Hello, everyone! I have wanted to write this for a while! Enjoy! This takes place after mlp season 4, and just after Saving The World And Other Extreme Sports. Obviously, spoilers. Also, I don't own My Little Pony or Maximum Ride. Those are licence of Hasbro and James Patterson.

And now...LET THE STORY BEGIN! ALSO, JELLY! (I saw the Box trolls today).

The sun had barely risen on Ponyville, and already Rainbow Dash was up and about. She soared through the sky, punching through clouds like they were made of cotton (which, of course, they basically were.) She had decided to visit Twilight today. Why, she couldn't say, but Rainbow had talked to Pinkie the other day, and right in the middle of their conversation, Pinkie had had one of her 'doozies'. And this time, it was a big one. Pinkie couldn't explain what had caused it, but she had said that whatever it was, it was gonna happen at Twilight's place. Rainbow remembered her enforcing the importance on her afterwards. "It could be anything!" She'd said. "Maybe she's gonna promote you to the royal guard! Or maybe she's gonna make us princesses! Or maybe-" Rainbow had eventually tuned her out. If you weren't careful, Pinkie could talk you hind legs off.

Soon, Rainbow was at the giant crystal tree that was now Twilight's castle. She quickly located an open window and dived in, landing on the floor with a thud. "Hey, Twilight! What's up?"

Rainbow hadn't been expecting much; perhaps Twilight reading on her throne, or talking with Spike. However, what Rainbow Dash saw surprised her. On the crystal palace floor was painted a blood-red circle, surrounding a equally red five-pointed star. At each point was a small pile of strange things: curly leaves coated in small, needle-fine bristles, blossoms that were swirls of rich purple, blue, and gold, sharp pieces of glossy black quartz, and, in the center, a tar-black candle that glowed with an eerie blue flame. Five more of these candles were arranged in a pentagon in the center of the star. Twilight stood over it all, double and triple-checking everything.

The lavender alicorn flew into the air at Rainbow Dashes appearance, then turned and looked at her with a glare. "Rainbow Dash, you can't just barge in on people without warning!" she scolded, touching down again and ruffling her wings.

The cyan pegasus rolled her eyes. "Sure thing, Twilight. What's all this?" She lifted a hoof and pointed at the rather macabre setup. "Looks kinda...creepy." Rainbow gasped. "Are you gonna do an evil ritual, like Ahuizotl in Daring Do and the Griffin's Goblet?

Now it was Twilight's turn to roll her eyes. "Rainbow Dash, do I seem like the kind of pony that would preform dark rituals?" Rainbow grinned sheepishly. "Hehe. I guess not," she said.

Twilight smiled. "Actually, this is the setup for a new spell I'm trying. It draws energy from the natural magic of the environment, refracts and refines it through these-" Rainbow interrupted her. "That sounds like a lot of egghead stuff. What does the spell do?"

Twilight frowned, miffed at the egghead remark, but answered anyway. "It creates a thin spot in the fabric of the universe and, to put it simply, creates a window. Through this window, I should be able to see, or even communicate with, creatures from other worlds."

Rainbow's eyes widened. Pinkie had been right! "Really? That's awesome! Can I watch? Pleeeeeaaaaase?" She looked at Twilight with giant pink puppy-dog eyes.

Twilight groaned and put a hoof to her temples. "Fine. But you have to be absolutely silent! The tiniest distraction would have disastrous consequences!" Rainbow waved a hoof. "Yeah, yeah, be quiet, bad things, I got it. Start the spell! I wanna talk to some aliens!" Twilight huffed but said nothing. She turned back to her setup and focused. Her horn glowed magenta as the spell began.

First, the piles of leaves and flowers lifted a few inches into the air, then crumbled to dust as a green light flew out of them. Then, the light was sucked into the quartz, which glowed white briefly before melting into a red-hot blur. This molten crystal writhed in the air, before engulfing the candles and transforming into bright blue energy. All this energy was sucked into the middle of the star, were it joined the light of the other candles to form a single ball of pulsing blue energy. The light reflected off the crystals nearby, glittering and giving the whole room a mystical feel.

Rainbow couldn't be quiet any more. "This is so awesome!" she burst out.

That little burst was enough. Twilight flinched, and her horn flickered. The blue energy writhed and twisted, turning blood red, freckled with black dots, like pickpricks of non-light. The black candles underneath melted and smoked. The whole circle began to glow as the magic went haywire. Twilight turned to look at Rainbow, her eyes glowing pure white as she struggled to contain the spell. "Rainbow!" she rasped. "Run!"

Rainbow just had time to unthinkingly jump on Twilight before the pulsing red orb exploded with a flash of white and a bang that shook her teeth.

Rainbow groaned and shakily got to her hooves, coughing. She looked around. The interior of the room was covered with soot. Smoke hung in the air like a thick blanket. She looked back at Twilight, who was sprawled out on the floor, her horn smoking and occasionally shooting sparks."Twilight? Twilight, are you okay?" she said anxiously, nudging Twilight with her muzzle. Twilight groaned and stood up shakily, rubbing her horn with one hoof. "R-rainbow? What happened?"

But Rainbow didn't hear her. The smoke had cleared, and she finally noticed something in the middle of what had once been the cirlce. Or rather, six somethings. For, tangled in a heap on the floor, were six of the strangest creatures Rainbow Dash had ever seen.

The only thing Rainbow could compare them to were the monkeys Fluttershy kept at her cottage. Only these things were far too tall. They had no fur or tails, but instead, matted manes in dull shades of brown, black, and yellow, although one of them had a mane that was reddish-white. They wore ragged clothes caked with dirt and- Luna's crown, was that blood? Rainbow turned to Twilight. "Uh, Twilight?" she stammered. "I think your spell worked a bit too well."