//------------------------------// // (Un)Familiar Sight // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship Beyond Worlds // by The Psychopath //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash shifted in place after everything finally stopped spinning. She continued to shift more and more until she realized that she couldn't move nor see. "What's happening?!" she asked. She started to panic. "Help! I can't see or move! Aaaaaa-!" Her screaming stopped when the three mares that had piled up on top of her got off, awoken by her screaming. "Oh." She smiled sheepishly and stood up, clearing her throat. "Sorry." "Now where in tarnation 'r we?!" Applejack exclaimed. "First some crazy place made-a clouds 'n now this?" She pulled off her stetson hat and patted it down. "Feels like mah fur 'n mane're on fire." Unfortunately for the group, while Applejack and Twilight had luck in landing on the outskirts of a city, this time they had landed in the middle of a busy one, and everypony was staring at them and the statue that used to be where a tremendous statue used to stay. Twilight could only vaguely make out the base of it from the 'scar' overlapping it. She risked touching it under the eyes of everyone and grimaced when she realized it felt like touching a window made of unbreakable glass. "Woah! It's like there's a party in the sky!" Pinkie grabbed Twilight and forced her to look up. "Look look!" The sky PInkie was so enamored by looked like colored ink spreading through water. There was a base white shade that the 'ink' would flow through until a huge wave of energy flowed through the sky, wiping it clean before it started anew. The buildings of the city the four had found themselves in were actually floating high in the air on segments of enormous crystals bigger than all the buildings they held up put together. Several transparent tubes of energy of various sizes could be seen interconnecting everything with each other in what could have just been regular pathways, but some massive ones easily the width of a house led down below past a storm cloud that could be seen through some holes in the ground. All the buildings were seemingly made from polished and reshaped wood, making Twilight think of top-quality wooden furniture that had been carefully and meticulously hoof carved. There was an odd warmth to them while in their presence, but it threw the ponies off. Said construction had been mathematically calculated to be as straight and rectangular as possible, with arched windows at what Twilight and Applejack could only surmise as to being a hundred and thirty-five-degree arcs at their tops, or both sides, or the bases, depending on what was wanted. Multiple different colors, usually shades of brown and yellow mixed with grays, acted as the surface of these places. "Twi, they've got horns on their heads," Applejack whispered to her friend. She pointed to the two pegasi behind her with a hoof. "These two've got wings. Why do these ones have horns? Ah thought we just went ta another place with 'em." "How do you know they're not from the same place?" Twilight asked. The farm pony pointed to the unicorns looking in awe at the wings of the pegasi as they hovered close to the ground. "Oh..." The two immediately panicked when they felt the ground shaking violently. Rainbow and Pinkie flew up to them immediately, using only a minor bit of familiarity in the two wingless ponies as their way to keep calm. "What's happening?" Twilight shouted in a panic. "Is the island collapsing?" Rounding the corner came a tremendous, armless, bipedal colossus of black stone. Multiple yellow crystals jutted out dangerously from its body, and floating above its head was a rapidly spinning, yellow ball of light emitting white coronas and tendrils of energy directly into the golem's body. "No, Twilight! No!" AJ chastised her friend. It was too late. Twilight was already hyper-fixated on what she was seeing, and the farm pony grabbed her stetson to yell into it. "It's a golem! I knew they were real!" Twilight shouted enthusiastically. Rainbow fluttered close by, unsure of herself, and frowned. "And, uh, what's that?" Bouncing eagerly in place, Twilight dug into her memories as the thing got closer and the unicorns in the path casually moved aside. "It's a creature made to move under its own power. You can make it with stones, rocks, metal, anything!" the lavender pony explained. "I thought it was only theoretically possible because there's no energy source strong enough to power them!" "It's gettin' closer!" Applejack shouted. She made an attempt to turn and run with Twilight, but the horned ponies were in the way. "Move it!" she commanded. They didn't budge. With a low rumbling, the golem started bending over. Its side popped and two large arms ending in three digits emerged, casting off some loose material. Said arms started reaching for the non-horned, prompting Rainbow to fly in front of it and wave her forelegs like she was going to box it. "Don't worry. I got this!" she exclaimed confidently. Twilight tapped her head several times with a hoof. "No you don't! This is a golem! It's made of a rock!" "Then I just have to chisel it!" Rainbow rushed forward and punched what would be the torso if it had a head. She blew on her aching hoof on the ground next to the other three. The pegasus glared at Twilight looking at her with bemusement. "Shut up." "Stop!" a voice shouted out. A pale, golden blur broke through the ring of observers and skid to a halt in front of the four. It was another horned pony. Her mane and tail were both thick, flowing streams of pink that touched the floor but didn't seem to get dirty from it. Along the surface of them and her body were thin strands of green vines with a few leaves on which perched multiple blue butterflies seemingly made out of sky-blue light or crystal. Her fetlocks were draped in sizeable amounts of smoothed fur that were free from the vines, at least for the time being. Her teal eyes were glaring ruthlessly at the animated stone that had frozen in place. "You don't need to harm them," she said softly. "They're not a threat. They're just..." She looked behind her and quickly shied away. "Th-they're just lost. See? They aren't...They aren't unicorns," the mare continued nervously. "They don't have magic and no magic tools." The yellow crystal glowed and dimmed in rapid succession as the golem evaluated the new information given to it. With a loud creak, it retracted itself and moved to the statue where it tried to remove the rift or move the statue repeatedly unsuccessfully. "Well, that was quick 'n easy," Applejack noted. Pinkie approached the yellow unicorn while spinning in the air and popped up in front of her. "Thanks a lot!" she said loudly and enthusiastically. "I don't know what we would've done without you!" She looked around at the unicorns slowly starting to disperse. "And these big meanies that don't want to move!" The pale-gold mare retracted from Pinkie and started to shrink behind her elongated mane. "Hey, you know you have plants stuck in your mane, right? Need help getting them out?" "No. She needs my expertise in the matter," another voice stated. "I'm roused from my work by a crowd and a golem and now I get to see that there's a giant crystal thing in place of our statue? And th..." The mare was fully white with large amounts of fur growing from her fetlocks, much like the yellow 'unicorn' that floated mere millimeters above any surface on the ground. They changed towards a light gray in gradients, making them seem both dirty and artificial in a way. Near the shoulder on her left foreleg was an ice-blue bracelet that shared its color with a crystal crown that hung from her elongated, sharp horn and clasped a night-blue gem in its clutches. Her mane and tail's roots were just as white as her coat, but they gradually shifted to a strong, purple hue. The four had moments where it felt like the purple hair was just floating in place near the pony, but they knew it was just an optical illusion. Where the yellow unicorn's mane and tail were smoothed out and flowed down, the white one's were professionally maintained and undulated in the air: Her mane was wavy and her tail twirled in a corkscrew pattern onto the floor. "Good heavens," the white unicorn exclaimed with a hoof to her muzzle. "Unicorns with wings?" She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head somewhat. "But you have no horns?" She clasped her hooves together. "Such a splendor! To see such uniqueness is marvelous! You simply must come with me to my boutique and let me take your measurements!" "What for?" Rainbow asked in disgust. From the corner of her eye, the white unicorn noticed the savior trying to sneak away through the dispersing crowd. The four saw her horn glow with sparkling, royal purple light and lift up the yellow mare that waved her legs frantically in protest. "And you! You're that hermit or druid or something-or-other that lives on the faraway island of Jarnvithr, aren't you?" The floating unicorn struggled again then muttered. "Maybe." The white unicorn leaned in closer. "What?!" "M'am, maybe ya should leave her be?" Applejack suggested. "Ah think yer scarin' her a touch." She was met with wide, incredulous eyes by the white pony and the unicorns around that heard her. "I've never heard such an accent before." She waved a hoof. "No need to fret. I've been trying to find her for a while now. She needs care for her body and soul!" she exclaimed. "She's been cooped up in the forest surrounded by those dirty animals for too long." "They're not dirty! They clean themselves regularly," the yellow pony protested. "With their tongues," the white one stated with disgust. "Come then, my unique little treasure doves," the white pony said. "I'll invite you to my boutique just for today. It's closed normally, while I design new clothing and fashion styles, but I'll make an exception." Twilight scratched the back of her head and looked at the rift. "Well, I suppose we should follow her. It's not like we have a way to get back to our homes for now." "We don't know who she is!" Applejack protested. "I agree with the smelly one," Rainbow Dash said as she swooped in. "I don't even know you two all that well." Twilight shifted in place. "We don't know anything about this place, and Applejack and I were tossed through two rifts in quick succession. These two have been helpful to us while the others just waited for us to be crushed by that," she said with a hoof pointed towards the golem smashing its body against the rift. "I say we follow!" Pinkie exclaimed gleefully. "A stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet!" Rainbow tried to grab her friend before she zoomed off and groaned. "I can't leave her behind," Rainbow said and followed. "And we can't leave ponies that've been dragged inta this 'cause 'v us," Applejack added. The two earth ponies shrugged and followed after the unicorns and pegasi. They ended up walking up a hill of cobblestone to a tunnel of light that the unicorns entered and shot up through. Hesitant, the four visitors stepped in one by one and screamed as they flew through and piled atop each other at the exit, much to the amusement of passersby. "Never used a tunnel?" Rarity asked. "Huh." She levitated them all back onto their hooves and nodded with a smile. "There we are. No pony hurt? Then let's continue." This island was covered in a plethora of different, weirdly designed buildings. A saloon, a barn, a mishmash and random shapes and 'zoobles', and then there was Rarity's store. It was shorter than most of those surrounding it, having only two floors. It resembled a merry-go-round, but only the second floor appeared to be spinning with crystal ponies and creatures Twilight didn't recognize moving up and down on their own as they orbited a central axis. The walls of the store were painted pure white and decorated with pink frills of an unknown material that lined the door and window frames and hung off the two circular roofs of the shop, creating a sort of 'cake icing' pattern. The four were invited inside where they were met with a floor completely subsumed in cloth rolls and holders, tables, and sewing instruments. The mare moved most aside and brought forth a small, circular platform which she laid her 'victim' on. In seconds a tremendous amount of bottles full of products unknown by the four and hygienic utensils were brought in. "W-wait, you don't need to--" the yellow mare tried to protest, but it was too late. "Welcome to Rarity's Boutique," the white unicorn stated. "I take it you're all lost?" The blue pegasus fluttered forward. "More than that," Rainbow shouted. "I'm pretty sure we aren't even in the same world," she stated. "We were pulled in by those rifts and thrown into different worlds," Twilight explained. She looked around and noted a distinct floral scent in the air. "I thought that maybe they would be stationary, but apparently they're attached to shiny crystals as well? At least some form of geode." "Really?" Rarity said in surprise as she started furiously working out all the knots in the mare's mane and tail. "Gross. Even have some in your coat." She dug into the mare's fur, causing her 'victim' to giggle until a gigantic beetle the size of a hoof was pulled out. It wriggled its six legs around, trying to escape Rarity's magical clutch. She went from white to green. "I'm going to be sick." The yellow pony grabbed the beetle and held it close, shrinking in to keep it safe as she glared at everypony behind her drooping mane. "He's not a bad bug. He helps keep my fur clean of parasites in the forest." "But...but not of knots or dirt," Rarity heaved. Applejack laughed. "Ain't never see a pony keep critters on 'em in some kinda symbibottle way," she said. "Symbiosis, Applejack," Twilight corrected with a roll of her eyes. "Can I have one?" Pinkie asked eagerly. "Oh, please let me have one!" The yellow unicorn shied away and remained silent. Pinkie grabbed her hoof and started shaking it wildly, scaring the beetle. "I'm Pinkie Pie and I'll be the best beetle owner ever!" "Fl-Fluttersh-sh-shyyyyyyYY!" the unicorn squirmed. "And you can't own a beetle," she said as she let go of Pinkie's hoof. Pinkie looked down at the ground and passed a hoof through her curly mane. "Oh. Oops...sorry," she said with a guilty expression. "Done!" Rarity declared. Fluttershy could only mutter a half-spoken 'wh' before the vines across her body became invigorated and grew immense and wrapped around the unicorn's body. Several fat leaves emerged from its stems, leaving a perch for several more of the strange blue butterflies to land on after appearing from a small, blurry, blue cloud. "Woah!" the four visitors said in unison. "What?" Rarity asked, looking at them incredulously. "She was simply cleaned, allowing her magic to refresh itself more easily." She looked to Fluttershy and wagged a pair of scissors at her. "Honestly, sweetie, you should come by often. You definitely need a new coat of paint every once in a while if you want to be able to stay in the forest so easily." Her eyes drifted down to the red beetle nuzzling itself in the yellow unicorn's fur, enjoying the extreme softness that it now had. The white unicorn couldn't help but drop her tools. "Glad it...urp, likes my work too." "Thank you very much, R-Rarity," Fluttershy forced out. "So, now what?" Rainbow asked. "How do we get back home?" She looked around and felt some of the loose fabric lying around. "I mean, this place is nice, but I can't stay here forever. I need to get back to training and attend the clouds." "And ah gotta help mah family tend ta the crops," Applejack added. Rarity perked up. "You mentioned that weird rift thing, right?" she asked. "There's one in the back." The four stared at her, their faces blank. "We used our magic to seal it, but more have been popping up and we don't know why. Want to see?" The four looked at each other and shrugged, but Fluttershy was the first to rush forward through the curtained door. When the quintet finally got outside, they noticed that Fluttershy was reassuring a bunch of small bunnies and centipedes in the ground stressed out by the immense, colorful rift floating just above their homes. The area was accessible to anypony, but no pony was present save for the six. The others they could see through the spaces between the buildings were giving it a wide berth. "Don't know what they are, but every time we seal one more pop up elsewhere, and they keep getting brighter every day," Rarity explained. Fluttershy leaned in and listened to a group of blue centipedes and nodded at some imperceptible 'voice' they were making. The lavender earth pony slowly moved forward, curious. "What are you doing?" Twilight asked. "O-oh." Fluttershy stood up and shifted nervously in place. "They're telling me the rifts don't stay sealed. They reopen on their own." The five froze in place. "They what," Rainbow stuttered. A flash of colorful light inundated the area, followed by a clashing aura of black lined by white that fought the colors for control of the rift. "That's new!" Twilight shouted. "Not again!" Rainbow protested as she and the other five were sucked into the rift space again.