Previous Chapters Next
Close
Lonesome Pony2,250 words
Experimenting1,636 words
Wounded Warrior1,230 words
Meeting with the Nebulas1,489 words
The Call to Cross2,090 words
Into Fire2,941 words
Winter's Stars5,226 words
The Skies Are Meeker4,749 words
The Sting6,193 words
The Sting, Part II2,796 words
The First Alicorn4,531 words
Into the Looking Glass3,956 words
The Next Step4,048 words
The Searchers3,116 words

The Next Step

He replayed the scene over and over again. The spy drone he had one of his agents install into Star Command's nooks and crannies while he was onboard the station at the time retrieved enough footage for the evil emperor to look at over and over again for reference, inspiration and most importantly, knowledge. He tapped his finger against his lime green teeth as he puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. He turned to his Grubs and made a point of asking, "How is my machine coming along?"

"We should have it ready within another fifteen minutes, O Evil One."

"Excellent! My, you Grubs are the real go-getters today. I'll have to reward you with something special.. Higher wages, perhaps or a vacation... oh, we can talk about that later. Finish it up as fast as you can, Grubs! We've got to have it ready for when we capture that PONY!" He rubbed his hands with glee at the anticipation of having a very special new experiment to test his machine on.

A ping from his machines indicated that something was afoot with the Ranger Corps once again. "What is it?"

One of the Grubs replied, "Princess Luna and Ranger Parsec are going to the Briefing Room!"

Zurg leaned over the midget to get a closer look at what was going on through the drone's eyes. "Hmm... I'll wager that they've been instructed to meet there with Nebula. Have we got a drone in there too?"

The small bug-like creature froze. "Uhh..."

"Don't tell me your 'Uhh' means that we DON'T have one in there!"

The Grub shrunk and shook his head. "N-no."

"...BLAST IT! BLAST IT ALL TO THE DEPTHS OF HELENE AND BACK!" He felt the urge to destroy something. ANYTHING to release his anger out on. Not the machine; he needed it for that pony. All of his agents were out on their assignments, so what was left?

He glanced down at the Grubs and he suddenly had an idea. He grinned nastily as he happened to lay eyes right on the Grub.

The Grub didn't like the way his employer was dastardly eyeing him. "Uhh... Your Evilness?"

"Break time, Grubs! It's time to play one of my favorite games of all time!"

The Grub squeaked, "You don't mean...?!"

"I do! It's time for evil bowling! And you'll be part of this game's ten-pin set. Get going, Grub!" He whipped around to address some of the other Grubs. "Whoever I pick for the game, move your behinds NOW! The rest of you, finish this machine and get this show on the road!

...and if you do finish on time as scheduled, I'll talk to you all in private about those benefits."

Other than bumping into nosy Rangers who wanted to ask Ty questions about Luna, the walk was quiet and didn't take the duo too long. They eventually arrived at the Briefing Room's threshold-a simple set of silver doors.

"I assume this is the Briefing Room?"

"Yep, and where Commander Nebula's waiting. So are you ready to find a way back home?"

Luna smiled. "I am ready whenever you are."

"Then let's get to it." They entered the threshold.

Past its automated doors, which at first puzzled Luna, they walked and ended up in a large room that, much like the cafeteria, overlooked the stars and Capital Planet. It was reasonably bare save for a circular table with chairs that was right in the middle of the room.

A table where Nebula sat, but he wasn't alone.

"Ty! You're here!"

Ty blinked. "Buzz?"

Buzz was indeed present, but he too wasn't alone. Three other Rangers sat at the table with him.

"Hi, Ty! Is that your magical pony friend? She's pretty!"

On the outside, Ty only showed surprise, but inwardly, he was groaning... Buzz just HAD to be here with his team, didn't he? As much as he liked Buzz's team, he wasn't up for interacting with them right now.

Luna, on the other hand, was genuinely confused about what was happening. Commander Nebula didn't say anything about having Buzz and three other Rangers around. In response to the larger Ranger, she said, "Er... thank you..?"

"Wow! She can talk! She can really talk! Can she perform a magic trick for us?"

"Pft, big deal. 42 can talk and perform tricks too. What's your point?"

"That's enough, you two. Let's get right down to discussion. Rangers, I'd like you to meet Princess Luna. Your Highness, this is my team." Buzz motioned to each member as he introduced them by name. "This is Ranger Mira Nova," a blue-skinned female with orange-reddish hair and blue eyes greeted Ty and Luna amiably, "Ranger Booster Munchapper", a friendly, red, and giant reptilian-like creature that reminded Luna of Spike, "and XR," a small mechanical being with a yellow tube-like head, a glass dome and a round body on wheels.

After sharing a confused brow with Ty, she politely greeted back, "Er... hello." She tilted her head as a question popped into her head, "If I may ask, Ranger XR, what does your name mean?"

Rather proudly, XR puffed up his metallic chest and pounded it with his hand. "It's a set of initials and it stands for 'Xperimental Ranger! I happen to be Commander Nebula's son!"

Nebula stiffly grunted, "XR, NOT now. We've got work to do!" Thankfully, the little tin can got the message as he threw his hands up in a surrender motion and grew small.

Ty wiped a hand down his face as he resisted the urge to groan loudly; this was so embarrassing! He asked a little too quickly, "Commander Nebula, what's going on?"

Grateful for the distraction, Nebula replied, "Take a seat, son, and I'll explain. Princess Luna, if you'd like, you may sit down too."

Luna graciously nodded. "Thank you, sir."

All eyes, save for Ty's, were on Luna as she followed him. He took a seat and motioned for her to sit next to him. Gladly accepting, she climbed onto the chair, much to her own embarrassment as everyone else watched her settle herself. It was like they never saw a talking pony sit down in a chair before.

Although in this galaxy, she shouldn't have been surprised.

But with that out of the way, Nebula launched into his explanation. "Well Parsec, you know that mission I said I was going to talk to them about? Well, it's this: bringin' Princess Luna home to her country. I decided after thinkin' over this that it might be a good idea if we had Team Lightyear on the case. Every Ranger needs backup, and I don't want to send you out on a mission by yourself as long as Zurg is out there lookin' for our guest here."

Luna would have been slightly annoyed about the fact that Nebula seemed to be talking about her like she was not present, had it not been for her curiosity about Ty. The Ranger was averting his eyes, as if he was...reluctant to be working with Buzz and his team. Not grouchy like he previously was with those Rangers asking him about her or irritated whenever she used her magic for some mundane task like he did with his hands (what was up with those?), but reluctant. But why would that be? Other than Booster and XR appearing... excitable and a little eccentric, they seemed willing to assist in any way they could. Where was the harm in that?

She wasn't the only one to pick up on this change in Ty's behavior. Mira also seemed to show awareness for Ty's hesitation. And so she said, "Ty, after hearing what happened on Zenway Nine, we've talked it over and we thought that it might be a good idea if we were to split up for this mission."

Ty and Luna looked at each other before Ty voiced both of their confusion through a question, "Split up?"

Buzz elaborated, "We need to scope out the area on Zenway Nine. By doing that, we can kill two birds with one stone: find out what Zurg was up to, and look for a way to help Princess Luna return back home."

Luna blinked at the plan. What were they thinking they were going to find there? Other than ice, snow, earth and sky, there was nothing promising about that place. After sharing one more glance with Ty, she brought up her own thoughts. "Ranger Lightyear, I understand why you want to go back to that world, but I am uncertain that we will find a solution to the problem there. What do you hope to gain in your search when there is nothing but snow covering the vast landscape?"

"That's why we need you to come with us, ma'am."

"What?"

"You said that this 'portal' or whatever you created opened up in your world and led you to our galaxy, right?"

"Yes, I did. What about it?"

"If you landed on Zenway Nine, then the portal must have opened up somewhere on the planet. Portals like that don't normally spew out of nowhere around here, not unless they were designed by some techno savvy mechanic."

Ty started to reply, "Or unless they were wormholes, in which that'd make the por-" He paused as he realized what he was saying. "Wait a minute... Buzz!" He hoped Buzz would be in tune with his epiphany, and to his luck, Buzz was sharing the same surprised expression as Ty was. And they turned to Luna to see if she understood what they were thinking, and to their luck, she did. Not with surprise, but with dread.

"Of course! Great thinking, Ranger!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Buzz?"

Buzz explained to Booster, "There is only one way a portal like that could have opened up. It might not have been a portal at all but a-"

"A wormhole." Commander Nebula fiddled with his mustache in thought before addressing his veteran Rangers. "Well, that's a strong theory, and I think you're on the right track, but is it what actually happened? You'd better make sure that that is what happened, otherwise we're going to have bigger worries than Zurg's latest plan.

What do you think, Princess Luna?"

"Oh..." All Ranger eyes were on her, awaiting her opinion on the matter. "Well..." She wasn't entirely sure what to think, other than it was a horrifying possibility to think about. Wormholes were the last thing to have on her mind! That portal she and Twilight were working on were supposed to lead them to a place that both of them had always wanted to visit outside of Equestrian borders, not lead her individually into an unknown world! And if it was a wormhole that they somehow accidentally opened up, then why in Equestria would it bring her here to this galaxy? This isn't where she wanted to go when she cast the spell!...was it?

She was brought out of her thoughts by XR. "You DO know what a wormhole is, right? Ow! Hey!"

"XR!" The robot had his side shoved by a scolding Mira.

"Ranger Nova, it's alright. It is good that he asked," Luna assured before sighing deeply. "Yes, I do know what a wormhole is. I am not wanting to admit to the very idea of what could have happened, let alone think of it, but it is important to keep an open mind to the possibilities. That would explain why I was unable to contain it, even with my magic."

"But can't you raise the moon and stars and do all sorts of other things with your magic? That's what Commander Nebula told us."

Figuring the commander must have overheard her conversation with the LGMs about her talent, Luna sadly shook her head. "Yes I can do many things, but there are some things that magic cannot solve, Ranger Munchapper. And controlling a wormhole, a very force of nature beyond my control, is not within my abilities."

Mira asked, "There are rules to magic?"

"Yes. It depends on what kind of pony somepony was born as, but yes, there are rules that we ponies adhere to. You see in Equestria, unicorns, pegasi, Earth ponies and alicorns all possess some degree of magic. As an alicorn," she pressed her undamaged wing to her crest, "I possess the magical properties of a unicorn, the pegasus ability to fly and the strength of an Earth pony. Every pony is capable of performing their own feats of magic-the unicorns can control magic itself, the pegasi control the weather and the Earth ponies are the strongest of them all, capable of heavy lifting and tending to the earth's needs."

"Whoa, whoa, hang on a minute-ponies can control the sun, moon, stars, magic, the earth, and weather?"

"That is correct."

All but Ty seemed genuinely amazed at Luna's description of each of the ponies' known traits in her world, which secretly bemused Luna. It wasn't that she was looking for an audience's awe, but if what Ty said was true about the moon moving on its own accord over in this galaxy, she couldn't help but feel rather tickled that these Rangers never thought of talking equines being capable of controlling forces such as sunshine, earth or magic.

"Okay, okay, so you can raise the moon and stars, but you can't..." XR waved his hand up in a circular motion as it trying to help get his point across, "Create a wormhole or a portal?"

"Not unless I had a talent in such an area, but I do not. But I will do whatever I can to assist you, even if it is simply lifting a rock or two."

Buzz then suggested, "Can you also detect magic?"

"Detect?...why would I want to-wait a moment...are you suggesting that I use my magic to sense the wormhole itself?"

"Would it help you?"

"...Perhaps...but I cannot say for certain. I have never attempted to do such a thing before. Portals, and wormholes, are dangerous objects to study and manipulate, and as I have said, I have no experience in the field. Only Star Swirl the Bearded was familiar with these portals."

"Who?"

"Star Swirl the Bearded. He was a prominent figure known all throughout Equestria in his time." Luna lowered her horn and it began to glow, much to the surprise of the group. At its tip, a blue light slithered upwards and grew into a massive cloud of blue light. Faint shapes within this cloud finalized into clear images, one of which was-

Ty asked, "I'm guessing the unicorn in the blue cloak and pointy hat is our man-uh, I mean, pony?" The image floating inside the cloud was indeed of a unicorn, whose fur was as white as snow and whose beard was as gray as early morning. He stood magnificently in his starry blue cloak and bell-decorated hat as he looked to the horizon with his golden-eyed steel gaze.

"Yes. He was known for his work in the field of conjuration; he created over two hundred spells in magic, many of which are still used today throughout Equestria."

"So what's exactly his role in all of this?"

At Mira's question, the image spun around and around before forming into a new shape. "He himself is not involved, but a spell of his is." The shape evolved into a leather-bound and thick book. The image itself flipped its pages before landing on a page. "In one of his books, he wrote a spell that would utilize portals for travel inside and outside of Equestria. He experimented with them, but abandoned the notion after he tried testing it out with a time recorder."

"A time recorder?"

"It was used as a method to determine the time and distance it could take for one pony to travel from one location to another. He sent it through a portal, but unfortunately... it never came back." She shrugged helplessly as she recalled her magic back, the image fading away into nothingness. "I suppose the fact that the portal's true form, if it was indeed a wormhole, was precisely the reason he abandoned his research with them. But as far as I can recall, he never stated or wrote anything about the dangers of these portals, or else we would have known not to experiment with them."

"And I would have prevented Twilight from making them, and myself from ever coming into contact with that blasted portal," she thought. She bitterly snorted as she broke eye contact with the Rangers, staring angrily at the table.

Commander Nebula cleared his throat. "Well team, you have your orders. Find out what Zurg was up to, and find out anything you can about the wormhole. Princess Luna."

She raised her gaze, if only to meet Nebula's eyes.

"You should know that while you're with everyone here, I'll be actin' as mission control with the LGMs. Whatever information we receive about the wormhole can be used to help us build a portal for you to get home through."

Her ears perked. "Really?"

"Yeah. We've got the technology to help us detect wormholes and how they work, so if you find any traces of it on Zenway Nine, we can use it as a resource to help us build the dang thing. That's what we're hopin' for, anyway."

Even if the idea of the Little Green Men having the power to actively build a portal with their own hands seemed far-fetched, it was still a glimmer of hope in Luna's mind. She was donning it with a true smile. "Thank you, Commander Nebula. I sincerely appreciate that. I will do my best to aid in any way that I can, even if I can do nothing more than move snow."

"We know, Luna." She felt a warm touch on her shoulder, encouraging her to glance Ty's way. "You're a strong pony, and with us helpin', you WILL get back home. I made a Ranger's promise and I'll keep it no matter what."

It wasn't anything she hadn't heard before, but hearing Ty's strong conviction again gave her heart wings that day.

The search continued on for the trio. While Twilight and Spike scavenged the shelves of books located within the observatory's archives, Celestia had her eyes set on the skies. Peering through the building's large telescope, she scanned the stars for any signs of wormhole activity. From what she knew about them, they were explosive and unpredictable, and had an amazing ability to leave a large trail of star dust and cosmic particles after forming and imploding and exploding again.

To which Celestia prayed was not the latter. She lost Luna once in Equestria; she wasn't about to lose her again.

"Princess!"

Hearing her name called by Twilight, she took her eyes off the telescope to see her student coming at her with a handful of books floating in mid-air, with Spike riding on her back.

"We've found more information."

"What have you found?"

Spike opened one of his books to the page he marked down. "We've found some pages that were written by not just Star Swirl, but other ponies who worked in the Observatory a long time ago. It says here that a similar event happened, but luckily nopony was hurt.

"It says here that long before Equestria was found by the pony tribes, a couple of the unicorns worked as astronomers under Star Swirl's guidance when Princess Platinium was still in power. And..." his eyes skimmed and scanned, "in between using their magic to raise the sun and moon, they would be experimenting with magic to learn about other cosmic things that exist above our heads. Things like...wormholes."

"...May I see that book?"

Without another word, Spike offered the book up high to Celestia and she took it from him.

She skimmed through the pages at an astonishing rate, like she'd never seen the language of the written word before. She scanned and scanned silently while Twilight and Spike watched and anticipated for her to say something. She looked from the book to the telescope and then back to the book again. "Yes... of course," she murmured. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to absorb the newfound knowledge she gained. Once she did so, she started pacing back and forth in front of the telescope as she hummed in thought.

"..."

She paused in her contemplation. "I've got it.

Twilight. Spike."

Like good little soldiers, Twilight and Spike stood to attention.

"We're going to need every book that covers magic and portals. We need to make a portal ourselves."

"What?!"

"I know how crazy it sounds, but at this point in time, we have learned everything we needed to learn about what happened and we need to take the next step. We need to make a portal like the one that Luna and Twilight created that will take us to where Luna is now." She looked to her two friends. "That's the most important task now, so we need to gather our resources and take to the stars.

So come. Let us get to work."

"This place is certainly beautiful and peaceful when there's no storm present... and it's so big too."

Overwhelmingly big. Even though Luna was with a Ranger team that knew this planet far better than she could, it didn't help ease the tremendous task that lay ahead for them: combing the planet for something that could help Luna out, and finding out what Zurg was up to. Who knows how long this task could take? And if they found nothing here, what then?

Luna sighed. There was no reason to start worrying now, not when the search hadn't even begun. She turned to Buzz. "Do you sincerely believe we will find anything here, Ranger Lightyear?"

"If there's one thing I know about Zurg, and I happen to know his habits well, it's that he can slip up and leave behind clues without realizing it. He's bound to leave something behind."

"Or, he could leave behind tools of imminent destruction disguised as ballpoint pens, but that's just silly to think about." XR grinned in amusement at the thought.

"...Pens?" Luna blinked, and referred to Ty for some clarification. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

He only shrugged, lost in the dark like she was. "Not a clue."

"Aaaaahhh... I feel MUCH better now. Not only did I relieve some stress, but I also got a few strikes in my games. No wonder I love this game. Wouldn't you agree, Grubs?"

The aliens in question spun around in circles, not having quite recovered from their positions as bowling pins. "Yes, evil Emperor Zurg..."

"Hmph! Weaklings." Satisfied with his games and feeling refreshed in mind and spirit, he returned back to his main priority. "Now then... you Grubs over there! Report the status of the machine! Is it ready yet?"

"We're just putting the final touches on it now... done! Evil Emperor Zurg, may I present... The Moonraker-66!" Like a showman, the Grub hoisted his arms up to present the large machine to his boss.

The hulking piece of chrome technology resembled a strange microscope. A large and movable cylinder was the main centerpiece of the device, for it contained a few ocular lenses at the top of the cylinder, which was for the viewer. It also contained a giant objective set of lenses, which were for the...subject, at the bottom of the cylinder. Underneath the bottom, there was a table with restraints built into it to keep a creature in place, if the laser pointer underneath the lenses weren't enough to scare the subject into submission. The cylinder was semi-attached to a command module where there were a lot of levers and buttons and a small screen built in to resemble mission control.

The emperor looked up and down at the device, eyeing it like an art critic. He tapped it a few times with a finger in his judgment. "Hmm... hmm...

...Excellent!" He clapped his claws together. "This is perfect for the plan! Now all we need to do is find that pony and we'll take it from there! Grubs, send out a spy drone and find that pony ASAP!"

Author's Note:

A/N: It's been a year since I updated this story, and I do apologize for that. I have no excuse other than I have real life and online obligations to attend to. But I hope y'all enjoy this chapter!

338 views

Previous Chapters Next

Bonds of Harmony - FoxTheFirebird

Stats

FIMFiction

Follow & Support Us