One minute, they were in Republic City, and literally the next minute, the team of Dawna, the Shadow Blot, Starlight Glimmer, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were standing in the Limbo Zone. Up above them were streams that are connected like threads to unidentifiable energies.
"Whoa!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "What are those?"
"Bridges." Dawna said. "There are many ways to travel to different worlds, and if you use them, you go through those streams to get there. Now then, what do you see?"
"Other than all those streams, there's nothing down on this ground but rocks and sand." the Shadow Blot described. "It's like the Neatherealm, but nicer."
"What exactly are we looking for?" Applejack asked.
"The Wandors." Dawna said. "If Tartus is telling the truth and they are alive, then I need to find them. Hopefully, they can help us find out what he's up to."
"That's if the creep was telling the truth." Rainbow Dash said. "Don't know if you noticed, but he's a bad guy! Not exactly trustworthy."
"I know, but still," Dawna said, "I've got to know."
"Where should we be looking though?" Starlight asked. "This place looks like it goes on through eternity. Ricky, do you have any idea?"
"No." the wirewolf said. "I've never been here. The Masked Matterhorn did. Let's see... If the Wandors made it here trying to start a new civilization, maybe they build a village or something. Perhaps we can..." He stopped for a minute staring at Dawna.
"What?"
"Uh..." Ricky struggled to say. "Your marks are glowing."
"What?" Dawna looked at her hands and saw that her glyphs were emitting a small light. The ponies saw the rest of her marks emitting that same glow. "What's going on? They've never done something this involuntary before."
"I've read about this before." Starlight said. "This wise unicorn's horn glowed when it was close to a similar force. The closer she was, the brighter it was."
"Okay than." Rainbow Dash said. "We're playing Hot and Cold with your tattoos."
"They're not..." Dawna stopped because she knew it wasn't relevant. She rotated until her glyphs were a little brighter. She continued trekking along the rocky, sandy fields with the others following her.
Rainbow Dash hovered above seeing what lies ahead. When she could see clearly enough, she widened her eyes and descended down. She got to the ground just as the others got a clear view of what they were looking for.
"Yeah, Dawna," Rainbow Dash said, "If your tribe was here, they had a really bad day."
Dawna looked in astonishment as the village became clear as sparkles in the daylight, but it wasn't the good kind of astonishment. She was in horror as she saw it in ruins. Most of the buildings were broken and a pile of rubble. The ground was cracked open. There was an aura of despair in the air, and Dawna felt it as she moved in closer with the others.
When they entered what was left of the village, they felt even worse as they didn't like what they were seeing at all.
"This... This doesn't make sense." Dawna said while the Shadow Blot looked into a half-broken building. "My tribe should be here. Tartus..."
"Tricked us." the Shadow Blot said stepping away from the window. "I found bones." The ladies were petrified at the news. "Tartus said your tribe's survivors moved here. He didn't say they were still alive."
"No." Dawna gasped in sadness as she fell to her hands and knees with tears pouring from her eyes. "Why? Why?!"
Before anyone could say anything else, a suspicious sound echoed through the air. That spooky moan sent a chill down everyone's spines.
"What was that?" Applejack asked.
Suddenly, without warning, a swarm of clouds with mean faces emerged from the ground and tackled the Shadow Blot.
"RICKY!" Applejack shouted.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Rainbow Dash shouted. She approached one of the faces and struck her hooves toward it, but they only went through it. "What the... I can't hit them!"
Suddenly, one of the figures grabbed Applejack by the tail and threw her backwards. "But they can touch us! How is that fair?"
Starlight tried to blast them, but it was to no avail. Ricky tried to escape, but the clouds began to squeeze him. With no other choice, Dawna stood back up and shouted, "STOP!" That's when her glyphs started glowing brighter than before and the figures stopped and released the Shadow Blot.
"They... They stopped." Starlight said.
"About time." Shadow Blot said. "A second later, and I'd break like a chestnut."
Suddenly, the clouds parted and a new figure emerged. It wasn't foggy like the others. Instead, it looked like an old man with a long robe and glowing glyphs similar to Dawna. As soon as he and she saw each other, they were both at a loss for words for a minute.
"So... are we still fighting or..." Rainbow Dash asked.
"Read the room, Rainbow." Applejack said.
"Father?" Dawna asked. "Is that you?"
"Dawna." the phantom gasped silently. "It's you. Alive. How can that be?"
"Wait." Starlight said. "You're Dawna's dad?"
"Right. I suppose these four are your friends. Forgive me. I need to give you my introductions. Chief Orizon of the Wandor tribe."
"But aren't you..." Applejack said.
"Dead?" Orizon asked gazing at his transparent hand. "I'm afraid so. Over one thousand years. And yet, because of our powers, we are now bound to this place, so we cannot leave. That's one of the downsides of our glyphs."
"Father, I need to ask." Dawna said. "What happened here?"
"And why did you attack us?" the Shadow Blot asked.
Orizon looked at each of them and began to explain. "For hundreds of years, the Wandors have traveled across the Multiverse charting it for all to enjoy. However, some of us began thinking we should use our gifts to conquer the worlds we visit. This started a civil war that was stuck on a stand-still. I then came across a powerful relic that I thought could end it."
"The Golden Apple." the Shadow Blot guessed. "And let me guess. You couldn't control it. It was too powerful for you to handle."
"Yes." Orizon said. "Most of us perished in the climax. I assumed my only daughter was among the casualties. At the fallout, it no longer mattered who was on which side. Both of our goals were unreachable without enough people. But we did have enough power to settle down here in the Limbo Zone. We built this village and tried to get back up after that. And for a moment, we did until..."
"Until what?" Starlight asked.
"Metal wolf," Orizon said turning his face to Ricky, "I apologize for my people attacking you. We just mistook you for something else."
"I'm a 6-foot, metal, talking wolf that stands on two feet." Ricky said. "You're telling me that you know someone else like that?"
"No." Orizon said. "We didn't notice the metal. What we encountered was a great, big wolf creature of flesh, blood, and pitch-black fur... and that creature was the one who wiped us out."
"What?!" everyone asked in surprise.
"A big wolf monster did this to you." Ricky asked. "The odds of that..."
"He came out of nowhere without warning. A beast with fur as black as midnight, red eyes that pierced us in the hearts, and steel-like claws that tore apart our homes like straw. He didn't show any mercy."
"Why did this monster do this?" Dawna asked.
"He said he needed our power. He was searching for someone but didn't know which world to find them."
"Who was he looking for?" Starlight asked.
"We didn't get a name. Just an alias... the Avatar."
"What?" Rainbow Dash asked. "This thing was after Korra?"
"It may not be her." Starlight said. "Orizon said this was over a thousand years ago. It may have just been the Avatar who was here before. What happened next?"
"There were a handful of us left and no matter how hard we tried, our magic couldn't even phase him. We had no choice. We opened the doorway to a world with a character called the Avatar. We thought he'd leave us alone, but I then saw the anger brewing in his eyes. In full rage, he destroyed what was left of us before going into the world he wanted."
"No mercy indeed." the Shadow Blot said. "Did this beast say why he was after the Avatar?"
"Other than his demands, he didn't say much." Orizon said. "The only other thing I learned was his name. A name that still haunts me to this day. The monster's name... was Tartus."
"Wait, what?!" Dawna asked.
"Tartus?!" the Shadow Blot asked. "Are you sure?!"
"Yes." Orizon said. "Why?"
"Dude, we're dealing with a guy named Tartus!" Rainbow Dash said. "Only he's not a giant canine creep. He's just a human, one-eyed, miniature creep."
"I don't think it's a coincidence for two different beings to have the same name." Starlight Glimmer said.
"Didn't he say something about not being in his final form or something?" Applejack asked.
"Then... could it really be?" Dawna asked. "The monster that destroyed my tribe and the villain we have locked up... is the same?"
"But how?" the Shadow Blot asked. "This was supposed to have happened lifetimes ago. How could he still be alive?"
"I do not know." Orizon said. "For now, it is up to you now. Dawna, thank you. Now that I know you're alive, I am more happy than I've been for the last thousand years. Now, my gifts are given to you for you to decide. Good luck, my dear." That's when he started to fade shocking Dawna in her heart.
"WAIT! FATHER!" But it was too late. Orizon and the rest of the ghosts disappeared into thin air. When the fog cleared, all that was left is a sword laying in the ground with a scabbard. Dawna fell to her knees once more and gripped the sand beneath her with tears falling again. This time, her cries were heard by the others. One by one, Starlight, the Shadow Blot, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack approached her slowly and hugged her sharing her pain.