Stranger Magics

by GMBlackjack

VIII - The Thaumic Fabric

Sunset and Bon Bon stood in the clearing in the center of the Everfree Forest right in front of the orange vortex. Sunset was studying the magical patterns closely while Bon Bon was refusing to let her vision focus on the cycles. She knew with sight came danger.

"Sunset, what is our suggested course of action?"

"...Nothing. We can't risk sending anypony in after them. If we're lucky, they're already dead."

Bon Bon shook her head. "We were supposed to prevent death..."

"I know," Sunset said, grimacing. "The scientists think they could be alive, but we don't have enough data to know if is even possible to maintain a consciousness that deep within the cycles..."

"You want in, don't you?"

Sunset nodded. "The cycles burn into my mind, demanding that I enter and become one with the magic. I know all questions will be answered once I cross that barrier - but I cannot go. There is too much risk. It could be lies, it could be death... The Geist could be there."

Bon Bon nodded. "Do you believe closing it will stop the attacks?"

"No. Our portal here just gave it the idea. It does what it wants now."

"Even with Surprise back... We saw her fight alongside us. She was mostly ineffective. She was our solution. A solution that isn't going to work. How are we going to deal with the Geist, Sunset? What's the plan?"

"We're combing the Doctor's for things that can assist us. The researchers are having a field day."

"And what if that fails? What if we find nothing?"

Sunset growled. "You sure are asking a lot of questions... At that point, we'll throw all our research and hard work away and call in Celestia. But if we do that, all of this will be for nothing."

Bon Bon nodded slowly, looking away from Sunset. "This is all a big mess."

"You're telling me. I have to explain why I have a kid locked up."

"You can hold her for a day without declaring a charge, legally."

Sunset laughed. "I know that, but she's still a filly. And that's not going to look good..." She looked towards the dimmed sun. Even in the Everfree she could use it as a timer...

She only had a day. A day to find a solution of any kind. She shook her head - how had things gotten this bad?

~~~

Cheerilee slowly became aware of herself - the fact that she existed reasserted its presence in her mind. She was confused by this realization; why wouldn't she have known that before? Thinking back, she couldn't remember what there was a few seconds ago. She'd leaped into the portal, then there was a... strange feeling, and then just time without anything affixed to it. And then this feeling of awareness.

She realized with mild worry that she wasn't of anything but herself - no forest, no portal, no legs. She couldn't even feel her own legs? Nothing but her own consciousness existed, alone, drifting... Was she dead? Was this the afterlife - eternal loneliness?

She would have cried if she could. But she wasn't aware of any eyes, much less tear ducts by which to make tears. How was she thinking about this without a brain anyway? It sure felt like her head was throbbing...

Pain - physical pain. She almost became giddy at the realization. Pain meant she still was something, but what? That was the question. She actively tried to do anything - walk, run, jump, twist, shake, smile - but anything that required physical movement brought on nothing.

Then she tried to speak. "Hello?" The sound of her own voice scared her - how'd she heard without ears? How'd she even spoken it? She went back over her thought process - she had focused strongly and it had just "Come out!" She paused again - she hadn't been trying to talk that time, she was trying to think. Was she... broadcasting her thoughts? That would certainly be interesting... And odd.

"Hello? Berry? Doctor? Can anyone hear me?" she called out - receiving no response in return. It was just her mind in the darkness - or whiteness. She had no eyes, there was no color. She imagined herself in an expanse of orange; it might as well have become orange the moment she did so. She had fun imagining herself against different backdrops ranging from basic colors to a nice river before losing interest. She set it back to orange - it just felt right. There had to be more than just imagination and voices here... There needed to be something.

She set the backdrop back to black - as if closing her eyes - and tried to become more aware of things. It didn't take long to fully realize herself; she was a spark of energy without a body, able to use her mind to influence her own perception of the things around her.

Wait... there was nothing around her. Nothing.

She was aware of the empty space - a distance. A distance of her perception that was slowly growing, sharpening the closer it was to her essence. Closest to her she began to sense the cyclic patterns of magic itself, dancing all around in pleasant fractals. She found she could move herself relative to the infinitesimal strands and that she could bend the strands themselves as she moved, though she had no idea what the effect of that would be. As her perceptions widened even further she was struck by the intensity - the brightness - of all the magic around her. no matter if it was dense or sparse, complex or simple, it was almost too bright to take in all at once.

Maybe that was why she hadn't been made fully aware of it all at once? Because it would have been far, far too much? That made sense, in an odd way.

"Hello?" she called again. She saw her 'voice' flow through the cycles like ripples on a pond, traveling out of her perceptive sphere. This time she got a response.

"Can you hear me now Cheerilee?" the 'voice' translated in her mind quickly as the 'sound shockwave' hit her essence - it was the Doctor.

"Yes! Where are you?"

"Around. A spark, like you. I should be in your 'sight' range soon if you can hear me. Try to look for a particularly bright spot."

Cheerilee focused through her sphere of awareness and found him, a brilliant array of semicircles arranged in a sea-urchin-like pattern, shining brilliantly. "Wow..."

"You look the same. And so does Berry over to the left of you. Well, the left if you were 'looking' at me, that is, our senses are omnidirectional now. She can't see us yet."

Sure enough, Berry was just a little to Cheerilee's self-assigned left. Berry wasn't moving at all - she was sitting still, probably in darkness or a self-created backdrop.

"She going to be okay?"

"She'll come out eventually, don't worry. She's already said 'hello' so it shouldn't take that much time."

"Uh, what're these swirly things doing?" Berry said suddenly.

"See? Won't be long now. Cheerilee, tell me what you can see besides the two of us."

Cheerilee focused on everything she could, closely examining all the conglomerations of cyclical energy. She was pretty sure the sharp absence of patterns was the portal. The strongest concentration was right behind that - about as far as the Tree of Harmony was from the portal back in the Everfree Forest.

"The portal and the... Tree? Doctor, how... Where exactly are we?"

"This... Is the Thaumic Fabric, a world that exists alongside our own, where all magic resides. Here is an intricate fractal pattern of magic energies that spread out into infinity, congealing at certain points. You are right - that is the Tree of Harmony there. The other large magic signature you can see is Sunset. Once you become more attuned you should see Bon Bon Bon and the trees of the Everfree Forest. Eventually, you'll be able to see a fuzzy picture of the world we know, muddled by the brightness of everything."

"Why don't I get a headache from looking at the patterns now?"

"Ah, well... I'm not sure on that one. Probably a combination of many factors. Perhaps because our forms have changed into pure magic?"

"We're pure magic!?" Berry blurted. "Cool!"

"Ah, I see you can hear us now. Welcome to awareness in the Thaumic Fabric, Berry."

"Glad to be here! This is so awesome - I am now magic, like a unicorn! Ha ha!" She shifted the patterns around her, surrounding her sparky essence in a sphere of rings. "Hey... You think this does anything in the world? Like make a crystal flash?"

The Doctor paused. "Why... Yes! How... You can't even see the real world yet!"

"Aloe was doing it - talking by making a crystal flash."

"Yes... You could definitely do that, though you'd have to be here a long time before you could discern real-world voices again. I can't even do it yet. I know Sunset and Bon Bon are talking but that's only because the way their magic essences are reacting to each other. They could just be making expressions at each other for all I know.

"Probably talking about us," Cheerilee said. "Wait... If Aloe was using this, then... This is where the Geist has taken everypony!"

"Precisely!" the Doctor said. "They'll be here somewhere - all of them!"

"That means the Geist's here too, though..." Berry said.

"Then we'll just have to be careful. Adjust to our new forms and do something with them. Cheerilee, can you make out the magic of the trees yet?"

Cheerilee focused on the area around the Tree of Harmony - she felt the ground first, a slow drop off in magic. There was a slight increase in magic arranged in a more upright configuration in a vague circle around the Tree. "I can see trees but I can't make out any individual tree..."

"Good enough. Berry, how you coming along?"

"...The portal is just a hole. It looks so out of place."

"I imagine this is what drew the Geist to the real world..." the Doctor said. "...Whatever the Geist actually is."

"That's not a question I need an answer to," Cheerilee said.

"I'd like to know," Berry countered.

Cheerilee tried to shoot her a death glare but she just rippled the magic around Berry.

"...I don't know what that means, Cheerilee."

Cheerilee found this irksome. "...Don't worry about it. We should try to find Aloe."

"Where did she contact you?" the Doctor asked.

"Her house was the last place," Berry said.

"We used a ritual to contact her at several places," Berry added, "but that was us, not her."

"To her house then! Tally ho!"

Cheerilee blinked. "...Did you just say 'Tally ho'?"

"...Yes."

"Really?"

"Really."

"How do we... Get there?" Berry asked.

"Just will yourself to move," the Doctor answered. "You won't hit anything - all the patterns are intangible to us and each other. We can just pass right through everything, like this!" he took off straight in the direction Ponyville would be at a brisk gallop - without trees in the way or creatures to watch out for he covered a considerable distance. Berry took off after him with Cheerilee close behind.

The experience was unnatural. She moved in a perfectly straight line about a meter above the 'ground'. The view didn't rock as she moved, nor was there any feeling of 'wind'. The Tree and the portal soon dropped her perceptions, replaced only with the tall patterns she knew were trees. There were a few other shifting masses in the wood - probably animals of some sort, or flowers - but she was unable to discern what they were. She was still new to this; it was all an alien experience that was somehow intuitive, which bothered her. She felt conditioned to this place - like she belonged here. But she also knew how Rarity had been acting. This place was beyond dangerous to her mind and she knew it.

They came out of the forest soon enough, giving way to a large 'empty; space with minimal ambient magics. Buildings were odd 'dead areas' mostly devoid of magic with few notable exceptions. Cheerilee could see through the walls to the ponies inside. Unicorns shone the brightest, but smallest, all of their energy contained in the horn. Pegasi had two concentrations of magic, presumably one in each of their wings. Earth ponies were dull, but Cheerilee could actually make out pony shapes from the intricate spirals.

"This... is a lot to take in..." she admitted, sending her voice out into the world around her. It interfered with the cyclic forms of the ponies, but only slightly. Only one unicorn reacted in any way to the disturbance, twitching slightly in their motion.

The Doctor laughed. "Just wait until you get more clarity. Seeing the world in double with such intricacies displayed to your vision..."

There was a tremendous ripple in the entire aether - translating into their minds as the sound, the impossible sound of cracking, squishing, screaming, leafing, clearly a pattern that was meant only to exist here and not in the real world.

"...Geist," Berry said.

Then they saw it - saw it in its natural habitat. Here, it was an amorphous blob of spirals, eternally wrapping themselves tighter and tighter like a sack of spider eggs tied together by thousands of tiny rings. It moved in a graceful motion, swooping around town, using its sparse outer layers to feel, moving its intensely bright center carefully around the magical signatures of ponies so not to alarm them. The outer layers flexed, warped, and tested - tasting the magics of everything around it, driving chills up the spines of all it touched.

Cheerilee saw two somethings deep in the center of the creature. In normal space they would have been obscured by the extremely dense fractals in that part of the Geist, but Cheerilee's perceptions could no longer be blocked. There were two sparks - spark like herself. One was almost completely extinguished, nearly impossible to see, but the other was still bright, occasionally sending out a soft vibration.

Crying.

"Golden!" Berry yelled.

The outer layers of the Geist picked up on the voice waves, stretching out in Berry's direction, letting out a version of the sound that was predatory - angry.

Cheerilee froze - it could sense them by their communication. It knew exactly where they were now.

The Doctor appeared in front of Cheerilee, manipulating a few nearby swirls to display the word 'RUN'.

That was a good idea. Cheerilee took off - keeping her focus on the receding spark of Berry. The Doctor took up the rear position in the group flight. The Geist was faster - it threw caution to the wind, chasing right after them, cutting through the magical signatures of ponies with its immense girth, disorienting them considerably. The Geist didn't care - when in pursuit, stealth is not a consideration. Its outer layers detected the trail the three of them made with their rapid movements, using the small disturbances in the fabric to extrapolate their position. They may not have been talking anymore, but they no longer needed to.

The three blasted into the distance at their top speed - still slower than the Geist, which was using the power in its rear to propel itself forward at a higher rate. None of the ponies being pursued dared speak - it would just make their situation even worse. As it was, at least one of them was thoroughly screwed, destined to join Golden trapped in the center of the beast, slowly being drained to nothing like that other spark.

Then Cheerilee saw another spark - one outside the Geist, and behind it. The spark was manipulating the magic around it to give it a boost - enough to catch up to the Geist. It shook slightly - then made its move by speaking.

"Hey!" Aloe shouted. "Over here!"

The Geist evidentially recognized the voice because it dropped pursuit instantly and drove itself towards Aloe. Aloe slowly slid out of the way, barely avoiding being touched by any of the Geist's outer layers, successfully eluding the beast. It took off into the distance, pausing only once it realized there were no movement trails. It scrambled back, moving angrily, shaking the magic all around it with the sound. It found nothing - all four ponies were standing perfectly still. The chances of the Geist running into one of them by sheer luck was slim - and the Geist knew that. It slunk away, back to the town - back to observing ponies, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Aloe moved closer to them slowly and whispered. "Talk quieter. Don't put as much energy into your thoughts."

Cheerilee rushed Aloe, trying to hug her, forgetting that both of them were intangible at the moment. Cheerilee decided she didn't really care, Aloe was here. "Aloe... You saved us. You're all right!"

"Shhh!" Aloe hissed. "It may not have senses exactly like ours but it is very sensitive and smart. I was surprised I was able to pull that trick on it again. Might only have worked because you had it occupied."

"Perhaps..." the Doctor said.

"Have you seen Applejack?" Berry asked.

"She's been taken too? No... No I haven't..." Aloe fell silent.

"...You okay?" Cheerilee asked.

"Tired. Really, really tired. You can't sleep in this form - everything's just too bright. Maybe you literally can't sleep. I don't know. Ahaha..." She flashed rapidly. "I... I'm sorry, I've been here for days."

"I know. We've been looking for you."

"...Thank Rarity and VInyl for me, okay? They... Gave me some hope."

"We need to get you back to Lotus... Come on, we have a way back. There's a portal in the Everfree."

"We need to find Applejack! And save Golden!" Berry blurted.

Aloe floated back a short distance. "Golden's a lost cause. We can't do anything to the Geist, I'm sorry."

Berry was silent for a moment. "...Doesn't mean we stop trying to think of a way."

"Of course not," the Doctor said. "We can think about it while we find Applejack though. Where would she be?"

Berry thought for a moment. "I'd say either where her house used to be or wherever her family is."

"We should start looking then," Cheerilee added. "The less time we spend here, the better."

They heard the sound of the Geist - fainter, coming from somewhere far outside their perceptions. They didn't know what it meant, but they were terrified.

~~~

"What. Are we going. To do!?" Big Mac yelled suddenly, continuing pacing around Filthy Rich's house. Granny was sitting in a large chair, sagging like a dejected dog. Vinyl was in the other room, meditating. Spoiled Milk was sitting in a soft chair with a sneer on her face - she had been told to be quiet a while ago.

"Big Mac..." Granny said halfheartedly.

"Granny Ah'm not going to calm down! This hag here just ruined our one chance to do something! Surprise is gone, Filthy should have come back by now, and we have no idea where the Geist or the base is! We're stuck!"

"Ah know, Big Mac..." Granny said, leaning back. "Ah know..."

"Well, what are we goin' to do then?"

"Big Mac, Ah may be old and wise in the ways of the world but Ah have no idea. None! Kaput! Kapeesh! We're up the creek without a paddle and there's no way to get one!"

"Are you just giving up on mah sister!?"

"No! Ah never will! Shame on you for thinking so!" She glared deep into him. "Just because we ain't doin' anythin' doesn't mean it's hopeless. Somepony's out in the Everfree, probably doin' somethin' to deal with this problem."

Big Mac returned the glare. "Granny, they could also just be hiding out like us. Waiting for it to blow over. And Ah do not trust that Bon Bon to deal with things!"

"Trust? No. But Ah think she meant what she said, Big Mac."

"You think that matters?" he spat. "They care more about themselves and whatever their mission is than actually doing anything! They made Surprise what she is! That's messed up!"

"Ah'm not defendin' what they did!"

"You're tryin' to find excuses to justify doin' nothin'!"

"Do you have a better idea!?"

"Call Celestia! Call the town together! Literally anythin'!"

"We both know those won't work!"

"You were considerin' them earlier! And it'd be better than nothin'!"

"Would it really, Big Macintosh? Would it really?"

"Yes!"

"Yer a plumbin' idiot Big Macintosh!"

Vinyl appeared between the two of them, putting a hoof to each of their mouths. She solemnly shook her head. Granny and Big Mac both had the decency to look ashamed.

"Sorry," they said. Vinyl nodded in approval. Silence returned to the room. Spoiled Milk sat with a smirk on her face now.

"....What're you smilin' about?" Big Mac asked.

Spoiled Milk pointed to her mouth.

"You can talk when Ah ask you a question."

She took in an obnoxious breath. "I think you're all being melodramatic. You crossed ponies more powerful than you - and you got burned for it. That should hardly come as a 'surprise'. You took the aptly-named pegasus in. You knew she would be trouble, you had to. Why'd you do it if you weren't willing to accept the consequences?"

Granny frowned at her. "It was never supposed to go this far."

"Your own fault for not thinking it through then. Your little grandfilly is suffering for your hubris."

"You can shut up again," Big Mac muttered.

Spoiled Milk obliged without complaint. Her mood was much improved from before.

Vinyl's horn suddenly blinked on its own. Vinyl frowned at it, cocking her head in fascination. It blinked again.

"What is it?" Big Mac asked.

Vinyl said something in sign.

Big Mac sighed. "Granny?"

"Ah dunno, didn't even know sign existed until Ah met Vinyl. Ah haven't learned."

"Great... Is there any other way you can tell us?"

Vinyl shrugged. Her horn blinked again. She went in search for a piece of paper or something similar.

It was at this point Filthy Rich fell in the front doorway, panting. Twigs were stuck in his mane, his hooves were muddy, and he had a few dozen scratches all over him. He collapsed in a heap.

"Rich!" Spoiled Milk yelled in genuine worry.

The four ponies ran to him, but he brushed them away.

"I'm... Fine." He grabbed Granny. "You need to move fast."

"Why?"

"Rose, Rarity, Derpy, and that tree girl were all kidnapped by Sunset Shimmer. It took some doing - but I tracked them all the way through the Forest. Luckily she was too tired to teleport once they were there or I would have lost the trail..." he took a breath.

"Where is it Filthy?"

"Just north of the blue pit. You know where that is?"

"Yeah. Ah do. That's deep in the Forest, Filthy. How in Equestria did you...?"

"Full gallop..." Spoiled Milk dragged him to a couch which he promptly fell onto. "I... would help more but... I think I need to stop."

"You've gone above and beyond, Filthy. Get some rest."

"Where's Surprise?"

Granny bit her lip, glancing at Spoiled Milk. The mare was putting a blanket on Rich and doting over him. Granny shook her head. "She was captured. Ah'll tell you about it later, just let Spoiled here take care of you. We have to go. Big Mac! Vinyl! Let's move!"

Bic Mac and Vinyl were at her back in less than a second, ready. Vinyl's horn blinked again but nopony gave it any attention.

"Here's what we're doing," Granny said. "We're going to charge right over there, rescue Surprise, Rose, and all the others. Got it?"

Big Mac and Vinyl nodded.

"Let's get them - move your cabooses!" Granny galloped out the door, the two others close behind.

Spoiled Milk stared after them, features vacant.

"...Milk?" Rich asked.

"...She really is quite a mare, that Granny Smith..."

"She is, glad you agree," he chuckled softly. "I owe her so much."

"...I do as well... Now."

Rich smiled. "She has a habit of doing that. Don't feel obliged to repay her for whatever it was - she hates that - she just wants to see your good side."

Spoiled Milk nodded slowly, putting a towel on Rich's forehead. She had a lot to think about.

~~~

Rarity came to in a cell. The room was black, the floor was dirt, and iron bars split the square space in half. In the side Rarity was in she saw Roseluck, Derpy, and Tree Hugger, all in varying states of consciousness. On the other side of the bars was a locked chest - presumably containing their belongings. There was also a window in a door that told her it was still day - which day, though, she didn't know. Could be next week for all she knew. It was darker than she thought it should be.

She trotted up to the bars and lit her horn - she tried to reach through them but was stopped by some kind of spell. Of course, this cell had to be an anti-unicorn room. Her one thing, the pride of her race, useless, just like always. Her hoof was too large to fit between the bars and her tail was useless.

"Let me try," Derpy said, sticking her wing through the gap - but it didn't reach out far enough to do anything. "Aw..."

"Nice try girls..." Roseluck said, face grim. She examined the lock on the cell. "Did anyone have a hidden hairpin or anything?"

"I did," Tree Hugger said. "I think they found them all. Still looking though."

"I expected as much... Mine were gone as well... All of them..." Roseluck shivered at the resulting thought. "Usually this is the part where we try to escape ourselves but inevitably are forced to wait for the doctor to save us."

Rarity looked down. "Maybe that's a good idea this time..."

Roseluck sighted. "Rarity... You don't..."

At that moment the door to the room opened, revealing Bon Bon, Surprise on her back. The white pegasus groaned, shifting slightly.

"Back away from the cell door," Bon Bon ordered. The four ponies backed away as ordered, leaving Bon Bon enough room to unlock the cell and toss Surprise in. She locked it back up and left the building without a world, though she did fix Rarity with a pitying glance.

Rarity shook her head - why was that mare wasting her time feeling sorry for her? It was pointless.

Surprise groaned, opening her eyes slowly. The two orbs shot open in alarm when she fully recognized their presence. She recoiled instantly from the four of them, tossing the four of them to the far wall with a burst of magic. They were bewildered, but otherwise unhurt.

"Surprise!" Roseluck called. "Calm down! It's just us! We're captured as well..."

Surprise blinked a few times. "...Rose?"

"Yes. It's me. Rose. This is Derpy, Rarity, and Tree Hugger, remember?"

Surprise nodded slowly. "...Yes. The house."

"That's right. We hid out in the Doctor's house, but Sunset fooled us. You?"

"Rich's. Bon Bon. Darts..." She rubbed her neck and shook her head, trying to clear the sedatives out of her system. She found herself looking at the door, a pained expression forming on her face. "I'm back..."

"Yes..." Roseluck said. "You are. But you don't have to stay he-"

"I'm back!" She shouted, spreading her wings and pushing against the cell bars. They wobbled slightly from the strain but otherwise didn't budge. She created a few dozen energy spheres and launched them at the lock to no effect. She sent magic into her wings and tugged on the bars physically - but the spells vanished to nothing the moment they made contact with the enchanted iron. She roared, a sound that was painful to hear both physically and emotionally, sharking her cellmates.

"Surprise! Stop! It hurts! You're hurting us!" Roseluck shouted.

Surprise stopped instantly, curling into a ball. She rolled into a corner, crying and rocking back and forth, forth and back.

Roseluck sighed. "...Surprise, we aren't mad..."

Surprise gave no indication she even heard Roseluck - she just kept rocking back and forth eternally.

Tree Hugger shook her head. "That's one shaken up pony... She needs to learn to chill after this is over."

Derpy nodded in agreement. Without really knowing why, Rarity walked up to Surprise, looking at the pegasus with sad eyes. "I feel you."

Surprise opened a tearful eye to look at Rarity.

"I messed up too. Though, unlike you, I've been messing up constantly for a long time. I just didn't see it."

Rarity saw she had Surprise's full attention now. "All of this. I... I made it worse. I screamed at Derpy - nopony saw Aloe get taken. I screamed at Golden - she was taken. I refused help from Tree Hugger. I attacked everypony - even Berry. And then I wasn't strong enough. I saw into the cycles, leading the Geist right to that house... Then I couldn't take it, I ran to my parents and then Sunset... She..." Rarity choked on her tears. "She burned my dad Surprise! Because of me! If I had only been stronger... Or better... We may have been out of this situation by now! We might be home free! heck, I could not have caused so much fuss and never thrown that stupid party! Would that have helped? Would it!?"

Surprise pulled the unicorn filly into a hug. "Shh... It's okay... It's okay..." Surprise said with her soft voice. "I ran away. I couldn't return. I avoided. I gave up. I ran... I was weak. I never stood up to her. I didn't trust Granny." She hugged her tighter. "We all ruin everything."

Rarity laughed softly. "We do, don't we?" She choked, letting her tears flow freely now. She didn't care who saw anymore.

Rarity knew, deep down, only parts of this were her fault. Sunset and the government probably carried the most blame - but ponies like her and Surprise weren't blameless. If only they had been better... Well, things would have turned out much differently than how they were going now. Much differently...

Rarity pulled herself from Surprise, wiping her face. She turned to Derpy and Tree Hugger. "I'm sorry. I still don't like either of you. But..." She sighed. "I was still wrong."

Derpy smiled. "It's okay. I don't mind much anyway."

Tree Hugger smirked, sticking out a hoof. "We're good, Rars. You were the only one who really cared."

"Still..." She met Tree Hugger's hoof with her own, the bump echoing through the room. Rarity chuckled. "Can't believe I'm doing this..."

"The waves of the universe have a way of bringing surprises."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "You lost me."

"It happens."

Rarity nodded, turning to Roseluck. "I'm sorry for running off."

Roseluck shook her head. "Of all the things you did, that was the most understandable. Almost all fillies your age would run to their parents. I know I would have... I'm truly sorry for what you've been put through. You're... You're far too young."

"We'll see about that," Rarity said, turning to Surprise. "...Do you have anything to help us?"

Surprise closed her eyes. "...Granny is coming here. Can't find the Doctor."

Roseluck and Derpy froze. Derpy shook her head. "There's... No way the Geist got to him... is there?"

"If we could perform that ritual..." Tree Hugger muttered, looking out at the box of their belongings beyond the bars. "If only we had a way to get that..."

Rarity flicked her mane out of her eyes, trying to think of something. Her hair fell back over her face, annoying her at first - but then she grinned. "Hair lasso."

"What?" Derpy said.

"Surprise, take my tail hair, tie it into a lasso with that graceful magic of yours. Then we toss it around the box and bring it closer to us. We can use wings to sift through it since they fit through the bars..."

Tree Hugger smiled. "I like these vibes! Do me too, Surprise, I have some radical locks!"

Surprise raised her wings and cut off the tail hairs of both mares. She quickly straightened all the threads into a rope and fused them together with her magic. She tied it into a noose shape, smirking.

"Perfect!" Rarity said, rubbing her tail-less rear absent-mindedly. "Now throw it!"

"I'll do that," Roseluck said, grabbing the hair lasso. "I have experience." She twirled the rope above her head and let it fly - landing perfectly around the box. She slowly pulled it towards the bars, grinning.

Derpy clapped her hooves. "Yay Rose!"

"The Doctor doesn't choose just anypony to be his companion," Roseluck commented coyly. "Tree Hugger, what do you need for the ritual?"

Tree Hugger pointed out what she needed and Derpy dragged it out. "We also need a source of magic," Tree Hugger added.

Surprise raised a wing.

"...Yeah, I'm sure that'll work fine."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "I suddenly have doubts."

"Well, it's always implied to be unicorn magic, but I'm sure I can make it work. Assuming it doesn't overload."

"...Sure," Rarity said, backing down. They didn't need her harping on them.

Tree Hugger set up the circle. "Okay, everypony sit down on a point of the star..." Everypony did so. "Surprise, give us some magic in the center."

Surprise did as asked - shooting magic into the center of the circle. Tree Hugger didn't even get to chant - everything went black instantly.

Surprise and Rarity stood in a place Rarity had grown familiar with - the empty darkness and the semi-present ground. The Doctor appeared before them, blinking rapidly. "...What?"

"Hey, Doc," Rarity said. "We're contacting you with Tree Hugger's ritual. You're not eaten by the Geist are you?"

The Doctor blinked. "Why... No! We found a way to the Geist's plane of origin. We're with Aloe!"

Surprise smiled. "Good!"

"What's happening on your end?"

Rarity shook her head. "We're sitting in a cell, the two of us along with Tree Hugger, Derpy, and Rose."

"Oh..." the Doctor said, biting his lip. "I probably shouldn't tell you much then, she might try to get it out of you. Know that Cheerilee, Derpy, and Aloe are safe. We're still looking for Applejack."

"...Golden?" Rarity asked.

The Doctor forced a smile. "Oh, we saw her too."

Surprise narrowed her eyes. "She's not safe."

The Doctor sighed. "...No, she's not. The Geist has her."

Rarity took in a sharp breath. "Okay... Okay... Do what you can."

"Already planning on it."

"And tell Berry I'm sorry. For... Everything."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "...Okay? Surprise, do you know where Granny is?"

"Heading here," Surprise answered.

"Okay... That changes things. I'm not sure if I'll be able to save you or not, so try to escape on your own if you can. And Surprise - I think you're the key to fixing all of this. I'm just not sure how yet. Okay?"

Surprise nodded.

Then they were back in the cell.

Sunset was standing over top of all five of them, furious. Her veins were throbbing, her breathing accelerated, and eyes twitching.

Rarity stood up, met Sunset's glare, and stuck her tongue out.

"...Time to make you re-learn what fear is, filly," Sunset growled.

Rarity shrugged. She was already terrified. She just cared less about it now.