12TH DECEMBER 1940

------------------------------------------------------------SOMEWHERE IN EQUESTRIA------------------------------------------------------------
As the scientists got ready for the test run of the Rift Gate, which would soon be activated and ready to create a marvelous display, or at least what Shady and the remaining deranged HNA members could call marvelous, the destruction of an entire planet while sending a whole continent back to another planet, or as Shady called it, the Saving of Ponykind. To the HNA's deranged mind, they would be honoured as heroes of Equestria and the Crystal Empire by the public, and once back on Equis, they would depose the Princesses, and send them to Tartarus for having sent them to Earth with it resulting in the deaths of so many ponies.

They would also make sure to get rid of all those who supported the Princesses, and they would surely get the attention of the pony goddess, Faust. Shady himself was a Faustist, the name given to that group of ponies who believed that Faust existed and worshipped her, even though it had been 1,300 years since she had last been seen on Equis, and her existence seemed all but a legend at this point. They felt that this act would earn them the approval of Faust herself, and that they would be worshipped as deities by the ponies.

For the last few days, Shady had been nonstop rehearsing his speech for the inhabitants of Equis, considering that their current calculations had stated that more than 260 years would have passed on Equis since they had been transported to Earth. He was preparing a speech for the land's current inhabitants, stating who they were, in case the inhabitants of Equis had forgotten what ponies looked like, and what had truly happened to Equestria and the Crystal Empire, and how they had come back to Equis.

As the scientists got ready to activate the Rift Gate, Shady looked admiringly at it. It didn't look like much as of now, just a few wooden stairs leading to a large wooden base, on which the Gate itself had been constructed. For now, it was just a hollow ring-shaped doorway made of metal. The Gate's radius alone was over 10 hooves, and it was almost 4 hooves thick. The inside was lined with blocks of Aetherium, and they had already been calibrated to the approximated coordinates of Equis, using old data from over 200 years earlier, after the final experiments with rifts had been shut down by Princess Celestia all those years ago.

In fact, some of the data they had was over a thousand years old, from before Princess Luna turned into Nightmare Moon and was banished to Equis' Moon for one thousand years by Celestia. The scientists didn't have high hopes about this at first with such old data, but Shady had convinced them to use it and have higher hopes, and by 'convinced', Shady had essentially tortured them, and the scientists had essentially changed their minds right then and there, since the torture was not good for their health.

It had taken Shady having to dispose of Neighsay and destroy his brother's old house to finish the Rift Gate, but now it was ready. The scientists had told him that when the Gate was activated, the large metal circle that was the Gate would levitate above the base, and the portal to take them back to Equis would appear at first, but then, it would grow bigger and bigger, and would stretch the base as well, until it essentially swallowed the entirety of Equestria and the Crystal Empire, and that would be what would send them home. Once they were safely on their way back to Equis, the Gate would close with a large bang behind them, leaving behind a black hole that would destroy Earth entirely.

Once this was done, the HNA would make their speech to the other inhabitants of Equis, and he was sure that Faust would make him an Alicorn once they did their duty, and he would probably be the first male Alicorn ever. Then, he would change the whole of Equis for the better, with his faithful compatriots by his side. As for the scientists, they knew that they could not let Shady finish his plan, not when so many innocents would be killed. They would stop him at all costs, even if it cost them their own lives.

As they got ready for the test run of the Rift Gate, they knew that this would hopefully help send a signal to the Princesses to help them pinpoint Shady's location, defeat him, and hopefully save them. Soon, at exactly 9:00am, they got ready to activate the Rift Gate for its first test run. Despite the cold weather, there was no snow on the coast, but it was quite cloudy. Still, no planes or ships came near here, so it was perfect if you wanted to disappear so that the HNA could test the Rift Gate.

As they got ready, for one last time, the scientists calibrated the Aetherium, and got ready to activate the Rift Gate. All it needed was a single press of a switch, and the second the switch was pressed, the Gate activated, and the whole ground began shaking, as the Gate began to power up.

They watched as a bright blue glow began to appear around the edges of the gate, as the portal to Equis began to open. As they watched, the ground began to shake more, and a loud roar was heard as the portal continued opening, and they watched as soon, the blue glow began to show what seemed to be somewhere on Equis, due to the presence of Zebras and Griffons. However, the land seemed different, as it seemed to be... a mine? That was odd. They could see the Zebras and Griffons starting to look at the portal with surprise, and one was even pointing at one of the ponies who was standing visibly in front of it. That was not surprising, considering that it had probably been over 260 years since ponies had been seen on Equis.

Then, as the portal began to glow more, the shaking suddenly stopped, and the portal closed quite abruptly, and it caused a shockwave that sent everyone flying. When they looked up, the portal was still intact, but now it was no longer active. That was surprising. "What in Faust's name just happened?!" asked Shady. quite angrily. "Why did the Gate shut down early?"

"Shady, that happened on purpose. If we left it turned on for too long, your plan would have begun too early, and we would have been found by the Princesses. That's why we turned it off now. Better to be safe than sorry." said Riftweaver Spark, sounding as truthful as he could be, to truly make his lie look real.

"But why?! Why didn't you let the portal open fully then, before you turned it off?!" asked Shady, still quite angrily.

"Well, we detected a small anomaly, so we shut it down eaRLYYYYY!" shouted Spark, as Shady lifted him up in the air, looking very angry.

"YOU TOLD ME THE GATE WAS READY FOR USE, THAT THERE WERE NO PROBLEMS WITH IT! YOU LIED TO ME, AND I DON'T LIKE LIARS!" shouted Shady, as he threw Spark down from quite a height, causing Spark to cry in pain. That was when one of the other scientists intervened.

"Shady! Don't kill him! You won't be able to have the Rift Gate fixed without him!" said the scientist. "Look, just give us a few days! We can figure out what the problem was, and have the Gate back up and running!"

Shady considered this for a moment, and then said, begrudgingly, "Fine. But next time, you're not getting a trial run. We're starting off with the Saving of Ponykind right after you fix it."

"You have our word." said the other scientist, as he ran to help Riftweaver Spark. They had bought themselves a little more time. But sooner or later, their luck would run out, and hopefully, the Princesses would be able to figure out where the HNA was by then.

Author's Note

This is what I imagine the Rift Gate to look like, this is a screenshot from Fortnite back in 2022, I think? This is what gave me the idea of the Rift Gate in the first place.