The chaos of battle was still somewhat of a new experience for Twilight Sparkle and her friends, at least on this scale. Sure, they had clashed with Manny when he was under Nightmare Moon’s influence, and Twilight had charged Nightmare Moon in what Luna later confided to Celestia as “a moment of foolhardy bravery”. At least that was what Celestia had told her after the fact.
This was different though, Twilight realized as she twisted to avoid another strike from one of the identical guards. There was just so many of them, all swarming in and jabbing with their spears. She had found out rather directly that despite their razor sharp appearance, they acted more like clubs; Skitch was keeping to her stance to just try and drive them out of the dreamscape, rather than apply truly lethal force.
The crackling snaps of two spells clashing against each other hissed angrily above her head, Luna and “Celestia” locked in combat. Luna was pulling her punches, Twilight was pretty sure of that.
A blur of blue shot past overhead, Dash using her speed to stay fully ahead of the winged pegasus guards that were giving chase. She let loose a mocking whoop. “Come on ya lazy bums! I thought you’re supposed to be the best of the best! Catch me if you can!”.
“Knock it off Dash!” Applejack shouted.
The farmer twisted, dodging a pair of strikes and dropping into her usual apple bucking stance. Lashing out, her hooves connected solidly against the side of one of the guards, sending him bowling into his fellows. Smirking, she rushed towards another group that was bearing down on Fluttershy and Rarity; the former apologizing even as she swung back at them and the latter dishing out rapid hoof strikes at those who dared to come close.
A wad of sticky spider webbing impacted into Applejack’s side before she could make it halfway there, the copy of Starswirl smirking widely as she was stuck to the ground.
“Twilight! Help! Ah can’t work out this magic stuff!”
Rushing to help her friend, Twilight yelped as now both the group that was attacking her before and the one that had been on Applejack swooped down on her. She back-pedalled, scrambling towards one of the edge rows as a forest of spears bore down on her.
An explosion of cake batter scythed through the ranks, ponies disappearing in puffs of smoke. In a moment the grounds before Twilight were clear of the opposition. Pinkie grinned, bouncing into view with her party cannon.
“Come on!” She beamed, “We can do this!”
The sound of hooves on the ground signalled the arrival of reinforcements. Twilight felt her stomach stop as twice the number of guards that Pinkie just dropped came storming out of the castle doors.
“This is hopeless! She can just keep summoning more every time we get rid of them!”
“No! We can do this!” Pinkie nodded, “We just gotta find the way!”
Twilight scrunched up her face, racking her mind for some kind of idea. Luna’s holding back. Probably afraid of doing any extra damage to Skitch’s mind. She says that thought rules here. Maybe...maybe if there is some of the human I was talking to in here still, he could help?
“Pinkie! Run some interference for me! I’m going to try something!”
“Okie-dokie-loki!”
Pinkie bounced forward, producing a bunch of party poppers from nowhere. Pulling the strings at once, an explosion of sound, confetti and streamers bowled the new arrivals over. Satisfied that her party producing friend would be able to keep them busy for a bit, Twilight knelt down, pressing the tip of her horn against the grass.
Reaching out with her magic and her mind, she felt around for other signs of life.
Umm...Skitch? Human Skitch that is...I’m hoping that you’re still here. I’m guessing that you might be, because of that crab man...thing. Something you saw back home? Look, we’re trying to reach you to help. But the other Skitch keeps throwing up blocks. She took a deep breath.I don’t know if you can, but if you can help at all…
She felt the vaguest sensation of awareness brush back against her for a moment. And the next moment she felt something smash into her, sending her careening into the nearby hedge.
“Ya okay in there Twilight?”
“Yeah, sure.” She responded from her upside down position in the hedge, tail drooping into her face, “What exactly hit me?”
“That Starswirl fella. With a big fall of fire.”
“Oh goodie.” Twilight grunted, thrashing about to extract herself from the branches. They released with a crack, Twilight landing on her hooves. She shook a few twigs out of her mane and looked up just in time to see a ball of electricity dancing on the tip of Starswirl’s horn, aimed right at her.
The guards had shifted their positions, and now were between her and Starswirl, and her friends. They were trying to push their way through to her, but the sheer number of royal guard were slowing their efforts.
“Ponyfeathers.”
“Ahh,” A new, very male voice cut across the battlefield. “Brave new world...that has such putzes in it.”
The bang of a gun rang out, something impacting into the chest of Starswirl. The image of the mage blinked, rolling his eyes down to take in the flag that was sticking from his body; the word “Bang!” clearly emblazoned on its red surface. He keeled over, vanishing back into a puff of smoke.
Twilight blinked, glancing to her right, where the voice came from and immediately recoiled. He was another biped, dressed in a purple suit and green shirt that would probably send Rarity into conniption fits.
His furless skin was white , his hair a sickly green, and his insanely leering smile displayed teeth that were yellow. Adjusting a matching purple bow tie, he smiled down at Twilight with eyes that were as cold as the smile on his face was crazy. Really, it was like staring at some warped version of that Mane-iac villain from Spike’s comics.
“Don’t fret, the cavalry has arrived! Old uncle J will make sure you don’t get sent to the glue factory!”
“Glue...what?”
Uncle J, as he called himself, ignored Twilight’s confusion. Humming a jaunty tune, he reached into his coat, pulling out a large stuffed bear….that was ticking.
“Why is that ticking?”
“Because, sparkle butt, it’s a bomb! A few of these and those guards will get blown sky high!” He cackled, the same wide grin plastered on his face, “Hey fellas! Guess who wins the Kewpie Doll!”
Twilight glanced to her friends, then back to the ticking doll, an idea turning over in her mind.
“Girls! Hit the deck and cover your eyes!”
The biped threw the doll, Twilight’s friends following her command and looking away from it. She channeled, quickly weaving a spell around its form as it tumbled through the air. A rose colored aura popped up around the doll as the enchantment finished falling into place. And every guard’s head snapped towards it.
“MINE!” They shouted, all diving for it at once. They landed on it and each other in a giant dogpile, everypony scrambling and punching at each other to get at the stuffed bear.
An explosion rocked the courtyard, the guards blasted back into smoke as the doll detonated. Uncle J began to cackle- an insane, but thoroughly entertained laugh- doubling over and slapping one of his knees.
“That was glorious! And here I thought you cute little pukes wouldn’t be entertaining at all!”
The body of “Celestia” impacted into the ground, poofing apart into smoke like her guards, Luna landing a moment later. She observed the biped with a raised eyebrow for a few moments before looking to Twilight.
“Twilight. When we put the true owner of this mind back together, please have a conversation with him about this.”
“Oh Loony, I’m hurt.” He beamed, darting to her side and throwing an arm around her neck. Keeping that insane grin on his face, he waved a hand towards the castle, “I’m just here to help you reach the top of that tower! And maybe...have a little fun along the way.”
“Please remove your arm from my body, stranger.”
“I don’t have to be a stranger!” He drew a playing card from his jacket, “My card.”
Luna’s eyebrow raised a little higher. “This is a playing card. The Joker.”
“Right in one Loony!”
“Remove your arm from my body. Now.”
“Oh, alright.” He conceded, stepping away from Luna as the rest of the group gathered around. He clapped his hands together, “So, who wants to go and storm a castle?”
- - - -
The journey through the rest of the castle was proving to be uneventful, almost frighteningly so. Every shadow was observed like it might contain some hidden monster, every door that wasn’t directly in their path avoided, lest some attacker was contained within. Their mood wasn’t helped by the strange human who would only answer to The Joker, who followed behind the group with a jaunty spring in his step.
“He still gives me the creeps,” Dash muttered, glancing back at the clown again.
“Yeah, well, he kind of makes me nervous too. But I do think that Skitch...the human one...is tied to him somehow. He showed up after I made contact with something…”
“Could have been the pony Skitch…”
“If that was the case, why help us?”
“Yeah Dashie,” Pinkie grinned, bumping her flank into Dash’s. “If he’s scary, just chortle at the clownie!”
Twilight rolled her eyes as the group reached the stairs of the main castle tower. Craning her neck slightly, she could see most of the way up the tower, past the steps and doors that she had walked once before to visit Princess Celestia in her room.
“Ya sure we’re headin’ the right way Luna?”
“Indeed, Applejack. I can sense a more complete presence at the top of the tower. I suggest we make haste, before Skitch-Sketch decides to send more guards our way.”
“Well, while you all play storybook, I’ll just stay down here,” The Joker piped up, casually drawing his oversized gun. “Climbing the tallest tower in the land? Not really my style.”
Twilight shrugged, trotting for the stairs. She had no desire to argue with the creepy clown on this point. Her friends seemed to agree, following right behind her as they began their climb.
“It’s still so quiet…” Fluttershy observed with a soft whisper, “It’s almost like she’s given up….”
“Or its a trap.” Dash countered.
Falling into silence again, the group continued to climb, until they finally reached their destination.
The top of dream Canterlot’s highest tower was quite similar to the one in the real world, with the twisting marble steps that lead up to Princess Celestia’s bedroom. Save where the bedroom was in the real world, a handleless black door, seemingly cast from some kind of super dense metal, sat instead.
They stared at it for a few moments, before Fluttershy spoke up.
“So...should we knock?”
“Ya think it’ll help?”
“Well, it couldn’t hurt.” Twilight pointed out, stepping forward. She knocked three times, the strikes echoing slightly in their surroundings. At first, no response came, but after a few moments…
“I’m not opening the door. You’ll blast me.”
“The thought had crossed my mind.” Luna commented, eyes narrowing.
“Skitch, I know that you’re not entirely responsible for your situation right now....Can we just talk?”
There was a momentary lapse of silence.
“I’ll only talk to you Twilight. Alone.”
“No way!” Rainbow Dash shouted, almost charging the door, “Like I just got done saying, trap!”
“No, it’s okay.” Twilight countered, glancing at her friend, “If she really wanted to hurt us, she wouldn’t have held back.” She looked to the door again, “We’ll do it your way Skitch. Just me.”
The door slid up slightly; just enough for Twilight to shimmy under.
“Be careful Twilight Sparkle.” Luna cautioned as Twilight squeezed into the room beyond.
Brilliant light blinded her for a moment and she blinked a few times to properly clear her vision. The room that greeted her once she could see again was a strange one, both bedroom and...something else.
The far wall was dominated by the “something else” part of the equation. Four rows of square shaped panes of glass, almost like windows, but each one displaying a completely different image; though the subject matter was at least similar in many of them. Most of the screens displayed a blonde maned biped at various ages. The human. On a few of the others, however, a young Skitch-Sketch laughed and played.
Those must be those TV’s she told me about. Twilight realized, looking around at the rest of the room.
The bedroom portion took up the rest of the room and was constructed in the classic Canterlot style. A raise dias stood in the center of the room, upon which a large white silk sleeping pillow rested. And laying on that pillow, legs tucked up against her body, was Skitch-Sketch.
Unlike the last time they were face to face, Skitch appeared much less confident, her expression more conciliatory than anything else. She was also bound in place. A heavy collar of the same black metal that made up the door was wrapped around her neck. It looked...uncomfortable, the raw chafe marks clearly visible on her coat.
A heavy ring was welded to the front of the collar. Thick umbral chains, that almost bled a dark energy, lay in coiled piles around the base of the dais before snaking into the floor; just enough slack to move around the room, but not enough to leave.
“So…,” Twilight sadly sighed as Skitch turned her own tired gaze her way. “The you we saw down below…”
“Even in here.” She shrugged, chains clanking from the motion, voice heavy with sadness, “I’m good at illusions.” She gestured to her flank, “Still my special talent.”
An awkward pause filled the room.
“So...thanks for not blasting me.” Skitch eventually offered.
“You’re welcome.” Twilight smiled in a manner she hoped was reminiscent of her mentor. Celestia’s smiles always calmed her down at least, “So...why did you stop fighting?”
Skitch sighed, her chains continuing to clank against each other, as she shifted in place. “It was what you said, in the end. Pointing out that I could just be a pawn.” She tapped her chains, “Though, I guess I should have figured that out already.”
Twilight just nodded, letting her continue.
“But I couldn’t get that thought out of my head. That I had been lied to about this human. So, I started to poke around his memories. And you know what I found?”
“What?”
“Memories of family and friends. Memories of great things that humanity has done.” She smiled, a lightness filling her voice, “They explore. They invent. And they fight for what they believe in...and more than a few have died, trying to make their world better.”
Her head drooped, the levity suddenly gone.
“I killed him Twilight. You were right. I wanted to live again and I killed him.”
“How did it happen?” She interrupted, “I mean….you were dead…”
“I’ll show you.” She simply stated, her horn beginning to glow. And then the scene changed.
- - - -
The place they were standing in now looked like a library had been smashed into a antique shop, and then the resulting mix had been shaken like Berry Punch shaking a mixed drink. Books, scrolls, photos, coins, wands, staffs, weapons and armor were piled all about. On shelves, on tables, in piles on the floor, in boxes and in bags that were in turn thrown about haphazardly. And then there was the collection of different styles and technology levels apparent within the collection, also arranged haphazardly. For Twilight’s detailed and organization focused mind, this place was like dragon claws on a chalkboard.
Aside from the small paths that snaked through the piles, the only other section that was clear was the large worktable that rested under….some manner of contraption that Twilight didn’t know what to make. Half a metal circle built into the ceiling, with a small army of arms hanging from its underside, each one with its own bizarre attachment. And on that table, the blonde maned human she saw in the screens rested.
And then there was the sky outside the windows. Not so much as sky as a swirling vortex, made up of streams of pink and purple light, with occasional white motes whipping past and rumbles of thunder to top it off.
“Where...are we?” She gaped, staring out one of the cracked windows.
“Far as I’ve been able to tell,” Skitch shrugged. “It’s the space between spaces. The...nothingness between universes.”
“It can’t be nothing! There’s something here!”
“Well...yes. But I think he brought this stuff with him somehow...I dunno really. I only had a partial view of this place.”
“He?”
In response, Skitch pointed across the room, to where a figure was working at a workbench. He was another human- or so Twilight assumed- but his appearance couldn’t have been more different from the one on the table. For one, he was significantly heavier; the stained brown leather jacket he wore was drawn tight across his stomach. He was also older. His mane was balding in the front, long and gray everywhere else. What hair was there was matted like it hadn’t been washed in weeks.
He arranged a series of white crystals around a strange square metal box, its top marked by black and yellow stripes. Stepping back from the box, he pointed a little square...thing at it.
The top popped open, light spilling out as the ghostly filly that was Skitch-Sketch sprung into being, shrieking and screaming in rage. The white crystals immediately began to glow in response. A humming tune flooded into the room, the light and graceful notes beginning to calm the seething ghost child down.
Realization settling back into her eyes, the ghost of Skitch-Sketch looked right at the human that had let her out.
“W-where am I? Where’s Canterlot? Who are you?”
“You may call me The Collector. And I, am your savior.” His voice was deep and rumbling, with a distinctly scratchy quality to it.
“Huh?”
“I am here to give you your life back. To free you from wandering the streets and back alleys of that city you called home as a rage filled apparition.”
“Oh...okay! That sounds nice of you.” She blinked, “How?”
“Don’t concern yourself with such things. Leave that to those who understand all of the applications of the arcane. Now,” He pointed to the unconscious form on the table, “If you’ll come over to the other subject…”
Skitch blinked again, noticing the table human for the first time. “...He’s still alive. I can feel him. How are you going to…?”
“Weep not for the human.” The Collector waved her off, “His kind are monsters as a general rule, and this one has done such horrible things.”
Skitch’s eyes darted from the table, back to The Collector. “You’re going to use him to bring me back?”
“Yes.”
“That...sounds wrong. They always taught us at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns that necromancy is wrong-”
“Really?” He interrupted, “Well, if you’re so morally opposed, I can just put you back. Never mind all of the good you could do. Or how you almost improved the life of one of Equestria’s heros far before her time?”
Twilight felt the Skitch next to her shudder at that. Sighing, she put a forearm around the mare, pulling her close. Twilight wouldn’t have liked ponies to see her at her weakest either. The Skitch from the memory tilted her head regarding The Collector with a confused look.
“What do you mean?” She asked.
“You’re the one who approached her in the lunch room all those years ago.” The Collector shot back, pacing back and forth, gesturing wildly with his arms. “I study the people that I’m going to save very carefully. You could have pried Twilight Sparkle out of her shell far earlier than she did! And then...then, the Princess would have sent both of you off to the Summer Sun Celebration. You would have helped save the day! You would have helped rescue Princess Luna from herself! It is your right to not be just the forgotten footnote of history!”
Memory Skitch fidgeted in midair, mulling over what had just been laid upon her.
“That does sound...nice.” She said eventually, “Okay.”
“Good. Now if you would be so kind as to float over to the body, we’ll get started.”
Skitch acquiesced, floating into position.
Shuffling over to the table and his odd contraption, The Collector set to work. Muttering to himself, he produced a manner of marker from a pocket and began to draw on the unconscious human.
“So, what’s his name?” Twilight asked, “I...I never asked what his human name was. I thought she...he was nuts.”
“His name is Jake. Jake Berland.”
The Collector walked over to a panel of switches of some kind on the wall. With an almost casual flick, he hit one of the switches, the machine in the ceiling roaring to life. A beam of pinkish light leapt from one of the machine arms, through the ghost form of Skitch-Sketch and to the unconscious form of Jake.
Skitch yelped, as she was yanked into the form of Jake’s body, which began to warp and change immediately. Sickening cracks and pops filled the air as bones and muscles twisted and rearranged themselves into a more equine configuration.
Twilight winced, looking away as Jake’s hands and feet crunched into hooves, fingers and toes curling and merging together. She had seen transmutation spells in action before back in school, and this one was remarkably crude. It was probably good that Jake hadn’t been awake for the process.
Glancing back when the sounds ceased, Twilight watched the Skitch-Sketch that she had been dealing with for the last two weeks sit up and look herself over.
“Oh, I’m an adult...I guess that makes sense.”
“Yes. You need to properly fit in.”
“...How? It seems I’ve been gone for a while.”
The Collector smiled.
“Please. Just leave it to me.”
- - - -
The scene snapped back to the room they had started in, Skitch hanging her head. “There you have it. I took his deal, made a wish on the ring, and the next thing I knew I woke up in my new home, though not exactly in control…”
“You two were fighting back and forth for control?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, “And my presence in his head was just pushing around his memories. I was basically kind of...replacing him.”
Twilight frowned, settling into a seat next to Skitch. “So...did you know why? Why he did that stuff for you?”
“I thought he really was just being nice at first.” She responded, flopping to her barrel with a snort, “So stupid. But tonight he contacted me again. Said that he needed to cast through me to complete something and that I better hurry up and deal with Jake, because you were all closing in me.”
She bit her lip. “But I think he’s planning something. Just...everything seems suspicious in retrospect. I guess that I just...didn’t want to notice before.” She shrugged, turning her head slightly to look Twilight dead in the eyes, “You need to stop him Twilight. He was willing to use both of us like this. His intentions can’t be good.”
“What about you?” Twilight asked, “You still-”
“Need to move on, I know. But I can’t.”
“Skitch.”
“No, I seriously can’t.” She poked at the chains again, “I think that these things are keeping me from leaving the body.”
“Let me take a look.”
Activating her arcane sight spell, Twilight turned her attention to the smokey black chains. If there was active magic as part of their construction, the spell should have revealed them. But their appearance was the same. Thick and black with occasional motes of dark, flickering light that would leap from its surface. Everything about them said that they should be magic, but she couldn’t find the weave of the spell anywhere.
“Are you sure? I can’t see a spell anywhere…”
Skitch blinked. “No, it’s there. I can see it, I just can’t make heads or tails of it.”
“But it’s not there-”
“Hold on.”
Skitch pressed her horn against Twilight’s side, a spark passing between the two. Twilight shuddered, a distinct chill running down her spine. But, the magic on the chains suddenly became visible.
“What…” Twilight gaped.
“I gave you a little piece of my magic.” She explained, “Since we’re two minds-”
“In close contact.” Twilight finished with a smile. But the smile quickly turned into a frown, “But how couldn’t I see it? You can’t hide the existence of magic like that!”
“I don’t think it’s magic...at least not how we understand it. You saw his hideout. And his name? I think that he just collects everything he can and uses it.”
“And you could see it because?”
“I don’t know.” Skitch fidgeted, but keeping her horn resting against Twilight’s side, “Maybe because it’s hooked directly to my spirit? But I don’t know what he used on Jake and I! Just...please fix it.”
Sighing, Twilight turned her attention back to the chains.
“Hmm. Okay,” She muttered, more to herself than anything else, “It’s basically three spells woven together into...well, some kind of super spell.” She beamed at that, “Ah ha! Now that was a mistake. Weaving magic together like that can compromise the overall-”
“Umm. Twilight? You’re lecturing.”
“Oh.” She chuckled nervously, “Sorry.”
Pushing her own power forward, she could feel the Element of Magic subtly empowering her efforts. The supercharged tendrils poked along the arcane construct; feeling for a weak spot from which to attack the whole spell from. The chains- constructs of shadow, smoke, and chill- reacted to the touch.
They hissed.
Twilight suddenly found herself hanging onto an enraged serpent of an enchantment. The spell whipped, coiled and bucked under her telekinesis, the chains clanking like they were caught in a hurricane force wind.
Reventa ve vile lenli!
“I don’t know what you said, but I bet it wasn’t nice!” Twilight fired back, scrunching her face up in concentration.
Conjuring up images of sunlight and warmth in her own mind to help counter the chill and cold of the chains, she attacked again. Drilling and stabbing this time, she raked the tendrils along the super spell’s form, looking for her weak point.
The spell thrashed harder, the chains leaping up and wrapping around Twilight and Skitch.
Si geou jikmada dout drihliri!
They began to constrict, pulling tight across their bodies, the links digging into their coats. Skitch whimpered, her eyes darting from chain to chain in fear.
“Oh no you don’t!” Twilight declared, a grin crossing her muzzle.
She had found what she was looking for. A crack in the spell weave.
Weaving a dispel magic enchantment together, Twilight smashed it into the weak point. The chains howled, loosening, almost trying to get away. She just scrunched up her face in concentration and pushed more power into her attack, forcing the threads of her magic into every nook and cranny she could force it into.
The chains thrashed once more, then crashed back to the floor, sloughing off their bodies before falling apart in a shower of sparks. Twilight sighed in relief, glancing back towards Skitch, the beginnings of a smile crossing her muzzle. But that smiled vanished at what she saw.
Skitch-Sketch was a filly again.
“Thank Celestia. That thing was chafing like mad.” She smiled sadly, glancing up at Twilight, the tip of her tail beginning to turn transparent, “Guess it’s time for me to do what I should have done years ago.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Twilight smiled sadly.
Skitch squeezed her eyes closed, horn glowing for a moment, irregular shapes of light springing up all around the edges of the room. Suddenly condensing, the blobs of light formed into bookshelves, crammed to the brim with tomes.
“There.” She said, “I left some of myself behind. That way if you can’t make Jake human again, he can still use my body and my magic. Don’t want to cripple him. Uhh...assuming that you can save him...” She finished lamely.
“We won’t give up. I promise.”
“Okay...can you do me two favors though?”
Twilight blinked, tilting her head slightly. “What?”
“Well, the first is...can you tell my parents what happened?” Her voice hitched, “J-Just, tell them that I still love them.”
“O-oh, okay. What’s the second one?”
Skitch glanced back at her fading tail.
“I-I’m still scared about where I might be going. Can you sit with me until I’m gone? Please?”
Blinking back tears, Twilight flashed the most comforting smile she could manage and lowered herself to her barrel, letting the filly nuzzle close. “Of course Skitch.” She soothed, draping one foreleg over Skitch’s withers, “I’m here. Just close your eyes...and think of paradise.”
- - - -
Rainbow Dash paced before the metal door, shooting angry glares at it, like her indignation could somehow open it. Her friends watched her pace like they were watching a tennis match, tracking her progress up and down the hallway.
Princess Luna, by contrast, sat serenely on her haunches, staring right at the door.
“Umm...Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy spoke up, “Please calm down. Pacing isn’t helping.”
“But Twilight could be in trouble in there!” She shouted, spinning to face the princess, “Princess Luna, can’t you-”
Whatever Dash was going to ask for, it was rendered moot as the door slid open again and Twilight came trotting back out of the room. Her friends couldn’t help but frown at wetness in her eyes, Fluttershy rushing forward to hug her.
“What happened in there?”
“I’ll tell you girls later.” She answered tersely, “But she’s gone now. We can use the Elements of Harmony.”
“Alright!” Pinkie beamed, bouncing in place. Then she paused, tapping her chin with a hoof, “Uhh. Are we supposed to use them someplace special?”
“Here will be fine.” Luna answered, stepping close to the element bearers, “It is the nexus of where Skitch was controlling the body.”
“Positions, girls.” Twilight nodded.
Forming up in a circle, the element bearers closed their eyes, tapping into that ethereal connection that bound their better natures to the artifacts themselves. The white light engulfed them, lifting them into the air, the rainbow stream of magic shooting out from them in an all encompassing ring.
Washing over their surroundings, everything vanished as it was engulfed by the brilliant rainbow light. As quickly as it began, it was over, the girls landing back on their hooves in a vaguely similar, but also very different looking place.
They were standing outside a lakeside building built out of stone, two tiers of multiple short steps leading up to an entrance that sat behind four ionic columns. A series of garish banners hanging above the entrance proudly declared that the building before them was “The Field Museum”.
And towering behind them was a city that made Canterlot look small by comparison. Towers of metal and glass stabbed high into the air, each one looking like it could hold the whole of Canterlot castle.
Humans of all ages were walking around them, not only walking in and out of the museum, but also towards another stone building to their east and towards a series of vaguely square shaped boxes.
“It seems that we manifested in a specific memory.” Luna observed with a smile, “This is a good sign.”
“Where is our human though?” Rarity asked as she looked around, “There’s just so many of them here, and he never did tell us what he looked like.”
Before anypony could respond, Pinkie’s ears began to flip-flop. Then her tail did a little spin and with a massive gasp, she took off through the crowd at top seed.
“Pinkie! Where are you going!” Twilight shouted, the group rushing after her.
Without so much as a word, Pinkie tackled one of the humans to the ground, pulling her into a very full hug.
“Gah! Pinkie! You’re bruising my ribs!”
“Nu-uh! It’s a dream silly filly. They aren’t really ribs.”
The human’s blonde mane was pulled back in a simple ponytail. She, like the rest of the humans around, was bedecked in clothes; her shirt depicting the strange shelled doctor from before with the question “Why not Zoidberg?”
“Jake?” Twilight blinked, “Is that you?”
“Yup.” She smiled, ruffling Pinkie’s mane with a hand, “I’m back baby!”
“Skitchy!” Pinkie grinned, “I’m so glad you’re okay! Don’t you ever let yourself get replaced by the ghost of a dead filly ever again! Especially before I get the chance to throw you your real welcome party!”
“Okay Pinkie.” Jake chuckled, rolling her eyes slightly, “I’ll do my best.”
“Nuh-uh!” Pinkie shook her head, letting go of the hug, sitting on Jake’s stomach and poking her in the chest, “Pinkie Promise!”
Jake sighed, rolling her eyes again, but smiling all the same, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She finished, placing a hand over one eye.
“Goodie!” Pinkie grinned, hopping off of Jake as her friends surrounded the human.
“Skitch, darling.” Rarity interjected, raising an eyebrow, “When did you become a girl?”
Jake sat up, flipping her ponytail back over her shoulder with a nervous grin. “I’m honestly not sure if it happened when my feminine side and I got buried by Skitch, or when the elements kind of...fixed things. I mean, honesty is one of the elements….”
She took a deep breath, smiling widely and genuine this time. “But you know what? I don’t care. I almost got erased by the efforts of some guy named The Collector. I’m done hiding from my feelings, especially from myself.”
Rarity swept forward, pulling her into a hug. “That’s wonderful darling! I’m so happy for you! I had a feeling I was right about you!”
“Little miss empathy here.” Jake chuckled, patting Rarity’s back, “Yeah, you had me pegged it seems.”
“Anypony else feel like we’re missin’ part of a conversation here?” Applejack blinked.
“We’ll tell you later.” Fluttershy said with a nod.
Rarity broke her embrace, stepping back and tilting her head, “But what should we call you now?”
“Jane or Skitch is fine for now.” She shrugged, getting to her feet, “I’ll worry about picking a more permanent name later. We have more important things to worry about now.”
“Yeah.” Twilight nodded, her expression grim, “We need to find this...Collector, before he does whatever he does.”
“Agreed.” Jane nodded. She paused for a moment, biting her lip as she contemplated something. “Oh, and girls?” She quickly knelt down, pulling the lot of them into a group hug, “Thanks for not giving up on this crazy human.”
“Yeah, well, I guess you’re not as bad as I thought you were.” Dash smirked.
“Love ya too Dash.” Jane chuckled as she straightened up, looking to Luna. The princess of the night had been quiet during the exchange, a serene smile on her face. Jane gave a quick bow to her, “And I owe you one for leading them in here princess.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“So...how do I wake up from all of this?”
“I shall stir you from your slumber on the way out. You should awake not long after us.”
Jane nodded, cracking her knuckles. “I’ll see you on the other side then. And then we’ll find this jerk.”
Luna nodded, her horn beginning to glow as she and the element bearers rose into the air, growing more faded and indistinct. Shrugging, Jane sat down on the steps, waiting to awaken.
“Hmm. Janet? Na...Jessica, maybe?”
- - - -
Twilight stretched as she returned to the waking world, rolling back to her hooves. All around her, her friends were doing the same, shaking sleep from their eyes. Princess Luna was somehow already awake, looking rather bemused at the situation.
“Well,” Applejack muttered, rubbing the side of her head, “That was an...interestin’ experience.”
“Dream walking is not an easy experience fair Applejack.” Luna smiled, ”You were all very brave.”
“I thought it was fun!” Pinkie grinned.
“Of course you did dear.”
Twilight laughed, looking at the sleeping form of Skitch...or Jane. She’d probably go with Skitch, as she was physically still a unicorn, the Elements of Harmony having done nothing to address the changes to her body.
Curious, she began to channel, dropping back into a detect magic spell. Casting on her hooves, she threaded in the spark of magic that Skitch had left her, making sure that she could detect any remnants of those spells from before. Scanning Skitch’s body, she was quite glad to see that there was no trace of the spells she had dispelled clinging to her magic aura.
Sighing in relief, she glanced towards Applejack and froze.
Twilight had looked at Applejack’s innate magic in the past. Like all earth ponies, it cycled from her head to her tail and then back down into her hooves, where it pooled; though Applejack’s had always been on the strong side, matching her physical strength. But now, those same spells she had noticed in Skitch-Sketch’s mindscape grew through Applejack’s aura like dark and twisted looking weeds. Quickly shifting her gaze, she looked at the rest of her friends.
Her stomach twisted. The same blackness was creeping through their bodies. She looked at Luna, a startled squeak escaping her lips when she saw that the princess had been infected as well. Looking around wildly, she could see that the tendrils of magic weren’t just on her friends, they were overlaid across the very stones of the castle.
“Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, her voice full of concern, “What’s wrong?”
Twilight opened her mouth to respond. To warn them, even as she went for a dispel magic. But then her whole body shuddered, power surging through her, as she lost complete control.
- - - -
Jane’s eyes fluttered open.
She blinked once, twice and then pushed herself into a standing position. It was obvious to her that she had been put in a cell, which made sense to her. They had to play it on the safe side when they didn’t know what they were dealing with.
Rainbow Dash was waiting for her, sitting on her haunches with a very bored expression on her face.
“Dash?”
“‘Bout time you woke up.” She nodded, trotting for the door, “Come on. The others are with the princesses in their office. They want to hash out a plan tonight and get the Night Guard on it before we get some sleep.”
Jane followed, nodding as she went. “Makes sense to me.”
For a little while they walked through the halls, with just the sounds of their own hoof falls keeping them company. Eventually, they entered into a large war room slash office, where the others were supposed to be waiting.
Instead, Jane’s heart dropped. Twilight and the rest of the element bearers were unconscious, scattered about the floor. They were joined by all three princesses, Celestia slumped over the table.
Standing amongst the fallen ponies was the human that Skitch had left memories of in her mind. The Collector. He casually held what looked like a phaser from Star Trek in one hand, a wide smirk on his face.
“Ahh. Jake. Dash. Glad you could join us.”
“You sick son of a bitch.” Jane snarled, "I should kick your ass for this!”
The Collector held up a hand. “Please! We are both reasonable humans. Hear me out, I have a reasonable proposal. These,” He idly waved a hand towards the princesses, “Are what I’m really here for. Their power.”
“...And how does this relate to me?” Jane asked, glancing towards Rainbow Dash, somewhat surprised she hadn’t thrown herself at the man yet.
“I don’t need the Mane Six, as you call them.” He chuckled darkly, running a hand through his thinning hair, “Agree to stay out of my way, and I’ll let you take them with you to some new world of your choice. I’ll even help you set their memories to be your friends at no extra cost!”
“No.”
“Oh, alright. I’ll throw in the Cutie-Mark Crusaders too.”
“I said, NO!” Jane growled, “Without them, no one can control the sun and moon, and this planet will either freeze or burn. I won’t let you sacrifice this world!”
Letting loose a battle cry, Jane charged forward, aiming to buck him in the legs as hard as she could. She made it a half dozen steps before she slammed into something hard and metallic, pain shooting through her head as she stumbled away.
The Collector laughed, clapping his hands together.
“My dear, dear Jake.” He grinned, the contents of the room fading away, revealing the interior of the cell Jane had awoken in. The human turned unicorn had crashed right into the bars beside the still open door, of all the luck. Rainbow Dash was also present, but her eyes were glassy and unfocused, “Did you really think I’d let you out before I knew what your answer would be?”
He laughed again, nodding to Rainbow Dash.
“Dash?”
“Yo?”
“Kill him.”
“Kay."
With a flick of her hoof, the cell door slammed shut, and Rainbow Dash launched right at her.