More Than A Dream

by nanashi_jones

Chapter 4

“Whoa whoa whoa- what? He eats Harmony?” Rainbow Dash said.

“That is correct, Rainbow Dash,” said Princess Celestia.

Princess Celestia called the Elements of Harmony, the Night Princess Luna, the Crystal Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor together in a stateroom in the Castle of the Sun, to attend a matter of grave importance.

“Um, Princess. Ma’am?” Applejack said. “I’m sure this’ll make sense to all the unicorns, but could you speak plain for the rest of us?”

“Actually, I’m a bit confused myself,” Twilight Sparkle said. “I’ve never heard of anything that... Eats Harmony?”

“Indeed, my faithful student. Neither had we.” Celestia inclined her head to Luna, who raised her horn and summoned an image of the pony in question.

Fluttershy eeped and dove under the table when the image resolved a sharp-looking pony with an unkind smile.

“He first appeared in our blessed night’s dreamscape,” Luna said, her voice even and cool. “At first we thought him no more than a new bogeymare, conjured by some pony’s campfire story or macabre fancy. Then one night, he appeared under our shining moon.”

The image shifted and the pony was seen walking through a real forest, looking around as if amused.

“We thought him an oddity to be sure, but we did not pursue and left the creature to wander. This was at our folly.”

The image darkened and changed to show a small village of ponies. At first, it looked as if they all lay sleeping, napping the day away, then the image zoomed in and showed the hollow, empty looks that marked their faces. As if that weren’t distressing enough, everypony shown was emaciated and frail. They looked like they hadn’t eaten in days, hadn’t moved in longer. It was as though they’d just given up and lay down to let death take them.

Fluttershy gasped, audibly.

“Savanneigh was the first hit,” Celestia said. “As soon as we stopped receiving correspondence, we sent in aid, but we’d already lost a tenth of the population to the lethargy the Smiling Pony leaves in his wake.”

“I got kin there,” Applejack whispered, her eyes blinking wide.

“The victims are drained,” Luna spoke next. “Gone is the Harmony of joy and love in their hearts. So similar to King Sombra’s hold on the Crystal Ponies a thousand years past, that we sought council in Princess Cadance.”

Princess Cadance nodded, her furled pink, white, and purple mane bobbing gracefully.

“Once I settled matters in the empire, I came to see if I could help, but... Even my strongest love spells do little to awaken comfort or cheer in these ponies. It’s... It’s as if they’ve forgotten what love and living are,” she said. Her wings fluttered nervously at the implications of her statement. “It’s like they have to start from scratch.”

The Elements at the table shifted nervously.

“Soooo, uh, yeah. This smiling pony’s a tough guy, right?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Why can’t ya just kick his flank and call it a day?”

“Nopony can get close enough to attack him in any way,” Celestia replied.

“He’s absorbed a full barrage of unicorn magic and just walks through any heavy weather the pegasi send at him,” Shining Armor said stepping forward. “We thought about sending a battalion of earth ponies, but...” He shook his head. “As soon as you get near enough, you start to lose focus, a... A dread overcomes you.” He swallowed. “If I hadn’t been thinking of Cadence...” He shuddered and Cadence wrapped a comforting wing around him.

Nodding his thanks, he extended his magic to Luna’s suspended image of Savanneigh and it twisted to show dull, brown grass hoof prints and trees in a wilted path. “He affects the world around him too. Not as quick as ponies and other living creatures, but... He marks them. And we can’t lay a hoof on him.”

Silence lay thick in the room as everypony stared up at the image Shining Armor shared.

“How do you know it’s Harmony?” Twilight asked.

“Harmony is the foundation upon which Equestria is formed,” Celestia said. “It is in the soil, the trees, the very air we breathe- all life working in unity with itself to bring about another day. After the Smiling Pony has come, only desolation and the absence of that energy is left in his wake.”

“So... He’s like a sharp dressed grim reaper?” Rarity asked, giving a critical eye to the scene before her.

“No!” Celestia said, wings flaring. Seeing the startled looks, she composed herself. “No, Rarity. Death is a natural part of the life cycle. Though painful, everything has its time and that time ends. What this Smiling Pony brings is not death, but oblivion. Complete and total.”

“So what do we do?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Again Princess Celestia and Luna shared a look, this one longer and more thoughtful. Luna nodded and dispelled the magic image above the table. Celestia looked amongst her gathered few- brave and strong and willing to help. The regal bearing she projected reassured her subjects even in this dire time.

“For now, we must run.” the princess said.

“What?”

“No way!”

“How could you suggest such-”

“Isn’t there-!”

Celestia raised a hoof and the room fell silent. “Not all of us, my little ponies. After studying the path of the Smiling Pony, we believe we have located his target.”

Shining Armor stiffened. “What? When did this happen?”

“Recently, Shining Armor,” Celestia replied. “Luna and I believe, and we have some support for the idea, that the Smiling Pony comes for you six.” She gestured with her wing at the assembled ponies of Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

Twilight was nodding already. “Of course. If he eats Harmony, who better than the wielders of the Elements?”

“But couldn’t we just orbital friendship beam him?” Pinkie Pie asked, hoof in the air. “That worked for Discord! Ooo! Ooo! And Princess Luna when she was all cranky!”

Celestia’s face closed off in worry.

“We don’t believe that would be best,” Celestia said. “The elements are powerful, but...”

“During one of the attacks after Savanneigh, we unleashed one of our strongest spells,” Luna said. “He was unmarked and when we attempted to pour the royal power into it...” Luna had to take a breath. “I felt as though I was being bled dry. Only luck helped me to break the connection.”

The room fell silent.

“Where can we go?” Twilight whispered.

“That is where things get complicated,” Celestia said. Raising her head, she said in her most authoritative voice. “You may enter.”

The doors parted and a twisted, black hoof with a hole clean through it stepped into the light. The Changeling Queen, Queen Chrysalis entered the chamber.

After a stunned silence, three horns lit in preparation for an attack and Rainbow Dash took high to the air to prepare a dive bomb.

“Easy, eeeeasy, my little ponies,” Celestia said. “Chrysalis comes to us today not as an enemy, but a humbled friend.”

“Very humble, Celestia,” Chrysalis said, trotting in, her cobweb mane fluttering slightly. She turned her gaze on the assembled group and smirked. Inclining her head at Shining Armor, she said, “Hello, Shining. You look healthy.”

He growled, which was nothing compared to the noise Cadance made.

“Please, Chrysalis. Perhaps before we share our plans, you could share your experiences with this enemy. Then, perhaps the assembled may judge your sincerity differently?”

Keeping her distance from the royal couple, Chrysalis nodded. Her horn blazed a sickly green and a new image, tinted with a haze of the same color appeared over the table. The Smiling Pony was walking through what appeared to be the Changeling’s Center Hive and changelings were disappearing in his wake.

“We changelings are creatures made of purest magic. What fuels us is love. Which has something of Harmony, as it were,” Chrysalis said. “This... Abomination devours us as readily as a foal does a blade of grass.”

The image sifted and the Smiling Pony sat in the middle of the hive, its denizens leaving a wide berth around him. Occasionally, a changeling would misstep and get too close and where they broke the circle that part of its body would disappear in a scorch of green fire, as if chomped off by some unseen beast.

“Having built up my own strength and reserves over millennia, only I could approach this... Abomination.” Again the image changed, and the assembled watched as Chrysalis breached the perimeter. She seemingly began to sizzle at the edges as she approached the Smiling Pony, who smiled all the wider in her presence.

“He no more answered to me than I to an ant,” Chrysalis said. “But I could feel him. He ate me. And in eating me, he opened himself to me and I knew him, his purpose and his direction.”

The image faded.

“He had stopped in my kingdom as an appetizer. ‘Junk food.’ His true goal is the Elements. Of this I am certain.”

“And how can we trust you on that?” Princess Cadance said. She made no effort to hide the venom in her voice. “You can imagine how we might find it hard to trust your word?”

Chrysalis smiled ruefully. “Just look, your Highness. I know you can see love. Look to my kingdom for love and see its absence.”

Cadence arched an eyebrow and closed her eyes. This lasted for a quiet moment until she gasped, eyes popping open and she shuddered. Shining nuzzled her close.

“He’s in the middle of the Changeling Kingdom,” she whispered. “I can feel the void he’s carving. It’s like he’s... He’s gorging himself.”

“Indeed,” Chrysalis said with a high eyebrow. Turning to Celestia, she said, “Now that my word is no longer in doubt... Have you spoken of the spell we discussed?”

Celestia inclined her head at the visiting queen. Looking to the gathered Elements, she said, “What we are proposing is dangerous. In order to preserve Harmony in our and other kingdoms, we are willing to risk it.”

“What would you have us do, Princess?” Twilight asked, stepping forward boldly.

“It is old magic, my faithful student. Ancient, powerful, and dangerous. You will go to another land, a land without magic. Do not fear though. Think of it like the Everfree Forest. From its dominant species all the way to how the land grows, the place thrives without magical assistance and this makes it an opportune place to hide from the magic of the Smiling Pony. And you will do so without your bodies.”
~
The image faded. The assembled human girls were sitting in dull shock at the news they’d received.

After some minutes of silence, Rarity spoke first. “We’re not changed. We’re not even in our own bodies.” She looked at Twilight. “Where are we?”

“In Canterlot,” Twilight said. “Chrysalis made stasis cocoons for our bodies and we’re being kept beneath the castle, safe. Spike volunteered to watch over us with a minor guard of six of Celestia’s finest.” She smiled, warmth blossoming at the memory. “Celestia, Luna, and I worked together to enact the spell and transport our essences to this place, Earth. To these bodies.”

Twilight rubbed her forehead, wiping sweat away.

“Celestia hopes that with us beyond Equestria, the Smiling Pony will leave, or weaken, or at the very least reveal something that will let the kingdoms overcome him so that Harmony is safe in our lands again. She figured two months would be enough time, but it looks like the sleeping part of the spell wasn’t strong enough to overcome Rainbow Dash’s loyalty.”

Twilight smirked at her friend, who blushed.

“I just... I felt like something was missing,” Rainbow said, chagrined. “Can’t help it that I’m more awesome than some moldy oldy spell you and the princesses did.”

Twilight chuckled.

“So, uh... What are we exactly? And why don’t we remember all of this?” Applejack asked.

“There really isn’t a name. It’s a kind of symbiosis,” Twilight responded. “We timeshare these bodies until the spell ends and we return to Equestria. Pinkie was left awake to keep an eye out in case something weird happened.”

“Pinkie?” Rarity said, head tilted in inquiry. Turning to her excited friend, she smiled. “No offense.”

“None taken!” Pinkie replied, dangling upside down from the rafters. She’d gotten bored.

“Pinkie’s Pinkieness made her a bit immune to the magic we were doing. Kind of like how Nightmare Moon couldn’t get at her with the trees in the Everfree and glamours don’t usually affect her. She’s just... Well, she’s just too Pinkie.”

The girls nodded sagely. They’d all long ago accepted that Pinkie Pie marched to the beat of her own drum. Sometimes that drum beat took precedence over reality.

“As for your memories...” Twilight shrugged. “We’re not exactly in our right minds. I can’t imagine a brain takes holding two separate lives well. Something was bound to give.”

“Hope I haven’t forgot how to buck...” Applejack murmured.

“But the spell should have just kept us in these girls’ lives for two months. Why does it feel longer?” Twilight mused.

“Oh, you musta forgot. Celestia said you might experience floating perspective due to quantum entanglement of personal influence,” Pinkie said, flipping over to land on the floor.

Everypony went silent in confusion.

“I dunno.” the pink-afro’d girl said with a shrug. “That’s what she said. Then Twilight was all ‘Oh, yes. That makes perfect sense. A retroactive feeling that may cause memories to appear as early as childhood since we’re not using linear time, but emotional singularities as a guide.’ Then Celestia was like, ‘You are truly my amazing student, Twilight Sparkle.” Then I was like, ‘D’awww.’ Then Rainbow Dash asked, ‘What just happened?’ Then I said, ‘I dunno, but it sure sounded smart.’”

Silence descended again until Twilight snapped her fingers. “That’s right! The princess did mention we might end up settling into these people to establish a stronger connection during our high occupancy period!”

“I’m still lost,” Rainbow Dash said.

“I think what Twilight is trying to say,” Rarity offered. “Is that the spell may have put us here a month ago, but in order to make sure it worked, these... Girls had to be made ready for us, subconsciously. So we would feel more at home.”

“That’s unsettlin’,” Applejack said. “Don’t like to think I’m stealin’ some girl’s whole life just because I had to get the hay out of Dodge for a bit.”

“Doesn’t matter!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed, clearly fed up with discussion. “What does is we’re together, Twilight can bum off Rarity’s magic, so we gotta get home!”

“Rainbow, did you hear any of what just happened?” Applejack shot at the floating girl. “Equestria’s under attack by somethin’ that could eat up the Elements like you chug cider! What’d you think you could do?”

“Something other than run away!” Rainbow yelled.

The girls lapsed into silence.

“Is- Is everypony in Equestria all right?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” Twilight said. “When we did this... Savanneigh and the Changeling Kingdom were the only places hit, but...” She shook her head. “The princesses were intent on us escaping.”

“Dumb plan,” Rainbow muttered.

“Rainbow!” Rarity shot.

“Well it is! And how come I went along with it? Any plan that involves running away is a bad plan in my book.”

Applejack rubbed her chin. “Y’know, it does seem a mite peculiar we’d go along with this. I mean... C’mon. I’m a lotta things, but I ain’t yella.”

“Um. He scared me,” Fluttershy said.

“He scared us all,” Twilight responded, rubbing her eyes.

“No,” Fluttershy said with a headshake. “He scared me, Twilight. I know- I know I’m not the bravest pony most of the time, but that’s just... That’s who I am. Not like Rainbow Dash. So... So I know when I’m afraid. And he scares me, but not like how I’m usually scared. He scares me like I’m supposed to be scared only I was scared, but it was like something got in front of that scare.” She frowned sadly and cast a pleading gaze to Twilight. “Oh dear, I’m not doing this very well.”

Twilight blinked. Slowly.

Fear before being...

“Wait,” Twilight said. “Rarity, if I may.”

“All right darling, but if you’re going to keep using me like this, I’ll ask for dinner first,” she replied with a wink.

Twilight took Rarity’s hand with a sarcastic smirk and conjured the Smiling Pony again.

Again the form displayed and again she felt it deep in her gut. That fear, that raw need to get away, that what you saw was not only scary but wrong. Yet, now that she was paying attention to that fear she saw that it wasn’t hers.

Twilight Sparkle was not the bravest pony, but she knew how her fears worked. She got spooked in doubt, or frustration or even panic, but not in thought. Somehow though, the mere image, the mere thought of the Smiling Pony was hitting her fear like she was a scared foal under the sheets.

“Something’s wrong...” Twilight said. “And I intend to find out what.”
~
“I don’t wanna,” Rainbow said, standing at the door to the outside. “I’ll just stay with Rarity till we figure out how to get home.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Rainbow. Part of this symbiosis means working with the lives we lived up until now. While you can hang up everything, the other girls have jobs to maintain. I know I have other studying for Aurora I should be doing at least.”

“More stalling,” Rainbow groaned. Turning in the small space, she slapped her hands on Twilight’s shoulders. “Look, you said that Smiling Pony or whoever might make a sidekick impression-”

“Psychic Imprint,” Twilight corrected.

“Whatever,” Rainbow said, with a dismissive wave. “All we need is to go back. I mean, what are you going to learn here? This place doesn’t have any magic.”

“But it does have mythology and one thing I’ve noticed, being Aurora, is that while humanity may have a greater variety of attitudes toward magic, there are some useful parallels that I can track down. I might possibly be able to use some against the Smiling Pony. But.” She spun Rainbow around. “I need you-” She grunted pushing. “To go out in the world so I can get my laptop and run a decent search!”

Rainbow pinioned herself in the doorframe. “No! Way! I don’t want to cover my wings outside! I lost them for a month! You have no idea what that’s like!”

“I don’t have my magic, Rainbow,” Twilight said levelly. “I have to borrow energy off of Rarity to cast even the simplest spell.”

“Well, maybe you’re just not trying hard enough!”

Twilight stopped pushing.

“Not. Trying...?”

“Uh oh,” Pinkie said. She and the other girls had backed up as Twilight and Rainbow spoke. Just as Applejack was about to step forward and press the stubborn pegasus out herself, Pinkie’s hand caught her on the arm. Glancing at her friend, she nodded at Pinkie’s headshake and stayed put.

“You don’t think I haven’t tried reaching for my magic?” Twilight said in tones far colder than anypony had heard before. “You think I haven’t tried to find some way to access it while I’m in here? Magic is everything to me Rainbow! But unlike you I have accepted that I’m not going to get it for now!”

She shoved Rainbow roughly and the girl popped into the street, taking the roll expertly. Standing up, she flared her wings, the sun glinting off them.

“I’m not gonna hide who I am!

“I’m the best flyer in Equestria. I won Best Flyer Competition. I did the Sonic Rainboom.” Her back straightened. “I helped take on Nightmare Moon, Discord, and the freakin’ toughest ponies around. I’m gonna be a Wonderbolt.

“I’m Rainbow Freaking Dash and you’re just gonna have to deal with it!”

Twilight gave Rainbow a tired, raised eyebrow and threw her hands up in defeat.

“Fine. I don’t care. BE Rainbow Dash in a world that probably can’t support you. See if I care when your wings disappear because you’ve burned up all your internal magic.”

“What?”

“Ponies run on the magic in the world, Rainbow. Do you see any around here?”

Rainbow looked around as if she could spot the “magic” sitting on a bench nearby. Magic wasn’t, but a very confused looking mother of two was. Rainbow gave a salute to the woman and turned back to Twilight.

“I feel fine, Twilight. Maybe you’re just stressed out.”
~
“It doesn’t make sense!” Twilight said, as she drove back to the farm to drop off Fluttershy and Applejack. Rarity and Pinkie said they would meet the girls back at Twilight’s dorm after they’d settled their jobs for the next few days.

“Being awesome doesn’t have to make sense,” Rainbow said from the back. “I kick impossible to the curb all the time, Twilight. You should really just accept it.”

“Well, I can’t!” Twilight snapped.

Fluttershy cringed and Twilight gave her an apologetic look.

Taking a few, calming breaths, she spoke in a more controlled tone.

“Pinkie I can accept. She’s... Pinkie. But this? You? This flaunts every magical law I thought existed in this world. Which, there are zero. Because magic doesn’t exist in this world. Any magic that exists came from us bringing it here. There is no external pony magic, no human magic, no magic of any kind!”

Realizing that last got away from her, she focused on driving.

“I mean, everypony should have gone back to a human baseline after the magic I released ran out. You shouldn’t have been able to keep... Going. It doesn’t make sense given our current environment,” Twilight hissed.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out Twi. You always do,” Applejack said, clapping a friendly hand on her shoulder.

The knot of hot anger in her gut loosened, and Twilight gave Applejack a little smile. “Thanks, AJ.”

“Shame we’re on official adventurin’ business,” Applejack said stretching a little in the back seat. “Wouldn’t mind buckin’ and helpin’ Ashley’s family a bit. They could use a little good, old-fashioned, Apple family pony sense.”

Rainbow and Fluttershy giggled. Twilight at least smile a little.

“They’re farmers and good folk, but nothin’ beats how close you feel to the land.”

Opting to let her “back burner brain” work on the conundrum at hand, as she was clearly not gaining any ground, only stress, Twilight turned her attention to Applejack.

“You know, I’ve read about Earth Pony life in books and magical studies, but I’ve never thought to ask. What’s that like, AJ?” she said.

“It’s like... Knowin’. Knowin’ through and through. ‘Cept nopony told you nothin’. Soon as I saw Rainbow spread her wings outside, I thought- Hay, if she can keep being Rainbow just by bein’ stubborn, why can’t I? So, I stood on the sidewalk and I could tell the ground was still beneath my feet, just like it’s supposed to be.”

“I just wanted to make sure I could still talk to my critter friends,” Fluttershy said. “I’ve made so many new ones here. The wings... Well, it’s nice to have them back. I may not use them like Rainbow Dash, but they do help me feel like myself.”

Twilight sighed as she moved into a cruising lane. Every part of her rational mind spoke of how impossible all this was. When she and Celestia had chosen this world, they had been sure to pick one totally devoid of the magical energies of Harmony that were present in Equestria. With only the thinnest string of magic linking these bodies to their originals, they should have slept without wondering.

Yes, waking up was an outlier, but they accounted for that. Hence, the presence of Pinkie. But this? She was witness to near full manifestations of their pony selves in human bodies. The coloration may have been a bit extreme, but that was still within norms- people dyed their hair funny colors here after all. However, the appearance of pegasi wings and unicorn magic and an earth pony’s sense of the World was completely and utterly impossible!

It took every fiber of her being not to lock herself in a lab to run tests. Sure, she wouldn’t have her usual equipment. She could still memorize some readings and return with them to Equestria once the Smiling Pony menace had been dealt with.

The Smiling Pony. Twilight smiled grimly at the thought of him. Ultimately, you had to know where to look and what question to ask. So subtle was his insidious fear, so quiet was that dread she wasn’t surprised that Celestia had been affected just as the rest of ponykind. So of course she would give way to this hiding out plan. It made sense, too. The fear he inspired undermined a pony on all sides, but most powerfully, it ate away from the inside.

A strong unicorn could push past fear and still cast, a pegasi could brave through it and manipulate the weather, and an earth pony could handle near anything, but to have that fear at the root of yourself? It poisoned and weakened a pony all the way through. It was a stroke of complete luck Fluttershy had mentioned her reactions, helping Twilight figure out what horrid seeds the Smiling Pony had planted.

Now that she knew about them, she was ready to rip those seeds from the ground of every pony in Equestria. Whether she had her magic or not.
~
The first thing Twilight Sparkle did when she got back to her apartment was make a list of what she needed to do.

The second thing she did was scold Rainbow Dash for floating around the apartment with the curtains open.

The third thing she did was check off the anticipated scolding of Rainbow Dash.

The fourth thing she did was get to work on freeing Aurora up for the next few days.

Be it from Twilight’s influence or her own natural tendencies, Aurora had been a studious, hard-working student all the way. She had enough brownie points stored away to ask for a few days free and hand off her work to fellow TAs. While coordinating that, she simultaneously flipped through mythology and mathematics entries on Wikipedia in search of... Well, she wasn’t entirely sure because she was multi-tasking while multi-tasking, now wasn’t she?

Rainbow didn’t comment on how Twilight’s hair seemed to get more like her frazzled, stressed mane as she worked.

The next morning found Twilight deep in Aurora’s laptop in the corner of her living room, so it was Rainbow who let Fluttershy and Applejack in. Both carried bags that allowed for a few days travel. Having taken the time to acclimate herself, Rainbow made drinks for the other girls.

“She been like this since she got back?” Applejack asked over some tea. It was loaded with liberal amounts of honey.

Rainbow nodded. “She’s in the Zone.”

The girls watched as one while Twilight lifted two notecards for inspection, typed something on the laptop, and shifted her attention to a book she’d pulled from her own collection.

“How bad is it?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow arched an eyebrow and turned more directly to Twilight. “Hey, Twi? I’m going outside for a quick fly around and after that I’m gonna teleport to Equestria and steal Celestia’s crown to make your brother my coltfriend!”

“Mmm,” Twilight said, glancing from a card to a book to her laptop. “Sounds good.”

Rainbow returned her gaze to the other ponies.

“Wow. I haven’t seen her this deep in a while,” Fluttershy commented.

“Yeah, so we’re probably on our own. I got her old laptop if you wanna watch movies.”

By the time Pinkie Pie and Rarity had arrived, Twilight had four more books opened, had amassed a small mountain of notecards and her eyes looked dangerously bloodshot as she hunched near the screen.

Pinkie waved a hand in front of Twilight’s face and the girl didn’t so much as blink.

“Uh oh,” Pinkie said. Looking over at Rainbow, who had paused Lord of the Rings, Pinkie asked, “She in the Zone?”

“Yep.”

“Twelve books or Parasprites?”

“Parasprites.”

“Gotcha.”

Pinkie went into the kitchen and got to work.

“Well girls, how are things?” Rarity asked.

“We’re watching movies,” Fluttershy offered. “Rainbow Dash wanted something with action, but those made me too nervous. So we’ve compromised.”

Rainbow shrugged. “It’s long, but it’s better than all the documentaries, indie flicks, and anime Aurora had on her Netflix.”

Rarity arched a well-groomed eyebrow.

“You... Don’t wanna know,” Rainbow waved away.

Shrugging, Rarity squeezed onto the couch next to Fluttershy with a smile. Pinkie emerged from the kitchen with a fan and a cup of tea. Like a well trained explosives expert, she eased her way toward Twilight, wafting the fumes of the tea at her.

Once the mug was practically right under Twilight’s nose, she blinked. Slowly, then again with more clarity.

“Uhhhhnn,” Twilight said.

“Yeaaah. Tea. It’s suuuuper yummy,” Pinkie crooned.

Twilight turned her body stiffly to Pinkie, who had tucked the fan behind her back. Pinkie offered the tea, which Twilight took greedily and sipped, closing her eyes.

Life ignited in her limbs as the heat poured through.

“Mmmm,” Twilight said.

“Mm-hmm,” Pinkie agreed.

When Twilight opened them again, Pinkie could see her friend was out of the Zone and thinking again.

“Heya Twilight! Find anything?”

“Mmm,” Twilight replied, moving the mug from her lips. “Yes. Thank you, Pinkie.”

Straightening, Twilight felt her spine pop and crack and her head felt fuzzy. She looked over at the girls crowded on her couch. As the color returned to her cheeks, she noticed the old laptop on the coffee table.

“Oh. Sorry. Was I-?”

“Yes,” everypony said in unison.

Twilight blushed and stood up, further stretching herself out. She touched her toes a bit. No need to damage Aurora any further with an intense study session.

Sipping at the tea, she thanked Pinkie and stood near the coffee table. Rainbow once again paused the movie and Twilight nodded her head in thanks.

“Alright everypony. It took some doing, but I think I can get us home!”
~
“I thought you said there wasn’t any magic here?” Rainbow said, lounging on the hood of Twilight’s car, watching her, Pinkie, and Applejack work.

“There isn’t,” Twilight said. “Not like we use anyway. So, I had to find substitutes.”

Rainbow glanced around the clearing they had arrived at after going north for an hour. The place was quiet save for a little birdsong, which came from three jays that had settled across Fluttershy’s shoulders. Sturdy trees hid them from view and Rainbow was more than a little confused as to why they were out here.

“Trees are the substitute?”

“Actually, I’m using mathematics and psychological resonance, but trees are a part of it.”

“Math?” Rainbow said.

“Creepy math!” Applejack called out.

“It is not!” Twilight protested. She rose in the middle of scribbling something long and convoluted that used no numbers Rainbow had ever seen. “It’s merely a cross application of higher-”

She stopped at Applejack’s cool, knowing smirk.

“Fine. Creepy math,” Twilight grumbled, returning to her work.

Rainbow floated to lay on the roof of the car, while Rarity lounged with her jacket off on the hood of her car. Fluttershy chatted with the jays who were chirping and singing as they all perched on the Rarity’s trunk.

“This is boring,” Rainbow proclaimed.

“It’s advanced theory, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said. “Just because something is dazzling at the end, does not mean it was dazzling all the way through. I have particular designs that involved more hours in sweats and frazzled mane than I care to admit.” She sighed. “As well as too much diet soda.”

“Still boring,” Rainbow declared.

“Maybe you could try flying around?” Fluttershy suggested, tickling the breast of a jay perched on her finger. “We’re not near anyone. I don’t think Twilight would object.”

“Hey, Twi!” Rainbow called.

Twilight looked up, getting tired of feeling like Rainbow’s personal entertainment manager. Didn’t she appreciate that she was no longer in a psych ward?

“Yes?” Twilight asked frostily.

“Is it cool if I fly?”

Blinking, Twilight processed that and looked around. “Oh. Sure. It’s isolated.”

“Sweet!”

Once Rainbow was in the air, Twilight welcomed the blessed silence and returned to her task.

Applejack finished first, since she was only doing stone placement. The other ponies noticed a circle with little circles coming off it. Leaning against the car, Applejack tilted her hat over her eyes, but Rarity remained fascinated by the intricacies of Twilight’s work. Not in the academic way that Twilight was going about it, but in the aesthetic sense. She was reminded of certain natural patterns she had recreated for a clothing line inspired by plant growth on a cellular level. Terry had mentioned it looked like something in mathematical theory too, but Celestia help her if Rarity could remember.

Even more interesting was how Twilight frequently consulted with Pinkie Pie as she progressed in her work.

Rarity arched an eyebrow. “I do say, Applejack, what is it that has Twilight sharing so much with Pinkie?”

Applejack raised her hat from the little nap she was taking and squinted at the pair. Shrugging, she said, “Don’t rightly know. Twi just had me set up some rocks based on how I best worked with the dirt. She’s been talkin’ all manner of weird with Pinkie.”

Rarity tapped on her chin. What was Twilight trying to do to get them home?
~
Once finished, Twilight grinned. It was really something. A smooth blend of this world’s high-end theoretical mathematics and her understanding of unicorn magic. Glancing at Pinkie, she looked back to the design and assured herself that it would work. One way or another.

“Okay, does everypony know their positions?”

The girls all nodded, save Rarity, who was examining the circle of spellwork.

“Twilight, darling, I don’t mean to sound like I doubt your skills, but...”

“But what?” Twilight asked.

“This looks fairly advanced.”

“It has to be. There’s no magic here and in order to get us home, I need to make up all the foci externally. Well, except one part.”

“Yes dear, and I’m fine with that, but.” Rarity sighed and cocked her head at Twilight. “Perhaps we should just wait out our time until the spell ends naturally? You told me yourself, breaking certain spells is often more difficult than simply letting them run their course. And this was a spell cast by you and the Princesses.”

Twilight nodded all through Rarity’s worries.

“I get that Rarity, I really do, but we’re already bending the spell and there’s a good chance we’re exhausting it by living rather than sleeping in these girls’ bodies. We can’t keep it up, or at least I’m not sure if we can. Better to cut our losses and take on the Smiling Pony with what we know now, and hope that’s enough.”

“Quick question,” Applejack said.

“Ugh! Yes?” Twilight’s left eye twitched.

“What happens to all these folk?” she said gesturing to herself. “I mean, seems a bit much to take ‘em to Equestria.”

“They’re not going,” Twilight said, making one last note in her notebook. She walked over to her car and popped the hatch, tossing it inside. “This spell is merely meant to negate the effects of the previous spell and return us home. The girls will just wake up here and feel like they had a waking dream. Inconvenient, but it gets us out of here and back to our bodies.”

“Awesome!” Rainbow said. “Goodbye human wings, hello pegasus wings!”

Twilight smirked. “I know the sentiment. Now if everypony is done? No more questions?”

“Ooo! Oooo!” Pinkie hopped up and down, her hand in the air.

“Yes. Pinkie?”

“Can I throw us a We’re Back In Our Bodies party when we get back?”

Twilight facepalmed. “Sure. But let’s handle the threat to Equestria and all known ponykind first.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie said, giving a thumbs up.

“Does anypony else have anything to say?”

The girls all shook their heads.

“Then let’s do this.”

Taking her place at her circle, Twilight directed the others to their circles, which joined to the larger one in a fine display of what Applejack had called “creepy math.”

“Rainbow Dash- are you certain you can do this?” Twilight asked. “You’re our main power source, after all.”

Rainbow rolled her shoulder. “Gonna be a little different, yeah, but nothing I can’t handle.”

“Okay, ponies, we all know our roles.” Twilight took a deep breath and began to center herself. “Dash- go!”

Rainbow leaped into the air, going as high and far as she could stand. Her lungs burned and her wings, which seemed like they shouldn’t have handled the task of this new, weirder body, lurched, but Rainbow had been there before. She had trained those wings and even with all the changes, they’d get her there.

Down on the ground, Twilight and the other girls closed their eyes, focusing. Dash had to do this too, but they had to build up enough so she’d only have to do it once she released the Sonic Rainboom.

Twilight had been very clear on what they were to focus on: home in Ponyville. Their experiences there, how they lived, who they knew- everything. All of these would act as a magnifier for the spell she’d scratched into the dirt. So long as the girls focused, it would resonate.

Which was easier said than done for Twilight. For every memory she was able to pull up of Equestria, its near-twin appeared in Aurora’s life on Earth. Sweat on her brow, she hoped the other girls were doing better. Peeking, she saw they at least showed more serene expressions.

From Rarity around to Applejack, they all looked relaxed, as if remembering a good day in the sun. Twilight wiped sweat from her brow and looked up.

Rainbow Dash had re-angled and was coming in fast. Twilight could hear the wind bending in her wake.

Twilight let it go and closed her eyes. Her focus was fine. She remembered where she was going.

Squatting down, she pressed her palm into the etched design in the ground that connected the world to the ponies and the ponies to it. She didn’t have any of her own magic to power this, but she had her will and soon with Rainbow Dash’s Rainboom, she’d have the spark needed to jump-start the spell.

“Celestia,” Twilight whispered. “Let this work.”

Rainbow felt the wall of sound and air bend into a perfect cone in front of her.

“Come oooonnn,” she growled. Her friends were counting on her and they were coming up fast.

“Come oonnnn....”

Physics fought back. She was a little girl pushing boldly at a mountain, thinking it would budge. She was insignificant. She didn’t matter. She was not just trying the improbable, she was doing the impossible. Reality had many rules here and while Rainbow Dash had bent a few, she would not break- She broke through.

The chromatic explosion scorched across the air, a ripple of light and color expanding in an outward ring. Rainbow slammed into her spot in the dirt, her eyes lighting up as if from a source within. Her cutie mark seemed to hover ethereally in front of her.

With her as the starting point, the light spread outward across the circle, meeting each pony in turn, their cutie marks floating up to meet them, their eyes glowing with energy and power. The light finally gathered around Twilight, who rose to blaze like the nimbus of a star.

It was nothing like when she focused through her horn or the Element of Magic tiara. She was holding this all in her mind. For a brief moment of panic, she thought she’d lose it, but she clamped down. She was Twilight Sparkle, the personal protégé of Princess Celestia, one of the strongest magical talents in the world. If anyone could ride this spell and see it through, it was her.

She opened her eyes and another blast of chromatic color washed over the clearing, lighting up the circle at the girls’ feet. Twilight then spoke one word- so quiet and personal, but so powerful that the ground itself shook.

“Home.”

There was a flash of light that could be seen from space and a nearby farmer thought he’d been hit by an earthquake and then, quiet.

Comments

[Nolongerposting]

Love the continuation and once again can't wait to read the next update.

[Ulti Shadow Lord]

If this spell was only to negate the old one. Where did all the other bodies go?

[Rocket0007]

Hmmm, that was probably unintended...hope those girls they borrowed come out of this okay, cause it doesn't look like they're going back

[shapeshiftingpedro]

Creepy math =Fractals: a pattern that repeats no matter how far you zoom in on it

[nanashi_jones]

2431766

That was a lot of energy in the spell. It had to go somewhere...

[nanashi_jones]

2434712
It was just creepy math as far as I could tell. Pinkie and Twilight tried explaining it to me, but I blacked out when they started in on having to account for the weight of yellow.

Fractals sounds good though. Let's go with that.

[Jlargent]

“Being awesome doesn’t have to make sense,” Rainbow said from the back. “I kick impossible to the curb all the time, Twilight. You should really just accept it.”

Row Row Fight the Power!

[Pinklestia]

I bet something went wrong with the spell.