It was night. The moon was high in the sky and their campfire was burning warmly a safe distance from every tree in the wood.
The group had left the desert days ago and were now in the middle of a forest that reminded Twilight of the Whitetail Woods back home. There were no roads or civilization here—Tippi had directed them off the road the moment it veered back when they were still in the desert. The new path kept them from having to deal with other people, which was nice, but it also meant there was a lot of silence on the journey.
Toph was currently reclining in the branches of a large tree. Twilight, on the other hand, wasn’t even trying to relax—she was practicing. Her horn aglow, she cast a fireball at the campfire a few times, adding her own flames to the small inferno. Jumping back, she flapped her wings, creating a gust of wind that blew out the campfire with ease. A simple ignite spell rekindled the fire, beginning the cycle over again.
Twilight thought she was getting pretty good at it. Even though the magic of this world was different, if she asked for a spell that used air or fire, she could virtually always cast it. Fireball, whirlwind, calm, smoke; all were at her disposal.
Confirming her skill, she turned to the third element she had access to; earth. She stamped her hoof on the ground, forming a small crack. This would have delighted her if it was what she’d been trying to do. As it was, she’d wanted to lift a pebble into the air.
Sticking out her tongue in thought, she focused all her magic energy on the rock and asked it to lift. It exploded into harmless powder, getting dust in her eyes.
“Hah!” Toph laughed from her tree. “Nice one!”
Twilight rubbed her eyes, attempting to remove the dirt from them. “I’d forgotten you can feel everything I do.”
“Oh yeah, I’ve been ‘watching’ for hours. It’s very entertaining.”
“Right…” Twilight returned to her self-training, focusing on another pebble. This time, she tried a gentle focus of her power. Instead of lifting the pebble, she embedded it three inches into the ground. “Of course. I don’t know what I was expecting.”
“You are way too rigid,” Toph said, chuckling. “Move your body with the earth. Standing still and pointing your horn at it isn’t going to do squat.”
Twilight rolled her eyes but tried it anyway. She lit her horn, focused on the rock, and swiped her hoof to the side. To her shock, the pebble went flying into the bark of a nearby tree. “Woah…”
“See?” Toph waved her hand in the air as if illustrating some poignant truth. “Your body is what connects to the earth, not your shiny stick.”
Twilight slammed her hooves into the ground, prompting a baseball-sized chunk of rock to float into the air. She twisted around and bucked the rock with her hoof, smashing it into another tree.
“Ahhhh!” Twilight winced, rubbing her hoof with a wing. “Ow! That… that rock was hard!”
“Well duh, it’s a rock!”
“But I saw you punching boulders like they were made of cotton candy!”
“Twiggy, listen.” Twiggy!? “You gotta keep bending with the earth after you lift it or else you’re just gonna beat yourself up. But that’s a more advanced trick.”
“Hmm…” Twilight kept rubbing her hoof to soothe the pain.
“Toph, I see you’ve changed your mind about training Twilight,” Tippi observed.
There was no response from Toph’s tree.
“Toph…?”
A loud snore rang out from the branches.
“She doesn’t honestly expect us to believe she can fall asleep that quickly…” Tippi said.
Twilight sighed. “It’s her way of saying she’s done talking. I might as well get some sleep too. You sure you don’t mind keeping watch?”
“I do not require sleep. It would be my honor to help a hero such as you... however I can.”
The amused snort from Toph gave her conscious state away, but Twilight didn’t push it. There was no need to bring about undue conflict between them. She laid her head down on one of the packs and closed her eyes.
As she drifted, images came to her of home. Not the Crystal Empire, but the little town of Ponyville where she spent most of her time. The small, homely buildings were dotted all around the landscape, surrounded by sprawling farmlands and forests. Her thoughts meandered to one building in particular: Sugarcube Corner, the town’s bakery, designed to look a bit like a cake. Oh, how many memories she had of that place. Pinkie making cakes and selling them to her. Rarity trying her best to not eat the cupcakes fast enough to be considered “unladylike.” Rainbow and Applejack daring each other to eat just one more cookie. Fluttershy trying not to laugh at the rest of their antics…
The smile on Twilight’s face slowly vanished as she played back more and more memories of home. With a grunt, she turned herself over in an attempt to clear her mind.
It didn’t work. She kept thinking of home until she fell asleep with a tear running down her cheek.
~~~
“And then what happened?” Twilight asked Toph, sidestepping a bushlike weed. They had slowly made their way out of the forest over the course of the morning, segueing into a sparsely wooded grassland.
“I think I shouted something about ‘being the Melon Lord’ and threw flaming rocks at my friends.” Toph grinned. “Good times.”
“You oversimply your stories too much,” Twilight huffed. “I want to know what your adventures were like. Like, you’ve mentioned the Avatar several times, but I don’t even know what that means!”
“Oh, yeah. The Avatar is the master of all four elements, charged with bringing peace and harmony to the world or some spiritual nonsense like that. He’s actually just a bald dork.”
“And you were friends with him?”
“Yeah, we traveled the Earth Kingdom, dethroned the Fire Lord, brought about a new era of peace.” She waved a dismissive hand. “All the normal hero junk. I’m sure you’ve done some of that.”
“Well, there was this time where the Storm King tried to conquer the world. He was a mutant hedgehog, best we can tell, and his history started in the Southern Wastes when one day h—”
“Booooring!” Toph declared, skipping ahead with a boost from the earth below. “Get to the juicy bits, Twiggy! His history sounds like a bunch of… history.”
“The juicy bits…” Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin. “Well, he invaded Canterlot Castle and captured the other three princesses, draining their magic. I was forced to flee and seek help from the Queen of the Hippogriffs, but at the time I thought I was supposed to find the Queen of the Hippos…”
“I like this story better already.”
“Anyway, me and my friends, we…” Twilight’s smile vanished. “...We stood together and…” She took a moment to collect herself.
Top stopped walking, turning to Twilight. “These the same friends this Bleck guy took?”
Twilight nodded slowly. “I’ve been worried…”
For once in her life, Toph’s tone became serious. “We’ll get them back, Twilight.” In an instant, her solemness was gone, replaced with a crazed grin. “And then I’ll deck Bleck in the face. I’ll save a particularly big rock for him…”
“You’re sticking with us after we leave this world?” Tippi asked.
“Why not?” Toph shrugged. “Sounds like you could really use a master earthbender out in the other worlds! And I’m your girl!”
Twilight smiled warmly. “Thanks, Toph. It’ll be nice to have someone like you around.”
Toph stopped short and crossed her arms. “Now what does that mean!?”
“I-I just meant that you’re a good friend and traveling companion!”
Toph raised an eyebrow. “Friend? I mea—” Whatever she was going to say never left her mouth, because she’d sensed something. Confused fear crossed her face, but Twilight herself sensed nothing.
“Toph…?”
“The earth is shaking,” Toph said. “Very slightly. I would say it’s a small earthquake, but… I know exactly where it’s coming from. And… I can’t sense it as well, but I’m pretty sure the air is shaking too. Everything is shaking.”
“Have you ever felt anything like this before?”
“Yes, actually…” She paused, tilting her head ever so slightly toward Twilight. “Just before your door showed up in Iroh’s place.”
“Another door?”
Toph shook her head. “I can’t sense one. I ju—”
“GRAH-GOOGLY!”
Twilight looked up just in time to see a massive chunk of a man drop from the sky, landing with a fist toward the ground and creating a small crater of dirt around himself. He emerged, dirty and grimy—but unharmed, taking a moment to allow the two of them to process his sudden presence. The muscles that rippled up and down his arms were far too big to be natural, and his ape-like posture made him look simultaneously oafish and threatening, an impression only heightened by his sleeveless black leather outfit. When he spoke, his scraggly chin hairs waggled distractingly in many different directions.
“So yer the lass stickin’ her feathers in me boss’ business!”
Twilight’s first thought wasn’t one of panic, amusement, or confusion. It was oh no, I’m not going to be able to understand what he’s saying through that accent.
The man flexed his arms as though he were putting on a show for the three of them. “Yeh shouldn’t ‘ave crossed the Count! Now I’m gonna ‘ave teh get chunky on yeh!”
“Ew.” Toph shivered involuntarily.
“Eh? Wot?” The man turned to her, eyes narrow. “Wot was that?”
“Nothing you’d be able to understand.”
“The Count…” Twilight lifted her head, sizing up the man before them. “You serve that monster?”
“Yeh!” He twirled around, flexing his arm into another ridiculous pose before continuing. “ ‘e’s gonna bring back some order teh this ‘ere world! And Ah’m gonna chunk any who git in ‘is way! That includes y’alls. Prepare to feel some hammage!”
“...I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘damage,’ “ Twilight deadpanned.
“Don’t yeh tell me what words Ah can and can’t use!” He pointed an oversized finger at Twilight—it was almost as thick as her head. “Remember me name, for it be O’Chunks! It be the last thing ye’ll ever hear… CHUNK ON IT!”
“Chunk on it…?” Twilight cocked her head. She forgot for a moment that he was threatening them, and thus didn’t do anything to stop his massive fist from colliding with her face. Her head started ringing and she saw nothing aside from stars for a few seconds; she could only feel the stinging sensation of a bruise forming on her face. It took the act of landing uncomfortably in the branches of a spindly tree to take her focus away from herself and back to reality.
With a gasp, she spread her wings, attempting to flap out of danger, but the tree kept her pinned. O’Chunks was already at the base of the tree. He uprooted the thing as if it weighed no more than a hockey stick, smashing it into the ground, jostling Twilight even further. “Chunked!” He jumped into the air, angling his feet right at Twilight.
Instinctually, Twilight cast a shield spell. The universe didn’t allow for the spell, however, so her magic attempted to raise an earthen wall. Given her lack of skill in earthbending, it wasn't surprising in the slightest that this failed spectacularly. The ground beneath her shattered into a dozen pieces, none of which flew to intercept O’Chunks, though one did bean Twilight in the shoulder. It was not enough to move her away from O’Chunks’ attack.
Toph, luckily, was on top of things. With a single stomp, a cylinder of rock burst out of the ground and hit O’Chunks right in the gut. He let out a bellowing “Grrrrrah!” and fell back, clutching his stomach. “That ain’t right!”
“You know what else isn’t right?” Toph waved a hand in front of her face. “I’m blind! You should be able to take me easy!”
“I ain’t goin’ easy on ya just ‘cus yer a disabled lass!” O’Chunks shouted, charging her. With a dismissive hand, she raised a wall of earth between her and O’Chunks.
He punched right through it, tearing the wall apart like paper.
“Whoa,” Toph said, legitimately impressed.
With his second fist, O’Chunks went for Toph’s face. She tapped her foot on the ground, lifting the earth O’Chunks was on just enough so he would punch over her, leaving his stomach open. Instead of bending earth into the opening, she punched him directly with her own first. “Hah!”
He looked down at her, visibly confused. “What’re ya tryin’ to do, lass?”
Toph laughed to hide the fact that her hand now knew nothing but suffering. “That’s… a very hard stomach you got there! Not made of earth! Yeah!”
“No. It ain’t.” With a shrug, O’Chunks lifted Toph into the air with one of his hands.
Her smile vanished—she was no longer touching the ground. “Uh, think you could put me down?”
“All right.”
Toph realized her mistake. “Wait, no, d—”
O’Chunks whirled around, spinning until he was a reddish tornado. Planting his foot in the ground, he ended his spin, flinging Toph into the air like a discus.
She flew so far that Twilight lost track of her in the blue sky. “Oh…”
“Yer next!” O’Chunks shouted. However, instead of charging Twilight, he decided to take a moment and strike a few triumphant poses. This gave Twilight enough time to untangle herself and get to her hooves.
“Perhaps we should flee,” Tippi suggested.
“No, but there is something we can do.” Twilight flapped her wings, flying into the air. “Let’s see what he does about a flying target.” She generated three fireballs and flung them right at him. He took all three of them head-on.
“Ye think heat will stop meh? Hah!” He punched the ground so hard that he went flying at Twilight like a bullet. Twilight twirled her body to the side, bending the air through her wings until it became a defensive swirl with just enough force to divert O’Chunks punch away. Disappointingly, his crash into the ground didn’t harm him whatsoever.
“Pure muscle…” Twilight frowned. “I’ll have to outsmart him. Tippi, I need a—”
She never got a chance to explain her plan. She and Tippi had heard the earth rumbling. O’Chunks noticed it a second later. “Now, wot could that be…?”
“Oh my…” Tippi said. “It’s Toph!”
A mound of earth was surging towards them at high speed, not unlike a wave in the ocean. Riding atop it was Toph, clutching one arm close to her chest in pain. The other was extended dramatically, sweeping back and forth to keep the earth beneath her moving.
“Comin’ back for another round?” O’Chunks put his hands on his hips and laughed. “Lass, you got nothin’ on these chunks! Bring i—”
Toph launched herself off the earthen wave with a pillar of stone, flying into the air. Using her healthy arm, she thrust her fist at the ground below O’Chunks, creating a hole. Before he could do anything, she landed, creating a shockwave from her feet that knocked O’Chunks over. With a twist of her left leg, she sealed the hole up, leaving only O’Chunks’ head visible on the surface.
O’Chunks growled. “No trap’ll hold me!” In another feat of impossible strength, he flexed and burst out of the hole, sending the earth she’d trapped him with into the sky where it rained down in harmless clods. He stomped aggressively in front of Toph. “Yeh have tricks, Aye’ll give yeh that, but ye—”
Toph twisted her hand in a wide circle, slapping O’Chunks in the side of the head with a slab of rock. Not a second later, she kicked a boulder into his face and clenched her fist, encasing his feet in rocks. O’Chunks only had to kick once to free himself, but it was during that kick when Toph lifted another slab of rock to slap him in the face. Finishing off her attack, she kicked up three boulders and hurled them straight into O’Chunks’. Despite this onslaught, he still managed to jump into the air, angling a fist for her.
She smirked.
With one stomp, a pillar of earth erupted from the ground at high speed, beaning O’Chunks right between the legs.
“I… I… I…” Quivering, O’Chunks slid off the pillar and slammed into the ground. “I’m… chunked…” he whimpered.
“You got that right!” Toph called, giving him a thumbs up. She didn’t realize she’d was using her injured arm until after she made the gesture, but she managed to keep the smile through the pain.
“That was… amazing!” Twilight called. “Toph, you were…”
“The best? I know.” This time she pointed at herself with her healthy hand. “I ain’t gettin’ chunked by some fancy talking ape.”
“I ain’t… an ape…” O’Chunks grunted, slowly returning to his feet. “I am…”
“O’Chunks, we get it,” Toph deadpanned. “We also beat you, so suck it up.”
“What kind of strange lass are ye…?” O’Chunks asked in disbelief.
“I’m Toph.” She leaned toward him, chuckling. “And if you want I can keep smashing rocks into your face.”
“Doff, ‘ey? ‘Tis an odd name. But I’ll remember it!”
“Toph,” Toph insisted.
O’Chunks lifted himself to his full height, and Twilight realized how little damage they had actually done. He was clearly tired, but otherwise he was in peak physical condition. “Listen here, Doff! If yeh weren’t such a wee toddler, I wouldn’t ‘ave taken it so easy on yeh!”
“Toddler!?” Toph clenched her fist.
“I ‘ave to ‘and it to yah, yah effort was somethin’ else! We’ll call it a tie. But next time, I won't go so easy on yah!”
“TIE!?” Toph all but shrieked.
“ ‘Till then, Doff! Chunks away!” He jumped into the air, where a purple vortex of power grabbed him, taking him somewhere else.
“Get back here, coward!” Toph shouted. “Coward! That was not a tie! I trounced you! Get back here!” She continued shaking her fist at the sky.
“To be honest, I’m actually glad he’s gone,” Twilight said, trotting up to her.
“Next time I see him, I’ve got a boulder with his name on it. I might make his bigger than Count Ugly’s.”
“Let me see your arm…” For once, Toph didn’t argue. She was unable to keep back her winces of pain as Twilight slowly moved it around with her wings. “It’s broken. We’ll need to get a sling for you. I might be able to accelerate the healing with my magic, if we left the world.”
“We’d have to go back to the door,” Tippi said. “We can’t ignore the curse like Count Bleck’s minions can.”
“They can just appear and disappear whenever they want in those vortex thingies?” Toph asked. “Lame!”
“I suspect they must obey certain rules of their own, but yes, they can travel unbidden. We… have to make do with Flipside’s doors.”
“I do wonder how he found us…” Twilight pondered.
~~~
Several days ago…
“ ‘Dis be some great grog!” O’Chunks declared, downing another cup of tea. “Ye’ve outdone yerself, uh…”
“Iroh,” Iroh said, bowing to the hulking man. “I’m glad you appreciate our world’s cuisine.”
“Great grog!” O’Chunks echoed, downing another cup. “More!”
“Sir, I’d be happy to serve you all day, but you look like a man with a mission.”
“Mission… Mission…” O’Chunks stroked his beard. “I’m supposed to find some people… Uh…”
“Would they, by chance, be from another world?”
“Uh… Aye! That’s right! I… oh no…” O’Chunks put his hands to his head and started shivering. “I completely forgot! Now they’ll be long gone and I’ll never find ‘em! Say goodbye to me chin hairs…”
“Do not worry yourself, young man,” Iroh said, smiling warmly. “They went somewhere in that direction.” He lifted a finger to point.
“Yer a lifesaver, gramps!” O’Chunks stood up, banging his head against the Jasmine Dragon’s ceiling. Grunting, he squeezed out of the Jasmine Dragon, his girth making it a chore to leave without busting the door down. One out, he let out a laugh and jumped into the air—where a purple vortex caught him.
“Oh.” Iroh glanced at the Void in the sky, confirming with another glance behind him that it matched what O’Chunks had jumped into. “I don’t believe he intends to help them.” He laughed nervously. “...Whoops.”
It still took O’Chunks several days of jumping around to find them.
~~~
Toph, Twilight, and Tippi approached a mountain range. Toph’s arm was still in a sling, but she wasn’t letting it stop her from marching forward with a determined grin.
“It’s really close now,” Tippi said, flapping higher into the air. “I think it’s either on top of or on the other side of those mountains.”
“Hold on…” Toph slammed her foot into the ground, sending vibrations far away to get a better lay of the land. “There’s a maze of tunnels running nearby. I…” She gasped. “I know where we are!”
“Where?”
“I’ve never been here personally, but the others told me about it! There’s a secret tunnel through the mountain that leads into a maze of corridors—they call it the Cave of Two Lovers!”
“That sounds like a place a Pure Heart would rest…” Tippi noted.
“But I like Sokka’s name for it better.” She took in a deep breath and shouted “SECRET TUNNEL!” to the universe.
Nobody but Twilight and Tippi heard her, but it was enough to satisfy Toph.
“C’mon, let’s get inside,” Toph said, running ahead.
“You know the way in?” Twilight asked.
“No. But I can make one.” Toph raised her fist. “I’m going to cut through a mountain. Stand back, this might get ugly.”