Issue 1, Chapter 2
Issue 1: Tower of Babel
Chapter 2
Twilight was still in a state of shock when her friends arrived. They were too late. They were all too late. The Element of Magic was gone, taken right under their noses.
Twilight snapped out of her stupor when she felt a gentle hoof on her back. She looked to its owner, Rarity, with a saddened look on her face. The white unicorn was concerned for her friend. “Twilight, darling,” Rarity asked in her typical posh voice. “Are you going to be all right?”
Twilight nodded at her and gave a slight smile. “Y-yeah,” she responded, her voice still a bit shaky from what had transpired. “I think so. Thanks, Rarity.”
“Think nothing of it, darling,” the fashion mare said. “We’ll get to the bottom of this and find the ruffian that took your crown!”
Twilight giggled slightly in response. Ever since her coronation, Twilight could not even as much as step into the Carousel Boutique anymore without Rarity immediately dropping what she was doing to share design ideas for gowns and dresses for the newly crowned Alicorn Princess. While she was happy that she still had her friends following her coronation, Rarity stood out to Twilight. The unicorn was eager and more than happy to assist the bookish mare in adjusting in the shift to royal life. She was glad to have her as a friend and trusted confidant, just like the others.
The brief moment of generosity ended as the door opened again. More royal guards filed into the room, making way for their escorts to enter. To any other pony, the serious and grim looks that Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence gave would have been the stuff of nightmares. However, Twilight and her friends knew those looks. Celestia’s in particular showed true urgency. The bookish alicorn knew that look. This was not like that time when Ponyville fell under siege to a swarm of Parasprites or when she accidentally caused a mass riot with a Want-It-Need-It spell. This was a Discord or Sombra-level catastrophe. Somepony managed to break into the Crystal Palace and steal one of the Elements of Harmony. This was a serious situation.
“We saw what happened,” Celestia said upon arriving to the scene. “Is everypony all right?”
Twilight and her friends nodded. Spike gave a yawn and stretched his small arms. “Besides being up so late at night,” the young dragon quipped. “I think we’ll be fine.”
The dragon’s retort earned rolls of eyes from everypony in the room. Celestia ignored this and approached Twilight, her look of serious emergency giving way to motherly concern. “What about you? Did she hurt you?” She asked, her voice a hushed and soothing tone.
Twilight looked up at her mother figure, meeting those soft and caring eyes. She shook her head and let out a soft sigh as she looked away for a brief moment. She could see her brother, Shining Armor, look over the mirror with another guard. He was a yellow-coated pegasus with a blue mane and tail. Twilight recognized him as the guard that declared her arrival earlier today. The lavender alicorn met Celestia’s gaze again. “I’ll… I’ll be fine,” she answered, her voice considerably calmer now. “Who was that pony? What could she possibly want with my crown? Is there any way we can--”
Celestia stopped her faithful student’s barrage of increasingly erratic questions there. “That pony… was Sunset Shimmer,” she responded, her voice suddenly growing cold as she recounted how she came to know the thief. “Before I took you as my faithful student, I had once mentored her. She had potential, but she started to show increasing interests in Dark Magic and the existence of other worlds. I tried to warn her about the path she was treading, but it was no use. Before I could cast her out, however, she had disappeared. Why she would suddenly return from her exile now is a mystery to me.”
“Is there any way we can um… follow her?” Fluttershy asked meekly before hiding her face in her mane. She definitely found all this incredibly disturbing.
“Yeah! This pony stole Twilight’s crown! She can’t get away with that!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. The rainbow-maned pegasus hovered above the floor briefly as she gave a few quick jabs at the air. She then felt somepony tug on her tail, bringing the eager and loyal pony literally back to ground level. She turned to see that it was Applejack, who looked like she was ready to throw her own two bits into the ordeal.
“Now hold on fer a second, Rainbow Dash,” The apple pony spoke up. “Ah might agree with ya ‘bout givin’ this pony a proper buckin’ in the flank, but Fluttershy’s got a point. How in the hay are we s’posed ta follow her? Fer all we know, she’s either halfway ta Appleloosa or across the stars bah now thanks ta that portal she jumped inta!”
“Uh, guys?” Shining Armor called out suddenly as the mirror began to act… oddly.
His call unfortunately fell on deaf ears as the ponies continued to argue about the matter at hoof. “Where she ran off to doesn’t matter, AJ,” Dash told her friend. “What matters is that we’ll find her and get Twilight’s crown back! We always make it out in the end! We always do!”
“Guys!” The stallion called again, his voice raised this time.
This apparently got everypony’s attention. They all raised their heads to Shining and his pegasus guard.
“Um… is this mirror supposed to glow green like this?” The pegasus, Flash Sentry, asked.
None of the ponies seemed to respond, their eyes transfixed on the mirror as it began to shake and glow an intensely eerie green. The room began to darken and soon, the glowing mirror became the only source of light.
Twilight squinted her eyes at the blinding majesty of the mirror. She swore she could make something out on the reflective surface. A pair of green eyes and a face shrouded in some kind of hood…
The ground beneath the ponies began to quake, causing some of the guards to trip and fall. Flash Sentry blushed a bit as he bumped into Twilight. “Heh… we really need to stop bumping into each other like this.” He quipped.
Twilight blushed in response before her gaze returned to the mirror. The floor stopped shaking and the glow around the mirror seemed to dim slightly. The aura around the mirror was pulsing slightly, still in that haunting green color.
A figure began to form in the reflective glass. It did not resemble a pony. It was large and bipedal. However, it looked as it had an ethereal or spectral form to it, with its long green cloak and hood only half-concealing its ashen white face and glowing eyes.
“Ponies of Equestria,” the being spoke from the mirror. His voice was a slow, haunting drawl, commanding the attention of everypony in the room. “I… am known as the Spectre. I have traveled far across the Multiverse to deliver a message… to send a warning. A being from your world threatens to open a door that must remained closed. If this gateway is opened, she will release unimaginable evils from across the cosmos. No universe will be safe from the horrors that she will unleash. You must stop her. If you are to succeed, you must send your best, your most loyal, and your purest of heart over to our world through this mirror. But take heed! This will not be a simple task. If you believe in what is right and just, you must act now! I fear she may already be preparing for the next stage in her plans! I must leave now. My spectral form cannot last for long in this dimensional plain. Farewell…”
The silhouetted figure faded away, the image in the mirror replaced by the reflections of Twilight and her friends. The ponies all exchanged glances with each other, confused as to who this… Spectre was and what he just told them. Fluttershy peeked her head out of her mane. Her face was concealed in her pink locks the entire time the Spectre gave his message. She found him to be quite scary. “Um… is it over? Just who was that… scary person?”
Twilight let out a breath she just realized she had held this entire time. “I don’t know, Fluttershy,” she said, her voice hushed in deep thought as she looked deep into the still-glowing mirror. “At least we know where Sunset could’ve gone.”
Twilight’s train of thought was interrupted as she saw Celestia’s form enter the reflective frame of the mirror. The princess’s expression was grim and cold and urgent. She knew this person, trusted him and his word. She approached Twilight, standing at her side as the two stared into the mirror together. “Twilight,” she said. “You need to go. Only you and your friends can stop Sunset Shimmer and retrieve the Element of Magic.”
Twilight’s face grew pale at that. She turned her head and looked up at Celestia, her ears flopped downward in fear. “Wh-what? But… why me? I’m not…”
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she jumped into the air again. “What if this Spectre guy is just tryin’ to lure us into a trap? For all we know, Sunset wants us to follow her so she can get her hooves on the other Elements!”
“Because he is not lying,” Luna spoke up as she approached the mirror. “The Spectre is an entity who seeks justice and fairness. There is truth in his words.”
Cadence approached Twilight now, a warm and loving smile on her face. “There is no reason to doubt the Spectre’s words, Twilight,” she told her. “His world needs you… it needs all of you!”
“That is why we have chosen you for this task,” Celestia spoke again, a warm and confident smile on her lips as she looked at the six ponies. “This is your chance to show that the magic of friendship can exist anywhere, even in a world like the Spectre’s. No other ponies could show these people that than you all.”
Twilight looked to her friends for support. They all showed brave and eager faces for this task. Even Fluttershy changed her meager posture and straightened up to support her! The lavender alicorn could not help but smile at them. She was glad she had them as friends, even after all that has happened since her coronation.
Twilight returned her gaze to Celestia and her fellow alicorns. Her face now reflected her friends’ expressions of support and camaraderie. She was ready. They all were. Despite the growing sense of fear in her stomach, she took comfort in knowing she would not have to do this alone. Her friends, the chosen bearers of the Elements of Harmony, would join her in this mission. To Twilight, this was all that mattered.
“We accept,” she responded.
“We promise won’t fail ya,” Applejack added.
“Yeah! Sunset won’t know what hit her when we show up!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she punched at the air with her front hooves.
“While I do not share Rainbow Dash’s enthusiasm, I concur! That thief will not get away with this crime!” Rarity retorted.
Everypony then turned to Fluttershy, who took notice of this and let out a soft squeak. A gentle blush formed on the shy mare’s cheeks as she hid in her mane again. “Um… I don’t know if I’m… up to this. I mean… I’m sorry… but who will take care of my animals when I’m gone? Angel gets rather cranky if somepony isn’t there to feed and care for him…”
“Come on, Fluttershy,” Pinkie Pie spoke up as she bounced up and down excitedly around the shy pony. “It’ll be fun, fun, fun! It’s not like we’re going to a walled-off super prison where all of the worst bullies go! We’ll get to explore a new world and teach everyone about the magic of friendship! Ooh! Do you think they’ll like partes? I hope they like parties! I’m so nervous-cited right now!”
The chosen ponies all giggled at their pink friend’s hyperactive behavior. Fluttershy slowly eased her face out of the pink cocoon that was her mane and gave a small and relieved smile. The pegasus looked to Twilight and nodded. She was going with them.
Twilight returned the smile and turned to the three Princesses. She opened her mouth to speak, but she suddenly felt a clawed hand tug at her mane gently. Twilight looked down to her side to see Spike at her front leg, his face that of serious concern over his sister-figure. “Um… Twilight,” the baby dragon asked. “Are you sure about this? I mean… what if you don’t come back?”
Twilight let out a soft sigh at Spike’s concerns. The little dragon had a good point. Tonight’s events showed that Twilight was a target now. While Equestria was a peaceful land for the most part, ponies like Sunset reminded her of the type of forces that would go so far to threaten its safety.
She raised her head to Celestia, who appeared to be looking over the two intently. Twilight opened her mouth to ask, but Celestia raised a hoof at her. She didn’t need to say anything else. A warm smile crossed on her mentor’s lips and she nodded gently. “I feel you will need all the help you can get for this task, Twilight,” she said before she turned her attention to the rest of the group. “We are counting on you. All of you. For the sake of our world… all worlds, stop Sunset Shimmer and save Equestria.”
Twilight looked to her friends. They all showed varying degrees of bravery and determination once more. Spike joined them as well. They all seemed ready to take on anything that was thrown at them. She then returned her gaze to Celestia. “We won’t fail you,” she told her mentor. “We’ll put a stop to Sunset Shimmer once and for all!”
Celestia gave them all a gentle and caring smile. “Then we wish you all good luck in your journey,” she told them. “Now, be on your way… and remember! No matter what happens in this new world, the magic of friendship will always be with you.”
The six ponies all nodded and Spike did the same. The chosen seven then began to approach the mirror. Its green aura began to pulsate more and more as Twilight walked up the small steps. She placed a hoof gently on its reflective surface. Her purple hoof broke the glimmering sheen. It sank into the ornate piece like a pool of deep water. She turned to her friends one more time, unsure if they were all truly ready for this. They all nodded once and Twilight returned her attention to the mirror.
She gulped and closed her eyes. With a deep breath, she took the plunge. She jumped into the awaiting portal. Her eyes remained glued shut. She didn’t open them to see if the others had followed, but a nearby hoof seemed to reassure her that she was not in this alone. No… it wasn’t a hoof. It felt like a hand grasping at her foreleg. At first she thought it was Spike, but it seemed too big for it to belong to the baby dragon. She dared not open her eyes to find out, otherwise she’d fear the risk of losing her lunch as she was sucked down this interdimensional vacuum.
Images began to flash in the alicorn’s mind. They showed strange beings dressed in costumes of various colors and sizes and styles. Some looked like robots, others were garbed in decorative alien attire, and some even wore capes! Some of them even had peculiar symbols adorned on these costumes. As the world around her started to become hotter, three of these symbols flashed in her mind. One was of what appeared to be a shielded ‘S.’ The second was the silhouette of a giant, black bat. The third was of a stylized ‘W’ lined with stars. After these peculiar shapes, a fourth suddenly appeared behind them. Twilight strained to make out its shape as it looked as if it swallowed or engulfed the three other symbols. She could make out two glowing red eyes… then another pair above them. Using the light from the shape’s pupils, Twilight could make the shape of… some kind of bird. A raven, to be exact. She could feel something tug at her chest when her mind registered the silhouetted form. The raven seemed to grow larger and larger! It… it was almost as if…
Her eyes shot open and she let out loud scream of horror! She was no longer with her friends! She was falling into a blackened void of twinkling stars… directly into the silhouetted shape of the four-eyed raven.
This was the last thing Twilight would see before everything went black. When she came to… her entire world would be different.
She was not in Equestria anymore. None of them were.
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hell yeah update!!!
3529355 Well, to answer your question regarding continuity, I like to think that it takes place in its own canon. However, it has elements of various influences that make it recognizable enough for everyone to jump right in without knowing 75+ years of stories (and I'm not just talking comics here).
I'd like to talk about this more in depth on my blog here, but some of my biggest influences for creating the DCU for this fic were the DC Universe Online MMO and the various animated shows (Justice League Unlimited and Young Justice, especially). Those elements will still be there, don't get me wrong! Any reader familiar with the DCU or any of its incarnations will spot these influences a mile away (the nod Pinkie gives to Arkham City, for instance)! It's just that this is easier for readers that aren't as well-versed in DC's canon. So don't worry! Trust me, I know what I'm doing! Superman will still be the Big Blue Boyscout and our dear Princess Twilight will be as adorkable as ever!
As for Sunset Shimmer, I won't spoil what I have planned for her. But given that she has people like Lex Luthor and Grave Shot at her side, it's going to be a big deal... hence why the Spectre would call upon our girls and dragon to their world! I think you're all going to like it!
Man, this comment was long-winded, wasn't it? I'll have to expand on it in a blog soon.
Well, hell. Specter showed up with dire warnings. Shit has reached Crisis level of bad. A Flash must die... please let it be Flash Sentry
I loved Pinkie Pie Arkham City reference. (I actually read a fan fic where they did go there) Now I'm interested to see what Sunset Shimmer going to do, I mean what door she's going to open. Not being to familiar with the DCU (Mostly familiar with Batman, Superman and The DC Animated Universe, and Arkham) I'm going to be surprised. Can't wait to see the worlds collide and the characters you introduce.
3529355
How is it such a big game changer? There's a metric buttload of magic users in the DCU, both heroic and villainous. What makes Sunset Shimmer so different that a heavy hitter like Luthor would give her the time of day? Setting yourself up as queen bee in a high school is one thing, but these are the big leagues, no pun intended. I'd really like some explanation how she pulled that off, right now it just comes off as authorial fiat (aka Because The Plot Says So).
Speaking of heavy hitters: two pairs of glowing red eyes. Uh-oh. Daddy's coming to town.
3531646 Well, if it's something so critical that the Spectre needs the ponies' help, it's gotta be a big deal, right? So maybe Sunset has bigger plans than just being Queen of the high school. Especially with Lex secretly funding whatever it is she has up her sleeve.
Wonder if they will keep their respective strengths when in the DCU. IE: Horns/Wings/Magic
3531692 You'll find out in the next chapter!
3531680
My point exactly. She got out with the Element of Magic and herself, just like in EQG. From that starting point, and with two years to work with, becoming top dog in a high school is perfectly credible, no need to explain how she did it. But what she's accomplished in the timeskip here is one hell of a lot more ambitious.
Where did that 'big deal', whatever it is, come from? And how did she get Luthor on board, especially if she didn't even tell him what the plan is? A bit more explanation as to how she got there is needed to keep things credible, in my opinion. If she's going to be promoted to 'cosmic threat', some justification is needed, or it'll just fall flat.
At least, that's how I see it.
3531768 Well, you'll be pleased to know I have that planned in later chapters. Everything will make sense as you read it, trust me.
3531776
Bloody hell, you're fast.
At replying anyway, if not necessarily at writing.
Btw, do you have any idea why part 2 never showed up in my updated list? I didn't know this had even updated until part 3 showed up there.
3531787 Hrm, I don't know. Perhaps the fic wasn't in your favorites list? I think there's a difference in "Following" a writer and "Favoriting" a particular story on this site. It's weird like that, I guess.
3531800
I don't follow writers at all, I just use the favorite list as a way of tracking stories for new chapters (since the site doesn't have a proper follow or bookmark function). But sometimes a particular story update just doesn't show in the "favorites with unread chapters" list. It does seem to turn up in the feed, I think.
In fact, I had a case of that today; the chapter was password-protected, so it didn't turn up in my list, but the update did show in my feed. Did you password-protect part 2 at any point maybe?
3531834 Hrm... maybe. I'll have to look into that. Thanks for bring this up!
3531732 Curse you and your cheeky wink sir!
This was awesome, now I want to see what happens now (I can't be the only one who noticed Raven at the end).