Chapter 2: To Boldly Go...
"Oh hey Sweetie darling, what brings you here?" Rarity asked as she looked up to see Sweetie Belle walking into Carousel Boutique. "Is everything alright? Is there any problems with Scootaloo?"
"No, no," Sweetie said with a shake of her head. "She's great, its just, well its complicated."
"Oh, I'm sure its not that complicated, you can tell your big sister anything," Rarity said with a chuckle.
"I can?" Sweetie asked.
"Of course, if you and Scootaloo want to date then more power to you, though it'll make things awkward if..." Rarity started to say and Sweetie's face went red with embarrassment at her sister's suggestion.
"We're not dating, its something else entirely," Sweetie said and shook her head. "Look, uh, we kind of met this mare in a train, it was kind of weird because..."
"A train?" Rarity asked as she looked at Sweetie confused for a moment. "We have a train station here, we get trains all the time darling."
"Well, this one apparently can travel between worlds or something," Sweetie said and Rarity looked at her strangely for a moment. "Yeah, I know it sounds crazy to me too. Did you hear about those strange creatures that showed up in town before?"
"Oh, yes, those dreadful things, though they did give me some inspiration for a new clothing line," Rarity said and shook her head as she walked over to Sweetie. "What happened? You can tell me anything you know."
"Well, me and my friends fought them both here and over by the Castle of the Two Sisters," Sweetie said and shook her head a little. "They were stopped before they could do anything too bad, but they've jumped to another world and are threatening them. Amethyst Shard, the pony in the train I mentioned before, said we could come with her and help stop them, protect other worlds but..."
"But you're not sure if you should go?" Rarity asked and Sweetie nodded a little. "What do your friends think?"
"Well, they're not really sure either," Sweetie said with a shake of her head. "Its not that I don't want to go, I want to help ponies, these things the Shadow Line are a big threat to anyone. But, I don't want to leave home either."
"Sweetie, you should follow your heart and do whatever you feel is right," Rarity said with a soft smile. "You're a grown mare, you're old enough to make your own choices. And if you want to run off and save other worlds with your friends, well, I'll be here waiting for you. I know you're going to do great things, you're my little sister, and in my experience nopony chooses to be a hero, they get chosen. If you think you can stop this Shadow Line, then I say go for it."
"Really?" Sweetie asked and looked at Rarity who nodded. "Do you really think I'll be able to help?"
"Of course," Rarity said with a smile. "You've got your friends backing you up all the way, and there's nothing in any world that is more powerful than that. I think you should go if your friends do, just promise me that you'll come back. I don't want to lose my little sister."
Sweetie looked into Rarity's eyes for a moment, she wasn't sure if she could make that promise or even keep it if she did. She had to make a choice now though, so she smiled and nodded a little.
"I promise Rarity," she said with a smile. "I'll do everything I can to make sure I get back in one piece, that we all do."
"Good, I knew you would," Rarity said with a smile. "So, why don't you tell me a bit more about this thing? I would love to know what my little sister is going to be up to while she's gone."
Sweetie smiled as she started to tell Rarity everything.
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Diamond Tiara looked out the window towards where the Quantum Reality Express was waiting, she was already packing up her things. Just the essentials, her clothes, whatever else she could bring, she had already made up her mind, she was going.
After she had spent most of her foalhood bullying other ponies, maybe this was her way to try and make up for her own mistakes. She was going to be a superhero, a Power Ranger, whatever that meant, and she was going to help protect other worlds like she had been asked to.
Her parents wouldn't know, she'd just run away and maybe someday come back a different mare. Her mom wouldn't really care that much, she didn't like her mom anyway, she had done nothing but make her life difficult for years. But still, she wished she could at least say good-bye to her father.
She sighed as she put the last of the stuff in her bags and slipped them on as she looked back at her bedroom for a long moment. Was this going to be the last time she'd ever see it? She hoped not, but she had to get going now if she was going to meet up with Silver Spoon.
"Well room, its been fun, I'll see you again soon," she said with a soft smile as she started out quietly and headed down the stairs towards the front door of Rich manor.
"Diamond Tiara, where are you going this late at night?" A stallion's voice said and she jumped before turning around to see her father Filthy Rich standing there.
"Oh, hi dad," she said and tried to smile but she found it hard to do. "I was just, going to meet with Silver Spoon about something."
"This late at night?"
"We were hoping to, uh..." Diamond said as she tried to explain herself with no real luck. "How'd you even know I was down here?"
"I didn't, I just got home a few minutes ago after finishing cleaning up the mess you and your friends made of my store," Filthy said with a shake of his head. "What happened in there anyway? It looked like a tornado went through it."
"Dad, you wouldn't believe me if I told you," Diamond said with a shake of her head.
"Try me, or you're not going anywhere young lady," Filthy said as he narrowed his eyes a little at his daughter.
Diamond sighed a moment and told him everything that had happened earlier. Starting with the encounter with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle in town and the attack on the store and then meeting Amethyst Shard and going to fight Snatcher out in the Everfree Forest.
Filthy listened to her carefully, asking a few questions here and there that Diamond answered to the best of her ability before he sighed.
"You don't believe me do you?" Diamond asked.
"This is Ponyville, we've seen a lot of strange things, but that's definitely one of the strangest," Filthy said with a shake of his head. "But at the same time it sounds too hard not to believe. You're off to join this, Amethyst Shard on a journey to stop the Shadow Line then?"
"Yeah, that's right," Diamond said. "But if you don't want me to go, there's not much I can do."
"Diamond, you're a grown mare its time you made your own choices anyway," Filthy said. "If you think this is best, then I give you my blessing. Just promise me you'll remember us when things get bad, even your mom, she cares about you in her own way."
"I will," Diamond said and rubbed her foreleg a little. "I'm going to miss you dad."
"I'll miss you too Diamond," Filthy Rich said as he hugged his daughter tightly. "Just promise me you'll stay safe, I don't want to lose you."
"I promise, I'll be back as soon as I can," Diamond said as she hugged her dad tightly for a moment. "Though, what are you going to tell mom?"
"I'll tell her you and Silver Spoon ran off and got married and are living together in Manehattan," Filthy said with a smirk as Diamond rolled her eyes.
"Not funny daddy," Diamond said with a shake of her head. "You know we're not ready for that yet, think of something else."
"Oh fine, I'll think of something, just get going," Filthy said with a laugh as he released the hug. "Good luck out there."
Diamond smiled a little and nodded as she headed out of the front door. Filthy sighed a little and watched her go before he headed back up to his office.
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Scootaloo yawned a little as she stretched her wings out as she laid back on the couch in the living room of the house she and Sweetie shared. She picked up her copy of the latest Daring Do book and started reading it.
She sighed a little and set it back down after a few minutes. She was having a hard time focusing on the book as she tried to think about everything that had happened today. She didn't have any family she could talk to, well other than Rainbow Dash, but she wasn't sure how she'd even talk to her about this.
She sighed a little and laid back and stared up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes, Sweetie Belle had gone off to talk to Rarity so she honestly wasn't really sure what she was going to do, she was just stuck alone in this quiet house and she hated to admit it but she was a little unnerved by that.
She nearly jumped out of her fur when she heard a knock on the door. She got to her hooves and walked over to the door and looked through the window and blinked a little when she saw Rainbow Dash standing there.
"Hey Rainbow, what's up?" She asked with a soft smile as she let the older Pegasus in. "What are you doing here?"
"Can't I come to visit my little sister?" Rainbow asked with a chuckle. "But, uh really Sweetie Belle swung by my place earlier on her way to the boutique. She said that I should come talk to you."
"Oh," Scootaloo said with a frown. "How much did she tell you?"
"Some stuff about trains that travel between worlds or something and a group that nearly destroyed Equestria," Rainbow Dash said and looked at Scootaloo worried for a moment. "Look Scoots, I'm not sure why she wanted me to talk to you, are you really going to run off and fight this, Shadow Line thing?"
"I, honestly don't know," Scootaloo admitted as she sighed a little. "I'm still kind of figuring it out, I mean we've gone on crazy adventures before but this, this is something else entirely. I'm afraid that we might not make it back."
"Scoots, you're going to be just fine," Rainbow Dash said and hugged the younger Pegasus tightly for a moment which surprised her. "You're one of the bravest ponies in Equestria, and one of the strongest too. Do you think you can do this if it comes down to it?"
"Well, yeah as long as I have my friends with me," Scootaloo said with a nod. "I don't even know if they're all going though, I don't want to be the only one who winds up going and leave them behind in Equestria."
"Your friends aren't just going to not go," Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle. "If there is something out there that needs stopping and you and your friends can do something about it, I have no doubt that you'd all go. I just wish I could go with you."
"I wish you could too," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "I don't even know what I'm going to do out there, I'm not much of a hero or a fighter. We won by a total fluke."
"You won because you worked together," Rainbow said with a shake of her head. "I think you should do whatever your heart tells you is the right thing to do. You're stronger than you think Scootaloo, you've been through things that I could only imagine and you've persevered. You can go out there and kick some serious flank, and that's no joke, and if you ever need help, you've got your friends just like I do."
"Yeah, you're right," Scootaloo said with a smile. "I never thought I'd actually go on an adventure like this though, you know? I mean, I've always kind of dreamed of having my own adventures with my friends, fighting bad guys, finding treasures, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."
"You think what I've done was what I had in mind?" Rainbow said with a chuckle. "I just wanted to get into the Wonderbolts and maybe date Fluttershy."
"Yeah, but you got both of those things," Scootaloo pointed out with a chuckle as she slugged Rainbow a little. "You really should use examples that didn't actually happen."
"Hey, don't sell yourself short," Rainbow said with a chuckle. "You've got four really good friends, your cutie mark, me for an awesome big sister, and you're sharing a house with the mare you've..."
"Lets, not talk about that," Scootaloo said as she cut Rainbow Dash off with a hoof on her muzzle. "I like Sweetie, but I'm not ready to take that step, I don't know if I ever will be ready to take that step."
"You never know Scoots, I'd say do whatever you can and try to do it before its too late," Rainbow said with a chuckle. "You and Sweetie would be cute together anyway."
"Since when do you care about things like that?"
"Blame Fluttershy, she keeps getting me to read romance novels," Rainbow said with a shake of her head. "But seriously, you're going to be just fine. Do whatever you feel is right of course, but I think you should go out there and fight this Shadow Line thing with all you've got."
"But what if I never make it back home?" Scootaloo asked. "What if I never see you again?"
"Then that's what'll happen, and we'll miss you terribly," Rainbow said with a shake of her head. "But you're a strong pony, and if I'm being honest, you're more awesome than even I am. You're going to be just fine."
"My hearing must be going out from the battle, did you just say I'm more awesome than you are?" Scootaloo asked with a smirk as she looked at her adopted big sister. "Did Rainbow Dash actually just admit that somepony is bigger than her?"
"Yeah, yeah, it had to happen eventually," Rainbow said with a laugh. "But its true, just keep true to yourself and fight the good fight and you're going to be just fine, I promise. And all of us will be here waiting for you to get back."
"Thanks Rainbow," Scootaloo said and hugged the mare tightly. Rainbow smiled and hugged her back for a long moment, Scootaloo didn't want to let her go, knowing that if she did she might not see her again.
"I'll be back, I promise," she said softly.
"And I'll make sure she keeps that promise," Sweetie said from behind them and they turned to see the Unicorn mare closing the front door. "We're all coming back, once the Shadow Line is stopped once and for all."
"So, you're coming too?" Scootaloo asked.
"Of course I am," Sweetie said with a grin. "And Diamond and Silver Spoon passed me while heading for the train, so they're in too. Lets just hope that Apple Bloom stays on as well."
"Well, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone," Rainbow Dash said with a grin as she headed out the front door despite the two's protests.
"They enjoy doing that don't they?" Sweetie asked with a shake of her head.
"Rarity giving it to you too?"
"Oh yeah, I think they're in cahoots to get us together," Sweetie said with a laugh and shook her head a little. "So, we're really going to do this huh?"
"Yeah," Scootaloo said as she gave Sweetie a nod. "We, should go get everything together I guess. Are we really ready for this?"
"I don't think we'll ever really be ready to save all realities from the Shadow Line," Sweetie Belle pointed out. "I mean, how do you get ready for that kind of thing?"
"Good point," Scootaloo said with a laugh as she looked over to where her scooter was resting. "Come on, lets get packed, its time to save the world, or worlds I guess."
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"Are yah sure yah want ta go Apple Bloom?" Applejack asked as she watched her sister pack up her bags. "Ah mean, it sounds so..."
"Crazy?" Apple Bloom asked as she looked back at her big sister with a shake of her head. "Ah know it sounds crazy, honestly if Ah hadn't been through it Ah wouldn't believe it mahself. But there's ponies out there that need help, Ah want ta get out there and help them."
"Alright," Applejack said with a sigh as she hugged Apple Bloom. "Ah don't want anythin' ta happen ta yah."
"Applejack, Ah'm a grown mare, Ah'm gonna be just fine," Apple Bloom said with a smile as she hugged her sister back for a long moment. "Besides, Ah'm sure Ah ain't goin' alone, tha others are gonna be there with me the whole time."
"Ah know, but..." Applejack said and sighed a little for a moment. "That doesn't mean Ah ain't gonna worry about yah. Yer runnin' off on some great adventure, but this time Ah don't know if ya'll will make it back. Ah'm scared, and Ah don't want anythin' ta happen ta yah Apple Bloom."
"Applejack, its time ta let her go," a stallion's voice said from behind them and they turned to see Big Mac standing there. "She's goin' ta have ta make her own decisions eventually and this is her chance ta do something great. Ah say give her tha chance ta get out there and do what she feels is right."
"Alright, yah have a point," Applejack said as she released the hug after a moment. "But yah better make it back home, and see if yah can find some sort of interdimensional postal service or somethin'."
Apple Bloom laughed at that and hugged her big sister tightly. "Ah promise, Ah'll see what Ah can do ta stay in touch," she said with a shake of her head. "Ah'm gonna make yah and mom and dad proud, Ah promise."
"Yah already have Apple Bloom," Applejack said softly as she hugged the younger mare tightly for a moment.
"Eyup," Big Mac said with a smile.
"Here, yah should take this with yah," Applejack said as she reached up and took the hat off her head and put it on Apple Bloom's head.
"Pa's hat? But, this is yer most prized possession," Apple Bloom said as she looked at Applejack shocked for a moment. "Why are yah givin' this ta me?"
"Because if yah ever need somethin' ta remind yah of home, this is it," Applejack said with a smile. "Yer gonna be out there fightin' fer ponies yah don't even know. Doin' everythin' yah can ta stop these Shadow Line varmints, and Ah think yer gonna need it. Just make sure yah bring it back okay?"
Apple Bloom laughed a little at that and adjusted the hat a little, it actually felt pretty nice on her. She nodded a little and smiled as she looked up at her big sister. "Ah'll take good care of it, Ah promise."
"Good, and make sure yah bring everythin' yah need," Applejack added with a chuckle. "We don't want yah out in some strange world and not have clean underwear or somethin'."
"Applejack..." Big Mac said with a facehoof.
"Sorry, force of habit," Applejack said with a shake of her head. "But still, Ah love yah Apple Bloom and Ah know that our folks would be proud of yah fer what yer doin'. Ah know Ah am."
"Thanks," Apple Bloom said and smiled as she finished packing up her things and looked back at her older siblings. "And Ah promise Ah'll do everythin' Ah can ta make it home alive. Just promise me one thing."
"What's that?" Applejack asked.
"That yah finally propose ta Rarity, ya'll have been datin' fer years now, do somethin' about it already," Apple Bloom said with a laugh.
"Ah certainly won't miss yer interferin' with mah love life," Applejack said with a laugh as she pushed Apple Bloom's hat down a little. "Ah'll see what Ah can do, but Ah want yah back fer tha weddin' if Ah do."
"Deal," Apple Bloom said with a laugh as she hugged them both. "Ah'm gonna miss ya'll so much,
Applejack smiled a little as she held Apple Bloom close and gave her a nod. She was still worried about her, especially after everything that she had told them about what was going on, but she was certain that Apple Bloom and her friends were on the right track.
She also mentally kicked herself for that pun, but she wasn't going to let it get to her.
"Besides, now yah can focus on teasin' yer friends," Applejack said with a laugh. "Just don't give them too hard a time."
"We'll see," Apple Bloom said with a laugh as she went back to her bed, this was going to be her last night sleeping in her own bed for awhile and she wanted to make the most of it.
Before they had to get up the next morning and leave Equestria behind.
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"That, was an embarrassment," Baron Nero said with a snarl as he looked at Madam Noir with a glare. "Its bad enough that we've had to deal with one group of Rangers, but we barely got enough Tenebraean energy from that one to compensate for the costs."
"Baron Nero, we got more than enough from our outing into Equestria, we will be fine for now," Noir said as she fanned herself a little and rolled her eyes at the Baron's behavior. "You were the one that believed that it was the right location."
"Yes, well this time we are going to have to be a bit more, selective," Nero said as he leaned on his cane and walked forward towards the display screens. "Perhaps something a bit more, low tech than we've been dealing with. There will be little risk in encountering Rangers there."
"Assuming the ones from Equestria don't follow us," Schwarz said with a shake of his head.
"That was a fluke," Nero said with a shake of his head. "Amethyst Shard has not yet gathered a permanent team to fight us. We will be fine once we are gone as they will not pose any further threat."
"I'm sure you are right Baron, but we should still be careful," Noir said as she fanned herself a little more. "We cannot afford to make further mistakes if we are to make it back home."
"Then we will make sure that we go to the right universe in order to draw out energy," Nero said as he flipped through the universes for a moment. "Its also a matter of picking the right world, perhaps something more out of the way that most would miss."
"Do you have any ideas?" Noir said as she looked at Nero with a raised eyebrow. "You know that we have to approach this with caution."
"Yes, I'm sure of it I've found a world that will work," Nero said as he input the commands as the Kuliner started to adjust its course through the void. "They only have rudimentary technology and we should have no real threat from the locals, I hope."
"We will see," Noir said as she spun the quill pen around in her hand a little. "Perhaps we should give very careful consideration to what Shade we send into this universe. We have to make sure that it will be able to gather up as much Tenebraean Energy as we can get."
"Yes, indeed," Nero said and leaned on his cane. "Alright, well lets get this done then. We still have enough power to last awhile in the universe, but we have to be careful. Prepare the Crows for a recon mission, I want to know what kind of world we are up against."
"Of course," Schwarz said with a nod. "I will make sure that everything goes smoothly."
"Excellent," Nero said as he leaned on his cane a little.
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"Well, this is our last chance to turn back," Scootaloo said as they approached the Quantum Reality Express the next day. She looked back at her bags, it was time to finally go on this crazy adventure. "Do you think we're doing the right thing?"
"I think so, yes," Sweetie said as she gave Scootaloo a smile. "Come on, we're all here because we want to help Amethyst right? We're going to be just fine."
"Yeah," Apple Bloom said with a nod as they knocked on the door to the main engine which slid open. "Amethyst, we're here."
"Glad to see you all came," Amethyst said as she looked up. "Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are getting settled into their quarters. Did you tell your families what's going on?"
"Well, since the alternative was vanish for Celestia knows how long we didn't have much of a choice," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. "Is this thing safe?"
"Yeah, don't worry about that, I've been flying around in this train for awhile," Amethyst said as she shut the train door and looked back at the three Crusaders. "I know this isn't going to be easy for the three of you, I wouldn't have even made the offer if I didn't believe that it was the right thing to do. You're going to have to get used to a lot of things though."
"Like a train that's bigger on the inside?" Scootaloo asked with a chuckle.
"Yeah, like that," Amethyst said as she nodded down the corridor as Archie landed on her back. "Come with me, I'll show you your rooms."
The three friends followed them down the corridor. It was as nice as the rest of the train that they had seen, though it was still going to take some getting used to. Scootaloo wondered if she'd ever get used to this strange train, but for now she knew that she had to figure things out for herself.
"Each train car has a room that you will call home," Amethyst continued. "There are also intercom systems that allow you to communicate with the cars and the main engine."
"Where are we going ta eat?" Apple Bloom asked.
"There's a kitchen and dining area in the first car," Archie answered. "Don't worry, we've got everything figured out, just don't eat anything Amethyst cooks."
"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Amethyst said and Archie just chuckled mechanically. "Don't listen to him, I wasn't exactly a master chef back in my home universe but I'm at least passable."
"Can't be any worse than Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom said with a chuckle.
"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Sweetie said and the friends just laughed a little.
Amethyst smiled softly as she watched the three friends. They reminded her so much of the Ranger team back in her home universe, the one that had been lost to the Shadow Line. She wished that she could go back and change things, but for now, all she could do is fight to make sure that nopony else suffered that fate.
"Alright you three," she said as she nodded to the first room. "This is your room Apple Bloom, make yourself comfortable."
Apple Bloom nodded as she opened the door to the room. It was pretty barren other than a bed and some basic furniture lying around. She set her bag down on the floor and looked around.
"It ain't much ta look at, but Ah've stayed in worse," she said and looked back at Amethyst.
"Don't worry, these are just the base designs, I'm sure we can get them decorated however you'd like," Amethyst said with a nod as she looked back at the other two. "I know this is all very strange to you, I don't blame you if you have questions, so I'd ask them now before we get under way."
"What happened to your home universe? You said that the Shadow Line destroyed it, but you didn't really go into detail," Scootaloo asked. "I mean, if we're fighting them we kind of need to know what we're up against here."
Amethyst sighed a little and shook her head. "Its complicated and hard to explain," she admitted. "But the Tenebraean Energy that the Shadow Line needs is very important to the universe apparently. When too much of it is drained, it will start to degrade and fall apart, that's what happened to my home. So many lives snuffed away just because they wanted energy."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Sweetie Belle said softly as her ears drooped a little. "Did you have any family?"
"Yeah, I did," Amethyst said with a shake of her head. "But I don't want to talk about that. After they destroyed my home, I knew that I had to stop them. This train was an experimental one developed by our scientists before the attack, so I left on it to fight them. I'm still trying to figure everything out honestly, there are systems that even I don't completely understand."
"Great, Ah'm guessin' they didn't just leave an operator's manual," Apple Bloom said aid Amethyst just shook her head. "Well, we're here ta help yah, don't forget that. We're yer friends, or whatever yah want ta call us, and we're gonna make sure that tha Shadow Line is stopped once and fer all."
"Good to know," Amethyst said with a smile. "I know its not an easy task that I've asked of you, but this is what needs to be done. There is even a risk that they may come back and threaten Equestria, so you need to be prepared to take the fight to them no matter where they are."
"We are," Scootaloo said with a confident nod. "I'm not sure about this myself, but I do know that they need to be stopped, I just hope we can."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure all of you have the proper training," Amethyst said with a nod. "Once we depart, I want you all to report to the training room in car 3."
"Geez, another room? How big is this thing?" Sweetie Belle asked and Amethyst just laughed.
"I'll tell you when I find out!" She said and started down the corridor with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo in tow.
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Scootaloo sighed a little as she laid back in her bed and looked up at the ceiling and then over at the Rail Morpher on the table next to her. She was still having a hard time believing that she was actually here, it was strange to think of this place as home, but she had lived in less nice places before.
Still, this was kind of weird for her, she was laying on a bed in a train that was about to leave her home behind. She didn't know if she was doing the right thing here honestly, it was like everything about it was weird and she sighed.
"Hey Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle's voice said from the nearby intercom. "Is everything okay over there?"
Scootaloo got up and hit the button with a soft smile. "About as okay as things can be, this is pretty crazy huh?" She asked with a shake of her head.
"Yeah, crazy," Sweetie said with a sigh. "Its weird really, its not going to be easy to be away from our families but at the same time..."
"Its good to have a chance to be out there and have our own adventures?" Scootaloo asked. "Like we've always talked about."
"Yeah," Sweetie said. "I never thought it would be something like this though," Sweetie said with a chuckle. "At least our families know where we're going, kinda. But that's not really going to stop them from worrying about us, heck I'm worried about us."
"Sweetie, as long as we have each other, we're going to be fine," Scootaloo said, though she was having the same doubts her friend did. "I'm sure that we'll be fine, we have a lot of weird things to see out there too I'm sure."
"Like what?" Sweetie asked.
"I don't know, remember when Twilight told us about that other world with the hairless bipedal apes, Humans or whatever?" Scootaloo said with a chuckle. "I'm sure we'll see something like that, and I'll bet it'll be weird."
"How exactly are we supposed to blend into that kind of world?" Sweetie Belle pointed out. "I mean, the Shadow Line didn't turn into ponies in Equestria."
"That's, actually a good question," Scootaloo said, she hadn't really thought of that. "I'm sure Amethyst has this kind of thing figured out. This whole thing is still kinda weird to me though, I mean alternate realities, creatures trying to drain energy from them... What kind of weird adventure have we gotten ourselves into?"
"Yeah, I know," Sweetie said. "Though, you looked pretty good in pink, kinda cute actually."
Scootaloo blushed a little, she was thankful that Sweetie Belle couldn't see her right now. The two of them had been friends for as long as either could remember, she didn't want to ruin that friendship especially if they were going to be in this together.
But she had to admit, Sweetie Belle was really cute, she'd never say it out loud of course.
"Thanks, but it looks better on you, I'll stick with Yellow most of the time," Scootaloo said with a chuckle as she looked at the yellow train charger that had been given to her. "We've got a long journey ahead of us don't we?"
"Yeah," Sweetie said with a sigh. "I just hope that we'll make it home."
"Me too Sweetie, me too," Scootaloo said with a sigh as she sat back down on the bed. "Sweetie, I..."
They were interrupted with Amethyst's voice coming over the intercom. "We're about to depart, this is your last chance to back out. I don't want any of you to go unless you're absolutely certain. If you're still coming, hit the intercom button in your rooms twice."
Scootaloo thought about it for a moment before leaning forward and pressing the button twice.
She was in this for the long haul, and she wasn't going to let her friends down.
00000
"So, you said that the train was in some sort of, repair mode before?" Sweetie Belle asked as they sat down for dinner. "How exactly does all of this work?"
"The Quantum Reality Express has several modes," Amethyst said as she levitated a forkfull of her salad up and took a bite of it. "Right now we're in travel mode, then there's repair mode yes, and finally Megazord more as you used against the Shade. Its a pretty advanced piece of equipment."
"Okay, so how do we know when we find the Shadow Line?" Silver Spoon asked. "I mean, we're tracking them or something right?"
"Yes, well its not as easy as just flipping some switches, but we have special equipment tracking their signature," Amethyst said with a nod. "Archie is keeping an eye on it now, one advantage to traveling with a robot is that they don't have to eat."
"Yeah, I'm sure," Diamond Tiara said with a shrug. "We thought Sweetie Belle over there was a robot once."
"Hey, I told you I'm not a robot a hundred times!" Sweetie protested and her friends just chuckled a little at that.
"Believe me, I've seen stranger things," Amethyst said as she kept eating. "For now I'm just hoping that we can catch up to them soon. We already got a trace of their signal from a nearby universe but they're long gone from that one already, looks like whatever they tried to do there didn't exactly pan out. I think they ran afoul of other Rangers or something."
"Well, at least we're not the only ones out there fighting them," Scootaloo said with a nod. "Lets just hope we can pick up their trail. Is there any way we can stop them for good?"
"The Court of Darkness keeps themselves well protected, and we don't even know if you can survive in their train," Amethyst said with a shake of her head. "For now we need to focus on stopping their operations, there's not a lot more we can do."
"Okay," Sweetie Belle said as they continued eating. "Is there any pattern to the ones they go after? Maybe it can help us narrow down where they go next."
"No, honestly there's not much of a pattern to everything that's going on," Amethyst said with a shake of her head. "They basically just wind up wherever they think they can get a lot of energy from. Sometimes it works out for them, sometimes it doesn't. But we can always track them at least."
Scootaloo nodded a little and looked over at Sweetie Belle for a moment. She shook her head a little and sighed as she took another bite of food, they had to try and figure out what she was going to do next as they hunted down the Shadow Line and their leadership.
She just shrugged, she just hoped that they were going to be able to figure this out.
"Alert, alert," Archie said as he flew into the dining room. "I've picked up a reading from the Shadow Line in a nearby universe."
"Lets see what you've got," Amethyst said as she raised her hoof and the mechanical owl landed on her foreleg. She narrowed her eyes when she got the data and gave him a nod. "Thank you Archie, set a course for it."
"On it," Archie said as he flew off towards the engine again.
"What's going on?" Diamond Tiara asked looking a bit worried all of a sudden. "What kind of universe are we going into?"
"You're going to need to get used to this one, it might not be easy," Amethyst said with a shake of her head. "Its not a world inhabited by ponies so you're going to have to get used to that kind of thing."
"Uh, exactly how is that going to work?" Silver Spoon asked. "I mean, we're not exactly inconspicuous."
"Don't worry about that, that's already been taken care of," Amethyst said with a chuckle. "Come on, lets finish eating and I'll give you the full briefing after that."
The ponies nodded as they went back to eating. They weren't sure exactly what to expect out of everything that was going on, but they were sure that Amethyst knew what she was doing.
At least they hoped she did.
00000
"Alright, this universe has varying levels of technology that varies from planet to planet," Amethyst explained as she pulled up a readout. "But we're focusing on a specific planet called Ehthannya, or Athena when run through a translator."
"That's a weird name," Diamond commented.
"It was given to the planet by the locals, they're a mostly low tech race," Amethyst continued and an image of a tall bipedal figure dressed in a small fur outfit and a large, uh, chest, appeared. "They're a race of Hunters that mostly live on the coastal areas of the planet's landmasses."
"Wait, so they hunt and eat animals?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Apparently it makes up most of their diet along with fish and a few local fruits and vegetables," Amethyst said. "They're capable of space travel but they very rarely use it except for reproduction from what I can tell. There's not a lot of information on them otherwise I'm afraid, you're going to have to learn as you go."
"Of course," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. "This is going to be weird isn't it?"
"Yeah, probably," Amethyst said with a sigh. "You have a lot of work ahead of you, the train will be far enough away to not be noticed, I hope."
"You don't know for sure?" Diamond Tiara asked as she looked at Amethyst worriedly. "You're not exactly giving us a lot to work on here you know."
"I know, I know, but this isn't a very well documented in this universe given its not part of any of the local major governments," Amethyst said with a shake of her head. "Despite being close to the borders of two of the governments at that. I'm more worried about the local wildlife, but we should be fine."
"So, what do we do when we get out there?" Scootaloo asked.
"Get to the coast, its west from here," Amethyst said and took out several small earpieces. "Put these in your ears, they'll be inconspicuous wherever you go and we'll be able to talk."
They nodded and put them on before she gave them a nod. "Alright, I'll be monitoring you from here, be careful out there, this place does not look safe."
"Okay, we will," Scootaloo said with a nod as they headed to the door of the train. She looked back at Amethyst, she wasn't sure what to expect when she stepped out of there but she just had to assume that Amethyst knew what she was doing.
At least she hoped so.
00000
Apple Bloom was thrown a bit off balance when her hooves made contact with the ground, only they were no longer hooves. They looked like Spike's feet, but instead were fleshy and not covered with fur but had the same yellow color as her coat.
"What tha heck?" She said out loud as she examined herself. She was dressed in what looked like some sort of furs and had gone from her familiar pony form to a tall lithe bipedal form, she checked her mane to make sure it was still there and it was, but she brushed her strange new appendage against a pointed tip of an ear. "Okay, what tha hay is goin' on here?"
"I don't know, but I don't like it," Diamond Tiara said as she helped Silver Spoon up. The two were in the strange new bodies that they remembered looked like the projection from the briefing, only mixed with their normal colors. "Amethyst, why didn't you tell us about this?"
"Its better to experience it for yourself," Amethyst said over their communicators. "It allows you to blend into your new surroundings better. Multi-colored talking ponies are not something that you usually see on planets, but you should automatically adjust to it."
"Yeah, like we can really get used to walking with these things," Scootaloo said as she looked down at herself.
"You better be talking about your feet," Amethyst said.
"I was, but now that you mention it..." Scootaloo said as she looked at herself and her friends strangely for a moment and placed a hand on her alien chest. "So, where's the nearest town?"
"Head west from here until you reach the coast, then head north," Amethyst said. "There's a town in that direction, though I'm also detecting a large outlying building. It looks like it could be some sort of Temple based on the size and design. Interesting, I haven't seen a lot of religious iconography in space faring cultures, even one as..."
"Alright, we'll check it out," Scootaloo said as Amethyst kind of kept going. "We'll let you know if anything happens."
They shut off their communicators and started walking through the jungle. The area was wild and harder to get through as they managed to duck and avoid vines and loose branches.
"You'd think the locals would do more to keep this area clear," Diamond Tiara said as she shivered a little at the feeling of strange plants rubbing against her bare legs. "Or at least wear more clothing."
"Who knows, Ah remember Zecora tellin' me that there are parts of Zebrica like this," Apple Bloom said with a shrug. "Not everycreature does what ponies do yah know?"
"Still kind of weird that they don't at least move inland," Silver Spoon points out. "There's a lot of space around..."
Before she could finish that sentence there was the sound of a roar as something came bursting out of the jungle in front of them. It looked like a bear but it was massive, it was bigger than any bear they had ever seen except for maybe an Ursa MInor.
"Crap, that's not good," Scootaloo said as they reached for their satchels to grab their Morphers, only to have to duck out of the way as the massive bear swung at them with their claw. "Not good, not good, not good..."
Just then there was a loud whistle as something flew through the air and hit the bear in the side. It roared and turned its head towards the source of the attack and another projectile flew out and hit it in the chest. It let out one final roar as the projectiles, they could now see as arrows, pierced its heart and it fell over.
"Where did that come from?" Sweetie asked as they looked to the source of the arrows.
A tall woman with the same pointed ears but tanned skin and a short yellow mane was standing there. She was dressed similarly to the ponies, but she had a quiver slung over her shoulder and was holding a bow as she stood on a branch.
"You five shouldn't be out here," she said, they were surprised to hear here speaking in plain and simple Ponish as she hopped down and drew a knife.
"What are yah gonna do with that?" Apple Bloom asked, she was suddenly afraid. Amethyst had said that the locals were meat eaters, did that mean they ate each other too?
The woman just walked over to the bear and plunged the knife into it and started carving out meat. She put some in her own satchel and gave the five of them a nod.
"So, where are you five from?"
"We're, from the other side of the continent," Sweetie said. "We were on our way to the nearby town."
"Really? Most people choose to take a boat or go on foot around the coast," the blonde native said as she cleaned off her knife and put it back in its sheath. "You're unarmed too, seems a bit suspicious to me."
"Yeah, well, we'll just be on our way," Sweetie Belle said with a nod as they started to walk back into the jungle. "Thank you for saving our lives back there and all but I think we can handle it."
"That was a Vorgiv Bear," the blonde said as she shook her head a little. "You're lucky it was only hunting and not protecting its young. The five of you are lucky to be alive, Athena's jungles are not safe, especially for newcomers."
"Wait, how did you..." Scootaloo started to ask as the woman reached around her neck and raised a strange necklace with a red stone with a bird-like symbol on it.
"My name is Tilani," she said and raised her eyebrow a little. "The Goddess Adra informed me you would be coming today, I've been looking for you, Power Rangers."
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Hmm, not sure where they've winded up. The title and some of the things said in the chapter make me think Star Trek, but honestly not sure. And you really couldn't resist the Sweetie/Scoots shipping, could you?
9171196 No, no I could not.
And I'll explain in Discord.
Well that was nice to be found by a somewhat friendly face.
Uhm, I'm getting the feeling that Rarity wants this to happen... Oh and SweetyxScootalo sounds oddly familiar
"Ah, no. Not normal Ponyville weird, but save the world weird."
"Oh, that kind of weird."
All in only twenty bags.
Like I said, Ponyville is strange
Then you have your work cut out for you
And don't sell yourself short Scoots
Well, let's hope that worked out without any spooky dreams
The shipping is strong with this one!
Oh now that is cute
Ok, seriously starting to wonder where Ponyvilles fillies come from when everyone in town is homosexual
You burned orange juice. How does one even do that?
... Well, you could burn a Genesis Driver with an Energy Orange Lookseed... Wait, wait, already going off track again.
OMG, hit the deck, it's shipping fuel!
...I'm not saying anything on that. ...Hey, wait a minute!
never heard of that planet.
Okay, we are operating under Mirror rules here. Fine with me.
Says the pony that mostly runs around naked.
Huh, interesting.
9172549
I have no idea what you're talking about
Yes, that's a very special kind of weird.
Only 20? That's packing light for Rarity.
Yeah, they'll be fine, it just takes some getting used to.
We'll see won't we?
Use the shipping, Scoots!
Yeah, I thought this would be a nice touch and very cute.
They're all conceived with the magical lesbian spawn spell.
Its better off not questioning it, its better for your sanity, kinda like questioning Pinkie.
Yessss, the shipping fuel shall never end until the ships sail! POUR MORE FUEL INTO THE SHIPS!
Yeah, I couldn't resist making a Sweetie Bot joke is all.
You wouldn't have, I made it up for a Roleplay on Star Trek Online. They're an off-shoot of Vulcans, you'll learn everything else as it goes.
Well yeah, most universes don't have magical talking ponies. It just makes things simpler this way.
True but they're covered with fur unlike the locals, and this would also be anatomically correct nakedness. Its a really warm planet anyway, the animal furs keep covered what's needed to keep their modesty intact and that's about it.
Yes, very, we'll get into that next chapter.
9172795
True, but Diamond is rich enough to buy everything as she travels. Or something like that
"I'm your marefriend Scootaloo!"
"No! No, that is not true! That's impossible!"
"Search your feelings, you know it to be true!"
"Nooooooooo!"
I'm inclined to believe that
Seriously, what is it with Toku Fanfics of MLP and having an abundance of lesbians. It's kinda funny. And cute.
Huh, interesting. That means I'm out of my water here. That is not one of my fields as a "Professor of Nerdiness"
9172823
*just whistles innocently*
Right, because her money will work everywhere... actually that raises questions really, I don't know if the money is changed when they move into a new universe too.
She'll come around eventually, she always does.
Really its because almost all my ships are lesbian ships and I thought I'd throw them in in the background.
Don't worry, this is set before they make first contact with the Federation so it requires absolutely no knowledge of Star Trek.
9172833
You know what, that is an interesting question.
I at least know what that is. Thank you, Linkara!
9172838
Yes, yes it is, I mean they get local clothes obviously so, hmm...
And yes, there's actually a very specific reason I picked Athena to be a stop on their journey instead of some place canon in Star Trek, but we'll get to that next chapter.
9172841
come to think of it, if it did, she would turn into the Tsukasa of the group, just with everchanging money instead of skills
9172846 Heh, well, we'll see how that goes, there's also the chance that they turn up on worlds that don't have a monetary system.
9172892
"What do you mean you don't know what money is?! How are you doing stuff like shopping?"
"We just hunt it our self?"
"That- That is so barbaric! How can you live like that?"
"We just do?"
"Amethyst, we are leaving! Let the Shadowlane have this world, they are beyond saving!"
"Aren't you overreacting a bit?"
"No, I'm not Scootaloo! If you seak me, I'm in my cart!"
9172910 Heh, that or fair and equal trade, but yeah.
She has and they will