Note: I made a couple of changes to the guide, just to let you guys know. We're moving on now...


Dimension: My Little Pony

Planet: Equestria Earth

Specific Location: Everfree Forest

Time: 16 hours after the arrival of Doxia

Samuel's eyes snapped open. The sun was high in the sky already, and the earth was warm from its heat.

Cursing silently, he shot up and looked around frantically, the sleep he had been enveloped into had most certainly knocked him out for a long time.

"I have to get out of here," he muttered to himself, "Before Luna gets here. Last thing I want is royalty hampering my movements every other second."

He bit his lip as he looked towards Ponyville. Should he go back? There most certainly was cover there, and plenty of places to hide, but there was also the element of laughter, Pinkie Pie. She would definitely catch him and force him to meet every pony that ever existed in Ponyville ever, a nightmare for him.

He then turned his eyes to the Everfree forest. Perhaps he could just go there. He understood from rumors from some ponies in Fillydelphia that the place was full of danger, but what was considered danger to a pony was probably less than nothing to a dimensional traveler… probably.

"To hell with this," grumbled Samuel. He was about to take a step in the direction of the densely foliaged land of the Everfree forest when a voice range out.

"Where are you going?" the voice asked.

Samuel immediately dove to the ground as if a grenade had been tossed from the sky and threw up an invisibility shield around him. However, he had done it in such haste that the retro-reflective material that constituted the shield lost its molecular integrity and drifted apart, exposing him once more.

Unable to do anything, Samuel just covered his eyes, making him look rather foolish.

He heard hoofs land on the ground before him and trot in his direction. The sound stopped just before him. He peeked out from between his hoofs and looked up at the pony before him. It was Princess Luna.

Grumbling to himself, Samuel got up and stood on all fours, facing her.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

Luna blinked at him in bemusement. "I said I was coming to meet you. Did you not hear me?"

"And didn't you hear what I said?" snarled Samuel, "I said not to come and meet me!"

Luna dipped her head slightly apologetically and said, "I did not hear you say that, I am sorry."

Samuel looked at her with confused distress on his face. He had not expected her to say that so openly. "Oh… um… okay," he stuttered.

Luna came over to where he lay on the ground. "Why are you so troubled?" she asked.

Samuel pointedly sidled away from her and replied, "Because my life is terrible, that's why. I am sure you understand since you saw what I was reliving."

Luna thought about it for a moment. Then she sat down and said, in an unladylike fashion, "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Samuel's jaw dropped. What was going on?

"Um… No."

"Are you sure?"

"Um... No."

The two sat side-by-side for a long while, not saying anything. Birds twittered in the trees and a calm breeze blew through the grass, causing everything to wave and shimmer like a static sea of green.

Suddenly, Samuel just started talking.

"I was an orphan for three years, starting when I was five. I stole to survive, and was literally almost killed every single day. It was terrible. I still have nightmares about it. However, a powerful being called the Paradox eventually gave me special powers that allowed me to leave my horrifying life. I did so. However, all I found was more tragedy. I worked myself to death, trying to prove to everyone that I could be more than that 'little poor orphan boy.' Unfortunately, that landed me in trouble, and I was almost killed. Then I broke. I killed the group that I hunting me in the most violent possible. I've been running from those horrors ever since."

Luna listened carefully, her head cocked slightly to one side, an ear pricked in the air.

"And you've been running ever since?" asked Luna quietly.

Samuel turned to look away. "Yes," he said derisively, "I've been running. I am still running."

Luna placed herself in front of Samuel so that he couldn't avoid making eye contact.

"But what are you running from really? From what I have seen and heard, it sounds like you are running from memories!"

"So? What does it matter? Why do I matter? Go back to your castle enjoy your life as the glorious queen of the night!"

"You matter because you are a living, breathing pony. You are alive, and thus you deserve to be shown love and kindness like everyone else!"

"Then why don't you find some other pony that is in need of being showed loved and kindness! Why does this unnecessary attention have to fall on me?"

"Because it looks like you have no one else."

Samuel closed his eyes and looked away.

Luna persisted anyway. "Memories are supposed to help us remember events, morals, and lessons of the past! They do not define who we are right now. You need to let go of your troubles and just live for today and tomorrow, not yesterday," she said kindly.

Samuel blinked as he thought about it.

"I suppose… I suppose…" he muttered.

Luna extended a hoof. "Come," she said sagely.

Samuel shook his head. "No," he replied, "I don't want to go back."

"Why? Why are you so afraid of meeting others?"

"Look at me. I am a monster, even my cutie mark is burned by the acid of my sins."

"What sins? All I see is a young pony just trying to live a life of peace safe from the horrors of his past. That is what you are trying to do, right?"

Samuel sighed again. He then took her proffered hoof and got up. Immediately Luna began to trot off in the direction of Ponyville. Samuel shook his head slowly, but then began to follow her.


Dimension: My Little Pony

Planet: Equestria Earth

Specific Location: The Crystal Empire

Time: 16 hours after the arrival of Doxia

"Oh my, this place is absolutely FABULOUS!" exclaimed Rarity with gusto as she cast an appreciative eye over her room.

Cadence smiled at her brightly as she said, "Well, I am so glad you like it."

"Ooooh, this place is most certainly shiny. I'm sure it could even blind a Breezie on an overcast day," chuckled Discord as he floated in the air, looking over Cadence's shoulder.

Cadence sighed and motioned Discord over to his room, in the adjacent apartment. "This is where you will be staying, Discord," said Cadence, "I hope you enjoy it."

"And remember that we could have guards watching your every move," said Shining Armor sternly.

Discord laughed out loud. "You don't trust me? My, my, that isn't quite how one friend would treat another."

Shining just continued to look at him sternly. "What makes you think I consider you a friend?"

Discord just chortled briefly, but kept quiet. He gave Shining a sheepish grin, drifted into his room and shut the door.

Cadence giggled a bit as Shining Armor grumbled to himself. She then turned to Pinkie Pie and said "Your room is right over there. When do you think you can begin?"

"Oh, I don't know," mused Pinkie, "This cheering up business is quite deep! I need plans! I need schematics! I need psychologists! I NEED CUPCAKES!"

She then trotted into her room and dramatically shut the door, leaving Cadence and Shining Armor alone in the hallway.

"Um… bye?" said Cadence awkwardly.

Suddenly Doxia teleported in next to them. He handed both Shining Armor and Cadence crystal necklaces made of beautiful gems and minerals. "Found these lying around in one of the Crystal Empire's underground caverns. Aloha swag anyone?"

Cadence gave Doxia little smile as she used magic to put a necklace first around her neck, and then the other around Shining Armor's.

"Thank you, Doxia, they're beautiful," she said appreciatively.

Doxia nodded as he stroked his chin. "Still haven't found orange juice on the whereabouts of the vials, but I suppose that is to be expected. Shame we're not omnipotent, that would make life a whole lot easier… and a whole lot worse really."

Cadence nodded. "I suppose we will just have to wait for Pinkie Pie."

Doxia suddenly projected a holographic image in front of him. He quickly swiped his hands through it and then said, "Oh, if the timeline goes undisturbed, Pinkie Pie's cheering-up routine should be starting the next couple of hours."

Shining Armor blinked in surprise. "How can you tell?"

"I can scan the timeline for a limited time ahead and behind. It is almost like telling the future. The only issue is that futures change all the time. It's not linear, it's more of a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff, to put it using another's words. Time Lords… they're so funny."

Both Cadence and Shining Armor had literally no idea what he had just said. They just stared at him.

Doxia just chuckled audibly and then said, "Could I trouble you two to have lunch with me?"

"What, you mean we sit down and eat while you stick stuff to your helmet?" said Shining Armor with a hint of humor in his tone of voice.

Cadence exclaimed, "Shining Armor!"

Doxia, however, just laughed. "I suppose so. Yes, I actually don't eat, but foodstuffs do make interesting hats."

Shining Armor couldn't help but begin to laugh. "Why?"

Doxia chuckled and got down on one knee. "My friend," he said, "When you lived as long and done as much as me, you stop asking 'why?' and 'how to?' and start to simply say 'why not?'"

Cadence smiled as she said, "Maybe that's something all of us could learn."

Doxia straightened up as he said, "Perhaps. However, you need to have the wisdom to discern when you should think about doing something, and when you should not when it is absolutely wrong to do it. Fortunately the arrival of the 'why not' questions and the accumulation of wisdom via age go hand-in-hand. Or hoof-in-hoof if you prefer to think about it in that way."

Shining Armor dipped his head respectively in acknowledgment. Doxia may act and talk crazy, but there was more wisdom within him then perhaps Luna and Celestia put together.

There was a pause, then Doxia struck a pose, exclaiming dramatically, "Right! Who wants to have lunch with me?!"

The three laughed together as Shining Armor led them through the grand crystal halls of the castle out onto the streets of the Crystal Empire to a little corner café that he enjoyed.

The café and all its good seats were conveniently vacated by frightened crystal ponies as Cadence, Shining Armor, and Doxia entered the building. They sat down at a nice corner table and began to talk as the waitress stood off to the side, trying to build up enough courage to approach the seemingly unapproachable Dimensional Lord.

"So, has there been any luck in finding… whatever it is you are looking for?" asked Cadence, "Come to think about it, you never really mentioned what was in the mysterious present that you gave Celestia."

Doxia, who had to take up an entire row of seats and sit sideways, replied, "Oh, the present was vials of crystals. These crystals contain a special material that is vital to a mission I am trying to achieve."

"May we ask about the circumstances of this mission?" pried Shining Armor.

"My, my, Prince Shining Armor, you are a nosey one! I cannot tell you too much, since you two would not understand any of it, but I can tell you that I am trying to take down the group responsible for capturing Cadence and replacing her with an imposter."

Shining grimaced, those were not happy memories, considering the fact he had not even noticed the difference thanks to the craftiness of the Paradox's Elite Phasetroopers.

"That does sound important," exclaimed Cadence, "I hope it doesn't take too long for you to find what you are looking for… though I do hope you are enjoying your time here in the Crystal Empire!"

Doxia nodded his head as he replied, "Oh yes, I am enjoying my stay here most certainly. Being able to spend time with two wonderful ponies such as yourselves is quite a treat! However, you two really should start skydiving more."

Shining Armor cocked his head to one side. "Skydiving? What's that?" he asked.

Doxia laughed. "I am so glad you asked! Tell you what, after lunch, I'll show you how it is done."

He then turned and beckoned to the waitress, who was still stiff with fear.

"Come on! Don't be shy! I gave up biting a trillion years ago!"

Something in the kind voice of Doxia gave the crystal pony waitress the bravery that she needed and she tentatively approached the table to take their orders.

After they had ordered, Doxia picked up a glass of water and looked at it.

"You aren't… you aren't going to pour that on your head here, are you?" asked Shining tentatively.

Doxia laughed and put it down. "Oh no, I suppose that wouldn't be a good idea to do it here… in a restaurant. Point taken old lad."

Cadence smiled at him. Then she said, "Why don't you eat anymore?"

Doxia stroked the place on his helmet where his chin would have been as he said, "I suppose… I suppose food lost its taste for me. I mean, I don't have any need to eat, so I guess I really just began to consider it something of a distraction and a time-waster after a bit."

"Breakfast, Lunch, and Supper aren't just for eating though Doxia," said Cadence brightly, "They're also a time for fellowship and family."

Doxia nodded his head slowly. "I suppose so."

"Why don't you ever take off your helmet?" persisted Cadence as the food was brought over by the waitress, who had warmed up to Doxia's presence. He seemed only half as terrifying after talking to him.

Doxia patted the waitresses hoof appreciatively as he took the food. Then he turned to look at Cadence again. "Well… I don't know. In truth, I actually don't have a face anymore. I am more of an entity of light, sound, and energy, floating around. We box ourselves into this armor to keep it contained, though we can also shape shift. I can actually hardly actually remember what I looked like before I became non-corporeal."

"It must be tough, losing your identity over the years," sighed Shining as he began to eat.

Doxia shrugged. He picked up his carrot-dog with mustard and looked at it intently. He then put it down and said, "Well, I may have lost what I originally looked like, but I sure as orange juice didn't lose my personality. Tell you what, one of these days, when this is all over, I will come and find you two and show you what my face really looks like. In fact, I might even have a real lunch as well!"

Cadence smiled brightly as she said, "I look forward to that day."

Doxia picked up his carrot-dog again and tossed it in the air. As it reached its pinnacle in height, it suddenly turned into a flurry of dragonflies that drifted lazily out the open window. Doxia then said, "You two ready to do some skydiving?"

Shining Armor shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he said, "I really have no idea what that means. Does it have to do with diving through the sky?"

Doxia laughed heartily. "Maybe," he said.

He stood up and beckoned to them. Doxia then snapped a finger and a little crystal box full of liquid gold appeared in the air. He put it down lightly on the table. He then conjured up a little piece of paper and a pen. He wrote down a single word, "BELIEVE," and he set it down next to the crystal box. Cadence glanced at Doxia curiously, and Doxia said, "That's for the waitress. Come on! Follow me!"

The three then left the café and Doxia led them quickly out of the Crystal Empire. As they walked, Doxia explained what was going to transpire next.

"Once we find a clear field, I am going to conjure up a hot air balloon. I am then going to raise it to about 1219 meters. Then we jump."

"We… jump…" said Shining, inceduously.

Doxia nodded his head. "Of course! Naturally we will have parachutes, though. After a couple of seconds of free falling, we pull the parachute cords and drift to the ground. It will be fun."

"We… jump…" was all Shining said, again.

Doxia chuckled, but didn't reply. Then he motioned to an empty field that was bare except for a couple of large multi-colored crystal rocks. "Here is a nice… place… to…"

Doxia stopped talking. Slowly he turned around and said, "Michael."

Archangel Michael, in all his brilliance, was hovering right behind them. Massive white wings, face hidden by the shadows cast by his brilliant helmet of gold and silver, golden-armor wrought appendages, light streaming from his belt of truth.

Terrified, Cadence and Shining Armor immediately fell to the ground, with the faces to the earth.

Doxia just stood there, as if he was Michael's equal, if not his better.

"Are you looking for the beacon crystals? Where did you put them?" asked Michael sagely.

Doxia nodded and replied, his tone reserved, "I put them in vials and gave them to Princess Celestia of Equestria of the My Little Pony dimension. She gave them to King Sombra of the Crystal Empire of the My Little Pony dimension. However, the beacon crystal's radiation drove him insane, and he hid them. I am searching for them as of yet."

"It does not look like you are searching for them 'as of yet,' my friend," replied Michael, a tad of iron in his voice.

Doxia laughed heartily, his jocund attitude returning. "That's because I'm going skydiving with some friends right now, Mickey!"

Michaels tone remained emotionless as he said, "Do not call me Mickey, Doxia. Why are you doing this when time is running short?"

Doxa just continued to chuckle. "We are waiting on some others to glean some important information. However, that is just it: we are waiting on some others. Remember that we are not to worry, that is for the Heavens."

"I am an ANGEL of the Celestial Heaven, remember Doxia?" said Michael, "I have been tasked to stop the Paradox, and I intend fully to do just that. Do you know where the beacon crystals are?"

Doxia shook his head, "As I said, no, I do not. They are hidden, but they will not be for long. Why don't you relax for a moment and go skydiving with us!"

Michael shook his head. "No," he said, "I will be off. I need to talk to Samuel Dellor."

Doxia cocked his head to one side. "The dimensional traveler? Is he here?"

Michael nodded and then pinpoints of light began to wreath around him in bands of gold. Then… he was gone.

Chortling to himself, Doxia helped up Cadence and Shining Armor, who were still very stunned by the appearance of the glorious archangel.

"Sorry about that. Business calls, you know. Now let's go!"


Dimension: Star Wars

Planet: Coruscant

Specific Location: The southern sector

Time: 21 years before the battle of Yavin. A day after the arrival of Doxia

Coruscant is an awe-inspiring yet terrifying place. Massive skyscrapers and crowded streets. High in the air, the rich live in penthouses, with personal hover craft that carry them from place to place without ever having to walk the dirty long forgotten streets at the bottom of the totally industrialized planet. As for the poor and the desperate… they are the ones who walk those streets. It was those very streets that Franklin, Daniel, and Wild had to walk.

"Don't you think you'll stand out?" whispered Franklin to Wild as they moved nonchalantly down a crowded street, filled with drunks, mercenaries, and the fallen.

"The Star Wars dimension is notorious for the amount of aliens it has in its galaxies, I am sure I won't be truly noticed here with all the different sentient species," replied Wild.

"Whatever you say, wolf boy," muttered Franklin.

"I do say. I also say stop calling me wolf boy," retorted Wild.

"Stop it you two," whispered Daniel harshly, who had still insisted on being a dragon. However, because of his size, Franklin had convinced him to let him and Wild ride him. After a long argument and some pleading from Franklin, Daniel had agreed.

"That's a fine steed you have there, my friends," said a shady character as they passed by him, "Could I interest you in a trade?"

Daniel swung his head to look at the being as he snarled, "Go to hell."

The person stumbled backwards as if he had been struck by an object and he fled in a panic.

"And here were you, thinking we had to be inconspicuous," chuckled Franklin, "Silly Daniel."

"Shut up Franklin," snapped Daniel, "We need to keep on moving. Wild? Do you have an idea of where we might be going?"

Wild nodded. "I believe so. Last time I talked to Evan Funsch, he was going to hit the interdimensional traitor while he was enjoying some peace and quiet in the penthouse in the great southern sector."

"Then why the hell are we HERE?" burst out Franklin.

"Not so loud… I'll tell you," snapped Wild, "The Penthouse is heavily guarded. Except for one thing: the lower ventilation. We can access the sky-rise apartment that the traitor lives in from here. When we do so, we can work our way upwards. Granted, the security is heavy, but they were all designed to take out this dimension's natives. We are travelers, we should not have too much of a problem."

"You better be still repeating that in retrospect," muttered Daniel. After a moment, he then said, "Okay. Where to?"

Wild hopped off Daniel's broad back and whispered, "Follow me."

Franklin too got off Daniel's back and the three quickly sidled into a narrow side passage. It was a tight squeeze, even for Wild, but the three made it through. The passageway gave way to a dirty clearing that was full of smoke and pipes.

"Okay… if I remember the schematics that Funsch showed me, the ventilation should be right over here…" muttered Wild. He extended a hoof to poke at pipe. Suddenly a laser bolt whizzed out of nowhere and decimated said pipe as he was about to touch it. Wild, Franklin, and Daniel immediately whirled around to face the attacker.

It was a burley, motley man with six armed thugs.

The man raised a laser blaster and said, "No one gave you permission to enter the Syndicate gang's territory! You will pay for this trespassing with your life!"

Franklin just rolled his eyes. "Tell you what," he said, "You can either give us permission for trespassing in exchange for me not killing you, or you can all shoot at me and get yourselves killed. What will it be?"

The man opened up with the blaster. Daniel immediately threw up a protective energy shield, and the laser bolts bounced and reflected off of it. Wild grinned voraciously, and shimmered, dissolving into the shadows. Suddenly black smoke began to billow up and drift towards the enemies, obscuring the attacking gang's view. The smoke then solidified into Wild, who immediately leapt upon the leader, killing him in an instant. Franklin ran at the protective shield and vaulted over it. As he flipped backwards above the wall of energy, he quickly no-scoped a couple of shots off, beheading three of the six gang members. The other three backed up, firing rapidly still, but a pillar of fire shot from Daniel incinerated them.

Wild looked up from the dead leader's throat and shook his head sarcastically. "That was almost so easy it was disappointing," he chuckled.

Franklin looked at Wild warily as he said, "I suppose so, but you just need to calm down now, Wild. We cannot afford having you turn into Feral right now."

Wild's breathing steadied and he nodded. "I suppose you are right," he said. He then searched around the clearing again for a moment. After a pause, he beckoned them over to a vent.

"This vent leads to the penthouse," he said, "Who wants to go in?"

Franklin sighed and said, "You and I should. Daniel, unless you want to shape shift, you can stay here and guard our backs. If we need a rapid and destructive extraction, we will drop you a note."

Daniel nodded his head and said, "I like that idea. Do as you said."

Wild nodded as well. "I like the idea altogether. Let us do it."

Franklin crouched down and pulled the vent off. It screeched as the rusty metal grating was pulled from the wall. Franklin then tossed the vent aside with a loud clanging noise and looked up into the open ventilation pipe. Despite his brilliantly sharp eyesight, he couldn't see more than a dozen meters into the inky blackness.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire," muttered Franklin as he crawled into the vent and began to climb, with Wild behind him.


Note: I am practicing my cliffhangers! By the way, I am probably going to release my new story along side tomorrow's chapter on Wednesday. It is called "Days Gone By," so keep a lookout for it! Anyways, don't forget the R&R stuff! I love reviews!