After saying their good-byes to King Kai - though he reminded them he could still communicate mentally with the group - Luna returned everyone back to their own dreamscapes and gave Spike the ok to wake up.
"Ah gotta admit, Spike, that's one heck of a start to this whole..." Applejack started once she and the others began coming to. "Um..." she trailed off when they saw a familiar figure, wide awake and sitting on Spike's chest, "Ah thought she was just in that dream world like us."
"As did I..." Rarity muttered, looking more than a little annoyed at the sight.
"When you've been a Supreme Kai for as long as I have, you pick up a few tricks on getting around!" Chronoa grinned before hopping to her feet and looking around. "Nice digs! Never been a castle that was grown before!" She quickly focused on the thrones, "Ooh, have you seen what these do yet?"
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, "They're just thrones. Granted, they look nice, but..."
"'Just thrones'?? Are you kidding me!?" Chronoa blurted out, flailing her arms in disbelief. "just look at them!" She proceeded to float around the thrones. "One. For. Each. Of. You. And. Spike!" She punctuated it by sitting in each throne with every word. "Grown out of a building made of freaking living crystal! You really think magic like that does stuff like this just to look pretty!? Sit in 'em and find out, already!"
Fluttershy was already in the one with her mark before she even finished letting out a quiet 'meep!'
"Ok, ok! Sheesh! Ain't gotta blow a fuse!" Rainbow muttered as she settled into hers.
Pinkie just gave Chronoa a questioning look...for about a second and a half before chirping out "Okay!" and hopping onto her throne
Applejack, on the other hand, was a bit more skeptical. "Don't ya think yer readin' just a lil bit too much into this?" She asked. "Ah mean, sittin' in chairs to make stuff happen usually just happens in those oddball mystery novels Carrot Top's taken a shine to lately."
"Well, she is in charge of handling time, so she probably knows what she's talking about." Spike responded, getting into the one with the 'S'.
"He got a point, AJ." Twilight said, stepping tentatively over to the one marked for her. "And they look comfortable anyway."
"And quite pleasant, ascetically speaking." Rarity added from her own seat.
"Ok...Ah'll give ya that much, Twi." The cowmare climbed up into her chair. "Still think it's kinda..." She stopped when the emblems on all seven thrones began to glow and fired a beam onto the star centered on the dias. Large crystalline trails suddenly erupted from between the thrones and converged on the dias, emitting a blinding glow as something emerged from it.
When the light faded, the group found themselves sitting around a large table, and on the table was a perfect three-dimensional map of Equestria.
"Ok, now that was impressive!" Luna piped up, trotting up to look the map over.
"Awsome!" Scootaloo piped up.
"SUGOI!" Chronoa squealed, almost teleporting to the map with an expression akin to a kid getting toy they've always wanted. "You guys are so LUCKY! It took me weeks to set up a working holographic map of my hometown of Toki-Toki City, even longer to update the thing after the town was expanded to Conton City...and this place just ups and grows one!" she floated above the map. "I'm so jealous!"
"Looks like it shows everywhere in Equestria." Spike added, looking around at the miniature locations. "Canterlot, Appleoosa...hey, there's the spot I used to go gem-hunting at!"
"Ooh, there's my parent's rock farm!" Pinkie leaned in to look at the spot and waved. "Hi, Mom and Dad!"
It was then that Twilight felt an odd pulse in her Cutie Mark. Looking back, she saw it was glowing. The others quickly noticed the same with theirs. They watched as copies of their marks appeared above the map, centered right over Ponyville before moving to a spot up north.
"This thing doubles as a questgiver too!?" Chronoa stared at the floating marks. "Again, jealous!"
"Questgiver?" Rainbow blinked. "You saying the map is telling us we got a job to do over there?"
"Like I said, magic like this doesn't do this stuff to just look pretty. Whatever's over there, it's something it wants the six of you to take care of."
"You mean seven, right?" Spike said. "I'm coming along." Before a gold glow appeared around his arm, dragging him over to Celestia.
"More like spending time with your mother and aunt, who hasn't seen their son/nephew for the last six months." She said. "You and I have some serious catching up to do."
"You really shouldn't go, Spike," Chronoa spoke up, indicating the symbols on the thrones and the ones over the map. "This map has a symbol for all seven of you, but it only called Twilight and the others."
"If you think for one minute I'm going to let Twilight and the others walk blind into what could be a dangerous situation when I could be there to help them just because of some...some magic table-" Before he could say more, he felt Twilight's magic on his lips.
"Spike, it's okay," she offered warmly, smiling up at him. "We'll be fine, trust me."
"But-"
"You're not the only one our time apart has...hardened," she added sadly. Her eyes brightened up as her smile returned. "We'll be okay. Trust me."
He wanted to say more, but he recognized the look in her eyes. She was determined. "Okay...just be careful."
"Don't worry, Spikey-Wikey," Rarity told him warmly, nuzzling his side to reassure him. "Compared to some of the things we've been through, I'm sure we'll be fine! Besides, you've gotten a little big to come along just to carry my vanity set in case things get a little dirty, don't you think?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him coquettishly, startling a chuckle from all around.
"Then it's settled!" Chronoa declared quickly, clapping her hands to end the debate. "You guys handle whatever the map is sending you to handle, and Spike hangs out with his mom. Me?" She floated over to the window, glanced at all the businesses the likes of which she'd never seen before, and pulled a pouch of gold from her robes. "It's tourist time, and I'm going shopping!"
Once the small group of mares had left, and Chronoa cackled in a mad dash to Ponyville's shopping area, Spike, Celestia and Luna began their time.
"So, what'd I miss?" He asked as the three walked out of the palace.
The princess let out a sigh. "Well, I guess it's best to start from after you vanished; we should at least get that out of the way. "
"Indeed, I think the whole group was a wreck for several weeks after our searches turned up nothing." Luna added. "Tia and I..."
"We...we had a private funeral out in a secluded corner of Sweet Apple." Celestia admitted.
"F-funeral?" Spike gulped at the word.
"After exhausting what we had, everyone was forced to admit that the worst possibly happened. Needless to say, it was a good while before any of us, Twilight especially, began to bounce back from it..."
What she recalled wasn't what he had expected: thinking the dragon he called his little brother had died, Shining succumbed to a bout of depression that he'd tried to fight by throwing himself into his work, ignoring nearly anything else...at least until his wife had managed to rein him in to snap him out of it.
Cadance herself was crushed as well, though she managed to force herself not to show it in public so as not to cause concern to her citizens. Because of this, the Crystal Empire didn't even know he had vanished.
Fluttershy had become withdrawn, not really being seen around town anymore unless she absolutely had to and barely talked to anyone, even her animals.
Pinkie managed to stay working at Sugar Cube, but her usual cheerful exuberance was gone; she was listless and melancholy. It showed in her work as well. The customers and Cakes couldn't help but note her icing was disturbingly plain, sometimes dreary-looking. When she did use color, it seemed to be a mix of a very familiar purple and green.
Rainbow became a lot more brash and more than a little aggressive in an attempt to hold onto her usual toughfilly facade. Pushing herself harder than normal in training, stunts, and her work. Unfortunately, this also got her lashing out a little at those she thought weren't 'pulling their weight', sending more than a few ponies crying and almost got her into a few fights It came to a head during a heated argument with Lyra Heartstrings where she finally broke down and wept.
Rarity did her best to present a brave face to the world. Her fashion, however, lacked the spark it used to have, and several of her pieces had a visibly sorrowful feel to them, plus it was easy to tell that any smile she had was painfully forces . Like Pinkie, when she did add color, it was the same purple and green.
Applejack threw herself into her work as well, but the pride she took in her bucking was nonexistent. The others also noticed that when she talked, her expression and voice were on the verge of cracking.
The Crusaders took the news their friend was gone pretty bad as well. To the point of giving up working on their marks for a while. They barely even acknowledged Diamond Tiara's usual 'blank-flank' insults at school. The pampered filly didn't take that very well though, and tried ramping up her mocking to make them react...until she crossed a line. It's unknown what exactly she said to them; from a second-hoof account, they'd all learned that a shout from Sweetie of 'Don't you talk about him like that, you little bitch!' echoed over the schoolyard almost as much as the sound of her right hook hitting the bully's cheek...and then no one could be sure what was happening, as her two friends were just a step behind her.
Cheerilee had to enlist the help of Big Macintosh, Snowflake and a couple others to finally pull the enraged fillies off of her.
Only the other children noticed how disinterested the adults seemed to be in stopping them, or speculate a connection between that and how long - and just how many of them - it took. That also turned out to be the final time Diamond called them names.
Twilight, however, was hit the worst. The newest princess shut herself up in Golden Oaks. When they visited her, usually to get her to eat, the others noticed she was never farther than ten feet away from the memorial. It finally took a direct and very firm order from Celestia to get her to finally come out.
Spike stared. He figured they probably missed him, but he honestly didn't expect them to take his disappearance THAT badly.
"Now, no need to dwell on the past." Celestia chirped, patting him on the back with her wing in an attempt to brighten things up. "Besides, you're alive and home, and that's all that really matters right now! Here, why don't we go look at the craft you landed in. Twilight said it made quite the impact...literally!" She quickly added to try and keep from making a lame pun. "I made a point to station a few guards around it to make sure somepony's curiosity doesn't get the better of them."
"Yeah, I should probably take care of that. Now that I think about it, there's a couple things I need to get out of it."
"You came in THAT THING!?"
Spike cringed a little at Celestia's shriek when they reached the guarded crater, his craft resting quietly in the center. "It wasn't that bad. Granted, I thought Bulma and her dad installed landing thrusters or something on it." He added mentally.
"Not that bad!? From the size of the hole, it looks like it didn't even slow down before it hit! Part of me wants to say it's a miracle you got out in one piece, much less survive the impact!"
"Mom, calm down." He responded as he hovered down to the craft, with her right behind him. "These things are designed to get the rider to their target intact, so they're a LOT tougher than they look." He gestured around. "This is pretty much standard landing for them."
"That might be the case, but still...How did you even handle the impact?" Luna asked, trotting around the ship in a mix of bewilderment and curiosity.
Spike shrugged. "Good shock absorbers? To be honest, I'm not really sure how these fully work. Just that they get you from A to B."
As they approached the craft, both princesses paused when the door suddenly lowered. "Ok...didn't expect that." Celestia commented
"Yeah. I think it opens automatically when someone gets close. Now, it should be..." He trailed off as he rustled around inside. "Here we go!"
He quickly emerged carrying a large, slightly narrow-looking metal case that reminded Celestia of an old art kit she had once as a filly. Once he moved away she stepped closer to get a look inside, and almost yelped at the sight of a seat being the only thing inside "Spike, the inside's even worse! How long were you in this thing anyway!?"
Spike scratched his head. "Well...about a month, I think."
"A-a month?" Her face was nearly expressionless before shifting to outraged disbelief. "A month!?"
"Mom..." He started, trying to head her off...but was too late.
"You just sat in there, going through space, for a month!? There barely looks like enough room to move!"
"Mom..." He sighed as she kept going.
"Seriously! There's nothing in here but a chair! Did you at least make a few stops to stretch??"
"Mom!" He semi-yelled to get her attention. "I was asleep the whole way!"
Celestia blinked a couple of times. "A-asleep...?"
"Yes. They aren't built for comfort, just to get you were you're going in one piece. Until I was almost here, I was out like a light the moment I left Earth's atmosphere."
"Oh...hehe..." She blushed sheepishly. "Well...still, I think I'll stick with carriages." She then turned her attention to the case Spike held. "What's that?"
He just grinned and flicked the clasp, allowing it to fall open, revealing a large selection of colored capsules, each one with a number designation and what appeared to be a button on the end. "Wanna see something cool?" He then scanned through them until he pulled out the one from slot number one hundred. Giving the button a press, he promptly tossed it to the side.
"Okay, why..."
POM!
"YIPE!" She and Luna jumped when the capsule exploded in a large cloud of smoke.
Once it cleared, in its place rested what looked like a large metal storage box, complete with a one hundred written on the side.
"W-what in Faust's flank...!?" Celestia blurted out, "Where'd that come from!?"
"They're called Dynocaps. A scientist on Earth developed them to easily carry all sorts of stuff, like vehicles, food, furniture, plants...everything except for living creatures."
"And...and the natives carry these sets of them with them?" Luna asked, looking wide-eyed at the case.
"Most have smaller ones, or just a couple of capsules for specific items they like to keep with them; this one's sorta the deluxe assortment. Here." He let Luna hold the case it in her magic while he turn his attention back to the pod. "Now to get this out."
"Here. Let me handle that, Spike." Celestia's horn began to glow...
"Um, You Highness?" A nearby pegasus guard spoke up, getting her attention.
"Hm? Oh, Sargent Slipstream. Something wrong?"
"Not really, but...with all due respect, using magic on this thing may not be the best thing to do. This is alien technology, and well...none of us really know how how it'll react to magic."
Celestia 'hmm'ed for a moment. "You have a point there. in that case, we'll do it the old fashioned way. Head back to Canterlot and assemble a team of the strongest earth pony troops you can find. Given how embedded it looks, plus the fact we don't know its weight, we'll need a dozen at least. Plus a pegasi squadron for the airlift once its free..."
"Or just this." Spike called out, pulling the craft out of the ground with a grunt and the sound of crumbling rock before resting it on his shoulder.
"That works..." The Sargent said, looking at the dragon's biceps before trying to subtly flex his own front leg in comparison.
"Spike...how...??" Celestia's jaw hung slightly as she watched her adopted son hoist the sphere up like it was a bag of flour.
"It's just a few hundred pounds." Came the reply, without a lick of exertion or effort. "Me and Goku were getting up into a couple of tons by the time we were adults."
"T-t-t-tons??" She squeaked, still trying to process what she'd just seen.
"Yeah. Heck, my clothes weigh a little over two hundred pounds." With that he headed to the storage unit and pressed a switch on the side, causing the top and front to raise up and reveal a cargo net inside that he set the ship on.
PUM!
"YEEK!"
Before he could close it, though, the sound of another capsule activating, along with Luna's shriek, caused both Spike and Celestia to whirl around. Where she was now stood a house-sized, dome-like building...
With her sprawled out on the roof and looking around wildly.
"Luna!" Celestia called out. "What'd you do!?"
"I was curious!" Came the slightly defensive reply
"You could've at least thrown it like Spike did!"
"No one said there were BUILDINGS in those things!"
Spike, on the other hand, was too busy laughing at the sight. "You just found my gravatron training room, Aunt Luna!"