//------------------------------// // Welcome to Wonderland! // Story: A Place Called Here. // by Arc Angel //------------------------------// The ability to perceive reality can shift do to a hooful of circumstances. These include, but are not limited to, head trauma, hullucinegenics, eye problems, and magical mishaps. Spike was currently experiencing the results of this last one. He felt numb throughout his body, like pins and needles and his blood was ice water. As proper sensation slowly returned to his body he began to feel a burning pain throughout every nerve, and what only could be described as a major migraine. As he slowly opened his eyes he couldn't clearly see the sky above, but what he could see was tinted red. As things came into focus, he could see lovely sapphire blue clouds in a auburn sky. Not seeing anything wrong and that everything was ok, Spike decided to go back to sleep. It took a second for his common sense to catch up. Spike sat up, seeing as his situationclearlywasn't ok. Ignoring the sky above, he observed the world around him. Right in front of him was a mountain of grey stone, that if he didn't know any better seemed to be covered in twinkling stars. The ground was a strange patch work of different colored dirt, not a shade was missing. Turning to look behind him, he saw that he wasn't alone. Lying not far from him was one Applejack Apple and Trixie Lulamoon. Trixie was closer, maybe 7 or 10 feet behind him, while Applejack was more like 20 feet away. Not wasting any time Spike got up and moved to help his Friends. Knowing Applejack would probably be fine, he went over to Trixie. "Trixie, Trixie wake up. Wake up. This is no time for beauty sleep." Trixie stirred a bit and began to mumble in her sleep. "Oh Spike. I didn't know you thought I was beautiful. Who knew you could be such a charmer." She said this completely unaware that it was making the"baby"Dragon blush. Focussing himself for the task at hand, he tried to figure out a way to wake up the blue pony. He considered trying to find water to dump on her, but figured that could take too long. He also considered licking her cheek, but that might only result in further confusion after the beauty comment. After giving it another minute of thought, he snapped his claws as he had his plan. Preparing for what ever-reaction he would get, he opened his mouth and began to speak. "Hey Trixie! Twilight decided that she'll be the Princess of Beauty as well as Friendship." Suddenly the cyan blue Unicorn stood up full force and yelled Out."She already has Magic and Friendship! She Can't have Beauty too!" Spike smirked. "Good, you're awake." "Where, where are we?" Trixie asked while totally blushing in embarrassment. Knowing things were serious and deciding to be merciful, this time, Spike answered her question. "I don't know. But it definitely isn't anywhere near Ponyville." Spike got up, leaving her to absorb this information while he went to wake Applejack. He was no more than 5 feet away when the farm Pony sat up abruptly. Looking around a bit, the Apple spotted her Draconian Friend. "Spike? What in tarnation is going on? And whats that rumbling?" The orange farm pony asked this as the Dragon moved towards her, noting the sudden shaking of the ground. Spike was going to reply that he didn't know, when he noticed the aforementioned rumbling. He'd been so focused on the girls that he hadn't noticed it at first. Now that he had noticed it however, it seemed like it was only increasing, and getting closer. Listening for a couple of seconds, he figured out that it was coming from his right. So, turning that way he saw a forest of a sort he hadn't noticed before. The trees almost looked like giant dandelions, though there were a few obvious differences. The trunks were green, which kinda strengthened the comparison, but they were an ugly puke shade of the color. The round part that resembled the flower the most on the other claw seemed to be made of a set of purple metallic bars. And Spike could swear he saw static electricity bouncing off the,branches? The rumbling meanwhile had only increased to the point where it was clearly audible, and the ground was even shaking. Spike could hear Trixie and Applejack in the background, questioning what was happening. He though, he was focussing on the rumbling. In the pit of his stomach was a feeling. A strong, dread inducing feeling. Less of a feeling even and more of an instinct. A instinct that told him they should probably run. The problem was, he couldn't move. A strange mix of curiosity, and fear kept him in place. So he waited. Ignored his Pony companions and just waited. He waited for so long that he thought it might have have been 10 minutes. Regardless of how long he had waited, he began to relax as nothing happened except the continued rumbling. He relaxed to the point that he sighed in relief and so he began to open his mouth to say that they should begin to move whe . . . . . SUDDENLY!From within the strange purple forest emerged what they would later dubTHE BEAST! It was big, about the size of a fully grown elephant. It's body however, was that of a bear, with extremely matted fur. It's claws, five on each paw, were about 15 inches long, each. While most of it's fur was a dark brown, it's tail (an impressive 4 feet) was a deep obsidian black, the tip made up of three rattlesnake rattles. And boy were they rattling. It's head was a wolf's, and ram horns adorned it. The eyes were like those found in frogs or toads, with the pupils side-ways an a unnatural pink, the rest being a burning orange. Finally the teeth were those of at least a dozen different kinds of sharks, and just as many rows. Even it's roar was unnatural, and more so, it was unsettling, not that anyone was settled at the moment. The sound was best described as the combination nails on a chalkboard combined with a dog's growling, and the pattern of a frog's ribbit. This soul grating sound is what set off the most notable of baby Dragons. "RRUUUNNNN!" In the case of a certain illusionist the prompt was mostly unnecessary, as she had already started moving. Spike followed suit before he even finished his minor instruction. The stetson wearing farm Pony however hesitated. For less than a second mind you, but because of this caused the tip of her tail to be taken off inIt'sjaws. Luckily becauseTHE BEASTwasn't very intelligent, it didn't immediately notice it's prey getting away. So this gave our brave companions maybe, hath a minute of a head start. MLP:FIM Spike very rarely wondered what he was doing with his life. That was because he knew, most of the time. He is the #1 Assistant and Best Friend of Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Renowned Princess of Friendship. That being said, Spike on certain occasions wondered why he let things get to this point, the point where Twilight Sparkle attempted something dangerous and dragged him and their other Friends into it. "Twilight, are you're sure this is safe?" asked the adolescent Dragon. The purple Alicorn who was absorbed in her work somehow managed to answer. "Of course Spike, I've got it all figured out!" And so the Princess of Friendship got back to what she was doing, which was drawing an intricate circle in the throne room not 5 ft. from the Cutie-map with a piece of chalk. Spike, having gotten the best possible answer under these circumstances that he could expect, shook his head in exasperation. That was when he heard a knock at the doors and so he called to those at the doors to enter. "Come in!" He called out as loud as he could, wondering if Twilight would even notice that their Friends had arrived. The Princess of Friendship didn't react a micro-bit. The group consisted of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity (who seemed to be carrying something in her magical grasp), Starlight Glimmer, Pinkie Pie, Trixie, who was talking to Pinkie for some reason (this does not bode well for the rest of us), and Applejack who was the first to greet the pair. "Howdy Spike, Twilight. What ya got us all coming out here for?" Asked Applejack, "Must be pretty important important if ya even got Starlight to bring Trixie." The stetson wearing Earth-pony didn't necessarily expect an answer, as her Alicorn Friend may not have heard the question, and in this case Spike just shrugged his shoulders. Meanwhile, having finished her conversation with Pinkie, Trixie side-eyed the farm Pony and asked, "What do you mean EVEN? Trixie is amazing, of course she was invited!" She was completely ignored. And finally Twilight answered her friend. "Well Applejack I'm glad you asked." Twilight was speaking in her version of the Royal-Canterlot-Voice, which of course demanded attention and respect. Of corse, because of this no one noticed a certain blue Pony say "Don't Ignore Trixie!" And so the Princess continued. "You see, I've devised a long distance teleportation spell, and have invited you all here to test it!" MLP:FIM Fluttershy was known for being, well, Shy. Of course, being shy often stems from fear, which Fluttershy was no stranger to. That being said, she would later attest that she had never known fear truly until this moment, as she was running for her life with tears running down her face, sobbing at the top of her lungs. Right behind her was Rarity and Pinkie Pie. The former with a fierce yet terrified look on her face, while the latter looked truly scared out of her wits for the first time in her life as her eye's were wide and her teeth gritted. She was also somehow looking back at the thing they were running from. Speaking of what they were running from, it almost looked like a huge snake, at least 100 feet long and wider than most trees, it's head about the size of Big-Mac. It's teeth were long and hooked, though it lacked fangs. It was a rich sapphire in color, and it's eyes were as dark as night. It also had moth like antenna, and despite the snake like body it appeared to have centipede like legs. Of course, it was much faster that either of these creatures, and was moving in a strange zig zag pattern that allowed it to move even faster, and also crash into quite a few boulders along the way. This helped the Ponies a little,but only a little. As they went along running from their pursuer they appeared to be going down a mountain, or more accurately a pyramid, with giant steps every few feet. The structure itself while not made of it, looked an awful lot like peanut brittle. As they went, the three Ponies occasionally had to dodge trees that resembled lollipops. Above them the bright yellow, really gold colored sky stayed as it was with no clouds, no sun, and no sign of escape. MLP:FIM This statement seemed to cause those collected to stiffen in distress. Fluttershy was so scared that she attempted to silently escape out the way she came. This was ruined however when Trixie screamed out "How could you Twilight Sparkle!? I thought we had become Friends! And yet here you stand forcing Trixie into what is more than likely a magic death trap! Don't attempt to lie your way out of this, I've heard the stories." This of course got pretty much everyone to stare at her, with the acceptation of the aforementioned Fluttershy who yelped and jumped about 12 feet in the air. Seeing that her Best Friend was over reacting, sorta, she set out to set her straight. "Trixie! That's crazy! Twilight wouldn't put any of us, including you, in danger." Spike didn't look at anyone in particular when he added "Not on purpose anyway." Twilight of course only rolled her eye's and backed up her student's claims in her defense. "Starlight's right Trixie. I wouldn't ever put anypony . . ." Twilight momentarily paused and blinked before continuing "Wait!What stories?" This question got various reactions from those gathered gathered, all indicating that those expressing them didn't want to admit anything. Of course, this trepidation didn't stop Pinkie Pie from saying, something. "Oh you know. Nothing major, just the kind that kinda, sorta, kinda sorta paint you as a mad scientist who's use of magic creates on a daily basis the sort creatures most notable in a story written by H.P. Lovesaddle. Ha, haha." At this point Twilight's pupils had become invisible they were so small. After about 5 seconds however the purple Alicorn face-hoofed and said "Never mind. Let's focus on why I've brought you here. As I said, I've created, with quite a bit of help from Spike I might add," At this the Dragon looked more than a little sheepish "a method of long distance teleportation, that should it succeed, revolutionize transportation in Eqestria." This actually managed to impress and pull those around her in close. This got a smirk out of the Princess of Friendship. "Now that I've clearly got your attention, allow to me explain the basic teleportation spell and how this version is such a great improvement on the original." MLP:FIM Currently Starlight was trying to remember why she had become Twilight Sparkle's personal student. For some reason she couldn't seem to remember as her, her Teacher, and one Rainbow Dash were running, or flying in the third's case, for Life,Body, and Soul. They were currently trapped in what, for all intensive purposes, seemed to be a sewer. Granted it was also the cleanest sewer any of them had ever seen. This was likely because of the thing currently chasing them, so to speak. Behind the trio, instead of the organic pursuers of their Friends, these three were being tailed,no pun intended, by a mechanical terror. The machine had a nozzle in the front, from which a large stream of fire was released every 30 seconds, and of which our trio were just barely out of range. To the things sides were a single cylinder each, which was covered in wicked spikes. And below the thing, a series of spinning blades, and behind those were a pair of large vacuum tubes. Searching for a viable solution to their situation, Rainbow Dash asks her Alicorn Friend for an idea. "Twilight, tell me you know what to do to get us out of this!" Unfortunately the Princess didn't have an answer. "I'm sorry Rainbow! You saw how my Magic seemed to just bounce off it! Without Magic I'm afraid I'm currently out of ideas!" This did not in the least raise their spirits,obviously. As they slowly gained some sort of distance advantage over the pursuing machine, something happened. For the trio this was the worst case scenario, as another mechanical trash destroyer came from around the corner. This stopped the three in their tracks. Now the trio was trapped an equal distance between the two perceived instruments of death. Slowly, so slowly the metal monstrosities moved towards the three. So focussed on this were they that they didn't notice the fire hadn't been released for more than a minute now. And then,they were gone. They had fallen down a perfectly round hole that had opened up in the ground, and gone they were from wence they, were. Huh, anyway. Their screams slowly faded off into the distance. About 15 seconds later, the machines turned all the way around, and continued to simply do their job. MLP:FIM Outside of a few rolls of the eyes, I'll leave it up to you to decide who, everypony's attention was on the present Princess. "You see, the basic teleportation works by moving you through a different dimension, which can take up to 3 seconds, and then to your intended destination. This wastes valuable time and energy. My version however is far superior. The way it works is that it breaks you down to the molecular level, deconstructing you piece by piece, and then rebuilding you in the intended location." While before the idea of helping Twilight with an experiment caused some slight hesitation, the description given had stopped them in their tracks. While most didn't want hurt her feelings, including Fluttershy who was trying to get out again, a certain orange Pony decided to speak up. "Hold it Fluttershy." This stopped the cream yellow Pegasus in her tracks. "Twilight, sugar-cube, I understand your excitement. Really, I do. But before any of us agree to this here experiment, I want your word, your word as a Princess, and especially as my Friend that we aren't going to be turned inside out like a snake thats eaten one to many mice." Instead of being offended Twilight seemed to understand and smiled in reassurance before responding in full. "Don't you worry Applejack. I've done the calculations more than a 100 times. I am convinced wholly and completely that this will not only work, but we'll feel better afterwards. Sorta like a trip to the spa, or maybe a nice steam." Applejack smiled in return at the part about a steam. Rarity however, seemed to perk up after hearing the spa comparison. "Well if thats the case Darling, along with your guarantee I will be more than happy to help!" This was the enthusiastic reaction from the fashion conscious Pony. Her endorsement soon lead to the others agreeing to giving it a try. Spike having focussed on his Best Friend the whole time hadn't noticed until now, the object his former crush was carrying. Out of pure curiosity as well as a instinct saw the need to ask "Hey Rarity! What you got there?" This seemed to get everyone's attention and caused Rarity herself to blink before looking at the item that had been contained in her magical aura the whole time. "Aw, yes. Thank you Spike. I'd completely forgotten I still had it. This, is a variety of what is called a chaos orb. It's gift to me from Discord. The Darling seems to be attempting to endear himself to us further." This got a roll of the eyes and a grumble from Trixie. Despite this and the sour look on her face at the mention of the Spirit of Chaos, she seemed to mumble something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "he never got me a gift" and this was followed up with what appeared to be smoke exiting her nostrils. In responce to the white colored Unicorn the local super party Pony named Pinkie Pie asked "Ooh ooh! What does it do Rarity?" This seemed to make Rarity brighten all the more. "Oh I'm so glad you asked Pinkie. You see, whenever this little bobble makes contact with a solid object it changes its color and pattern. Discord suggested I use it to create some truly unique designs. If I like the pattern all I have to do is touch the orb with my horn." While giving a description ofwhat it did, most noted that the orb itself was shifting patterns and colors itself every few seconds. Rarity seemed even more ecstatic with her Friends being thoroughly impressed. Twilight on the other hoof seemed almost concerned. "good catch Spike. If Rarity had continued carrying the orb while we performed the spell, well who knows what could have happened." This seemed to cause all presents eyes to widen in abject horror. Rarity however seemed the most effected. "Oh dear. I'm so sorry Darling. If it weren't for Spike-Wikey's observation skills we could have been blown to kingdom-come." Twilight smiled to reassure her Friend. Don't worry Rarity. We don't blame you. It was an easy mistake to make." Applejack followed suit with "She's right Sugar-cube. Could've happened to any of us. Just let this be another lesson to the possible consequences of mixing two different kinds of magic can bring" She said the last sentence while directing a nasty glare at Trixie and Pinkie Pie. Said ponies were rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment and starring up at the ceiling, while whistling in an attempted nonchalant manner, respectively. Deciding to get things back on track, Twilight directed her fashionista Friend. "Just place the orb on the map-table Rarity." This in turn caused Rarity widen her eyes. "But Twilight! wouldn't that be a mixing of Magic?" "Not at all Rarity. You see, the Chaos magic of the orb and the Harmony magic of the Cutie-map will cancel each other out. So just go ahead." She said this as though she believed it completely. Rarity at this still seemed just a little bit apprehensive. Never the less she moved to follow her Friends instructions. There seemed to be a second, that felt like at least 10 minutes to everyone except Twilight and Spike, where the tension was so, so intense. Ponies were sweating, teeth were gritting, and eyes were focused on the aura which incapsulated the orb. 6 . 5 . 4 . 3 . 2 . 1 . 0 Nothing seemed to happen, except the table turning plaid. This caused everypony who was afraid to sigh in relief, and laugh a bit. This caused two purple individuals to smirk and roll their eye's, respectively. "Lets get to the experiment already." This was the Princess of Friendship, who sounded just a bit impatient. MLP:FIM Applejack could run. Most who knew of her rivalry with Rainbow Dash would defend that of the two Applejack was clearly the fastest on her hooves. That being said, she was currently "feeling the burn" that so many spoke of. This was becauseTHE BEASTwas following close behind them. Trixie seemed to be doing fine, spurred on eternally by fear. Spike was a different story. Spike tended to be able to easily keep up with Applejack, at least in stamina. Depending on the task he could even out last Rainbow Dash. Applejack had always chalked this up to him being a Dragon. Of course, it could also have been do to him tending to do more manual labor than most (all) of her Friends. Regardless, stamina had never been a problem for the young fire breather. But he also had a short pair, enfaces on pair, of legs that meant running for too long could be a pain. And it was clear that it was currently causing him to lag behind. Seeing this Applejack called out to him. "Spike! Hop on my back!" Spike, who might have normally protested, didn't hesitate. He moved to the side and literally followed her instruction to jump onto her back. It might have hurt either of them if they weren't hopped up on adrenaline. Seeing something to her left, Trixie made a judgement call and yelled to her companions. "Quick! Into the trees! We might be able to escapeItthere!" Both pairs of eyes followed Trixie's path. With little hesitation they followed into another strange set of trees. Said trees looked like pine, except the branches were pointing up and covered in strange purple and blue square fruit instead of needles. Also what appeared to be an onion topped the highest point of the trees, a golden yellow and the trunks were a ugly stone gray. The group managed to get maybe 30 feet into the tree-line when it was made apparent that their pursuer was impeded very little. Behind the group of three the sound of what they thought was breaking wood followed not to far behind them. And the unsettling roar soon followed. The good news was that the trees definitelyslowedTHE BEASTa little, as the the two Ponies weaved between the trees to create a sense of confusion init'smind, while thethingjust plowed through the trees in relentless pursuit. So focussed on the task were they that Applejack took a second to notice her precious hat flying off her head. This caused the orange Earth-pony to slow just a bit, but in the end continue despite the loss. This was just long enough however for Spike to shout "I got it!" and reach out to grab it. Unfortunately, he leaned a little to far and fell off Applejack's back. He grabbed the hat though. Luckily Spike managed to grab Applejack's tail. This time she felt the pain. Putting on his Friend's hat, he gripped her tail with both claws and started to try and climb back on. Of course, this is whenTHE BEASTburst through the trees and nearly snapped up the post-pubescent Dragon up in it's jaws. This is when Spike screamed. "AAAAAAHHHH! APPLEJACK! RUN FASTER!" This caused her to look behind her, and immediately pick up speed. At this pointTHE BEASTwas only about 15 feet behind them, and closing. With Applejack forcing herself forward, Spike made an effort to come up with a solution. No matter what he thought of however, he couldn't see a way out, exceptdeath. Because of this Spike began to despair. He was nearly ready to cry as thoughts like,useless baby,stupid waste of space, idiot kid with bull-pucky filled dreams, useless baby dragon. It was then that he remembered. Oh yeah, He's aDragon,and well, I'll let you fill in the rest. Spike got a fierce look in his reptilian eyes, a look ofGreed,a good kind though. The kind that involved protecting what was his. "Hey you! Yeah, you! I'm talking to you ya Bucking walking excuse for a SHAG CARPET!Eat this." For a second Applejack thought he was crazy whileTHE BEASTwas just confussed. Spike meanwhile had inhaled with everything he had. He held it for just about a second, and then he let itAllout. A great burst volatile green fire. And, It, Was, Glorious! It was evident immediately thatTHE BEASTcould feel pain as it howled in absolute agony, and then crashed into a set of trees that Applejack managed to avoid, though Spike's left leg had momentarily made contact with it. The group, Trixie now far ahead, kept running for some time, not yet realizing that they had managed to ditch the hungry animal that had wanted to make them dinner. It was only when Trixie managed to spot the end of the forest that they realized they were out ofImmediatedanger. They then proceeded to cheer in response. The first to go was the aforementioned Trixie. "Woohoo! Spike, you are officially my Hero! No wonder they love you in the Crystal Empire!" Applejack followed suit with "She's right Spike, that was some mighty fine quick thinking back there! Makes me wonder why we don't bring you along more often on our adventures!" This just seemed to embarrass the Dragon who rubbed his neck and blushed quite profusely as a result. Trixie immediately responded to what the usually Stetson wearing Pony had said. "Applejack is right Spike. This is clearly a great oversight. This will have to obviously be corrected as soon as we get back to Ponyville." This got a glare out of the Apple, up till Applejack cleared the trees and she saw what was in front of the illusionist. Before she could warn her however, she (Trixie) was gone, having disappeared over the edge of a cliff. This was followed by a scream, perhaps of the Unicorns name, and Applejack running towards the cliff to see if there was any chance she survived, somehow. So focussed on this was she that she didn't notice the rock right in front of her. What happened next was so quick that I doubt either involved would be able to describe it accurately. Simply put, Applejack tripped, and became airborne. Spike, having no choice, let go of her tail, still with her hat on his head. For just a brief second, as he flew through the air, he saw just a small blur shoot up past the edge of the cliff. A small blue blur. Of course, this didn't really stick in his mind, as they too went over the cliff. They were both surprised as they fell that they could see the whole underside of the land they had been standing on, it was a floating island. For just about 12 seconds they were in awe, before the discomfort began. Suddenly, they were going up, instead of down, and they felt like they were being squeezed through a tube, that was on fire. MLP:FIM Pinkie pie wasn't afraid of much. But currently she was pretty spooked. They had temporarily lost theScentasnake(Trademark Pinkie Pie) when it had crashed into a statue of what appeared to be a Pegasus taking on a grand spider. Though, the pegasus looked a little,offto Pinkie Pie's eyes. Now they seemed to be getting closer to the foot of the mountain/pyramid. Currently they were surrounded by a odd golden moss that seemed to be imbedded with tiny twinkling stars. Briefly they had passed through a pitch black cave passage, but had left it some time ago. Finally they had stepped off the moss path. They slowed down a bit but continued to sprint. They found themselves on grass, a purple grass, and steam seemed to be rising off of it and ever so often a bright blue granite stone would rise out of the ground they had to step over. There also seemed to be a strange mix of fireflies and red ants flying above them. All three Ponies found these strange bugs to be oddly cute. This went on for awhile, the three being in awe of their surroundings. They continued to slow until they were going at a sedate pace. This changed when they finally came to a stop at a cliff. Looking over the edge they could see a strange dark brown river below. They were at a loss, they didn't know how they would progress further. Rarity supposed they could follow the river, as it was likely lead to a civilization. Rarity and Fluttershy's attention shifted however when Pinkie Pie gasped. Directing their attention to where she was looking. What they saw made them gasp as well. It couldn't have been bigger than Ponyville it's self, and yet it was floating in mid air just beyond the river. It was about 1000 feet in the air. It, was a huge crystal star, with 9 points, so clear in fact that it was practically invisible if it didn't shine. All three were simply in awe, and Rarity's mind in particular it looked like the biggest, purest, diamond ever discovered. Fluttershy just thought it was pretty, and Pinkie was more impressed that in was just floating in the sky as it was. So focussed in awe were that they didn't notice the ground shaking behind them, until it burst open and theScentasnakewas behind them once again. This caused Fluttershy to let out such a ear piercing scream that it could shatter glass, if any had been in the vicinity. They were all frozen, at a loss for what to do. Rarity lacked the offensive magic of Twilight, or even Starlight. Hell, Trixie could probably out do her in that regard. And while she was more than willing, despite what her appearance might make some think, to throw a punch or two if it came to a physical conflict if needed. But she seriously doubted she could even create a bruise on a creature of this kind. Fluttershy, well Fluttershy was near catotonic and likely no use in this situation. Pinkie Pie unfortunately didn't have her party-cannon at the moment. You my dear reader may think this not a problem because, well because its Pinkie Pie. The truth was though, even her usual methods wouldn't do them any good. She (and I) couldn't possibly give you a proper explanation as to why. Only that where they were currently located, even her talents paled in comparison to what could arise in a place like this. Of course, this didn't stop her from thinking, and thinking the pink Pony was. She needed something that could save her and her Friends. Looking everywhere that was visible to her, twice, she eventually looked behind her. She took a moment to examine the crystal star hoping that it would somehow miraculously magically save them, and held her breathe for a moment. Nothing, it was no help at all. Looking around some more, her eyes finally settled on the river below. It took a couple of seconds to process what she was considering, and when it hit her she didn't at all hesitate to proceed. Instead she just scream out "Executive decision!" And then grabbed her Friends to the best of her ability, which was actually quite a bit, and jumped. They soon hit the"water"and began to move with it. Coughing for a bit, Rarity managed to get out "Pinkie Darling . . While I appreciate the saving of our lives, I do thin . . . . . . Hhmmm!" She stopped however when she accidentally inhaled, and tasted, some of the"water"and found that it tasted likePure, Rich, Sugary, Chocolate! She would have enjoyed more of it, but her and her companions began to sink, unable to stay afloat. As their heads began to go below the surface, an interesting thought passed through Pinkie Pie's precious pink head, that this might not be such a bad way to go. It quickly left her head as she mentally screamed how she wanted to live. MLP:FIM Things seemed to be going well. Twilight had directed her Friends to the strange circle, which upon closer inspection resembled a almost sun like symbol. While it was wholly round, it had 8 triangles pointing outward. One for each of the Ponies to stand on. The rest of the spell mechanism was simply a circle filled with many different Runes, until we focus on the center where there was a secondary circle in which a strange figure eight could be found. While one hath of the eight was perfectly fixed in the center of both circles, while the other hath was outside the center circle. In the center hath of the eight was the collective Cutie Marks of all those present, and an old rune for Dragon. Speaking of spike, he was meant to stand in the outside hath of the eight mark, and perform the mail fire transport spell, as it was what this large scale teleport is based on. To do this Spike simply had to breathe his special spell based green fire onto the into circle that contained the Cutie Marks. Twilight then had her friends, and Trixie, begin to chant a specific set of phrases in an old language over and over. This happened while she herself began to perform the main spell. This is where things began to gowrong. Twilight had taken into account pretty nearly everything, except something like the Chaos orb, which was currently rolling towards the Castle of Friendship on the Cutie-map, and so, it reached it's target. You see, there is nothing as powerful as Chaos magic, except the Magic of Harmony. And there is nothing more powerful than they, except perhaps both, together, in balance. This is a remarkably easy thing to do, simple even. As simple as placing a source of one atop the source of the other. This created a sort of conduit, through which the only power directly below the above mentioned Magic, untapped Dragon-Magic, could be conducted into the spell in a unprecedented way. Because of this, instead of simply performing a long distance teleport, what actually was the result was a, small, tear in the fabric of the universe. And so, the 8 Ponies, and 1 Dragon, were lifted from ground, screaming. Most in fear, two in pain. And then, they were gone. Just gone, and the Castle, silent. The only thing of notice was taking place at map table. It was turning black, and white. The orb meanwhile, no longer showed its interesting patterns and odd colors, but a vibrant, blue, eye, that promptly turned a sickly, fiery, yellow as it looked around a bit. And then the orb suddenly shattered in a loud explosion that scattered the pieces across the table and beyond. Now more visible, the table now resembled a giant Yin-Yang symbol. This was because, well, for now lets just say there is a reason no one ever implements the always simple Magic ofBalance.