“You sure this gonna work, Jay?” Dash asked, looking at the Genji gauntlet rather gingerly.
“No, but if anything happens I can just use Hodgepodge to bring us back,” Jason said, nodding his head. After otherwise perfecting Dash’s abilities in their home universe, Jason had the bright idea to see if she could open portals to other worlds using tokens.
“Come on already, we don’t have all day,” Chrysalis said with a roll of her eyes.
“I hope it works, I’m rather excited at the idea of other universes,” Megan said from her position on Chrysalis’ back.
“Ok... here goes nothing,” Dash said, focusing on the gauntlet. Her body started to glow and she quickly flew into the sky, producing another portal.
“Did it work?” Jason called up, looking at Dash.
“Only one way to find out!” she called back as she darted into it.
“She’s such an idiot,” Chrysalis said with a shake of her head.
“No, she’s just reckless,” Jason said, shifting into Razor. “Shall we?” he asked, taking to the sky, quickly moving through the portal.
“Please hold on tightly Megan, I’d never live with myself if you were to fall,” Chrysalis said, taking to the sky.
“Wait for me darn you!” Rarity said with a huff, racing over to them. She had gotten dressed up for the occasion, having spent all day on it.
Chrysalis grumbled a little, wrapping her forehooves around Rarity and flying toward the portal. “You complain once about the dress and I drop you right into some mud.”
Rarity just huffed as they crossed the portal, which closed behind them.
“-and we’ve got a battalion of griffins, earth ponies, and diamond dogs deployed to Appleloosa to replace the militia that left,” Thorax finished.
“So no contact with the enemy?” Gilgamesh asked.
“No sir.”
“Huh. That’s been over a month now.”
“I agree sir, it’s odd.”
“How are the soldiers doing?”
“They’re… fine, sir,” the changeling hesitated.
“‘Fine’ isn’t ‘good.’ What’s wrong?”
“Well, they’re feeling a little worn out. I think many of them were foolish enough to think the war would be over by now. They’re homesick or missing their families and they don’t have anything to take their minds off the constant threat of attack.”
“I see,” the warrior replied, pondering the situation. “Call in Sergeant Pinkie Pie, I’ve got a task for her.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Anything else?”
“Just a list of those who are ready to return to active duty, Commander,” Thorax replied.
“I’ll let you handle that one. For now I’ll-”
At that moment the barrack doors burst open, an injured pegasus mare hovering in.
“Commander Gilgamesh! Emergency!”
“Cloudchaser? What’s wrong?”
“Cloudsdale! There’s-” she stopped to catch her breath. “There’s something headed towards it! A big black ball with tentacles and one eye! I think it’s one of the high priorities!”
“Catastrophe,” the warrior muttered. “How far away was it?”
“At the rate it’s going it’ll be at Cloudsdale within the hour! It’s approaching from the south!”
“Where’s your squad?”
“My sister, Flitter, is unconscious, but I managed to carry her back. The others… Sir, I don’t know what it did, but we all just plummeted out of the sky. The two of us managed to survive because we hit a hill at an angle and rolled down. The rest of the squad… they died on impact.”
“Gravity 100,” he muttered grimly. Then his eyes widened in realization. “Oh shit. If that thing reaches Cloudsdale-” he cut himself off before turning to Thorax. “General, is Rainbow Dash in Canterlot?”
“Already done, sir. I sent the message, she’s on her way to meet you at the Canterlot launchpad.”
“Contact Chrysalis and Nectar, have them inform the Commanders. And have Cloudchaser and her sister taken to medical.”
“At once!” he replied with a salute.
Gilgamesh cut a hole in the air with his naginata and entered the Rift, exciting right at the launchpad. Rainbow Dash was already there. “Ready?”
“Born ready!” she replied, flaring her wings. Gilgamesh nodded and grabbed his scarf. With a flick of his wrist it transformed into a pair of bat-like wings and both of them were off.
“Alert Cloudsdale and have all nonessential personnel ready to evacuate. I’ll try to head this thing off,” Gilgamesh ordered.
“Sir!” she replied, speeding off towards the city as he curved and headed to intercept the Demon.
It was only about twenty minutes before he found it. He was about to fire upon it from a distance, but it saw him first and he suddenly began to plummet to the earth.
“Shit!” he shouted before activating his shifter powers, causing him to descend more slowly but still fast enough that the landing made a crater. As the Demon approached he fired Penetrating Beam from his eyes, only for the attack to curve away and strike a nearby tree.
Great. I didn’t think it had enough control of gravity to bend light.
Catastrophe used Earth Shaker, causing Gilgamesh to counter with Earthquake, the two tremors meeting and causing a wall of earth to form between them.
Heh, just like the time against-
A rainbow colored portal burst open in the sky above, cutting off his thought.
What the hell?
“Woot!” Dash shouted as she burst from the portal. “It worked! I am so awesome!”
“What the-? SERGEANT MAJOR DASH, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE!?” Gilgamesh shouted.
“Who you calling sergeant bozo?” she asked, crossing her arms, her talons visible.
“Wait… you’re-!”
“Dash seriously, think before you fly through portals.” Jason flew out next, looking around. “Well, at least it worked.” he waved at Gilgamesh.
“Jason!? How-!? Never mind, GET OUT OF HERE!”
“How rude!” came a cultured voice. At that moment Chrysalis, carrying Megan and Rarity exited the portal. “We come to pay a visit, the least you could do is-”
Rarity was cut off as her coat, mane, and entire body turned grey, frozen still in stone. And so did Megan and Chrysalis, causing all three to fall to the ground.
“SUNOVA-!” Gilgamesh shouted, dashing towards them while firing a Missile spell at Catastrophe. The Demon made it explode in front of it, causing it to cloud its vision with smoke and debris. Gilgamesh used the distraction to create a cushion of air that caught the three petrified girls before they hit the ground.
“Oh it is on,”Jason snarled, reverting to normal. “Dash give me the gauntlet now.” Not hesitating, Dash tossed him the gauntlet, which he quickly put on, along with its twin. “Friend of yours?” he asked, drawing Laevateinn, the blade humming with power.
“Catastrophe, Demon of the Rift, Commanded by Exdeath. Specialties include gravity, petrifying, and earth attacks. Likes to bring its enemies to the ground and then hit them with Earth Shaker or petrify them. Unless you have some sort of magic reflector, do not go airborne unless you want to die on impact,” he replied, setting the three girls down. He held his hand in front of him and closed his eyes. “He absorbs earth attacks, but has no resistances. No weaknesses either. Keep him off me, I need to concentrate.”
“You got it, teach,” Jason said, cracking his neck. “I’ve been waiting to try this out,” he reached into his cube, and was suddenly clad in his new armor. “Have at you demon!” he cried, rushing at Catastrophe. He slammed a fist into the ground, causing a wave of ice spikes toward the Demon. The air in front of the demon began to shift and the ice spikes were pulled into the air only to hurled back at Jason.
He hissed, narrowing his eyes, “Flare Star!” he shouted, firing off a spell at it. Several small balls of light appeared around it, which flew up into the air and slammed into it. They condensed into a small ball which expanded, becoming a miniature supernova.
The demon shook, gaining it’s bearings at being wounded, before it turned back to Jason. Its eye widened and its pupil shrank before shining for a moment.
Jason rolled out of the way, ducking behind a tree which turned to stone. “Lets see how you do without the eye,” Jason said, rolling from behind the tree. He dashed forward, the sword held high. Catastrophe easily stopped the attack by increasing the boy’s gravity, but though his attack was halted he still managed to stay standing.
At that moment a blur streaked in front of the creature’s face and it shrieked in pain, a cut along its eye now present as the attack was stopped.
“Aww yeah! How you like my talons, jerk!?” Rainbow Dash shouted, hovering a few yards away.
The demon turned to face her and she fell to the ground, not hard enough to really hurt her, but she wasn’t going to be flying for the moment.
“Esuna!”
Jason turned to see Gilgamesh cast a spell, a yellow light sparkling over the other three girls as the petrification was dispelled.
“Good job,” Jason called, turning to the demon. “Gravity ain’t gonna help you,” he narrowed his eyes. “Omnitrix, Nightshade,” he commanded, shifting into Gengar. “Shadow Ball!” he cried, launching a ball of dark energy at it. The attack connected and Catastrophe recoiled before shaking itself.
“COMMANDER!”
Everyone turned to see a rainbow streak approaching them.
Gilgamesh dashed forwards and grabbed the demon by one of its tentacles before hurling it into the air and hitting it with a Rocket Punch. “END IT, DASH!”
The streak glowed red for a moment before the pegasus dashed forwards, propelled by a Sonic Rainboom. She then began to strike the demon from all sides, a rainbow explosion appearing every time she turned, before finally flying high and diving down, a sharp rainbow energy slash cutting through the demon. It screeched in pain before beginning to split in half and then dissolving into nothing.
“Good work, Sergeant Major,” Gilgamesh compliment.
“Thank you, sir,” the pegasus replied, sheathing the long single-edged blade.
“My talons are cooler,” Dash commented, fixing her wings.
The other pegasus opened her mouth to reply when she noticed who she was talking to. “What the-!? How-!? Who-!? WHAT!?”
“I am the one, the only, Rainbow Dash! Bifrost incarnate, Element of Loyalty and 20% cooler than you,” she said with a smirk.
Jason frowned and flicked her ear. “Don’t antagonize the locals.”
“Great, there’s two of them,” Chrysalis said with a groan, facehoofing.
The local Rainbow Dash noticed the Changeling Empress and immediately saluted. “Commander Chrysalis! My apologies, ma’am, I didn’t… wait… what’s with the wings?”
“A side effect of becoming empress.” Chrysalis said getting to her hooves, showing off the full extent of her changes.
“Whoa. Rarity and Twilight are going to go nuts over this.”
“Oh believe me I already have,” Rarity mumbled, looking at her now muddied dress, what looked like a changeling wing poking out from under it.
“Wait, you have wings!?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Ok, this is going to get confusing, so for the sake of sanity,” Gilgamesh began by pointing to his subordinate, “you are R.D. for the time being, and you,” he said pointing to the other, “are Dash.” He then turned to the rest of the group. “You will be Chryssi, and you,” he turned and pointed at Rarity only to stay silent. “... I can’t think of anything.”
“Just call me Lady Rarity,” she said, giving him a smile despite her dress.
“She’s part changeling now,” Jason explained.
“Huh. I guess I’ve heard of weirder things happening. Ok then, you’re Lady Rarity, and my Rarity will be 1st Sergeant Rarity,” he declared before turning to R.D. “Like I explained when Robin and Geo got here, there are other Equestrias and other versions of all of you. These are some of them. This is my friend and student, Jason. He’s a human like me, despite the skin color difference.”
“You’re wrong Gilg, I’m not human, never was.” Jason said, shaking his head.
“What?”
“I’m Jotun, one of the last of my kind.” Jason said, returning his sword to his cube.
“‘Jotun’? Hold on a minute,” Gilgamesh said before closing his eyes. “Jotun… Jotun…. Jotunheim. Wait,” his eyes opened before he looked to the boy. “You’re a frost giant?”
“Yup,” Jason said with a nod. His eyes changed to red, a blizzard starting to kick up around him.
“Cool!” R.D. exclaimed. “Uh, no pun intended.”
“R.D., head to Cloudsdale and tell them the situation’s handled,” Gilgamesh ordered. “I’m going to take them back to Canterlot. We’ll meet later at the barracks for debriefing.”
The cyan pegasus saluted before flying off the way she came.
“So, uh, not to insult you guys here, but what made you think that a war was a good time to pay me a visit?”
“It’s a place I knew we’d be welcome. I mean I didn’t want to end up in that asshole Don’s world again,” Jason said, clenching his fists.
“Uh, sounds like we’ve got a lot to catch up on,” Gilgamesh replied before cutting open a hole in the air.
“Wow,” Megan quipped.
“Thank you, um… who are you?”
“This is my mother, the one who raised me, Megan. She used to visit Equestria too, back when it was called Ponyland,” Jason said, giving the woman a hug.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Megan said with a friendly wave and a smile.
“As I you, madam, though I wish it were under better circumstances,” he replied with a bow. “Huh, so you got two mothers, and one of them was here in Equestria’s distant past? Man, your backstory just gets more and more crazy each time I see you, doesn’t it? Anyway, if you could all follow me,” he said as he entered the rift he made.
“Wait, so you’re telling me this guy who was just a journalist managed to take over Equestria? Even held Celestia and Luna hostage?” R.D. asked, completely shocked.
“He wasn’t a journalist,” Dash replied to her double, “That was just a cover so he could recruit for the Forever Knights.”
The two were walking down the streets of Canterlot, allowing the visiting pegasus to get a look at things. Some heads turned, but for the most part everyone went about their duties.
“Hay, I’m glad he’s not the same here. It’s hard enough fighting these bastards without having to deal with problems on the inside. Had enough trouble with all the different species trying to act like they’re the best. So, what happened next?”
“He cut my legs off,” she said flatly, waving a talon around. “After that, well, then Chrysalis got all the other queens to join together under her. From what I know Maud and Kat helped with that... oh yeah, I hooked up with Gilda.”
“You hooked up with G!? Wow, I didn’t know I swung that way in other dimensions.”
“Heh, you should give it a try,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows with a smirk.
“Uh, I dunno. Got too much to worry about right now. Besides, I’m still trying to patch things up with her. Lightning Dust, too.”
“She just joined Jason’s guard after that whole thing at Rainbow Falls,” Dash said, rubbing her chin, “I think the guard might actually straighten her out.”
“Yeah, the two of them are definitely less hotheaded, but we’re still not quite buddy buddy yet. As for the Rainbow Falls thing, I don’t think we got that far in our timeline before things changed. It was right after we gave up the Elements of Harmony that things started to go down the hole, and… well, you can see for yourself,” she said, motioning to the barely rebuilt Canterlot, the damages from the assault nearly a year ago still present. “So, I’m guessing you’re wondering about this?” she asked, pointing to the scar running across her right eye that she kept closed.
“More than a little,” Dash said with a nod.
“Well, it’s kind of a story, so let’s head inside and get a drink,” R.D. said, motioning to the building simply labelled “PUB” next to them. “I’m kinda looking forward to telling the news guys, too. Give them something to talk about to take their minds off things.”
“I like the way you think,” Dash said with a smirk, “Come on, what are you waiting for?” she asked, walking inside.
As they entered they were met with a familiar face in front of them.
“Trixie?” Dash asked.
The unicorn looked on with surprise before smirking. “Well, this is interesting. So what’s going on here? Did you get some poor fool of a changeling to start hero worshipping you so you could see what you look like with different battle scars, Rainbow?”
“Actually, this is me from another dimension. They paid us a visit and got caught up in that fight with the High Priority that was headed for Cloudsdale a few hours ago.”
“Another dimension, you say? Well, let’s just hope this one has a better lid on her ego than you do.”
“I gotta tell ya, it’s really weird being back in Canterlot. A lotta ponies left after that Fenrir attack,” Dash said, looking around. “I mean, even seeing the mountain whole is weird.”
“‘Whole’? Do I even want to know? And what’s ‘Fenrir’?” R.D. asked.
“Fenrir is Jason’s uncle, who is a giant wolf. He died so long ago that his body was under Canterlot mountain. That jerk Animo, with some Displaced named Don, turned him into a zombie and he destroyed half the mountain rising from his grave. Don’t ask me why his uncle is a giant wolf, his family is just weird.”
“Wait, so that Jason guy’s adopted mom visited the way distant past of Equestria, and he’s not really human, and he’s got a giant wolf uncle, and he’s marrying Chrysalis? Wow, Gilgamesh wasn’t kidding, he does have a crazy backstory.”
“Actually after that weird magic book made Rarity go crazy, which is all Spike’s fault, Jason, Chrysalis, AND Rarity are getting married.”
“Wait, what!?”
“Well, I was going to head back to the barracks and see about what I could do for tonight’s party, but this sounds far more interesting,” Trixie commented with a smirk. “Come on in, I’ll buy you both a drink. One drink.”
“Tch. Never gonna let me live that down, huh Trixie?” R.D. growled.
“Ahem?”
She groaned. “Never gonna let me live that down, Lieutenant Trixie?”
“Better. And not when it came out of my paycheck it won’t. Now come on.” She turned around and began to walk inside.
“You’re kidding me. Trixie’s your superior? That braggart?” Dash asked.
“Of course,” came a familiar voice from behind them as a hoof reached around and held a knife to the pegasus’ neck. Dash turned enough to see the unicorn behind her. “I don’t know what my version is like in your world, but I’ve come a long way,” she gloated with a grin as she removed her weapon and walked inside, the Trixie they had seen before them vanishing into mist.
“We uh... actually have no idea where our Trixie is...” Dash said, looking away, “She disappeared somewhere in the Crystal Empire a few months back. Left her cart and everything. Only trace we found of her was a magical signature from when someone stole the alicorn amulet from Zecora’s place.” She shook her head. “Come on, free drinks,” she said, following Trixie.
“‘Sup, everybody?” R.D. called, all heads turning to her. Half the pub got up and saluted. “At ease, we’re all off duty.”
“‘Off duty?’ Why all the armor and weapons, then?” Dash asked.
“Gotta be prepared for emergencies. Anyway, this is me from another dimension. She and some of her friends are here for a while, so if you see a Chrysalis with butterfly wings, a Rarity with changeling wings, or two other humans, don’t freak out. Oh, and so no one’s confused, call me R.D. and her Dash. Now then, who wants to hear a story?”
Most of the pub approached the three mares as they took a seat, while Trixie ordered three mugs of cider from the bartender.
“So, what’ve you got for us this time, R.D.?” Spitfire asked, taking a seat.
“Just gonna tell the new guys how I lost this eye.”
“This I gotta hear,” Dash said, grabbing her mug of cider when it was passed to her. She took a sip and made a bit of a disappointed face.
“What’s wrong?” R.D. asked.
“I got the good stuff here, thats what,” Dash said, pulling a flask out from under her wing. “Here, taste this.” She passed it to R.D.
The pegasus took a sip and her eyes widened in surprise. “Wow. What is this?”
“Mead, milked straight from a goat.”
“You have a goat that produces alcohol?” Trixie asked, taking a swig when R.D. offered it to her. “Not bad.”
“We also have a boar that doesn’t die. You can kill him any way you like and he just pops back to life the next day. Gilda takes out her aggression on him. Works wonders on keeping her calm.”
“That’d actually be pretty useful here. It’s a little difficult to keep the Griffons and Diamond Dogs properly fed around here,” R.D. said. “And what’s this I hear about frustration? Not giving G enough of your time?” she asked with a smirk.
“Heh, you have no idea what we get up to in bed. Gilda just can’t get enough of the claws.” Dash smirked, flexing her talons.
“Ok, moving on please. As much as I enjoy watching you make a fool of yourself, I’d like to hear this story as well. Only got second-hoof accounts,” Trixie interrupted.
“Right, right. Anyway, you guys might’ve heard the official report, but that leaves out all the good details. It was back about two months ago, when me, Applejack, and Rarity were training some new recruits from the militia who wanted to go full-guard. Had to pick them up from Appleloosa. Anyway, on the way back, we get ambushed by demons, most of them the Tartarus type but a few from Beyond. Anyway, the we’re holding up pretty well, until the head honcho decides to get in on the deal, guy named Belial. Tall as Gilgamesh, two huge horns sticking out of his forehead, two bat wings, clawed hands, built for speed. Guy starts laying it onto us when I hit him with a Sonic Rainboom. He’s impressed, naturally, even though he manages to get up after he takes it right in the face.”
Many of the recruits mutter, having heard of or seen the legendary power of the Rainboom, reasoning that anything that could take it must be as strong as one of the Princesses.
“Oh am I gonna to show you a trick after this story,” Dash said with a smirk, sipping from her flask.
“Alright then. Anyway, moving on, the guy says he wants a one on one duel with me, and if I agree he’ll call off his goons. I hate to admit it, but with all the militia guys who didn’t see real combat yet, we’re not doing so hot, so I agree. We arrange the time and the place, an open field in the desert the next day at noon. Just when I think it’s over with he grabs Applejack and takes off. Said it was to make sure I don’t chicken out. Naturally I was pissed, but the guy was gone before I could stop him.”
“I know how that feels...” Dash said, looking longingly at her talons.
“Anyway, since there’s no other forces nearby and Rarity wouldn’t be able to teleport us anywhere close enough, I’ve got no choice but to to meet him the next day. Shows up with some goons and Applejack, even tells me he’ll let her go even if I lose. He says he wants to make sure I’m not distracted, so I can ‘fight him to the best of my ability.’ Definitely one of those ‘proud warrior’ types. So the two of us go at it, straight into the air. We’re holding pretty even, even after a few minutes of going at it non-stop. Hate to say it, but the guy was faster than me. Not as agile, though, and he was definitely the bigger target.”
“Faster than you? I’m surprised you can even admit that,” Trixie quipped.
“So, what happened next?” Spitfire asked, taking a swig of the mead.
“Well, like I said, I’m holding against his claws with blades, when he decides to pull out this long sword that has wind circling around it. He starts swinging the thing and suddenly I’m being hit with blasts of air, tornados, and air blades. I’m totally on the defensive, can’t even get close to him.”
The crowd murmured again.
“So then I decide to stop holding back. I shoot up into the sky, way up, before I dive down at him. On the way I pull out my Haste tome and cast the spell. I’m dodging all his attacks and then I go Sonic Rainboom on him, my swords out, and I cut him. But I’m not done with just that, I keep the pressure up, dashing back and forth around him, cutting him up, every turn I’m making pulling off another Sonic Rainboom, like fireworks going off in the sky!”
The crowd ‘ooh’ed and ‘ahh’ed. Even Trixie looks impressed.
“Then out of nowhere, I’m getting smacked around just as easily as he was, cutting me up all over the place! I try to get away, but he’s keeping up! He’s faster than me, even with the Haste spell and the Rainboom! Then I see it: he doesn’t have two wings, he has six! He kept the other four folded the whole time, going easy on me! Next thing I know I get cut right along the eye, right here!” she points at her face. “The pain throws off my focus and he cuts me along the wing before grabbing me and slamming me into the ground!”
The crowd gasped.
“I look up and he’s standing over me. I expect him to be all like ‘mwahaha! You thought you could beat me, little pony!?’ but instead he actually says he’s impressed with me. He says the last time he went that hard is when he took on Luna herself. He raises his sword and says ‘don’t move, noble pegasus. Let me end your life painlessly.’ I’m beat, cut up, and in serious pain, but I’m not giving up just yet. I know I’ve got one shot. When he swings his sword down I use my good wing to launch myself at him and buck him in the face! While he’s surprised I kick his sword out of his claw, grab it in my mouth, spin, and give him a slash all the way from his shoulder across his chest. I didn’t know how I did it, but right after that this huge energy blast of rainbow magic shoots out of the sword and knocks him away from me and to the ground!”
The crowd looked intense, fully engaged in the story.
“That last move used everything I had left, so after that I just collapse to the ground. I’m in pain and need medical attention, but I win,” she says. Then a smirk curls onto her face. “Or so I think, because then he actually gets up and starts walking over to me! I’m completely spent, I can barely crawl! I see him gushing blood from the cut I gave him, but he’s still coming! I hear everyone else calling out to me, they’re way too far away and they’ll never make it in time! I close my eyes and wait for the last blow… and when I open them I see he’s holding his claw out to me. He wants to congratulate me on winning. He says even if he has the strength to kill me it wouldn’t matter because he’s going to die from the cut I gave him no matter what. He said it would be cheap if he didn’t let me have the win. After a few seconds I reach out my hoof and shake with him.”
“Quite the warrior huh?” Dash asked, smirking a little.
“Heh, you have no idea. Because the story’s not over.”
“What?” Spitfire asked. “But he said you won.”
“Yeah, and I knew he meant it. He turns to the other demons and tells them to release Applejack, but they’re not moving. Then some other demon, some schmuck who’s name I can’t remember, starts spouting off about how now that he’s wounded he can finally take control, and it looks like the other goons are happy about it. I guess they were just a bunch of thugs that were afraid of going against Belial. Anyway, the bastard tells them to kill Applejack, but Belial comes rushing in and tears them to pieces, ripping them apart with his claws and blasting them with wind magic. Some of them escape and run off but most of them are done in. I could hardly believe it, even with all the damage I gave him he still would’ve had enough strength to take on all of us. After he saves Applejack he falls over. He tells me he wants me to have his sword, Belderiver, and that it can take the magic of the user and make it into an attack, which I guess is what I did when I hit him with it,” she explains as she motions to the sword strapped to her armor. “After that he tells me that he felt honored to fight someone like me. Heh, even says that if I die in this war he’ll personally torment my soul for insulting both of us. After that he finally passes on and I have the troops bury him. And, well, that’s all that happened.”
“Thats one hell of a story,” Dash said, slamming the rest of her mead and letting out a contented sigh, “But I did say I would show you a trick.” She hopped out of her seat, spreading her much larger wings.
“What the-? Why are your wings so big?”
“Prepare to taste the rainbow!” Dash shouted as she started to glow. She bolted out the doors, leaving behind a solid contrail.
“Hey look!” somepony shouted, pointing out the window. Dash was high above Canterlot, picking up speed. A second later, she performed a sonic rainboom, ripping open another rift. Instead of leading home, however, said rift led to above another Ponyville, where a pink humanoid in white pants was fighting another humanoid with strange armor and long, yellow glowing hair. A moment later it closed and Dash burst back into the bar, looking smug as all hell.
“Wh-What the hay was that!?” R.D. shouted.
“Like I said before, I’m Bifrost incarnate. I’m so fast I can punch holes between worlds. How do you think we got here?”
“The same way Gilgamesh does. Also, I don’t think that was the best idea.”
“What do you-”
An alarm suddenly rang out.
“A PORTAL HAS SUDDENLY OPENED ABOVE CANTERLOT! ALL UNITS, PREPARE FOR BATTLE! REPORT TO YOUR STATIONS IMMEDIATELY!” came a voice over a speaker system.
Creatures of all kinds were racing back and forth, dashing in and out of buildings as the occupants of the pub looked on.
“Um... whoops?” Dash asked with sheepish laugh.
R.D. groaned.
“Well, I don’t think I’ll be complaining about your antics for a while,” Trixie deadpanned before turning to a changeling. “Stag, could you alert Commander Chrysalis to what’s happening please?”
“Of course, Lieutenant,” he replied before closing his eyes and concentrating.
It was a few moments before the speaker came on again.
“False alarm. I repeat, false alarm. There is no enemy attack. As you were.”
Everyone in the streets either sighed in relief or groaned in annoyance as they headed back to what they were doing.
“Well, nonexistent crisis averted,” Trixie commented.”Now, why don’t we all finish our–?”
The unicorn turned to see the two Rainbow Dashes had quickly gotten themselves into a drinking contest.
“This isn’t going to end well,” she said with a groan, sipping at her own drink.