And here we go with Book 15. Now, the girls of Gamma find new friends, fight new foes, and learn a few things that might surprise them…

THE FOLLOWING THINGS ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS; I DO NOT OWN THEM AND MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF THIS VENTURE

Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha (Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Shion, the "Keiichi Crew") – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen

Shuffle! (Kaede Fuyō, Rin, Asa & Ama, Sia & Nerine, Primula) – Navel and Asread

Erika's New Perfume (Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – Deviant-Art artist Lance the Young

Mai-chan's Daily Life (Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga

Star Wars (Ahsoka, Cody, Rex) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm

Halo (Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie and 343 Industries

StarCraft (multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment

Naruto (jutsu, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto

Mahō Sensei Negima (spells, abilities, characters) – Ken Akamatsu

Kingdom Hearts (Keyblades, Heartless, Nobodies, Unversed, Aqua, other characters and concepts) – Square-Enix

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Mana Kirishima, other characters) – Studio Gainax

Elfen Lied (Kaede K., others) – Lynn Okamoto, Arms

Red vs. Blue (The Blood-Gulch Crew, the ex-Freelancers) – Rooster Teeth

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic – Hasbro, Lauren Faust

A few characters and concepts are the creations of – and used with the permission of – DeviantArtist "Alex Warlorn"

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES

-BOOK 15 START-

Grassy Field Just Outside Ponyville

The quiet, peaceful sunny day was slightly disturbed by a blue magic rune-circle forming on the ground. A half-dome of solid magic, glowing bright, formed over it. After a few seconds, the dome and the rune disappeared, leaving seven figures lying on the grass. They began to stir.

"That was interesting…" Teana murmured, propping herself up on her 'arms'. She brought a hand up to move a lock of hair out of her eyes… and discovered she had no fingers. She looked at the hoof now being held up before her eyes.

"So this is the effect of Merlin's "Fit-In" spell…"

She experimented with her new appendage. Unlike the hooves of a traditional (Earth-native, non-sapient) horse, her transformed body's feet were mostly soft fleshy padding with thick skin, and the ones of her forelimbs could bend like… Well, it was as if she were to hold all four fingers together and move them as one, like a big wide "super-finger". There were no thumbs, though. She decided to look herself over, and was a bit surprised.

She'd become a pony. A cute little pony, almost cartoonish. Her body was coated in short, very soft fur the same shade of red as her Barrier Jacket, and her mane & tail were the red-orange of her human form's hair, also bearing her normal hair's straight, soft structure. Rather than the exaggerated muzzle of Terran equines, she had a small, short muzzle that (she assumed) gave her a much more humanlike face. She was pretty sure Terran horses' heads weren't as big, too; probably to accommodate a sapient brain. And her range of motion was considerably above that of a Terran horse; in fact, she was probably a bit more flexible than her human form. Her ears flicked, and she felt that Cross Mirage's dormant card form was tucked into her mane, behind her right ear.

"Hey, Tia."

Teana turned to look. The young mare sitting in front of her was a little bigger than she was. Her fur was a soft, pale yellowish-green, and her mane was held up in a ponytail. That distinctive style, combined with her bright green eyes, made her identity quickly apparent.

"Sarah?"

The other girl nodded with a grin. "At least we turned into something cute" she quipped. "Nice horn."

"Huh?" Teana looked up, eyes crossing slightly, and could faintly see something. She reached a hoof up, and sure enough there was a long, spiraling, blunt-tipped horn growing out of her forehead.

"So I'm a unicorn…"

"So is Mai" Sarah replied. "Ahsoka and Kaede are like me, whereas Shion and Marie…"

"Whoa~…" Marie could be heard. Teana looked over, spotting the deep-green-furred mare with down-spiked dark-brown mane & tail, Charon's inactive form fitted over her right forelimb, looking with awe at the pair of feathery appendages sprouting from her back. Marie gave a few flaps, drawing on instincts coded into her with the transformation, and she rose off the ground. Her expression changed to one of elated joy, and she gave a whoop as she began fluttering around.

"Fuck yes!" she cried. "I have wings!"

"Dear, you could already fly with your magic" Kaede (a tan-furred pony with orange mane & tail) said.

"So?-!" Marie replied. "It's the principle of the thing! I. Have. Wings!"

As Marie continued to fly around, indulging in her newfound ability, Teana checked out the rest of the team. Shion was a pegasus with dark-grey fur that contrasted sharply with her bright-green mane & tail; her Dark Templar arm-blade was fitted over her right forelimb, size & shape changed to fit her new limb. Mai was a unicorn with bluish-white fur and light-brown mane & tail with a big red bow atop her head, looking around. And Ahsoka was a base-form pony, her body covered in red fur with intricate white patterns here & there, and a blue-and-white-striped mane (with matching tail) that draped over her shoulders in two large masses, a third extending along the back of her head; her lightsabers were clipped to a belt around her midsection.

"This is gonna take some getting used to…" the teenage Jedi said.

"Having a quadruped body?" Sarah asked.

"Having hair" Ahsoka replied.

There was a sudden thud from something impacting a nearby tree.

"I'm okay" Marie called out.

Sarah chuckled at her sister's antics, and then her eyes caught sight of something. "Hey Tia, what's that on your flank?"

Teana looked at her back end, and noticed a symbol: a blue rifle silhouette and a red-orange sword silhouette crossed over a white triangle.

"I don't know…" she replied. "I like it, though. I think it fits me."

"Hey, I think we've all got them" Kaede said as the others congregated around.

"Mine's the symbol of a Nerazim initiate" Shion said, eyeing the Protoss-designed symbol on her flank, deep blue with gold outline.

"Mine's a… crosshairs?" Kaede said, staring at her flank.

"Well, you are the squad marksman" Teana replied.

"I'm pretty sure mine's an explosion" Marie said, looking at the red, orange, and yellow starburst-esque pattern. "Fitting; I am the team's demolitions and heavy-weapons specialist, after all…"

"Mine is a green cross over a red heart" Mai said.

"The UNSC's tissue regeneration fields and portable shield-regen fields both have a green glow to them when active," Teana replied, "so I guess that could reference your regenerative powers, and you are quite the kind sweetheart…"

"Mine's the symbol of a Jedi Knight" Ahsoka said, revealing the symbol of two lightsabers crossed over/within an intricately-designed, silver-ringed circle; she knew it was for Knight, because the Padawan simple was a single lightsaber pointed straight up, while the Master symbol was the straight-up blade along with the two crossed ones.

"And mine is… um…" Sarah looked at her mark with mild confusion. It was two ponies, a larger one and a smaller child one, the larger one holding the smaller one's hand… er, hoof.

"I'd assume it represents the fact that you're the realms' most awesome, motherly/nurturing, cool big sister, even to those who aren't your siblings by blood" Marie said.

Sarah smiled at the compliment and hugged her sister.

"So now what?" Kaede asked.

"I assume we go looking for the locals" Teana replied.

"I can sense a settlement nearby" Ahsoka said. "And… Whoa. Hey, check out what's on the side of that mountain over there."

The others looked, spotting a large and impressive city built onto the side of the tallest of a nearby mountain range, constructed around a huge, royal-looking castle.

"There's an enormous power level there" Ahsoka said. "Whoever it is, they're positively bathed in the Light Side. There's another, slightly-smaller power that feels… darker, but still not at all evil."

"Like Hayate and Evangeline?" Marie asked.

"Yeah…"

"Heeeey~!"

The girls of Gamma Team turned to look upon hearing a girl's voice call out, and saw six ponies heading toward them – the sky-blue one was flying, the pink one was… bouncing, and the other four jogged/ran. A smaller figure was riding the purple-furred lead.

As they got close, Gamma got a good look at them. The lead one was a unicorn, pale-purple fur and a dark-purple mane with pink highlights, and a flank-mark of a six-pointed purple-pink star over a white six-pointed one, orbited by four smaller stars. On her back was a small, chubby purple dragon with a mohawk of green scales. The other unicorn had pristine white fur and an elegantly-curled purple mane & tail, with a flank-mark of three diamond-shaped gems. The airborne pegasus had a thin, wiry build (though with a bit of soft curves here & there), sky-blue fur and a wild, messy mane in six colors, like a rainbow, the 'cooler' colors hidden behind her neck while the 'hotter' colors stood out more; her flank-mark was a cloud emitting a three-toned lightning bolt.

The other pegasus had pale-yellow fur and long, delicate-looking light-pink mane & tail, and a flank-mark of three butterflies. The first base-form pony had light-pink fur and a hot-pink mane & tail that looked impossibly bushy and curly; her flank-mark was of three balloons, two blue and one yellow. Lastly, the other base-form pony had orange fur and straw-blonde mane & tail both held in ponytails, along with a flank-mark of three apples; she was wearing a Stetson hat.

The purple unicorn trotted up to Gamma Team, panting lightly from her run. "Hi there" she said. "Did any of you see what caused that burst of magic around here a little while ago? …Hmm, I don't think I've seen… you girls… a…round…" she trailed off as she sensed the magic around them. "I can't quite put my finger on that spell…"

"Oh, my" the white-furred unicorn said, looking at the group. "I know Transformation Magic when I sense it. But I've never felt it to such a complex and powerful degree. And something else…"

"It can't be…" the first unicorn's eyes widened. "…Long-range teleportation… No…" She gasped. "Dimensional transference magic? A-Are you girls…"

Teana sighed; so much for blending in. "Yeah" she replied. "We're… new around here, if you catch my meaning."

"Ohmigosh, ohmigosh, ohmigosh~!" the purple one was nerding out. "T-T-This is a First Contact scenario?-! You're from another universe?-!"

Teana nodded. "We are."

"Wait, so now we've got ponies from another realm?" the sky-blue pegasus asked.

"I don't think they're naturally ponies" the white unicorn replied. "There's a very powerful and complex Transformation Spell on all of them. It was probably applied to help them blend in a little."

The pink one gasped. "So they could be, like, snail aliens! Or lizards!"

"Actually, our base forms are mammalian" Kaede replied.

"We represent a coalition of various civilizations from across the realms, united against a common threat" Teana explained.

The purple one briefly looked like she was going to pass out, but then she, with great effort, gathered herself. "I s-see. …S-So, what brings you here to our world?"

"The 'common threat' in question may be targeting this world soon" Teana replied. "We're here to head it off, as well as potentially ask for assistance from… whatever large Light-type magical energy signature our scryers detected in this realm. …And it's always nice to make new friends."

"The energy signature you girls detected was probably Princess Celestia" the little dragon said. "She's one of the two rulers of our kingdom. She's benevolent, wise, millennia old, and really powerful. We have a close connection with her?"

"What sort of connection?" Shion asked.

"We six wield a powerful set of magical artifacts called the Elements of Harmony" the orange one replied, a Southern twang to her voice. "It's a… long story."

"Spike, get ready to take a letter" the purple one said to the little dragon.

"Shouldn't we learn a bit more about these girls first?" he replied.

"Yeah, we don't even know each other's names yet" Sarah said.

"Oh, silly me" the purple one said. She cleared her throat. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm Princess Celestia's personal student."

"I'm Applejack" the orange one said, tipping her hat.

"I am Rarity," the white unicorn introduced herself, tossing her mane over her shoulder, "up-and-coming fashion designer extraordinaire."

"I'm Rainbow Dash" the sky-blue pegasus said, striking a pose. "Fastest pegasus alive!"

"I'm Pinkie Pie!" the pink one jumped up. "Oooh! I've gotta start planning the 'Welcome Travelers!' party!"

"Pinkie loves throwing parties" Twilight explained. "She'll look for any excuse to. It's her special talent."

The yellow pegasus quivered. "I-I-I'm F-Fluttershy…" she mumbled.

"Pardon?"

"She's Fluttershy" Twilight replied.

Sarah took a step forward, smiling sweetly. "Hey there" she said softly. "You don't have to be so nervous. We're not gonna hurt you. …Let me guess: you're the type who's nervous to the point of terror when in crowds or amongst others you don't know, right?"

Fluttershy nodded.

"And even among your friends, you're the soft-spoken type who goes with the flow?"

"Mm-hm" she nodded.

"And when your friends need you, you'll stop at nothing to help you?"

"Definitely" Dash said.

"H-How'd you know so much about me?" Fluttershy asked.

Sarah smiled. "Because I have a little sister who's just like you – shy, nervous around new people, stutters when she's nervous, and impossibly brave when she has to be, and fiercely protective of her friends."

"So there's another Fluttershy out there, huh?" Applejack said.

"Actually, my little sis is only 11 years old, and she's small for her age so she's often mistake for being eight or nine."

Fluttershy's nurturing instincts stirred at the mere thought of a sweet, shy little filly.

"So who are you girls?" Spike asked.

"We're Gamma Team," Teana replied, "an elite special-ops team. I'm Teana Uchiha-Lanstar – Teana is my given name, Uchiha and Lanstar are my surnames."

"Surnames…" Twilight muttered. "Not many of our world's cultures follow that tradition."

"It's ubiquitous amongst pretty much all of the coalition's."

"And is it normal for individuals to have two?" Rarity asked.

"Not really. Most cultures' tracking of lineage is patriarchal, so a child inherits their father's surname. However, some use the mother's, or both, and there are special circumstances sometimes; in my case, my mother was a member of the proud, prestigious, and politically powerful Uchiha clan."

"Was?" Pinkie asked.

"My mother and father were murdered by a traitorous clan-excommunicate when I was four; the same traitor came back and murdered my big brother when I was 10."

Expressions of muted horror and pity crossed the local group's faces.

"Anyway," Teana moved on hastily, "this is Shion" she gestured to the dark-grey pegasus with bright-green hair. "She technically doesn't have a surname; long story, family drama."

"Describing the events surrounding the Sonozaki Clan as 'family drama' is a massive understatement" Shion said.

"This is Kaede, surname Fuyō…"

"Hello" she bowed.

"Ahsoka, surname Tano…"

"Hey."

"Marie & Sarah Swanson…"

"You!" "Wassup?"

"And Mai, surname Kitagawa."

"Y-Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Fluttershy gasped. "Nihongo wo hanasemasu ka?"

Kaede, Mai, Teana, and Shion's eyes widened.

"H-Hai" Mai replied. "It's my native tongue. And Kaede's, and Shion's, and Teana was raised bilingual and it's one of hers."

"Fluttershy?" Pinkie turned to her friend. "I didn't know you spoke Neighponese!"

"Y-You never asked. My mother had a friend from Neighpon, s-so I picked up the language basics, and when she found out she helped me refine it."

"Beszélsz magyarul?" Teana asked.

She was met with blank stares.

"Okay, so none of you speak Hungarian."

"¿Hablas español?" Pinkie said.

"Other than that particular phrase, no; none of us speak Spanish" Marie replied.

"Sprechen sie Deutsch?"

A few of the girls looked at Rainbow Dash.

"What? So I've picked up a little Germane from some griffins in Flight School."

"Tu parles Francais?"

"Nope."

"Why am I not surprised Rarity knows French?" Dash muttered.

"Mporeis na miliseis ellinika?" Twilight said.

Silence.

"Okay, so nopony here speaks Greek."

"Why do you know it?" Dash asked.

"A lot of old spellbooks are written in it."

Everyone looked at Applejack, all silent for several seconds.

"What?" the cowgirl said defensively. "So I'm the only one who only knows one language! You got a problem with that?"

"Well, Sarah and I are still learning Japanese" Marie said. "Neither of us are quite fluent with it yet."

"Okay, so, reverting back to Equestrian-" Twilight started.

"Or as we call it, English" Teana said.

"Or 'Basic'" Ahsoka added.

Twilight cleared her throat. "…Anyway… What do your Cutie Marks represent?"

All seven girls looked perplexed. "Our… what?" Teana said. "…You mean these marks on our back ends?"

Pinkie gasped. "You mean your people don't have Cutie Marks?"

"…Nnnno…" Teana looked rather confused. "This is pretty new for us…"

Twilight took a deep breath; Spike rolled his eyes as his surrogate mother entered Lecture Mode. "A Cutie Mark represents a pony's Special Talent. Ponies are born with blank flanks, but eventually every one discovers their Special Talent – their reason to be, the thing they're most good at, what makes them 'them', and when that happens, their Mark magically appears on their flanks. Cutie Marks rarely mean exactly what they appear to be. My special talent is magic. Applejack's is her role as a member of the Apply Family, a large, continent-spanning clan that runs a series of orchards. Fluttershy's is her innate ability to connect with animals. Pinkie's is bringing joy to others, usually through parties. Rarity's is bringing out the beauty in things, usually utilizing gems as decorations. And Rainbow's is… well, going really fast."

Dash let out a snort at hearing her awesomeness condensed into such a small and plain description.

"Right, well…" Teana said. "I think mine has to do with the fact that I'm the leader of Gamma Team, and I'm pretty good at this whole 'special-ops team leader soldier kicking ass and saving people' thing. I'm a swordsman and a sniper, which shows in the sword and the rifle. Shion's Mark is a symbol of the order she's trained with. Kaede's is a crosshair because she's the team's designated marksman. Marie's is an explosion because she's the team demolitions & heavy-weapons specialist. Mai's is because she's a total sweetheart and she has regenerative powers-"

"Wait, what?-! She can regenerate, like that guy from the comics?" Rainbow Dash said.

"Anything short of total atomic disruption, Mai can come back from" Shion replied. "We still don't know how it works."

"Awesome~…"

Mai gave Dash a morose look. "My abilities were used in my former 'occupation' as a sex-torture slave."

All six ponies immediately went pale. Pinkie's mane & tail lost a good deal of their poofiness, while Rarity and Fluttershy almost passed out as their imaginations painted a very ugly picture.

"S-Sorry…" Dash said sheepishly, looking a bit ashamed of herself for unintentionally bringing it up.

"It's okay" Mai replied. "That part of my life is long gone now. I'm free."

Teana took a deep breath, giving the group several seconds to recover. "Ahsoka's Mark is the symbol of a Knight-rank of the Jedi Order, the monastic order she was born & raised with, a group of special-powered judiciaries, peacekeepers, negotiators, defenders, and warriors."

"And Sarah's Mark…" Marie chimed in "represents how she's nurturing, motherly, patient, caring, fun, and overall the awesomest Cool Big Sis type in the known multiverse!"

Sarah smiled, blushing lightly from the praise, as she hugged her sister again.

"Okay, so…" Teana said. "Shion and Marie can fly. But what can Mai & I do? And how about the three base-form ones?"

"The 'base-form ones' are called 'Earth Ponies'," Twilight replied. "Earth Ponies are the hardiest of the three extant subspecies of Equus sapiens; they have the highest stamina, are the most durable, have the longest lifespans – around 110 years –, heal the fastest, and on average have the most physical strength. Also, Earth Ponies have an instinctive magical connection with the world; they can sense groundquakes coming before they happen, and any crops tended by Earth Ponies will grow quicker, healthier, and more bountifully than crops grown by either of the other two.

"In addition to flight, pegasi also have other special abilities. They can walk on and otherwise interact with clouds, their bodies have more g-force tolerance than other ponies, and they have a form of tactile telekinesis. Unicorns, meanwhile, are the only pony subspecies capable of consciously using magic, casting spells."

The five non-unicorns of Gamma Team looked a bit upset at this. "But all seven of us are trained mages!" Marie said. "D-Does that mean that we can't use our magic in these forms?-!"

"Wait, you're all magic-users?" Dash asked. "So your people are, like, natural mages like unicorns?"

"No, not everyone has magical aptitude" Teana replied. "But a good amount of us do. With proper training, one can learn to access their magic. All seven of us have a repertoire of combat spells. Marie and I are the team's dedicated mages, though, with the widest range of magical abilities."

"So, nearly all of your spells are… combat-oriented?" Rarity asked.

"More or less."

There was a flare of magical energy which caught the locals by surprise.

"Alright!" Marie said, a purple Midchildan magic rune-circle beneath her feet/hooves. "I can still access my magic!"

The locals' jaws dropped a little. A pegasus using magic?-! And then the other six called up their magical power, and jaws dropped further.

"Unreal…" Applejack muttered, wide-eyed.

As the seven girls of Gamma let their power recede, Teana grinned. "See? We're all certified combat mages. And also, magic isn't the only power source we have…"

All seven of them then flared with a fundamentally different energy source.

"This is chakra, also known as ki" Teana explained. "Unlike magic, which is the manipulation of the mana that permeates all creation, chakra comes from within. It's a mixture of the spiritual energy contained in the Heart and soul, and the physical energy created & contained within every cell of the body."

They cut off, and then Ahsoka let out an aura of a third power. Clumps of rock began to slowly orbit around her.

"This is The Force" she said. "Like magic, it's an omnipresent energy woven into existence. Rumor has it that billions of years ago, before the universe's first sapient life evolved, magic and the Force were the same thing, only to split off and then diverge over the eons, evolving in separate directions. It's mainly telepathic and telekinetic in nature, though there is some elemental manipulation as well."

"I kinda wish I had a strong Force connection" Teana said. "It'd be nice to lift things with my mind."

"You can, actually" Rarity replied.

"Huh?"

"Well, telekinesis magic is one of the fundamental abilities possessed by all unicorns." To demonstrate, her horn glowed with a blue magical aura, and a rock was gripped in the same aura, being levitated up. "Try it!"

Teana stared at another rock. She focused intently on it, trying hard to duplicate what she'd felt Rarity doing. After several various attempts, the rock was swathed in a red aura that accompanied the one enveloping Teana's horn, and the rock floated up at her command. She smiled big & wide.

"Frickin'. Awesome." she said.

"So what happens next?" Shion asked.

"I've been writing stuff down as you girls talked," Spike replied, holding a parchment & quill, "to send to the Princess. Now we just send it and wait."

"How long will it take for the letter to be mailed there and then for her reply?" Teana asked.

Spike and Twilight looked to each other and giggled. Spike then inhaled and blew a burst of green flame onto the rolled-up parchment, which transformed into a mass of flame that rapidly flew up & away, toward the capital.

"Oh" the redhead replied.

"So what are you girls' elemental affinities?" Teana asked Twilight and Rarity.

"Pardon?" Rarity asked.

"All magic-users have an elemental conversion affinity. Some have more than one. Mine are Fire and Wind, meaning I specialize in Fire-type and Wind-type spells and jutsu. Marie and Shion have Fire, Kaede has Fire, Lightning, and Earth, Ahsoka has Lightning, Sarah has Wind, and Mai has Lightning and Water."

"Both of you, try channeling your magic" Mai said. "Don't do anything with it, just bring it up."

Twilight and Rarity looked to each other, and then both of them surged with magical power.

"Hmm…" Teana stared at Twilight, sensing her energies. "Oh, yeah. Definitely Fire."

"So let's check you out…" Kaede said to Rarity. "…Earth, I believe."

"What?" Rarity cut her magic off, looking a bit upset. "Y-You mean my affinity is dirt?"

Kaede scowled. "Hey, Earth is one of the most versatile of affinities. You can manipulate soil, mud, stone, sand, gemstones, and even sufficiently-impure metal. You can turn the very ground beneath an enemy's feet against them. And it's the least energy-intensive of the affinities. You can do a lot with Earth-style techniques. I can teach you, if you want."

Suddenly, Spike began coughing, and then he spat out a burst of flame that materialized into a rolled-up scroll. Twilight telekinetically grabbed and unrolled it, reading it.

"Princess Celestia says she and Princess Luna both wish to meet you girls as soon as possible."

"How do we get there?" Teana asked. "By train? On foot?"

"Actually, it says here that she's going to-"

Suddenly, everyone vanished in bursts of golden light.

-SCENE BREAK-

Canterlot Castle – Throne Room

In a flash of golden light, 13 ponies and a young dragon appeared.

"-teleport us." Twilight looked around as she realized she was no longer in the field outside her new hometown. "Well, that was fast."

"I've had plenty of practice, Twilight" replied a woman's regal voice.

The girls of Gamma turned around, and caught sight of a tall white alicorn with multi-colored mane & tail that wavered in the air, the Cutie Mark of a sun on her flanks. Her aura was overpowering, bursting with Light, yet also radiating a comforting calmness and warmth, like the rays of the Sun on a cool winter day. Standing next to and behind her was a somewhat-smaller alicorn with deep-blue fur and a mane & tail that somehow seemed to be made of the night sky. Her aura was darker, but not evil or tainted; it was like shade on a hot summer day, or the cool, calm darkness of bedtime. She kept her expression carefully neutral.

Celestia stepped forward. The bearers of the Elements bowed before her, while Gamma Team stood ramrod-straight, chins held high, standing at attention in a line.

"At ease, travelers" Celestia said to the girls.

The seven girls relaxed, though not completely. "What did you wish to discuss with us, Your Majesty?" Teana asked.

"A few hours ago, Luna and I were in telepathic communion with Fleet-Admiral Hood, Master Yen-Sid, and Hayate Yagami. They explained everything to the two of us."

"So wait" Rainbow Dash said. "You knew they were coming?"

"As of a few hours ago, yes. We've been waiting for them to show up."

"They mentioned something had its sights set on our world, possibly" Twilight said.

"Yes" Luna replied. "A Greater Daemon, older and more powerful than Celestia & I combined, with a horde of dark creatures at his command."

"We will help however we can" Celestia said. "For now, you girls should get settled in. Twilight, could you teach them whatever they may need to know – geography, basic history, terms, what-have-you?"

"Yes, Princess."

Over the next half-hour, things were ironed out and explained; history, nations, the Harmony Elements, and (with Luna's consent) the true tale of Nightmare Moon. Living arrangements were decided: Teana would stay at Rarity's, Shion would be Dash's roommate, Kaede would stay with the Apply Family, Marie & Sarah would be at Fluttershy's, Mai would live for a while at Pinkie & the Cakes', and Ahsoka would stay at Twilight's.

Celestia teleported them all to Twilight's library/house, where Twilight quickly got to work on teaching them the fundamentals of this world. After everything was done, the Moon was high in the sky, and everyone departed to their respective dwellings.

As Teana lay on her back in the big, fancy guest bed in Rarity's home, she wondered what sort of surprises this world would bring.

-CHAPTER END-

Next Time: A plan, a revelation, and a visit or two.