//------------------------------// // Lunaverse Chapter 6 // Story: A Tale of Two Trixies // by GreyGuardPony //------------------------------// Dark magic seared its way across ancient stones, high above a world that was both familiar and alien at the same time. Princess Luna corkscrewed through the air, dodging another blast from the dark centaur known as Lord Tirek. She had lived a very long time and seen a great deal in that lifetime, but this would go down in her personal history as one of its stranger moments. “You won’t be able to dodge me forever ‘princess’,” Tirek drawled. “You are in my world now and this chamber is as much a prison for those who dare encroach upon our reality.” “How fitting that I be greeted by another prisoner then. It seems that chains suit you Tirek. In my world or any other!” A trio of blazing stars were summoned with a thought and sent screaming Tirek’s direction. The centaur was forced to scramble to avoid the impacts, resulting in a trio of near misses. But Luna smiled and with a second flick of magic made them detonate. Roaring blue flames filled the room, the magical blaze swallowing every bench, seat and centaur. There was a certain and undeniable thrill to combat. Especially in situations such as this when she could cut loose without having to worry about harming any innocents. The likes of Tirek could certainly handle her rougher magic. As the flames faded, Luna landed on the opposite end of the wide stone stadium. Unfortunately, Tirek still stood, though smoke poured off of his body. Fury was etched into every inch of his craggy, weathered face, a sneer twisting his lips to show off a mouth full of fangs. “FENRIER!” he bellowed, the whole room shaking. A howl echoed through the air. Deep and bone chilling, the shadows in the room grew deeper and darker. It was a darkness profound enough to make Luna’s coat stand on end. Her ears twitched towards the sound of claws scrabbling on stone coming from her right and she whirled about throwing up a sparkling shield of magic. Something massive slammed into it a moment later, forcing her hooves to slide back across the stone of the arena from the sheer momentum of the strike. The darkness parted revealing a massive black furred wolf. Like Tirek the beast was chained, the links affixed to a dark iron collar clamped around his neck. As he pushed forward against Luna’s spell, the links of the chain creaked and groaned as if they'd threaten to give way any moment. “Fed! Bite! Rip! Tear!” the wolf roared. Foam flew from his jowls, while thick ropes of drool dripped from rotten yellow rangs. “Sweet pony meat! Eat the moon! EAT THE MOON!” “At least you’re keeping your goals realistic,” Luna grunted. With a burst of extra magic Luna whipped the offending wolf towards Tirek. The two collided like a pair of out of control trains, but Fenrier quickly sprang back to his paws and came charging across the ranks of benches again. “Eat, eat, eat, eat, EAT!” Luna summoned more of her stars, six of them this time. The stone of the chamber had proved sturdy enough to weather her last blasts unscathed. A rare opportunity was at her hooves to cut loose, without having to worry about hurting her little ponies. Three stars were sent whipping towards Tirek, three more towards the onrushing wolf. This time, when the pair tried to dodge the blasts, Luna wove a second enchantment and split each group of three into six. Screaming through the air, they impacted into Tirek and Fenrier with bone splintering force. Fenrier was sent catapulting across the chamber, impacting off an ornate crystal throne at the top of the far side, before rolling down one of the wide staircases with a whimper. Triek, by contrast, had managed to remain upright. Though the strain of resisting the spells was clear on his form, with legs locked and arms outstretched. “Get up you fool!” he snarled. “We’re running out of time!” Raising an eyebrow Luna wove another spell to trace the flow of magic within the chamber. The stones themselves glimmered with magic that would have been blinding to any kind of mortal pony. Tirek’s magic snaked across that arcane power like black rivers of oil and formed a crisscross pattern over the opening in the floor. “My, aren’t we desperate to keep me contained here?” Luna chuckled. She summoned more magic aiming a blast straight for the center of Tirek’s web. Tirek moved to intercept, his own hands crackling with dark magic. But again, Luna spit her spell, letting her beams zip around Tirek’s own dark counterspell, before they impacted into his initial enchantment. All at once, the strands of magic began to unwind, snapping apart in bursts of oily black smoke. “World walking witch!” Tirek yelled. Magic. Dozens of magical signatures began to appear in the room. Dozens upon dozens at that. Luna looked around as creatures began to appear along with the bursts of magic. Alicorns, wolves, big cats, elephants, yaks, tapir, dragons and more. Each one crackled with power and each one seemed confused at the tableau arrayed before them. The chamber immediately exploded into hundreds of voices, each owner trying to shout over their fellows to demand an explanation. For Luna, it was like being suddenly thrust into a particularly harsh session of the Night Court. Tirek was trying to slink off into the crowd in an attempt to look inconspicuous. A massive white wolf had pinned Fenrier to the floor. All the other creatures in the room kept shouting at her. Then three massive peals of sound washed over the chamber. Iron striking on iron. “Order! This chamber will come to order!” a strong sounding stallion yelled. Slowly rotating in place, Luna peered down at the stallion who had shouted. He was a sturdy looking alicorn with a black coat and an ashen gray mane and tail. He was stern as an ancient mountain with a crag like frown crossing his muzzle. It took Luna a moment to realize that he was also wearing the black robes of a judge. The bench before his seat was one of the largest in the chamber and featured an iron gavel block upon its surface. Luna watched as he slammed his right hoof against it three more times, calling the crowd to order. “I said, ORDER!” he finally bellowed, the Royal Canterlot Voice echoing through room. Mercifully, the cacophony of noise fell to a murmur, then the murmur fell to silence. The dark alicorn, finally looking satisfied, turned his stony glare to Luna. “Now...who, exactly, are you.” “Princess Luna Equestris. The same question to you.” The alicorn spread his forelegs wide. “Thanatos, judge of the dead and overseer of this divine council. An explanation is required for your presence, for you are not our Princess Luna.” A stack of papers appeared with a flash of magic and Thanatos began to magically sort through them. “Though, if I were a gambling pony, I’d suspect that it had something to do with the magical transport that left this world recently.” Luna nodded. “You would be correct. My world’s Trixie Lulamoon, our Element of Magic, switched places with yours. I have come to reclaim her and return yours.” The crowd erupted into another chorus of shouts and arguments. “No outside gods!” an ancient looking goat with a beard of vines and flowers bellowed. “Let her mortal catspaws do the work!” “Open your eyes!” a dark brown alicorn mare, with mane and tail the color of freshly harvested wheat snapped back. “She is not divine! Not like we are!” “Throw her back anyway!” an ancient dragon, scales black as midnight roared. “Throw them all back! When have outsiders brought our world anything but pain?” “Arrogant fool!” a massive wooly mammoth trumpeted. “”If you were so damn worried about outsiders, you could have blocked the humans!” “That would have been divine interference and you know it, you senile old elephant!” “Order!” Thanatos shouted again, slamming his hoof down again and again until things finally went quiet once more. “Now-” There was a flash of light from behind Luna and Thanatos rolled his eyes. “Ahhh. Discord. How nice of you to actually show your face!” Luna’s heart pounded in her chest and she whirled to stare at the lord of chaos. The draconequus sat at one of the three highest points of the chamber in a mismatched throne that fit his mismatched body. For whatever reason, he was wearing a dark suit for clothing and dark glasses. The latter he was peering over the rim of to stare down at Luna. “Normally, I’d be fine with letting this august body handle its own problems, but then a little bird told me about this other Luna that arrived and I just had to see what it was all about.” Luna glowered back at Discord. “You have power in this reality? What spore of madness has infected this world?” Discord waved a dismissive paw. “I’m practically retired these days. In fact, I was out on vacation when your presence so rudely snatched me away from the casino floor!” “You. Gambling?” “If you must know, I’m thinking about buying the place.” “Your extra dimensional galavanting about is not the concern of this council,” Thanatos dryly commented, cutting across the impending argument. “We are here to discuss this alicorn before us.” Luna ruffled her wings. “I do have a name Thanatos. There is no need to discuss me in such a dismissive manner.” “Don’t take it personally honey,” a icey blue coated, blonde maned alicorn called out. “Thanatos is just a bit naturally grumpy. Comes with being the lord of the dead.” “Can we get on with this!” Tirek shouted. “This pony, this paltry excuse for a goddess is trying to infect her presence upon our world! If you intend to let her set hoof upon the prime, then I demand equal consideration!” A great white wolf snarled from his seat. “Silence, cur! You shall never walk the prime again after what you did!” Luna’s mind raced. She was caught between a host of self proclaimed gods, many of them clearly engaging in power plays of their own. One had to step carefully in a situation such as this. It was time to play the diplomat. “With all due respect to this council, having ponies from our respective worlds swapped does neither of us any good. My word is denied the protection of its Element of Magic and your world is cursed with an extra.” A mighty golden dragon chose that moment to speak. Her voice was haughty but smooth as silk, and nearly every inch of her massive form was bedecked in glittering jewelry. “Cursed you say? That is a bold claim. One could argue that as your Element of Magic is in our world it would belong to us by rights of salvage.” Luna smiled beatifically at the dragon, nodding her head slightly. “Perhaps. But is this council familiar with what happens when two Elements of Magic come in close contact with each other?” A low murmur rippled through the crowd of gods. Thanatos banged his hoof again before fixing Luna with a curious stare. “Do you have relevant evidence for this council?” Luna nodded and began to weave a spell. Above her head, images began to dance, playing out the relevant events from her last visit between the worlds. The meeting of Elements, the damage to them and the mad monster that was released from the conflict. She let the actions of the self proclaimed Anthesis play without comment, watching the expressions on the faces of the council for their reactions. By her estimation, roughly a quarter of the assembled group were now decidedly uncomfortable at the idea of a similar creature running amok on their world. “All that I ask is for temporary passage to collect my student. I will not stay long and it will save you the trouble of dealing with the worst case scenario.” The response of the council was to look towards Tirek. The centaur spread his arms wide, his chains clinking against each other. “My stance is clear. If you allow an outsider, an alicorn at that, to walk the prime and intrude upon the domain of a native god, I will challenge for the right to intervene upon the world.” Thanatos sighed. “A vote it is then. All in favor of granting the exception?” A chorus of hooves and hands were raised, Luna counting them as quickly as possible. “All opposed.” Another round went up, this one including Thanatos himself. A tie. A chorus of groans filled the chamber while Thanatos massaged his temples. “All present prime gods will now cast the tie breaking vote.” “Well, well, well,” Discord said. “Isn’t this an interesting situation!” His tone was infused with a mixture of mirth and mockery as he appeared on the chamber floor next to Luna. Luna found herself staring at him in shock. “A prime god? What manner of title is that?” “Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head about it Lulu. All that you know is that for this particular situation, I am the master of your fate!” He began to circle Luna, tucking his arms behind his back as he spoke. “My fellow members of the divine, what we have before us is quite the unique situation! Another Princess Luna, come to our doorstep begging for one of her little ponies back.” Luna’s wings flared and she dropped into a defensive stance. She was not going to be mocked or lectured to by one of the worst monsters in Equestria’s history! Discord noticed her change in stance and...smirked! He smirked at her while peering over those inane glasses of his! But then he looked up and past her, his expression shifting to a glare. Taking the barest of moments to follow his gaze, Luna realized that he was glaring at Tirek. “...I propose a compromise,” Discord said. “The issue, as I see it, is that Luna’s domain over the moon due to her alicorn magic. She is, by her presence, infringing upon our Luna’s realm.” The smile was back now. “So, I propose that Luna give up her alicorn magic for the duration of her stay here. It will be returned to her when she leaves with her precious little element bearer.” Luna reared up, snorting in defiance at the mad god. “I will not give you even a scrap of my magic Discord!” Discord held up his paw and talon. “So judgemental princess! Jumping to conclusions, aren’t we? There’s no need for that. I don’t need, want or will be handling your magic.” He pointed a talon towards Thanatos. “He will.” Thanatos blinked. “I will?” “You are a stickler for the rules par-excellance!” Discord replied. “If there is a single being here that can be trusted to guard Lulu’s magic, it’s you.” Thanatos lightly tapped his hooves together for a moment, before peering down at Luna. “The council’s vote on Discord’s proposal?” This time, seventy five percent of the council voted yes. Luna grit her teeth. The longer she dithered here, the greater the chance Trixie could be hurt on this world. “Fine!” she spat. “But Discord stays far away from me while I hoof it over.” Discord blinked back to his throne while Thanatos’s horn began to glow. Luna felt a distinct tugging sensation as her alicorn magic was pulled away from her, manifesting as a ball of sparkling midnight before the god of death. Her mane lost its ethereal nature, falling back into a light blue. Thanatos summoned an iron bound chest and tucked her magic within. “Passage is granted, Princess Luna. Go in harmony and collect your element bearer.” “With pleasure,” Luna responded. And before the council of gods, she was engulfed in a bright light. - - - - The next moment, she was soaring over the gold and purple spires of Canterlot, this universe’s Trixie and the rest of her universe’s element bearers at her side. They were wrapped in a prismatic bubble of magic as they streaked right for one of Canterlot’ castle’s many gardens. “Uhh! Princess!” Carrot Top shouted. “Maybe we should be slowing down now?” Luna flared her wings, the strain of the descent pushing against them as they came to a gradual stop. A few gardener ponies that had been working in the garden before their arrival scrambled for cover as the bubble of magic skidded across the grass before falling apart as they finally came to a complete stop. As they did, Carrot Top immediately scrambled for one of the nearby bushes, her face as green as its leaves. “That...was an interesting landing,” Cheerilee said, shaking her head to clear its dizzyness. “Everypony okay?” “I’m fine!” Lyra called, trotting over to Carrot Top. “Okay over here,” Raindrops said. Ditzy sounded off next. “Same here!” “Trixie is also okay!” Trixie said, even if she was stumbling a little. “We should find one of this world’s princesses,” Luna said. “The sooner we get royal help, the sooner we can find our Trixie-” “INVADERS!” somepony screamed. It was one of the gardener ponies. “Invaders! We’re under attack!” she screamed, running for a nearby door. The rest of the gardeners proceeded to promptly panic and began bolting in every which direction. It took a moment for Luna to realize what they were panicking about, aside from their sudden appearance. Her element bearers were wearing their starmetal armor, just in case they landed somewhere hostile when they arrived. “Wait!” she shouted, but it was too late. She could already hear the sound of armored hooved rushing their way. “Everypony behind me!” They fell into place, eyes glancing towards all the entrances to this little courtyard. It sounded like the guards were coming from all directions. “Trixie, is there something about your word that you didn’t tell us about?” Raindrops growled. “It sounds like a small army is coming our way!” “What? No! I mean we did kind of air drop into the castle. Probably every guard in the place saw us coming!” “Let me explain,” Luna said. “I’m sure that once-” “Halt!” a familiar mare’s voice said. Luna blinked, finding herself at a loss for words when Princess Cadenza came galloping into the garden. Armed at that. An impressively sized warhammer bobbed in her sparkling aura, its crystal head shaped vaguely like a heart. “Cadenza?” The pink alicorn blinked back. “...Luna? What are you doing here? I-” Then she shook her head, glaring at Luna with the best war face she could manage. “You can’t be Luna! I literally saw her at the airship docks with Celestia twenty minutes ago! If you’re a changeling, this is officially the worst invasion ever!” “Princess Cadance!” Trixie shouted, stepping in front of Luna. “We’re not changelings! It’s me! The Great and Powerful Trixie! ...Remember me? I accidentally gave Skitch-Sketch a cursed amulet? You helped get it off of her?” Cadenza...Cadance, slowly lowered her hammer. “...I remember that.” She frowned, not taking her eyes off of Luna. “Would somepony mind giving me some context here?” “I’m from another universe,” Luna began. “My world’s Trixie and yours got switched-” “Princess Luna!” another familiar voice shouted. Luna turned her head to see Trixie, her Trixie, galloping across the grass. Her friends rushed to meet her, the six mares almost collapsing into a joint embrace. They were followed by Baron Mounty Max of all ponies...or this universe’s version at least, and a rose maned, yellow coated mare. “We were so worried!” Ditzy said. “Seriously Trixie, you really need to stop making trips like this,” Lyra chuckled. “This one wasn’t my fault!” Trixie declared. “We know,” Carrot Top said. “The other Trixie told us.” “Hey! I’m not ‘the other Trixie’!” the other Trixie exclaimed. Princess Cadance dismissed her hammer with a slight flash of magic, a wide smile now playing across her muzzle. “Awww! Now that’s just adorable!” Luna bowed her head to the other princess. Of all the ponies she was expecting to meet while here, the alternate version of her daughter hadn’t been one of them. “My apologies for the sudden entrance. I was going to ask for your assistance in finding my student, but it seems that the matter has resolved itself.” “Oh, it’s alright.” Cadance smiled. “I suppose we should be a little more used to ponies from other worlds dropping in, all things considered. Though where are my manners. There’s no need to just stand around here talking. Can I offer you all some refreshments?” Luna smiled back. “While I would normally be happy to take you up on the offer, it would probably be best for us to get going-” “Actually princess…I can’t,” her Trixie said. “...Why not?” Raindrops asked. “There was a slight...incident.” - - - - “You let somepony steal The Collector’s world jumping device?” this world’s Trixie shouted. They had all moved to a sitting room within the castle for this part of the conversation. Trixie had explained everything that had happened to her since arriving in this world while Cadance had requested some tea and snacks be brought to him. She hadn’t spared any details either, going to great lengths to detail the ambush in Neigh Orleans and then the second fight in Ponyville. Trixie winced slightly. “I didn’t let him, he knocked me out!” “You let my theater get ransacked!” “It would have to be Greengrass,” Lyra huffed. “Why wouldn’t an alternate version of him be a thorn in our side?” Raindrops glowered at the teacup in front of her. “Because that’s our lot in life.” “I actually find it oddly comforting that there are certain constants between universes,” Cheerilee said. “Either way, I have to get it back before Greengrass and his lot open a portal to someplace dangerous!” Trixie exclaimed. “I’m not going back until I fix this.” “Until we fix this,” Ditzy forcibly interjected. “We’re not going to let you face this alone.” She pulled Trixie into a hug, that was quickly joined by the rest of her friends. Cadance watched the group embrace with a soft smile before giving a slight cough to bring the discussion back to the current topic. “I have a few guesses who Greengrass might be working with. As I understand it, Baron Max has been dealing with many a request to nationalize Skitch’s device,” she said, nodding towards him. The Baron nodded enthusiastically. “Bobbing Fisher has been quite insistent.” Luna frowned. “That hardly fills me with confidence. If your Fisher is anything like mine, he has dozens of properties all over Equestria he could spirit the device away to.” “Greengrass seemed pretty insistent on coming here though,” Trixie said. “There has to be something here that made taking it to Canterlot a risk he was willing to take.” “Well, that, I can answer,” Cadance said, staring down into her teacup. “The old mines under Mt. Canterhorn. They’re isolated and sprawling. Good place to conduct a test without anypony seeing it. If the test was successful, they could present their shiny stolen technology or magic to Princess Celestia quickly, before the rest of the Day Court could mount an objection.” She shrugged. “At least, they could if Celestia and Luna hadn’t left the city a few hours ago.” “Really? Why?” Luna asked. Cadance sighed. “An old enemy rose in the Republic of Dromedaus and our Element Bearers went to deal with him. But then they called for aid, trapped in a fortress along with a division of the Dromedan army. So, Celestia and Luna took an airship and some of our own forces to relieve them.” “That’s odd timing,” Cheeilee mused. “Think that was part of the plan?” “I doubt it. We had no idea the element bearers were in trouble until Spike’s letter arrived. Celestia grabbed her personal forces and just went.” “Sooo...that leaves us to search a winding group of tunnels underneath Canterlot,” the local Trixie said. “Wait, this is going to get confusing,” Raindrops said. “We need to sort out or Trixies again.” “She’s Lulamoon!” Trixie declared, pointing towards her local counterpart. “I get to stay Trixie!” “Really? Even though this is her home universe?” Ditzy asked. Trixie, or Lulamoon shrugged. “If it’s that important to her, I can go by my family name.” She held her head high and pressed a hoof to her chest. “The Lulamoons are some of Neigh Orleans most famous performers!” “So that’s what...two different versions of you that have taken to your last name better than you now?” Raindrops asked. Trixie glowered. “...Don’t we have a crazy pony to chase down?” Cadance grinned. “Indeed we do! And I just might have a way to help find them faster.” Roseluck, who had been quiet until now, spoke up. “What do you mean Princess?” “Oh, we placed a tracking spell on the device. Just in case.” With that, she drained the rest of her tea and stood. “Shall we?” - - - - In the depths of Mount Canterhorn a conspiracy unfolded. Zizane sat in the corner of the ancient mineshaft, tapping away at the strange device she and Greengrass had managed to steal. It was quite a fascinating little black box. Centuries more advanced than anything on the planet, with the capacity to let anypony whisk themselves away to worlds uncountable. Zizane’s imagination crackled with the possibilities that the human had been hiding away from ponykind. All she had to do was crack this password and then they’d be in. The threads of fate danced and wove around her as she kept tapping away at the numbers. She could feel herself getting closer as possibilities were struck out and her odd bloodline magically seeked the correct answer. Onwards and onwards she tapped, even as Greengrass paced a few feet away from her. “Hurry Zizane! The clock is ticking on us now. Duke Fisher and his fellows will be here any minute!” “Patience Greengrass. I’m only brute forcing my way through what could be thousands of different ciphers.” Greengrass sighed, looking around the vast chamber. Unmined crystals still studded the walls, a reminder of what was once a vibrant industry. He couldn’t wait to unleash whatever technological marvels they’d collect upon Equestria and turn it into a power the world would be envious of. As he mulled over the possibilities, his ears flicked towards the sound of approaching hooves. A moment later Duke Bobbing Fisher lead a group of nobles and fellow conspirators into the chamber. Greengrass recognized a few of them. Countess Shining Star with her striking silvery coat and hawkish features was heavily invested in Equestria’s railroads. Hollow Sword...made swords and was tied into Equestria’s military. Duke Far Reach mostly focused his efforts on external trade and was probably eager to see who he could strike deals with in these other realities. He wasn’t entirely sure why Count Copper Coin was here though. Perhaps he had been roped into the conspiracy by somepony else. But the unquestionable heavyweight of the little group was duchess Puissance. Her collection of assets made her one of the richest ponies in Equestria and gave her punching power far above that of her noble station. Greengrass was sure that she was here for personal reasons. There had been rumors for years that she and Celestia had a personal dislike of each other and that Celestia had been keeping Puissance from climbing the noble ladder. He wouldn’t put such actions past that worthless cow. Celestia allowed far too much of her personal feelings to dictate policy. All of them came with a  collection of their guards and retainers. They were going to be needed to collect whatever treasures might be revealed in the worlds beyond the portal. “A pleasure to see you all,” Greengrass nodded. “Soon we will all be sharing in the riches of this little endeavor.” “If you say so,” Fisher growled. “Though I’m noticing a lack of portals at the moment.” “Zizane will have that worked out soon enough.” “I’m still not entirely sure about trusting a Discordian with something this important,” Puissance frowned. Zizane spared a glance the duchesses way. “If you want to find some other pony that can try and read a language that doesn’t exist on this world and guess a password that exists in the brain of one pony, be my guest.” “Hmmph,” Puissance grunted. “Mouthy little one isn’t she?” “Please. No need to argue. We all want the same things here,” Greengrass said. “Just have your ponies ready to move once we open a portal up.” - - - - Trixie trotted along aside her friends, now bedecked in her armor as they plunged deeper into the depths of Mount Canterhorn. This universe's’ Cadenza took the lead, her horn glowing softly as she followed her tracking spell. Princess Luna was just behind them, alongside Baron Mounty Max, who couldn’t stop himself from peppering the princess with questions and Roseluck marching along in her natural changeling form. A group of hastily gathered up guards brought up the rear, marching along in stony faced determination. “Fascinating! It seems that both of our griffin kingdoms went through a similar decline, but ours has gone through more of a recovery so far!” “Just how many questions are you going to ask anyway?” Lyra asked. Baron Maxed shrugged. “As many as I can get away with I suppose. It’s kind of my job to know as much about these other worlds as possible.” “Speaking of which, what’s our worst case scenario if they’ve already managed to open a portal by the time we get there?” Luna asked. Baron Max licked his lips. “They’ve opened a portal to some inescapable hell realm, thusly allowing elder gods to leak into this reality and kill us all.” There was silence for a few long minutes at that. “Seriously?” Cheerilee exclaimed. “You asked me what the worst case scenario was! Skitch-Sketch painted quite the vivid picture of doom and darkness from some of these alternate realities.” “Did this pony tell you any good things about other realities?” Raindrops growled. “Well...she told me about all of you, for one. It really has been amazing to meet you all by the way! I never thought I’d have a chance to meet another group of Element Bearers!” Trixie was about to comment on that when Princess Cadance stopped suddenly. “...We’re getting close,” she whispered. “We need to be quiet from here on out.” “On it!” Trixie whispered back, already beginning to channel. As she completed her spell, a wave of magic pulsed out from her, wrapping around the assembled group. Trixie nodded, motioning for them to continue. Onward they pressed, now following a slight downward incline towards what appeared to be a large open chamber. Trixie found herself wondering just how deeply these workings went. Mount Canterhorn was a mighty peak to be sure, but just how much mining had gone on here to create such winding tunnels and vaulted chambers. As they came into the edge of the large chamber, she could see that they had come in from above, standing on a ledge that overlooked the floor. Below were the conspirators in all their glory. Lead by Greengrass they clustered around Zizane in a loose semi-circle as she continued to tap away at the strange little device in her hooves. She could make out this universe’s Bobbing Fisher and Pussiance among the assembled ponies. No matter where you go, there you are I suppose, Trixie thought. ...Though I suppose I can take some enjoyment in taking them down for a second time. They were just about to spring into action when Zizane gave a cry of triumph. “I’m in!” she crowed. “Mares and gentlestallions, we are in!” “Excellent!” Greengrass cheered. “Now, follow your instincts and pick us a world rich with technology or magic!” Princess Cadence had had enough. In one smooth motion, she jumped from their perch above the cavern, dispelling Trixie’s spell and conjuring a ramp of glittering crystal for the others to follow her on. Landing hard behind the group, she opened her mouth and declared the reality of the situation with all the power of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “HALT! YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST UPON ORDER OF THE CROWN!” Everypony whirled to face Cadance as everypony else thundered into the chamber, the guards immediately moving to block the other exits. But to Trixie’s horror, Zizane’s hoof still brushed against the controls and a crackling bolt of energy lept from the tip of the device. A swirling portal, about as tall as your average minotaur appeared in the air next to Zizane, humming with eldritch energy. Trixie gulped, wondering just where that portal went. - - - - Death had come to the World’s Edge Mountains. Grey Seer Quiksquit peered out across the wide avenue of the dwarf-thing’s mighty citadel. The thought of the glory and power that would be bestowed upon him for delivering the city into the paws of Skavendom made the ratman twitch with glee. From his position on the gnawed wooden platform of his screaming bell, he could see the battleline arranged before his forces. The dwarf-things had formed up around the wide set of stairs that ran up to the jewel studded gate that blocked the way to the rest of their fortress. If the his forces could break through here, the fall of the city the dwarf-things called Karak-Eight-Peaks would be assured! They had to move fast though, the filthy greenskins were also attacking the dwarf-things from above. He had no intention of sharing this city with the orc and goblin-things! Pointing his staff at warlord Kriktail of Clan Mors, Quicksquit chittered out commands. “Take forces and move-quick to the right! Flank-surround dwarf things! Use warpflame throwers! We paid many warp-tokens for them!” The black furred skaven bared his fangs back at the grey coated wizard. “Yes-yes! I know what to do!” Quicksquit snorted and turned his beady red eyes back towards the lines of dwarf warriors. He chittered again and gave the command to advance! The multitude of skaven warriors surged forward, scampering across the stone floors as fast as their their legs could carry them! Quicksquit’s own unit of black furred stormvermin grunted as they pushed the wheeled platform of his screaming bell forward. The bell ringer set to striking the massive magically enchanted instrument. Torpid waves of magic rang out from its bronze form, bolstering his forces. There were so few dwarf-things compared to his mighty verminous hordes! But then something caught his eye. A swirling portal had appeared just to the left of the dwarf lines. The dwarf-things hadn’t reacted to it at all and that made Quicksquit nervous. Just what were the dwarf-things doing? Were they summoning help? Was this some kind of strange rune magic of theirs? No! He wouldn’t allow his glory to be undermined by stupid dwarf-things and their stupid tricks! Reaching into the pockets of his robes Quicksquit drew out a trio of small, green rocks. Warpstone. Raw dark magic made manifest in the world. Quick as a flash, he gulped them down, fur and whiskers tingling like mad as raw magic energy flooded the whole of his being. Chittering with glee, Quicksquit threw his staff forward, sending tendrils of dark magic towards the portal. The magic ripped the portal open even further, making it large enough for whole regiments of skaven to march through. Waving a paw, Quicksquit ordered some of his forces through. - - - - “How long do these portals tend to stay open?” Raindrops asked, eyeing the swirling blue light. “Usually, a few seconds after somepony steps through,” Baron Max answered. Trixie peered over Lulamoon’s shoulder. The device had been yanked away from Zizane at this point, while Princess Cadance’s forces began to restrain the guards Greengrass and his fellow nobles had brought. Ditzy frowned. “I really don’t like this. Who knows what’s on the other side of that portal. Isn’t there a way to shut it off?” “Maybe?” Lulamoon answered. “There’s a button here that’s flashing red, but nothing’s happening when I push it!” The portal chose that moment to surge in size, easily doubling, then doubling again so that it now stretched across the back wall like a garish painting. “Okay, I really don’t like this now!” Ditzy exclaimed. Lyra’s ears flicked towards the portal. “Uhh...does anypony else hear that?” Everypony froze, straining to hear what Lyra had picked up on. Soon enough they could all begin to hear a chorus of high pitched squeaking noises coming their way. A moment later, a horde of rats came bounding through the gaping maw. They weren’t normal rats either. They were massive! Each one easily the size of a dog. They were marked and brutalized as well, covered in scars, stitches and tumorous growths.They rolled out from the portal in a brown wave of frenzied chittering and squeaking. I bipedal rat creature emerged from the portal behind them, dressed in cracked and dirty looking leather armor. Squeaking with just as much of a cheerful glee as its charges, it cracked a whip in a wide arc across the giant rats backs, urging them forward. Lulamoon shrieked in a mixture of fear and disgust as the wave of rats rolled over her. She could feel their pale little feet and tiny sharp claws ripping and tearing at her, their teeth nipping and biting at any soft parts of her body. Trixie fared better, the enchanted armor Luna had provided turning away most of the frenzied rat scratches. She pushed forward, grabbing Lulamoon and pulling her from the living tide of ratflesh. Cadance summoned her hammer to her side and rushed forward, shouting for her guards. “Royal Guard, to me! Equestria prevails!” The guards charged into combat alongside their princess. “Equestria prevails!” As more bipedal rats pushed their way into the chamber and battle was joined one thing was certain. War had come to Mount Canterhorn.