Okay quick thing: Get ready for story sideparts and useless stuff overload. I want to slow down the pace a bit.

Second: IRL part 2. Kim and Alexi are real people. But Rone is not. I go by Rone occasionally on the interwebz but in no way am I self-inserting. Just using a nickname. I would have made myself 20% cooler and very different. Also Kim and Alexi are not necessarily like that IRL. I just thought I would insert them for kicks and giggles. Changing their names to pony names? They deserve it.

And finally. Back to GUN again. Yippie ki-yay.

Thunder heard a voice in his head. "Okay you are probably wondering a few things. One: Why Amethyst? Rarity nor her descendant has anything to do with the ancient rhyme. Well they do in practice. It was something a bit unforeseen. You'll see. Literally.

Second: Why are we going? I won't say that. I'm sorry. But its for the best. I'm not jumping for joy.

And finally: What will happen? Well I hate to say this but there will be pain. Lots of pain. In different ways. I will spare you the details as you would probably tackle me to stop it. Be glad I'm not telling.

But while I transport you, hear the story told the right way. It originally has the guards turning out to be shadow ponies and attacking the group, transporting them to the void, and the fake assassin teleporting Knuckles and Applejack to the shrine where they are attacked while sending the others to the void. But none of that is true. Well somewhat. It's a whole lot more complicated than that. Truth is stranger than fiction."

Fluttershy regained consciousness. She shook her head. Number one on her list of things to do after this is over: learn to stand violence and scary things. She heard Cream call out, "She's awake!" The girl was a saint. And her pet was just so cute.

She felt someone speaking over her. Ah it was Vanilla. She couldn't help but feel that Vanilla understood her. She was the closest Fluttershy had had to a mother in a long time. Then she heard Pinkie Pie start talking. She stood up and asked what happened. The three who were caring for her truthfully told her that they didn't know. They had left but Sonic went back for the four who were still there and never came back. Fluttershy nodded and was reasonably scared.

They heard Trixie call out, "Something's coming!" They all looked toward the direction she was pointing. They heard the clanking of metal slowly approaching. Tails, Amy and Trixie got into position in case it wasn't friendly. They saw white among the green leaves and out came two royal pegasi guards. They all drew in breath and Tails called out, "Please. We are friends. Don't hurt us."

They heard one respond, "We aren't here to harm you. On the contrary we are here to help you. But first you want to know what happened to your friends no doubt."

Amy stepped up, "Y- yes, where are they?"

The second guard called, "The blue pony went with a zebra to get the others. The princesses are missing along with Celestia's student and the black mage."

Spike called out, "Twilight's missing?"

The first one spoke up, "Yes, she is. I might as well tell my name in Honrar. The other with me is San. Do you trust us any more?"

All of them wanted to say, "No, teling us your names doesn't make us trust you any more what are you thinking?" but they couldn't make themselves do it. The guards seemed to give off a feel of trustworthyness, purity and loyalty. Unlike the ones controlled by the universe beast. They gave off a air of backstabbing, revenge, unloyalty. Those corrupted seemed those who held grudges or hated other. Some willingly accepted it. Some struggled. But the guards seemed the opposite. Something made you trust them. Like a different force was guiding them. one that merely showed the path but did not force them.

Sonic eyed the assassin. Rainbow Dash got up and despite the immense amount of pain began to circle it. All eyes were on the fake. Engessa drew her sword. A quick glare from Rainbow Dash made her put it away. They all knew it was about to make a move. The water kept dripping onto the forest floor. The noise was beginning to drive everyone mad. The ponies stared. Everyone knew that it only took one false move.

It lunged at Knuckles and Applejack. The others jumped into action. Rainbow Dash and Sonic began circling it bucking it every which way. It felt solid. It shifted a bit and it was sent flying toward Engessa. She turned around a bit and bucked it away, toward the two ponies it originally lunged at. By then it was too late and a light surrounded it. When it arrived at the two they all disappeared.

There was silence. Engessa spoke up, "Why are they targeting those two?" No pony answered. She asked again, "And what about that shadowy pony?" Again no response. Light came to her eyes, "What if there are more than just that one? What if there was an army?" Now everyone was in a stunned silence. "We will need more than just us. Maybe even more than the royal guard can offer."

"Idle talk, all of this.
We are playing a game of hit and miss.
We have no details on our enemy.
The only thing we can do is be ready." Zecora said.

Sonic spoke up, "We need to follow Knuckles and Applejack. I would only guess that they were taken to my world. We should also get back to the group." They all agreed and started walking in silence. The only noise being the wind and the dripping of blood and water.

Tails asked the guards, "What do you mean missing?"

Honrar answered, "Ask the blue colt. He didn't exactly say either. He should be coming back soon."

Fluttershy welled up the courage to ask, "So... where is he?"

San responded, "Getting the rest of the group and our comrade from a wild goose chase. They are being lured into a trap."

Trixie called out, "Then the Great and Powerful Trixie and these other less great and powerful people should start going toward them so we can get there earlier." No pony denied that that wasn't half bad a plan (Although disconcerting that Trixie was being their planner). They agreed to go.

It didn't take long to get back to the place they were at. Everyone tried not to pay attention that they were walking in rivers of blood or they were surrounded by flesh or that a manticore who was crushed and torn was cut in half. But you know how hard it is to not think of something you are forcing yourself not to think about. They started walking away when Fluttershy turned and looked at Pinkie. She had something in her mouth and a crown on her head. "Pinkie, where did you get those?"

Pinkie put the thing in her mouth away, "The crown? I found it lying around and the thing I found is something cool. The things on these metal bars slide back and forth. You can do so many things with it!"

Honrar turned around and saw the things and gasped, "San, look! It's Luna's crown and abacus!"

San turned and saw it too, "Oh no, oh no, Abacus is cheating on her again!" he said with his voice dripping with sarcasm and apparently wasn't impressed.

Honrar was not amused, "Forget the abacus for a second. Her crown! You know what that means!"

San thought long and hard. His eyes widened in shock. Fluttershy was interested, "Whats so significant?"

Honrar answered, "The crowns are restraining amulets. They are designed to keep the princesses from losing control of their power. If Luna removed hers then she has powers comparable to that of-"

Fluttershy ended his sentence, "Nightmare Moon."

San nodded, "Unrestrained black magic. She wouldn't do that unless circumstances were extreme. There was a large fight." They all thought of what might have happened. But after a while they started walking again. Just focus on whats going on now. They would get details later. But tensions rose.

It didn't take long before they saw the other party coming. They called out and the others started heading over. They then noticed that they were missing Applejack and Knuckles. Then they noticed that Rainbow Dash was wounded. They ran to each other and began to talk. Fluttershy and Cream rushed over to Rainbow Dash. "W- what happened?" the yellow pegasus squeaked.

"Oh nothing. Just a little friendly steel to the side." She said nodding at Engessa, who was discussing something with the guards.

After Sonic and Zecora told all that they knew to the others, they, along with Rainbow Dash and Engessa, told of what happened with the other group. Then Sonic stepped up, "We need to return to our world to see what is happening. If this world is turned upside-down by the beast what will ours be like?"

Zecora finally said something on the subject, "Another way than magic black and white can be used to go.

All you need is someone who knows everything we need to know."

Trixie spoke, "I guess you can take them without having to have the Great and Powerful Trixie take them? Great! Less work."

Zecora nodded. Rainbow Dash spoke, "I want Fluttershy and Tails to come. They would be very helpful." Fluttershy squeaked at this.

Engessa spoke up now, "We have another mission. If the shadow ponies really are a threat we may need more force than our guard can give. I have an idea but I will need somepony to come with me." Spike, Amy, Pinkie, Cream and Vanilla volunteered.

Trixie asked, "What about the Great and-"

Sonic interrupted, not wanting to hear her title yet again, "You can come with us."

The guards said they had something to do as well so they all parted ways.

Knuckles and Applejack woke up from the sleep they were put in after teleporting. Everything was blurry at first but they noticed each other. Both echidnas again. The clothing thing Tails had used still worked. Thankfully. They noticed their surroundings. It was bright but soon their eyes adjusted. Then they groaned. They were back at the G.U.N. headquarters. They saw they were in a room, more specifically on a bed. There was a desk and a small bathroom in the room. They finally realized they were in the bed together. They jumped up and ran off blushing so much it stood out even on Knuckles' red skin. Down the hall they heard wheels. They knew they were in no position for a fight especially with Knuckles still hurt. Although it looked like he had some sort of bandage on.

The wheels were joined by footsteps. Then the door slowly creaked open. Knuckles gasped. There was a soldier on foot with a gun in-hand; another soldier in a wheelchair with his helmet and most armor off. But the most surprising was the tall figure clad in a suit. It was the president. Knuckles didn't feel like saluting and Applejack didn't know what was the big deal. The one in the wheelchair had something in his lap. It was golden. He wheeled in and looked at the two, "Calm down. I won't try to shoot you this time."

Knuckles growled, "Why should we trust you?"

The man nodded, "The commander, or shell of who was once the commander, is dead. I don't want to hurt you."

Applejack and Knuckles weren't convinced. The president stepped up, "If you want foolish revenge for your treatment then consider it done. Every single one of the people who were attacking you is dead trying to help you. Except Marcus who was just lucky."

The two echidnas were dumbstruck. Marcus started, "And just barely escaped. I confronted the commander to get the Chaos emerald he had and was nearly killed. It was a miracle someone found me and I wasn't dead. I was shot in the legs. My comrades weren't so lucky."

Knuckles stuttered a bit, "W- well why did- how- who?"

Marcus understood, "Rouge and a bird who I guess is a friend of yours stayed behind when you vanished. We teamed up to try to get the emerald and to stop the commander. Oh and here it is." He tossed the emerald to Knuckles. "The commander left it with me for some weird reason."

The president spoke again, "When I got here I was greeted by Marcus. On our way we found you two lying asleep in the hallway. We brought you to his room."

Knuckles shook his head, "What happened exactly?"

Marcus nodded and recounted everything he knew. He finished by saying that Rouge and her bird friend had disappeared and the commander was found dead in the drone control room. Knuckles sighed and the two echidnas told them all that had happened to them in the past month and a bit. At the end the president thought, "So you are saying there is something running around that most likely possessed the commander and is after you and those, um, ponies. And you, miss, are one of them."

Applejack nodded. Marcus sighed. "What have I gotten myself into?"

Applejack grunted, "I think all of us are wonderin' that, sugahcube."

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy noticed that their rings were still on. They hadn't noticed them since they got used to their feeling. Zecora started drawing things. She explained that earth magic wasn't superstition or curses just magic invoked a different way. She also explained that most was temporary but varied in duration. The speed potion had worn off but the mystery potion she had made from the manticore flesh was still in effect.

Fluttershy welled up the courage to ask Rainbow Dash why she had wanted her along. "I don't want you leaving my side." was the reply she recieved. It was truly heartfelt. Throught her life they had been like sisters. The recent times had kept them away from each other and niether liked it. If they could stay together now it was ideal. Fluttershy thought back. How she was an orphan. Abandoned by her parents until she was found by Rainbow Dash. She was taken to Rainbow Dash's family and raised alongside her as an older sister. Even later when they drifted apart in their residences they both kept close. It brought a tear to her eye thinking about it.

After a while Zecora said she was ready. They all stepped near her. Tails used the clothing sensing thing on her, just in case. She remarked at his knowledge. Then she began saying a few words before a light began arising and transported them.

Rone was walking with his guests. The three men were going over a hill for a shortcut to the place they were going. He turned to his friend, "So how do you like it here Kim and Alexi?"

Alexi, as he was being called, groaned. This wasn't the name he asked to be called by but his host insisted, "I'm fine. Nothing especially strange."

Kim continued, he was snickering a bit, "Besides your weird story from earlier. Seriously stop taking things too seriously. You were looking at examples to draw humanizations. So what if a girl who looked like the Twilight you were looking at came out it-"

Rone interrupted, "But then I had other humanizations open to see how they draw them, and when I pulled up one of Sonic a guy who looked like him came out! That's just plain freaky!"

Alexi shook his head, "Look we are here for the convention. We thank you for bringing us here and paying for everything. We really don't need it though."

Rone smiled, "Hey you're both friends of friends. When I heard you two were trying to come I couldn't resist."

They all kept walking toward the convention. They were all talking before a light shining in the distance. They walked toward it out of curiosity. In the clearing appeared a black lady with a cloak and loose clothes and black and white hair. With her was a girl wearing jeans and blue short sleeves and had rainbow hair. Along with another boy dressed in similar clothes, although he had blue spiky hair. Rone seemed especially interested in him. A short boy wearing orange clothes with same color hair and light baggy pants, a young woman wearing a yellow sweater and jeans with pink hair and a lady dressed in a magician's outfit with a cool hat were with them. All of them were lying down The men's jaws flew open.

The girl picked herself up and said in a familiar voice, "Umm wrong world, Zecora. Hey isn't this the human world?"

The older boy did the same and in a slightly less familiar voice but recognizable, "Hey so we are! And look, I've seen that guy before in the library!" With the last sentence he pointed at Rone. Alexi and Kim looked at him while he stared in awe.

The young woman with pink hair looked their way, "Umm... they are looking at us strangely."

Rone forced himself to walk up to the group, "Uh I- I'm R- Rone. And you people are?"

The girl responded, "I'm Rainbow Dash." And to just prove it she sprouted her wings from seemingly nowhere. "And this is Sonic, Zecora, Fluttershy, Tails and Trixie."

The lady who seemed to be Trixie responded, "The Great and Powerful Trixie to you."

The others had inched up. Rone continued, "My, my friends are A- Alexi an- and Kim. Um..."

Fluttershy squeaked a bit. Even though they seemed just as shy as she was normally. The one who was called Alexi said, "Um... Miss R- Rainbow Dash, may I take a picture with you?"

Rainbow Dash looked puzzled but agreed. Soon enough they had a few pictures (Mostly her making faces and him looking awestruck). Kim had asked to take a few with Fluttershy. After a while she complied and they had a few taken. Rone just wanted a group picture with them since he didn't have any favorites. The boy who was Tails told them he had something in his pocket which was copying the pictures so the group had personal copies.

The men still were recovering from shock when Zecora told them she was ready to go and she had fixed what needed to be. The grouped gathered around and after a while they disappeared in a bunch of light.

Alexi stared for a bit into space before he said, "Rone, for this once I will let you call me by any parts of my legal name for the rest of the day. Go wild."

Rone snapped out of it for a second just to say, "Okay Rainbow Dash."

Rone, Rainbow Alexi Dash and Kim, whose middle name was Fluttershy, thought about what just happened before deciding not to tell anyone and heading to the convention. Part of them was curious and extremely excited. Part of them wanted to think that today never happened. Either way, the day just got at least two hundred percent cooler. They debated about hurrying on. The convention was cool and all but this was more shocking. All they would miss by staring a bit more was a lecture. They thought "Hippocampi, Stop Calling Them Sea Ponies." was okay to skip.

Engessa and the group with her started walking toward Canterlot. Amy asked where they were going. Engessa chuckled, "We have a stop to make in our journey to get clearance."

Spike was puzzled, "Clearance for what?"

The unicorn guard smiled, "We'll need passage from a relative if we are going to get any help."

Vanilla spoke up, "From who will we need help? And what relative?"

Engessa looked back, "Who else? Marnax and his nephew. I think they owe your friends one."

Celestia awoke. She saw light, lots of it. But that was it. She looked down to see she was lying on light. She got to her hooves and began to walk randomly. After a while of wandering she noticed something in the distance. It seemed to be floating in the light.

As she approached it it became clear what it was. A chess board. Celestia studied it. It seemed perfectly normal at first glance. But Celestia looked deeper. The pieces began to lose definite forms and she realized there were more black pawns than there should be on a chess board. A black rook was in a pawn shield. But white seemed to have the upper hand strategy-wise. And the game looked like it couldn't have begun too long ago.

"Yes, it is a sight. The first piece exchanges should happen soon enough, little sister." a voice said. Celestia turned and realized there was a greater light coming from white's side. It took her a while to digest what she was hearing. Her eyes widened. She knew who was playing the white pieces.

Equestria.