"Huuuuuuu…." I slowly exhaled, striking smoothly at quarter speed. My hammer arced gracefully, and Lyra nodded approval.
"Good!" She circled behind me, tapping my knees. "Place your feet carefully! This is the third stance we've adjusted, and you use it a lot; re-training may take a while."
"Yes, Jedi." I relaxed, standing loosely but attentively. I was beginning to feel I was making real progress working with Lyra. Besides meditation, she had begun analyzing my self-developed fighting style. Some parts she approved of, especially my throws and kicks, while others she decried as sloppy, and even once, disgusting.
The first few sessions of analysis had been uncomfortable for me, as she examined and pushed my limits, testing just how far I could grow.
"All right! Now, meditate." I nodded, and dropped to the floor cross-legged. We were in her studio above the store, golden sunbeams spilling through the high windows. It was silent as a dream despite the bustling city outside, friendly and welcoming as a good book on a rainy day. I closed my eyes, and focused on breathing.
I was initially surprised to discover just how practical unicorn meditation was. Instead of koans or vision seeking, it had more in common with biofeedback or stress therapy. On reflection, my expectations were ridiculous; I knew very little about meditation on Earth, and relation between the two was obviously impossible.
"Focus!" Lyra snapped. I turned my attention inwards, trying to monitor each element of my physiology individually and collectively. "Ok, good enough." after an uncountable number of breaths, she released me. "Stand, start over." I rose and began again, attempting to maintain the mindful state I had cultivated. I felt focused and alert, my body responded easily and loosely. After a few minutes my concentration began fraying, and I dropped my arms, showing my limits. "You're doing better. Ok, we're done for today."
"Thanks." I wiped my forehead. "Oh, I need to say; I've been appointed to the Royal Guard."
"Oh-ho. You're a citizen now?"
"Pretty much. But I'm also being called for duty. I'll be out of town, and don't know when I'll be back."
"Hmm, that's not so good." She gave me a piercing yellow glance. "If you're not careful, you'll hinder your training. Be sure to continue practicing as you can, and for stars sake try not to get into too many fights! If I have to beat another bad habit out of you, we could be at this for years."
"Yes, Jedi."
"Humph, fine. Well, I guess there's nothing I can do about it." Lyra crossed the room and levitated some small globes. I watched in fascination as she began her own workout, mobility and acceleration training with weighted spheres. I knew casting was a relatively small part of her discipline, but the basics, throughput and control, were developed like this. "So, are you going by yourself?"
"The Elements are summoned as well."
"Up north. Hum. Are you going to that Crystal Kingdom you mentioned by any chance?"
"The Empire? No idea. Probably, since Sombra is involved." I shifted uncomfortably. "Hey, be sure to keep this stuff under your hat, Lyra. I don't think it's exactly secret, but I don't really want it spread around, either."
"Of course." She smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it."
"Right. Ok. Well, see you tomorrow." I left her to her workout, and headed out to start my day.
"So, what do you think is going on?" Rainbow asked, drawing my attention from the passing scenery.
"No idea." I glanced around the cabin. We were headed north by train. The rest of the Elements were chatting and relaxing as best they could. "All Celestia said was Sombra's up to no good. I guess we'll be filled in on arrival? Still, it's enough she thought the Elements might be necessary."
"Yeah, but we all saw Twilight's."
"I know." I sighed. I was concerned about testing, but if Celestia deployed the Elements despite the fracture of Magic…she thought this was serious. I couldn't withdraw my support, not after giving my word in full knowledge. "She thinks they might work, but with drawbacks."
"Drawbacks?"
I winced. I hadn't detailed Celestia's warning, and didn't really want to.
"Yeah. Drawbacks."
"That what's eating you?"
"Heh. Maybe. Am I that obvious?"
"Well, maybe not. But we're not strangers anymore, Wes."
"True."
"We're your friends."
"You're right."
"And friends tell each other things."
"Fine." I threw an arm over her neck, dragging her into the seat next to me, and lowered my voice. "Twilight and I think the Elements are useable, but there will be backlash."
"What sort of backlash?"
"Not really sure. But we did simulations; turns out, the Elements channel magic through your soul. The magic of friendship, or the noetic pseudo-element we've labeled that, is-" I cut off as Rainbow's eyes started glazing over. "Short version?"
"Ten words or less."
"It's going to hurt. A lot."
"All of us?" Her eyes widened in alarm, then narrowed as I shook my head slowly.
"Just me."
"And you're…OK with that?"
"Well, I'm obviously not looking forward to it much."
"He said, in a calm voice with an unruffled demeanor."
"Pffft. Ok, ok. Well...of course I don't like the idea. But I'm not backing out just because it might hurt. Seriously, Rainbow. You followed us through the gateway to the Crystal Kingdom easily enough, so no calling me reckless or shortsighted."
"Still, you seem kind of careless. That's unhealthy, dude."
"I'm not uncaring, I'm resigned! Look, you know what Celestia did for me the other day?"
"Made you a citizen."
"Sure. But, to do that, she came to Ponyville just for me and inducted me into the Guard personally. The ruler of the realm specifically went out of her way to make my life easier. Maybe that was partly a favor to Twilight, but I think it also shows she trusts me, thinks I'm worth the time, and because…" I trailed off, staring out the window a moment. "Because she values me. As a person, and, I hope, as friend. That sort of leader is worth following. So, if I can return her generosity by serving like this, I'll do it. Anyways, I have experience with pain." I gave a tight smile. "I won't say it's a cakewalk, but if one of us had to be picked, I'd still take the job. I'm the most experienced candidate." Rainbow gave me an impressed look.
"That's hardcore."
"Thanks."
"So, what's this about you actually being a book?"
I slumped and sighed.
"Thank you all for coming." Celestia met us at the station. We had changed trains part way, stopping in the middle of nowhere and transferring to a hastily constructed rail which cut straight across wide open plains. It was the same route our small team had hiked to escape the Crystal Empire. Riding was much quicker; we were on the train less than two hours. We disembarked, greeting the princess and looking around; we were in an unassuming shantytown, apparently a hastily constructed military outpost. Celestia led us towards a nearby building.
"What is that?" Rarity pointed straight ahead, shock on her face. I followed her lead and stopped, surprised.
We hadn't seen it from the side-facing train windows, but out on the plain, far enough that details were difficult to discern, a huge gray sphere hovered over the ground, swallowing the rays of the sun like a tumorous void. Its surface swirled with barely-discerned movement.
"That," Celestia said, "Is your assignment. It marks the boundaries of the Crystal Empire. Or where they would be, were they here. We are calling it the Anomaly. Come inside, and I'll give you the rundown."
We filed slowly through the door. The roof was low, but the building was brightly lit by generous windows, covered only in screen. I was glad it was summer; though it was much warmer than our last visit, the breeze still nipped.
"I established this monitoring station soon after you discovered the Empire's location. It began small, but escalated quickly." We negotiated a small herd of researchers, arguing over a seismograph readout. "I called in academics and authorities from everywhere. It's been a headache to manage, but we have gotten some intriguing data." She gestured to a timeline of sorts, pieces of string connecting various compilations of research.
"Not long after the project really found its hooves, we noticed what should have been stable readings were changing. We've been trying to pin down just when it began, since the Anomaly hasn't always been obvious." She pointed to a marker on the timeline. "Currently, this is our best guess. The point of this project was, and is, to understand what Sombra did to the Crystal Kingdom, and reverse it." She lowered her voice. "We aim to rescue the ponies trapped at the time of disassociation." She sighed. "My current hypothesis is Sombra noticed your intrusion." She nodded to Twilight. "The Anomaly must be his countermeasure to our efforts."
"So, how does it work?" Twilight stepped forward and began skimming through the the research.
"Honestly? We aren't sure." Twilight gave Celestia an incredulous glance. "We only have circumstantial evidence it's intentionally caused. I believe it's Sombra. But how he's doing it…we can only guess."
I felt the gentle brush of magic, like Twilight tapping on my brain. I let her connect.
"A bit for your thoughts on this?" She sent a stream of digits and symbols. We discovered we thought in very different ways. Twilight was much better at number crunching, while I was strong in visualization. I mentally graphed what she was sending; as a picture began to form, I whistled silently. Those were some seriously screwy measurements. I showed her the graph, and she was just as surprised.
"On the plus side," I sent back, "If we ever figure out just how he's doing this, it will revolutionize something."
"The effects are clearer than the cause." Celestia turned back to the board. "We were working on a portal to the Crystal Empire's pseudo-space. As the Anomaly grew, the power needed stabilize it increased drastically. That was our first clue. When sabotage started becoming more obvious, we took countermeasures." She gestured out the window, where the gray sphere hung. "What you see is not the surface of the Anomaly, but the edge of an injunction field, maintained by Cadence and Shining Armor."
"That's not like any injunction field I've ever seen," Rarity said.
"Me neither!" Pinkie added cheerfully.
"Well, it isn't quite right to say you see the injunction. What you're actually looking at is a mass of windigos."
"What?" I asked, voice flat.
"The entire surface of the field is under attack by windigos. To me, this shows Sombra's intention and involvement clearly."
"And my brother is in there?" Twilight's pupils shrank in panic.
"Relax, Twilight. I'm sure Shining has it under control." Rainbow threw a hoof around her neck. "He's pretty tough, after all."
"Of course he does." Celestia said. "For now. But even that pair's inestimable power cannot maintain the field indefinitely." She sighed. "Luna and I would help, but our magic will not synchronize with them well enough. And nopony else has the strength to make an appreciable difference."
"She could." I jerked my thumb at Twilight. "Zat why we're here?"
"No, actually. We withdraw if the field drops, which I expect in two days. We don't have the resources to sustain this, and I've drawn my battle lines clearly. Besides, the strength of the Anomaly is growing. Shining is a specialist, and Cadence is an alicorn. Even Twilight can't extend the time limit more than a day or so."
"So, the Elements." Applejack stepped forward. "You need us to zap something?"
"Indeed." Celestia led us out of the building. "When I summoned you, I knew if this wasn't resolved yet, the Elements were our last chance." She sighed. "Sombra seems to be increasing the…call it 'distance', to the Crystal Empire. Luna and I agree this is a desperate move. If he succeeds, the pseudo-space will be severed from reality. Re-establishing contact would take impossible amounts of energy, so he loses the Crystal Heart's support. Our best guess is he's trying to deny it to us. A slash-and-burn tactic."
"And the ponies inside?" Fluttershy asked quietly. Celestia sagged slightly, and sadly shook her head. "Oh."
"So, we've gotta do something!" Rainbow zipped to the front, and shook a hoof at the Anomaly. "What are we waiting for? Let's gallop!"
"Wait." Twilight stopped her. "We don't know what we're doing! Princess, what's our goal? And…if we fail?"
"The portal was constructed but never activated, due to energy cost. In order to overcome that, I've been storing my own power in an aetheric battery. The tracks continue to the portal; you will take the train through, with supplies for several days, and work from the inside. You must use the Elements to charge the Crystal Heart." Celestia motioned to the dome. "Their magic should be compatible on some level. Success should stabilize the Empire and draw it back to this plane, destroying the Anomaly. I can't say for sure what you will be up against. At least whatever was inside before, but it's possible Sombra has a backdoor; the Anomaly suggests he has at least one agent working from the inside. Failure…I don't believe you will be lost. The Elements are tied strongly to this world. If the Empire is severed, they will be drawn back here, and you with them. It would probably be uncomfortable, but I'm confident you could survive."
"Could we bring Crystal Ponies back?" Twilight asked curiously.
"Possibly." Celestia shrugged. "But only as a last resort. That is not something to attempt outside worst-case scenarios."
"Ok!" Rainbow darted forward again. "Now, let's-"
"Seriously!" This time Rarity halted her, seizing her tail firmly. "Rainbow, we don't even have the Elements yet!"
"Oh, right."
"And we still need to test them." I added grimly.
"Oh. Right."
"Ow." I said calmly.
This hurt.
Twilight gave me a worried glance, and I felt the link brush my mind. This time I refused it, with a shake of my head. I grit my teeth and tried to appear stoic, only letting the barest hint of agony seep past my façade.
It hurt.
I'd felt worse. It only felt like all my skin was on fire. And a thousand jackhammers were in my skull, while red-hot ants crawled across my eyes. Not like the first time I'd failed to defeat even one changeling. No matter he had a spear, and it was just my second week. I pushed the memory back down, after comparing it to my current torment. Yup, wasn't that bad.
Yet.
I watched as the six Elements, standing in a circle, powered up. Chromatic flashes sparkled and twinkled, shimmers of light and glowing auras dancing around them. Rainbow also shot me a worried glance. I let a another smidge of pain show.
"Ouch." I rubbed my arms like they itched. If I pretended nothing was wrong, they would never buy it. If I showed them just how much it did hurt, they'd never continue. They were my friends, but they weren't that tough. Not all of them, anyways.
I let the pain wash over me, through me, filling me, but I didn't let it control me. Pain was a tool, a useful one, but once I'd acknowledged it, I let it go. I could function through pain, and not just on adrenaline masking. I checked every indicator light and read every notification my body sent, then dismissed them. None of this was actually damaging. It could be safely ignored.
It wasn't easy, but I kept my face calm, allowing only a splinter of emotion to seep through.
The pain ramped up a bit as the Elements lit, the six Bearers wafted aloft on a haze of rainbow power. Twilight's eyes snapped open, showing the disconcerting white of a high-tension thaumic load, and locked on me. I felt something like a shiver run through my body, and frowned momentarily. What sort of magic was that?
I nearly smiled as I realized how nonchalant I was being. Luna had prompted me to consider my ordeal as a metamorphosis, and to carefully consider how it changed me. I put another mental tally by my list of differences; keeping a straight face under this sort of pain, back on Earth, would have been literally unimaginable. I didn't like what I'd gone through to reach this sort of stoicism, but now that I was here, I could appreciate the end result. I was reluctant to call this sort of change good, but I would gladly tally outrageous pain tolerance under 'cool and useful'.
My body tingled with relief as the pain subsided, and my muscles unlocked as I relaxed from my rictus. The energy whirling around the Bearers slowly faded, depositing them back on the ground. They laughed and hugged, coming down off the high of harmonious magic. Twilight excused herself, and trotted over to me.
"So, what did you see?" I tried. She flinched. Aha, bull's-eye.
"I was wondering if we could do anything for you with the Elements." She looked down, discouraged. "I wanted to try before I found out the Element was cracked, and after that…well." She ran a hoof over the gem, feeling the slight roughness of the fracture.
"Any chance?" I tried to keep my voice level, but a hint of eagerness crept through.
"No." She shook her head slowly. "As we thought, something seriously weird is going on. You're catching backwash, just like we guessed, and that's inimical to the magic of your gem. The synchronicity of our souls is what allows the seepage, and we can't cut that thing out of you yet because you still need my magical support. But the backwash isn't moving like I expected...it's more like an induction, instead of simple transferal, but that would mean more direct interaction than we thought! I wish I'd been able record it. If we compared it to our engrams, we might be able to find out a bit more about this link, and why there are so few side effects. I wish you'd accepted the link, Wes. It might have cleared up a lot."
"And it might have made the backwash ten times worse." And you'd definitely have felt it, I thought to myself. She flinched again; she'd run the numbers as well.
"Hey, you OK?" Rainbow flashed over, and put a hoof on my shoulder, staring me in the eyes. I twitched; still hadn't gotten that personal space thing down.
"I've had worse." I gave a self-deprecating grin.
"Well, OK."
"I'm fine. But how about the Elements? Did they work?" I gave an encouraging smile, hoping it wasn't too glassy.
"Yeah, I think so. Mine felt a little…I dunno, squashed? What do you think, Twi?"
"Hmm, maybe. I wish we could have test-fired them. I think the output was a bit low? Hey, Rarity!" She waved the other unicorn over, and asked her thought on magic flow. Rainbow flitted away to ask Celestia something, and I sat down on the grass, the sudden release of tension had left me a little shaky. I twitched again as a yellow nose brushed against my cheek, pink mane softly falling across my eyes.
"Oh, you poor dear." Fluttershy mumbled. "I had no idea that would hurt you so much."
"Thanks, 'Shy." I rubbed a hand gently through her mane, and felt a little better. At least she seemed to be the only one who had noticed. "But I'm OK."
"Okey Dokey!" Pinkie bounced past. "Let's get this show on the road, ponies! We need to get moving if we're going to make it into the Crystal Kingdom this afternoon!" I rolled my eyes at the idea of Pinkie spearheading the effort, but I guess it was a rescue party. I climbed to my feet and set off after her.
"Wes!" Celestia called.
"Yes?"
"If you don't mind, I would like to hear your side of the poison joak incident."
"Well, Your Majesty, I'm honestly surprised anypony could understand me."
"Really? How come?"
"Well, when I woke up that morning, I felt like I was a little hoarse- Ow! Ow, Twilight, you stepped on my foot!"
"So sorry." Her grin was a rictus. " I apologize, Princess. In English, that's a pun." She glared at me. "A bad one."
"Anyways," I shot her a resentful glare, "I did feel odd when I woke up-"
"Is this all your luggage?" The porter asked. He had been helping me load the extra supplies on the train.
"Um, I think so?" I glanced over the small pile of baggage that belonged to us, and the large pile that belonged to Rarity.
We were taking the train straight through the outpost, directly to the Anomaly with a stop at the camp where Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, the Alicorn I'd never met, were stationed. We'd been supplied with a staggering surplus, mostly because no cost was too high for our success, but also because when you're taking the whole train, there's no reason to pack light. This was the third time all our luggage had been moved, and I still wasn't sure what all belonged to whom. I was half-convinced boxes were appearing and disappearing.
"Good enough." I shrugged stoically. The food and water were there, and that was enough for me.
"All aboard!" Pinkie called from the engine, blowing the steam whistle enthusiastically. I leaped onto the caboose and started making my way forward.
"Wes!" Celestia stopped me as I passed the passenger carriage. This train only had three cars, but I wanted to ride in the engine with Pinkie. "Speak with me for a minute." She waved me aside. We stood, heads close together, out of the way so our words wouldn't carry. "Wesley, I'm making this clear; I want Twilight to be in charge for this operation."
"...good?"
"I want her to develop as a leader, and at some point, the best way to do that is to push her into the lead."
"Sure, no problem." I scratched my head. I hadn't really been considering who would lead us; I was used to things being sort of democratic, but once Celestia decided, I felt a little more relaxed. Sorry Twilight, I thought guiltily. "Um, Princess, if you don't mind me asking...is she part of your retirement planning?"
Celestia smiled at that, a warm, secret smile.
"Eventually Wes." She gazed off into the distance, anticipation and pride clear on her face. "Oh, the plans I have for that filly! One day," she paused, and locked eyes with me. "I hope she will surpass both Luna and I." I whistled silently. "Also, this is for you." She passed me a slim folder, sealed with red tape and rubber stamped 'Secret'. "I can share this now, privilege of your new security clearance. I would have liked to deliver it sooner, but a proper report takes time."
"Thanks?" I said uncertainly.
"Don't thank me yet." She sighed. "It's fascinating, but probably not helpful." I nodded, and tore the red tape, flipping to the first page and skimming over the neatly printed text. What I saw electrified me.
Being a compilation of extra-dimensional phenomena, produced in the third year after the return of Princess Luna, including all confirmed and suspected, magical or mundane, objects from other worlds.
My hands trembled as I closed the thin volume, and squeezed my eyes tight. I thought back on Celestia's words, and carefully corralled the sudden surge of emotion in my heart. This was a scant beginning, not yet an end.
"This is..." I trailed off. "How?"
"Resography is not a widely studied field." Celestia paused, gathering her thoughts. "The thought experiment you proposed, showing the infeasibility of infinite worlds?" I nodded; Sunset Shimmer had given it to me, but she didn't know that. "It disregards one important factor. For the demonstration to hold true, it would require travel between any two worlds to cost zero energy."
My mouth slowly dropped open. How had I missed such an obvious detail?
"As demonstrated by the Anomaly, even the energy for moving between 'close' realities can be very large. That's why I originally assumed purposefulness behind your transfer. Emerging unscathed from accidental involvement in something that magical is extremely unusual. It happens, but not often. Many catastrophic accidents are more likely, some very subtle. For example, having your chirality switched."
"Right." I answered weakly.
"Anyways. That's everything we know about actual objects which may be extraequestrial. I hope it's useful to you."
I nodded, and turned towards the engine again. As I stepped in, Pinkie caught my eye, and winked, smiling; she was wearing a conductors cap, and ensconced in the captains chair. I laughed, and she laughed with me. I flopped into the engineer's seat, opened the report again, and began devouring it.
"Mmmmph." I stood frozen. Pink feathers filled my vision. I was wrapped in strong but gentle wings. "Pfft. Captain, some help please?" I begged.
"Cadence, darling…" Shining sighed. "Wesley needs a little more personal space. He's not the hugging sort."
The pink feathers slowly withdrew and I got a good look at Shining Armor's wife, the third Alicorn of Equestria. She was very, very pink. Pink coat, pink eyes, even a pink stripe to her multi-colored hair. Almost as pink as Pinkie Pie.
"Um, nice to meet you, Your Highness." I bowed, as gracefully as I could. All the Alicorns were intimidating, and although Cadence wasn't quite as tall as Celestia or as formal as Luna, I hadn't met her yet. Watching her and Twilight dance and giggle together on their reunion hadn't prepared me for spontaneous hugs.
"Nice to meet you too." She glanced down, seemingly embarrassed by my rejecting her hugs. "Please, don't be so formal. Call me Cadence?" I glanced at Shining, who gave me a warning glare.
"Um, of course, Cadence. Nice to meet you." She smiled, and stepped back. I breathed a little easier as her attention left me.
"So, Shiny!" Twilight stepped forward. "Celestia said you could help open the portal?"
"Right." Shining Armor stepped forward, exhaustion showed in every line of his body. "Dear, if you would?" Cadence nodded, and they touched horns briefly. Their auras mingled, and the Alicorn sagged slightly as the weight of the spell moved to her.
"Pretty soon, you won't be able to maintain this." She looked her husband in the eye. "I'm only returning it if you promise you won't hurt yourself holding it too long."
"Of course, darling." He hugged her, and turned towards the door, leading us back towards the train. "You will have two days to finish your mission. I hope that will be enough." I nodded soberly; it had better be, for all our sakes.
I glanced back along the tracks, eyes skating across the swarm of windigos attacking the edges of the injunction, slowly eating away the field. I'd finished the report just as we'd passed through, so immersed I'd barely noticed their shrieking and clashing as Twilight's shield bore us safely through. The report was only sixteen pages, but I'd scrutinized each paragraph intensely.
As Celestia said, it wasn't much to go on. Five pages had been on me, which had been sort of odd. Most of the facts were right, but seeing myself from an impartial alien viewpoint had been disconcerting. Discovering I was the only confirmed artifact had been disappointing, but the rest of the report was still fascinating, though filled with equivocation and doubt.
The mythical Tuatha were briefly discussed, though eventually dismissed as unlikely. The windigos were also brought up; apparently, some of their abilities seemed otherworldly. Their apparent unintelligence made confirmation difficult, however. There were a few more vacuous myths, but there were also several more solid reports. One that intrigued me especially was a note from Celestia herself, discussing a magic mirror which created a portal once every thirty moons. The destination of the portal was unconfirmed, but tradition declared it otherworldly. It had apparently been an heirloom of the Unicorn Crown, but was lost to time. Another artifact that caught my eye was a scepter, supposedly able to speak with voices of unknown origin.
I was drawn back to reality as Twilight retrieved the aetheric battery Celestia had supplied, and began attaching it to the portal. Shining's eyes widened as he sensed the vast alicorn magic crackling through the black iron lattice. He helped attach it to the runes surrounding the arch over the track. The portal seemed crudely overbuilt, but it looked serviceable enough. If there was enough power in that battery, the portal would open, allowing us to take the train through. After that, the portal would quickly degenerate; keeping it open until our return was impossible. Our return was dependent on completing our mission, or the safety net of the Elements.
Which I, as the only non-bearer, was not assured of.
I grimaced, and cast the thought aside. Even if my soul-meld with Twilight didn't mean automatic inclusion, any of the Elements could carry me back. But more than that, I refused to entertain thoughts of defeat before even knowing what we were up against. We were strong, smart, fast, and adaptable; we were doing this, and doing it well.
We piled onto the train, and Pinkie fired the engine back up. I shoveled a little coal, and she let me blow the steam whistle. After a little consideration, I burned the report; I'd gone over it with a fine-tooth comb. No point keeping something troublesome like that around.
We picked up a bit of speed leaving the station, and Twilight signaled Shining Armor as we drew near the portal. He threw the breaker, and there was a crackle and a roar as the battery discharged, Celestia's stored power wrenching space apart. The portal formed before us, and for a moment I thought it a second late; but it was large enough, and we scraped through.
There was a jolt as we traded the tracks for hard cobblestone streets. Inertia carried us forward, and I was vaguely surprised we didn't flip over, but I guess Celestia had calculated for this. Pinkie threw the brakes, and we came to a halt with screeching, shivering lurch. I glanced up; the oddly bright darkness of the void again hung above us. I looked back, and the portal closed with a flash behind us. Twilight's shield enveloped us with a swirl of purple, and Pinkie and I shared a glance.
"Looks like we're here, Conductor."
"Yupperooni, Engineer! Let's go join the others!" I nodded, and followed her back into the passenger car.
We had our work cut out for us.