Darkness engulfed everything. The surroundings were an abyss of shadows where sounds seemed trapped, muffled, and distorted. A sharp ringing pierced the silence, growing louder with each passing second, as though trying to wrench someone from their stupor. Then, other noises began to seep through: the crash of shattering objects, the thud of bodies hitting the ground, distorted screams, and alarms that sounded faintly familiar.

"Wake up..."

The voice was barely a whisper among the chaos, struggling to break through the clamor.

"Wake up..."

The ringing intensified, almost unbearable, but the voice grew stronger, more insistent.

"LENDARY, WAKE UP!"

The final cry broke like thunder, forcing her eyes open abruptly. The sounds around her suddenly sharpened into clarity.

Lendary shot to her hooves, the sharp clatter of them against concrete echoing in the cold, still air. Her breath came in short, visible puffs, misting in the chill. Her eyes darted around wildly, searching for anything familiar. But all she found was concrete and metal stretching endlessly in every direction. Even as she looked down, the rough gray surface seemed to stare back at her.

"What...?" she murmured, her voice thick with confusion, barely audible in the void.

A flicker in her peripheral vision made her snap her head to the side. Her gaze locked onto a solitary metal post. At its peak, a light blinked erratically, fighting to stay lit. But what truly unsettled Lendary wasn’t the post itself—it was the source of the light: a glass panel. It wasn’t a magical gem or the warm glow of an oil lamp. It was something entirely different, something that didn’t belong to her world.

"Where...?" she whispered, her voice faltering as her gaze lifted to the unfamiliar surroundings.

What she saw took her breath away.

Despite the evident damage, the buildings rose like titans of glass and steel, their surfaces adorned with vibrant lights that danced and shimmered. Massive billboards covered their facades, projecting images and words in a language she couldn’t comprehend. Higher still, colossal screens displayed moving figures, their vibrant colors vivid and surreal, as though powered by an unsettling and alien magic.

"Where are we...?" she asked, her ears perking forward in alarm as confusion and disbelief overtook her.

...
.......
.........

Shibuya.
12:35 AM.

"I don’t know. I just woke up too," Lubazi said, his gaze scanning the surroundings with the same mix of awe and unease.

Lendary turned her head toward her leader, who stood just a few steps away. Beside him, Moxy stared into the distance, her fur bristling as if sensing imminent danger.

"What happened?" Lendary asked, lifting a hoof to rub the back of her neck. A dull ache throbbed there, as if she’d fallen from a great height. "The last thing I remember is leaving the cave... and then that light."

Lubazi frowned, his thoughts caught on Morcly’s final words.

"...The crystal will summon everything resembling the anchor..." he murmured, repeating the phrase softly before speaking more clearly. "What the artifact is trying to do is fuse this place with our dimension."

"Fuse it?" Lendary looked at him skeptically. "I thought that crystal only brought living beings. Why do you think that? What if instead of merging dimensions, we were just brought here?"

Lubazi tilted his head, gesturing toward the end of the street.

"Look around you, Lendary."

Following the direction of his gaze, Lendary noticed something that made her heart stop for a moment. In the middle of the road, a giant tree had torn through the asphalt, breaking free from the ground. Its dark, twisted branches were unmistakable, imbued with the wild magic of the Everfree Forest.

"That..." Lendary took a step forward, her eyes wide open. "That’s an Everfree tree."

"Exactly," Lubazi said gravely, nodding. "I don’t think this place planted a tree from another dimension in the middle of its streets."

Lendary furrowed her brow, trying to process the situation.

"But we were in the mountains... far from the forest. By several meters, even."

Lubazi sighed, his calculating gaze scanning their surroundings.

"Then perhaps the crystal is trying to merge two spaces into one. Maybe this place..." He slowly turned, examining the damaged structures around them. "...is an amalgamation of both. A mixture of our world and this one."

The air grew heavier as his words hung between them. Even the wind, carrying a scent of damp earth mixed with something unfamiliar, seemed to confirm Lubazi's suspicions.

Lendary, true to her impatient nature, started trotting down the streets, her eyes darting from one sign to another with a blend of curiosity and wonder.

"Well, the only thing I can say is that this world must be full of intellectuals." She smiled, stopping in front of a building with display windows. "Everything seems so advanced."

Her attention shifted to the signs, covered in strange symbols that, to her, looked like meaningless scribbles.

"Although their writing... Honestly, it looks like someone spilled ink at random. And don’t even get me started on their sense of fashion."

She peered through the glass. Inside, there were mannequins shaped like bipedal creatures dressed in extravagant outfits: some tattered, others in loud colors, and one that looked like a clown costume.

"Either they’re a civilization of misfits or this is a shop for cheap disguises." She chuckled softly, amused by her own remark.

"Lendary, stop wasting time. We need to move," Lubazi’s measured voice called from behind her. His sharp eyes scanned the area cautiously. Everything about this place screamed danger, and given Morcly's warnings, he wasn’t interested in testing how real those threats might be.

Lendary, ignoring her leader’s serious tone, gently pushed open the large glass door and entered the building. She approached the mannequins, studying them with a playful smile.

"Check this out, Lubazi," she said, turning to him with a mischievous air. "If these mannequins represent the average physique of this civilization, then they’re like scrawny minotaurs. I’m sure if they walked on all fours, they’d barely match my height." She burst into laughter, pressing a hoof to her chest. "Man, I wish Tempest were here. Maybe this would’ve brought a smile to her sour face."

"Lendary!" Lubazi growled, stepping into the building with a furrowed brow.

But the mare kept laughing, oblivious to the tension in his tone.

"I don’t see what Morcly was so scared about," she continued between chuckles.

Suddenly, a firm tug on her tail made her stop in her tracks. Lubazi stared at her with restrained fury, his eyes reflecting both anger and frustration.

"How can you say something so heartless?" Lubazi exclaimed, his voice tense as he struggled to keep from shouting. "Morcly just died, and you're making jokes as if nothing happened. You knew him better than the rest of us! Do you have no empathy at all?"

Lendary raised an eyebrow, her expression relaxed and unconcerned, as if Lubazi's words didn’t affect her in the slightest.

"Maybe I'd be upset if he were really dead." She smirked slightly, almost as if enjoying the misunderstanding. "But honestly, when I thought the crystal was going to explode, I assumed we’d all die. However, as you said, it didn’t explode. It just brought this place here all at once. Which means Morcly is still out there... unconscious somewhere."

Lubazi was about to respond, but a calm voice interrupted him.

"And if he isn’t?" Moxy, who had silently approached, observed them seriously, her ears alert to the surroundings.

Lendary closed her eyes and sighed with confidence. "You said it yourself, Lubazi. I know him better than you. I know that idiot always has a Plan B for his Plan B."

For a moment, silence fell between them. Lubazi lowered his gaze, processing Lendary's words. Though he wouldn’t admit it, part of him wanted to believe she was right.

The silence was broken by an intermittent glow coming from Lubazi’s saddlebags. The runes inside shone in an irregular pattern, casting blue flashes on his focused face.

Moxy and Lendary immediately turned their attention to him. Carefully, Lubazi took out the rune and held it up to his eyes, studying it closely.

"It's detecting nearby energy," he said in a low, almost monotone voice. "It’s alive, but weak. It shouldn’t pose a threat."

"Just what we need!" Lendary exclaimed, her enthusiastic tone breaking the tension. She stepped forward, her eyes gleaming with determination. "Before we leave this place, we need to take someone. With all this chaos, it won’t be long before ponies come to investigate. Whatever’s happening in this alien city is Celestia’s problem now."

"It’s too risky," Lubazi said, raising an eyebrow. His cold tone contrasted sharply with Lendary’s energy. "We don’t know who or what is fighting in this city. These ‘aliens’ might be more dangerous than you think."

Lendary glared at him. "What’s the matter, Lubazi? Are you scared?" Her voice carried a restrained anger that grew more evident with every word. "You still have your stupid potions in the saddlebags, don’t you? Don’t make me regret making them if you’re too afraid to use them!"

Lubazi turned to her, his eyes narrowing. "Don’t talk to me like I’m just another soldier!" he snapped, his voice carrying restrained power that echoed through the building. "I’m the leader of this operation, and I don’t have to put up with your whining. The potions are only for life-or-death situations."

He stepped closer, his tone sharpening into something almost mocking. "And let me remind you, because of your childish tantrums, only Moxy and I have potions. You chose to come unarmed, as if this were some kind of game." A brief, sarcastic smile crossed his face. "Seriously, with all the talent you could use... and you waste it like a spoiled brat."

Lendary gritted her teeth, her body taut like a string about to snap. "Don’t talk to me as if you know what it means!" Her voice trembled with a mix of fury and something deeper, something she couldn’t put into words.

He wasn’t entirely wrong. She was one of the best potion-makers there was, and her presence on the mission was indispensable for that reason. But her resentment toward her talent ran deeper than mere whims or tantrums. To Lendary, every potion she crafted was a reminder of the expectations others had of her—what the world demanded of her.

Her jaw tightened as memories of those days came rushing back. By the queen’s order, she’d been forced to abandon her ideals and dedicate herself to something she despised. If it hadn’t been for Tempest, who stood by her during those torturous times, she might’ve ended up as bitter as her... or worse.

"I don’t need potions. I can handle myself," she muttered in a determined whisper.

Lubazi wanted to retort but was cut off by Moxy.

"I think she has a point," Moxy said finally, her gaze fixed in the distance. Behind the buildings, an orange light flickered as if flames were consuming something beyond the horizon. Slowly, she turned back to the group, her face as indifferent as ever. "The mission was to bring a being with that energy back to the Zebrican kingdom. We can’t return empty-hooved."

"Thanks." Lendary grinned triumphantly, throwing a defiant look at Lubazi. "I guess someone has some common sense."

"Common sense isn’t exactly your strong suit," Lubazi shot back, irritated, as he adjusted the saddlebags on his back.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group. Lubazi and Lendary’s gazes locked once again, the tension between them almost palpable. Finally, the stallion sighed in resignation and tucked the rune back into his saddlebag.

"Fine. If the detected being is weak, we’ll approach carefully. But we can’t stay here for long."

Without another word, the three zebras left the store and returned to the road. The streets, though empty, felt even more ominous as the shadows of the battered buildings stretched under the flickering light of the streetlamps.

"Before we go any further, make sure you have your teleportation crystals," Lubazi said firmly, digging a hoof into his saddlebag and pulling out a black crystal that glowed faintly.

The others followed suit, revealing identical crystals.

"Remember," Lubazi continued, making sure he had their attention, "this crystal can only be used once and with one being. Its range is wide, but don’t waste it. If you’re not cornered, this will take us straight home."

"You don’t have to remind me." Lendary held hers up proudly, a flash of satisfaction lighting up her face. "I was part of the mission to recover them from the Crystal Kingdom, remember?" For a moment, her mind wandered to the memories of that mission, an experience that had changed the course of her life.

Lubazi, unwilling to engage in another argument, ignored the comment and focused on giving orders.

"Moxy, you’ll search for Morcly. If the explosion didn’t kill him, he should have his runes. When you’re close, yours will light up. Find him, activate your teleportation crystals, and return to the kingdom. I’m sure he’ll need urgent medical attention."

Moxy nodded with a brief incline of her head, her expression as serious as ever.

Then Lubazi turned to Lendary, sighing as if he already anticipated trouble.

"As for us, we’ll head to where the rune’s signal points and take whatever’s there."

Lendary’s grin widened, her eyes shining with excitement.

"No unnecessary fights, understood?" Lubazi extended a hoof in front of her, cutting off any comment before she could speak.

Lendary rolled her eyes in boredom. "Sure, whatever you say."

"I suppose that’s the best I’ll get." The stallion sighed before barking, "Move out!"

With that final command, the zebras galloped off. Moxy took the opposite path, her hooves echoing on the asphalt as she disappeared into the shadows of the buildings. Lubazi and Lendary headed toward the area marked by the rune, noticing how the streets grew more uneven and damaged with every step. The buildings around them loomed like charred skeletons, and the ash-laden air confirmed they were nearing the heart of the chaos.

Author's Note

As I said, I will place my drawings at the end of the chapters and will no longer include images of landscapes.