//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: The Explosion 
// Story: My Little Serenity: Misbehaving is Magic 
// by Trachyon 
//------------------------------//

The door shut behind them, leaving the two ponies just barely visible through the porthole. Instantly, Zoe and Wash turned on Mal.

“You mind telling us just what the hell just happened, sir?”

“Soon as I figure that one out, I’ll let you know.”

“Actually, I was referring to the two alien horses we just took prisoner. We make first contact with these things, and the first thing we do is take them hostage?”

Now it was Mal’s turn to round on Zoe. “You kiddin’? We were being chased by Reavers! We’re crashed on a planet with no means of escape... Hell, they probably see us as a free meal. They’ll come down to the planet, if they haven’t already, and they’ll kill those horse things on site if they’re lucky. Now as little as I might know or care for these things, I will not stand down while Reavers rip apart and violate a living being. Not again. I might be holding them prisoner, but it's for their good as much as ours. Or you rather I just let them go?”

“Why not just tell them about the Reavers?”

“Did you get a look at them? They didn’t seem too... knowledgeable on outside matters, if you get my meaning. We fall from the sky in a ball of fire, tailed by what amounts to an entire Reaver fleet. Any other planet, core or not, would've boarded their windows. And shot us down in the process. No, they have no idea.  We tell ‘em about the Reavers, way I see it they’ll either panic, or get themselves killed trying to defend against a threat they can’t comprehend. No, we keep them here, maybe deal with those Reavers ourselves, or let them go on their merry way when we get the ship fixed up. Maybe lead 'em away, get back into Core Space. Besides, what are they gonna do? Call the local police and say they’re being held hostage? Trust me, the doors are locked an' sealed. They ain’t goin’ anywhere anytime soon.”

"Look, Mal, you hit your head fairly hard, are you sure you're thinking r-"

Wash turned from the porthole. “They’re gone.”

"What?!" Mal near enough shoved Wash to the floor as he scrambled to the window, searching for the two now absent creatures. “Son of a-“





The moment the door closed Pinkie turned to beam at Twilight. “Don’t those aliens seem friendly? I thought they seemed friendly! Oh-oh do you think they’ll be our frie-“ Twilight jammed a hoof in Pinkie’s mouth to silence her.

“Pinkie! Don't you see what’s happening?!  The aliens have abducted us!”

Pinkie frowned as Twilight removed her own hoof from the mouth of her friend. “Hmm... That doesn’t sound like something a friend would do... Are you sure Twilight?”

This last question was lost on Twilight Sparkle, who had begun to pace backwards and forwards within the confines, taking in every detail, mind awash with an odd mixture of fear and anticipation. “Pinkie, these aliens aren’t our friends,” she sighed. “But... wow. Just look at this place...”

Now that things had settled down, Twilight finally had a chance to take in the interior of the ship. She’d never admit it out loud, but even she shared a small fraction of Pinkie’s enthusiasm.

I mean, how often do you get a chance to see inside an alien ship?

"Uh, Twilight?"

"How does it fly? How did they build it? Are there more like it? I wonder how-"

"Twilight!" Moaned Pinkie, exasperated.

"Oh, right, sorry," blushed Twilight, the rosy hue quickly fading as her mind returned to the issue at hoof. "It's just... If only we could see more of it... Too bad we're trapped here," she grimaced.

Pinkie could only gaze at Twilight as if she were a madmare. "What're you talking about Twilight? Why not just teleport outta here?"

...

Twilight brought a hoof to her face, the physical blow following Twilight's own mental kick. "Of course," sighed the unicorn, "just, stand here please."

Pinkie moved to stand beside Twilight, both of them now standing in the centre of their prison-room. To their sides stood groups of large, metal boxes pushed against the walls. Each one was draped in a strange, shiny black netting. Behind them, the large, rusted plate-metal door cut off all access to the outside world. Just minutes ago Twilight had been looking forward to a peaceful night of stargazing. In the space of time it would've taken her to eat one of her packed sandwiches, she had witness a meteor shower, survived an almost direct meteor strike, discovered an alien spaceship, *met aliens*, and then been abducted by said aliens.

Twilight couldn't think straight. Any train of thought she attempted to begin was washed away by a surge of new questions. The sheer rush of information to her mind was enough to make her stagger and gape.

As waves of what could only be described as nausea passed over her body, her eyes settled on what lay before her. Two doors. One on the mesh boardwalks above, and another at ground level. The one the aliens had left through. The head of the alien with the short blonde... mane (Did these aliens still have manes? They had something mane-y on their heads...) was just barely visible. Its... His head was turned away from the small window, for now.

How long would it take them to notice? The spaceship was huge- colossal. The two ponies were prisoners, with no means of escape. Surely the aliens would retire to another section of the ship! Any one of the possible hundreds of strange, mysterious rooms, each housing a treasure trove of secrets! Books containing knowledge on matters that Twilight could only begin to imagine... Imagine how much she could learn here if she just quickly warped themselves into another room! Nopo- no alien would notice their absence- No. As strong as the allure was to her, Twilight was not willing to put her friends in danger merely to sate her own curiosity, no matter how slim the risks might be. 

Twilight focused on her horn, edging closer to Pinkie as she did so. Two ponies was more of a struggle to teleport, but it was easily manageable, with little extra exertion required.

At least, it should have been.

Twilight tried to focus on the abundant magical currents that permeated the world of Equestria, only to absorb a pathetically small amount of power, all of which could only have seeped in from outside along with Twilight and Pinkie.

There's... no magic here? It seemed impossible, but the reality stared Twilight in the face regardless. Fine. It was an unprecedented setback, but one she could deal with. Casting a spell without drawing from magic that occurred naturally simply meant that Twilight would expend more of her own stamina. She'd get one shot at it, but it'd be enough to get her and Pinkie out of this situation. From there, a plan could be formed to deal with these aliens accordingly.

Twilight conjured up the energy needed, focusing on the dynamics of her teleportation spell. It's easy... Just take the magic, and use it to force the world apart... Create a tunnel through space, between and around the world we walk through... In from here, and out by the crater...

To a pony less learned than Twilight, that mantra might merely pass over their head in a haze of bewilderment. But to Twilight, it told her exactly how to shape and direct the magic. The unicorn begun the spell, creating a bubble that would, in her own words, "force the world apart." She closed her eyes as she concentrated... only for them to snap open again in confusion.

"No, that can't be right..."

"Huh? What can't be right?"

Twilight reached out again with her magic, made it an extension of her conscious being. What she felt was... wrong. This ship, the world inside this place wasn't the same as the world Twilight had been in minutes ago. In Equestria, magic saturated the fabric of the world. Currents of energy interwove themselves like threads ready to be loosed and manipulated by those who possessed the ability. In Equestria, space could be found between space: a pseudo-world outside the world. By looking past the world of Equestria, by moving beyond it, teleportation could be achieved as simply as moving a needle through fabric.

Here, though, the world was... Twilight paused. It was indescribable. When she "forced the world apart" she found only more world. A whole other fundamental concept added to this reality, that Twilight could just barely feel.

"Twilight?"

"Huh?!"

"Is everything all right?" Pinkie looked expectantly towards Twilight, oblivious to the eldritch nature of the ship.

"It's, uh, just a minor setback. Just give me a second, okay?"

"Okie-dokie!"

Twilight focused back to the issue at hand. This place was alien. As alien as it got. Twilight could see, and move, and feel everything just as she had outside the ship, but there was something, just beyond the range of her senses, that made this place so different. She sighed. Improvisation was the only way out here.

"Hold on tight, Pinkie!" The pink pony did as instructed, and hugged Twilight with all of her strength. Throwing caution to the wind, Twilight ignited her spell. She wasn't so much creating a tunnel as blasting a brand new crater in the fabric of reality, but Twilight simply couldn't care less. Too much had happened today, and Twilight was likely to faint the moment she and Pinkie emerged from the spell. An image of the meadows outside formed within the purple unicorn's mind, as the two ponies vanished in a small flash of white and purple light.





"I am sure it'll all be fine. They did seem to be carrying a frightening number of guns."

The statement was met with a sigh. "I know that. But what if something happens anyway? We've been living like this for so many months now. All it takes is one slip-up, and..."

"Inara." Shepard Book leant forwards, placing a hand on her knee. "They'll be fine."

Inara visibly relaxed, though the worry on her face remained. "I hope so. I just... I feel praying can only help so much in a situation as dire as this."

"The suspense is difficult to bear." He sighed. "The best thing we can do right now, though, is to bear it."

River, sitting in the corner away from the other two, interrupted Inara before the first syllable even escaped her lips. "Doesn't matter. They're here." Book and Inara immediately snapped to River. The girl had a smile on her face.

"We disturbed them from their rest, and they came to find us."

"Reavers."

"Oh God, Mal..." Inara and Book both scrambled to their feet, Book hastily picking up a walkie-talkie left on the table. Inara grabbed the gun. Both ran out towards the back of the ship, towards Simon and the sedated Jayne, towards Kaylee, and towards where Mal, Zoe and Wash were about to step right into the jaws of the Reavers.

The two bolted towards the door. Shepard Book raised the walkie-talkie, only to have it ripped out of his hand. A pinprick of bright white light emerged from nowhere between the doorway and the two running for it. The ball of light expanded instantly to a diameter of almost six feet, sending out with it a blast of energy and air that threw both Inara and Book straight onto their backs. The blast accompanied a burst of noise that reverberated in the room with bone-rattling intensity. Book's head swam, and nausea washed over his body. It was as if a flash grenade had been detonated right by his head.

His eyes were open, but the white flare burnt onto his retinas rended everything else as a swirl of black and white. The dull buzzing in his ears muffled every other sound, save for the ringing caused by the explosion. But only his senses had been so badly affected. He had been winded upon hitting the floor, but he had recovered from worse. And besides, if there was a threat, he was the only one able to assist Inara. He drew himself up into a sitting position, rapidly blinking his eyes in an attempt to clear the remnants of the flash from his vision. The shapes of the furniture in the room could be made out, as well as two other, new shapes. They were moving. Shepard Book back-peddled away, scrambling to his feet. The shock cleared his vision enough for him to clearly make out the two things in front of him. They weren't Reavers. What they appeared to be shocked him perhaps more than any Reaver could.