To the Gods

by Comma Typer

Future Strife

Spike crosses dark crystal hallways. Bannered windows decorate the shiny walls. He’s fortunate for the soft carpets muffling his footsteps. Won’t have Starlight teleporting to any suspicious noise to fight imaginary intruders stupid enough to rob the castle.

Though he is housing intruders.

The talk with the Masked Matter-Horn didn’t go too well though it was the Power Pony herself: a dream come true! She was real and right there in front of him, with the suit and the costume and the voice—all better than any cosplayer can pull off. Yet Space Beat’s note and notice turned the dream into a nightmare he couldn’t wake up from. And that was before the other Power Ponies woke up.

It was a delicate moment for the crying Matter-Horn. Looked pathetic as she hid under the bed while Spike distracted one awoken Starlight wondering what caused that heart-breaking wail. Before and after that, he hugged his hero who’d been reduced to tears and mewling, to calls for Mom and Dad to save her.

But when Matter-Horn turned to wake up the others, two things came to his mind: first, they’d need the privacy, some alone time to get used to this world. The sight of some random baby dragon from out of nowhere in this supposedly hostile dimension would only alarm them. If he was away though, Matter-Horn could introduce him to her friends in a positive light and start everything off on the right foot.

Second, he had guests, and guests needed hospitality.

He opens the door to the kitchen. Turns the lights on and judges the empty room before putting on apron and hat. He neatly lays out some salt, sugar, flour, eggs, baking powder, and a couple other ingredients on the table before placing a stirring bowl on the table along with a pan and spatula on the stove.

The sweet scent of too-early breakfast makes him lick his lips at his culinary creation. “Hope these pancakes will cheer you up, girls. I really hope they do.”

---

But everyone must awake first.

A big yawn accompanies the smacking of lips. Her eyes open. Forelegs stretch to kick the crinkles out of her bones crunching like crispy potato chips.

“Fili-Second?” Matter-Horn dips her head into the sleeper’s vision. “I… I know this might shock you, but—“

“Why am I in bed?” From her pillow, Fili-Second scans everything in the room with bouncing eyes. “Alright, alright, I need to know pronto: Why in the world are we sleepin’ here? It’d be fun to catch some Z’s before we take down that Verumarendi mare, but—“

A cough from Matter-horn stops the fast talker. “I have to tell you something very important—“

Fili-Second’s out in a blink. Blanket and pillow are thrown into the air, caught in the unicorn’s ice blue magic field. The super-fast gray-green mare races through the room, speed blurring her suit of arrows and painted-on watches while her narrow amber mane and tail angle themselves like lightning bolts.

She screeches to a halt right before Matter-Horn sputtering, “Wh-what was that for?”

“Scouting. Or as the Prench would have it, reconnaissance.” Eyes jump up and down to take in the room again. “Seems okay. Not what I thought I’d see from an unknown evil dimension. Walls made of crystal? Pretty sturdy. Looks like we’re in some royal’s bedroom though those comics were pretty hefty. Even made a lot of comics about us! I know we’re cool and all, but that’s obsession at this point—and I guess this is the part where you want me to stop analyzing now, huh?”

Matter-Horn sighs and nods. “Yes. Now, before we get any further, there’s a secret I must tell you and the rest of the girls. But first, we have to wake everyone else up.“

Fili-Second looks at her fellow Power Ponies still sleeping in their beds, one of them snoring as loud as a train whistle. “Why not just get it over with and wake ‘em up at the same time?”

“To be fair, we were expecting something much worse than a fancy bedroom.” The unicorn catches a glimmer of light reflected off a facet of the crystal wall. “If we wake them up together, there may not be enough time to tell them that the coast is clear and that there are no enemies in this place. It’s to slowly ease them in, don’t you see?”

Fili-Second wipes her zigzagged mane. “Good point.”

They get to the next pony to wake up while she sleeps beside Fili-Second’s empty bed: Saddle Rager. A gray pegasus, flowing brown mane adorning her head as fresh flowers adorn her suit.

A poke later, she rises with fluttering eyelids, sluggishly acclimating to the foreign environment. A moan comes in: not calm but groggy. “G-girls? Where… are we? Did we make it?”

“Yeah, we did,” replies Fili-second, gesturing her foreleg around, “and it’s some sophisticated crystal bedroom. We’ve been out for some time except for lucky Maskie here—“ nudging a tense Matter-Horn on the shoulder “—but now we gotta wake the others up, you dig?”

“Yes, I dig,” and Rager flutters out of bed to land on the ground and see the rest of the bedroom. Her jaw dropping, “Wow, this is grand! Are we in a castle?”

“A crystal castle, yes,” Matter-Horn chimes in. “Rager, know that we’re safe here, and that I must tell all of you—”

“A crystal castle?” chorus Fili-Second and Rager.

Matter-Horn nods again. “Yes. This castle is made of crystal.”

“And how do you know this?” asks Rager. “Did you check outside?”

“The outside world is... well, I’ll tell you when everyone’s up. Now let’s get them up, shall we?”

As they trot to Radiance’s bed, a question pops into the head of the hovering pegasus: “Wait, why one at a time?”

“Because Professor Amber Stone is too good at exaggerations.” A weary shake of the head is Matter-Horn’s cross-dimensional send-off to the scientist. “We all thought this place would teem with paradoxes, impossible shapes, non-Eweclidean geometry, and Heartcraftian monsters. Instead, we get the private quarters of a baby dragon.”

Fili-Second checks out the entire bedroom a second time before slowing down to a casual trot. “Wait, a baby dragon?”

Rager stops. “Baby dragon? Are we in a dragon’s castle? Heh-heh! Now that would be a twist! Verumarendi is actually a dragon!”

Fili-Second laughs at that but shuts her mouth upon Matter-Horn gently poking Radiance with her hoof. “Oh wait, Maskie, you’re, uh—“

The sleeping beauty in bed crashes her train of thought as she rolls out of the bed with a loud thud! She belches out one final obnoxious snore then, realizing she is trapped inside a ball of her blanket, she screams.

Matter-Horn’s teeth clatter as the other two Power Ponies shoot out of their beds.

“What’s going on here?” Mare-velous takes out her hooferangs and readies her lasso. “Radiance, is that you?!””

“Good thing she woke up!” and Zapp points at the screaming blanket ball. “I would’ve slept through the monster... attack... invasion... um, where’s the action? Uh, why are we in a hotel? I don’t remember booking a trip to the Bahamares.” She deactivates her lightning amulet and the storm clouds forming around her dissipate. “Did we win a vacation or something?”

“I’m up, I’m up!” Radiance’s magic hurls her blanket away, revealing her gem-encrusted costume and a frazzled jewel-topped bed mane. “Oh, you’re all in one piece! Did we save the world yet?”

Fili-Second taps on her costume’s painted-on watch. “You’ve managed to wake up more ponies in the past seven seconds than Matter-Horn did in the past few minutes. Is that a good thing?”

Ignorant of Matter-Horn’s eye roll, Radiance’s pupils shrink into pinpricks. “Did I miss something? Did you defeat that abomination while I was asleep?”

“Not yet,” answers Matter-Horn. “I’m not even sure if that’s the least of our concerns now.” Turning to the other two ponies awake: “Mare-velous, Zapp... how are you both?”

While the head unicorn speaks, the crystal walls and ceiling steal Radiance’s attention. “Well, well, well! I didn’t know Verumarendi had extremely opulent tastes!”

Mare-velous and Zapp look at the walls and ceiling with each other, scratching their heads and manes. From Zapp to Matter-Horn: “I think I’m fine. I think Mare-velous is fine too—“ jabbing a hoof at the Earth pony “—but seriously, what happened while we were out?”

“That’s true,” Mare-velous pipes up. “Where’s Verumarendi? Unless she’s the one who placed us here and now we have to solve twisted riddles like what happened with the Interrogator last month.”

“At least we bonked him on the head when we got to him,” adds Zapp, self-satisfied smile on her muzzle. “I’m sure Verumarendi’s a lot harder. Like, two bonks.”

Matter-Horn can’t help but smile, almost chuckling alongside Mare-velous.

A call to the others later, and she gathers them together, forming a small circle of ponies in the middle of the bedroom.

A deep breath from the unicorn. All eyes on her now.

“Girls, promise me that you will not attack anyone. Or scream. We’re in someone else’s property and we’ve already narrowly escaped detection from an occupant here who we will assume is friendly until proven otherwise. Sill, we do not want to take any chances; if too many creatures in this dimension know why we’re here, it will spell disaster on our world.”

“How come that occupant hasn’t heard us yet?” Saddle Rager points out.

“This castle’s very large and the bedrooms are few and far between, but better safe than sorry. Do you understand?”

The silent huddle nod their heads together.

Now, gazes upon Matter-Horn, patient and waiting. She can already hear questions passed around in whispers: about the castle, about the occupant, about who owns it, what monsters are out there and what’s it like in the terrible world outside.

She sighs. Time to get it over with.

Her magic encapsulates a Power Ponies comic book and floats it into view: that cursed and enchanted issue.

“Alright, girls. What if I told you that we arrived here through this comic?”

---

Spike pushes the cart of pancakes across dark hallways. Slathered with maple syrup, sprinkled with freshly-cut strawberries and blueberries, topped with lots of whipped cream: these pancakes make him drool and unaware that said drool has just marred one of those soft and expensive carpets.

Judging by the kitchen timer he had on, it would’ve been at least twenty minutes since he started cooking, then there’s the few minutes he’d spent going to the kitchen in the first place. Twenty-five minutes, estimated, of Matter-Horn waking up her friends, telling them the truth. If the strongest among them broke down like a defenseless foal, the others would turn into sobbing messes: of this he is sure. Being told that they’re here and alive thanks to dark magic...

He gulps as he rounds the final turn before his room. At least pancakes are fun to eat no matter what universe they’re in. His guests can chill and relax with his cooking, though it already excites him: serving pancakes to the Power Ponies!

Another breath: one big breath. Counts the number of pancakes yet another time—twenty-four, four for each pony. Counts the syrup container and the pitcher of orange juice with its glasses, stainless steel utensils and silk napkins on the side. All the ponies’ needs, taken care of.

One more breath. Inhale, exhale.

He opens the door, charging in with his cart. “I’m sorry to interrupt this very important and solemn moment, but I’ve brought some food and—“

“Food? Finally!”

Fili-Second speeds the cart ahead, without any spills, to the Power Ponies’ huddle at Spike’s desk which they’d moved to the middle of the room.

And Spike blinks, amazed. He stares at the Power Ponies themselves, taking each and every detail of them: Fili-Second passes plates around on the desk, rambling about how there’s no coffee around but the orange juice will do. Saddle Rager verbally admires the fruits’ textures and flavors, chatting with Radiance who levitates her own plate while scarfing four pancakes in quick succession. Mare-velous says that the pancakes were like home as her lasso and hooferangs lay on the table, and Zapp flies around on a cloud while eating whipped cream first, saying sorry as she spills juice onto Matter-Horn who laughs it all off with a spell to remove her suit’s orange stain.

That’s when Matter-Horn turns her head toward Spike. “Oh, I almost forgot you!”

The little dragon stares stupidly at all of them, fighting both the utter confusion and the utter joy of seeing the Power Ponies themselves in the flesh and doing alive things before him. “Uh, what just happened?”

Mare-velous shrugs. “What do you mean, comic boy? We’re planning our next step: going to Manehattan to find answers.”

“What she said,” says Zapp from an overhead cloud, munching on her pancake afterwards. “Hey, didn’t know you had princesses instead of a president! Gotta say, you’re pretty backwards for an ‘eldritch world.’”

“Zapp!” and Rager shuts the pegasus up before shaking her head. “I do apologize for that, Spike. Zapp can be a bit brash. They do call her the Daughter of Thunder for a good reason, though.”

“It’s a cool nickname and you know it!” yells Zapp, much to Rager’s eye rolling.

“And would you care to eat some of your own grub?” Radiance offers, unaware that her plate is empty so she has no pancakes to offer. “I’ve never heard of a dragon flipping pancakes. The cuisine is so spicy back in the Dragon Holds.”

“Not to mention that—“ Fili-Second points a fork at Spike “—you’re going with us right?”

And Spike can only say confused syllables. Then, “Yes... uh, yes, I am. But... I was, um, expecting something else.”

“Like what?” Mare-velous asks, chewing on a strawberry.

He scratches the back of his scaly head. “Um... tears? Hugging each other at what Matter-Horn told you. She did tell you, right?”

The dragon’s quizzed look gets Fili-Second’s attention. “I’ve seen that look before in graveyards, kiddo. Some call me the worst ever griever at funerals. When you live a step ahead of the rest, the average pony just can’t keep up with you. Emotionally, even.” She shrugs it away. “But hey, it’s not just me. Rager here—poor thing—she cried for ten minutes straight. We all had to hug her in the end. But look at her now: all nice and tidy!”

True enough, Rager’s eyes carry a slight red tint. “Don’t worry, Spike,” she says, politely shooing him away from closer inspection of her face. “I’m better now. I have to be strong. No, we all have to be strong for our world.”

Matter-Horn’s nod catches Spike’s attention. “Yes, Spike, I did tell them, and it’s true that there were some tears and a dash of anger here and there... but if it involves a mystery so dangerous that it’s tearing apart our world, we can’t let despair overtake us.” She gestures a hoof to the table with scribbled-on papers. “Hence the planning.” She levitates a book into Spike’s claws. “Good thing we found this Introduction to Equestria: A Visitor’s Guide lying around in your study. A bit short and bare-bones, but it’s something. I presume you have this around as an aid to ambassadorial duties you have in connection with the princess you live with?”

Stammering is what Spike can do for a moment. “Uh, she just gave me lots of books. I didn’t even think about this one for months.”

“Still, it is timely given that it’s afforded us some information about your world especially since you were out cooking pancakes for us. Which was very sweet... and thank you for it!”

His cheeks blush. “Aww, you’re welcome! It’s the least I could do!”

Her easy smile soon gives way to a more serious disposition. “Speaking of worlds—” her gaze rakes in everyone else’s attention “—look, girls. I know this isn’t small beans. I can tell without a doubt this is a higher reality and not some elaborate prank; the magic signatures are truly of a different kind. However, we can still interact with them just fine like we’re in a slightly different version of Equidia.

“I believe she may not be real,” Matter-Horn continues, “or if she is, she may be one of these scoundrel enchanters. Flowery for a real pony’s name, but code names aren’t out of the picture.”

“So all we gotta do is find whoever did that, do ‘em in, and then we’re home?” Zapp asks.

“Not exactly. There’s still the matter of our reality’s nature. Since we don’t have much to go on other than the enchanters’ tenures at Clockwisely, we’ll start there for answers.”

“But then what exactly is Verumarendi”—Mare-velous stands idle, fiddling with the lasso between her forehooves—“if she turns out to be one of those enchanters? Is she just the avatar for an egotistic magician on the loose?”

“Might be a fourth-wall breaking thing!”

The fast-speaking dragon nets weird looks from most of his idols. All Zapp can manage is, “The fourth… wall? Your room has more than four walls, buddy!”

“It’s a literary term,” begins Matter-Horn. “The fourth wall is derived from the theatrical world where on-stage sets had three walls. Obviously, a standard room would at least have four walls, but if they built four walls on the stage, the audience wouldn’t see the actors at all, so they cut out the fourth wall and trusted that the audience and the actors will make up an imaginary fourth wall which the characters could not see through. The fourth wall, then, is the barrier between the actors/characters on stage and the audience. A character talking to the audience would be considered breaking the fourth wall.”

The Mistress cocks her head in confusion. “So what you’re saying is that Verumarendi can be one of the enchanters getting power from our world… by breaking the fourth wall?”

“Sort of.” It is a matter worthy of massaging her head. “However, we cannot discover more details about her by staying here like sitting ducks. For all we know, she may not be the ultimate reason why Maretropolis is crumbling into pieces.”

“Speaking of”—here comes Fili-Second’s raised hoof—“what about we just take on her anyway? Or catch the enchanters and force them to fix our world? That oughta’ tie up loose ends.”

“I don’t know. This whole higher-reality phenomenon is new to me. It may not work and we might aggravate the damage back home But like I said, we can’t do anything if we stay here and speculate. So no if’s or but’s: we’re off to Clockwisely Comics in Manehattan to get something. At bare minimum, they’ll offer us tidbits of relevant information. Material help is likely if they believe us. We’ll be most fortunate if we get enough details on the enchanters to conduct a proper investigation on the matter. So, all with me?”

And all are with her, voicing their determination to find answers, to be certain again—to save their world. As for Spike, his claws tremble like in a sugar rush: he is mere minutes away from real Power Ponies action.

“Alright! Spike, do the trains run to Manehattan around this hour?”

The anticipation for said action can kill him, but the dragon keeps a level head for Matter-Horn. “Yes, they do! They’re sparse in the wee hours, but if we’re lucky, we’ll get one the moment we arrive at the station.”

“All well and good.” There’s a long look upon her partners in virtue, not crime. “Spike here will come along with us; he knows us very well. With his contact in and relations to the company, he could be our in to Clockwisely.”

Pure recommendation does little under the scrutinizing eyes of the other Power Ponies. “Are you sure you can handle this, Spike?” asks Radiance. “Your knowledge may be useful, but we could be dealing with nefarious forces beyond your control.”

A puffed-up chest is his answer. Also to hold off any thoughts of mistaking Radiance for Rarity. “I can hold my own. I did say I got into a few adventures before. I even cemented my reputation as the savior of the Crystal Empire in one of them!”

Mare-velous picks up one of his little arms. “I don’t know. You lack some brawn.”

“Hey, I bet none of you can breathe fire!”

“And let’s not do that right here,” and Fili-Second stops between Spike and Mare-velous, pointing at the comic books by the wall and the wooden beds on the floor and the books on the shelves too. “Tell me, Mister Dragon: How do they let you live with so many flammable objects?”

“I don’t set them on fire! Plus, crystals are fire-resistant. These walls hold me down if things get spicy.”

The others chuckle over Spike’s smugness before Matter-Horn coughs and gets their attention once more. “So we are all agreed that he is joining us in our quest. With that said, this meeting is adjourned—no more objections, alright? Spike will lead the way to Manehattan and we’ll leave the rest up to our future selves.

“But first, disguises. Spike, does this castle have guest wardrobes?”

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

these pancakes make him drool and unaware that said drool has just marred one of those soft and expensive carpets.

Fortunately, the carpet came with the castle and was actually a form of symbiotic moss, so it wasn't that big a deal.

Very interesting to think that this incident is what ultimately led to Spike's position as Equestria's greatest ambassador.

This is going to be quite the mindbender for the poor folks at Clockwisely. Looking forward to seeing how the Power Ponies try to Superboy Prime their way to saving their world. (Er, in the "confronting their creators" sense, not, say, the "punching time so hard that continuity resets" one.)

[Comma Typer]

10538139
If the castle sprout up with Twilight and her friends in mind, maybe there's forensic magic going on as well on top of that symbiotic moss!

That aside, glad to have you on board for the ride! Hope it'll be a good experience for you and everyone else.

[TheAncientPolitzanian]

I've been looking forward to this, and so far, so good!

[Venerable Ro]

It was a good time working with you on this, now we're off to the races!

[JFalk]

Very intriguing - it remind me of Re:CREATORS.

Looking forward to see what will happen at Clockwisely Comics - I just think that Spike should have told Twilight about it.