A shrill cry turned our heads to a well-dressed and snooty looking unicorn. "What in Celestia is that?!" she cried, pointing a hoof at me.
We were in the garden of a city. The more I looked at it, the more familiar it became. "Is Luna here?"
She frowned at us. "I won't let you near the princess!" She fled as a way of proving her fealty, leaving us alone in the garden.
Dusk sat up from where he was spawled. "Where are we? Was that another pony?"
Sandra nodded quickly, "Dressed like a ren faire survivor, too. Where are we?"
Several new ponies arrived, marching in with gold armor that shined even in the dim evening light. "Surrender in the name of Princess Celestia!"
I held up my hands. "Woah hey, we're not here to make trouble."
Cindy nodded. "Time to go!" We were thrown into the void abruptly. Sandra and Dusk froze in place, but we could still move. "I think you need to have a clear place in mind, not just hope for the best. I'll get us back where we started."
We fell into the physical world, a few feet from where we began.
Dusk scrambled upright again. "Was that where the ponies come from? Why'd we leave?"
Sandra snorted. "Because they were getting ready to arrest us?"
I looked around with eyes and senses, feeling no strong presences nearby. "I'm not even sure how I got there. Cindy got us back."
Cindy smiled and nodded. "I did what I had to. We can visit them later, I think. We learned what we had to learn, we should get going." She turned towards Mexico and controlled an arm, pointing ahead. "It'll be faster if we hop there, and get some practice in."
Sandra tilted her head a bit. "Is this what it's like, you know, without a body?"
"Sort of... The space between is familiar, but the energy used to get there and back is new. Everyone ready? Will, you do the next one, you need practice, then Dusk, then me."
Sandra snorted softly and scuffed the ground. "Stupid unicorns."
I put up the bubble and looked as far ahead as I could, aiming for the top of a hill I could see in the distance, then it was under us. Dusk looked around quickly before we jumped further ahead to the top of a building. Cindy moved with instinctive speed, and we were in a parking lot.
"Enough!" Sandra slumped to the side, going green through her fur somehow as she struggled against nausea. "Once is enough, twice is rough, three times is too much."
"That is more than enough," came the voice of a mare as she stepped towards us with four ponies at either side. She was a unicorn, and the ponies flanking her were earth ponies. "Peacemaker, we've heard of you. Why are you here?" They were dressed for battle, with thick cloth and leather padding mixed with metal plates that covered softer parts of the pony anatomy. Most were female, with two stallions mixed in. Their hooves were covered in sharp claw-like devices that were quite dangerous as far as I could tell.
Sandra moved in front of me. "We heard there was a lot of ponies down here."
She smirked. "There are. And fewer humans. Are you here to beg for their sake? Their time is done. They had their chance and squandered it. We'll take care of the world and all its animals, and become a better people for it." She raised a gauntleted hoof at me. "No wonder you feel for them, you're trapped in a half-human form."
Some of the other ponies made noises of sympathy and agreement as they looked at me. I frowned and pointed at her with the finger she didn't have. "There's nothing wrong with a helping hand, last I checked. Besides, we can't control what we become, right?"
"Wrong," she said, snorting softly. "Our leader can control the touch of the gods. She could make a true pony out of you."
~That's bad. She either got lucky, or she's communicating with one of my siblings.~
I nodded. "I doubt that, but I'd like to see her try."
"Fantástico . Vienen con nosotros." She waved in a circle, then turned around. "Come with us, and keep your hooves and horns where we can see them. And keep control of your lackeys."
Dusk frowned. "We're not lackeys, we're one herd."
She laughed softly as she began to walk. "In every herd there is the alpha, and the rest. You aren't the alpha, do the math."
A few of the other ponies snickered in agreement, but not all. They formed a loose circle around us and we started walking through the abandoned streets of what looked to be a small city. Sandra got a little closer to one of the mares walking with us. "So, why attack all the humans anyway? Are they causing you trouble?"
"No hablo Inglés." She offered no other reply as she marched forward, pointedly not looking at Sandra.
I moved forward a bit to get closer to the leader. "Do you have a name?"
"It's not important, but Dust Kicker. I know my place." She looked over her shoulder. "You'll learn yours, peacemaker."
We moved on until sunset, when they set up camp and a small fire. They brought rations with them, bits of hay, nuts, and veggies in a bundle that they lightly roasted before eating. It wasn't nearly as bad as one might imagine, but my thoughts were on the meeting with their 'great leader' rather than the basic meal they provided.