Six months earlier...
Ponyville, Equestria
Golden Oak Library
The day before Magical Mystery Cure
"Alright girls," Twilight announced to her gathered friends, "I think I've figured out this spell."
"'Bout time you finished that darn thing." Rainbow complained, stretching her wings, "We've been waiting here for an hour."
"Rainbow," Applejack warned, "don't rush her. This fancy schmancy magic stuff is very dangerous, and ah don' want to end up lookin' like a hydra or somethin'."
The six Elements of Harmony had gathered early in the morning to help Twilight with what might be called the most ambitious spell of the unicorn's life, if not of all Equestria. A few weeks prior, Twilight had developed a idea for long-distance teleportation - not just for unicorns, but also for pegasi, Earth ponies, and all other creatures of their world. Besides a few minor ingredients, all it required were three participants - a unicorn, a pegasus, and an Earth Pony.
Obviously, Twilight would partake in this experiment, as she was the only one who could do it. As for the other two participants, Rainbow and Applejack naturally volunteered for the position. They were the best candidates, after all; both were strong and brave, practically the perfect specimens of their kind. Fluttershy was too timid to want to do something like this, and Pinkie... well, being Pinkie, she'd probably do something to screw it up unintentionally.
"Okay," Twilight said, checking her notes one more time before entering the circle, "Dash, Applejack, please take your spots within the circle. Rarity, Fluttershy, did you get all the ingredients I asked for exactly as requested?"
"But of course, darling." Rarity said, levitating the various plants, rocks, and other do-dads to her unicorn friend, "Although some of it was rather hard to find. Fortunately, Pinkie Pie helped us find the five rocks of zirconium you needed."
"I have the seven phoenix feathers, Twilight." Fluttershy added, dropping the bag in the circle. "Philomena was so nice to let me keep a few, just in case."
"Alright," Twilight said, "Make sure you place the feathers and rocks exactly where I marked them. Any deviation could be... well, let's just say it won't be good for us, and leave it at that."
With that little word of caution, Rarity and Fluttershy carefully placed the feathers and stones on their marked locations. When they finished, Twilight began summoning her magic, powering up the ritual. She began picturing her destination - her old room in Canterlot Castle, both familiar and not that far away. She began feeling a funny tingling sensation, a feeling she usually got when she was about to teleport. Her pegasus and Earth pony friends, however, hadn't felt it before, and were beginning to get a little worried.
Suddenly, something strange began to happen. Twilight began feeling the circle was taking her magic, sucking it out rather than being deposited. She tried to stop this action, but the more she resisted, the more it pulled out of her.
Before she could say anything, Pinkie spouted out, "Ooh, Twilight, I forgot to mention something! Those aren't zirconium rocks. Those are actual diamonds!"
"What?!?" Twilight shouted, her eyes now turned a glowing white as the circle caused her to engage her full magical potential. The circle formed a large dome of energy around the three ponies, even as everypony began screaming in horror. Rainbow and AJ tried to get out, but they found that they couldn't move from their spots.
There was a great pulse of white-gray energy, and then the dome - with the three ponies still inside - popped out of existence...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm so sorry, girls." Pinkie Pie looked down, feeling ashamed. "I thought that having real diamonds would be better than using fake diamonds. I didn't mean to send you all away." A lone tear fell down her muzzle. "I'm sorry."
Rainbow Dash - who was sitting next to her at the table - reached over and gave her a hug. "Hey, its okay now." She chided. "We're back home, now. Its all good."
"Its been really hard for us, you know." Rarity said. "After you three left, Pinkie didn't smile for weeks. Discord had to do all of Fluttershy's shopping, because she wouldn't leave her house. With Applejack gone, Braeburn had to move to Ponyville to help with work."
"Applebloom and Scootaloo still haven't gotten their cutie marks." Sweetie Belle added, "They were all in a funk for weeks, hardly doing any crusading or playing or anything."
"At least you got yer cutie mark." Applebloom pointed out.
"Well, yeah, there was that." She raised her flank over the table, and revealed the image of a microphone on her butt. "I tried cheering them up by singing, and the next thing I know I have this. Who knew my special talent was singing?"
Everypony in the room - even the humans and dragons - stared at her in skeptical disbelief. "What?"
"We'll tell you later." RD answered. "Anyways, Spyro, Cynder, why don't you two go next?"
The dragons looked at the group, and then to each other. They shared a look, seeking the other's approval for starting. They both nodded, and faced the crowd.
"Sure," Cynder answered, "we can start."
"Our story," Spyro began, "starts in a world far, far away, where entire islands and mountains floated in the sky..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Skylands
Farthest edge of the realm
It wasn't everyday that a new island appeared out of thin air in Skylands. Especially when this island gave off so much magical energy that some people feared Kaos had returned with some new superweapon. When nothing of the sort happened, Master Eon - The Grand Portal Master and de facto leader of Skylands - sent his two greatest heroes to investigate.
Those heroes, of course, were the ever so famous Spyro and Cynder.
Spyro, legendary purple dragon, defender of Skylands, Vanquisher of Malefor, observed the strange, massive floating mountain with silent curiosity. He wondered what kind of discoveries and treasures were hiding inside, and what may be living inside its caves and caverns. But there was something else about this place, something about it that made him feel... uneasy.
Flying next to him, Cynder, less legendary black dragon, former slave to Malefor, Co-Defender of the Dragon Worlds - and one of Spyro's closest friends in this world - came close to him and tapped his shoulder. "Hey," She asked concernedly, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Spyro said quickly, "Course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Spyro, you've been acting nervous all day, ever since we could see this place. What's wrong?"
The dragons landed on a flat stretch of land on the island, and Spyro sighed. "I dunno, Cynder," He told her. "It just seems that all day, I've been getting this, this feeling, I guess."
"Oh?" Cynder perked up in interest. There was what she hoped he was going to say - perhaps something that related to what happened in the center of the Earth - and what she expected him to say - that it was approaching the anniversary of Ignatius' death, and he was feeling a bit down.
Instead, he said something quite different. "I've been having a bad feeling about this place. Its been giving a really weird vibe the closer we get to it."
The dragoness's eyes went wide. "Wait, did it feel like Kaos? Or..." Her voice went down to a whisper, the slightest hint of fear growing in her voice, "...Malefor?"
Spyro took a step back, giving a nervous chuckle. "No no, goodness no!" He told her. "Its not evil or anything. It just feels really odd. Like nothing I've ever felt before. It feels like, I dunno, going through a portal for the first time."
Cynder relaxed a bit, hearing this. "Don't worry about it. We've been through worse situations, and we were fine. Just remember that..." She looked away for a moment, thinking of how to put what she wanted to say. "Well, no matter what happens, I'll always have your back."
Spyro smiled, and gave her a quick nuzzle. "I know, and I'll never forget it. Now, let's go see what's in this place." He began walking down the pathway in front of them.
Cynder sighed, and followed behind him. She feared that she had entered a horrific and painful place that the other Skylanders had called "The Friend Zone"; (They found it particularly funny that it was Cynder - a female - that was in its place, rather than the other way 'round). The whole ordeal they went through during Malefor's reign of terror had really put the feelings of the two dragons to the forefront of their minds - mainly due to the fact that they were more or less bound to each other. During their adventures, Cynder realized that she truly and deeply cared for Spyro, who had done more for her than anyone else in her entire life. Hell, he freed her from the darkness, and personally vouched for her among the other dragons.
When the final battle came between Malefor and them, and Cynder was once more corrupted under his power, Spyro would not fight back. He said that, without her, he had nothing left to fight for. This little statement, one strong enough to bring her back into the light, convinced her that he loved her, and gave her the courage to tell him her feelings at the center of the world. She confessed her feelings, they saved the world, they survived...
... And yet, nothing happened afterwards. Sure, they were summoned to Skylands, they remained close to each other the whole time, and Spyro had been nothing but nice to her. But at the same time, Cynder didn't think that Spyro was acting any differently, still treating her like a very close friend rather than... well, a mate. She began to think that Spyro, in a surprising show of density, hadn't yet connected the dots between them. What if he hadn't heard her down in the core? Or, even worse, what if she had misinterpreted what he had said earlier, and was getting unnecessarily hung over something that wasn't there, like that crazy dragoness Ember?
It seemed that no matter what form, Cynder always had some form of trouble following her around.
They didn't have to go far, when trouble came their way.
With a mighty flap of wings and the smashing of rocks, a behemoth of a dragon landed behind them, growling with arrogant contempt. The two little dragons turned back to the beast, a massive wyvern of black spiny scales and eyes as red as hell.
Spyro cleared his throat, and asked politely - without any trace of fear, as he'd later insist - "Hey there, big guy. What's your name?"
"Nivahriin jorre Dovahs!" The beast snarled, "Zu'u Alduin, zok sahrot do naan ko Lein. Zu'u lost daal, nu daar Lein los dii!"
Spyro blinked, confused. "Uh, sorry dude, I didn't understand any of that. Do you speak a language we can speak?"
The wyvern growled deeply, and stood tall above them. "Contemptible dragon whelps! I am Alduin, the World Eater, God of all Dragons! You do not speak the Dragon Tongue, but the language of the lesser mortals, like treacherous barbarians unworthy of your wings. You have the scent of our kind, but you bear the form of meek hatchlings. I would pity you, if pity was not beneath me. If you are the best warriors that this world can muster against me, then conquering it shall be an easy task."
Cynder snorted. This giant was certainly full of himself, that's for sure. "Big talk coming from someone like you. No offense, 'Al-Dun', but around here you'd be considered a wyvern. And wyverns - even big ones like you - aren't to be taken seriously."
Spyro smiled, and added, "you do realize that we're the dragons that beat Malefor, right?"
Alduin, if he recognized that name, gave no indication of recognition. Instead he gave a massive Shout. "Fus Ro Dah!" A massive blast of wind came from his mouth, which blasted the two little dragons across the pathway.
"Pahlok jorre! Hin kah fen kos bonaar!" The dragon god roared. "Shruikan, Lien, Garble, krii daar jorre! Nust wo ni qiilaan fen kos duaan."
Spyro stood back up, shaking his head. "Okay, seriously, what the heck is that guy saying?"
From the top of the mountain, three more dragons came down beside the dragon god. One was a gigantic black dragon with eyes the color of a glacier, radiating an aura of rage and hate. Another one was as white as snow, with bright red eyes, standing tall and dignified. And another was a little red dragon, only twice Spyro's size, a darkish red and bipedal, looking more like a pissed off teenager than a scary monster.
Spyro looked at these three dragons, and he thought, Alright, this might be a bit tough, but me and Cynder can handle them. But when he looked behind him, his heart sunk.
Cynder had flown right into a boulder, and her shoulder took the brunt of the impact. Her right wing had snapped, and was dangling limply. She was wincing from the pain, and was struggling to get up.
The black dragon - Shurikan, he thought - released a torrent of fire upon the two heroes. "Cynder, get down!" he shouted, leaping on top of her, activating a Fire Shield as the blast came down. Cynder yelped as his claws landed right on the edges of her wing, pulling on it. "Sorry, Cyn."
"Kill these whelps while I summon our forces." Alduin ordered, taking flight. "Prove yourselves, my Dovahs."
Lien stepped forward, shaking her head as the wyvern flew off. "Sometimes I wonder why I chose to leave Napoleon for these peasants."
As soon as the flames began to clear, Cynder gave Spyro a look, a signal the two shared. Spyro nodded. The Celestial dragon approached them, her claws closed into a fist. "Prepare yourselves for death, you-"
Cynder propped herself up on Spyro's side, and released a blast of Spectral Lightning at the albino's face. Lien screeched as her face got cut up.
"Hop on," Spyro told her, "We're getting out of here." The dragoness climbed onto his back, curling her wings as best she could, and Spyro took off. The albino swiped at them, but the purple dragon quickly dodged the massive claws.
The small red dragon flew into their path, grinning hungrily at them. His mouth was opening up like he was going to say something. He didn't get the chance to, as Spyro used a Stun Charge on the dragon's gut, knocking him out of the sky with a crunch.
"Mess with the dragon, you get the horns!" Spyro declared as the dragon landed on the ground, gasping for breath. The red dragon croaked, "First... the ponies... now... these lame... dragons. Frack my life!"
Shurikan flew after the duo, roaring and spewing fire. Lien glared at them, her face now scarred red and black from the lightning. "You wretches are beyond dead. So, beyond, DEAD!" She grabbed Garble off the ground, and quickly followed in pursuit.
Okay, new plan. Spyro thought quickly, flying as fast as he could. I get away from Aldy and the three Dipsticks, get back to Master Eon, get Cynder healed, and bring every single fighter in Skylands to lay a smackdown on these bi-
Before he could finish his thought, the ground beneath them gave way, and a massive dragon - far bigger than any he had seen before - erupted in front of him. It was a bluish-gray in color, with red wings, a huge fat body, and six little eyes on a large squarish head.
"Behold, 'Red Death'," Alduin, resting at the top of the mountain, called to the creature, "here is a world ripe for feeding. Starting with those two!" The monster roared, and came barrelling at them like an avalanche. Spyro ducked and weaved around the behemoth, escaping its cavernous mouth.
Behind him, he could hear the roars of the three dragons, and he knew he was running out of options. He was going to be surrounded on all sides, he had his best friend injured on his back, and he was realizing that he wasn't going to beat these monsters. He needed an out.
It was then that Cynder, out of the corner of her eye, saw a cave on the side of the mountain, one which had a portal pad, beckoning them to use it. "Spyro," She said, pulling on his horn, "Go for that portal over there! Its our only hope!" Spyro nodded, and took a hard turn for the cave. The other dragons, seeing this, roared out their fire, hoping to roast the two little dragons.
Lien merely smiled, and murmured, "Say hello to Temeraire in hell for me." She took a deep breath, and released the Divine Wind - a concentrated blast of air that rivaled that of a sonic boom, and was unique to Celestial dragons alone. The blast of air turned the pillars of fire into a combined inferno - a wave of destruction that burned away everything on the side of the mountain. Spyro went into the cave, the wall of fire following right behind them.
"Spyro," Cynder cried out, the distance between them, the fire and the portal closing in, "there's something I have to tell you. Something very important."
"Hold that thought, Cyn," Spyro shouted back, building up as much speed as he could, "we're going to make it. We're almost there."
"Spyro, please!" She implored, "I need to tell you that I lo-"
WHOOSH! The two dragons made their way to the portal, teleporting out of the cave, just as the wave of fire reached them. They escaped just in time, as the heat of the blast was enough to quickly superheat the device, causing it to shutdown and deactivate...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Spike interrupted, standing up in his seat. "You said the red dragon was named Garble, right?" he asked, looking rather skeptical. "Little taller than you, red, not that scary?" Spyro and Cynder nodded. "I know that guy!" He pointed accusingly. "He hasn't left the Badlands since Twilight, Rainbow and Rarity saved me during the Dragon Migration. There's no way that he could've fought you where you came from!"
"Actually, Spike," Twilight hesitantly pointed out, "there is a way."
"Huh?" Spike cocked an eyebrow, looking rather confused. Many of the other listeners mirrored the same look.
"Spike," Luke explained, "one of the things we learned in Byzantine is that in the multiverse - the entirety of all worlds in existence - there are an infinite amount of possibilities, and an infinite amount of variations of every single person, place or thing."
"Okay," Spike acknowledged, "but what does that-" He stopped, as he thought it through.
"What it means, Spike," Cynder explained, "is that even though the Garble that we fought wasn't the same as the Garble you fought, it was still a Garble."
"Like my duplicates from the Mirror Pool?" Pinkie said.
Twilight, considering that statement, conceded, "Actually, that's a pretty good analogy, Pinkie." Pinkie smiled at the compliment.
"Okay, Dresden," Spyro said, tapping the wizard's shoulders, "Now its your turn."
"Yeah," Lyra asked eagerly, "What's the human world like? Do you guys use magic? Have you guys gone to the moon? Can you actually fly without wings?" She would've asked more questions, but Bon-Bon's glare quickly silenced her.
Harry, taking a swig of cider, looked at everypony in attendance. They were watching him expectantly, wanting to hear an amazing story from the near mythical humans. Lyra was leaning in expectantly, clearly having a field day with this.
"Well, I don't think I can top that," He said dryly, "but I think mine's still cool enough..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Somewhere in the Nevernever
Before the events of Turn Coat
The Nevernever was a strange, ethereal place. It is rumored to contain the locations of Heaven, Hell, Olympus, and a thousand more mythological locations. It is the home of the Faeries and their courts, and is used by the Wizard community to go quickly from place to place. Its certainly not the safest mode of transport, since there's a high abundance of dangerous and violent creatures that inhabit this strange place. But in a world with vampires, demons and warlocks, everything worth doing had a little bit of danger to it.
And Harry Dresden was no stranger to danger.
The Wizard of Chicago walked down the pathway inside the misty, ethereal forest, the only sounds being his footsteps and the tap of his staff on the ground. He had been given a summons by the higher ups of the White Council to attend a War Meeting of sorts - reports had come in that the Red Court was making deals with the Order of the Denarians; both of which were foes that he had extensive time fighting against.
He had come armed, both in magical and technological ways. He had his staff and wand, with which he could focus his energy against an enemy. He wore a pentacle necklace (an inheritance from his mother), which served a dual purpose as a charm and an impromptu lightsource. He had a pair of "power rings", which collected the kinetic energy of him walking, and allowed it to turn into a mighty punch. The duster jacket he wore was enchanted in such a way that it can stop a bullet, and its pockets were filled with various ingredients and trinkets for if he needed to enact a spell or ritual. And when magic wouldn't do the job, his .44 Magnum would certainly do the trick.
He thought himself ready for anything. Turns out Anything is a rather broad term, and he actually wasn't prepared for what was heading his way.
At the moment that would change his life forever, he wasn't thinking about any of the big worries of his life - not the Winter Queen, not Srgt. Murphy, not his apprentice Molly or the Denarian Nicodemus. No, he was actually wondering how he should get back at his "adviser" Bob for raising hell in yet another sorority party. For a disembodied spirit, the guy was one hell of a horndog, giving Harry a constant headache with his shenanigans - hence why most of the time he keeps him locked up inside a human skull in his basement. Sure the guy was a true magical lore repository, and had saved his bacon more time than he could count, but that didn't make him easy to live with. His thoughts were interrupted by a sound he had never quite heard before.
"Did-a-chid?"
The wizard looked up, and saw a crab standing in front of him on the path. It was a particularly large crab, not one that was capable of existing on Earth. Besides the fact that it could apparently talk and was the size of his cat, it simply looked like a typical crab you'd see on a sunny beach. It must've been a Winter Court subject, considering the territory it was in, which made it even stranger, since as far as Dresden knew, "crab monsters" were more of a Summer Court deal.
"Sorry, buddy," The wizard said politely - politeness and tradition were a must when dealing with Fae creatures, "I gotta pass through here. White Council business. We have permission from Queen Mab. So, if you'd be so kind..." He made a dismissive gesture to move aside.
The crab merely stared back dumbly. "Ded-a-chet? Dad-a-chat?" The crab asked again, in a tone reminiscent of a child asking for a cookie. Its display of both intelligence and animal simplicity was starting to worry him; it couldn't talk intelligently, yet it was staying in place like a guard.
Another crab, slightly larger than the first, scrabbled its way across the path, passing rather close to Dresden. "Dad-a-chat? Dud-a-chud?" The crab cried out, as it kept walking past them and pack into the forest. You know what, Dresden thought, There's something familiar about these "talking crabs", like I've read about them before. But where?
The crab in the road quickly followed the other, repeating the same line of questions it had been saying before. In the forest, more and more crabs came out, skittering in a rapid fashion, as if running away from something. After pausing a moment to process the sheer bizarreness of what he just saw, Dresden continued down the path as he had before, but now stood at the ready for any possible attacks.
As he hurried along, he noticed that the air had turned decidedly colder. Granted, it was always rather cold in Winter territory, but Dresden could tell that this was something different. The last time he felt this kind of cold was when he was at Arctis Tor, the stronghold of the Winter Court and home of Queen Mab. But over there, it was snowing the whole time. Now, it was bitterly cold and dry, like a starry night in the Arctic. It had also become even more eerily quiet, with the only sounds in the entire forest being his heartbeat and his own footsteps... scratch that, two sets of footsteps; his, and another one ahead of him.
He turned another corner, the last one before he would reach the designated exit for the Council Headquarters. But in front of that portal was a creature blocking his path. Something he had never quite seen before.
This creature was tall, standing half a foot taller than the wizard. The man - his body shape was definitely male - was a pale, icy white, and was very wrinkled and dried up, like a mummy. His hair was long, white and wispy, and his eyes were an unnaturally deep blue. He held a sword that was half as tall as he was, and made of some kind of crystal or glass.
The man-thing stared at Dresden, and he stared right back. "And what are you supposed to be?" He quipped, "A frozen viking? Perhaps I'm a little behind on D&D and horror flicks, but I don't think zombies are supposed to use swords."
The tall man remained silent, his only response was tossing a round object his way. It rolled down the path, stopping a few feet in front of him.
That object turned out to be a head. The Merlin's head. It had the expression of unspeakable terror, screaming forevermore into the afterlife as drops of blood still oozed from the stump of his neck. It took all of Dresden's control and courage not to puke or run away.
Sure, the Merlin was a bastard to him - Hell, most of the White Council were dicks to him. But the Merlin was his boss, and one of the most powerful wizards alive. Yet somehow this... thing had decapitated him, and had taken his head as a trophy.
The creature spoke a challenge; at least, Dresden thought so. When it spoke, it wasn't in any language he recognized, but sounded like the noises a glacier would make. It raised its sword, and started coming at the wizard.
Dresden aimed his staff at the giant, and snarled, "Forzare!" a shot of wind came out of the tip, and blasted the monster into a tree. The creature lifted himself back to his feet, aimed his sword at the wizard, and said a word in that strange language of his. Ice raced across the ground and up his legs and staff, becoming stuck by the frost.
The white giant came at him again, this time taking his time about it. Dresden quickly summoned his will, and with his wand aimed, shouted, "Fuego!" A blast of fire came out, and covered the ice creature in magical fire. It backpedaled away, flailing its limbs about in pain. The wizard struggled against the ice on his feet and staff, and broke out, landing on his face.
Looking up from the snow, Harry could see many, many more human shapes walking through the forests. they made the air grow even colder, and frost was covering everything.
Okay, He thought, I think now's a good time to get out of here. Exit, stage left.
He got back up, and began creating a spell to open a portal, even as the...White... Walker?... thing, fell on the ground, rolling on the ground in futility. He drew a large circle of chalk on the path, and marked it with certain sigils and energy to activate. The process took time, and the Walkers were getting closer and closer. By the time that he got the portal activated, the first walker was a burned, twitching hunk of flesh, and the rest were a couple of yards away.
Not wasting a moment, he pictured his home in Chicago, giving the portal a destination to send him to. As he did so, one of the ice men used their magic, freezing a tree next to him. The tree began creaking and groaning, as the ice expanded inside. As Dresden went through the portal, a tree branch fell off, landing inside the circle, and distorting the magical energy.
Harry got out of the Nevernever, but he didn't go back to Chicago. In fact, he went as far away from home as he could possibly go. All he could remember after entering the portal was taking a doozy of a step, and falling into what he would call a "Vortex of Insanity"...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You fought White Walkers and lived?!" Celestia exclaimed in disbelief.
"So that is what they're called?" Dresden mused, "Seems appropriate enough."
"Princess, how would you know what a Walker is?" Twilight asked, confused.
"They are very rare, Twilight, but we've seen something akin to them before in this realm." Celestia explained. "You see, back in the days of the Founding of Equestria, even as the Three Tribes united, Wendigos were still a threat to ponykind. They would take many forms - including the ones that Mr. Dresden described - but they always had control over ice and cold. And they always moved in packs."
"I'd say that was more of a horde, personally."
"What I'm curious about," Luna asked, "is why you made a new portal instead of going through the one the Walker guarded?"
Harry thought on this for a moment, biting into a cookie. "Honestly, at the time I figured that more of those things were already in there waiting for me. If they managed to kill the Merlin, it wasn't out of the question that the rest of the White Council had been taken out, too. I wanted to go back home and warn my friends of what was coming." He looked down, his tone now sounding darker. "Clearly, that didn't happen."
Twilight placed a hoof on his arm. "Its okay, Harry." Twilight said comfortingly. "I'm sure your friends could handle some ice zombies."
"Yeah," RD agreed, "its not like they have to deal with decepticons or xenomorphs or whatever."
Dresden chuckled. "I suppose you have a point."
"Pardon, but what is a 'decepticon'?" Luna asked. "Or a 'xenomorph', for that matter?"
"Oh, one's a Transformer, the other's an Alien." Discord answered. Everypony glared at him for interrupting.
"Yep, basically what the Jabberwocky with a snaggletooth said." Dresden retorted. Everyone looked back at him, rather confused. Discord was unsure whether he should be surprised or offended by the human, for comparing him to a creature no one had ever heard of. He certainly had an attitude, that much was certain.
"We'll explain that later," AJ said, turning to the human on her side. "Roland, why don't you go next?"
The gunslinger, who had been rolling himself a cigarette, drew a lighter from his pocket. He lit it up, took a drag, and said, "I ken that's possible. Though my tale is a bit stranger than most." Both Toothless and Skywalker chuckled at that, but said nothing.
"My story has many beginnings, and spans many, many years. But my time on Byzantine, joining our ka-tet; That began some months ago, on the shores of the Great Western Sea..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mid-World(?)
The edge of the Western Sea(?)
The Man in Black went across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed.
For some reason, that phrase repeated in Roland's mind over and over again. It was like a mantra being spoken by a fervent worshipper, but Roland wasn't the one thinking it. Instead, his consciousness was replaying the events of the past week, and his guilt grew with every memory.
He had nearly found love again.
He killed an entire town, including the woman he almost loved, when they fell to a preacher's madness.
He rescued a young boy abandoned at the Waystation.
He fornicated with a goddamn succubus.
He loved the boy - Jake Chambers - like a son.
And yet he still let him fall to his death so he could find the Path to the Tower.
All these things repeated their sights and sounds like one of those fabled "televisions" the Old Ones built, garnering bits and pieces of his attention. What really had his focus was the dream playing out before him.
Roland found himself flying through the air, zooming over a far-reaching field of roses. He was going at breakneck speeds, heading for a massive building that was casting an eternal pillar of shadow. His heart screamed with joy as he realized that it was The Dark Tower; The obsession of his entire adult life, and he was here, if only in a dream.
His body climbed the monolithic structure, and stopped at the balcony on the highest level. The balcony connected to a very dark room, only illuminated by a single red light. Inside was a throne made of bones and skulls, and a creature adorned in a red cloak sat upon it.
"Hey everyone, its the Crimson King!" a voice declared in the darkness.
Both the red-cloaked figure and Roland looked into the darkened room, and saw three figures of light manifested out of the blackness. One was a man wearing a long overcoat and fedora, holding a walking stick; another was a metal-man - a "robot", as some are called - whose face was shaped into that of a skull; the third one was in the form of a large bat, standing on two legs, with long wings/arms and dark gray fur all over and two bright yellow eyes.
"Or would you prefer 'The Lord of Spiders'?" the robot added, pointing to the extra legs protruding from underneath the cloak.
"Ooh, ooh, I say we call him 'Spider-Man'!" the bat spouted out enthusiastically. "Or we could call him 'Gary Oldman at the end of Lost in Space', that might be more apt!"
"Who dares intrude upon my sanctum?!" The Crimson King hissed. As he spoke, Roland somehow knew, somewhere a infant would shudder and die.
"Oh yes, where are our manners?" The human tittered. "I'm The Rogue Learner, Lord of Noir. The robot over there is The Silent Calculation, Master of Robotic Civilizations. And this little guy here is Mezorel. He's only three hours old, but he's got a good head on his shoulders."
"The only movie worse than Equestria Girls is Tommy Weseau's The Room." The bat chirped happily.
"Well said, boy." The robot complimented. "As to why we are here, its official business of The Forum." The robot manifested a holographic document in his hand and held it aloft. Roland couldn't tell if this was some form of magic or high technology, but knew that the stranger must've been powerful to do this trick.
"As specified by The Forum Directive 867-5309, Sub-Act 90210, this particular Dark Tower is to be retrofitted and reconfigured into the personal palace and sanctum of the ASB 'Mezorel', and the entity known as "The Crimson King" shall be forced to vacate, effective immediately."
"And you fools think you can make me leave so easily?" The monster challenged.
"We don't think we can," The human said plainly, "we know we can."
"Can I do it, Rogue?" Mezorel asked. "Pretty please with a cherry on top?" The Lord of Noir considered this for a moment. "You know what? Go ahead, let this be a learning experience for you."
"Mr. King, would you be so kind as to join me by the balcony?"
"No! Who are you to command me?!" The monster demanded.
The bat glared at the cloaked figure, and moved his hand in front of him. "You will join me at the balcony."
"No! Do you know who I am? Do you know what I can do?"
Mezorel narrowed his eyes, and his ears flipped back in frustration. He snapped his fingers and pointed. "Get over there!" He snapped, talking to him like a dog not yet housebroken.
Surprisingly, the Crimson King complied, albeit unwillingly. Roland could see his many limbs shaking as he climbed off the throne, revealing his arachnid form as he walked to the edge. "What are you doing?!" He shouted, "What is this magic?"
"You wouldn't listen to me, so I had to puppetize you over here, which makes me very upset. I was going to give you a present, but since you've been difficult with me, you're going to have to earn it." He pointed to the base of the Tower. "Your present is down there."
The arachnid leaned forward. "What are you talking about? There is nothing down there."
"Look closer. It's down there."
The giant spider creature leaned forward, squinting to see what was at the base of the Tower. The bat stepped back, brought his hands to his side, and grew a ball of energy between them.
"I'm not seeing it, you're leading me on."
"Oh, my mistake. Its actually right here - Hadoken!"
He launched the ball at the helpless spider monster, sending him falling past Roland and down to the ground below. The dethroned king screeched as he fell, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeee.........!", before crashing into the ground below. Roland mused on how easily this "great evil" was defeated, and if his fight would've been as anti-climatic if he had the opportunity to face him.
"Hah, look at that!" The bat declared, "I just off'd a Steven King villain with a Street Fighter move. I am so cool!"
"Don't oversell yourself, kid." The Lord reprimanded, "I once used a pokeball to capture and destroy Khorne after I challenged him to a game of Mortal Kombat. Beating a B-list horror villain isn't that impressive."
"Awwwww." The bat moaned despairingly. He looked up to the space where Roland was - and made eye contact with him. They held each other's gaze for a moment, appraising each other.
"Hey guys, look! Its a cowboy!"
"Huh?" The robot stepped forward, and looked at Roland as well. "Wait, that's not a cowboy, that's that gunslinger guy, Rolando D-Chain. Or something like that."
Roland, realizing that he should say something, addressed the three beings. "I cry your pardon, sai, but what is this? How do you know me?"
"Oh, we know everything there is to know, fair gunslinger." Calculation stepped forward. "We know everything about you, everything you want to know, and everything you don't want to know."
"Perhaps I'm wrong here," The bat pointed out, "but he shouldn't be this close to the Tower yet, at least not in astral form like this."
"That's right." The Lord of Noir concurred, "Someone must've called dibs on him, or perhaps its from a divergent TL."
"What should we do with him?" Mezorel persisted. "Mayhap we tell him the truth about his quest?"
"Which one?" Calculation asked, "That he's been here before, or that he's ultimately redundant?"
Roland couldn't believe what he was hearing. What was he talking about, saying he had been here before, or that he had no purpose? He had been searching his entire adult life for this place, even after his nation, his family and his friends had died, and everything around him has changed as the world moved on. He searched for the Tower because reality was falling apart, and if he didn't get there everything would end. He wasn't redundant, he was a hero... wasn't he?
"Actually," the human said, "I think Enoch and Ishmael are due for another addition. Why don't we send him over to Byzantine?"
"Totally." Mezorel declared, "I wanna see him duke it with the likes of the heavy hitters there. It'll be hella cool!"
"You know what?" The robot acknowledged, "Roland here is an underutilized character. Let's throw him in that melting pot and see what happens."
"Then we are in agreement." Rogue announced rather happily. "Adios, Roland of Gilead. Off to the Mosaic Sphere with you, and give Enoch and Ishmael my regards."
All three pairs of eyes flashed bright white light, and Roland felt himself fall through a long tunnel of shapes and colors that hurt his eyes. "No!" He shouted, angry and defiant, "You can't stop me! I'm sworn!" The last time he would ever see his life-long obsession, the Tower itself began to twist and change as mad, spiteful laughter rang through his ears, and he fell the space between worlds...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To be continued...
Author's Note
Translation of Alduin's speech. "Cowardly mortal dragons. I am Alduin, most mighty of any in the world. I have returned, (and) now this world is mine!" "Arrogant mortals! Your pride will be humbled!" "Shruikan, Lien, Garble, kill the mortals! Those who don't bow will be devoured."
Spyro-Cynder image was made by aacrell. Others are obtained freely from Google Images.
Also, Thank you hauntu4ever for prereading this chapter.
And finally, Happy Halloween, everybody!
Prologue- And the Stars shall bring Them back
Six months.
It had been six long, anxious, sorrowful months since Princess Celestia had heard or seen her Faithful Student, or her two friends. Six months of searching the entire world for the three Elements of Harmony. Six months of trying to console various friends and family members, while her own heart was breaking.
And six months of joining her sister in scanning the night sky, searching for even the slightest glimmer of hope.
Celestia looked up at the moon, and reviewed the facts. Half a year ago, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and Applejack took part in an experimental teleportation ritual, one which had gone horribly wrong. She knew that none of them were dead; if that were the case, the other Bearers would no longer be in touch with their Elements, and the Princess knew this was not the case. But strangely, when she used tracking spells on the missing elements, the signal always pointed to the stars.
The Princess of the Day pondered this. Who was capable of pulling this off? Nightmare Moon was gone, never to return. Discord was fully reformed, and was down in Ponyville consoling the remaining Element-Bearers. Chrysalis had been rebuilding her people at the time (before coming to Canterlot to make peace), and Sombra had yet to remanifest himself. Outside of those enemies, nopony was powerful enough to banish them.
She wandered about the Royal Gardens, trying to clear her head. As much as it pained her to be without Twilight, wallowing in her sadness would not bring her back. Only action through understanding had any hope to save the Element-Bearers. She paid no attention to her path, as she remained deep in thought. When she snapped out of it, she had reached the top of a small hill, where her sister was staring intently at a patch of night sky. The same patch of sky the signal pointed to.
"Something troubling you, my sister?" Celestia asked, placing herself next to Luna.
"I sense something, Tia." Luna answered, never moving her eyes from that spot. "Can't you feel it?"
Celestia blinked, and opened her senses. Yes, there was something out there. Something primal, focused, and utterly unknown to her.
"Yes, Luna." She replied. "That's odd. How long have you been aware of it?"
"As long as I've been able to see that star." Luna pointed to the sky. In the distance, a bright star -glowing blue and red and green- that was glowing brighter than the Moon, and was growing in size by the second. They realized it wasn't a star... it was a meteor.
And it was heading right for them.
The Royal Sisters quickly summoned their power and focused on the ball of energy. In their long lives, they had seen the power released from an impact upon Equestria. If the crater happened to be on or near a city, it was considered lucky if there were even two bricks standing on top of each other. If it landed, the alicorns may survive, but all of Canterlot would most certainly not.
Using the telekinesis that could move heavenly bodies, the Sisters wrapped the orb in their energy, and pushed back. They strained under it- the thing was booking it, moving faster than a cannonball in flight. Still the Diarchs pushed back, unwilling to let countless innocent ponies die.
Across the Kingdom, ponies everywhere could see the glowing meteor, now on a collision course with the castle city. Celestia and Luna dug their hooves into the dirt, sweat dripping off them, faces contorted with exertion. But still, they pushed back.
Indeed, the object seem to slow down by quite a degree, the pulses slowing down in their timing. Interestingly enough, the meteor was now beginning to make a sound. Not the roar of a space object, as would've been expected. No, it gave a pulsating, whirring sound, like a giant generator slowing down its spin. Ponies could even judge the size of the object, which was around the size of a carriage.
Before it made impact, the Sisters gave one final push, slowing it down enough to crash softly into the dirt below them. They saw the meteor, in fact, was not a meteor- but was, in fact, a magical shield, still pulsing with its various energies. Celestia could see that there were individuals inside of it. She began approaching it, walking cautiously as the outer shell dissipated.
Inside the inner shell- which was mostly see through- were nine distinct individuals. Three of them were dragons, although much smaller than ones known locally in Equestria. Another group of three were tall and bipedal, resembling a race of mythic creatures known as "humans". While there hadn't been a human living in Equestria for some five thousand years, Celestia knew enough of the old legends to know what a human looked like. And the last three... the last three were definitely ponies; a unicorn, a pegasus and an Earth pony. And each of them were wearing armor of some shape or form.
The shield disintegrated, showing that two of the "humans" and the unicorn were generating a combined shield, while the dragons covered everyone with their wings. They were huddled up, eyes shut from the journey. Then the unicorn- who was wearing a strange helmet with a metallic visor- looked up at the alicorn, and lowered her shield. Feeling the change in energy, the others opened their eyes, lowering their shields and retracting their wings.
The humans and dragons looked around, obviously trying to identify where they had landed. But the ponies looked straight at Celestia. The unicorn lifted her visor, revealing a purple coat, purple and red mane, and purple eyes filled with curiosity, determination... and tearful joy.
"Princess," Twilight Sparkle murmured, her voice full of hope and relief, "Is it really you?"
Celestia's lip trembled, as she said, "Yes, my dear Twilight. You're back home."
Tears ran down both their faces as they stepped forward and hugged. The pegasus and Earth pony, realizing the truth before them, took off their helmets, revealing the faces of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Rainbow leapt up into the air, doing a flip and shouting, "Yeah-ha-ha! We are BACK, baby!" AJ reared up and declared, "Yeee-Haaa! We did it! We're finally home!"
Luna had come down the hill, and was promptly given a group hug from the celebrating ponies. Neither of them really knew the Princess, but were happy to see a familiar face. While the ponies were hugging and bonding, the other six talked amongst themselves.
"So that's it, then?" The oldest human said, his hands resting on the two ancient revolvers on his belt. "Its done. Our Ka-Tet has come out of this alive, and say thankya."
"We sure did." One of the dragons sighed, his scales colored purple and gold. "Its almost a shame, though. I was hoping we were going back to Skylands."
"Its okay, love." Another dragon soothed, this one definitely female. She rested a black and red wing on the purple one's back. "Enoch said that we would all be sent to the homeworld that needed us most. Clearly, Equestria needed us more."
"Its certainly a peaceful world here." Another human put in, this one wearing tattered robes and battered armor. A metallic stick hung loosely from his waist. "You can feel it. I haven't felt this much energy since I was on Dagobah."
"We better watch what we say around those Princesses." The last human warned, wearing a torn-up duster and pentacle necklace. He still had a shield bracelet, some power rings and a wand, and his pockets still had all kinds of ingredients for spells and rituals. "They're at least as powerful as the Faerie Queens, maybe a little more."
"I doubt they would do anything to us, considering how many times we saved the mare's lives." The largest dragon disagreed, speaking through a voice collar on his neck. He was completely black, and was large enough for two humans or a pony to ride. "All the same, we should play it cool while the girls introduce us."
At this point, the ponies finished hugging, and the Princesses finally recognized that there were other people that came along with their subjects. "Twilight," Celestia asked, "Who are your friends here?"
Twilight looked back, and had realized that her comrades had been standing around awkwardly. "Oh, of course Princess." She said. "Guys, this is Princess Celestia. And over there is Princess Luna. You know, my teachers." The humans and dragons made sounds of understanding, and gave the alicorns a mixture of bows and half salutes.
Rainbow Dash flew back, now hovering over the group. "And Princess, let me introduce you to our friends." She pointed to each of them, and continued, "This is Roland Deschain of Mid-World, Spyro and Cynder of Skylands, Luke Skywalker of Tatooine, Harry Dresden of Earth, and Toothless of Midgard. They are the coolest dudes I've met outside of Ponyville, and they have saved our lives more times than I can count."
"Which, admittedly, isn't very high." The one called Dresden quipped.
"Whatever, whizzerd. I saved your flank loads of times, too."
"Regardless," Celestia stated, "It is absolutely wonderful to have you three back. And my thanks go out to you, fellow travelers, for bringing them back home. I am sure that you all have an amazing story to tell, one that everyone would love to hear."
"We sure do, Princess." AJ told her. "Thing is, we've all had a mighty long journey, and ah think ah can speak for everyone on how tired we are, so..."
"Oh, of course. It is rather late." Celestia turned back to the castle, her wing now resting on Twilight's back. "Let's all get inside. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."
Following Celestia's lead, the motley group of ponies, dragons and humans began making their way over the hill. Luna looked at the faces of the other travelers, and was rather surprised at how all of them seemed to hold equal parts of relief and disappointment...
The travelers were given multiple royal suites to rest for the night. However, much to Celestia's surprise, they had all insisted on staying in the same room. It was a habit they had picked up while they were gone, Twilight explained, for as she put it, "Sleeping alone is often a good way to get yourself killed." Celestia relented, and allowed all nine of them to stay in Twilight's old tower.
While there was only one bed- which Twilight automatically claimed- everyone found a place to crash that suited them. Sofas, the floor, even Toothless himself provided some semblance of comfort. But they were not heading for sleep just yet; the ponies felt that they had a few issues to clear up, before they all went to Ponyville.
"Guys," Twilight started, albeit a bit hesitantly, "I know that you all are disappointed for not going back to your homes." No one said anything, nor did they give any indication of how they felt, outside of idle shifting.
Twilight rubbed her hoof nervously. "I know I also speak for Dash and AJ on how bad we feel for depriving you the chance to-"
"Stop right there, Twilight." Luke raised his hand. He shifted on the couch, facing both her and Applejack. "Don't undermine everything we've worked for by saying it wasn't worth it."
"But was it worth it, sugar cube?" AJ retorted. "After all that ya'll have told us about your homes, after seeing the things we've seen, how can we say that our world needed us more than any of you? How is that fair?"
"Maybe it isn't," Dresden pointed out, reclining next to Spyro and Cynder, "But that's just the way it is. I can't control it, you can't control it, none of us can. All we can do is make the best of it."
"Well, maybe we can do something." Dash countered, resting on Toothless's back. "Twilight, maybe we can talk to Celestia, and do some kind of spell-"
"Save it, my friend." Cynder interrupted. "You shouldn't make promises we know you can't keep. We all knew that the odds of going back home were slim to none. This may not be our home, but out of all the places we could've gone to, your world is the best place we could've ended up on. We all have friends or family we've left behind, but as long as we're together, we can get through anything."
The ponies smiled at this, as did the humans. However, Toothless had to say, "Still, if you wish to help us, it would be nice if you could put in a good word for us to the locals. They may not be as understanding as your leaders."
The ponies nodded in agreement, and together they finally fell asleep...
The following morning, the weary travelers, along with the Princesses and their guards, went aboard multiple chariots, and went down to the picturesque town of Ponyville. While Celestia and Luna had hoped to keep their arrival a surprise, this, however, was not to be.
Word travels fast, especially when it comes to prodigal ponies. A messenger had seen the Ponyvillains and their associates, and had raced off to the tiny town. When she got there, Pinkie Pie was already waiting for her- the Pinkie Sense telling her something really important was going to happen. As soon as the messenger told her, the party pony let out such a gasp that everyone in town heard her. Bringing the begotten pegasus with her, Pinkie Pie went to spread the good news to everypony.
And I do mean everypony; all the ponies and creatures the Mane Six had interacted with was in town, from old friends (like Gilda and Trixie), to great ex-enemies (like Discord and Chrysalis). The town was having a memorial service for their lost heroes, as most of Equestria believed them to be dead. As such, many people came to Ponyville to honor them, some for respect, some for forgiveness. Relatives from all across Equestria had come, from the Apples of Appleoosa and Manehattan, to the Prince and Princess of the Crystal Empire.
All were in various stages of grief as Pinkie Pie and the messenger broke into the Library.
"Guys! Guys!" She shouted, practically bouncing off the walls. "You won't believe what I just found out!"
Everyone looked up, either teary-eyed or sullen. "Can this wait, darling?" Rarity told her, forehoof wrapped around a silently-crying Fluttershy. "We're not all in the best of states, right now."
"No, no," Pinkie insisted, "Its good news, I promise!" She nudged the messenger, encouraging the blonde-maned mare to speak up. The messenger mare sighed, and said, "Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack are back."
There were gasps all around, and cheers from the youngest fillies and dragon. "I always knew Twilight would get everypony back!" Spike declared, sharing a hug with Scootaloo and Applebloom. "I mean, they're the best ponies ever!"
Discord was stroking his scraggly goatee, pondering. "Tell me, Ms. Hooves," He asked the messenger, " Was their arrival what caused the magic meteor last night?"
"Yep. Not only that, but I was told that six other people came with them. Three dragons, and three... um... Lyra, what are those creatures you obsess about?"
"Humans?" The mint-green mare answered from the back.
"That's it. Three of those came along, too."
The ex-mourners murmured amongst themselves, while Lyra tried her best to contain her fangirl squeeing. Humans weren't supposed to be real- or at least, not any more. The fact that three came along with the prodigal ponies just made things all the more interesting.
"When are they supposed to come back?" Cadence asked, eager to see her sister-in-law again.
"They're supposed to be here in a few hours. "
"Then what're we waiting for?!" Pinkie exclaimed. "We've got a welcome home party to throw them! Let's go, go, go!"
With that, everypony inside went about eagerly decorating and preparing for the big arrival. The town was adorned in images of clouds and apples and magical stuff, in rainbows and purples and oranges. There were cakes and pies and muffins baked, streamers and musicians and party cannons gathered up in town hall. The town was preparing itself to host the biggest "Welcome Home" party in the history of Equestria, as Pinkie Pie had decreed it.
At high noon, four chariots descended upon town square. The ponies looked around themselves, breathing in the familiar air as they disembarked. The dragons and humans, on the other hand, appraised the town with caution and curiosity.
"Hells bells," Dresden commented, "This is just how I expected the place to look- more colorful and happy than Munchkin Land."
"Its not that bad." Toothless replied. "It reminds me of Berk in some ways, only without the sea."
"Where is everyone, anyway?" Spyro asked. The streets were deserted, with not a single pony in sight- truly strange, considering how big Ponyville was.
"Pinkie Pie probably has them all inside town hall for a party." Rainbow Dash pointed out. "You can tell by all the streamers and banners everywhere."
"They were preparing to hold a memorial for you." Celestia said. "Someone must've told everypony that you were back, and Pinkie adjusted accordingly."
"Well what're we waitin' for?" AJ declared, "Let's go see 'em!" The group began moving, but then Luna cut in front of them.
"Stop!" She ordered. "Before you go in there, you should know a little about what you missed back here."
"Like what?" AJ asked.
"Do you remember back before you left, when Fluttershy had reformed Discord?"
"Let me guess," Rainbow grunted, "Discord turned back to evil, and all of his victims are stuck in there?"
"Actually," Celestia explained, "Discord is still well behaved, and in fact is with Chrysalis inside, along with Cadence and your brother."
The three mares looked at her like she was crazy. "Chrysalis?" Twilight said, skeptical to the extreme. "The Changeling Queen? The same bitch who pretended to be my babysitter, and orchestrated the most successful invasion of Equestria in 1300 years? You let her here?!"
"Twilight!" Celestia gasped. "You... Did you just swear? Rainbow or Applejack, I could see, but you?"
"We may have had something to do with that." Dresden admitted, with the dragons snickering until Roland gave them a look. Celestia gave the strangers a glare, and they returned it. Even before their adventures together, these heroes weren't the type to be intimidated.
Twilight frowned. "Princess, I'm sor- No, I'm not sorry." She replied to her teacher. "You can't expect us to just come back and just be okay with a bombshell like that."
"We aren't," Luna countered, "You didn't let us finish. After you three left, Chrysalis came to us asking for forgiveness. Her people had been decimated by the Invasion, and were in desperate need of aid. While we were suspicious of her change of heart, Fluttershy and Discord volunteered to keep watch of her, while the changelings have been allowed back into Equestria. On the condition that changelings give up their ability to shapeshift, they are now full members of our society."
"We understand your concern, Twilight," Celestia soothed, placing a hoof on her armored shoulder, "But you can trust us when we say you have nothing to fear." Mentally, she was reeling from this turn of events. Not only had her favorite student cursed, she used an angry tone on her. She had been like a mother to her, and had always known the mare as being sweet and polite. But now? She was hardly like the sweet young mare she knew not so long ago. What happened to her?
Twilight tried to smile at her teacher's reassurances, but she could only bring up a forced smile. Rainbow and AJ, however, were still scowling. "Anything else we need to know," Rainbow asked, "Before we go in there?"
"Gilda, Trixie and Lightning Dust are in there," Luna told her, "Along with the Wonderbolts and your families. You shouldn't keep them waiting."
Taking a hint, the three mares went inside, while the humans and dragons waited with the Princesses. As they went in, Luke turned to Celestia and said, "Thanks for that heads-up. It would've ended badly for everyone otherwise."
"How so?" She raised an eyebrow.
"We would've killed her eight ways to sunday." Spyro told her. "Quickly, efficiently, bloodlessly. And giving the worst first impression ever."
Luna stared at them in disbelief. "Your kidding, right?"
"Not even a teeny tiny bit."
The prodigal ponies entered the hall, and were greeted by the loudest cheers they had ever heard. So many streamers and ponies jumped out together that the mares could hardly tell who was who. The partiers moved to them, but a pink pony got to them way before anyone else.
"Guys," Pinkie Pie gasped, her voice caught in her throat, her eyes getting misty, "Is... is it, I mean... you're all here? You came back?" She looked them up and down, finding the armor they still wore to be a bit strange.
"Pinkie," Dash murmured, her voice so emotional she could hardly speak, "Is it really you?"
"Well duh, silly," She told her, a tear running down her cheek, "Who else could make a surprise 'Welcome Home' party worthy of the three greatest mares I've ever known?"
The pegasus wrapped her hooves around her earth pony friend, and cried. "Oh, Pinkie," She sobbed, not bothering to hide her emotions, "I've missed you so much."
Pinkie, caught off-guard for a moment, returned the hug in kind, crying as well. "I've missed you too, Dashie." As they held each other, they were joined by Scootaloo, Fluttershy, Derpy, and all the fliers that Dash had been friends with.
Applejack and Twilight were likewise embraced in grouphugs by their families, overjoyed that after months of believing their daughters were dead. Little siblings, older brothers, matriarchs- all were joyful and teary-eyed in the moment.
"Goodness, darlings," Rarity declared, making her way to the trio, "Its just wonderful to see you again. But I just have to ask- Where were you girls? And where did you get that armor? It looks positively stunning."
Indeed, each of the mares was wearing a heavily metallic armor, with an assortment of saddlebags and pockets. The armor color was shaded to each of their coats- orange, cyan and purple. For some reason, the armor around AJ's hindlegs and RD's wings appeared more intricate, more mechanical in nature, but that could've been for any number of reasons.
"Oh," Rainbow chuckled, "If you think that's cool, check this out." Standing proud, her armor quickly started changing color rapidly, from blue to red to green to a myriad of other colors. The ponies- especially awe-struck Scootaloo- made sounds of amazement, as the athletic pegasus used her armor to turn into an actual rainbow.
"To answer your question, Rarity," Twilight interrupted, putting a hoof on her friend's shoulder, "Let me bring in some very special individuals; friends that we met along the way."
Applejack tapped on the door three times, hard enough for their compatriots and the Princesses to hear. Taking it as their cue, the group made their way to the door, and entered in a suitably dramatic fashion. In came three men- adorned in black armor and dark-colored robes- and three dragons- wearing various styles of plate armor- walking in with an air of confidence and determination. They were followed by the Princesses, who watched the newcomers with a keen eye and caution.
Needless to say, the sight was rather badass.
The two groups stared at each other- humans and dragons vs. ponies and others- with both the Princesses and the three mares watching them carefully. Before things got too tense, Twilight cleared her throat, and said, "Guys, remember- play nice." Roland shrugged, Toothless nodded, and everyone else smiled. The three mares gave introductions all around, genuinely surprised how many ponies and other creatures showed up.
"So, ladies and gentlemen," Discord spoke up, sitting on a freshly manifested cloud, "I think I speak for everyone here when I ask, 'Where the bloody Tartarus have you been?'"
The travelers looked at each other, and then Applejack said, "Gather up some tables and chairs, then. Its a good thing everypony is here, and that y'all have plenty o' snacks, 'cause our palaver is one that'll go on for a good long time."
"Applejack, what's a pal-ladder?" Applebloom asked. The others began moving tables and chairs together, taking positions all around.
"A palaver," Roland explained, pulling a cigarette out of a pouch, as the Earth Pony pulled her sister onto a nearby chair, "Is a special kind of story. The kind that tells of things in our past, ordeals we've beaten, horrors we've seen. And its also the kind of story that can only be told once."
"So gather round, boys and girls," Dresden finished "'Cause this is a story about a place far, far away. Farther than anything you can imagine. And its about a little piece of madness called Byzantine..."
Author's Note
Yes folks, this is indeed a story involving ponies, a Jedi, a wizard, a gunslinger, and dragons. Even I admit it sounds loco. But sometimes, the craziest stuff makes the best stuff.
I look forward to your thoughts, O readers of fimfiction. Adventure awaits!
