//------------------------------// // Coincidences of Curiosity and Stupidity // Story: My Giant Robot: Friendship is Awesome // by shinigamisparda //------------------------------// “Twilight! Are you coming out of there yet!?” “Hm?” the violet alicorn responded, still engrossed in her studies. “Don’t ‘hm’ me, Twilight! How much longer are you going to be in here!?” Twilight Sparkle looked up from the parchment she was reading at her assistant, standing in the doorway of the study with his arms folded. “Oh give me a break Spike, it’s not like I have any duties or lessons to attend to today. I know it doesn’t mean much to you but I’m getting to read the notes and journals of Star Swirl the Bearded’s research with my own two eyes!” she said with an enthusiastic smile. The new Princess had found her return to life in Canterlot to be mixed a bag, separated from her friends for long periods of time and having to endure lessons on how to conduct herself as a “proper noble”, but there had been some undeniable boons as well. Twilight had just today started a personal project of hers, to read and organize all the writings of one of her favorite researchers, which as it turned out had been preserved and kept in his study. However, they were so numerous and so disorganized that nopony had bothered to try and put them all in order, something she had decided to correct… while also getting to read the scriptures herself. “Yeah, I know Twilight, you told me when you first started. Six hours ago,” the baby drake finished, emphasizing those last words with as much anger and frustration as he could. “Oh come on Spike, stop exaggerating.” “’Exaggerating?’” Spike retorted as he calmly strolled over to the window before pulling back the curtains, showing the moon and the stars above. “So Celestia and Luna made a mistake?” he asked rhetorically, pointing outside for emphasis. Twilight’s jaw dropped for a moment before she recovered, smiling sheepishly and blushing while scratching her head in embarrassment. “Heh heh. I guess I kind lost track of time, huh?” “Maybe just a little,” Spike answered, laying on the sarcasm extra thick. “Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t gotten hungry with how-” A loud grumble from the mare cut the dragon off, causing Twilight to blush even heavier. Spike sighed. “Come on, let’s head over to Pony Joe’s and get something to eat. Besides I need you to pay the I.O.U.’s I racked up this afternoon.” “What?” Twilight asked angrily. “I thought it would be a good punishment for making me wait so long,” Spike explained with a mischievous smirk. Twilight glared for a moment but then simply sighed. “Fine. I guess I could use a donut or two myself.” “Or five,” the dragon muttered. “What?” “Nothing. Now are we going to get going or not?” “Sure, just let me put this back.” Twilight levitated the parchment and rolled it up before heading over to the many bookshelves that lined the study. Unlike back in her old room at the library Twilight didn’t have everything memorized so she couldn’t just put things back without looking. As she trotted over her wing bumped into a lantern on the wall. Instead of knocking it over, it turned as though it was a handle. “What the-?” Before she could finish a small hole opened near her hooves. In the light of the moon she could see a small parchment inside. She levitated it out of the hole and unwrapped it without thinking. After scanning it for a moment her eyes opened in shock, her reaction so great that she dropped the other parchment she was putting back. “Twilight, are you ok?” Spike asked, both in concern for his lifelong friend and frustration that they hadn’t left to eat yet. “T-This-! This is-!” “W-What?” Spike asked, his voice now more concerned than frustrated. “These are instructions and research for a spell I’ve never seen before! An unfinished spell from Star Swirl the Bearded himself!” Twilight exclaimed with excitement. Spike, on the other hoof, flinched. “Um, Twilight, you remember what happened the last time you got an unfinished spell, right?” That memory temporarily knocked the newly crowned princess out of her excitement. “Well, yeah, of course. But this is different! This spell says exactly what it’s supposed to do!” Spike calmed down a bit after hearing that. “Which is?” “If I can get this to work, this spell will create a window that can allow the caster to view other worlds!” “WHOOOOOOOO!” “ALL RIGHT!” Coop and Jamie screamed in excitement from their seat on the couch in the basement, watching the wrestling fight on screen. “Another wrestling match, you two?” Kiva asked as she came down the stairs, bringing them snacks and drinks. Coop turned and took the treats from her. “Thanks Kiva!” He was about begin eating when he noticed a water bottle among all the sodas. “Um, I think this is yours,” he said as he handed her the bottle, looking at it like it would infect him. Kiva simply rolled her eyes and took the bottle before twisting it open and taking a drink. Out of boredom she began watching the program, noticing the low quality of it. “This isn’t recent, is it?” she asked absentmindedly. “Nope. This is from twenty years ago, the best wrestling match ever!” Coop explained enthusiastically. “The Last Stand of the Masked Marauder, only the greatest professional wrestler who ever lived,” Jamie added. Kiva examined the fight onscreen, seeing a masked wrestler in the traditional garb of shorts and boots fending off three others. What caught her attention was the apparent age of masked fighter. “How old is he here?” she asked. “In his early 50’s. That’s what made him so amazing,” Coop replied. “The Masked Marauder had a thirty year long career, and he held the title of UWA champion for a total of eighteen years, seven of them in a row,” Jamie explained. “What always caught everyone off guard was that it was like he got better as he got older, even against the younger new guys. Oh, watch this!” Jamie pointed at the screen and saw the Masked Marauder thrown at the ropes by one of his combatants who, along with another, was preparing for him to rebound back and hit hard. As anticipated, the masked fighter hit the ropes back first, the recoil causing him to rocket back with momentum. The two other combatants raised their arms, ready to clothesline him, but were caught off guard when he ducked down and wrapped one arm on each of their waists. He quickly tossed them both over his shoulders and they landed on their backs, winded. Wasting no time, the Masked Marauder jumped up and straightened himself out to land two simultaneous elbow drops to the stomachs’ of his opponents. “YEAH!” Coop shouted. “See what I mean?” Jamie asked. “I think I do,” Kiva answered. “Quite impressive. He’s not as agile as his opponents but he’s certainly more skilled.” She watched him quickly pin both combatants at once to the count of three, both of them leaving the ring in defeat with only one remaining, who finally arose after a previous injury. “And here comes the best part!” Coop said with glee. All attention focused on the screen as the combatant threw himself back first at the ropes, letting his momentum rocket him towards the Masked Marauder. The older combatant looked like he was going to take the charge head on, but at the last minute stepped to the side and slammed his forearm into the charging man’s stomach, causing him to flip over it and land on his back. The older man climbed up of the corners of the ring before jumping off the post and landing a flying elbow drop on the younger combatant’s stomach. While his opponent was still stunned from the impact the Masked Marauder flipped the man onto his back and began to put him into a position that, if Kiva recalled correctly, was called a “Boston Crab.” After a few moments the younger fighter tapped out and with that the fight was over. “Man, gets me every time,” Coop said with a satisfied look on his face. “And that’s saying something considering this must’ve been the fiftieth time we’ve watched this fight,” Jamie commented. “So why was it called ‘The Masked Maruder’s Last Stand’?” Kiva asked. “Unless I’m missing something, he just won.” “Every pro reaches a point where they just can’t do it anymore,” Coop explained solemnly. “The Masked Marauder said he was finally getting too old and his next title defense would be his last. When he announced that the big UWA big wigs decided to make it an event and do a four man free-for-all.” “’Free-for-all’? Looked like they were all going for him to me.” “That’s because he was the one who held the belt at the time,” Jamie explained. “Whoever won this would be the new champ so they decided to work together to get the old one out of the way first.” “So he got to retire without anyone dethroning him?” “Truly, there was no better way to end a career,” Coop commented with a sniffle. “What I wouldn’t give to have been there myself and see it with my own two eyes.” “Too bad we both had exams that day,” Jamie remarked bitterly. “School always ruins everything,” Coop replied in an equally frustrated tone. Kiva simply rolled her eyes and headed back towards the stairs to check up on M.E.G.A.S. when a thought hit her. A crazy, daring, reckless, stupid thought that, if not for the possible reward at the end, would’ve been tossed out of her mind immediately. She still had to tussle with whether or not to every think of trying it before she finally decided. “You know,” she began, turning back to the two. “We might be able to do something about that.” “Whaddya mean?” Coop asked absentmindedly, still engrossed by the Masked Marauder’s victory and farewell speech. “I’m just saying, we do have a time machine sitting right under our noses.” For a moment everything in the room, except the T.V., went silent as the two slackers turned to face the soldier in shock. “Kiva, are you really saying what I think you’re saying?” Jamie asked, obviously concerned. “Like, you saying we can go back in time and watch the match?” Coop asked hopefully. “I’ll tell you what Coop,” Kiva began. “If you can help me fix the Time Flux control unit and head into the future to defeat the Glorft like M.E.G.A.S. was always intended to do, I’ll have no problems with a little field trip back in time to watch a wrestling match.” “ROCK ON!” Coop shouted before leaping over the back of the couch, something rather impressive considering his girth, and ran outside. As soon as he was gone Jamie turned to the future redhead. “Who are you and what’ve you done with Kiva?” he asked suspiciously. “And what is that supposed to mean?” she asked with a scowl. “Well aside from the fact that you’re actually suggesting something cool for once, there’s also that you’re trusting Coop with something this important.” Kiva sighed. “Yes, I know we haven’t exactly had the best history when it comes to Coop tampering with M.E.G.A.S., but if my time here has taught me anything it’s not to underestimate what he can do. If anyone can fix the Time Flux unit with the primitive technology in this time, it’s him.” Jamie scoffed and opened himself a can of soda. “Ok. Have fun destroying the universe.” “Oh come on, even Coop can’t make things that bad… I hope…” Twilight groaned in frustration as she rolled up the parchment and set it on the desk of her quarters. “No wonder Star Swirl gave up on this spell,” she muttered. On what spell? Twilight eyes shot open in fear before she realized she knew the voice resonating throughout the room. “Come out, Discord,” she commanded. In flash the Master of Disharmony appeared above her, a smug smirk stretched across his face. “Well, looks like somepony’s really getting a hold of being a noble, giving commands and such. Still learning how to walk with your snout in the air?” he in a condescending tone. “Just why are you here, Discord?” Twilight asked, ignoring the question. “Oh come on, Sparkle, you should know the answer to that by now.” Twilight sighed. “You’re bored,” she stated, her voice full of grudging resignation. “See, you’re learning.” “Can’t you go be bored somewhere else?” “But Fluttershy’s asleep, I don’t want to disturb her.” “So you’re going to bug me instead?” “But it feels like forever since we’ve seen each other, Sparkle. And speaking of ‘seeing’,” Discord began before grabbing the parchment. “Just what’ve you been looking at?” “Hey, give that back!” she shouted while trying to grab it out of his claw. The spirit of Chaos teleported to the other side of the room to dodge. “Now now, Sparkle, I’m just going to read it. Don’t just snatch things out of others’ claws, it’s rude.” Twilight growled but held herself back. “Fine.” “Thank you.” As the parchment unwrapped itself and floated in mid-air Discord snapped and summoned a pair of reading glasses. “Now let’s see here,” he began, putting on the spectacles before holding the paper with his own claw again. “Oh, now this sounds interesting. Why haven’t I seen anypony use this spell before?” “Keep reading and you’ll find out, “ Twilight answered. Discord quietly continued to read the writings and soon found information that surprised even him. After many tries I have found that only one source of power will aid me in completing this spell, a power that disturbs me greatly: Black magic. Something about the nature of this dark energy seems more suited to bending the laws of reality in such a way that will allow me to complete my spell. After some convincing Princess Celestia has allowed me access to the restricted section of the castle archives for my research. Under the guise of learning ways to counteract Black Magic, I have learned the basics of this dark force. However, even armed with this restricted knowledge I once again find myself hitting a roadblock. The amount of black magic I require to properly cast this spell is more than I currently possess. Though it would be a simple matter for me to hone my skill in this dark art until I would be able to, this of course carries some other risks. I am well acquainted with the tale of King Sombra and the terrifying power that stallion had lost himself to. It is with great frustration that I abandon this spell. I have told the Princess that I was unable to complete what I was working on, even though she still believes that I was working on spells to counteract black magic. My answer is true enough, at least. As with all of my works I will keep these notes, unfinished spell or not, in hopes of someday completing them or allowing somepony else to. However, this parchment I hide in hopes that only one with enough restraint and power over the dark arts finds it, and not some fool who will simply pursue it blindly. “Well now, this is a find, isn’t it?” Discord commented. “Maybe to history and nothing else,” Twilight grumbled. “What do you mean?” “I mean I won’t be able to do anything with it. I may have completed another one of Star Swirl’s unfinished spells, but this is beyond me. I barely know any dark magic, and what little I do I learned from the one time Celestia used it in front of me, and I’m not too keen on the idea of turning into the next Sombra, thank you very much.” “What about the work around he mentioned?” “Huh?” the alicorn princess turned to the draconequus, confused. “Right here on the back, it mentions a possible way to get around that little hiccup.” “What’re you…” Twilight began, only to stop herself and levitate the parchment before her eyes. Sure enough, there was a last tidbit on the back she completely missed. Though it won’t help much now I think I may have a way to bypass the risk of losing oneself to these dark arts. If there was perhaps some sort of artifact to use, something that would enhance any black magic power I put into it may be enough to generate the power needed to finally get this spell to work. Alas, I know not of such an object, and I do not feel like raising the suspicions of the Princess by asking for one. Nevertheless, surely if one were to come into my hooves it would be the safest way to finally conduct this experiment successfully. “Well that doesn’t help much,” Twilight Sparkle commented, deflated from her hopes being dashed. “What do you mean?” Discord asked. “The only dark artifact I know would be the Alicorn Amulet, and that’s under lock and key with Zecora, and for good reason. That charm would definitely corrupt me if I were to use it.” “Hm,” Discord muttered, scratching his beard for a moment. Soon a devilish smirk crept onto his face. “Allow me to offer my services, your highness.” “Huh?” With a snapped Discord summoned a red object. It looked like a broken claw or piece of rock of some kind. “W-What’s that?” Twilight asked nervously. “Exactly what you need, an object that can amplify whatever black magic you put into it. Something I picked up in my more recent travels.” “You really expect me to just take something from you and use it without a second thought?” Twilight asked angrily. “Maybe, maybe not. Until you decide for sure, I’ll just leave this here,” he replied, floating down and leaving the object on her desk. “Ta ta, Sparkle.” And with a snap and a flash he was gone. Twilight stared at the object for moment. For some reason, she couldn’t shake the feeling that it looked familiar. She shook the thought out of her head before opening one of the drawers of her desk and levitating the object inside. There was no way she was going to risk using anything Discord gave her. Even if he wasn’t evil anymore there was no doubt that whatever it was going to cause trouble if she wasn’t prepared for it. As she thought that her eyes turned to the Elements of Harmony resting in the glass case only a few hoofs away. “Maybe…” she muttered before shaking her head. “No. No way,” she told herself firmly before going to be for the night. However, that thought would soon fester inside her until it had to be let out… “I still can’t believe you’re going through with this,” Jamie commented. “I’d think you would by now. That must be the eighth time you’ve said that exact line toady,” Kiva answered, once again checking on the condition of the time drive on her holographic screen. It had been a week since the future warrior and the gearhead had begun working on a new Time Flux control unit, Kiva trying to reign him in over his excitement of going to see the Masked Marauder in person. “Come on Kiva, how bad an idea does this have to be when I’m the voice of reason around here?” asked from folding chair, reading the latest issue of “Space Amazons.” “Jamie, this may be my one chance to actually make it back to the future to defeat the Glorft. I’m willing to take the risk. Also, as amazing as the technology is, I’d like to get M.E.G.A.S'. photonic stablizer replaced instead of having to constantly reapply duck tape.” “So you’re even letting Coop actually make the thing?” “Hey guys!” Coop called, walking up to the head of the robot. “I think I’ve finally got a winner!” Coop showed off a small metal device about the size of a microwave. It was a patchwork job, metals of different ages clearly used to make the different pieces of the case. On the front in hastily drawn paint were the words “TIME CONTROL THINGY”. Kiva stared at the object for a moment before sighing and taking it herself. She opened up the back and saw a rather impressive collection of wires, motherboards, and other electrical odds and ends. “I have to admit, in a way I’m impressed. I half expected there to be a soda or ice cream in here somewhere,” she commented. “Yeah, well, I did my best to find substitutes in those plans you gave me. Wasn’t easy, but I think it’ll work.” “Well, let’s find out,” Kiva said as she opened a panel by her feet. She had already figured out which wires to link the device to beforehand and did the necessary connections to Coop’s device. “Ok Coop, let’s start it and see if it works.” Coop entered the driver’s seat and turned the key in the ignition. The metal giant roared to life and all the systems and lights activated. Kiva observed the indicators on her holo-screen and noticed the hum from the device in her lap. Her eyes widened in shock. “I can’t believe it. It actually works!” she exclaimed. “Really!?” Coop asked in hope. “Really?” Jamie asked, utterly confused as to how that could possibly be true. “The control unit is working in sync with Time Drive, and everything is in balance, at least for the moment,” Kiva explained. “ROCK ON! TO THE WRESTLING MATCH!” the fat man exclaimed with a fist pump. “To the future,” Kiva corrected. “That’s what we agreed on, remember?” “Aw, man,” Coop complained. “Let’s get into high atmosphere before using this. It looks fine now but I’d prefer to activate this in a place were nothing will get destroyed if something goes wrong.” “Why bother? You know something’s going to get wrecked at some point,” Jamie complained. “Let’s just go, ok?” Kiva asked, frustrated. “Ok then, time to beat up squids in the future!” Coop exclaimed, his enthusiasm restored before revving the engine. “There’s no way this will work,” Jamie muttered as the mech took to the skies. “Sir, the sensors have picked up an energy spike from Earth!” the Glorft Commander said to his leader. “What kind of energy?” Warmaster Gorrath asked. “Sir, if I’m not mistaken, it’s the same energy that brought us here to Earth’s past!” “Does that mean what I think it means?” “I think so, sir. It would appear that the avatar prototype is attempting to jump to a different time.” “This is perfect!” the Warmaster gloated. “We can capture the prototype and return to our time in one fell swoop! Prepare to drop out of null-space!” he commanded as he stepped back towards his seat. “But sir, wouldn’t it be easier to just slip in through the portal once the prototype opens it?” Gorrath stopped in his tracks for a moment before turning around to glare at his second-in-command. “What was that?” he asked in quiet yet terrifying tone. “U-Um, well sir. It’s just that we haven’t had the best of luck catching the prototype in the past,” the Commander stuttered. “Perhaps we should simply allow it to head into the future along with us. Then we’ll be able to connect to the entire armada and easily overtake it.” “Are you insinuating that we would not be able to capture the prototype by ourselves!?” the Warmaster bellowed. “Um, no sir, I’m certainly not insinuating that,” the Commander replied. It was true, he wasn’t insinuating anything. He was outright telling his superior that they probably would fail. “Then drop out nof ull-space and prepare for battle! Today we take back both the past and future of Earth!” Gorrath declared before returning to his seat and letting out a maniacal laugh. “Yes sir!” the Commander answered before turning to the rest of the crew. “All hands, prepare to drop out of null-space! All pilots, to your mechs!” As everyone else did as ordered the commander applied his hand to his face. “He never learns,” he muttered. It had been about a week since Twilight Sparkle had her little talk with Discord, and over that time she just couldn’t keep that little thought from festering in her mind. She had called her friends over the night before, making sure to use her new royal status to get them tickets for the train and a place for the night. The next morning the six mares and one baby dragon met in the royal garden of Canterlot castle. “So Twi, what exactly did ya call us all out here for?” Applejack asked. “Yes darling, please explain,” Rarity said. “I’m more than happy to finally be able to see you again after all these months, but what exactly requires us all to be out here in the garden?” Twilight took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “Before I begin I’d like to thank you all for coming. I’d also like to apologize for not being able to see you last night, I had more lessons on proper royal etiquette.” “Pfft. Lame,” Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes. “Rainbow, sush darling! Those are very important!” Rarity insisted. “Whatever. Can you just get to the point, Twilight? Kinda want to know where this is going.” The violet alicorn shifted her forelegs nervously before responding. “Ok. Well, the thing is um… You see…” Spike groaned and stepped in. “She wants all of you to help her with a spell she found,” he explained. “Spike! I was going to say that!” “Yeah, maybe in a few hours at the rate you were going.” “Oh! What kind of spell?” Pinkie Pie asked excitedly. “Is it a fun spell? Is it a spooky spell? OH! MAYBE IT’S A PARTY SPELL! THAT WOULD SO ABSOLUTELY AWESOMELY STUPEND-mph!” Rainbow Dash silenced the pink mare by shoving her hoof into her mouth. “Ok, so I can maybe get Rarity helping you with a spell, but why the rest of us?” “It’s not a unicorn I need to help me, it’s the Elements of Harmony I need,” the Princess explained. “I found an unfinished spell from Star Swirl the Bearded and-“ she stopped when she saw the other five mares flinch at that. “Hey, I know what it does this time!” she shouted in frustration. Everpony else visibly calmed at that. “Anyway, like I was saying, I found this unfinished spell and I wanted to try finishing, but it has some risks.” “U-Um, w-what kind of r-risks?” Fluttershy stuttered. “Well, it’s a spell that’s meant to open a window to see other worlds,” Twilight began. “Aw! That’s not as cool as party spell!” Pinkie Pie pouted. Applejack rolled her eyes. “That’s pretty neat, Twi, but what’s so dangerous about a spell like that?” she asked. “Well, it’s because of what I need to make it work. Namely, black magic,” Twilight explained. “B-Black Magic!?” Fluttershy squeaked. “You mean, like the kind of magic that awful Sombra character used?” Rarity asked nervously. “Star Swirl was never able to finish the spell because he was afraid the amount of black magic he’d need might cause him to loose himself to the darkness. He did think of a way around it, but unfortunately he didn’t have what he needed.” “But you do, huh?” Rainbow asked. Twilight used her magic to reach into her saddlebag and pull out the object Discord left her. “I’ll be honest girls, I’m not exactly sure what this is but it definitely has a large amount of black magic in it. The idea is that instead of steeping myself in so much dark power I instead put some black magic into this which will amplify the power to what I might need.” “So what’s the problem?” “The problem is, like I said, I don’t know what this is. I don’t know what side effects, if any, will occur from using it. But I figure since its black magic that having the Elements of Harmony at the ready with be able to take down anything that might come out of this.” “So we’re just here as way ta make sure nothing goes wrong?” Applejack asked, feeling somewhat used. “Not just that. I want you all here to help me decide if I should be doing this in the first place.” “Huh?” the five mares asked in response. “I’ll be honest here girls, I’m messing with things I don’t fully understand. Since I need all of you to make this as safe as I possibly can, I feel it’s only right that you have a say in deciding whether or not we should go through with it.” “Well of course we’ll go through it, silly Billy! If we didn’t, this fanfic wouldn’t get anywhere!” Pinkie chimed. For a good minute, nopony said a word and only stared. “Well, I guess that means Pinkie’s on board,” Twilight said, choosing to ignore the more nonsensical parts of her friend’s answer. “Anypony else?” “I’m cool with it,” Rainbow stated. “I kinda want to see what other worlds would look like, and I’m sure all six of us can handle anything that might go wrong.” “Well, I’m sort of curious, too,” Fluttershy commented. “And, if Rainbow is ok with it, then I guess I am too. If that’s ok.” “Although I’m somewhat unnerved by the use of black magic, I must admit my curiosity is getting the better of me,” Rarity declared. “In addition, the precautions you’re taking help to put me at ease. Let’s do it!” There was only one more left. “Applejack?” Twilight asked, turning to the orange farm mare. Applejack held her eyes closed for moment before opening them to face the new alicorn princess. “Tell me this Twi, what do ya plan on doin’ after this?” she asked. “What do you mean?” “Well, let’s say this spell a yours works. What’re ya gonna do afterward? Ah’m fine with helpin’ a friend, but ya can’t expect us tah come here every time ya wanna cast this spell.” “Of course not. If the spell works, I’ll try and find a way around the need for black magic, if possible, and it’ll be something much safer. This is mostly just to see if Star Swirl’s theories hold water.” “An if they don’t?” “Well, then that’s the end of it. If the spell won’t work, then it won’t work, and it’ll just be filed away as failed experiment.” Applejack smiled. “Alright. If that’s how you’re plannin’ ta do this, then Ah’m alright with it.” “Thanks,” Twilight smiled back. The alicorn turned to Spike. “Now Spike, get ready to take notes. And remember, if things start to go south hoof it straight to Celestia. Even if we’ve dealt with whatever bad might happen by the time you’re back, I’d rather be safe than sorry.” “Gotcha, Twilight,” Spike replied with a salute. Twilight levitated a paper and a quill from her saddlebag to the young drake before also levitating all the Elements out to their respective users. Finally she levitated the object of dark magic in front of her. “Alright everypony, stand back.” Twilight closed her eyes for a moment and when they opened they radiated an eerie green glow along with dark purple smoke rising from their edges. She quickly fired a beam of black energy with green crackling lightning that met with the red object. Dark energy began to quickly gather around it like a sphere. This continued until it was twice the size of the average pony. The alicorn princess quickly uttered the incantation, her eyes changing from green to bright white. “So that other worlds may meet my gaze, pierce for me reality’s haze!” The dark energy seemed to collapse in on itself for a moment before it exploded in a brief flash with an audible pop. As everpony’s eyes adjusted they now found themselves staring at a window in reality, a starry sky clearly visible. “Is this it?” Rainbow Dash asked, staring at the anomaly curiously. “It doesn’t look like much.” “Oh my!” Rarity exclaimed. “Look there!” she pointed. In the corner of the portal there were landmasses and oceans visible. It took them barely a second to realize that they were looking down on a planet from high above, almost in space. “I’ve never seen those landmasses before,” Twilight stated, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “Does that mean what I think it means?” Spike asked. Twilight’s humble smile quickly grew to spread across her face. “IT WORKED! IT REALLY WORKED!” she exclaimed in glee. “T-T-T-T-Twi-i-i-i-ili-i-i-i-i-i-ight!” The five ponies and one dragon turned to look at the shivering pink mare. “I-I-I-I-I-I thi-i-i-i-i-i-ink I-I-I-I-I-I-I fe-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-el a-a-a-a-a-a d-d-d-d-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-z-z-z-z-z-y-y-y-y c-c-c-o-o-o-o-omi-i-i-i-i-i-ing!” she managed to say through her vibrations. “’A doozy?’” Twilight asked. However, her attention was taken away from her friend by a brief flash of white from the window in front of her. “Huh? What was-?’ “Uh, Twilight?” Spike said in a panicked voice, pulling on the mare’s tail to catch her attention. “I think I figured out what that doozy was!” The violet alicorn turned around and saw what all of her friends were now staring at in fear. Towering above them was a form they were only too familiar with. “Alright Coop, let’s give this a try,” Kiva said. “Tell me when it’s over,” Jamie muttered, pulling his beanie down over his eyes. M.E.G.A.S. was currently flying in high atmosphere above the Earth, not completely missing oxygen but enough that’s its passengers had to keep the windows up to avoid oxygen deprivation. The stars were clearly visible in the sky. “Alright, let’s do this!” Coop exclaimed before pushing a button labeled “Four Pages Before the End of the Chapter”. M.E.G.A.S.’ chest opened as a humming noise began. Everything was going fine until a crackling noise came from the Time Flux Control Unit. “Oh no,” Kiva muttered. “Toldya so,” Jamie commented, still covering his eyes in fear. “What’s goin’ on?” Coop asked before noticing the sparks coming from the device he made. “It’s destabilizing! We have to stop or it might-!” Before she could finish M.E.G.A.S. fired a short white energy burst from its chest cavity. It flew farther upwards for a good five seconds before erupting in a flash of white. Within moments it was replaced with a large swirling white vortex. “Hey, I think it worked!” Coop said gleefully. “Well it certainly made a portal. Let me just check to see if it worked the way we wanted,” Kiva said while summoning her holo-screen. After few moments of typing her eyes widened. “Well… That’s unexpected.” “What is it?’ “That last flux with the Time Drive changed the nature of the portal. You didn’t create a temporal vortex, you created a trans-dimensional vortex!” “What’s that mean?” “It means instead of creating a portal to another time you created a portal to another dimension.” “Huh. Well that didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it would,” Jamie commented, finally lifting his beanie off his eyes. “I’m going to see if I can find a way to close it before we figure out what went wrong with the Time Flux unit,” Kiva said as she typed away. “Another dimension? You mean like that one where I went to where I fought the evil skinny me that took over the world?” Coop asked. “You know we still don’t believe that story, right?’ Kiva commented. “Seriously dude, the part about me and Kiva dating was the deal breaker,” Jamie added. Suddenly, not far from the mech burst a massive swirling vortex. “Oh no. Coop get away from it!” Kiva shouted. Coop moved his custom eight ball gearshift into position and flew away from the object exiting the portal. Within seconds the Karajor, the Glorft mothership, had completely exited null-space. “Oh man! Why’d they have to show up!?” Coop complained. Before anyone could answer the white portal flashed a rainbow of colors. “Huh?” “Coop, I think something’s coming through the portal!” Kiva exclaimed. “Oh no! Not you!” Twilight cried. Baring down on them was a ghastly figure she recognized all too well: King Sombra. “B-But how did you-!?” Twilight began before she recognized the horn protruding above the apparition’s eyes. “It was your horn! I knew it seemed familiar! Oh, this all my fault!” “Yessss,” the dark king hissed. “Now all will suffer!” “Not if we’ve got somethin’ ta say ‘bout it!” Applejack declared, stepping forward defiantly. “C’mon Twi! Let’s put ‘im down!” The panicked princess turned to her friend, looking at her like she was crazy, until she noticed the gleam from the necklace around her. That was all it took for everything to click and remind her why they were all here in the first place. “Right!’ Twilight said with a determined smirk. “Come on, girls!’ Everypony nodded while Spike hid behind the girls, his escape route cut off by the intimidating opponent. All of their jewelry began to glow as they began to levitate into the air. “NO!” hissed Sombra. He charged forward and, amazingly, managed to scatter the ponies from each other, stopping the spell. Sombra turned to face his enemies. “I WILL NOT BE DENIED!” “Oh boy,” Spike muttered before sprinting towards the exit. He was cut off as a black bolt of dark energy exploded just inches from him, barely missing his body. Thankfully the distraction was enough for the six mares to rally themselves once again. “Let’s get him!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “BEGONE!” the evil king shouted as he dashed towards them again. But this time Twilight Sparkle was ready. She cast a barrier around herself and her friends that King Sombra smashed into, unable to penetrate it although cracks did form. As the barrier began to weaken the Elements of Harmony went to work activating their powers. “NO!” the king screamed even more forcefully than before, attempting to smother the barrier with his misty form to break it. Although he was successful, it was too late. The six mares shined as a rainbow beam of energy engulfed his shadowy form. As the haze gave way the stallion’s original regal form became visible. As he was forced back into the window his body began to crack and break down under the light’s power. With a scream of pain and frustration his body exploded, leaving only the horn behind. The Elements of Harmony gradually lost their glow as the six mares floated to the ground. Twilight Sparkle sighed. “Well, I’m never trying that again.” All seemed well, until she noticed King Sombra’s horn levitating on it’s own. Before she could say anything a violent wind came from the window and quickly sucked the horn in, disappearing like it had gone underwater. The wind continued, like a giant vacuum, and began pulling at the six mares and the dragon. Twilight realized the window had now become some kind of portal. “Everypony hold on!” she screamed as she gripped the ground with her hooves, Pinkie Pie, Flutterhsy, Rarity, and Spike doing the same. Applejack attempted to hold onto her hat with one hoof but found it too difficult so she moved it between her teeth, allowing her to use both of her forehooves to grasp the ground. Rainbow Dash attempted to fly away but after realizing it was a losing battle landed and gripped the ground like everypony else. “Ugh! This wind is ruining my mane!” Rarity screamed. “Twilight! I can’t hold on!” Spike yelled. Moments later his grip failed him and he tumbled back into Rainbow Dash, who in turn fell into Rarity. Applejack saw what was happening and launched herself at her friends, managing to grab the cyan pegasus before once again grabbing the ground. Unfortunately the force of her friend being pulled in was enough to wrench her own grip and the two tumbled along with Spike and Rarity towards the portal. It was all Twilight could do to cast a barrier around the four, protecting them from whatever might harm them as they fell through the portal. Not a moment afterwards Fluttershy lost her grip and tumbled into the violet and pink mares. Twilight managed to cast the same barrier spell around the three of them as they fell into the portal, which immediately closed behind them. “Whaddya mean ‘something’s coming through?’” Jamie asked nervously. As if in response to his question a small violet orb shot out and crashed into the Glorft Mothership, causing a small explosion. Not seconds later, another one shot out, straight at M.E.G.A.S. “Coop! Look out!” Kiva shouted. “Too late!” he yelled back before the orb crashed into the torso of the mech, sending it and itself plummeting towards the Earth. The three of them screamed before they finally landed in the junkyard with a massive thud. The three of them groaned as they recovered from the impact. “Coop! What did I tell you about crashing in the junkyard!?” The blonde gearhead looked out the window to see an angry Goat shaking his fist at him. He rolled down the window before shouting “Sorry dude! Got hit by some kind of purple ball thing from another dimension!” Goat was about to continue when his gaze shifted to M.E.G.A.S.’ torso. “Hey guys, what’re those?” The three riders looked out the window to see three beings lying in pain and groaning on top of M.E.G.A.S. One of them, purple one with multi-colored hair, slowly rose and shook it’s head slightly. “Ugh, where are we?” it muttered. It turned to observe its surroundings before locking eyes with the three of them. Nobody said a word for a good minute and a half. “Well, at least it’s not a giant monster from another dimension,” Jamie quipped.