A Rift Between Worlds

by Cinders of War


Chapter 5: Noble Phantasms

Princess Celestia took off her Lotus mask, placing it back on its pedestal.

Excalibur will have to handle things on his own for a while.

She had to buy the others time. Without the void keys, she would only have Excalibur to defend her. One Warframe was not enough against an entire army of bloodthirsty Grineer.

Walking over to her main console, the princess typed away, bringing up screens of data and decryption devices. She loaded up a program that would hopefully mask her signal until the others could be awoken. While it loaded, she moved over to one of the other cryopods. Wiping the fog off the glass, she peered in at its sleeping inhabitant, wondering if she’ll ever have the chance to restore their power. The princess would just have to hope that they would find the keys. Only then, will she be able to awaken them. She would not allow the Grineer to destroy the worlds she cared about.


Home Run felt like he had just flown through a dream, sailing through a tunnel of bright lights. It was only brief, but he could still remember it. Appearing on the other side, he still felt the wooziness of the tunnel, but realized it was something else. His whole body felt unbalanced as if he had eaten too many hamburgers. He started to take a step forward, but it didn’t quite feel right.

“What’s going on?” he mumbled to himself.

He looked down at his feet, only, they weren’t feet anymore. He was staring down at two light blue hooves. His eyes grew wider.

“Must be a dream…”

He put a hand to his head, realizing it was no longer a hand as well, after hitting himself in the face with another hoof. He let out a terrified scream as he scanned his whole body, realizing he was now an equine. His clothes were gone, and his favourite shirt’s picture was now on the side of his bottom. Home Run was about to let out another shout of panic, when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He recognized the lavender colour of the pony behind him.

“It’s alright,” she said, smiling a little. “I was like that my first time in your world. You’ll get used to it.”

“Twilight?” he asked. “Why are we… horses?”

“Ponies, to be exact,” she told him. “This is where I come from. Oh, and I don’t think I got your name.”

“Right. It’s Home Run,” he said as he tried to take another few steps on his hind legs.

Eventually, gravity defeated him, sending him down on all four.

“You’ll figure it out, Home Run,” Twilight laughed. She turned around to pull a book out of a machine above a mirror they had come out from. “But… we have matters to discuss.”

Home Run nodded and continued to try and walk on four hooves.

“This is so weird…”

“First,” she continued. “That key that you threw to the man… that was what I came to get.”

“Oh…” Home Run remembered. “So… you didn’t come to save me?”

“It may sound harsh, but saving you wasn’t the priority, no. The key was what we needed to defeat what we call, the Grineer.”

“Sorry…” Home Run said, trying not to sound too disappointed. “I didn’t think about it.”

“It’s not really your fault, but with that key, he could possibly have the power to harness the energy of the void to transport himself here.”

“What are these… Grineer even doing here? What do they want?” Home Run asked.

“It’s a long story…” Twilight began. “And too much for me to explain, but I guess I’ll take you to Princess Celestia. She can tell you what all this is about.”

“Alright…” Home Run replied, still trying to get his bearings on the place and his form. Then he realized what Twilight had said. “Wait. Princess Celestia? I have a principal called Celestia.”

“Oh, I forgot to mention…” Twilight remembered.

Before she could continue, a loud pink pony barged into the room. “Twilight! There you are! We’ve got news for you! Who is this? Is he from the other world? Hi there! I’m Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you!”

“Wow…” Home Run marveled. “She’s just the same as the human Pinkie Pie.”

“So you are from the human world!” Pinkie said excitedly. “I’ve always wanted to go there, but we’ve never got the chance! Is it cold? Are the people-”

“Pinkie!” Twilight cut in. “You can ask later, as will I. We’ve got more important matters to discuss.”

“Right! That’s why I’m here! Princess Celestia wanted a word with you.”

“Perfect,” Twilight nodded. “We were just on our way to see her.”


“So many new people…” Sunset Shimmer mumbled, thinking of the possibilities of one of them being more than a human. “There’s got to be at least one who’s not what they seem.”

“Don’t worry about it too much, dear,” Rarity told her friend.

“Yeah, Rarity’s right!” Rainbow added. “If one of them tries to take over the school again, we’ll be there to stop them!”

“I hope they’re all just normal people,” Fluttershy said. “It would be nice to not have any problems once in a while.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, I… did you see that?”

She pointed out the window at a shape of what looked like a man zooming by, seemingly searching for something.

“W-what i-is that?” Fluttershy stammered.

“Could be an alien,” Rainbow Dash said, letting out a huge guffaw.

“He looks suspicious,” Sunset added. “Maybe we should have a look. He could be a criminal of some sort.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow agreed. “If we catch him, we’ll be heroes! And everyone will know how awesome I am!”

“C’mon, Rainbow. There’s more to it than that,” Applejack mentioned. “If that man out there’s gonna stir up some trouble, we’ve gotta stop him!”

“B-but what if h-he’s d-dangerous…” Fluttershy cautioned.

“We should at least take a look,” Sunset suggested. “Just in case.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie shouted, agreeing with Sunset. “Just a look! If he’s dangerous, we can run!”

“Let’s go!” Rainbow nodded, the first to walk to the door.

The girls left Sugarcube Corner and headed in the last direction Sunset Shimmer had seen the man go through.

“I think he went this way,” Sunset directed, leading them down the next street.

“Did no one else on the streets see this man?” Applejack asked. “Ah mean, it’s broad daylight.”

“Let’s ask!” Pinkie shouted, jumping up and down in excitement.

She proceeded up to the nearest people, asking them if they saw a strange looking man walk by. Most of the people shook their heads, but one or two said they saw someone strange heading down the street like he was looking for something.

“He’s headin’ ta the school,” Applejack realized. “Might be one o’ them new guys.”

“Let’s go,” Sunset said, heading towards Canterlot High.

The girls looked around, trying to spot the suspicious man. They searched the streets before and after the school, and along the building’s walls.

“I don’t see him,” Sunset reported. “I wonder where he went.”

“I think I see him!” Pinkie pointed.

They turned to follow Pinkie Pie’s finger, aiming straight at a bush. The man, covered in some kind of metallic skin, turned around and ran up the wall of the building, disappearing at the top.

“Okay…” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her eyes. “Did anyone else see that, or did I just imagine a man running up the side of our school?”

“I believe we all saw it,” Rarity confirmed. “But what was he doing in that dreadful bush?”

“He was looking at something,” Sunset speculated, directing her attention in a straight path from the bush. Her eyes landed on the school’s statue. "The portal.”

“We can try and cut him off!” Rainbow suggested. “We can’t let a creepy guy go around the school as he wishes! Let’s get him!”

Sunset Shimmer devised a plan. “Pinkie Pie and I will traverse to the west staircase. Rainbow Dash, you and Applejack take the east staircase. Fluttershy, Rarity, you stay down here, just in case he decides to climb back down from this side.”

“Sounds good,” Applejack nodded. “Let’s get to it! Time’s a wastin’!”

Sunset and Pinkie headed off to the other side of the school, while Rainbow and Applejack headed off to the nearby staircase.

“Good luck,” Fluttershy told them. “And do be c-careful.”

Sunset led the way to the east wing of the school building, Pinkie happily jumping along behind her.

“Who do you think he is? Do you think he’s friendly? Maybe he’s from another world! Maybe Twilight’s world!”

“Pinkie,” Sunset said as they approached the other side of the school. “If we’re going to cut him off, we need to surprise him. We can’t let him hear us.”

“Okie-dokie-lokey!” Pinkie whispered.

They arrived at the staircase in less than eight minutes, Sunset the first to step foot on the wooden stairs, heading up to the next floor. They quickly moved up the floors and eventually arrived at the door to the roof. Sunset flung open the door, staring face to face with the mysterious man, or whatever he was. He was a suit of armor, which almost looked skin-like, with no facial features except for a single horn on the top of its head. Rainbow Dash and Applejack arrived behind the man, looking like they were chasing him across the roof.

“Ha!” Rainbow shouted. “You’re trapped!”

“Yeah!” Pinkie added in. “Who are you? What are you doing here? What is your name? I know everyone here!”

The man, if indeed it was a man, said nothing and raised his arm up to the sky. Before anyone knew what was happening, an energy-like sword appeared in his hands, exploding in a shower of blinding light.

“Ah!” the Rainbooms shouted as white light flooded their sights.

“I can’t see!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Where’s everything?”

It took a while before their visions returned to them, finally able to see through the white flash and the blurry images.

“Everyone alright?” Sunset asked, rubbing her eyes.

“That was nothing,” Rainbow Dash assured, but still blinked hard a few more times.

The four of them looked around, seeing no signs of the armored man.

“Looks like we lost him,” Applejack sighed.

“There’s no way he could just vanish!” Sunset said, still rubbing her eyes. “Everyone spread out.”

The four girls walked around the roof, searching every nook and cranny for the man. This time, they failed to locate their quarry. In the end, they returned to the front of the school, next to the statue, to meet back with Fluttershy and Rarity.

“Did you find him?” Fluttershy asked.

“We did actually…” Applejack told them. “But he did some hocus pocus fancy magic and disappeared.”

“That’s too bad…”

“I’m sure it’s one of the new people at school,” Sunset said, having a feeling. “I just know it. When I see Home Run tomorrow, I’m going to get some answers from him.”


Home Run wasn’t sure what happened, but when Twilight’s horn started glowing, he felt his body move and the next thing he knew, he was in a totally different place.

“Phew!” Twilight smiled. “Glad it worked alright this time.”

“What was that?” Home Run asked.

“Teleportation.”

“Wait, what? You can do that?”

“Pretty much.”

Twilight led Home Run, who still struggled to walk, up a long flight of stairs. The new pony marveled at the huge castle looming before him, then looked down, staring off the face of the mountain to the bottom of a valley. Two guards at the top of the stairs bowed and opened the huge doors as Twilight stepped up towards them.

“Welcome back, princess,” one of them said. “Princess Celestia is waiting for you.”

“Wait, you’re a princess too?” Home Run asked, shocked at the royalty of his new friend.

“Yeah, that’s right,” she nodded. “The Princess of Friendship, to be exact.”

“Umm… okay.”

“I’ll explain more about this to you when we have more time, but for now, I have to get you to Princess Celestia. She’ll tell you what’s really going on with your world and ours.”

Twilight led the astonished pony down the long halls of Canterlot Castle, heading straight for the princess’s personal study. Twilight knocked on the door with her hoof and waited. Not long later, a taller pony with familiar bright, spectral hair opened the door.

“Twilight!” she exclaimed. “You’re back. And I see you’ve brought our guest.”

Home Run stared at the pony, taking in how similar she looked to his principal.

“Yes, this is Home Run,” Twilight briefed. “He was the boy with the key, but princess, that’s what I wanted to tell you.”

Before she could continue, Home Run butted in. “It’s my fault. I threw the key to the alien. I didn’t think it was important then.”

Princess Celestia’s eyes widened, but then gave them a smile as she asked them to come in. “It’s alright, Home Run. And Twilight, Rarity’s found another key, so we can activate the Frames, but I’m afraid that the Grineer will be able to get here with the key they have.”

“Sorry, but what do these aliens want?” Home Run asked, interested in the things he’d seen in the last few hours. “Why are these keys so special?”

Princess Celestia looked down. “It was my deepest, darkest secret that no one knew about. Long ago, after my sister, Luna, became Nightmare Moon… I created the Tenno. The Tenno were a race of… highly advanced warriors. In the ancient times, the human world… your world, Home Run, came under attack from an enemy known as the Grineer. They are a vicious race of cloned flesh that seeks to conquer the galaxy. I had to send the Tenno and their armors, called Warframes, through the mirror to halt their conquest of space.”

“So these… Grineer have been at it for quite some time?” Home Run asked.

Celestia nodded. “That’s right. But long ago, before Twilight Sparkle figured how to keep the mirror open, the mirror would only open every thirty moons. The Tenno wouldn’t be able to return unless the mirror was open, so I developed a communications device to talk with them and to watch over them. Before long, the Grineer figured out I was the one giving the orders, so they searched for me. I created the persona of the Lotus to disguise myself and my location from them, but now… it appears they are close.”

“So why don’t you just activate the Tenno again?” Home Run questioned. “I mean… if they were so effective, why not use them again?”

“It’s a lot more complicated than that,” Twilight told him. She turned to the taller princess. “Princess Celestia. I think you better show him.”

“Alright,” Celestia agreed. She walked over to her bookshelf and pulled out a datapad. A small scanner activated and took a quick scan of the princess’s face. Accepting her facial data, the center of the floor began to open, revealing a long staircase down into the unknown. “Come with me.”


Home Run had learnt a little bit about the Equestrian culture as he and Princess Twilight followed Princess Celestia down the dark hall. Some ponies had wings, while others had horns, or nothing at all. In this world, he was a pony with neither of the special parts, but Twilight told him he was stronger than the other two. He had asked why she and Celestia had both horns and wings, but all Twilight told him was that princesses were alicorns.

They stopped in front of a huge door, waiting for it to slowly open, with a release of pressurized air. Celestia led the way in, the room lighting up as they entered.

“What is this place?” Home Run asked as he took in the vastness of the circular room.

Celestia stopped in the middle. “As I’ve told Twilight, this is the inner sanctum. The place where the Tenno have slept for centuries, and the place where I’ve directed them when they performed in your world.”

She moved to a nearby console, which was almost the size of a full organ. She tapped on the buttons, opening a long panel with a hiss of more air. Home Run looked at it, seeing two indents that were meant to hold a familiar shape.

“So this is what you need that key for?” Home Run asked, astounded at the information that his brain had taken in on his first day of school. “To power up these… Tenno?”

“That’s right!” Celestia smiled. “You’re a perceptive one.”

“Except that he threw the key to the Grineer,” Twilight reminded.

“Sorry,” Home Run blushed. “I really didn’t think it was all that important.”

“What’s done is done, I suppose,” Princess Celestia said, giving him a pat with her hoof. “We have one key. That’ll have to do for now.”

“Excuse me, Princess Celestia,” Twilight said, walking alongside the larger alicorn. “But where did Rarity find the key?”

“Oh you wouldn’t believe it, Twilight,” Celestia chuckled. “She’d found it in Froggy Bottom.”

“Wow, all the way there?”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Home Run cut in, remembering something very important. “But… when can I get back? I’ve just remembered I have plenty of homework to finish! I can’t mess up on my first week in school!”

“Oh… yes. My apologies,” Celestia responded. She turned to the lavender alicorn. “Twilight. Would you bring him back to the portal for me?”

“That would be just great!” Home Run thanked. “I mean… my folks will also be looking for me. I’m gonna have some explaining to do.”

“Nice to have met you Home Run,” Celestia said as she returned to her console. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again, and if you would... please don't mention this to anyone.”


“What does she mean by ‘I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again?’,” Home Run had asked as he followed Twilight to the mirror.

The princess put the book back on the machine surrounding the mirror, opening a portal back to the human world. “Don’t think too much on it. Just… return to your world. Forget all this happened. We’ll handle things from here.”

Home Run stepped up to the mirror, still learning to walk on all fours. “It’s been a pleasure, Princess Twilight. Can’t say I’ll miss this form though.”
Twilight gave him a wave as he exited through the mirror, warping back to the human world. Stepping out on the other side, Home Run looked at himself, very happy to see his human form once again.

“Yes!” he shouted to the sky, glad that he could walk on two legs again.

Then he remembered the work he had to do and ran as fast as he could back to his home.


Captain Vor had returned to the ships to prepare the assault against the Lotus. He raised the key high, showing all his troops the way to the Lotus.

“After all this time!” Vor shouted to them, raising the corner of his mouth in a smile. “We have what we need to get to the Lotus! For centuries, she has disrupted our plans with her Tenno! No more! We will take this battle to her, and we will end her, once and for all! For the Queens!”

The Grineer soldiers shouted in triumph in response to Vor’s speech, creating a bigger smile on the captain’s face. He returned to his post on the upper decks to view his army, preparing themselves for the final attack. The preparation would take time, but when they finish, they would mobilize against the Lotus, throwing everything they had at her until she was dead.

Vor watched as his men brought the torsion beam, setting it down in the hangar with the rest of the machines and parts for the gate. He couldn't risk using the void key in the confines of his cruiser. He would have to get down to the planet’s wretched surface again to construct the gate to the Lotus, but this time, he would be prepared for the Excalibur. A Tenno was excellent at combat, but not against overwhelming odds.