//------------------------------// // Rad: Atlas Hugged // Story: Dan Vs. The Magic of Friendship(Season 1) // by Barrobroadcaster //------------------------------// Doctor Whooves and Rarity rushed through the underground arena corridors. They quickly found out there was a lot more than just one stadium. There were demolishing derbies in one arena, giant robot fights in another, giant monster battles in the arena next to that and Pokemon, Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh! battles side-by-side in a larger arena hosted by two versions of Hello Kitty, one nice and the other sinister, yet both adorable. They even passed by the studios where they filmed Double Dare 2000 and The Hunger Games: The Next Generation. "What kind of place is this? Is it-" "It's not Fight Club," Kelsan stopped Whooves before he could start. "I wasn't going to say that," he lied. "But really, what kind of underground NOT-Fight Club is this?" "From what we could tell, it's some sort of hastily-made arena. People from other dimensions have found out this place is, well, under new management one might say, and they've come from all over to settle old scores," Kelsan explained. He might've mentioned something more, but a pair of Team Rocket thugs came running from the other side of the corridor. "And here comes the disposable thuggish cronies as usual," Whooves said. He then turned to the stormtroopers behind him and said, "No offense." "None taken." Kelsan drew a holdout blaster from his coat pocket. "Sergeant, defensive positions! Make ready to fire!" The stormtroopers raised their blasters. "Wait!" Rarity stopped them. "I have another way." The second storm trooper stared at her from behind his black visor'd helmet. "We prefer it this way." "Do you prefer them calling for backup?" Doctor Whooves countered. "Because that's what they'll do when you start shooting. Not like you'd hit anything with those anyway. Honestly, you really could learn something from Solid Snake because-" "We get it." Kelsan sneered as he withdrew his sidearm. "Take my hooves." Quickly, they grabbed her legs and made a circle. She teleported them, all five of them. The greater the distance, the more magical power was required to perform a teleportation spell. But it was clear that Rarity now held great magical power herself. Eight Team Rocket grunts ran down the corridor. They passed right under where Rarity had teleported them in the ceiling. The five of them then reappeared where they had been standing. "See? Isn't that just so much easier?" Whooves asked. "We don't have to resort to the barbaric options always." Kelsan shifted his eyebrows. "Says the timelord and the ninja girl that knifed a squad of assassins." Rarity stepped forward. "How did you know about that?" The Imperials hadn't been around when Rarity rescued Dan and Doctor from the GenoHaradan. How could they have known about that? Kelsan pointed up at the magical windows. "Those have been broadcasting everything since we got here. Everything that happens in, on or around this planet, we've been able to see. Not much else here to do so, we caught a feed of your escape outside of the Tesco." They marched onward, leaving any further suspicions unvoiced. But the Doctor stayed with his eyes focused on the large magical jumbotrons for a moment longer. "Broadcasting everything from everywhere..." he said aloud. "Everything in, on or around Equestria." "Doctor, we must hurry!" "Right." Continuing through the corridors, they eventually found exactly what you'd expect them to find in a massive, subterranean stadium: a museum. And it was inside Stable 4. "Who the hell built all this? You're telling me all of this was beneath Appleloosa the WHOLE time?" Whooves asked. "Stable 4 was never finished," one of the Imperials said. This time, it was Norman, the storm trooper sergeant, not Kelsan the gray-suited officer. "So, the odys all got together and set up their little emporium here." "Odys?" "Short for Odysseyers. Wanderers, travelers, wayfarers, whatever," Kelsan this time explained. "People from elsewhere in the 'verses that show up to buy, sell and bet on things. Interdimensional fanboys, fangirls and fan-others. Odys just wander around, inconspicuous. Most of them are totally harmless unless you have something obscure or famous. Or famously obscure." "Or obscurely famous?" Whooves asked. "Wait. That explains why we're in the arena." "And why there's toys of us as well. Doesn't matter what dimension you're from, there's always something worth something to somebody." The Doctor nodded. "Sand's the currency in the city of gold." "Ha! This is just what happens when a universe loses its point." "It's point?" Rarity turned around. They stopped their hurried run for a moment. "Point. You know. Purpose," stormtrooper 2 explained. "A universe is usually balanced on a single point, a person or group of people. When it loses them, well, it's pointless." "I think they mean Twilight," Whooves said. "I've actually seen something like this before. This one person was the key to an entire planet's survival. Heh," he chuckled. "And they say only Atlas had the weight of the world on his shoulders." Rarity frowned. "Equestria has always been... why am I even explaining this to you? It's obvious." She turned and started walking away. "What's obvious?" Kelsan asked. Sighing, she turned back to them. "Darling, life is more than just a single being. No matter how important they seem." The Doctor once again had his brain working. "What if one person meant the whole world to you? And what if that person was gone? What if you still had to live in that world?" He looked around. "What if other people did?" "What are you saying?" Rarity asked. "The Tesco. And the Sainsbury's," Doctor Whooves said. "It wasn't here until I was. Equestria makes and remakes itself based on what people want it to be, whoever lands in it next. I think... I think this is what happened when Rice was the only pony left. The world is nothing but cold and endless silence." "And beneath the surface it's war," Rarity said. "What is Tesco?" "But... if Equestria's magic is still at work, wouldn't that mean the planet isn't dead?" Whooves asked. "What if we just found everypony and unfroze them? Would everything just... I dunno, go back to normal?" "It'd be a start," Rarity said, smiling. They intended to do that anyway. "Having everyone's home back would be nice." "And having my ship back would also be nice," Kelsan added. One of the stormtroopers held a hand to his helmet, as if he was on a phone inside his helmet. "Let's keep moving, shall we?" The group continued up the ramp and into the museum, back into Stable 4. The museum had many exhibits, all from Equestria. Not art but artifacts, all in glass cases. "No touching boys," Rarity cautioned them all. "Even if it looks special or especially shiny. There could be alarms." "Patrol." "Or patrols, yes." "Patrol. Coming toward us!" Three Team Magma grunts walked their way down the museum. They stopped to check out an exhibit or two, even engaged one of the interactive exhibits. "So the Galactic Federation finally showed up." "Which one is that? Starfleet?" "No, the ones with the guns built into the armor and all the T-symbols everywhere." "Ah," Magma Grunt 2 nodded. "I still have no idea who you're talking about." But Grunt 3 did. "Does that mean we have to deal with the floating jellyfish-things now? What'd they call those again? Metrobes?" "Metroids," Grunt 1 said. "And some of those were already here." "That right?" They casually walked by Rarity, Dr. Whooves and the Imperials. The five had disguised themselves as a museum display with the Doctor standing upright and a sultry Rarity next to him. They were flanked by the stormtroopers and Kelsan in the back, who was using his commlink to look like a spy. The three Magma grunts walked right past them, not paying them a second glance. "I probably won't be able to teleport us in this small space." "We'll keep that in mind," Kelsan said. They continued their tour of the museum until they found a peculiar exhibit, one about early pre-pony Equestria. Unlike the others, this one was encased in ice like the captive ponies from the train. "Huh. I didn't know there were dinosaurs here before ponies," Doctor Whooves said. "I guess that kind of makes sense. Would've imagined them as pony dinosaurs." "There used to be lots of dinosaurs in Equestria. And Appleloosa," Rarity explained. "And the Crystal Empire. They eventually migrated and they live near the dragons now." "Fascinating history lesson, really, but we should keep moving," Kelsan said, prompting them to leave the display. Whooves eyed the exhibit one more time. "Wouldn't exactly have imagined them with top hats." The exhibit in question was entitled: EARLY EQUESTRIA and did in fact feature a dinosaur. A rather dapper-looking tyrannosaurus rex was sitting near a campfire in the frozen display beside a crystal pony. The pair looked to be in the middle of tea.