//------------------------------//
// XV - Somewhere in the Woods 
// Story: Broken Mirror 
// by GMBlackjack 
//------------------------------//

>> What is rock bottom?

It is often considered to be the furthest one can fall. The greatest depth to which anyone can stoop - it is implied that it's impossible to get any worse at that point.

Foolish.

Things are never so bad that they can't get worse.

Simply double the pain.

Kill someone else.

Lose an arm.

Lose another arm.

Lose all the memories.

Have a friend lose all their memories.

Or learn that your hope is unfounded. <<


~~~


It was a silent night in the Eastwood. The moon hung low in the sky, casting long shadows that cut along the landscape, imprisoning entire swaths of land in midnight bars. An owl let out a hoot before flying off to hunt, scanning the forest for prey. It saw dozens of rodents scurrying around, thinking they were being clever and silent - but in reality were easy pickings for the wise bird. However, the rodents were spared, for something else caught the owl's eye - a yellow-orange light took that honor, it's smoke trail and warmth piquing the owl's natural curiosity. Most animals would flee from fire, but this was an owl. It knew what it saw wasn't a raging forest blaze - rather, a controlled flame. It flew towards the soft light, lighting on a tree branch nearby, swiveling its head around to survey the area, the flames reflecting in the dark orbs that were the owl's eyes. 

There were ponies. Eight of them. All were female, none were talking. They all just stared into the fire, ears down. The owl could tell a few of them noticed its presence, they just didn't care. To the owl's disappointment there was no food, no cooked meal, not even any supplies to raid. Just eight mares and a fire. The ponies looked like they had been there a long time.

The owl decided this was a waste of its time and flew off. This irked Rainbow Dash. "Oh, are we too boring for you!?"

"Rainbow Dash," Rarity chided, "now is not the tim-"

"What? It's not like anypony was saying anything!" She threw her two hooves towards the sky and flopped onto her back. She looked like she wanted to move more, but without her chair, that wasn't happening without more effort than she was willingto give. There was silence once more. 

"Dash has a point," Applejack said after a while. "We shouldn't sulk here in silence forever. We need to face what happened."

The Inspector raised an eyebrow. "Neighagra Falls is gone, all of the ponies we know and love are dead, we're stuck out in the woods, and we were rejected by our own ponies." She stared into the fire as if she were trying to blind herself. "That sum it up?"

"You forgot the part where I ruined everything," Twilight said.

"Well, yeah, that's true..." Rainbow Dash said. "But I'm the one who wouldn't shut up about Pinkie and blew the lid off this whole thing for Amplify!"

"I'm the one who got Amplify angry in the first place..." Rarity said.

"And I fought him with a song!" Pinkie said. "In hindsight, that was probably a really bad idea."

"There's enough blame to go around," Fluttershy said. "All of us screwed up in one way or another, and we are now paying for it."

"Excuse me?" Minuette interjected. "What did I mess up!?"

The Inspector huffed. "At this moment, you're being a bonehead. Remind all of us that we messed up and you didn't, why don't you?"

"Do you want to have a go, Inspector?"

"No. It would only deplete our energy further." 

"Girls, stop," Fluttershy said. "The last thing we need right now is to start fighting amongst ourselves. Physically or otherwise."

Rainbow Dash snorted. "Well, you better think of something else to do pretty bucking quick Fluttershy, cause everypony's fuse is this close to going off."

Minuette grumbled at this remark. 

Fluttershy sagged her head. "I don't know, for once. I think we're doing all we can now. We're talking it out."

"Oooh!" Pinkie said. "We could set up like a support group here! I could get Rarity's drama cough, I could get some psychoanalysissy glasses, and a notebook!" She took some glasses, a notebook, and her cracked horn out of her mane, using the pink cone as a makeshift pen. "We could all pitch in!" She twitched, her smile far too big for the situation at hand.

"Pinkie... You're mane's sagging," Applejack observed.

"N-no it's not! Silly! I'm fine! It only goes flat when I'm depressed, psychotic, or both! And I'm neither right now!" She cackled, her mane entering an intermediary state. She looked at Minuette, notepad ready. "How do you feel?"

"I call bullshit," Minuette said. "Bull-shit."

"Afraiiiid to tell us about your feeeeeelings?"Pinkie leaned in, raising an eyebrow repeatedly. 

"Pinkie!" Rarity yelled. "Not the time!"

"She does have the right idea though..." Fluttershy said. "We can't just continue like this. We need to get our feelings and... traumas out into the open."

"Celestia's ass, you can't be serious," Rainbow Dash muttered.

"I'll start," Fluttershy continued.

"Oh Luna, she is," Minuette facehooved. "Nopony wants to hear this!"

Fluttershy ignored her. "I'm terrified. I haven't been this terrified since I was a little filly, a little filly who was beaten because she couldn't bear to let the earth pony kids go hungry at their school. I'm also angry, angry at Twilight for not listening to me. Angry at all you for letting it get so out of control. Angry at that idiot Amplify." She drooped. "I'm guilty. Guilty for taking Twilight away from Neighagra Falls. Guitly of putting you all in this situation. And I... I..." She took in a breath in an attempt to compose herself - but failed. She broke down crying. "They're all dead... They're all dead... They're all dead..."

Many of the mares had seen Fluttershy cry before. Usually, it was something hidden, kept in the corner of the pegasus's eye. A few times it was open grief over the loss of somepony close, or the hopelessness of a situation. They had seen those bouts of sorrow before. 

This wasn't anything like that. She kept repeating "they're all dead..." over and over and over again, holding her front hooves to her head, rocking her body slightly with her heaving chest, choking on her own tears. She was a mess - and that was something she'd never been before. She could always bring herself under control. 

"Stop it!" Rainbow Dash yelled, crying as well. "Stop it Fluttershy! Stop!" Enraged, Rainbow Dash flapped her single wing and lunged at Fluttershy. In one swift motion, Fluttershy grabbed Rainbow Dash by the wing and pinned her to the ground. Rainbow Dash yelled out, struggling - but she couldn't escape. Fluttershy looked down at her, tears falling down onto Rainbow Dash's back. 

"Let... Me... Go...!"

Fluttershy said nothing.

"Dammit, Fluttershy!"

"I..." Fluttershy stepped off, staring at Rainbow Dash as if she'd never seen her before. "...I'm sorry Dash."

"Buck yes you are!"

"Wha?" Rarity pointed an accusing hoof. "You attacked her!"

"She was being a bitch!"

"Oh, should I come over there and give you a good pummeling then!?"

"You think you can miss fancy pants!?"

"STOP!" Fluttershy wailed. "Just STOP!"

Silence fell again. Many of them were crying.

"Look! We have to deal with this!" Fluttershy continued. "it's not going to happen quickly! There will be pain! Lots of pain! We lost everything. Everything. We-"

"Everything but each other," Twilight said. "We... We still have that."

"As I recall, my life was muuuuuch better before I met any of you!" Minuette blurted. "I wasn't involved in some great conspiracy! The fate of Equestria had nothing to do with me! I was just an ordinary soldier doing ordinary things. And then you all had to go and make me question things!"

"I can revert you," Twilight said without thinking. "If you want. Return you to ignorance."

"Didn't you just decide you weren't going to do that anymore? Why didn't you change your mind back there?Oh, and is it on now? Can you tell me what I'm thinking about you!?"

Twilight looked away. "It's off."

"Turn it on, Princess. I want you to see this."

Pinkie paled. "No, Twi, bad idea-"

Twilight had already cocked her head - and she started screaming in agony, clutching her head and turning it off again. She continued whimpering, pressing her hooves to her temples. 

"Guess I'm better than I thought," Minuette muttered.

"Accas asshole," Rainbow Dash spat.

"You know what, I'm sick of you and your-"

Pinkie shot off a party blower, glancing at the two of them. "Stop it. Minuette, that wasn't you that hurt Twilight. That was all of us. There's... There's too much  here."

"Too much what?" Rarity asked.

"Anger. Regret. Sorrow. Guilt. Grief," Twilight listed off, shakily standing back up. "It... it was so strong. I...I wasn't expecting it." She looked around the fire at the many faces around her. "...Why are you all so guilty for being mad at me?I deserve to be the victim of your hate!"

Fluttershy turned to put a hoof on Twilight, but the alicorn batted it away with her wing. "No. Tell me. Why?"

Applejack sighed. "Because you tried so hard. Because you thought you were doing the right thing. Because... You're our friend, Twilight. And it's not just you. All of us are angry at each other. Ah can point at each and every one of these ponies and list off several reasons Ah'm downright angry with 'em. But Ah can also think of several reasons I should be mad at myself." She turned to look at the Inspector with sad eyes. "...Several reasons."

The Inspector shook her head, tears in her eyes. "You were acting out of emotional turmoil."

"Yeah, Ah was, but that ain't somethin' that's going to go away. You know how it is..." Applejack sighed but kept eye contact with the Inspector. 

The Inspector choked. "A-applejack, I'm the one who killed your grandmother. It's h-hardly the s-same."

Rarity, Pinkie, and Minuette gasped. 

"Rarity... Rarity... Rarity..." Applejack took off her hat and looked deep into the Inspector's eyes. "We don't need to do this again. You've changed. Ah hate the you that did that. You hate the you that did that. But the you that's here now..."

The Inspector's tears flowed down like twin waterfalls. "Oh Applejack..."

The two embraced. Everypony around them was overcome by a mixture of admiration and guilt over the way they'd been acting.

Fluttershy let herself smile. "You two... Are an inspiration to us all. As always..." She stood up tall, wiped her face with her wing, and addressed everypony. "There's enough blame to go around. We all had some hoof in this - be it conscious or not. But we've lost too much to harbor hate. We've lost too much to let this drive us apart. Ponies- thousands of ponies - have died because of us. We failed."

A silence fell over the clearing, only the creaking of the fire audible over the night silence. 

"But that doesn't mean we should give up," Fluttershy continued. "Not all hope is lost. Equestria still has two strongholds, and we have allies in the Crystal Empire. The Society is not gone, there are other cells - and we are alive. Right now at this very moment the eight of us are standing here, living and breathing. We're not okay. We're screwed up. we lost the battle. But nothing is unforgivable. We are not done. We may be down, but we are not out."

Rainbow Dash nodded slowly. "No... We're not. We're still here. That means something, I guess."

Minuette bit her lip. "...Fine. Fine. I... I guess you're right."

"She usually is," Twilight said.

Pinkie's smile became genuine. "This... This is beautiful! All of you! all of us! This... This is Friendship!"

"Oh, Luna's twat, Pinkie!" Minuette yelled. "Stop it with the cheesy feelsy friendly stuff!"

"Oh come ooooon! You liiiiike it!"

Minuette blinked. "...Yeah..."

This got a chuckle from everypony.

Rarity let out a giant yawn. "Oh, my apologies..."

"It's alright," Fluttershy said. "We all could use some sleep. We're nowhere near done with this discussion - nor are we ready to complete it. But... we need some sleep. Before that, I need to know everypony will stand by each other." she put her hoof over the fire. "Whatever happens, whatever pain, whatever loss, we stick together."

"Together," Everypony chimed, putting a hoof in. 


~~~


"...Hey, Pinkie? You still awake?" Minuette asked.

Pinkie's eyes shot open in an instant, startling MInuette. "I am now."

"Yeesh. You're still you, even after all this..."

"Eh, I already had my psychotic breakdown a while ago. It'd be repetitive to go down that route again. Still..." She whimpered. "I feel so sorry for Farundael..."

"...What did you see in that bitch?"

"Exactly that. She was horrible. I wanted to help her smile. I didn't get enough time..."

"I... Nevermind," Minuette shook her head. "Pinkie... I need to ask you something."

"Hrm?"

"Is it worth it?"

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "Is what worth what?"

"Is this... 'harmony' you have worth all this?"

Pinkie paused for a moment. "I... I think so."

"Would you, personally, kill a pony if you knew it'd bring it about?"

Something slightly unsettling flashed in Pinkie's eyes. She answered without hesitation. "Yes."

Minuette shivered. "You... seem really sure about that."

Pinkie sighed. "It's because I am. I'm sure I'd do it. I'm sure everypony here but Rarity would do it. Most of us have killed already." She pulled a knife out of her mane and made some stabbing gestures. "I... used to think that all problems could be solved by being friendly. I don't anymore."

Minuette let out a soft chuckle. "Having your own stark realization about how things are?"

"Yeah. We aren't immune to believing convenient lies where I'm from. Harmony, while amazing, is nooot the magic cure-all for everything everypony seems to think it is. I think that Flutters has the right idea. Fight for it. Cause otherwise it aiiiiiin't happening, at least not here. But we'll make it happen here."

Minuette looked up into the night sky. "I don't know, Pinker. I don know if I want to fight for that."

"...Why not?"

"I think I'm just... Damn tired. I've been running on rage and hatred all my life, and now that it's going away... I just feel tired. Bucking tired."

"Well... sorry Minuette, I don't know what to say... I don't think you can rest. I think we're all in too deep."

"I... I know. Damn. Damn shit damn. Just....Gah. I looked into evil itself Pinkie. It looked back."

"That must have been horrible."

"It was. And I think what you're fighting goes down deeper than just pure evil. It's part of nature. It's a good fight, don't get me wrong. I just look and think it's a hopeless fight and that all of you damn well know it."

"...All we know is that it's possible. It's real where I'm from! And it's beautiful!"

"I know. I know. I don't even know why I'm going on about this, really. Not about to take Twilight up on her offer of 'accepted brainwashing'."

Pinkie giggled. "That is a weird idea... Ordering yourself to be brainwashed. I wonder what it's like..."

"I'm not going to find out."

"You two..." Rarity mumbled from a few feet away. "Quiet... Some of us are trying to sleep here."

Pinkie stifled a snort. "Sorry Rarity!"

"Just go to sleep - it's uncomfortable enough out here without the extra noise."

"Yeah... We'll talk about this later Minuette. Goodnight!"

Minuette nodded slowly. "Yeah... Goodnight."


~~~


The Sun shone down upon the Eastwood. Everypony was up and moving about - they were far from okay, but they weren't staring off into nothing anymore. They were chattering in hushed tones. Occasionally somepony would break out into tears or start yelling at something inane, but one or two of the others would always comfort them.

Nopony was okay.

But at least they were together.

"Okay, listen up!" Fluttershy said suddenly. "We're heading to Nova. It'll take us a few days to get there in our current state, but we should be able to make it without too much difficulty. We'll be safe there - and then we can talk about what to do next. We'll avoid roads and towns - given recent events I don't believe it would be a good idea to show our faces publicly. 

Everypony nodded in agreement at that.

"Does anypony here have anything else to suggest?"

"Can't we send somepony ahead to announce our coming?" the Inspector asked. 

"It'd have to be either me or Twilight to go ahead... and I don't think we need to split up right now."

"Fair enough."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "All I know is that AJ and Pinks are going to have to work out a system for carrying me."

"Ah'll keep carryin' ya 'till Pinkie feels better," Applejack insisted. "Maybe even pass ya' off to Minuette."

Fluttershy nodded. "Let's continue on then."

The seven ponies slowly walked through the forest, following the hovering form of Fluttershy, leaving their home far behind. They could see smoke rising from the distant wreckage of Neighagra Falls - were they to look behind them, which they wisely didn't. 

Pinkie bounded over to Rarity, her back still hurting, but overall feeling much better. "Hi!"

"Hi, Pinkie."

"Are you okay?"

"Are you?"

"Nope," Pinkie admitted. "I mean, I know we're all messed up, but I just can't let the screw-up I had go... I wonder if it'd be different if I left Farun alone. If I had taken the fight with Amplify seriously..."

Rarity sighed. "I wonder if I should have never gone to that meeting..."

"Yeah, but we can't mess with time, so well neeeeeever know what would have happened. We need to drop it and move on!"

"You know saying it and doing it are two completely different things, right dear?"

"Yeah, but that's the first step!" She tried to grin, but it just ended up a sad smile. "On... On the road to recovery, right?"

"All of us are..." Rarity said, looking out at the group. "We just witnessed something disastrous that we all had a hoof in..." She lowered her head. "And... Life had just become stable again, for us. I had a shop! I was making dresses! I was normal once again! Now? Now I'm on the run again! Again! Wasn't once enough?"

Pinkie sagged. "I never got to throw that party either..."

"Do the Stars just hate us or something?"

"Sure seems like it," Twilight commented from their left. "Sorry, uh, was I not supposed to interject?"

"It's fine," Rarity said. "Care to elaborate on your thought?"

"Well, uh, it seems like the world just has it out for you two. Hunted, attacked, a trail of destruction... I'm sure your... destinies are powerful, but I'm not sure if that's just because you're from another world or not or because of other things and the future or fate..."

"So, what, destiny just decides we have to suffer?" Rarity asked.

"Maybe? Fate isn't something that's well understood."

"No kidding," Pinkie said. "From what our Twilight said, messing with it changes things... drastically."

Twilight blinked. "She tried to mess up fate?"

Pinkie shook her head. "Nope! A mare named Starlight Glimmerdid that, Twilight had to stop her."

"How did this mare change fate?" Twilight asked, curiosity evident. 

"Time travel," Rarity said. "Don't ask me to explain it, I really don't understand. She kept us and our friends from ever meeting, resulting in a lot of horrid worlds..."

"Worse than... this?"

"Some," Pinkie said. "Our Twilight described a world where there was nothing - a Wasteland of sorts."

"You... Your friendship was important enough that severing it caused that?" Twilight shook her head. "You really are cosmic playthings..."

"Aren't we all?" Fluttershy called back. "None of our lives have really been normal, have they?"

"Mine was..." Minuette reminded everypony.

"Well, you've been dragged in now!" Rainbow Dash said. "Buckle up bonehead, the ride won't be over anytime soon!"

Minuette let out a sharp breath. "Thanks for reminding me."

"No problemo."

"Ah think you're tryin' too hard Dash," Applejack said.

"I think that's exactly what we need!" Pinkie announced, pulling out her party cannon and shooting confetti everywhere. 

Applejack chuckled. "M-maybe."

"Hey AJ..." Rainbow Dash said, looking down at her mount. "You're probably..."

"No, I'm not fine, thanks for askin' though, not talkin' about it now."

"Yeesh..."

"Let her talk on her own time," Fluttershy said.

Applejack nodded. "Thanks, Flutters."

"It's what I'm here for."

"Hey, girls..." the Inspector said, squinting through her monocle. "I'm picking up some unusual magic over there."

Minuette raised an eyebrow. "Is it dangerous?"

"No. It's stationary and it's not very strong... It's just colored strangely."

Twilight stopped walking. "...I want to go check it out!"

"Is that really a good idea?" Minuette asked. 

"...Since when were you the voice of reason?" Rarity wondered aloud.

Rarity's question went unanswered. Fluttershy looked at Minuette and shrugged. "Maybe it's safe, maybe not. but we could use the diversion, frankly. Lead the way, Rarity!"

The Inspector nodded, making a sharp left, cutting through the trees at a brisk pace. Within a minute of speed-walking, the source of the magic revealed itself - an ancient cabin built around a tree. Wire meshes and trinkets lined the outer walls, indicating that it was abandoned or at the very least not taken care of. The windows were broken and parts of it were rotting. On the front door was a glyph - a swirling black mark with twelve black triangles around it, giving the vague appearance of the sun. 

Rainbow Dash yelped and fell right off Applejack upon seeing the glyph. "Z-Zecora!" the pegasus blurted.

"You know... That does look like her glyph!" Pinkie said. "Huh!"

"No bucking way, you know Zecora!?" Rainbow Dash blurted. "Wait - right of course you do, alternate universe..."

"I mentioned her before, Rainbow," Rarity said. "She lives outside Ponyville and serves as our settlement's 'wise sage' sort."

"Yeah, well, that's your Zecora. This one's a wing-ripping monster."

Pinkie put a hoof to her mouth. "Really!?"

Rainbow Dash sat herself up with some effort. "I'm going to destroy this place."

"We won't stand in your way," Fluttershy said.

"I would like to investigate it first," Twilight said, pensive.

"Go ahead! Knock yourselves out!" Rainbow Dash grinned. "Let's ransack this bucking place!"

Fluttershy threw open the door to reveal an abandoned interior. There was evidence of animals having run through the place previously - cobwebs, dung, scratches, overturned furniture, and even a few bones that didn't look like they were part of the trinket collection. The Inspector picked up a particularly small skull and kept it - she'd need to restart her collection from scratch. She didn't take any of the other mystical trinkets, she didn't trust them, the magic coming from them was unpleasant to her Monocle. 

There was an empty cauldron in the center of the hut, and many of the shelves were lined with long ago decomposed brewing ingredients. There was also a bookshelf that, somewhat surprisingly, was hardly defaced or worn at all. Twilight levitated a few books from the shelf and opened them. "Crap. All in Zebrican."

Rarity looked over the pages. "This is a botany textbook."

"...You can read Zebrican!?"

"Yes. You can't? I mean, I studied the language for the culture, I thought anypony in Celesita's School had to learn it."

"The zebras aren't exactly open to letting us study their culture. There are maybe two dozen ponies in Equestria who can read Zebrican."

"Our zebras are hardly like that. Though admittedly I'm not great at reading it, all I know is from basic classes and what I learned from Zecora. Pinkie?"

"Hey, I never bothered learning any of that stuff," Pinkie shrugged. "You were the one who thought it'd be 'cultural'." 

"Yes, well..." Rarity looked at another book. "Ah, a potion brewing manual."

"Oooooh! Applebloom'd love that!" Pinkie said.

"E-excuse me!?" Applejack blurted.

"Oh. Oooooooh... Our Applebloom. Not yours. Has a potion brewing hobby. Ours. Not yours. Though I'm sure yours is good at it. Was. I'm going to stop talking now." Pinkie pocketed the potion brewing book in her mane and slid out of sight.

Applejack twitched, having half a mind to just knock her silly. She resisted the urge.

Rainbow Dash crawled to a nightstand and smashed it in half. "Anything in here besides books?"

The Inspector shook her head. "No. The cauldron is giving off most of the residual magic, but I doubt it'd be a good idea to mess with it."

"This one won't open..." Rarity said, messing with a small black book. Twilight levitated it over so she could try to open it.

"It's sealed..." She said, turning it over. The book was bound with leather and adorned with a faint impression of Zecora's glyph. Twilight rushed her magic into the sealed book - popping the spell open with an explosion of pitch black dust. Everypony started coughing. 

Rarity, through her coughing, took the book in her hooves and dragged her eyes over the page. "I... Can't read most of this. I think it's shorthoof."

Twilight poked her head in. "What can you tell us?"

"I think this is Zecora's journal. Or at the very least I think she wrote it. I don't know what exactly she put in here... The letters "AN" show up a lot, probably in reference to a name.... Oh look, here's a map." She lifted one of the tables upright and set the book flat on top of it. 

"That's Equestria," The Inspector said.

"I know what Equestria looks like," Rarity muttered. "So, I'm pretty sure that dot is Canterlot, and that's the Concretion... So this dot here is-" she paused painfully, "-was Neighagra Falls. And this here is the Crystal Empire, and this to the right has to be Nova, right?"

"Yes," Fluttershy said. "That's Nova."

"What's that south of Nova?" Twilight asked. 

Applejack squinted her eyes. "Ah have no idea. Was that Manehattan before it got purged?"

"Manehattan got purged!?" Rarity said, aghast.

"Yes," Fluttershy said, "it did. But it was further north than that, and on the shoreline."

"So this has to be a somewhat recent map if Manehattan's not on it," Twilight said. "...So what is that dot?"

Rarity furrowed her brow. "All I can tell you is that it has a lot of notes around it - most ending in the zebra equivalent of a question mark." 

"Well, it's on the way to Nova," Fluttershy said. "We could check it out."

Applejack nodded. "Ah don't see why not."

Twilight copied the page into her memory. "Rarity, what else do you see?"

"I'll have to study it more... Though there are a few symbols I see that aren't even in Zebrican. This one, for instance, I see over and over..." The symbol was a circle inscribed with a crescent and five spokes running through it.

Twilight's eyes lit up. "Oh, I know what that is. It's the symbol for the Nightmare Fuel."

"The what the who now?" Pinkie asked. 

"I'm sure I've mentioned it before..." Twilight said. 

"The Nightmare Fuel is an evil force that plagued the land a thousand years ago," Fluttershy said. "It possessed Princess Luna and kicked off the War of the Heavens - the point in our history where I can safely say everything started going downhill. After Celestia purged the evil from Luna, it seeped into the very ground itself, corrupting those with connections to the earth. Those who could flee to the clouds, while the remaining earths were sapped of magic and life... This is why we have Concretes."

"Wow," Pinkie said. "I can't believe we never asked about that."

Fluttershy shrugged. "It's not something we think about that much. The Concretes congregated in their Concretion and the Nightmare Fuel slowly faded from the land, existing today only within the Concretion walls, though evidence of its curse can be seen everywhere... The grass still hasn't recovered."

"At least it's no longer a problem." Applejack said. 

"Eh..." Twilight raised her hoof. "It might, um, be affecting the Concretes still."

"Who gives a buck about the Concretes?" Rainbow Dash countered.

"...Fair enough."

"What in Tartarus are we doing?" the Inspector said, suddenly.

"Ransacking a house," Minuette said, kicking a hole in the wall.

"Yep," Rainbow Dash affirmed, dragging herself to a boarded up window and punching it. 

"No, I mean..." the Inspector pursed her lips. "What are we doing? The world is quite literally falling apart around us and here we are engaging in an act of desecration."

"Revenge," Rainbow Dash corrected. 

"Sure. Whatever. The point is what are we doing? Why what's the point?"

"Information...?" Twilight offered tentatively, holding up the book.

"Morale," Fluttershy answered.

"How is this good for morale?" the Inspector demanded.

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes. "Rarity, I thought that would be obvious. It gives us something to do besides brood. Gives us some purpose beyond 'walk dejectedly to Nova'."  She pointed at the book. "We have a mystery to solve, just like in the old days. An... adventure. We haven't just had one of those in forever."

The Inspector twitched slightly. "I... I... But why?"

"Dear, she just answered," Rarity said. 

The Inspector hung her head. "It doesn't feel right. Life shouldn't just resume."

"It has to," Applejack said. "Time marches on."

The Inspector looked away, silent. Applejack sighed. 

"Are you quite done?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Rainbow!" Rarity chided.

"What? I want to know if I can burn this dumb house to the ground already!"

"Yeah, I think we can do that now," Fluttershy said. "...Any objections?"

There were none. Twilight grabbed a stick, lit the tip of it with fire, and handed it to Rainbow Dash. "You have the honors."

"Take this, bitch!" Rainbow Dash yelled, using her wing to toss the flaming object into the cauldron. The ancient oils caught fire and began to spread to the walls. "You're next you bucking mud-sucking accas striper!"

Then the cauldron exploded. Eight mares flew out of the hut, landing painfully in the forest dirt outside. The colors of the flames licking the hut shifted through all the colors of the rainbow, setting off firework-like-explosions into the sky. The color show lasted for several minutes before it died down, leaving behind quite the empty husk of a hut. 

Pinkie started laughing. Minuette and Rainbow Dash joined in shortly thereafter, despite the pain from being tossed through the air by an explosion. Soon everypony was laughing at the absurdity of the situation. 

Everypony that is, except the Inspector. She stood to the side, looking at them all with an unreadable expression. 


~~~


That night the campfire was a much more welcoming place. Faces were still sad, and there were tears, but there was also laughter and fun. Pinkie had even given a little accordion concert, to the simultaneous delight and annoyance of all present.

And then Twilight and Minuette returned to camp.

"So... Funny story..." Twilight began, glancing around nervously. "While we were out foraging for food..."

Pinkie pulled out a cupcake and raised an eyebrow.

"Healthy food, we ran into a manticore, and um..."

Minuette couldn't hold it in any longer. "And she bucking shot it!" She dragged a dead manticore body out of the bushes, dumping it next to the fire. Rarity screamed, but managed not to pass out. 

"Minuette!" Twilight chided. "You told it wrong! It was a, uh, accident!"

"It roared, and you shot it from a mile away."

"Still an accident!"

"Bah. Still. Food!"

"Uh... We don't eat meat," Rarity managed.

Pinkie shrugged. "Pfft, I've had bacon before Rarity. It's pretty good stuff!"

"You weren't a pony at the time, Pinkie."

The human 'Earth' I assume?" Twilight asked. "Interesting. Regardless, no, pony biology is not designed to handle meat. That being said, we can eat it, it just won't provide the nutrients we need or be good for a long-term meal-plan... " She gulped and began to magically skin the beast while Minuette rigged up a spit. 

Rarity turned, gagging. "I... I think I'm going for a walk in the woods."

"Pussy," Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"Yes. Yes I am," Rarity confirmed, walking out.

"I'll make sure she doesn't get lost," Fluttershy said.

"You just don't like the fact that we're roasting a manticore," Minuette said. 

"True. But do what you will do." She flew after Rarity. 

"So, 'human' world?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at Pinkie.

"Yeah, believe it or not, you guys aren't the first alternate universe we've encountered! We found one that wasn't inhabited by ponies at all - instead hairless ape-like creatures called humans! The human Pinkie Pie and I sometimes swap places from time to time just for fun!"

"Weird. Tell me more."

"Well, you see..."

While Pinkie blabbed on to Rainbow and Twilight, Applejack walked up to the Inspector. "What's wrong?"

"You're asking me what's wrong?" The Inspector huffed. "You just watched your family die right before your eyes..."

"Yeah... Rares, you know that's happened before. No, it's not okay, it'll never be okay, and I've had at least four good cries where you couldn't see them, and Ah'll have more. But Ah'm workin' through it. Ah'm tryin'! You're just... Distant."

"I'm always distant."

"You know it's more than that," Applejack said, removing the Inspector's monocle and holding her head, staring deeply into her eyes. "Ah know something else is wrong."

The Inspector's hard exterior broke. "I... I... Just, you're all alone now. This world - my world, has stolen everything from you. I said I wouldn't let anything else happen to your family. I promised Applejack! I promised! I failed! I couldn't do one of the most important things to me!"

"it... was out of your control, Rares."

"But you're alone now..."

"Ah have all of you."

"...But no family..." the Inspector's eyes began to drip. "N-not anymore..."

"Y'all are my family now," Applejack said. "You have been for the longest time." She pulled the Inspector in for a hug, and they stood there for the longest time in silence.

Minuette turned to Twilight. "...She killed her grandma right?"

"Er..." Twilight bit her lip. "Not... Not directly, but she knew what she was doing."

"Why do they seem to be the closest out of all of you then? Seems like that's one huge barrier to get past..."

"One of the most mind-bending mysteries of the universe," Rainbow Dash said. "How do they do it?"

Minuette blinked, looking at them again. "Are they... ...You know..."

Twilight flushed and Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. "Bucking Tartarus no! You're reading waaaaay to far into this! Applejack's straight as an arrow and Rarity isn't the type for relationships!"

Minuette just blinked. "Oh. ...I was just checking." She decided to change the subject and pointed at the manticore on the spit. "How close is it to done?"

"Few more minutes," Twilight said. "Even with magic fire, it still takes time."

Pinkie decided to bound over to the Inspector and Applejack. "Hi!" she said.

Applejack looked up and wiped her face. "...Hi."

"I'm just here to say, well, there's still ponies from your family out there. I can introduce them to you if we ever go back to our world. Big Mac and Applebloom were fine last I checked - and Granny Smith. Heck, we're pretty sure I'm an estranged relative."

The Inspector put a hoof to her mouth, eyes wide.

Applejack hung her head, eyes hidden by her hat. "Ah'm... not so sure that's a good idea."

"Huh?"

Applejack looked up, eyes filled with real tears. "Damn... Ah'm going to say yes anyway. Ah... Ah would like to see them. Thank you, Pinkie."

"Don't mention it! Least I can do!" She pulled the two of them into a hug. Then they returned to the campfire.

"Food. Soon," Pinkie said, pushing her muzzle against Twilight's. 

"Uh... Almost done...?"

Pinkie produced a flamethrower and doused the manticore carcass in fire for a second. "Now?"

"...Yeah, it's done. Serving up!" She cut into the meat and handed a piece to everypony present, a tiny amount from the whole slab of meat. "...This is a lot of food."

Pinkie bit into her bit. "Meaty. Not at all like bacon though."

"This is my first time having meat..." the Inspector said, chewing. "Huh. That's certainly a texture."

"Taste good?" Applejack asked.

"...tastes strange."

"Of course."

Twilight shrugged. "Eh, it's meat."

"I love it!" Minuettesaid. "...Guess us soldiers always cook it wrong."

"Eh, I actually prefer Pinkie's stuff," Rainbow Dash said. "She has a 'blue' flavor. It's amazing. I still don't know what it actually is. Tastes so unique..."

"You'll never find out!" Pinkie said, giggling.

At that moment, Rarity and Fluttershy returned. Rarity took one look at the scene and fainted. Fluttershy rolled her eyes. "Well, there she went..."

Everypony burst out into laughter. 


~~~


"Day four... The frowns' advance has been halted, but they still find ways to propagate themselves among their targets... The end of the S.M.I.L.E. operation is within sight, but I must stand vigilant! One false move could open the door for a frown resurgence and all progress will be lost!"

"Pinks! Shut the buck up!" Rainbow Dash yelled. 

"Egad! A frown insurgence!" Pinkie leaped in front of Rainbow Dash, tossing a party grenade in front of her - and the pony who was currently carrying her, Minuette. The explosion knocked the two of them over.

"Tactical strike success!" Pinkie said. "Frown banished!"

"I bucking hate you right now." Rainbow Dash groaned.

"Noted and disregarded!"

Fluttershy chuckled at this. Minuette and Rainbow Dash just grumbled. Then Rainbow Dash chuckled slightly, glancing towards Twilight.

"Hm?" Twilight said, looking up.

Rainbow Dash looked at her and smirked - but the smirk fell almost instantly. "Oh. Right. ...I just had a funny thought was all. Just... Used to you laughing as well."

"Ah... Right," Twilight said, frowning. "...You know, I've been giving it a lot of thought. I think... I think I might turn it back on, at least around you girls."

Fluttershy glanced at her. "...You sure you want to do that?"

"Yes. No. Uh... I dunno? I've been.... Lost. Confused. A bit out of my wits, without it. I... I really don't feel like I know what I'm doing without seeing thoughts..."

"It's your choice," Fluttershy said.

"My feeling is that you shouldn't rely on it," Applejack offered. "It could be taken away at any time. Only use it when you have to."

"I'm with AJ on this one," Rarity said. 

The Inspector shrugged. "Either way."

Rainbow Dash groaned. "But mind read Twilight is fun!"

"She was great to talk to because she knew exactly what we were thinking!" Pinkie said. "That's a good thing!"

"Still think it's creepy as Tartarus," Minuette weighed in.

"Well, I' not using mind control or manipulation ever again..." Twilight said. "That I know... Still... I feel kind of incomplete..."

"Whatever you decide we'll stand by you," Fluttershy said. Everypony - even Minuette - nodded in agreement. 

"...Thank you. I think I'll think on it some more."

"Heh. Think think," Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"...What? I'm afraid I don't get it..."

Rainbow Dash facehooved. "Nevermind."

Fluttershy's ears perked up and she stopped dead in her tracks. "Something's coming. In the sky."

The eight mares could indeed hear something coming from the west, the direction the Concretion lay. Twilight instantly cast the invisibility spell on everypony, and made a quick "SHUSH" noise. Everypony became deathly quiet, watching in fear as a Concrete conglomeration ship composed of a few dozen modules flew overhead, shaking the ground as it passed. The tremendous metallic girth sailed right over them, the sound rising to nearly deafening levels, but starting to drop off as it left the area.

...And then the noise started getting louder again. It was coming back. 

"Shit!" Minuette cursed. "They detected us!"

"Get ready girls!" Twilight yelled.

"How are we going to coordinate a defense while invisible?" Minuette asked.

Twilight cocked her head, activating her magics. "I'll manage it."

"You sure you can-" Applejack began.

"No time AJ," Fluttershy said. "Do it Twilight."

"Already am!" She spread her wings, entering her magical form, not that anyone could see it. As the ship made another pass over head, she blasted off a chunk of the left side. "Fluttershy, Rarity, port! Minuette, Applejack, starboard. Pinkie..." She frowned. "I might detect some Concretes on board. Take care of them. Rainbow, Rarity... Er.. Iris, stay down and get out of the way."

"Got it!" Everypony sad, flaking the ship. It fired its weapons - it knew they were somewhere down there, just not any specific location. But it learned quickly, each shot closer than the last. They'd have to do this quickly. 

The Inspector grabbed an incoming missile with her telekinesis and hurled it back at the ship - Fluttershy doing the same, except using her hooves physically to do so. Minuette shot the ship with her magic. She was startled with Applejack landed next to her. "What in..."

"Minuette!" Twilight yelled, blasting another section into nothing. "Throw Applejack at it."

"WH-"

"JUST DO IT!"

"Okay!" Minuette said.

Twilight focused on Fluttershy a bit to get her input. "Go for the center if you can you two!"

"Got it!" Applejack and Minuette said. Minuette launched Applejack towards the craft with a violent spell. Applejack extended her hooves and drove them into the metal shell of the craft. "Power of a true earth pony, metal freaks!"  She dug into the outer shell, popping into a cockpit - a cockpit in which there were two Concretes in full metallic suits; one red, one white. They tried to attack, but the invisible Applejack had already punched a hole in the floor, dropping all of them to the ground. The ship still fired and attacked on its own, learning as it did so, but it stopped making complex changes in its strategy, for there was no more input. Bullets, lasers, and missiles continued to whale on the landscape, even as Twilight blasted off a third chunk.

One of the Concretes fell right on some swords Pinkie had produced. She giggled - it looked like the red pony was impaled on nothing. It occurred to her that this was probably gruesome and that she should be really disgusted, but she wasn't. She tossed him to the side, moving her focus onto the white one. To her credit, the Concrete did manage to detect Pinkie's position using the hoofprints on the ground. To her horror though, that did not help her land a single blow on the pink pony. Pinkie was just too dodgy. It took ten seconds for the Concrete to fall, dead from an invisible sword. 

"Man, nowhere near as annoying as my soul sister," Pinkie observed.

With a graceful motion, Fluttershy grabbed another missile and drove it into the last remaining part of the ship, making sure it hit dead center. The resulting explosion destroyed the ship, but it also threw her into the ground, hard. The remaining chunks of the ship fell into the forest, sending shrapnel flying that was much more effective at hitting the targets than the combat weapons had been. 

Twilight dropped the invisibility spell. "Everypony alright?"

Everypony gave a mixture of 'yesses' and 'heal up this shrapnel-induced gash Twi!' - except for Fluttershy. She was lying on the ground, barely breathing, one of her wings broken in half. Twilight winced, lifting the bloodied pegasus into the air. Twilight flooded her with healing energy - forcing the wing to reform itself through numerous loud cracks. Fluttershy yelled out in pain with every sharp jerk. Fortunately, the ordeal was over quickly and she was back on her hooves in a few seconds. "Ow..."

"Why can't you do that for Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked as Twilight healed a cut on her forehead.

"Zebra magic sucks," Rainbow Dash said. "It really, really sucks. It's got this darn 'no heals' attribute. So I'm pretty stuck like this."

"I'm sorry..."

"I thought we were done with this pointless apologizing?"

Rarity facehooved. "Riiight..."

"We shouldn't stick around," Fluttershy said. "They'll be investigating their crashed ship. Let's move."

The mares quickly wrapped up their healing and moved on.


~~~


"Huh," Twilight said. "I just realized, I never shut off the mind reading." She held up a hoof before anypony could say anything. "I think I'm fine with it, thanks for thinking about asking. It feels... good, to be back." Fluttershy put a hoof on her. "Thank you, Fluttershy."

Twilight turned to address her friends directly. "I can hear your doubt. Your uncertainty. Your anger. Your guilt. All of you... I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for putting you in this position you are now in - forced to question what you held as fact, what you had held as undeniable. Now? Now we are forced to ask - were we really the good guys? Were we doing the right thing? Was our leadership as good as we believed? Did we bring this on ourselves? Should we have dared to defy the order?"

She paused, letting it sink it. "I don't have even the beginnings of any answers to most those questions - and I think each of us will come to different conclusions in the end. But as for the last one - yes. Yes, we should have fought. Maybe not in the way we did - but we should not have stood by and accepted this world. That would have been wrong. So whatever happens, remember that, if nothing else."

Pinkie started clapping. Soon there was a small chorus of applause. Twilight looked behind herself to see Fluttershy clapping as well, pride in her eyes. Twilight brightened, bowing to her. "Thank you."

"Thank you, my princess," Fluttershy said, bowing as well. 

"Oh please, we all know you're in charge here."

"Perhaps," Fluttershy raised an eyebrow playfully. Twilight rolled her eyes, and the group continued on.

"Pinkie," Rarity said, trotting over to her pink friend. "How are you doing?"

"Pretty good actually! Spirits are lifting! The frowns will be defeated!"

"I mean concerning that... tussle from earlier?"

"What about it? We won!"

"I mean... You sure dealt with those Concretes..."

"Yeah? So?"

"Doesn't it bother you?"

Pinkie stopped in her tracks. "You know what? Not really. It probably should though. Might want to have that looked at..." She scratched her chin. "Nope! No angst for that, who needs it? I already went off the deep end - can't afford to do so again! This is a real fight!"

"That's... A change in outlook for you."

"Oh come on, Rarity, you've changed as well. This world kind of forces you to!"

"Yeah..." Rarity looked ahead, blankly. "What was it like?"

"What?"

"Dealing with... You know..."

"Bit bloody, but kinda fun actually. Just a somewhat more... permanent form of my usual style." She looked at Rarity, concerned. "I'm sorry if it bothers you..."

"Well, you did take care of them, and I don't think we'd have let them live anyway..." She shuddered.

"Hey, Rarity, it's a dark time. Calls for dark measures. I've come to realize that sometimes you just have to... you know."

"I... know," she sighed. "Do you think we could go back home?"

"Yes, I'm sure Twilight's working on it..."

"I don't mean that, of course she'll find us eventually. I mean... We've changed. Can we go back?"

Pinkie cocked her head. "Uh... Yeah? Why wouldn't we?"

"She's concerned your old friends will reject the new you," Twilight offered. "Baseless worry, from what I know of your friends."

Rarity drooped. "You... May give them a bit much in the way of credit..."

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Rarity! They're our friends! They'll accept us! Might not be easy, but they will!"

"...I'm not so sure Pinkie. I'm just not so sure."

"Just wait until they find us, you'll see!"

Twilight's ears suddenly perked up. "Somepony's coming..."

"I don't hear a ship though, can't be Concretes..." Fluttershy added.

"One of ours?" the Inspector asked.

"That might not be a good thing..." Minuette reminded everypony.

Twilight folded her wings. "They are looking for us, but there's no hostility that I can feel." She lit her horn and fired a small magic beacon into the air. Seconds later, a crystal pegasus in full armor landed in front of her. 

"Ah, that's why you felt strange. You have a message for me?"

The pegasus pulled an envelope out of his breastplate - a vanilla letter sealed with the mark of Sunset Shimmer. Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Guess Sunset has something to tell us..."

As the pegasus flew away, Twilight opened the message and began to read aloud.

"Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

Let me preface by saying it is a relief to learn you survived the fall of Neighagra Falls. I feared I would have to inform Celestia of your demise. The last thing we need right now is for her to become blind with rage. I also congratulate you on a successful diplomatic mission to the Crystal Empire - their assistance has kept the Concretes from surmounting Nova, and have provided other benefits I am not liable to discuss here. I thank you, I know that must have been difficult"

"She's being way too nice," Fluttershy interrupted.

"Yeah, not at all like I remember her," Minuette added.

Twilight sighed. "I know." She continued reading.

"However, the fall of Neighagra Falls has left an impact on the population. They have become terrified, confused, and angry. Enough ponies made it out of Neighagra Falls to reveal what happened prior to its destruction. Your secret is out - and the population despises it. 

I regret to inform you that I cannot host you - or your friends - at Nova. The situation is too delicate. Despite all my efforts, distrust of me is brewing. I am being watched. If you were to come, I could not protect you. I would have to turn you in or face retribution.

I do not want to do that.

You are on your own. I recommend living somewhere deep in the wilderness until the war is over and we can take more risks. 

We may not have agreed much over the years, but believe me when I say I truly am sorry. 

-Princess Sunset Shimmer."

Twilight looked up from the letter, gulping. Everypony looked back at her, feelings of loss and confusion wafting into her mind. 

"The buck does she mean we aren't welcome!?" Rainbow Dash shouted. "She could just torch all who oppose what she says!"

"Much as you might love to imagine her as a pyromaniac, she isn't," Fluttershy said. "She's prudent. She knows how this works. If she says she can't, she can't."

"I hate politics," Minuette growled.

Silence fell over the group. They all glanced at each other, unsure of what to do.

"I... I don't know," Twilight said. "I'm not sure there's anything we can do... Canterlot's walled off, Nova won't hold us, and I am not going to the Crystal Empire again..."

"Griffonstone," Fluttershy said. "I have contacts there. They'll take us in."

"We're just leavin'?" Applejack asked. "That doesn't seem right!"

"Would you rather live out your life in the woods?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Cause that's the only other option I see here, and it's shit!"

"We could try to fight!" Pinkie said, twirling her swords.

"With an invalid and a froofy pony?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Hey!" Rarity objected.

"You are!"

Applejack sighed. "Ah.... Ah know you're right. it just doesn't seem right to leave like this..."

"It isn't," Fluttershy said. "But at this point I don't think there are any good choices."

Twilight nodded. "Maybe we can help from Griffonstone."

"Refugee work," the Inspector said. "That will be... fine."

"First we gotta survive being refugees ourselves..." Applejack muttered.

Fluttershy nodded. "We head to Bubble Bay. I will enter the town, alone, and meet with my contacts. They should be able to get a boat for us within a few days of that."

"Where's Bubble Bay?" Rarity asked.

"Same direction we've been going, except a little more to the east and the shoreline. We can still check out that mysterious dot on the way there."

Pinkie let out a sigh of relief. "I was worried there for a second. I can't stand a mystery!"

The Inspector rolled her eyes. "...We really going to that dot?"

"Yes," Fluttershy said, "we are." 


~~~


That night Rarity was sitting next to the fire, reading through Zecora's journal. Most of it was still indecipherable, but she was beginning to get a general picture of what Zecora was doing in there. She was working for someone represented by the letters "AN," and they weren't up to anything good, considering all the instances of the word 'death' and 'dark magic' - not to mention the constant use of the Nightmare Fuel symbol in prominent positions. She got the impression they were like Amplify - and that she was reading some dark ancient tome of forbidden knowledge. 

She was able to discern they were looking for something. Something 'magic,' but that admittedly wasn't of much help. They thought Equestria had the 'magic' - and many of the pages were scribbled notes about the Princesses, filled with lots of negative word-symbols.  They had no love for the Crystal Empire or Concretes either - though there were fewer observations on them in the book. At least in the parts Rarity could make sense of. All Rarity could really glean from the pages was that Zecora was peeved about something relating to the Concretes. 

"Ah can't believe Sunset shut us out..." Rarity overheard Applejack say. Rarity looked up from the book, interest piqued. 

"Believe it," Minuette muttered. "She decided she didn't want to deal with us, so it's just best if we were gone. So off to Griffonstone with us!"

"Ah always thought she was, you know, willing to take risks."

"She did. Regularly," Twilight said, looking up at the stars. "She was one of those opposed to what I was doing - but she told no one. She kept our secret. She even helped a few times, despite not being sold on the whole 'harmony' aspect."

"Then why is she throwin' us out?"

"Because... Times are hard. Times are really, really hard. She has to choose - and she chose her ponies over helping us. And that's okay."

Rainbow Dash huffed.

"Yes it is Rainbow," Twilight narrowed her eyes.

"Buck her," Rainbow Dash spat. "Buck this war, buck this whole situation!" She threw her hooves into the air. "Isn't there a point that the universe realizes it should stop picking on us?"

"Nope," Pinkie said, "that'll never happen."

"Dammit. Just dammit all to Tartarus," Rainbow Dash muttered, flopping onto the ground. "I hate everything right now."

"Dash..." Applejack began.

"AJ, no offense, but shut it. I need some sleep right now. Good quality motherbucking sleep. Where I can complain all I want." Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and everypony fell silent.

"Well..." Twilight said, finally. "Sleep is good."

"And the sooner we sleep the sooner we can get to the mystery point!" Pinkie grinned.

"True..." Rarity said, closing the book. "I suppose we should turn in, big mystery to solve tomorrow."

"...And disappointment to get over," Applejack said.

"Applejack..." the Inspector sighed. "We aren't abandoned."

"Close enough." She put her hat over her face and curled up on the grassy ground. 

Pinkie sighed. "Okay fine, sleep it is..."

They all drifted off once more. 


~~~


The area they found themselves in was desolate. No trees - no grass - within line of sight. Just a rocky scenery, covered in unusually shaped spires jutting out of the earth, ranging in size from a marble to a Ponylympic swimming pool, with a few in the distance appearing possibly larger than that. Chasms rippled through the landscape, falling into nothingness. An occasional dry shrub could be seen struggling to live and failing for the most part. Despite the desert-like appearance, the area wasn't even warm - quite the opposite in fact. A chilly breeze blew across the plateau, chilling the eight mares to their cores.

"This was a dumb idea," the Inspector said. "We've got to get out of the country, we can't waste our time wandering around an empty plateau freezing our plots off!"

"Rarity, we haven't even been here an hour," Rainbow Dash said from atop Pinkie's back. "Loosen up and help us look."

Minuette shot a glance at Rainbow Dash. "...You aren't helping much."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Can't walk under my own power so... I get a pass."

Fluttershy landed next to them. "Nothing visible from above. If there's anything here, it's probably in one of the chasms."

Pinkie rushed to a chasm and stuck her head in, jostling Rainbow Dash with the quick motion. "Hellllooooooo? Any secrets down there?"

"Dear, secrets won't just tell you they're there," Rarity said.

"You never know Rarity! This one might be talkative!" She rushed to another chasm and yelled down it. She moved rather quickly down the plateau, Rainbow Dash dragged along with her. 

Twilight trotted up to one of the chasms and sent a magic light down through the inky darkness. It appeared to be a regular chasm, filled with rocks and the occasional bioluminescent mass. She frowned. "Not getting anything unusual at all on my scans..."

The Inspector walked past them, looking through her monocle. "That's because there's nothing here. It's just a normal, regular plateau. Look." She held out a hoof. "Not any residual magic signatures at all. If anypony had been here recently there'd be some."

Twilight blinked. "Uh, Rarity? We're here."

The Inspector's eyes widened. "...That is unusual. Even Pinkie isn't leaving a magic trail... And I can see her moving over there!"

"Uh... What's that mean?" Rarity asked.

"There's a thaumic signature negater here..."

"In Equestrian, please," Applejack said. 

"Somepony's hiding something here with a spell that makes all magic look like wilderness," Twilight smirked. "Clever."

The Inspector backtracked about seven yards. "I can detect my own trail now - it just stops right... here." She made a mark in the dirt. "And after that, it's just gone. As if I was never there."

Twilight teleported a fiar way into the distance, checking the Inspector's readout through her mind. She teleported numerous times, checking to see if the Inspector could see her magical trail each time. After a few minutes of this, she came back. 

"It's a circle. Two miles in diameter," Twilight said. "Center has nothing unusual about it, already checked."

"Pinkie just popped out the other side," the Inspector said, waving frantically at Pinkie to come back. Pinkie saw this, and made a sharp turn back, jostling poor Rainbow Dash once again. 

"So..." Applejack frowned. "There's something inside a circle two miles wide?"

"Yes," Twilight said. "Somepony went through a lot of trouble to hide this. Those kinds of spells need to be maintained as well, every few weeks. There is no easy feat here..."

Minuette rubbed her hooves together. "Let's find this secret!"

"I think Pinkie just found it," Fluttershy said, pointing. Pinkie had stopped dead in her tracks, reaching a hoof out towards a rock slightly larger than herself. Her hoof passed through the completely solid looking rock. "Cool!" They heard her shout. 

Then a light blue magic aura grabbed her and Rainbow Dash, attempting to drag them into the rock - impeded only by Pinkie's quick thinking, ramming her swords into the ground, fighting against the power, yelling out in pain as she was forced to stretch herself considerably.

Twilight teleported over immediately, grabbing the two ponies with her own magic and yanking. The blue magic mixed with hers, both pulling with intense might.

"Owowowowo!" Pinkie yelled. "You're going to tear me in half!"

"Oh, sorry!" Twilight said, distributing her pull to all areas of the pink pony. In the split second she used to switch spells, the magic chose to pull on her in addition to Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. "WAUGH!"

The Inspector and Minuette appeared behind them, pulling with their own power. They managed to pull them away from the rock only for the blue magic to increase in power again. 

"Impossible!" Twilight yelled. Not even she could channel that much magic power at one time! And - oh Celestia - it was still increasing! 

The Inspector's horn flashed and burnt out from overuse - and with the loss of her magic, the five mares lost the fight, all of them quickly sucked into the rock. The world was quiet once again. 

Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack gasped. "No..." Rarity called out, not believing it. What could do that?  

She was about to find out, seeing as the blue magic surrounded the three of them and started to pull them in. Fluttershy and Applejack struggled, Fluttershy performing some unusual corkscrew maneuver in the air that pulled herself out of the telekinetic grasp, only for it to grab her again, stronger this time. The three were pulled into the rock, rushed over a mile of land to their goal.

As they passed through, they felt nothing - it was as if the rock didn't exist at all. There was, however, a chasm entrance under the rock, a chasm they were now falling into. As they fell, Rarity felt powerful magics slide past her in a regular rhythm, like somepony beating a drum. The rush of air wafted past her in time with the beats, rippling her mane in a most unusual manner. Below her, she saw Twilight, Pinkie, and the others- all of them suddenly speeding up. She glanced upwards, watching Fluttershy and Applejack appear to slow down... The pulsing drum of magic around her slowed the further she fell. 

Then she landed on top of Twilight with a powerful thud. "Ow..." Applejack fell on top of Rarity. "Ow!" Fluttershy managed to steer herself aside, landing gently on the floor.

"Everypony okay?" she asked.

"My dignity... I feel like string cheese..." Pinkie groaned. "A string cheese pancake. All of you offa me!"

Twilight got up, shook her head, and spread her wings. "Okay... Where are we?" She looked around. They appeared to be at the entrance to something - a long winding tunnel behind them, a large blue door in front of them. Currently, they were standing on top of some sort of blue tile etched with images of ponies of all races. 

Fluttershy moved to the door. "Someone brought us here. I'm going to find out who." She knocked.

The door slid open slightly, a bright light seeping through the crack. A unicorn mare stuck her head out, examining them all with her dull, purple eyes. Her coat was a pink-purple and her mane was purple with a mint stripe through it. She looked at Twilight. "Ah, an alicorn. I suppose that explains why you were all able to put up so much of a fight." She stepped out into the open, revealing the rest of herself, including a cutie mark composed of a star and two wisps of energy. "First, let me apologize for the rashness. Second, let me introduce myself. I am..."

"Starlight Glimmer!?" Rarity blurted - then covered her mouth with her hooves.

Starlight Glimmer blinked, face betraying curiosity. "Why, yes, in fact. You can tell me how you know that later. But for now... Welcome to our little secret." She pushed open the door fully, the light bleaching the eyes of the mares...