteen. Twilight grabbed a pen and scribbled the time out as she walked over to her bed and began mulling over the rest of the list. "Okay, um, so that's been pushed back, along with the book about color spells..." she muttered. "So...will I have to cancel lunch with Pinkie Pie...? Ugh, no, I'll...um, pop over there later and tell her I might be running a little late..." She scribbled a couple fixes next to "Lunch with Pinkie." She paused a moment and rested her head in her hand. "Or knowing Pinkie, she'll already know, thanks to her Pinkie Sense, or something really metaphysical..." After a couple more corrections, Twilight glanced at the rest of her list and said, "So, if I'm not gonna cancel lunch, I might have to put off reading Theory of Metaphysical Elements in Aether for tomorrow. But that's gonna be really tough, since I'm totally booked! In every sense of the word!" Twilight gently bit on the other end of the pen and swung herself around so that she was able to rest her head against the pillow.

However, Twilight barely had time to think of how to start rearranging her schedule when she noticed something strange outside her window. Narrowing her eyes, her curiosity piqued, she gently propped herself up on her elbows to get a quick look at the small, white object that had gotten her attention before her field of vision had gone lower than the window sill. Once she got a good look at it, however, she thoroughly wished she hadn't bothered: hanging in the sky directly on top of the horizon line was the moon, and it didn't seem to be moving, plain and simple. "Wh...what...?"

"Twilight, front door!" Spike's voice jolted Twilight out of thinking too hard about it, and she whirled her head around to look at her bedroom door. She dropped the list in her hand onto the floor and made a beeline for, and then through, it and flew down the stairs. She landed in front of the alcove that led to the front door just in time to see Spike jump out of the way as Rainbow Dash threw it open.

"Twi!" she exclaimed. "What the hay's going on outside!? I woke up this morning and got around to rearranging the clouds just to see the moon staring at me over the horizon!"

"I...I don't know," Twilight stuttered. "I, um, just noticed it and I have no clue what's going on."

"Should I get the girls?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in Twilight's voice or her eyes, and Rainbow Dash pivoted and charged back outside, and Twilight turned around as well after she shut it. "Spike, take a letter..."

There was already a quill and piece of paper in his hands. "Way ahead of you, Twilight."

In a matter of minutes, Twilight's friends had already gathered at the library and were discussing ideas on how to resolve the unexpected situation.

"Look, all I'm saying is if I keep a bunch of clouds over the sun and moon, we'll at least keep everypony in Ponyville calm," Rainbow Dash said.

"And Ah'm tellin' you you know it ain't gonna hold," Applejack replied. "If we tell'em all we don't know what's happenin', we can at least say we're busy workin' on fixin' it."

Well, maybe not so much "discussing" as they were "throwing mud at the wall and hoping it stuck."

Rainbow Dash and Applejack had taken seats in reverse on a chair and on a bean bag, respectively. Rarity and Fluttershy were sitting at a table, Spike dutifully beside Rarity, and Pinkie was busy rifling through bookshelves. Twilight was pacing back and forth across the width of the library's main floor, hands clasped behind her back and her eyes constantly darting around as if she were searching for an answer that would make itself appear out of thin air.

"Listen everypony, there's only one way to put a hold on incoming disaster!" Pinkie called back. "And that..." All eyes were on her now, waiting on bated breath. Pinkie smiled and threw her arms out wide and it was complemented by several invisible party poppers going off behind her, releasing confetti and streamers, and one larger popper that released a rubber chicken, several clown horns, lemon-meringue pies, and Gummy, of all things, straight up into the air. The alligator flew up several inches before he came right back down and landed in Pinkie's hair. "...Is the biggest, loudest, most splendariffic party Ponyville's ever seen! With the biggest, tastiest, most un-resistable cake ever baked by ponykind...! With cherry frosting! All the cherry frosting!" Gummy shifted around, perhaps trying to get comfortable, but it was enough for Pinkie to grunt in confusion before she reached up and plucked him off her head. "Gummy! Is that where you've been all morning?" she giggled. Pinkie quickly slung him under her arm. "You're so silly sometimes, Gummy."

All of them continued to stare at Pinkie before Applejack spoke up. "Actually, Ah think Pinkie's got a point. It'll keep everypony distracted better'n a curtain of clouds, that's fer sure."

"Yeah! And if anypony does notice the sun and moon are out of place, we can just say the princesses are coming by later to explain why!" Pinkie exclaimed. She turned back to Twilight and asked, "So Twilight, whaddaya think? Can we throw my Disaster-Proof-Distraction Party? Huh? Huh? Huh? Can we...?"

"Um..." Twilight pursed her lips and pressed a finger to her lips thoughtfully. "I guess, but only as a last resort. Once I find out what Princess Celestia says, we'll figure out if we should get that desperate this early."

As if on cue, they all heard a knock at the door, three hard raps against the polished oak. The seven of the exchanged worried glances; for all any of them knew, it was one of the townsponies coming to ask why the heck the sun was still sitting on the horizon line when it was about ten'o'clock in the morning. Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat and said hoarsely, "I'll...um..get the door..."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash quickly stepped forward and joined her side. "Sugarcube, if tryin' to answer questions for whoever's out there starts wearin' on ya, we'll be right here."

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

Twilight glanced from her to Applejack and back again, and then to the front door. Her heart was still hammering in her chest and she could feel sweat start to accumulate at her hairline, but at the very least she felt her mind calm down. Twilight smiled. "Thanks, girls." Refusing to hesitate any longer, she grabbed the doorknob and pulled. To her surprise, however, there wasn't a Ponyville resident on the other side of the door, but instead...

"Princess Twilight!" a middle-aged stallion exclaimed. His fur was snow white and he was flanked on both sides by two other ponies that looked just like him, save for obvious species differences. He was an earth pony, and the other four were an equal number of unicorns and pegasi, but the single unifying factor they all had was the golden armor of the Royal Guard.

Twilight quirked an eyebrow. "Sir...? What's going on?"

"Here to return your letter, Princess Twilight," the stallion explained as he held out his hand, clutching Twilight's letter.

"Oh...! Oh, that's great!" Twilight took it back and smiled back up at him. "Did Princess Celestia read it? Bit of an...odd way to contact me back, but I imagine she must be busy doing...something, if the sky's any indication."

The stallion paused, and glanced from her back to the four other soldiers under his command. "That's just it, Your Grace," the sergeant said as he turned back. "Your letter was express-delivered to the throne room, I was there to see it. But..." Twilight felt her heart skip a beat. "It didn't reach the princess because...she wasn't there."

She felt her blood freeze in her veins and her mouth went dry; suddenly, Twilight found it hard to keep herself standing upright. "We've been searching Canterlot Castle all morning with no sign of Princess Celestia."

"Then what..."

"Or Luna," he continued before Twilight could ask. "And between the general state of disarray and the fact our soldiers who guard the entrances have had to turn away visitors, progress has been slow." The sergeant took a deep breath and explained, "We've been asking for reports from our outposts in other major cities, but every single one has come back negative. For all intents and purposes, both princesses are M-I-A." He paused to release a shaky breath before he rolled his eyes as if he had just thought of something. "...Again."

When he looked back at Twilight, he noticed her body was completely rigid, her arms looked glued to her sides, and her expression was completely blank. The only indication she was still processing anything were her eyes (now the size of pins) twitching violently in their sockets. The sergeant raised an eyebrow. "...Princess Twilight? Are you alright?"

Just as soon as the last words left his mouth, Pinkie Pie suddenly slid into his field of view and threw her arms around Twilight's neck and chanted, "'Twilight.exe' isn't working right now, we're gonna reboot the program real quick and get right back to you!" She then pulled Twilight back with one hand and reached out and shut the door with the other.

While the recruits behind him leaned over to whisper a couple questions to each other and respond in kind, the sergeant just sighed and turned to face his soldiers with a resigned expression. "Well, we've done our part. It's up to the Elements of Harmony to solve what's next. Let's get back home, gentlecolts," he said.

The guardsponies saluted and sounded off, and the sergeant took the lead and led them back to the carriage they had all used to fly down from Canterlot. On the way however, one of the recruits spoke up. "Uh, sir? Permission to speak freely?"

"Permission granted. What is it, private?" the stallion replied.

"What the hay's an 'e-x-e?'"

The sergeant stopped in his tracks for a second, only a second, before he kept walking. He didn't say anything for awhile, but before they reached the carriage, he said, "Listen, son. I've read the file on Miss Pie, and believe me, you're better off not questioning it. Ponyville's a weird place, so count your lucky stars you ain't stationed here."

||\ //||

The vast fields of nothing passed by under the great nothing in the sky. It was all blotted out with clouds, no stars to be seen anywhere, and sometimes the fields themselves only held dying cornstalks. It was the middle of November, after all, and November smack-dab in the middle of Midwest nowhere to boot. Megan watched it all go by from the safety and comfort of her car. She paid the outside cold and dying plants no mind; she was more concerned about meeting up with her siblings anyway. Almost a whole year come and gone again, and with the world and their jobs bearing down on their shoulders, barely any contact, save for the occasional phone call on Saturday or Sunday night. Strange, how fast time could fly; she didn't expect it to move so fast after how soul-crushing it had felt when...
Megan quickly squeezed her eyes shut and stopped her train of thought from moving any further. It was no use thinking back to her teenage years; they were long gone by now, and that meant Ponyland was, too.

It was strange, how she remembered it so vividly, despite all evidence pointing to it being a dream. But there, she had friends, she had her siblings, she had adventure...she barely thought about home at all, or how to get back. Then, one night, she went to sleep in her cottage and when she woke up...

She was back in her old room.

The shock had kept her in bed for several minutes, but she finally got up and raced around like a madwoman, looking for...well, she didn't really know at the time. A calendar, one of the ponies, a magical locket she had misplaced the previous night, but nothing could be found. Danny and Molly woke up after her and they all confirmed with each other that either they all had the same dream, or Ponyland was real. Upon walking around the house and then checking the barn outside, they found no way to get back to Ponyland, or that the rainbow that carried them there even existed in the first place, obviously. Megan and Danny were distraught, but saying Molly was continents and beyond that was an understatement. When she realized she was never going to see Buttons, Ribbon, North Star, and the others again, she had a mental breakdown that not even their parents could fix. It took three days for her to finally leave her room, and weeks for her to actually smile again. And of course, Megan and Danny knew no one was going to believe them, but Molly swore up and down she wasn't crazy every time she told that story to someone else. That went on for three years before she realized no one was taking her seriously.

The sight of lights from streetlamps and other cars in front of her snapped Megan out of her thoughts abruptly, but it might have been for the best. She didn't cry as often anymore, but sometimes, the tightness in her throat got too overwhelming to ignore. The normal TV static that buzzed in her head during the workday sometimes let up, leaving her unoccupied mind to wander into darker, bleaker places. Not for the rest of the night, though, with any luck. She glanced out the window again. The street was populated by a moderate amount of pedestrians on the sidewalks and even more cars on the road, and she sighed and kept her grip on the wheel and her eyes straight ahead. She passed through one light, then two, then several, until she found the place she was looking for; a large strip mall on the boulevard, asphalt lots as far as the eye could see. She turned her turn signal on and moved over to left lane, and then turned into the lot. It didn't take long to find a parking spot; somewhere close to the road, not the actual shopping outlets. She wasn't picky, and she quickly got out of her car to check her phone. It read seven thirty at night, and by now, she didn't need to message her siblings, especially when she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, two people walking toward her.

Megan recognized them instantly.

She didn't have anything with her, since her home was about two hours away. The two people approaching, however, had come in from out-of-state: Molly from Pennsylvania, and Danny from Michigan. Molly had changed drastically: she dropped her giant pigtails from when she was seven, and her blonde hair came down below her shoulders. She no longer wore the dresses and frills of her childhood, instead sporting tight sweatpants, an Ambercrombie shirt, and a jacket to keep the cold air away.

Danny looked very much the same as he did when he was ten, though he wore less denim. On top of that, the freckles on his cheeks had spread to the rest of his face and his ginger hair had grown longer. Much longer. Where it had come down to his neck in high-school, it was now shoulder-length, and he had tied it up in a ponytail (ugh). The first time he came home with his hair tied up, their mom almost had a stroke and Megan made sure to look disgusted when she looked at it or look disappointed in Danny, but he either didn't notice or ignored her intentionally; knowing Danny, it was probably the latter.

Megan herself had ditched keeping her own hair in a ponytail and had simply just cut it into a sweeping, "boyish" style. Less hair to worry about keeping neat anyway, and was probably the best-dressed out of the three of them. Normally, she would have changed to something more casual, but the three of them had to switch their yearly meetup from Saturday to Friday, and she hauled ass out of work to make it on time. Megan grinned as the two of them came over and they all hugged each other. "Was wondering when you'd get here," Danny said.

Megan rolled her eyes as she held him in place and scoffed, "Shut the hell up."

They all broke apart, which prompted Molly to exclaim, "So, we ready to get going?"

"'Course we are," Megan replied. She gestured forward with her hand and continued, "Let's go."

Danny and Molly nodded, and the three of them set off toward the strip mall. It wasn't an unassuming block of shops, fairly standard for midwest America. There were a few clothing outlets, electronics, office supplies, and the like, but almost at the opposite end of the building in its entirety was a small tavern called "Koban's." It had officially been called "Koban's Korner" before the nineties ended and people realized having "krazy letterz" did not automatically make things cooler. The three siblings approached the door, which Danny grabbed and held open. He bowed slightly and said, "Ladies first."

Megan rolled her eyes again and walked in, but Molly approached him and countered, "What about 'age before beauty?'"

Danny straightened up and frowned. "You calling me 'old?'"

"You said it," she replied before she slipped inside. Danny kept glaring at her as he let go of the door and followed her. The inside of Koban's was, perhaps not "cozy," it was a bar first and foremost, but certainly inviting. There was a moderate amount of noise permeating the air with the patrons who were already inside, talking, drinking, and eating. The three siblings approached a booth near the back wall, as the sign near the front read, "Please seat yourselves."

The three of them sat down and looked over the menus for a couple moments before a stocky, tanned man with a beard approached them with a small smile, apron, and a notepad in hand. "Well, if it ain't my three favorite customers! Gettin' the uzhe'?" he asked.

Megan and Molly nodded, but Danny shook his head and replied, "Nah, just get me water with the fish. Been celebrating all week and I don't think my liver can take any more cheap beer."

"'Cheap beer?'" he exclaimed mockingly. "When have we ever served cheap beer?" The three of them couldn't help but laugh lightly at the old man's joke as he grinned back and turned around toward the door that led into the kitchen. "Two ambers and a water, comin' right up."

There was a moment of silence as the three settled into their seats and enjoyed the heat of the restaurant before Megan leaned forward with a smarmy grin on her face. "So, Danny's cheaping out on the cheap beer tonight?" she asked wryly.

"Yeah, we played our last showing of 'Husbands For Sale' last week. Didn't I tell you that before?" Megan and Molly glanced at each other and shook their heads. Danny's eyes widened and he scratched his chin as he muttered, "Oh, shit, I've been busier than I thought..." The newest rom-com stage play had proven itself to be rather popular for theater-goers, though it certainly didn't have the elements needed to become the "lightning-in-a-bottle" that plays like "Rent," "Hamilton," "Heathers," or "Cats" were. Still, it proved to be successful enough to draw in a full house...though, considering it was localized to southeast Michigan and northern Ohio, "full house" wasn't saying much.

"It's not your fault," Molly said as she reached over and placed her arm around his shoulder. "Wish I had known, though! I've read a little bit about the plot, and it sounds hilarious!"

Danny huffed, blowing some loose strands of hair out of his face. "You say that, but I've got Stars From Me To You and the 'egg-in-the-laundry-room' bit practically burned into my fucking brain." Molly giggled a bit and Danny continued, "Seriously, it's not funny! I could probably recite the whole damn thing Rain Man style at this point!"

Megan quirked her eyebrow and asked, "You played the lead role, right? Mister whatshisface?"

"One of the lead roles. And that's Mister Fergus Whatshisface to you."

Danny's jokes were barely palatable normally, so Megan didn't want to encourage him with a laugh. "Ugh, forget I asked," she scoffed. She was about to ask Molly about her life before the waiter came back and dropped off their drinks. "So Molly, anything new happen to you this past year?" Megan asked, changing the subject.

Molly glanced away from Danny and perked up immediately and she exclaimed, "Oh, yeah! We had a special guest come in at the end of August!"

"Hmm, really? Who was it?"

"You'll never guess!"

Danny huffed and grabbed his glass of water. "That's why we're askin', ya dummy," he muttered after he took a drink. Molly must have heard it, because she glared at him and lightly whacked him in the arm. "Ow...! That hurt, Molly!"

"Then don't be a smartass," she replied. "Anyway, I go in on the...twenty-ninth, get into the back office and finish some paperwork from last night when Doctor Parikh comes in, twinkle in his eye that was probably only matched by the night he brought his wife home for the first time, and tells me in that thick Indian accent, 'Molly, Molly, you won't believe this!' He brings me to room two, and who do I see but Bianca Perry and good old Jumper!" Bianca Perry and her golden retriever, Jumper, were two rising stars in the film world, so hearing their place as patients in some small veterinary clinic in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was understandably jarring.

Megan's jaw dropped. "Bianca Perry and her dog? What in God's name were they doing all the way out in Harrisburg?" she exclaimed.

"An on-site scene for Skytouched, obviously!" Molly replied excitedly. "Unfortunately, Miss Bianca noticed Jumper was sluggish and was having trouble going potty, so she brought him in after convincing the producer and director to delay shooting scenes with him in it."

"Find anything wrong with him?"

Molly's smile fell a bit. "...Yeah. He...he has a tumor growing on his large intestine."

Danny took the opportunity to gag, cough, and make a big show of how disgusting he thought bodily functions were as Megan glared at him. Molly tried not to notice. "To make a long story short, we told her to keep him inside most of the day and made sure he stayed rested and hydrated. We're going to be doing surgery on him in two days." Silence descended on the three of them, and she took a swig of her drink and promptly separated the mug from her mouth. "Oh, Gawd," she gagged. "I'll never understand how people drink this crap."

"Quickly and without stopping," Megan quipped.

"Prolly cause it hurts less than rejection. Or getting cheated on. Or facing a loved one's death. Or dealing with life in general," Danny deadpanned. When he saw Megan glare at him, one side of his mouth curled into a smirk.

"Really, Danny?"

"What?"

At some point, Molly had received a small Caesar salad from the waiter; Megan hadn't been paying attention. She rolled her eyes and went back to drinking sporadically, until Molly piped up, "But, hey! Enough of me being a depressing old fart! How've you been, big sis?"

She paused a moment, then sighed dejectedly and leaned back in her seat. "I..." She trailed off and sighed again. "It's just been same-old, same-old for me. Still writing programs I barely understand for people I don't like." She couldn't help but chuckle at her own bad joke.

Danny put his glass down on the table, maybe a bit more forcefully than he expected himself and he asked, "Why did you not become an author like literally everyone told you to?"

"Danny, we've argued about this before. I write, just not professionally." Megan rolled her eyes. Going into computer science had shocked her parents and her siblings, but she considered herself pragmatic for going into an up-and-coming, high paying field where specialists were in high demand rather than go through dozens, if not hundreds, of hurdles to become an author. Of course, once she got her first job in Green Bay, working for a database publisher and manager was the last thing she had in mind. She didn't hate it, but the monotony dragged her down sometimes; at least with being an author, schedules could be rearranged and she would have been able to take a walk whenever she pleased to clear her head. But as the saying goes, hindsight is always 20/20. "Besides, I'd rather be known for something while I'm alive besides crippling alcoholism," she added half-jokingly.

Of course, the real reason she walked away from being an author was the fact that either your book became an instant best-seller, or it was lost in the sea of books exactly like it. Danny scowled at her "But it's not about writing for a living," he groaned. "It's about writing because you can!"

Megan slumped in her chair a bit and crossed her arms. "Spoken like a true theatre kid," she snorted.

"Hey, I heard that!"

She chuckled to herself as Danny glared at her, and the three of them went quiet for a moment. There was consistently less and less to talk about year after year, but considering they were all the same blood, it hardly mattered. As they aged out of their volatile teen years, the silence came to convey more and more trust and peace. They simply sat there, taking in the comfortable heat of the bar, the distant sound of cars outside, the taste of the drink, and each other's company. Megan, despite her earlier reservations, couldn't help but smile as she took another sip of her ale. This was probably the only time of year she truly felt content.

The waiter came back not even three minutes later with a platter with a healthy five ounce hamburger and fries, which he gave to Molly. Next was a platter of two beer-battered cod, breaded and served with fries, coleslaw, and tartar sauce on the side, which he passed to Danny. Finally, there was another hamburger, but topped with bleu cheese instead of American, also served with fries, which he placed in front of Megan. He stood back up with a warm smile on his face and said, "Nice to see you kids back another year."

Megan glanced up from her plate to Danny and Molly, who were already picking up their forks, food speared on the end, and then up at him. "It's nice to be back."

||// \||

The six ponies (plus dragon) had remained silent for at least five minutes, mulling over what Twilight had relayed before passing out. Only Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack were really trying to think their way out of it; Rainbow Dash was reading a book on ancient Equestrian myths and Pinkie was snacking on two blueberry muffins and a raspberry scone she had procured from her hair. Twilight was busy being unconscious on the bean bag Applejack had been using before. It took awhile for anyone to break the silence, but finally, Rarity said, "Well, this is quite a pickle we've found ourselves in."
"It's a grim-lookin' situation's what it is," Applejack mused.

"...That's what I just-"

"Personally, I've always wondered if pickles know they're just...sour cucumbers," Pinkie interjected.

Rarity rolled her eyes and said, "Listen, everypony, it does look rather...erm, hopeless right now, yes, but we need to do something!"

Rainbow Dash glanced over the top of her book and then looked right back down. "Yeah, well, it's kinda hard to find an answer with Twi off in dreamland," she said. After a pause, she looked back up and continued, "Should I just go with the original plan? Move as many clouds around as possible to cover up the sun and moon?"

"Ah still say we'd be better off tellin' everypony what's happenin' if they don't start breakin' our doors down sooner," Applejack said. "May as well be me."

"Well, um, we could always look through a few of the books in here," Fluttershy added. "It's what Twilight would do, and it might give us some different ideas." She looked back at Twilight herself, still sprawled out on the beanbag. "...I don't think she would mind, anyway."

The other four took quick glances at each other, shrugged, and spread out across the room. "Hey, just remember," Rainbow Dash called back, "make sure you put the books back where you found'em. Twi'll freak out even harder when she wakes up."

"Ugh...do what when I...what...?" Everyone stopped and glanced back to see Twilight slowly stretch her limbs and rub her eyes, muttering all the while.

"Twi!" Spike wasted no time in jumping off his chair and he dashed up the stairs and came right back down thirty seconds later, cold rag in claw. He approached her side and wiped up some lingering sweat on her forehead. "You okay?"

Twilight groaned as the cold water soaked into her fur. "Y...yeah, but what happened? How long was I out? What year is it?"

"Don't worry, darling, it's only been about..." Rarity glanced back at the wall-mounted clock and continued, "Twenty minutes."

This, surprisingly, seemed to have the opposite effect of keeping Twilight calm, because she pushed herself upright and yelled, "Twenty minutes! Oh no, the sun and moon are probably fully visible by now and everypony in town can see it and they're all gonna throw a fit and probably come to me but I won't be able to help because I don't know what's going on, and that means there's gonna be a riot and ponies are gonna get trampled—"

"Twilight!"

She closed her mouth immediately and turned to face Applejack, who had her hands on her hips, and while her expression wasn't necessarily angry, it was stern. "What's gotten into ya? This ain't no different than when we was holdin' off the plunderseed vines, so what's buggin' ya?"

"It's...I don't..." Twilight stammered as she glanced between each one of her friends. She kept panting and muttering for another minute before she shut her eyes, gripped her hair and yelled. "Everything! Everything's happening at once! First I'm told I'm the new Princess of Friendship, they tell me I'm going to be responsible for Ponyville and the surrounding area and I'm going to be part of the next Summer Sun Celebration, but then Celestia and Luna disappear, we give up the Elements of Harmony back to the Tree, but now they're both gone again and it's just happening all over again!" She collapsed back into the beanbag with her hands over her eyes, rubbing intensely. "I just need some time to take it all in. I'm not complaining, I just...I just..." She trailed off and choked up a bit, much as she tried not to make it obvious.

Twilight tried to keep her breathing steady and the lump in her throat from overpowering her, but despite her best efforts she sniffled and felt a couple tears flow out of her eyes. She wiped them away and opened her mouth, but then felt someone wrap their arms around her neck. When she looked to her right, Spike was right by her side, hugging her tightly. Then another presence on her left, which was Fluttershy hugging her neck. Twilight looked from Spike to Fluttershy, and then just as quickly, the other girls surrounded her and all hugged her tightly, too, silence turning to stifled giggles to happy laughter as they all brought Twilight up to stand on two legs. "Shoot, sugarcube, ya know if ya ever feel like the princessy stuff is gettin' too complicated, ya can just come talk to one'a us," Applejack said. "And sorry fer pressin' the issue earlier."

Twilight wiped her eyes one last time and smiled. "Don't worry about it, Applejack," she said.

"Twilight, you can always come talk to me if you feel too heavily burdened," Rarity added. "We'll make a spa day out of it, and with you as a princess, I'm certain Aloe and Lotus will give you a discount for their services, if not a free session! Or VIP treatment!"

"Yeah! And if you ever need to run from your responsibilities for awhile, you can always crash at my place! I'll cover for ya!" Rainbow Dash added.

"Ha! Thanks, Dash, but I don't think it would look too good for my track record, especially with so many ponies depending on me," Twilight laughed.

"Meh, whatever you say. Offer still stands if you need it," Dash said with a shrug.

"I'll keep that in mind."

The pause that followed was quickly interrupted by Fluttershy, who whispered, "Um, I don't mean to rush you, or stress you out more, but shouldn't we be...um, trying to find the princesses again?"

"...Yeah, right," Twilight said. "Did...anypony else have ideas while I was, uh...out of it?" She glanced around at the others, who just kept shaking their heads.

"Didn't really get past how to break the news," Rainbow Dash explained.

"Yeah," Applejack added. "But if anypony can figure it out, it's you, Twi."

She went quiet, her expression fell to a neutral look, and Twilight started to scratch her chin thoughtfully. She even began to walk forward and pace a few steps back and forth across the floor before she stopped. Twilight perked up, snapped her fingers, and exclaimed, "Yes, that's it!" before she power-walked to the table and sat down. Twilight then conjured a large sheet of parchment, quill, and inkwell, and she began to hastily scribble on it. The other girls shared curious glances with each other before they crowded around to watch her work.

There were triangles and circles written on it by now, as well as dozens of sigils meant to channel arcane power, and words written in small stanzas and down the edges of the paper in Old Ponish. As Twilight continued to write more words and shapes on the paper, Pinkie slowly rose up from under the table, gazing at her wide-eyed. Eventually, she asked softly, "What'cha drawin'?"

Twilight took a quick look at her and went back to writing as she explained, "Well, I really don't want to sound like a negative neigh-sayer, but the fact that Princess Celestia and Luna are gone again so fast can't be coincidence, so I'm...kinda inclined to assume the worst."

"...What's that mean...?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"It means I won't feel bad doing something really crazy," Twilight finished. All Fluttershy did was whine quietly as she turned and asked, "Spike, is the book Ley Lines for the Uninitiated up there?" as she pointed to a shelf on the wall to her left.

"Uh...maybe?" he replied. He scrambled over and gave the shelf a couple quick once-overs before he turned around and said, "Or maybe not, I don't see it up here."

Twilight clenched her jaw and sighed. "Will you go-"

"Oh, you mean this book?" Pinkie exclaimed as she held out a hard-cover textbook, bearing a map of Equestria crossed by multicolored lines.

Twilight whirled her head around, eyes wide. "Y...Yes, but where did you...?"

"Oh, I just thought the cover looked pretty! Skimmed through it a bit before you woke up, looks interesting! What'cha need it for?" Pinkie held the book out, and Twilight took it after the surprise wore off.

She placed it on the table and flipped it open to a little past the halfway point. "I'm going to adapt some of the arcane theories in here," Twilight explained. "You're all familiar with ley lines, right?" She only glanced up to see almost all of them nodding (even Pinkie, which reminded her to be thankful that she was on her side). "Well, since Ponyville has several ley lines passing through or around it, I'm going to attempt to tap into them to cast a very...unorthodox summoning spell. Specifically, a spell designed to hijack the energy of the ley lines to point them toward a target that gives off high amounts of thaumaturgical energy, regardless of placement relative to our plane of existence."

"Can you translate from egghead, please?" Rainbow Dash asked with the ghost of a smirk on her face.

Twilight turned to look at her and stuck out her tongue before going back to drawing a strange, circular symbol on the bottom of the parchment. "Okay, think of it like...a really big S.O.S. signal, except that signal, instead of just calling for help, can actually go out and track the help we need and can bring back the best-fit creature for the job, regardless of where they are in the universe!"

The others all looked at each other again; they all looked impressed to some degree, except Fluttershy, who looked more than somewhat worried. "Gotta say, sugarcube, it's definitely shapin' up to be one'a yer more...ambitious spells," Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash shrugged exaggeratedly. "But also sounds really...I dunno, extreme?"

"In this case, I'd rather be safe than sorry," Twilight replied. She glanced back down and put the finishing touches inside the circle and began to explain, "But it's really not that advanced when you get down to it! I'm basically just breaking down the components needed to access the ley lines to the bare essentials, which are the 'call' and 'command' phrases, and from there I just tweak the spell to act more like 'Tranquila Mare's Transcendental Mana-sight' and then command it to go off and search for whatever value or value range I specify. The trick comes from making the spell actually fetch the desired mana level, which already requires and concentration levels greater than even the most adept ancient wizards-"

"So it'll work, darling?" Rarity asked when she noticed Rainbow Dash starting to grip her hair.

Twilight stopped short and looked from her down to the sheet of parchment on the table. "It...should." The spell was done and written, but considering it was a spell she had cooked up in under ten minutes, the chances of it misfiring were...higher than normal. Having something to go off of from a reputable, scholarly source was obviously preferable over this; it allowed the spell to be tweaked within logical parameters while this was little more than throwing magical power into a pot and cooking it on high for several seconds. It was part of the reason she was even able to complete Star Swirl the Bearded's magnum opus, having the first half of the spell to work off of. This spell had the potential to either go horribly wrong...or stupidly right. Twilight hardened her gaze and grabbed the paper and stood up to face her friends. "Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah, Twi?"

"I need you to rally the town."

Town square was packed. Every resident of Ponyville was standing in front of town hall, muttering to each other about why and how they'd been called away. But honestly, when the local folk hero flies over the whole town announcing that the newest Princess of Friendship has an official statement about the fact the sun and moon were both sharing the sky, it would be stupid not to go out and listen.

Said princess was up at a podium, though she hadn't spoke to the crowd directly yet. Twilight was instead busy shuffling through some note cards, checking and rechecking and three-checking what she had; her friends were all standing dutifully at the forefront. The crowd of ponies continued to shuffle around, mutter to each other, and occasionally shoot glances at Twilight until she exhaled, turned, and tapped the mic on the podium to test it. "Um, excuse me, everypony? If I could have your attention, please..." she began. They all turned to look at her, and she cleared her throat and continued, "Okay, so you've probably noticed...that the sun and moon are still up in the sky and it's...about eleven'o'clock."

"Yeah, what's the deal with that!?" a blue mare with a periwinkle mane called from the middle of the crowd. Her outburst was echoed by most of the other ponies asking for input from the ones closest to them and most others parroting the question back at Twilight.

Twilight bit her lip and leaned over the podium and said, "Um, it's...a bit complicated..." She glanced down at her friends quickly and saw their stern but not impassionate faces, and quickly lifted her head back up. "They...I heard from the royal guards that...well, they've gone missing...both of them."

The pause was thick and hung heavily for the two seconds it existed. Then, shouts rose up from the crowd, ponies crying, some began to run in circles, and for a moment Twilight regretted saying anything, but she quickly shoved those thoughts to the side. "Yes, I know! I get it!" she yelled. It got most of the ponies to top and look back at her. "It's bad! But I've got a solution!" She then stepped out from behind the podium and off the platform it was on, and toward her friends. When Spike saw her walk forward, he immediately stepped out and held up the scroll with her improvised spell, which she took and whispered, "Thanks, Spike," with a smile.

At that point, she spread her wings and picked herself up off the ground, and stopped to hover as she thrust her arm above her head. "And this is what it looks like!" she declared. Twilight quickly descended again, into the thick of the crowd, still holding up the parchment as she continued, "I designed this spell to search for high amounts of mana concentrated in whatever creature in whichever corner of the universe its magical energies need to find. That way, I can summon somepony...or something...that's powerful enough to help us track own the princesses."

The entire crowd went dead silent for what felt like hours, even though it couldn't have been longer than three minutes, but eventually another pony spoke up. "But will it work?"

Certainly not the first time that question was asked, but by now, Twilight had a better answer than simply "maybe" or some sort of deflection. She looked right into her face, gaze unchanging, and stated, "It has to."

Without another word, Twilight turned around and raised her arm, and the scroll she was holding into the air. "Stand back!" The crowd close by only had a couple seconds to register and comply with her warning before Twilight threw the paper at the ground. Coupled with the arcane energies already written into the symbols on it and a simultaneous stimulus spell cast by Twilight herself, the paper hit the ground and promptly burst into golden flames. Those same tongues of fire spread out from their point of origin and began to form arcane sigils in the air, which only remained still in the air for less than a second before each one surged forward, the yellow light splitting into new forms, until it had created something new and more beautiful than it once was; a massive stairway, with handrails of solid granite dyed golden yellow, and the steps were made of multicolored stained glass that were transparent near the center, but outlined in color that led up to a massive pillar of bright yellow light on a marble platform that hung in midair. Ionic columns with half a domed roof surrounded a pillar of light in its center that extended up, up, beyond their eyesight, into the night sky. It burned and convulsed and twisted, raw power forcibly being held in check by...whatever had brought the stairway there. When the lightshow had finished, the other members of the Mane Six all slowly strode forward and took a place around Twilight, and they and the residents of Ponyville stared, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, at the arcane monolith before them.

"Now what?" Spike whispered to her.

"...We wait," Twilight replied. "It's the only thing we can do for now."

||\ //||

Two hours and an extra glass of beer later, the Williams kids had eaten their fill and paid their tab. The bar was a bit emptier now, most everyone else had gone home, but the three of them stayed and continued to talk. Not about life or work, but instead telling jokes and remembering their days going through elementary, junior high, and high school. Of course, anything pertaining to Ponyland was never mentioned, even by secondhand events. It made it rather...cumbersome to talk about anything when they were entering teenage years. But, like all good things, time marched on, and eventually the three of them cleaned up, bid goodbye to their waiter on the way out (Molly giving her compliments to the chef as usual), and entered the cool night air once more.

The sky was near black by the time Megan had arrived, but for some reason, it felt darker as the three of them filed out into the parking lot. As they approached their cars, Megan looked back at her siblings and grinned as she thought of one last witty remark. "So, looks like Danny's the designated driver tonight..." she began.

"Oh, screw you." Danny huffed and pulled out his keys as Megan chuckled and turned around to face her car. However, Danny just as quickly perked up and exclaimed, "Wait, actually...! Before I forget..." he began. Megan froze and pivoted quickly to look at him, and Molly likewise stopped midway in unlocking her car door, parked next to Danny's, to glance up. "How about we mix things up a little bit? Do something we've never done before before we take off and like, not talk to each other for a month?"

Molly and Megan glanced at each other before Molly smiled and said, "Why not? Not like I've gotta get to work tomorrow anyway."

Megan kept staring at Danny before she pursed her lips, thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "Sure, I'm game."

He grinned back at her and said, "Cool! So, I was thinking we could drive up to the old farm-"

"Nevermind, I'm out."

Megan threw up her arms and turned around to walk back to her car, but Danny was obviously not letting go that easily. "Hey, I just wanted to suggest we go up to the old farm and have a look around. See what's changed, y'know?"

"Danny, we can't just 'go up to the farm' on a whim!" Megan shot back. "The place's been abandoned for two years!"

"Megan's got a point," Molly interjected, now leaning her arm on the roof of her car. "Technically, it's not even ours anymore. We could get fined for trespassing."

"What the police don't see won't hurt'em," Danny replied with a dismissive wave.

Megan groaned and turned around. "Either way, I'm not driving another forty-five minutes further away from home when it took me almost two hours alone to get here," she stated as she turned and walked toward her car, fishing through her pocket for her keys.

As she walked away and Molly finally opened up her car door, they both heard Danny say something that made their blood run cold. As he brought out his keys and got into his car, he called, "Well, fine! If that's how it's gonna be, I'll go up there myself. I'm feeling way too nostalgic to just walk away if you two won't go with me." They both looked back around at him, and Molly tried to get his attention, but by then it was too late. He was in his car, the engine was on, and about five seconds later, he had pulled out and was cruising through the parking lot, and the two of them just watched him go as he pulled out onto the main road, turned left, and disappeared into traffic.

Sometimes, Megan forgot how stubborn her brother could get.

She sighed and glanced over at Molly, who was still searching the road for Danny's car. Eventually, she looked over at Megan and grimaced. "Guess we gotta go after him, huh?" Megan asked.

"Yep." Megan sighed and walked over to her car, got inside and ignited the engine. After a couple seconds, she saw Molly's car drive past and out toward the road. Like Danny before her, she turned left and disappeared into the traffic. Megan sighed again and stepped on the gas pedal, pulling her car out of its parking spot and she steered it toward the main road. She stopped to make sure no cars were coming and just like that, was off into the night.

The Williams' old ranch was forty-five minutes away from Korban's, on the city limits. Megan couldn't claim to know its history, but she knew enough. When her dad died of a sudden heart attack, she, her siblings, and her mom knew there was no way she could keep the place running without him, doubly so with the siblings working jobs in different states. So, Megan, Molly, and Danny pulled some money out and got their mother into a decent nursing home on the other end of the city.

The car had been bouncing along an old dirt road flanked on both sides by farmland, but Megan quickly turned left after it split into a fork and the trail wound up a steep hill. Eventually, she stopped in front of a small grove of trees, where two other cars were parked in the dirt trail, and both Molly and Danny were waiting, Danny sitting on the old wooden fence around the grove and Molly standing by her car, checking the time.

"Well, here I am," she said as she approached the other two.

Danny grinned and hopped off the fence, and he made his way over and clapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, sis! Glad you decided to stop being a killjoy and come with. Don't worry, I know you probably feel uncomfortable, so we won't stay long." Megan only glared at him.

"If the police catch us, I'm throwing you under the bus first."

Danny looked back at her and muttered, "Jesus," under his breath. He walked back to the fence and jumped it, followed by Molly, and then Megan, who had a bit more trouble than her younger siblings.

"Stupid goddamn long legs," she cursed to herself. The three of them all trudged up the hill and through the path between the trees until the land opened up. Ahead just up the way was a small house sitting on the edge of a cliff, though not a very severe one. It dropped off into a small, winding brook about thirty feet down. Closer to them, about ten feet from the house was a barn; both the buildings had seen better days. It was easy to tell even with only the moonlight to guide them. The house had chipped, peeling paint on every surface, one of the windows was broken while the rest had been boarded up with plywood, something the front door was completely blocked off with, and there was graffiti written on the first-floor walls. The porch had been broken up, boards either sticking up from the floor or gone entirely, revealing the mess of uncut grass, moss, and small bones under it, most likely from small animals ingested by snakes. The barn, surprisingly, looked in better condition, though it wasn't saying much; Megan walked around to the front double doors and stared up at the roof. Light blue paint was still peeling from the walls, but the windows and door hadn't been blocked off, and from she could see, the roof hadn't caved in yet.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she placed a hand on the door and pushed it open, the wood straining against her as it creaked open and the rusted hinges squealed in agony. The inside of the barn was much the same: a wide center corridor with four pens, two on each side, walled in by chipped, rotting wood. There was nothing left in the way of personality inside the barn, only the concrete floor and accumulations of dust on some shelves that, if one could look closely, would notice the spread was uneven, less where items had sat years before.

Megan sighed as she quietly, solemnly, strode forward. She almost walked to the back of the barn, but stopped to turn and face a pen on the right side. It was empty, like the other three, but she looked up at a pillar of wood the formed the edge between the door (that was now missing) and the wall of the pen. She reached up and placed her hand on the wood, gazing wistfully at a discolored patch where she remembered a plaque had been nailed years before. After another minute, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and shifted her eyes to see Molly standing at her side, gazing at where the plaque had once been with her.

"TJ was such a good horse."

Megan only held her gaze on her sister a second longer before she grimaced, nodded, and looked back at the discolored wood. They remained there for what felt like hours before they heard the door creak open once more. "Hey." Megan and Molly turned around to see Danny standing in the doorway. In contrast to his earlier grin and excited persona, he seemed much more subdued, with the moonlight from outside silhouetting him against the grass and horizon. "You two okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay," Megan replied. Her hand fell back to her side and she walked back out of the barn with Molly at her side. Danny stepped aside to let her pass and when she returned to the cool night air, Megan realized just how...idyllic it was. She could see out across the untouched forest at the foot of the cliff, bathed in incandescent moonlight, the celestial satellite itself hanging high in the sky with her whole face visible for all to see. The blue-grey light coated the old house and barn in a blanket of light that almost made it look...whole, as if she and her siblings still lived there. Even the old well, missing the bucket it needed, added to the tranquility of the old homestead.

Which, as usual, was promptly shattered by Danny getting his mojo back.

"So whaddaya say we check out how the inside of the old house has been doing?" he asked.

Megan's eyes shot open and she whirled around to stare at him, dumbfounded. "What? Danny, are you nuts!? We can't get into the house, the front door's boarded up!"

"I know. That's why we gotta go in through one of the second floor windows."

"What!?"

"Danny, we can't do that either!" Molly exclaimed. "That's way too dangerous! What if the roof caves in? Or what if the floor caves while we're inside? Someone could get hurt!"

"Oh, come on! Why are you two so against having fun? It's not like we have much time left, and you're an old woman anyway!" he exclaimed as he gestured to Megan.

She opened her mouth and let out a small, offended gasp. "Twenty-nine isn't fucking old, Danny!"

"Whatever you say, grandma," Danny scoffed back as he turned and headed for the house.

Despite every fiber of her being telling her not to, Megan still followed him. She was his big sister, after all, and that meant she had to make sure he didn't end up hurting himself...even if he wholly deserved it sometimes. She caught up and lightly slapped him on the head, illiciting a small grunt of discomfort from him. "Well, if we were to go with you, hypothetically, how would we even get up to the roof?"

"Easy," he replied as he walked up to the porch and turned to face Megan and Molly. "We can either do it the safe way or the military way."

Megan and Molly glanced at each other before Molly asked tentatively, "...What's the military way?"

"One of you runs toward me," Danny replied as he bent his knees and clasped his hands together, "and jumps into my hand and I toss you up. The easy way is if I get on the ground and boost you with my shoulders."

Molly glanced up at Megan again before her gaze hardened and she turned back to Danny. "Okay, Danny, get ready to pitch me."

His face lit up like the night sky above them. "Oh my God, you're serious...? You really wanna go with me into the house? I mean, if you really don't, I understand, I can find my own way in-"

"Nah, I'm gonna take my chances," Molly said. "It's not like I'm getting any younger anyway. And besides..." A grin crept across her face. "Someone's gotta make sure to stick around in case you bite it so they can tell you 'told ya so.'"

Danny's smile fell to a frown and his face went slightly red, but he quickly turned his attention to Megan. "And you?"

There was a pause before Megan groaned and said, "Well, if my sister's gonna trust her life to your stupidity, I guess I've got no choice."

"...You two gonna keep dragging me or're we gonna get going?" he deadpanned.

Molly giggled a bit and then settled into a ready stance. "On three?"

"Sure." Danny bent his knees a bit more and focused on keeping his fingers tightened to withstand as much force as possible. "Ready? One...two...three!"

Molly broke into a sprint, charged at Danny, and before she made contact, she jumped into his hands and he heaved her up. She sailed into the air and deftly grabbed the edge of the roof over the patio and after a bit of struggling, she pulled herself up; God only knew it would have been harder if the gutters stayed on after the house was foreclosed. When she was on the roof, kneeling down and facing the other two, Danny turned back and resumed his previous stance, though the grin on his face seemed more pronounced. "Okay, Megan, your turn."

This was, in all actuality, a terrible idea. But Megan had come this far, and while she could have just gone back to her car and left (she was an adult, of course), she really didn't want to: for both Molly's and Danny's sake. And, though she'd never admit it, the fact they were all breaking the law like a bunch of teenage delinquents made her heart pump and adrenaline levels surge. Just like the good old days.

She huffed, braced herself like a wound spring, and then ran at Danny until, like Molly, she almost made impact before she jumped into his hands, and Danny launched her up. She grabbed the edge of the roof, and was quickly grabbed by Molly, who helped pull her up. "Thanks, Molly," she muttered as she looked up at her sister.

No sooner was Megan righted and kneeling next to Molly than they heard Danny call up, "A'right, help me up, you two."

Instead of reaching down to help him, however, they glanced at each other and, in a moment of familial mind-melding, grinned deviously. "Hmm...I dunno, Molly. Should we help him?"

Molly couldn't help but giggle. "I don't think so. I mean, he didn't even say 'please!'" They giggled to themselves and then glanced back down at Danny, who stared at them incredulously for a moment before, slowly, a smile crept across his face and his eyes lost their indignant edge.

"And you two said you were too old for this shit," he said.

"I'll admit," Molly said, "I wasn't too keen on coming here with you, but y'know...maybe it's what I needed."

In that brief pause, all three of them shared a happy laugh, something they probably hadn't done in quite that way since the old ranch still belonged to them. A laugh that sounded like they never lost the spark of innocence in their eyes. After it died down, Danny, still smiling, looked up at his sisters and said, "Great! Now help me up, dammit."

Megan tsk'ed and waggled her finger. "Ah-ah-ah, what's the magic word...?"

Danny glared at her a minute, then sneered. "Please help me up, dammit," he sassed. Megan turned back to face Molly, and they both shrugged before the leaned over the roof and held out an arm, one each. Danny jumped up and grabbed them, and they pulled him up, with no small effort. Once he was on the roof, he stood up and dusted himself off. "You're both pure evil, by the way. Did I tell you that?"

"You're the middle kid, it's basically in our job description," Megan commented as she and Molly stood up too.

Danny scoffed, and the three of them walked around the roof, to one of the broken windows. They stepped as carefully as they could, testing the shingles they walked on, just in case it looked like it would give out from under them. It made walking around take a minute-and-a-half longer than normal. When they stopped, Danny reached for the frame and pulled on it as hard as he could; amazingly, he was able to force it up after two hard pulls. The three of them clambered inside to find a dusty old room, longer than it was wide, with a doorway in the upper-right corner. The only piece of furniture that remained were the metal skeletons of two beds. Megan remembered it; so did Danny and Molly. "...Our old room," Megan whispered to her sister.

"Man. It's been so long."

Their memories were interrupted by Danny walking past both of them. "I'm gonna go check out the basement," he said. "Probably looks spooky as hell."

As he made his way to the door, Molly jogged up behind him and grabbed his shoulder. Danny looked surprised, almost scared for a moment before she said, "I dare you to stay down there longer than five minutes."

There was a pause, but then Danny grinned. "Bet."

The two of them jogged away, leaving Megan enough time to yell, "Be careful and don't fall to your deaths!" before the silence of the house crept in again. She remained where she was, however, and simply looked around the room. It used to have floral wallpaper across every square inch, and the frames used to have double-mattresses covered in several downy blankets. Megan's bed lost them as she grew up, but Molly always had trouble sleeping when she was younger; more than seven blankets was a necessity. Her side had been closest to the window, while Megan's was closest to the door. It was a clever ploy by her parents to get Molly up in the morning in their stead. She did it anyway. And there were all the times she and Molly played together on the floor with dolls and horse figurines; things Megan had grown out of, but did to humor her sister. Especially after they "returned" from Ponyland, and no one believed her when she tried to explain that Wind Whistler was real, and was her friend, and she knew she'd go back to see them soon and she'd take pictures to prove it.

But some of the boys and the older girls who'd been listening only laughed in her face and called her things Megan wouldn't dare say in front of her parents; they were called in later because Molly had run home, sobbing her eyes out.

Her parents were called in again when Megan learned those kids' names.

She left the bedroom behind, and came into an L-shaped hallway. There were four other empty doorways, two on the right side, including her room, one on the left, one at the very end of the hall. The one on the opposite side used to be Danny's room; the other one was for the bathroom. The doorway at the end led into their parents' old room, which had its own study that their father was usually in on most weekends. Megan walked down the hall until she got to the empty frame, then turned left and cautiously went down the stairs. They led to the empty living room, but Megan could see everything in her mind's eye so clearly that she felt she could close her eyes, reach out, and feel her father sitting in his chair by the television set, reading his favorite book on ancient myths for the thousandth time. She swore that for a moment, just for a moment, she could smell her mother's cooking wafting through from the kitchen. Megan had learned her chicken and dumplings recipe years ago, but what she thought she smelled at the moment was how it should have been, not the dry thing she sometimes cooked on the weekends she didn't feel like going out.

Quickly snapping herself out of reverie, Megan shook her head to clear her thoughts and walked forward. She came to the kitchen, which was at the front of the house: it was set at a diagonal, so if one walked in from the front door, they would see the kitchen to the left behind a short row of counters, the dining room dead ahead, and a small archway that led to the mudroom on the right. She sighed and walked forward until she was at this crossroads, and turned to stare at the door, long blocked off with plywood. The window next to it served as a quick way to see any guests who might be arriving, but it hadn't seen anyone living for a long time by now. Amazingly, the glass pane was still intact.

Heavy footsteps resounded throughout the empty halls, and Megan glanced back toward the kitchen to see Molly round the corner, followed by Danny. She looked like she'd seen a corpse, and the reason why was made clear as they got closer: Danny had his hand outstretched, holding something that looked like a massive clump of poop at first glance. It quickly became clear that it was actually an insect with shiny chitin.

A giant scarab beetle, to be precise.

"Ew, ew, ew, Danny, that's thing's disgusting! Don't let it touch me!"

"Aw, come on, Molly, it's just a beetle! It hasn't bitten me to death yet, you'll be fine!" he called back.

"No I won't!" she yelled back.

Megan scoffed and quickly strode forward, allowing Molly to pass and hide behind her. Danny slowed down to a stop his hand still outstretched. The beetle was, surprisingly, busy not giving a damn about the shenanigans her brother and sister were up to, instead opting to study this strange, fleshy platform it now found itself on. Megan glanced back up at Danny, who still had a smile on his face. It they had been near fifteen years younger, he'd be trying to hide that thing behind his back in an attempt to not get chewed out. "Danny," Megan said, "go put Mister Beetle down, please. He has a wife and three loving kids who probably want to see him come home in time for dinner."

There was a small pause before Danny's smile got wider and he brought his hand closer to him. "Aw, okay, okay," he deferred as he walked around Molly and Megan and placed his hand down on one of the kitchen counters, palm facing up. With a little bit of gentle shaking, he coaxed Mister Beetle off his hand and onto the dusty linoleum. With his passenger safely disembarked, Danny wiped his hand on his shirt and turned back to Megan, still smiling. "Sounds like you had some time to reconnect with your inner kid."

"You bring out the best in me," she replied, half-jokingly.

It got a couple good laughs from him and Molly, and they both looked at her. "Okay," she said after a moment, "is it about time to get going?"

Danny and Molly glanced at each other before they both nodded, accompanied by a small "Yeah," from Molly.

"Yeah, sounds about right. Let's go."

Megan nodded once and turned around, intent to lead her family back upstairs and out onto the roof. "I can only hope nobody saw our cars and called the pol-"

A brilliant golden light flashed outside and then remained, and the three of them could see it clearly through the window next to the door. It made them freeze in place immediately until the light died down slightly, and it remained a lazy but significant glow. Still, the three of them didn't move, instead opting to stare at the front door blankly, waiting for the police to call them out. When no voice was heard, they didn't know what to expect, but still refused to move, though it didn't stop them from talking to each other through gritted teeth.

"What's going on?" Molly asked.

"Don't ask me," Danny muttered back.

"Is it the police...?"

Megan tilted her head to get a better look at the other two and said, "If it is, they ain't no police force I ever heard of."

"What do we do?" Molly whispered again.

Megan sighed and blew some loose hair out of her face. "Don't say anything and don't move. Maybe whoever it is'll just...go away."

So they remained still and waited. They waited for thirty seconds. Then for a full minute. Then longer. The minutes seemed to drag on for hours, and still the golden light persisted, something Danny was quick to point out.

"They're not goin' away, Megan."

"Really. I hadn't noticed." Megan began to move again, or more like she forced her body to move. By now she was sweating from the sudden panic, and freezing in place for so long hadn't done much good for her muscles. She pushed herself forward and she cautiously gazed out of the front window. She heard Danny and Molly follow close behind, felt Molly's hands on her shoulders and could see the telltale flash of Danny's red hair enter her peripheral vision. But she paid them no mind, for she could see outside, and she could see it clearly.

Her eyes widened when she saw what was making the golden light, an ethereal sigil, placed on the ground only several feet away from the front porch, on the lawn. She couldn't see what it was, but she could see the aurora rising from it, and in that moment, she felt her heart become gripped with a mixture of fear, shock, and hope; it sapped her courage as much as it made her want to go outside.

"What the hell is that...?" Danny asked, breaking the silence.

"...I dunno, but it looks like bad news to me. At least it's not the police, though. I think," she said half-heartedly.

Danny groaned and rolled his eyes. "I could've told you that," he said. "The real question is, what is it doing here and how do we get rid of it?" Molly only shrugged with a worried grimace on her face, which prompted Danny to look down at Megan. "Well, sis, what do you-woah, shit!"

Almost too fast to react to, Megan shot upright, nearly pitching Danny off his feet, and she gripped the window frame with every ounce of strength she could muster and pulled. The pane came up to the sound of the squealing of rusty hinges and once it was open as wide as it could go, Megan practically shot through it like a bullet and out into the yard. Danny kept yelling while Molly cried Megan's name and ran out after her as quickly as possible. Danny was the last one to squeeze through the window and join them gathered around the strange sigil.

It was made of golden light, as mentioned, with two rings, one on the inside, one forming the outer barrier. In between them were strange symbols and smaller sigils with looping lines, written all around the edge. Megan, Danny, and Molly only stared at it, and they kept staring, trying to understand its form and function, until Danny said, "Okay, does anyone have any idea of what we're looking at right now?"

"Not a clue," Molly replied smalley.

"Gotta be some kind of practical joke," he murmured. "...But I dunno who'd be pranking us."

Megan tilted her head and wrinkled her nose. "I doubt it. There's no way someone spent this much time creating something this elaborate. Besides, who do we even know would do this?"

Another moment of silence, briefly disturbed when Molly muttered, "Oh my God."

Danny asked, "Well...assuming this isn't a joke, what the hell do those symbols say?"

Megan shook her head a bit and replied, "This shit might as well be Greek to me, but...God, I dunno. I mean, if you squint at it, it looks like letters, and it looks like it says...'Reach out to ones left behind, the friendships forged and promises kept. History keeps them no longer enshrined, but the threads of magic never forget."

"Oh, my God..."

Danny's gaze hardened, but he couldn't harden it enough for the curiosity to stop shining through. "...I dunno, Megan. This sounds really sketchy."

Megan picked up her head, and Danny met her gaze only to shrink slightly when he saw her doing something she only used to do when they were teens: glaring at him with the intensity of a dying star. "Then you'll have to forgive me if I am making a Faustian deal, but this is too crazy to just let slide." Before he could react and reach out to stop her, Megan took one confident step forward and into the circle.

The effect was immediate, and majestic.

The circle flared to life again, casting its light in every direction. It intensified and seemed to lift itself off the ground while still remaining parallel to it, and it began to spin around Megan's body. She could only look at it and watch in awe as the sigil spun faster until it became a ring of solid yellow light that raised itself over her head and then straightened up, now perpendicular with the ground. Then, it stopped, yet still remained a ring of solid light. It was still for less than a second before another beam of light shot out of it, dissolving the ring and turning it into a living aurora that surged forward, toward the edge of the cliff, and the Williams siblings watched with wide eyes as the light began to change shape and reform into something new that climbed away, out into the air, shifting and building something. The yellow light split into new forms, until it had created something new and more beautiful than it once was. The light died down once more, and allowed the three others to glimpse its beauty, but only Megan found the words to speak, even though they weren't above a whisper.

"...The Rainbow Bridge...?"

But this was no Rainbow Bridge. Not anymore. Instead, it was a massive stairway, with handrails of solid granite dyed golden yellow, and the steps were made of multicolored stained glass that were transparent near the center, but outlined in color that led up to a massive pillar of bright yellow light on a marble platform that hung in midair. Ionic columns with half a domed roof surrounded a pillar of light in its center that extended up, up, beyond their eyesight, into the night sky. It burned and convulsed and twisted, raw power forcibly being held in check by...whatever had brought the stairway there. All the while, the Williams siblings stared, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, at the arcane monolith before them; and Megan couldn't speak for Molly and Danny, but she felt her chest ache and her heart leaped for joy for reasons she could not define.

After what felt like days condensed into several seconds, Danny finally cried, "No way. No way, no fucking way!" His words went from barely a whisper to near screaming.

"Oh my God," Molly choked out. "Oh my God, this isn't happening. I'm dreaming. I...I passed out at the wheel and I crashed and I'm dead and there's no way this is actually happening."

Megan, however, said nothing. She only stared up at the arcane structure, throwing light into the night sky for several seconds before a thought entered her mind. It was a word. A simple word. A harmless word. A word that would change her life again.

Go.

Without any more hesitation, she went.

Megan ran forward, toward the prismatic steps, and launched herself up two at a time, while Danny and Molly looked on in fear, and Danny called, "Megan, what the hell are you doing!? Stop!"

She didn't stop, obviously. Megan barely heard Danny over the sound of the roaring, crackling energies being launched into the sky as she passed the halfway point of the stairs and her brother and sister only watched, until Molly, still wide-eyed and unblinking, took one hesitant step forward and then launched herself after Megan, which was met with Danny yelling, "Molly, what—stop! What are you..." He trailed off when he realized words weren't going to cut it, and instead groaned and turned around, smacked himself in the head with both his fists to psyche himself up, and then turned back around and ran after his sisters.

Danny and Molly had made it almost all the way to the last few steps when Megan managed to touch the platform at the end. She tried to stop, but the golden light ended up pulling her forward as if it had it's own gravity well, and far enough that as soon as she entered the pillar of light proper, she didn't hit the arched ceiling as she felt solid the ground disappear from under her, and could see the structure around suddenly drop. Megan blinked a couple times and looked around to find that she could see the surrounding countryside through wisps of a yellow aurora. The treetops, other ranches, and the dirt roads were all made clear, and the horizon line was far lower than before. Her eyes widened and she looked down to see Molly and Danny directly below her, and further down, the rainbow stairway. It was slowly dissolving into thin air, but Megan didn't care about that; all she knew was that right now, she and her siblings were flying. Molly was right below her and Danny further down, but both were staring back up at her. Molly blinked a couple times before she finally smiled up at Megan, and she smiled back and flashed her sister a thumbs-up. Megan could even make out a small grin forming on Danny's face.

"So!" Molly yelled. "Do you know where this thing's taking us...?"

"Honestly? No clue. But I've got a couple guesses...!" Megan called back.

The earth below kept retreating, further and further, until all three of them passed through a cloud and kept rising. Megan heard Molly laugh and couldn't help but chuckle herself. They kept flying up into the night until Megan realized the light did in fact end at a point, or at least, that's what it looked like to her: a bright sun-like ball of light above them, and coming up fast. Megan shut her eyes tightly as the light intensified and swallowed her, and then she quickly felt gravity release its grip on her for only a second before it latched back on and reasserted itself by dragging her down. After she felt the wind start to rush by her, she decided it was safe enough to open her eyes and she found herself surrounded not by a night sky, but clear blue skies and bright sunlight...sort of. The vista she could see from thousands of miles up in the air was half day, half dusk. Megan turned her head around to see, in addition to the large stretches of grassland all around them, there was a forest to the south and mountains directly to the northeast. They were descending past one that towered over all the rest and on it, was a medieval city complete with a fortress-keep that towered over the rest. That's a nice looking castle, Megan thought. She looked around a bit more and saw that Danny and Molly's positions had been rearranged as well, and all three of them were now almost side by side as they descended; if Molly's smile were any indication, they were doing okay, which allowed Megan to sigh in relief.

"Hey, Megan?" Danny began.

She turned her head. "...Yeah?"

"Prepare for landing." Megan frowned a bit before she looked down. She could see some sort of hamlet directly under them, and coming up fast. Her eyes widened again and she grit her teeth, along with Molly and Danny when they saw how close the ground was getting.

A split second later, a loud, thundering explosion rang out, and Megan, Danny, and Molly all felt themselves hit solid ground. There were aftershocks coursing through their bodies, but oddly, none of them felt worse for wear; perhaps some leftover adrenaline, but no broken bones, no twisted ankles, nothing. Megan opened her eyes and stood herself up from a kneeling position and she saw they had landed on a structure that, from the inside, looked exactly the same as the one that had appeared to them on the farm, though the mini-forum they were in was surrounded by some sort of misty smoke that obscured anything beyond the columns and the first two stairs. "Well, Toto, we're definitely not in Kansas anymore..." she quipped dryly.

Molly stood up next and looked around at the structure in awe, and Megan glanced back to ask, "Molly, you good?"

She didn't answer for a second, still obviously consumed in wonder, but eventually she whispered, "Huh...? Oh, um, yeah, I'm fine."

They both heard someone start coughing hard enough to hack up a lung and spun around as Danny slowly picked himself up off the ground. "Hack, hurgh, augh...! Wow! Dusty," he said.

Megan rolled her eyes and turned back to the stairway when she noticed the smoke around them becoming thinner. "Guys..." Danny and Molly glanced up at her and saw Megan walk toward the stairs and followed quickly, and once they were at the top, the smoke began to dissipate.

The first thing they saw were the thatched rooftops. Homey, simple, but nothing to write home about. Then, the saw figures, standing on the ground at the foot of the stairway, dozens of them. Something looked familiar, something about their statures, something about their shapes. Then, the smoke thinned out completely.

Molly's pupils shrunk and she quickly placed her hands over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. Danny's eyes went wide, too, but he was stuck staring, too dumbfounded to say or do anything. Megan could only stare in awe as well. There were ponies. Dozens of them. None they had seen before, or could pick out of the crowd, but they were there. They existed. But were they illusions? Figments of a mind deluded by childish fantasies? Megan didn't rightly care at the moment. She knew something had changed. She knew she might not like what it was. But she knew she was home.

Mustering all the composure she could without spontaneously bursting into tears, Megan breathed in and slowly took a step down the stairway. They were all watching her, the little ponies, and she could feel Danny and Molly's eyes on her back too. But she had to be strong; if not for herself, for them. Step by step, she marched down to the ground, where she could get a better look at the ponies waiting for her. Danny glanced at Molly and placed a reassuring arm around her neck. "Hey...come on," he whispered. He took a step forward, following Megan, and Molly followed suit, though she never took her hands away from her mouth. "That's it. Baby steps."

They followed Megan, who continued to gingerly walk down the stairs, never once taking her eyes off the ponies. They were almost exactly as she remembered, though their faces looked a bit different; the muzzles weren't as pronounced, their eyes were slightly bigger. They were watching her, too, shock and confusion written all over their faces. Megan tried to ignore them without appearing disinterested. All she knew was that she and her siblings had been called here, and even she wasn't sure if it was still the Ponyland she remembered or somewhere else, she knew it wasn't for tea and biscuits.

Maybe.

Before she could speak up herself, a pony pushed her way out of the crowd, light purple and sporting not only a horn, but a pair of pegasus wings as well. Said pony froze when she saw Megan and seemed to blank for a moment before she cleared her throat and said, "Uh...H-hello! I'm Princess...Princess Twilight Sparkle," as she took a bow.

Megan needed a couple seconds to register what was happening before she smiled warmly and bowed in turn. "A pleasure to meet you, princess," she said. "I'm Megan Williams, and these two..." She trailed off and turned around to look at her siblings as they made their way down and continued, "Are my brother and sister. That's Danny, and that's Molly." Danny looked up and smiled lightly as he waved; Molly waved too, once she slowly removed her hands from over her mouth, and the two of them joined Megan.

"It's nice to meet you, Megan!" Twilight was quickly warming up to the three of them, helped by the fact that they didn't seem overtly hostile. She glanced back at the crowd and added, "Oh, I should probably introduce my friends. That might help, uh..." She looked down to see Spike walk up to her side, and she quickly knelt down and put a hand on his head. "Well, first of all, this is my assistant, Spike."

Megan, Danny, and Molly's faces went nearly white, and Megan put a hand in front of her mouth. "...Spike...?" she whispered hoarsely.

This, understandably, didn't go unnoticed, and both Twilight and Spike glanced up at them; Spike looked both confused and weirded out. "Uh...yeah. That's my name. Is something wrong with that...?" he asked slowly.

Megan stood there, her mouth open slightly for a minute before she realized that Spike probably didn't remember her for some reason, and she blinked a couple times to clear the mist from her eyes. She coughed into her fist and croaked, "I...no. It's nothing. I'm okay."

Twilight glanced behind her just in time to see a couple ponies push through the crowd behind her, and she turned back around to say, "Okay, so this is Applejack and Rainbow Dash..."

Applejack tipped her stetson and only said, "Howdy." Rainbow Dash only winked and flashed a peace sign. Megan waited for Applejack to say something about why she and her brother and sister were there, but as the seconds passed, it became obvious that Applejack didn't remember her either. Or maybe, this one was different than the one Megan knew; she shivered, but tried to ignore the sensation. Another pony appeared behind Applejack but remained in her shadow, trying to hide. "And that's Fluttershy. She's actually much braver than she lets on," Twilight said.

Fluttershy peeked around Applejack, but kept most her her face hidden behind her mane. It wasn't enough for Molly not to notice her and quickly place her hands over her heart. "Oh my God, look at you," she cooed. "You're so cute!"

Danny snorted and rolled his eyes. "Molly, I know you've got a weakness for cute stuff, but c'mon, they're all cute. No reason to go gaga over one."

Fluttershy only squeaked and hid behind Applejack again as Twilight chuckled. Another pony left the crowd, and Twilight turned to face her and said, "This is Rarity..."

Rarity smiled at the Williams and made a graceful bow. "Charmed."

"Alright, so that leaves—"

Twilight got cut off as a pink-colored pony spontaneously appeared from behind Megan's back and hopped around to the front and yelled, "Hi...! I'm Pinkie Pie! And you must be the super-powerful heroes Twilight called for! That's awesome!" She paused long enough to gasp loudly and exclaim, "Ohmygosh, that means I gotta throw you a Welcome-To-Ponyville Party! And a Huge-Hero-Homecoming Party! Ooh! I'll combine'em! It'll be a 'Superhero-Social-Soiree-Supreme!'"

No sooner had Pinkie finished and started to jump up and down happily than Danny cried, "Megan!? Megan, oh my God, she's just like Surprise, oh my God, my heart! Aaaargh...!" He then feigned agony as he grit his teeth and doubled over, clutching his chest.

Megan rolled her eyes and looked down at him. "Danny, there's literally no reason to gaga over one cute thing, they're all cute." She sighed and looked up at Twilight and continued, "Ignore him. He's a total drama queen."

"Hey...!"

Megan only laughed, along with Molly, Twilight and other other girls, until a silence fell over them. Eventually, Twilight's nervous facade fell a bit and she coughed into her fist and declared, "So! We, uh, have a lot to talk about! And you probably have questions!" She chuckled nervously but turned around and gestured for the Williams and her friends to follow her. "Come on, everypony! To the library!"

The walk to the library was uneventful, though they were followed by some of the more curious ponies in town, mostly the younger folk, but they dispersed when Twilight told them she needed to talk to them privately (though not without disappointed sighs). The Mane Six led the way into Golden Oaks, and once inside, Danny immediately ran over to a couple beanbags they'd left out and threw himself down on one. Molly continued to talk with Fluttershy, as she had done on the way over; she hadn't made much progress at first, but once she mentioned she was a veterinarian...

"...And then there was Rufus. Oh, you should have met him! He was this big Saint Bernard with deep yellow eyes, and he was the friendliest dog I've ever worked with! And that's saying something!" she said.

"Oh, he sounds wonderful!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "I...just wish I knew what a 'Saint Bernard' looked like..."

Molly blinked a couple times, unsure if Fluttershy meant she'd never seen a Saint Bernard or if this world didn't even have them, but decided to quickly rectify the situation. "Hold on a moment," she said as she reached into her pocket and fished out her phone. She turned it on and noticed first thing that she had no cell phone or Wi-Fi reception; in hindsight, it wasn't hard to believe.

"...What is that?" Fluttershy muttered.

Molly glanced back at her, then to her hand and reassured her, "Oh, it's just my phone. You don't have phones here...?"

"Oh, we do," Fluttershy said. "But...but not like, um...that. Does it even...work?"

Molly shrugged. "Well, it makes calls, sends emails, plays games, so I'd like to think it works." Judging by her face alone, Molly could see Fluttershy didn't understand cell phones, but Molly sighed and said, "Y'know what, just don't worry about it." Moving on, she navigated to her photos and brought up the albums she had saved and moved to "Good Boys," and once she tapped it, scrolled up a bit until she found a photo of the table in one of the rooms. There was a Saint Bernard on it, large even by breed standards. "There he is."

Fluttershy's eyes widened a bit, but then she clasped her hands together and smiled. "Oh my goodness, he's so beautiful," she whispered. Molly couldn't help but smile.

Megan, on the other hand, made her way to the bookshelves and searched through them; once she found the "H" section, she combed each line carefully for anything marked with "history," and eventually found an anthology of sorts, which she removed from the shelf and began to flip through absentmindedly. She looked for words and names she remembered: "Dream Valley," "Princess Starburst," "Tambelon," "Buttons," "Paradise Estate," Megan searched for them all, but...nothing. She sighed and put the book away before she turned around and clapped her hands gently. "So," she said to no one in particular, "where are we, exactly?"

"This is Equestria!" Twilight replied cheerfully. "And specifically, you're all in my home, Golden Oaks Library!"

Equestria. Megan brought her hand up to her chin and started to rub it. Sounds a bit more elegant than Ponyland, I guess.

After a couple minutes of silence, Rainbow Dash decided she had enough of waiting around, as usual, and asked, "So, I think we gotta ask the question that's definitely one everypony's mind...just what the hay are you?" as she gestured to Megan, Danny, and Molly.

"...I think names have already been established," Danny said.

"I think she means our species," Megan retorted. "We're humans, Rainbow. From Earth." She searched the others' faces for any semblance of recognition, but they all stared at her as if expecting something else from her. "...Not...ringing any bells?"

"...No."

Her face fell, and Megan sighed. "I see." Megan dragged herself over to a chair at the table and sat down without another word, head held in her hands.

Rarity, however, could sense something was wrong, and quickly walked over to her. "Megan, dear..." She glanced up from the table and saw Rarity leaning over, both palms planted firmly on its surface. "When Twilight introduced us, I couldn't help but notice that you seemed...distressed when she introduced Spike." The dragon grinned and puffed his chest out upon being recognized. "And then," she continued, "when you met Applejack, you were staring at her just a tad longer than what I would believe as normal. Is there...something we are missing?"

In that instant, Megan was suddenly seized with fear. Not only was she looking at the uncomfortable options of telling all of them she and her brother and sister had been here before, or at least someplace like it, but that would bring up the consequences of telling them; how would they react, hearing that the three of them had seen ponies that might not exist here? Had they been gone for decades? Centuries? Was Equestria even the same place as Ponyland? All of them swirled around in Megan's head until she heard Rarity' voice again. "...Miss Megan? Are you all right?"

She looked up into Rarity's eyes and knew she could sense the sadness in her own, but quickly stood up and took a deep breath to prepare herself for talking. She opened her mouth ,but found the words came from someone else. "We've been here before." Megan opened her eyes, and she along with everyone else in the room looked over at Danny. He was holding a set of kazoos, and Pinkie was standing in front of him. Despite this, his face was completely stoic. "Or at least...we've been through this experience before," he corrected himself. "Megan disappeared one night, leaving me and Molly worried sick. Then she comes back the next morning and tells us she got abducted by a pegasus and killed a demon with the power of sunshine and rainbows."

"...Did she?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, she did!" Molly exclaimed. "She marched up a dark and gloomy castle with a bunch of her friends and used the Rainbow of Light to blow that jerk to smithereens, freeing a prince and all of Ponyland with it!"

"I thought she was nuts," Danny said. "But not even two days later, who do I see coming down from the sky like angels decreeing I should shut the hell up? Wind Whistler and Northstar!" He threw his hands into the air for emphasis and then glanced around at all the eyes looking at him. "Those names not familiar?"

The others all shared confused glances and Twilight said, "N...No. I don't even think they've been mentioned historically."

"So you don't even know...Buttons? Firefly? Lickety-Split? Heart Throb?" Molly asked.

"Yeah, I've never heard of anypony with those names," Rainbow Dash replied before she glanced at Danny. "But I've heard of Surprise. She's part of the Wonderbolts and..." She trailed off, and then started to chuckle as she pointed at Danny. "You think Pinkie is just like her...? It'd be funny if it wasn't so scary since you said you'd been here before."

"But it's so cool you got to go on a big, adventurous adventure! What happened next? What happened next?" Pinkie interrupted as she jumped onto Danny's back.

As Danny stumbled and tried not to fall over, Megan breathed in and said, "Well...we decided to stay, after we beat a bunch of evil witches. But then, after a couple months, the three of us went to bed one night and when we woke up..." She swallowed. "We were back at home. And Applejack and Spike look...exactly like two of the old friends I remembered," she said as she looked over at Applejack herself, who looked halfway between skeptical and stoic. "The only differences were that...well, I don't remember the Applejack I know wearing a stetson." Everyone went quiet again as they let Megan's words sink in, until, finally, Megan herself got fed up with wallowing in the silence of self-pity. "Anyway, that...that was then. This is now," she said as she looked over at Twilight. "That just leaves me with one question."

Twilight blinked a couple times and tried to hide the shock on her face with a small smile. "Oh, of course! What is it?"

"Why are we here?"

Twilight's expression immediately soured, and she grimaced as she lowered her gaze toward the ground. She opened her mouth slowly, but no words came out for a minute before she finally found her voice again. "This morning..." she murmured, "I woke up and found the sun and moon up in the sky at the same time. It...it only does that if Princess Celestia and Luna are in danger, since they control both of them. But I sent a letter asking them what was wrong, and when I got it back, the guards said...they said Celestia and Luna were gone!"

"So that's why the lighting outside's fucked," Danny muttered to himself.

"So I designed a spell that would seek out high concentrations of mana, and pick the most powerful one to bring back to help us. And it picked you," she finished.

Megan, Molly, and Danny were dead silent, and shared a quick, nervous glance with each other. None of them seemed willing to tell Twilight the truth for several minutes before Molly swallowed the lump in her throat and stepped forward. "Twilight?"

Twilight turned to look at her, and then pivoted in place. Her face was mostly neutral, but seemed anxious for what Molly would say; Molly herself didn't know if she could read her mind, but she supposed it didn't matter anyway. "Your spell...It didn't...well, it's kinda flawed," she said. "We're not...powerful sorcerers. We can't use any kind of magic, and the only thing we had that could work...the Rainbow of Light...it disappeared the night we came back from Ponyland." She looked over at Megan to confirm, and she nodded sadly. "So...I'm sorry, but we're not the powerful mana-wielders you were looking for."

Silence descended again, for what felt like ages. No one talked, they barely even moved; even Pinkie's mane seemed to deflate a bit. Then, finally, Applejack spoke up. "Well...y'all might think that, but maybe that spell didn't mess up. Maybe, even if ya can't sling spells around like Twi here, it knew we jus' needed some help, and maybe it had ta come from folks who ain't from around here," she theorized.

Megan sighed dejectedly and replied, "Listen, Applejack, I appreciate the sentiment, but...but we're not the same kids who crossed over to this world all those years ago...if this even is the same place as before."

"A-actually," Twilight interrupted. Everyone looked over at her as she continued, "I didn't put any other kind of targeting precepts in that spell, and magic behaves under a certain set of rules, but more often than not, it bends those rules by itself, as if it's...I don't know, sentient. It's hard to explain, but if you say you've had experience with us...with our world before...then I doubt it brought you here out of sheer coincidence." It took a couple seconds to process those words, but it made...something burn in Megan's chest. Despite all that, Twilight was smiling at her. "So what do you think? Will you help us?"

She didn't make a sound, and Twilight's words hung in the air for a moment. And Megan thought.

When she ran up those steps, she had hoped to see all her old friends again, but looking back, that was a rather...childish notion. How could she have expected nothing to change? This wasn't some children's television show that had the same plots and the same characters running around, solving all of life's little problems. And yet, with everything she knew gone, something had remained. She didn't know what; it wasn't something she could see, but she could feel it, something in the air that soothed her. She wondered if Molly and Danny could feel it, too. Megan closed her eyes and thought a little deeper, and then, came to a realization: even if things were different, it was obvious the little ponies needed her. Needed them. Again. "...Molly?"

She glanced up at her sister, and her gaze asked the only question she needed to answer, and Molly nodded vigorously in response. A grin slowly spread across Megan's face before she glanced the other way and asked, "Danny?"

Danny's stoic expression dropped in an instant and he crossed his arms. "Hmph. Like you have to ask," he scoffed.

She looked from her brother to the faces arrayed around her, from Twilight's glimmering eyes to Rarity nodding in approval and Pinkie bouncing in place with a smile wide enough that she could probably use her teeth as a mirror. Megan didn't know them, and they didn't know her. The Ponyland she knew was gone, but that didn't mean she hadn't forgotten it. Somehow, it felt like that place hadn't forgotten her, either.

"Alright," Megan said, "let's go."

Author's Note

Gotta make the first chapter introduce everyone as concisely as possible without getting stale.

17,000 words later

Goddammit, I did it again.

II: Haelan

But the Richards didn't recognize it: they had never seen anything like the city of Hekirm before. It had never appeared on Rainbow Island, and yet, everyone they met acted as if it had been there for years.

"We need to find the Queens!" Lucky Moondrop exclaimed as she stepped forward and motioned for everyone to follow. "If anyone can answer your questions, they can!" They descended the hill and made for the giant city, all smog and gray brick, and the massive citadel that sat on a hill in the middle.

"We've just gotta make sure whoever's in charge of the place doesn't find them first, right?" Blueberry Bright asked.

"That's the hope," Madison replied.

~"The Isle Beyond Imagining," page 58.

The train tracks cut into the mountainside carried and directed The Friendship Express to its next destination, at the great plateau near the mountain's peak. Twilight and her friends had secured seats for the next trip to Canterlot as fast as they could, and had paid for Megan, Molly, and Danny's tickets despite their insistence, as well as the fact they didn't have any bits.

Their carriage was blessedly empty, which allowed the travelers to spread out and not draw much attention to themselves, especially the three foreigners. Megan, Danny, and Molly all took one booth to themselves while Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity took their own, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash took another, and Twilight and Spike settled on a different place. Each one was arranged in a quadrant; Applejack and Rarity took to chatting away and Pinkie sometimes (see: usually) interrupted to ramble for a couple minutes. Rainbow Dash was napping, Fluttershy remained quiet as she gazed out the window, and Twilight was busy reading while Spike tried to rest.

Molly, on the other hand, was talking excitedly, her mouth practically running at a mile a minute, while Danny mirrored her excitement in his own little way, stating he was going to "go on a tear" when all was said and done; Molly was dead-set on going through every last shop in Ponyville when they got back, and then Canterlot. Only Megan remained silent as she gazed out the window, lethargically noting that they were shuttling along a cliff that looked out over the vast countryside and the tiny hamlet of Ponyville at the bottom, but it didn't last long.

"Megan? Megan? Hey, Megan." She blinked a couple times, snapped out of her thoughts, and swiveled her head around to face Molly. "You okay, Meg?" she asked.

Megan blinked a couple times and tried to reorganize her thoughts before she sighed, "I guess. I could be worse."

That was enough to get Molly's and Danny's happy grins to fade, and she quickly looked right back at Megan and asked, "I don't like that tone. What's wrong?"

She sighed again. "Nothing's wrong, I just..." She trailed off and fell back to her previous habit of looking out the window, and the outside racing by.

"...You just what?" Molly pressed.

"Something's off," Megan replied shortly. "And I mean, I get that. I wasn't expecting everything to stay the same while we were gone, that'd be stupid, but, like..." Megan trailed off again, unsure of how to put her worry into words before she settled on, "It's like destiny slipped on a banana peel while carrying all our old friends and took a nasty spill. Applejack and Spike have the same names, but they're not the Spike and Applejack I remember, as we've established. And Rainbow Dash said Surprise was part of the 'Wonderbolts'...I don't know what they are exactly, but it sounds like some sort of...aerial battalion. Does that sound like the Surprise you know?"

She glanced over at Danny, whose eyes widened and he bit his lip and shook his head. "Exactly," Megan continued. "I'm not worried, and nothing looks inherently bad, but...something weird's going on." She sighed and wiped her forehead, and then dragged her hand down the rest of her face. "The most likely explanation is that, well...I mean..."

She trailed off into incoherent mumbling which prompted Molly to ask, "Megan, are you okay? What are you talking about?"

Her question snapped Megan back to their conversation, but she only stared at Molly blankly for a minute before she replied dejectedly, "I...I have no clue. Nothing adds up."

The lull lasted for a couple minutes, during which time Molly stood up and switched her seating position to the other side of the booth. She reached out and placed a reassuring arm on Megan's shoulder. "Well...here's hoping that if Twilight can't find an answer to those questions, maybe Princess Celestia or Luna can," she said.

"What kinda questions?" someone pointed out. The three of them jumped when they saw Pinkie Pie push her way out from under one of the seat cushions with a quizzical, but giddy smile on her face. Danny was the one who recovered the fastest.

"I dunno, sis, the more of Equestria I see, the more it's like nothing's changed at all!" he laughed.

"You shut your mouth."

"Hey, speaking of Equestria, how do you like it so far? Is it fun? Is it?" Pinkie interrupted. "I know you're not from around here—I mean, c'mon, anypony can see that by looking at you—but there's way more to it than just Ponyville and Canterlot! There's a bunch of places you gotta see! Though I can kinda understand if you're not having fun, since Twilight pulled us all away to get on the train." She hung her head and it almost looked like her mane deflated (somehow), but just as quickly as she got sad, she perked right back up again. "But don't worry, once we get back to Ponyville, I'm gonna throw that Superhero-Social-Soiree-Supreme I told you about! You'll be having such a blast, it won't even be funny! Except it will, because it'll be a huge party, with cake and confetti and streamers and cake and games and really loud music and cupcakes and—"

"We're doing okay, Pinkie," Megan interrupted. "Equestria's nice."

Pinkie tilted her head quizzically and stared at them for a moment before she asked, "But you're scared and confused because all those ponies you told us about before aren't here?"

The three siblings flinched and turned to stare at each other for a moment before Molly muttered, "Damn, she's good."

Megan sorrowfully looked back at Pinkie and nodded. "...Yeah."

To their surprise, Pinkie only smiled wider and exclaimed, "Well, don't be!" Megan, Danny, and Molly's eyes all bulged a bit and they stared at each other in shock before she continued, "It sounds like you guys were really good friends, and that's great! Just because we don't know who or where they are doesn't mean they're gone as in 'gone' gone 'cause you still remember'em! And besides, worrying about'em isn't gonna make you feel better anyway. I bet they're happy wherever they are!"

Megan paused as she looked over at Danny and Molly, who were staring at Pinkie with surprise all over their faces. Before she could add her two cents, Molly said, "That's...actually a good way of looking at it, Pinkie."

She tilted her head to the other side and flashed another big, adorable smile. They remained quiet for another minute before the train jolted around a bit, and a couple seconds later one of the conductors stepped through the door at the end of the carriage and called, "Now arriving at Canterlot station...!"

"Ooh, ooh, we're finally here!" Pinkie exclaimed. True enough, the train was slowing down, and it stopped in front of a large platform as she continued to ramble, "The girls and I haven't been here in so long! I mean, we were here for Twilight's princess-crowning ceremony-thing, but we haven't been here since then! Doesn't look like anything's changed, which is good! But also boring, and that's not nearly as fun! But you know what is fun? Joe's Donuts! I mean, not in the 'whee, it's time to party,' kinda way but the 'hey, let's get our friends together and have all the donuts' kinda way! Actually, a lot of places in Canterlot are like that, except most of'em have a bunch of unicorns walking around that think anypony who's not from Canterlot can't spell their own names right..."

The three of them were already leaving their booth with Pinkie Pie in tow, and as they stepped out, the others joined them. Twilight gave them a curt nod as Spike rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and everyone else walked ahead and out of the train car and out onto the station platform. The three humans had to stop and stare up at the tall buildings and down the pastel streets to take it all in, but quickly snapped back to attention when Rarity asked, "So, Twilight," Rarity began, "may I ask why you've brought us out here?"

"Oh, well, I thought we should come up to find out where Princess Celestia and Luna were last seen. Hopefully, it'll give us enough clues to figure out where they disappeared to!" she explained.

Rarity nodded sagely and then quickly turned around and began to jog lightly down the street. "You run along then, and I'll meet you there, darlings!" she called.

"Wha—! Why?" Twilight called back.

Rarity looked back over her shoulder and replied, "Why, I simply must visit Canterlot Carousel and check in with Sassy Saddles! We still need to iron out all the wrinkles with my autumn lineup, if you'll pardon the pun!"

Twilight reached out to try and stop her, but she had already disappeared around a corner. She sighed after holding her pose for another moment and relaxed before she turned back to the others with a nervous grin. "Uh, well, guess we'd better...get...going?"

They walked through the busy streets for several minutes until they arrived at a wide-open plaza in front of the castle gates, and Rarity rejoined them just in time. Megan was expecting majesty, and still the profile of the castle managed to blow her out of the water, and if Molly and Danny's gaping mouths were any indication, they thought the same thing. This was nothing like the castle of Dream Valley, and its splendor couldn't hold a candle to Paradise Estate, with multiple ivory spires and fine decoration that had no right to be so detailed. While they marveled, Twilight and the other girls approached the front gates of the castle, kept under stern watch by two guards, who were currently deflecting questions for several journalists and what few citizens were mulling about, hoping to overhear something.

"Sirs, we're not asking for much," one of them with a fine mulberry coat said, "just an official statement regarding why the sun and moon haven't moved."

"We're not authorized to give one."

"So does that mean Princesses Celestia and Luna are in danger?"

"That's on a need-to-know basis," the other guard said flatly.

"So would you⁠—"

The reporter was cut off as Twilight approached from the back of the crowd and a few of the surrounding ponies took notice. "Wait, look! It's Princess Twilight!" Twilight visibly winced as a few of the reporters turned to face her and began launching questions.

"Princess Twilight, my name is Quill Jumper," one of them spoke up. "Since you're the closest contact between Princess Celestia and us normal ponies, can you offer a statement on the current situation in the sky?"

Before she could even formulate a basic response, another one walked around to her side and asked, "Your Majesty, rumor says the princesses might be in danger, if the plunderseed crisis is anything to go by. Are they true?"

"I..."

Twilight tried to explain, only to be interrupted by another reporter asking, "Princess Twilight, I couldn't help but notice you brought some...new friends with you." She pointed to Megan, Danny, and Molly and continued, "Does their appearance have to do with the sun and moon not moving?"

And then like a blessing made flesh, Applejack strode forward, with Rarity and Fluttershy in tow, and interposed herself between Twilight and the crowd. "A'right, a'right, that's enough!" she exclaimed. "Y'all said yer part, now take a step back an' let Twilight talk!" The journalists did, in fact, take a step back and a few of the shot quick, unsure glances at each other, before they shrugged and took a few steps away; a couple others huffed and crossed their arms, but made no move to dispute Applejack. She looked around and then motioned toward the guards with her head, and Twilight smiled and took the lead again.

As they all walked behind her, Megan leaned over and whispered, "Now if only every nosy journalist back home knew their place," to Molly. She chuckled.

She approached the two guards in front of the gate, and both of them bowed their heads. "Princess Twilight."

"I swear, I've told you not to call me..." Twilight trailed off, sighed and shook her head. "Oh, nevermind. Um..." She bit her lips and glanced up nervously at the guardspony, who was now staring her down; his expression was impossible to read, even for an arcane adept like her. "Can we, uh...may we enter the castle...? We wanted to, y'know, help look for the princesses because I thought this would be the best place to start..."

The guard kept staring down at her for another minute, then he turned his attention to his compatriot at the other side of the gate. They locked eyes for another moment and then nodded. The first guard looked back at Twilight and said, "Yeah, you're clear. Go ahead in."

This, understandably, caused a small uproar with the reporters who all began to converge on the gate again. Thinking quickly, Twilight pulled Spike and Applejack with her as she ducked through and called back, "Come on, everypony! Hurry!" Rainbow Dash wasted no time and pulled Fluttershy and Rarity through, Fluttershy ran in after her, and Pinkie kept giggling as she bounced through herself, with Megan, Danny, and Molly bringing up the rear. Before he got through the gate, Danny looked at the guard who allowed them passage and saluted the poor soul; he only shrugged in response.

They crossed the courtyard, the reporter's cries already starting to fade away, and they approached the great double doors into the castle's main foyer. Twilight's horn glowed magenta, and both of them opened of their own accord and she led the way inside. When the six of them, plus dragon and three interdimensional heroes were inside, she shut the doors again, and it was just as she feared: both Celestia's and Luna's throne were absent and the entire grand hall was eerily quiet despite the fact there were a couple guards and a captain patrolling the throne room.

"Great. Now what?"

Twilight glanced back at her and then places a thoughtful finger on her chin before she said, "Well, we should probably get to the castle library first. It's got several collections of books that can't be found anywhere else, even the Canterlot Archives."

"It's always the library, huh?" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"You have a better idea?" Twilight snapped back.

Rainbow Dash was quiet for a moment before she crossed her arms and looked away. There was a small blush on her face. "...No."

"Alright, let's go!"

Once again, Twilight led the way through the castle halls; all her friends kept their eyes straight ahead, except Pinkie, who kept bouncing around and either glanced up at the walls and ceiling or asked if she could slip into the kitchen for a snack (which Twilight politely but firmly denied). Megan and her siblings, on the other hand, were busy trying to take it all in, and Megan herself had to go so far as to hiss "Don't touch that, you little shit" to Danny several times. Within minutes, they arrived at the castle library doors, and they made their way inside to see bookshelves that stretched up halfway to the vaulted ceiling. There were hardcovers, paperbacks, nonfiction articles and journals that outranked fiction titles seven-to-one, books about primordial spells, books about magic theory, literary ballads penned by ancient playwrights and everything else in between. All light filtered in from the massive window that reached the ceiling on the back wall, more than thirty feet away, and between that and the Mane Six were simply rows of shelves packed with books. Twilight had to suppress a small squee of happiness while the others walked around her to get a better look at the room.

"Sure's a whole lotta books," Applejack mused as she brushed past one row of shelves.

"Where's the action-adventure section?" Rainbow Dash piped up.

"And the baking section? And the caber-tossing section? I'd ask where the D-I-Y fireworks section is, but that's a 'you got it or you don't' kinda thing!" Pinkie added.

Twilight, for her part, took a deep breath in and waved her hand as she turned around to face everyone else. A list appeared and she snatched it out of the air. "Trust me, everypony, as much as I want to just...spend a few hours in here reading whatever looks really interesting, we've got more important things to do!" she said. "Alright, first step, we search the whole room, specifically for certain books that may explain why the princesses disappeared, then we look for physical evidence. Chances are, they left behind a clue in some obscure textbook. Pick up anything that looks like the princesses might have touched it at some point today...or in the past week."

They all split up and spread out to different corners of the library: Rainbow Dash and Applejack took to the left side, Twilight, Megan, and Molly took to browsing the bookshelves to try and find some evidence the princesses had passed by, Rarity, Spike, and Fluttershy took the right side, and Danny and Pinkie climbed the ladder to the second floor, though Pinkie tended to appear where she was needed. Or not. Usually not.

But even after a whole hour, nobody had spoken up, and Twilight grimaced as she looked up from another book that proven a dead end (what felt like the thirtieth one she'd skimmed through) and she sighed as she pushed herself back up and lodged it back into the shelf. Twilight turned away and decided to check in with everyone else, and the first place she looked was aisle "Fiction D-E" where she saw Molly scanning the lower shelves. She furrowed her brow and asked hesitantly, "Anything?" Molly looked over her shoulder and shook her head solemnly, which got Twilight to groan and she turned around to look for Fluttershy; she was busy checking under some chairs and large cushions for the third time in a row, while Rainbow Dash scanned the upper ledges of the bookshelves built into the wall. "Fluttershy, Dash...?" Twilight began as she approached them. "Any luck?"

Fluttershy stood up and stared at Twilight innocently as she shook her head. Rainbow Dash turned back to her, landed, and huffed, "Nope, nothing. Zip, zilch, zero, nada."

And out of the pile of cushions on the floor, Pinkie sprung up and added, "No kidding! We found so much nothing, we could fill a whole library with it!"

"Pinkie!"

"What? It's true!" she replied. "Danny and I went around the upper level, like, twenty times! Or maybe it was three, but we still didn't find anything, so we just decided to race each other around the room! But we only stayed on the upper level, of course! If we tried it down here, we would've been running into bookshelves and ponies!"

"Wait, you two were having a race and you didn't tell me?" Rainbow Dash cried.

"Dash, not the time," Twilight quickly reminded her.

"Just for the record, I haven't found anything, either," Spike said as he hopped off one of the cushions and replaced a book he'd been leafing through.

On the upper level, Twilight could see Danny clambering down a ladder, and he disappeared below the tall shelves before he reappeared from one of the aisles with Molly at his side, and Megan stepped out from an aisle two rows behind her. All of them reconvened with the others and then Applejack poked her head out from behind another shelf and asked, "Did y'all hoo-mans find anything yet?"

Megan, Molly, and Danny all shared a blank stare, until Molly said, "Nope."

Danny brought up his balled-up fist and opened it as he said, "I...found this neat lookin' ball of lint," which got a groan and facepalm from Megan.

Twilight pursed her lips. The princesses weren't there, and there was nothing written down that could point them in the direction they went. The longer the sun and moon hung in the sky, the more ponies were going to freak out. The more they freaked out, the more paranoid they were going to get; without Celestia and Luna watching over them, ponies might lose faith. If they lost faith, the trust between individuals would break down. If trust broke down...

She was only vaguely aware that her heart was hammering away in her chest and sweat was starting to drip down her forehead again. "Okay...! Okay. So, uh, we've got...no leads on where the princesses are. That's fine! That's totally fine! It's⁠—it's no big deal, there's just an entire nation depending on the two most powerful ponies in existence to keep the sky in check and the offices running and they've...disappeared without a trace!"

Everyone in the room stared at Twilight nervously while she ranted, until Megan strode forward and placed her hand on the nape of Twilight's neck and she applied a firm but gentle squeeze. Twilight squeaked out a surprised "eep!", but just as quickly relaxed her shoulders and sighed contentedly. Megan's eyes widened a bit and she glanced over at Danny and Molly. They stared at her for another moment in surprise before they both grinned; Megan smiled herself as she kept working her fingers into Twilight's fur, and during that whole time, Twilight had closed her eyes and slumped forward slightly.

"...Calmed down a bit?" Megan released her from her thrall, and Twilight's eyes flickered open as if she had just woken up to face a new day. She blinked a couple times and turned to face Megan while half of her friends were trying to hold in their laughter, and the rest were sharing surprised looks. "Mmmm...um, yeah. Yeah, I think so. Still kinda freaking out, but better."

"Well, it's a start."

A silence settled over all of them before Rainbow Dash asked, "So...now where do we go?"

"Good question! I..." Twilight trailed off and glanced around the library. "I really wish I knew."

Spike squinted up at her. "Can't we just...y'know, go to the Canterlot Archives now? There's gotta be some obscure book hidden in there we can use, and since you're a princess, that means we won't have to try and sneak in like we did last time...right?"

"Uh..." Twilight ignored the last part of his question as she explained, "We could, there's definitely a lot more books and articles in there, but like I said, the castle library has several, and only several, books that haven't been distributed anywhere else. I spent most of our time here looking through the ones that might have had to do with the princesses' disappearance, which lowers the overall number even more." She ran a hand through her hair and sighed, "But I guess..."

"Just a moment, Twilight! I do believe I've found something!" Everyone glanced around, to the opposite side of the library. Rarity was kneeling in front of the wall, and obviously looking at something on the ground. Spike stared up at Twilight who stared at Rarity, and after a moment, she stepped forward and approached her. The others followed, and they all crowded around to try and get a better look at whatever it was she found, but she quickly stood up, holding something in her magic field. It was small, navy blue, and had the texture of...

"Fur...?"

"It would appear so," Rarity said as she turned and held the tuft aloft for everyone to see. "I noticed it not even five minutes ago, while Miss Megan was, erm..." She stared at Twilight, who was now blushing, and she coughed into her fist and continued, "Soothing some frayed nerves."

The ponies all stared at it for another couple minutes, and Fluttershy muttered, "It's the same color as Princess Luna's fur."

"It...is Princess Luna's fur!" Twilight exclaimed. "And if she was here, Princess Celestia must have been here, too, if they're both gone!"

Rainbow Dash took a quick look around the library and asked, "Okay, but where'd they go?"

Twilight took another look at the tuft, squinted at it, and glanced around the library. She closed her eyes, her horn began to glow, and a magenta-colored pulse of light emanated from her horn and spread out around the room, passing through ponies, shelves, humans, and finally the far walls. Twilight's friends weren't alarmed by it, but Megan and Molly looked a bit unsure, and Danny had begun nervously patting down different body parts after he felt the magic flow through him; it was something Twilight noticed when she opened her eyes again. "Oh, sorry, sorry! I just used a scanning spell, it's not dangerous! Sorry for not giving you any warning."

"No big deal," Megan said.

Twilight smiled and turned back to her friends and began scratching her chin. After a couple minutes of silence, Applejack asked, "Find anything?"

Instead of answering, Twilight only seemed to grow more puzzled as she glanced around the room. But she finally said, "Yes, but it's...fuzzy." She then slammed her eyes shut and her face scrunched up, her nose wrinkled and mouth stuck in a concentrated grimace as she held out her hand and her horn began to glow again. Twilight began turning her upper torso, pointing herself in seemingly random directions; in actuality, she was reaching out through the weave of magic like a radar sensor than ran on thaumaturgy, until finally, she exclaimed "There!" as she snapped forward again, facing the wall directly in front of her and several feet ahead. It got Fluttershy and Rarity's eyes to widen and quickly step aside. "I'm detecting...several layers of invisibility and intangibility spells...directly ahead! They're...they're pretty advanced, but I think I can⁠—"

The glow around Twilight's horn intensified for a second and she cut herself off abruptly as a spark of violet fire appeared ten feet in the air in front of the library's right wall. It was hard to miss, and everyone stared at it intently. The flame spluttered, grew brighter and larger, until it began to slowly descend, burning the air away yet never catching anything else nearby aflame. Fluttershy and Rarity, who were the two closest ones to it, ran to where everyone else stood, several feet safely away. As the flame lowered itself, it burned into a shape, a circular shape, and the lower it went, the easier it was to see that the flame was revealing some sort of portal. It was like a mirror portal...but expressly lacked the "mirror" half. It was wrought of beige, porous limestone that made it look older than it probably was. On the sides were chiseled intricate branches of laurel and olive trees, and other than that, the only thing of note about the portal were the letters carved into the base.

Haelan

The continued to stare at it for awhile before Rainbow Dash asked, "So, uh...anypony know what that means?" Everyone shook their heads, sometimes punctuated with a small "no." Rainbow Dash glanced over at Twilight and asked again, "Twi?"

Twilight shook her head again. "I have no idea."

"...You're sure this word isn't some piece of...magic spell mumbo-jumbo?" Rainbow Dash quirked an eyebrow.

Twilight turned to face her, indignation written all over her face. "Dash! First of all, it's not 'mumbo-jumbo,' spells are highly intensive and fine-tuned intellectual labors! Every part of a spell serves a purpose, there's no part that would classify as 'mumbo-jumbo!' Two...whatever this is, it's not part of a spell. In fact," she turned to look at the word again, more closely than before and the tip of her horn lit up for just a second. "I can't detect anything magical about it at all; there's no part of it that's enchanted, so it's not a rune."

"So it's...just a name, then?"

They all went quiet for a moment, as if asking themselves whose name it was. Pinkie, of course, took up answering that question by bounding up to the portal and exclaiming, "It's gotta be this big stone statue's name! Hi there, Mister Haelan!"

Her greeting was answered with the empty space between the laurel branches suddenly flaring to life in a small explosion of white light and color, and everyone recoiled backward as they watched it coalesce and take the shape of an oval, through which they could see what was decidedly not the opposite wall. On the other side, they could see a ruined room with a crumbling ceiling and decrepit stone pews. The walls were also mostly decayed away, revealing the outside sky, lit up in a glorious sunrise. After the initial shock wore off, a few of them, specifically Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Twilight, all took a couple cautious steps forward to get a better look through. Applejack squinted and muttered, "A castle...?"

"Actually, judging by the remains of the vaulted ceiling and the stone pews, I'd say it's more of a chapel of some sort. A very small chapel, or maybe it was just an altar with basic walls around it to keep the elements out, but good guess!" Twilight corrected. She glanced back through the portal and tilted her head quizzically. "It's strange, though...I haven't seen any kind of stonework like that..anywhere. It's all so angular and...and detailed."

There was another lull, but it didn't last long. Steeling her resolve, Megan marched forward and up the first rung of the portal's base. Everyone's eyes rested on her, and she turned back to look at the ponies, though she focused on Danny and Molly, who followed her a few steps forward before they stopped. "Well, if you ask me, Princess Celestia and Luna went this way," she said as she pointed back at the portal with her thumb. "Enough evidence for it, and even if not, it's something to go on. Who's with me?"

Everyone, human and pony, shared a glance before Molly led the way up to Megan's side and looked her in the eye. They grinned and fist bumped each other before they both looked back at Danny. He sighed and approached them and said, "I'm right behind ya. I'm the one who dragged us into this mess anyway, so..."

Megan and Molly glanced at each other, and Megan smiled as she looked back to Danny and joked, "Danny Williams, finally taking some responsibility after...how many years has it been?"

"Eat a dick," Danny quipped back. His grin was small, but it was there.

Twilight was the next to approach Megan, with Spike dutifully at her side. When she stopped, she exclaimed, "And we're with you, too!"

"You sound ready to go," Megan said with a nod.

"A-actually," Twilight stammered, "I'm...really, really nervous. Terrified, actually. But I'm trying to think of the princesses! They wouldn't want me to be scared."

"And I'm too excited to be scared!" Rainbow Dash came up to them and popped her knuckles. "I mean, come on! A hidden portal in the Canterlot Castle library to a different dimension? Means there's a whole new world to introduce my awesomeness to!"

Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie followed her, and Applejack said, "Yer humbleness 's an insp'ration as usual, Dash."

Rainbow stuck out her tongue in response, and Megan turned to look into the portal. "Everybody...I mean, everypony ready?" There was a round of confirmations and "yes"s from everyone, and it only lulled for a second as Molly stepped forward.

"I'll go first."

Their shocked silence was enough for Molly to stride confidently forward and breach the wall between realities. The portal rippled like a stone cast into water, shimmering with white light on the crest of each wave and the vista behind distorted for only a second before the disturbance was gone. In its place was Molly, safely in one piece on the other side of the portal. She stopped, looked around, and turned back to everyone else with a big smile on her face and she waved happily.

Megan and Danny released a deep sigh, and Megan wiped some sweat that had managed to condense on the back of her neck. Since the coast was clear, Twilight walked in after Molly, followed by Danny and Megan, then Rarity (escorted by Spike), then Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy half-dragged through behind her. But they all arrived at the same destination, a crumbling chapel that most likely hadn't seen another living soul in hundreds of years. Twilight, being the second one through, turned around to make sure her friends could come through safely, and she saw that behind her were two statues. Their body structure was humanoid, but their faces didn't resemble a pony; they were more human, if her limited knowledge of humans was anything to go by, except they had no faces and seemed to be hunched over, their arms extended above their heads, carrying an invisible burden. By the time everyone had come through, they noticed as well. The chapel itself was otherwise sparsely decorated, some rusted sconces on the wall behind the statues, one or two candelabras scattered by wind and weather at some point. The portal was still open though, which was a bonus; at least they weren't stuck in "Haelan" for an indeterminate amount of time like when Twilight had gone to Canterlot High. "...Wow."

"Indeed, darling," Rarity said as she looked at the surrounding decrepit grandeur. "I may not be a connoisseur of architecture as it were, but all this is...certainly something to behold."

Twilight followed the curve of the broken ceiling all the way over until she could see the archway leading outside, or at least what was left of it. A quarter of the archway on the upper-left side was gone but Twilight walked forward anyway, and was joined by her friends after a minute. Outside, they could get a better view of the hill the chapel had been built on. The surrounding countryside was expansive, a vast, fertile plain of green grass and few trees in sight. The sun had risen up above the horizon, causing a light fog to settle in the lowlands; far behind them and the chapel, dark clouds and the night were being chased away. The ponies all stared at it in silent wonder, only interrupted by Fluttershy breathlessly whispering, "It's...it's all so beautiful..."

Rainbow Dash slid a hand through her hair as she gazed out across the plains. "I gotta admit, this is pretty awesome."

"Ooh, ooh! Look over there!" Pinkie exclaimed as she jumped up and down and pointed to something just under the glow of the sun. The others strained their eyes a bit but saw that there was something off in the distance. Dull, blurry outlines of buildings, but the fact there were spires jutting out above the surrounding shapes marked it as a city. "Can we check it out, Twilight? Can we, please? Pretty please with a cherry, sprinkles, and strawberry frosting on top? Pleeeeaase...?"

Twilight looked around at her friends as if silently asking for their opinions. "Hey, ya know we trust ya. Whether 'r not ya wanna go over there's totally up to you, Twi," Applejack said.

She tilted her head and leaned on her fist to think. "Well, since we don't really have any idea where the princesses are, that city's the best place to start," Twilight said after a minute. She looked over to the path that led down the hill and started walking. "Come on, everypony!"

Everyone was silent as they started down the hill. After a couple minutes, they had reached the bottom and they began their trek across the rolling green plains It only stayed quiet for a few more minutes before some irritation crept into Rainbow Dash's head that told her to fly ahead and scout, but she stayed put out of respect for her friends. "Well, I'm already bored," she muttered. As soon as the words left her mouth, Danny spoke three words that many travelers dread to hear:

"I can sing."

Megan spun her head around, but before she could forcefully tell him no, Danny opened his mouth again, and in a faux-Irish accent, belted out, "Oh, it's down the glen came McAlpine's men / with their shovels slung behind them!"

"Little too slow on the draw," Rainbow Dash muttered to Megan.

"Honey, you gave him that idea," she quipped back.

"'Twas in the pub they drank the sub, / and up in the spike you'll find them." Danny leaned over and poked the top of Spike's head, which earned him an annoyed and somewhat confused glance from the drake. "They sweated blood / and they washed out mud / with pints and quarts of beer!" Pinkie grinned and promptly jumped onto Danny's back, which only broke his concentration for a moment. "And now we're on the road again, / with McAlpine's Fusiliers!"

It was hard to guess how long the whole group had taken to walk from the hill to the city; Megan guessed approximately two hours. They had stopped for a couple breaks, but they had found themselves at the outside wall of the city, limestone bricks stretching up nearly a hundred and ten feet in the air. When they saw it loom large in the distance, they all diverted their course toward the archway that led into the city itself. Unfortunately, there was a cast-iron portcullis over it.

It did, however, afford them the chance to see what they were getting into when Rainbow Dash approached the iron bars and gripped them. "Wow, this place looks like garbage," she said as she squinted through.

And how; from what everyone could see from the outside, there was a distinct lack of upkeep and activity. The streets were empty, the townhouses and stores had all the markings of foreclosure on them, boarded-up windows, cracking paint, crumbling stone and all. The cobblestone street itself was uneven, overgrown with weeds in some places, and the sky above was quickly blocked off by smoke and the upper levels of other buildings; everything seemed to be stacked on top of each other the further into the city it went, and to top it all off, there was some sort of drab beige filter over it, as if the city itself was aware of its own pathetic state. The others all approached the portcullis and took in the surrounding area around the entrance; after a couple minutes of study, Spike glanced up at Twilight and said, "I don't suppose you've got a way to get us through this thing, do you?"

"If you're implying I can teleport us through, then yes, don't worry about that," she replied. "It just...might take two castings." The teleportation spell did, in fact, take a couple uses to get everyone through; Twilight explained it was due to group size. One or two targets was easy, three to five targets at once was strenuous, six or more was was asking for a splitting headache...if historical arcane repositories were to be taken seriously, sometimes literally. Still, they were all inside the strange city of towering spires and dilapidated storefronts. "All we have to do now," Twilight explained, "is find somepony who can tell us where they might have seen Princess Celestia, what this city is, and who rules it, in that order."

Applejack glanced around and said after a small pause, "Well, we sure ain't gonna find anypony standin' around here."

"Agreed," Rarity added. "It would behoove us to find guidance around this place. And quickly, everything here is...ugh, it's filthy! I would like to mince my oaths just this once, but what I have seen thus far is simply ghastly and, dare I say it, only a miracle can fix something like...this!" She held out her arms, gesturing to a townhouse that had been caved in due to what could only be years of neglect and rot.

"Alright then!" Twilight interjected to make sure Rarity didn't go on a tangent and said, "Everypony stick together. Just because we can't see anything else outside right now doesn't mean they can't see us, and to be honest, I think it's...too quiet. Ready?"

Everyone nodded or otherwise affirmed, and they made their way down one of the larger streets and away from the wall. Walking through the streets was cramped, deathly quiet, and uncomfortably warm due to the smog, and the drab brown filter seemed to grow more intense the further they strayed. Most of the time was spent in silence, as everyone was trying to stay alert for anything that looked out of place, especially Megan, Danny, and Molly. Danny rubbed his hands together and muttered, "I wish Dad hadn't sold off his old twelve-gauge. I'd feel a lot safer...y'know, if I'd known to bring it along."

"He didn't, Danny," Molly mentioned.

Danny froze up for a minute before he shot an incredulous glance at her and asked, "...What?"

Megan glared daggers at Molly, who looked from her to Danny and slowly came to a realization. "Y-you didn't tell him? I thought..."

"No, I didn't tell him! We've barely spoken and I haven't had time to get the damn thing out of storage!" Megan exclaimed.

"Excuse me, what?"

"Hey, wait!" Pinkie exclaimed. "What's a 'shotgun?'"

The Williams stopped short and glanced at her with wide eyes, and it took awhile for Danny to clear his throat and say, "Oh, a, uh, shotgun is...a tool. To...get rid of...problems."

Pinkie's eyes widened at this revelation, and she immediately began to run her mouth off. "Problems? What kinda problems? Ooh, wait, like, problems with friends? 'Cause if it does, it sounds really cool! Or is it like customer problems, because that's happened a couple times at Sugarcube Corner! They're all grumpy and not-talky before they get their morning coffee! Or does it solve stuff like toaster problems, 'cause I swear the Cakes' toaster never works right when you want it to!"

"Uh..." Danny stammered, "it solves...people problems. Yeah."

"Really? How?" Pinkie asked as she tilted her head.

"Um..." Danny licked his lips and explained, "You...point it at someone—somepony, pull a magical trigger, and it...launches...confetti at them. Yeah, confetti. Magical confetti that...makes them, uh, nicer...to you. No need to fact-check that one."

Pinkie seemed to buy it, as her pupils dilated and her eyes began to shine despite the lack of an intense light source. Danny was almost satisfied with his lie until Megan grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer to her, enough to whisper in his ear. "Dad never sold his old shotgun. Mom convinced him to hide it from you when you kept asking him to show you how to use it, and a little while after I moved out, he placed a lot of stuff in storage, shotgun included." She paused for a moment. "He also specifically passed ownership of it to me before he died."

"And you never told me about this!?" Danny exclaimed, taking a step back.

Megan glared at him and leaned over to hiss, "Danny, if you got a hold of that thing during high school, you would have killed someone! Or less importantly, yourself, but still! You would have been a collateral damage machine on two legs."

"Hey, I resemble that last remark!"

Silence settled over them all as they looked at Danny, some more harshly than others, before Megan grabbed his wrist and began to pull him along behind her. "We'll have this discussion later, okay?"

They kept walking for a few more minutes, through the winding, broken roads. They managed to get off the main thoroughfares of the city, as far as they could guess, and found themselves winding through back roads and wide alleys. Barely anything changed, and yet, it felt like everything kept getting more and more unfamiliar. The buildings still didn't look like they had been well-maintained, but instead of crumbling over time, there was evidence that they had been demolished on purpose, with nightsticks and swords littering the grounds outside the shops. There was no one else outside, but every once in a while, one of them could see eyes peering at them from the darkness behind the boards over the windows. As soon as they turned their head to look and confirm, whoever was watching them ran off. Eventually, they had walked for thirty more minutes with no sign of life...until a voice whispered from the shadows. "Psst! Hey, you!" Everyone froze in place and began searching the street frantically, until the voice continued, "Yeah, you lot!"

"Who's there?" Rainbow Dash asked to try and draw out the voice's owner.

"I...I think it's coming from back there..." Fluttershy raised her arm and pointed to an alley to their right. It wasn't remarkable, just dimly lit in the afternoon smog and seemed to hold an excess amount of debris, scrap metal, and rotting garbage.

They all shared an anxious glance, the silence only broken by Applejack muttering, "We gonna check it out?"

"Sure," Spike replied in a low voice. "Go into the dark alley with the faceless voice talking to us. Sounds like a great idea."

Twilight frowned at him. "Spike, as much as I'm willing to admit this place is...less than idyllic," she began, "do we really have another choice? We're lost in a different, well, dimension, confused beyond all reason, and alone. I think we have to chance it." Before Spike got the chance to protest, Twilight raised her head and called back, "Hello? Is there somepony back there? You can come out, we won't hurt you!"

There was only silence for a minute before a pony poked her head from out of the darkened alleyway, behind the piles of litter. She had an average height and build (for a pony), but wore thick, dirty overalls with several patches sewn on, along with heavy boots custom-fitted for unguligrade legs and an equally ratty white shirt and newsboy cap. Other than the clothing, she seemed to be a regular, burgundy earth pony. "What're you folks doing outside?" she began after she'd revealed herself fully in the dim light. "Don't you know it's tax-collection day?"

The whole group shared a collective, confused glance before Rainbow Dash replied, "Uh...no?"

"Tax-collection day...?" Rarity inquired.

The mare huffed, and glanced up at the skyline. "Yup. Here in Thulst, every day is tax-collection day! And if the street urchins don't mark you, the damned Gilded Eagles will, if you stand around out in the open for too long," she groused. "Best get yourself inside as fast as you can. No one lasts long out in the open."

"Thulst?"

The mare's previous disgruntled expression dropped and she eyed them suspiciously. After a pause, she asked, "Where you from? The Valley? The West?" No one answered, considering they obviously had no prior knowledge of Haelan. "Hope you ain't from Winter's kingdom. If Thulst finds out, he'll have your head!"

Twilight blinked in confusion and looked around at her friends before she faced the mare again. "Sorry, did you mean someone else? You...you said 'Thulst' twice."

"I know what I said," the mare snapped back. Everyone's expression morphed into even more bewilderment than before, something the other mare picked up on; she most likely had opinions on their lack of knowledge, but she kept it to herself and explained, "Listen, newbies, Thulst owns this city and everything in it, so he named it after himself...greedy prick."

"...Oh."

An awkward silence settled on the whole group for another few minutes before Fluttershy, of all people, stepped forward and said, "Um...I guess you know already, but, um, we're not from around here, and we're looking for a couple very important ponies that came from where we live. They're both sisters and princesses, very beautiful, and their names are Celestia and Luna. Have you seen them?"

The mare clenched her jaw and tilted her head up to look at the smoggy sky. Her eyes swiveled around every so often as she collected her thoughts, but after awhile she lowered her head again and shook it. "Nah, can't say I have. If they were princesses of some far off land, I probably would've known, provided they didn't get mugged at knifepoint or worse."

"Oh, don't worry! That's, um, highly unlikely! At least it should be. I hope!" Twilight stammered.

Another pause as the mare regarded Twilight's comment and shrugged. "Either way, you can follow me, I guess. There's an underground bazaar nearby that gets a lot of traffic from folks looking to trade goods and info, since being out in broad daylight's a one-way ticket to getting kicked in the teeth, robbed blind, and dumped in an open gutter...maybe not in that order, but you get the idea. Once you get there, you're on your own, though." She jerked her head behind her, back into the alley, indicating for everyone to follow her. Twilight, Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Megan, and Danny all shared anxious glances with each other before Twilight took a deep breath and followed the mare. Spike looked around again, shrugged and followed Twilight, with everyone else falling in step behind them. When they were all in the alley, mostly in single-file due to the mounds of garbage littering the ground, the mare called back, "Name's Shifty Shuffle, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Shifty!" Twilight replied. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is my assistant, Spike. These are all my friends, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy—"

"Look, I don't wanna sound too rude, but the walk ain't that long and once you get to the bazaar, we're gonna have to go our separate ways. Besides, I'd probably never remember your names anyway," Shifty Shuffle sighed.

Twilight bit her lip and shifted nervously. "Oh, um, right. Okay. Sure."

They all walked for a few minutes, winding through the alleys and over litter. Molly kept her eyes glued to the rooftops and the dull, tan, hazy sky above them. She jumped when she heard Fluttershy whisper, "Miss Molly, are you okay? Uh, If you don't mind my asking..."

"I...yeah, I'm okay," she said. "This place just has me on edge. Everything feels...uncanny." She paused. "I can't help but feel like this place was, like...made because of us. Like we tainted your world when we came here, somehow."

Megan looked over at her sister and quickly interjected, "I doubt that. As far as we know, Ponyland existed since the dawn of time, in relative terms. If we tainted Equestria, that would mean we tainted Ponyland by spontaneously creating Hydia, Dragle, Reeka, and every other nasty customer we've had to face. But we all know that's not true, since Wind Whistler said they lived on the Volcano of Gloom for years before we got there. I wouldn't go blaming ourselves just yet."

Molly chuckled after staring at Megan for a moment. "God, I hope you're right."

As they walked and whispered among themselves, however, they didn't notice they were being watched. It would have been hard to do anyway, with the smog obscuring vision the higher up it went. On the rooftops above the group, staring down on them, were several humans wearing red navy uniforms, weighed down with swords, clubs, and other strange gadgets with golden helmets that had been forged to look like an eagle's head, and on their backs were more ornate carvings of gold, attached by some sort of spring-powered mechanism. They continued to stare down on the passing group, until two of them that were closest to the edge held up nets, gilded and seemed to glimmer despite the low light conditions. One of them brought up his arm and pointed to Twilight, then Rarity, and then held up his hand and made a fist; without announcement, he and the man beside him wound up and threw the nets as hard as they could.

They fell down and unerringly, loudly, hit their marks. Twilight barely had enough time to look back when she heard Rarity scream before the net came down and pinned her, and although initially shocked, Rainbow Dash and Spike quickly ran up to Twilight's side and attempted to drag the net off her. "Twilight! You okay!?"

Twilight began to struggle but quickly found it was useless. "I...yes, but...I can't get up! There's some sort of...magic-dampening enchantment in this net!"

"Don't you worry, Twi! Long as I'm here, nopony's—"

She was cut off when one of the men landed behind her, grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, and threw her away from Twilight. He turned his attention to Spike, who stared up at the man wide-eyed, but quickly morphed it into an icy glare. The rest of the strange armored humans touched down seconds later, two in front of Rarity and Applejack, who was trying to drag a net off her as well, and several more directly in front of the rest of the group who had been further back. Spike brought his fists up and growled at his attacker. Said human looked down on him, grinned spitefully, and threw one punch that connected in such a way that Spike got one of his own fists knocked back into his face. He grunted and stumbled backward, opening him up for a kick that sent him sprawling into a wall ten feet away. Twilight saw all of it, and desperately called out, "Spike...!" as she stretched out her arm to try and reach him. The human, upon hearing the panic in her voice, glanced down at her as well, and then walked forward before he stopped beside Spike, lifted his boot, and pressed it down on his head, not enough to kill or seriously injure...but the threat was there.

The Gilded Eagles were Thulst's prime and only police force for a reason.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had recovered from being thrown by backflipping and lifting off into the air, just above the rooftops. One of the Gilded Eagles that had cornered everyone else looked up at her, his eyes glinting with malice, and the spring-loaded mechanism on his back popped out and unfurled into golden wings. Rainbow Dash, however, stared for a moment before she smirked and looked away in mock-embarrassment. "Aw, jeez, buddy! If you think your wings're gonna pop, at least try to get somewhere private!"

The man didn't react the way Rainbow Dash expected. Or at all. After a couple seconds, she relaxed and stared at the human in confusion before, in a blinding burst of speed, he took off and reached out to grab her. She flinched and turned to keep flying, but her surprise was all the advantage man needed to grab her tail and spin her around a couple times before tossing her back down into the ground like an Olympic hammer thrower. "Get back down there, woman!" he shouted as she hit the cobblestone. Dash yelped in pain, but gritted her teeth and attempted to fight through the ringing in her ears and the numbness in her chest and back before the Gilded Eagle landed on top of her, whipped some sort of larger-than-normal golden manacles off a utility belt, and clamped them down on the humerus of both wings. "Thulst's skies belong to us!"

Applejack had tried to lift the net from Rarity, but the enchantments made it more difficult to remove alongside dampening magic use. "A-Applejack, darling, please hurry!"

"Ah'm tryin'...Ah'm tryin'! Jus' don't go...twistin' yerself up around...an' I'll get it off ya easy!!" she replied as she frantically tried to lift the sides of the net. Each time she did, however, Applejack felt her arms grow tired extremely quickly, as if she had been carrying an overloaded basket of apples without setting them down for hours at a time. She was fighting it, barely, but that meant she wasn't making any real progress.

Rarity had been pinned to the ground stomach-first, which meant she wasn't in a good position to pull the net off herself at all, though she was struggling, albeit weakly. "Applejack, you don't understand, you...must get me out of here quick...quickly or...or my coiffure will be completely frazzled! Ruined and unsalvageable! Hurry!" Applejack had to pause for a moment before she rolled her eyes.

"Aw, fer the luv'a—"

"Er-herm."

Applejack froze and slowly brought her gaze up to see two Gilded Eagles glaring down at her. There was a small pause before one of them pulled out a sword and pointed the tip at her, and his comrade drew his sword and held it just above Rarity's head, blade pointed down, and looked ready to drive it through her skull at the drop of a pin; she remained silent throughout the whole ordeal. Sparing a quick glance behind her, Applejack could see the whole group was pathetically outmatched and so with only the slightest bit of reluctance, she raised her hands over her head. The two Gilded Eagles glanced at each other, and the one with the spear nodded to Applejack. The second soldier quickly replaced his sword as he walked around Applejack and retrieved a pair of gilded handcuffs, which he snapped on Applejack's wrists after forcibly repositioning her hands behind her back. She suddenly felt her strength get sapped as if she'd been holding onto the net, and she slumped forward, breathing heavily.

About five of the Gilded Eagles left over ignored the scene behind them and instead focused on closing in on Megan, Molly, Danny, Shifty Shuffle, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. A couple of them drew swords, one drew out another pair of wing cuffs, and all of them kept walking forward menacingly; Megan and the others continued to back up. "Uh...Shifty...?" she muttered under her breath. "What do we do? What do they want with us...? Will they let us live if we surrender?" Megan got no answer, which made her wrinkle her brow and look to her left. Shifty was gone, but she could see some of the junk in the alley had been disturbed as if someone had vaulted over it, and then she heard the distant sound of hooves slamming on the cobblestone after she had a moment to focus. Her brow furrowed after a moment and she felt heat rise in her cheeks and hissed, "You bitch...!"

One of the Gilded Eagles nudged one of his comrades and jerked his head to the side, in the direction Shifty had run. With a nod, the other soldier spread his wings and took off over the buildings and completely disappeared from sight. "We highly advise you stand down and take your customary beating like a man," the first one said after a pause. "Makes our job easier."

In response, Danny stepped forward and defiantly shouted, "Back the fuck up! I took five years of Tae-kwon-do!" and then settled into a T-stance and launched a round-kick at him; he effortlessly blocked Danny, kept his grip on his leg, and lifted him over his head and slammed his down on his back. Danny cried out and after the echo of the crash died down, he whimpered, "Hey, man, I never said 'ready...'" The Gilded Eagle quickly pressed a dagger to his throat, which got a more fearful response of, "Argh, Jesus shit, okay, okay! You've made your point!"

The Gilded Eagle who had Danny pinned remained where he as was he took out a pair of handcuffs while the other four closed in on the remainder of the group, brandishing swords and different types of cuffs. They tried to back up as far as they could without agitating the soldiers into attacking, but running away was obviously futile. Pinkie glanced over at Megan and whispered, "Psst, Megan! What do we do? These guys seem kinda scurrilous! And they're really mean, too!"

"I..." Megan's train of thought came to a screeching halt when she realized that with Twilight effectively out of the equation because of the net over her and the threat that one of the Eagles might squash Spike's head a moment's notice, there was no central leader to think of what to do; she was probably the closest thing to one. "I don't..." She was still struggling. "I don't think we have a fighting chance here. We...we may jut have to surrender and give them whatever they want, if it avoids getting anyone killed."

"What!?" Everyone in the furthest group look down at Rainbow Dash, who had started to struggle a bit, futilely kicking her legs to get his attacker off him. The fact the Gilded Eagle was pressing a knee into her back and was holding her wings down prevented her from being too serious. "No, don't do that! Do you honestly think any of these jerks look like the type to honor surrender...? Don't worry about us, kick their flanks!"

"As opposed to...!?" Megan yelled back. "They've got Twilight and Rarity pinned and their magic doesn't work, Spike's down, they've got Applejack in cuffs, and you and Danny aren't doing much better!" When she was done, she was breathing heavily, her face showing the beginning of an angry blush, and she was sweating bullets. It was little compared to Molly who, despite keeping herself between a cowering Fluttershy and the Gilded Eagles, was sweating profusely as well. Pinkie...Pinkie looked confused, since her eyes kept darting from Megan to the soldiers, to Twilight and Rarity, and back again. A silence settled on the group for a moment before Megan realized something, and despite her mind running in every direction from the anxiety, she addressed the Gilded Eagles directly. "...I thought you'd object to us talking to each other. Y'know...since we could have been forming a plan or something."

The Gilded Eagles around her all shot each other a quick glance. They said nothing for a minute, and then...

"Heh."

"Heh-heh."

"Ha-ha!"

"Gah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha...!"

They laughed. Snide, vicious, mocking laughter. After another moment of their jeering, one of them looked back into Megan's eyes, still grinning, and revealed, "Naw, we don't care!" His smirk deepened until it was downright malicious, and he tilted his head forward to stare up at her from under his brow. "That's 'cause we just love seeing kids like you squirm." He took a step closer, much longer than before, and pointed his sword right at Megan's chest. "Now, I do believe you said something about unconditional surrender...?"

She pursed her lips but kept eye contact with the soldier. Staring into the eyes of the eagle mask was like looking into the hollow eye sockets of the Grim Reaper himself, but slowly, she willed herself to bring her hands up. "Smart. Very, very smart," he said. Then, before she could even react, he socked her square in the jaw, and Megan grunted in pain and fell to the ground. The Gilded Eagle then knelt down and grabbed both her arms and slapped cuffs on them, which he then held by the chain, insuring she couldn't run. Molly, Fluttershy, and Pinkie cried out in distress, but Molly was silenced as another soldier grabbed her by the neck and shoved her into the ground. Fluttershy squeaked as she watched Molly struggle weakly as the Gilded Eagle rolled her over and put cuffs on her as well, chuckling to himself.

She then felt a hand on her shoulder, and would have been turned around forcibly if she hadn't jumped and tried to swat the man's hand away. The soldier took obvious offense at this flagrant disrespect, and backhanded Fluttershy in the cheek. She cried out in pain and Molly shrieked too. "You bastard! Stop that! You're hurting her, you heartless piece of shit!"

He knelt down, placing his knee into Fluttershy's back after he had her turned her over onto her stomach. It was easy, since she'd proven too shocked to react to much after he'd dope-slapped her. He took out a pair of hand and wing cuffs and secured them to her before he snapped his gaze back to Molly with a smug smile on his face. "That's the idea, my dear."

"Hey, I didn't get to ask because you were busy talking and then arresting us," Pinkie exclaimed as she popped up beside the soldier who had Fluttershy pinned, "but are those cuffs gonna chafe? I'm not really asking for me, I'm asking for Rarity, she's got sensitive wrists! Don't get me wrong, I don't really like this whole 'getting thrown in jail' idea, but I think Megan knows what she's doing! We've gotten out of worse, and besides, this is kinda fun! We've never been here before, y'know!"

"Holy shit!" The Gilded Eagle jumped and swiped with his free arm, which Pinkie managed to dodge somehow, and it was at that point the soldier who was going to tie her up noticed she had miraculously teleported from a few feet in front of him to his comrade's side. He rushed forward, and tackled Pinkie slamming her into the ground as hard as he could before he pulled himself up and quickly slapped cuffs onto her wrists. If she had been injured by the fall, she wasn't showing it. In fact, she was actually giggling.

"Heh-heh-hehey, that tickles...!"

And just as the Gilded Eagle finished tying a rope around Pinkie's legs to make sure she couldn't move at all, the soldier who'd left to chase after Shifty returned and touched back down, holding a small satchel of what could only be coins, if the clinking sound of metal was anything to go by. He was holding one of them, too, and while it looked remarkably similar to a bit, it seemed larger and had different engravings on both sides. The Gilded Eagle who had arrested Fluttershy looked up when he heard the man touch down, and as soon as he did, the first soldier tossed his satchel over. He caught it, secured it to his belt, and commanded, "Lucian, about damn time! Take the reins on this one so I can get the lists."

Lucian snorted and rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. He quickly adopted the other's position, kneeling on Fluttershy's back, as the other man got up and retrieved a compact scroll from another satchel on his belt. He unfurled it and took a quick look around at the prisoners before he called loud enough for everyone to hear, "Names!"

No one answered. It wasn't because of tiredness or being incapacitated. They simply didn't understand, which prompted him to call again, more irritated, "Names!" Still no answer. The man scowled and turned his eyes to Twilight, steely gaze settling on her and the soldier standing over her. Almost on cue, the human grabbed Twilight by her arm, which made her whine a bit, and he dragged her around so that she could look up at him. She did so weakly, and the Gilded Eagle stated, "Answer the damn question so I don't have to beat it out of you. Names!"

Twilight didn't answer immediately, but with no other options available, she lifted her head and neck weakly and muttered, "T...Twilight...Sparkle..."

The human unfurled the scroll and stared at it for a minute. It was blank. He grimaced and said, "Again. Louder."

Twilight stared at him for a minute before she tried again, a bit more nervously, "Twilight...Sparkle...?"

The soldier kept staring at the parchment, still blank. He grimaced more and quickly rolled the scroll back up and then unfurled it, but it was still blank. "Not showing a profile, Ervin?" the soldier standing over Twilight asked.

"No," he replied flatly.

"Is that one still under six years old?"

"Is it under six years old—of course it's still under six years old, you gibface!" Ervin yelled at him. The soldier quickly shut his mouth; Ervin was obviously the commanding officer. He continued, "What about that one?" as he nodded toward Spike.

"He's out cold, sir."

"You know his name?" Ervin asked again as he looked down on Twilight.

"...S-Spike...my assistant. Please, don't..."

"Yeah, yeah, you think he's hurt, boo-hoo," Ervin interrupted. "He ain't gonna die. Yet." Before Twilight could interject, Ervin turned away and repeated Spike's name, and a few dozen names appeared on the parchment. A couple of the people on it were actually named Spike, but most were nicknames. Ervin pursed his lips and turned back to Twilight after a minute. "What is he? Human or pony?"

She slowly lifted her head again and blinked a couple times in confusion before she said slowly, "He's...he's a dragon..."

There was another pause as Ervin froze in his place and eyed Twilight suspiciously, then Spike's body, then he looked back at Twilight before he scoffed dismissively. "Ha. Funny."

"Wha...but...but he is!" Twilight's indignation fueled a rebellious fire in her heart for a couple seconds, but the magic-sapping enchantments on the net sucked it away just as quickly, and just as fast as her squirming started, it stopped.

Ervin kept his eyes on Twilight for another minute before he turned away. "If you say so, but he don't look like any dragon from the fantasy novels I've ever seen." He went from Twilight to Applejack and Rarity and in no kind terms, asked for their names. Nothing appeared on his magical scroll, so he went from them to Pinkie Pie, then Fluttershy, then Molly, Rainbow Dash, then Megan, and finally Danny. When the scroll still failed to find a match for the three humans, he closed the scroll and put his hands on his hips. "Well, here's something you don't see every day," he announced. "These folks ain't on any official census in Thulst!"

That got the attention of every single Gilded Eagle, who all whipped their heads around to look at Ervin, if they hadn't been facing him already. The one who had Rainbow Dash pinned to the ground exclaimed, "Ya think they're spies? Sent by the Winter King...?" During his question, Rainbow felt his grip on her arms slacken a little bit and she started to thrash to try and shake him off, which only made him shout in distress. "Gyah, hey...!" Acting on lightning reflexes, he wrapped his fingers around her head and slammed her face-first into the ground once. She yelped in pain which devolved into a low groan. "Stop resisting!"

"Doubt it. If they were, or were any good, they'd be a lot less conspicuous. They'd probably be dressed like they actually belonged here," Ervin replied. "If I had to guess, they came from the far, far west, way beyond the Ravages. If the clothes're any clue, their society must be somewhat civilized...compared to the rest of it, of course. Now why are they here...?" He trailed off and shrugged. "Hell if I know, not my problem."

"So what are we gonna do with'em?" the soldier guarding Rarity asked. "Just beat'em to a pulp and take what they got? String'em up by their fingers in the nearest public square, or keep'em in our barracks for entertainment...?" The soldier's manic grin faded after only a second before his eyes widened, but the smile came back. "No, wait, don't tell me! We gonna drag'em before the big man himself...?"

Ervin's brows furrowed as the man prattled on. When he was done, he jerked his arm and pointed behind him with his thumb. "Nope. They're not on record; you know what's gotta happen to'em."

"What happens?" Danny interrupted, barely bothering to disguise his derision. "Flogged, interrogated, and killed, maybe? If so, may wanna rework your justice system. That's so cliché, my grandma could write something better. And she's been dead for nine years!"

Eldon's head snapped down to look at Danny and after a second, his glare became a sinister grin. "No," he said as he bent down to get closer to Danny. "You're goin' to The Valley."

Far away, under the shining midday sun, two figures strode across the lush hills and under the green trees of Haelan's countryside. Both were ponies, and both bore ethereal manes that denoted their station and power. Luna sighed and glanced up at the sky, cluttered with clouds, and turned to ask, "Sister, why must we do this?"

Celestia sighed. "I told you, Luna, I'm not entirely sure." She turned back to the open road ahead of them and breathed deep of the fresh air. It felt different, running through her lungs; not entirely like Equestria's air, which had a kind of sweetness to it, like honey. That scent was entirely absent here, which made her conscious of how neutral the air felt. "In the vision, I only saw us walk north until we reached a massive stone gate." She paused and added, "We're not necessarily here to do anything more than show Twilight Sparkle and her friends what lies beyond Equestria."

Luna fell into a morose silence, which allowed Celestia to continue enjoying the sunlight; it did not react to her magic, which, instead of worrying her, endeared her to the charms of this new realm even more. "Art thou certain our subjects shall be safe for the duration of our absence?" Luna asked.

"...Well, they've definitely lived through worse," Celestia replied at length.

The great hall was silent, though it was more a circular room, like a chapel, but with no added decorations; the master thought them unnecessary flourishes unbecoming of his six oligarchs.

His Secstectin.

The stones used to build it were dull violet, the columns that held up the vaulted ceiling were off-white, tinged lavender. Around this room, there were five archways, each mostly alike, save for the symbols carved into them: one bore a fox holding a golden chalice, one bore a sword with a blade made of blood, one bore heavenly coinage, one bore a great mountain beyond the sky, and the last bore a simple, shattered skull. On the other end of the room was a massive window that opened up into pitch blackness and a circular stone table.

At this table sat a humanoid with a grim visage, slit-like eyes and barely a bump where the nose should be. His skin was pale and looked clammy, and he wore a simple dark brown cloak with dark purple robes underneath, inlaid with gold trim. Next to him sat a squat creature who looked more toad than man, with only two slits on his face for nostrils, bulbous green eyes and warts on his hands and lower arms. He was bald, but unlike the other, he wore fine robes of blue and red, juxtaposing their positions. They said nothing to each other, waiting in silence, until four of the five archways on the other side of the room lit up and raw aetheric energy crackled and burst from them. From these walls of magic, four figures strode through each and exited the other side into the massive room. They ranged in height and build, but all had certain defining features: the first, who entered through the archway with the blood sword, stood nearly eight feet tall, and not a single patch of skin was visible on him, for he wore jet-black armor that menaced with spikes of iron; the opening of his helmet meant to show his face glowed blood-red. The one who came out of the archway of the skull looked more akin to a human, though she was gaunt, almost emaciated, and her hair was white and coarse, and she wore only the basest of clothes; a torn beige shirt and baggy pants while the rest of her was wrapped in so many chains it was a wonder she could move freely; her face was sunken, bony, and her eyes seemed as if they had peered into the space between dead stars.

The one who left the archway with the mountain carved into it was built more like a kind of were-creature, toned muscles with thick black fur running up her arms from the wrist, coarse hair on her knuckles and thick sideburns. Her face was slightly deformed, her nose twisted halfway between a human's and a cat's. She wore loose-fitting pants, but in contrast, wore a brilliant yellow robe adorned with tassels, small jewels, and depictions of a tiger, eagle, and a great golden dragon on the chest. The man who left the archway with the coin on it had the first woman's gaunt profile in combination with the armored man's height, though slightly shorter, and had no muscle on him to speak of. He, too, was bald, but unlike all the others, he wore a pinstriped suit and had a soul patch on his chin and pince-nez glasses, of all things. Somehow, the glasses managed to cover his eyes completely.

The four of them confidently strode forward until the woman in the dragon robe nodded to the man in the cloak, and he nodded back. "Uulant, Theilm, Stroho...Koozaf," he said.

"Driath," Koozaf said as he bowed graciously. He eyed the squat man out of the corner of his eye, and his smile quickly turned to a sneer. "...Thulst."

Stroho crossed her arms and took one step forward, glaring all the while. “What’s the meaning of this, Driath?” she growled. "I have at least thirty more important things I could be doing right now other than listen to you."

Draith turned to her, his solid black eyes staring clean through her soul. “It seems,” he drawled, “that there has been a...complication.” A still silence fell upon all of them, and after a moment, Driath scowled and looked at the ugly little man at his side. “I will not explain this for you, Thulst,” he growled.

Thulst shuddered suddenly and made a sideways glance at him. “Ah, y-yes. My apologies, Lord Driath,” he said. Thulst then reached forward, his flabby hand manifesting arcane blue sparks that coalesced and formed a shimmering wall of light, and in that wall, two figures were walking. One with a mane of iridescent blue, green, and pink, the other with a mane filled with stars. They both walked the grassy knolls and plains of Haelan, two goddesses out of place. The other four figures stared, faces shifting from curiosity, to shock, then to frustration.

“They found their way through? How?” Theilm asked.

“I..I don’t know,” Thulst replied. “But rest assured, they won’t lay a finger on my treasures! I’ll triple my palace guard—no, wait, quadruple it! I’ll have them work double shifts, comb every square inch of the castle, train them to exhaustion—”

“That is not a solution, you lard-guzzling oaf!” Uulant shouted. “That is an excuse! These interlopers must be crushed!” Thulst choked a bit and shrunk in on himself, trying to hide, but Uulant quickly stopped paying him any mind. He looked up at Driath and placed his hand on the hilt of a sword, kept on his back and nearly as tall as he was. “And with your permission, I will be happy to do the honors!”

“That will be unnecessary,” Driath replied dismissively. “You and your warriors must remain in Drengrheimr. Let Haelan deal with its own problems.”

Stroho quirked an eyebrow up and questioned, "You believe it's wise to let these two run rampant? You do realize they're the most powerful beings in Equestria, right? Granted, that's like finding the most powerful warrior ant in the colony, an ant is still an ant...but Princess Celestia is disturbingly resourceful."

In response, he folded his arms behind him. “Be that as it may, they are physical. We are metaphysical. There is nothing they can do that can kill us. As it was thrice before,” Driath explained as he held out his arms to each side, as if emphasizing his divinity. "These two are nothing more than a minor inconvenience at best. At worst, we will have to take one hour out of our collective schedules to flatten the both of them."

“And if Thulst can’t stop them…?”

Driath stopped short and turned to Koozaf. They both remained there, emotionless and glaring at each other. Finally, Driath spoke. His voice was measured, but cold as ice. “If Thulst and his hordes of glittering trinkets do nothing to slow those ponies down, I will take matters into my own hands.” The other five rulers all shared knowing glances with one another before they looked back at Driath. "Do you have any other concerns?"

"No."

"Nope."

"Mm-mm."

"No."

"Good," Driath said. He turned around to gaze back out the black window of the grand hall. After a momentary pause, he turned his head back just enough for his lower face to be seen under the shadow of his hood. "From whence you came, then. I shall call you if I decide it's necessary."

The five others remained still for a moment before Uulant struck his chestplate with his fist and bowed his upper body before he pivoted and marched over to the portal he entered from. A mote of light flared to life inside and Uulant disappeared through it. After watching him walk way, Koozaf sighed and stretched his arms above his head before he stood up and walked back to his archway; Theilm followed his example a few seconds later. Stroho rolled her eyes, bowed her head, and turned to leave until Thulst, who had been twiddling his thumbs for the past several minutes, bowed slightly and quickly ran to his portal and disappeared in a flash of light.

Finally, Driath was alone, and could contemplate his part to play in peace.

Author's Note

i'm sorry about the flagrant ooc, i'm out of touch 🤷

III: The Valley Of The Dead And Wicked [WOEFULLY INCOMPLETE]

Escaping Blackcamp had proven difficult, more difficult than the group had expected, but the crates and barrels that kept food and drink safe for import into the prison camp had also proven spacious enough to smuggle themselves out. Once the caravan that moved the goods from Hekirm to Blackcamp had traveled far enough away from the perimeter of the prison, the group ditched their disguises and hopped out the back of the wagon they had been in and hid in the underbrush on the side of the road. After that, they started heading north.

After traveling in silence for a few minutes to make sure none of Chancellor Sverth's cronies would overhear them, Bubble Cherry asked, "Alright! Now we're out, we just gotta find the Alabaster King, right?"

"Yup. Find the king, find the Queens, and give that Chancellor asshole a taste of his own medicine," Damien repeated.

"Yay!" Bubble Cherry went back to focus on running for only a second before she turned back and asked, "Which way is north...?"

Snowdust whispered, "I think we should just follow Lucky Moonbeam. She'll know the way."

"Just keep your eyes on the sky," Madison said as she looked up at the blue expanse above the trees, "and if you see anyone above us, pray they don't see you first."

~ The Isle Beyond Imagining, page 70

This castle was as magnificent as Canterlot Castle. It was hard to measure an unquantifiable attribute, granted, but from what they had seen, Celestia and Luna noticed many similarities between them; massive rooms with vaulted ceilings, fine art hung on walls in every other hallway, spires that pierced the sky, and precious metals gilded onto railings, sculptures, and doorways. The only real differences were the location, as Canterlot Castle was situated so that the four seasons affected it equally, and Equestria's castle served two princesses who were also demigods. This castle, however, was perpetually locked in eternal winter, and served only a single king.

But while he couldn't move the sky with magic, in this place, he may as well have been a god.

Celestia and Luna stood in front of a raised dias holding a singular throne of marble and silver with two soldiers posted alongside it. They were dressed in snow-white armor, steel plates and frog-mouth helmets, and both of them barely into their prime. They slammed the blunt ends of their spears on the ground and announced loudly, "His lordship, King Winter the Sixth!"

Upon the throne itself sat an old man in fine blue silks, a mink fur mantle draped over his shoulders, and a golden crown placed on his head. His hair was pepper-grey, white closer to the top of his scalp, and there were wrinkles slowly creeping their way toward the center of his face; yet his eyes belied that he still had the fire of youth deep inside him, and it had been that way for awhile. "So..." The old king leaned forward and lightly slapped his legs for emphasis. "My high field marshal told me you said you came from a very faraway place, you call it...'Equestria,' yes?"

"Yes," Celestia replied. "Although I'm not entirely sure why. In the vision, I only saw myself and Luna discover a portal to your world and walk north until we found your kingdom, which my student, Twilight Sparkle, would follow. I have no doubt she and her friends are already on their way here."

"Hmm." He pursed his lips and leaned back in his throne, polished to a mirror sheen, and he began to scratch his whiskered chin. After a thoughtful pause, he glanced back down at Celestia and Luna and said, "You know, this story seems a bit suspicious. After all, you approached the gate of my kingdom, claiming to have been sent by a vision. When Miriel asked you for proof, you told her my name, and now you tell me there's more following you. You could be spies sent by Thulst, for all I know."

Luna raised her head and stared the king directly in the eye. "And doth thee believeth thy own accusations?"

Another pause before The Winter King smiled and leaned forward again. "Not a bit."

This wagon was small, definitely not meant to support ten individuals crammed into one space, even if one of them was a baby dragon. All of them were chained to the front wall, where the driver was sitting outside, and they were all so close together that it made moving their arms and legs near impossible. The chains around their wrists and ankles exacerbated the fact, and the time for uncomfortable chafing had been over a long time ago; now it was relegated to an annoyance none of them could shake.

Twilight and Rarity had the magic-dampening nets replaced with a magic-negating collar. Ironically, they were made of solid platinum and studded with rubies and emeralds, and likewise, the wing bindings on Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash (and Twilight by extension) had been swapped out with polished steel ones inlaid with sapphires. Rarity had complained about the conditions, then had a minor panic attack, and then was shut up when the driver yanked on the iron chains from outside, causing everyone to yelp and lurch to the side. On the other hand, Twilight had a major panic attack and started hyperventilating. Megan had tried her best by gently patting her knee, but it was small comfort and after while, Twilight just went silent. If she was just thinking about how to get them out of this mess, they didn't know. Applejack and Fluttershy had remained quiet, Fluttershy from fear, while Applejack was stewing in her own resentment. Rainbow Dash had fought the most, and managed to give one of the guards who threw them in there a shiner, but after a couple hours, she had stopped trying. Now, she was just as quiet as Applejack, and just as angry, if her perpetual frown and bitter mumbling was any indication. Pinkie Pie, oddly enough, had kept to herself. She had tried to start singing a song, and Danny even joined in for a couple bars before the driver yanked the chains again and almost sent them tumbling. Spike had been on Rarity's lap for most of the ride, nervously twiddling his thumbs. Megan, Danny, and Molly had stayed mostly quiet as well, though Danny had, like Pinkie, tried to lift everyone's spirits with jokes. They didn't work.

Time had lost most meaning after they'd been shunted into the wagon. It felt like they'd been confined for at least two weeks and there was barely any cues from the outside world that they were going anywhere, save for the vehicle stopping infrequently for the driver to whip the back door open and toss in a small plate with leafy vegetables on it before he slammed it shut again just as fast. The wagon had no windows at all, so all of them were in near-blackness, the sounds of birds and the rumbling of the carriage along the dirt road the only indication they were all still alive.

But then, after what felt like an eternity, the rumbling slowed, and stopped.

It got everyone to perk up immediately, almost washing away the tiredness of sitting up for too long with no sleep.

"...We stopped," Spike murmured.

Dash bitterly squinted at the door in the back of the wagon. "I could've told you that."

There were other sounds now. Sounds of boots hitting the ground. Multiple pairs. It didn't sound like they were on dirt anymore; it sounded like those boots were hitting stone and were converging on the carriage. Fluttershy swallowed the lump in her throat and shrunk in on herself, and started to shiver. "I d-don't l-l-like...this is b-bad..." she squeaked.

Before Megan could offer some form of encouragement, the back door swung wide open once more, but instead of just the driver, there was now the driver and eight other Gilded Eagles surrounding the door, armed with spears. One of the soldiers had a sword and a ledger instead of a spear, and it was this man who jerked his hand back with his thumb toward him and he stated, "Out."

The whole group glanced nervously at each other for a moment before the officer scowled and repeated "Out," more forcefully. They complied hesitantly; they all stood up and found the chain that connected to the outside was now slack. It allowed them to exit the wagon, but due to staying cooped up in the carriage for so long with little to eat but leafy vegetables, they all did so slowly. Fluttershy and Spike looked like they was about to keel over, and the rest of them weren't far off. They exited in a scared single-file, at the mercy of the Gilded Eagles. As they left, the other guards fanned out to surround them, and the group found themselves inside some sort of large stone chamber lit by large torches. Directly in front of them was a large set of iron doors, as tall as all of them were if they could stand on each others' shoulders. Another command from the officer, who pointed to somewhere behind them. "Move."

They all tried to turn around, somewhat unsuccessfully, as the chains did nothing but trip up Molly and Fluttershy. Unsatisfied with their performance, one of the soldiers poked Molly in the back, which made her yelp and stumble forward, and to Megan and Danny's horror, she fell flat on her face.

The soldiers' laughter was merciless.

Fluttershy gasped and went to Molly's side as fast as the chains would allow her and helped her back up. Molly herself was shaking like a leaf in a gale-force hurricane, and her sobs were almost imperceptible over the cackling of the guards. Megan, on the other hand was frozen in place, watching her sister suffer, and then she suddenly felt much, much hotter than before. She gritted her teeth and whipped around to face the commanding officer who, unlike the regular grunts, kept his face as stoic as a rock. "I hope you're proud of yourself," she seethed. "I hope you get a disease that causes blood to pour from every opening you've got but the doctors decide not to end your suffering quickly. I hope you realize you're a degenerate piece of shit who does nothing but sit on his laurels and pretends to feel good about himself while you jack yourself off at night, alone. I hope—"

Megan was cut off as the officer backhanded her right across her cheek. She coughed, staggered, and dropped to her knees and then slowly turned her head back up to face the soldier, her nose bleeding freely. All he did was stare back down at Megan impassively and comment, "If you're done running your mouth off, allow me to say something that's actually important." Megan only stared at him in, half in shock, half in fear.

"Hey, what's the big idea!? You can't just hit my sister like that and act like—"

Danny was cut off as the officer spoke over him. "Your names have not been found on any census records of Thulst. The ruling law is that if there is no name to match you to any official records, you will be labeled enemies of the state and treated as such. Your sentence..."

A low rumbling shook the entire chamber, and the wrought-iron doors in front of them slowly began to open, letting sunlight in. "...Is to be imprisoned in The Valley for life, with no parole. However, you will be allowed to retain your autonomy in this prison, and you may do as you wish for the rest of your miserable lives. Work the mines, steal and rob others if you're stupid enough to want to survive, or, my personal recommendation, lie down and die." The other guards began to pull around and reform behind the entire group, spears still up and pointed at them. The doors opened fully, and the outside became apparent: a great vista of rolling hills with small wooden shacks scattered across them. Off to each side, there were massive stone edifices that, when the glare of the sunlight faded, were revealed to be walls that nearly pierced the clouds.

The officer raised his fist and the other Gilded Eagles thrust their spears forward, poking everyone in the back and pushing them forward one by one; they continued to do so until they had pushed them out of the previous chamber and into the open. The officer walked up to Megan after they were done and placed a strange stone, multicolored and covered in strange etchings, on the manacles on her ankle and continued, "If you do decide to throw yourself off the highest cliff, though, at least try to land neck-first. Makes our jobs a lot easier."

When he backed away, the stone began to glow, and it proceeded to dissolve the chains and cuffs that had connected the whole group together, save for the magic-dampening collars and the wing bindings. The officer and guards quickly retreated back into the holding room and the doors began to close. When Rainbow Dash saw this, and saw their chance at freedom slipping away, she grit her teeth and made a beeline for the door.

It slammed shut in her face, and she nearly ran into it headfirst. She could just barely hear muffled, mocking laughter behind it.

Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and began bashing against it with her fists. "Hey! Where do you think you're goin'? You talk real tough, but all I see are a bunch'a cowards hiding behind a door! Open up right now so I can break your stupid noses! C'mon, get out here already!" she yelled.

As Rainbow tried unsuccessfully to bash the door open or goad the Gilded Eagles into showing their faces, everyone else looked around at the plaza they found themselves in, though it was only a plaza in the loosest sense; the immediate area was clear, surrounded by several ramshackle cottages, some built on top of each other and crammed together in the world's ugliest condominium. There were sparse trees around the edges of the clearing, and shrubbery was places arbitrarily around as well.

Of course, the most unsettling thing was that they weren't alone. From several feet away, they could see others, humans and ponies both, clustered in small groups of about three or four in the shade of the trees or standing behind the bushes. There were a larger congregations closer to the cottages, running around doing who-knows-what. One of the groups under a tree consisted of three human men and one woman, wearing shabby rags and squinting in the group's direction.

One of them was tossing a shiv lazily up in the air and catching it by the handle.

Fluttershy squeaked and shrunk behind Applejack and Rarity also pulled herself closer to the center of the group. Rainbow had given up trying to get a fight out of their captors by now, and turned around to join the rest of the group. When she noticed the other groups around them sizing them up, she returned a vitriolic glare of her own. Twilight bit her lip and started massaging her forehead. "Oh, this is not happening," she breathed. "This is not happening. This is not happening."

Molly reached out to grab Rarity's wrist and began pulling her in. Though she flinched at first, when she turned to Molly and their eyes met, Rarity realized what she was doing and followed her example, reaching out to grab Applejack's wrist. It didn't take her long to catch on to what the others were doing, either, and she immediately reached out to grab Rainbow Dash and pulled her in to the group. Megan, upon noticing Molly was pulling everyone together to provide a sense of security, also reached out to grab Twilight's shoulder. She jumped and whipped her head around to look at Megan with alarm, but she kept her grip firm and began to pull her back. After a minute, they were all as close together as they could get without being in each others' personal space. "We should get out of here," Megan quietly suggested. "Preferably into the forest."

"Y-yeah," Twilight whispered back. "Come on, girls, let's go!"

"Ain't gotta tell me twice," Applejack replied as the group turned to the right and walked around the perimeter of the plaza, toward the tree line beyond. As they passed the two shacks, they were met with stares from what most of them guessed were the occupants, two grizzled old stallions (also dressed in rags), one with a scar over his left eye, and an older woman on the rickety platforms above them, eyeing them suspiciously. They all tried to pick up the pace after that.

Soon enough they all made it to the edge of the forest behind the plaza, and they relaxed a bit. Twilight stepped forward, into the trees, looked back and said, "I...I think it goes without saying, but let's not get separated."

"Sounds like a plan," Molly said. She took a few steps forward but stopped at Twilight's side to look back and gesture for everyone to follow. "C'mon, everyone!"

The others paused for a moment to look at each other before Danny followed her. He had to step over a large fallen tree trunk to do it, though, which made him grouse, "Dammit, Molly, we're not all as young and spry as we used to be."

As they all marched into the woods, Spike fell back and joined Rarity's side and declared, "Don't worry, Rarity! The woods may look spooky, but I'll protect you!" as he puffed out his chest.

She looked down, smiled, and gently nuzzled his cheek. "That's my Spikey-Wikey."

Everyone followed quickly after that, however, with Twilight and Molly in the front and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy guarding the rear; Fluttershy herself couldn't help but sigh. "Well, this is, um...pretty bad. I don't think it could get worse, though."

"Ugh.Normally, I'd tell you not to say that, but I think you're right," Rainbow Dash muttered. She briefly looked back at her wings and tried to get them to extend, but the binding held them fast, no matter how hard she strained. "Oh, come on!"

"Rainbow Dash, please don't push yourself. If those, um, cuffs won't come off, just don't bother. It's not worth getting a sprained wing over."

"No, I can't just give up, I...argh!" After another valiant effort, Rainbow Dash stopped and bent over, the muscles under her fur visibly releasing their tension after trying to extend her wings again. Fluttershy stood over her dutifully while she caught her breath, and after a minute, she grit her teeth. "I hate this. I feel so useless, so...so the-exact-opposite-of-awesome, whatever that is..."

"It's okay, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy consoled her. "You're still just as awesome as you always were, we just need some time to, um, find a way out of this. But we'll get through it, I know we will."

Placing a reassuring hand on her back, Fluttershy waited until Rainbow Dash was back up right and, while not smiling, looked far more cocksure. She would have offered more words of encouragement if Rainbow Dash hadn't pointed out they were falling behind and ran off to catch back up with the group. Fluttershy squeaked and followed them along into the shady woods as fast as she could.

After awhile, the group found themselves in the middle of a lush grove, the canopy of leaves above them filtering the light of the sun into dozens of patterns that swayed in the breeze. Maybe it had been miles. Maybe it had been only a dozen feet, but either way, when Twilight sat down at the side of the rough trail they had stumbled upon, they all took it as a sign to rest. Most of the ponies simply plopped down on the side of the trail as well, except Rainbow Dash, who flopped over a large rock nearby, which Danny rested against as well.

"How long have we been walking?" Fluttershy panted as she sat down on the opposite side of the trail.

After a small pause, Rainbow Dash picked her upper torso off the rock and leaned back on her elbows to reply, "Uh, I think the more pressing question is, 'How the hay do we get out of here?'"

"I wish I knew," Twilight muttered. They all went quiet and turned to look at her. She shook her head and continued, "I...ugh. I can't see any easy way out of this. We can't fly, or use magic, and we've got nothing else with us but the clothes on our backs."

"And I think our phones are out of battery."

The ponies looked at Danny with mild confusion as he held up his phone, its screen black and lifeless. Megan glared as she slugged him in the shoulder. "Danny, not the time!"

"Ow! Jesus, I'm trying to make a joke!" He rubbed the spot where she hit him and curled back up against the rock.

"Danny, we're in prison. The time for joking passed a long time ago," Megan scolded.

Danny didn't really have a retort for that, because she was right. At that moment, all of them simply relaxed (or tried to, given the circumstances) under the green oaks and spruces as they waved in the breeze. Then the silence settled over them, almost perfectly subtly, until they could all pick out the sounds of a fox's howl in the background and the chirping birds above them. This silence persisted for a few minutes that allowed them all to simply come to terms with their new situation and, while they weren't necessarily happy, they found a kind of calm. "So what're we gonna do?" Applejack asked after another couple minutes.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Get out, hopefully."

Applejack scowled at her and quickly grabbed the back of her jacket and lifted it over her head, eliciting a surprised yelp from as she scrambled to get it put back on correctly. Rainbow dash shuffled her clothes back into place and glared at Applejack, who met her stare with an almost invisible smirk and said, "Y'all know what I meant."

"Okay, look," Megan began as she stood up straight after leaning against a tree for the past few minutes, "this place is big. Huge. Obviously. That means there's gotta be a lot of people...and ponies...in here, right?"

"...Yeah," Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Fluttershy said in unison.

"So if we ask enough people...or do enough favors for the right ones, I don't know...we could ask them to help us stage a breakout," she said.

That got some of them to perk up, namely Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Danny. The hot-blooded ones, mostly. The three of them shared intrigued glances, all wide eyes and pursed lips that said "That might work, but if it doesn't, it'll be one hell of a lightshow."

"Yeah!" Molly exclaimed as she jumped up from sitting between Rarity and Twilight. "At least one of the people in this crappy place has to know about a way out! And like Megan said, if it doesn't, we'll make one!"

Another round of nodding and words of agreement. Twilight, however, seemed deep in thought until Megan walked up to her and bent down to look her in the eyes. "And hey," she said, "We're probably gonna need someone that we know has our backs. What do you think?"

She paused a moment before Twilight smiled back at Megan and replied, "It could work." Then she went quiet again before another facet of The Valley became clearer. She snapped her fingers and exclaimed, "Or, taking the size of this place into account, there has to be part of it the Gilded Eagles overlooked, someplace they don't pay attention to. We could sneak out that way!"

Megan grinned and stood back up. "Atta' girl."

Twilight sprang up after her and motioned for everyone to gather up closely. "Okay, everypony, here's the plan." They all closed in, making sure to include the three humans just as much as anyone else. "Here's what I'm thinking; we camp out in these woods since, apparently, there's a lot of...unsavory ponies living in the towns in here. We'll send two of us back into that plaza to ask questions while the rest of us maybe build some simple shelters, and then go from there."

"A good start," Rarity said.

Twilight nodded. "Anypony else?"

"I mean, it sounds kinda boring, but sure," Rainbow Dash said.

"In that case, you and I'll go into that plaza as soon as we find a spot to set up camp." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as Twilight stepped back, and the group separated, but almost as soon as they had stopped getting further from each other, they heard something knock. Many of them jumped a bit, Fluttershy went rigid and shrunk in on herself while Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Spike began swiveling their heads around violently to find the source of the noise. The knocking came again, and it sounded like someone was rapping on the trunk of a tree.

A lone voice spoke. "Uh, I'm sorry, may I...um...may I interject...?"

They all looked around them to try and find the source of this voice, some of them taking it in better stride than others, but Pinkie suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, look!" and pointed at a tree with a wide trunk only a few feet away, to the left of the trail. It was twisted, and the lighting was somewhat dim, but as they looked harder, they saw something hiding behind it with only its neck and shoulders poking out from behind. Human. A boy who looked no older than twenty, with long, matted black hair and dirt streaked on his face; oddly though, he was still clean-shaven. Pinkie continued to call out to the man, despite the warning looks she was getting from Rainbow Dash and Danny. "Hi...! Hey, there! C'mere, don't be a strange stranger!"

The man flinched, but slowly took a step out from behind the tree, revealing the light green tunic and brown tights he wore, and more dirt staining both it and his hands, and strung on his back was a quiver of arrows and a hunting bow. He took another step forward, bringing himself closer to the light. "Yeah, just like that! Hi! We won't bite! Because we're not timberwolves or piranhas or other really angry, bite-y animals!" Pinkie exclaimed again.

Finally sensing danger was no longer apparent, the human straightened up to his full height and gingerly stepped over a stump and onto the road where the others were, though he did quickly swivel his head from left to right, as if looking for anyone else who might be listening in. "Ah...hi. Hello, um...my apologies, if I startled you," he began. "I just...I couldn't...I couldn't help but, uh, overhear...that you might...you want to leave this place?"

All of them shared a couple uncertain glances, and eventually, Applejack said, "Uh, pretty sure we were just discussin' how to find a way out. If ya were listenin' in, you'd prolly know that."

"Yes, yes, I heard that," he replied. "But you must realize that it's impossible. The Gilded Eagles patrol the walls and the sky above, and everything that Lord Thulst built has been enchanted so that nothing can knock it down or destroy it."

Twilight looked down at Spike, then over to Megan, and finally back at all her friends before she cleared her throat. "I'll admit, we're...not in a good position right now...but we've been through a lot more than you may think, and we've always been through it together! With our friends by our side, there's nothing we can't do. You understand, don't you, mister...?" she trailed off.

He stared at Twilight for a moment before seeming to come back to reality. "Oh, I'm sorry! I got so excited and nervous, I...I completely forgot my manners." The man cleared his throat, bowed his head slightly, and explained, "I am Jafcin Masema, and it's a pleasure to meet you. The Valley doesn't get such...colorful characters very often. If ever, uh, really."

Twilight smiled gently and replied, "It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Jafcin! I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is my assistant, Spike." The dragon proudly puffed out his chest and Twilight continued, "And these are my friends: Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash..." Twilight found herself needing to pause and breathe before she finished, "Danny, Molly, and Megan!"

They all greeted him, and Jafcin returned that greeting with another small bow, but before he could speak, Molly piped up from the back of the group, "Well, since we're all on good terms now, I guess, what are you even doing out here? I would've thought people would be living anywhere but in here?"

"Ah, yes, I live in the forest, and was out hunting. There's a lot of people who live in these woods for one reason or another...usually, it's just to avoid the crowded towns full of the more...unsavory individuals," Jafcin explained.

"Okay, about that," Spike interrupted. Everyone's eyes turned to him as he continued, "If you don't mind my asking...what is this place, really? I get that it's a prison, or supposed to be, I don't know...but this seems a little...extreme? Like, what kind of crime would get a small town thrown into jail?"

Jafcin sighed and explained, "It sounds like you've heard it before, but this is The Valley...'The Valley of The Dead and Wicked' is its full title, and it's not just a small town. It's hundreds of square miles all enclosed by a great wall. I've lived here my whole life; I was born here, to a mother who died young and to a father who was the great-great-grandson of a traitor. The Valley was founded and built..." He sat down on the tree trunk nearby, as everyone else listened intently. "More than two-hundred years ago, I think, when some...when the old Winter King led an army south to defeat Thulst, sensing his wickedness. Along the way, he gathered support from small villages that dotted the countryside that had been under Thulst's thumb, and even some people from the city itself when his army arrived. Those old villages are long gone now...at least, I think they would be."

Jafcin stared off to the south, down the road and wherever it led to. There was silence for a minute before Fluttershy quietly spoke up, "What...what happened to them?"

Jafcin turned back to her with a morose look in his eyes and said, "Well, you can probably guess. The Winter King's assault failed; he was struck down personally by Lord Thulst himself. I don't know the details, but it's rumored the man didn't even last two seconds against him. There was some sort of blinding light and then he was just...dead." His eyes fell, as did Fluttershy's, Molly's, Twilight's, and Spike's expressions. "And for punishment, Thulst had...forced the soldiers of the King's army to build...this. The entire Valley and the walls surrounding it. And then he threw them all in with the people who turned on him with no hope of escape. And the weeks turned to months, and the months turned to years, and all the soldiers died and left their children behind." He paused only a second before he said, "Or maybe it happened somewhat differently, but still ended with the Winter King's army in chains...I only know what my dad told me."

More silence. And then Rainbow Dash asked incredulously, "And everypony just...sat there and took it? No resistance, no nothing?"

Jafcin shrugged. "I did say Thulst killed the Winter King extremely quickly. Imagine how demoralizing it would be, seeing a leader who promised you freedom from tyranny, utterly annihilated in the blink of an eye."

It caused another hush to fall across the group, until Twilight stood up and said, "Okay, um, changing the subject, but I think maybe we should go back to working on finding a way out of here? If everypony's ready?"

Pinkie almost immediately popped up next to her and rambled, "Oh, I am so totally ready to leave! They don't even have any shops to buy party stuff! No streamers, no confetti, no nothing! Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but all the houses look so sad and old, and there's only so much Equestria's premier party pony can do, y'know!" She scratched her chin as she continued, "I could probably dress up one house really good, but only one! And then it'll look out of place next to all those other dumpy houses and we can't have that! There's gotta be a way to find more party supplies in here..."

"Alright," Twilight said as Pinkie continued to ramble. "Rainbow Dash, come on. Let's get back to that town square and start asking around." She started walking away and motioned for Rainbow Dash to follow her; Rainbow grunted as she stood up and they started to walk away, but Jafcin called after them before they got too far.

"Hmm? What town square?"

Twilight and Rainbow stopped to look back, but Megan turned to face him before she said, "The, uh, place we started at when we got thrown in here."

"Oh." Jafcin looked away for a moment before he added, "I have...a passing awareness of that settlement. You won't find much of worth, I think."

Rainbow Dash groaned and retorted, "Okay, so where should we go? C'mon, we're wasting daylight and I wanna get these stupid wing cuffs off so I can get back to doing what I do best: flying circles around the jerks who threw us in here!"

"You'll want The Hub, then," he replied. "It's a filthy, infested cesspit, but it's where everything happens, or where to make things happen." Jafcin paused and pointed in the opposite direction Twilight and Rainbow were walking, deeper into the forest. "You'll find it just beyond the woods, in a small basin. Very hard to miss, it has the most developed structures in The Valley."

"Oh. Well, thanks for the tip. And the warning, I guess," Twilight replied as she looked in the direction he was pointing.

Jafcin lowered his arm and tentatively added, "A-and when you return, you're...you're more than welcome to follow me back to where I live. There are some other people living nearby. While we don't have much, I know we'll try to assist you in any way we can." He looked up at Twilight, and then around to everyone else, a hopeful glint in his eyes.

Danny pursed his lips and leaned over to whisper, "Sounds hella sketch to me..." to Molly.

"Danny, if he wanted to attack us, he had the opportunity to do it earlier, when he was eavesdropping," she whispered back.

The group remained silent. "I-if you don't m-mind..." Jafcin muttered sheepishly.

"Oh, darling," Rarity began, "I am certainly not one to turn down such an offer."

"Shoot, beats havin' to scrounge for wood to build one lean-to," Applejack added. Fluttershy just smiled gently and nodded in agreement, as did Megan, Molly, and Danny after he sighed and rolled his eyes. Jafcin sighed in relief, dropping the tension from his shoulders.

Twilight glanced around, waiting for someone else to talk, and then said, "Well, I guess that settles it. Rainbow Dash and I'll go into The Hub and look around, and then we'll come back as fast as we can. Until then, wait here."

Before she could turn around, Spike jogged up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist in the strongest bear-hug he could muster, and Twilight raised her arms up in surprise. "Be careful, okay, Twilight?" Spike looked back up at her with pleading eyes, but she only smiled gently down at him and patted his head.

"Of course I will. And I'll be back before you know it." Satisfied with her answer, Spike grinned and let Twilight go, and then she turned around and started walking away. Rainbow Dash waved back and winked once before she turned around too, and they both disappeared down the trail.

The woodland melted away quickly after a few minutes of walking, and Twilight and Rainbow Dash found themselves walking through a large stretch of hilly land. Off in the distance, they could see the walls of The Valley standing sternly over the countryside, and small figures wearing golden armor patrolling the sky. Rainbow Dash kept glaring at them as they crisscrossed her field of view, something Twilight had to correct by grabbing her arm and dragging back onto the dirt trail several times. After the sixth time, she stumbled back into lock-step with Twilight, paused, and groaned, "Are we there yet?"

"I don't think so," Twilight replied. They hadn't seen any sign of a settlement, natural or not, aside from the walls for half an hour.

"Ugh...!" Rainbow moaned and stretched, trying to get herself to do something besides just walking. She thought for a moment and said, "Y'know, as soon as I get these stupid...things off my wings, I'm gonna start flying circles around those idiots."

"You and me both," Twilight agreed.

Rainbow paused and then glanced over at Twilight with a smug grin. "Actually, that might be a good idea," she said. "If you can crash into'em, I bet it'll knock them out of the sky!"

"Wha—!? Hey!" Twilight whipped around and put her hands on her hips; Rainbow Dash just covered her mouth to try and muffle her laughter. "Just because I prefer to walk places doesn't mean I'm a bad flyer!" she fumed as her face got red.

"Tell that to the skid marks you left in Canterlot Castle's garden!" Rainbow Dash retorted.

Twilight clenched her jaw and turned back toward the open road, and they walked on in silence. Rainbow retained her smug grin, content with one of her rare verbal victories against Twilight. They met no one else, saw no other figures traversing the trail, nor in the fields of wildflowers and tall grasses. In the distance, the walls of the prison loomed. From where they were, they rose slightly over the tops of the trees closest to the road, and those trees were tall enough that three humans or ponies stacked on each others' shoulders could reach the top. The height of the walls was masked even more by the fact they had receded so far into the distance, now blurred by the dust in the air, tinged blue against the sky. And then...

Twilight blinked a couple times as they crested a hill and then exclaimed, "Look!" Below them sat a vista of a town, far larger than the one they found on the way in, with larger houses, cobblestone streets, and a couple small farms on the outskirts. "That must be The Hub!"

Rainbow only grimaced and quirked an eyebrow. "Huh...Is that really it? I kinda expected it to be, y'know...bigger."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Well, whether or not it was what you expected, Dash, we have to get down there and look around. Ask if anypony knows a way out."

Rainbow Dash grinned and almost immediately took off ahead of Twilight. "Then what the hay are we waitin' for? Let's get going! The sooner I can get these wingcuffs off me, the better!"

Twilight called after her and started running as well. They ran all the way down the hillside and onto one of the roads that led into the town after only a few short steps, and in contrast to the city of Thulst, The Hub was noisy and considerably in better shape, in relative terms. There was a distinct smell of tanneries and smoke, mixed with body odor (as well as tosspot waste) hanging in the air. The street they walked down became flanked by townhouses, ramshackle and rundown, even though there were people and ponies poking their heads out of the windows. Most were yelling at each other.

[Rainbow and Twilight eventually run into a pony named Firefly. They talk to her, and befriend her after letting slip they aren't from Haelan. They eventually discuss the possibility of escaping and Firefly mentions a tunnel in a smaller villa named Tergaron]

"And you found it?"

"Yeah...I just wasn't the first." "I heard about it through some rumors and did some digging to find out...yeah, there's an escape tunnel...but it's just as well guarded as the gates are."

"Does Thulst know about it?"

Firefly scoffed and rolled her eyes. "If he does, he sure doesn't care."

[Scene switches back to the main party, now at Jafcin's cottage]

Jafcin chuckled and he stood up to adjust his cap. "Not to pat myself on the back, as it were, but I'm the best damn archer and fletcher in the whole Valley."

[Rainbow, Twilight, and Firefly come back. Firefly and the Williams have a small reunion. They make their way to Tergaron and start up a distraction to infiltrate the tunnels, but are discovered. However, they put up a fight and Jafcin stays behind as a distraction to let the others escape and is captured.]

It rose high above the city, this grand palace, its spires piercing the smog of Thulst. It was large, larger than it had been, at one point; its lord and master razed dozens of city blocks to expand the treasury alone. But that was so many years ago that no one was alive to remember, and so the truth had faded into myth.

Said master was busy in his throne room. It was massive, the ceiling reaching almost forty stories high. The walls were all made of solid stone painted gold; there were pillars of marble holding aloft strange and wondrous items; a large diamond in the shape of an egg, cut and polished to perfection, a bouquet of flowers made of precious stones and metals, a figurine of a pony standing up right, arms raised and bent, palms facing inward. Its eyes were closed, but sometimes opened to reveal there was a magical light inside. All this and more stood high above mounds and mounds of gold coins, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, artisan furniture carved from the finest wood and marble and inlaid with gold leaf, reaching up to be almost as tall as the marble pillars. Amidst all these treasures were pathways that cut through the piles of gold, except the exact center of the room. This was kept clear, as a throne sat there, carved of rich mahogany and gilded with platinum and mithril, and off to its left was a squat, fat human with bulging green eyes. He was busy turning a geode over in his hands, repeatedly. His labored breaths were quiet, almost imperceptible; he was nearly drooling like a starving dog as he gazed intently at the rock, violating it with his eyes.

But his concentration was rudely interrupted when two Gilded Eagles threw the door to the throne room open and marched inside. "Lord Thulst!"

"Gah...!" Thuslt reeled back and then quickly whirled around to glare at the Gilded Eagles. The both of them, after they stopped, shrunk in on themselves a bit. They were afraid.

They had every right to be.

"What do you want? Can't you morons see that I am very..." He spluttered over his words for a second before he yelled, "Busy...!?"

"O-our apologies, Lord Thulst, a...a thousand apologies, but we...there's been..."

The second soldier smacked the first on the side of his head. He cried out in pain while his companion said, "You stuttering dunderhead, I told you to let me do the talking!" He took a step forward as the other Gilded Eagle nursed the side of his head.

Thulst sneered. "Out with it. My time is a treasure that best serves me and me alone."

"There's been a disturbance in The Valley."

Thulst stared at the man for a moment before his face started to turn red. "That's it...?" The two soldiers flinched. "You interrupted my personal time, you barged in without so much as a warning, just to tell me there's been another riot in The Valley...!?" he roared. "You are an idiot to surpass all others, and considering you are mortal, that's an accomplishment! Why, you ungrateful, lobotomized morons, I should—"

"I-it's not like that, your lordship!" the Gilded Eagle hastily explained. "Th-there w-w-was a riot, yes, but, erm, it was because we found two prisoners in the tunnels under Tergaron."

Thulst shut his mouth immediately, which the man took as a sign to continue. "And th-they were found next to a wall of rock that looked unnatural...we suspected it was a cave-in, and..."

"Did you apprehend them?" Thulst asked.

"O-of course, your lordship!" the Gilded Eagle explained. "But when we interrogated them, th-they implied they actually helped some others...escape." Thulst's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose with them. He remained completely quiet before he sighed and turned away to look back at his treasury. The soldier hastily added, "The, um, one of them said, quote, 'Yeah, you got us, but that's it.'"

"...How many do you think escaped?"

"Honestly, your lordship?" That question was not meant to be a formality or phrase in the conversation. "About...five. Give or take."

Thuslt nodded and waved his hand. "Ah, well then, that isn't worrisome."

"...It's...it's not?"

"Really?"

"Of course not!" he exclaimed as he slammed his fist on the arm of his throne. "In the grand scheme of The Valley? Five is nothing, even ten is nothing."

"Sounds very generous."

"I am not being generous!" he roared again. After a pause, Thulst settled back and continued, "It's simply a matter of logistics. Approximately five, out of...what? Hundreds? Thousands? Hundreds of thousands?" He waved his hand again. "A paltry sum. Five or ten who disappear means nothing. All this tells me is that I need to add more guards to Tergaron Keep."

"On a more positive note," the soldier said, "one of our outpost patrols saw those two Equestrians meet up with a squad of the Winter King's men. They reported the two of them willingly going with them."

"They said they were quite taken with them, too," the other added.

Thuslt groaned and rolled his eyes. "Ugh, as if there was more reason to despise that good-for-nothing with a bleeding heart. First he keeps the treasures of his kingdom away from me, and now this! Harboring enemies of the state and my inner circle."

"If it's any consolation, sir, our forces are ready for a final assault on your command."

"Hmm." Thulst hunched forward, resting his arm on one knee and deep in thought for a few minutes before he sat up and replied, "I will consider it, but I would personally like to strike the royal sisters down myself. A devastating blow to his people's morale, and I could easily take their finery. Is this all...?" "Good. Now leave."

Thulst tilted his wrist around, as if swirling an invisible liquid inside the chalice. After a moment, he looked over to regard it. Certainly not kindly, but with a sense of possession, and perhaps even with a modicum of fondness.

"Yes, indeed, five or ten means nothing, but the Equestrians are strong. It seems you must commit regicide again, my dear."

Will you lead me?