In Another World

Into The Thick Of It

At the edge of the Everfree Forest, Angel, Jet, and Zuro stood side-by-side, staring at the trees before them. Angel and Jet look at the darkness of the trees and bushes that made up the entrance of the great forest as they both fought with their fear of going inside. Zuro looked around until his eyes spotted a set of hoof prints heading into the woods.

"Hey! Look!" Zuro pointed to the tracks on the ground, getting the other two to look down to where his finger rested. "Someone's already gone in there."

"Well, then we can go home," Jet said as he turned away from the forest.

"Are you kidding?" Angel called to Jet. "We can't just ignore this! We have to go to help whoever's in the Everfree!" Zuro could not help but smile at Angel's desire to help others.

"Oh, c'mon!" Jet pouted. "That forest is fucked up!"

"Angel's right, Jet," Zuro piped up. "If someone else has gone in there to find a way to stop Nightmare, we need to go help them! The more we have on our side, the better are our chances of survival!"

"Did your parents teach you that too?" Jet asked him with knitted eyebrows.

"Actually, I learned that from experience," Zuro answered. "I tried fighting off a wild animal that attacked my kid sister, but it took a few friends and me to fend it off." Jet hung his head with a frown.

"You're not going to let this go, are you guys?" Jet asked.

"I can't," Zuro answered. "I'm involved now, and I won't forgive myself if I simply ignore something I had a chance to stop." Jet huffed.

"Alright, I give," Jet said as he turned back to the forest. "Let's get this over with before I lose my nerves."

"As long as we stick together, we can face whatever's inside," Zuro said as he led the pack into the woods.

Angel and Jet followed Zuro close behind as they began to traverse the dark forest. As they walked in, they encountered all the usual things you would expect in a forest, from broken branches crunching under your hooves to seemingly endless vines hanging from every tree, all of which only grew thicker the further they went. They also received their fair share of scares as little critters bolted from under some bushes to get away from the intruders.

"Oh, Celestia!" Jet coughed as he pinched his nose. "Angel, did you just rip one?!" She shot him a glare sharp enough to pierce his heart.

"Guys! Stay close!" Zuro called to them as he assumed a defensive position while looking through the bushes. Angel and Jet looked at him before they followed his instructions.

"What's going on?!" Jet asked.

"That's the stench of the Timber Wolf!" Zuro replied as his eyes darted left and right.

"How do you know?" Angel asked as she looked around at green lights popping up in pairs.

"It was a Timber Wolf pack that almost killed my sister!" Zuro answered as he kicked up a branch from the ground, catching it in midair as he readied himself for a combined attack from wild, hungry animals.

"Okay, now I really want to go home!" Jet stated.

"And leave your best friend and cousin to fight off these monsters by ourselves?" Angel pointed out.

"Focus, guy!" Zuro ordered. "Timber Wolves are never alone! We'll need to stay on top of things if we're going to make it out of this!" His eyes darted back and forth between the number of green eyes that stared at them. They heard deep, threatening growls as the wild beasts began creeping up on their prey. As their name suggested, the Timber Wolves were creatures made of timber wood branches that take on the shape of wolves. Their eyes shined a menacing green, and their breath was the most fowl you could ever smell, second only to that of a skunk.

"Stay close!" Zuro ordered.

"Guard," Jet piped up. "For every one of us, there's five of them! How can we stand against them?!"

"I'm almost with my cousin on this one, Zuro," Angel added as she pressed her wings against theirs. Zuro may have learned how to stand against large numbers before, but this time was different from all the other times. Timber Wolves had this uncanny ability to regenerate themselves since they are made of wood, so if they take one down, it would only be a matter of time before it got back up again.

A wolf leaped at Zuro, and he gripped the branch as he locked his eyes on the beast before giving one powerful swing at his head, causing it to explode in a confetti of twigs and leaves as the rest of the body came crashing to the ground, shattering into a million pieces of branches and bark.

Another charged for Angel, getting her to hold her fists up in defense, but the beast went for her hooves, dragging her onto the ground with a yelp. Zuro looked over to her and charged after the beasts, smashing his branch on the creature, again and again, shattering it into pieces on the ground before helping her back up. The bite marks on her leg were deep and bloody, causing her to groan in pain. Another wolf began to pounce when a quake scared them off. Jet started running after them, screaming and hollering like a maniac.

"That's right! You better run!" Jet shouted at the wolves as they ran back into the woods while Zuro looked over Angel's wound.

"Damn it! I can't see with this poor lighting," He said as he leaned in closer to her leg. Jet came running up and sat on his knees on the opposite side of her.

"How bad is it?" He asked.

"I just fucking said I couldn't see!" Zuro barked in frustration.

"Don't take it out on him, Zuro," Angel hissed in pain.

"Do you think you can stand?" Jet asked.

"No!" Zuro urged against the suggestion. "If we can't see how bad the damage is, we don't know if that'll make it worse."

"I can go back to get a light," Jet suggested as he got to his hooves.

"We're too far into the woods for any of us to go back on our own," Zuro warned.

"Guys, I got something," Angel piped up as she reached under one of her wings and pulled out a stone. Jet gasped at it.

"No! Not your mom's lucky glow stone!" He looked at her. Zuro looked between them.

"She gave it to me for times of need, and I think this is a damn good need for it," She explained as she held it up to Zuro, who looked at it for a few seconds before looking at her.

"Are you sure?" He asked. He could sense how she had a love for that little stone. From how Jet described the stone, it must be important to her. After looking back at Angel, she gave him a look that said, "it's okay," before he took it and held it to his lips. He read about glow stones before and how to use them if he ever got lost in the dark. He held it to his lips for a few seconds before he blew on it, and the stone came to life. He held it up as the light shined a beautiful and pure white light. He handed the stone to Jet as he knelt by Angel again, staring at the stone in awe.

"Jet, take the stone and hold it up, so I can see how bad the damage is," Zuro ordered. Jet blinked before taking the stone and held it over Angel's leg as Zuro leaned closer to inspect the wound. The teeth marks were deep, staining her beautiful blue fur in blood. "Okay, I can work with this, but I'll need some large leaves and vines," Zuro observed. "Nothing's broken, so you should be fine."

"I can still fly if I have to," Angel observed.

"Why the fuck didn't I think of that?!" Jet cursed himself.

"Jet, if we didn't get a good look at this beforehand, she could've bled out while flying," Zuro said as he looked up to the red pegasus.

"Was it really that bad?" He countered.

"Jet, just go get the fucking leaves and vines!" Angel ordered.

"Okay, okay!" Jet got up and left the two alone. Angel looked up at Zuro.

"You really know how to look after yourself in the wild, don't you?" She asked.

"Kinda have to where I was living," Zuro replied as he looked around the immediate area. She watched him as he protected her in her most vulnerable time. Usually, she hated it when others had to watch out for her, but she knew someone needed to look after her given her current situation. She only knew him for a few days now, and in all that time, she only saw him show kindness and a willingness to help others. Jumping from one place in town to the next, offering help in any way he could, even offering her a place to sleep just to get away from her cousin while she was in town.

A few minutes later, Jet came running back with an arm full of leaves and vines and set them down by Zuro. "I got the biggest I could find," He explained.

"That'll work great," Zuro smiled as he arranged the leaves and vines so he could work with them. "Now, I don't have any way to stop the pain," he explained to her, "but this'll stop the bleeding."

"Do what you have to do, Zuro," She gave him the go-ahead. Zuro got to work right away, wrapping the leaves around her leg and binding them to her leg with the vines as Jet held the light so he could see his work. She hissed a few times as he tied the vines to her leg as Jet looked around the area to make sure nothing else was coming.

"That'll do it," Zuro said as he finished tying a vine above the wound. Jet looked back at Angel.

"Alright, help me up," Angel said as she held an arm up. Zuro gently took her arm and pulled her to her hooves as she groaned a bit, keeping all her weight on the left leg. Next, she tenderly tested her right leg by putting a little weight on it, which sent shards of pain running up her leg, getting a hiss out of her while Zuro kept to her side to give her something to lean on.

"Can you walk at all?" Jet asked.

"What the fuck do you think, cuz?" She asked. He held up his hands.

"Just asking," He defended himself.

"At least my wings are good," She observed as she began flapping them. Zuro gave her a bit of a push to get her off the ground, and she hovered in place.

"You know, we should've just flown the entire time," Jet observed.

"Through all these branches and vines?" Zuro reminded him.

"There's enough of a clearing," He began as he looked around but quickly frowned as he remembered how thick the forest was. "Okay, you're right."

"Guys, I'll just keep close; that way, I won't get tangled up," Angel pointed out. "I can still hover close to the ground."

"What do you suppose caused that quake, anyway?" Jet asked as he looked around.

"Possibly some big rocks collapsing," Zuro observed as he watched Angel hover next to him.

"Or an Ursa?" Jet asked as he looked back at them.

"I was trying to avoid the worst possibilities," Zuro countered.

"Either way, we can't stay here," Angel piped up.

"She's right; we have to get moving," Zuro added.

"Then let's get the fuck outa here," Jet said as he turned back to where they came.

"Wait, where are you going?" Angel asked him. Jet stopped and looked back at her.

"Back to Ponyville," He answered. "We're getting outa here."

"No, we're not," Angel countered, "we have to find the others."

"What others?" Jet asked as he stretched his hands outward.

"The other equine who came into the forest before us, remember?" She countered. Jet groaned.

"Seriously?" He protested.

"I thought you loved a good fight, Jet," Zuro pointed out as he looked at him.

"Marching into the Everfree isn't what I had in mind," Jet countered.

"If we stop Nightmare, we go back to town heroes," Zuro pointed out. Jet seemed to perk up at the thought of the town thinking of him as a hero.

"Can we stop arguing and just get a move on?" Angel piped up as she began to fly forward. Jet and Zuro followed after her. Several minutes of traversing the forest, they came across a cliff that showed signs of recent collapse.

"Guess we know what that quake was," Zuro observed as he looked over the edge.

"You don't think whoever came here fell down that cliff, do you?" Jet asked as he looked around.

"There's only one way to find out," Zuro looked up at him. Jet looked at him and shook his head.

"Oh, no!" He took a few steps back. "There ain't no fucking way I'm jumping down that death trap!"

"We've come all this way! We can't stop now," Zuro said as he gestured his hand around.

"Then, you go first!" Jet ordered.

"You're the daredevil here," Zuro said as he pointed to Jet.

"And you're the one who's always willing to help others," Jet countered. "Help me know that it's safe to go down there."

Before Zuro could continue the argument, a blue blur flew between them and over the edge, snatching the glowing stone from Jet as it went. They both watched in horror while simultaneously calling out "Angel" as they rushed to look over the edge of the cliff together. At the bottom, they could see the light from the stone, making it clear to see Angel looking up at them.

"You boys done being pussies yet?" She yelled out to them.

"My cousin just one-upped me, again," Jet observed as he shook his head. He looked over to Zuro, who had already jumped off the edge to meet Angel at the bottom. "And my friend leaves me in the dust." He flung his hands up in the air before letting them drop to his sides. "Fuck it!" He jumped off the edge to meet them.

"Seriously, you guys are starting to get on my nerves," Angel shook her head as she started flying further, following the tracks left behind for them to find.

"This whole forest is getting to us," Zuro observed as he followed her, Jet soon behind him.

As they continued on their trek, they came across a sleeping manticore, of which they kept their distance so as not to disturb the beast. There was a bit of a struggle in the area not too long ago, from the looks of it. However, after successfully avoiding waking up the manticore, they continued to follow the tracks until they came to a river with a giant purple serpent swimming around, looking quite joyful as he sang to himself.

"Shit!" Jet quietly cursed as he looked at Zuro. "The tracks lead through that river, and there's a giant serpent in the way."

"Why, hello there!" A male voice called out. Jet and Zuro looked to see Angel hovering at the river's edge, looking up at the serpent.

"Hi," She replied to him. Jet's jaw dropped. "I'm sorry to bother you, but has any equine come through this way?" She asked the serpent.

"Oh, yes, they have!" He answered with a big smile on his face. "The lovely white one cut off some of her own hair to fix my beloved mustache." He pointed to the right half of his mustache, a stylized purple compared to his orange hair color. "And I helped them to cross the river for her kind generosity."

"Rarity!" Zuro and Jet called out together.

"Do you know where they headed?" Angel asked him.

"My best gest is that old castle at the heart of the forest," The serpent answered as he pointed further in.

"May we pass so that we can follow them?" Angel asked.

"I would be glad to let you pass," He answered with a smile. Angel looked back at Jet and Zuro.

"You boys coming?" She asked as she flew past the serpent, who gave her a friendly wave.

"Are we going to let her outshine us this entire time?" Jet asked with an annoyed tone.

"Hey, don't put her down," Zuro countered. "She's probably trying to make up for her leg." Jet rolled his eyes before both of them flew after her. "Thank you, sir," Zuro offered the serpent a smile.

"Oh, the name's Steven Magnet," He smiled at them. "And it is my pleasure."

The three continued through the forest until they got to an old rickety bridge crossing a deep gorge.

"Before either of you two start bickering about who crosses first," Angel stated as she turned to face them and pulled one of each of their wings out. "We can fly!" Jet and Zuro looked at each other and shrugged before they kicked off the ground. On the other side of the bridge, they saw an old, worn-out castle just a little further off.

"Anyone know who's castle that is, or was?" Jet asked as he looked up at the spectacle.

"Isn't that the castle of the two sisters?" Angel asked.

"The book did say something about the castle of the two sisters," Zuro observed. "That has to be it."

"You think Rarity and the others went in there?" Angel asked.

"If they're after those element things, they must have," Zuro observed.

Before any of them could say anything else, a bright flash of multicolored lights filled the windows of the castle. They heard screaming, and a loud bang knocked them to the ground. All three of them lay on the ground, a little disoriented from the blast for several seconds before they started to pull themselves off the ground, groaning as they get up. Zuro rushed over to help Angel up so she could keep off her wounded leg.

"What the fuck was that?!" Jet asked as he looked up at the castle.

"I don't know, but-" Zuro began before he was cut off by the sun rising over the horizon. The light blinded them for a few seconds before they looked around.

"What does that mean?" Jet asked.

"My guess is, Nightmare was defeated," Angel observed as she looked at the glowing stone she managed to keep a hold of in the blast. The sunlight caused the light from the stone to fade completely, making the stone nothing more than just that. A simple rock. She sighed as she held onto the stone while Zuro watched her. He could sense heartache coming from her as she stared at the stone in her hand and wanted to ask about it but felt it was best not to push the subject. She tucked the stone under her wing before she looked up at the castle.

"So, we going in there, or what?" Jet asked as he looked back at them.

"If our friends are hurt, they're gonna need all the help they can get," Zuro answered as he tore his eyes from Angel to look up at the castle. Angel kicked off the ground with her good leg and began to fly toward the castle while Jet and Zuro followed after her.

Inside the castle, they found Rarity, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, and another pony, who appeared to be a pegasus. The monarch was a dark blue female, standing over shards of broken cyan-blue armor. Her hair was the same color as the broken armor she stood over. She reached down and picked up a wand from within the broken armor. She was an alicorn.

"Who the hell is that?" Jet asked.

"I think that's Nightmare," Zuro observed. Jet blinked and looked at him.

"Wait. What?!" He asked.

"That's Princess Celestia's little sister!" Pinkie Pie stood up behind the trio, making Jet jump a little as he looked back at her.

"Pinkie!" He yelled.

"Of course!" Zuro called out. "This is the castle of the two sisters." He looked at the two alicorns. "And those are the two sisters!" He pointed at them before he realized the taller one smiling at him. Her fur was a rich and clean white as her wings splayed out proudly while her long, technicolored hair flowed in the air even though there was no wind. He suddenly dropped down to his knees, bowing his head, his nose touching the ground. "Your majesties! He called out in respect." Angel and Jet also bowed, but not as dramatically. Celestia chuckled.

"You have nothing to fear, young one," She said in a soft, motherly tone, getting Zuro to look up at her as she walked up to Angel. "Let's see if we can fix that leg of yours." She smiled at Angel, who looked up at her. The alicorn was considerably taller than Angel by comparison now that she stood so close to her. Celestia raised her wand, which looked very expensive and well built. The wand began to illuminate a golden aura, and she pointed it at Angel's leg, engulfing the appendage in the same color of magic. Angel watched her leg as she held it up; the vines and leave evaporated into thin air, and the bite marks hidden underneath quickly healed as if they were never there.

When the aura faded away, Angel rested her hoof on the ground, applying her weight onto her now healed wound, and gave a few stomps to test it, causing no pain at all to shoot through her leg. She looked up at the monarch before her with a grateful smile. "Thank you, your majesty!" Celestia smiled at her.

"You're quite welcome," She paused to give Angel a chance to give her name.

"Angel Wings, your majesty," Angel said with a bow of her head. Celestia then turned to Jet with a smile, who quickly bowed his head, staring at the ground to avoid eye contact.

"My name is Jet Blast, your majesty," He said. She smiled at him before turning to Zuro before walking up to him.

"And you are?" She asked politely.

"Zuro, your majesty," Zuro answered, keeping his eyes glued to the floor. A sense of dread coursing through his entire being.

"You're not from Equestria, are you?" She asked.

"No, your majesty," Zuro answered. "I came from beyond the Dezolute Zone to live in Equestria." Celestia smiled at him.

"And you lead these two equines through the Everfree?" She asked further.

"Not really," Zuro answered. "We all chose to come here to find a way to stop Nightmare." He looked up at her hooves before he tore his eyes away to stare at the ground again. Then, suddenly, a finger reached under and pulled his chin up to face Celestia, who looked him in the eye.

"Brave, honest, strong," She went through a checklist as she looked into his eyes. This was it. She would figure out he was a changeling just by looking at him and have him thrown in a dungeon. He braced himself for the order to arrest him, but it never came. He looked up at her as she smiled down at him. "I think you'll be a fine addition to Equestria," She mused. "I'd even say you'd make a wonderful royal guard."

"He's the best you'll ever find, your majesty!" Jet called out proudly. "He's saved my ass more times than I can count from wild beasts, and he's a very skilled fighter!"

"Jet!" Angel called out. "Watch your mouth in front of the princess!"

"Thank you, your majesty," Zuro piped up. "But I'm more than happy staying in Ponyville. I have a home there, friends; I dare even say, a family." He bowed his head respectfully as he explained his situation to the princess, who smiled at him.

"Well, should you change your mind," She waved her wand to make a scroll appear before casting a beam of magic on it, then holding it up to him. "This will allow you access to the castle to sign up and begin your assessment." He took the scroll in his hands before looking at her. Did she really offer him a job as a member of the royal guard just now?

"Thank you," He said with a smile.

~~)oOo(~~

An Alliance

Months Earlier

The Dezolute Zone

Sitting on the edge of a cliff, staring over the barren wasteland of the Dezolute Zone, Gnator glared into the distance at the absence of his brother. "Why'd you have to leave?" He asked as if his brother was right there in front of him. "You were supposed to be there when I came of age. You were supposed to be there for me when I needed you." He let out a tremendous roar as he sent a blast of magic energy to a large rock in the distance. "You were supposed to be there!" The rock completely shattered as the blast hit it. He let out a deep sigh as he fell to his back on the hard, uncomfortable ground.

"My, my, what powerful anger you have," A regal female voice called out, getting Gnator to shoot up to his feet as he twirled around to find a tall, female changeling of great beauty smiling at him.

"Queen Chrysalis!" Gnator immediately dropped to his knees as he bowed his head to the changeling queen. She chuckled as she walked up to him and lifted his chin to face her.

"What's got you so troubled, child?" She asked as she smiled at him sweetly.

"My brother left us to live with the ponies." He glared. She hummed as she looked off into the distance.

"I've heard of several changelings living beyond the Dezolute Zone." She stepped to the edge of the cliff. "When did your brother leave the hive?" She asked as she turned her head to him.

"A few months ago," He answered. "He's been obsessing over these books from the country of Equestria."

"What books?" She asked as she turned to him fully.

"My father has been giving him books from Equestria for years," Gnator answered. "My father lived in Equestria before he met my mother and had us."

"Who is your father, child?" She stepped up to him.

"Vitam."

"Vitam?" She scratched her chin. "He used to be an elite." Gnator blinked. "I presume he taught you a few things about fighting?" Gnator nodded his head. "He claimed to be mortally wounded before he disappeared. I can only assume that he lied to flee the hive. The traitor!"

"Dad's not a traitor!" Gnator cried out only to immediately regret his outburst as she shot him a glare. A few seconds of nothing but dread coursed through his body as she took a few steps closer to him.

"And you have proof he hasn't betrayed the hive?" She raised her right hand to pluck the thorn from her left elbow, holding the thorn as if it were a wand.

"H-h-he happily married my mother," He trembled. "They had my brother before they had me. He proudly protects us all. He'd give his life to save ours."

"Such loyalty and dedication to his changeling family," She observed. "But what about you?"

"I hate my brother for leaving!" He growled. "He cares more about those ponies than he does about his own family. He was supposed to be there for me until I came of age, but he left!" She smiled at him.

"I may have use for you," she mused. "What's your name?"

"Gnator, your highness," He bowed to her. "How could I be of use to you?"

"You're the son of Vitam," she began. "You've been trained in combat, and you know of a changeling who's in Equestria." She smiled off in the distance to the east for a minute before she looked back at him. "How would you like to see your brother again?"