Each and every time that an earthquake shook Manehatten, the world inside the yellow dome of magic seemed to collapse even more. Nopony seemed to know what was causing it, but you had a strange feeling that it wasn't anything good.

"I think I know what's happening..." you said, watching the yellow sparks rise into the air. Everypony turned to face you, curiously, "Everything inside the bubble is becoming part of the dream world."

"So that means we'll all be trapped if we don't escape!" Pinkie exclaimed, panicked.

"I think I can teleport us out of here..." Rarity suggested, realising that she had the capability to teleport you and her friends out of the bubble. You wanted to save the city, but the fate of the entire kingdom was more important.

"We can try." you said, saddened by the fact that you wouldn't be able to save everypony in the city.

Rainbow Dash gave her a nod, agreeing to the plan, however she didn't speak a word. It seemed like she was still a little annoyed that you stopped her from fighting Null, even though you knew that it would have been a fight she would have lost.

Rarity once again closed her eyes, her horn beginning to glow a soft blue. The glow began to grow more intense, until a familiar blinding white light once again took over your vision, but when your sight returned, you hadn't moved an inch.

You were still in the exact same spot.

"Um..." Rainbow asked, dazed by the surprising lack of movement.

"Why haven't we moved?" Applejack asked, seeming just as confused as Rainbow Dash. You couldn't blame either of them, as you were also wondering why you were still in the same exact place.

"Null's bubble doesn't let magic pass through," Rarity said, rubbing her horn as if the magic had strained her slightly, "So in other words, we can't teleport out."

Rainbow Dash let out a frustrated sigh, clearly getting more and more frustrated and stressed, "Ugh! Now what do we do?"

Truthfully, you were considering the option that there was nothing more that you could do. You had tried everything, but still here you were trapped in a dome of magic, with both of the princesses out of commission for who knows how long.

But that wasn't your element. Giving up wasn't in your nature.

"I have an idea." you said, looking at each of your friends to ensure you had their attention, "But it's little bit of a stretch, though."

Applejack gave you an encouraging smile, "Let's hear it, Sugarcube. Any plan we have is worth shot."

You knew that you were under timed pressure, but you appreciated that nopony was letting it get to them. Well, except for Rainbow Dash, that is.
Honestly, keeping calm was the key to a lot of situations, and you had learnt that the hard way.

"What if we close the portal?" you suggested.

Applejack glanced towards Fluttershy, and then to Rarity, confused.

"What do you mean, 'close the portal'?" Rainbow asked, seeming to take an interest in your idea. Perhaps it was because it seemed to have a bit more depth than simply teleporting away.

"Remember that portal we saw?" you asked, to which she responded with a nod, "Maybe we can use magic to seal it shut. Then the dream world will be cut off."

Personally, you thought it was the best shot that you had at escaping, not to mention saving, Manehatten, and clearly everypony else seemed to think so too.

"Well, it's our best bet." Applejack stated, "Where's the portal, again?"

You looked towards Rainbow Dash, them back towards Applejack, giving her a determined smile, "Just follow us!"

Now that you seemed to have a plan, Rainbow seemed slightly less stressed and panicked about the whole thing. Sure, the kingdom was still under imminent threat and you were still under timed pressure, but atleast now you knew what you were doing.
Even if it didn't work, atleast you tried something.

This time around, you didn't want to fly. Your old apartment wasn't too far away from the square, and simply running there seemed more ideal for Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack.

As the six of you ran, the city continued to shake occasionally around you, causing the air to flash white with dreamy white stars. Although it meant something evil, it was honestly quite beautiful.

Even without your wings, you reached the apartment block in only a few minutes, and it was in a much more sorry state than it had been prior.

"What happened to this place?" Rainbow asked, staring at the fallen piles of rubble that surrounded the building. It seemed like the earthquakes had been hitting this building the most. It made sense, considering this was where they had all originated.

"The earthquakes destroyed it..." Fluttershy stated, looking up to the roof of the building. It felt strange knowing that you were just up there with Null.

"It seems that way." you said, realising that the fallen rubble simply made it easier to reach the portal to the dream world. Of course you could just fly up, but others weren't so lucky, "But it also seems like we can climb the rubble!"

"Oh yeah!" Pinkie exclaimed happily, as she began to bounce up the piles of broken concrete and loose pipes. Rainbow gave her a puzzled expression as she simply flew up the pile, you following closely behind her.

About half way up the ascent to the dream portal, Rarity let out an exhausted sigh, "How much longer?"

"Rarity, we ain't even a floor up yet." Applejack said, with a sigh. Thankfully, the room that contained the portal to the dream world was only on the third floor, but it still seemed to be taking its toll on the unicorn.

As you and the other two Pegasi neared the room that you were aiming to reach, you realised that a convenient hole had appeared in the side of the wall. Something seemed off, however...
A few earthquakes wouldn't have broken down an entire wall in a circular shape, no. Something else caused this.

Almost seeming to answer your question, a few observers came scuttling out of the gaping hole in the wall.

"What in the..?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, stopping mid flight as she looked at the spider-like ponies that were lunging in her direction. You were just as surprised as she was. How were they still surviving? You thought that they were segments of Null's physical body, so how was it that there were still observers roaming around.

"Yeah, that'll be a problem." you stated, staring at them as they began crawling down the pile of rubble straight towards the climbing ponies.

"Applejack!" Fluttershy squealed as a single observer began crawling in her direction.

"Don't you worry, ya'll!" she said, as she pulled out her trusty lasso, maintaining her grip on the pile of rubble with one hoof, "I got this."

Swirling the lasso around in the air whilst gripping it with her mouth, she brought the large rope crashing down onto the spider pony, causing its fragile legs to go sprawling in all directions. As far as you knew, her lasso wasn't that heavy, so the observers must have been pretty fragile.
With a pained, almost robot like groan, the dream creature began to fade into a black foggy substance, before vanishing completely.

"Ew! What is that thing!" Rarity cried as a second observer neared her. You were that distracted by Applejack's performance that nopony had noticed a second one of them heading towards her.

"I got it!" Rainbow called, before dashing off towards Rarity. With a single swing of her hoof, she sent the creature flying down two stories into the street below. Just like the prior, it let out a robotic groan before dissolving into black smoke, before it was completely gone.

You looked down the pile of rubble, scouting for any more that may have stumbled through the cracks, but thankfully you could see none, "Everypony okay?"

"I think so! Those things were creepy!" Pinkie exclaimed, looking down at the street as if she could still see the body of the observer that Rainbow had just killed.

"Yeah. All good here!" Rainbow replied, brushing herself off as she flew above the street.

You looked to Fluttershy expecting her to say something, but instead she just hovered there, staring at you with a scared expression.

"Fluttershy, what's wrong?" Rarity asked, finally reaching the top of the mountainous pile of rubble.

"B-behind you!" she replied, shakely.

Confused at first, you instinctively turned around upon hearing the sound of rubble shifting behind you. Leaping out of the hole in the wall, a third observer pounced onto you, knocking you down onto the street below. A wave of pain shot through your wing, but thankfully it hadn't damaged them in any way.

"Storm!" Rainbow Dash cried as she quickly flew down to help you. She grabbed onto the spider pony, and attempted to pull it off of you with all her might, but to no avail, "Fluttershy, help me!"

Adhering to Rainbow's demand, the yellow Pegasi flew down and also attempted to pull the observer off of you, but it was still no use. The more they attempted to pry the demonic pony off you, the tighter its four legs gripped you, almost to the point where it would begin penetrating the skin and damaging the coat.

You let out a grunt of effort as you pushed against it, yet even with the combined strength of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, it still wasn't enough to get it off of you.

Suddenly, the area flashed with a blue glow, and your eyes instinctively closed. The moment you opened them, the evil pony that was once holding onto you for dear life was nothing more that a few scattered plumes of ash. Looking back up the top of the rubble, you saw Rarity stood with some smoke coming from her horn.

"I've... never had to do something like that before..." she said, referring to the fatal blast she had just fired from her horn.

"Thanks," you replied, flying back up to her alongside Rainbow and Fluttershy, "I might've died if you didn't."

Rainbow Dash gave her a thankful smile, before giving her a high five with her hoof, despite not having fingers. You would have asked them about it, but they didn't even know what fingers are.

"Know let's find what we came for!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, sprinting into the room that was once your home.

The five of you followed her into the room, and it was an even bigger mess than it was before. Light yellow cracks lined the floor and walls, sparkling with an energy that linked the dream world to the real one. Metal beams stuck out of the roof where the earthquakes had destroyed it, leaving piles of concrete laying scattered on the floor.

"The portal..." you said, staring at the circular abyss in the centre of the room.

Each of your friends stared into the portal in disbelief. It's beauty was almost paralysing; it was like nothing else that they had seen before.

"It's beautiful..." Fluttershy said, staring at the twinkling stars with a sparkle in her eyes. She slowly began to approach, forgetting the danger of it.

"Woah there, Sugarcube!" Applejack said, holding out a hoof to prevent Fluttershy from moving any closer, "That thing's dangerous."

If anypony was going to be taken aback by the portal's beauty, you expected it be Rarity, not Fluttershy. Instead, she see,ed to be preoccupied by the glowing yellow energy surging throughout the floor.

She reached a hoof into a crack in the floor, and then pulled it out, coated in a yellow substance that glowed even brighter than the portal. You considered stopping her, as you didn't know what that stuff was, but it was a little too late for that. A few seconds after being on Rarity's hoof, the yellow fluid began to crystallise, reacting to the temperature of the air around it.

"I say, this yellow... thing is remarkable!" she exclaimed, looking closely into the newely formed rystal.

"Ooo! Crystals!" Pinkie added, pushing her face up against the yellow gems on Rarity's hoof. For a second, you thought she would break them, but they seemed sturdy enough.

Out of nowhere, another earthquake shook the building, and this one seemed more intense. You and the other two Pegasi in the room immediately took flight, whilst Rarity naturally attempted to protect her newest discovery from the trembling earth.

After a few seconds, the tremor finally settled, but you could still see the yellow energy rippling through the air outside. Time was beginning to run short, "We really need to pick up the pace."

"Rarity, take some crystals, you can look at them later," you demanded, too which she responded with a 'hmph', before placing the neon-yellow crystal in the invisible pockets that every pony in Equestria seemed to have, "Now, we need to find out how to close this portal."

"Any ideas?" Applejack asked.

You shook your head, looking at the portal and the methodical yellow glow that surrounded it. You had no idea where to start. But then you noticed something.

On either side of the portal, there were two small... slots burnt into the floor, so small that you hadn't noticed them before. You were no expert, but they didn't look natural and almost thought that something was supposed to fit there.

"Why don't we try sealing it from the inside?" Rainbow suggested, "There can't be anything too dangerous on the other side, right?"

You shook your head, "You won't be able to get back. Besides, look at those two holes in the floor."

You pointed a hoof towards one of the small slots in the floor, and everypony looked down towards them. Unfortunately, it only seemed to make them more confused.

"What are they?" Fluttershy asked, looking at the two unnatural spaces. They almost looked like keyholes.

"It's like something's supposed to fit there..." Rainbow added, looking between them as if trying to spot any differences. The two keyholes were identical.

Looking to Rarity, you could see that was staring at the slots with intrigue, but then you remembered the crystals that she had collected from the energy cracks in the floor.

That gave you an idea.

Turning towards one of the glowing cracks in the floorboard, you reached a hoof down, and pulled it out covered in the glowing yellow liquid. Everypony stared at you in confusion as the yellow goop began to crystallise, forming golden yellow crystals on your hoof.

"Hey! More crystals!" Pinkie exclaimed, shooting forward to get a better look.

"Wait, Pinkie!" you called, not wanting her to accidentally damage or break them. You weren't sure what the magic energy contained within could do, "I think we can use them."

If you were correct, then these crystals would fit into the slots on either side of the portal. You weren't sure what it would do, but hopefully it would close it for good.

"Use them? How so?" Rarity asked.

You simply gave her a smile, and walked over to the portal with the mass of crystals in your hoof. It sure would look embarrassing if they ended up not fitting into the slots.

Reaching down to the first slot on the left of the portal, you placed a single yellow crystal inti the hole, and surely enough, it fit perfectly. The gem began to glow brighter, and the cracks that covered the flooring of the room began to pulse, becoming more vibrant every few seconds.

"Storm, what did you do?" Applejack asked, looking worriedly at the glowing veins of energy as they pulsed brighter and brighter.

"These crystals are like keys," you explained, "The magic inside them can seal the portal. Probably."

The moment you finished speaking, another earthquake began to shake the city, and this one seemed to be the most intense yet. Small chunks of debris and plooms of dust began falling from the roof above you, and white, dreamy stars began twinkling around you. Coincidence or not, it seemed like the portal was trying to defend itself.

This time, not only was the shaking more intense, but it didn't stop.

"What do you mean, probably?" Rainbow Dash asked, seeming panicked by the unending earthquake.

"There's also a chance it could speed the process up, hence the very, very bad earthquake..." you said, now worrying that maybe you had made the wrong decision inserting that crystal. You realised how much you sounded like Twilight right now, but when the world was practically ending, it would make someone a little stressed out.

You moved over to the second slot on the right of the portal, being force to fly due to the earthquake, and held out your hoof. But instead of placing the crystal into the slot, you paused. This single choice would determine the fate of Equestria. Either it saves all of you, or dooms all of you, and you had no idea which it was going to be.

"Storm! Do it!" Rainbow called, being the only pony other than you and Fluttershy that was able to speak. The shaking had gotten so intense that every pony that couldn't fly had to focus all of their energy on not collapsing onto the ground.

"But... What if it doesn't work?" you said, staring into the crystal, "What if it just speeds it all up?"

"Storm, you need to do it. It's our only chance." Fluttershy said, a little louder than she usually would. It seemed like she figured she had to say something.

Turning to face your friends for the potentially last time, you turned back to the crystal. Closing your eyes, you lowered your hoof and placed the crystal into its place.

The shaking stopped.

You didn't want to open your eyes, out of fear that when you opened them, all you would see would be a black void of nothingness.

Out of nowhere, you felt something on your shoulder. Somepony's hoof.

Finally opening your eyes, you saw Rainbow Dash hovering in front of you with a smile on her face and her hoof outstretched. She lifted her other hoof and pulled you into a hug, and you felt a warmth that you hadn't felt in a long time.

"Storm, ya did it!" Applejack exclaimed, happily.

The sunlight shone in through the large hole in the wall, replacing the murky golden glow created by the magical dome that once surrounded the city. The portal, aswell as the two crystal slots, had completely vanished, and the cracks that once contained the magical energy were nothing more than dried up wounds on the floors surface.

"No, we all did it..." you added, moving apart from Rainbow and giving her a smile.

"Y'know..." she said, rubbing the back of her head nervously, "I don't normally like showing affection in public, but this is an exception."

The five of you laughed, and you remembered the many times where she had hugged you in front of ponies before. You didn't mention them though, because you actually wanted to not die today.

"Hey! What's funny!" Rainbow asked in an irritated manner.

"Oh, nothing, Rainbow." Rarity said, brushing her mane behind her ear. It had been a while since you had felt so... relieved and layed back. For a moment, even if only for a moment, it felt as if the whole thing was over and done with.

"I think this calls for a party!" Pinkie exclaimed, jumping into the air and tossing out confetti that had seemingly appeared out of thin air. After the things you had seen recently, you had learned not to question Pinkie's logic.

For the first time in a while, everypony seemed happy.

"Sorry to break the atmosphere, everypony, but..." Applejack began, her cheerful smile fading from her face, "We all know it's not over yet, right?"

You nodded your head, sensing the atmosphere of the room shift from one of happiness back to one of urgency, "We know. We've still got to deal with Null."

"It's about time!" Rainbow interrupted, enthusiastically, "I've been seriously wanting to kick that guys butt since, like, two hours ago!"

"So have I. I dare say I have held a grudge against him ever since he trapped Luna away in that dream world!" Rarity added, seeming to have her own reason for wanting to take down Null.

"And he can't be forgiven for what he did to Celestia and Twilight." Fluttershy added, shaking her head.

"He's trying to take over Equestria, too!" Pinkie Pie added, just in case you had all forgotten.

"Wait!" Rainbow Dash cried, interrupting the conversation, "There's no way we can get to Ponyville in time! I mean, I could probably get there in time, and so could Storm, but the rest of you?"

Now that you thought about it, how could you get back to Ponyville? There was no way that trains were still operating after what had just happened, and Rarity couldn't teleport such long distances. That being said, however, you had never tested the limits of your teleportation.

"I think I've got that covered." you said, focusing your energy on your wings, much like you always did. You had no guarantee that this would even work, since the majority of your element wasn't even under your control anymore, but it was worth a shot.

Closing your eyes, you pictured Ponyville in your head, and your wings began to glow softly. Everypony shielded their eyes, unsure of what you had just done, as a blinding white flash took over their vision.

It had worked.

Author's Notes:

This was a lot of fun to write. I've never had the entirety of the Mane 6 (except for Twilight) and Storm fighting together, so that was partly why I enjoyed it so much. I typically write fight scenes as a 1v1, or a 2v2 at most, so having a fight scene with more than 4 characters was pretty new to me. Safe to say I really enjoyed it though, and I'll definitely do it more in the future.

I also changed my profile picture for no reason in particular. The hotdog was cool, but it didn't seem very... professional? I'm not sure if that's the word, but hopefully you get what I mean. At the minute, it's literally just something I found on Google images, and it's probably gonna stay like that until I stop being lazy and make my own.
Bonus points to anyone who knows what it is.

Sorry for the long author's note this time, but it was also FiM's birthday on the 10th October. I didn't update on the day, but happy late birthday! It's now been an entire decade since the show began, and here's hoping that it continues in some way for a very, very, long time (preferably forever). I've only recently found out about the show, only a few months before I joined the site in fact, but already it's made a pretty big impact on me. For the better of course.

Anyway, to wrap things up, thanks for reading this incredibly long author's note, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter