> Bonds of Harmony
>  by FoxTheFirebird
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Lonesome Pony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chirp, Chirp, Chirp. Chirp, Chirp, Chirp.

Crickets chirp into the night, calm and peaceful as a soothing river.

FWOOP. FWOOP.

A lone figure flew in the star-brimmed night, her wings beating silently yet powerfully. She flew over a small town, and like a silent angel, she glided over houses and businesses, the forest and fields, and the mountains and rivers, looking out for any potential signs of danger or any lone straggler in need of help. The only things that were out and about were a pair of bats, playing tag with each other like a couple of old friends, a dynamic duo becoming one.

One.

She sighed, although this was in neither happiness nor bitterness.

The blue alicorn was lonely; although having the title of the Princess of the Night was indeed an honorable one, Princess Luna also felt it was one of loneliness.

For many days and nights now, she had been feeling this way and she did not know why; she felt fine with her title as the Princess of the Night, and she made new friends, especially with Twilight Sparkle, the prodigious student of her sister, Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun.

The ponies- pegasi, unicorns, and Earth ponies- had come to see Luna as a wonderful leader of the night, quite friendly and fun to hang around with once you got to know her.

So why did she still feel so alone?

Sighing once more, she flew downwards to one of the larger trees, allowing her wings a break. Once she tucked them in, she laid down flat on the largest tree branch there was, relaxing like a big cat. Her back legs swinging over the branch, she crossed her forelegs, staring into the night sky, surveying her work. The stars glimmered with a flare, a certain fire that burned on endlessly through the night, only to be eclipsed by the large white moon, glowing ever so softly like a firefly.

"Hmph. I could do better than this. This is far from my greatest work." The alicorn wished she had something to inspire her once again to paint the sky bright, but she had been feeling like she was running low on ideas…and love.

She wanted to find inspiration for her night sky, something that could give her a certain feeling to make the sky glow as she had done in the past, before she became Nightma-...well, before she was away for a thousand years. But more importantly…she wanted to know she was never alone.

She laid her head down in between her forelegs, resting her head and closing her eyes to wallow in her self-pity.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

"Hm?" Luna picked up her head as her ears directed themselves frontward toward the strange noise. She asked herself, "What is that?"

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

She sat up straight, keeping her balance on the branch as she leaned forward to figure out the source of the sound. There did not seem to be any source of activity going on within her sight of the tree. As far as she saw, all was quiet in Ponyville. Nopony was out, the animals were sleeping, and all of the houses and businesses contained nothing but darkness...save one.

She saw a bright blue light coming from one of the buildings...it came from a big and hollowed-out tree complete with two balconies, many windows, and quite a few branches...the library?

"Twilight Sparkle?" Luna thought to herself.

Twilight was someone Luna liked and considered her the very first friend she ever made when she was out to greet the ponyfolk of Ponyville during a memorable Nightmare Night…even if things did slightly get out of hoof on that night. Luna knew that Twilight was a very hard worker and wonderful student of Celestia's, but she had no idea how often Twilight was willing to go to extremes when it came to her studying, especially this late at night.

"I might as well greet her while I am here," Luna decided. She did not get a chance to see Twilight often, as her royal duties often kept her occupied during the night and day…well, she did different things during the day, but that was not important. She also figured that Twilight might be able to help ease her sense of loneliness by just talking to her.

And so, she stood up, opened up her wings, and dropped off the branch, only to fly upwards again, over to the large tree that was the library and home of Celestia's faithful student.

Crackle. Crackle. Crac-ZZZT!

"YIPE!" Twilight ducked as the small ball of light she conducted imploded on itself and caused sparks to flutter out.

Once the air was clear, the purple unicorn stood up and sighed in frustration. "I just don't understand what it is I'm doing wrong-this spell SHOULD work." After a brief shake of her head, she went back to her glowing spell book, which she was levitating with her horn, to try the spell again. She read over the instructions and proceeded to try again when-

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

"Huh?" She turned her head around at the door, making herself sure she heard right.

"A visitor? At this time of night?" Curious about whom it could be, she put down her book, no longer emitting with light, and walked over to the door, opening it with a hoof, and there was, to her great surprise, Princess Luna.

"Hello, Twilight Sparkle," Luna greeted.

The alicorn watched her friend's mouth hang agape before she closed it with a genuine smile.

"Princess Luna! It has been a while since I've seen you."

Luna shyly smiled back. "It is good to see you again, Twilight. Um…may I please come in?"

Twilight nodded. "Of course, Princess." She opened the door further, letting Luna walk inside and into the house.

Luna walked inside to the main hall of the library, looking at the many, many shelves of books stored upon them, frowning thoughtfully.

After she closed the door, Twilight's smile faded as she saw the frown and wondered out loud, "What are you doing here, Princess? Is something wrong?"

Luna paused, a sorrowful expression taking over. She turned around and faced Twilight. "I...I...er..." She rubbed one of her forelegs with her hooves, seeming timid and uncomfortable to answer Twilight's question. "I..er...I w-wanted to..to-" A thought came to her, and she stopped rubbing her leg, "-see what you were doing, Twilight Sparkle. I understand you are a remarkable student of Celestia's, but...what are you doing up at this hour at night? Should you not be asleep?"

Twilight raised a brow at Luna's timid behavior, but did not comment on it. She knew something was wrong by the way Luna presented herself when she was answering her question, but Twilight knew that whatever was up with Luna, she knew better than to bluntly ask what was wrong. She decided to just roll with it and gradually let Luna express her troubles, making her feel at ease. So she put up an act and gave a small smile as she explained, "Well, I was working on a spell that could potentially create portals to new places in Equestria that we have yet to explore." She levitated the book, flipping pages to show Luna the spell.

Luna slightly tilted her head. "Is that so? Why are you working on this particular spell?"

Twilight further elaborated, "Well, I was researching StarSwirl the Bearded and his spells for fun while I was on a break from studying, and I discovered something interesting about one of his spells." She could not help but grin widely, like a little filly that tried candy for the first time.

Luna cracked a genuine and curious smile. This was one of the reasons why she liked Twilight so much; she was a very studious pony yet she could also be very fun to hang around with. "Oh? What is so interesting about this spell?"

Twilight grinned again, happy that Luna was smiling. "Well, if I could learn to create portals with my magic, I could be able to transport to places I had never been before and explore new things. I could be the first pony to create portals and utilize them for all of Equestria!" Twilight giggled excitedly at the thought.

Luna hid a giggle herself behind a glass slipper-wearing hoof at Twilight's childlike joy. That would be a great idea in the land of Equestria, especially since there were still so many areas that have yet to be fully explored. But of course, there would be drawbacks too.

Luna asked the purple unicorn, "That would be a wonderful idea, Twilight, but do you suppose you CAN utilize these portals?"

Twilight ceased her giggle and asked, "What do you mean?"

Luna levitated Twilight's book with her own horn. "Well, when I entered into your home, I observed you had difficulty maintaining this spell," She explained as she read the directions for the spell, "What is the trouble you are having?"

Twilight frowned as Luna asked that. "Well…that's just it, Princess. I don't know what's wrong. I can't figure out why the spell is not working like I want it to. It's like it takes a certain…something, a certain…inspiration, for it to open-"

"An…inspiration?" Luna interrupted, as she stopped reading to glance at Twilight, confused yet attentive. Given what she felt, it was curious to hear that Twilight was at a lack of inspiration as well.

Twilight's frowning expression transformed into a combination of puzzlement and apprehension. "Well…yes…it's like…it's like I know what I want to do, but I just can't figure out how to do it, or what I can use to get there." She sat down, feeling at a loss. "I just don't know how to go about it." She wondered if that was what was up with Luna. But why would she be feeling this way?

Luna's eyebrows slightly creased. She sat down herself, thinking about Twilight's plight. She decided to look at the book again, reviewing the spell and its contents. Luna looked up at Twilight and asked, "Perhaps you feel like you need some kind of…positive feeling?"

Her friend's head swiveled rapidly at the sound of that, feeling epiphany dawning inside her. "Feeling? Yeah…yeah, that's what it is. A positive feeling!" Twilight got up excitedly, feeling fired up to try the spell again, her giddiness washing over her worry for her friend.

Luna smiled as well, glad that Twilight understood how she felt, even if Twilight did not know that fact. But for some reason…Luna did not feel satisfied. She still felt uninspired and dejected.

But why?

As she watched Twilight prepare herself to cast the spell again, Luna decided to soothe her troubled mind again. "Twilight…I wish to help you with this spell." She put the book down on the floor.

Twilight stopped herself from lighting up her horn to look at Luna, blinking in surprise. "Really, Princess?"

Luna nodded, hiding her pain once more. "Of course. I will aid you in creating the portal. We shall accomplish this together; we will think of something to create it. Perhaps what we need to do is imagine what location we wish to travel to, and think of this area we have thought of in our minds. A place we have always dreamed of visiting," she suggested.

Twilight tilted a brow upward. "…Princess…do you…do you think that is what it is? Do you think that will work?"

Luna shrugged. "I am not certain it will, but it is indeed worth a try." She charged up her own horn, the tip glowing a bright white. "Are you ready?"

Twilight slowly grinned, eager to try this with the Princess of the Night. "Ready, Princess!"

Luna gave a small one back, doing whatever she could to get her mind off of her troubles.

And so, the two ponies closed their eyes, putting in their efforts to think of a place they always wanted to travel to. They thought long and hard about a secret place they always wanted to visit and cast their horns together, two shining lights glowing in the darkness of the night. Their horns cast forward a small ball of light, emitting blue at first…and then something suddenly happened.

The ball grew in size, changing colors at a rapid pace, a spectrum of colors whirling around as the small orb shrunk in size, shrinking and shrinking until it was close to nothingness…but then…

It burst open, a mirror of another place and time open to the two ponies...

But unknown to the two of them, only one would enter this new place, unaware that a new journey was about to begin.
> Experimenting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two ponies broke their concentration, opening their eyes to gaze upon the portal they created. Twilight's mouth hung open at this...this portal, their creation. And then…

"We did it! We did it! We did it!" Twilight giddily hopped around Luna a few times, not realizing that she was not acting the way she trained herself to act around the Princesses-calm and mature.

But Luna did not mind. In fact, she liked it. She just smiled as she watched Twilight bounce up and down in joy, but kept a sharp eye on the portal, floating idly by.

Luna inspected the portal from afar, careful not to get too close to it, in case it acted up. It was a remarkable feat the two ponies had accomplished, yes, but because this was a new portal that the two of them created together out of magic, Luna was not sure how this portal would act up on its own, considering Luna's power was far greater than Twilight's.

Twilight stopped pouncing from her dance of joy to catch her breath when she looked at Luna's thoughtful and stern expression. She asked, "What's wrong, Princess?"

Luna replied, "Although I am proud of our creation, I am not sure what the side effects may be, Twilight. We created a newfound portal, yes, but..." The royal alicorn gingerly walked to the portal and stopped about a good ten feet away from the swirling and colorful vortex, "we must be cautious. Even if the portal opens to another place in Equestria, there is a slight chance it could lead to somewhere else."

The alicorn gave Twilight a sideways glance. "Is there something in any of your books that say anything about Star Swirl and the concept of portals?"

Twilight tapped her chin with a hoof as she thought back to what she read on the famous unicorn's research. "Hmm…"

Nothing specific coming to mind, Twilight levitated a book with her horn again. The dark green book opened rapidly to a page in the middle of the book, and Twilight brought the book closer to her.

Quickly skimming the page until she found what she was looking for, she read, "According to his teachings, Star Swirl tried to create portals to other known places around Equestria, like Ponyville, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, Manehattan…" She looked up from her readings to glance at the still-wary Princess of the Night. "Places that we know as of today."

"I see."

That 'I see' from the Princess got Twilight to put down her book in confusion. "…Is something wrong?"

Luna finally broke off her gaze at the entrancing portal to look at Twilight. "I am not certain where the portal will lead us, Twilight. This is why I must ask-"

BOOM!

Both the ponies jumped back in shock about ten feet away as that 'boom' echoed from inside the portal. The portal suddenly fizzled. It suddenly danced and swelled all in a matter of seconds from a mere compact mirror-sized vortex into a large wildfire of pastels, hues, tints and shades of all colors. Smaller yet powerful sounds emitted from within; smaller rumbles and noises burst out in random sparks, like those of dancing electricity.

Even the Princess of the Night was gaping in slight shock at this threshold's unpredictable nature.

Out of the corner of her violet eyes, Twilight could see the Princess' slight shock. She felt a little uneasy about a princess expressing a powerful emotion; that meant BAD news.

"...Princess?"

At the sound of Twilight's uneasiness, Luna turned to the mulberry-colored unicorn and only slowly shrugged. "I…I am not sure what has happened, Twilight." She looked back at the vortex, more wary than ever.

But that wariness hardened into determination. She carefully walked a few feet in front of the dancing threshold, her hard glare piercing. Luna peered over her shoulder to Twilight.

"Is there any more information you can find on portals themselves?"

At Luna's determined urgency, Twilight looked through the book once more and rapidly skimmed the page for anything about portals.

"Yes. It says here that Star Swirl the Bearded tried to create portals that could go to strange and new places outside of Equestria, but abandoned the idea when he tried testing his theory with a...time recorder of some sort. He sent the time recorder to measure how long it could take for one pony to travel from one location to another….and…" She continued to skim through the passage she found, trying to find more answers.

Luna peeked out of the corner of her eyes. "And…?"

At finding the answer, Twilight covered her mouth with a hoof to hide her shock at what she read.

At seeing Twilight's expression, Luna's eyebrows creased a little in concern. "Well…what is it?"

"..."

Twilight slightly lowered her head, as if afraid to speak out. But she slowly answered, "…And the time recorder never came back."

Luna's eyebrows nearly flew off her beautiful and waving starry mane.

Another boom burst once more.

Both of the ponies jumped back in shock as the portal once more echoed. Sparks continued to sizzle and dance out from the portal. Whatever was creating that sound on the other side of this portal was about as loud as Spike's stomach.

Speaking of Spike…

"Holy guacamole! What's going on?!"

The two ponies swiveled their heads to the top of the stairs to see an alert and small dragon. The dragon was about two feet tall. His scales were light purple, and his underbelly was about as green as a healthy lime. His spikes, the origin for his name, were a darker and harlequin tint.

His pistachio-colored eyes shifted to Twilight for a quick and confusing glance before he noticed the Princess of the Night.

"Princess Luna…"

He gave a quick bow before asking once more, "What's going on? What…is that?!" He pointed with a claw to the unstable portal.

Twilight gave Luna a questioning glance before Luna stepped forward and explained herself. "Hello, Spike. I'm sorry we might have awakened you, but we were…experimenting."

Spike raised a brow as he ran down the stairs of the library. As he did, he asked, "I can see that, Princess. But what are you experimenting with?"

Twilight looked to Luna again, seeking permission to speak. Luna shrugged and let Twilight speak to her number one assistant. The purple unicorn mumbled, "Oh…well..we were trying to create a portal, Spike, to other places outside Equestria. I wanted to test out Star Swirl's theory while I was on a break from my regular studies with Princess Celestia."

"A portal? To other places? Cool!" Spike ran down the stairs to see the beautiful spiral for himself.

At Spike's plight down the stairs, Twilight's protective streak kicked in, picking up a hoof in reaction to his speed. "Be careful, Spike! Just because we're experimenting doesn't mean we know it's safe!"

When he reached the ponies, he excitedly asked, "But that's the point of experimentation, isn't it? You try to find out if it is safe for other ponies to try." He shot a grin at the wonderful colors dancing in the air.

Twilight was about to answer before she paused in thought, tapping her hoof against her face. He had a good point there…until she glanced at the serious expression on Luna's face changed her mind. She grinned sheepishly

The purple unicorn then responded, "True…but even so, Spike, we don't know too much about where the portal will take us. Not to mention, it's been acting strangely-"

KA-BOOM!

All three creatures jumped, startled at the extreme loudness. They turned their attention to the portal, as it suddenly sparked with a fury. More sparks fell out as the portal suddenly swirled faster and faster.

Spike yelled in astonishment, "Wh-what's happening?!" He clung to Twilight's leg and she clung to him with the same leg in a comforting and protective manner.

Luna glared at the portal's unpredictable nature once more and, ready for whatever would happen next, opened her wings in a defensive maneuver. She spread her hooves and lowered her head, as if ready to attack. Whatever was going to happen, she would protect her subjects, no matter what.

She was the Princess of the Night.

But even a powerful entity such as herself would not believe the new and wondrous things that awaited her on the other side.

The portal exploded with the power of a volcano once more, and it nearly deafened everyone's ears. As they recovered from the ear-splitting noise, they failed to see or hear, a wind slowly picking up. The wind gradually grew until it was finally accessible for them to hear. Its cold shrill pierced Luna's ears and she drew her attention to the portal.

A gasp escaped from her mouth as her eyes widened.

The portal was now as large as the library's interior, electricity striking in random locations and the wind blowing as hard as it could. The once beautiful and inviting colors darkened into a malevolent threshold. The portal swirled faster and faster like the inside of a tornado. The abyss of it was completely black and unknown.

...What have we done?

It was the first step to her journey.
> Wounded Warrior
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was another long night.

A night of tossing, turning, groaning. Remembering.

Aside from the soft snores emitting from the man currently in his bed, all was silent within the shadowed room. Only soft twinkles from the stars outside the window provided the light for within. But even the stars would not be enough to drive away the darkness that haunted the Ranger's mind and room. It still lingered, a leech sucking him dry of any happiness in his dreams.

No. Space Ranger Ty Parsec's dreams were drowning with despair and fear.

And hope was slowly fading away into nothingness...

It was the night. He ran.

He ran through a field of trees...his breath frantic...his heart racing...he just kept looking forward, not back...

He had to get out of there, away from the thing that was chasing him.

He knew that it was catching up with him, he had to find a safe place to hide and quick. He needed to get away from this thing! Suddenly-

He didn't hear it anymore.

He wanted to stop and see why he didn't hear it, but he knew he couldn't. If he checked it out, he might have been attacked.

The human ran, ran until he reached a metal bunker in the ground. He smiled hopefully, he was going to get away, away from-

Then all of a sudden-SLAM! He felt something heavy come up behind him and shove him to the ground. He didn't have to look to see what it was, but he looked anyway.

The creature was the Wirewolf, grinning down at him with a sinister sneer on its face. It prepared to strike. The claws came down at him and slashed at his face.

The human screamed in pain, only to have his screams fade out.

A deathly and high gasp as Ty shot up straight in his bed with eyes wide open! Breathing in and out, in and out, rapidly, rapidly. Sweat dripped down his head as he tried to calm down after the distressing dream-no, NIGHTMARE-he had. The perspiration becoming too much, he wiped most of it off with a hand before he ran the same hand through his disheveled hair.

One deep breath in before he looked up at around his room.

Another nightmare for the books. The fourth time he had that particular one. Craters... why wouldn't it just leave him alone?

Feeling the frustration boil in his blood, he threw his bare body back against the warm bed, the remnants of sweat soaking in the mattress. His heavy breathing was the only sound in the entire room. Chest moving up and down at an uneven pace, he urged himself to relax.

Easy, Parsec, easy. It was over... for now.

But how long would the shaky moment of tranquility last?

The moment of tranquility only lasted for what seemed to be seconds for Ty.

A loud buzz filled Ty's ears to drop an unpleasant weight into his head. He had to slam his palms against his ears to drown out that horrible noise and turn onto his side in the sheets and away from the noise to get a sense of peace and quiet.

That blasted alarm clock...

He groaned as he turned to face it, intending to smash the alarm button off. Blindly patting around the table to locate the infernal contraption, he finally felt the smooth surface of the alarm. Once he felt its rectangular shape and found a small and round bump on it, he pressed down on it a few times. It took a matter of minutes before he was finally able to shut up the piece of junk.

What a relief.

But to the poor Ranger's unsurprising disgust, he knew the relief would not last long. He eventually would have to get up for another day at work, protecting the galaxy. Today was the day the leader of the Space Ranger Corps, Commander Nebula, was to fill him in on his assignment. Well, him AND a partner, but regardless. Either it would be a risky yet exciting mission to save some planet from some overwhelmingly large threat, or it would be something as mediocre as moderating Tanker Alley, with all of those buoys to keep out enemy ships from plunging into Capital Planet's atmosphere. Normally, he'd care about the contents behind the assignments, as any Ranger would, but today...

He cared little about his assignments.

Right now, he just wanted to stay in bed to rest and rid himself of this slightly hungover feeling. Maybe also sleep off the pain that came with it...

A loud knock, a noise louder than the alarm clock, demolished those plans.

"TY! You up yet?"

He groaned under his breath. HIM?
"Oh, no... "

"What was that, Ty?"

Sighing and quietly cursing at himself, he cleared his throat and replied to the bellowing voice behind the door, "Uh, nothing, Buzz. I'll be right out. Just give me about ten more minutes to get ready." Better to hide his nightmare from his friend now.

'Buzz' cheerfully acknowledged, "Alright, buddy! I'll wait up for you."

Ty nodded even though he knew Buzz wouldn't see it. Well...

Guess he had to go to work.

With another sigh, one of tired resignation this time, he shoved the covers off himself before he stepped out of bed. He then stood and stretched as much as he could to wake up his body before heading off into the bathroom to clean himself up and get ready for another long day.

His face clean of any debris, his hair maintained into a pompadour, and his white and green Enviro-Suit polished up, Ty stood in front of his door before taking a deep breath. Time to face another day in the galaxy again. He turned the knob to unlock the door...

And there on the opposite side of his threshold, leaning against the wall with arms crossed and whistling a happy tune, was his pal, Buzz Lightyear, also clad in the standard Space Ranger uniform.

His friend perked up and widely grinned when Ty marched out the door. "Morning, Ty, you ready to roll out?"

How badly had Ty wanted to say no. Oh, he was very tempted to say no so that he could go back to bed to sleep off the lingering bits of his nightmare and rising headache. But instead, he held his tongue of contempt and put on an upside-down frown. With an attempt to seem casual, he greeted, "Hey, Buzz. I'm about as ready as I'll ever be."

Buzz's grin couldn't get any more wider. "Well then, buddy. Let's go get 'em!" Buzz issued a friendly slap to Ty's back, nearly tipping the Ranger over. But he managed to keep his balance intact. However, that didn't mean Ty wasn't allowed to slightly grimace at Buzz's chipper attitude.

Normally, he would have smiled and appreciated his friend's attitude, but today? Fat chance!

And so, Ty sluggishly trailed behind a few steps after Buzz into the Docking Bay, where they were to meet up with Nebula.

He was in for a loooong day, wasn't he?

> Meeting with the Nebulas
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Past the pristine white walls decorated with Star Command's bold colors of green and purple did he trudge behind. Lights glowing up above him, their warmth seeping into his exposed face and neck. The air flowed out of the humming vents and into the large hallway to moderate temperatures, keeping one extreme from overwhelming the other. Other than Buzz and himself, there was not a sign of anyone else in the hall.

And yet none of this was any news to Ty; this was a daily routine for all Rangers to be out and about on various missions-patrolling, escorting senators and other figures high in authority, arresting criminals. Just as he and Buzz were about to do, or at least what he imagined they'd do.

Albeit the fact that Ty was in no condition to do anything relating to the Space Ranger Corps.

The Ranger himself was slowly trailing like a nail to a magnet behind Buzz by at least thirty feet. He was able to keep up with his friend, but not at the energizing and eager pace that Buzz was heading. But he didn't care.

The trip was mostly spent in silence, although Buzz chatted with his old friend here and there on small talk, to which Ty could utter a few one worded-answers or nod or shake his head to count as responses. Luckily, Buzz was determined on getting to the Docking Bay, and thus didn't take a lot of time for meaningful conversations.

Ty was still fully waking up and snapping his body into full awareness, which would hopefully be in time for when the duo would meet with Nebula for whatever assignment he had planned for them. His mind still fuzzy from last night's events, he walked mechanically.

"..."

Except for a question that came to mind, which sparked Ty's mind to full life.

"Hey, Buzz?"

The aforementioned Ranger peeked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

The man blinked before he asked. "I was just wondering... why are WE assigned to this mission? Where's the rest of your team?"

"They've been assigned to guard duty for the LGMS. Security detail for a new invention that those little green beans are working on."

Ty shot up a brow. "Any idea what it is?"

Buzz shook his head. "Not yet. But I'm going to keep tabs on them every hour or so after a certain...incident that occurred last time when I assigned them to guard an invention. ...Which reminds me..."

Ty's brow was still up at Buzz's evasiveness while the Pride of Star Command tapped open his communicator to talk to his teammates. As Ty waited for elaboration on what his friend meant, Buzz caught him quizzically looking at him. He grinned sheepishly. "Let's just say it involved my rookies getting in a little...er...sticky situation."

"...Uh-huh..."

It was then that Ty decided that maybe it was for the best that he'd not dig too deep into this. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

And so, aside from the bickering Buzz had to endure from his team and prompting Ty to hide an amused smile at the scenario of it all, they walked on in silence the rest of the way.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They finally arrived at the expansive Docking Bay.

The official emblem of Star Command was branded to the denim-colored walls. Giant multiples of sparkling white-colored spacecraft, individually known as Star Cruisers, stood in perfect patience at their white launching stations. They pointed upwards towards wide and well-built holes in the ceiling, open for entering and exiting the space station to travel around the galaxy and around the clock.

And there to greet them in the railway, in front of a shining Star Cruiser was an aging yet burly dark-skinned human, clad in the same official Ranger battle armor the other two men also wore. However, what stood out in his particular outfit was the purple peg leg fitted onto his left leg after he lost it many seasons ago. He possessed a grey mustache and eyebrows to mirror his determined and down-to-earth expression.

When the other two Rangers closed in on him, he stood to attention. He gruffly greeted with a salute, "Lightyear. Parsec."

The two men mentioned in name saluted back in respect.

Buzz was on the ball. "Commander Nebula. You wanted to see us, sir?"

The leader nodded. "Yeah I did. I need you two for a patrol sweep on Zenway 9. We've got trouble up there with Hornets crawlin' all over the place."

Ty and Buzz shared a curious glance at each other. Hornets? What in the galaxy would they be doing floating around in that snow-crested planet?

As if reading their thoughts, Nebula elaborated, "We don't know what they're up to, but whatever that bucket head's plannin', I wanna keep an eye on those scraps of iron of his in case he tries anything against the Galactic Alliance." That 'bucket head' the commander referred to was the galaxy's most wanted enemy, the Evil Emperor Zurg, whose sole purpose was to overwhelm and destroy the Galactic Alliance, the universal and united government. Thus, he was the top of every Ranger's list of criminals to bring to justice, but none more so than Buzz's list. As far back as anyone could remember, Zurg and Buzz have been at it for quite some time. But one thing was certain:

When Zurg was involved, all Rangers were on the highest of alerts.

"Consider it in good hands, sir."

Ty nodded numbly to show his support. He wasn't exactly up to full par yet.

Nebula saw through this. Placing his fists onto his hips, Nebula looked over Ty with a small skeptical eye. "You alright there, Parsec? You look a little...out of it."

Almost caught off guard, the Ranger blinked and cleared his throat. As professionally as he could muster, he assured, "Yes, I'm alright, sir. I'm ready to get started on this mission." Craters, he hoped that Nebula would buy it. Although he would still rather be back in bed, he was here now and he might as well do what he was called to do. Regardless of ANY problems with sleep...and nightmares.

The leader, still scrutinizing at him with his hawk eye, didn't reply.

Ty resisted the urge to gulp nervously. Whenever Nebula stared at anyone like that, it usually meant something was wrong. Even Buzz appeared a little fretful under the commander's eye.

But there wasn't.

After another minute of silent studying, Nebula calmly came to a conclusion and placed his hands behind his back. "Alright, son. Then get goin'. But not you, Lightyear. I want to talk to you for a minute alone before you join Parsec in 42."

The two men, in confusion, shared another exchange of glances. But they didn't question it. Ty saluted to Nebula with a 'yes sir' to accompany his complying response. After Nebula returned the gesture, Ty jogged inside the small launching base and climbed inside the Star Cruiser named 42.

Ty wasn't sure if he wanted to know what Nebula wanted to talk to Buzz about, but whatever it was...

...He had a funny feeling it had something to do with him.

As soon as as he was inside the silver-walled interior of the spaceship, he gingerly scaled up the makeshift wall that was the metal floor and steady furniture and reliable equipment of the Cruiser. A near tired sigh escaped from his mouth. Sometimes climbing upward to reach the seats was such a hassle. He grumbled to himself, "Craters...twenty years in the service, and even I can't stand it when I have to climb all the way up just to reach the copilot's seat. Sometimes I wonder why I do this on days like this. Why? Just...why?"

Another breath, created from frustration, escaped from him. Of all the days to feel like a pedian slug was living in his body, this was definitely NOT the day to do so. Oh well...maybe a little excitement on Zenway 9 would help get his senses on the alert. Those flimsy hornets were good for more than just target practice.

However, by the time he reached the copilot's seat, decorated in the same hue of royal purple as were all the seats and most of the equipment, his thoughts had already drifted to thoughts of exhaustion again. Laying back in his seat, the softness of his seat encourage him to relax a little while he waited for his friend to show up.

His eyes began to feel heavy.
> The Call to Cross
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He dreamed a dream…

He couldn't get up; he was held down by his wounds and weakened body. He couldn't budge one inch to save the galaxy.

He peered upwards as he lay on his right side, holding the other with a free hand to hold the wound in place. The malevolent project was growing stronger and bigger, growling and booming loudly. Darkness covered the room, accompanied with the crazed laughter of one malevolent emperor in particular, and a chill as cold as death and as brisk as a moth in frantic flight whipping his face and hair.

With the…monster escalating in size and power, and his being too weak in body to stop it… who would?

HE would.

A grim yet fired up glare ignited on his face, he struggled to get up. He might nearly be out, but to be out?
He groaned and grunted to push himself on his limbs, proving how hardy his fighting spirit was!

But his body resisted, trying to pull him down, to urge him to rest and lay there for someone else to stop this new creation of Zurg's from stepping outside the Science Lab and breaching the Galactic Alliance's boundaries. He pushed himself again and again to get up, but all traces of strength were rapidly fading…

Suddenly…a voice. A singing voice echoing through the shadows peaked for all to hear. Zurg's laughter and the creature's growl ceased, as if in fright by the sudden power the song emitted.

He turned to face the direction of where the source may be, and lo, there it was. He gaped at the mysterious sight. The singing stopped.

A pair of silvery white lights-no…teardrop shapes floated and glowed brightly against the creature. The lights shone so bright that he had to squint his eyes at them. The teardrop shapes then looked to him, as if to send him a message of hope and triumph.

Another shape formed around the teardrops; the shape appeared round with a small narrow part. The shapes waved and moved as it began to create a more noticeable structure.

The song ceased as the structure solemnly commanded the creature, "YOU WILL NOT WIN. YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO TY. TY! TY!"

"TY! Wake up!"

Ty bolted awake as he jumped forwards in his seat. As he breathed in and out, in and out, he darted his eyes around the cockpit before they finally came to rest on-

"B-Buzz?"

The man in question drew back his hand away from shaking his friend. "You alright?...You were having quite a dream there, Ranger."

Ty didn't respond immediately. Instead, he looked away and slapped a hand to his forehead as he tried to fathom his recent dream. That wasn't…that wasn't anything like he dreamed of before. No, it was…it was different. Instead of him meeting with…with that thing from his long ancient past, he was met with strange and glowing shapes. White lights, a cold wind, a fierce growl and Zurg's laughter.

But what did it mean?

"…"

Both men stayed silent for a while more before Buzz broke it. "…Ty?"

The slightly louder query prompted Ty to stop pondering and look at Buzz, even if he was appearing more haggard than usual.

"I'm…I'm alright, Buzz." He rubbed any traces of sleep left in his eyes away.

But Buzz didn't believe it.

"Are…are you sure? You were groaning like you were in pain. You really certain you're alr-?"

"BUZZ. I said I'm FINE." Ty didn't realize how terse he was until Buzz snapped his two hands up to show he didn't mean any harm. Ty softened his tone. "I'm….I'm sorry. I just…" He cleared his throat. "Let's just get going on our mission, ok?" He looked towards the windshield, wanting to get a move on and his mind off his recent dream.

Although Buzz appeared worried for his friend, he wasn't about to push it if he needed space to calm down. "…Ok."

The Pride of Star Command gave Ty one more concerned glance before he began pushing buttons to prepare the ship for takeoff. "All set?"

Ty pushed in a few buttons on his side of the cockpit before professionally affirming, "All set."

Buzz nodded as he pulled the lever backwards and the ship's rockets roared to life.

It was the first step to Ty's journey.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The portal continued to swirl, faster and faster as the electricity danced and struck all around the library. The wind's speed increased bit-by-bit, shrieking and howling louder than before. Its black abyss glared at the Princess of the Night and her subjects.

But Luna wouldn't let it scare her and her subjects, not if she could help it!

And so...she gathered her courage, stood straight up, stretched her wings as wide as she could muster and glared straight up into the hole. The princess's horn glowed as she built up her power and snorted in defiance. It was time to stare right back into the abyss against all odds.

But first... she quickly picked up Twilight's book, currently lying on the floor, and brought it over to her. Flipping and skimming pages, she searched for any answers that Star Swirl wrote on anything pertaining to turbulent gateways. Nothing, nothing...

Ah! Finally. She knew what she had to do after she read up on the section.

Putting down her book, she took a step forward towards the portal.

Glowing a shimmering yet bright blue, Luna fired off a blast of magic towards the threshold. The magic reached its destination and engulfed the gateway as Luna took hold of it to tame the distorting and destructive pathway. Once the portal was caught in Luna's magic...

The portal seemed to have fallen into a suspended state and moved sluggishly.

But its power was stronger than what Luna anticipated.

The alicorn, having closed her eyes to concentrate on her power to keep the threshold from escaping her grasp, peeked out from one of her eyes at an alarmed Twilight and frightened Spike, who clutched to each other tightly. Grunting underneath her efforts, she gruffly uttered, "Twilight...Spike..."

They almost didn't hear her until they heard theirs name being called again.
Once she succeeded in gaining their attention, she commanded, "You two must get out and get help...I will attempt to keep this portal from growing. Tell my sister-!"

A boom shattered her order and almost broke her hold. She whipped her eyes forward and squeezed them tightly to regain her control over the portal. After she refocused her power over the gateway, Luna urged her subjects once more, "GO! Get my sister and tell her what's happened!"

Twilight and Spike shared a worried and hesitant look. They knew what they needed to do, but...

After peeking out from an eye again to see if they obeyed, she roared,
"I SAID GO! NOW!"

That was the final straw, and the two of them sprang into action. Twilight levitated a scared Spike onto her back. Once he was safely perched on her back, gripping his arms around her neck, she galloped as fast as her legs could carry her and Spike out the door. But not without using her horn to pick up a spare feather and piece of parchment paper from her desk along the way out. Once they were caught in her magic, she levitated them over to the dragon situated on her back and he picked them up in his claws.

Within a few minutes, they were outside in the night and outside the library.

The bluish glow, although shining brightly within the tree's interiors, was dimming on the outside, thanks in partial to the small windows and bushels of trees covering part of the windows. It was safe to say that nopony was disturbed by the lights and could have resumed sleeping. But the strange booming noises did bring out those who were very light sleepers out of their homes to observe what was going on tonight.

And by the time Twilight came to a screeching halt, she was bombarded by questions from various ponies, all centering around the same idea. What was going on and what were those noises?!

Twilight held up a hoof as she silently motioned for them to give her a minute to breathe. Spike patted her neck as she regained her breath within a few minutes before she finally caught her breath. "Everypony, there's no time to explain, but right now, we need to contact Princess Celestia!" She turned her neck to look at Spike. "You know what to do, Spike!"

The little dragon rapidly nodded and began to write. As he wrote, he was struck by a sudden question.

"Uh...Twilight...should I write that you invited Luna in or that you let her in?"

He only received an irritated glare.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The alicorn persisted in holding her power over the portal, its own force pushing back against her own. In all of her days as a Princess, she couldn't recall ever encountering this kind of magic...not unless she counted the days when she was someone OTHER than Princess Luna. THAT pony's power was as great as this swirling vortex's... but this vortex's...aura, was not as malevolent as that pony's power.

No, instead its aura, its core was grandiose and mysterious, about as unknown as its point of location. Where would this portal lead in all of the land?

As much as Luna would have loved to find out, this portal was just simply too dangerous for anypony to enter into in its wild and savage void.
Which was why she was now going to tame it and banish it somewhere beyond Equestria!

Grunting underneath her efforts once more, she pushed herself to grow her magic and use it to shrink the portal to a manageable size. The portal's electricity and swirling slowly declined as did its size. It grew smaller and smaller...

But then-

Luna felt a wave of radiating warmth flash across her face, and she peered.

"What's that?"

An explosion blinded her and reality was lost.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The light through the windows illuminated brighter and brighter, reeling in the attention of the ponies, and dragon, who were outside. Twilight and Spike looked at each other before Twilight ran off again, with Spike hanging on to her neck with one claw and holding onto the quill and parchment with the other claw. They neared the entryway, even as the light threatened to stop them in their tracks.

But even then, the source of the light, the threshold, was strong enough to prevent them from coming in to help Luna.

There was nothing but white illumination and no alicorn to be found.

Twilight yelled out, "Princess Luna! Can you hear me?!"

The unicorn glowed her horn to push back the light, but before she could summon a spell that quickly came to mind, the strange white source disappeared and evaporated into thin air. All was dark through out the library.
Twilight blinked and shared a confusing glance with Spike, who shrugged helplessly at the random incident.

Driven by curiosity, Twilight carefully treaded inside into the blackness. As she entered further in the darkness, she used her magic once again, emitting a small orb of light on the very point of her horn to act as a makeshift lantern. The glow flared out and lit up a large portion of the room.

The mess of tossed and torn up papers and books and pieces of wood was enough to send Twilight and Spike gaping in total silence.

But one of the still-awake ponies, who by now peeped by the door, broke it by asking the question that Twilight and Spike were wanting to know very badly in their worries.

What happened?!

...And where was Princess Luna?!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elsewhere, high above all ponies and in a kingdom near the mountainsides... a royal pony awakened out of fear and horror.

"LUNA!"

> Into Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The only answer Twilight could offer to the ponies outside her home was a weak, "I'm not sure." She sighed shakily before holding a hoof to her mouth, as if to keep herself from vomiting.

Spike himself looked no better than his friend. "Yeah... but... but we'll find out what happened, Twilight. She's GOTTA come back. I mean... she's the Princess of the Night. She can't skip out on her duties..." Any further attempts to comfort his friend was left off in a long and silent trail.

"Duties... that's right." Twilight fought her feelings and sternly stood up straight. "We've got to write to Celestia to tell her what happened." She turned to instruct her number one assistant. "Spike, continue writing that letter."

"There's no need for that."

Both unicorn and dragon froze. They knew that voice. One that was usually full of golden warmth was iced over with stern authority.

Twilight slowly turned around. There, standing in the doorway, in front of the other tense ponies was the Princess of the Sun herself.

Princess Celestia.

"You can tell me right here and now."

Twilight gulped. What could she say to her mentor without upsetting her any further?!

She looked to Spike for guidance. But at a loss, he motioned with a claw to tell the white alicorn before them the truth. It was all they had to offer.

She accepted the inevitable. Heaving a sigh, Twilight began.

"Well, it all started when I was taking a break from studying..."




Something bothersome was itching her nose. It grew so annoying that she scrunched it up to make it go away.

Finally, Luna couldn't take it anymore and she rubbed it away with a hoof.

The itch was gone, but it was nothing compared to the brisk chill brushing against her fur and wings. Shivering at the sudden drop in temperature, she struggled to open her eyes. When she did, the first thing she noticed made her eyes widen.

Snow.

Lots and lots of snow. All of which was covering over the earth and in the distant mountains.

Shifting her fallen position on the ground, the princess gradually raised herself and shook her fur free of any loose debris and snow. Once that was done, she looked around to take in her surroundings.
So she was in the Frozen North. She didn't know whether she was near the Crystal Empire's borders. But one thing was for certain:

The portal's power was stronger than she predicted.

She didn't know how, but it worked and it brought her to the icy side of Equestria! The bewilderment in her gasp could barely be contained. Somehow it managed to overwhelm and send her to the far reaches of the country where it was cold and isolated.

The pony looked up into the sky with a curious brow. Perhaps all she had to do was fly up into the sky and see which direction was which. From there, she could figure out what route to take and return back to Ponyville and-wait a minute.

Luna frowned.

It was nighttime when she was in Canterlot and Ponyville. But here in the mountains, it was a clear day!

She unfolded her wings to prepare for takeoff into flight. One powerful push and she was up in the air, flying towards the sky and leaving the snowy earth behind. Once she reached a good spot for her to see everything, she hovered there underneath the warmth of the sun.

But even the sun was not comforting to Luna. It also felt out of place.

The great celestial body she was floating underneath was more...primal and explosive, in comparison to the soothing and gracious power of Celestia's sun back in Equestria.

But the Frozen North was a part of the country, and even her sister's power reigned over these frozen terrains. So how was that possible? There was no way Celestia would have let the power of the sun feel this wild and overbearing. Besides, her sister could not have woken up at this hour, considering it was Luna's turn to rule over the land.

Hour. Time...

"He sent the time recorder to measure how long it could take for one pony to travel from one location to another….and…"

That was when it hit Luna.

"…And the time recorder never came back."

She gasped at this realization. To no one in particular, she quietly pondered,

"I have succeeded in traveling through time? But to where?...to when?"

Worry threatened to grip her. She didn't have any specific knowledge on time travel. So what could she do?!

She looked around the snowy landscape once more. And the more she took in her surroundings, the more she began to think about the many possibilities of where and when the portal threw her, each one seeming more outrageous than the last.

And all of them throwing her into deep despair.

"Why did I create that portal? Why did I shrug off my duties to visit Twilight? Why?"

She shoved her face into her hooves as she tried to think of an answer, a reasonable one. But each attempt to come up with one all turned out the same way, the real motive why she created that portal.

Because loneliness distracted her and she wanted to distract it back. But it evaded her efforts and it came back to haunt her again.

The emotion she once felt about her discovery evaporated.




The duo made their way to Zenway 9 in Star Cruiser 42. The ride was quiet during the hours, with only a word or two shared between the men.

No doubt due to one of them determined to complete this mission.

Buzz was aware that his friend wasn't doing too well. "So... uh... I know it was quite a while since you and I partnered up for a mission like this."

Ty absent-mindedly nodded as he stared into the dark abyss outside the ship window. "Yeah."

"...Hopefully there'll be some action for us on Zenway 9, with the Hornets and all. And Zurg will no doubt be up to something!"

Ty couldn't help but smirk a little at Buzz's determination. "I can imagine. That's usually his gimmick. But I'm sure there's nothing too suspicious going on that rock. It's so cold nobody would want to even live there."

"Yeah, but... I have a feeling that this plan is a doozy. It just feels like he's up to something so... so... INGENIOUS."

"Buzz, you say that to EVERY plan he comes up with."

"I do?"

Ty sighed out a long patience. "Yes, Buzz. You do. Not that I'm blaming ya, but we haven't arrived to our destination yet. Don't you think you're better off waiting until we can start patrolling?"

"I can't help it. Whenever there are Hornets, I get that 'Zurg's-up-to-something' feeling. Besides, Nebula DID say to keep an eye out for the Hornets. And wherever they are, Zurg's bound to be right there with them."

"..."

Ty looked out the window for a minute. "Yeah. About Commander Nebula... Buzz, I'm curious to know...what was it he told you before we took off?"

"What Nebula sa-Uh... it was just a... a... an update on how the Rookies were doing on their assignment."

Buzz's plastered grin failed to fool Ty. "Uh-huh. Now why don't you tell me the real reason why Nebula wanted to talk to you? I know there was a reason why he asked to talk to you after I got on board. So what is it?"

The peaked brow Ty gave Buzz was enough for the Ranger to give in and speak the truth.

"Alright, alright... Nebula wanted to tell me...er..." Buzz uncomfortably rubbed his neck with a free hand.

Ty prodded, "Yes?"

"...He told me to keep an eye on you."

Ty stared at Buzz for some time. Blankness was all he gave him.

But underneath that blankness was a hurricane of emotions. Disappointment. Sadness. Anger.

Defeat.

Defeat won out in the emotional spectrum. And it came out as another sigh. "I figured. Why did he tell you to look out for me?"

Buzz averted his eyes back to the stars.

" It's just... Ty... Have you been getting enough sleep?"

The sincere concern in Buzz's tone failed to ignite any sarcastic wit. But it didn't succeed in softening Ty either. What could he say to one of his best friends? The truth, yes, but how much of it would he allow himself to tell?

Could he trust Buzz to fully understand what he was going through?

He had to at least try.

"Well... to be honest, not as much as I'd like to. Every night's been a hassle. I think ever since the trial, things haven't been the same."

Buzz didn't need to know what trial Ty was talking about. "How did the military tribunal make you sleep poorly?"

Ty rubbed a hand through his pompadour. "Well... I... Buzz, I'm...Every night I seem to..." Any further attempt to try and express himself fizzled out under his own struggle. "I'm sorry, Buzz. I CAN'T tell you."

"You can't? Why?... Was it something I did?"

Ty was quick to assure his concerned friend, "No. It's nothing like that. It's just... well, I... I don't know. I guess... Well... I guess I'm not ready to talk about it yet. I thought I was. But now I don't know. It just might be that the trial is still so fresh in my mind that I haven't really let it sink in, and after everything that happened...

"I just need time. I can barely make sense of it myself, especially after...after the events back on Canis Lunis."

Ty closed his eyes to make the pain of his old scars go away. So close to telling Buzz and yet for some reason, he JUST couldn't. He prayed that Buzz wouldn't pressure him into trying again. It was too much already. But...

"Then... You don't have to, Ranger. As much as I want to know what's buggin' you, I won't force to discuss it. I'll respect your decision."

Ty opened his eyes to look at his friend in surprise. "You will?"

"I will, Ty. You have my word. When you're ready, you can tell me then." He offered an understanding smile.

For a moment, Ty didn't know how to react. Buzz wasn't always one to easily pick up on social cues, and that was sometimes irritating for everyone going through a tough time. But then there were times where the Pride of Star Command proved himself to be a loyal friend when he needed to be.

And this was one of those times.

Buzz's smile broke through and it inspired Ty to crack a tiny one of his own. "Thanks, Buzz."

"No problem."

Suddenly, a series of beeps sounded off in the cockpit.

Both Rangers quickly broke the tender moment and turned to their controls, both on the alarm.

"Buzz, we're picking up a transmission. Coming RIGHT on time from Zenway 9. It's Hornets, alright, but I can't get a clear reading what's going on. Something keeps on trying to break it up."

"Or maybe it's not trying to break it up, it IS breaking it up!"

"...And you know this how?"

"Take a look for yourself!"

Following Buzz's direct order, Ty cast a glance to the planet, and it was then he understood why.
A massive blur of silvery white and grey swirled down below on the planet. It blanketed over their destination to the point where it threatened to fog up their windows.

"Take evasive action!"

Without needing further instruction, Ty helped pilot Star Cruiser 42 away from the wrath of the blizzard and onto another spot where it was safer and free from Mother Nature's power. As they flew and descended further onto the planet for a more desirable location to land, Ty spotted something rapidly falling out of the sky. It was too small to make out, but the man caught it in his line of vision to see that it was a dark shape coming in fast for a landing.

What was that? Was it Zurg?

Whatever it was, he would have to worry about it later. Right now...

"Prepare to land, Ranger. We'd better get this mission done and over with before the blizzard decides to come our way."

"Right."

When they eventually found a location where they could park their ship in a field of white snow, the men wasted no time in landing 42 and proceeding with this mission before the blizzard they passed over worsened.

She wallowed in her anguish as she tried to fathom all of what happened.

And over next course of action. But what could she do? There was nopony here that she recognized who could aid her, no books or anything of the sort to give her magical assistance, nothing! There was nothing but ice, snow and bleakness.

It was hopeless.

She glimpsed at the shiny mountains, all thoughts scattered as she remained in the air. Oh how she wished she knew what to do about this unexpected outcome. This was just...

She sighed and closed her eyes to regain some form of sanity. Removing her hooves from her face, she performed a breathing technique. She took a deep breath in, and released it, with her hoof following her movement of breath.

There was no way she could panic now. Not when she still needed to figure out exactly WHEN she landed, and if she could find somepony who could help her get back home... some pony... wait a minute.

"Star Swirl! Of course!"

Why didn't she think of it before? The one unicorn who trained her and Celestia into becoming the rulers of Equestria! He was a spring of information and wisdom. If there was anypony who would know the answers, it'd be him.

...Assuming she didn't land in the future where he wasn't around.

She shook her head. There was no reason to be down just yet. Not when she actually had a goal in mind.

"I might not know if he will be there, but if the Crystal Empire is nearby, maybe I can ask Princess Amore if she knows where he is. That is... IF I didn't arrive at the time when Sombra placed the curse on it." A quick frown passed by her face. Time travel was confusing.

But even if she couldn't find the Crystal Empire, she did have to keep moving. It was getting cold and she wanted to get home as quickly as possible.

With this notion in mind...

Luna glanced at her surroundings once more to calculate which direction she needed to fly into. Aside from the mountains, there was nothing here that could give her any suggestions in direction.

Well... almost nothing.

A brisk wind kicked in and scorched her fur. She gritted her teeth as the wind passed by her, building up in power. The wind was picking up too fast for her liking. And that was when she decided that she should move AWAY from the wind.

"There must be a blizzard coming in. I should fly now before it comes this way."

With that, she put on a burst of speed and fled away from the blizzard.

She soared over the mountain range as she searched all over for any sign of hope, any sign of life that was the Crystal Empire.

So far, nothing.

But nonetheless, the princess continued to look around as her wings carried her over the landscape.

In her quiet goal, she mused over how she would approach Star Swirl, if she could find him. Would it be easy to convince him, with all of his experience in magic and time travel? Or would it be difficult, as his research with time indicated? Would there be a way back? What kind of world did she land in?
She felt positive she could handle this new time regardless of what it threw at her, but she had to be on her guard at all times.

For the unexpected was always ready to strike.

Unbeknownst to Luna, hiding far and deep in the snow, a small bug was watching...

A gasp was released as it witnessed Luna gliding without breaking a sweat in her flight. Yet...

She was heading right into the lion's den. "My evil emperor should know about this. I gotta tell him!"

The little raspy grub popped out of his spot and scrambled away to tell his leader an intruder was invading his construction area.
> Winter's Stars
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hmm... no, no, not there! Argh... try moving it to the left... no, a little bit more to the middle."

He slapped his face into a hand in frustration. "Can you groveling grubs do anything right?! My new Sub-Zero outpost MUST be completed on time and before Lightyear shows up! He's often quick on the draw to finding out my plans, y'know."

But even with that friendly reminder, the grubs continued to struggle lifting another piece of architecture. They've been at it for a few hours, and while they made solid progress with their work, they still had a way to go before they could officially finish Zurg's latest design.

Needless to say, Zurg's patience was slowly slipping.

He sighed in exasperation; why couldn't these worthless worms work any faster?!

As fast as...

"Evil Emperor Zurg, an unidentified flying object is invading your working space!"

At the mention of his name, he turned around to face the grub. The sniveling slug was rapidly coming in through the white blanket of snow, with arms flailing and alarm written across his face.

"A U.F.O.? Don't be ridiculous. Who would want to fly by here, into MY working space?" He motioned with a sweeping hand to indicate the sight before him. Grubs hustled with their various tasks, moving to and fro with maneuvering objects, wiring veins of technology into each other, and tightening up screws and bolts.

They were accompanied by purple-clad pieces of machinery that go around on three legs; they were known as Brain Pods. Anyone who looked through their clear glass tanks could see their yellow eyes and giant brains and know that they were sentient creatures. These creatures were also out and about, helping the grubs with their chores to ease the workload, but only when it came to configuring the technological side of Zurg's creations.

So far, the structure itself was standing. A large dome was the first thing that would be noticed, on account of a large Z branded on its clear surface. The structure underneath was a large square, with half of its walls and support systems were still missing from its maroon and purple exteriors. Machines were slowly brought in by large cranes operated by grubs.

The howling wind, which picked up from time to time, failed to cease anyone from working as much as some of them didn't want to go through the plan. But the weather was getting worse. Some of them even wondered if Zurg himself was aware of the weather conditions.

Nonetheless, the grub explained, "But my evil Lordship, a large blue thing with wings is flying into your territory!"

Zurg raised a brow. And quite unexpectedly, he lowered himself to meet eye levels with the tiny worker.
The grub immediately flinched in fear as he peeked out of his closed eyes to see Zurg fiercely glowering at him with bright red eyes.
"Where?"

The worker whimpered at that dangerous tone, but answered as bravely as he could, "A-about n-north of here, y-your Supremeness. I-It was too far away for me to see, b-but it came from the mountains."
He braced himself for whatever temper tantrum Zurg would throw.

But instead, the opposite happened.

Zurg stood straight up and tapped a claw to his green teeth. "Hmm... this is a peculiar strange of events." He gripped his fists as a thought occurred to him. "Well, whether it's a Star Command device or some uninvited TOURIST, we must keep them out! NO PEEPING TOMS ALLOWED!"

He yelled over the snow to anybody who wasn't doing anything useful, "Dispatch the Hornets!"

It was time for a little hunting game.





A frustrated sigh escaped Luna's lips.
There was STILL no sign of the Crystal Empire. She should have spotted it by now...

Feeling the need to rest her wings for a minute or two, Luna dived down to land on a snow-covered rock. She gently landed on all fours, shifting her weight from her feet back to her legs. She folded them underneath her form and tucked her wings in.
Although she wanted to keep going, she was glad she found a safe and small spot for her to take a break from flying until she felt like taking off again. Away from the weight off her wings and from the incoming storm.

Not that it took her mind off of her situation.
Staring forlornly at the silent space around her, her mind wandered aimlessly. She laid there in such a still manner, one could almost have mistaken her for an art sculpture.

Thoughts about her home plagued her...
She had to find a way back. Wherever she was, this was, in no doubt, a good lesson to learn:

Never experiment with dangerous magical portals.

The scene replayed itself over and over in her mind.
She unconsciously trailed a hoof into the snow to trail patterns into the snow as she tried to recollect every action she took to tame that portal before she ended up here.

But all she could remember was trying to shrink the vortex's size and thus reduce its power. Its power was greater than she ever predicted; it nearly cost her all her magical strength to take it down. And had it not been for that mysterious flash of light she would have been able to-...

A flash of light...

She paused in her tracing and sat up from her resting position. "Of course..."

Before she ended up here, she saw a strange flash of light and then... she didn't remember anything after that.

That light definitely had something to do with all of this. But what?

Any logical explanations that could have come to mind were interrupted. Interrupted by a foreign whir. No... a couple of whirs.
Her ears flickered; that wasn't a sound she wasn't familiar with."What in the world is that?"

She got onto her hooves and leaned forward to pick up the sounds. Luna couldn't see whomever... or whatever, was making that noise, but she was alert and ready to do battle if it came to it.

And she soon would.

Quick as lightning, she leapt out of the way and successfully dodged some strange green blasts! They hit her spot on the rock while she landed in the snow on all fours. Smoke rose in the air; that could have been her had she stayed.

Her senses serving her well, she looked upwards to find...

Tall, slim and yellow creatures, whose arms flowed grey and out into the air.

It didn't make them any more friendly.

Putting on her fighting face, her horn glowed a fierce light blue.

Whatever they were, she didn't want to hurt them, but if necessary...

"Welllll, wellll... what do we have here?... "

Luna saw a mysterious figure floating. Floating on some kind of purple hovering device, coming to float in front of the swarm of yellow things.

"It seems we have ourselves an ADORABLE pony. Complete with wings, a horn and cutesy-wutesy regal wear! I can't say I've ever seen one up close before. I guess fairy tale creatures like you really do exist. Although I can't tell what you are. An alicorn, perhaps? Or maybe a pegacorn? Ah well, semantics."

"..."

"So... what's the matter, little pony? Lost your way from your castle?"

Luna would only give a cold stare in response.

"Oooohohohoho, it seems I made the poor thing angry. Well... IT IS I WHO SHOULD BE ANGRY! YOU INVADED MY WORKING SPACE, YOU BOTHERSOME BEAST!"

His eyes may have glowed blood red, but that did little to scare Luna. Instead...

Just as before before the great abyss, she stared into the evil one's eyes and snorted out of defiance. Who was he to talk to HER like that?!

"Oh I see. We've got ourselves a stubborn horsey here. We'll see if we can't change that... HORNETS, DESTROY THAT PONY!"

The things called Hornets descended downwards, their arms out in front of them. They shot forth green blasts once more.

She leapt off to the side away from the blasts...

And that was when she made her first strike.

Her horn glowed and out from its tip, a burst of lightning blue energy shot forth and collided with the Hornets. The energy shoved them backwards in the air, so far off that they lost their sense of flying and landed downwards in the snow. Many of them laid on the earths' frozen crust, lifeless.

"Craters... "

Luna could only assume that the purple being never witnessed anything like her power before by the way he uttered that lone word. But she didn't care. She needed to get out of there and fast.

She ran through the snow away from the swarm before flapping her wings and trying to get air to move beneath them.

One jump into the wind later, she was airborne.

"AFTER THAT ANIMAL!"

The Hornets obeyed their master's commands and took after her, with weapons blazing. She dove downwards and upwards, letting the wind carry her up, high enough away from these minions and their blasts. For a grand army, though, these fighters' aims were way off. They managed to hit snow and earth, but she was too fast for them.

They continued to shoot at her until...

"Oh for the love of-if you want something done right, do it yourself!"

That didn't sound good.

She peeked over her shoulder to see the purple figure place something large and clunky on his clawed hand, and she didn't like it.

After he fit it onto his hand like a literal glove, he aimed it at her and released a yellow-greenish fireball!

Withholding a gasp, she barely dodged his aim by about an inch. It almost hit her wing.
Oh, hayseed... he had accurate aim!

Now she'd have to fight back in her flight. Despite her ability to wield all-powerful spells, she was still only one pony and she didn't know how to deal with these Hornet things and their master, whoever or whatever he was. But she'd still try to slow them down at the very least.

And so, quickly maneuvering onto her back for a brief moment, she directed another blast of blue energy towards the attackers. The blast managed to bring down a few Hornets, but their leader was no fool. He ducked underneath the shot and tried to shoot at her again. Once again, she was successfully in dodging his hits. She tried to slow him down again by shooting her magic at him, but he was swift as she.

This shooting contest seemed to go on forever and ever.

Until... one of them was shot.

"Argh!"

He hit her wing! That brute hit her wing!

Luna descended, down, down, down.
The pain in her wing was so great to bear, it was as if a dragon was burning her alive. Only this shot was worse than a dragon's breath of flame.

Luckily, with the snow to cushion her fall, the snow also acted as a lifesaver in cooling down her wing... for now.

She sat up, shook off loose snow and rapidly looked over her injury. A nasty rash of a burn scorched the tip of her feathered ligament and bent a few of her feathers.
She gently held her injury, only for it to spike up in pain.

Oh great...

Her wing was not only burned, it was also broken.

"Ha ha! Now I gotcha, you puny pony!"

She growled under her breath before mumbling, "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Luna stood up from her fallen position and faced the swarm again, horn and eyes glowing in fury.

She might not be able to fly, but she was not going to let them take her down.

In a last-ditch effort, she charged her magic up and unleashed a large energy ball, as big as a boulder and hurled it towards them all!

Needless to say, many of the Hornets fell and their leader was forced to pull back the rest of his army.

Now was her chance to get away!
She swerved and galloped, through thick and thin snow, as fast as she could go, with her broken wing carefully nestled away from further harm.

It was no longer the time for fight, but for flight...er, on hoof so to speak.

But just as she wasn't one to give in that easily, neither was the sniper behind and above her.

She gasped and panted in vain as she ran away, her heart beating in tune with her hoof steps.

"You think you're SO smart that you can get away that easily from the Evil Emperor Zurg, do you? Well, this time, you WON'T be getting away! I WILL take you down, little wench!

And not even Buzz Lightyear will be able to save you!"

"Not on my watch, Zurg!"

What in-?!

As she fled from the being called Zurg, she looked around for the owner of that heroic voice. It came out of nowhere, but it didn't.
Because coming over a hill, two new figures in white flew with large wings of their own. Strange wings at that!

Would she be safe?





The two men hopped off their ship ladder and into the snow.

"Alright, Ranger, let's go after Zurg."

Ty nodded and followed after Buzz.

The snowy veil covering the earth crunched underneath their boots.

The duo scanned the scenery.

"I think we'd better stick to the ground for now, Buzz. I don't like how the wind's acting up, and I don't want to have to struggle against it."

Buzz trailed a few feet away from their ship before he suggested, "Good idea. And while we're out here, let's put up our helmets in case Mother Nature makes a sneak attack on us."

The scorching wind brushed against the man's face like a steely blade, giving no reason for Ty to argue back. He activated his helmet and it encased his head to protect him against the elements.
Likewise, Buzz did the same.

Now that they were ready to brave the planet's wild landmarks, they trekked again.

They pushed through the force of the wind as they scouted around for any hints of the infamous criminal.

No Zurg or Hornets, just a lot of snow and ice.

The force of nature was determined to slow them down. Every step was like walking through thick mud. They didn't stop.

They walked one mile.

Two.

The sun slowly blazed over them as it moved inch by inch over their heads, lighting their path and making the white canvas shine before them.

But Ty was feeling low on his strength again in spite of the sun's warm and benevolent rays. Even as his will forced him to keep going, his body was nearing on empty.
He mentally berated himself. Not now... why did he HAVE to start feeling like sitting down and sleeping? In the middle of the frost?!

The grueling spell was working too strongly on him. He needed to do something to keep himself awake on the job. He looked up ahead to see Buzz pushing through with no signs of stopping.

"Hey, Buzz!"

He wasn't feeling particularly chatty, but at this point, he had to do anything to keep going and be focused on the job.

Buzz turned his head to give Ty a side glance. "You yell?"

"...Uh... "

Oh, what was he going to say? His mind blanked.

But there was no need to say anything. Buzz was on the ball.

"Hey... are you alright, Ranger? You look like you need to take a rest."

Although he was sorely tempted to say yes, he firmly pushed his own needs in favor of the mission's. "I'll be alright. What I was going to say was-Sweet Mother of Venus, what's that?!"

Buzz followed Ty's line of sight to see smoke rising over a small hill, not too far from them. That inspired him to spring into action.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, I think now's a good time for flying. Let's take to the sky!"

The energy kicked in again and Ty's exhaustion was gone. Following his friend's example, Ty pushed the red button situated on his suit chest plate to activate a pair of white airplane-like wings. They opened from his jet pack and after he jumped into the air after Buzz, he was airborne.

They soared over to the hill to come across the galaxy's most dreaded enemy.

Zurg.

And he was already firing away at some innocent creature with his ion blaster. The fiend!

"And not even Buzz Lightyear will be able to save you!"

Seemingly right on cue, Buzz retorted to Zurg's own threat.

"Not on my watch, Zurg!"

And the fireworks commenced.

Buzz and Ty dove into the battlefield.





She was safe for the moment.

Now was her chance to escape!

Luna ran and climbed up the hill and didn't look back. She huffed and puffed as adrenaline rushed through her veins. She neared the top of the hill.

Behind her, she could hear the sounds of fire and light and electricity and metal as the opponents clashed with each other.
It was safe to say that these two figures, whomever they were, had more experience in dealing with this Zurg than she did. She faced against many dangerous opponents before, but Zurg...

He was in a league all his own. He and the flyers in white.

What side they appointed themselves to was her guess. But she knew one thing: The two figures would be off fighting Zurg while she could make her getaway.

And yet...

By the time she reached the top, she looked back.

And something in her felt a little off. As if...she yearned to go back into battle to assist them, now that she wasn't alone.
Perhaps she could at least give some ground support.

But... was it wise to intervene when the figures in white already had things under control?

The being called Zurg was already being forced back by the flyers with their own brands of weaponry. They slammed their forearms with their... extremities and from their arms, red beams of light were shot forth and into the Hornets. But they could win with one hit if they had her to help out. Oh in the name of Equestria, what could she do in a strange situation like this?

Luna looked back and forth between the two sides on the battlefield.

But a sudden and strong wind kicked up from behind, blazing against her wings. She shrieked a little at the pain that shot up when the wind touched her broken wing. She turned her attention to her ailment and held her wing with a hoof to try and soothe the pain away. But she immediately regretted it; the injury was still fresh and too fractured out of shape to try and heal on her own. She was going to need help.

And she especially needed it now.





"Oh isn't THIS my lucky day; I get to face off against the Pride of Star Command and the Reject of Star Command. Well, at least it'll make this villain day a little better!"

Both men growled and muttered under their respective breaths. Buzz about Zurg planning something and Ty being called a reject.

They'd show him!
The two Rangers dived and swooped in the air as they fought fire with fire.

Buzz led the way, leading the attack while Ty came in as the defense. But both of them made their way through the swarm of Hornets to their target.

Three Hornets tried to fire from underneath, but the two took them out with a hit or two. The pieces of the Hornets fell down. Down. Down.

"So Zurg, you WERE up to something here. Whatever your dastardly plan is, you won't get away with it!"

Buzz dodged off to the side as a Hornet tried to attack him with a green blast. Ty managed to take out the attacker, earning a quick 'thanks' from Buzz.

Zurg glared at his hated enemy. "Well, if it weren't for that little wench who was invading MY working space for my secret project, which I won't be telling you by the way, then yes, I WOULD have been up to something. But now, all of that is gone! Gone thanks to that putrid pony!"

Buzz and Ty quickly exchanged bewildered glances.

A pony?

Their exchange didn't go amiss by Zurg. "Oh, you two are confused. Well, the pony's standing over there, in full view!"

The duo peeked over their shoulders, not wanting to fully take their eyes off Zurg, to see what the purple loon was pointing a claw at.

When they saw the creature the evil lord was indicating, the blue creature-er...pony... itself was busy tending to its wing. It was relatively tall in height, possessing blue fur, a pair of wings, and a horn nestled in its...unique mane. It also seemed to wear some kind of attire, some of which the duo weren't accustomed to seeing put on a pony. The attire seemed more fit for a kid's toy than an actual equine. The pony wasn't quite anything like the two had ever seen before, as shown by their curious expressions.

Ty was the first to notice that the creature's wing seemed to be hanging uselessly by its side. Withholding a gape, he immediately turned to his friend. "Buzz, that pony's wing is broken. It looks like it was burned by something."

"Or someone!"
Buzz whipped a hand to point accusingly at Zurg. "You're cruel, Zurg! Picking on that innocent pony when it didn't do anything to bother you!"

If all three fighters were paying any attention, they would have seen a quick indignant scowl sent to them by the equine.

"But it DID bother me, Lightyear. In more ways than one, mind you... so I'm gonna bother it back!"

He charged up his blaster.

Upon seeing what the emperor was planning, Buzz rapidly formulated a plan. He ordered in a quiet tone so that Zurg wouldn't hear him, "Ty, go back and protect that pony. I'll keep Zurg and the Hornets busy."

"Got it, Buzz."

Ty flew back to the hill to act as the pony's guardian while Buzz fired a quick red blast at Zurg's face.

"Hey, Zurg! You'll have to fight me if you wanna get to the pony!"

"We'll see about that! Try and stop this!"

Before Buzz could make any sudden movement, the evil emperor maneuvered upwards, charged his blaster again and shot off a large energy blast.
It was headed right for Ty and the pony!

"Ty! Look out!"





Ty flew downwards, his Ranger spirit fueling him up and keeping him determined to do the saving here.

He closed in on the creature and the hill. The poor thing... that creep must have severely damaged its wing. The pony was busy trying to tend to it, but it was a clear sight that the wing was going to need some medical help.
The agony on the creature's face didn't help the dire situation any further.

"Ty! Look out!"

The stakes grew.

He looked over his shoulder to see what his friend was talking about, but Zurg's giant blast answered that inquiry. And it was heading right towards him and the pony!

He held back a gasp and flew ahead to where the pony was to keep it out of harm's way.

The creature itself looked up to see Ty coming toward it, as well as the blast! The attack was coming in faster than the Ranger anticipated...as did Luna.

What was she to do with an attack coming in that fast? Luckily, Luna was just as fast when thinking of plans and did the first thing that came to mind.

Gathering her energy within her horn, she produced a large energy shield all around her space. The blue shield was effective; Zurg's blast hit the shield, but it couldn't overcome her own power. The blast was weak in power compared to her own. But that did not mean that she was left unaffected. For as soon as the blast's power faded away, Luna's shield faded away as well now that it succeeded in protecting her.

She was still standing, boldly glaring at the ruthless shooter.

She didn't even notice the flyer in white, named Ty, who was trying to aid her halt in mid-flight to take in the shocking display of power he just witnessed.

"There! You see, Lightyear?! That horrendous horse bothered me first! So I'm gonna make sure that it...and YOU two Rangers, are out of my WORKING SPACE PERMANENTLY!"

"Not today, Zurg!"
Buzz ascended upwards into the sky to shoot off a series of red attacks towards the emperor and Hornets again. The game of cat and mouse was on again, with the mighty mouse taking on the cat bully. Zurg opted to shoot a few rounds towards Buzz, but to his rising agitation, Buzz kept on avoiding his blasts and successfully dodging the Hornets and taking them out one by one.

Meanwhile, Ty slowly hovered down a few feet away in front of the pony to act as its bodyguard, and it was by this time that the pony noticed him for the first time.

She turned her attention to face Ty and her glare lifted as she saw him approach her slowly and cautiously. Was he afraid of her?

The Ranger himself blinked when the creature seemed...surprised at seeing him advancing so carefully. Was she scared of him?

Ty and Luna's eyes met.

They looked over each other for a few minutes, studying one another.

They studied over each other's physical features. Ty observed that the relatively shorter pony appeared feminine, having thin eyelashes and what appeared to be eye shadow situated over her teal eyes. Luna observed that the figure was taller than she and was obviously a male, given his voiced statement about her broken wing. He had no mane or tail. Her, oddly floating, mane and tail were dipped into a can of cobalt blue paint and decorated with stars.
He had an emblem of spiked wings branded on his chest. She had a mark of some sort on her flank and necklace, the mark in the shape of a bright white crescent moon.

This was a strange meeting.

Their eye contact was broken when a Hornet fell apart and fell down a few feet to where Ty was standing.
The robot's crash jarred him out of his observation and turned back to defend the little pony, with his laser at the ready. And ready he was.

Three Hornets noticed him standing in the snow and jetted down to blast away at him.
But three smoking piles of metal later, they met the same fate as their fallen comrade.

Luna glanced down at the three heaps all scattered across the land before looking up to meet Ty's face.

The Ranger himself caught onto the pony's glance. It was a mixture of various emotions: wonder, shock, curiosity, determination, uncertainty...

The same kind of emotions that he felt regarding her.

The look on Ty's face, in his own eyes, was enough to, for now at least, convince Luna that he was on her side.

But would it be enough to face the storm that lay ahead?

The same chilly wind that both parties felt returned. It burned against their bodies. But Luna, out of the two, took the blunt impact of the wind.
She gritted her teeth and shivered as the wind shrilled in her ears.

This didn't go amiss by Ty. "Hey... listen."

She managed to resist the wind's power as she gazed upwards into the creature who was going out of his own way to protect her.
And she saw a hint of a grimly determined but clearly concerned look as he peeked over his shoulder. "I don't know if you can understand me, but right now, you'd better beat it while you can. Zurg's a dangerous enemy and once he sets his eye on something, he won't stop. At all.

So run as fast as you can, AWAY from here and find a safe place to hide. We'll take care of this and then come back for you."

...

Ty took down five incoming Hornets, and once they fell, he snapped, "GO! RUN! You're in danger as long as you're here!"

The yellow army seemed to grow, even with Ty's friend, apparently named Lightyear, trying to take the rest of the robots and Zurg out.

Luna creased her eyebrows at that command. She understood why he ordered to run, but to leave him off like that?!
She struggled from within, unsure of what to do.

"I SAID GO! NOW!"

The stern desperation in his voice convinced Luna despite her hesitation. She took a few step backwards before turning right around and galloping off away from the battle. She ran and ran, further into the horizon as the sounds of battle grew silent and gradually faded into the background. They became echoes in the midst of the snowy landscape.

She couldn't look back. She didn't look back. Not when Ty told her to go and run.

Wait... those were the same words that Luna directed to Twilight and Spike before-

Ice. Slap.

She was hit in the face with a thick blanket of ice, causing her to halt in her tracks.
It was so cold it almost felt her face was being torn off. She peeked one eye into the horizon...

She gasped.

Oh, no...

Large and dark clouds filled the sky. The wind wailed as it carried the snow, blowing its cold contents all over the place. It swirled and blew and smashed against rocks and earth. The horizon ahead was a thick veil of white, burying the warm sun underneath the rigid change of weather.

It was the blizzard.

> The Skies Are Meeker
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"...And that's what happened before you came here." No sooner did Twilight finish her tale that she bowed low in submission to her mentor, expecting backlash for her actions. Only Spike remained standing in worry.

But Celestia's response was not what Twilight anticipated.

"Oh Luna... "

She opened her eyes to find Celestia gazing away from her student and into the distance at a wall, as if recalling some distance memory. Her melancholic eyes reached out to find their light.

The other ponies, still peeking from the doorway, held their breaths. What was their beloved leader thinking?

"...Princess?" Twilight slowly crawled out of her passive bow as she watched her mentor. Her mentor's eyes remained lost in the search.

But only after a few minutes did Celestia break her silence then. She turned off her somber gaze and looked at Twilight. "Twilight, may I see the book you were using to cast the spell?"

Oh, no…the book! Where was it?

Initially surprised by how quickly Celestia retained her cool, Twilight nodded just as fast. "Yes, of course."
She looked around the room. Goodness... that vortex certainly did a number on her home.
But she persisted and began picking up the books with her horn all over the floor, one by one, from their hurled positions.

While her student was off finding the book, Celestia turned to her other anxious subjects near the door.

"It's alright, everypony. There's nothing more to see here. You all may return to your homes now. Go and sleep well."

The other ponies gave each other confused glances at how calm Celestia became in a short matter of time. Nonetheless, they wouldn't disobey her orders. Instead, they all gave a collective, 'Yes, Princess', and took off to their homes.

Now it was just Celestia, Twilight and Spike.

Ugh...where was that book?!

"Uh...Twilight?"

Hearing her name called, she looked up to see Spike holding the book in his claws.

"I found it."

She gave him a nod of thanks as she pried it out of his claws with her magic. She then flew the book forward to Celestia, who in turn levitated it herself. Her horn cast a bright gold in the darkness as magenta eyes rapidly read through text.

Twilight and Spike looked on and waited.

Celestia looked so collected as she read through page after page, lost in her own research.

Her eyes told otherwise.

Eternally, she searched and searched for answers through the book.

Finally, after she was done, she closed the book and heaved a sad sigh. The gravity of the situation weighed her down, weighed her down enough to take shelter behind her rainbow-colored mane.

Her subjects' worry grew. This was the first time they ever saw Celestia looking so broken like this... it was unnerving. Any attempts to comfort her failed their lips.

She was a still and crumbling statue.

But the worry was gone when Celestia came out of her mane and stood straight and tall after some time. Worry was replaced by surprise.

"Right. Twilight, Spike, I need you to come with me back to Canterlot. We must go to Starswirl's library. We have a lot of work to do."

"Huh?"

But Celestia was already on her way out, with the book floating by her side. The regal and determined princess was back.

"But Princess..."

Said figure turned to face her student, all sadness gone.

"Aren't you going to punish me for what I did?"

Celestia shook her head. "No, my faithful student. I will not punish you. But I will need your help; we must find my sister by any means necessary. So gather up any supplies you'll need and meet me outside."

And then she was out the door before any more words could be exchanged.

The two stood there alone in the middle of the dark, staring after their leader.

What has gotten into Celestia? It was as if someone flicked on a light switch with her emotions. One minute she was stern, the next she was sad, and then she was determined. And she didn't punish Twilight.

Spike was the first to break the silence. "Well, uh...I guess we'd better get packing then... right, Twilight?"

"...Right." Twilight looked at her friend, with an equal amount of determination as their princess. Their questions about Celestia's attitude would have to come later. "Right, Spike. Let's get to it."

And they searched through the library to find their necessary tools.




Luna bit her lower lip at how fast the blizzard came. Now what was she going to do? Turn back? Find shelter even though she didn't know which way to go? Fight against it?

The scathing wind tore through her and it bit her broken wing. A horrible pain it was, so horrible that it caused her to whimper softly. She was so focused on the pain's intensity that she failed to notice a couple of wing feathers break free and fly off into the bitter winds towards the battlefield.

The battlefield. Luna looked up and back to where she ran away from. Her rescuer was still out there...

"If I don't get out of this blizzard, he might not be able to see me. And I might not be able to see a way out of here. I MUST go back. He might need me... whoever, and whatever, he is."

Her mind made up, she summoned up whatever magic she could conjure up and created a blue shield around her.
The shield burst forth from her horn and, like a flower, bloomed over her. The cold was gone. She was warm and safe from the harsh weather conditions...for now.

She pushed her way back.



"Give it up, Zurg! You're losing your edge. Your hornets are dropping like flies!"

Buzz narrowly avoided Zurg's wrathful ion blasts.

"WHY WON'T YOU BLASTED RANGERS HOLD STILL?!"

"Because we don't take orders from you, Zurg! We take our orders from Star Command only!"

Zurg just fired on, his temper rising. This pest was giving him a hard time; he was dying to shut Lightyear up and break his wings.

The two continued fighting against and dodging around each other.

Ty was occupied with his own mission of blasting down the army of Hornets that threatened to overwhelm him. So far, he was holding his own. These yellow tin cans dropped dead and were blown to smithereens.
If it weren't for the seriousness of the situation, Ty might have been happy that he was getting a piece of the action. Taking his frustration on these stupid drones was giving him such an energetic boost after the events of this morning.

But even then... it wasn't enough.

He knew this mission would come to an end. Sooner or later, it would have to end, whether Zurg was captured here, or in another time and place. And he and Buzz would need to go back to Star Command.

And he'd have to go back to his troubles.

But his troubles were only just beginning.

Out of nowhere, an invisible and cold whip snapped behind his legs.
The sudden burst of air grew in power. It whipped across his back and arms, threatening to topple him over.

He stood his ground, but the Hornets were not so lucky. The wind pushed them backwards and sent them flailing and flying towards several directions.

This caught the attention of the Rangers and Zurg, and the fighting ceased.

Now they had a new opponent in the arena: the gale and its followers, hail and clouds. The sun was gone, buried underneath grey and white and bleakness.

The blizzard was coming.

"Oh craters..."

Even Zurg couldn't help but internally agree with Buzz. This was NOT good.
He needed to leave. Now.

"LIGHTYEAR! For now, I will spare your, and Parsec's, lives. Mother Nature obviously isn't in the mood for us to quarrel like we usually do. So for now...FAREWELL, BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!"

Zurg pressed a few buttons into his device, commanding it to jet away from the snowstorm. It took Zurg with it and away from the battle.

"HEY! Come back here!"
But before Buzz could fly away, he felt something pull his shoulder back. He turned to find that it was Ty holding him back in the air.

"No, Buzz! If we stay out here, we won't have much of a chance for anything, even chasing after Zurg. We've gotta bail now before we get stuck in the storm!"

Buzz regarded his friend for a minute, pondering his words. He looked back at the emperor's retreating form, and sighed in angry defeat. "I understand. Okay." He looked at his partner again. "Let's get out of here...wait a minute. What about that little pony?"

Ty frowned in horror. "Oh no... Buzz, she's out in that blizzard!"

"What?! How do you know?"

"Uh...well...I, uh...unknowingly sent her running into the blizzard."

"WHAT?!"

Ty sprung his hands up in defense. "Hey, don't start blaming me! How was I to know that it would be coming this way?! It must have changed direction to come here instead of where we parked our ship!"

That reason reached Buzz; the burst of angry shock was gone.

But he was not feeling at ease. Worry dug into Ty's brow. "We have to find her. She might be strong enough to take on a blast from Zurg, but I don't know how she'll fare against something like the blizzard. And with that broken wing..."

Buzz held up a hand. "You don't need to say it. Let's just get going with the mission. Search and rescue, go!"

With Lightyear leading the way, Ty trailed right by his friend as they dived into the snowy threshold.



Luna persisted as ice and show pelted against her shield.

There were moments that the white beast around her threatened to crack and bury her underneath its pressure.
Luckily, all of that training to be a princess was paying off. She was able to endure. Endure as any strong Earth pony or pegasus who had to put up with nature's wildest tantrums.

But her strength would not last for much longer. Even if her physical abilities and will exceeded other ponies, she was not indestructible. Eventually, she would need to drop her shield and tend to her wing someplace where she didn't have to worry about the cold. And then there was that matter with that two-legged armored figure who sent her away. Would he be able to come back?...would he come back at all?

He did seem trustworthy enough. But how could she know? She didn't even know him.

But he saved her.

Wasn't that all that mattered?

It had to be. It was enough for her to place some amount of faith that he'd come back.

"Buzz, there she is!"

Luna paused in her tracks, her ears flicking upwards. That voice... it was him. He came back! Just as he said he would!

She grinned at him, happy to see that he came through for her. Now they could get out of here and-

The wind shrieked and howled louder than before. Luna closed her eyes in pain in reaction to its power. It was as if it was determined to break her spirit, just as that Zurg creature was when he broke her wing. She looked up to see if the two guardians were still there and unfazed by nature's white demon.
They were still there. But they struggled to stay in flight, so they took the next step to safety.

They lowered themselves down and...folded their strange wings away?

She was going to have to ask about their method of flying later.

The two men gingerly walked over to Luna, taking great care to avoid any surprise pitfalls the snowstorm might have created for them.
They reached her, a bit surprised by the blue shield.

They looked at each other with curious glances, but didn't seem to consider it too much.

Ty himself knelt down in front of her to her level to talk. "I'm guessing you created a shield to protect yourself against the snow, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, I told you we'd come back for you. We'll get you out of here, ok?"

He smiled a little as she nodded again.
The smile faded as he looked up to Buzz. "How do you think we should get her back? Should I take shelter with her and wait for you to come back?"

Buzz shook his head. "Nah, you don't need to. I'll call the ship right over."

Luna tilted her head at the other creature. Ship? They had a ship? She didn't see how that would help them. Ships were created to sail oceans, not snowstorms.

But this didn't seem to bother Buzz or Ty. He opened up a white compartment in his sleeve and tapped some buttons in his left wrist.
Ty stood up as Buzz summoned the Star Cruiser over. Now all they needed to do was wait.

While they waited, Ty looked at the pony again. "Don't worry. We'll soon have you out of here in two shakes."

Now it was Luna's turn to smile. She was satisfied with his firm answer and in his trustworthiness.
She considered speaking up and thanking him when she heard the sound of...oh no. MORE whirring?

The relief she was feeling disappeared.
Were those Hornets back again?!
She started looking around, eyes wide-eyed and on the alert despite her waning power.

Buzz and Ty took a step back in alarm. What was going on with her?!

Ty held up his arms to try and quell her. "Hey! Hey! Calm down! Stop it, it's alright! It's just our ship! It's coming in to pick us up!"

But the pony was still wary. Those Hornets had to be around here somewhere. Even if she could not outright fight them, she wouldn't run away from them. Not again.

Ty continued to try and calm her down.

But Buzz came to Ty's aid. "Hey, it's here!"

Both Rangers felt the warmth of the ship's exhaust and air breathing down upon them. They looked up and there she was.

Good ol' 42.

Even Luna had to pause in her frantic daze to glance up at the giant bullet-shaped thing floating above them.
She was quite shocked by its entrance that she nearly let her shield loose.
A slip up like that and she was quickly overcome with cold.

But she snapped back into action and put up the shield again.

Ty was quick to notice the pony's fading strength and growing wariness.
With a patient tone, he assured, "It's okay. That's our ship. It's what we'll use to get out of here. The only thing you gotta do, is just trust us."

"And let us help you. We'll carry you up there."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"We've got no other option here, Ranger. Besides, with the two of us, I'm sure we can get her out." Buzz turned to the pony. "What do you think?"

Luna looked into the eyes of both men. Both of them seem so sure and confident in the floating ship above them. And they showed no fear... it must be on their side. It had to be, given that Buzz was the one who called it forth to them. And if they had to carry her with their own bouts of strength, with only her magic and other wing to assist them, then...
So be it.

She breathed deeply, releasing her tenseness through her nostrils in a resigned snort...

And released her shield.

The snow tore into her fur and wings again, seeming to scorch her very core.

"Okay, Ranger, let's get this little pony up into 42!"

Ty didn't need to be told twice. He dashed to Luna's side and knelt down again. "Now this is what we'll do. Buzz and I are going to lift you up from underneath. Save your wings and just hang in there."

Luna nodded once more.

With both Rangers standing by her, they were ready for take off.

"Ready, Ty?"

"Ready."

"Then let's jet."

And both of them released their wings again. Their jetpacks somehow managed to lift them off the ground, taking the pony with them.



The wind shoved them.

It was a struggle at first.

The wind seemed bound to destroy them and their hopes of escaping. But the two men wouldn't give up that easily.
And neither did Luna.

They growled in fury, grunted in stubbornness. They would soon be rewarded for their efforts.

As they slowly toiled through the snow, Luna somehow managed to find the last ounce of strength reserved somewhere and bring it out in one more blue shield.

The two men were, needless to say, grateful.

Now it was merely a matter of holding on until they reached their destination.

As they held onto hopes, they said nothing on the way back.

Instead, they each echoed their own thoughts about the situation in silence, with only the screeching winds for noise and company.

Luna couldn't help but look and ponder more closely about her saviors. Both of them seemed to be aging, but one looked more older than the other.
Buzz appeared to be a man stuck in eternal youth, with joy and pride written all over his face and blue eyes. She sensed he was a highly respected Ranger, with the way he held himself even in flight against the odds. He seemed to believe in the impossible.

A trait she couldn't help but admire...and remind her of Celestia.

Ty, on the other hand, looked more exhausted and worn out by age. His face was carved by a quiet pain, and he wouldn't dare show it to anyone else. But his eyes, his large and brown eyes, showed a sign of goodness to him. The goodness she was sure that he was proud to carry on in spite of his pain. He seemed to be a scarred veteran of sorts, with the way he carried himself through these times. But apparently, it was not enough to make him quit his job of serving and protecting despite what he may have to put up with.

A trait she couldn't help but reflect...and remind her of herself.

She was in the presence of two opposite men. But good men at that.

And her shield would protect them as they stretched closer to their goals.

Likewise, the two men couldn't help but be curious about the pony they were lifting in their arms.
She was no ordinary pony, that much was certain. She was extraordinary in more ways than one-her ability to conjure shields, her mystical appearance, her mysterious crescent moon symbol. It was as if she appeared right out of a fantasy book for girls.

Buzz didn't know what kind of pony she was, but she certainly seemed to be a well-trained and properly kept type, with her equine build and regalia.

Who placed the strange crown, neck garment and shoes on her? And why?

For showcasing purposes? For love? For some sort of cultural custom?

Whatever the reason was, he was going to have to look into it, along with many other questions zooming in his head about this creature.

Ty, on the other hand, thought that the pony seemed to have some sort of sentience. Granted, it was previously established that she could understand him, given that she listened to him when he ordered her to retreat away from their battle with Zurg. But she was also seeming to be sentient when she defended herself against Zurg's cannon with that shield of hers.

He also thought her to be retaining some sort of emotional range. The way she looked at the two of them, in curiosity and awe with those bright eyes of hers, spoke out to him. She never saw anybody like them before...so she had every reason to be afraid of them. And yet she wasn't.

All because Ty assured her that she could trust them and she did by letting them help her flee from danger.

She was a unique pony. But where did she come from? Another uncharted planet that Star Command has yet to explore? What kind of world was it? How did she know to trust them?

He would definitely be doing his own part to know more about her as soon as he got the chance.

But for now...

They were in the present moment of surviving and that was all they could do with each other.




By the time, they reached the ship, Luna was quite overwhelmed with shock.

The large ship was roomy on the inside. Everything was clean, pristine and orderly.
Walls were lined with white and purple. The white extended to walls and wide entryways.
One of which they would all be going through.

And it was a good thing too.

Once they were inside... she shivered.

Even if the blue shield was no longer surrounding everyone, she was shivering down to her bones.

Buzz and Ty looked at her in concern. The poor thing...
They gently lowered her to the floor, but they didn't let go of her. They steadied her to make sure she was able to stand before they glanced at each other.

"Get her to the medical bay and do what you can for her. I'll fly 42 out of here."

"Right."

Luna looked at them, awaiting the next course of action. But they were already standing up and off to work.

Buzz disappeared into one of the hallways while Ty stayed behind with Luna.
He motioned with her to follow him and she listened.
With slow and less-than-energized hoof steps, she trailed after him.

He took his time in escorting her to received medical attention.
"Hang tight. You'll be fine."

His gentle voice encouraged her to go about her steps with the greatest of cares as she could maintain.

They passed a long hallway of white walls, with only their steps echoing.

Every so often, when they were on their way to the medical bay, he would look at her to see how she was doing.
The exhausted and drained eyes and lack of defiance made themselves known to Ty. Known to him in a deeper way than he thought possible.
Those same bags underneath her eyes, the slow-as-sludge steps, the out-of-it state of mind?...

Now he understood what Buzz was worried about when he looked into Ty's eyes and face earlier that day.

It was like looking into a mirror.

He sighed in great patience again and continued mentoring Luna. "Easy... we're almost there."

Oh thank the heavens... she was slowly losing her strength. The cold was more than she could bear. It dived into her cells and slowly froze every bit of energy, every bit of metabolism down.
She was grateful that Ty was understanding enough to put up with her sluggish movements.

So grateful she managed to muster up a small but genuine smile at his kindness.

Ty smiled a little back. It was good to see her smile, at least even for a second.

And then when he came across the location he was looking for, he waved a hand for her to follow. She followed him with no hesitation.
She was led into a door in the hallway, and the door opened up to a large room. The room contained a fair number of medical beds, cardiac monitors and other equipment nearby needed in case of emergencies.

Luckily, the only thing that Luna wanted to use more than anything was a bed.

Ty was one step ahead of her desire. He went over to the nearest bed and patted to it.

The pony went over to the bed the Ranger selected. After she placed her front hooves onto the bed, she used her back legs to propel her to climb up onto it. With great success, she got into a comfortable position and cradled her legs underneath her. She then laid her head down on the pillow.

When she felt comfortable enough, she turned her head to see Ty with his back turned to her and already rummaging through some counters, looking for something.

..."What is he looking for?"

He took out various items from the counters-jars, gauze tape, towels, bottled water, flashlights-

"Well, here it is."

What was "it"?

"It" turned out to be a giant yellow blanket, all neatly folded up. It was big enough to cover three or four ponies.

"This blanket should be enough to warm you up."

He set it off to his side as he reached around the counter shelves for another item. He had an easier time finding this one.
It was a large first-aid kit, compacted into a ready-to-be-used box.

Once he found these two items, he put away the rest of the supplies and closed the counter doors.
Ty then brought the kit and blanket over to the bed.

He unfolded the blanket and gradually draped it over Luna.

Needless to say, she was so glad to have that blanket. She grabbed the edge of it with her teeth and wrapped the blanket tightly around her.
The warmth now rising, it tempted her to fall asleep right there on the bed.

But she sleepily watched Ty as he opened the first aid kit.

Ty himself was already working in Ranger mode. All emotions turned off, all logic turned on. Focused on doing what he could to take care of her and make sure she got better at a steady pace.
Warm her up? Done.

Now he would have to do what he could to fix her wing until they reached Star Command.

He spotted her casually observing him, as if she were a sleepy cat. "You just take it easy. I'm not a doctor, but I'll do what I can to patch up your wing until we need to see the LGMs. They'll take care of your wing in no time."

...The what?

The LGMs?...who were they?

But even if she did want to ask more about these 'LGMs', she didn't care about staying awake or even thinking anymore. The temptation was too great to resist.
She drifted off to sleep.

Ty took this as the initiative to start his healing.




The stray blue feathers danced in the wintery air currents. They lost their sheen and beauty thanks to the snow and ice.

But they still kept flying. Flying.

A claw trapped them in mid-air.

"Hmm...what's this?"

The claw brought the feathers closer to his purple face for inspection.

"Interesting... these feathers feel different than the feathers of a puffer. Soft yet filled with some sort of energy. I can FEEL the energy in my grasp!..."

He turned his head to the horizon.

"No doubt that Star Command has that horse face safe underneath their watch, but what's not to say I can't study her feathers? These feathers look...intriguing."

Zurg chuckled darkly. A plan may be on the way if he learned more about that little pony and what she was capable of...
> The Sting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike shouldered his pack. "Okay, Twilight, I'm all ready to go. I have everything we need for our trip to Canterlot."

"Right. Let's go." But Twilight didn't move. Although she knew it was far from the perfect time to worry about the smaller issues, the matter of Celestia's negative behavior came back to haunt her. She gulped in great hesitation, to which Spike took notice.

"Uh….Twilight? We can go now, y'know." He hooked a claw to the door.

"I know, I know. But I'm still afraid of facing Princess Celestia. You saw her, Spike. What if she disowns me as her student after what I did?"

Spike held up an assuring claw to place on Twilight's shoulder. "Ah, c'mon, Twilight. It wasn't your fault. We'll find a way to get Luna back. I mean, you'll be working with Celestia; I think with her, and your number one assistant of course," he couldn't resist patting himself proudly on the chest, "I think we'll lick this problem together."

Twilight took Spike's words into account. That was a very true fact. The two of them would be working alongside Celestia to find Luna, wherever she ended up. If Celestia didn't want Twilight working with her, she would have said something.

When she looked at her number one assistant, she couldn't help but feel her mouth perk up a little at his faith in her. "You're right, Spike. We WILL find Luna and I'll make things right." Gaining strength by his everlasting faith in her, Twilight felt ten feet tall. She strode out the door, with Spike by her side.
They arrived outside to see the Princess waiting patiently for them.

"We're ready to leave. We've got everything we'll need and...Princess? Is something wrong?"

It occurred to Twilight that Celestia was looking at her in a strange way, as if she was...worried. But what about? Her sister, perhaps. It was understandable, given the two of them were very close.

Celestia shook her head. "Well...yes. But it's nothing that can't be handled. With your help and Starswirl's-"

"And her number one assistant!"

Celestia couldn't help but chuckle warmly for a moment despite the graveness of the situation. "And your number one assistant, we'll be able to find a way to find my sister and bring her back. Are you ready to go?"

Feeling the tension ease away, Twilight grinned a little. "Of course. I'm ready when you are, Princess. I'll contact my friends and tell them about-"

"No. Not this time."

Twilight blinked in confusion at Celestia's firm order. She didn't want Twilight's friends to come with them? "But I don't understand. Why mustn't I contact my friends to inform them about this?"

"It's important that we do our homework first. We must find out everything we can about Starswirl's spell and see if we can find out where Luna may have disappeared off to. Besides, I don't know if we'll need the Elements of Harmony for what we will be researching and I can't risk the safety of other ponies unless the circumstances are absolutely dire."

Twilight and Spike exchanged confused glances. It wasn't something they wanted to hear, but...the Princess had a point.

Twilight nodded. "I understand." Albeit her hesitation to agree to this notion. She didn't want to be doing this without her friends to back her up, but unless there was a reason to bring them over to assist in this fragile matter, there was no need to summon them now.

Satisfied with her student's approval, Celestia said, "Very well, then. Let us be on our way to Canterlot."





Ty wiped his brow as he put on the finishing touches for Luna's bandaged wing... or he would have had he not remembered that his helmet was still up. After frowning in annoyance, he pushed a button to retract the glass helmet. He then returned his attention to Luna.

It was quite a bit of work, given he was not a professional medic, but thanks to the Academy training, he managed to put that knowledge to use and secure her wing into a bandaged cocoon until the LGMs could properly tend to it. He made a mental note to thank his old instructor later.

But for now, it was time to put away the first aid kit and let her sleep in peace until they arrived to Star Command.

Ty packed the contents of the first aid kit back into the box, closed the box up and brought it back over to the counters. Just as he put it away on the shelves, a series of beeps went off. His communicator. The Ranger shut the counter doors and lifted up a lid to a compartment hidden in his left sleeve. It opened up to reveal a small blue screen with Buzz's face. "Yeah, Buzz?"

"Hey Ty, everything okay down there? I thought I'd check in."

"Everything's fine. The pony's sleeping now. The cold really did her in, but she's ok. I managed to patch up her wing for the time being until the LGMs can look at her." He cast a questioning glance over at her before looking back at his friend and motioning with his arm to show her to Buzz.

The Ranger nodded as he saw that Luna was slumbering peacefully underneath the blanket on the bed and her wing was fixed up good and tight, tenderly laid out flat. "Well, that's good to hear. I'll call Star Command and give them a head's up about our unexpected guest."

Ty retracted his arm to face Buzz again. "Okay. Um, you need me to come up there?"

"No need, Ranger, I got this. Besides, you'd better stay down there and watch over her just in case she wakes up and needs something. I'll let you know when we reach Star Command."

Ty saw no reason to argue with that logic, so he simply nodded. "Alright, Buzz. I'll keep an eye on her. And thanks. Over and out."

He flipped the lid back down, ending the conversation. He then grabbed a nearby chair and took a seat next to the bed.

He relaxed into the chair and leaned his head into his hand as he watched as her form rise up and down. What did ponies like her dream about, he wondered. It was an odd thing to question during his vigil, but there was nothing much else he could do while she was sleeping. It was an interesting question to think about anyways. She was sentient after all from all that she demonstrated so far-her methods of self-defense, her spectrum of emotions, her intelligence. Ty wouldn't be surprised if she really was dreaming about something.

Dreams.

Whatever she was experiencing in her subconscious, he hoped it was a good experience after what she went through. He could use some good dreams himself.

A yawn invaded his body.
His head slowly fell as if it held a giant weight.
The rush of the prior battle caught up to him and dowsed him with drowsiness.

The notion of sleep was sounding all too good right about now. He could just take a little nap; no one would notice. The temptation rose, his body slowly grabbing the opportunity to-he jerked his body. Now wasn't the time to fall asleep on the job!

"Craters...I should make some coffee." But he wasn't about to leave his position to go to the kitchenette, not that he was much in the mood to get up. And the chair did provide a place of temporary comfort. At least until they arrived at their headquarters.

Ty growled in irritation. This was ridiculous; he was in no way going to doze off on the task at hand! He placed both of his hands on his lap and sat up straight against the back of the chair, doing everything he could to make sure he could command his body to stay fully awake. It was working; his body felt a little more energy coming back to him.

He focused his attention on the pony, removing all thoughts of sleepiness from his mind.

He would not fall asleep. He would not fall asleep. He would not-

He fell asleep.





Luna jerked awake, breathing in and out in a rushed breath.

Events of the past reimbursed themselves in a nightmare that propped her awake, or at least her senses propped awake.

Eyes darted to and fro as she reoriented herself to life. Luna's ears pricked up, flicking as she took in all of her surroundings within a medical facility. She parked herself on the bed, the last thing she remembered. She was recovering after a cold spell, fighting for herself in the wintery storm and being rescued by a being known as Ty Parsec, and she was safe now.

Ty.

She found him asleep on a chair.

Luna tilted her head at him before finally feeling a strange weight on her wing. She turned to see her wing upheld by a roll of bandages, and a truly well-crafted one at that. Her wing was saved and put back together by Ty, she could see, and now he was resting. He must have been exhausted, the poor thing.

Well, now that Luna was feeling much better, she was now feeling the urge to get up and move around, as well as wake up Ty to thank him for taking care of her. He deserved it after all he went through to help her in her time of need. It gnawed at her to see him working to keep her out of harm's way, but she was still appreciative for his voluntary and generous acts all the same. The least she could do was bear thanks.

And that's what she was going to do. She uncurled her legs, stood straight up and stretched her limbs as far as she could stretch them. After she worked out the rusty kinks in her legs, she hopped off the bed and quietly treaded over to Ty. When she reached him, she lifted up a hoof to gently shake his shoulder to wake him.

But all she received was an uncomfortable groan.

Luna frowned and gently tried shaking him again. But the response was the same.

"Hmm...something's wrong. But what?"

"No...no, please! No!"

Luna nearly jumped back at the sudden exclamation. That was quite unexpected. When she looked back at him, she tapped a hoof to her chin. Something was obviously bothering Ty...a nightmare. Or perhaps he was recalling a particularly horrible past event.
Whichever one it was, Luna was going to have to be the one to pull him out of the danger.

"Ty Parsec. Ty Parsec...Ty."

Even with her gentle greeting, it did not wake him up. His pain was keeping him back from responding to Luna.

He groaned again, his eyes squeezed tightly. Such pain.

It was horrible to see him like this.

Luna's concern ran deep through her veins. She had to help him. But could he, whatever he was, even have dreams? Only one way to find out.

And so, she closed her eyes, her magic glimmering to life, with her horn glowing white. And then...

She bore witness to his dream.





"No...please, leave me alone! Go away!"

Ty ran again, breath rapid and afraid. He ran through the woods, into the dark night of the dusk deep moon.

Past wrinkled trees. Hanging from the tree branches like rotten fruit were old mechanical parts of ancient machines. The parts were torn apart-sprockets, wires, cogs, and other parts that gave life to machinery. Some of those parts were ones Ty didn't need to see to know what they were.

Some of them were the twisted parts of robots.

Arms splattered with blue oil, legs bent out of shape, decapitated heads stared with lifeless eyes.

Ty ran faster and harder, his breath increasing in speed. He had to get away from here, he just had to escape the arena. That thing was still around.

But it was as if everywhere he went, the amount of trees grew. But as if that wasn't already frightening enough...

A familiar hungry whirring occurred in the shadows of the forest. Hiding and waiting for the right moment to strike.

Ty stopped dead in his tracks, the fear gripping him in the earth. He couldn't move, his feet became lead. His arms shook as if he were cold.
No...it was cold. A random burst of cold, as cold as deadly ice, blew across the forest, freezing his heart and body and mind. He looked around, a frightened animal looking for some safety away from this place. What could he do? Where could he go? He had to find someplace, anyplace where that...that thing wasn't hiding and prowling to catch him. It was stalking him, he knew.

The monster's whirring echoed again. It was much louder this time.

A sudden burst of light shone from the heavens, from up above and hidden in the clouds. The moon.

A green moon.

Brighter than crystallic fusion, flares burning harder than a nuclear reactor.

Ty was frozen harder than the coldest iceberg in the ocean. Oh no...that blasted moon from Canis Lunis was back!

His brow produced sweat, his heart beat fast.

"Leave me alone! Go away!"

But as if to mock him, the moonbeams just shone brighter on the land, peeking through the clouds. They shone and released a deadly sight- a cloud of ugly vampire bats. They dived downwards, swooping into a v-formation, as if they held a vendetta against the Ranger.

Ty felt his heart scrambling to his throat. Now he had to run faster than he ever ran in his entire lifetime. He shook his body free of fear before he took off. He hated bats. Nasty things. If there was one thing he was afraid of next to NOS-4-A2, it was bats.

He pounded against the earth, footsteps drumming furiously. His own heart banged against his eardrums.

The faster he went, the farther he tried to get away from the bats, but no matter where he turned, they were there to follow his every step. The leader of the cloud was the biggest of them all, its wings spread far and wide. It was looking at Ty very intently...

Ty's eyes widened as wide as dinner plates. Oh no...the creature was coming to attack him!

The bat was diving bomb faster than a rocket. Its jaws were sharp and glaring underneath the moonlight. It was coming at him with large and red eyes. But he wasn't the only monster to stalk after Ty.

No... finally deciding to come out out at last was the last thing Ty had ever wanted to meet again. It was that creature.

It pounced after him, a wild animal chasing its prey.

Ty gasped at the two frightening sights. If that weren't enough, the trees suddenly came to life, the robot parts falling off the trees and slithering their way towards him.

It was all so much to take in, but he needed to keep fleeing. Fleeing away from this nightmare.

Keep going, Ty! Keep going and don't stop. Don't stop...

Ty...Ty, please, listen. Wake up. Wake up...




Luna cut her magic loose and urged,

"TY PARSEC! WAKE UP!"

He bolted out of his chair, nearly falling out of his seat.

Luna watched with concern as he lurched forward, panting in exertion, sweat dripping off his brow, eyes squeezed shut. But she dare not ask. Instead, she waited for him to get his wind back. She gently pulled out her other wing to drape around his back in comfort.

Ty breathed shakily to recollect his senses. Cool air in, warm air out. Cool air in, warm air out. After he calmed down, he sat up and buried his face into his hands. Craters...another nightmare. This one was horrifying. Body parts, bats, the green moon, and those two monsters he never wanted to see again? The only thing that seemed to keep his sanity in check was the fact that he had someone to wake him up. A voice that saved him from forcing him to crawl onto the ground and shrivel up into a fetal position.

He would soon find that savior closer than he thought.

He finally felt a light and feathery cloak on his back. Lifting his head up from his hands, he noticed the pony was by his side. Awake and looking worried at him, with her other wing clutching around him. The form of care was unexpected, but he was welcome to it. It was kind of nice. Different, but nice and warm. In quiet gratitude he assured, "I-I'm ok. I'm fine, I just...I had a nightmare."

And then that was when she spoke for the first time since she met him. "That must have been quite a vivid nightmare, Ty Parsec."

"Yeah, I'll say. It was-"...Ty paused before he turned right back to face the pony with shock growing on his face, all memory of the nightmare forgotten in favor of this new twist. "Wait a minute...did...did you just talk?!"

Luna regarded him as though he asked what two and two equaled. "Yes I did. Why are you so shocked?"

Ty blinked a couple of times before he shook his head in disbelief. "You can talk! I-I-I just-I never heard a pony talk before-Eer, I mean you're the first pony to talk! You can talk!

"...I'm not still dreaming, am I?"

Seeing that she had some explaining to do, Luna lifted her wing off Ty's back and patted Ty on the arm. "Actually, no. You're very much awake. But if you say you never heard a pony speak before, then I may assume that we are outside the boundaries of Equestria and you have never seen ponies like me?"

"...Equestria?"

She put a hoof on her crest to indicate herself. "Yes. Equestria. It is where I am from. You are not familiar with my country?"

Ty was still reeling from his bafflement, but he was slowly coming out of it. "I...No, I'm sorry, I-I don't. I...I never heard of your home."

This news was not what Luna wanted to hear, but she was not the least bit surprised. "I see. Well, regardless, I hope you are feeling much better, Ty Parsec."

Ty nodded. "I am, believe me. Er...thanks for waking me up by the way, uh...hey, if you can talk, you got a name, right?"

Luna cast a polite smile."Of course. My name is Princess Luna, and I am delighted to meet you."

If Ty wasn't already overwhelmed with the fact he was having a conversation with a talking pony, he was to be absolutely floored at her occupation. "A Princess? You're a...a PRINCESS?" That would explain why she was wearing the decorative regalia.

"Yes, I am. What about it?"

Ty leaned back, groaning and slapping his face into his hand. His life just took a turn for the weird again. Was he just a giant magnet for things out of the norm or something?

Luna was finding Ty to be a fairly odd being. Kind and determined, but odd. "Are you alright? You look rather unwell." As well as a little incredulous.

Ty wiped his face with a hand and placed it on his lap. "I'm just trying to take it all in. Today's just been an adventure right after another. First, I'm assigned with Buzz to go to Zenway 9, then we're off fighting Zurg and protecting you and now-"

Luna held up a hurried hoof at the mention of 'Zenway 9'. "Ty Parsec, wait a moment! Where did you say you were?"

He blinked at the change in emotions. Although Ty would have been irritated with the interruption, he saw no reason to be upset with her when she had the right to know about everything that happened. He did need to keep her calm when it seemed she was on the urge of freaking out. And so he put asides his swamped frame of mind. "I said, we were on Zenway 9. That was where Buzz and I were assigned to go to keep an eye on Zurg and his Hornets, and where we found you. You see, Buzz and I are Space Rangers, working for Star Command."

The confused brow on Luna's face told him he needed to explain more.
"Basically, we're the guardians of the galaxy. We protect and defend other planets from the evil Emperor Zurg."

Ty suddenly wondered if he should have reworded his explanation differently, for Luna was wearing the same shock he felt not too long ago.

"Planets? Did you say, planets?" Planets? Where in the wide world of Equestria did she end up?! "I...Ty Parsec, are you saying that I landed not only outside the boundaries of Equestria, but I also landed outside of my world?!" Her own breath was unbalanced, hitching up and down in great disturbance. "No, no, no! This is not possible! This wasn't supposed to happen!"

The Ranger suddenly got up onto his feet at the signs of her distress. "Hey, calm down!"

But she was seeming to ignore him; she continued to hyperventilate in panic. "I just can't believe it! The spell brought me here! It brought me to some strange world I've never been in and separated me from Twilight and Spike and Celestia and-"

"PRINCESS LUNA, STOP IT!"

The tough command issued by Ty finally got Luna to stop what she was doing and look up at him. But her fear was still present.

Ty sighed as he rubbed the root of his nose in patience. "Okay. Look. Let's calmly think this through and start at the beginning. I think that since we've both got a lot of questions that need answers, we should take it one step at a time and explain everything we need to explain. I mean, if I've never heard of Equestria and you've never heard of Zenway 9, then we both need to share what we know to help each other. You sound like you had a lot going on before you came here, so you can go first."

His suggestion brought Luna out of her frightened state as it sank in. Oh goodness...he was right, the most important thing to do was to explain things to him. Perhaps he might even have a solution to her troubles. She acted like such a fool in front of him. "Of course, you're right. I'm...I am SO sorry for my behavior. It was not the proper way to behave."

The Ranger sat down back in his seat, arms resting on legs. "Hey, it's okay, I understand. It's a lot to take in. I know I shouldn't have yelled at you, but I needed to calm you down."

Luna sat down on her haunches, now tranquil and reasonable. She grinned a little sheepishly. "And I'm glad you did. Thank you. And thank you for taking care of me. If it were not for you and your friend, I would have frozen over in that terrible storm with my broken wing."

"..." A light smile caressed his lips. "Well, you're welcome, Princess Luna." If there was one thing that made this day a little better, it was being thanked for his services.

Both pony and Ranger kept their smiles up for a few more minutes before Luna decided to get down to business.
"So what do you wish to know first, Ty Parsec?"

It was not until she acknowledged him by both names did he notice. But he made no point in picking up on it; it was probably royal protocol for her to address him by his first name and surname. Instead, he focused on the main objective at hand. "Well, I guess the first thing I'd like to know is this: what do you mean by, 'landed'? What exactly happened to you?"

Luna's smile fainted away, a sigh being released out. She closed her eyes to regain her thoughts as she prepared herself to tell her tale. After she steeled her mind, she opened her eyes. "What I mean is, I was helping a friend of mine with her craft. She was trying out one of Starswirl's experiments, the power to create portals to travel from one area of Equestria to the next."

"Star Swirl? Uh...who's that?"

Oh...that's right. Ty wouldn't have known who Star Swirl was. "Star Swirl, or otherwise known as Star Swirl the Bearded, was an important figure in Equestria. He was responsible for the creation of over two hundred spells in magic and-"

Now it would be Ty's turn to interrupt. "Whoa, whoa, wait a minute here. I don't mean to cut ya off, but...magic? As in, the kind a stage magician uses?"

Luna was the one to blink at the Ranger's near skepticism. "In part, yes. But the magic I am referring to is the kind that all ponies can use. I used my magic to conjure up the shield to protect you and Buzz Lightyear from the blizzard and myself from your evil Emperor Zurg." Luckily for her, Ty was able to believe her and widen his eyes at amazement.

"Wow. So it's for real... I can't say I've heard heard of magic like that before. The magic that I know of is the type that only stage magicians can pull off."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But I think I like your magic better than what I've seen. It's different. And it's good."

The compliment sent Luna grinning and crisscrossing her arms in embarrassment. "Oh well. That is very nice of you to say."

"Heh. No problem. So, uh...I'm gonna go on a limb and guess that the spell went awry?"

Luna cleared her throat and sat up as the gravity of the situation fell on her again. "Well, sort of. My friend and I did successfully create a portal, but for some reason, it went out of control. I tried to contain it, but something happened. The power was so strong; I almost fell from its weight. There was a flash of light. And then..." She sadly lowered her head. "And then I ended up on Zenway 9. Away from Equestria, and I don't know how to get back."

"..." Ty creased his brow in sympathy for her. So for all her trouble, for all she did to help her friend, she was on the receiving end of a short stick. He could relate to that all too well. But she didn't sound as if she were feeling resentful about anything. No, she just felt sad and afraid about everything. And she'd need someone to give her a hand in helping her return home. He could tell she truly loved her homeworld, and presumably her people, so much. But why did she and her friend make this portal? He carefully picked his words so as not to upset her. He slowly asked, "I see. So why were you and your friend trying to create the portal in the first place?"

Luna picked up her head, but she still appeared sad about her plight. "I was..." It then reoccurred to Luna about why she helped Twilight out with that portal. But that reason didn't seem like the right one to tell this Ranger right off the bat. Not when they just met and were learning about the facts about each other first before truly getting to know their hearts. And she did not want to upset him with her own heartache when there was more work to be done-getting her back to her beloved home. Besides, he went through so much trouble for her already and she did not want to impose any more on him. Not when it appeared he was going through some inner troubles himself. The nightmare that she saw was of no doubt great anguish for him, judging by his fear.

A part of her wished to help him with his own share, in gratitude for helping her out and because she did not want to see anyone in pain and suffering. If she had to put aside her own struggles to aid another, then so be it. She sighed again before going on, "I was helping her because she was taking a break from studying magic. She likes to study up on Starswirl's work for fun and I thought about joining in on the fun."

Luna's friend liked to study...for fun? Ty couldn't help but feel the corners of his mouth threatening to slide up. She reminded him of someone else who liked to study a lot, who was currently piloting the ship now.

Luna was confused, her melancholy gone. "What? What's so funny?"

"Uh, it's just...your friend reminds me of Buzz in a way. A good way, I mean. He likes to study for fun too."

Luna didn't see what was so funny about Twilight and Buzz having a connection that-oh, now she understood. "He does?" No wonder he seemed so proud of himself.

"Yep. He likes to study and keep up to date on everything whenever he can, and even when he's on break, he can't relax for too long or else he'll go stir crazy. Heh. But getting back to the point, it sounds like even though you two put in your best efforts, it ended up being more bigger than you thought."

She nodded. "Yes, it was. More bigger and more trouble. And without the book we used to create the portal, I cannot conjure it up again. And I do not want to risk trying so, for I am afraid if I do, I may be lost forever like Starswirl's time recorder."

"Time recorder?"

"It was what he used to test out his portals before he abandoned the project altogether. It never came back to him."

"Oh." Sweet Mother of Venus, this was a tough case. Ty held his chin in his hand as he tried to mull over everything he was told. So the story he got was that she and her friend, who was taking a break from studying, decided to test out this spell that Starswirl tried to perfect but couldn't get right. Something went awry, with Luna trying to tame it from growing out of control. There was a burst of light and then the next thing she knew, she ended up on the snowy planet.

This pony had a long day.

"Craters...I'm not sure what to say."

"It's quite alright, Ty Parsec. I am uncertain about how to deal with all of this myself, especially with the grim possibility of having no way to go home."

Ty gripped a fist in silent fury, his heroism kicking in. "Now hold on here. Don't you go saying that. There HAS to be a way, and we WILL find it."

Luna shot her head up in hope. Did he just say-"Find a way? You mean... you will help me?"

Ty nodded before he got up from his seat. He then knelt down to speak to her on eye level. "Of course I will. And so will Buzz. I don't know how, and I don't care how, but we'll find a way to help you out. That's a Ranger's promise." He meant every word with every bit of his heart. To Ty, keeping a Ranger's promise was very important. He would help Luna out however he can and not rest until he found a way to send her back to her kingdom.

His pure conviction reached Luna's own eyes and heart. She held up a hoof to her mouth as his strong vow caused small traces of tears to form in her eyes. "I..."
She smiled. "Thank you." She wiped the tears away before she threw her forearms around him for a hug.

Her strength nearly caused Ty to fall over. But he managed to stay sturdy as Luna held him in her arms. As much as the hug was wonderful, he didn't know what to make of it. "Uh...anytime." He awkwardly patted her on the neck. He hadn't been hugged like that in a long time and he just met her. Plus, she was a PONY; she was a little stronger than he was. Still, he wouldn't break free yet. She certainly needed a lifeline to hang onto after what she went through. He would wait until she was ready to let go of him.

And he had to keep to his promise no matter what he had to do.





Zurg examined the feathers underneath a microscope. "Hmm...fascinating. The feathers contain some sort of energy. Energy that's not of any planet. Probably not even of this galaxy! Grubs, hand me my copy of Three Books of Fantastical Phenomena". I want to look in on the kind of energy I'm seeing here."

"Yes, my evil lordship!"

When one of those tiny twigs went off in search of the book, Zurg looked up from his microscope to jot down some notes about this discovery. Blue in color, sizzling with some type of energy that was almost akin to lightning, old in age, and consisting of moon power. But what did it all mean for the alicorn?
She was no doubt a powerful creature, and that she probably came from a world where the energy levels soared beyond any crystallic fusion sources, but he felt as though there were something he were missing.

There was something important about that creature, but what was it?

"Here you are, my evil Emperor!"

"Well, it's about time! I swear, you miserable midgets get slower each day." He sighed dramatically as he swiped it away from the grub. "Oh well. At least I have the book." He stuck out a claw to flip through pages to find what he was seeking. Unicorn...no. Pegasus...no. Dragon...he wished, but no!
"Ah, here we are, alicorn! Hmm..."

He skimmed through the explanations as he tried to find some useful bit of information about her. There were excerpts about horn and wing power, but nothing stood out for him to legitimately gain anything on the mysterious creature. "Drat. There's nothing to be found on what I'm looking for. Then again, alicorns are not exactly the most common of creatures. Guess I'll have to do some more research... and I think I know how to do it."

He put his book down and rubbed his claws in anticipation. "Alright you squirts, I need you to turn on one of the spy cameras we've got in Star Command. If I know the Rangers right, they'll probably take her to the LGMs where they'll tend to her wing. Those little green goobers will do the research for us."

His evil laughter sent the whole palace ablaze with chills.


> The Sting, Part II
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna held on tightly onto the human until a series of beeps tickled her ears.

One-two. One-two. One-two.

"Ty Parsec." Luna took a step back and released him from her hug. "What's that noise?"

Ty held up a hand. "It's okay, it's just my communicator. It's how I can talk to other Rangers from other places. Er, hang on a minute." He opened his compartment, where sure enough, Buzz's face was on the screen. "We there at Star Command, Buzz?"

"Yep, we'll soon be home! Better strap yourself and that pony in. By the way, how is she?"

Ty looked at Luna as she waited for him to explain what was going on before looking back at the screen. "She's up and around. I'll go into further detail about her later once we land. It's... gonna have to be said in person."

Buzz raised a brow at the reserved response. "Huh. Ooookay. Whatever you say, Ty. Just get ready for the landing sequence."

"Roger. Over and out."

After the conversation ended, Ty advised, "Alright, here's what's what. We're gonna be landing at Star Command. That's our headquarters; we'll get our leader, Commander Nebula, and the LGMs, to help you out. We'd better get to the cockpit, strap in and be ready. The landings aren't always fun and I don't wanna take any chances with your broken wing by staying here."

Luna wasn't sure she was comfortable with the idea, but she didn't protest. Not that she had much of a choice in the matter. "Very well then. But who are these LGMs? Are they helpers of some sort?"

"In a word, yes. They're what keep Star Command running; they work as scientists, mechanics, and medics. They'll help you with your wing in no time. Although..." He stood up from his place on the floor and gestured with a hand to Luna, signaling her to follow him. "They, and my commander, probably won't believe that you can talk and use magic."

Luna sighed out of her nostrils as she walked besides him. "Obviously not." She found that out with his reaction. "But yes, we must convince them. But what about your friend Buzz Lightyear? Surely he'll believe his eyes, ears and us when we tell him?"

They left the medical room and were now in the wide hallway. Footsteps and hoof steps echoed in the spacious hall.

"There's no doubt of that, yeah. But there's something I should know to help me explain things better to him and our boss: how come you didn't talk before when we were on Zenway Nine? Were you scared or...?"

A shrug was followed by, "Yes. I have never seen your kind before, and I did not know how to react to everything. I'm in a new world far from my home and I only relied on what I knew from my surroundings and instincts."

"I get you. But what about your magic?"

"What about it?"

"Well, er..."

Luna tilted her head as the Ranger rubbed the back of his head and trying to find the right words to ask. What was he so embarrassed about? What did her magic have to do with it?

Ty himself wasn't sure if what he would ask was deemed appropriate. But given he didn't know how magic actually worked, it was a good idea to ask about it despite his lack of knowledge about it. "I know I'm new to this whole magic thing, but if you can make shields, what else can you do with it? How does it really work?"

It delighted Luna to know that he was interested in her magic. She smiled and, as if she were talking to a student, proudly explained her magic. "Well, I can do all sorts of things with my magic. But my specialty is raising the moon and stars."

Ty nearly braked on his heels at what he just heard. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. Let me get this straight. You can raise the MOON?"

"And stars, yes."

If the man hadn't had enough surprises for one day, this was to top them all. "Sweet Mother of Venus." He nursed a temple at this revelation.

Luna squinted at him in confusion. "What? You've never heard of anypony raising the moon and stars?"

Much to her surprise, he shook his head. "No. We don't exactly have anypony..." AnyPONY?...he never heard anyone referring to a body of people as anyPONY. This was certainly a first. "Er, anyBODY, to do the job for us. The moon and stars, and sun, all do the job themselves."

Now it was Luna's turn to share the shock. "Really? There's nopony who is responsible for raising ALL of those?" It was so strange-the celestial bodies moving themselves? It was so unnatural! And yet, it was fascinating.

"No. They move because... well, they just move on their own accord. They always have here."

"Oh my. I've never heard anything like that before. If there's ever a free moment of time in our task, may I able to see a moon rise and fall for myself sometime?"

"Sure, if you let me know how you raise the moon and stars. That's something I've never heard anyone do."

She agreed keenly, "So shall be it, Ty Parsec. And thank you."

"No problem. So, uh, would that explain the moon on your flank?"

Luna was thrown off by the random question. "I'm sorry?"

Ty pointed to her marked flank, to which she herself looked at and regarded. "Oh! That. Well, yes. Raising the moon is my main calling in life, just as it's symbolized by my cutie mark."

"...Your what now?"



By now, they reached the area where he was taking her.

And by the same token, Ty received all the information he needed to relay to Buzz, Commander Nebula and the LGMs about their pony guest. Of course the information Luna gave the Ranger was quite a handful. In less than a few minutes, he managed to learn more of her cutie mark, magic and bits of her world. Luna's magic itself was part of her biological makeup. Apparently all ponies from her world were bestowed with magic, but each of the pony races-pegasi, unicorns, Earth ponies and alicorns-put their magical abilities to different usages. Alicorns were apparently the most powerful-and rare-of the lot, given that, according to Luna, there was only her, her older sister and a niece of theirs.

And even they had some obstacles of their own in spite of their awe-inspiring presences within the world of Equestria. Magic couldn't fix all problems, as proved by Luna's inability to summon up a portal to return to her world, or using magic to fix her broken wing. So it would have to be up to the Rangers to rely on their science and technology to aid the pony in getting back home.

"And here we are."

Before Luna could comment on the spacious cockpit she was brought to, she was interrupted by a foghorn.

"Oh, hey! I see you've brought along the pony, Ranger. She's looking a lot better." Buzz spared a glance over his shoulder to cheerfully greet them.

Ty shared a quick knowing glance with Luna before answering his superior officer. "Yeah, she is. Buzz, we'd better strap her in for the landing."

"Well, naturally, but why did you bring her here? You coulda strapped her in the medical bay."

Luna held her tongue as she let her representative speak on her behalf.

"It's important that she's here. It's like I said earlier; once we land, you'll know about her. She's more than meets the eye. Besides, that wing of hers was heavily damaged in the fight with Zurg. She'll be safer up here in central control."

Ty went on ahead into the front of the ship with Luna behind his heels. As she followed behind him, she took in everything she set her eyes on. The shiny controls, the large purple seats, and the view of-

Luna's eyes widened at the vast canvas speckled with beautiful stars and celestial spheres appearing in the large window of the ship. Although she couldn't get too close to the window, as she had a feeling Buzz might not like the idea, she already felt her insides set alight with joy and wonder. The sight of those stars and everything out there touched her heart so much that a wide smile was planted and grew. It nearly made her forget what she set out to do with Ty.

A spark was ignited in her.

Buzz momentarily regarded the pony over his shoulder. She looked so different than the last time he saw her. Rather than looking defiant or helpless, she now appeared completely carefree and doe-eyed. He then looked up at his partner, waiting for an answer. He had to hand it to Ty; he was sure bonding with that creature, even going as far to say she's more than she seems. Whatever that meant, Buzz didn't know, but he was sure to get an answer from his friend after they landed. "Well, alright, if it'll make you feel better, I'll make an exception to the rule of non personnel sitting in the cockpit. Strap her in the seat, Ranger."

"Yes sir." He got Luna's attention. "Hey."

When she snapped out of her wondrous state, he responded, "Go ahead and sit in the seat here." He led her to the empty seat that was usually held for the navigator of the star cruiser. Luckily, it was large enough to accompany her size given that the seat was normally used for Buzz's large-sized teammate.

She climbed up onto the seat and sat down on her haunches. Once she was comfortable, she waited for whatever the next step was to come from Ty.

Ty reached over to the other side and pulled on the seatbelt connected to the seat, pulling it over the pony and into its buckle. "This'll protect you and keep you from falling off. Like I said, the landings can be bumpy at times."

He got a high brow in return for his warning, but nothing was said back. Whatever he told her, she would do it.

Once she was safely secured, Ty nodded and went to the co-pilot's seat to help Buzz steer the ship into their headquarters. After taking one more look at Luna to make sure she was alright, he set his sights forward to the stars.

Both pilots controlled the ship with such ease that Luna couldn't help but take the time to watch over them as they steered this giant vehicle into the reaches of outer space. It was simply a lot for her to see-both of them seemed like naturals when taking the helm of this ship. However, she noticed the way Buzz moved his hands when pushing on levers and other gears. It almost was as if he was one with the ship itself. Ty was just as proficient at the controls, but he was serving as second-in-command, acting as another set of steady hands and eyes.

The ride was so smooth so far. What would Ty have meant about the rough landings? There was nothing to fear out there. There was only the cluster of stars to marvel over. Whoever was in charge of the cosmos here was quite a master in their work.

And despite the fact she was stuck here in this universe for some time, that didn't mean she couldn't take the time to at least take her mind off her predicament by absorbing all of the new things she would see and learn from Ty.

She learned from him that this world, this galaxy, was home to so many diverse creatures. Not just humans, like him and Buzz, but to all sorts of sentient races and species. Most of them were willing to work together to create harmony within the universe and to defend against that Zurg monster. Others wanted to be left alone to their own agendas. The Space Ranger Corps, much like the royal guards of Equestria, assembled to protect and defend against the forces of evil. They were also apparently sent to perform other tasks, such as exploring new worlds, building and bringing new technologies to the public, handle international-er, intergalactic-relations, take on reconnaissance missions, train new recruits, issue parking tickets, solve cases, the whole works!

They were certainly the Swiss Army knives of this world. However, according to Ty, they didn't possess any magical properties or deities they could use to help her since her own magic was nowhere else to be found. So they would have to improvise. But how?

As they passed by some flying asteroids...

"Star Command, this is Star Cruiser 42. We've finished our assignment on Zenway 9."

A nasally voice would respond to Buzz, "Acknowledged, 42."

Luna was brought out of her thoughts by that strange monotone. Who was that on the other line?

"Alright, let's bring 'er home."

Just as Luna was about to ask about the mysterious greeter, she was left speechless when Star Command came into the windows.

Her eyes widened.

Star Command was huge! The headquarters reminded the pony of two tea saucers piled on top of each other. The station's colors was primarily white, but it also shone in vibrant greens and purples. There was a clear dome on top of the whole structure with windows built into it to give all viewers a chance to look within the station. Near the dome were wide holes, with models similar to the ship flying in and out of them. On one side of the station was a large and blue emblem similar to the emblem on Buzz's Ranger armor, only a ring was circling the ship and wings. It was the official symbol of Star Command.

She only heard about the station from her new friend, but to see it for herself? It was incredible.

"Star Command, this is Star Cruiser 42, on final approach."

"Roger, 42."

They closed in on the station and went inside.



Much to her surprise, the landing wasn't so much rough as it was confusing. The pilots landed the ship onto an upright position instead of landing horizontally. Thus, they sat face up in their seats, which reminded Luna of a roller coaster ride preparing to go up the tracks. Luna was so puzzled that she blurted out, "Is this the normal procedure for landings, Ty Parsec?"

Ty froze at the moment Luna spoke.

But Buzz was slow on the uptake as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "Well, naturally. This is how all Star Cruisers are docked at the Docking Bay, ma-uh...uh...uhhhh..." He trailed off in a disturbed silence.

"Ty... did... did you hear that?"

"Well, of course he heard it, Buzz Lightyear. I was the one who asked."

'Asked'?

"..." Buzz slowly turned his head around to look down at the guest currently seated in the large navigator's seat. Unless he was going deaf, he could have sworn that the pony, the one who fought off Zurg and aided them in the storm, who was becoming so close to Ty...was TALKING.

Luna frowned innocently at the gawking Buzz. "What?"

"Uh... Princess Luna. You talked."

"'Luna?' PRINCESS Luna?!" Buzz whipped his head back to meet Ty's eyes. HE knew about this?! "...Ranger, you've got some 'splainin' to do! And so do YOU, Princess Luna or whatever your name is. What's going on?!"

The pony finally understood what why Ty was looking like he had his hand caught in the cookie jar. "Oh. Oops." She grinned sheepishly.

> The First Alicorn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The city of Canterlot glimmered in the moonlight, the moonbeams bouncing off spires and towers, shops and mountainsides. Carved into the nearby mountain range, Equestria's capital slumbered in soft silence, all citizens of this bustling metropolis in fine repose. Its neighboring waterfalls tickled the sweet dreams of all who slept through the night, unaware of the missing night princess.

The journey to the library was short. Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle and Spike arrived to their destination and immediately set themselves to work.

Celestia directed her helpers to one of the larger tables within the library; all supplies they brought with them would be placed there as their workstation before everyone would go to dig deeper into the library to skim through pages of text and imagery dedicated to the various works and accomplishments of Star Swirl the Bearded. Celestia would search down one aisle of Star Swirl's works while Twilight and Spike would search through another. They looked through all of the shelves, looking and picking up any books that they thought could provide significant research for their quest on Luna's disappearance and how to get her back. The search had been in effect for ten minutes. Ten laborious and soundless minutes of finding and reading.

The hunt for useful information slowed to a halt. The three friends would return back to the workstation with their hardcover books in their possession.

"Now... have you two found anything?"

Twilight would present her books to the princess first. "I've found a few things in these books." She would set the three books down and release them from her levitation.

Spike would offer his own two books on the table. "And I found these two."

Celestia nodded in approval at the selection of books. "So I see. I've managed to come across a book as well." Using her magic, she lifted up her book and the book Twilight was using for the portal spell. She placed them side by side onto the table. "Now then, let us open our minds and take note of what we know so far and what we've begun to know.

Twilight? Would you go first, please? Recap with what you and Luna were doing beforehand."

"Well, as before, Luna and I were researching through one of Starswirl's books. There was a spell he was working on during his time. The spell was to create and utilize portals all over Equestria to make it easier for travel. It takes a certain spark to make these portals come into being. Luna and I thought long and hard about our desired locations."

"And where was it you wanted to go?"

"..." Twilight was nearly thrown off by that question, but she wasn't about to show it to Celestia. "I just wanted to go to Canterlot. But I'm not sure where Princess Luna wanted to go..." She suddenly found the floor interesting to inspect as she tore her eyes away from her mentor. The guilt was trying to take control again; Twilight hadn't moved quite past it yet.

Celestia inhaled deeply to shove down her own sadness. "I understand. She didn't say." To distract herself and Twilight, she turned to Spike. "And Spike? What did Star Swirl's book say in regards to the portals themselves?"

Spike, attentive to what both ponies were feeling, didn't waste any valuable time dilly-dallying. "According to what I heard from Twilight and Luna, and the book, Star Swirl wanted to make portals that could take ponies all across and outside Equestria. To test out how long it could take from one pony to move back and forth in the portals, he used a time recorder. But...er...the time recorder never came back. And he was forced to abandon the project." He rubbed his claws in noticeable dread.

"Alright. We've got the basics down. But now, we need to think. Think about the portals themselves. And perhaps, we should also think about where Luna might have wanted to go." The princess retrieved all of the books and lined them up in single and perfect file for everyone to sort through and bookmark for their research. "I am uncertain of what places Star Swirl might have had in mind when he was experimenting with another way for ponies to travel, but from the time I knew him, he was always seeking for life beyond Equestria's borders." A faraway look in her eye was captured as she stared up into the moon past the glass-stained ceiling. "Lives beyond our very own sweet dreams."

For a moment, Twilight and Spike just stood there looking at their beloved leader. Had they not had more severe matters to be attending to, they would have been admiring how the quest for discovering life beyond Equestria's boundaries sounded so exciting. Alas, They instead stood in still sympathy.

It was then that an idea brightened to life in Twilight's head. But she was hesitant to share it. It would require asking Celestia a somewhat personal question about her own sister's life... and with the princess's own emotions caught in the mess of everything, Twilight's doubts grew twice in size about asking. What if Celestia didn't want to answer? What if she didn't know the answer? But she had to. She was Luna's older sister! But she lost Luna once and having her taken again might cause her to stay silent on a certain amount of matters-! All of these questions and doubts buzzed in her head so loudly that she finally couldn't take it anymore. The guilt shoved her worry asides and she blurted out, "Princess!"

"Yes?"

Twilight sheepishly lowered her ears as everyone was now staring at her and waiting to speak further. She bit her lower lip to keep from running her nervous mouth any further. She steeled herself and sighed. Looking up into Celestia's eyes, she said, "Princess, I...there is something I feel I should ask you about. It might help us figure out what happened to Luna. Or at least...figure out how to get to wherever she ended up."

"Go on, Twilight. I'm listening."

"Alright. Well, I was wondering... how was Princess Luna doing these past few days?"

Quite unexpectedly, Princess Celestia frowned in curiosity. "Whatever do you mean?"

Twilight gathered her courage and carefully explained, "When she came to visit, I noticed that she was looking rather...timid. I could tell that something was wrong. I don't know if this will help us, but she just seemed almost sad and...and thoughtful. Like she had her mind somewhere else. I didn't bring this up earlier because I didn't want to upset you...further.

"So what was she up to and how was she feeling before this happened?"

If crickets were present within the library, even they would have gone quiet for just a long span of time. They would have sensed the powerful emotions of one alicorn creature as she recounted all of her little sister's actions throughout the days. Emotions flickered through one memory at a time in Celestia's eyes as she contemplated and stared into Twilight's pupils.

One thoughtful expression later and she was staring into the ceiling again, as if looking to them for guidance.

Twilight and Spike anxiously waited for her to answer. Both of them believed it would nearly be a year before she'd answer-

"The stars."

Her bewildering reply came as a shock to both helpers. "Come again?"

Princess Celestia closed her eyes, glaring in determination briefly. "The stars. Luna wanted to seek inspiration from beyond the stars." She took a moment to breathe before elaborating to her confused subjects, "Luna, lately, has been lacking inspiration for her night skies. Like an artist in need of a muse for her work, she's been feeling stuck in a rut and uninspired to create something truly magnificent. Part of that came from her loneliness." She turned to her subjects. "Even though the last Nightmare Night has brought her great joy out of the new friends she made, a part of her still has been lost in loneliness due to her transformation as Nightmare Moon."

During this time, while Celestia was telling more on Luna's emotions, Spike picked up one of the new books they found. He wanted to feel useful and see if he could find anything that would be of help to their attempts to find Luna. He flipped through pages quietly. But he would pause and look up at Twilight as she slowly took in this newfound information.

And that's when Twilight figured it out. "So that's why she wanted to help me with the spell! She wanted to do something to take her mind off her troubles and to be a good friend."

"Yes. And you were doing your part to be a good and respectful friend back to her. Which I am more than grateful for, my faithful student." Celestia put a comforting hoof on Twilight's shoulder. She knew Twilight only wanted to respect Luna's privacy and not jump to conclusions with her behavior without knowing the context of her emotional baggage. To that, she awarded her with a gentle smile.

Slowly, Twilight smiled back, glad that her princess's words rang true and clear.

But the warm moment would be blown over by a cold truth. "Holy cow!"

Twilight reacted first. "What? What's the matter, Spike?"

Spike lifted up the book to show them. "I think I found a possible place where Princess Luna MIGHT have gone."

"Well, where? Where could she have gone?"

They followed a pointed claw to a small paragraph. Upon skimming it...

Celestia released a quick gasp while Twilight's jaw hit the floor. Twilight recovered to shout, "But that's impossible! There's no way that could have happened!"



In response to his shipmates' antics, Ty inhaled deeply and tapped his crossed arms with his fingers."Well, Buzz, if you would be so KIND to take it easy for a minute, then maybe I could explain." He didn't hold back in shooting a crooked stink eye towards Luna, who just shrugged her apology with her sheepish grin still intact.

Luckily, Buzz caught the hint and cleared his throat. "Right...of course. Go ahead, Ranger. " He motioned with a humble nod to let Ty start. How embarrassing. But he listened with fascination as his friend explained more on their mysterious guest. Everything from how she ended up here to her role within the unknown but supposedly magical world of Equestria. Luna would intervene a few times to correct a few things, but for the most part, she let Ty do the talking for her.

Once Ty was finished, Buzz leaned back in his seat, mulling it over in that ticking brain of his. "So we've gotta help this pony out by finding her home. But that can come later-we should probably hand her over to the LGMs. They'll be sure to take care of that wing." He looked at Luna. "That okay with you, Princess Luna?"

"Yes, that's perfectly fine. I am ready to go whenever you and Ty Parsec are." She would wait patiently as Ty unbuckled his own seatbelt and came over to release her own seatbelt.

After Buzz was free from his own seat, Ty would explain, "Alright, we've gotta go down to the bottom of the ship. We've landed our ship in what we call the Launch Bay. It's where we store and launch our ships when we need to travel on our missions."

Understanding the schematic of this room, Luna replied, "I see. I shall teleport down there then. And I shall do the same for you. Please hold still. This will feel a little strange."

"Teleport us? What are you talkin' about-?"



A zap later, Ty and Buzz found themselves overlooking their expansive docking arena. It was void of any signs of life. Save themselves.

"...what just happened?"

"I simply teleported us all down here. I felt it would save time climbing down your ship, Ranger Lightyear."

"...Well that's a handy feature to have. Uh...thank you." Buzz was still feeling a little dazed. "Did you know she could do that?"

Ty reasoned, "No, I didn't know that would happen. Besides, she couldn't exactly climb down the same way we could with her broken wing. That's a great time saver. Although... Luna, you better make sure you do let us know what you'll be trying next time 'round before zapping us." Ty hoped his stern command would break Luna's amused smile.

"Of course, Ranger Parsec. You'll be informed next time." They had never teleported before? Goodness, these poor creatures were absolutely deprived of knowledge in all things magic. She would have to remedy this should there be an opportunity.

"Well, I'll go ahead and inform Commander Nebula we've arrived then."

"Save your breath, Lightyear."

That gruff overtone belonged to one man in particular that both Rangers knew, and one in which Luna stood frozen in alarm. Was the man friend or foe?

Friend it would seem. He was hobbling on one strangely rounded stub of a leg while using his normal one to propel him forward. Luna tilted her head. Who was he and what happened to his leg? She watched Buzz come forward to greet the odd elderly human while seeking refuge from behind Ty's legs, into the shadows of the ship. By no means was she shy of greeting others, but from the way this older one carried himself, he was an authoritative figure who took no nonsense of any sorts. It would not help that, thanks to her own sense of hearing, Buzz was having a tough time explaining all of the events that transpired on that frozen tundra of a planet. Thus violating her own chances and hopes of getting home.

Her ears would not be the only ones to overhear the conversation. Ty himself was dreading the moment he would have to introduce Princess Luna to Commander Nebula. Nebula's temper was often volatile and unpredictable; who knows how he would react when Ty and Buzz had brought home a talking and magical pony believed to have only existed in the imaginations of young ones?

"Is that so? Well then... Parsec."

Luna felt the Ranger's legs turn to stone as he stood to attention. "Sir."

"You've brought a guest home?"

"...Yes sir. I did." Ty's voice was nothing but honest and vulnerable.

"Well? Care to show me?"

Ty inhaled a deep breath before nodding. He glanced down at his equine friend, awaiting her to respond to his words, "Can you come out out and introduce yourself to Commander Nebula, please?"

Luna glared and closed her eyes in determination. Silencing her mind of all cloudy doubts and fears, she stepped forward into the light as gracefully as she could. Her hooves clacked softly against the railway as she revealed herself for Nebula to see.

Needless to say, her reaction to his was nothing short of unsurprising. His wide eyes and raised eyebrow indicated disbelief. Not seeing was believing, she supposed.

"Sweet Mother of Venus, is that a...a PONY I'm seein' here? A blue pony?" He squinted to inspect her features. "With wings, a horn and...a wavin' and starry mane and tail?" He didn't miss Ty's quiet nod of confirmation.

"Yes."

"..." Nebula was speechless. Something right out of a fantasy novel, the very symbolism of dreams and goodness and imagination, was brought to life and standing right before his eyes.

"I am Princess Luna. Please do not be alarmed, sir. I mean you no harm." Luna pressed a hoof to her crest in amity.

Her refined set of manners shook the commander out of his stupor. "Where did you come from? Where did she come from, Parsec?"

Ty hid any discomforts he might have had prior to his introducing Luna thanks to a deep sigh. "Sir, it's like this..." And once more, he wove Luna's story again, highlighting the horrors and dangers she faced by herself, and the origins upon which she entered the galaxy. And never once did Ty stop to think about his own actions; all of the focus would be set on Luna only. He and Buzz were merely players acting their own parts within the narrative.
Little did he know that it would be beneficial to his own health in due time. "...and that's the whole story."

Nebula looked from Ranger to pony and back to Ranger again, unsure if everything he just heard of was true. It had to be, given Ty would never resort to lying, and he had solid proof before him. Not the mention that she honestly did need help; trying to take down Zurg like that without having any idea where she landed was a big risk for her to take and it ended up costing her wing. And if she was as powerful as Parsec said she was, Nebula wanted to keep her from getting into any more trouble until they could try to figure out a way to return her home. "Alright then. Well, there's one thing we should do first."

"...Sir?"

He quirked a brow at Parsec. "Well, what are you waiting for, a bus? Let's take your friend here to the LGMs. That wing's not gonna fix itself...is it?"

Luna shook her head, aware that he managed to pick up on magic's lack of ability to solve ALL problems.

Nebula grunted. "Fine then. Follow me, all of ya."

Letting Lightyear go ahead of him, Ty and Luna shared relieved smiles. Thank goodness Nebula managed to see their points of view. What would happen later after her wing was fixed was anybody's guess, but the important thing was that she was going to get help.

Luna, like a newborn, was staring at everything as the Rangers escorted her to wherever these LGMs were said to be working. Hues of color, mechanical beings intent on annoying the daylights out of Nebula, and other creatures working for Star Command. The feeling was mutual in her awe; the other Rangers, passing by Nebula, Buzz and Ty on their way to their own missions, all gave her brief moments of bewilderment, as if they looked like they had seen a ghost walking in their midst. But the ghost, of course, was truly flesh and blood walking on all lively fours.

It was a new world she was suddenly glad she found herself thrusted in-it was a bright, optimistic and proud world and home to the Space Rangers.

And a somewhat adoring one too as she would soon come herself to find. "Princess Luna." Ty's voice would bring her out of her thoughts.

He was standing in front of a large and oval-shaped entryway with a large sign hanging above. "Medical Bay," it would read. "You go ahead of me; Buzz and Commander Nebula have already gone in." And he would follow her after she went in. She would come across Nebula talking loudly to a small group of green creatures. These green creatures, from what she could see, all looked the same and had the same features-blue suits, three eyes and fingers, short statures (small as Spike even!), and pointed ears like hers. But she was mainly taken by surprise when she noted the small antennae. All of them had one long that ended on small and rounded stubs.

"Alright then, ya little green beans, I'd like you to meet your patient." Nebula moved asides to let them see Luna. "Boys, meet Princess Luna of Equestria. She's got a broken wing that's in need of some tender care. Think you can handle it?"

"Of coooooourse. We will be glad to helllllp her." When they saw her, they all let out a collective awe at her appearance. "Oooooooooooh."

Luna stood in confusion as they waddled up to her like a colony of penguins.

To assure their collective identities to the bewildered princess, Ty quickly explained, "These are the LGMs, or Little Green Men, I was telling you about when we first met. They're the creatures who welcomed us back home on our ship." He kneeled down by her side, making sure she wasn't uncomfortable. "They'll take care of you, just as long as-"

"Oh my goodness... " A ridiculously large grin bloomed on Luna's features. "They are QUITE adorable!" Without warning, she snatched one of the nearby LGMs and hugged it like it was a teddy bear. Needless to say, this was an action out of left field. It was only when she heard the LGM ask her to let it go that she relented and placed it back with its people. She felt like sinking into the floor at the way she held that cute little thing like a filly. "Forgive me; I have never seen creatures like you before. It is an honor to meet you all." She hoped that it was enough to regain her dignity. But she didn't need to worry.

The LGMs then all smiled and crowded around her, all wanting to meet her. "We are happpyyyy to meet yoooou Princess Lunaaaa."

Smiling broadly, Luna looked at Ty, who was already getting up from his spot on the floor. "Well then, now that that's taken care of, you'd better get started, boys. She's had a long day."

"Okaaaaay, Ranger Lunaaaar."

Ty exchanged a dry scowl with his superiors. "I'm not Ranger Lunar, I'm Ranger Parsec. Ty Parsec."

One of the LGMs shrugged nonchalantly. "Whateverrrrr. You Rangers all look the same to us."

Ty waved off Luna's attempts to giggle as she hid them behind her hoof. "Well, go ahead with them."

"But what of you? Will you not be coming with me?" She was disappointed when he shook his head.

"I can't. Regulations state I can't be with you when you've got a broken appendage. The LGMs need space to work and that requires me NOT getting in the way."

"Actually, Ty, I think we can manage to make an exception for this time."

Ty and Buzz looked to Nebula. He elaborated, "As long as you and I stay behind the scenes and don't bother the little green guppies, you can stick around here. Lightyear."

"Commander."

"I'd like you to return back to the Briefing Room. Your team's there waitin' for ya and I wanna tell you 'bout a mission you and your team are needed for. Understood?"

"Yes sir." He briefly bid Luna a goodbye and a 'see-you-later' to Ty before jogging to his destination, out of the Medical Bay.



"Well...what do you got? Anything useful?"

"So far, we know that her name is Princess Luna."

"...Princess? That pony is a PRINCESS? You are joking, aren't you?"

"Negative, your evilness. Everyone's been calling her that and she does have on that crown and slippers."

"Hm, funny. I thought it was just some fancy equine wear. Oh well, no matter. What else do you have?"

"Well, her energy is entirely composed of magical properties."

A gasp. "Magic? What kind of magic?" Unbelievable.

"The kind that they have in fairytales and fantasy novels. She used it to defend herself on Zenway IX."

"Hmm..." Zurg tapped his teeth in contemplation after he recovered from his great shock. "Interesting. I never thought I would actually see magic here, but this is an excellent source of knowledge for us to take in hand! So she herself must be an alicorn in possession of the most POWERFUL magic known to all! And it has something to do with the moon. Let's see what kind of magic we can learn. Is there anything else I should know before we begin?"

"According to our cameras, they've just taken her into the Medical Bay where the LGMs are going to be fixing her wing."

"Ah, excellent! Now we can start to truly solve the mystery behind this mystical animal."

Moments of silent observation went by as everyone watched the LGMs work on Luna's wing, all the while gushing at the earnest praise she was giving them. They picked up on a few unnecessary tidbits here and there. It was mainly everyday small talk, until a little gem shone up. Zurg had to grip his throne when he overheard Luna talk about her own connections to moons. "Moons?...she can raise the moon and stars?! Why, I'm walking on air! This could prove VERY useful to my grand master plan with that pest as the guest of honor!"

He laughed menacingly as he felt his passion for evil ignite. "Now, it's off to work we go! Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's off to work we go!"



"I don't believe it... Spike, are you sure that what you have is accurate?"

Spike, in light of this newfound epiphany, blatantly responded despite the situation's gravity. "Well...yeah. It IS a book of Star Swirl's."

"But that's still impossible! Nopony has ever been able to do that!"

"All except a few."

Twilight quizzically looked up at her teacher. "Princess...?"

The princess was staring hard into the night sky. "My knowledge is limited about what we have learned, Twilight. But despite that, we must take this into consideration. After all... I don't want to believe my sister could have been caught into a wormhole that quickly."
> Into the Looking Glass
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike asked, "But what are we going to do? I mean, if she has been caught in the wormhole, then how are we supposed to find her and bring her back?...Can we even do that?"

In spite of the grim and slim chances of Luna's survival, Celestia was already forming a plan. "As I said, we must take this possibility into consideration. We'll bring our newfound knowledge with us to our next destination."

Next destination? Twilight shared quizzical looks with Spike. "What? Where are we going?"

"The Canterlot Observatory. If there is one other location where we might research the stars in-depth, it's there. We can compare our newfound knowledge to what is known about wormholes in the Observatory. Now let's go, my friends."

"Yes, your Highness."

The trio quickly gathered up their facts and whatever books they could carry with them and took off into the night.



Ty and Nebula waited in silence a few feet away from the curtained arena as the LGMs put the finishing touches on Luna's newly secured wing.

The process, thankfully, took no extensive amount of time and it didn't leave a staggering amount of pain behind for her. She stood up from her position on the bed the LGMs had Luna lie on and gently descend off, inspecting her wing afterwards. The fractured wing was carefully remedied into a figure eight wrap. The bandage wrap was wound around Luna's appendage, carefully holding her radius, ulna and humerus in place. One of the LGMs pulled aside the curtain to reveal Luna, looking better with a grateful smile on her face.

Ty couldn't help but grow a smile back. "I'm guessing you're feeling better?"

"Very much, with the support and aid from your little green men." She turned around to express her gratitude, to which the LGMs happily replied back, "You're welllllcome."

As she turned back to face the Rangers, Nebula fiddled with his mustache in thought. "Right then. Now that you're feelin' better, we need to take matters into our own hands."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Well, we need to keep you safe from Zurg. I don't want to send you on your way into the galaxy as long as that buckethead is out there tryin' to look for you. Since he's seen ya defend yourself against his attacks, there's no doubt he'll be tryin' to capture you for his own benefits. Maybe even try to hunt you down for revenge."

Luna's ears wilted in discouragement. Oh…yes. There was that harsh truth she was going to have to deal with. "Very well then. Then how must we go about this?"

"Well-" A series of beeps would interrupt the conversation, prompting Nebula to excuse himself and open up his communicator. "Yeah?"

Buzz's voice echoed as he said, "Commander, my team's all here. We're ready to hear about the assignment, sir."

Nebula's blank brain lit up. "Oh, right, right. The mission. I'm on my way, Lightyear. Nebula out." He closed the communicator hatch before apologizing, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I gotta cut this short. I need to go assign Lightyear and his team on a mission they're needed for."

Luna nodded solemnly. "I understand, Commander. Do what you must."

Nebula had to admit; this pony's royal title wasn't just for show. Her gracious sense of elegance was genuine. To that end, Nebula was thankful for her patience. He did feel bad that he couldn't help her now, but at least she seemed willing to wait. To add on, she did seem to enjoy Ty's company and vice versa, so she could hang around the man until they could sort the whole thing out.

"Thank you, I'll try. In the meantime…Parsec."

Ty stood to attention. "Sir."

"I want you to look after Princess Luna until the meeting's done. I'll call you when you can come into the Briefing Room. Be sure to bring her al—"

Growl.

Ty and Nebula blinked in alarm. What in the galaxy was that?

The answer? Luna, smiling awkwardly, held a hoof to her belly. "I am terribly sorry. I have not eaten for some time now."

Nebula questioned, "Uhhhh...alright then. We'll just have to take care of that. By the way, what do you like to eat? You don't just like to eat sugar cubes, do ya?"

Luna scoffed in playful indignation. "Ha, certainly not. I like to eat desserts, apples and grilled cheese sandwiches, thank you. They are GLORIOUS foods to eat." And she's proud to be a proud time consumer for them too, she'll have you know!

Nebula and Ty were a little surprised to see Luna get testy over her food choices. But they both supposed, upon trading curious glances with each other, that since she was a talking pony, that of course she would have her own tastes in cuisine. Even if it was something neither of them had been expecting, with the latter food choice.

"Huh. I see. Well then, Parsec, you can take her to the cafeteria to get her whatever's available. And if you haven't eaten anything, get yourself something to eat too, son."

"Yes, sir." Ty saluted and motioned for Luna to follow behind him. Luna bid a goodbye to the LGMs, with the little guys waving after her before returning back to their own work. Nebula watched everyone go before taking off to the Briefing Room.



Ty and Luna reached the cafeteria to find that there were only a few Rangers out enjoying their food at their chosen tables.

Ty was a little thankful for that; he didn't want to have anybody asking about Luna, even though it would probably happen anyway, at least in his cynic view. It wasn't that he wanted to avoid interacting with his comrades, but he wasn't feeling particularly chatty at the moment.

He wasn't the only one. Luna herself wanted to have privacy and the opportunity to eat in peace and enjoy her surroundings, especially in this room.

The room's size was expansive, shiny and clean, with an equally large window overlooking the borderless sea of stars. Tables and chairs were set up in particular areas of the room to allow space to roam and eat, while a buffet table stood by ready to be of service to the hungry customers, But what truly captured Luna's eye was the enormous sphere softly glowing with its vibrant appearance. Shining in blue sea, rolling in green earth, Capital Planet's light shone to all of the guardians each and every day on the space station.

Ty caught glimpse of Luna's curious gaze and grinned a little. He suggested, "If you'd like, we can grab a table near the window so you can see the planet."

"If it is permitted, that would be lovely."

"I'm sure it's fine. There's no rule that says we can't sit by the window. Anyway, I don't know what will be left over from the lunch hour, but we'll find something for you to eat."

Luna assured, "That's alright. I'm grateful for whatever food we can find. Thank you."

"No problem. Now c'mon, let's go see what they have." Luna followed behind Ty as he grabbed two trays in the waiting line. "Whenever you see something you'd like, tell me and I'll put it on your tray, ok?"

"Oh, do not fret. I will be happy to take my own tray, Ty Parsec."

Ty raised a brow. "How's that-"

Luna's horn gently glowed a light blue and much to Ty's mild surprise, the tray was taken out of his hands and now levitating and glowing in front of Luna. "Like this. Now shall we feast?"



About a few snarky remarks and careful food choices later, Ty and Luna managed to claim the table by the window with food on trays. Luna scored a crispy grilled mozzarella cheese sandwich with a Red Delicious apple on the side, and a glass of water as a beverage. Ty's meal consisted of a fresh tuna sandwich and side salad, and a glass of water for his beverage as well. The table they chose was in a corner of the room, private and out of the way from the other Rangers. Luckily, either through sheer good luck or dumb luck, the other officers didn't seem to see Ty and Luna pass by. Still, it was a matter of time before they took notice of the royal and magically gifted equine sitting with one of the veteran officers of Star Command. Both Ranger and pony were conscious of this possibility, and thus, put on a reserved but approachable front, should anyone grow curious about either party.

They began eating their food. At first, neither Ty nor Luna engaged in conversation. Both of them wanted to get in a few bites first. Luna would be the first to devour her food. Sitting on her haunches in her chair, she lifting her sandwich off her tray with her magic, brought it to her mouth and bit into the sandwich. One bite after another, and she would soon catch Ty looking at her with a funny and pointed brow. She asked innocently, "What?"

Ty held up his arms in defense. "Nothing. Just uh...just enjoy your food, ok?"

Luna had a feeling that Ty had never seen a pony eat her food like the way she was currently doing, but she let it go with a shrug and a casual, "I will." After taking another bite from her levitating sandwich, she placed it down and Luna turned to look out the window from her seat to catch a view of the planet. "So, that is Capital Planet your space station orbits around, I assume?"

Glad to clear up a potentially embarrassing moment, Ty took a swig of his water first before replying, "Yep. Like I told you when we first met, it's where the Galactic Alliance is stationed, and where a lot of the Rangers live if they have homes there. A lot of them like to take a break from being in space for so long."

"I see. I wish we could have time to visit it if we did not have more important tasks to attend to. It certainly looks beautiful. Do you have a residence there?"

"Yeah, although I don't go there a lot. Usually I need to be here to report for duty. When you're a Ranger, you tend to be married to the job."

"I understand. The guards in Equestria are also dedicated to their careers and often must stay in Canterlot to perform well. They have been for as long as my sister and I have ruled over our fair country."

"Huh. Interesting. I'm curious, how long have you and your sister been in rule?"

Luna took a bite of her apple. "Oh, for many years now. We have ruled for over one thousand years to be exact." It occurred to her that she failed to tell her friend about an alicorn's longevity and agelessness. The price it brought her was another slacked jaw.

"...A THOUSAND years...you're kidding!"

Luna shrugged again, as if this is nothing new to her. "No."

Ty felt uncertain if Luna appreciated any comments, positive and negative, on her youthful appearance, so he kept that part to himself while he went on. "...Huh. So how come you didn't tell me this before?" His slightly annoyed and exaggerated pout prompted Luna to hold a hoof to her mouth to hold in her laughter.

Luna tamed her temptations to laugh and explained, "I simply did not see the need to bring it up. Nothing more. I wanted to give you the information that was needed at the time we were learning about each other's worlds. And of course, we still are learning about our worlds and each other, correct?" She brought the glass of water to her mouth, ignoring Ty's irritated groan. She'd take that as a yes. After another sip of her drink, she asked, "Now I would like to ask you a question about your services."

Ty lightened up considerably, his curiosity peaked. "Oh? What would you like to know?"

"About your time in Star Command. How long have you been serving?"

"I've been with with the Space Rangers Corps for over twenty years, give or take." He shrugged himself. "There's honestly not that much to tell. I've been enjoying my job, although it doesn't always come with the perks a Rookie would expect right off the bat." Not to mention the risks that came with the job, as he himself came to learn over time, and as he unwillingly did in recent events...

"I suppose you are referring to the less exciting aspects of your work?"

"Yeah. Things like paperwork and patrol sweeps and all that jazz. It's not exactly my idea of a good time, but it is necessary for what we do here."

"I can relate. I must spend my time attending to meetings and patrolling the stars, the grounds, and dreams. But I do enjoy what I do. I would rather have my subjects safe than in danger. "

"Heh. Well, that makes two of us and I'm glad that we-hey, wait a minute, wait a minute. Whoa, back up here!" His mind backpedaled. What did she say?!

"Is something the matter?"

"No! No, I mean, I thought I heard you say you patrol dreams...uh...what exactly do you mean by that?"

Luna, a little confused by Ty's shifty tone, took a swig of water before answering. "Well, I am a dream walker. My duty is to protect everypony's dreams from nightmares, and to help them face whatever fears or obstacles that cause their nightmares. I can enter dreams and weave dreams if I must." And she could thank Twilight and her friends for breaking her free from her own nightmare... "Why do you ask?"

"..." Ty looked down at his half eaten food, suddenly losing his appetite. He pushed the tray aside to cross his arms on the table and breathe in his uneasiness. If Luna claimed she could walk through dreams, then would that mean when she first spoke to him back on 42, that when she woke him up from his nightmare...she knew about his green past? The past that kept on haunting his mind, body and spirit?

He looked at the pony before him, and there he could see the worry in her eyes. A part of him almost felt...violated of his privacy. But his shock overwhelmed him more than his anger. And how could he be angry with her when he just met her? He didn't know her as well as he knew Buzz in the time they served together. And she obviously never met someone like him before, if the fact that humans were practically nonexistent in Equestria was anything to go by.

His throat dried up. He grabbed his water and finished it off to regain his voice again. Taking a deep breath to keep his emotions at bay, he intensely but softly asked, "Luna... did...did you see what I was dreaming about when I was asleep on 42 and you woke me up?"

The lack of her royal title and his desperation to know the truth caused Luna to crease her brow. She quickly realized what he was referring to and realized she may have tripped on a thin and delicate wire. The nightmare he was trapped in after she woke up from her own slumber. The pain she remembered seeing was a vivid sight she would never forget. His attempts to run away, the spooky and mechanical forest that made the Everfree Forest pale in comparison, the horrifying monster chasing after Ty, the bats... in her time as Princess of the Night, she never bore witness to someone like Ty, who bore a heavy weight on himself, who tried to put the past of whatever was following him out of his life.

Something terrible happened to him, something that would forever scar him for years to come.

Something that forced him to inflict pain and suffering onto others.

Although Luna was unaware of the exact context behind such a horrifying dream, she understood the need to bury dark secrets and guilt. Perhaps she could convince her friend that.

She shoved her own tray with her hoof, turned in her seat to face Ty head on, and inhaled deeply. With all her grace, with all her patience, with every element of harmony she had in her body, she said, "Yes and no. Yes, I did bear witness to your dream, but no, I do not know what it was you were dreaming about. I did not inquire you about your dream because at that moment, I did not truly know anything about you and I could not bring it upon myself to ask. And I shall continue to refrain from asking any questions. I am the Princess of the Night, and I do wish to help out all of my subjects...and my friends.

I am aware you carry a great burden on your shoulders. And I do want to aid you. But you do not have to tell me what it is. I understand the need for privacy. I only glimpsed into your dream to wake you. At that moment, when I did look, I was too concerned helping you to even notice your fears. I simply did not want to see you in pain. You have helped me in my time of need, and I wanted to repay your kindness.

But I...I am sorry if I have frightened you, Ty Parsec. Can you forgive me?"

For some time, the two engaged in a staring contest. Ty stared into Luna's eyes, absorbing her apology and explanation for why she did what she did. Luna stared into Ty's eyes, awaiting his reaction. The contest seemed to go on forever. Until one of them broke it away.

Ty averted his eyes. Luna, although disappointed and sad, averted and closed her eyes as well, believing that Ty would not accept her apology.

But in fact, it was the opposite.

Ty thought over her apology, realizing that it was echoing what Buzz said to him earlier that day. She was willing to help him, but only if he was wanting her to. From the way she reasoned about her actions, it almost sounded like she had some experience in helping others deal with trauma. The way she carried her grave state of mind? Given she was well older than he, that of course she would understand the need for privacy and respect. She did also seem genuinely sorry about what she did, but if it weren't for her...well, that nightmare probably would have bothered him for the remainder of the day. And there was one other thing that stood out in his mind.

She called him a friend.

That was what truly struck a chord with Ty. He didn't know why that was, given that he did have friends, but there was some sort of strange vibe he picked up from Luna when she called him that. Almost like...a bond of some sorts. A bond that was in its infancy yearning to grow. A bond that felt strong, as strong as the bonds he shared with Buzz and others, but this one...it was almost like it was born from empathy, from beyond the cosmos that he couldn't describe. Whether it was out of pure imagination or some other peculiar force, he had to act on his Ranger instincts and see where it would take him.

Luna considered talking to Ty again when she felt his hand touch her shoulder. She looked up to see him with a small and sad smile. "How can I not forgive you? Sure, I may...have some reservations about what you did, but you did it to help me, not invade my thoughts or anything. And I'm glad for that."

"So you are not angry?"

Ty chuckled a little as he took his hand away. "Well, I am a little mad. But I'll get over it. You were honest with me, and I'm grateful for that. So thanks for that. And thanks for...y'know, helping me when I needed it." His smile widened a little, but the gratitude was there.

"..." Luna caught Ty's smile, smiling back in relief. "I am glad I could help. You are welcome, Ty Parsec."

There goes the usage of his full name again. "That reminds me...you don't have to call me by my full name. You can just call me Ty. It's not that I hate being called by my full name, but I just generally go by Ty, except when I'm working and have to go by my rank or title."

Luna regarded his request momentarily before smiling again. "Very well then. In that case, you may just refer me as Luna. I prefer to be called by my name, anyway."

"Heh. Sounds good to me."

The two of them enjoyed the rest of their meal time before Ty's communicator went off again. After being informed by Commander Nebula that it was time for them to go, Ty and Luna cleaned up their table and went off together to solve the problem of how to return Luna home. But not before confronting the Rangers they tried to avoid earlier.

One question after another, Ty and Luna managed to answer the questions that the Rangers, who were merely cadets, had in mind.

"Is she your pet?"

"Whoa, you're Ranger Ty Parsec!"

"What's it like working with Buzz Lightyear?"

"How can you talk?"

Once they succeeded in answering as many questions as they could without scaring them off, Ty and Luna finally received a reprieve from their mountain of questions by excusing themselves off for a meeting with Nebula. Although Luna seemed more than happy to oblige, but Ty didn't.

Luna simply smiled and rolled her eyes as she took Ty's grouchy grumblings about first year Rangers in stride.



"Now that we're inside the Observatory, shall we resume our quest for the answers? Twilight, Spike, look to the books. I will look towards the heavens."
> The Next Step
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He replayed the scene over and over again. The spy drone he had one of his agents install into Star Command's nooks and crannies while he was onboard the station at the time retrieved enough footage for the evil emperor to look at over and over again for reference, inspiration and most importantly, knowledge. He tapped his finger against his lime green teeth as he puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. He turned to his Grubs and made a point of asking, "How is my machine coming along?"

"We should have it ready within another fifteen minutes, O Evil One."

"Excellent! My, you Grubs are the real go-getters today. I'll have to reward you with something special.. Higher wages, perhaps or a vacation... oh, we can talk about that later. Finish it up as fast as you can, Grubs! We've got to have it ready for when we capture that PONY!" He rubbed his hands with glee at the anticipation of having a very special new experiment to test his machine on.

A ping from his machines indicated that something was afoot with the Ranger Corps once again. "What is it?"

One of the Grubs replied, "Princess Luna and Ranger Parsec are going to the Briefing Room!"

Zurg leaned over the midget to get a closer look at what was going on through the drone's eyes. "Hmm... I'll wager that they've been instructed to meet there with Nebula. Have we got a drone in there too?"

The small bug-like creature froze. "Uhh..."

"Don't tell me your 'Uhh' means that we DON'T have one in there!"

The Grub shrunk and shook his head. "N-no."

"...BLAST IT! BLAST IT ALL TO THE DEPTHS OF HELENE AND BACK!" He felt the urge to destroy something. ANYTHING to release his anger out on. Not the machine; he needed it for that pony. All of his agents were out on their assignments, so what was left?

He glanced down at the Grubs and he suddenly had an idea. He grinned nastily as he happened to lay eyes right on the Grub.

The Grub didn't like the way his employer was dastardly eyeing him. "Uhh... Your Evilness?"

"Break time, Grubs! It's time to play one of my favorite games of all time!"

The Grub squeaked, "You don't mean...?!"

"I do! It's time for evil bowling! And you'll be part of this game's ten-pin set. Get going, Grub!" He whipped around to address some of the other Grubs. "Whoever I pick for the game, move your behinds NOW! The rest of you, finish this machine and get this show on the road!

...and if you do finish on time as scheduled, I'll talk to you all in private about those benefits."




Other than bumping into nosy Rangers who wanted to ask Ty questions about Luna, the walk was quiet and didn't take the duo too long. They eventually arrived at the Briefing Room's threshold-a simple set of silver doors.

"I assume this is the Briefing Room?"

"Yep, and where Commander Nebula's waiting. So are you ready to find a way back home?"

Luna smiled. "I am ready whenever you are."

"Then let's get to it." They entered the threshold.

Past its automated doors, which at first puzzled Luna, they walked and ended up in a large room that, much like the cafeteria, overlooked the stars and Capital Planet. It was reasonably bare save for a circular table with chairs that was right in the middle of the room.

A table where Nebula sat, but he wasn't alone.

"Ty! You're here!"

Ty blinked. "Buzz?"

Buzz was indeed present, but he too wasn't alone. Three other Rangers sat at the table with him.

"Hi, Ty! Is that your magical pony friend? She's pretty!"

On the outside, Ty only showed surprise, but inwardly, he was groaning... Buzz just HAD to be here with his team, didn't he? As much as he liked Buzz's team, he wasn't up for interacting with them right now.

Luna, on the other hand, was genuinely confused about what was happening. Commander Nebula didn't say anything about having Buzz and three other Rangers around. In response to the larger Ranger, she said, "Er... thank you..?"

"Wow! She can talk! She can really talk! Can she perform a magic trick for us?"

"Pft, big deal. 42 can talk and perform tricks too. What's your point?"

"That's enough, you two. Let's get right down to discussion. Rangers, I'd like you to meet Princess Luna. Your Highness, this is my team." Buzz motioned to each member as he introduced them by name. "This is Ranger Mira Nova," a blue-skinned female with orange-reddish hair and blue eyes greeted Ty and Luna amiably, "Ranger Booster Munchapper", a friendly, red, and giant reptilian-like creature that reminded Luna of Spike, "and XR," a small mechanical being with a yellow tube-like head, a glass dome and a round body on wheels.

After sharing a confused brow with Ty, she politely greeted back, "Er... hello." She tilted her head as a question popped into her head, "If I may ask, Ranger XR, what does your name mean?"

Rather proudly, XR puffed up his metallic chest and pounded it with his hand. "It's a set of initials and it stands for 'Xperimental Ranger! I happen to be Commander Nebula's son!"

Nebula stiffly grunted, "XR, NOT now. We've got work to do!" Thankfully, the little tin can got the message as he threw his hands up in a surrender motion and grew small.

Ty wiped a hand down his face as he resisted the urge to groan loudly; this was so embarrassing! He asked a little too quickly, "Commander Nebula, what's going on?"

Grateful for the distraction, Nebula replied, "Take a seat, son, and I'll explain. Princess Luna, if you'd like, you may sit down too."

Luna graciously nodded. "Thank you, sir."

All eyes, save for Ty's, were on Luna as she followed him. He took a seat and motioned for her to sit next to him. Gladly accepting, she climbed onto the chair, much to her own embarrassment as everyone else watched her settle herself. It was like they never saw a talking pony sit down in a chair before.

Although in this galaxy, she shouldn't have been surprised.

But with that out of the way, Nebula launched into his explanation. "Well Parsec, you know that mission I said I was going to talk to them about? Well, it's this: bringin' Princess Luna home to her country. I decided after thinkin' over this that it might be a good idea if we had Team Lightyear on the case. Every Ranger needs backup, and I don't want to send you out on a mission by yourself as long as Zurg is out there lookin' for our guest here."

Luna would have been slightly annoyed about the fact that Nebula seemed to be talking about her like she was not present, had it not been for her curiosity about Ty. The Ranger was averting his eyes, as if he was...reluctant to be working with Buzz and his team. Not grouchy like he previously was with those Rangers asking him about her or irritated whenever she used her magic for some mundane task like he did with his hands (what was up with those?), but reluctant. But why would that be? Other than Booster and XR appearing... excitable and a little eccentric, they seemed willing to assist in any way they could. Where was the harm in that?

She wasn't the only one to pick up on this change in Ty's behavior. Mira also seemed to show awareness for Ty's hesitation. And so she said, "Ty, after hearing what happened on Zenway Nine, we've talked it over and we thought that it might be a good idea if we were to split up for this mission."

Ty and Luna looked at each other before Ty voiced both of their confusion through a question, "Split up?"

Buzz elaborated, "We need to scope out the area on Zenway Nine. By doing that, we can kill two birds with one stone: find out what Zurg was up to, and look for a way to help Princess Luna return back home."

Luna blinked at the plan. What were they thinking they were going to find there? Other than ice, snow, earth and sky, there was nothing promising about that place. After sharing one more glance with Ty, she brought up her own thoughts. "Ranger Lightyear, I understand why you want to go back to that world, but I am uncertain that we will find a solution to the problem there. What do you hope to gain in your search when there is nothing but snow covering the vast landscape?"

"That's why we need you to come with us, ma'am."

"What?"

"You said that this 'portal' or whatever you created opened up in your world and led you to our galaxy, right?"

"Yes, I did. What about it?"

"If you landed on Zenway Nine, then the portal must have opened up somewhere on the planet. Portals like that don't normally spew out of nowhere around here, not unless they were designed by some techno savvy mechanic."

Ty started to reply, "Or unless they were wormholes, in which that'd make the por-" He paused as he realized what he was saying. "Wait a minute... Buzz!" He hoped Buzz would be in tune with his epiphany, and to his luck, Buzz was sharing the same surprised expression as Ty was. And they turned to Luna to see if she understood what they were thinking, and to their luck, she did. Not with surprise, but with dread.

"Of course! Great thinking, Ranger!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Buzz?"

Buzz explained to Booster, "There is only one way a portal like that could have opened up. It might not have been a portal at all but a-"

"A wormhole." Commander Nebula fiddled with his mustache in thought before addressing his veteran Rangers. "Well, that's a strong theory, and I think you're on the right track, but is it what actually happened? You'd better make sure that that is what happened, otherwise we're going to have bigger worries than Zurg's latest plan.

What do you think, Princess Luna?"

"Oh..." All Ranger eyes were on her, awaiting her opinion on the matter. "Well..." She wasn't entirely sure what to think, other than it was a horrifying possibility to think about. Wormholes were the last thing to have on her mind! That portal she and Twilight were working on were supposed to lead them to a place that both of them had always wanted to visit outside of Equestrian borders, not lead her individually into an unknown world! And if it was a wormhole that they somehow accidentally opened up, then why in Equestria would it bring her here to this galaxy? This isn't where she wanted to go when she cast the spell!...was it?

She was brought out of her thoughts by XR. "You DO know what a wormhole is, right? Ow! Hey!"

"XR!" The robot had his side shoved by a scolding Mira.

"Ranger Nova, it's alright. It is good that he asked," Luna assured before sighing deeply. "Yes, I do know what a wormhole is. I am not wanting to admit to the very idea of what could have happened, let alone think of it, but it is important to keep an open mind to the possibilities. That would explain why I was unable to contain it, even with my magic."

"But can't you raise the moon and stars and do all sorts of other things with your magic? That's what Commander Nebula told us."

Figuring the commander must have overheard her conversation with the LGMs about her talent, Luna sadly shook her head. "Yes I can do many things, but there are some things that magic cannot solve, Ranger Munchapper. And controlling a wormhole, a very force of nature beyond my control, is not within my abilities."

Mira asked, "There are rules to magic?"

"Yes. It depends on what kind of pony somepony was born as, but yes, there are rules that we ponies adhere to. You see in Equestria, unicorns, pegasi, Earth ponies and alicorns all possess some degree of magic. As an alicorn," she pressed her undamaged wing to her crest, "I possess the magical properties of a unicorn, the pegasus ability to fly and the strength of an Earth pony. Every pony is capable of performing their own feats of magic-the unicorns can control magic itself, the pegasi control the weather and the Earth ponies are the strongest of them all, capable of heavy lifting and tending to the earth's needs."

"Whoa, whoa, hang on a minute-ponies can control the sun, moon, stars, magic, the earth, and weather?"

"That is correct."

All but Ty seemed genuinely amazed at Luna's description of each of the ponies' known traits in her world, which secretly bemused Luna. It wasn't that she was looking for an audience's awe, but if what Ty said was true about the moon moving on its own accord over in this galaxy, she couldn't help but feel rather tickled that these Rangers never thought of talking equines being capable of controlling forces such as sunshine, earth or magic.

"Okay, okay, so you can raise the moon and stars, but you can't..." XR waved his hand up in a circular motion as it trying to help get his point across, "Create a wormhole or a portal?"

"Not unless I had a talent in such an area, but I do not. But I will do whatever I can to assist you, even if it is simply lifting a rock or two."

Buzz then suggested, "Can you also detect magic?"

"Detect?...why would I want to-wait a moment...are you suggesting that I use my magic to sense the wormhole itself?"

"Would it help you?"

"...Perhaps...but I cannot say for certain. I have never attempted to do such a thing before. Portals, and wormholes, are dangerous objects to study and manipulate, and as I have said, I have no experience in the field. Only Star Swirl the Bearded was familiar with these portals."

"Who?"

"Star Swirl the Bearded. He was a prominent figure known all throughout Equestria in his time." Luna lowered her horn and it began to glow, much to the surprise of the group. At its tip, a blue light slithered upwards and grew into a massive cloud of blue light. Faint shapes within this cloud finalized into clear images, one of which was-

Ty asked, "I'm guessing the unicorn in the blue cloak and pointy hat is our man-uh, I mean, pony?" The image floating inside the cloud was indeed of a unicorn, whose fur was as white as snow and whose beard was as gray as early morning. He stood magnificently in his starry blue cloak and bell-decorated hat as he looked to the horizon with his golden-eyed steel gaze.

"Yes. He was known for his work in the field of conjuration; he created over two hundred spells in magic, many of which are still used today throughout Equestria."

"So what's exactly his role in all of this?"

At Mira's question, the image spun around and around before forming into a new shape. "He himself is not involved, but a spell of his is." The shape evolved into a leather-bound and thick book. The image itself flipped its pages before landing on a page. "In one of his books, he wrote a spell that would utilize portals for travel inside and outside of Equestria. He experimented with them, but abandoned the notion after he tried testing it out with a time recorder."

"A time recorder?"

"It was used as a method to determine the time and distance it could take for one pony to travel from one location to another. He sent it through a portal, but unfortunately... it never came back." She shrugged helplessly as she recalled her magic back, the image fading away into nothingness. "I suppose the fact that the portal's true form, if it was indeed a wormhole, was precisely the reason he abandoned his research with them. But as far as I can recall, he never stated or wrote anything about the dangers of these portals, or else we would have known not to experiment with them."

"And I would have prevented Twilight from making them, and myself from ever coming into contact with that blasted portal," she thought. She bitterly snorted as she broke eye contact with the Rangers, staring angrily at the table.

Commander Nebula cleared his throat. "Well team, you have your orders. Find out what Zurg was up to, and find out anything you can about the wormhole. Princess Luna."

She raised her gaze, if only to meet Nebula's eyes.

"You should know that while you're with everyone here, I'll be actin' as mission control with the LGMs. Whatever information we receive about the wormhole can be used to help us build a portal for you to get home through."

Her ears perked. "Really?"

"Yeah. We've got the technology to help us detect wormholes and how they work, so if you find any traces of it on Zenway Nine, we can use it as a resource to help us build the dang thing. That's what we're hopin' for, anyway."

Even if the idea of the Little Green Men having the power to actively build a portal with their own hands seemed far-fetched, it was still a glimmer of hope in Luna's mind. She was donning it with a true smile. "Thank you, Commander Nebula. I sincerely appreciate that. I will do my best to aid in any way that I can, even if I can do nothing more than move snow."

"We know, Luna." She felt a warm touch on her shoulder, encouraging her to glance Ty's way. "You're a strong pony, and with us helpin', you WILL get back home. I made a Ranger's promise and I'll keep it no matter what."

It wasn't anything she hadn't heard before, but hearing Ty's strong conviction again gave her heart wings that day.




The search continued on for the trio. While Twilight and Spike scavenged the shelves of books located within the observatory's archives, Celestia had her eyes set on the skies. Peering through the building's large telescope, she scanned the stars for any signs of wormhole activity. From what she knew about them, they were explosive and unpredictable, and had an amazing ability to leave a large trail of star dust and cosmic particles after forming and imploding and exploding again.

To which Celestia prayed was not the latter. She lost Luna once in Equestria; she wasn't about to lose her again.

"Princess!"

Hearing her name called by Twilight, she took her eyes off the telescope to see her student coming at her with a handful of books floating in mid-air, with Spike riding on her back.

"We've found more information."

"What have you found?"

Spike opened one of his books to the page he marked down. "We've found some pages that were written by not just Star Swirl, but other ponies who worked in the Observatory a long time ago. It says here that a similar event happened, but luckily nopony was hurt.

"It says here that long before Equestria was found by the pony tribes, a couple of the unicorns worked as astronomers under Star Swirl's guidance when Princess Platinium was still in power. And..." his eyes skimmed and scanned, "in between using their magic to raise the sun and moon, they would be experimenting with magic to learn about other cosmic things that exist above our heads. Things like...wormholes."

"...May I see that book?"

Without another word, Spike offered the book up high to Celestia and she took it from him.

She skimmed through the pages at an astonishing rate, like she'd never seen the language of the written word before. She scanned and scanned silently while Twilight and Spike watched and anticipated for her to say something. She looked from the book to the telescope and then back to the book again. "Yes... of course," she murmured. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to absorb the newfound knowledge she gained. Once she did so, she started pacing back and forth in front of the telescope as she hummed in thought.

"..."

"..."

She paused in her contemplation. "I've got it.

Twilight. Spike."

Like good little soldiers, Twilight and Spike stood to attention.

"We're going to need every book that covers magic and portals. We need to make a portal ourselves."

"What?!"

"What?!"

"I know how crazy it sounds, but at this point in time, we have learned everything we needed to learn about what happened and we need to take the next step. We need to make a portal like the one that Luna and Twilight created that will take us to where Luna is now." She looked to her two friends. "That's the most important task now, so we need to gather our resources and take to the stars.

So come. Let us get to work."



"This place is certainly beautiful and peaceful when there's no storm present... and it's so big too."

Overwhelmingly big. Even though Luna was with a Ranger team that knew this planet far better than she could, it didn't help ease the tremendous task that lay ahead for them: combing the planet for something that could help Luna out, and finding out what Zurg was up to. Who knows how long this task could take? And if they found nothing here, what then?

Luna sighed. There was no reason to start worrying now, not when the search hadn't even begun. She turned to Buzz. "Do you sincerely believe we will find anything here, Ranger Lightyear?"

"If there's one thing I know about Zurg, and I happen to know his habits well, it's that he can slip up and leave behind clues without realizing it. He's bound to leave something behind."

"Or, he could leave behind tools of imminent destruction disguised as ballpoint pens, but that's just silly to think about." XR grinned in amusement at the thought.

"...Pens?" Luna blinked, and referred to Ty for some clarification. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

He only shrugged, lost in the dark like she was. "Not a clue."



"Aaaaahhh... I feel MUCH better now. Not only did I relieve some stress, but I also got a few strikes in my games. No wonder I love this game. Wouldn't you agree, Grubs?"

The aliens in question spun around in circles, not having quite recovered from their positions as bowling pins. "Yes, evil Emperor Zurg..."

"Hmph! Weaklings." Satisfied with his games and feeling refreshed in mind and spirit, he returned back to his main priority. "Now then... you Grubs over there! Report the status of the machine! Is it ready yet?"

"We're just putting the final touches on it now... done! Evil Emperor Zurg, may I present... The Moonraker-66!" Like a showman, the Grub hoisted his arms up to present the large machine to his boss.

The hulking piece of chrome technology resembled a strange microscope. A large and movable cylinder was the main centerpiece of the device, for it contained a few ocular lenses at the top of the cylinder, which was for the viewer. It also contained a giant objective set of lenses, which were for the...subject, at the bottom of the cylinder. Underneath the bottom, there was a table with restraints built into it to keep a creature in place, if the laser pointer underneath the lenses weren't enough to scare the subject into submission. The cylinder was semi-attached to a command module where there were a lot of levers and buttons and a small screen built in to resemble mission control.

The emperor looked up and down at the device, eyeing it like an art critic. He tapped it a few times with a finger in his judgment. "Hmm... hmm...

...Excellent!" He clapped his claws together. "This is perfect for the plan! Now all we need to do is find that pony and we'll take it from there! Grubs, send out a spy drone and find that pony ASAP!"
> The Searchers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The trio went outside into the gardens beyond the castle.

With supplies in hooves, claws and bags, they found a wide and empty spot where they could set up the next step of their plan. Twilight and Spike once more skimmed the books to compile all of the information they had on the portals and wrote them down on a spare pad of paper Spike picked up on the way out of the observatory. Meanwhile, Celestia stood facing the sky, her closed eyes. It was as though she were in deep meditation, when in reality, she was merely preparing herself to take on the difficult task of creating the portal.

As they did what they did, Spike took a break, hesitantly came up to Celestia and asked, "Princess, are you sure this is the only way we'll be able to find Princess Luna? This is a big risk we're taking here. I mean... what if it doesn't work? How do you know this is what we're supposed to do?" He rubbed his elbow, feeling so awkward in questioning his leader.

The question gave Celestia some pause. Enough pause for her to open her eyes to regard him. She took a deep breath in and exhaled it out.

"I know this because I have a theory about what happened to Luna."

By now, Twilight had, too, taken a break to see how Celestia was doing. But when she heard her claim, she and Spike exchanged alarmed glances. "You do?"

"Somehow Luna and Twilight stumbled onto a wormhole that functioned as a portal to someplace outside of Equestria. The magic that was used to create it came directly from Luna, who has a strong connection to the moon and stars. In response, the portal, or wormhole, was created to take Luna someplace where she could gain some insight. And her magic was the stronger of the two, which was another reason why the portal took her instead of Twilight."

Twilight blinked. "Princess Celestia, when you talk about these portals, you make them sound as though they're alive somehow."

"In a way, they are. They're not as sentient as we three are, but they can develop a consciousness and some sort of empathy towards the creatures who want to pass through them into new worlds. I think that was why the portal reacted strongly to Luna and somehow dragged her inside: to help her.

"So now, we must create a portal with the intention of finding her, but it may very well take a lot of magic to do so. Which is why I must ask you both this: after we create the portal, I will be entering it, but I don't want either of you coming after me."

Instantly, both Twilight and Spike began protesting. "But Princess-"

"No buts. I cannot, and will not, risk your own lives for something like this. I must go alone and find her. Tell the guards and staff what's happened should they ask. I will be back in time before the sun must rise, but if I am not, get word to Princess Cadence and Shining Armor and they will take care of things for me."

Her stone face was so hard, both of her subjects couldn't bring themselves to say no, or much of anything else.

But Celestia, seeing Twilight's sadness, softened. She placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder and with a gentle smile, assured, "My faithful student, I will be fine. I have every bit of faith that this will work. And I don't want to see any harm come to you. To either of you. I will be able to use my magic and wits to help me should I need them. Everything will be alright."

Her assurance was enough to make Twilight, and Spike, smile a little. Or at least attempt to smile.

"Now then, let us create this portal together. Are you ready?"

"We're ready when you are."

"Very well then. Twilight, if you please. Spike, you'd better move away from the portal. I don't know how strong this one will be."

"Yes, Princess." Spike moved away while Twilight got into position next to her mentor.

Both of them lowered their heads as they built up their power within their horns.

Celestia's horn glowed Twilight's horn glowed.

They aimed their horns in the same direction, coming together to create their own gateway.




Buzz commanded, "Okay people, let's get this mission started. Everyone split up - "

"Ooh, ooh, can I go with Princess Luna, Buzz? I can help keep her safe from Zurg!"

Although Ty appeared indifferent on the surface, deep down he was hoping Buzz would say no. The last thing he wanted was for the big guy, as friendly as he was, to start playing twenty questions with Luna (and himself should Booster ask him about her) while they were here on this rock.

"Negative, Booster. Mira will go with Ty and Princess Luna to find any signs of that portal. You come with me and XR to find out whatever Zurg might be, or was, up to. We're going to go to the area where Ty and I last saw his operation, and we might need you to do some heavy lifting in case he left something behind."

It was as much of a disappointment for Booster as it was a relief for Ty for Buzz to point this fact out. "Aw, okay."

Luna offered, "Ranger Munchapper, perhaps after we end our search, I may answer any questions you may have about me or Equestria if you'd like." Even if his request wasn't the top priority, she was still a princess. How could she say no to whatever questions he had about herself or the land she loved and protected?

Although it was not Booster wanted, it was enough to make him smile in satisfaction. "That'd be great."

"Alright troops, we've got our jobs. Let's go do them."

The Rangers acknowledged their captain's order with salutes while Luna nodded solemnly.

And then they separated.




And over the snowy land did the three walk.

"That is why you do not mention your royal heritage?"

"That's right. I wanna let people know I'm a Ranger first, not just a storybook princess...uh, n-no offense."

Luna shrugged. "No harm done."

For two hours, Ty, Mira and Luna trekked over snowy hills in the frozen landscape. So far, their search to find any leftover portal energy proved scant; Luna could not detect any traces, magical or natural, left behind by the wormhole. But they still had some ground to cover, so they just kept going. While they traveled, Mira asked Luna more about herself and in turn, both females had been conversing about their own royal lives and duties.

Which was a good distraction for Luna to focus on while they searched far and wide for energy.

Although it was shameful to hear about how Mira's people thought themselves superior to all other creatures because of their special abilities. It fascinated Luna because of one of their abilities to walk, or 'ghost' through, as Mira put it, walls, but it also disappointed her. A precious gift such as walking through walls or even reading minds shouldn't be wasted on the narrow-minded. But at least Mira herself was open-minded and friendly, if a little sarcastic and sometimes too proud for her own good.

Still, she was beginning to like Mira, and vice versa. "But I understand. You wish to let everyone see you for you and not just one side or the other. And you also want to do more good for not only your people, but also for your friends and other inhabitants of the universe."

"Huh... I never thought of it like that. I joined because I was inspired to when my planet was saved by Bu - I mean, Star Command." Mira didn't want to chance irritating Ty if she used 'Buzz' and 'saved' in the same sentence, even if their past history was overall healed.

But Ty himself wasn't paying attention to Mira's careful name-dropping. In fact, he wasn't really paying attention to anything the two were saying. He was focused on the mission and trying to scout around for anything he could find for Luna.

As well as trying to keep up his energy. By now, he and his team had been at this for a little over two hours and he was feeling slow as a Zordogian on a hot summer's day. He didn't know why he was feeling so tired all of a sudden, but he was feeling it and he wasn't about to show his incoming exhaustion to his team, even if they were Luna and Mira.

But they still had a mission to complete. But that didn't mean they couldn't take five.

Ty stopped walking and he turned to face his team. "Luna, Mira, I think we'd better take a break. I want to check in with Buzz."

"Sounds good."

"Very well then. May I suggest we stop over at those rocks? We can take a rest there."

"Fine by me. Let's go."

The rocks Luna pointed out were not too far for them to walk. Over on a small hill, a circle consisting of a few snow-covered stones could be seen. It wasn't too long until they reached the area.

Ty and Mira found a couple of snow-free stones to sit upon while Luna sat down on another. These stones would normally be so cold they could burn, but luckily, the Rangers and Luna were immune to them, thanks to their spacesuits and/or fur keeping them warm. It helped that the sun was out and thus played a part in keeping the area nice and reasonably mild for them.

"Now then, while I'm finding out how Buzz is doing, I need you two to keep an eye out for anything unusual just in case."

"Yes, sir."

"Of course."

Ty flipped open his communicator and attempted to get through to Buzz. "Excuse me." He turned away from them to relay their findings.

"Buzz? Ty here."

"Ty! What is it?"

"Are you having any luck at your end? We've turned up with nothing so far."

"'Fraid not, Ranger. We're looking at snow and ice for miles around."

While Ty and Buzz were bringing each other up to date, Mira and Luna kept going in their conversations, but took breaks in between to spot anything unusual in their surroundings. Their current topic was one they could both relate to.

"Zurg tried to conquer your kingdom and took your father hostage?"

"That is until Star Command came in to save the day and my people, and changed my life forever. I signed up to attend the Space Ranger Academy and now here I am, part of something bigger."

Mira's smile affected Luna and she found herself forming a small grin. "Very inspiring."

"Thanks." Mira beamed with pride. It was nice to converse with another royal who was like she - outgoing, empathetic, and most importantly, didn't think of herself as better than anyone else, even with her celestial talents. She was a little moody, but that didn't deter Mira's opinion about her. Heck, what Luna could do made her own gifts pale in comparison, but she was genuinely interested in learning about Mira's own powers, which made her, for the first time, feel good about her Tangean Royal roots.

"So uh, quick question about your world."

"What is it?"

"So you mentioned that everyone in Equestria is capable of performing magic of some sort depending on what type of pony they are, but how do they know if that's what the type of magic they're assigned to do?"

Luna tilted her head. "Assigned to do? I'm... not sure I understand your question."

"What I mean is... ok, ok, let's say that a pegasus wants to take care of the earth or something like that even i-if pegasi take care of the weather a-a lot. Can ponies do that?"

Finally understanding Mira's inquiry, Luna replied, "Of course they can, as long as whatever they want to do is their true calling. I know of one pegasus who does not alter the weather at all, and instead tends to the well-being of animals."
Mira was impressed. "No kidding! How did she manage to do that?"

"From what I understand, a friend she knows was partly responsible for her finding her talent with animals, and when she discovered she was good at communicating and tuning into their needs, she received her cutie mark."

"W-whoa, whoa, a what now?"

Luna pointed a hoof at the moon emblem on her flank. "A cutie mark. It is a magical symbol indicating a pony's talent, personality or deposition to the world. All ponies receive them when they come of age, and it can take any form to represent the most unique part of them. For instance, mine is in the image of a moon because that is my talent and responsibility as Princess of the Night.

But just because raising the moon is my calling does not mean I am incapable of other things."

"No?"

"No. In fact, I too can control the weather whenever I must, and I can also walk into - " She stopped herself, remembering the conversation she and Ty discussed back at the cafeteria about her ability to walk in between dreams. Despite Mira's own mind powers, Luna wondered if that would make Mira feel uneasy - reading somepony's thoughts was a far different activity than seeing somepony's dreams. And Mira never said that Tangeans were capable of entering one of the most sacred parts of the psyche.

And of course, Ty was right there. She was sure he wouldn't appreciate hearing about it again even if he was tied up with other matters.

Speaking of Ty -

"Got it, Buzz. We'll keep on looking for about another hour or so and then we'll call it a solar cycle." Ty briefly looked up into the sky, noticing the sun's steady movement across it.

"Okay, Ranger. Do what you need to do. Over and out."

Ty flipped his communicator lid back down, ending his update. He cleared his throat and addressed his makeshift team. "Okay, team, here's what's what." This prompted both females to pause and look at Ty, to which Luna was glad for. Ty came to her rescue once more!

"So what's up? Did they find anything left behind by Zurg?"

But Ty shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, Mira. They did uncover some leftover Hornet debris from where Buzz and I fought Zurg, and from where I met Luna," he motioned with a hand to her, "but nothing that could explain what he was doing there in the first place; not even a microchip was left behind."

"He must have returned here at some point to cover his tracks so that we wouldn't uncover what he was up to," Mira theorized.

"Agreed. Only question is, where is he now and what's he up to?"

Luna shrugged and went back to looking around her for any signs of anything that could prove useful to them. So far, only snow and stone was the only thing to be seen for miles and miles around. Snow covering rocks and mountains and marks and... Luna blinked.

She blinked and then she squinted her eyes as something caught her gaze in the distance. As she stood to her hooves, Mira and Ty took notice.

"Luna, what it is?"

She stared ahead and tilted her head, briefly silent. She muttered, "Hmm... I wonder... " Then she finally turned to Ty. "May we look over there?" She nodded her head towards whatever she was looking at.

Ty followed her line of sight to where another snowy rock stood.

"Yeah, we can do that. Why?"

"Because I believe that rock is where I first met Zurg in combat.

And I know that that direction it is in is the same one where I first entered your galaxy through the wormhole."




The new form of energy they created together from their horns danced in excitement as it grew and grew and grew into a large swirling vortex of yellow and magenta light, much like the portal that Twilight and Luna created together. But this portal took a larger effort on behalf of Celestia's part, for her connection to the celestial planes was infinitely stronger. So when Celestia took over for Twilight's part, Twilight was both relieved for herself but worried for her teacher.

But much like her sister, Celestia possessed no power over portals like this one and it took much of her strength and concentration to maintain her hold over it from absorbing everything into its center, and to keep its focus on her.

The wind created by the swirling vortex whipped through Twilight's mane and Spike's...spikes, as they watched with fear and awe at the powers presently at war with each other.

Celestia was struggling to win as she slowly walked towards the thundering portal. Slowly and doggedly did she push with all over her might to enter the portal and let it take her to wherever her sister was located.

Or so she hoped.

Celestia felt that radiating warmth splash across her face.

And then reality was lost.




And reality came back.

But not under the starlit sky that she stood under.

No. Now she was in the middle of some sunlit but dank alley littered with garbage and debris and - She halted. Out beyond the alleyway's borders, beings made of metal and creatures resembling mutated ponies and other animals walked around on two legs! By the likes of which she had never seen before - they didn't look anything like the ponies, dragons, gryphons, zebras, or other creatures she interacted with.

These creatures wore clothing; some with emblems not unlike her cutie mark, and others with no emblems, but with many colors from the rainbow. All of them went to and fro about their business, not once paying attention to her.

To her it was good. She needed time to process all of this.

She looked up into the sky, to see the sun... this sun was different. No longer was it the warm glowing sun she knew; this sun felt...fiery and primal.

And it was slowly reaching its end for the day.

The air's perfume was metallic, and she was all alone.

Or was she?

A cough brought her out of her thoughts, and when she turned to see who was coughing, she blinked.

For covered in some greasy liquid that she was struggling to get off of her and Spike, Twilight Sparkle stood sheepishly before Princess Celestia.

"...Twilight?! Spike?!"

Twilight squeaked, "...Hello, Princess Celestia."