An unknown entity has appeared and turned all life in the universe into spirits. Only one has escaped this mass exodus. Now, it's up to her to save everyone.
It was another day at the School of Friendship when something unusual appeared in the sky. Within minutes, it had launched its assault, seemingly destroying everyone it caught. And it left no room to escape. Whatever it did left no survivors.
Except one.
Silverstream was trying to fly as fast as she could with her friends at her side. After watching them dissolve one by one, she turned around in time to see one of those things approach her faster than she could react. She covered her face...
And that's where this story begins.
Technically a mass crossover, but it should be clear what the main crossover is.
Silver tumbled to the ground and rolled for a good several yards.
"Ow! Ow..."
She struggled to get to her hooves and claws, pain coursing through her body. Her legs shook for a few seconds before she weakly flopped to her right side. She stared at her claws for a few seconds. There were some scratches from her fall, but they seemed fine otherwise. She looked at her left wing. It was in the same shape. She rolled onto her stomach then her left side to check her right wing.
The feathers were pointing in several directions, and it looked like there was a bone pointed the wrong way.
She cringed at the sight. Her legs couldn't support her, and her wing was in no shape for flying. How was she going to get around? She rolled back on her stomach, looked down for a moment, then realized she had no idea where she was. She looked at the scenery.
What little there was to see.
In front of her was nothing but dirt and mountains. No houses, no landmarks, and no signs of life. And for a moment, she hoped that was a dream. It seems like that thing took out all life on the planet.
She looked at the ground. There was a shadow being cast in front of her. The only way for that to happen was... She craned her head around, and her jaw dropped at the sight. She rolled on her back and pushed herself into a sitting position.
The source of the light was a massive orb surrounded by elegant colorful wings. Or things that looked like wings at least. Surrounding it was a sea of clouds with bits of architecture peeking through the top. Everywhere Silver could see, there were floating orbs of light with colors in the middle.
And one was flying right for her.
She covered her face with her claws. The orb smacked her in the stomach, knocking her back. Into someone's grasp.
"Hey! No! Let go of me!"
"Don't be afraid."
Silver gasped. The voice was unfamiliar, but it gave her a small sense of tranquility. She placed her claw on their left hand, pressing it into her chest, and looked at their right hand perched on her ruined wing, stretching it out.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Mipha. And right now, we want the same thing. We all do."
Silver looked at the orb in the distance. "To stop whatever that thing is."
"Yes. You seem to be the only one to escape becoming a spirit. As such, we will do our best to help you in any way we can."
"We?"
"Those that were turned into spirits. But, for reasons I do not know, some of them are assisting that thing."
"What else do you know about that thing?"
"My knowledge of it is as good as yours. It appeared, launched its attack, and now our homes are like this."
"You're not from Equestria, are you?"
Mipha's left hand ran along Silver's body, tracing a path from her chest to her side, then along her back. Mipha placed her left hand on Silver's outstretched wing as Mipha stepped into Silver's view. The sight of Mipha caused Silver to blush.
The best comparison for her general appearance that Silver could think of was an Abyssinian that was a fish instead of a cat. She had gentle green eyes that almost drew in all of Silver's attention. The red scales on her back combined with the tan scales on her front to make a rather stunning design. The jewelry and blue fabric that adorned her made her look regal.
"I am a Zora from the Lanayru region of Hyrule. I never heard of Equestria before now. This may indicate that this is a bigger problem than I previously thought."
Silver stared at the Zora for a moment longer before blinking and turning away. "It doesn't matter how big it is. What matters is if we can handle it."
"I agree with that. And my healing powers will no doubt be invaluable."
"Heal-" Silver quickly looked herself over again. Moments prior, she had been scratched up, bruised, and had a messed up wing. Now? Her body looked perfectly fine. She felt fine. She could stand on her own four legs and fly. "You can heal me?"
Mipha nodded. "And I will be able to do so throughout this journey."
Silver grabbed Mipha into a hug. "I've got the best partner I could ask for! But, uh, are you glowing?"
Indeed, throughout their conversation, Mipha had a soft glow to her body. "Perhaps it is because I am a spirit." Mipha started running her hands along Silver's body. "It's unusual that I would be able to touch you, or that you can touch me." Mipha looked at Silver's face. "But I... think... Ahem. It is probably because my spirit is currently in your body, meaning our "physical" interactions are purely mental."
"Am I able to use your healing powers?"
"I'm not sure. It wouldn't matter if you don't find someone else that was spared. Unless you can save some of them and turn them back to normal."
Silver placed her claw on her chin, her thoughts headed somewhere darker than normal. "If I could use the powers from various spirits, then I could get some very useful powers. Maybe I could get one that would let me beat others up easily." Silver started punching the air. "One, two, pow, pow!"
Mipha placed her hand on Silver's wrist. "Please refrain from going power hungry."
"Oops, uh. I would only use those kinds of powers to help out. I promise."
Mipha sighed. "Let's get going. We won't solve anything standing here." The Zora turned into pure light, then surrounded Silver before vanishing.
Silver stared at her target off in the distance, readied her legs, leaped forward... and promptly faceplanted. She groaned as she got back up and looked below her. Did she slip on something?
She looked behind her and saw it. The thing she slipped on apparently flew behind her. She flew up to it to get a better look. It was a triangular piece of metal with three circles in the corners of it connected by lines forming a triangle. Silver picked it up, causing the symbol on it to glow red. A moment later, her vision filled with light.
A statue of Yona stood on a pedestal, tied by blue lines of light. Something that appeared to be molten metal poured over her, then hung from the bottom of the pedestal. After a moment, it formed into another statue of Yona that dropped to the ground.
A floating mote of light approached the fallen statue. The mote sent out illuminated tendrils towards the statue. The statue then slowly stood up, its eyes glowing red.
Silver gasped as she returned to her body. Looking around, she found her saddle bags lying on the ground nearby. She flew over to it, shoved the chunk of metal inside, and strapped them to her body before flying off.
Silver landed by the first landmark. A giant metal tower that reaches miles into the sky. There are four arches at the bottom, and the design of the tower makes it easy to see through it. Silver was really wondering what it would look like from higher up. She reared back to take off.
As soon as she did, something wrapped around her neck, yanking her out of the sky.
Her eyes shot wide as she kicked off to the side, barely dodging the thing as it flew past her head. Silver's eyes followed its movements as it moved to where it came from. As it got as close to Silver as it could, she suddenly saw that the "weapon" was a yo-yo. Once she fully turned around, she saw who threw it.
A brown haired girl with a top hat. She was also wearing a cape that looked like it was tied with a zipper. Her eyes were glowing red, just like Yona in that vision Silver saw earlier. In her right hand was a yo-yo.
"Who is that child?" Mipha appeared at Silver's side. "She looks Hylian, but I'm not sure."
"She's not anything I've seen before. I'm guessing this is what you mean by spirits helping that thing?"
"Yes. They round up the spirits that are floating around and take them back to that thing. I don't know why, though."
"I may have an idea, but I have to take this thing down first." Silver's eyes glowed blue, then she charged forward, bounding out a zigzagging path.
The hat-wearing yo-yo-using assailant stared as Silver got closer and closer. Once Silver was a few yards away, she leaped into the air. The hat kid tossed the yo-yo in Silver's direction, wrapping it around Silver's hoof, then yanked it. Silver's eyes glowed again, and she spread her wings out. As soon as they were within reach of each other, Silver grabbed the kid's cape and brought her to the ground as well.
Mipha warped to Silver's side. "Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine."
The hat kid got to her feet and looked up. Just in time for Silver to kick her in the direction of the tower, causing a large string of blasts to erupt from the ground.
"Wait, when did-"
"She had those set up beforehand." Silver squinted to see through the dust. "I don't know how I know, I just do."
The hat kid stepped through the dust. She may have still been standing, but her cape and hat had signs of turning to dirt.
"You're at the end of your rope, aren't you."
The hat kid glared at Silver, then threw her yo-yo. Silver casually back-clawed it, sending it into a curve that led back into the kid's face. The kid's face cracked, then crumbled into dirt followed by the rest of her body and clothes.
Mipha gasped. "What happened?"
"She wasn't real." Silver started moving towards the remains of the child. "She was a fake, created by that monster."
"That's why she was serving that thing."
"That thing is called Galeem."
Silver and Mipha looked at each other. That wasn't either of them. They both looked behind them. Standing there, surrounded by the same light as Mipha, was a girl in a skintight suit and mask that made her look like a superhero. The suit was red with black spots. The only other thing of note about her was the thing wrapped around her waist.
"Ladybug." Mipha stepped towards her fellow spirit. "If I may ask, how did you know its name?"
"Once I was captured, they forced me into a mass of other spirits. While I was trapped there, other thoughts were forced into my head, though I'm not sure why. Now that I'm free, I can sort those thoughts out."
"Do you know why it's doing all of this?"
Ladybug shook her head. "As far as I can tell, it's doing to create an ideal world for itself."
Silver rubbed her chin. "Is there a way to talk it out of this?"
"Not in this situation."
Mipha shook her head around. "You two thought we could talk to that thing?"
The three of them looked at Galeem.
The superhero that regularly fights opponents that are just people suffering from personal problems gave her response first. "Er, uh..."
The hippogriff attending a school about being friends with everything and everyone, regardless of differences, gave her response second. "Well, um..."
The warrior that was enlisted to operate a massive machine against a being of pure darkness and rage placed her face in her hands. "You've got to be kidding me."
The three females stayed in place awkwardly for a few seconds.
"Uh, Ladybug? Are you, uh, Hylian?"
"No, I'm from France."
"France?"
Ladybug placed her hand on her face. "Right. Other worlds and stuff. I'm a human from a country called France. I frequently have to fight against other humans that are- well, details don't matter right now."
The gears in Silver's head started turning as she pointed at Ladybug. "So, you're a superhero-" She pointed at Mipha. "-you're a trained warrior-" And she pointed at herself. "-and I'm the only one able to fight right now."
"Right! That's important!" Ladybug held out her yo-yo. "I can give you some of my powers if I assist you. This means I can enhance your strength and agility. I don't know if you can or should use my Lucky Charm ability, but you can also use my yo-yo to attack and swing with."
"I don't think she needs mobility. If something happens to her wings, I can just heal them back to normal."
Ladybug looked at Silver and leaned to the side. "That's fair. And if you feel like the powers I give you are too awkward to use, then you just have to use them until you find someone with a power you're more comfortable with."
"Speaking of which, we should get going. We're not going to find any more spirits to release and help us if we just stand here."
The spirits nodded and went into Silver's body. Silver pulled out the yo-yo and threw it around for a bit. Once she got comfortable with using it a bit, she flew off.
The nearby figure in the hoodie watched her fly away. "So she's the one."
"May I ask something?" Mipha was talking, but not visible.
"What is it, Mipha?"
"Do you have precognition?"
"Precognition?"
"The ability to see the future." Ladybug emerged from Silver's back. "She's asking because you stopped before hitting that wall."
"Not just that." Mipha placed herself on the other side of Silver. "During that fight earlier, she seemed to be on the ball about what was about to happen, such as those traps, and when she got grabbed by the ankle."
"Yeah, it's like I've been seeing something happen before it actually happens, and that gives me a chance to change what happens." Silver turned around. "It started when... I..." Her eyes drifted down towards the ground. Specifically at someone that was standing there.
Mipha and Ladybug looked, then returned to Silver's body. Silver kicked off the wall she was next to and shot towards the figure on the ground.
Yona.
Silver pulled out her yo-yo and threw it at Yona. Yona blocked it with her own tool. Silver caught her yo-yo as she skidded past the yak. The other tool looked like someone combined a sword and shield into one weapon and attached a tube and a handle at a right angle.
"What is that?"
"It's a yak. And an old friend of mine."
"But it's probably just a statue, so don't hold back."
"I wasn't planning on it."
Yona charged at Silver, prompting the hippogriff to leap over the yak and fling her yo-yo at the back of Yona's head. It uselessly bounced off.
"I don't know why I thought that would work."
Ladybug gave a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, yo-yos aren't known for being hard-hitting weapons."
"Maybe you'd do better with a spear."
"Or she could use it like I do and try to trip that thing up."
Silver threw the yo-yo along the ground, aimed at Yona's hooves. Yona planted her tool into the ground and lifted herself up. The yo-yo wrapped around the blade of the tool. Yona yanked the tool up, cutting the string on the yo-yo.
"Well, I can't if she does that."
The now useless yo-yo suddenly dissolved.
"That's alright. It's a magical yo-yo. You can call a new one at will."
"Oh?" Silver flicked her wrist, and another yo-yo appeared in her claw. "Oh! Nice!"
"You have an infinite supply of yo-yos?"
"No, but I can remove and replace her's by removing and returning my powers."
Silver charged towards Yona.
"Wow. That's really clever."
"What can I say? I'm good at solving-"
The hippogriff went flying past them.
"... puzzles."
"I don't think she's doing well."
The pair of spirits looked at the dust cloud that Silver had flown into. Yona was stomping towards the dust. A pair of glowing yellow eyes abruptly shone through the dust, causing everyone else to flinch. The yo-yo shot into the air, spinning wildly while releasing a bunch of ladybugs. The insects congregated above the spinning yo-yo before forming a gun that fell into the dust.
Ladybug rubbed her eyes. "Wait, THAT?"
A barrage of missiles shot through the dust. The yak held up its tool, only for one of the missiles to knock it out of her grasp right away, leaving her open to take the rest of the explosions. When the dust settled, there was nothing left.
Silver had a strange glow surrounding her, different from the glow around the spirits. Her eyes had turned yellow. She took a deep breath then let it out. "That was cathartic." She watched as the gun turned into light while the glow around her faded and her eyes turned back to normal.
A large arm started smacking the hippogriff on her back, causing her to yelp. "That was mighty impressive! And here I thought you had a death wish."
Silver looked at the newcomer. "Um... who are you?"
The beefy male pointed a thumb at himself. "The name's Reyn, and I can help you fight the way you were trying to fight. Run in head first, beat your opponent down, don't even think that hard. That's what my Gunlance and I can help you do."
"Gunlance?" Silver held up her right claw, summoning the tool the construct had earlier. "Woooaaaah. That's what that thing is called?"
"Part sword, part gun, part shield. Perfect for brute force in any situation."
Mipha cleared her throat. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get back to the subject we were on from before the fight."
"That precognition stuff? I'm not sure why it's happening. It only started after I arrived here. Well, more specifically..." Silver pulled the metal object out of her saddlebag. "... after I found this."
The three spirits gathered around the object.
"Ya know, I feel like I've seen something like that before somewhere."
Mipha moved her face close to Reyn's. "What do you know about it? Can it be used as a weapon?"
Ladybug shoved Mipha aside. "Does it have other powers? Is it really why she can see the future?"
Reyn pushed both girls away from him. "Oi! I just told her brute force is the best option! Do you really think I would remember those kinds of things if I ever knew them?" Reyn stepped up to Silver. "Sorry, but your best bet is to find someone else from my world. If we're lucky, they'll know what that is."
"True, but..." Silver looked at the place the invisible barrier was. "... we're kind of limited in where we can go right now."
"Then find someone else, beat them up, and see if that lets you move further. That thing ain't gonna make it easy to get to, so just keep pushing forward until you get to it."
Silver nodded and put the piece of metal back in her bag. "Let's get going. We won't get anywhere standing around talking about it."
Silver landed in a snowy field with some towers in the distance. She walked towards them until something else landed behind her. She turned around to look at the massive silver robot with a blade in each hand. The face on the machine seemed to stare right through the hippogriff.
Silver summoned the Gunlance. She was not about to let something three times her size take her down.
The silver faced robot brought up a sword and brought it down while raising the other one. Silver had plenty of time to raise the Gunlance up and block the assault with relative ease. Silver parried the last blow, knocking the massive machine back a bit.
The machine glared (probably, it's hard to tell with a static face) at Silver, then charged at her, aiming its swords at her legs, making a sound like it was yelling. Silver flew up, dodging the attack with ease. They locked gazes for a moment before Silver charged back at the robot, pointing the Gunlance at the machine's face. It crossed its swords to block the attack, then shoved them forward, sending Silver flying.
Silver righted herself in time to dodge the robot's attempt to tackle her. Silver moved her leg around a bit, feeling the weight of her weapon, then decided that landing would be better. She landed and looked back at the machine. Just in time to dodge it trying to land on her.
She shook the snow off of her wings and regained sight of the robot. Which was looking around for her while facing away. Silver's eyes glowed blue for a moment, then she looked at her bag. "Really?... Well, it's worth a shot."
Silver charged towards the machine as it checked the bottom of its foot. As she got close, the robot turned around in time to take a slash to the gut, knocking it off balance. Silver followed it up by stabbing it in the gut, then slashing at it again, knocking it to the ground. When it tried to get up, she bashed it with the shield part of the Gunlance.
Silver stepped away from the machine, then looked up and behind her. There was an orb with two lines floating there. The same one that she crashed into during her fight with Yona. She switched the Gunlance for the yo-yo and flung it at the orb while running towards it. The yo-yo ground against the orb until the orb broke, sending the power into Silver.
Standing a good distance away from the robot, Silver caught the yo-yo and threw it back into the air, summoning the same gun she used against Yona. The robot had just enough time to look up and see the missiles headed towards it before a massive explosion blew it to pieces.
Silver watched the gun disappear, then started walking towards the wreckage. The snow was blocking the view of most of the machine. It was only when she heard something move that she stopped. "Is that thing not done yet?"
There was a sudden scream as a yellow-haired girl rushed through the snow at Silver. Silver summoned the Gunlance and held it in front of her.
Fiora skidded to a stop. "Reyn? What are you doing?"
"That's what I should be asking you! Why are you attacking Silver?"
"I'm trying to destroy all of the servants of that thing!"
Silver smiled. "You too? We should team up!"
Mipha appeared next to Reyn. "Silver, do you always try to befriend everyone that tries to beat you up?"
"No. I usually don't have someone trying to beat me up."
Mipha buried her face in her hands.
Fiora scratched her head. "So you're... not working for that thing? How did you avoid becoming a spirit?"
"I could ask you that."
"I don't know."
"Well, I don't know either."
"You can't just-"
"Didn't you?"
Fiora held up a finger, jaw open, but said nothing.
"Thought so." Silver turned around. "Anyway, we should-"
Reyn grabbed her by the tail. "Hold on a sec. Why are you back to being a Mechon? I thought you became a Homs again."
Fiora looked herself over. "I thought so too. I just woke up like this. Face Nemesis was in front of me, so I used it a bit."
Silver tilted her head. "Face Nemesis?"
"That Faced Mechon she was piloting."
Silver had no ability to process what she just heard.
Mipha whispered into Silver's ear, "I think it's that thing you just blew up."
"Well, it attacked me first."
Both Homs placed their faces into their palms.
"Don't be too upset. You probably have no idea who Hylia or King Rhoam are."
"That's a fair point. With so many worlds combined into one, it's fairly likely that some of the worlds will have different technology from others."
"True." Silver reached into her bag. "I mean, I still have no idea what this thing is."
Fiora looked at the metal thing Silver pulled out of her bag. "That's... Meyneth's Monado!"
Reyn did a double take. "Wait, that thing is a Monado?"
"I know it doesn't look like Shulk's Monado, but it is still a Monado."
Reyn prodded the Monado. "So that's why you've been havin' visions."
"Sorry, what's a Monado?"
"The ultimate weapon said to have created our world. Wielded by the gods themselves. Our friend Shulk has his own but it's a sword."
"Oh, uh." Silver held the Monado out to Fiora. "Do you want it back?"
Fiora pushed it back towards Silver and shook her head. "No. I don't need it at all. You can hold on to it."
"Alright. I guess we should split up to take those things down. I can't imagine any of them being too hard right now."
"Right. It's not like they're blowing up everything they touch or messing with our senses yet."
Silver looked around, then pointed at a distant landmark. "We'll meet up at that tower later. Before we go past where the invisible walls are right now. Oh, uh, do you need-"
"It was useful while it lasted, but I don't strictly need it to fight. I'll be fine as I am now."
Silver nodded, turned around, and started to leave. Fiora turned away, then cringed, her hand shaking.
"Hold up! Hold up, you liar!"
Fiora turned back around just in time for Silver to shove the Monado back into her chest.
"I'm not going to have you dying because you ran out of power on me." Silver jabbed her claw into the Monado. "We can't take any chances right now."
Silver landed on an open, paved area. She looked at her surroundings through the pink mist. There were a few large metal constructs with silver and black wheels, but not much else of note. There was an odd aroma in the air, but it wasn't unpleasant. She turned away from the metal constructs and locked eyes with her next opponent.
Sandbar, sitting on seemingly nothing. He had a sword with holes in the blade and a large ring attached to the hilt of it. His hoof was through the ring, and the sword was just floating there.
Silver summoned the Gunlance as Sandbar dropped to the ground. A brief stare-off later, Sandbar charged towards her. Silver raised the weapon to block the attack.
"Behind you!"
Silver whipped around in time to block the oncoming attack. The problem was, she didn't see what attacked her. At the same time, Sandbar was behind her but didn't hit her somehow.
"What were you doing?" Silver could hear Reyn, but couldn't see him. "You were facing away from the guy!"
Silver watched Sandbar move to her right, so she raised the Gunlance to block it. "It looked like he was in front of-"
"The left!"
At Mipha's cry, Silver whipped around and blocked another invisible attack while Sandbar's somehow missed. He was the only opponent she could see. Were the others seeing something she couldn't?
"I think her senses are being played with," Mipha answered the unasked question. "She's seeing him coming from one direction, but he's coming from the other side."
"I might have a workaround. Just smash another of those orbs, and I can help you."
"Alright, Ladybug. Just help me survive until we get there." Silver watched her foe approach her from the front and left, so she raised her guard to the back and right.
"Wrong way!"
Silver barely had enough time to block the first attack to come from where it looked like it was coming from. "It looked like he was attacking from there!"
"He can turn it off? That complicates things."
"Just let us be your eyes, Silver. We've got your back, no matter what."
"Oh, that might cause some trouble with my plan."
"It's still worth a shot."
"Behind."
Silver turned around and raised her guard. A loud clank confirmed Mipha's claim.
"You know, if he was smart-"
"Don't say it!"
"Huh?"
"He might hear!"
"Oh. Right."
Silver raised her guard to her right.
"LEFT!"
Silver continued to follow the spirit's directions. They said left, she blocked left. They said behind, she turned around. They said above, she blocked above her.
"Hey, Silver?"
"Yeah?"
"Stomp your right hoof real quick."
Silver complied.
*CRASH!*
"Oh! What? When did that get there?"
"Don't question it! Left!"
Silver guarded to her left, waited for the hit, then pulled out the yo-yo and threw it in the air. Instead of a rocket launcher, a gas mask dropped out of the sky.
"My first plan was to give you a visor that would flip your vision in the same way, but if he can turn the power off on his power, this is probably a better option."
"This is perfect!" Silver slipped it on over her beak... however that works. A few directions later, and the effect of the mist wore completely off. "Ah! There you are!"
As soon as Sandbar was in range, Silver stabbed the sword part of the Gunlance through his stomach. He stayed there for a moment before crumbling to dust.
"I suppose none of my prior opponents had a gas mask handy. Or were able to get one quickly."
Silver turned around. A blond man sat there upside-down while drinking from a bottle.
"I suppose you're the one that had that power to mess with my senses?"
The man smiled. "You're lucky to have had those other spirits with you. They saved your life."
"Yeah. If they hadn't been there, I would have taken every one of those hits, and probably died. So, who are you?"
"It's a special sword type that members of the Soul Society can use."
"Soul Society?"
"The place I'm-"
"Can we not play twenty questions with every spirit we meet?" Reyn appeared and started talking with his hands. "I'm this guy from this place with this power! What's that place and that power? Here! Let me explain it in detail and waste time we might not have!"
"But I want to know!"
Ladybug put her hand on Reyn's shoulder. "Galeem is about to win. He has no reason to think of us as something he needs to deal with right away."
"That doesn't mean we should waste our time!"
"It means we can, though!" Silver hopped over to the new spirit. "Shinji! I want to know about Zanpakuto and the Soul Society!"
Reyn reached his hand out to Silver, then placed it on his forehead.
Mipha giggled. "Let her have her fun, Reyn. You never know when she'll lose her happiness."
"Creature like her, she'll always get it back." He shook his head as Silver and Shinji talked to each other.
"... Nothing yet."
"You know, I think we might be the only ones here after all."
"Yeah... But I'm not giving up hope."
...
"There! Look over there!"
"I saw it!"
*Vrooooom!*
"Come on come on... Huh?"
"It's gone!"
"But we all saw it right? That figure."
"It looked like a horse!"
"With a purple tail!"
"That's what I saw too. So we aren't going crazy. There probably is someone else here!"
"What kind of world is this, anyway?"
"I don't know, but I'm not leaving until I find out."
"What the hay?" Silver flew in the direction of the explosion. As she got close, she found a field that was littered in craters, no doubt from explosions. And near one of the craters was... "Smolder."
Sure enough, the orange dragon was standing there, staring at Silver. There was no sign of familiarity in her eyes. Or any emotion, for that matter.
Silver swallowed. "It's okay. It's just an emotionless statue. Don't be afraid to hurt it." She summoned the Gunlance. "Don't be afraid to destroy it."
"Silver? Are you okay?"
She bit the bottom of her beak. "I'll be fine." She launched towards the effigy of her friend, ready to strike. The two locked eyes... then Silver squeezed her's shut.
*Boom!*
Silver was sent flying.
"Oi! What's going on? Why did you close your eyes?"
"I think I get it." Ladybug put her hands on Silver's shoulders. "Don't think of that as Smolder. Think of it as something between you and Smolder. Something you need to get rid of in order to see Smolder again."
Silver righted herself. "Right. That thing is between me and my friends. And I can't let it stay in the way!" Silver charged towards the animated statue with a war cry.
As soon as Silver was in range, it held up its hand and created an explosion from its palm. Silver rolled out of the way of the way at the last moment.
"Those explosions are short range." Mipha wasn't there, but she still saw what was happening. "You need to keep your distance."
"I wish you said that before I sprained my wing!" Silver swapped the Gunlance for Sakanade. "Luckily, I have options."
A pink mist filled the area. Silver continued to watch and avoid the statue as it continued to attack her. "How long does this take to kick in?"
Shinji rubbed his chin. "It's supposed to be an immediate effect."
"Anything I need to do to trigger it?"
"Just will it."
"I've been willing it, and nothing is happening."
"If it's the mist, then nothing is going to happen."
"Ah, good point, Mipha. Your opponent needs to smell the scent of the mist in order for Sakanade to take effect."
"Well, that only leaves me with one option." Silver switched the sword out for the yo-yo and threw it. The statue dodged it, grabbed the string, and made another explosion, destroying the string. Silver promptly removed and returned the yo-yo, fixing it.
The statue put its hands on the ground and created an explosion, sending it rocketing towards Silver. Silver did a front flip over it, landed before it did, and threw the yo-yo at it, wrapping it around the wings.
"If you travel by explosion, then you don't need these!" With a hard yank, Silver ripped off the wings, leaving only rocky stumps.
The statue looked straight at Silver as if it didn't notice its wings getting torn off. Another explosion and it flew straight into the air. Silver immediately ran towards a nearby cliff. The statue crashed into the ground, then created another explosion that launched it towards Silver.
Silver rolled onto her back, kicked her hooves into its stomach, and forced it over the ledge. Silver looked over the ledge. The effigy of her friend had latched onto the cliff face straight below her.
"That should buy us some time. Mipha, can you-" Silver was interrupted by a shaking in the ground below her. A second later, the ledge she was standing on gave out, crumbling to pieces.
Silver's sprained wing kept her from flying. Mipha was holding it, trying to heal it, but Silver could tell there was a more pressing issue. She was falling straight towards Smolder. Smolder's hand was stretched out like she was reaching for Silver.
Her wing wouldn't heal in time.
If it even healed, she wouldn't have time to get away from impending doom.
Fiora watched the shadowy figure enter the cave in the mountainside. Who was that? What were they doing? There was only one way to find out. Fiora swiftly and silently followed the figure, using the owl-like spirit with her to see in the dark.
"You have those chemicals ready, right?"
"Yeah. I do. This will be my first time fighting here without Face Nemesis, but I'm sure I can hold my own."
As Fiora went further in, she saw the figure in the middle of a lit cavern. The figure seemingly resembled a grey horse with bug-like features. Fiora cautiously stepped in, being careful not to make a sound. Once she was a good distance in, however, the insect/horse hybrid turned around and gave her a toothy grin.
Fiora only had enough time to pull out her knives before a massive amount of diamonds appeared and shot at her. She had to focus on where the gaps were so she could avoid getting hurt by the manifested symbols flying at her. Moments later, the assault stopped. Fiora whipped out her drones, only to find that the creature disappeared.
A number of orbs adorned with hearts suddenly started appearing. Fiora watched them as they started to burst open and send four hearts flying towards her. She suddenly found herself doing a frantic dance to avoid the massive amounts of hearts weaving an entropic pattern around her. Her drones were shooting at something, but she couldn't see what.
"The chemicals!"
"I don't want to waste them yet! Who knows what else they have!"
The hearts stopped only to be replaced by scythes. They kept converging on the point Fiora was standing at, forcing her to keep moving. At least they were moving in a mostly constant pattern, giving her time to plan something.
"Decidueye!" She pulled out the owl-like spirit. "Go into one of the drones and try to pin them down when you get the chance!"
The green bird nodded and shot into one of the drones, which took on its green coloration. The drone started turning in place, looking for its target.
"Come on. This will really help out right now."
The drone started turning faster and faster.
"Can you not see them?"
The drone still wasn't firing.
Fiora looked back at the scythes as they converged again. "Don't tell me. Did that thing..."
The scythes converged one last time, turning into the grey creature. The green drone immediately turned to the creature and fired off a dark arrow made of energy. The creature warped away well before the arrow made contact.
"What?"
The figure was warping around like an excited puppy that had way too much caffeine. After a few seconds, it started throwing out spades in a massive spread. Fiora sighed, then started trying to weave through the gaps.
The chemical creating spirit popped out behind Fiora. "You have a shrinking chemical!"
"But I might need it later!"
The third spirit laid her hand on Fiora's shoulder. "Well, you may want to consider using that orb up there."
Fiora looked up. Sure enough, one of the floating orbs she had been seeing all over the place was floating there. "Decidueye!"
The green drone with the Pokemon's spirit inside pointed at the orb and opened fire. After five hits the orb shattered into pieces, sending its energy into Fiora.
"Alright, Ryukyu! Let's do this!"
The heroine giggled. "You said it, girl." The spirit reunited with Fiora.
Fiora's body momentarily convulsed as a few of the spades passed through her.
The insectoid horse tilted her head. "Ah?"
The mechanical girl suddenly grew in size. With a mighty roar, she turned into a massive dragon, taking up half of the cavern they were in. She swung her right claw at the now comparatively insect-sized half-insect. It warped away at the last moment.
Fiora looked to her right, where her enemy warped to, and swung her left claw at it. It warped away again, perching itself on one of the walls. Fiora moved her right claw to strike it, destroying the wall in the process. After the third attack, she returned to her normal size.
"Fiora!" All three spirits were at the machine's sides. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, it's just..." Fiora stared at the mass of rubble that blocked off her only exit. "... I may have miscalculated something by a bit."
The changeling laughed to herself as she left the tunnel leading to the cavern where the silly fool had imprisoned herself. "I can do anything."
"So are we good now? Or do I need to shock the two of you again?"
Both creatures were too nervous to argue back.
"Good."
"Thanks, Tempest." Starlight approached the other two creatures. "I'm going to ask a few questions, and I want facts, not arguments. If either of you two starts arguing again, I'll have Tempest zap you again."
The siren dropped an eyebrow. "Why not zap us yourself?"
"Because Tempest enjoys doing it."
The dark-colored unicorn nodded.
"First off, who's the sea pony?"
The yellow unicorn looked over at the creature beside her. "Actually, she's a siren."
Starlight blinked a couple of times. "Siren? As in, one of the three sirens that Starswirl banished a long time ago?"
The siren cleared her throat. "Yeeees. I aaaam oneeee offf-" *Bzzzt!* "Yeow!"
Tempest's horn had sparks coming off of it. "No singing!"
The siren hid behind her hooves. "I-I wasn't singing!"
"Yes, she was!"
"No, I wasn't!"
The yellow pony pointed at the non-pony. "Yes, she was! Zap her again!"
*Bzzzt*
"NOT ME!"
Tempest's horn was starting to look like a sparkler. "You're both getting too loud! Quiet down or I'll shock both of you again!"
That got them to quiet down.
Starlight shook her head and sighed. "What's your name?"
The siren eyed Tempest. "... Sonata Dusk."
Tempest turned to the unicorn. "And you?"
Starlight coughed. "She's Sunset Shimmer. I've actually met her before. That's why I didn't ask her. I forgot you don't know her."
Tempest rolled her eyes. "Now that we're all introduced, how about we all get along so no one has to be left a twitching mess that can't move for days."
Both Sunset and Sonata were sweating buckets.
"By your expressions, I take it you agree?"
Both of them slowly nodded.
Starlight tilted her head. "Thinking about it, aren't you a bit small for a siren?"
Sonata looked at her hooves. "I don't get it either. I should be bigger than this."
"Come to think of it..." Tempest looked at her own hooves. "Didn't you say we were going to become something other than ponies? Why are we still ponies?"
Sonata scratched her head. "Maybe we collided with you and knocked you back into Equestria?"
"Actually..." Starlight looked around at the trees surrounding them. "It's far more likely that we aren't in either Equestria or the human world. Aside from the fact that the mirror should have put us in either the park or the castle, this looks nothing like the forests near Ponyville."
"And I haven't seen anything like this in the human world." Sunset locked eyes with Starlight. "Maybe colliding into each other caused us to go to a different world entirely?"
"Speaking of which, why were the two of you going into the mirror? Starlight and I were trying to avoid that weird light thing."
"We were in the same situation." Sonata looked straight up, through the part of the trees the light was pouring through. "That thing appeared in the sky and started shooting lasers. My sisters and I were trying to get through the portal to escape to Equestria. Sunset tried to block us as her friends went through."
"I got into a physical struggle with her when one of those beams headed right for us. We practically shoved each other into the mirror."
Starlight held her hoof to her mouth. "Maybe it was a timing thing. If that thing was destroying our world, then perhaps our worlds don't exist anymore. Since both exits stopped existing, it found another world to drop us in. That would also explain why the four of us ended up so close to each other."
A rustling in the nearby trees drew their attention.
Tempest scanned the small gaps between the trees. "If there's a fight, I can handle it. But we don't know anything about where we are. We should try to leave the forest as soon as possible and see if we can find someone else." She turned to the pair from the other world. "Think you two can get along until we get out of this place?"
Sunset and Sonata glared at each other, then nodded.
"Good. Now let's get going. There's really only one path to follow."
Starlight shrugged at the other two before following closely behind Tempest. The other two shared another glare, then followed behind Starlight.
For the next few minutes, the four of them moved in silence. The trees were too close to go through, leaving them only one path through the entire forest. The occasional rustle caused most of them to jump every once in a while, but Tempest never even flinched. After all, there was no reason for her to doubt her ability to fight any creature.
Then Sonata saw something. A gap that was slightly larger than the others. She kept her eyes on it until the three ponies moved away from her, then stopped for a second. Floating just above the ground meant that none of them noticed when she stopped following her. She peered through the gap.
A giant eye was staring back at her.
"AAAAHHHH!"
That got the attention of the others. Sonata moved away from the gap as several black vines came through.
"RUN!"
Sonata immediately took off after the ponies, who were suddenly in a much better position than she was. While they had a couple of yards on the approaching vines, she was inches away from them.
Sunset looked over her shoulder at Sonata. "Tempest! Can't you do something?"
"She can fight creatures! Not Eldrich Abominations!"
"I'm not about to kick that thing!"
Sonata was moving fast, but the vines were faster. She looked back at the impending doom about to consume her. She nearly missed a turn in the path, causing her to slow for a brief moment. That was enough for one of the vines to start wrapping around her tail.
A large blast came out of nowhere. It sent Sonata spinning forward for a moment, but also forced the vines back a bit.
"Sunset! Just run!"
Sonata flopped to the ground. By the time she opened her eyes, Sunset had grabbed her by the tail and was running, dragging Sonata along the ground. Moments after she started getting dragged, Sonata lifted herself off the ground and pulled her tail out of Sunset's mouth.
"Thanks!"
"Don't thank me yet!"
The two ran side by side, well behind the other two. The vines were right behind them. Then the trees in front of them started falling. Sonata grabbed Sunset by the stomach and started weaving through the falling trees wherever she could fit through.
But the vines were getting closer, unimpeded by the foliage. Starlight and Tempest ran into a well-lit clearing. Before the other two could get there, several trees collapsed, creating a wall between the two in the light and the two that were running.
Sonata flew up, grazing her back on the thick foliage above her, and barely managed to get over the wall. When she dropped back down, however, she ended up rolling on the ground, releasing Sunset.
The vines moved towards them, only to reel back at the light as if burnt. The eye appeared again, then let out a roar.
The creatures were out of breath. Looking behind them, they saw that the monster had stopped at the entrance to the clearing.
Sonata was the first to talk. "Why did it stop?"
"The same reason it didn't attack is earlier." Tempest walked to where the light grew dim. "It's a creature of the dark. The light will hurt it."
Starlight sat down. "That's good to know, but how do we get past it now?"
Sunset placed her hoof on Sonata's shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Sonata nodded and turned toward Sunset. "Yeah. I'll be... Fine..."
Sunset looked at what Sonata was looking at and gasped, causing Starlight and Tempest to look as well.
In the middle of the clearing was a pedestal, floating at least thirty feet off the ground. On top of the pedestal was a girl wearing a top hat and a cape, wrapped in blue, glowing chains.
"That's a human, right?"
"It is." Sunset slowly stepped forward, keeping her eyes on the immobile figure.
A loud roar came from above, then something resembling lava poured onto the statue, causing the four girls to step back. It rolled down the statue, forming a blob underneath that turned into a replica of the girl on the top. A moment later, the statue dropped to the ground as a mote of light floated in from above them.
"What is it doing?"
The mote sent out tendrils of light, wrapping around the statue, before merging with the statue. The statue then started moving, getting to its feet. Once it was standing, it looked at the girls with glowing red eyes.
Tempest's horn started sparking. "Look out! We've got a fight!"
The kid leaped into the air, did a front flip, then shot right for Tempest. Tempest dodged to her side and shot fireworks towards the kid. The kid deflected the explosion with a knife.
Tempest stared at the kid. "What."
The kid started stabbing rapidly while approaching Tempest. Starlight shot a large blast towards the kid, knocking her off balance. Once the kid got up, she leaped into the air, then came down riding a massive disco ball.
Sonata grabbed her head. "What is going on?"
The disco ball hit the ground, causing a shockwave that sent the three unicorns flying. Sonata quickly realized that Sunset was about to fly into the darkness, and shot towards her, catching her just in time. Tempest and Starlight ended up at the threshold of light.
Starlight got to her hooves and looked at the kid. Just in time to pull up a barrier to block the saw blades flying at her. "She's moving too fast!"
Tempest blew the kid up again, knocking the saw blades from her hands. "Our attacks aren't doing that much to her!"
Sonata yanked Sunset away from the kid as she lunged at them. "And we don't even know what she's going to do next!"
Sunset pulled away from the siren. "There has to be something we can do!"
Starlight looked around the area they were trapped in. Then looked up. "I don't know if we can do anything."
Tempest watched the kid leap into the air. "What are we supposed to do? Let her beat us up?"
The kid came down with another disco ball and smashed it to the ground. Sonata lifted Sunset back up, while Tempest and Starlight jumped up in the air.
The kid looked around. Sonata and Sunset were both in the air, but she couldn't see Tempest or Starlight. The kid took a daring leap towards the siren.
"How about leaving it to someone who can fight her?"
The kid turned around in time for another kid to collide with her mid-flight. As soon as the kid hit the ground, she hopped to her feet. And got a face full of umbrella.
Tempest and Starlight watched from the pedestal the original kid was on. "You mean..."
Starlight smirked. "Who better to beat a fake than the original?"
The real Hat Kid slung her umbrella over her shoulders. "Hmph!"
The fake pulled out a knife. The real one shot off a massive laser, knocking the fake off balance. As soon as the fake regained its balance, the real one dived into it, knocking it back again.
Sonata carried Sunset to the pedestal that the other ponies were on. "She's really going to town on that fake."
Sunset squirmed out of Sonata's clutch. "Stop doing that!"
"Sorry."
Starlight's eyes were following the real kid's movements. "I can't even keep up with this! I blink and I miss something big!"
Tempest raised her eyebrow. "Really? I'm keeping up with it just fine."
The kid smashed the fake over the head, causing the fake to finally crumble into dust. The kid stared at the rubble for a few seconds, then let out a sigh.
Then a penguin with an afro appeared and smacked her on the back. "Darling! Darling! That was incredible!"
Another creature appeared and shook the kid's hand. "Well done, lassie! That was a gold star performance!"
Starlight led the others by leaping down and walking towards the human. "That was pretty impressive. Who are you three, anyway?"
Tempest looked between the two birds. "And why do two of you look transparent?"
There was a massive roar far above them. An eye appeared from the darkness, searching the sky above them. Moments later, a beam of light shot down from the sky. Followed by another, and another. Within seconds, there were countless beams shooting from the sky into the forest. The girls and birds grouped into a hug (much to Tempest's frustration).
As suddenly as they came, the beams disappeared. The pile of creatures looked through the trees.
Sunset let go. "That looks like a way out."
Starlight stepped forward. "Then let's get going."
The ragtag group walked through the forest and into the light.
The blue sky was gorgeous. The grass was soft. She felt it in her grasp. A hand. She turned to her right.
Her lover was smiling at her. She smiled back. They both rolled towards each other. She reached towards her lover, closing her eyes.
...
They were gone.
She opened her eyes and was greeted by a solid wall. Moving to sit up, she felt like she hit a wall.
"She's up! She's up! Donald! Sora! She's up!"
She looked at the large dog wearing pants as a duck in a shirt and a human boy rushed over.
"Are you okay? What's your name?"
She rubbed her head. "My name is... Silverstream."
The duck pulled out a wand. "Do you need to be healed?"
"It's alright." Mipha appeared behind Silver and hugged her. "I can handle that."
"WAK!" The duck dropped his wand.
Reyn appeared in front of her. "You okay? We blacked out for a while there. Didn't know what was going on with you."
Silver held Reyn's hand. "You blacked out because I blacked out."
"Gawrsh. Looks like you got a lot of ghosts for friends."
Ladybug appeared facing the trio. "Do you three need an explanation?"
The human rubbed his head. "That would be nice."
Ladybug walked off with them as Silver turned back to Reyn. "Do you have any idea what happened?"
"I happened."
Silver turned her head. A boy with blond, spikey hair and very dark eyes was looking right at her.
"Wh-who are you?"
"The name's Bakugo. I got shoved in that midget's body and forced to work for someone I don't like."
Silver swiped at the guy. "Hey! That was my friend! And she's not a midget! She's just young!"
"I'm young and I'm not that small!"
"They just come from a world of midgets."
Silver's head whipped around. "REYN! That's rude!"
Shinji appeared solely to share a glance with Mipha.
"Right!" The boy walked over, giving Silver time to appreciate his massive shoes. "I think I've got it figured out!"
One look at Ladybug's face told Silver otherwise. "Do you?"
The boy placed his hands behind his head. "Those people with you are spirits, trapped here by something called Galeem. He put them in fake bodies to control them and use their powers for its own purposes. And once you've freed a spirit, they'll lend you their power."
Silver nodded. "And do you know how we all got here?"
The boy stared at her for a second, then put his finger to his cheek. "Uh..."
The large dog leaned over to the boy's ear. Silver flicked her ear up. "I hope this doesn't give away that we aren't from this world."
"Sora. Donald. Goofy. Look at us. What do you notice?"
Sora looked around at Silver and the spirits surrounding her. A few seconds later, he responded. "You're not from the same part of this world?"
Silver shook her head. "We're not from the same world."
"Huh?"
"I'm from Equestria, a land of magic and ponies. I've never seen a human before, I doubt you've seen a Zora before, and superheroes only exist in films and comic books for me."
Mipha leaned back. "I'm well traveled. Not only have I never seen outfits like the others wear, but I've never seen anything remotely like Silverstream."
Reyn stood up. "And there are three other races in my world, and none of them look like Mipha or Silver."
Sora tilted his head. "Well, so much for world order."
Donald hung his head and shook it. "Waaaaaaak."
Goofy scratched his cheek. "I wonder what the original residents of this world think of this happening all of a sudden."
Silver looked around. "This is an airship, right?"
"It's a spaceship."
Silver gasped. "Spaceship? That's so cool! I can't believe you guys-"
Behind her, Reyn rolled his eyes. "And there's that Silverstream mouth we love so much."
Silver blinked a couple of times, then coughed. "Right, anyway, could you fly it up so we get a good view of the landscape?"
"Sure!" Sora hopped in the pilot's seat and raised the ship into the air. "Woah. That looks crazy."
Goofy pressed his nose against the glass. "It looks like someone cut up several maps and stuck the pieces together randomly."
"Exactly." Silver walked up to Sora. "As beautiful as it is, it's obvious that this world isn't natural. Most worlds you can see the climate progressively change from one place to another. Here, you can see very defined lines where it cuts from one to the next."
Donald gawked at the sight. "Are you saying that this world was made from broken parts of other worlds?"
Silver nodded. "That means that there are no original residents to this world. And if we succeed, there probably won't be anyone left in this world if it even still exists."
Sora shared a look with the other two half-pints. "We'll succeed. As long as we all work together!"
Silver looked at Sora and smiled. "Thank you. I feel a lot more confident now. Oh! Wait!"
Fiora watched as the puppet lifted a huge weapon over their head. She pressed her hand against the barrier she was next to, unable to do anything but watch.
Her attention was briefly pulled to the side, where a blue griffon was standing. The look he gave her reflected her own helplessness.
A bright light suddenly erupted from in front of the puppet and shot into the air. Fiora could only stare in awe. Above them was-
*BOOM!*
Fiora sprung awake. The rubble blocking off the exit has suddenly been blown away.
A young boy climbed over the rubble. "There we go!"
Not far behind him was a face familiar to Fiora.
"Silver!"
Silver rushed towards Fiora. "Fiora! You're alive!"
The two girls shared a hug. Goofy suddenly grabbed Donald into a hug, causing the duck to flail about and yell.
"How did you know I was in here?"
Silver pulled back. "Uh, we didn't."
"Well, that's fair." One of Fiora's spirits stepped out. "It's not like there was any way to tell we were here before they blew it open."
Silver tilted her head. "I don't think I've met your spirits yet."
"Well, we only met for about five minutes before. And most of that was spent fighting."
Silver tapped her beak. "But if she's a spirit, she can just create more once you've used them, right?"
Fiora stared at Silver then put her hand on her face. "Oops."
"It's alright, Fiora." Another woman appeared to pat Fiora on the back. "We all make mistakes."
Bakugo appeared from Sora's body. "Ryukyu! You're here too?"
The elder hero looked at the boy. "You're... Bakugo, correct? I believe that many heroes may have ended up in our situation. It would be helpful to have as many of them on our side as possible."
There was a sound, almost like an owl's hooting, as a bird-like figure appeared next to Fiora.
Fiora immediately started petting it. "And how could I forget Decidueye? He's been so helpful to me."
Sora waved his hand around. "Hey, uh, could this wait until we're on the ship? I don't think we should stay still for too long."
"Ship?"
Silver rubbed her chin. "That is an unusual vision. I wish we had more context to go off of."
"I wish we had Shulk. He's more used to these visions than I am."
Sora put his hands on his hips. "So Galeem creates those puppets somehow."
The girls nodded.
Donald scratched his head. "And you couldn't recognize who that was a puppet of."
Fiora shook her head. "They felt familiar, but I couldn't place who it was exactly."
Goofy was deep in thought. "Maybe they're someone you haven't met yet. They would be familiar to you in the vision, but you wouldn't recognize them outside of the vision."
"That may be it. Like that other creature. That blue bird lion hybrid."
"Oh, that's Gallus. He's my friend." Silver rubbed her leg. "It's good to know that he's fine, but I'm wondering what finding puppets of my other friends means for them."
Sora stretched his arms. "Don't worry. We'll save them, no matter what. They'll be fine."
"True, but I never saw Ocellus. I hope the little bug pony didn't get squashed or anything. Oh, please don't tell her I said that. She hates it when I call her a-"
"Fiora, are you alright?" Goofy put his hand on Fiora's shoulder. "You just went pale."
"Well..."
*Thud!*
They all looked at the window of the ship.
Mipha popped out. "Silver, that's..."
The kid in a hat looked through the glass, smiled and waved, then leaped in the air, creating a disco ball before dropping.
Everyone in the ship rushed over to look out the glass. Below them was a literal army of beast-like people. In the middle of them all...
"Ponies?"
Silver gasped. "That's Miss Starlight Glimmer! And I recognize that dark one as Tempest Shadow!"
Fiora turned to Silver. "What about the other two?"
"Haven't seen them before." Silver then looked at the little girl in the fray. "And that girl was a puppet last time I saw her."
Goofy scratched his cheek. "I wonder if that's the original version of her."
"Well, come on!" Sora summoned his weapon. "They need our help! Let's get down there and fight!"
