Up high, down low, really far from home

by theSilentInventor401

Rating: teen
Tags: Fluttershy, Mystery, Science Fiction, Adventure, Violence, Crossover, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 11251

The mane six is no stranger to beings from other dimensions walking onto their doorstep. But when a human-like character comes with dimensional powers that seem to defy physics themselves, they find themselves truly outmatched, and seperated by stars

It's just another day for the mane six in Equestria. But like normal days, things will often go sideways when some creature from another world decides to say hello. But this time, this creature is familiar but impossible at the same time.
A human with quantum-like powers, Tartarus bent on obtaining the true powers that fuel the Elements of Harmony. Together the group of six ponies has gone through thick and thin, often showcasing powers of their own that seem to defy reality. But this time, they get separated by thousands and thousands of stars. Six becomes two and four. Fluttershy and Applejack find themselves on an alien planet with the impossible task of getting home. While Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow, and Pinkie pie find themselves defending themselves from a quantum threat that looms over the entire safety of the very thread that weaves through the universe.

And Twilight finds she is the keystone to it all.

(Cross over containing elements from Subnautica and No Man's Sky. No Series tag for them so I'll put them here?)
Cover Art by me :pinkiehappy:

Published 2022-11-29 18:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-11-29 18:20:00 UTC

A Dimensional Wolf

Author's Note

Hello! Thanks for clicking on the story! :pinkiehappy:
Quick thing! I wrote this story, a loooong time ago. Didn't post it immediately as I was working on the cover art. Mental health and procrastination caused it to take a year and a half to complete! Yay! But I recently finished and still decided to post it. Yes, I will continue it. Don't worry about that :twilightsmile: Just note that the next chapter may have a slightly different voice and be written differently. But it shall continue! Anyway! Enjoy!
I do not own concepts, or characters from My Little Pony Friendship is magic, Subnautica, or No Man's Sky. They belong to their respective companies.

A Dimensional Wolf

It was a normal sunny day. The rays of sunshine were actually visible through the fine dust. Though this dust was made from the dirt road the group of pastel-colored ponies were taking; it wasn’t a problem. It was common for Ponyville to have dirt roads and most of them were used to it. Rarity even had special boots on since their destination was off the beaten path and she could get her white hooves dirty.

Though the group had given her a bit of a hard time about it, none of it was meant to be mean. Rarity had her quirks. So did Applejack, Rainbow dash, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, and Pinkie Pie. The pink party pony was creating the most dust with her bouncy walk. Each bounce created a small puff of dirt that tried to follow her as she went along.

“Pinkie dear, can you stop bouncing for a minute? The dust is making it hard to breathe,” Rarity complained, giving the pony a look.

Pinkie frowned and slowed her pace till she was behind the white unicorn.

“That’ll do.” Rarity replied with a smile, “Thanks.”

“Sure thing!” Pinkie exclaimed, adding a little more bounce to her step.

The air around them was pretty clear, except for the dust from the road, creating a wonderful environment. It, unfortunately, wasn’t quiet but that wasn’t a problem. They were in a park. Many creatures were enjoying the sunshine as it rained down in torrents.

“Twilight I must thank you again for the picnic invitation,” Rarity said as the group walked along, “It is such a beautiful day for it. I wasn’t paying attention to the weather updates to plan such an event.”

“Well,” Twilight said awkwardly, the picnic baskets bouncing on her sides. Applejack had a similar pair, “The constant stress of being a princess gives a lot of motivation to take some time off.”

“Don’t forget headmaster!” Pinkie interjected with a smile, “That’s also stressful!”

Twilight chuckled, “It's not so bad. Being Princess is much worse.”

“And you haven’t become the big Princess yet,” Rainbow said with a knowing smile.

“Rainbow, I came to relax not stress about more things,” Twilight said with a frown. The pegasus laughed.

“Relax! Kidding!”

Twilight rolled her eyes, “uh huh.”

Rainbow gave the alicorn a smiling frown.

Rarity half coughed, “Well, I do wish that the rain would come down. The path is as dry as my silk reserves.”

“The water is still being melted off the mountains,” Fluttershy said gently, “It's not melting well this year. That and a severe case of the feather flu is going around. Not every pegasus can help get water up to Cloudsdale.”

“It’s a good thing it has gone through Ponyville,” Twilight said with a smile, “Cause we wouldn’t be able to have this picnic.”

Fluttershy and Rainbow frowned, giving the alicorn a look.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that Twilight,” Fluttershy said softly, “It was really not fun to fight that flu.”

“No kidding. Even knocked me out for a week.” Rainbow said with a shudder, “Ugh…”

Twilight’s expression fell, “Agreed. That was poorly phrased, I’m sorry.”

“No worries,” Fluttershy said with a smile.

“Ha,” Rainbow said, taking to the air, “Think a little bug can get me down for long?”

Twilight again rolled her eyes. Though she suddenly had a very bad feeling go down her spine. An instinctual feeling that made her magic swell in response. Her hooves froze in mid-stride, though she found she wasn’t the only one.

The entire group froze, with the exception of Rainbow who remained hovering in the air.

“Did y’all feel that?” Applejack asked voice-controlled.

Fluttershy was the first to move, shuddering as she responded, “Ye-yeah…”

Twilight frowned and peered around. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Ponies were playing with the fields with their foals. Frisbees were floating in the air between two earth ponies. A group of unicorns were levitating a ball. Others were enjoying a picnic with other creatures while another group were racing each other.

Twilight felt she was being watched and was sure the group felt the same.

“Let’s continue. The reason may present itself later.” Twilight said, lowering her hooves.

“Or it could present itself now.” A dark voice said behind the purple alicorn.

Twilight frowned and lit her horn. She extended her magic to her friends and teleported the group into a star formation around the voice’s origin. Once out of the time-space, she was able to see the voice’s owner and found confusion welling up inside her.

It was a human. Or, at least, looked like it. Unless it was a pony standing on their back hooves the whole time. Which wouldn’t surprise her, but, it was the way the creature was standing up. Upright. At ease. It was as if it was natural for the creature to stand this way. She had seen a human before, and this struck her as one.

She didn’t have any other clues since the creature’s other features were covered in pitch-black shadow. The shadow seemed to extend from the inside of the cloak they were wearing, making it seem like it was merely a floating cloak. Only a slim shoulder line disrupting the silver patterns suggested there was something underneath. The blue cloak’s hood was up, and a smiling face was staring at her. Though it wasn’t a face that yielded any emotions that didn’t want to be shown. It was instead two white ellipses and a curved line that looked more drawn than organic. Stray marks of white seemed to try to get out of the lines they were put in, just as foal would with coloring in the lines for the first time. Pure darkness surrounded the grinning face. The creature took a step towards the alicorn and showed that it did have a form underneath the article of clothing. An armored leg and arm emerged from the shadow as the creature walked towards her. It wore simple blue clothing that had white embroidery. The armor was silver in nature but didn’t shine as she expected metal would. Other than that she didn’t see anything.

Though she had to act. She growled, lit her horn, and carved a line in the ground in front of her. Her horn remained lit, and she took a battle stance. She watched her friends do the same, looking for a reaction.

The park, which had gone quiet when she teleported her friends, suddenly erupted in noise as the park started to empty. Though the creature, ignorant of the chaos, started to speak.

“Twilight Sparkle,” it said, with a voice that was both deep and unconcerned, “Is that all you can do?”

“You say that as if we are enemies,” Twilight said, holding her ground and keeping her voice steady. This creature could be like Discord. Acting cryptic just to get a laugh. She had to be sure if it was a friend or foe.

“Well, you may not know it, or perhaps you do,” The creature responded, and Twilight noticed that the drawn mouth moved to form the words the creature was saying. Though she wasn’t sure if words coming out of it, or from somewhere else…

“But you are a very powerful entity. Powerful enough to get the attention of several dimensional entities. Even to become an instrument to one of them.”

“Instrument?” Twilight said, failing to suppress her confusion.

“Indeed!” The creature said, and Twilight swore that the grin grew, “Though it surprises me that it hasn’t talked to you since it's played your strings for some time. Well, it really can’t anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that it was a being quite in my way,” the creature said.

“In your way? Way of what?” Twilight asked, but she could guess the answer. She debated on attacking, but she had no idea of the creature’s abilities. She was pretty sure she saw a hand on the end of the arm it had revealed. A human hand. What a human was doing in Equestria she was unsure. Though she was pretty sure a human from Canterlot High wasn’t able to teleport and sneak up so well on the group. So, was it a human? Something else? Was it wise to attack something she knew almost nothing about?

The creature ignored Twilight’s question, and walked in place, “It was a struggle to subdue, and after its defeat, I realized it had a backup plan. A plan that prohibited me from using its true power or to remain in its domain. I barely got here before it returned to strength.”

“What creature? Dimensional entity, you said?” Twilight asked, desperately trying to get information. The only dimensional entity friend she knew of was Discord, right? Was she forgetting about some creature?

The creature didn’t care about her questions, however, and continued talking as if she had remained mute, “And guess who is at the center of that master plan? You.” The creature said bluntly, pointing a lightly armored, tan finger at her face, confirming what he was.

“Me?” Twilight said, not backing down from the appendage.

“And your friends of course,” The creature said, raising its arms out and about, “Does that give you a hint, little bird?” Their non-glossy armor looking weaker than it should on the creature’s arms.

Twilight frowned. The Elements of Harmony. This human was obviously after the power of the elements. But that arose a question. What was this dimensional entity they were speaking about? And how was it connected to the Elements? Was the source of their power from some dimensional creature like Discord?

She frowned, stilling her overclocking mind. The threat was right in front of her. Or at least, it had defined itself as a threat. Since it had said the Elements of Harmony were part of some being’s master plan of stopping them from completing some unknown task.

“It does.” She said, training her eyes into the glowing ellipses, “Distance!” She shouted and dug her magic into the ground. She then rose it up around the creature and encased him in a dirt mound that she shifted into rock with her magic. Applejack then rushed over and nailed the mound with a mighty buck that sent the creature flying. Its drawn face showed disappointment.

“What’s the plan?” Rainbow asked, flying next to Twilight.

“Keep away. We need to figure out how this creature knew that we were the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. Once we figure that out, we mask up and leave. I do not know of this creature’s abilities so we should tread carefully.”

“Indeed you should,” The deep voice spoke, still contained in a dirt prison. Yet, its voice was quite audible. The dirt crackled with black power that made it dissolve and release its captor, leaving the blue cloak Rarity approved clean. The human then stood up and rose his arms like a conductor would with his band. The dirt around him swirled together as it ripped the grass apart, following him as he took a few steps forward.

“Let’s have some fun,” The human said, and brought his arms together to make a large, “X.” The dirt suddenly compacted together to form large clumps of dirt and bits of grass. The clumps then grew arms and legs and bounded forward. Their movements seemed unnatural but clear.

“Twilight darling?” Rarity asked, pulling Twilight’s attention, “Icy wind perhaps?”

Pinkie perked up and suddenly had her party cannon at the ready.

Twilight nodded and lit her horn. On the oncoming onslaught of living dirt mounds, she chilled the air around her. She then pulled moisture together into hundreds of tiny needles. She then flipped up them into the air and released her magic. A blue glow caught them and held them in place for a moment before flying around like hundreds of tiny little bees. Each tiny spear caught the dirt creatures and made short work of them, reducing them to piles of dirt.

“Good! Good! Take two!” The human said and pointed at the dirt mounds that whirled back together only larger.

“The bigger they are, the bigger they fall!!” Pinkie shouted and used her cannon to reduce the bigger ones into more piles of dirt. However, the little piles then flowed together and formed arms and tiny little legs. However, the ice needles flying at Rarity’s command made quick work of the little minions. Reducing them to unmoving piles of dirt.

“Hmmm,” The human said, drawing out the sound as he seemed unperturbed by his makeshift army dissipating.

Twilight frowned, pondering, what exactly was his plan? The screams of several frightened ponies reached her ears. Her frown only deepened as she watched the ponies further empty from the park. She wouldn’t be able to use high-intensity magic till then. Though she wasn’t sure she wanted to. What if the human could redirect it?

The human’s smile only grew, “Oooh! I have an idea!” Several spheres of color suddenly appeared above the human. Blue, white, and black swirled with a mesmerizing pattern. They glowed a bit as the human raised his hands in front of him. He was shaping them into a gesture that was like a fist. Yet, only the index finger and thumb remained out. The index pointed forward while the thumb stuck up like harvestable wheat.

“Bang!” The human said, and the glowing spheres shot a multicolored blast of energy at the group. Twilight brought up her shield and managed to block it, finding it easy to do so. Though the blasts hit her shield they split into three colors and attempted to fly around her shield.

Though three diamonds blocked the shots. So, Twilight allowed her shield to completely cover them. Though she watched the human swing his half fists that somehow made the spheres fire their energy. It seemed oddly familiar.

Though she let the thought fade as she ripped a stone from beneath the dirt she was on. She quickly inscribed a prison spell on it and looked at Rainbow.

The pegasus nodded and caught the stone Twilight tossed to her. The dome shield opened on top and allowed Rainbow to pass through. Once out, the pegasus zipped forward, enveloping the human in a rainbow-colored tornado.

“Ha! You can freeze color? Oh, wait a minute. That’s your tail, right? You’re just going really fast, oh. Never mind.” The human said as Rainbow aborted her tornado and looked at Twilight.

Twilight nodded and activated the spell on her rock. It immediately started to glow at the human’s feet, causing a solid-light box to envelop the human. Though it wasn’t just a box. It looked like a box within a box where the corners of each were connected together.

“The hay is that!?” Applejack asked giving Twilight a look, “Wouldn’t a’ box do just fine?”

“A tesseract. A shield construct that uses dimensional tricks to nearly double its strength without using much more power.” Twilight answered, ignoring the looks she got.

“To put it simply, it's basically a cube within a cube. The inner cube, the prison, is anchored to the outer cube so when pressure is applied to the inner cube it’ll resonate with the outer cube. Shifting energy to a much larger spell construct.” The human said plainly and pushed on the inner portion of the cube. It shifted a tiny bit, causing the outer cube to start to glow, “See? So I’m really fighting a much larger shield. Its elasticity resists someone just cutting a smaller hole. That and you would need to get through two self-healing spells.”

Twilight’s group merely looked at the flabbergasted Twilight, who nodded in response, “Yep. Pretty much.”

“Agreed that was a simple explanation,” The human replied, “Though it’s hard to explain different dimension planes when you are stuck in the third dimension. Not that the spell takes true advantage of the tesseract’s shape nor the 4D realm but merely takes inspiration from it.”

“So you’re versed in magic,” Rarity stated, “Pretty well I’d assume.”

“Oh, more than you know!” The human replied, sounding excited, “And I would love to show you a taste but the more I use it, the stronger she gets.”

“Me?” Twilight asked, confusion plain to see on her tongue.

“No, no, no, no, my little equine,” The human said quickly, “The other dimensional friend you have.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll get to meet her in time. Maybe.” The human said, the smile growing on its spot on the human’s shadow of a face, “But now the magical interference is clear! Finally…”

Twilight frowned, thinking of what he had meant. Then it hit her like one of Pinkie’s surprise cannons hidden in her castle. The Park was now quiet and empty of all ponies and creatures. Save an occasional squirrel but they didn’t have the magic a pony did. The only other sources of magic were the 6 creatures next to a pink, translucent tesseract. She frowned, knowing now that it would be easier for the creature to direct magical attacks at them. Had it been waiting for that moment?

“Now, let's pop this bubble you put me in,” The man said, and pushed the magic shield with a single finger. The shield glowed as all faces of the tesseract seemed to warp and stretch. Its glowing membrane started to shine brighter as the enchantment slowly filled with energy.

“Group up! On me!” Twilight shouted, and her friends gathered around her. Twilight then reached her magic out and placed a magic marker on each of her friend’s magic. If the creature was going to try and manipulate their magic, she’d be able to fight it.

Though what else could the creature do? What else could she prepare for? Dimensional magic? Personal shields for every pony?

“Twilight, relax. I can see you breaking down. What are we up against?” Rarity said, watching the prison continue to glow.

“I’m not sure. They’re powerful. That’s for sure but I don’t know where the power is coming from. Though I think it’s from that dimensional entity he keeps talking about. The one I, ‘know’?”

“Do you know who he’s talking about?” Pinkie asked, watching the prison as well. The walls were now at full brightness, obscuring the occupant.

Twilight shook her head, “Fluttershy, did Discord mention any dimensional friends he has? Ones that knew me?”

Fluttershy frowned in thought, “No,” She said after a pause, “He was never very popular with all the dimensional entities. Though he hasn’t told me of any creature that knew us as much as he did.”

“Any of them know us?”

“A lot,” Fluttershy nodded, “The Elements of Harmony exist in many forms and in other dimensions. Their power is felt throughout the fabric of reality, settling among a few. Know us personally though? I don’t think so from what Discord has told me. It’s more of a, you know about somepony from another friend. You’ve never met but know about them.”

Twilight frowned. Were others coming after them? Was it because they used the Elements?

“Though Discord did talk about a certain entity that was connected to the Elements,” Fluttershy said, bringing Twilight’s attention back, “Though the two didn’t mingle very well…”

“Did he say anything about them?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy shook her head, “No. Just that she exists.”

“But it’s a she!” Pinkie said, “That’s something!”

Twilight frowned, “Agreed. The human did say it was a she. I assume that’s who he is talking about. Though he’s after us, so something to do with the Elements of Harmony. Maybe he needs them to unlock the way to her? Subdue her power? Or perhaps the Elements of Harmony are her power?”

Regardless, that meant that she and her friends were targets.

Twilight frowned, seeing the prison she had made reach maximum stress. It was going to break very soon.

“Twilight,” Pinkie asked, “That thing appeared next to us. Is that some sort of teleportation? Or something like me?”

Twilight frowned, “I’m not sure.”

“Well, can you set up a spell that can stop that kind of thing?”

Twilight’s frown grew deeper as the prison cracked, “Not without knowing how he’s doing it. It could be quantum, magical, or something I’ve never heard of.”

“Got to say it’s a mix between quantum and something you’ve never heard of,” the deep voice said right next to her.

Twilight snapped her head to the tesseract she had made, which was still in the process of breaking, “What? How?”

“Oh Twilight there are so many things you don’t know yet,” the creature said, now visible next to her.

“That doesn’t mean you don’t either!!” Pinkie said, tugging on the shadowy cloak the creature was wearing. Somehow appearing there. Though failed to pull it enough to reveal anything underneath.

The creature turned to her, the basic face showing annoyance, “Do you mind? I can see when you do that.”

“No, she doesn’t.” Applejack said using the distraction to nail a full buck into the creature's chest. The creature grunted and flew a decent distance before he was able to stop himself.

“Wow!” The creature said, falling to a kneeling position, “That was truly unexpected.”

Applejack frowned, fiddling with her back hooves, “Serves ya right.” She yelped after taking a step though, giving Twilight reason to ask why.

“It’s nothing,” Applejack said, “It’s not the first time I’ve cracked ma hoof on something. Though he has something metal in that shadow.”

“It’s my chest plate,” The creature said, the voice in pain. There was a click, then a blue and silver chest plate was pulled from the shadow. Two indented circles marked where Applejack had planted her attack. He threw it down and chuckled.

“I underestimated how much damage you could do to that metal,” he coughed, “it won’t happen again though.”

“Applejack hold still,” Rarity said, lighting her horn, “I know a handy spell that may help.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow but did what she was asked.

Pinkie bounced over and gave Applejack a hoof bump, “Nice hit!”

“Nice distraction.” Applejack said, twitching as Rarity’s magic melded her hoof back together.

“As always!” Pinkie said with a smile, though it faded when she looked back at the creature, who was still crouched, “Did you get him?”

“Ya,” Applejack said, “Felt that metal thing crush like a can. I hit something alright, whatever was underneath that thing.”

“That’s my chest,” the creature said with a cough.

Twilight frowned, “Why are you targeting us?”

The creature smiled, standing up, “I’ve given you enough hints little bird.”

Twilight frowned, “Then you’re our enemy.”

“Obviously.” The creature said, leaning forward, “Now let's see what ya ponies got.” He dashed forward, intent on attacking the group head-on. The ponies jumped forward into a slight defensive pattern, where Twilight was upfront with Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity behind them and Rainbow was in the air. Fluttershy timidly held the rear, protected by the rest of her friends.

Twilight blinked and a shield appeared in front of them, as well as a personal shield for Rainbow as she charged forward. The rainbow she was making tinged purple-ish pink. Applejack spread her stance forward and looked ready for any hit. Rarity’s form fluctuated as she summoned several diamond shields, that filtered the light in a blue glow. Pinkie was standing ready with a party cannon, loaded to the brim with confetti, cupcakes, and other party decorating things such as a tablecloth and forks.

Though the creature merely folded his hands behind him and took a step forward, despite the rainbow pegasus charging him. Though, the moment his foot reunited with the ground, he vanished, leaving Rainbow to hit the open air. Twilight barely had time to register the sudden disappearance before she heard a sharp cry of pain behind her.

She turned to see Fluttershy recoiling from being kicked in the face, her wings stabilizing herself in the air as she tried to get away. However, the creature lunged forward and grabbed her by the neck, and forcibly brought her to the ground, pinning her to the grass below.

“Fluttershy!” The group called and turned to help. Twilight dissolved her shield and reached her magic on Fluttershy, to pull her through the space between spaces to safety. Yet, her magic went straight through. Twilight could only watch as Rainbow charged the creature only to suddenly appear on the other side of where she was aiming. Twilight felt her magic drain as the shield on Rainbow absorbed the impact of her plowing into the ground. What had happened to her magic marking on Fluttershy!? She again tried to reach it but didn’t feel it.

Applejack attempted to buck the creature, but Twilight saw her hooves suddenly on the other side of where the human was. Though, Applejack was able to withdraw her legs to find they were fine.

“What in tarnation!” Applejack said as she tried again but found the same results.

Fluttershy sputtered but was only doing so in fear, not in strangulation. She attempted to move the hand that was tightly holding her head to the ground, but to no avail. She attempted to buck the human that was standing over her only to receive metal pings in reward. The human’s drawn face smiled, making the pegasus’s face seem to shrink. She jumped as Pinkie’s party cannon went off, sending cake and tablecloths through them as they seemed to disappear from reality, only to reappear on the other side. Where the assortment of party supplies landed, however, laid a perfect party picnic.

Though it was little distraction to Twilight. She was trying as many spells as she could think of. Though every single one phased through and passed through the other side. It was as if they weren’t even there!

“Just needed to get rid of one of you, and everything else will fall into place,” The creature said, looking deep into Fluttershy’s fear-soaked eyes. She whimpered and struggled harder.

Twilight’s mind connected the dots, and she quietly closed her eyes, Think! Shouted in her mind, Why are things not hitting their mark? She rushed around the creature, while her friend’s attacks continued to be ineffective. She allowed her eyes to soak in every detail she could, trying to understand what the creature was doing.

It wasn’t a physical barrier since she could see what was happening underneath. It wasn’t a magical barrier since she couldn’t feel any magical residue that such a shield would create. It was definitely something that she didn’t know about and she was dying to know.

She knew it had to work on some principle! Even Discord had his own logic to it, even if that meant him being able to rip portals to other worlds with his claws despite matter not being able to interact with the fabric of reality without—

Her mind froze. Portals. Whatever the creature was doing, he was connecting two points in space to allow matter and magic to seemingly pass through him before it could affect him. She tightened her lips as she ripped up another rock from the ground and feverishly began to enchant it.

“It would be sooo easy to eliminate you here and now, simple as,” the deep voice was talking now, and Twilight could barely see him, her peripherals shouting at her to hurry.

“One,” The creature said, lifting his other arm out, “Two,” A sword darted out from the cloak’s shadow with a steely scrape. The human caught it with ease and directed the sword downward. Fluttershy froze as the razor-sharp tip was pointed in her direction. Her face seemed to pale at the sight, and Twilight cursed Quantum magic as it fought with her will. The rock she was working on was almost completely covered in magical lines of sparking magic.

“Three.” The sword hanging over the Element of Kindness was brought down with a single motion. A dull thunk sound was much louder than it should have as it plowed into the ground next to the pegasus’s face. The only harm the pony received was losing a large chunk of her hair to the razor-sharp blade.

“Just not yet,” The creature finished, giving Fluttershy a grin, “But your fate is sealed little bird.” Fluttershy shuddered in response, trying her best to curl into a ball despite her still being pinned down.

“Ah ha!” Twilight exclaimed, elated as the rock she was working on finally accepted her enchantment and she quickly threw it at the human pinning her friend down. It froze just a few centimeters from the human and glowed with runes and markings only Twilight could understand. It cracked apart into a hundred little pieces as it expanded outward, only held together by sparking magic of her color. She quickly reached her magic through the sparking mess and immediately felt the marking she had placed on Fluttershy. She grasped it and wrapped the pony in a teleportation spell that made her wink from view for a moment. She reappeared next to Twilight who embraced her in a hug. The missing chunk in her hair was quite visible and she was as pale as a ghost, but she seemed otherwise alright.

“You okay?” Twilight asked, feeling the pegasus shaking violently.

“She’ll be fine,” the creature said sheathing his blade, but Twilight growled and lit her horn.

“I wasn’t asking you!!” She shouted, and aimed a blast of pure, anger-tinged magic through the portal she had made. The blast nailed the human in the chest and sent him flying, sending him farther than the buck AJ had given. She felt the pegasus nod, filling Twilight with relief. She did know that Fluttershy was frightened beyond belief since her breathing was unnatural and Twilight could feel the poor heart beating beyond her ribs.

“Good,” Twilight said gently and broke the hug. Applejack stepped forward, putting herself between her and the creature. Though she remained much closer than last time.

Twilight nodded with gratitude before facing the creature that had attacked them. It was a human. Though at the same time not. She didn’t know of any humans that could teleport except the ones that were in comics or movies and such. Her friends had told her that was all make belief. Yet, here was one in front of her. Attacking them for her and her friends’ powers. Why? She didn’t know. Though, she didn’t care at that point. She just wanted him gone.

“Behind me!” She barked, and charged her horn with magic. She locked her sights on the human that was slowly getting up and channeled her magic into a spell that Starlight had taught her. A spell powerful enough to banish the Lord of Chaos. Well, his body anyway. But she hoped that it would be more effective than what she had done so far.

Her friends listened and fell in behind her. Allowing Twilight a clear path to blast her spell. She did so, filling the area in front of her with blazing purple light.

So much for the park, she thought as the spell faded from her vision. Though the sight made her frown with anger. There was a large streak of dirt among the plains of grass and walkways. It was dark and deep with large mounds on either side of the gash.

“And this is why we can’t go anywhere nice,” Pinkie said with a smile, making grins appear on the faces of her friends.

Though the grin disappeared when they realized the human was fine. He was merely standing on one of the mounds the magic had created. Covered in dirt and debris that fell off when he turned to face them.

“That’s the problem with banishment magic,” He said carelessly, “You really need to hit them with soo much power for it to work. So, a large area of effect spell that would blanket a large area generally works. Though it doesn’t if the target can get away fast enough.” The face smiled while Twilight’s sparked with anger.

“It’s better if you have something that guides the energy to the target rather than just shooting it willy nilly,” He said, waving his arms about, “Something say, an anchoring spell, special charm? Or, maybe, a part of them?” His arms steadied as he held out something clutched in tight fists.

A small lock of bright pink hair.

Twilight’s eyes widened as the human released the hair in the air and clapped his hands, the hairs in between. A flurry of white sparks flew out from in between his hands was the last thing she saw as she whipped around to look at Fluttershy. She shot her magic over and engulfed the pegasus in a tight aura of magic.

A massive boom echoed in her lungs as a large portal opened up behind the ponies. Its glowing interior shifted colors periodically with tiny specks of light whisked by. The air suddenly started to feel like she was in a vacuum as the portal pulled it in. It tousled her hair and tail a lot but Twilight found nothing pulling her. Though she tightened her wings just in case.

However, Fluttershy was a completely different story. It was like a tornado to a butterfly as she was easily lifted up despite Twilight’s magic trying to pull her down. The portal was able to pull her halfway through before Applejack was able to lock forelegs with her. The earth pony’s back legs made large scores in the ground before she was able to stop but stop she did. Then, with a grunt of effort, she slowly started to back up, pulling the timid pegasus back.

Twilight frowned as her magic seemingly did not affect the pegasus’s movement but instinctually snapped around to block a bolt of energy. Her shield shattered leaving her breathing heavy. She took another breath as she watched the human holding a ball of energy between his hands. She quickly built another shield, yet this one was different. It was still made up of many little triangles, yet the triangles were of differing sizes rather than her equivalent polygons. This shield also was not rigid but rather flowed like a piece of fabric while keeping the triangles stiff and immovable.

The human threw his ball of energy which morphed into a large beam of pure energy. Though the shield bulged inwards on the impact, it did not break. Rather, it flexed back still glowing white from the attack. The glow slowly faded as the shield fluttered like a drying blanket in a gentle breeze.

Twilight smiled. She wasn’t too versed in the methods of using magic powered by Quantum mechanics, but she knew enough to defend herself. She turned behind her, watching her friends all pulling Fluttershy back into Equestria, giving the group several pony lengths of space between the pegasus and the swirling void behind her.

“Why is it pulling her so hard!” Applejack complained, still in the center of the rescue group, “Yet, I don’t feel nothing but air!”

Twilight maintained her shield, but responded, “It’s probably locked onto Fluttershy’s quantum signature. Every creature, object, and energy has one. The air is just getting sucked in because there is no air in that wormhole.”

“Huh? Wormhole?” Rainbow asked, “What do you mean?”

Twilight shook her head, “It doesn’t matter why the portal is also called a wormhole. If I were to fully explain it to you I’d get one of your lectures.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Alright,” She paused, adjusting her grip on her friend, “What do we do?”

Twilight frowned, feeling her shield block another projectile. She didn’t know. She was unsure why the creature was not just teleporting to their group and breaking them up. Surely he could do that, right? Was it her shield? Causing some sort of interference?

She took a breath, hoping the creature wouldn’t attack, and reached for the portal with her magic. She felt it collide with the edge of the portal which she gripped tightly. Then, once the entire edge was in her grasp, she cast a spell that she knew worked to close unwanted portals.

Though it did nothing.

She felt it trying, but failing with the amount of energy she was giving it. She gave it more and more, yet nothing happened save for a bright light emitting from the edge of the portal.

She released it with a gasp, “I can’t close it!”

Rarity frowned, “I take it we have to defeat that to close it?”

Twilight frowned with a shrug, “Probably. It’s likely his power keeping the portal open. Defeating him would make sense.”

Rarity nodded, “Applejack, Pinkie? Do you think you could keep our friend from being sucked into oblivion?”

The two earth ponies nodded, and Rarity and Rainbow gently let go. The two earth ponies remained anchored to the ground, keeping Fluttershy from moving further toward the portal.

“Yeah, though not for too—No!” Applejack said, but could only watch as her hat was swept off her head and pulled towards the vortex. Though Fluttershy lunged upward and managed to catch the hat by its brim. The hat then attacked her face, obscuring it entirely. Though she gave the hat a shake or two to get it to go underneath her muzzle rather than her face.

“Thanks!” Applejack said, though the pegasus didn’t respond with a brim of a hat in her mouth. Rather she settled with a small nod.

The remaining three walked forward a bit, looking to Twilight for a plan.

Twilight filled and emptied her lungs trying to understand why the human wasn’t attacking except for glowing energy blasts. Though previously he had shown staggering teleportation abilities that defied her knowledge. Did it have a limit? How long would it last?

“Okay, Girls. I’m going to enhance you with my magic. Harmony forms?”

The two nodded and the three of them disappeared for a moment in differing color bubbles. Then, when the bubbles disappeared they had extra markings, longer hair, and stronger magic connections than before.

Twilight nodded and sent her alicorn magic to them, enhancing their physical strength to that of an alicorn.

“Rainbow you first. Me and Rarity next. Just hold him down for a few seconds and I’ll take care of the rest.” Twilight said, honing her sights on the human. She then pulled her shield towards them and allowed it to pass through them. She stopped it once it had cleared them but maintained it in case the human’s teleporting ability was in fact prohibited because of it.

Rainbow dashed forward, leaving a rainbow in her stead. The human threw a ball of energy at the pegasus, but the pony managed to just doge with a roll. Then, she crashed right into the human, nearly knocking him off his feet.

Though Twilight then teleported her and Rarity to the human, further knocking him down till he was on the ground. Rainbow and Rarity used Twilight’s magic to hold the human down, while she stood over him. She let out her breath and placed a forehoof on the human’s chest. Part of her hoof disappeared in the shadow that draped over him, but she didn’t feel any adverse effects. That and she was shielding herself from any quantum attacks. Though that was because she was about to channel it and did not want it going haywire within her cuite mark.

Her foreleg glowed as she used it as a medium, channeling a spell filled with Quantum characteristics. Its purpose? To disable whatever it went into from interacting with the quantum realm. At least in theory. The banishment spell would come next.

“Have you learned nothing little bird?” The human said giving the alicorn a dull look.

Twilight frowned but let her spell charge into the human. Runes, glowing lines, and other magical notations appeared on the human’s form, spreading outward from the chest.

“I have,” She replied, “Your abilities work on the laws of Quantum mechanics which I have just locked you from manipulating.”

The human chuckled, “Got to say it’s a mix between quantum and something you’ve never heard of. Remember me saying that?” The human’s words were followed by him suddenly disappearing. Twilight growled, suppressing a string of bad words. She whipped around, a teleportation spell already in her mind when she simply froze.

Her magic, body, and even her hair stopped in her sudden motion. She couldn’t even twitch or blink much less speak. Her quantum shield wavered and slowly faded back into the fabric of reality from which it came, leaving the other three vulnerable. Not that it mattered since the human was already in a position previously behind the shield.

“You entered your harmony forms,” The human said, without turning to them, “That was your mistake.”

Twilight’s mind whirled, still able to think and catalog what she saw. How had the human so easily frozen her? She also guessed that Rarity and Rainbow were frozen since the human was casually walking towards the two earth ponies they had left behind.

The human had said that it was their harmony forms, so Twilight guessed her spell hadn’t backfired. Which made sense since that would have only frozen her.

Though Twilight’s eyes reported Pinkie pie missing from holding onto Fluttershy with Applejack, leaving the orange earth pony to slide a bit before stopping.

Where had she gone?

Though her answer came quickly as the human suddenly ripped off his hood. She saw a human face revealed as the human quickly put a hand to his black hair only to pull out a bright pink mane. With fury in the white and blue eyes, he gave a sharp tug and pulled the party pony out of his hair. Then, continuing the swing of his arm, threw the party pony into the frozen ponies. Though the throw was short and she landed with a thud in front of Twilight, groaning.

“I told you I can see when you do that, remember?!” The human said, annoyance in his voice. He flipped up his hood and the shadowy face reappeared, “Good grief you ponies have the memory of a goldfish…”

Twilight felt her face try to frown, yet, she couldn’t. How had he seen Pinkie pie transition to his hair? She didn’t see anything. She had never felt any sort of magic energy from the party pony when she did her thing.

The pink pony in question slowly lifted herself up and gently coughed, “Ouch.” She said, slowly pushing herself up.

She turned her attention to the human, who was now dodging one hoofed bucks from Applejack. Pinkie’s thing was somehow attached to her cutie mark and the energy the cuite mark contained. So that meant he could see the natural magic in the ponies. Was that why he was waiting for the park to clear before setting the portal? Or perhaps his teleportation was limited to a certain target?

Wait. Twilight’s mind made an observation. When the human had first appeared, he had appeared next to her when there would have been a lot of cuite mark energy to discern from. So, if the human was using cutie mark magic to guide his attacks, then hers stood out much more than her friends. Was that because she was an alicorn? Or because she was connected to some dimensional entity?

Or was it because she was connected to the Elements which were connected to the dimensional entity? Was the Tree a dimensional entity?

The human narrowly dodged another kick from Applejack as she continued to watch. Her mind running faster than Applejack’s three kicks.

She had to get free. The pony wasn’t going to last much longer and if she let go, Fluttershy would be sent to who knows where.

She reached into her being, looking for the connection to the Elements of Harmony she always could feel connected to her magic. It felt like a gate if she had to put it into words. A gate that only opened when she was nearby with her friends, allowing a massive amount of power to come through. Enough power to subdue the Lord of Chaos in a single blast.

Yet, she now felt it open. Her harmony form opened the gate a little, letting a fraction of the original power through but now it was wide open, letting in an unknown form of energy. It felt cold, unnatural, or alien. But it was powerful and familiar. Like she was looking at the Elements of Harmony’s power just shifted a bit. Shifted enough to be unrecognizable and familiar at the same time. It was what was holding her back.

Did the human already gain control of the Elements’ power? And since she was connected to them, could he send his energy through them to her? She had merely opened the gate a little with her harmony form, then he just bashed it open? She took a mental breath and began to close the gate, making the intruding energy retreat as it closed.

The human suddenly looked at her, the drawn eyes showing fury, then pain as Applejack took the moment to buck the human in the face. Then everything froze. What was happening now?

Worry not. A voice echoed in her mind.

What? She asked, feeling worry build up regardless.

A sparkling energy suddenly gathered at her chest and then bounced off in a flurry of sparkles. Once it had settled, she saw herself. Abiet herself when she was a unicorn and not an alicorn, but it was almost an original copy.

You… She said, finding her words coming from her mind. Her students had told her of a sparkling her that had tested them with friendship trials. From what she had gathered it was the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony. Though it had never manifested itself to her.

The spirit nodded, Yes.

Why have you never spoken to me before?

It was simply unnecessary. You were learning the lessons well enough. The spirit replied simply.

Twilight was about to ask another question but stopped as the spirit half collapsed and a dark blue spread across her form, covering almost half her body.

What’s happening? Twilight asked, worriedly.

He seeks to stop our conversation. The spirit replied in a strained voice.

He? You mean the human?

The spirit nodded, He came into my realm and challenged me for my power. He came well prepared, and I fell to his wit, the spirit shuddered, Now I am a prisoner that fuels his power.

Wait, are you the dimensional entity I supposedly know? Twilight asked, her mind connecting the dots.

The spirit nodded as the blue continued to spread across the sparkling body, smothering the shimmering effect.

Then why do you take my form? Twilight asked.

It was a form most would find comfortable to talk with. It is not my true form.

But—

Silence, The spirit spoke with urgency, not aggression, I do not have much time. Perhaps I am able to answer the questions you may have later but a promise I will not make. Now, you must listen.

Twilight nodded. She had learned a thing or two from visiting herself in the past.

You will not be able to stop that fiend of darkness from sending your friends to lands unknown to you.

Where?

A desert planet with little to no life. Full of storms that would boil steel.

Twilight had no response except, So they are doomed…

The spirit shook her head, No. They are going to a part of your universe that is quite heavily explored. So, they have made several leagues of advancements beyond the race of ponies. There are gear and methods to go on for centuries without substance or water. Yet, they still need that equipment. The spirit paused, shuddering, I can give them this equipment, but only through you.

Me?

Yes. Through you, I can use a portion of my true power. A power you have used on several occasions.

The Elements?

Yes. Though they are mere focuses for my power to exist in others. You are already a focus.

Okay. So, you use me to give Fluttershy gear to survive this hostile planet? How will I get her back?!

The spirit did not respond, but moved closer and placed a hoof on Twilight’s frozen chest. A sharp glow emerged from it, tinged rainbow, and rushed into her body. Twilight felt comforting magic connect with her own. Though she could feel the thousands of tiny bits of information attached to them. It was a spell of sorts, but more instinctual than a spell she’d create.

Hurry. Break free and rush to the portal. The Wielders of Kindness and Honesty shall be pulled through this portal. You must get to it before it closes, or it will seal the doom of your friends. Hold it open with your hooves surrounded with the Flat quantum matrix to protect them from space’s sharp ends. I shall take care of the rest.

What about the human? Surely he won’t let you just help them! And what about getting them back?!

The spirit was almost a blue copy of Twilight’s past form, a small section of her head remained. The last purple eye focused on her as the Spirit spoke tensely, He won’t stop you. This is part of his plan, another pause, The part of the universe they are going to are connected by vast portal networks. Use them to pull your friends back. Be wary though, he will see your attempts unless you make an effort to mask them.

The blue had now fully engulfed the unicorn, and seemed to constrict the now dull pony, He, sees through the, gate, The spirit managed to say before exploding into a thousand bits of dust. They vanished as time seemed to resume and Twilight saw the human fall to the ground.

Twilight saw the anger on the human’s face as she continued to push the metaphorical gate in her mind closed. She had understood the Spirit's final words, though she had to break free quickly.

The human growled and got up, spun to face the still struggling Applejack, “Alright. Enough games. Because of you, she was able to talk to Twilight!”

“Good!” Applejack spat, taking a slow step away from the human.

The human growled and took another step towards Applejack, who launched another buck at him. Though the human merely caught the speeding hoof and held it tight, “You only hit me just now because I was trying very hard to keep her in a prison. But now,” He lifted the hoof up till Applejack had to strain her other leg to stay on the ground. Though the human reached over and easily lifted up the other leg. Once he had both firmly held he walked forward, allowing Fluttershy to fully go into the portal.

“You coward!!” Applejack shouted now using her front legs to pull Fluttershy out the best she could.

“You have a choice,” The human said simply, “Let go now or you join her.” He finished darkly and stood there.

Twilight was struggling as the invading power pushed against her efforts to close the magical gate. Though she could still hear and see what was happening. She felt sadness well up in memory of what the spirit had said.

She wasn’t going to be able to save them.

Yet.

She wasn’t going to be able to save them from going to the planet, but she would be able to give them the tools to survive the planet. Hopefully for long enough for her to get them back. She watched the human suspend Applejack in the grip of the vortex, and her mind agreed with the spirit’s words. Even though she wanted to fight them with all her might, she simply didn’t know enough to make leverage in a fight between her and the human. That, and she’d have to defend the two ponies while fighting.

It wasn’t going to be a good fight. A fight that would only result in more damage. Her heart was not happy, but she trusted the Tree and the Elements. So she again pushed against the gate, its metaphorical hinges screaming in response.

She started to glow, energy arcing between her hair and into the dirt around her. She twitched, finding her head able to move. She growled as the feeling returned to her body, slowly but surely. Her magic was also sluggish though it was moving faster as she staggered forward. She flared her wings and sent magic to her hooves and her horn. She stared darkly at the human as her magic charged.

“Time’s running out apple lover,” the human said, loosening his grip. Applejack frowned, watching Fluttershy’s attempts to get free. She obviously didn’t want Applejack to get stuck with her fate. She also saw the teary eyes that begged her to let go. Though like Rainbow’s actions had taught her, she wasn’t just going to leave a best friend behind.

She turned to the human, feeling very odd without her hat, and gave him the darkest stare she could, “Never.” She said, watching the human’s face frown.

“Fine. I don’t have time to argue.” He let go, and Applejack felt Fluttershy’s momentum yank herself forward into the sequential-colored abyss. Fluttershy gripped her in a tight hug as they tumbled along. Applejack returned the hug, impressed the pony had been able to retain her hat. Though she saw Twilight’s face appear for a moment at the portal’s entrance. Her eyes were glowing and Applejack thought for a moment that she was going to teleport them out. Even though she seemed a hundred miles away.

That didn’t happen though. Instead, two whirling rainbows swirled on the walls of the vortex they were in. It whirled down to them and spun in dizzying circles around the two ponies. Glowing white magic wrapped itself around the two until everything went white.

Twilight shook the sluggishness from her form and formed the two flat matrixes she was told to make and placed them on her hooves. It almost entirely removed her traction, but that didn’t matter. She warped forward just in front of the portal and caught the portal’s walls as it was closing. The matrixes caught the galactically sharp edges and protected her from being cut clean in half. She braced against it, finding it was not beyond her physical ability to hold the gateway open. Though, not for too long.

What now?! Twilight thought, waiting for something to happen. Though she felt it happen inside her chest. Her magic. It was struggling to get free, so she released it entirely, and felt a hot energy fill her entire body. Her hair ignored the torrent of air that was flowing over her and began to float on its own. Her hooves glowed with rainbow energy that seemed to rush into the portal. The walls became a rainbow and swirled downwards till she couldn’t see it anymore.

Please work!! She mentally shouted as the rainbow disappeared from view. Though the portal’s frame suddenly exploded with energy, sending her flying. She quickly caught herself, landing in a defensive position.

The spirit had been correct. The human hadn’t tried to stop her. Why? She had a sneaking suspicion. Especially now that she knew the human wanted the power of the Elements of Harmony. She wanted to fight but freeing her friends was the first priority. She warped to their frozen forms, except for Pinkie, and gave the human a dark look.

“Looks like you’ve merely bought them time. Not much at that,” The human said annoyed.

“Yeah right.” Twilight rebuked, lifting her friends with her magic, “I know how you found us and know now it was me that you tracked to get here in the first place.”

The human’s expression lifted, impressed, “Well, how did I do it?”

Twilight smiled, silently weaving a spell, “Just tell me if I’m right.” She let the spell flow into herself and her friends. It was a simple spell. It would mask the Element’s Harmony trace in the cuite mark magic, hopefully hiding them from his prying eyes. She heard her friends gasp as they were able to move again.

Those prying eyes suddenly went dark with anger, “How dare you!” The human said black flames suddenly appearing on his cloak. It didn’t seem to harm him though.

Twilight smiled, gathering a ball of energy in front of her, “And you can’t kill any of us till you’ve caught me, isn’t that right?”

The flames disappeared on the human’s cloak as he smiled, “Time little bird, time is all that you boughten. Take care to you use it well.” He lifted his arms up high, “Let the games begin alicorn. Hope you are ready.”

“These games always end the same. With a massive rainbow marking your defeat,” Twilight said, teleporting her and her friends. The ball of energy stayed, however, exploding where she had just been. The magical energy sent a large cloud of dust outwards, obscuring the new clearing from view.

Twilight took a deep breath as the Everfree forest came into view.

“Uh, Twilight? Why are we here?” Rainbow asked, landing.

“The forest has a natural magic. It will mask our magical energies till I have enough time to entirely shield ourselves.”

“What about Applejack and Fluttershy?” Rarity asked in a complaint sort of way, “We can’t just leave them!”

“I didn’t. With the help of, I think, the Tree of Harmony, I was able to give them the tools to be able to survive wherever they went.”

“You mean you don’t know where they are?!” Rainbow asked hotly.

Twilight frowned and shook her head, “I know they are on a planet in a place lightyears among light years away. That’s about it.”

“Do we know if they are alive?” Pinkie asked quietly.

It remained quiet as the alicorn sobered, then she spoke quietly, “No.”

“Oh.”

Twilight sighed, “We just have to trust whatever the tree did it was enough to have them survive.”

The group didn’t respond and Twilight could mimic their doubt. Though she quietly set to work to mask up their cuite mark magic properly. Once that was done, she summoned an emergency paper and quill from her dimensional pocket and quickly wrote a letter to Celestia, detailing what had happened. She teleported it to the Princess’s throne room since Spike was not with her. She was glad he had other plans and declined her picnic offer.

“Okay, girls let’s go to Zebcora’s. We’ll build a plan there.” She said. The group nodded and sluggishly moved along.

Then Pinkie perked up, “Okay. Now is not the time to be party pooped!” She exclaimed.

“Nor is it time for a party,” Rainbow said with a scowl. Though the pink pony bounded forward and clamped a hoof to her mouth.

“Never say that!” She said lightly, “But I do agree. Though that’s not what I meant. We need to keep our spirits up! Fluttershy and Applejack are counting on us to save them. Let’s move ponies!” She shouted and took off.

“Wrong way Pinkie!” Twilight shouted to her with a smile.

“I knew that!” Pinkie said, taking an impossible u-turn. The group smiled and followed her, matching her pace the best they could.

Applejack felt odd. She could feel the ground, but it was through something. She was now wearing something. That something also covered her entire body, hoof to tail. It wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, but she didn’t want to wear it either.

She groaned, only to hear it come back to her ears. She took a breath, hearing her breathing in her ears as well. She finally had the strength to open her eyes, to find that she was wearing a helmet. It didn’t restrict her vision too much, though she was now viewing the world through a large square that cut off her peripheral vision. She didn’t like that.

So she quickly got into a sitting position and tried to remove it. Though when she did, she heard a loud beep in her ears. A large, red warning appeared in her vision.

Do not remove helmet. Oxygen levels are too low!!

She didn’t have Twilight’s brain but she did know that she needed oxygen to breathe and that was essential to survival. If the helmet was helping her breathe, she’d deal with the echo any day. She then looked around, to see another pony laying in the sand nearby.

Fluttershy.

Applejack quickly ran over and gave the pegasus a light shake. She was also in a suit of some kind. Though she was much more worried about if the suit was keeping her friend alive.

She sighed with relief when she heard the pony groan.

“Ugh. What, wait! Appl—Oh thank goodness!” She said jerking upright only to relax when she saw Applejack, “Wait, you’re Applejack, right?” The helmet Fluttershy was wearing was pink and black, mostly round. Her ears were free to move in their pink fronted coverings, while Applejack saw the backs were black as Fluttershy flattened her ears. There was also a visor in the front, showcasing the fearful eyes behind it. The rest of the pony was mostly covered in an orange fabric that changed color on the pony’s shoulders. There it was a brown that looked a tad sturdier than the rest of the suit. Though the chest was covered in a large pink metal plate that mimicked a heart, if a bit elongated. Two small indents were in the center and just above serving some unknown purpose. One had a key hold-looking piece but having a keyhole on a chest plate merely confused the Earth pony even more. Etched in the top right was the pegasus’s cuite mark. Three tiny butterflies.

The pegasus also supported metal grey plates on the bottom of her forelegs and back legs. Though on her front left leg was a light cyan glass piece. Knee pads were above the plates and supported the brown material as shoulder pieces. Though on the pony’s wings were the same orange fabric but were interrupted by small blue rectangles. Though it didn’t seem to affect her ability to fold them.

“Yeah, it’s me.” She said.

“What are you wearing?” Fluttershy asked, then paused and looked at herself, “What are we wearing?” She turned around to reveal a backpack on her back. It was orange with a large pink strip on the bottom. The sides had several grey metal circles and square ports on the very back. The top had a flashing circle and dial in the center. One side of the circle was blue, and the other was red. From the top of the backpack extended a rod that connected to a small ball. It looked like a camera from Applejack’s knowledge, only it was larger and had a little sun visor. Fluttershy curiously gave it a little tap and jumped when it swiveled lifelessly to her other side.

“I don’t know,” Applejack said, “But whatever it is it’s keeping us from suffocating.”

“That’s good,” Fluttershy said, “But what’s the icon at the bottom of my vision? It looks like a nuclear sign.”

“Uh, nuclear?”

“Energy created by splitting an atom. The flying particles can become harmful if you get hit by too much.” Fluttershy said plainly.

“Okay, so that means we—” She stopped cold as a voice droned in her ear.

“Warning: Super-heated Super cell approaching.”

The warning flashed red on her screen grabbing her entire attention. Though it didn’t truly worry her. What was a super-cell?

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy squeaked, seeming to shrink into the ground, “That’s the biggest storm I’ve ever seen…”

“What?” Applejack asked. Finding the flashing warning annoying. Though it quietly disappeared.

Fluttershy didn’t respond but merely lifted a hoof in the direction she was looking.

Applejack followed her direction, only to see a massive cloud of dust coming their way. It was the same color as the ground but looked like large fluffy clouds Rainbow pushed at max speed. Lightning also seemed to dance throughout the swirls of forbidden cotton candy, lighting it up with short bursts of blue.

Though these clouds seemed to swallow the mountains nearby. Fully covering them from view.

So that’s what a super-cell was. A massive storm. A super-heated super-storm.

The human was staring at the crater the alicorn had left behind. No doubt a magical explosion to scatter the magical trace such a teleportation would leave. He sighed.

He had originally planned to throw the weak pony to a hostile planet while he infected Twilight. He then would be able to finally conquer the being he had so desperately captured.

He felt confidence come from the being’s prison in his mind, a dull gloating as his original plan was foiled. He shrugged. The bird couldn’t do anything. It was fully reliant on its herald, Twilight Sparkle. Though she wasn’t a pushover either. She had been able to uncover his plan with little forethought. That or the bird told her when that orange pony bucked him in the face. He rubbed the spot, still feeling a bit sore.

Or he had been too talkative.

It was an option or mistake. Either way, it didn’t matter. The pony would go for her friends, and he’d be able to feel the attempt to walk the galaxy. That and it would be the first time the alicorn would do such a feat, she’d be sloppy. And that’s when he would strike.

He lifted his hand, summoning dark blue crystals out of the ground. He’d be patient. If the wielders that he sent away got killed then he’d have to wait for the Tree to choose a new wielder. Though annoying, he could be patient.

He looked back at where he had summoned the portal. He hoped whatever the bird had given the two was enough to keep them alive for the alicorn to make her move. He did need them alive, at least for now, or he’d be waiting for an eon. Maybe less. Such magic was unpredictable. Though he’d see any new connections and pounce.

The crystals cracked as he shaped them, forming a large fortress from where he’d wait. The creatures of this planet couldn’t do much against his power. That and he wasn’t going all out on the Wielders. He couldn’t have. It would’ve killed them. That would definitely strain his patience.

But for now, he’d focus on developing his fortress for the Twilight Sparkle. Once he caught her, she’d never get away.

“Let the games begin, Twilight Sparkle.” The human said quietly to himself.