Twilight was deep in thought in her study, reading and re-reading the passage of her current focus. Supposing that this book was, in fact, accurate then Twilight was on the verge of an amazing discovery.

The premise of the work was that many alternate dimensions existed, each different in at least one regard to their own. That theory, however, was fairly old. The groundbreaking idea in this particular book was the thought that aside from alternate dimensions, there were also dimension spectrums, and that in other dimensions spectrums, life was radically different from the one you were in. Each spectrum of dimensions was based on one way of life, for Twilight, it was Equestria, but what if there was something else out there, in another one of those spectrums?

Twilight had to find out, it was eating her away with curiosity and she had spent the last week and half wrapped up in her library, barely even seeing her friends. She had figured out how to teleport long ago, and recently, she had also come upon the ability to peak into other dimensions. Really, it was an expansion of the basic magic spell that allowed a unicorn to create a pocket window and store their belongings there. However, in this case, Twilight wasn’t merely creating a pocket window, a space in between dimensions, she was going past that space where pocket windows existed, and into another dimension inside her spectrum.

If she could teleport there, then by at least several more teleportations, she could find another spectrum. The question was if she could muster up enough strength to do it, and how long she could hold open such a teleportation. Still, she desperately wanted to find another spectrum of dimensions, and if she did, she very well might be the pony with the greatest scientific breakthrough since before the founding of Equestria.

Although she wished not to be disturbed, she was soon visited by Pinkie Pie and Rarity, both of whom passed by the mildly protesting Spike.

“I say Twilight dear, are you alright? It’s been ages since I’ve seen you out and about.” Rarity told her friend, who was currently experimenting with miniature portals with her magic.

“Yeah, what’s so interesting up here anyways,” Pinkie asked as her eyes went wide and she gasped, “You’ve found a new species of cupcake, haven’t you? And you’ve been experimenting on it and trying to find out what the best toppings are! Can I help? Please!” Pinkie spat out as she became energized.

“Huh?” Twilight asked in confusion, her concentration now utterly destroyed and the miniature portal along with it.

“Show me, show me!” Pinkie begged as Rarity rolled her eyes at the silliness of her friend.

“Pinkie, there’s no new cupcake. I’ve just been trying to figure something out.” Twilight announced and went back to skimming through the same passage as before, eliciting an expression of dismay from Pinkie.

“Whatever is on your mind, dear? You’ve been cooped up in here for over a week if I’m not mistaken," Rarity told Twilight as the white unicorn began to look around at the mess Twilight’s study had become, with many books, scrolls, and tools having been scattered across the floor and on the table.

“I found a neat book on the theories of dimension spectrums, and I think its possible to find and travel to another one of these dimension spectrums.” Twilight announced as she levitated the book up for Rarity and Pinkie to see.

“A dimension spectrum?” Rarity echoed with the slightest of hesitancy and difficulty.

“Let me see…our world is located in one dimension," Twilight explained with a newfound vigor, "Our dimension itself is located inside a spectrum of dimensions, each like our own except for one or two details. Almost like a rainbow. I want to find another dimension spectrum, where multiple versions of another world exist.” Twilight finished her brief summary and looked longingly with her eyes into the book that had held her utmost fascination the past week and half.

“Has anypony ever done this before?” Rarity asked with a hint of concern.

“No, and that just makes it all the more alluring.” Twilight responded and rubbed her hoof across her chin while inspecting a schematic she had drawn at some time over the past week.

“Maybe you ought to take a break…” Rarity gently suggested as Pinkie looked down at several open books before adding: “Yeah, I’ve got a party coming up tonight, come on Twilight, join us!”

“A Party?” Twilight asked as she flipped the schematic horizontally with her magic.

“We figured that you hadn’t heard, since everypony else is already starting to arrive.” Rarity explained.

“Gee, thanks girls, I’d love to come, but I’m so close to a breakthrough, and if I leave now, I might lose something important or fail to make a connection that I just haven’t consciously made yet," Twilight told them, hoping her excuse was good enough to make them leave her without getting upset.

“Huh?” Pinkie questioned, more out of sadness than confusion.

“I’m sorry, and I appreciate the invitation, but I really just can’t bring myself to leave yet,” Twilight quickly told her pink friend.

“Well…if you’re sure…I suppose we’ll leave you be then.” Rarity told her most studious friend a little forlornly.

“I…” Twilight began to speak so confidently, but a second later lost her voice, causing her friends stopped near the door, looking at her tensely.

She looked at Rarity and Pinkie, then her book and a few astray papers, then back to her friends one more time. Twilight's conscience was yelling at her to go to the party, but her mind was begging to let them go. She bit her lip and felt a droplet of sweat roll down, and with each passing second Rarity and Pinkie looked a little more hopeless.

“OK…I’ll be over soon, I promise," Twilight reluctantly told them.

“Yay! Twilight’s coming!” Pinkie shouted gleefully and hopped around Twilight’s room.

“We’ll see you there dear!” Rarity called out to Twilight as she led Pinkie out.

Twilight smiled in relative defeat and realized that on top of being a bit tired of working, she really wanted to see all her friends after what felt like such a long time. She was close; she could feel it, but she could definitely put off this project for a great night with her friends. She scribbled down a few more notes and took a few minutes to re-organize her working environment, rearranging books and scrolls and scientific instruments.

"Hmm...I can always get back to it tomorrow...besides, I think it's about time I got another shower..." Twilight mused to herself and headed off to prepare for the bash at Sugar Cube Corner.

...

After going through her check list again and adding a couple of items to it, Twilight turned out the lights and headed out towards Sugar Cube Corner, the site of all the best Ponyville parties, where Spike and her friends were already waiting for her to appear.

The rural town seemed a bit sadder than it usually did. Normally, Twilight would describe nights in Ponyville as peaceful and calming, but tonight it seemed emptier than it did normally, and more unwelcoming to anypony traveling the roads. It seemed odd, but maybe it was just her imagination. Still, the shops and homes looked more empty and disheartened than she was accustomed to.

Upon entering the party the music assaulted her ears and she immediately saw the faces of her friends light up.

“Twilight!” Applejack called and swung her hoof above her head so as to draw the attention of her lavender friend.

“Hey guys!” Twilight called back and giggled as she joyfully made her way over to her five best friends.

“Where have you been?” Rainbow exclaimed as she flew over to Twilight before she could reach the others.

“I’ve been working on something interesting, but I’m not here to work. I’m here to enjoy myself and have some fun with my friends, so let’s not talk about any of that right now. Besides…I’ve even more. Their good old Twilight was back.

“Woo!" Pinkie cheered and they went over to the wall to begin.

…

Twilight was having a blast, but at the same time, she still felt like things were off. She tried focusing intently on the games, her friends, the music, anything, but to no avail. The feeling of a foreign atmosphere lingered heavy around her, even in the middle of a Sugar Cube Corner party. At one point, she thought that maybe she was sleep-deprived, or maybe even going insane. Her curiosity was off the charts, which made it much harder to focus on anything but the abnormalities she perceived. She eventually grabbed a piece of party cake, sat down at a table, tuned out the distractions of the party as much as she could, and thought about the situation as she took a few bites from the cake with delicious blue frosting.

She had been working hard for the past week and a half or so, so the possibility that her lack of sleep and activity was affecting her in some form could not be ruled out. On the other hand, maybe something was wrong, and she was the only one who noticed it at this point. Perhaps she was dreaming? It seemed like a long shot, but she was drawing up blanks on what could be happening aside from the first two options. Then again, that was usually and indicator that it was time to stop searching and begin digging.

She gave some thought to the possibility that something was wrong, but the change in mood and atmosphere of a small town seemed lackluster for a villain like Discord or Queen Chrysalis. Trixie would just openly challenge Twilight in some way. Sombra was long gone. She couldn’t think of anything that would be causing this to happen, or at least not yet; if there was a plot afoot, then it was too early to tell who was behind it or what was causing it. Nevertheless, Twilight would be sure to keep her eyes and ears open.

On the other hoof, it could be something to do with her own lack of sleep or activity. Normally her body played weird tricks on her if she spent too much time working on a spell or was too sleep deprived. Still, nothing like this made sense, unless her body was trying something new all of the sudden. (She also noted that she had gotten at least 21 hours of sleep in the past week, which was more than she got on some other big projects.)

Then, a genius thought struck her. The atmosphere felt, as she earlier described it, foreign. Foreign...now that was an interesting word to use indeed. She got to thinking about the most recent work she had done and recalled reading through a passage along the lines of probable effects of a successful experiment involving dimensional spectrum travel.

That was it! She had done it! But on a small scale! When Pinkie and Rarity visited her earlier she was testing a small portal, but was too concentrated on the conversation to consciously take note of its effects before it failed. Normally, the portals broke down or imploded. But she couldn’t recall it doing that. As far as she remembered, the portal closed when she lost concentration, like any successful pocket window would close when a unicorn lost focus on it. She wrote down the process when she created that portal before she left! She had the answer, all she had to do was expand the process exponentially and she would be able to break through this dimensional spectrum!

Twilight rushed out and took no notice of the party or her friends as they all watched her leave. She was sorry to have just dropped everything and left like that, but she was so close to finally seeing another dimensional spectrum, and this discovery would propel her forward in ways she could only imagine, and that was speaking only in magical and scientific possibilities.

"Where's Twi off to?" Applejack asked Rainbow, who shrugged and gave chase after the surprisingly swift lavender unicorn as Luna's moon shown brightly above them.

...

Once back in her workroom, Twilight eagerly found the scroll containing the information, calculated how and when to expand it with her magic, and attempted to re-create the portal.

It formed with a bright white flash and glowed a deep purple as she gazed into it with wonder. She finally did it! She had created a gateway into another world inside another dimension! Or so she thought. Truthfully, everything in her book was theory, but thus far, it had proven itself to be at least somewhat correct, and she was certain that even if she ran into trouble, she could always recreate the portal wherever it took her. Twilight took a deep breath and watched the portal with wide eyes, preparing to traverse the world she knew to discover another one which she could hardly imagine.

“Twilight!” Rainbow called as she flew in, their other friends close behind the pegasus pony travelled on hoof.

“Oh, I’m sorry about leaving so soon guys, but I figured it out!" She told them gleefully, a wide smile planted on her lips, "Before, I hadn’t realized that my subconscious had taken note of a successful portal when I created it this afternoon-when I was talking with Rarity and Pinkie; I finally realized that I did it! I can make it back to the party, but I just have to see this! I’ve been working so hard the past week and half to get here!” Every one of Twilight's words was encased in joy, and she was taken aback by her the expression her friends were showing back.

“But what if it’s dangerous over there?” Applejack asked, the nearby Fluttershy silently nodding in agreement.

“I can easily open it back up now that I’ve figured out how to create it. Maintaining it was much easier than I ever thought.” Twilight explained.

“Okay, but it's you Twilight, you'll spend days in there before you even think about coming back! Where are you going anyways?” Rainbow questioned as she hovered in place above Rarity.

“I don’t know for sure…but hopefully, a new world full of possibilities inside a whole other dimension!” Twilight exclaimed, still trying to persuade her friends to change their stances on the matter.

“Maybe we should go with you?” Pinkie asked, smiling and giggling a little.

"Whoa whoa whoa," Rainbow called out, placing her outstretched hoof near Pinkie's face, "I don't even think she should go, and now you want the rest of us to go too?"

Twilight thought about the proposal, as her sense of logic and realism fought back against her childish excitement and overwhelming curiosity. In truth, she was planning on going alone, but maybe it would be beneficial to bring her friends. It could be dangerous, but it could also be something unique, something that, somehow, she actually couldn’t recreate, even if she got another portal up, and how could she let her friends miss that? Now she really wished most of them were having better attitudes about it.

“…” Nopony said a word, but they all looked at Twilight and the portal behind her.

Twilight gazed back at them, then turned around to look into the purple portal, and back again to her friends, a smile on her face.

“Oh come on! This is a great opportunity to spend time together, have fun, learn new things, and open up virtually limitless possibilities for Equestria and our world as a whole," She urged, pleading with her friends as they drew near.

"I'm in! I mean, think about this guys...what if there's a world made of ice cream and cupcakes over there!?" Pinkie told the others and stood by Twilight.

"Oh come on Pinkie, do you really think such a world exists?" Rarity asked and laughed in mild amusement at the absurdity of the notion.

"Actually, the math suggests there is such a world," Twilight corrected, causing Rarity's expression to go flat.

"Never doubt the power of ice cream and cupcakes," Pinkie added before Fluttershy spoke up.

"Don't you think that you should at least prepare a bit more?"

"Fluttershy's right Sugar Cube, I don't know too much about this dimension stuff, but it sounds mighty dangerous. Maybe you should talk about it with Princess Celestia before you do something foolish," Applejack voiced her opinion, receiving nods from Rarity and Rainbow.

"I know this seems foolish, and I know it's very possible this is dangerous, but this is important to me. That's why I want you guys to come, because this is special and I want to share it with you...I want to take this risk, and I need your help."

"I still think this is way too crazy. You've got to come to your senses about this," Rainbow replied, turning her back to Twilight, who stopped Pinkie from saying something and headed towards Dash, her face showing irritation more than anything else.

"I've been studying magic and science since I was a filly! I know the risks, Rainbow! I know this could be bad, but I've counted on you and the others to watch my back ever since I arrived in Ponyville, and now, when we both admit this could be bad, you want to turn away from me? What kind of Loyalty do you represent?"

Rainbow's expression went from shocked to furious in less than a second.

"What kind of Magic are you supposed to be, huh? If friendship really is magic, then I thought you'd know better than to ask your friends to do something so stupid!"

The two mares got in each other's face, and their eyes were nearly touching when Rarity let out a scream of surprise.

The portal was growing into unstable and grand proportions and began to attract objects close by, including the ponies. Fluttershy was the first to be sucked in, and Pinkie followed a second later. Rarity was being swept in when Applejack threw her lasso in to save her, and struggled to pull the white unicorn back into their world as Twilight and Rainbow rushed over.

Twi lessened the intensity of the portal and Rainbow helped pull, but just as Rarity was becoming visible she let out a scream, and Twilight once more lost full control of the portal; With a gasp from the lavender unicorn, Rarity was gone and Twilight rushed in to save her. Rainbow chased after them, hoping this wouldn't come back to bite them like she feared. Of all the times for Twilight to act like Rainbow herself, this was the worst.

…

“What? Where…are we?” Twilight gasped, her eyes growing wide as she gazed at the realm around her.

Her friends were all asleep on the ground, unaware of the beauty that surrounded them. The land was bright, warm, and pleasant. It was, if Twilight could daresay, more beautiful than most places in Equestria. She looked around and noticed that although things where she was were bright and warm, she could see mountains in the distance, snow covered mountains, and behind those mountains, even taller mountains that seemed to reach the sky. It was too incredible and wondrous a thing for her to find the will to wake her sleeping friends.

The very air seemed to glimmer with life and the atmosphere was both peaceful and secure. It was like a whole new Equestria had opened up, but no other ponies could be found. In fact, it was then that Twilight realized no living creatures seemed to inhabit these lands. She had considered that wherever she ended up could be a hostile place, but she really was expecting something more lively.

It was then that she noticed Applejack and Fluttershy were coming to and trying to stand.

“Huh…Twilight? Fluttershy quietly reached out in confusion as she pulled herself up.

“Where are we?” AJ questioned, rubbing her neck and recovering a bit quicker than the pegasi.

“I’m really not sure, but it’s spectacular here!” Twilight told them and pointed them towards the snow-covered mountains in the distance.

“Oh my…” Fluttershy gasped in amazement, although her gasp of amazement was much less a gasp than Twilight’s. Applejack merely stood speechless, her mouth agape.

“Oh my word! Where are we?” Rarity exclaimed, having awoken just after AJ and Fluttershy.

“I know; it’s incredible!” Twilight said, almost feeling lost in amazement.

"I've never seen anything quite like this before," Rarity went on, "do you have any idea where you've taken us?"

Twilight gave a sheepish shrug and turned her head when something seemed to flutter near her, but when she fixed her eyes to where she thought it was, nothing could be seen or heard.

After Rainbow and Pinkie woke up, and after they were introduced to the wonders of the dimension spectrum they inhabited, the group decided to explore a bit, more so for fun and adventure on Twilight's part (but also to find some notes and equipment that had been sucked in), and more for making sure they were all okay and nothing horrible had happened on most of the others' parts.

After a few short minutes of walking around, Fluttershy gasped in utter shock.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight spun around with the others and looked to their friend, who had the biggest smile many had ever seen on her face.

“What is it? Is that a breezie!” She shouted in joy and surprise.

“What?” Twilight questioned as she and the other went over to the Pegasus, whose head swung up as the small fairy flew up and behind a tree branch.

“Whoa...” Rainbow muttered as she watched it try to hide itself from the ponies.

“Oh, don’t fret little one! We won’t try to hurt you!” Fluttershy tried to assure it as the creature gave up on hiding behind the branch and swiftly flew up into the leaves of the tree, barely poking out its head.

“Incredible…” Rarity managed to say out loud as they all watched Fluttershy gently fly up towards it.

“There, there…we don’t mean you any harm…” Fluttershy went on as the creature came out and flew towards the smiling pegasus.

“You…you can talk to me...” The small creature stated in disbelief.

“Yes... I can.” Fluttershy answered and smiled shyly.

“That’s…incredible…this has never happened before,” It said aloud, more readily approaching the group now.

“Do you…have a name?” Fluttershy asked it.

“Yes, my name is Fawn.” The fairy with a long ponytail told the mysterious Pegasus pony.

“That’s a lovely name. I’m Fluttershy.” She told Fawn, who had at this point lowered down closer to the ground to see the other ponies.

“Wow…I’ve never been able to talk to animals as clearly as other fairies before…” Fawn noted aloud as she looked down at Twilight and the others.

“You can talk with animals too?” Fluttershy asked excitedly.

“I hope so,” Fawn laughed as she answered, “I am an animal fairy.”

“An animal fairy?” Rarity asked, being the first of the others to speak with Fawn.

“Yeah, we animal fairies help the animals and look after them, especially when we go to the mainland to wake them up for spring.” Fawn answered, who obviously felt much more confidant and safe around the ponies.

“You wake up animals in springtime too?” Fluttershy once more asked in pleasant surprise, gushing excitement.

“Each and every spring.” Fawn answered with pride.

“Wow, we do something a lot like that during Winter Wrap Up,” Twilight told the fairy, who then gave them a puzzled look.

“Winter Wrap Up is the time of year when we bring spring to Ponyville and melt the snow, wake up the animals, and much more!” Fluttershy told her new friend.

“That’s odd…we do the same thing on the mainland…are you guys all from the mainland?” Fawn inquired as she inspected them closer.

“We’re from Equestria,” Twilight proudly answered, but elicited another confused look from the animal fairy, who had obviously never heard of the realm.

Suddenly, a whisper from nearby broke the conversation up: “Fawn! What are you doing?”

“Oh, don’t worry, they’re friendly. In fact, I’ve never met anyone like them,” Fawn told her hidden friend.

“Oh, she’s right. We don’t mean you any harm,” Fluttershy quickly added, hoping deeply to meet more fairies.

“Come on out Iridessa,” Fawn encouraged. Slowly, the light fairy came out into the open and stared nervously at the strange creatures from somewhere called Equestria.

“Hello, what’s your name?” Twilight asked from the ground.

“I-I-I’m I-Iridessa,” The light fairy told the strangers with some difficulty.

"H-H-Hello I-Iridessa! W-W-We're v-visting via dimension portal!" Pinkie cheerfully replied in an unintentionally rude mock, to which Applejack nudged her in the side for.

“Hello Iridessa,” Rarity said from the ground as Fluttershy and the others smiled warmly.

“Oh, I guess we’re not hiding anymore…Hi, I’m Silvermist, a water fairy,” Another fairy in a beautiful blue dress flew out and greeted the ponies, her colors contrasting, or maybe complimenting, the orange and yellow colors of Fawn and Iridessa respectively.

“Nice to meet y’all,” Applejack warmly told the small creatures, speaking for the first time since the fairies had begun interacting with the mane six.

“It’s wonderful to meet all of you…but exactly how many fairies are there here?” Twilight asked Fawn, but got a reply from Silvermist instead.

“Tons. After all, this is Pixie Hollow, home of all fairies.”

“Wow…this is a pretty awesome home…almost beats out Cloudsdale…almost,” Rainbow Dash told the small fairy folk with a devious and proud smile.

“We’d love to meet you all and learn more about you,” Twilight told the three pixies as they hovered over the mane six, save Fluttershy, who was still near face to face with Fawn.

“And I’m sure Queen Clarion would love to meet you all,” Fawn told Twilight as Silvermist motioned towards a nearby rock on the road, telling the others to come out and meet the ponies.

"Yeah! But unfortunately," Rainbow interrupted, "We really can't stay too long...after all, we were just looking for a few things before we head back to Equestria." Twilight looked over with a glare before turning back to face the fairies.

"We can help you look," Fawn told the pony visitors and motioned towards Silvermist.

“These are two of our good friends.” The water fairy announced as another fairy in a wondrous rose-colored dress came out with yet another fairy in purple trailing behind her.

“Hi there,” the one in the rose-colored dress greeted with a bit of apprehension…or maybe even bashfulness, “I’m Rosetta, nice to meet you…” She trailed off upon realizing that she wasn’t quite sure how to address them all.

“I’m Vidia,” The one in purple greeted with limited interest.

“Well, I for one adore your ensemble Rosetta,” Rarity cooed as the garden fairy flew down to meet them, a smile painted across her face and a blush stained on her cheeks due to the compliment.

Rosetta let out a giggle, “Oh my, well thank you, and may I say that you have excellent style as well." She motioned towards Rarity's mane and it was then time for the unicorn to giggle.

“So…who are you anyways?” Vidia asked, getting right to the point as always.

“Well, we’re ponies from a land, believe it or not, in another dimension…and we’ve come…for a visit you could say,” Twilight explained, trying not to make the story unbelievable or have it so that the fairies saw her or her friends in a negative way.

“I see…” Vidia replied with suspicion.

“Oh they’re nice Vidia, and I trust them completely,” Fawn assured the fast-flying fairy.

“Yeah, they seem like trustworthy…umm…ponies,” Silvermist encouraged, though somewhat unconvincingly, due mostly to her fairly oblivious tendencies.

“I assure you Vidia, we don’t mean you or…Pixie Hollow, was it, any harm,” Twilight spoke up.

“I guess,” Vidia responded with feigned interest for the ponies.

“Wow…shiny…” Pinkie admired as Vidia flew back up towards the tree, leaving behind the most noticeable trail of pixie dust the ponies had yet seen, with the golden glitter sparkling in the sunlight and shining like the finest crown.

“What, the trail of pixie dust?” Silvermist asked Pinkie as the pink pony moved her head up to seemingly unnatural lengths to watch the pixie dust glimmer and disappear.

“Pixie dust huh? Its so…sparklarific!” Pinkie admired, causing Rarity to make an affirmative nod.

“All fairies leave behind pixie dust trails, if they have enough left to fly that is,” Silvermist explained.

“Wow…where do you get it?” Twilight asked, her student-like curious side taking precedence over her refined diplomatic side.

“It all comes from the Pixie Dust Tree, at the very center of Pixie Hollow,” Rosetta informed the pony strangers.

“You mean a tree makes magical dust…and the dust lets you…fly?” Rainbow asked, finishing the question with a smile growing on her face.

“That’s right, and once in a while, a fairy comes along with the rare fast-flying talent, like Vidia,” Silvermist told the cyan Pegasus who was now snickering and doing small back flips in place, at which Twilight looked very pleased.

“A fast-flying fairy? What do they do?” Applejack asked the fairies, not looking to any single one for a definite answer, but relying on the group as a whole to give her the information she wanted.

“Well,” Vidia quickly answered her, “we fast-flyers cover a wide range of talents, from gathering pollen for basic spring preparations, to guiding unborn fairies to the Pixie Dust Tree. Without us, Pixie Hollow is crippled in almost every way.”

“Wow…OK then,” AJ replied, smiling, but seeming to be just a bit ashamed for even asking such a question.

“And who are these creatures?” A new voice asked, seemingly coming from nowhere, but sounding deep in power and authority.

“Queen Clarion!” Several of the fairies gasped and backed away a little as the ruler of Pixie Hollow appeared in a golden flash before the fairies and ponies alike.

“Hello your majesty,” Twilight humbly greeted the Queen, bowing in the same manner as she would for Princess Celestia, with her friends quickly following her lead.

“Hello stranger. I have not seen you or your companions in Pixie Hollow before. Where did you come from?” Clarion inquired as an entourage of other fairies arrived behind her, surrounding the ponies, who now felt much smaller despite the fact that the average fairy was around six inches tall.

“Well, the funny story about that is that we came here via a portal I created with my magic. See, I’m a unicorn from Equestria, a land in another dimension,” Twilight told the gathering group of fairy leaders.

“I see,” Clarion responded; even those who knew her best couldn’t quite tell if she was acting or not, or whether she believed the story.

“I know, I know. It sounds ridiculous, but you have to believe me. Maybe we can talk somewhere?” Twilight offered, earning an uneasy look from Rainbow and Rarity.

“I agree, we ought to privately speak to each other…” Clarion trailed off, not yet knowing the name of the unicorn to whom she was speaking.

“Twilight Sparkle. I’m Twilight Sparkle, and these are my good friends, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy,” The lavender unicorn introduced herself and her group. At that greeting Clarion smiled gently before continuing.

“I see. Well then by all means, please, follow me,” She told them, leading the ponies off towards the Pixie Dust Tree, and the very heart of Pixie Hollow, the fairies that accompanied her out following close behind with the ponies.

…

“She’s been in there a long time,” Applejack finally said, voicing the thought that all of Twilight’s friends had, but dared not to speak.

“Oh, but I’m sure she’s alright.” Fluttershy replied quietly yet boldly, or at least in a way that gave off confidence for a pony as quiet Fluttershy.

“I’m not saying anything, but…” Applejack trailed off, and looked up at the tree, which Twilight had (miraculously) teleported into some time ago to speak with Queen Clarion and really establish their intentions and perspectives on the sudden appearance of the group of ponies.

“Well, now that she's already dragged us into it more than we needed, I say we find a way to make this trip less boring!” Rainbow called from above, continuing in the endless cycle of loops and flips she had been performing as a couple of fairies watch from afar.

While none of the fairies were ordered to stay away from the ponies, it was only natural for them to be cautious of the strange visitors, especially when their Queen acted as strangely as she had around them. As a result, they were, for the most part, content to keep a fair distance from the supposed dimensional travelers. On the other hand, Fawn, Iridessa, Vidia, Rosetta, and Silvermist had grown a bit fond of the ponies and were the big exception to the unwritten fairy code of fearing the more or less unfamiliar. (Although admittedly, Iridessa was still somewhat wary of the ponies, but was with friends, and willing to give the visitors the benefit of the doubt.)

“I’m sure Queen Clarion is just making sure she knows everything about you guys before she officially welcomes you all to Pixie Hollow,” Silvermist reassured the foreign pony travelers.

“Yeah, she’ll be out soon enough, and then we can start showing you guys around and looking for those lost things of yours,” Fawn concurred.

“I don’t really see any reason why we can’t trust these fairies,” Rainbow told her friends with brash confidence in the situation, “and besides, staying still and discussing it won’t change much, so how about we make things interesting?” She offered, showing Vidia a competitive look while not giving up her position that coming here could still be a mistake.

“Are you suggesting we play some sort of game?” Rarity inquired with slight disapproval.

“Game?” Pinkie asked, her ears immediately perking up and her face erupting into a gleeful smile.

“Why not?” Dash asked the combined groups, looking for any sign of major denunciation.

“Well maybe we shouldn’t? Not just yet anyways!” Iridessa voiced her opinion quickly.

“Oh come on Dessa, it’ll be fine.” Fawn soothed the ever-tense light fairy.

“How do we play Dashie? How do we play?” Pinkie asked enthusiastically, jumping up and down repeatedly.

“OK, OK!” Rainbow tried to calm down her pink companion as she surveyed the surrounding area.

“I’m not all too sure about this either,” Rarity told her friends, “I mean, wouldn’t we look foolish if Twilight and the Queen caught us while we were playing this game?”

As it happened, Rarity wasn’t all too objectionable to the idea of killing time, as it were, but when Rainbow Dash was bored, and suggested doing something fun, it was usually a little dangerous, irresponsible in some manner, and somehow found a way to make somepony seem foolish. Rarity hated being seen as foolish. And in a foreign land? There was a better chance that The Summer Sun Celebration would occur on Nightmare Night.

“Well…what the hay, count me in,” AJ smiled and told the hovering cyan pegasus pony.

“I don’t know…” Fluttershy quietly told the other pegasus pony, however, she was easily drowned out by Pinkie’s energetic and successive chants of wanting to play and being ready to have fun.

“Yeah, I’m out,” Iridessa told her fairy friends before apologizing and moving away, closer towards Fluttershy and Rarity.

“Sounds childish,” Vidia scoffed at the idea, but quickly looked over at the smug rainbow maned pony and refined her stance on the idea of a competitive game, “but, if you really want to challenge the fastest fairy in all of Pixie Hollow…”

“Oh, I do,” Rainbow told Vidia and got closer in her face, with Vidia returning the gesture until they were nearly eye-to-eye (or rather...upper body to eye).

“What do you have in mind?” The fast flyer asked, her focus now completely trained towards Rainbow Dash.

“I’m thinking a relay race…and maybe a few other challenges along the way, just to keep things interesting,” Rainbow told her, flying up a bit to boost her confidence and lower the morale of the so-called “fast flying” fairy. The little shrimp probably couldn’t fly faster than Fluttershy.

Before she could properly react, Dash was stunned to find Vidia back in her face and looking on with a devious smile, her speed great enough to reach the pegasus as she blinked.

“You’re on!” Vidia replied hotly.

“No! She isn’t!” Queen Clarion announced, appearing once more from seemingly nothing but thin air, her brow crossed and her eyes looking down at the ponies in contempt.

The fairies were as shocked as before, bowing in respect, but the ponies could only ask the question: “Where’s Twilight?”

“Twilight Sparkle has been put away, and now it is your turn,” The Queen announced to the ponies as she and many other fairies flew slowly towards them.

“Huh? What do you mean? What’s going on here?” Rainbow questioned boldly.

“I’m afraid that I can’t let any of you roam free in Pixie Hollow. You’re all too dangerous, and as of now, I am declaring all of you enemies of Pixie Hollow,” Clarion announced with power as she silently ordered the fairies to seize the pony intruders.

“Q-Queen Clarion?” Rosetta wondered aloud at the unusually fierce nature of her ruler.

“What do you mean?” Silvermist quickly questioned.

“After spending some time with the one called Twilight Sparkle, I have learned that these foreign ponies are a threat to all of Pixie Hollow and must be stopped,” The Pixie Queen explained.

“You have been given an order,” The Lord of Winter, Milori, told them with calmness, but inner strength and command hidden under the calm, “follow it.”

The fairies, though not ready for a fight in any way, outnumbered the ponies greatly, and the strangers were in an exotic land, while the fairies knew it well. Most swarmed up and surrounded the ponies, buying time for the garden fairies, who could easily put the strangers to sleep with a certain potent pollen. From there, they would be dealt with according to the wishes of Queen Clarion and the other officials.

“B-B-But we r-really don’t mean you a-any harm!” Fluttershy desperately, but futilely, told the fairies, hiding behind Rarity.

“You have made a grave mistake coming here,” Milori informed the ponies, who were stranded without Twilight to create another portal.

“Well, what do we do?” Rarity anxiously asked her friends, having already lost her composure at recent events.

“Why not stay and fight? These fairies don’t seem so tough!” Rainbow told her friends as she flew toward a small group of light fairies.

The light fairies, however, saw the attempted attack and bent a sizeable beam of light into Rainbow’s eyes, causing the pegasus pony to let out a small cry of surprise and veer of course and subsequently crash into several nearby tree branches. Before Rainbow could get up and back on course, several more fairies attempted to attack, but Rainbow was able to evade and counter-attack, sending the fairies spinning backwards with her awesome flying skills and the raw power of her well trained wings.

“OK, maybe this’ll be a bit harder than I thought…” Rainbow admitted as she played chicken with Vidia and a couple other fast-flying fairies.

“Oh my!” Rarity screamed as swatted away a couple fairies before another garden fairy flew up to her and blasted her with a pollen that immediately began to make her feel drowsy.

Fluttershy wasn't able to get very far before she began to whimper, making herself an easy target for the garden fairies.

Rainbow became distracted by the cries of her friends, and thus lost the game of chicken with Vidia and her cohorts, flying straight into the wall of water drawn from a nearby stream by several water fairies. Rainbow coughed and gagged on the water that suddenly blasted her, skidding to a stop as Applejack and Pinkie worked to evade the efforts of several groups of fairies, though Pinkie seemed to be having much more fun with it than the farm pony.

“This is ridiculous! We can’t fight ‘em all off!” AJ yelled at Rainbow as she jumped to avoid a contraption that launched several small rocks, brought over and made by the tinker fairies.

“We have to try!” Rainbow yelled back as she avoided a similar contraption, jumping straight back into Pinkie. Pinkie giggled and spun around off balance for a moment before a blast of pollen struck her head on and she fell to the ground, still giggling a little as she fell.

“Oh buck!” Rainbow screamed in frustration and worry as she saw her allies fall one by one.

Rainbow flew straight up so fast that even Vidia was thrown back violently. Shaking her head and regaining focus of the situation, Vidia chased after Rainbow with a few of her fellow fast-flyers close behind.

AJ continued to avoid attacks from several groups of fairies, especially the garden fairies. She saw a group of tinkers bringing a device onto a tree branch, and she sprung into action, leaping forwards and bucking the tree as they landed, causing the device to fall to the ground and break. She was blasted in the eyes by the light fairies once more, but put her hat in the way of the beams and jumped up and rolled away from the garden fairy looking to throw the sleeping pollen at her. She ducked and ran from various attacks as they began right after another ended, going on in an endless cycle until Lord Milori finally stepped in.

“Enough of this. It is time to end the conflict,” He announced and created a blanket of frost all along the ground, causing Applejack to slip and slide into a tree with a crash.

“Subdue her!” The Lord of Winter ordered.

Meanwhile, Rainbow continued to fly up into the sky, continuing to get farther and farther from Vidia, who suddenly stopped mid-flight.

“Wait…Follow me!” the fast-flyer ordered as she flew back down towards the tree line.

Vidia and her two companions flew around in a large circle as Rainbow began to descend, speeding up with every passing moment.

“Pick up the pace!” Vidia snapped as she flew faster and faster.

Rainbow began to leave a white trail behind her that grew slim as she neared the island again. If all went well, then it was Sonic Rainboom time.

Alas, all did not go well.

Rainbow Dash flew right into the path of Vidia and the fast flying fairies, and was thrown drastically off course in addition to losing much of her speed. She was sent straight down into the path of the pollen that was meant to hit Applejack before the orange earth pony rolled to the side. Rainbow was soon out of the fight, leaving Applejack alone.

On the upside, she did give AJ enough time to get back to her hooves and dodge another pollen attack. Applejack ran towards Milori, using her tail like a whip, and almost throwing the Lord of Winter back, but he was cunning and wise, and flew under her tail and covered her legs in a thin sheet of ice, trapping her and ending the fight once and for all. The next thing she knew, Applejack had been hit in the face with a wad of pollen and was blacking out as Milori and the other officials watched her fall while the fairy swarms hovered and stood around her.

…

When Applejack woke up, she was in an unfamiliar place, a prison of some kind it seemed. Twilight was the first to rush over to her. (The prison was remarkably spacious for the ponies.) According to Twilight, the Queen had been scheming and plotting the downfall of the pony travelers from the beginning. Once they had went around in circles with their discussion, several times for that matter, Clarion had Milori freeze Twilight in place when she was least expecting it. She almost managed to teleport away, but Milori was not known as the Lord of Winter for no reason. He was perhaps the greatest threat the ponies now faced, despite the fact that he seemed to take orders from Queen Clarion.

Somehow, the prison cell rendered Twilight’s magic ineffective and it was too sturdy to be broken by Rainbow. For the moment, they didn’t know exactly why they had been attacked, but they were helpless as the situation now stood.

“I’m rather ashamed of myself,” Rarity admitted to the group, “after all, I could have done something instead of just being caught in surprise by that awful pollen.”

“Well to be fair, Fluttershy just hid behind you.” Rainbow told the fashionista angrily, as she was still sour about being beaten by the fairies and taken captive, her comment serving only to make Fluttershy lower her head slightly and blush and Twilight roll her eyes at what Rainbow was insinuating about the entire ordeal.

“Alright, alright. We shouldn’t place blame on anypony. We all got caught, and we all have to find a way out of this,” Twilight reasoned.

“I know,” Rainbow said in slight detest as she sighed heavily, “I just can’t believe this happened to us.”

“Look...I'm sorry for bringing you all here. I was convinced that I could get us out of any danger, but I was sorely mistaken. I hope you can all find it within yourselves to forgive me when we get back to Equestria,” Twilight told the others with some impatient frustration, but a lot of determination to succeed and return to their home anyways.

“So, how do y’all think we can get out of this cell?” Applejack inquired, looking around at it, almost admiring the piece of masterful work really. It was made of several tree trunks, at the base that is, and the upper parts were constructed of various items and tools that were largely enigmatic to the ponies. To top it off, just outside the perimeter of the cell was a thick sheet of ice and several fences, of sorts, made of frost-covered stems and vines and assorted flora. To a pony such structures were fairly daunting to face and endure; what must the structures be like for the fairies that created them?

“I’m not sure how, but the cell seems to be immune to my magic, and I haven’t been able to teleport out of here, at least not yet. I can keep trying that, but I don’t know what else to do about it,” Twilight informed her friends.

“Would it help if I tried to perform the same spell as you to get out?” Rarity asked, not sure that she was even capable of performing any of the spells Twilight had used before.

“I don’t think so,” Twilight muttered as she began to inspect the cell closely.

“I would try to get the critters around here to help us, but none are nearby, and besides I don’t know them, and I’m sure the animal fairies would have much more control over them than I ever would,” Fluttershy admitted.

“I can’t build up enough speed in here to break out, unless we can somehow do something about the lack of room,” Rainbow stated, trying to cooperate with her friends, although the need was virtually non-existent. After all, why would they still be in the cell if she could get them out.

“I don’t see how that’s possible,” Twilight stated as she continued to examine the cell a moment more, then looked towards Pinkie Pie.

“Any ideas?” The unicorn asked as the pink pony looked around the cell suspiciously, or at least they perceived it to be a suspicious look.

“Well we’re in an alternate dimension, right? So…maybe the trees here…are made of licorice!” Pinkie suggested with a swift and wide smile.

The others stared at each other for a moment and then all looked with the slightest of concern at Pinkie, who was still gazing merrily at the cell, wondering how good the licorice would taste.

“I don’t think things are that far off Sugarcube.” Applejack told Pinkie as a door nearby opened up slowly.

The ponies assumed natural positions, indicating no signs of analysis or examination of the cell, and certainly no hints of a break out plan.

A fairy with blonde hair and blue eyes poked her head out and looked into the room to make sure no one was there.

“Why are you holding us captive?” Twilight almost demanded upon seeing the lone, nervous fairy emerge from the doorway.

“Oh wow…you’re the strange visitors,” The fairy noted aloud, seemingly ignoring Twilight’s question.

“Who are you?” Rainbow asked, using much more of a demanding tone than Twilight had a second ago.

“I’m Tinker Bell…what about you guys, do you have names?”

“What a silly question,” Rarity remarked in slight disgust at the idea of being so primitive, “Of course we have names!”

“Umm…sorry, we don’t usually find creatures like you around here,” Tinker Bell admitted and got closer to the captive ponies.

“Why are we being held captive?” Twilight repeated.

“My friends said you guys seemed nice enough, so I had to come see you for myself…plus I wanted to see how well the cell was holding up.”

“Wait a minute, you made this?” Rainbow questioned in disbelief.

“Well, me, and Clank, and Bobble, and a few other tinker fairies, yeah.”

Before Twilight, who was a little more than slightly annoyed at this point, could repeat herself once more, Tinker Bell asked another question: “So do you guys really want to destroy Pixie Hollow?”

“Wait, what?” Applejack shook her head and asked, making sure she hadn’t heard the statement wrong.

“Because you all seem nice enough…maybe a bit angry, but you don’t seem like destroyers of nations,” Tink finished her thought.

“Where did you-“ Twilight began to ask, but soon realized this was Clarion’s doing. The Queen of Pixie Hollow seemed nice enough at first too, but for reasons Twilight still didn’t fully understand, she had turned on the ponies. Twilight knew the Queen was under the impression that the mane six had come to somehow destroy the land, but where she got that notion was a mystery.

“We're not here to destroy anything!” Applejack snapped.

“Yes, why in the name of Celestia would you get such a notion?” Rarity questioned as Pinkie looked a bit confused.

“Celestia?” Tinker Bell repeated slowly so as to connote her confusion.

“She’s our ruler, and she’s a lot better than your so called Queen Clarion!” Rainbow explained brashly and with pride in being an Equestrian pony.

“Hey! I don’t know why Queen Clarion ordered us to capture you, but she’s never steered me or any other fairy wrong before! Everything she does is for our benefit and safety!” Tink shot back, her face turning a couple shades redder.

“Oh yeah?” Rainbow asked loudly, flying up a little ways to better tower over the fairy, who was hovering around the height of the other ponies’ heads.

“Please! Everypony…and fairy…calm down!” Twilight interrupted before Tink could say anything.

“Yes, we don’t mean you or Pixie Hollow any harm,” Fluttershy, who in an act of frail boldness, told the blonde tinker fairy, though after receiving a suspicious glare from the fairy, moved back next to Pinkie, who merely patted the shy pegasus on the head in her own sense of comfort.

“OK, look,” Twilight leveled with Tinker Bell, “we really don’t mean you or your land any harm or danger, and if you have any faith in what your friends said about us, then you’ll at least hear us out.”

“…OK…fine,” Tink gave in, and allowed Twilight to begin explaining how they all got into the current situation.