//------------------------------//
// Welcome to Equestria 
// Story: Light and Magic 
// by Allenator05 
//------------------------------//

She stood before the Vex Warp gate and stared.The gate itself consisted of a series of bronze colored metal hoops partially buried in the ground with a large metal circle behind.This particular gate was inactive and she was in the process of activating it.  Rather, her Ghost was.

“I just want you to know, this is a terrible idea,” it said, while scanning the Vex structure.  Its shell was matte black with a carbon fiber pattern, giving the appearance of scales or feathers.

“You don’t have to keep reminding me Raven,” she replied sharply.  The Ghost ignored her and continued scanning.  “Are you sure this will work?”

“No,” she replied simply.  “Osiris is the resident expert on these things and he isn’t exactly here right now to offer pointers.”

“If the Vanguard find out about this, they won’t be happy,” Raven said.

“You think I don’t know that?” she replied, raising her voice.

“Shh!  Keep it down!  Are you trying to attract attention?” Raven asked.

“If you think it will help you work faster, then yes,” she replied curtly.  Raven grumbled to himself.  His poor Guardian had been under a lot of stress recently, and he suspected their current actions were the reason for it.“I still can’t believe you met with Dredgen Yor,” he said.

“His name is Rezyl Azzir,” she corrected.

“Rezyl Azzir is dead,” Raven shot back.

“He’s a hero of the City and one of the greatest Titans who ever lived,” she replied.

“Dredgen Yor is a murderer!” Raven replied.  She said nothing in reply, but silently agreed.  Dredgen Yor had become rather infamous for killing several prominent Guardians and scores of others.  “That may be so, but it was important for the plan,” she said.

“There are easier ways to fake your death,” Raven said.  “Saoirse will be crushed when she finds out.”

Her resolve started to crack at the mention of her name.  Now was not the time.  She needed to be strong.  This was for the sake of the future.  She steeled herself and her moment of weakness turned to anger.  “If you have time to talk, you have time to work,” she replied.  Unconsciously, her hands balled into fists.

When the Traveler first came, Venus was terraformed into a lush garden world.  Grand cities were built and the Ishtar Academy was founded as a rival to Clovis Bray.  Between these two giants of research and technology, humanity’s understanding had increased in leaps and bounds.  The scientists of the Ishtar Academy specialized in studying the Vex, a race of highly advanced mechanical beings that seemed to travel through time.  Numerous Vex ruins had been unearthed on Venus and Mars, providing no shortage of research material for the scientists.

After the Collapse, all of that was lost.  The great cities and places of learning had fallen into ruin.  Teams of Guardians fought with Fallen and Vex over the remains, in an attempt to recover lost knowledge.  And right now, she was attempting to use that knowledge to hijack the Vex network and hotwire a portal.

Although Venus had been terraformed and habitable for human life, the atmosphere was still toxic from the many active volcanoes.  The acidic rain constantly fell, and would further add to her stress if not for her energy shields and armor.  By now she noticed her hands were tightly clenched and she made an effort to relax her grip.

“This shouldn’t be much longer,” Raven said, and she gave a nod in reply.  As much as she tried to suppress it, her thoughts turned to the City and the Tower.  Surely, word of her death was being circulated by now.  If all went to plan, she would be mourned as another victim of the fallen Guardian Dredgen Yor.  She didn’t blame him.  Many Guardians had become disillusioned with the endless cycle of death and rebirth, fighting for Humanity’s survival.  All because of the Traveler.

Her lips curled and a growl formed in her throat.  There was no denying that the Traveler had been a boon for mankind, advancing technology and understanding in leaps and bounds.  At the height of the Golden Age, Humanity had colonized the planets and moons, and was actively reaching for the stars.  But it all came at great cost and mankind was almost made extinct.  And what has the Traveler done since then?  Nothing but hang over the City as a constant reminder of what had been lost.

The portal started to hum and flashed to life.  A cloud of white energy appeared in the center of the portal and rippled like water.  “The portal is active,” Raven said.  “I hope you know, there is no guarantee this will work.”

She stood up straight and squared her shoulders.  “It doesn’t matter now.  This is the path I have set and now I must walk it.”

Raven hovered closely over her shoulder.  “I hope you know what you’re doing.”  She said nothing and stared defiantly into the portal.  Raven disappeared in a flash of light and the Warlock Hildr, formerly known as Valkyrie, stepped into the portal to meet her fate.



Sunset Shimmer sat at her desk and frowned.  She made a face and tapped the pen against her chin and thought about what to write.  So far, all she had gotten was Dear Twilight Sparkle.  She growled and rubbed her head.  “Why is this so difficult right now?” she whined.

It’s not like she didn’t have anything to write about.  She and her friends had recently returned from summer camp at Camp Everfree.  There, they discovered strange magical phenomena and many mysteries surrounding the camp.  Ultimately, they had to fight with a camp councilor possessed by magic in order to save the camp.  And to keep the camp from being sold, the campers organized a party and raised enough money.  During all this, Sunset Shimmer and her friends discovered that their magic was slowly evolving and growing stronger.  A stone pendant hung around her neck as a reminder of what happened.

Sunset Shimmer sighed and pushed away from her desk.  It was getting late.  Her journal entry could wait until tomorrow. 
She rose to her feet and paced around her room.  “I still don’t quite understand how Equestrian magic works in this world,” she muttered.  “Clearly this world is being influenced, but how?  Is it my fault for coming here in the first place?  Did I bring it with me?”  Feelings of guilt quickly washed over her and her body sagged.  No matter how many times she apologized, no matter how many times her friends forgave her, Sunset Shimmer still felt responsible for what she had done.  “Opening the gate and going through the mirror surely weakened the barrier between Equestria and here.  Is the barrier getting weaker or the magic getting stronger?” she mused.  Sunset Shimmer thought for a moment and looked back to her journal.  “Maybe I should ask Twilight Sparkle?I probably won’t get any answers here.”

Just then, a powerful feeling came over her that took her breath away.  Her body started to emit a red glowing aura and she sprouted pony ears and her waist length hair grew even longer.  “What?  Why now?” she gasped.

Sunset Shimmer pushed herself upright and stumbled to her window.  Up in the night sky, a shooting star raced across the sky and disappeared over the horizon.  Seconds later a light bloom appeared, followed by a faint THUMP.

“Whatever that was, it’s close by,” Sunset Shimmer said with a frown and stole a quick glance at the mirror, noticing she was “Ponied Up.”  “I wonder if this is related to that meteor,” she thought.  Sunset Shimmer threw on a pair of shoes and a jacket and headed outside.

As she ran to the impact site, Sunset Shimmer thought about her options.  “It’s pretty late and the others are probably sleeping.  Besides, none of them live very close to me,” she thought.  “Is this more magic running amok like at camp?”

Before long she was in the woods and climbing the hill.  Her current magical state offered increased speed and endurance, so she wasn’t breathing heavily.  As she drew closer, Sunset Shimmer could feel the ground rumbling.  Flashes of light cast creepy and bizarre shadows through the trees and created a disturbing strobing effect.  She winced and tried to shield her eyes.  Suddenly, there was a loud POP POP POP sound she didn’t recognize.  Ducking low, Sunset Shimmer made her way to the edge of the trees.  What she saw made her gasp.

A large metal creature was shooting explosive energy blasts at a smaller figure, who was doing her best not to be killed.  At least, Sunset Shimmer assumed it was a she.  The figure displayed feminine curves under heavy robes and armor, but that didn’t seem to slow her down.  In fact, she seemed to be managing just fine.  She aimed her weapon and pulled the trigger.POP POP POP, a short pause, then three more POPs.  She appeared to be doing not much damage to the metal creature.  As if realizing this, she held up her hand and threw a ball of yellow energy.  The ball hit the monster and exploded, showering it with bits of white hot material.

Sunset Shimmer was at a loss of what to do.  Clearly she was outmatched and she suspected she would only get in the way. 
Despite the danger, the woman didn’t seem too concerned  .As if growing tired, the woman threw her arms out and her body exploded in flames.  Sunset Shimmer’s mouth fell open in shock.  There was no magic she knew of that could do such a thing, however it looked similar to the magical aura she was currently displaying.

Sunset Shimmer looked down at her hands and saw her aura was glowing brightly and pulsing in a rhythmic fashion.  She then looked back to the flaming woman, who had leaped in the air and was floating over the monster, throwing flaming orbs as fast as she could.  Is my magic reacting to hers? Sunset Shimmer thought.

By now, the ground around the monster had turned into a flaming pyre that was melting and burning it alive.  The woman swapped her weapon for a different one and fired point-blank at the monster.  BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!  Sunset Shimmer held her hands over her ears.  Her weapons were certainly loud.  Finally, with an anguished cry, the metal monster collapsed in a heap of blackened scrap.  The fires died out and the woman holstered her weapons.

Through squinting eyes, Sunset Shimmer saw the source of light appeared to be coming from a set of circular rings.  Some kind of portal? She thought.  The portal then began to fluctuate wildly and the woman ran toward it, only for the light to suddenly die right as she approached.

“Raven!  Get it working again!” she hurriedly called out.  To Sunset Shimmer’s surprise, a small black box-like thing appeared out of thin air.  “You really shouldn’t have done that,” a small digitized voice said.

“I had no choice!  That thing was chasing us through the network!  The only way I could deal with it was to take the nearest exit and get it out of the network,” she explained.

“Well in any case we’re stuck here unless I can get this portal working,” the floating box called Raven said.  “Oh, and we have company.”

She quickly turned and raised her weapon in Sunset Shimmer’s direction, who let out a surprised “Eep!”

“You!  Come out here!  Keep your hands where I can see them,” she said.

Sunset Shimmer gulped and moved out of the trees with her hands in the air.  Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her aura had faded and breathed a quick sigh of relief.  One less thing to worry about.  In the dim light, Sunset Shimmer could make out the robes and armor the strange woman was wearing.  Her robes appeared to be wrapped tightly with layers of leather and thick fabric.  Her robes reached down to her ankles and her hands and forearms were covered in heavy metal gloves.  Her helmet was very ornate and reminded Sunset Shimmer of old knights in armor.  The woman was nearly a head taller than Sunset Shimmer and seemed much older.  “What are you doing here?” the woman asked sternly.

“Um, I saw a meteor falling from the sky and I came to investigate?” Sunset Shimmer replied hesitantly.

The woman looked her over.  “What’s your name?”

“Sunset Shimmer,” she replied.

This seemed to confuse the woman.  “Sunset Shimmer?What kind of name is that?”

“I don’t know.  What kind of name should I have?” Sunset Shimmer asked.

“I don’t know, but that’s the kind of name someone would give to a horse or some other type of animal,” the woman replied.

“Well…” Sunset Shimmer chuckled nervously.

The woman dropped her weapon slightly and stepped forward to get a better look at Sunset Shimmer.  “Your skin has a very odd complexion,” she noted.  “Why is your hair that color?  Are you that starved for attention?”

“Excuse me, but this is my natural hair color,” Sunset Shimmer replied with a frown.  This woman was being exceptionally rude and it was starting to irritate her.  “I’ve given you my name, now tell me yours,” she said.

The woman raised her weapon again.  “You don’t get to ask questions,” she said.

Now Sunset Shimmer was getting mad.  “Who do you think you are?  What gives you the right to come here and start demanding answers?”

“Shouldn’t you be home in bed little girl?” the woman asked.

“It’s summer.  There’s no school,” Sunset Shimmer replied through clenched teeth.  She took a few breaths to try and calm down.  “What was that thing you fought?”

The woman looked back to the charred remains.  “That was a Vex Minotaur,” she said.

“Minotaur?  Like the story about the labyrinth?” Sunset Shimmer asked.

The woman said nothing and kept her weapon pointed at Sunset Shimmer.  Neither said anything for several moments. 
Sunset Shimmer started to get an ache in her shoulders.  “Can I put my arms down?” she asked.  After a short pause, the woman nodded and Sunset Shimmer sighed as her arms dropped.  Despite being summer, the air was quite cool and she hugged herself to keep warm.

“Uh oh,” Raven said.  The woman quickly turned around.“What?”

“The Vex discovered us and revoked my network access,” Raven said.  The woman’s body tensed and she bit back a curse. 
“So you can’t do anything?” she asked impatiently.

“Not without access to a conflux,” Raven said.

Sunset Shimmer watched the exchange with interest.  Network Access?  Conflux?  Apparently these things were important to the strange woman, who started pacing back and forth.  “Scan the area.  See if there is a conflux or some other sort of network access point,” she said.

“I already have and I haven’t been able to find one,” Raven replied.  The woman’s hands began to shake in frustration.  Raven then noticed Sunset Shimmer.  “Who’s this?”

Before Sunset Shimmer could reply, the woman cut in.  “An unwanted guest.”

“If anyone is an unwanted guest, it’s you,” Sunset Shimmer shot back.  The woman glared at her as she continued.  “You show up here, suddenly and unannounced, through your magic portal, fight a giant metal monster, and start making demands!”  Sunset Shimmer was practically shouting now.  “Now!  At least tell me your name.  Perhaps I can help.”

“What help can you be?” the woman scoffed.

“Unlike you, I actually live in this world,” Sunset Shimmer replied and put her hands on her hips.  “Clearly you are looking for something and right now, I’m your best bet.”

Raven and the woman looked at each other.  “She does have a point,” Raven said.The woman quickly shook her head and growled.  “Fine!  You may call me Hildr or Valkyrie, whichever you prefer.”

Sunset Shimmer frowned.  “Hildr?What kind of name is that?”

“Says the little girl with a horse’s name,” HIldr shot back.  Sunset Shimmer glared at Hildr.  “Can you at least take your helmet off?”

“Why?  I don’t know what dangers lurk out there.  And besides, the atmosphere could be poisonous,” Hildr replied.

“There’s no one else around and the atmosphere is fine,” Raven sighed.

“Whose side are you on anyway?” Hildr asked, turning on Raven.

“I’m on the side that says we don’t have to stand in the forest in the middle of the night,” Raven said.  Hildr stared at Raven and muttered to herself.  Almost reluctantly, she reached up and pulled her helmet off.  Sunset Shimmer let out a small gasp.  Hildr was indeed older by several years, maybe even older than Principal Celestia.  She had pale skin and very sharp features that seemed locked in a permanent scowl.  Hildr’s hair was shock white and collar length.  Part was pushed back behind her ears and tied in a little ponytail.  Her eyes were a piercing gray color that seemed to bore holes in Sunset Shimmer’s body.  She wore bright orange eye shadow that contrasted with her gray eyes. The overall effect made Hildr seem very intimidating.

At the same time, Sunset Shimmer was very intrigued.  If what she claimed was true, Hildr was from a world different than even Equestria!  Questions suddenly raced through her mind and before she could open her mouth to speak, Hildr put up a hand to silence her.  “Stop.No more questions for now.”

“But-“ Sunset Shimmer started and Hildr glared at her with the intensity turned to eleven.  Sunset Shimmer closed her mouth and shrunk back.  “You are right.  I am a stranger to this world and momentarily stuck here,” Hildr said.  Her mouth pressed into a thin line and she scowled, as if she couldn’t bring herself to say the next words.  “I would appreciate it you could show me a place to stay for now and your discretion in this matter.”

Sunset Shimmer managed to nod.  “Of-of course.My house isn’t far.  Please follow me.”  Sunset Shimmer turned and started walking back down the hill, with Hildr and Raven following behind.  “From what I’ve been able to gather so far, this place is about the same level technology-wise as pre-Golden Age Earth,” he said.

“Hmm.  That works in our favor,” Hildr replied.

“Of course I’ll know better once we get to where we’re going,” Raven said.

Sunset Shimmer glanced behind her.  That little floating box thing seemed to have a mind of its own.  Was it some sort of advanced computer program?  And what magic allowed it to float about like that?  Hildr’s magic seemed to be so different than her own, but then again, when Hildr activated her aura of flame, her own magic responded.  Were they similar but different somehow?  Once again, Sunset Shimmer racked her brain trying to figure out how magic worked on this side.  Back in Equestria, everything made much more sense.  At least I’ll have something to write to Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer thought with a smile.

By the time they had reached the edge of town, Hildr had grown silent and Raven was buzzing about, looking at everything. 
Hildr was lost in her own thoughts.  The Vex network connects across time and space, but how did we end up here?  Is this the result of a different timeline or did we somehow end up in a completely different universe?  I thought only Hive portals traveled between dimensions.  And it’s not like I have resources here to figure that out.  Hildr didn’t notice Sunset Shimmer had stopped and she bumped into her.  “Why did we stop?” she asked.

“This is my house,” Sunset Shimmer replied and went inside.  “You didn’t lock the door?” Hildr asked in surprise.

“Well, I WAS in a bit of a hurry,” Sunset Shimmer replied sheepishly.  She turned on the lights and they were now able to get a better look at each other.  Hildr was startled to see that Sunset Shimmer’s skin tone was a light orange color and her hair was brighter red with yellow streaks than she originally thought.  She also had very striking aqua colored eyes.  “Are you an Awoken?” Hildr asked cautiously.

“A what?” Sunset Shimmer asked, slightly confused.  Hildr quickly waved her off.  “Never mind.  Forget I said anything.”

Sunset Shimmer was also able to get a good look at Hildr.  Her armor was light tan and white and red accents.  It was also a strange mix of old and new.  Sunset Shimmer was sure that old knights in armor didn’t wear a harness to carry modern weapons.  The symbol on her chest was two gauntlets holding a double bladed axe superimposed over a shield.  Her shoulders were covered in armor that resembled a knight’s helmet.  Her boots were knee length white and tan leather with metal knee guards.  Strangely enough, she wore a band over her left bicep that looked like it was on fire?  It unnerved Sunset Shimmer, but Hildr didn’t seem to notice or care.

At this point, Sunset Shimmer yawned.  By now, it really was past her bedtime.  She looked around and said, “Sorry I don’t have much in the way of accommodation, but you can sleep on the couch over there if you want.  I’ll get you a spare blanket.”

Hildr looked around the small space.  The house had a rather small floor plan, but had very high ceilings.  A set of stairs let to a balcony where Sunset Shimmer’s bed was.  It all seemed so bare.  Hildr gave a short nod.  “I’ve certainly slept in worse conditions.”

Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes and tried to keep her temper in check.  She rummaged around and finally found a spare blanket.

“Do you have a computer or some other means of accessing information?” Hilder asked.  Sunset Shimmer pointed to her desk.  “Computer’s right there.  Have at it.”  She handed the blanket to Hildr and yawned again.  “I’ll see you in the morning.” 
She went up the stairs and changed into her pajamas.  Sunset Shimmer lay in bed and listened to Hildr and Raven whisper to each other.

What a turn of events this was.  As she closed her eyes, Sunset Shimmer wondered how much things were going to change now.  Would more of those robot monsters appear?  What other kinds of horrible things might follow Hildr here?  Would she and her friends be able to handle something like that?  Sunset Shimmer finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

“I think she’s asleep now,” Raven said.  Hildr nodded and moved closer to the computer.  “Good.  One less distraction.”

Raven scanned the computer and began interacting with the data port.  Images began flashing onscreen as Raven accessed the Internet.  “This is all quite fascinating,” he said.

“How so?” Hildr asked.

“This world is known as Equestira and we are currently in the city of Canterlot,” Raven said.  “Like I said earlier, their technology is pretty advanced.  But there’s something odd.”

“What is it?” Hildr asked.

“It’s not widely known or accepted, but there is a theory that magic actually exists.  There are also rumors of a portal that leads to a dimension with talking animals,” Raven said.

Hildr stared at the computer.  “Hmph.  That is rather interesting.”  She leaned back in the chair and thought.  “I suppose it’s not unbelievable that if a Vex portal brought us here, then there would be other portals to different dimensions.”

Raven hummed to himself for a bit as he searched.  “Oh.This is interesting.”

“What now?” Hildr grumbled.

“There are a few articles about our new friend, Sunset Shimmer,” Raven said.

“Is she secretly a terrorist or one of these magic users?” Hildr asked.

“Actually, a bit of both,” Raven said.  “It seems she used a portal to come here from the world of talking animals, also called Equestria by the way, and tried to claim an item known as ‘The Element of Magic.’  It appears she was successful and partially destroyed a local school.  But she was stopped by six other girls possessing ‘The Magic of Friendship.’ “

“Now that IS interesting,” Hildr said, looking up.  Sunset Shimmer was sleeping directly over her head.  She turned back to the Computer.  “Well there is something else I was able to confirm with my fight with the Minotaur,” she said.

“You still have your Light?” Raven asked.  Hildr nodded and held up her hand.  A swirling ball of bright yellow energy appeared.  “Not quite sure how, but I still have my Light.  Something to look into later.”  Hildr stood and stripped out of her armor down to the base layer.  “I am going to try and sleep,” she said and took the blanket to the couch.

“I’ll be here then,” Raven sighed.  Hildr lay down and closed her eyes.  Before long, she was asleep.



Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Sorry I haven’t written for a few days.  Ever since we got back from summer camp and everything that happened there, things have been, well, a bit boring.  But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked.  Sorry.A bit of a joke there and I’m getting side tracked.

Like I was saying, things have been pretty quiet recently.  I’ve been doing some research on our powers and how magic works on this side, but the results have been inconclusive.  But that’s not what I wanted to write about.

Last night, a meteor landed on a hill just outside town.  Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but the meteor had a strange interaction with my magic and caused me to “pony up.”  Intrigued, I went to investigate and what I found was beyond my wildest dreams.

Where to begin?  First, there was a strange glowing portal and a woman wearing medieval armor.  She was fighting a large robot monster unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.  Her magic was also very different.  Her whole body became covered in flames and she used that fire to defeat the monster.  But the strangest part is while she was enveloped in flames, my own magic felt stronger, more powerful.  Could that be a side-effect?  Who knows?  I’ve never seen magic used like that before.

Well one thing led to another, and now I have a strange magic user staying at my house.  We haven’t really had the chance to talk yet, but I’m not exactly looking forward to it.  She comes off as rather…abrasive.  I’d say she’s the exact opposite of Pinkie Pie, if such a thing were even possible.  I’ll keep you updated if I learn anything.

Your Friend,
Sunset Shimmer