Dimensional Chronicles

Help in the Storm.
Twelve days ago
Princess Luna had arrived in Ponyville with a troop of nightguard unicorns to teleport the populous to Canterlot. The Elements of Harmony had been easy to gather up as their first instinct had been to gather together and they had followed it, Lyra on the other hand had been a rather violent find, the Doctor had yet to appear, Krika was by all medical terms dead and there were still hundreds unaccounted for. The display of brutality had been repeated across the entirety of Equestria only for the perpetrators to disappear. All in all this was shaping up to be the worst day in a thousand years.

“Princess Luna.” An unexpected voice came from behind her, it was Makuta Vamprah.
“You may speak.”
“At the risk of sounding callous, Krika’s Kanohi Crast may be able to keep the invaders away from Canterlot when they decide to show themselves again.”
“You suggest that we raid your brother’s body.”
“Are there any magics that may be able to do the same thing?”
“No.”
“The Crast seems to become exponentially more powerful when magic is used under its own power. He was able to use it to take a filly back from death, keeping these creatures out should be child’s play for it. At least for two weeks.”
“Fine.”
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Gavla was kicking the furnaces into overdrive forgetting even to be cruel to Blueblood, instead just barking orders at him.
“Compass, Now!” Blueblood worried by her single mindedness had been simply doing whatever he was told. Thanks to his cooperation and Gavla’s frenzied activity she had been pumping out hundreds of sets of armor and claws.

“Hey Blueblood, do you think the guards would agree to wearing this?” She held up blueprints that depicted a set of metal jaws.
“No.”
“Bummer.” She tore the paper in half and got back to work, using her magic to continue work on expanding the armory and using her mind to come up with more effective tools. “Genius!” She exclaimed. “Now that’ll give ‘em a run for their money.” She set the new weapon into production

“Miss Gavla, what exactly are you doing?”
“Getting ready for the war.” She sent a cylinder of metal into a separate chamber to test it. “You think I’m letting you morons go down without a fight?” The sound of flying metal came from the room Gavla had sent the cylinder into. “Good it works.” She put the device into mass production.

“But what about the Elements of Harmony or the Princesses, surely they could-”
“If you think this is like anything else your feeble little race has ever faced before, you’d be sadly mistaken. I know this tactic, it was popular among the Skakdi. First you take out a considerable portion of the populous then when the survivors are good and terrified of you, you make your demands. I for one have never been a fan of Skakdi so I’m not planning on letting your ‘aunts’ surrender.” She set back to work with a vigor that made Twilight Sparkle look like a slacker. “Go get me the captains of the guards, it's time for some heavy duty training.” Blueblood left her quickly and she inwardly cursed, she forgot to insult him.
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Lyra was sitting on a balcony at one of the higher points of the castle looking out on the smoking ruin that was the rest of Equestria.
“Lyra.” She turned and standing in the doorway was Princess Celestia. Normally she would have bowed or something along those lines, instead she just stared at her coldly.
“What do you want?”
“I’m sorry about Bon Bon.”
“You’ve been telling others the same about their loved ones all day.”
“True but I mean it every time.” Celestia sighed. “Which makes what I’m about to ask you all the more difficult. Luna and I have found a way to buy two weeks time; we were hoping that you could lead a team to find allies from your travels as Luna’s agent.” Lyra responded to this, lifting her head from a half bowed mourning position. Yes old allies from her multiverse travels would be able to show these invaders who ruled here.
“I’ll do it.”
“Good, then I need you to get my student and her friends. Then report to the throne room”

“Now Sweetie Belle it’s alright.” Rarity was consoling her sister over Krika’s death. “He died a way he always wanted to, protecting somepony else.”
“But it’s not fair! Why did anypony have to die?”
“I don’t know.” She hugged the sobbing filly closer.
“Miss Rarity.” She looked up and standing in front of her was Lyra. “The princesses need to see you.”

Apple Bloom was in what could best be described as shock, she hadn’t said a word since she had been rescued from the schoolhouse and she had an almost dead look to her eyes. Applejack had been sticking close to her to make sure she didn’t do anything stupid, this hardly seemed necessary as she seemed content to simply pace back and forth in the room they had been given.
“Apple Bloom?” No response. “Lil’ sis’?” She looked up slightly. “You alright?” Apple Bloom exploded.
“Alright? Are ya’ll plumb crazy? Mah home is gone, I saw one of my friends get ‘is head blown ta bits, that’s right clean off and Ah’m probably gonna be dead in the month! No Ah’m not alright!” She panted heavily.
“Feel better?”
“Actually…” She paused “Yes, yes Ah do.”
“Miss Applejack.” She turned around; in the doorway were Rarity and Lyra.

Rainbow Dash was flitting around the ceiling of her room restlessly, for once in her life she didn’t know what she wanted to do. Even during the Best Young Flyer incident she had known what she wanted to do just not how. Now she didn’t know anything, her ambitions were sent packing by the carnage she had witnessed; she was aimless like a balloon taken by the wind. The door to her room opened and in stepped Lyra. Oh well. She thought. Let’s see where this takes me.

Fluttershy was holding up surprisingly well. As an animal caretaker she had seen her share of carnage, although never directed at her own kind. So she just sat with Angel unsure as of what to do; she felt something rising from the back of her mind, some forgotten portion of herself and she suppressed it.
“Oh Angel, what do you think I should do?” He took his carrot out of his mouth and brandished it like a sword. “But I don’t know the first thing about fighting. So I should learn?” He nodded. Just then the door opened.

Pinkie Pie was having trouble keeping her already questionable sanity from shattering entirely.
“Now you see what I was talking about.”
“No, shut up.”
“They weren’t there to help the Cake’s; they won’t be there when you need them either. And you ran, I can’t believe you ran.” The voice cackled.
“Shut up!” She clamped her hooves over her ears as if that would keep out the voice from her own mind.
“Coward, coward, coward, coward!” It chanted in her head drowning out her surroundings and infiltrating every part of her.
“SHUT UP!” She screamed and the voice finally went quiet
“Fine but only I’ll be there when you need somepony.” Pinkie was relieved that the voice had given up on its attack, for now at least. She decided to see if Twilight might know something about how to get rid of it. Opening the door she was stopped short by Lyra.

Incidentally Twilight happened to be going to see Vamprah and Gavla. She opened the impressive double doors to be greeted by Gavla’s scathing voice.
“Well that was fast, hanging out were they?” She turned around. “Oh, it’s only you. I actually just sent Blueblood out looking for the guard captains.” Twilight briefly wondered why but decided that it could wait.
“I’m here to see Vamprah.”
“Alright, hey big guy Twilight’s here for you.” Vamprah swooped out from the shadows on the ceiling landing directly in front of Twilight.
“Yes.”
“I need you to bite me.”
“Excuse me?”
“I need you to make me more powerful.”
“Why?”
“Why? So I can help defend my race, that’s why!”
“Are you sure?”
“I am asking for nothing more than the power to protect the things I love, why are you making this so difficult?”
“Because you won’t want to go back.”
“I am wholly aware of the risk involved and am willing to accept it.” Vamprah looked back at Gavla who nodded.
“Fine.” Twilight tilted her chin up and Vamprah bit down, immediately he felt something was wrong it felt less like he was draining her and more like he was forcing something in. He tried to let go but found his jaws stuck in a death grip making it so the only way to get away would be to take her windpipe with. “Gavla, something’s wrong!” He said around his teeth.
“Thank you Vamprah.” A growling male voice said in his mind and he was thrown back with force enough to crack the wall he landed on. Through Gavla’s eyes he was able to see what became of Twilight. Swaths of darkness began to swirl around her body, her eyes had become black soulless orbs as the unleashed powers lifted her off the floor of the chamber her eyes turned a luminescent ice blue and she screamed. The sound was a cross between a shriek of pain and a cry of triumph, an all too familiar mask began to piece itself together over her face, the Kanohi Kraahkan, the mask of shadows. “Teridax.” Vamprah breathed in horror. Twilight screamed again and again gaining intensity with each shriek. The mask wasn’t fully formed meaning the process could hopefully be averted; Vamprah quickly prayed that the same rules applied to this as to shadow leeches and let out the curing screech which squared its hit directly to the half formed mask which blew into dust. The air froze and Twilight hung in the air, mouth open in a silenced scream, the shadows around her fell and she hit the floor with a thud.
Vamprah stood against the wall for a moment before carefully walking up to her unmoving form, her eyes snapped open flashing the chilling blue before fading back to their usual amethyst. Vamprah heaved a sigh of relief.
“Wh-what happened?”
“I cannot help you.” He said coldly.
“What!” She forced herself to her hooves weakly. “What do you mean you can’t help me? I came in here and begged you jerk!”
“You’re immune.”
“Huh?”
“You can’t be changed, trying only hurts me.” His excuse seemed to stir some memory in Twilight that backed it up.
“Oh… sorry.” Gavla climbed up onto his back.
“You planning on telling her the real reason?”
“Not until this is over. She has enough to worry about.” Just then the doors opened letting in Blueblood and the six guard captains.
"Ah my comrades in arms; Twilight you are excused, I hear the princess is looking for you in the throne room."
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“Alright, let’s get down to business.” Luna said upon their entrance. “I’m going to guess that only Lyra knows why you’ve all been summoned, so I’m going to let her explain. Lyra this is your team, explain the mission.”

“Yes ma’am. Three years ago as you know I spent time dimension hopping for Princess Luna. While out there I managed to earn a few favors from the dimensions I visited, we’re being sent to collect on those favors and see if we can gain new allies to help in the fight against the invaders. Which is why I brought these." She levitated six small daggers out of her saddlebags. "These will be our first allies but only if you unsheathe them once we get to our first stop. We'll be headed to the same dimension that Kenpachi was from. I earned a favor from a rather powerful figure known as Kisuke Urahara, so we should be able to get at least four allies from there. After that were just going to be hopping around looking to make friends in high places. Spike is going to be staying here as our link back home. Twilight I need you to get your owl, he's coming with us. Pinkie I'm going to need your alligator." Gummy popped out from her mane. "Good." She turned back to Luna.

"Twilight's owl is actually right behind her." They turned around and sure enough Owlowiscious swooped down to land on Twilight's back. "Now we need to get you through immediately, we don't know when the invaders will be back, Celestia and I will also be out of commission for the next two weeks which is also the amount of time you will have for this mission. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Lyra saluted.
"Good." Glyphs started to glow on the walls as power flowed from Luna into the room. "I can only set you on course to your first destination, after that your on your own." A large glyph shaped like a spiral shell opened up beneath Lyra and the others. "Good luck, and may the prayers of your race protect you." The glyph seemed to pop out of the floor and they were gone.
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The sound of grinding metal filled the courtyard, refugees and nobles alike stopped whatever they were doing to stare as the tardis materialized in the middle. The door was flung open and a pink mare with a dark purple mane came rushing out trailed by a small grey filly.

"Doctor!" Cheerilee ran into the tardis to find him pleading with the controls.
"Please, please, just this once let me save her, I'll do anything please!" He pounded on the control panel and a hominid figure appeared behind him, projected from the ceiling.
"You are attempting to change a fixed point, something that you expressly forbid this ship to allow. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
"Shut up!" He yelled at it before crumpling to the floor in a sobbing heap.

A strange sensation briefly passed over those inhabiting the city before a great dome appeared over Canterlot repelling even the clouds.

It took Cheerilee a few minutes to calm the Doctor down enough to move.
"Doctor, are you going to be alright?" He looked up, a grim look in place of the normal manic vigor.
"I'll be fine; that version of me always was best at breaking bad news." He sluggishly dragged himself out of the tardis. "I'm always alright." He muttered to himself.

"Well this is impressive." A massive voice propelled itself over the city causing the Doctor to lift his head. "I set the dogs on you once and you've already gone into siege mode." He quickly pinpointed the source of the voice and ran towards the south. The voice remained silent until he reached the edge of the dome where he found the smoking remains of everything from bombs to tanks. "Finally, it really is hard to get you people's attention."
"Who are you." The Doctor growled.
"Who am I?" A hominid figure taller than the others with a fair face, no hair to speak of and almost glowing blue eyes stepped through the rubble. He was wearing a white suit and pants with a pair of black dress shoes, hardly the kind of dress one would expect for a general. "Who are you? I thought I ordered your kind wiped out." He turned back to look past the rubble. "Boys you missed one, I'll have you all strung up for this."
"I am the Doctor and I will be the one addressing you."
"The Doctor! Oh how I've waited for this day, I'm pitting my forces against The Doctor." The man rolled his eyes at him. "I on the other hand have a real name. I am Kal and I have my demands ready." Kal pulled a small list out of his coat pocket. "I will spare the remaining inhabitants of this world on the conditions that you simply submit to me and enlist in my army, where you will help me commit similar 'atrocities' throughout other dimensions. How do you respond?"

"Not happening." The Doctor snapped at him.
"Very well I'll get the uni- WHAT?" Kal's sophisticated demeanor dissolved like sugar in warm water. "You dare defy me? I'll tear this barrier down and slaughter you all."
"It's been a long time since this tactic hasn't worked hasn't it? These creatures are too peaceful to join any army that would do this." Kal smoothed his nonexistent hair.
"I will admit it's been a few decades, then again the last time I used this tactic it was against the Carrion race and they make the best shock troops you've ever seen. I don't think I've ever seen a race stubborn enough to deny me after I've wiped out this much of their population. Well that's not true; my own race refused to be concurred down to the last child so you know what I did, I wiped them out." A small smile crept its way across his face. "I still remember their children's screams, ah good memories." The Doctor stared open-mouthed at him wondering how psychopaths like this got started in the first place.
"You are disturbed."
"And loving it. I hope you know that I will be hammering this place nonstop until your shield gives in. Then I'm going to personally lead the attack, I'll remember how you scream." The depraved man turned on his heels and marched back to his army.

End of chapter 9

(I know it's not as good as the last four but it's simply a bridge to the next chpaters. I promise they will be better)