~~~~The Back Rooms~~~~
Dash didn’t know where she was going or why she was going there. She needed some air, but she had no idea where the way out might be. So she just kept moving, blindly climbing staircase after staircase in the hopes that she’d run out of building sooner than later. Up and up through the club she went, passing surprised faces in a blur of speed. Her chest started to hurt, lungs heaving as the world tunneled in, almost like she was flying too high.
It wasn’t until she came upon a barely-latched ceiling hatch that relief came. Slamming through it without so much as a thought, she burst into the cool night air of Manehatten, the sweet scent of the fresh breeze instantly banishing her anxiety. Unfortunately it did nothing for her body, which collapsed to the strange, flat roof, shuddering with deep and desperate breaths. An effort to speak just left her coughing and hacking.
Deciding it best to do as little as possible, Dash flopped to the ground, turning over to stare at the glittering lights overhead. The night sky seemed strangely starless, save for the very brightest points of light. But the city itself had replaced the distant stars with closer ones, shimmering off buildings and the skies high above them, where the cloud-dwellings of the pegasi were undoubtedly hovering out of sight.
Her mind was swimming with images from a life that was hers, and not hers. She couldn’t sort them out either, just kinda shove them into the back of her brain along with all the other ‘bad’ memories she’d often had to deal with. She drew in one deep, purposeful breath after another. Twilight had taught her that weird stress thing Cadence did, but it never seemed to help, so instead she did what she knew worked, just taking lots of big breaths.
Before she could really think about it, her heart was beating normally again. Her hooves weren’t shaking either, which meant whatever had caused this particular spell had passed. “Dash? Are you up here?” Twilight’s voice drifted across the roof, and her head poked up from the thrown open hatch.
“Here, Twi.” She raised up her hoof to wave a little then flopped it back down to the hard roof. Was this slate? It felt like slate. At least what the roofs were made of hadn’t changed.
The sound of hooves against the slate was oddly calming, and the warmth of her friend so close was a good thing too. “You okay, featherbrain?” Twilight asked quietly, nudging her shoulder. Dash nodded silently, turning to face the mare of her dreams. Literally of her dreams, point of fact. Ponyville might have a much higher number of fillyfoolers than most other towns, but she had been the one mare Dash had never been able to figure out. It was maddening sometimes. “I’m glad.” Twilight looked away, yet scooted closer.
Dash was very glad for that. She reached out for a familiar hoof and found it, squeezing firmly. She didn’t need to say what they were both thinking, so instead she went another way. “I keep seeing someone else’s life, Twilight. Like… Why is that?” Twilight would at least have an idea. She always did. Maybe she could help Dash figure out what to do….
For a few long seconds, Twilight said nothing. Then she sighed irritably. “I think we’re actually in some kind of….” She shifted, and Dash could smell the peach shampoo she used for her mane. “Alternate universe. Where all sorts of things that happened in our world didn’t happen, and it changed history. But… the ponies who were us still existed, they just grew into different ponies.”
Twilight shifted again, and this time Dash could feel her laying down next to her. She only had to turn her head to meet those vibrant eyes. “We don’t belong in this world, Dash. But Magic abhors paradoxes, so the magic of this world is… trying to compensate for us, somehow.” Dash blinked, and tried to make herself more attentive. She usually couldn’t understand Twilight’s magic-babble, but this was making an unusual amount of sense for her.
Twilight was glaring into the distance, her ‘thinking face’ on. “I don’t know why you’re seeing somepony else’s memories, Dash. I don’t know why I look…” She shivered a little, and Dash gave her hoof a squeeze. “The point is, we’ve found Sweetie and we’re going to get home. Then we can have a good laugh about all of this.” Twilight tried to put on a confident grin, and just ended up looking silly. It helped anyway, though.
“Yeah.” Dash turned back to gaze up at the distant stars, blowing a long sigh. She had to stay cool, or else she was going to end up a wreck. Then… Twilight shifted and rolled over onto her back and splayed out just like Dash was, practically snuggled up to Dash’s side no less. That was…. really, really nice. So she just did what she always would have done and pushed back up against her until she was extra comfy. “Thanks Twi.” Dash whispered, ducking her head to hide her blush.
“No problem, Dashie.” Twilight gently teased, nudging Dash’s shoulder with a hoof. Dash hated that nickname coming out of anypony except Pinkie Pie, mostly because Pinkie was the only somepony she couldn’t get to stop saying it. But it sounded kinda nice coming from Twilight. Not that she’d ever admit that. “We should go back down and talk to Daring and Rosetta. We need to figure out what we’re going to do nex-”
The air split with a bloodcurdling scream, cutting Twilight off and sending Dash to her hooves in an instant. That sounded weirdly familiar. Why did it… The thought crashed to a halt as a voice cut through the night. ”Sweetie Belle, RUN!”
“RARITY!” Twilight yelled, and that was all the encouragement Dash needed. Her speed from a solid stop was pretty damn good, all things considered. But she went from zero to near maximum speed faster than she’d ever done before, peeling out and down through the tight hallways of the club in search of her friend.
~~~~A little earlier~~~~
Rarity woke up to a feeling of warm softness that smelled strongly of Sweetie Belle and reminded her of the bed back in her shop. It wasn’t the best cloth, but there was nothing wrong with a nice high thread count linen and a foal couldn’t usually appreciate the subtleties once you got above four hundred threads. And she was stalling from opening her eyes to be faced with the stark truth of this world she’d been thrown into. Come now, Rarity. Stop being such a scaredy filly.
So she cracked open her eyes to see the mare sitting next to her bed, her hooves crossed over one another and her eyes hidden behind a long, curly, silken mane. She was lovely, easily Rarity’s equal and probably her better when it came to pure physical beauty. Her mane looked effortlessly well-coiffed, and her coat was almost shiny with how well brushed it was. And… she was crying quietly.
Perspective was a funny thing, sometimes. “Come now darling, It’s not all that bad.” Rarity tried to speak confidently, but her throat was a touch dry and it came out a little shaky. Odd. She didn’t feel shaky at all. Sweetie’s head came up quickly, her careful makeup simply ruined by whatever crying she’d been doing. Rarity tsked and muscled herself up into a sitting position before tapping the bed. “Come here, dear,” she commanded, opening up her forehooves with an expectant look.
^
Sweetie Belle was blessedly predictable. She only hesitated for a few seconds before scrambling out of her chair and into Rarity’s forelegs. Rarity held her tightly, squeezing with as much reassurance as she possibly could. “Hush.” Rarity cooed, stroking a hoof down Sweetie’s back as the gentle tears turned to sobs. “You’re safe now, Sweetie. I promise.” It had been a lot easier to soothe her as a little filly, but the principles here were the same.
“I thought I’d never see you again.” Sweetie whimpered, and held on tightly enough to drive a little of the air out of Rarity’s lungs. “I was… I didn’t know what to think… After that thing sprung up and dragged me in, I…” She sniffled heavily, over and over again and then finally gave up speaking to bury her head in Rarity’s shoulder.
Rarity sighed silently, but never stopped stroking Sweetie’s back. Slowly, very slowly, Sweetie began to calm down and let Rarity breathe normally again. She wasn’t quite certain how long they sat there together, but time was sort of irrelevant at this point. Sweetie was safe, and that was ultimately what mattered. Remember Rarity, dear. So long as you stick with your friends, everything becomes possible. So she continued soothing her little sister as best as she could, trying very hard not to notice what a gorgeous young mare she’d grown into.
Not that she’d be able to dodge it for long, but she fully intended to ignore the inevitable as long as she possibly could. Sweetie sniffled faintly and nuzzled her cheek against Rarity’s. “Sorry, sis.” Sweetie sniffled again, and pulled back to rub her eyes hard with the back of her hoof. “It’s been hard to keep things together sometimes. Ever since I woke up as old as you, with a cutie mark and everything…”
Rarity felt a thrill go through her. Sure enough, there was a little red heart with a music note on her little sisters flank. A musician, another creative soul in the family, and Rarity could not have been happier for her little Sweetie. Except…. She doesn’t look happy. Far from the excitement Rarity had expected to see over the pronouncement, she instead seemed rather downcast at the mention of her newly-acquired mark.
The reason wasn’t precisely complicated, and Rarity knew it. “Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were supposed to be there.” Sweetie muttered quietly, confirming her suspicions instantly. “It’s… not the same without them around.” She looked away at that, probably to hide her tears… which Rarity was going to have none of.
She turned that little filly around and hugged her to her chest, kissing the top of her head gently. “We’ve all changed a bit to get here, Sweetie. I’m certain that once we find our way home, we’ll be back to normal.” Sweetie looked up with teary eyes, and Rarity swallowed her own doubts as to the accuracy of that statement. “And if not, we’ll speak to the Princess and set things aright. I promise.”
Sweetie looked up with her big, beautiful eyes and smiled just a little. “Okay, sis.” Sweetie spoke with an absolute faith in her, one that shook Rarity’s spirit right down to the core. Truth be told, she had no idea if there was even a way to get home, and even if it existed Rarity was certain that accessing it would not be so easy. But Sweetie was relying on her, and she was not going to let her down no matter what.
Rarity took the moment of quiet to examine her surroundings. It looked like a loft room of some kind, small but cozy. It was cramped, but the walls were covered in mementos of one kind or another. Drawn pictures, photographs featuring Sweetie and the waitress they’d already had tonight, a couple of little blue ribbons, even a few newspaper clippings. The side table was covered in little things like a bits-wallet, a portable makeup kit, room keys….
Every little detail of the room kept jumping out at her. “Sweetie…” Rarity began, very slowly and very quietly. “Do you even want to go home?” It was a hard thing to ask. It was a hard thing to even THINK about, especially given what Rarity would have to tell their parents, but… Sweetie wasn’t looking at her anymore. “Sweetie Belle…” Rarity injected a warning tone, and tapped her hoof on the soft bedspread.
Sweetie blew out an annoyed sound between a sigh and a grumble. “I…” She began, and ducked her head. “I dunno, Rarity.” She sounded sulky and quiet, and was rubbing her hooves together in fits and starts. “I mean… I really do, you know? I want to get back to Apple Bloom and Scoots, and Miss Cheerilee and momma and poppa, but…”
Sweetie Belle scooted about on the bed, turning to face the window. “But Bluebell is super nice, and I finally know what my special talent is here.” Her voice was soft, beautiful, and whisper-quiet. And Rarity had to admit, she felt a cold chill around her heart. “I’m… I’m so happy to see you, but I’ve already changed so much.” Sweetie’s cheeks were a faint red, and Rarity had to wonder just what her poor little sister had gone through since she got here.
Sweetie sighed gustily and shook her head. “I’m being a silly filly again. We don’t really belong here, do we, Sis?” Sweetie turned, her question surprisingly… What? Mature? When she looks like she could seduce any stallion clean out of his three piece suit? Rarity firmly quashed that thought, just in time for Sweetie to nod a little. “But… maybe we could. That’s the problem I think. I think…” Sweetie looked her dead in the eye. There was something strange going on here. Some kind of strange tension….
“I think that here wants us to stay.”
There was a strange shattering sensation to the world, and for a moment Rarity felt faint again… just long enough for her to sway and gaze out of the window. In that precise moment, a ghostly white figure came careening out of the night and headed straight for the window. It was all too coincidental, but Rarity didn’t hesitate. “Duck!” She thrust her hoof onto Sweetie’s head and pushed her down and away from the window.
The white pegasus came crashing through it, wearing wicked sharp taloned hoofboots and a mad gleam in his eye. “You are coming with me, little-” he snarled, but was instantly interrupted as Sweetie Belle screamed at the top of her lungs with enough power to be heard at the back of an opera concert hall. The note was absolutely astounding, and the pegasi threw his forehooves over his ears at the ear-splitting sound. Rarity did it too, staring in amazement as Sweetie held that note for a full eight seconds before dropping off the opposite side of the bed, rolling and coming up with a strange oblong metal object held in her unicorn telekinesis.
The white pegasi glared at her, his hooves planted on the ground and a mad smouldering hatred burning behind his eyes. “Reach for the sky, cloudbrain,” Sweetie said in a calm, hoarse voice. The device had some kind of long circular barrel she was aiming square at the intruder. “Maybe Miss Kitty will go easy on you if you’re lucky.”
The pegasi’s eyes darted to Rarity, still sitting on the bed between them. “I think not,” he growled. There was a flash of movement far too fast for Rarity to see. A massive thudding sound roared through the room and a flash of light like a fireball right before her eyes. Heavy hooves grabbed her before she could register what was happening as Sweetie Belle screamed wordlessly.
The white pegasi had grabbed her quite rudely, and that simply wouldn’t do.
Instinct took over. Instinct that Rarity didn’t even know she had until it started to move her body like a snake. She slithered bonelessly out of the thugpony’s grip, grabbing hold of his forelimb with her own and a bit of her magic. She twisted in place as her hooves dropped to the ground, her body flicking like a cracking whip to hurl the stunned-looking pegasus into the wall.
The pegasus impacted with an audible smack, collapsing in a heap. Rarity pirouetted back to her four hooves and tossed her perfectly-coiffed mane with a huff. “No. I do not think so, you ruffian.” She spat at him, strength and skill surging through her limbs. She’d taken self defense courses like any mare of quality, but she had never been able to perform the special throws quite like that.
Sweetie Belle whistled softly. “Dang, Sis. Where’d you learn to do that?” She actually sounded impressed, not just jealous or in awe.
Rarity opened her mouth to answer, but there was no time, as three more pegasi in various dull shades of white and light gray crashed through the rest of the window. “Sweetie Belle, RUN!” she screamed, ducking under a hoofpunch to grab one of the assailants around his chest and suplex him right into the floor. The sound of clattering hoofsteps signaled Sweetie’s retreat, Rarity ducking under another blow and dancing to one side, putting herself between the strange attackers and the door. “You really think It’ll be so easy to bring me down?” Her voice had taken on an eerie, deeper quality. Her muscles brimmed with strength and her heart sang with a fire she could not describe. “I’ve faced down ancient gods and demons the likes of which you cannot possibly understand! And you shall not lay a single hoof upon my sister!”
Her bold declaration didn’t seem to frighten them much, the one she’d thrown into the wall pulling himself up. WIth a battlecry that came from a place Rarity didn’t even know she’d had, she hurled herself at them. Hoping beyond hope that she could buy Sweetie enough time to get help.
~~~~~~~~~
Twilight’s mind was racing in a way it never had before.
She could remember the time Rainbow Dash had described her method of learning things. How she became hyper-observant during flight, and her brain instantly processed information at a rate and speed that had left Twilight flabberghasted. For months after, she’d tried to study Rainbow’s method and apply it to her own learning process with dismal results. Whatever allowed Dash to perform her astonishing trick, it was clearly something that couldn’t be learned.
Now, though….
Twilight knew the exact layout of the building from travelling through it exactly once. She knew the type of wallpaper in the third floor corridor, and that there was a squeak in the forty-eighth stair going upwards. She knew that there was a red pegasus in room number thirty-three and a white earth pony had been sleeping with an orange unicorn in room seventeen. She knew the exact angle (forty-eight degrees to be precise) she would need to turn at to clear the corner of the staircase in order to preserve the maximum amount of momentum.
Information and understanding poured into her mind and was instantly processed, categorized and lined up like ponies in a queue for cider. Her body was moving on pure instinctive motion, and within eight-point-four-four seconds she had caught up to Rainbow Dash. “This way!” she yelled, or at least she was pretty sure it was a yell, and then turned a corner to take them to the other side of the building. Given the volume of the sound, the refraction of the sound wave reaching them, and adjusting for local weather conditions, Twilight was ninety-seven percent certain that would be Sweetie Belle’s room where Rarity had undoubtedly been taken.
Sweetie Belle was nowhere to be seen, and other ponies were fleeing the scene at varying speeds. Ahead of them, two burly earth ponies in rough suit coats were duking it out with a small gang of pegasi with wild eyes and a sickly look to them. Beyond them, Rainbow Dash had tackled one of the attacking pegasi and vanished into an open door. ”Rarity!” Dash screamed, and that was just one bit too much for Twilight.
She snarled silently and called her magic into her horn… and it came. She was filled with a power that went beyond mere moustache tricks and transmogrification spells. It was a power unlike anything she’d felt before in her life, and it was glorious It sang through her, a power so great it threatened to overwhelm her senses. She grasped onto it, wrestling it under control. Without even thinking, she flung stun bolts at the writhing mass of pegasi and sent all of her foes careening to the ground with stupefied looks.
She strode past the earth ponies, utterly dismissing their looks of sudden awe as they flung themselves prostrate. They were unimportant right now. Her friend was in danger, and that she could not abide. She strode through the doorway, only to find Rainbow Dash sitting in the middle of the floor with her wings drooped to the ground.
The room itself was littered with the bodies of unconscious pegasi and broken glass, and there was no sign of Rarity. Rainbow Dash was quietly sobbing, and that was not like her, not one bit. “Dash?” she asked quietly. Why was she so calm? Rarity was gone, and clearly it had been these madponies that had taken her. Dash hadn’t gone chasing after Rarity either, but perhaps she’d simply been too late to see where they’d gone.
Dash heaved a little sob and then sucked in a deep breath. “Who the buck would take her? Who the heck cares that we’re even here?” Dash asked nopony in particular, and Twilight had to nod. She didn’t know who had, but she was going to make them suffer for their decision to harm somepony she loved. Dash turned to face her, and her eyes went wide as teacup saucers. “Twilight, your disguise!”
Disguise?Oh. It was an oddly distant thought amidst the crashing waves of power and knowledge that rolled through her mind. She was supposed to be keeping things low key. Replacing the illusion took the merest thought, and she brushed the dust off her coat calmly. “We’ll find her, Dash.” She turned to the unconscious forms and eyeballed them. They’d probably take a few hours to wake up. No sense in wasting power.
She let the magic go, and suddenly the world rushed back into sense and understanding. Gone was the mind-boggling power that she’d summoned up, and her body felt drained and exhausted in an instant. Twilight could dimly feel her body collapsing to the ground, and Dash’s voice echoing in her ears.
“Twilight!”
~~~~~Canterlot Castle~~~~~
Princess Celestia felt her eyes snap open as an indescribable power rushed through her. It sent her body into a slow arc upwards as it surged and surged, her mouth hanging open in a silent scream… and in an instant, it was gone, like a snapping rubber band. She collapsed to the bed as her lungs heaved, her mind trying to process what had just happened, racing with a thousand different scenarios and dismissing them all.
The most important of those possibilities was that it was decidedly not the day of the Summer Sun celebration, so it surely could not be Luna’s return. No, this was a new power. A power she had never felt before, and could not possibly begin to identify. It certainly had not been her wayward niece or her husband, and it most definitely hadn’t been- “Celly! Are you alright!?” The powerful male voice thundered through the room and the doors to her balcony were flung open.
At that, she rolled out of her bed with a groan and hit the carpeted floor with a dull thunk. “I’m fine, Solly,” she managed to grumble, rubbing at her eyes. “What was that?” she muttered, trying to shove herself back up to her hooves and slipping on the silky covers. She really didn’t expect Solly to have an answer this early in the morning, but it gave her time to rally her thoughts.
“I do not know. You do not think it could be…” He trailed off, and suddenly his unkempt but short beard and big bushy red mane filled her vision. He’d been sleeping too, even though he was technically supposed to be on night duty. He took such duties even worse than she did, and the smell of rum was thick on his breath.
“No. It is not the right time, nor have the stars begun their motion.” Celestia’s mind was clearing swiftly, and she finally managed to stand up. Draped in her blankets like a Roaman diplomat, she tried to shake the fog of sleep off. “No. This is something new.”
She looked up, to the stained glass window that hung in her room. A window that glittered with faint colors and seemed to glow in the moonlight. “This is something important.” The thought hit her like a royal ton of bricks. A jolt of sudden power and excitement ripped through her, instantly awakening her better than any strong cup of coffee could. She whirled about. “We must consult with the Harmonic Astrolabe, immediately.”
She tried to turn and charge off across the room, only to fall into a heap of tangled blankets and pillows. Solly, predictably, burst into laughter. Celestia sighed. “Maybe some coffee, first.”