It had been almost a half hour since the two mares took flight towards the floating city. Neither mare had spoken a single word. Rainbow Dash alternated her attention between the direction she was flying and the mare beside her every so often. Twilight looked absolutely lost. Rainbow could only guess at what was going through her mind. Hopefully a way out of the situation they were in.

In truth, Rainbow had many questions she wanted to ask Twilight. Unfortunately, looking over at Twilight’s distraught expression, Rainbow knew the last thing Twilight needed was a game of twenty questions. Twilight needed time to think and adjust to their situation. She needed time to figure out the answers to all the questions both of the mares had. Rainbow didn’t think her friend would have all the answers, but she at least wanted to hear Twilight’s theories. It was hard for the pegasus to make heads or tails of what exactly was going on. She didn’t know anything about magic. There was no way she would be able to understand exactly how or why they were teleported. What scared her most was she had absolutely no idea where they had ended up. Rainbow knew Twilight didn’t either, but there was a nagging thought in the back of her mind. It had been there ever since they had spotted the abnormally large moon and the city in the sky. Rainbow Dash was too afraid to reach deeper into these thoughts. She already had a lot on her mind without bringing in even more uncomfortable thoughts.

Like the vision. And the dream.

The last thing Rainbow Dash wanted to do was to head to the floating city. The vision of air strikes and screaming had haunted the mare ever since she left Canterlot Castle. There was no telling what to expect when they got there. Rainbow figured that the vision she saw must have been in the past. She recalled the city beginning to float in the air moments after the air strikes started. Surely if the vision was a premonition the city would still be firmly in the ground. This thought led her to believe that the other things she saw were in the past as well. Her mind switched to the dying man and the altar surrounded by lava. The humans that had surrounded him. The guns they aimed at him. She started to think that the city was somehow connected to that event. Maybe she could find out whom that man was when she got to the city?

The dream she saw was another one of those thoughts she was desperately trying to bury in her mind. It was not something she wanted to address. She especially did not want to bring it up to Twilight. She didn’t have an exact reason other than not wanting to scare her. It may have been a dream, but considering the vision was beginning to seem true, Rainbow did not want to bring it up for both Twilight’s sake and her own. The best thing she could do at that moment was block it out and make sure Twilight did not leave her sight.

Wanting to break the silence, Rainbow Dash finally spoke.

“Hey, I just realized. Wasn’t it night time when we were at the castle?” Rainbow looked at Twilight inquisitively. Twilight's body jumped out of the catatonic state she had been in since they left the comfort of the clouds. After a few moments, she answered.

“Honestly, I’m trying not to think about that right now,” she said in a timid voice. It seemed Rainbow was not the only one trying to block out thoughts.

“Right, yeah I understand,” Rainbow said awkwardly. She looked ahead of her to get another look at their destination. They were closing in on the small city. Rainbow could make out the tall buildings made of grey stone. Many of them had strange spires on top of them. The tallest structure in the middle of the city stood out from the rest. Blue light glowed along the outline of the structure as well as all around the top. Rainbow squinted her eyes ahead and looked at what she figured was the city’s entrance. She could just barely make out one of the buildings. It looked like a garage of some sort with a large sign above the doors. Unfortunately, she was too far to see what the sign said. However, she wasn’t too far to see the multiple figures that stood outside the garage and all around the entrance.

Rainbow Dash gasped and widened her eyes. She probably should have expected seeing humans in the city, but the fear from earlier was still fresh in her mind. Meeting more of the creatures was not something Rainbow was particularly excited for. If they had guns, which Rainbow assumed they did, this could be very bad for both of them. Not only would the two ponies be thrown into danger again, but it would also completely demolish their only lead they had on figuring any of this mess out. Rainbow was determined to press on regardless of the fear she felt. She looked over at Twilight, whose expression had somehow turned even more frightened.

“Do you see them?” Rainbow asked simply. Twilight slowly nodded in response. Rainbow took another look at the group in the city's entrance. Now that they had gotten even closer, she noticed something frightening. All of the humans were facing the direction of the two ponies. They also seemed to be holding something. Rainbow had a feeling she knew exactly what they were holding. Twilight, no doubt, knew the very same. Rainbow took in a deep breath. “Looks like they see us coming. What do you wanna do, Twi?” Twilight took only a moment to gather her thoughts before answering.

“I… Well, we can’t turn back. We have to investigate this city, if only to figure out more about your vision.”

“To be honest,” Rainbow sighed, “I’m not exactly all gung ho about learning anything more about it. I just want to go home.”

“Well, at the very least, we need to figure out where we are.” Rainbow scoffed loudly.

“Oh, right. Because that worked so well last time, huh? Look at them Twilight.” Rainbow stopped her flight and gestured towards the city as Twilight floated next to her. They were almost close enough to make out the faces of the humans, and certainly close enough to see the weapons they held. “They’re all facing us. They have guns. They obviously know we’re coming. What if they’re just waiting for their next easy meal?” Twilight brought a hoof to her chin and hummed.

“What if they’re just there to greet us?” Rainbow shot Twilight a deadpan expression. Twilight sighed. “I’m not saying I don’t see your point Rainbow, but… I-I’m willing to take the risk.” The end of Twilight’s sentence gave away her brief façade of bravery. Rainbow knew Twilight didn’t want to go to the city any more than she did. It didn’t matter what either of them wanted to do. What mattered was what they needed to do. Like it or not, they had to enter the city.

“Do you have enough energy to do that shield thing again?” Rainbow asked. A moment of silence filled the air. Rainbow was almost afraid Twilight wouldn’t answer.

“I guess we’ll find out,” she finally replied.

“I don’t like this.”

“That makes two of us.” Twilight began flying towards the city again.

“WAIT!” Twilight stopped in her tracks and looked back at Rainbow with a raised eyebrow.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked. Rainbow flew in front and faced her before replying.

“Stay behind me.” Rainbow mentally begged Twilight not to ask why. It was not a conversation she was ready to have. Thankfully, Twilight acknowledged her wish with no questions asked.

They continued their flight towards the city. The distance they had traveled gave Rainbow an opportunity to better scope out what they were flying into. First, she the sign she noticed before above the garage read “Scooter’s.” She turned her head to count six humans flanking the stairs and alleys leading into the city. Four of them were wearing red armored chest plates and helmets. In front of these four were two other humans. One was a slim man wearing red fabric around his torso, as well as a red bandana and goggles. Attached to his back was a sniper rifle. Beside him was a female with fire red hair and a matching shirt. Along the side of her body and arm were strange blue markings. Unlike the others, she held no weapon.

As they grew closer to the city, Rainbow heard a loud gasp come from her friend.

“What’s wrong?” Rainbow asked. Twilight shook her head.

“N-nothing… it’s nothing.” Rainbow wanted to press Twilight for more information, but they were closing in on the city entrance. This didn’t leave her enough time to ask questions. They landed on the edge of city in plain view of the humans that had them flanked on all sides other than behind them. She began to panic as she drew her gaze along the faces of their welcome party. Being the only one not wearing facial accessories, the lady was the only face Rainbow could read. It held a neutral expression, though with a hint of curiosity. Her ears suddenly perked up at the sound of multiple guns cocking. The armored men standing around the two presumed leaders of the pack raised their weapons and aimed at the two ponies. Rainbow Dash was quick to step in front of Twilight as she growled at the humans.

“Hold your fire!” the lady shouted. Rainbow took notice of Twilight’s heavy breathing. It seemed she was beginning to hyperventilate. Whether it was out of fear or exhaustion, Twilight collapsed in a heap on the ground.

“Twilight!” Rainbow yelled. Gasps and murmuring rang out from the humans behind her. She ignored them and bent down towards her friend. Twilight’s eyes were still open and she was still breathing. Relieved, Rainbow asked, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah… just… need a minute,” Twilight slowly breathed out. After Twilight got back onto her hooves, Rainbow turned her attention back to the humans. The armored men’s stance had wavered, but they kept their guns trained on the two ponies. The other two just stared with their mouths agape in confusion.

“So uh,” the lady with fire red hair said. “You can talk.” Rainbow looked at her, then at the weapons the men behind her held.

“It’s easier to talk when my life isn’t being threatened,” Rainbow said viciously. The woman raised an eyebrow before addressing her men.

“Lower your weapons!” The men obeyed her command. Now that the guns were no longer pointed at them, Rainbow Dash felt a little bit more relaxed. Still, she didn’t let her guard down. She kept her angry stance in front of Twilight as she glared at the group around them. Just because they weren’t being aimed at didn’t mean they weren’t still in danger. After a few moments of silence, the woman spoke again. “So uh, what exactly are you?” The man beside her suddenly burst out in laughter. His stance wavered as the somewhat over exaggerated laughter rang out from him.

“C’mon Lilith. I’m drunker than I’ve been since Blood died and even I can tell they’re ponies.” His voice slurred heavily and Rainbow Dash could smell the sharp odor of alcohol as he walked towards the two ponies. Her body tensed as he grew closer. He stopped in front of her and kneeled down to eye level. “Still, you two are probably the weirdest looking ponies I’ve ever seen. I mean, damn you two are tiny. And what’s with the colors?” He gestured towards Rainbow’s hair. She narrowed her eyes at the man and snarled.

“Mordecai, don’t be an asshole,” Lilith said to the man. He stood up and turned towards her.

“What’d I do?” Mordecai answered, flabbergasted at Lilith’s insult. She didn’t answer him. Instead, she walked closer to the two ponies. Another gasp came from Twilight as Lilith stopped right in front of them. Rainbow ignored it for the moment and looked the woman in the eyes.

“What are your names?” Lilith asked simply. Rainbow didn’t answer at first. She was rather reluctant to continue talking to them. Leaving the city was beginning to seem like the best option at this point. The two ponies had already been put into life threatening danger the moment they had landed in the city. While the humans had lowered their weapons, that didn’t mean things couldn’t turn south very quickly. Her first experience with the humans back at that facility made that very clear. Still, the humans in this city did back down and they seemed more willing to talk things out.

“My name is Rainbow Dash,” she finally said. She stepped aside from in front of Twilight and motioned to her. She paused for a moment. At first, Rainbow was going to address her friend by her royal title. But, for whatever reason, she decided it might not be a good idea. “And this is Twilight Sparkle,” she finally finished.

A loud drunken laughter exploded from Mordecai.

“Ha ha, oh shit. Are you for real?” His hysterics did not subside. Rainbow Dash glared angrily at his antics. “Seriously,” Mordecai continued. “Rainbow Dash? Twilight fuckin’ Sparkle?” Rainbow caught Twilight twitch slightly in her peripheral vision.

“Mordecai!” Lilith screamed. “If you’re just here to be a drunken asshole, then take it somewhere else!” Mordecai struggled to contain his laughter. He began to pace back and forth, slowly letting out the last few giggles.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.” Mordecai snickered once more and turned back to face Rainbow, who was giving him the death stare. “It’s just, you know. Kinda odd names I guess.”

“And Mordecai isn’t?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow. “Seriously, your friend’s right. You are kinda being an asshole.”

“Rainbow!” Twilight finally spoke up. Rainbow turned to see her friend’s shocked expression. Vulgar language was not something that often came up among ponies in Ponyville, or even Equestria for that matter. It wasn’t that the words didn’t exist. They were just regarded as absolutely foul and unnecessary. They were never to be used in common conversation. It was at this moment that Rainbow realized it was probably not something that Twilight was ever exposed to in a great deal before now. Rainbow had never heard a crude term ever come from the alicorn’s lips. And while Rainbow herself was no saint when it came to filthy language, Rainbow had very rarely used it when she was amongst her peers.

This place was beginning to get to her.

“Sorry Twi,” she said softly. Lilith looked at the exchange curiously.

“Huh, I guess you’re not used to hearing cuss words,” she said to Twilight.

“N-no,” Twilight stuttered.

“We’re also not used to everything we come across trying to kill us,” Rainbow butted in angrily. She decided to make a genuine effort to improve her language around Twilight. “Just what the hay was that all about anyways? Why were you pointing those guns at us?” She watched as Lilith and Mordecai glanced awkwardly at each other, and then back to the ponies.

“First time on Pandora?” Mordecai asked in a low tone. He seemed far more serious and grim than he did moments ago. Twilight perked up at his remark.

“What’s Pandora?” she said curiously. Mordecai turned his head to her and answered.

“It’s where you are.”

“Huh?” Twilight cocked her head in confusion. “What, you mean this city?” Mordecai shook his head.

“No, I mean this planet.”

A long moment of silence was finally broken by the stutters of Twilight. Rainbow, for her part, was completely silent. Her mind was still processing what Mordecai had said. They were on a planet called Pandora. A planet that was not her own. Twilight and Rainbow Dash had been teleported across space. Her heart dropped. What exactly were they supposed to do now? Twilight had already explained that she would not be able to teleport if she did not know where she was. Considering Equestria could be just about anywhere out there beyond Pandora’s atmosphere, there was no way they were going to be able to get back. Rainbow fell on her haunches and her ears flopped down. She looked over at Twilight, who was already beginning to leak tears from her eyes.

“I… but where,” Twilight stuttered as she tried to hold back her sobs. “What are we supposed to… oh no. No no no no no! This is not good. This is very very not good.” Rainbow felt her own small dose of panic rise inside her as she watched the distraught Twilight shake her head violently. Her fears had been confirmed. Twilight had no idea how they were going to get back home. Though Rainbow did not know that herself, she couldn’t handle seeing Twilight break down like this. She brought the alicorn into a comforting wing hug.

“Hey, it’ll be okay Twilight,” Rainbow said. “We’ll figure something out.” She wished she could believe that.

“No, it won’t be okay!” Twilight shouted angrily, tears streaming down her face. “It hasn’t been okay ever since Princess Celestia gave us that stupid artifact! Now we’re trapped here and it’s all my fault!”

Mordecai and Lilith glanced over to each other.

“Artifact?” Lilith said to Mordecai curiously.

“Princess Celestia?” He giggled. Lilith huffed in annoyance and turned to Twilight.

“What’s this about an artifact?” she asked. It seemed to Rainbow that Lilith was very eager to hear about the item in question if she was reading her expression right. Lilith had an almost knowing look on her face. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure if telling the humans about it would be the best idea, but the thought that they might know something about it was appealing to her and most likely to Twilight as well. Rainbow looked at her friend, who seemed just as unsure. Rainbow slowly nodded to her. Twilight conjured up her magical aura to remove her saddlebags. The small crowd of humans began murmuring to each other. Lilith’s eyes filled with shock as she let in a quick breath and watched the spectacle of Twilight’s magic. Once the saddlebags were removed, Twilight went into one of the pockets and pulled out the object with her magic. She held it up to the group in front of them.

Suddenly, every human in the area gasped loudly and stood at attention to the object floating in front of them. Many of them shouted out in unison. Rainbow Dash could only make out a few of the phrases.

“A vault key?”

“What the hell are they doing with that?”

“How?”

“Why?”

A few of the armored men standing around suddenly gripped their guns tighter. The men raised their weapons in an alert stance while they stared at the artifact. The murmurs in the small crowd continued to grow louder. Rainbow uneasily looked at Twilight who looked perplexed at the reactions. The crowd ceased their voices when Lilith screamed out.

“EVERYONE SHUT THE HELL UP!”

All eyes were on Lilith, who looked like she was just about at the end of her rope. She stared at the artifact, then at the two ponies that came into the city with it. A deep breath came from inside her. Rainbow didn’t dare speak. It seemed the humans knew exactly what the object was. What was it that human yelled out? Vault key? A vault to what exactly? Rainbow had many questions. However, she did not tempt fate with the furious woman before her. Her piercing red eyes turned once more at the artifact and she brought a hand to her head.

“Private Jessup!” she commanded, not looking away from the object.

“Y-yes ma’am!” One of the soldiers stood at attention and saluted at her.

“You’re coming with me and Mordecai to escort our… uh, guests.” She finally broke her vision away from the artifact to oversee the rest of the grunts. “The rest of you go back to your posts.” The men did not question her orders. They broke off into various directions. One of them, presumably Jessup, walked forwards and joined the four. He looked down at the two ponies, though his armored helmet blocked his gaze. Mordecai turned to Lilith.

“So, what are we gonna do?” he asked.

“Uh, does anyone here wanna tell us what’s going on?” Rainbow asked, annoyed. Lilith walked towards the stairs next to the garage. She motioned for the group to follow. Twilight put the artifact back in her saddlebags before joining them.

“Look,” she said, “I’m sure you have a lot of questions. Believe me, I have plenty myself. Let’s just wait until we get to our headquarters.” She turned back for a moment and looked at Rainbow Dash. “Plus, we should probably change that bandage you have there.” Rainbow cocked her head and looked at her right side where she had been slashed by one of those creatures from the cave. The bandage was dark red with dried blood where the wound was. To be honest, she had almost forgotten about it.

They continued up the stairs. Along their way, they passed a couple more humans standing around. Rainbow assumed these were average citizens of the city. They shot the two ponies a variety of looks. Many of them were curious. Some of them, scared. Rainbow felt very uneasy as she walked through the alleyway. She felt out of place, and rightfully so. The thought suddenly hit her that to these humans, Twilight and she were aliens. At that thought she felt far more self-aware and vulnerable. She subtly took a few steps towards Twilight, unconsciously seeking comfort. They looked at each other in silence, unsure of what to say.

When they had reached the top of the stairs, Lilith turned left towards a building with a large red neon sign above the entrance. Before Rainbow could read the sign, Mordecai suddenly spoke up.

“Whoa, hold on. We’re going to Zed’s? Are you serious?” Lilith shrugged her shoulders.

“Hey, he has the supplies we need.” Rainbow suddenly felt very nervous about going into the building.

“Yeah,” Mordecai said. “But you know Zed. He’ll take one look at those two and ask us if he can dissect them.” Rainbow’s eyes widened and her tail shot up. She may not be one of the smartest ponies, but knowing Twilight for as long as she did allowed her to pick up on some words. Dissect was one of them. She felt relief as she realized something.

“Wait, Twilight. Don’t you have bandages in your bag?” Twilight searched through her saddlebag for the first aid kit. Looking inside the kit, she pulled out the roll of bandage. She eyed it carefully and her face fell.

“I hate to say it Rainbow,” she said fearfully, “but I don’t think I have enough to properly cover that wound.”

“Don’t worry,” Lilith said. “We won’t let anything happen to you. It’s not like he’s going to be the one to patch you up.” Her words didn’t do much to reassure the two ponies. Regardless, Mordecai and Lilith entered the building, followed by the two ponies and Private Jessup.

The first thing Rainbow noticed was the stench. It was a heavy, almost muggy stench unlike anything she had experienced. It was as if someone decided to merge the Ponyville dump with the Ponyville raw sewage treatment plant into one. Rainbow and Twilight began gagging at the smell. Looking at the room itself, the interior looked like some kind of haunted hospital. The floors were checkered white and black. At least, they would have been had they not been splattered all over with a dark red substance. Somehow, Rainbow Dash doubted that it was paint. It was splattered all over the walls and even on the ceiling. Rainbow wanted to leave. Now. She couldn’t stand in this room knowing what horrors must have gone on in there. She glanced nervously at Twilight who looked to be on the verge of a comatose state. Her pupils were as small as pinpricks. Her jaw was in danger of falling off her face completely. If Rainbow looked close enough, she just might have been able to make out the small tears that were in danger of falling.

“C-can we please leave?” Twilight asked quietly. An answer never came, as it was interrupted by a man standing over by a gurney.

“Now what in the hell are you two supposed to be?” His loud gruff voice echoed in the not so sterile room. He stared down at the two horrified mares. He wore a bloodied blue scrub and a surgical doctor’s mask. His left arm bore a strap with a red cross and a heart in the middle. The mares were far too terrified to answer him. Mordecai took one look at the ponies and quickly got to the point.

“Zed, we need some bandages. We’ll talk about this later,” Mordecai pleaded.

“Now, wait just a damn minute!” Zed argued loudly and stomped his foot. “You burst into my clinic with these two… things, you don’t tell me what’s going on, and you’re just gonna demand that I give you bandages?”

“Zed, please,” Mordecai said calmly. Rainbow perked up at the sniper, grateful that he was trying to hurry this along. She then realized the man seemed to sober out whenever he looked serious about something. Zed stared at Mordecai wide eyed, back at the ponies, then back to Mordecai and Lilith. “Look, we’ll tell you all about it later. We need to go.” Morrdecai took a quick glance back at Rainbow and Twilight. They returned his look with a small thankful smile. It looked like Zed wanted to argue more, but he eventually gave in.

“Fine! But don’t expect me to give ‘em out for free!”

“Whatever, pendejo.” He pulled out some paper bills from his pocket and threw them at Zed. As the “doctor” scrambled to pick up the fallen cash, Lilith walked over to one of the storage cabinets and pulled out some bandages. The group quickly made their way out the door of the building, and not a second too soon. Rainbow felt she was on the verge of vomiting at the sight and smell of the room. Jessup closed the door behind the group. Twilight slowly made her way next to Rainbow, still trying to recover from the horrifying room they had left. Lilith walked up to the side of Rainbow and knelt down.

“Hold still,” she said as she began pulling off the bloodied fabric. Mordecai walked in front of the two ponies and bent down, meeting them at eye level. He had a small frown on his face.

“I’m sorry about all that,” he said seriously. “To tell you the truth, it didn’t even cross my mind that you two wouldn’t be used to seeing blood and stuff.” Twilight looked up at Mordecai sadly.

“You mean you’re used to it?” she squeaked. Mordecai solemnly nodded.

“Comes with the territory, amiga.”

---

After Rainbow’s bandages had been changed, they headed to what Twilight assumed to be the city square. Though, it was more of a city circle. The center of which stood a tall black structure emanating an eerie blue light on the outlines of the metal panels it was built from. Out of curiosity, Twilight attempted to sense any magic coming from it. Alas, she felt none. Well, she did feel magic, just not from the structure. Lilith noticed Twilight’s curious gaze at the large structure.

“If you’re wondering what that is,” the woman explained, “it’s how this city stays afloat.” This confused Twilight. How was the city staying afloat without magic?

“How exactly does it work?” Rainbow asked as she looked up at the structure. Lilith shook her head.

“I honestly don’t know the details. The town’s old mechanic would have been able to tell you, but uh…” She trailed off for a moment. “He’s not here right now.” Twilight noticed Lilith’s sad tone, but decided not to question it. They continued towards a large building in the alley. Above the building was a large sign with a banner underneath it. They read “Sanctuary City Archives” and “Fight back! Join the resistance!” respectively. Twilight assumed this building served as a sort of town hall. When they approached the door, Lilith turned to the private that had been escorting them.

“Wait outside Jessup,” she said. “Don’t allow any of the citizens entry until I give the word.” Jessup gave Lilith a quick salute. The moment the four stepped through the door they were met with an extremely loud high pitched shriek.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing bringing these… these filthy animals in here? Do you have any idea how many disgusting diseases they could be carrying?”

The source of the angry yelling was a woman standing across the counter. She had very short black hair, with goggles strapped to her forehead. She wore a black tank top covered by a dirty red leather jacket. Her horrified gaze was frozen on the two ponies in the room. They each returned her gaze with a confused one of their own. Twilight felt quite insulted by this woman’s outburst. Had she no tact? Sure, the two ponies were technically alien creatures from another planet but… Twilight quickly shook those thoughts out of her head. It was still overwhelming for her, and every time it entered her mind she could feel herself breaking down. Her thoughts began to cloud with the fact that they were never going to see Equestria ever again.

Desperate to shut her mind up once and for all, she decided to attempt conversation with the crazy woman.

“You don’t have to be so rude,” she said simply. The woman screamed again.

“Oh my word, the thing can talk?” Twilight and Rainbow Dash scoffed angrily in unison.

“Tannis, shut up please,” Mordecai said calmly. “Go back to whatever the hell you were doing, and we’ll go upstairs out of your way.” He turned to the two ponies behind him. “Don’t mind her, that’s Patricia Tannis. She’s a wacko, but she means well.” Patricia grunted in frustration.

“As much of a ‘wacko’ as you perceive me to be there is no way I will allow you to harbor such beasts in my place of work!”

“Alright, that does it,” Rainbow spat angrily. She jumped in the air and floated directly in front of the horrified woman and stared into her eyes. Patricia was completely silent. “Well? Come on then, insult me again. I dare you.” She narrowed her unblinking eyes at the scared woman.

“Rainbow, please calm down,” Twilight pleaded. As insulted as she felt by Patricia’s comments, she was in no mood to have to deal with an argument. She was exhausted and didn’t have the energy for such antics. Not wanting to hear anymore arguments from Patricia, the group made their way upstairs and into a large room with a table in the center. On top of the table seemed to be some kind of screen. It displayed a map of an area unknown to Twilight. She looked up at the ceilings and walls and saw tons of other screens mounted up high. Most of them seemed to show camera feeds of the city. Others held even more maps of different areas. Twilight looked at it all in wonder. She was no stranger to electronic technology. She had spent enough time in the world beyond that mirror to get a good grasp on a lot of human technology. This though, was something on a whole different level. Everything in the room looked extremely high tech. Despite the rustic and primitive look of everything she had seen on this planet so far, she was beginning to believe that they had reached a level of technology that far surpassed that of the world which held Canterlot High.

Twilight continued to scan her eyes around the room. The two ponies and humans were the only ones to occupy it. Mordecai was quick to sit on one of the chairs near a computer console at the left side of the room. Lilith motioned towards the couch in the back left corner.

“Feel free to take a seat if you want. You two look exhausted.” The two ponies quickly sat down on the somewhat small couch. There was just barely enough room for them to fit. Lilith tapped a button on a strange device that was latched onto her waist.

“Brick where the hell are you? We called you a half hour ago.” Twilight’s ears perked at the static laced voice coming from Lilith. Unfortunately, she could not make out what was said. “Well hurry up, this just got a hell of a lot more important.” She sighed and turned to Mordecai. “He’ll be here soon.”

“What about Maya?” Mordecai asked. “We’re not gonna wait for her?”

“She’s a little busy scoping out the Highlands right now with Zer0. Seems these two caused a bit of a commotion and the bandits have been threatening Overlook.” She looked over at the two ponies. “Apparently they think Overlook is hiding them.” Mordecai joined Lilith in staring at Rainbow and Twilight.

“What exactly happened before you two flew here?” he asked.

“Well,” Rainbow began shakily. “We were attacked.”

“By bandits?” Mordecai asked.

“I guess? I mean they were humans. They all wore these weird cloth masks.” Rainbow Dash shivered. “They wanted to… eat us.” Mordecai chuckled.

“Don’t take it personally. Bandits will eat literally anything as long as it’s meat.”

“Mordecai,” Lilith said, annoyed. “I don’t think now’s the best time for your jokes.” She sighed and turned back to the two ponies. “Sorry, I hope you don’t mind if we wait for a… um, friend before we talk about everything.” Twilight felt uneasy at Lilith’s tone of voice, but did not argue. “Are you two hungry?”

“Yeah, I could eat,” Rainbow said as her stomach growled. Twilight nodded in agreement.

“Am I right to assume that you two don’t eat meat?” Lilith asked. “You know, being ponies and all.” The two mares nodded in silence. Lilith sighed. “Alright, well I’ll go see if I can’t scrounge up some fruits from our reserves.” She left the room and headed back downstairs, leaving Rainbow and Twilight alone with Mordecai. The two ponies stared at the man’s curious gaze. He turned his gaze when he noticed a bottle sitting by the computer panel. He swiftly grabbed it and took a large sip.

“So,” he said quietly. “Are you two okay?”

This question surprised Twilight. Given the experiences she’s had since arriving on this planet, she had been starting to think that empathy was not an emotion that was felt by its inhabitants. Though it was hard to tell through the goggles, Twilight thought Mordecai looked sincere.

“I… well, no.” Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. She would have been crying had she not already been run dry.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so.” Mordecai took another large swig from the bottle before setting it down and standing up. “If I had to guess, I’d say you two don’t come from a violent place, yeah?”

“Well, it’s not like we haven’t faced violence before,” Twilight explained. “Just… nothing like this.” Mordecai nodded.

“Well, I’d ask more, but Lilith would kill me if I did without her and Brick.”

“Who’s Brick?” Rainbow asked.

“An old friend of ours. A bit of a brute, but I trust him with my life.” At that moment, Lilith walked into the room holding two apples. Behind her was an extremely tall muscular man with three nasty deep scars embedded in his right arm. “Speak of the devil,” Mordecai said as he smiled at the man.

Brick stood frozen in the room’s entrance. He stared at the two ponies, shell shocked.

“Holy shit, what the hell is this?” he said loudly. “You pull me away from looting my rival bandit camps for this? Some kinda weird fruity ponies?” Twilight sighed. She was growing tired of the rude comments.

“Seriously, what is it with you people always insulting us?” the alicorn asked, frustrated. She knew exactly what the man would say next.

“And they can talk? This just gets better and better, don’t it?” It was beginning to sound like a broken record at this point.

“Look, that’s not what’s important right now,” Lilith said with a hand to her frustrated face. “Brick, this is Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight did her best to ignore the amused giggling that came from Brick. “What’s important is what they came here with.” She motioned towards Twilight. “Pull it out.” Twilight did as she was told and pulled the artifact out of her saddlebags with her magic. She floated it in front of Brick who had an unreadable expression on his face.

“Huh,” Brick said, motioning towards Twilight. “You know, normally I’d be confused how you’re doing that, but at the same time IS THAT A GODDAMNED VAULT KEY PIECE?” His extremely loud screaming caused everyone in the room to flinch. Twilight looked curiously at the object she held in her magic.

“What do you mean it’s only a piece? And what the hay is a vault key?” Brick chuckled at the mare’s choice of words.

“Heh, hay. Cause you’re a horse. I like it!” Lilith groaned. She handed the two apples over to the two ponies before taking hold of the vault key piece. Twilight grasped them in her magic and handed one two Rainbow, who quickly dug right in. Twilight examined the apple for a moment. It was bruised and beaten, and it didn’t have the same red shine of the apples in Ponyville. She took a small bite out of it and chewed. It was pretty bitter. It certainly didn’t hold a candle to the apples of Sweet Apple Acres. Still, food was food. Twilight was pretty hungry from this whole ordeal, so anything was greatly appreciated.

“To answer your question,” Lilith said to Twilight. “Well, it’s sort of complicated. Not that I don’t want to answer, but before I do I’d like to ask some of my own questions. Is that okay with you two?” Twilight looked over at Rainbow Dash. She could tell the pegasus was not okay with that, but didn’t seem like she wanted to argue about it.

“That’s fine I guess,” Twilight said reluctantly. Lilith nodded.

“Well, first off, where exactly are you from? Obviously you’re not natives of this planet.” Twilight slowly nodded her head. It hurt to be reminded that she was no longer in Equestria, but she pushed on.

“Well, we’re from a kingdom known as Equestria. It’s inhabited by many different creatures, though ponies are the dominant race in most areas.” The humans all gave the mares slightly unbelieving looks. Lilith motioned towards the vault key piece.

“Did you come across this artifact in your kingdom?” Lilith asked.

“Well, no. It was found in a kingdom that borders our own, Saddle Arabia. It was sent to Princess Celestia, who in turn sent it to me. She wanted me to figure out what it was.” Twilight’s heart dropped as she thought of her former mentor. It caused a domino effect in her mind. She began to think about all the ponies Rainbow Dash and she had left behind when they had teleported. Would they have any idea what had happened? Princess Celestia might, but that didn’t mean she would know how to get Twilight and Rainbow Dash back to Equestria. She knew in her mind that everyone would be alright, but it killed her to think of how much her friends would worry. Especially Spike. She almost teared up when her mind came to him. She couldn't even imagine what must be going through his mind,

“And who is this Princess Celestia?” Lilith questioned.

“She’s one of the four alicorn princesses who rule over Equestria.” Mordecai perked his head up at this information. He turned to Twilight in disbelief.

“Alicorn? Wait, does that mean you’re a princess?” Mordecai asked. Lilith turned to him with her mouth open in surprise.

“Mordecai, how the hell do you know what an alicorn is?” she asked.

“Hey, I like to read about mythical flying creatures. Got a problem with that?”

“No, just surprised I guess.”

“Well, he’s right,” Twilight confirmed somewhat nervously. “I am a princess.” There was a small silence as everyone in the room contemplated what Twilight had said. She subtly sank into the ground in embarrassment.

“So we’re standing in the company of royalty then?” Brick asked. “I’ll be honest, that freaks me out a little bit.” Lilith ignored Bricks comment and continued her questioning.

“So how did you end up here?”

“Well, I tried casting a magic spell on it to try and find a magical connection, but I lost control of my magic and we ended up being teleported here,” Twilight explained.

“Magic huh?” Mordecai slurred. “So is that what that purple thing you do with your horn is?”

“Well, yes.” Twilight turned to Lilith. “Sorry if this seems a little forward, but doesn’t magic exist on this planet? I can sense it coming from you.” Lilith’s eyebrows raised in surprised. After a moment, she chuckled.

“I dunno if I’d call it magic. I prefer to use the term powers.”

“Why do you have these powers but the others don’t?” Twilight asked. "I can't sense any magic in any of the other humans I've come across."

“Because I’m a Siren.” She noticed the inquisitive gaze Twilight was giving her. “It’s… complicated. I dunno if we have time to get into that right now.” Twilight nodded. There were more important questions she had anyways. Before she could ask them however, Rainbow did it for her.

“So what about this vault key piece thing then? What’s the deal with it?” She cocked her head to the side and stared at the piece Lilith held.

“A vault key is an ancient Eridian artifact that opens up a vault,” the Siren explained simply.

“What’s in the vault though?” Twilight questioned. Lilith shrugged.

“Depends on who you ask. Most people will tell you it’s filled with treasure. Others, who have had first hand experience dealing with vaults like us, know better. Generally Vaults contain an ancient Eridian warrior who’s duty is to guard the vault from anyone who opens it.” Twilight cocked her head in confusion.

“Eridian warrior?” Lilith nodded.

“According to legends, the Eridians were an ancient race who were the first ones to inhabit and colonize Pandora. Before their race was wiped out, they left behind several vaults.” Lilith walked to the center of the room and fiddled with the screen on the table. A humming noise was heard and suddenly, a holographic image was portrayed above the table. It brought up a large map of some sort dotted with symbols that Twilight and Rainbow Dash knew well. That very same upside down V that Rainbow had drawn for Twilight. “Before we thought these vaults were native only to Pandora and its moon Elpis, but it seems that there are others out there in the galaxy. They left these vaults in the hands of their fiercest warriors to protect their contents.” Twilight stared at the map in front of her.

“What contents though?” she asked.

“We’re still a bit iffy on that,” Lilith explained. “The first vault that was opened contained an extremely valuable energy resource that is still being used to this day. The others... well they contained other various things such as knowledge or control of the warrior that guarded it. There are tons of other vaults still out there and there’s no telling what they could contain.” Twilight turned her gaze back to the vault key piece.

“You said this was only a piece of the key. Where are the others?” She scanned her gaze across the three humans. They shrugged in unison.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Lilith said, “but we have to get working on that as soon as possible. Whatever is in this vault cannot fall into the wrong hands.”

“Hang on,” Rainbow Dash spoke up. She stared uneasily at Lilith. “If this vault warrior is as strong as you say I don’t think it’s a good idea to actively try to open it.” Lilith shook her head.

“I wouldn’t expect either of you to understand. There’s still so much more you would need to know. I don’t think I would be able to tell you in just one day.” She walked over to the room adjacent which held a large vault. She opened it to put the artifact inside. “Besides, we’re Vault Hunters. It’s kind of our job to hunt vaults.” Twilight was about to question Lilith’s words, but as she walked into the other room with her, she caught sight of yet another piece similar to the one Twilight had. She gasped.

“I-is that another piece? You already have one of the pieces?” She was confused. First off, if they were holding one of the pieces of the key, why didn’t anyone say so? Second, why couldn’t she sense any magic coming off of this second artifact? Lilith turned her attention to Twilight and shook her head.

“This piece is inactive. It was already used recently, and it needs time to charge. A lot of time.” She closed the vault. “Besides, the piece we have doesn’t go with your piece. All keys are bound to a single vault. Besides, if our piece went together with yours, it’d hold the same exact charge.” All of this confused Twilight greatly. Though she got many answers from the group, she found herself left with even more questions. Twilight wanted to go on, but the fatigue from the day’s events had caught up to her. She yawned loudly. Catching the yawn, Rainbow soon followed suit. The pegasus must have been just as tired as Twilight was. Noticing the dwindling energy of the two mares, Mordecai motioned towards them

“It’s getting late. You two look tired as hell.” He began to make his way towards the stairs and beckoned the two ponies to follow. “Come with me. I’ll get you set up with a nice place to sleep. Well, as nice as we can offer anyways.”

"But I still have tons of questions!" Twilight protested.

"Don't worry," Lilith said. "We'll have plenty of time to answer your questions tomorrow, I'm sure."

They followed Mordecai outside in silence, their minds still reeling from the information they had been given. They passed by the large structure in the center and walked through one of the alleyways next to a news stand. Twilight consciously avoided the curious gaze of the citizens. They came up to a door of one of the buildings in the alleyway. Mordecai opened it and motioned the two ponies to go inside.

“Sorry it’s kinda small,” Mordecai said sheepishly. “There aren’t really any other buildings available for you to crash in. We’re pretty close to max capacity in this city.” Twilight and Rainbow entered the small dingy room. “Get some sleep,” Mordecai continued. “We’re gonna have a big day tomorrow.” Twilight didn’t like the sound of that. Mordecai closed the door and left the two ponies alone. The room was dimly lit by a single lamp on a desk. A crude office chair sat beside the desk. Twilight gasp as she realized something important.

There was only one bed.

She looked over at Rainbow Dash, who seemed to notice the same exact thing. It wasn't a very big bed, though Twilight thought it might be possible for both of the ponies to fit. However, it'd be a tight squeeze. It also probably wouldn’t be comfortable unless they cuddled up close to each other. Twilight blushed as she forced that thought out of her head as quickly as it came.

On the one hoof, the bed looked so damn inviting and comfortable, despite it’s extremely worn appearance.

On the other, Rainbow probably could use the bed more due to her injury.

“Um, I don’t… I mean with your injury and…” Twilight awkwardly stammered. Embarrassed, she was at a loss of what to say. Rainbow didn’t give her a chance to continue as she lay down on the dirty carpet in the corner of the room.

“You can have it.”

Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but ended to staying quiet. Rainbow was a stubborn pegasus when she wanted to be. Twilight knew this would be one of those times. She watched as Rainbow shifted positions in attempts to get comfortable. Twilight sighed and situated herself in the bed. Before nodding off to sleep, she felt the need to talk.

“Rainbow?”

“Yeah?” Rainbow looked up from her position and met Twilight’s sad gaze.

“I, um,” Twilight paused. She was having difficulty finding the right words to say. Or maybe she was just having trouble thinking of anything to say at all. “What are you thinking?” she finally asked. She cringed internally at the stupid question.

“Nothing. I kinda just wanna sleep. Maybe I’ll wake up in my cloud home and this will all just be a nightmare.” Rainbow turned her back to Twilight. “Goodnight, Twi.”

Twilight lay on her back and stared up at the ceiling. She was far too tired to get a full grasp on everything that had happened. Perhaps sleep was a good idea. She could hopefully figure everything out tomorrow when she was better rested.

“Goodnight, Dash.”

Author's Notes:

Well, I sure took a hell of a long time to get this chapter out didn't I?

Hit a small bout of writers block with this one. Decided to take a couple days off from writing to replay some parts of the Borderlands series. I wanna make sure I've got the games' stories memorized well before venturing too far into the world of Pandora. I'm likely gonna play around with the lore in the next few chapters, but I wanna make sure what I have planned meshes well with the world the games have built for us. Plus, I want to make sure any references to the story of Borderlands are as accurate as possible! So, a few days of playing Borderlands, add in time spent at my job, multiply by how much I procrastinate and you've got a general idea of why this chapter took so long. It was actually written in the span of about 3-4 days. I'm still not satisfied with it, as I had to condense some stuff to keep it from being too long (over 8k with this one! That's almost double the last chapter! Kinda ridiculous really).

Sorry it's so dialogue and exposition heavy. Things will get more exciting in the next chapter, I promise! Hopefully the grammar and writing style is okay with this chapter. As of posting this, it's 6am and I've been grinding through this chapter, re-reading it several times making changes here and there. I should probably wait until after I sleep to post this so I can read over it again with a fresh mind, but I desperately wanted to get this chapter posted. Hopefully nothing is too screwy with the writing.

I'll also do my best to keep you guys from waiting this long for a chapter again. No promises, but hey. I'm not perfect.

Anyways, comment, rate, blah blah blah. See you next chapter!