//------------------------------// // 23 - Reunion // Story: Little Changes // by tom117z //------------------------------// Princess Luna had been standing silent in the centre of the room for a couple of hours at this point. The sun had long since gone down, plunging the world outside into the darkness of the night. Twilight and Chrysalis had made their way back to the penthouse some time ago and had since joined the others in milling mindlessly about, awaiting the alicorn’s awakening. But the Rainbows were never given to waiting. “Is she about done yet?” The native Rainbow Dash asked from her position up near the roof. “I’m about ready to see if they have any board games.” “Rainbow Dash!” Rarity chided. “Don’t rush the dear!” “Can ya blame me? She’s been preparing this thing for hours!” Luna’s eyes abruptly snapped open at that. “Probing the dream realm for a tear in the fabric of reality is a delicate matter, so I apologize if it took all of my undivided attention,” she pointed out, earning a startled yelp from the airborne pegasus. “But night has fallen, and I would hope that my other has done much the same on her side of the cosmos. If she has, then they will be prepared much as we are now.” “Oh! I bet they’re in this room right now!” Pinkie squeed. “HI ME!” Princess Rainbow rolled her eyes at the display, having been silently observing the whole room from a large window overlooking the city. “Okay, Pinks, tone it down a little,” she said while trotting over. “We’re going to sleep in a little bit, and shouting isn't gonna help.” “Aw, but I’m so good at shouting!” “We know,” the whole room replied in unison. “Buuut, if they are in this room, that would be a good thing!” Twilight pointed out optimistically. “And they should, right? If they’re following the plan, and if I know me I probably have at least eighteen checklists keeping us on track.” “Eighteen? Other you must be slacking,” Chrysalis snipped. Rainbow grimaced, her wings ruffling uncomfortably on her back. ‘Or she doesn’t have any because she’s still struggling to make heads or tails of herself…’ she thought, though chose not to voice that notion at this time. Luna shifted her gaze towards the pegasus, her dour thoughts unnoticed by the others as some continued to be lambasted by Pinkie’s usual bizarreness. Twilight, meanwhile, seemed more indignant due to her mother’s remark. But she did notice, her connection to the Dream Realm continuing to establish and bubble up within her, the Princess of the Night deciding that it was high time to put the scarred pegasus’ fears to rest. “Alas, I think we can leave the foolery here,” she announced, gaining the attention of the others. “Twilight is correct about one thing, as is Laughter, they should be here. And I also know myself, so they are here. Which means it is time for us to begin. Twilight, Princess Rainbow Dash, prepare yourselves.” “Alright, let’s get this whole dream thang goin’,” Applejack said as she grinned eagerly. “No,” Luna denied. “Rainbow Dash and Twilight shall accompany me, but the rest of you should remain behind. It is intended for the Bearers of Harmony from their world to be in attendance, and I think that’s enough of a crowd. Lest there be confusion, and potential instability more than there shall be already.” “Yes, I guess that makes sense… I think?” Rarity asked, not really sure how the mechanics of any of this really worked. “Very well, we know when to give a lady some privacy.” “Awww, but I could have thrown a dream party!” Pinkie complained. “You don’t do that anyway?” Applejack deadpanned. “Oh, yeah!” “Well, I hope your friends are there to meet you. Oh, they must be so worried!” Fluttershy said, stepping forward and patting the otherworldly pony sympathetically on the back. “I know I would be, er, am… Yes.” Rainbow nodded her head. “Yeah, I hope so, too,” she said while giving Fluttershy a sideways smile. “It’ll be good to have some familiarity back…” Rainbow then frowned and glanced back to Luna. “But, uh, before we get started, there is one thing that’s bugging me: If we’re all in the dream realm, if we rip open another hole to send me home through, then, uh… how am I gonna go through? I’m gonna be asleep, and I’ve been in the Dream Realm enough times to know ya don’t typically move around physically when in it.” “That, Rainbow Dash, is the aim of tonight’s meeting,” Luna pointed out. “Coordination. We know where the rift is, but we must discuss how to proceed from here. Simply walking down the street and tearing open an unstable rift in the middle of a populated city centre is… inadvisable.” Rainbow nodded. “Kay, fair enough,” she agreed. “Yeah, seems kinda like a disaster comic waiting to happen,” the native Rainbow Dash commented. “But eh, we’ll figure it out tonight, yeah?” Luna raised an eyebrow. “‘We’? Did we not just say-” “Yeah, no,” she bluntly shot the Princess down. “Kinda feel like I’m in the middle of this. I’m not going to leave a me hanging there. I gotta see her home.” “I… don’t think that’s necessary,” Twilight said with a frown. The mare shrugged. “Eh, she’d do the same for a friend. Am I wrong there, RD?” Rainbow shook her head. “You’re not. Honestly, I’d probably be even more adamant than you about it,” she agreed with a shrug. “If Luna thinks it’s safe for you to tag along, I’d be happy to have ya.” “See, there you go!” she announced defiantly. “I’m coming, alright? ‘Til the end, as any loyal mare should.” Luna sighed. “Oh, very well. But no more!” The rest of the Element Bearers, and one loyal assistant, all groaned in great disappointment. “This is pushing it, but I will allow her. But the rest of you must wait with Queen Chrysalis in another room. Let us do what we must.” “Foalsitting, wonderful,” Chrysalis deadpanned. “Like we’re real thrilled to be with you either, your Majesty,” Applejack shot back. “Real thrilled.” “Could we not just get along for a while…?” Twilight sheepishly squeaked out. “Don’t worry, I don’t bite,” Chrysalis replied with a deliberately fang-filled smirk. “But you, Daughter, must be safe in this Dream Realm. And… you too, Princess Rainbow Dash. If only because it’d be a waste of our time if anything were to happen to you now.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Chrysalis…” she winked sideways at Spike. “I don’t need to make an insight check to know that’s a load of it.” Spike looked very happy just then. Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. “...I beg your pardon?” Rainbow’s grin grew. “Heh. Never mind.” “With that in mind, I think we should begin in haste. Delaying matters will not help us here,” the Princess declared. “Come, let the dears have their space,” Rarity said, starting to head towards a door leading to another room with the expectancy that the others would follow. “Yeah yeah, we’re all followin’,” Applejack responded. “Spike, you coming with?” “Yeah, one sec…” the drake replied, turning towards those that were staying. “You sure you don’t need your assistant, Twilight? Because…” She nuzzled his head. “It’s fine, Spike. It’s the Dream Realm, nothing truly dangerous. We’ll be careful, I promise.” “Um, okay. Just make sure you do, alright? You two, Rainbows!” Rainbow nodded, taking a place by her native counterpart. “Sure thing,” she said with a nod. Spike seemed mildly comforted by that, though still held no small amount of childlike worry. They all had to remind themselves that he was still technically a ‘baby’ dragon, even if the drake had matured much as time went by. But there he went, running off with the others as they retreated to allow Luna and the others the time they needed to work. Chrysalis was the last out, giving her daughter a long look, and one look of warning to Luna that said “keep her out of trouble”, before she too departed. And then they were alone. “It is time,” Luna then said. “Get comfortable wherever you may. The couch, the floor, sleep will come with the assistance of my own magic. And then into the Dream Realm we shall wander, and there we will endeavour to find the friends you seek, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow nodded. She strode over to one of the many luxurious chairs that were scattered across the room and made herself comfortable. She then made direct eye contact with Luna. “Just as a heads up, Luna… magic can have a, uh… bad effect on me. So… just, y’know, be aware of that,” she said before closing her eyes and setting her chin down on her hooves. “Just close your eyes, think of those you wish to see. You will not feel a thing, on that I promise.” “Hm. Here’s to hoping,” Rainbow mumbled. She draped her tail over herself like a blanket before falling still and waiting. She allowed her mind to drift away from the here and now to think about her friends. With any luck, she’d be getting to see them again in just a minute. She thought of how happy Fluttershy and Twilight were going to be, not to mention her own Luna. A tiny smile curled into place on Rainbow’s face. There was a tingling sensation in her head. A shudder passed through her, and her eyes snapped open of her own accord. She wasn’t in the penthouse anymore. Rainbow blinked as her eyes were met with a long and expansive abyss filled with blue mist and gently drifting pearls of light. In front of her was a colossal distortion in space. It was shaped vaguely like a drop of deep orange ink dropped into a glass of water and frozen at its most chaotic. It crackled and practically hummed with energy, and Rainbow could feel the static tingle along her coat to attest to that. A moment later, Luna appeared by her side, followed shortly by Princess Twilight and native Rainbow. “Wow, this is fascinating,” Twilight squeed with scholarly joy. “The ripple reminds me somewhat of the void seen in a certain other portal I know, but more chaotic and uncontrolled. A literal wound in reality! I wonder if-” “We are not here to conduct experiments on the fabric of the cosmos,” Luna chided. “Hrmg, and I’m the killjoy?” “Still yes,” Rainbow, both of them, piped up at the same time before smirking proudly at one another. Before any further potshots could be made at the indignant changeling, the rift pulsed with light. All eyes turned to it as it began to shift and twitch, emitting a series of low booms and bassy hums. The distortion around it grew more intense for a second before solidifying in a pulse of blue light. Then, a moment later, another Princess Luna stepped through. Rainbow’s heart soared as, one by one, the rest of her friends followed suit. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie… and, of course, Fluttershy and Twilight. They came through together in the back. All of them were looking around in awe and wonder at the majestic space around them, no doubt stunned by their first time walking through the intangible Dream Realm. Rainbow’s eyes locked onto Twilight’s. There was a moment of silence and total stillness. “Twilight!” Rainbow sprang into motion, throwing herself forward and into the alicorn in a bone-crushing hug, sending both of them sliding along the ‘ground’ for several feet before coming to a rest. “Oof!” Twilight grunted when they came to a stop, awkwardly splayed out on her back while Rainbow buried her face in her chest fur. It was her. Actually her. Dream avatar or not, she could just feel it. This was her Twilight. Rainbow screwed her eyes shut in an effort to contain the wave of raw emotion rolling over her like an angry storm. “It’s you…” she mumbled, squeezing Twilight closer. For a moment, her mind went back to the nightmare she had experienced back in Ponyville and her heart skipped a beat. She looked up into Twilight’s eyes, pleading with her own. “It is really you… right?” Twilight blinked at her before offering up a timid smile. “Yes… it’s me,” she acknowledged quietly. Rainbow loosened her grip enough for Twilight to sit up, and then went right back into hugging her. This time, the embrace was returned, the two mares wrapping their hooves tightly around one another. All the while, watching on at the sight, Princess Twilight Sparkle’s features seemed bright and happy at the sight of a task finally completed, a reunion long in the making achieved at last. And yet, a cold feeling also emerged in her stomach. Ponyville sprang back to mind, their meeting at the Badlands Hive… ‘I’m not needed anymore…’ The rest of Rainbow’s friends joined in on the hug not long after, completely enveloping Rainbow in a blanket of warmth and affection. She could hear them offering relieved exclamations, or asking excited questions in the case of Pinkie Pie, and she answered all of them. But for the most part, she didn’t bother to commit them to memory. She was just happy to feel their warmth again. Words could wait, as far as she cared. “Ahem.” Rainbow looked up from the group hug to see her own Luna smiling warmly down at her. Her smile grew. “Aunt Luna…” “It has been too long, my niece,” her Aunt said quietly. She leaned down and gave Rainbow an affectionate nuzzle. “I trust these ponies have been looking out for you?” Rainbow nodded up at her. “Yeah, they have,” she said before turning to point at those who had come with her. “Princess Twilight, her mom, and other you, in particular.” “Hey, I was kinda there too!” the other Rainbow Dash protested. “And I’m not getting any nuzzles or nothing!” “And neither shall you ever, Rainbow Dash,” native Luna replied distastefully. Her friends all turned to look at the ponies she had gestured to. Rainbow felt them all tense up at the same time, and she even heard a frightened squeak from Fluttershy. Applejack was quick to jump to her hooves in alarm. “What in tarnation? Is that a changeling?!” she asked in shock. Rainbow resisted the urge to swear under her breath, Go figure that she’d forget to mention that. ‘Ah crud, here we go,’ “Wait, wait!” she exclaimed, springing up to her hooves and putting a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder. “She’s a friend! She’s cool, like Thorax!” Applejack turned to Rainbow with a raised eyebrow. “...Ya sure?” Rainbow snorted. “I let her help me for this long, haven’t I?” she rebuked. “She’s cool. I probably wouldn’t have gotten this far without her.” That was enough to calm Fluttershy down, at least. “Oh. Uh, if that’s the case…” she poked her head out from behind alicorn Twilight and smiled. “Hello. Um… thank you for helping Rainbow. We’ve all been really worried about her.” “Er, yes, hi…” Twilight’s ears folded down at the sight of her closest friends shunning her on looks, the doubts her mother tried to dissuade increasing all the more. “I’m… I’m Twilight Sparkle, my world’s Twilight. And… it was no problem, I’m sure I’d always do something like that…” There were a few seconds of awkward silence. Rainbow bit her lip, anxiously looking back and forth between the two groups. Maybe she could move things along and break some of this tension… She opened her mouth to say something, but the words died in her throat when her Twilight suddenly walked in front of her, eyes glued onto her changeling counterpart. Alicorn Twilight stared at her for a few seconds, visibly taken aback by the ‘tattered’ appearance of her other-self. But, after a moment, she was able to shove it away and offered up a warm smile. “Thank you for looking after Rainbow Dash. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her,” she said softly. Twilight returned the smile, though it retained its saddened edge. “I’m glad to have helped. You’re all she was able to think about, you know.” Rainbow blushed. “Er…” Alicorn Twilight’s wings ruffled slightly in discomfort, but she otherwise didn’t seem bothered. She looked around at everypony for a few seconds, looking as if she wanted to say something more, but the words would not come. Rainbow knew, though. She could tell. She came up to the alicorn’s side and draped a foreleg over her shoulder in a comforting hug. “Hey… if you wanna ask her some questions, you go for it. We got time, I think.” Twilight blinked. “Wha- are you sure?” she asked in surprise. “Aren’t you always the one telling me to not worry about who I am?” Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, but, well…” she nodded at the changeling in the room. “How often do you get a chance to talk to a parallel version of yourself? I know she kinda wanted to talk to you, too… So go for it.” Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat and smiled. “Okay… if you’re sure,” she said before trotting for her other-self. It was at about that time that, no longer able to stand idly by, Pinkie Pie gave off a shrill squeal that pierced the dream realm. She sprang past Rainbow and slid to a stop in front of the native one. “Oh my gosh, two Rainbow Dashes! This has got to be the bestest, most colorfulrific day EVER! I had to keep quiet because Twi and Dashie were having their moment, but it’s past now and EEEE! Can I give you a cookie? I have cookies! I WANNA GIVE YOU A COOKIE!” “Wha-” native Rainbow went to utter. “Have a cookie!” “Mmph?!” native Rainbow muffed out as a chocolate chip cookie appeared in Pinkie’s hoof and then disappeared inside her mouth. Rainbow chuckled and shook her head. “Yeah… that’s Pinkie for ya,” she said in amusement. The assaulted mare choked on the haphazardly applied treat, spluttering as she shot her other a glare. “This is payback for the smoothie, right?” “Yes!” Pinkie said for her. “And, ya know, cookie! Nopony can say no to a cookie!” “What if they’re lactose intolerant,” Princess Twilight asked. “Coooookiiiieeees!” Pinkie declared like an oddly emphatic zombie. “Laughter, you are insufferable in any world,” native Luna deadpanned. “Aw, thank you!” A few amused chuckles went through the assembled ponies. Rarity and Applejack took up positions next to Rainbow, the latter giving the pegasus princess a side-long glance. “So… two of ya, huh?” she asked quietly as Pinkie’s antics continued. “How’s that been? Y’all cause any chaos?” Rainbow shrugged. “Not really. Ya remember how I was before Discord popped up?” “Reckless, cocky, arrogant, and not able to take a hint?” Applejack deadpanned. Rarity pouted at the farmer. “Applejack, must you use such harsh phrasing?” “I ain’t gonna lie to her.” Rarity rolled her eyes. “I would have said proud and confident, perhaps to a fault…” Rainbow cut in to prevent the two from going off on a tangent. “The point is, she’s a lot like that. Just… without the baggage I already had at the time,” she said before affixing her other self with an odd look. The other pegasus was presently drifting a few feet in the air, watching with a mixture of horror and amusement as Pinkie took advantage of the fact that this was a dream to give herself a wide range of wings and new limbs. “...It’s kinda weird, honestly, seeing how I coulda turned out if things had been different. How much happier I could have been...” Rarity placed a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m not going to pretend I understand how stressful this has all been for you. But no matter what, I have every confidence that you will find that happiness yourself, darling.” “Darn tootin’,” Applejack agreed. “And we’re gonna help.” “Like we always do,” Fluttershy added, stepping around to be in front of Rainbow herself. Rainbow smiled at her childhood friend. Without a word, she reached out and pulled Fluttershy into a warm, friendly embrace. “Ah, jeez… it’s real good to see you guys,” she muttered to the trio, a small tremble in her voice. “It’s good to see you too, Rainbow…” Fluttershy said, giving the other pegasus a firm squeeze. “We’ve all been so worried…” All the while that Rainbow’s friends fussed over her wellbeing, and the second variant remained transfixed by Pinkie’s usual nonsense and the Lunas just remained content to watch things transpire, the Twilights seemed to be in a world of their own. Each stared down the other, the brief distraction of the cookie passing as they returned their gazes to one another. “So…” Princess Twilight spoke first. “I… Uh… Celestia, it really is like a mirror. I spent so long trying to delude myself into believing I was you. A pony, I mean. Not the monster I saw in my reflection when I was a filly.” Alicorn Twilight scuffed a hoof along the floor, sheepishly looking down. “Heh… at least you remember what it’s like to be a filly,” she said. “Did Rainbow ever mention my, erm… my condition?” The changeling nodded. “Yes, she did. What my… what Queen Chrysalis did, that drone of hers… Seeing me must be… I can’t imagine.” Twilight sighed. “Yeah… It’s been pretty rough on my friends. I’m trying to put myself back together, I am, but… well, all I have to go on is what the others have told me,” she said. “It’s… really frustrating sometimes…” “I can imagine. I wish I could help, and I will if I can, but our lives are obviously not identical.” Twilight smiled at her. “I appreciate it. Maybe I can ask you a few questions? About us, I mean. About what it even means to be Twilight Sparkle. And, uh…” she looked down for a moment, taking in more of the changeling’s appearance. “Maybe you could tell me a little about what changelings are like in your world? I’ve never actually seen one in my condition until right now. I was expecting something… different.” “Wow… that’s a loaded question, and I’m still asking myself that,” Princess Twilight admitted. “What it means to be Twilight Sparkle? Huh… When you spend your life believing you are one thing, only to find out you are a bug princess from the desert, you come to doubt that. But… I suppose the best answer to could give is that Twilight Sparkle is a mare who will always have her friends to pick her up at her lowest, and will always return in kind. Take it for what you will, I know it’s kinda vague, but… Well, I’m working on it. What’s pony and what’s changeling? I still don’t know how much of each I have in me. But my friends are the constant I can always rely on.” Alicorn Twilight hummed at that. “Well… that is pretty vague,” she confirmed with a small smile. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. If you’re from a different world, and a different species no less, then, well… I guess it’s unreasonable of me to assume that you’d be in a position to magically fix all of my problems.” “I wish it were that easy…” the changeling replied, rubbing her scar. “I know what it’s like to be hurt. Not like you, I know, but things like that can make you question everything. But you are who you are, don’t let them take that, memories or not. I know at least one mare who will always be there to make sure you don’t forget that.” Twilight glanced back at her Rainbow, who was currently speaking with her aunt in hushed whispers. Asking about Celestia or some such, perhaps. She smiled. “...Yeah. She was the first pony I saw when I woke up. She and Spike. They welcomed me back to the world… and everything I’ve seen so far tells me I can trust and count on them.” She turned back to her changeling self, her smile widening. “Everypony’s already been telling me that my friends are gonna be there for me, but, well… I guess it helps to hear me say it.” “I’m glad. You’re a lucky pony, whether you know it or not. The way she looks at you is… Well, my kind knows what a pony feels in their heart, and she feels a lot.” Twilight’s eyes lit up, just a little. “Wait, you’re empaths? I knew changelings could feed on love, but I didn’t know they could detect emotion like that! How does it work?” she asked, a degree of scholarly excitement slipping into her voice. “Well, love is the most noticeable to us, other emotions can be a bit harder to read. But yes, we are,” she confirmed. “Along with a hive egregore that links us, I could talk to the hive even now. I don’t think your changelings have that from what Rainbow told me, but we definitely do.” “Wow, that’s fascinating!” Twilight said, her ears perking right up. “And shapeshifting? How does that work? I know that Thorax turned into a big dragon back for a little while in my world thanks to a magic surge, though it drained him a lot. Could you do the same thing?” The changeling’s eyes widened. “A DRAGON!? What? How? But? No! At least not a BIG one, a small one around our size, yes, but an elder? We’re generally restricted into familiar shapes, only the most skilled can do otherwise, like… a rock, for instance.” “Roc as in the big bird of prey, or rock as in a stone?” “The not alive version, but most changelings can’t do it. Even I struggle a little with inanimate things. But your Thorax turned into a freakin’ DRAGON!?” “As far as I know,” Twilight confirmed. “I haven’t met him yet, so I can’t really verify. I was told that he was only able to hold it for a couple of minutes and that the drain on his magic was so intense he’s still recovering. But apparently, not even Chrysalis could have pulled off something like that for a long time without seriously draining herself. He was having a big magic surge at the time, I think…” “Still, a dragon… Oh, why can’t I take my notes into dreams?” “If you two are poking and prodding each other with science sticks over there…” native Rainbow called out with a smirk. “Both I and me are leavin’!” “Grammar, Dash,” Princess Twilight chided. “No!” It was at around this time that the Lunas finally decided to speak up. Aunt Luna cleared her throat and spoke up to be heard over the various discussions. “Forgive the interruption, but we are here for a reason. More thorough reunions can be had at a later time. For now, my niece is still trapped in another world, and we must discuss how we are to remedy this.” “Indeed,” the native Luna agreed. “Reunions and first meets must now be set aside, we have given room enough for them. We are all in our respective Baltimares, even in the same hotel, and now comes the task of approaching the rift under Tia’s sun and opening it without inciting disaster.” Alicorn Twilight turned to look with a mildly disappointed frown. “So soon…?” “We gotta get other me home, y’know,” native Rainbow pointed out. “C’mon, eggheads. We got work to do.” A few moments passed as everypony gathered around in a loose circle. Rainbow was sure to park herself next to her Twilight, taking the chance to savour the proximity as much as possible. Once everypony was assembled and attentive, Aunt Luna took the lead. “So, for the benefit of all present, allow me to briefly recount what we know about our situation,” she said before lighting up her horn and turning to her counterpart. “This is your Dream Realm, not mine. I require permission and a small amount of power from you if I am to provide visual aides.” A flick of the other Luna’s head was followed by a nod, signalling the task was done. Aunt Luna nodded, and an astral projection of the storm that had whisked Rainbow away in the dead of night emerged over a loose approximation of Equestria. “Several nights ago, a cosmic storm, as of yet the only of its kind observed in Equestria, descended upon the land. My examinations of it lead me to believe that it was, for the most part, utterly benign. An anomalous spectacle and nothing more. Evidently, however, I was wrong. “The storm descended closer to the surface in several key areas, which, if I understand correctly, correspond to a series of locations in your world where severe and out of place tremors have been ravaging the land. It is our current belief that these two occurrences are directly linked.” “Furthermore,” native Luna picked up. “We have reason to believe that this storm on your side of events was directly connected to an alteration to your timeline. A delayed after-effect of sorts, or a ‘Time boom’ as Princess Twilight put it.” “Quite,” Aunt Luna confirmed. “The details of the change in history in my world are convoluted at best, and we have not the time nor the reason to explore it in its entirety. All we need to know for certain is that this time boom weakened the barriers between worlds, damaging the fabric of reality. Where the storm went, it left rifts connecting our worlds in its wake. Rainbow Dash was, by poor luck or fate, caught in one of the most intense of these regions, and thus hurled head-long from my world and into yours.” “We are communicating now using those selfsame rifts,” native Luna continued. “They serve as gateways between our two worlds, enabling this form of contact. Is everypony following so far?” A collection of affirmatives went through the gathered ponies. “Now comes the difficult part,” Aunt Luna went on, her brow furrowing. “These rifts are increasingly unstable, and tampering with them, much like interacting with a bubble upon the surface of a pool of water, causes them to destabilize and crumble far faster than if left alone. But even were that not the case, the fact remains that these rifts are largely intangible in the waking world, save for disturbances that unicorns or magic-sensitive creatures can feel when passing near them.” “So the question then becomes, how do we open such a rift in the waking world?” native Luna went on. “And furthermore, how do we do so without causing damage to the surrounding environment? If we are sending Princess Rainbow back to her world in Baltimare, safety is paramount. It is a populated city, and I will not have my subjects harmed by a careless transference.” “Well, it might be wise to run a few tests first, but I don’t see why we can’t just open it with your magic,” Princess Twilight commented. “If we had enough control just to open up a small enough gap for a single pony to slip through before we shut it, theoretically the damage would be minimal. Though an evacuation of the block could help too, just in case…” “Perhaps…” Aunt Luna mused. “Hmmm. Mayhap it would be possible to open a gate small enough for magic to slip through. Then we could have one of you teleport my niece across before returning to your world yourself. It would minimize the risk to the surrounding architecture on both ends.” “The obvious downside being it would require far more precision,” native Luna added. “One mistake, and Princess Rainbow and her chaperone could be left adrift in the void between worlds. Were that to happen, neither of us would ever see them again.” “Plus, I have my PTSD crud whenever magic hits my skin,” Rainbow pointed out with a glum frown. “I can take it if I gotta, but let’s save that if we can, kay?” “Well, let me run those tests first. At least on our end, though you should too,” the changeling said to her pony counterpart. “Just to see how much pressure it could take. If you set a scanning spell to the frequency of-” A deafening crash rocked the Dream Realm, cutting off Twilight’s words. Everypony clamped their hooves over their ears in a desperate bid to keep the cacophony at bay. Rainbow cried out from the volume. Another sound reached her ears, and she looked up to the rift. It was twitching erratically and starting to flicker. “What is happening?!” Aunt Luna cried out in alarm. A flurry of voices were all shouting to be heard over one another. Rainbow looked around in a wild panic, trying to make heads or tails of the situation. “Rainbow?!” Princess Rainbow turned to her Twilight, and her eyes widened. The alicorn, along with the rest of the ponies from her world, was now flickering just like the rift. She was looking down at her hooves as they became increasingly unfocused and distorted. She looked up to Rainbow with wide, frightened eyes. “Rainbow, what’s happening to me?!” Instinct kicked in. Rainbow kicked forward, throwing her forelegs out in a bid to grab onto Twilight and hold her close. She saw the alicorn moving to reciprocate the gesture. A deafening shattering sound filled the air, slicing at Rainbow’s ears like a thousand knives. Twilight vanished just as Rainbow reached her. She slid to a halt, her eyes wide. She looked back to the rift, only to find that it had shattered like a flimsy mirror. All of her friends had vanished, leaving her with the natives of the world she was trapped in. Far off in the distance, the sound of more shattering windows rolled across the Dream Realm as flashes of orange light flared up before fading into nothing. And then they woke up.