The Hidden War
Chapter One
A Trip to London
()()()
"I'll wait here for you all."
A quick nod between them, and they all left on their respective missions, leaving Jack behind to get a few more things ready.
()()()
Ever since that fateful day, where everything that Celestia and Luna ruled over was nearly destroyed, things had calmed down significantly. There was no major threat to the safety of the kingdom, no monster attacks; in fact, Twilight Sparkle, sitting in her library and reading through the Daring Do series for the fourth time that week, was starting to wish that something interesting would happen. Luckily for her, today was that day.
" 'And so,' " she read aloud, " 'Daring Do was forced to decide which cup was the true one; and if she picked the wrong one, it would be her end'…blah, blah, blah, cup of a farmer, she wins, the day is saved, I know this already!" She slammed the book shut in frustration, sending a loud bang through the library. Spike immediately came onto the scene, worried about the sudden noise.
"Are you okay, Twilight?" he asked, his eyes wide.
"No!" She groaned, and set the book back in its place. "I'm bored! I just wish something, anything would happen!"
Fate smiled upon her, for at that exact moment, Spike's mouth opened and a short burst of green flame erupted from it, staying in the air. Twilight turned around excitedly, hoping that she would get her wish.
"A letter from the Princess?" She shouted, an excited look on her face. Her excitement quickly turned to confusion, though, as the flame simply hung there and did nothing for a few seconds.
"Uh…Spike, is something wrong?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, but whatever it is, it didn't come from anywhere near Canterlot."
And then, apropos of nothing, the flame spoke, in a thick Cockney accent that Twilight recognized all too well.
"Twilight? Are you there?"
Twilight stared for a moment, before assuming that it was just some kind of novel magic. "Adam!" She greeted. "What's going on? Do you need me to do something? Please tell me you need me to do something!"
"Yeah, actually. Could you get Rainbow Dash and Applejack and bring them into the center of town? We really need your help with something."
"What's going on?" Twilight asked. The initial high of excitement had dissipated, and now she was worried that someplace was actually in danger. She cursed herself silently for being so selfish.
"The Baron's back, and he's planning something a lot bigger than last time, I think!"
"Wait…I really ought to be here, though…and AJ has the farm, and Rainbow needs to take care of the weather…"
"Don't worry about it, you'll be back right after you leave. You know, timey stuff and the time gods and all that."
Twilight had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but went with it anyway.
"Well…okay."
"Well, I've gotta go. See ya! Bye!"
The flame dissipated, and Spike gaped at it.
"Whoa…I had no idea I could do that!"
Twilight had already ran out the door, leaving Spike alone.
"Oh…that was quick."
He shrugged, and walked to the book Twilight was reading and opened it, starting to read it himself.
"Daring Do is so cool…" he mumbled, losing himself in the words. He recalled Jack saying something about how their fiction would work, but pushed it away as the adventure on the pages took the grasp of his attention.
()()()
Within minutes, Twilight made good on the request, both of the ponies that Adam had called for standing right in front of Twilight, in the middle of the town square.
"So…" Dash began, looking around awkwardly, "he's back?"
Twilight closed her eyes. "Yes, apparently. And if what he's planning is nearly half as bad as what you described to me, we need to do something."
Applejack nodded. "Yeah, we really oughta. But…how, exactly?"
Twilight shrugged. "If Adam told me to bring you here specifically, there must be something he's going to do."
Dash glared. "Yeah, well, I can't just wait around all day. I have a job, you kn-"
And then suddenly, nothing, and yet everything at the same time. Gone was the comfortable town, instead replaced with all that exists, infinite and gone in the blink of eye. And then, darkness…
()()()
Dash didn't know when she woke up. She didn't know how long it had been since she had gone through whatever that was, had no idea where she was now, and had no idea why her body felt so thoroughly wrong that she almost wanted to vomit.
She took in a quick breath, before turning over on her back and looking down at herself. What she saw was effectively indescribable in her own terms, so I will do it in her stead. She was a human woman, about twenty years of age, and built quite lithe and athletic. She had a blue tanktop with her cutie mark emblazoned on it, and very ragged denim shorts. From what she could tell, her wings were still there, although they felt quite a bit larger, and her rainbow hair was replaced by a fiery red. She seemed to be in a large glass dome inside of a stark white room. A doorway on one side of the room led out to a long, brightly-lit corridor, with a few more doors on each side.
"What…what the hell is this?"
"I know it's a bit weird, but you'll get used to it."
"Adam?" She mumbled.
There was the sound of something sliding open, probably a panel directly behind her, and the sound of someone stepping inside.
"Rainbow Dash, what in tarnation is this?" That was Applejack's voice, and if her tone was any indication, she was not pleased.
"What…am I?" that was Twilight, but she sounded afraid.
Adam sighed. "Alright, listen, could I ask you all to try and stand up?"
Applejack was the first to attempt it, trying to stand on all four of her limbs at once. This quickly failed, and she had to lie back down just because of how wrong it felt.
"No, no, I meant on your hind legs. Your center of gravity is in a different place, so you need to do it that way."
Dash rose to her feet, holding out her arms for balance. Despite that, she was still very wobbly. "You mean…like this?"
"Yeah. Don't worry, you'll get used to it pretty quickly."
"I see…" Twilight had done the same, and Dash got a good look at her. She looked fairly similar, although her hair was cut much shorter and cleaner. Her clothing consisted of a purple dress shirt, with her cutie mark on it, a plaid skirt, and heels, along with very tall stockings. Dash had to restrain her laughter as she looked at her.
"What?" She demanded.
"No offense, Twi, but…you look like a total nerd."
She looked down. "Actually, I like this outfit."
"Speak for yourself." Applejack spoke out. "These are mighty uncomfortable, if I say so myself."
The farmer was referring to a fairly stereotypical cowgirl outfit; her hat, of course, a bandanna, a red button-down shirt with an orange vest, again with her cutie mark, denim jeans, and laced boots.
"Like I said, you'll get used to it."
None of them had really bothered to get a good look at Adam yet, and when they looked at him directly, it was…jolting, to say the least. His white dress shirt and trousers, along with a bright yellow vest, served as stark contrast to an absolutely massive black top hat perched on his head.
Dash had to force herself to not laugh, having extreme difficulty at the sheer exaggerated nature of his chapeau.
"Nice hat, dude."
"Thanks!" He replied, the sarcasm entirely lost on his cheery demeanor. "Now, I'm going to ask you to try and use your fingers."
Twilight looked down at her hand, and noticed the bizarre appendages. "Actually…I remember reading about something similar to this…a lot of animals have 'fingers' they can use to grab things. I'm fairly familiar with the mechanics." She flexed them around a bit, experimenting with their function.
Dash looked at her own, turning her hand over a few times to look at it. "So, wait, are these like Spike's claws or something? Can we, like, grab stuff?"
"That's the idea!" Adam interrupted again. "Now, could you all follow me?"
He started walking away, and Twilight attempted to do the same, stumbling a bit, but quickly getting the hang of it and following him at a reasonable pace.
"Well, if it's that easy!" Dash wasted no time in attempting to walk, not even trying to pace herself…and immediately fell flat on her face.
Applejack laughed. "Sugarcube…if you wanna lasso something, ya gotta have some patience."
To demonstrate, she took a single step forward, and then another one, eventually getting into the groove and leaving the room empty except for the "pegasus".
"Stupid legs…" She grumbled as she slowly got up and tried again; being much more successful on her second attempt, she followed them down the corridor. As she approached the only open door, she began to hear Jack's voice. It took her a moment to recognize it, since they hadn't talked at all for a very long time, but she got there fairly quickly.
"…and that's where I believe we need to go," he was saying. Dash leaned in the doorway, and saw he was looking down at a piece of parchment, but he raised his head almost as soon as she did.
"Hello, Dash. Getting used to your new body?"
"Uh…sure."
"Don't worry, it's just like riding a bike."
"A what?" Twilight asked.
Jack grimaced. "Never mind. Dash, come with us. I'll explain what's happening on the way." He bent over and picked up a large duffel bag filled with several unknown objects, putting it around his shoulder.
She nodded a few times, and glanced at his waist, where some strange device was resting in a holster.
"Uh…" she started, pointing at it, "What is that?"
He looked to where she was pointing, and pulled it out, showing it to her.
"Do you have guns in Equestria?"
Twilight spoke up. "We used to, but we don't use them anymore, and they didn't look a thing like…that."
"I'd imagine not, considering…well, hooves and fingers are completely different. I'm guessing the basic principle is the same, though. Pulling the trigger would have sparked against a charge on the bullet, propelling it out of the barrel?"
"Yes, but I can't be sure. The last one was destroyed long before I was even born."
"JACK!" A loud, boisterous, British voice interjected. "IT'S READY!"
Twilight winced at the volume of it. "Who was that?"
"That was Rothschild. You'll…"
"Get used to it?" Dash finished.
"How did you know I would say that?"
"I've heard it a lot…"
"I'm sure." Jack sighed. "We need to get going. We probably don't have very much time."
He walked away, and almost as one, the rest followed his path into another room, with a device even stranger than the glass dome in it.
"Uh…" Twilight asked, staring at it. "What is that thing?"
That "thing" was a large metal ring, with a swirling gray vortex contained in its boundaries. Despite its color, it was actually very bright, and Twilight soon realized it was the only source of light in what appeared to be a massive, albeit quite well-lit warehouse.
"That, Twilight Sparkle, is my greatest invention ever!" Adam said proudly, stepping towards it. "When we step through this, we'll be right in turn-of-the-century London!"
Dash shook her head. "I still have no idea what you're saying. Seriously, you're worse than Pipsqueak."
Jack stepped in next to her, glaring with a subtle menace. "He said go through that, and you'll end up where you need to be."
"Well, why can't he just do that thing he did earlier?"
Adam frowned. "I would, but it's difficult for me to do more than once, and I can only bring people here with it. We have to use this."
"Uh, beggin' yer pardon, Adam, but if this is gunna be anything like what just happened there, I ain't so sure I can do this."
"Eh, the first time's always the worst. You'll do the second a lot better."
"Enough!" Rothschild interrupted, pushing everything between him and the portal aside. "We can't waste any time with the Baron. He won't be afraid to use technology from completely outside the era."
"What technology level do they have where we're going?" Twilight asked.
"A little more advanced then yours, I'd guess." Jack replied. "But Rothschild is right. We need to go, even if your clothing is…not entirely appropriate. We'll get you ready when we get there."
He said nothing more, instead running straight into the swirling vortex. He seemed to flash for a moment, before disappearing entirely. Adam quickly followed him, as did Rothschild.
"Well, I ain't getting' anything accomplished just standin' here!" Applejack followed suit, and Twilight did as well, not saying anything.
"Eh, whatever." Dash ran through, and found that Adam hadn't lied; this was a lot more bearable the second time, in the sense that she didn't immediately pass out. It was still rather bad, though, since she collapsed and her senses became fuzzy.
"Dash…" An unclear voice asked her. "Dash?" This time it was clearer, and she recognized it as Twilight.
"Dash!" Her voice had gotten a much more demanding tone, and Dash bolted to her feet without really thinking. Her vision cleared, and she saw that nothing had changed in terms of how they looked, at least. They were in a reasonably furnished room, although it looked…old, not just to her, but to all three of the "ponies".
"May I welcome you to London, England." Jack said.
"Where are we?" Twilight asked, looking around the room.
"This is our Victorian safehouse. It exists in every other work of fiction set in this period of Britain. That closet should have some appropriate clothing," he gestured towards a large, ornate wooden wardrobe, "go get some and get changed."
Dash eyed the wardrobe with a look of disdain. "Define 'appropriate clothing'."
Jack fidgeted. "Uh…they're…period dresses."
"Define 'period dresses'."
Jack sighed. "Just look at them."
He opened the wardrobe, revealing three fairly simplistic dresses, each one matching the color of their coats.
"Eh, I can live with that, I guess. I feel kind of cold in this stuff."
"Oh, wait, I've been practicing a new spell for this!" Twilight said.
"Er, wait, Twilight, I'm not sure that magic will work here…"
"No, it will, I can tell." She raised her arm, pointing it at the garments, and focused. Before anyone else could object further, the clothing had been switched out, the girls now wearing the dresses.
"Oh." Jack raised an eyebrow. "Well…I suppose that works. And now…to 221b Baker Street."
()()()
Long enough wait for you? Sorry about that. I just…lacked inspiration. But then I found it again. And sort of lost it again. And found it a second time, and then I wrote this.
