The Strange Technique
Twilight stepped up to the entrance of her school, still blocked off by Chancellor Neighsay's seal. Her friends and students stood back as she charged her horn and prepared to break it.
"Twilight! I was so relieved to get your letter!"
A familiar voice broke her concentration. She turned and saw Princess Celestia along with the ambassadors for each nation.
"As was Queen Novo!" Seaspray proclaimed. "Oh, we're just glad you're all right, Silverstream!"
The hippogriff was cut off by Grampa Gruff, who pointed at Gallus. "Don't expect a welcome party from me, sonny! It's time you got home!"
He lunged forward and took hold of the young griffin's head feathers, but Gallus slapped him away. "I'm not leaving."
"WHAAAAAAT?!" The elder griffin squawked.
"None of us are. Sorry, Thorax." Ocellus squeaked from behind Smolder.
Thorax and Ember looked at each other suspiciously, as Prince Rutherford rumbled, "Yak doesn't understand. This pony joke??"
Smolder piped up. "No! We're going back to school!"
"How? You can't even get inside!" Ember trilled, but just as she said it, a loud noise cut through as Twilight charged her magic and blasted the magical seal, shattering it and breaking the chains around the doors.
"School is back in session!" she declared, and the students cheered.
Suddenly, a sound like a lightning bolt tore through the air, and a rift in space appeared before the school. An alabaster stallion stepped through and glared at the shards of magical crystal. He fumed as a small piece broke in two in his hoof. "Who dared remove my seal?"
Twilight stepped forward. "I did, Chancellor Neighsay! And I respectfully ask you to step aside, or classes will start late."
"Classes won't start at all!" the chancellor bellowed. "The EEA has spoken, and none shall pass!" And he slammed his hoof down, creating a small but powerful shockwave on the ground.
Yona reared up on her hind legs. "Yak pass if Yak say!" The little yak prepared to charge, but Sandbar nervously held her back.
"This is for the greater good," the chancellor insisted. "The school was disorganized, the teachers unqualified, and those dangerous and unpredictable students put ponies' lives in danger!" He pointed at the collapsed tower that Ocellus had smashed earlier.
Ember growled. "I'll show you unpredictable!"
The ambassadors started toward him, shouting angrily. Princess Celestia held her leg out. "Hold on, please! I'm sure Princess Twilight Sparkle has a good explanation for--"
Another sound interrupted her, a soft whoosh growing in intensity. Behind them a shower of sparks appeared, forming a circle and spinning clockwise in the air. A cloaked figure stepped through the circle from seemingly nowhere, and the portal vanished.
Before them stood a tall, bipedal being dressed in blue robes and a large red cloak. A large gold pendant shaped like an eye was hung around his neck. His face was adorned with a thin moustache and goatee on his chin, and his salt-and-pepper hair wafted off to one side. But most notable were his hands; ugly red scars traced up his digits and connected haphazardly on the backs of his hands. No doubt a product of some failed surgery.
The man looked at his surroundings and shrugged. "Not bad. Not perfect." He looked at the collection of creatures and nodded. "Definitely magical."
Chancellor Neighsay stepped forward and attempted to look threatening. "What is the meaning of this? Who are you?"
The human glanced at the stallion and raised his eyebrows ever so slightly. "Watch your tone, equine." The Chancellor's eye twitched.
"My name is Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme and Master of the Mystic Arts. It is my duty to keep tabs on individuals and beings from other realms that may be a threat to other worlds."
Chancellor Neighsay sneered and looked at Twilight. "Well well, seems your little stunt has gained some consequences, Princess. You may take her away, doctor."
Twilight stood perplexed as her friends and students yelled in protest. She turned toward Princess Celestia, pleading silently for help.
The Princess smiled at her and winked.
What?
Doctor Strange shook his head. "Oh, I'm not here for her, I'm here for you."
The chancellor's smirk disappeared as he scoffed incredulously. "I beg your pardon? I've done nothing wrong!"
"Not yet. But you will, if given the opportunity."
The stallion's pale coat became somehow paler. "W-what?"
"As I said, my job is to keep a watch on any beings that endanger reality. That also means looking forward in time to see the potential outcomes of certain actions. Specifically, your attempt to infiltrate the school with a young filly to report back to you, kidnapping the students and trapping the Elements of Harmony in Tartarus by convincing them that Tirek has escaped. Not to mention you endanger several lives by stealing magic from pegasi in the air, causing them to fall, and... It's just a really bad way to prove a point."
Chancellor Neighsay was deathly pale now, and the outraged glared of every creature bore into him like knives.
"It doesn't work, by the way," Doctor Strange added. "I'm just saving you the trouble."
The unicorn stallion stared at the sorcerer, then burst into a tirade.
"YOU CANNOT TELL ME WHAT I WILL AND WILL NOT DO! MY CHOICES ARE MY OWN, AND I WILL NOT BE TOLD OTHERWISE BY A SECOND-RATE ILLUSIONIST FROM ANOTHER--"
"Alright, buh-bye." The doctor waved his hand and a circle of sparks flew forward and engulfed the chancellor, vanishing into thin air.
Twilight, her friends, students, and the ambassadors stood speechless, mouths agape. Princess Celestia did her best not to chuckle.
"Well, that went pretty well. A pleasure, Princess, as always." He gave a curt bow to Celestia and turned, opening another portal and stepping through, vanishing from sight.
A heavy silence hung in the air, save for Celestia's muffled giggling.
"Uhh...What just happened?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Just then the school bell rang.
"Oops! School's out! See you tomorrow!" Twilight yelled and dashed inside.
The rest of the group looked at each other and agreed that they all had somewhere else to be, and hurried off in a similar manner.
Spike looked up at Celestia. "What did you do?"
The princess composed herself and shook her head. "Another time, Spike. In the meantime, we'd better be ready to catch the chancellor. He's going to be falling for a while."
"How long?"
"Oh, I'd say about thirty minutes." She chuckled and walked away.