//------------------------------// // A Different World // Story: Legends of Equestria // by MetalJrock //------------------------------// The Waverider swiftly flew through the timestream, the glowing rainbow that it was made for a lucid realm of a hub in order to escape any threat in any time period. But within the confines of the ship was a team, formed for the purpose of stopping a madman. A bizarre team brought together by one man seeking redemption. Captain Rip Hunter swiftly slammed his palms on the central computer. "Savage escaped yet again..." he groaned, disappointed in himself and his bizarre crew. He raised his hands to wipe the sweat off his forehead, and pointed at the team. "Well, what did you expect?" asked a man wearing a blue jacket, removing the goggles from his eyes. His tone was slow, and almost condescending. Rip inhaled, "What I expect, Mister Snart, is competency! You can't just be messing with the timeline and give Savage a chance to escape time and again!" Ray crossed his arms, "It's a little unfair to think it was our fault. How were we supposed to know that the jewel he had was capable of creating rifts and escape us?" On their last mission, Rip sent him and his team to the future where the tyrant Vandal Savage would begin his rise to conquer the entire planet. During their time there, the team was exposed and had to fight Savage's army. But as they were ready to end him, he raised a staff he obtained in that era and vanished in a swirling vortex of purple with his army to escape. "That's just it, Palmer! At no point in history did he ever have such a thing! It's almost nonexistent!" Rip scolded. "Is it?" questioned Mick Rory with a growl. He dug a hand into his pocket and tossed a fragment of a atrange glowing purple crystal onto the circular computer in front of Captain Hunter. Said Captain flinching in surprise over what he saw. "Astounding, Mister Rory!" exclaimed Professor Stein, amazed at the jewel. "How on Earth did you obtain this artifact? I thought Savage had the only one." Mick gritted his teeth, "Well, there were a few others in glass cases in that strange building he owned. Thought maybe they could be useful if Savage was usin' it." "...That's actually really clever of you." admitted Sara Lance, a thin smirk seen on her face. Mick growled at the comment, his intelligence seemingly insulted yet again. Jackson Jefferson, or Jax as he was nicknamed, grinned, "So, Grey. Any idea as to what it is?" Stein shook his head, the older man unable to identify the strange object in his sight. "No, Jefferson. I do not. Though, perhaps, we should ask Gideon what it is?" he suggested. Kendra Saunders spoke, "Something about it seems familiar, yet I can't remember." "I already have anayzed it." said the female AI, Gideon. "It's a meteorite with an irritadiated energy similar to the one that gave you your powers and Vandal Savage his immortality. In that point in time, archeologists must have recovered it and discovered the innate energy, which Savage recovered for himself." "...I see." Kendra muttered. Stein gestured to the jewel, "So, this is what gave you, Carter and Savage your unique abilites? I would've never guessed."  "So, what does that have to do with Savage using it?" Ray asked the intelligence. "The artifact, which is known in that point in time as a Warp Crystal, allows the beholder to travel through dimensions. It seems Savage had used it to escape so that you would leave and he could continue his rise on Earth uninterrupted." Jax groaned, "You mean to tell me that now we have no way of tracking Savage until he pops back into Earth?" "Not quite." Gideon revealed, "The energy of the fragment can track other pieces as well. If you were to connect it to the Time Drive, we can follow Savage to where and when he ended up." Rip sighed, "Very well. Strap in, everyone. We are going to follow Savage and make sure that wherever he ended up doesn't become a hellish wasteland like 2166 under his thumb." "Right..." drawled Snart. "No pressure." The team had all gathered in the chairs, sat down and lowered the straps as Rip left and came back to the pilot's seat a moment later, crystal no longer in hand. "Hold on, tight." he said in a determined tone, "This may be a bumpy ride." Ray chuckled, "When is it not?" he wondered, trying to lighten the mood of the moment. The captain rolled his eyes at the comment, as did the rest of the Waverider crew. "Oh come on..." Palmer groaned. Rip held the lever and pushed it, his eyes narrowing at the color-changing rift in front of him. The crew prepared themselves for a warp unlike anything they've ever dealt and shut their eyes at the massive amount of color nearly blinding them. Then, a flash of white and purple surrounded them, bringing them across dimensions. EQUESTRIA "Hi, everypony!" Pinkie Pie waved to the other ponies and dragon, her friends. They were all sitting ona checkered-pattern blanket with two baskets sitting in the middle of it. They all sat in a circle, leaving a spot for said pink pony as she propped herself down. "Nice of you to make it, Pinkie." Twilight greeted. Pinkie nodded, "Of course I'd make it! How could I ever miss meeting me friends for something as fun as a picnic?" she asked the purple alicorn quickly. "You're really makin' it sound more excitin'." Applejack chuckled, biting into a sandwich. "Let her have the moment." Rarity added. Spike laid on the blanket, a Power Ponies comic opened and his eyes scanning each word and picture. "What'cha reading there, Spike?" Pinkie asked. "Don't bother, Pinkie. His eyes never left that book since he arrived." Rainbow Dash told him. Um... I didn't think he'd read one after what we've been through." Fluttershy shuddered. Spike's eyes narrowed and a playful grin was seen on his face, "I can hear you guys." he said while sitting up. "It's the latest Power Ponies issue. It's about them time-travelling." "Time travel?" Twilight repeated in an almost interested tone. The dragon nodded, "Yep. Knew that'd get your attention, Twi." "Well, I'd imagine the egghead would like some sci-fi." Rainbow playfully teased. "You'd be interested like her if it were about 'em searchin' in an ancient temple and solving puzzles." Applejack reminded the cyan pegasus with a light nudge to her shoulder. Rainbow huffed at that comment and shrugged. "I don't care. Still sounds awesome, honestly. Anything that involves butt-kicking and adventure is right up my alley!" the cyan mare admitted loudly, crossing her hooves proudly. "Anyway..." Spike trailed off, holding half-a-sandwich in hand, his mouth full. He swallowed, "They have to stop a tyrant from destroying their world in the future by the end of the story arc." "How are they going to do that?" Twilight wondered. Pinkie cheered, "Story time!" "Do tell, Spike. It seems you have caught our interest." Rarity suggested. "Of course, m'lady." the dragon said, "Anyway--" VWOOOM! Fluttershy let out a quiet 'eep' at the loud booming sound. The six mares and dragon turned their gazes upward to the clear sky, surprised by what they were seeing. It was a strange ship flying as fast as it could outside of a purple, closing swirling vortex behind it and it moved into the Everfree Forest and lowered into the pile of trees that made the forest. The ponies blinked and gazed at one another slowly, trying to process what they saw. "...What the hay was that?" Rainbow questioned. "I-I don't know..." Twilight stammered quietly, her mind trying to process what happened. "I-It came o-out of a portal." Fluttershy whispered. "That's not right..." Twilight muttered. Rarity shook her head, "Should we find out what it was?" "Duh!" Rainbow spat. "Woo! Adventure!" Pinkie cheered again. "Do we...?" Fluttershy gulped. Applejack frowned, "Well, we have'ta find out if they're hostile or not." "I guess it's a story for another time." Spike muttered in a stoic tone, standing up with his friends, as they hesitated in entering the forest to find the ship. Inside the Waverider, Captain Hunter lowered the ship as slow and carefully as he could, making sure to leave little impact while landing. He made sure to lower the time ship in an area that would be diffiicult to track, and he found a forest within his line of sight and chose it for now. Rip took his hand off the lever and removed the strap, blonking his eyes. "Alright, everyone. Let's make sure for any side-effects. Dimension-travel is different than time-travel." Ray gagged, lowering his head and regurgitating his lunch. Rip put his hands on his hips, "That answers that question." Sara shook her head, "I'm a little woozy... But it's nothing I can't shake off." she assured the captain, removing the chair strap and standing up, leaning on the arm for leverage. Mick blinked his eyes, "The hell? Everything's all black..." "Temporary blindness, Mister Rory." Rip revealed, "Similar to whiplash in time-travel. Some of you may have side-effects. Don't worry, it's only temporary." "What?!" Jax yelled. Kendra looked at Jefferson, "Seems blindness is another side-effect." Snart chuckled and got to his feet, adjusting his trademark jacket, "Well, looks like this didn't go perfectly. What's the plan now, oh Captain?" he asked sarcastically. "First of all, I think we should clean Doctor Palmer's... Mess." Stein suggested. "Well, I ain't doing it." Leonard crossed his arms and dismissed. "Same here." Sara added. "...Don't focus on that now. Once the side effects wear off, our primary objective is to find Savage." he facepalmed, stressed by the situation. "Since we're in another world, blending in is still necessary, but at least optional should the opportunity arise, and at least we don't have to worry about altering the time-stream now." Sara nodded, "Yep. Savage is here as well. I'm sure he won't go through the effort of being disguised." Rip pointed at Sara, "That is a very accurate prediction, Miss Lance. But that does not give us the excuse to do the same. It should be our goal to leave as little impact in this world as possible. For all we know, it could be a parallel Earth we found ourselves in." "I was involved that business before you recruited us, actually. This could hypothetically be an Earth-2." Stein added, "My friend, Mister Allen, is in the process of preparing himself to stop an evil speedster from a parallel world." Snart rolled his eyes, "Wonderful... So we're in an even stranger Sy-Fy film." Ray could be heard gagging again, but he stood up. "Sorry 'bout the mess, Rip. Anyway... If Savage is here, don't you think the idea od undercover isn't effective? We need to be as fast as possible in stopping him." he reminded the former Time Master, leaning on the chair and kicking back. "I understand, Doctor Palmer... But what if we end up in a true parallel world that directly mirrors our own? We cannot afford the risk!" Rip responded. "I only saw lush empty fields and a forest," Snart responded, "I think we're clear." "Okay, I only heard half of that. Can anyone fill me in?" Jax asked, his hearing back. He held the side of his head, which ached a little. "I'll tell ya soon, kid." Mick replied, raising the strap of the chair, choosing to remain sitting. "...Hell of a mess ya made here, Haircut." he added a comment. Ray sighed, "I'll clean it up..." Rip grunted, "Very well. While you do that prepare to exit, I'll put the ship in camoflague. We can't be discovered no matter what, especially with the crystal in the Time Drive." he noted, pressing a button, turning the ship invisible from the outside, "Gideon... Any information you can give?" "None whatsoever, Captain Hunter. I have very thin data on alternate dimensions." Gideon revealed. "The Time Masters can only discover so much. And inter-dimensional travel really isn't common." Leonard huffed, "So, we're on our own in a different world to find an immortal tyrant. Very good odds we have here. So, Rip... Benching anyone this time?" "I cannot afford to do so this time, Snart. We're all going to scout our location. And then once we learn about this world, we can focus our efforts in finding Savage." Rip discussed, "Ready yourselves. We leave in a few minutes."