Them's Friendin' Herds

by NotSoDogNinja

Chapter 1: Friendship Princess and Forgone Power

Author's Note:

No, no. Go back. There's some stuff you missed. Stats don't lie.

Also, don't worry about the last three characters. You'll get them later.

Now for the truly mysterious inner machinations of Twilight's mind:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

This concludes the truly mysterious inner machinations of Twilight's mind.

---

She didn't know how long she was falling for. Maybe it wasn't even falling; maybe she was flying at this point, she was in the air for so long.

All she did know, is that it was white. Bright white. But she wasn't blind; she had felt that before... A while back.

But by the forces acting on her, she was definitely hurtling in a direction. Though it was impossible to tell which.

She had tried before to regain control by levitation while in the void, but somehow, this ORB prevented her from using her magic. This wasn't what she thought traveling to another dimension would be like...

Whump!

Finally! She landed. Scrambling up onto her hooves again, she was... Back in her room?

She took another look. Everything was just as she had left it, except papers were scattered all over the place, and the Unicornominon was nowhere in sight. Wait, what?!

The only thing actually protecting her from any predators coming for her, and the only one who knew anything about the Predators, Gone?! This was DEFINATELY not part of her plan. Checking the other rooms in her smallish house yielded nothing at all either.

She frustratingly let out a grunt. "Another failure?" Angrily holding up Starswirl's log, she shouted, "This... BOOK has done nothing but make matters worse for me!" She contemptuously tore up the page with the spell, burning it in a flash of flame.

Like this totally won't effect the plot later.

She bolted out the door of her house to try to find the magic book holding the demon.

And right smack dab into... some sort of a unicorn-pegasus hybrid?

Lavender colored. Not unusual for one of her kind, but the main point of interest for her was the pegacorn's, as she dubbed her- hooves. It was not like her own, appearing to be that of a standard equid's, similar to a horse's. This... was getting into territories of crossbreeds that bordered on impossible. The pegacorn eyed Oleander up and down curiously, with a hunger only one a scholar or researcher, similar to herself might she add, could possess.

She was also holding a book. It looked very familiar to say the least...

---

Twilight had found herself in a similar situation to the dark unicorn standing in front of her. She also didn't have any control over her movement while she was still in the white void, but she fared slightly better and was overall less winded when she landed. She didn't land back in the castle, instead landing somewhere in the forest.

After reorienting herself, she quickly found the nearest dwelling, which just so happened to be Oleander's abode.

Nothing out of the ordinary for her. She recalled that did this in the past, with some humans.

What WAS out of the ordinary was the appearance of the unicorn in front of her. Compared to a normal unicorn, her nose was slimmer, horn was longer, and hair more unkept, but most of that could be chalked to ancestry or the like.

What couldn't be was her hooves. A unicorn, with cloven hooves? Unheard of. And exciting! A new species, perhaps?

The cloven-hooved unicorn butted into her daydreaming. "What are you doing here... Pega...Uni... Pegacorn? Are you from the other dimension?"

"I... guess? Oh, and I'm an alicorn, actually."

"An... alicorn?" Twilight barely stopped herself from shooting off a sharp retort. This was the first contact she had from a different dimension entirely! Best to keep it... civil.

"Oh! Right. I guess you don't have those where you come from... It's like a pegasus plus a unicorn, with an added bonus of earth-pony physical strength!"

The unicorn tilted her head. "No horse?"

"Uh... no horse. Just pony!"

"And these earth ponies... what are they?"

Hmmm... she didn't know about the different races of ponies? Definitely in another dimension now! "They're ponies that have more physical strength as opposed to magical prowess, letting them work as better farmers."

This unicorn nodded. "I suppose I understand now. Your dimension must have uncloven hooves all around. Is that correct?"

Twilight nodded. "Yep! That's how it was there! But now that I'm in this pocket dimension, I can learn more about it! So I think the first thing I should learn is your name. SOOOO...what's your name?"

"You went to a pocket dimension as well?" the unicorn asked. Just now, Twilight noticed the dark unicorn in front of her had bags under her eyes that indicated exhaustion. Just like... herself? Twilight suddenly noticed how tired she was.

She coughed. "That explains a lot..." She looked past the unicorn's house. "Wait, is that... THE CASTLE OF FRIENDSHIP?!" True to her words, the castle was glistening in the distance.

"That spell I did... It must have made Equestria cross over with this one!"

"As a matter of fact, I think not." The unicorn put on a pair of glasses. "If what you are saying is true, then it would be more likely that WE caused it. We both did it at the same time."

"Oh...this is unthinkable..." The dark unicorn shook her head, as if to clear it of a headache. "Now both this dimension AND your dimension are in danger of them-!"

"Them? Them who?! I don't even know who 'they' are! I don't even know who YOU are!" Twilight yelled, verging on panic.

The dark unicorn sighed, regaining all composure lost in an instant. "Let us start over. My name is Oleander, the greatest Sorceress in Foenum and the Champion of the Woodlands. What is yours?"

"Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and ruler of Equestria."

"Ruler? Alright," the unicorn said. "I can see we are in much of the same boat... especially since we started this bloody mess in the first place. For NOW at least, we should team up to find out how to fix our homes." She extended a cloven hoof towards Twilight.

"Absolutely," Twilight agreed. She took the hoof in her own and shook it. After pulling away, Twilight looked at her hoof excitedly, while Oleander looked at hers... analytically. Huh. "Well," Twilight offered, "I know just the place to start!"

---

This eccentric... alicorn certainly knew how to run somewhere quickly. Teleportation for long distances couldn't be healthy after interdimensional tragedies anyways. Twilight was bearable as well. She wasn't rambling on, as Oleander had feared from the start, but was respecting her general silence, for the most part. Until, at least, she asked the deceptively simple question, "So, tell me a little bit about yourself!" in her usual happy demeanor.

Oleander took some time to craft a response that wouldn't be likely to drive away her only chance at bringing back the world she knew. "Alright. This may or may not make much sense to you, being from another dimension and all, but please try to listen. As you know, my name is Oleander. I come from this place called 'the Woodlands.' In it, live the Unicorns and the Order of the Horn. I was once one of them, but have since attempted the usage of different magics for better or worse. We have an enemy, dubbed 'Predators.' These predators will do anything to destroy the ungulates of Foenum. With the help of my newfound magic, I stood up for the Unicorns to help defeat them. I was toying with some new magic that I thought could be helpful, when we accidentally fused our dimensions, as they're called, together."

Twilight was listening quite intently. It was clear that she found something... familiar about this story, but it was unclear what.

Twilight chuckled a little bit. "You remind me of myself when I was younger! Only a couple of moons ago, I was only a simple unicorn, who wanted to save the world because a great evil came back from her banishment. By travelling to a new town, meeting some amazing ponies who helped me, and confronting her, we managed to stop her with the magic of friendship. Since then, me and my friends have gone on countless adventures together, only... sometimes saving the world."

"So you saved the world... with friendship magic? Oh, I'd like to see that,” Oleander chuckled.

"Hey, you might!"

Oleander started to laugh. "Your friends sing a bunch of songs to defeat one-thousand-year old demons and enemies?! And I thought their light magic sounded strange to me!"

"Oh, it's doesn't work like that!" Twilight laughed with Oleander as well. "There's no saying if we'll show you it here! If we can find them..." Twilight stopped her laughing slowly and started to stare off into space.

Oleander didn't have the largest sense of empathy. She hardly had any at all.

But she knew when someone needed comforting.

It wasn't going to come from her though. The best she could do was distract her for a bit.

"So, we are approaching the Castle of Friendship, as you called it, now. You're saying that some of your friends are in there?"

Twilight seemed to snap out of her trance. "Yep! Right in here."

Rather convenient, but Oleander certainly wasn't one to complain when having a lead.

Finally having reached the front entryway, Oleander could now see the Castle in all of its glory. And for once, she was speechless. This CASTLE was made out of pure crystal, something that rivaled even the greatest architecture in Foenum. She felt qualified to say that, especially after exploring the Ruins almost in its entirety.

After barging in, they nearly ran over a light purple unicorn, an orange, unkept unicorn, and Fred. THERE he was! "Fred! I've been looking all over for you! Where were you?!"

"Starlight! Sunburst!" Twilight called out to her friends.

"Twilight! You're okay!" The lighter unicorn, Starlight, Oleander assumed, gave Twilight a warm hug. The other one, Sunburst?, sat in relative silence. He simply asked, "Who's your friend?"

Oleander responded readily. "My name is Oleander, Champion of the Woodlands. You are Sunburst, I presume?"

Sunburst nodded as Fred piped up from his book. "What happened? And who's your purple friend, Olly?"

"Don't call me Olly. Our home and her dimension crossed over. Fred, this is Twilight. She is going to help us fix this."

Fred nodded and extended a claw-like-appendage to Twilight in greeting. "How do you do?"

"H-hi... Fred! How're you? I'd Hades- I MEAN HATE to interrupt, but well... Stuff happened. I mean, Spike appears to be Tartar- TARDY, but that's fine! I'm sure he'll turn up eventually!"

Fred's neutral expression gave nothing away. "I know."

Oleander stopped the conversation short. "Either way, we should get going. To the east. There's some things over there that will no doubt be helpful. I'll explain more about the Predators on the way. There is no time to waste. We MUST find the Key and the way to fix this mess. And also, perhaps your friends as well."

"I'll come with you guys!" Starlight called out to Twilight, picking up a travel pack as she jumped out of her seat.

Twilight shook her mane, scattering a few sparkles from her mane as she did. "No. If YOU of all ponies get lost, it might just be over. If you can, try to find more information on these 'predators.'"

"Well... that might be hard without any guides on this dimension." Starlight slumped down in defeat. "There's no way we have anything on them, even in your truly incredible, and possibly all encompassing, library."

An ethereal voice spoke out with a ring that made Twilight tremble slightly. "I can stay behind." Fred offered.

"What? NO! I will NOT allow you." Oleander leapt forwards and snatched the book using her magic.

"Wait, that might actually be a good idea." Oleander looked at who said it. What do you know, it was Starlight of all ponies.

"Do explain your theory, Starlight."

"Well," Starlight explained, "He obviously knows the most about these predators out of all of us. You can tell Twilight what you know as you go, he can tell us what he knows. Then, we can all meet back together and brainstorm!"

The other ungulates and Fred were in agreement. Oleander had nothing left to argue about; they were wasting precious time. For once, she relented.

"Fine. BUT, only on the condition of two days AT MAXIMUM. Agreed?"

"Agreed." "Agreed."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Twilight suddenly grabbed Oleander with her magic and flew out the door of the Castle of Friendship. Oleander quickly regained her footing on the grassy floor, breaking into a run.

The two unicorns flew and ran respectively to the east, Oleander providing directions, Twilight being ever observant of their surroundings. Sunburst, Fred, and Starlight all waved goodbye to the rapidly retreating figures.

"So, uh, mister FTHNG?"

"Yes, Sunburst? Also, please call me Fred. FTHNG is... Hard to pronounce most of the time."

"Okay, um, Fred. Uh... Do you uh... like... artifacts?"

"Why, in fact I do. I have quite the expansive collection. Would you like to see one?"

Sunburst's eyes dilated, and his mouth let out a happy gasp of excitement. "Yes, of course I would!"

Starlight rolled her eyes. It would be a long rest of the day.

As she went inside, she was aware of a small pulsating glow from her flank...

---

Meanwhile...

Pen: I mean, it was really weird, I honestly have no idea how he got in there!

BEP Squad: Hahahahaha!

Blocky: You know, I've actually been thinking of doing more pranks, but, well, recovery centers, my INSPIRATION! There all gone.

Eraser: Well, if you ever need a hand with one of those, I'm down.

Pen: I'd say "Me too," but y'know, my team has this whole "preventing death" thing-

Blocky: Yeah you can't go betraying their- wait. What's that over there?

Pen: Huh? Oh, that glowy thing? Hmmm... not sure.

Blocky:...

Eraser: Should we jump in?

Pen: Nah, I don't think so. It would ruin the fun, y'know, like how you wouldn't like to see yourself in a movie or something?

Eraser: Yeah, your right.

Pen: Oh, that reminds me, Eraser!

Orb: VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR *Expanding noises* *Sucking noises*

BEP squad: *Whatever noises you make when getting sucked into a white void*

Comments

[Comickook]

Again, wonderful job on the exchanges, characterizations, humor and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Loved Twilight's first meeting with Oleander, with Oleander learning a bit about alicorns and Twilight learning a bit about Foenum and their predators. And this is apparently set pretty early in Twilight's first year as ruler of Equestria. And Twilight, Starlight, Sunburst and Fred's first meeting with Fred was pretty well done. Okay, now the adventure has officially begun. It's going to be intriguing seeing the Mane Six and their counterparts from Foenum working together against the predators. Maybe seeing Twilight and her friends in action will convince Arizona, Oleander, Paprika, Pom, Tianhou and Velvet that they stand a better chance against the predators by working together. And I am ALSO hopeful that Spike will get to contribute to the adventure in a positive manner.

And, not much to say other than I'm definitely looking forward to more of this.

[NotSoDogNinja]

Don't forget Shanty! She's in here too!
And yes, Spike will help out a fair bit, as well as the recently dubbed "BEP Squad."
Maybe seeing Twilight and her friends in action will convince Arizona, Oleander, Paprika, Pom, Tianhou and Velvet that they stand a better chance against the predators by working together.
Sort of, but I feel that Pom and Paprika would sort of get that from the start.

[NotSuspicious366]

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

Why does something inside of me tell me there's a code here?

[NotSuspicious366]

10379471
I don't know who any of those characters are because I've never played the game. I know about a character named Arizona, but I'm pretty sure it's not the same Arizona you're talking about.