> Pon-ni Muyo
>  by Wolfoftimber
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue: No Need for Pon-nies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pon-ni Muyo

Chapter One: No Need For Pon-nies

Twilight Sparkle’s head slammed down on the lab table below her, hard. “It doesn’t make sense. The mare warps the laws of physics and magic alike.” She turned a frustrated glare toward the mare in question strapped her examination table. At least she had been strapped to the table, yet now she was not. “Please tell me I got data on that at least.”
“Data for what?” Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared, seemingly from nowhere, beside the computer read out that Twilight had been using. “Oh! Is this the new game staring Princess Luna? I heard it was awesome!”
“Pinkie wait!” Twilight reached out a hoof, but it was to late. “Pony feathers…” Electrical based magic began to crackle around the monitor and smoke began to pour from the poor device as Pinkie Pie began to randomly mash buttons.
Above Ponyville, Rainbow Dash lay on the last cloud in the sky. “I could really go for a cupcake right now, but this cloud is so comfy.” She half moaned as she stretched out along the fluffy nimbus. “I wonder if…” The cloud suddenly jolted as a shockwave of energy slammed into it from below, knocking Rainbow off of her perch.
“PINKIE!”
Righting herself in her fall Rainbow Dash began to laugh as she watched Twilight Sparkle, egghead supreme, chase the bouncy party pony through the streets of Ponyville with a broom. “She should give it up. She’s never going figure out how Pinkie does the things she does.” Taking her time for once, she lazily floated down to the streets below to sit beside the library and watch the mayhem unfold. Before long a second pony was sitting beside her.
“Experiment gone wrong?” Applejack asked as she watched Pinkie effortlessly dodge her way through Twilight’s broom attacks.
“Probably.” Rainbow Dash agreed. “Pinkie Sense?”
“Nah, think that was last week.” Applejack brought her hoof to her chin in thought. “Random pop-up for violating a Pinkie Promise?”
“Maybe.” Rainbow crossed her forelegs over her chest. “She hasn’t done that one in a while.”
“My bits are on the amount of damage that never seems to accumulate on Pinkie.” Rarity  walked up slowly, drawn by the smoke billowing into the air above the Golden Oaks library. “Think about it, she’s always being thrown around in one way or another yet she never gets hurt.”
“I think that’s because she’s part bouncy ball.” Applejack grinned. “Something to do with that pink color.
“Pink color?” Squeaked a voice from slightly above them.
“Not you Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash assured her with a welcoming wave. “We’re taking bets on what experiment Twilight was running on Pinkie this time.”
“Oh, I do wish she’d stop that.” Fluttershy landed beside her friends. “One of these days she’s going to hurt some pony.”
“Ten bits says it won’t be Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash threw up a hoof. “Any takers?” She sat back with a grumpy look on her face when no pony spoke up. “You guys are boring.”
“You make a bet when there is a chance of a different outcome sugar cube.” Applejack shoved the pegasus playfully. “Not when it’s a lock.”
“Get back here!”
“As amusing as all this is,” Began Rarity. “Shouldn’t we put a stop to this? They are causing a rather dreadful scene.”
“Oh no.” Applejack dug her hooves into the dirt. “Remember last time? The Zap Apple Jam Fiasco?”
Rainbow shivered. “My head got sent into a wall, then through it, when I tried to break them up one time. I didn’t even think that was possible.”
“Poor Angel Bunny got zapped by a stray spell the time before that.” Fluttershy recalled. “He couldn’t stop bouncing for a week, the poor little thing. I had to follow him constantly with food and water until the spell finally wore off.”
“Well if some pony could do something I’d really appreciate it.” Spike grumbled as he exited the library, his face and claws covered in soot. “I’m the one who’s going to get stuck cleaning all this up you know.”
The girls at least had the decency to look a bit guilty at that. “All right, all right.” Applejack finally rose from her seat. “Come every pony, let’s get this done.”
Rainbow Dash sighed as she lifted herself off the ground with a flap of her wings. “I’ll get Pinkie.” Her face was rather dour looking as she flew forward without enthusiasm. “Again.”
“I…I’ll help Rainbow.” Fluttershy floated along after her friend. “Maybe this time will be easier. We are getting more experienced after all.”
“I’m not so sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.” Rarity walked beside Applejack. “Shall we flip a bit like last time?”
“It’s going to hurt either way.” Applejack pulled her stetson down a little. “What do you want, high or low?”
“It’s not much, but my magic gives me a little boost when I go high.” Rarity spread her limbs in a racer’s stance. “On three?”
Applejack prepped herself to run as well. “Wish I had my lasso.” Grumbling she clopped her hoof on the ground. “One…”
“Two…” Rarity took a deep breath.
“Three!” They yelled together and charged after Twilight Sparkle.
Spike watched from the sidelines, his eye twitching as events beyond his control began to unfold. Rainbow Dash flew too low and received a, somehow, overpowered headbutt as Pinkie randomly changed direction. He turned tiredly as he heard Rarity yell in distaste as she got a mouthful of broom hay. Spike wondered absently when he’d last used that broom, or cleaned it’s bristles. The dragon cringed slightly, but not overly much, as Fluttershy took a telekinetic blast to her belly sending her tumbling through the air into a nearby fruit cart. He used to feel really bad about that sort of thing, but it happened with such regularity now that the mare didn’t even get injured and only served to fuel his ire. His clawed paw massaged the space between his eyes as he saw Applejack get bucked back like one of her apples when Twilight tried to change direction after Pinkie Pie. “I can’t do this any more.”
Walking slowly forward his expression slowly changed from one of apathy to one of anger. “That’s enough.” His voice was lost in the din going on around him. He stood at the rough center of the commotion going on, his claws balled into tiny fists at his side. “Do you girls hear me!” Spike roared with all his might, seemingly tapping some draconian reserve he did not know he possessed. “I said that’s enough!” The shockwave of his voice sent the ponies tumbling, surprising every pony in the vicinity. The sudden tumble distracted both of the magic wielding ponies in their entourage, causing the spell blasts to rocket towards Spike. “Of course.” He shrugged, not even bothering to try and get away.
At that moment a feeling began to rise in Spike’s gut, familiar to say the least, but he cursed the timing. The dragon belched flame to deliver the letter sent by Celestia, and that was when the world came to a crashing halt. Both Rarity’s and Twilight’s spell hit the dragon full in the mouth just as the dimensional gate used for letter delivery was opening. Time stood still for a brief second, and then the gateway collapsed inward. Unable to move Spike simply watched as brilliant, multicolored, rainbow lights expelled from his mouth. It didn’t take long before he was entirely engulfed in the strange light. One by one the others appeared around him, equally frozen in place, followed by the buildings of Ponyville and their tenants. The thoughts of how much clean up this explosion was going to take ran through Spike’s mind, though it was a question that would have to wait.
Twilight Sparkle gasped as she found herself suddenly falling into frigidly cold water, an action that did not sit well with her lungs. Coughing and sputtering her way to the surface she paddled for all she was worth. “S-Spike!”
“Twilight! Help!”
The alicorn tried to use her wings, but the added water weight made them to heavy to aid her. With her mind clouded in panic she couldn’t focus enough for magic to aid her either. Blinking away the water as best she could she spotted a mass of purple and green and put all efforts into reaching it. “I’ve got you Spike, I’ve got you!” Diving below him she surfaced with her long time friend on her back. There was something off about his body, but she couldn’t quite place it nor did she care at the moment.
Spotting a construct in the distance she swam towards it using every last ounce of strength she had to keep them both above water. Long minutes later she pulled herself up onto the wooden dock and collapsed upon it, her breathing long and labored. “S-spike?”
“I-I think I’m ok.”
Twilight smiled despite the weak reply, glad to hear her friend was safe. She started to roll over, but stopped as a high pitched whine cut through the air. She slammed her head back as two beams of energy suddenly materialized into place over her face. Her first thought was magic as the red lance and blue lance of power hovered over her nose, but the feel was off. There was no denying they were powerful though, that much she was quite certain of. The alicorn princess tried to turn her head to look up at the wielders of this strange magic, but the red lance edge closer.
“No funny moves stranger.”
Twilight simply nodded, wondering what trouble they’d landed in this time.
> No Need for Spi-ki
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

No Need For Poni-ies!

Chapter 1: No Need for Spi-ki!

The steady hum of magic near the back of her head kept Twilight Sparkle very still, a fact that irritated her for the simple reason that she found herself wanting to shake her head. Her categorization of the energy beam near her mane wasn’t quite accurate. It certainly resembled magic, but at the same time it didn’t feel the same to her. There was a familiar tingle she always felt in her horn when magic was in use, even if she wasn’t the one casting the spell at the time, but now she barely felt any reaction. The distinct lack of heat from the… energy sword, for lack of a better term, was both promising and unnerving to the purple alicorn. It alleviated the fear of a burn, but that only left the possibility of energy sources she’d only read theories on while in Golden Oak Library.

“If…if you hurt Twilight…”

“Spike! Don’t move!” Twilight shifted despite her own intentions not to. Her eyes, pinpointed in stressed fear, darted to her longest known friend as he struggled to push himself up. “I don’t want you getting yourself hurt!”

“They’ve pulled swords on you Twilight.” Spike grit his fangs, noticing that some of them had mysteriously flattened out somehow during their trip. “I won’t let them hurt you.” He paused only for a moment as he saw that the thick scales, which had always afforded him some level of protection, were no longer present. Instead they had been replaced with soft fur of purple and green coloration. “It’s my fault we’re here in the first place.”

“You better listen to her half-pint.”

Twilight cringed; she could hear the sneer in the mare’s voice without even seeing her face. “Spike! I’m ordering you to stay still and not fight back.” Without knowing who or what they were facing she wasn’t about to let the once dragon get into a fight.

“Oooh!” The mare cackled. “She gives orders too! Kind of like the other purple unicorn we’re stuck with.”

“Ryoko.” The colt’s voice was firm, but also had a tired edge to it. “Stop it.”

Spike stood unsteadily on feet that felt far to large for his body. One green eye focused angrily on the cyan Pegasus. The other eye obscured behind a large, narrow, floppy ear. His clawless hand clenched in a fist as he looked at the red beam of energy dangerously near Twilight’s head. “If you harm even a single hair on her mane, I will never forgive you.”

Ryoko’s golden eyes narrowed as the corner of her mouth quirked up in a grin. “Oh? The little cabbit has some fight in him huh?”

“Hey Twi.” Spike kept his eye on the Pegasus as he spoke. “Remember the Equestria Games? How they started and ended?”

“Yeah, I do.” Twilight felt her smile growing before she could stop it. There was no way she’d be able to cast her teleportation spell without tipping her hoof to the two sword wielding ponies, but maybe she didn’t have to. She reached her hoof over the edge of the dock and gripped it tightly.

Spike didn’t wait for the other ponies to have a chance to see through their plan. Sucking in as much air as he could he leaned back and lifted one foot off the ground. There was a different feeling as his lungs inflated, not bad or wrong per se, but definitely not what he expected from all the other times he’d breathed fire before. Whipping his head forward he opened his mouth as wide as he could and exhaled with all his might.

Twilight just barely managed to pull herself back into the frigidly cold lake as the blast of green light energy ripped through the deck where she’d just been laying, evaporating the spiky-maned Pegasus in the process. Surfacing once again she grabbed for the nearest piece of jetsam to pull herself up, staring at rampant destruction. “Star swirl’s beard…”

“Whoa!” Spike stared wide-eyed at the damage he’d caused. “That…was different.”

“Not bad brat.”

Spike’s new, long, ears wilted as he heard the voice behind him. “How?” He looked up, eyes wide as dinner plates, as the red energy sword began to descend towards his head.

“But you should never challenge somepony unless you know you can beat them!” Ryoko’s expression turned to one of confusion as the sky burst into truer than Technicolor hue. “Eh?” Turning her gaze up she had no time to react to the rainbow ring spreading across the sky as a blue hindhoof collided with her cheek and sent her through the deck into the lake.

“Aww yeah!” Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs over her chest as she hovered a few feet above Spike. Her rainbow mane and tail swayed in the gently breeze as she gave the creature Spike had transformed into a well earned nod of respect. “Ya’ done good squirt.” Rainbow’s eyes went back to the lake as glowing spots of red energy began to form under the water. “But it looks like she wants to do this the hard way. I got it from here.”

“What the hell did you ponies do?” The colt ran over the remains of the deck to avoid the explosion as Ryoko returned to the surface. He grimaced, cold sweat forming along the side of his face as he spotted the gargantuan bump Ryoko now sported on her face. “R-ryoko? Calm down now…”

“I’ll kill you!” Ryoko teleported and thrust her sword towards Rainbow Dash, blinking in surprise as the other Pegasus reacted in time to evade the blow.

“That’s a pretty cool trick.” Rainbow Dash dodged again as the humming beam sword slashed at her. “But it’s still not fast enough to catch me.” Leaning back Rainbow grit her teeth as the blade came close enough to singe some of the fur of her coat. Spinning quickly she aimed a punch towards the other flyer’s un-bruised cheek, but hit only empty air as her attacker teleported away. The two blue mares frowned at each other across a short distance when Ryoko reappeared. “Hey Twilight! She can’t catch me, but a way to fight back would be really awesome right now!”

“Azaka! Kamidake!”

Twilight Sparkle once again found herself too slow to respond as two trees flew out of the nearby house towards Rainbow Dash with startling speed. “Wait? Trees? Seriously?”

“Hey!” Rainbow tried to get away but found her routes cut off as she was triple teamed. “No fair!” Her scream echoed over the lake as the electrified force field encased her, before she fell limp inside the bubble.

A new pony, similar in coloration to Twilight, emerged from the house. “The dreaded space pirate Ryoko, held at bay by a weaponless commoner.” The purple unicorn hid her mouth behind one hoof and laughed derisively toward the still free Pegasus. “But then a barbarian such as yourself was only really good at smashing through walls in the first place weren’t you?”

“You want some too Princess?” Ryoko pointed her sword toward the unicorn in challenge. “You got in the middle of my fight and I’m still plenty ready to go Ayeka!”

The colt’s coat seemed to blanch white. “No! No more fighting! I don’t want to have to…” His blue beam sword flickered out as a large bolt of energy shot from the nearby shore. “Uh oh.”

Ayeka stared horrified as Azaka was speared by the blue lance of power, his form falling to the lake below with a hole burned through him. “Who? Who dares?” She turned a furious stare at the white-coated unicorn who sauntered calmly towards them. “You?”

“Well, I’m sorry darling.” Rarity gently touched up her mane, acting completely disinterested in Ayeka’s glower. “But when somepony is so generous as to leave her flank wide open facilitating the rescue of a dear friend it would be simply dreadful to let such a gift go unappreciated.” She hid her smile behind one hoof as she released a small chuckle. “Don’t you agree darling?”

Twilight shook herself dry, marveling at how Rarity seemed to not have a single hair out of place in all of this. “Listen, before we all do something we’re going to regret can we please...”

“Rainbow dear?” Rarity called as she saw the Pegasus right herself in mid-fall. “It would seem that my outfit clashes with my opponents, might you consider trading?”

Rainbow Dash frowned as she shot Ryoko a glare almost as strong as some of the energy being thrown around. “Yeah, sure, not like I could leave a friend hanging after a save like that anyway.” Wheeling around Rainbow Dash zipped past the confused looking Ryoko. “We’ll finish up later.”

Ryoko raised her sword. “Like I’m going to let you…” Her hoof recoiled as a beam of blue energy ricocheted off her sword. “Why you!” Golden eyes fixated on the diamond marked unicorn. “Fine! You first then!” Mocking laughter filled the air as she wove and spun through the blue blasts of unicorn’s attacks. “To slow!”

Rarity smiled as she felt the shift of magic behind her when the Pegasus disappeared. “Honestly, you wish to comment on speed? I experienced Rainbow Dash's speed when she saved me. You’re nothing more than a Waterway Street knockoff.” Curving her neck back over her shoulder she released as much magic as she felt she could without damaging her horn. “And do you really thing a seamstress of my level doesn’t know about hiding thread work in the back of the outfit.”

Ryoko raised her sword and took the blast full on, though she grunted as it pushed her back several dozen meters. “Tch! Another know it all princess, thinks she can talk down to other ponies just cause she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.” Redirecting her blade she deflected the magic attack upward into the sky. “You’re stronger than you look, I’ll give you that much.”

Ayeka yawned as she saw Rainbow Dash closing in on her. “Really, how boring. At least she seems to listen to her betters unlike Ryoko.”

“You shouldn’t look down on me.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “I’m awesome!” Lashing forward she struck out with a strong, solid punch. The momentary flash of light was her only hint to pull back. Rather than breaking her foreleg, Rainbow skipped mostly unharmed off the protective shield that surrounded the purple unicorn.

“Yes, so I can see.” Ayeka taunted lazily, a condescending smirk on her face. “You stand against a Princess of Jurai. You don’t have a single chance against me.”

“What the buck is Jurai?” Rainbow Dash took a few wing flaps backwards for extra distance. “And how can you possibly be a princess with no wings?”

“Wings?” Ayeka’s head tilted to one side. “How would wings have any bearing on my place as royalty?” Her amethyst colored eyes narrowed as she discerned the rainbow pony’s plan. With speed that could beat Ryoko, it was possible that her shield might not hold from such a collision this new pony charged her full speed. The sound of twin screams from within the house caused Ayeka’s concentration to divert, with devastating effects as her concentration was pulled away. “Sasami!”

Rainbow Dash’s magenta eyes also widened as he heard the screams. “Fluttershy!” Her cutie mark flared crimson for a brief moment before Rainbow Dash shot forward.

Ayeka turned back just in time to see the instantaneous accumulation of rainbow energy forming in front of her attacker’s hoof. The Jurai power shield buckled inward, quivering on the verge of collapse, as said hoof just barely reached her snout. “How?”

“I told you.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “I’m awesome.” The flare of rainbow power vanished and the Pegasus’ glibness vanished. “Uh oh…” She remembered this feeling from her practice sessions, back before she had mastered the Sonic Rainbooom.

Twilight shielded her eyes as the backlash of energy exploded over the county side, flinging Ayeka and Rainbow Dash far apart from one another. “That! Is! It!” All ponies stopped as an even larger shockwave of white light overpowered first bout of concussive force. Their wide eyes focused on the alicorn who floated over the lake, wings spread but unmoving.

“Twi? Twilight?” Spike’s fur bleached white as bone as he stared at the glowing, unmoving wings and pupil-less, white, eyes. “Ok Twilight! We get it! We’ll stop now!”

“Ok, that’s enough data collection.” A red unicorn dropped down from above Twilight and lightly tapped the alicorn’s horn, instantly dissipating the accumulated energy. “No need for Light Horse Wings now, don’t you think?”

Rainbow Dash blinked as she picked her face up out of the dirt. Magenta eyes looked at the two horned ponies hovering above the lake surface. “Rarity?”

“Yes, Rainbow?” Rarity similarly did not look away from where she and Ryoko had paused their fight to watch the odd turn of events.

“Can you fly suddenly?”

Rarity shook her head slowly. “I don’t think so, no.”

“So, how is that unicorn floating out there?” Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof towards Twilight and the red unicorn.

“Ah crap…” Ryoko muttered.

“How do you do? My name is Washu.” The red unicorn leaned in, clearly making Twilight uncomfortable as her personal space was invaded. “Wanna be my guinea pig?”

“She’s so cute!”

Again, all ponies turned as one as a squeal of joy was heard from inside the house.

Washu sighed as she saw her chance had been missed for the moment, as a thoroughly creeped out alicorn tried to sneak away from her. A small, knowing, smile crossed her lips for a split second before disappearing once again. “Oh, by the way. One of your friends is inside. I believe she’s just met Ryo-ohki.”

Being the fastest, Rainbow Dash stuck her head inside the house. “Uh, Fluttershy? You in here?”

The pink-maned Pegasus flew from the adjacent kitchen excitedly. “Oh, look Rainbow Dash!” She held out the small ball of fur in her arms. “She’s part cat, and part rabbit! A cabbit! Have you ever seen anything so cute in all of Equestria?”

Behind her, a smaller Pegasus with a soft pink coat and long blue hair laughed nervously. “Please put Ryo-ohki down. I’m sure you mean well, but having a pony pop out of thin air and starting to scream is probably a bit much for her.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Fluttershy looked genuinely abashed, but still only released the small creature with great reluctance. She watched as Ryo-ohki somehow hopped in midair to land on the smaller Pegasus mare’s head, nestling protectively in the blue mane. “Oh, I did scare her. How can I make it up to her?”

Rainbow Dash stared at the back of Fluttershy’s head, her eyes flat with disapproval. “You know we were fighting, like to the death, out here right?” She slammed a hoof into her forehead, grunting for emphasis, as Fluttershy completely ignored her in favor of the cute new animal.

Spike took a moment to walk away from the group, searching out the company of the only other male he’d seen thus far. “You ok?” His voice was quiet and barely veiled the edge to his words.

The pony dusted off his cream-colored coat and shook a few stray splinters from his black mane. “Yeah. Believe it or not, this is nowhere near as bad as it could have been.”

“I’m…going to hope that was a joke.” Spike kept a few healthy feet between himself and the pony. “Tenchi, did I hear that right?”

Nodding in acknowledgement Tenchi flipped a small, braided, object into his worn looking saddlebag. The reflection of the jewels at tenchi-ken’s hilt made him pause, the normally red jewels shifting to the full spectrum of a prism for a single heart beat. “Spike, right?” Facing the humanoid cabbit more fully he bowed deeply. “I think we got off on the wrong hoof.”

Fumbling for a moment Spike stood up straighter and then returned the bow. “I guess, ponies dropping out of nowhere would alarm most folks so…” He scratched at the back of his head. “Sorry I blew up your dock. I’ll figure out a way to fix it.”

Tenchi smiled. “Don’t worry about it to much.  It’s a lot less damage than…” His ears perked as a distant whine sounded from high overhead.

Spike’s felt his new fur rise as he saw Tenchi’s pupils constrict and his ears go flat against the back of his head. “Trouble?”
“With a capital M.” Tenchi sighed. “Washu?”

“Sorry Tenchi.” The red unicorn’s tail disappeared into a sub-space pocket. “Yukinojo has already reached terminal velocity.”

“Washu! Get back here!” Tenchi frowned as he saw the reflected collection of light coming through the clouds. “Everypony away from the lake!”

Twilight’s curiosity was in full swing as she spotted the strange metal construct falling from the heavens. “A chariot? But where are the Pegasus who should be pulling it?”

“Uh, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash zipped under the princess and forcibly carried her into the house. “Egghead mode later ok?”

Rarity watched as the ship crashed into the lake, sending a wall of water towards the shoreline. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to extend that shield of yours by any chance would you?”

Ayeka stood impassively. “I don’t see why I should. You severely damaged Azaka.”

“It was hurting Rainbow Dash.” Rarity replied, a bit of fear as the water descended towards them. “Would you not have done the same for your Pegasus friend?”

Ayeka’s eyes flickered sidelong before turning back to the wall of water that was almost upon them. “She is not my friend.” She smiled as she saw the water break over not only her weakened shield, but also the odd blue energy from the other unicorn as well.

Rarity breathed out a sigh of relief as her magic and the Jurain energy shield kept the water from messing her mane. “Not a friend? What then?”

“A rival.” Ayeka replied with a faint hint of challenge.

“I see.” Rarity closed her eyes as the water obscured her view, mirroring Ayeka’s smile as she did. “It would seem you have an interesting way about you darling.”

“Oh no!” Fluttershy tried to fly out towards the lake, but was held mostly in place by Sasami and Ryo-ohki. “The poor animals that live in the lake!”

“They’ll be fine.” Sasami chided like a mother to a foal. “You should be protecting yourself right now.”

Fluttershy stopped pulling as Ryo-ohki ‘nyaa-ed’ at her angrily. “Now, now. There is no need for that kind of language.” The yellow mare shrank in on herself slightly as both Sasami and the cabbit stared at her wide-eyed.  “W-what?”

“You understand Ryo-chan?” Near reverence in Sasami’s voice.

Fluttershy glanced between each. “Y-yes, don’t you?”

“Of course.” Sasami grinned. “But I needed to learn little by little. You must be pretty special if you can do it right away.” The younger princess laughed as Fluttershy blushed. “Maybe you’re like Ryoko and you have a cabbit of your own out there too.”

“Speaking of.” Tenchi looked around. “Where did she go?”

“Making sure these idiots didn’t drown.” Ryoko rematerialized with two earth ponies on her back. “I’m guessing this one is with you guys?”

“Oooff!” Pinkie Pie groaned as she was dropped unceremoniously onto the floor. “Such a super fun ride, but the landing needs work.” Springing to her hooves she looked over at the tan pony with the blonde mane. “Think we could do it again Mihoshi?”

“No!”	

Mihoshi laughed nervously at everyone’s reply as she stood up. “I don’t think Yukinojo would like that very much either.”

“Surprised that bucket of bolts still flies.” Ryoko shimmered and teleported to her resting spot in the ceiling beams. “You crash him at least once a week.”

“Woo-hoo!” Pinkie cheered. “Let’s all go next time! We could totally make at free falling once in a lifetime party!”

Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof and started to say something, but stopped as she felt Twilight place a hoof on her shoulder. She slouched as she saw her friend give a simple shake of the head. “Yeah, right. Never mind.” Looking around at all the ponies gathered around them. “Where is she?”

“I’m sure she’s around here somewhere.” Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria, tried her best not to let her fear of their last friend’s absence carry through to her voice.

Tenchi moved towards the alicorn after seeing the flicker of concern. “Do you have a friend still missing? Washu might be able to find her with one of her contraptions.”

“Maybe she’s with Kiyone.” Mihoshi cocked her head slightly as everypony turned a confused expression at her. “Well, I mean, Pinkie popped out of nowhere onto Yukinojo and Kiyone is the only one of our friends who isn’t here. Doesn’t it make sense that their friend would be with her on the Yagami?”

“Only in your mixed up little world would that make sense.” Ayeka remarked under her breath.

“Onee-san…” Sasami forced a smile. “Be nice.”

“She might have a point on that one.” Washu’s sub-space door opened and she walked out with her holo-screen floating in front of her. “I’ve been running a time-space analysis matched against the last few minutes to see if there were any irregularities…”

“Spare us the techno-babble Washu.” Ryoko yawned from her perch. “You find her or not?”

Rainbow Dash turned her attention between Washu and the now sparkly-eyed Twilight. “Eggheads…” She sighed heavily. “So, where is AJ?”

“Well…” Washu looked up from her holo-screen. “I have no idea!”

“Lady, I’ve go no patience for games right now.” Rainbow stood, her posture mildly threatening. “One of our friends is…”

“I mean she’s not on Earth.” Washu returned her attention to her computer readouts, leaving Rainbow’s attempted posturing completely deflated. “Let’s see.” Pressing a blinking button a second, larger screen popped into existence in the center of the room. “Kiyone? You there?”

“Washu?” A green pony with a dark teal mane filled the screen. “What are you? This is a secure Galaxy Police communications frequency! Get off the line! We’re in the middle of a raid!”

“Oh!” Washu’s smile turned boarder line maniacal as she reached toward another button. “I can help with that.”
“Don’t do anything Washu!” The green earth pony pulled a laser pistol and pointed it at the screen. “I’m serious! It’s been a weird enough day already without you adding to it.”

“Weird how Kiyone?” Washu prompted, moving her hoof away from the button to coax Kiyone’s answer along. “Something happen?”

Re-holstering her blaster Kiyone adjusted her red mane-band. “Well, I have no idea how I’m going to explain this to the brass anyway…” Sighing she rubbed at her ridge of her muzzle. “We’ve been planning this raid for months, and she just ‘poofs’ into the middle of everything before we could start.”

“Applejack?” Rainbow Dash pushed her way closer to the screen. “Is she ok?”

“Ok?” Kiyone stared at the rainbow maned mare. “Ok? She’s fine! I’m the one who’s in trouble here! Months of planning to take down some of the most notorious space pirates in the galaxy with the most advanced, cutting edge technology stolen from the Galaxy Academy and…and…”

“What happened Kiyone?” Sasami nudged closer to the screen. “Did you get hurt?”

The officer chuckled darkly, shaking her head. “She captured them all, with a piece of rope she pulled from her stupid hat.” The screen panned out to show a group of heavily armored ponies hogtied at the center of a cargo hold. “It was like watching one of those stupid westerns Nobuyki forced on us for movie night.”

“And what the hay is wrong with you all? First, you try and hit a mare who’s clearly just been through something stranger than anything involving Discord. Then you started shooting those crazy flashlight things at me.” Applejack picked up a nearby blaster, looking straight into the barrel until Kiyone took it away. “Then this nice law pony tells me you’re a bunch of thieves worse than Flim and Flam on top of it all. Why can’t y’all make your bits like other honest ponies?”

“Hey! Detective!” Called one of the pirates. “I’ll confess to everything right now if you just get her to stop talking!”

“Applejack!”

The orange pony looked over toward the sound of a familiar voice. “Twilight! Where the hay are you girls? Something mighty strange is going on here. I’m looking out a window right now with stars and black sky as far as they eye can see but there’s no moon or sun anywhere.” She frowned. “I think that no good Discord is up to his old tricks again. We should let Princess Celestia and Luna know…”

“Applejack, Applejack, AJ!” Twilight snorted as she finally caught the overzealous pony’s attention. “I’m still kind of figuring it out, but we’re not in Equestria anymore.”

“Come again?” Applejack’s jaw dropped as she saw the serious expression on her friend’s face. “Well I’ll be. Ok, how do I get to where you guys are so we can figure out how to get home?”

“Got it!” Washu pressed a button and a door formed beside her. On the screen a similar door seemed to appear in the cargo hold. “Just step through.”

Twilight’s wings sprung as Applejack walked though the dimensional door into the living room. “How? How far away was Applejack just a moment ago?”

“I don’t know.” Washu shrugged indifferently. “A few million light-years maybe?”

“That’s not possible.” Twilight shook her head vehemently. “Even the strongest magic in all of Equestria could barely send Nightmare Moon to the moon.”

“Well of course not. You’d never get that far using magic.” Washu agreed. “That’s why we use science and technology!” Now it was Washu’s turn to be uncomfortable as her Twilight Sparkle invaded her personal space.

“Teach me.” Twilight’s voice was even and deadly serious. “Everything.”

The Bearers of the Elements exchanged worried glances between one another. “Anypony else think our returning home just got planted in the back fields?” Applejack questioned.

“Eggheads…” Rainbow grouched.

Ryoko opened one eye as she heard the tone of Rainbow Dash’s voice. “The old stallion keeps the good cider in a refrigerator downstairs.” She blinked as a multicolored streak sped from the room. “Guess she needed that drink more than I thought. Hey! Bring me some too!”

Spike flopped to the floor tiredly. “Looks like we’re going to be in your debt for a while.” He looked up at Tenchi. “We don’t have much to offer, but please take care of us for a while and we’ll find a way to pay you back.”

“Don’t worry about paying us back.” Tenchi’s warm smile seemed to put the boy at ease. “We’ve got room to spare thanks to the recent additions.” He paused as he heard Spike’s stomach growl. “I’m surprise you can still hold that form after expending so much energy. Ryo-ohki usually has to transform back pretty quickly.”

“Transform, back?” Spike had barely spoken the words before his body felt like it was imploding. Smoke filled his vision and the world spun disorienting for several seconds. “What was that?” Turning around he caught his reflection in the nearest window. 

“Part…cat…part…rabbit…” Every bit of fur on his diminutive body seemed to ripple as he heard the squeal from behind him. “Uh-oh…”

“Spike is a cabbit!” Fluttershy giggled as she scooped him up in a tight hug. “I didn’t think he could get any cuter than as a baby dragon but I was oh so very wrong.”

“Flu…ter…shy…” Spike gasped. “Can’t…breath…”

00000