Dimension: Seekers

Planet: Earth

Specific Location: The Great Bear Lake, Canada

Time: Unknown, five days after the arrival of Doxia in the My Little Pony dimension

"Rarity? Rarity!"

Rarity's eyes snapped open at the sound of Doxia's voice. Looking around and yawning, she said, "Oh, hello Doxia… I don't remember asking you over for a sleepover. Nevermind… I had such an odd dream last night: I dreamt that Discord ponynapped me and took me with him with you to a different dimension. It was all white and blue, with those hideous Phasetroopers everywhere. All white and blue metal… Hmmmmm… I can work with those two colors. I actually rather like that idea for a room…"

Suddenly she stopped talking and realized that she was not at her house. Scrambling up, she looked around and realized that they were in a place that she in no way recognized. They were still in the Seekers dimension. She facehoofed and groaned, "By Equestria… That wasn't a dream… was it?"

"Nope," chuckled Doxia, patting her on the back, "But it soon will be nothing less than an unpleasant memory. Now that you're awake, we can jump back to your home."

Rarity ignored Doxia as she stormed up to Discord, who was hovering a couple of meters away, drinking tea. "Discord! You ponynapped me! This is outrageous! I will have you court marshaled or something related to that! You disrespectful, irresponsible, poorly-dressed…"

Discord threw up his upper appendages in mock horror as he said, "My, my! Calm your hoofs, dear Rarity! It was only a bit of fun! And look, you got out of that pickle with nothing more than a good nap!"

Rarity snorted out air in the most unlady-like manner, and turned to Doxia. "Doxia, I wish to go home, please."

Doxia saluted. "Right away ma'am!"

With that, Doxia signaled to Mattimeo. Mattimeo turned away and searched for the location of the My Little Pony dimension in his mind. He found it in an instant and opened a portal. The portal yawned wide, and they could see that it led straight to Rarity's bedroom.

Extending an arm to Rarity, Doxia said, dramatically, "Here is your abode… May I walk you to it?"

Rarity smiled sweetly and took his arm. The two then strolled through the portal… and bounced straight off of it. Stumbling backwards, Doxia quickly regained his balance and walked up to the portal again, but with more wariness in his step. He reached forward and poked the portal. A shimmering shockwave of sparkling points of light rippled out from the spot that he had poked, and Doxia's hand flew straight back at him. Cocking his head curiously to one side, Doxia swiftly opened a portal of his own. His portal, too, was blocked. He could clearly see Rarity's room, but it was as if they were trapped on one side of a wall of impenetrable, rubbery, one-way glass.

"Well… that's odd," said Doxia, though he did not sound in any way worried, "It appears that some moron has set up a phantom dimension device in the My Little Pony dimension."

Mattimeo nodded. "Confirmed. This is the same defensive mechanism that hides the Amethyst dimension."

"What… what does that mean?" said Rarity, her eyes getting wider and wider in horror. Even Discord's usually jovial face was pale with fear.

Suddenly a massive blast of light behind them alerted the group that an angel had arrived on the scene: Archangel Michael.

Michael moved up to them slowly, as if he was fatigued. He was not hurt of course, but everyone present could tell that he had just had some form of a workout a moment ago.

"Michael," said Mattimeo curtly, "It is good to see an Archangel again. Are you well?"

"No, Dimensional Lord Mattimeo," replied Michael, "I was ambushed by at least a million Phasetroopers."

Doxia looked at Michael curiously and said, "What? Phasetroopers? Please explain."

Michael nodded as he folded his great white wings closer to his body. "I thought I had received a call from a fellow angel," he said, "So I left Flaming Star and his friends to go investigate. The call led me to a barren dimension. I found there a device that somehow managed to imitate the Celestial distress call. The next thing I knew, I was assaulted by a vast army. Of course, they were not match for me, and I vanquished them all, but then I realized that it was simply a trick to lure me away from the Harmony Tree dimension."

Doxia nodded his head slowly, "That actually makes sense. In fact, one could actually say that my raid to get the beacon crystals was something of a trick to lure us away to! Have you noticed that we cannot get back to the My Little Pony dimension?"

"I have," said Michael, "and the dimension itself has become shrouded in my sight. When I found that I could not reenter the Harmony Tree Dimension, I went looking for you. We have all been tricked."

Doxia nodded, but still did not seemed worried. After a pause, Rarity said, in a quiet and meek voice, "Um… Beg pardon… What do we do now?"

"We use the beacon crystals," said Michael, who beckoned Doxia to hand the container to him, "There is a device that is powered by this. Unfortunately, it is in the long-lost dimension of Rerenhaw, a place that was long abandoned by the Enigma Empire after the Maelstrom War."

"Wait a second," interjected Mattimeo, "We still have these two portals open. Though we cannot open new ones now, due to the fact that the phantom device has probably thoroughly blocked the location of the Harmony Tree dimension from our minds, and though we cannot enter the ones we have opened now, we can use these things as one-way spyglasses. I mean, the beings in there cannot see us, but we can see them, and we can still shift the locations of the portals, so we can scan the dimension for signs of the Paradox."

"An excellent idea, Mattimeo!" exclaimed Doxia enthusiastically, "But we will have to be quick: the portals will shut soon."

"Well, where will we first look?" asked Discord.

"Space," replied Doxia emphatically, "Mattimeo, take your portal and look at the solar system's outer rings. I have a feeling we might see something there."

Mattimeo did so, and what he saw caused him to sigh. Doxia looked at the portal too, and nodded. For the first time ever, he actually sounded worried as he said, "Everyone… look."

The group gathered around Mattimeo's portal and saw something terrible, yet awe-inspiring. A fleet of massive spaceships, some easily the length of the sun and three times the height of Jupiter, were slowly approaching the solar system of the Tree of Harmony… The Sapphire Armada, commanded by the Paradox, was bearing down on Equestria Earth, which conveniently had no Doxia, no Mattimeo, and no Archangel Michael protecting it.

"Okay, I have to admit that that is pretty cool," said Doxia, "I mean, literally… It IS cool. It's about -270.15 degrees Celsius out there… Oh look! There's the Sapphire Armada!"

Mattimeo facepalmed. "Doxia, please, this is not time for jokes. This is really, really, really, really, bad."

"Are they going to destroy my home?" squeaked Rarity, who was absolutely awed and frankly belittled by the amazing scene before her.

"They will not," replied Michael, "They are sending in the fleet to occupy the planet. The Paradox is not taking any chances. He fully intends to set off the Harmony Tree device, and he does not want to be interrupted this time. Thus, he is going to occupy the whole planet and suppress everyone in order to ensure that he is not disturbed as he completes the activation sequence."

"By Celestia! This is disastrous! Catastrophic! Astronomically ruinous! What are we to do?!" wailed Discord, who was genuinely in despair now.

Doxia crossed his arms as the portals finally closed on them. "Nothing," he said, though he no longer sounded worried, "There is nothing we can do. The dimension is now hidden from our sight, and we are unable to access it any longer."

"We're doomed, I tell you! DOOMED!" howled Rarity in a very unlady-like fashion.

"No, we may not be able to do anything ourselves to stop this, but that does not mean we are doomed," said Doxia calmly, "There is still Vaporis and Atraka on the planet. I have faith in them, I believe that they can defend the Tree of Harmony and our friends. They've done better in worse circumstances."

"Unless one of them is a traitor," said Mattimeo evenly, "It seems too convenient that the Paradox knew just when to send in the armada. It also seems too convenient that both you, me, and Archangel Michael were all distracted and brought away from the dimension at the exact time."

Doxia shook his head. "Nah. Weirder things have happened. Those guys down there are BFFs, all will be well."

Michael crossed his gold-wrought arms across his chest and flapped his wings lightly so that he could hover a meter off the ground as he said, "I hope you are correct in your assumptions, Doxia."

Dimension: My Little Pony

Planet: Equestria Earth

Specific Location: Ponyville

Time: Five days after the arrival of Doxia in the My Little Pony dimension

Atraka and Vaporis strolled side-by-side through Ponyville. It was an incredibly odd sight: two massive beings walking through the town, and looking at it as if it was the strangest place they had ever seen. For Atraka, specifically, it was like he was walking through Disneyland.

"Such pink! Much color! Wow."

Vaporis glanced disapprovingly at Atraka, who had just spoken, and said, "Really? Isn't there anything better you could be doing other than driving me crazy?"

"Of course not!" exclaimed Atraka, "In fact… Wait! I have officially decided: I am a hipster brony!"

Vaporis faceplamed for the hundredth time. "For the love of God. Please… make it stop."

Atraka, who was now knitting a scarf that said "I love the Equestria Games" on it, glanced up at Vaporis and said, "Make it stop? It's only just begun! I'll write some fanfiction, then I'll learn how to animate in Adobe Flash, and then I'll make a Youtube account and upload videos, and then I'll get one of my OCs acknowledge in a canon episode! It will be SOOOO awesome!"

Vaporis was just about to tell Atraka what he thought about that idea when he stopped. Someone was contacting him via a telepathic link. Vaporis opened it, and a voice came in.

"Inside operative… It is time."

Vaporis nodded quickly and closed the link. He then turned to Atraka, who had conjured up a laptop from thin air, and was watching how-to videos about Adobe Flash from the Lynda website. "Atraka," said Vaporis slowly, "Why don't we take a walk to Tree of Harmony?"

Atraka nodded his head vigorously. "You betcha! Brilliant idea! Race you! Onetwothreego!"

With that, Atraka simply teleported straight to the Harmony Tree in the Everfree Forest.

Sighing, Vaporis opened a portal to the point and strolled through. Atraka was already looking the Tree of Harmony up and down with interest.

"I cannot believe something so beautiful could be so deadly," breathed Atraka. For a moment, it looked like he was about to make some sort of a profound statement, but then he turned away and said, "Too bad it doesn't look more like a pine trees. Pine trees look sooooo much better."

Vaporis looked the tree up and down as well, and said, "Look at that red jewel at the top. Wasn't that once shaped like an apple?"

Atraka turned around and peered at the crystal. "I suppose so… I mean…"

Suddenly Vaporis hurled a pure bolt of massive power that he had been charging up since the moment he had received the telepathic message. It sizzled straight toward Atraka, who had his back turned. By some miracle, however, Atraka shifted a little to the left, but it was not enough to dodge it. Instead of the attack hitting the spot between his shoulder blades, it smashed into his right arm, blowing it entirely off. The shockwave shook the tree wildly, and a massive explosion of sound echoed from the Badlands to the Frozen North.

Atraka slowly turned around to face Vaporis and fell to his knees, clutching his right shoulder at the spot where his arm used to be. The arm had dissolved into nothing, and now pure energy, sound energy, and light energy were leaking from the wound and flowing to the ground. Wherever the steam of Dimensional Lord lifeblood touched, rips in time, space, and dimension blossomed forth in small bubbles.

Vaporis strolled forward and seized Atraka by the throat. He hoisted him high into the air and slammed him against the tree.

"A Sapphire Lord against a Sapphire Lord versus an E.D.D. Lord… I always knew the E.D.D. empire was weak," chuckled Vaporis as he tightened his grip.

Atraka was silent for a moment, then he said, in a quiet voice, "Why?"

Vaporis thought about his options. He could lie to Atraka, he could just kill him, or he could tell him the truth. After a moment, he said, "I don't know… Why should I tell you anything? I'm really just here to kill you."

Giving a retching gasp, Atraka whispered, "The Battle of Kashykus, Maelstrom War. You owe me."

Vaporis grit his teeth together for a moment as he recalled the battle where Atraka teleported him to safety as another Dimensional Lord had inadvertently caused the solar system's sun to go supernova. After a moment, he snapped, "I suppose I owe you that much. It's all been a trap, Atraka. When the Paradox stole the beacon crystals, he didn't need to know what they were for, he just needed to use them as bait. He knew that if Doxia found that they were missing and in the Amethyst dimension, he would call his allies. Thus, the Paradox left a trail that led straight up to Phasetrooper number four hundred, who conveniently knew the exact location of the crystals. Like expected, Doxia called in his allies, including me. Sadly for him, I was never too big on his 'let's save the multiverse' cause in the first place. Bet the almighty Doxia didn't see a traitor coming, did he? And now it's too late. He's gone and fallen into the trap, and left you with me."

Atraka shook his head the tiniest bit and said, "I wasn't asking 'why' about that… Why are you yourself betraying us?"

Vaporis thought about that question for a full minute before he said, slowly, "Revenge, I suppose… against everyone. Atraka, my dimension collapsed upon itself, and I lost everyone and everything I loved when that happened."

"Doxia lost his home dimension to age as well. Yet he never said a thing about revenge against everyone because of it."

"Doxia is a fool. He's crazy and detached from reality. As for me… Well, as for me, I've retained my grasp on reality all too well. I can see the macabre irony, I can see the sadistic nature of the joke that the multiverse has played one me. Look at us; we were fooled when we became Dimensional Lords. We were so busy trying to save the multiverse that we missed out on what life really is about: loved ones. And now, I've outlived my family, I've outlived my friends, I've outlived my cozy little cottage on Parker street, I've outlived my favorite park, I've outlived my whole beloved planet, and I've outlived my dimension. It's a joke, and I'm going to make the whole goddamned multiverse pay for it. I want everyone to suffer the way I've suffered. But since I cannot give everyone immortality, I will just give them an accelerated, more painful version."

Atraka stared straight at Vaporis, and realized that he was deadly serious, and that probably nothing he could say would deter this madman from his revenge. Even though his strength was waning fast, Atraka knew that he had to do something to prevent Vaporis, Pictor, or the Paradox from setting off the Tree of Harmony. Atraka's throat clenched up as he realized that the only way he could do that was with the ultimate sacrifice: giving his life up to protect others. Atraka's head swam as his mind battled out the decision. Could he give up his life like this? Would Vaporis let him live if he surrendered and pledged his allegiance to the Paradox? After seriously considering the last question, Atraka's mind filled with resolve: he would do what was right. The multiverse was lacking in heroes, so the single act of one dying good guy would mean all the more. Calling upon his last ounce of strength, Atraka kicked out with his feet viciously. His armored feet smashed into Vaporis's chest plate, denting it severely and sending Vaporis spiraling backwards at about twelve times the speed of sound. Atraka massaged his neck for a second before preparing his final sacrifice. Spreading his one arm wide, Atraka closed his eyes and looked skywards.

Vaporis rocketed back into the room and stopped half a dozen meters away from Atraka. Looking at Atraka callously, he laughed.

"What… are you going to destroy the Tree of Harmony with a cosmic shockwave blast? If you do that, the dimension will collapse. I will get away, but you and your friends will all die. Will that achieve anything? Imagine all those lives lost. You will be a mass murderer… not a hero. Isn't that what you want to be? A hero? Come, fight me, and you will die like one."

Atraka shook his head and looked at Vaporis. "No… I will not fight and die like a hero… but that still doesn't mean I can perform a final act like one."

Atraka spread his one arm wide again. Suddenly his body began to glow. Brighter… and brighter… and brighter… and brighter. Soon his radiance began to fill the whole land. Ponies in Vanhoover could see the light, it was so bright. Vaporis stared in absolute horror and awe as he realized what Atraka was doing: He was transforming himself into pure power. Every bit of material essence was being converted into energy, and that energy was being frozen into place. In an instant, Atraka died, and a bubble shield of pure power was born. This bubble, that now surrounded the Tree of Harmony, was glowing an eerie gold, and the time-space continuum rippled and distorted around the edges. Vaporis shook his head in resignation. Atraka had performed an incredibly selfless act… and it had worked. The Tree of Harmony, the control device for the weapon of mass destruction, was now encased in a bubble so powerful that even he dared not touch it. Vaporis slowly crossed his arms as he stared at the golden, pulsing, bubble of power that marked the final sacrifice of a true hero.

Dimension: My Little Pony

Planet: Equestria Earth

Specific Location: Canterlot Castle

Time: Five days after the arrival of Doxia in the My Little Pony dimension

Caustic Rain's eyes snapped open. He glanced around as he got up. This was his second day here at the palace, and so far all had gone fairly well. Princess Luna had visited his dreams again, and had helped him survive the night that had always held such terrors for him, but she had not done that much else. Of course, she had kissed him again as well before she had departed from his dream that night, but he had decided that that did not really count.

Stretching, Caustic Rain sighed as he gazed around his room. He had never lived in such comfort, and it was all thanks to the generosity of Luna. That mare truly puzzled him, though. How could she even, dare he say, fall in love with him? He was literally the least qualified pony to be anyone's friend, let alone mate. He was insecure, introverted, and stuck in his past mistakes. Despite this, Luna had loved him unconditionally, had listened to his rants and sob-stories, and had helped him through his horror-filled nights. He knew that she loved him for sure now, but it would probably take time for him to understand why.

The door his bedroom opened suddenly and Luna trotted in. She stopped abruptly, retraced her steps and closed the door. Caustic Rain blinked in surprise, and was about to call out a question when Luna's hoof rapped on the door. Chuckling a little bit to himself, Caustic Rain called out, "You may come in."

Then Luna trotted in. She dipped her head as she said, "I apologize for not knocking in the first place. Do forgive me."

Smiling, Caustic Rain nodded to her and said, "You are forgiven."

Shifting over on his bed, he patted a spot next to him with a hoof, signaling her to come and sit next to him. She did so.

"How did you sleep?" asked Luna.

"Like a foal," sighed Caustic Rain, "Thanks to you, of course."

Luna smiled a little. "You flatter me."

"It's not quite flattery when all you are telling is the truth," said Caustic Rain.

The two sat together in silence for an extended period of time. Caustic Rain, who was now feeling more and more uncomfortable by the moment, sighed and said, "Um… did you… er… sleep well?"

Luna nodded. "I suppose so."

There was another pause. Caustic Rain wanted very badly to begin banging his head against any nearby object. The tension in the air crackled like lightning.

Suddenly Luna leaned over and kissed Caustic Rain in the mouth. Caustic Rain nearly had a heart attack and a stroke at the exact same time. However, the longer they held the kiss, the better he felt. He slowly closed his eyes, and was about to let his raw emotions drift away when the door banged open. Both Luna and Caustic Rain broke the kiss and leapt to opposite sides of the bed as Princess Celestia trotted in. She looked at Luna and Caustic Rain with a raised eyebrow as she said, "Well… Did I interrupt something?"

Coughing loudly, Caustic Rain said, "No, of course you were not. Luna was just wiping some ink that I spilled on my face. I was… er… Writing a letter to some old friends in Fillydelphia last night before I went to bed, and I must have forgotten to wipe my face. She was just helping."

Eyes wide with guilt, Luna nodded her head vigorously."Yes sister," she said, "I was doing just that."

Eyeing the two with amusement, Celestia chuckled as she said, to Caustic Rain, "Very well. I came because Flaming Star, Sunset Shadow, and their friends have arrived, asking for you."

Caustic Rain, looking surreptitiously at Luna, got off the bed and trotted past Celestia, mumbling, "Thank you, Princess. I'll go see what they want."

"I will go with you," said Luna, getting up.

Caustic Rain stopped and glanced at Celestia, who was now eyeing the two with a mixture of suspicion and amusement. However, the Princess of the Sun dipped her head slightly in consent, and Luna and Caustic Rain trotted away. Despite the fact that Luna had so vehemently wanted to trot with Caustic Rain as he went to meet with Flaming Star and the rest, neither of them said anything, and a guilty awkwardness chocked the air as if it was mustard gas. The torture, however, finally came to an end as they strolled into the large throne room where Flaming Star, Sunset Shadow, Twilight, Fluttershy, Starlight Amber, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie awaited him.

"There you are, Caustic Rain," commented Sunset as Caustic Rain and Luna cantered into the hall.

"Y-you wanted to see me?" asked Caustic Rain quietly, trying to inconspicuously inch away from Luna.

"Yes, we were visited by Archangel Michael a bit ago, and we were wondering about your connection to him," said Flaming Star in a matter-of-fact tone, "Could you tell us about it?"

Caustic Rain nodded as Celestia trotted into the throne room as well to join them. "I can. You see…"

"Ohhhhh! Lookie here!" interrupted Pinkie Pie loudly as she gazed out the window.

She said it with such vehemence and enthusiasm that everypony else could not help but look out the window as well. What they saw struck raw terror and absolute hopelessness in the hearts of even Flaming Star: It was the Sapphire Armada. A single colossal ship was hovering over the land, blotting out the sunlight over great portions of the planet, while is dispatched huge carrier ships from its metallic belly. As this was going on, a voice echoed over the planet, this voice belonged to the Paradox.

"Citizens of Equestria Earth! Do not be afraid, I am not going to kill you all just yet. In fact, think of this little invasion as nothing more than a little precaution. I want all of you to return to your homes and lock the doors. If everyone stays indoors, you will not be harmed. I thank you for your cooperation in advance. Again, please do not make me kill you."

"What in the name of Equestria… IS THAT?" whimpered Rainbow Dash, who was just as terrified as everyone else.

"That…" sighed Flaming Star in total resignation, "Is an armada of ships. From the looks of the Enigma Empire insignia on the sides, and the voice of the Paradox echoing everywhere… they are not here for peace."

"Should we be worried?" asked Celestia, who's eyes were full of worry and horror.

"Yes… You should be very, very, very, very, very, very worried," replied Flaming Star.

Starlight Amber started crying, and Fluttershy, who had burst into tears, buried her face in Sunset's mane.

Sunset himself simply stared in pure dread as the carriers, some easily the size of Cloudsdale, landed in strategic locations all over the planet and unloaded their armies of Phasetroopers. In moments everywhere was surrounded. The planet was under the Paradox's control in seconds, and little to no resistance was even offered. It was over.

However, as all light from the sun was blotted out by the massive ships, nothing but resolve bubbled inside Sunset's chest. He would fight for his freedom. The Paradox may have won this round, but it was the heroes that always won in the final chapter of life...

IMPORTANT NOTE: Okay, part 4 has ended, and we are moving on to part 5. However, this is where I've reached a crossroads. There are several things I can do now. Option number one is I can begin to focus on the underground resistance of Equestria. This will allow greater time for character development, Mane 6 spotlights, Caustic Rain and Luna moments, and some pretty awesome reading in general. However, the storyline itself will not be advancing very much. Option number two is I can skip over the detailed resistance moments and stories and get on with the main story, but I am unsure how much time will be spent on specific character development due to the fact that we have Rarity and Doxia in one dimension, and the Brothers in Arms corps in another. Option number three is I can hand off the task of writing on the Equestrian Resistance to someone who is willing and I can get on with the story myself. I already have a fairly good idea of how this will all play out, but I would love to hear what you guys have to say. If you give me reviews, I will give you bacon, or cookies, or both. Thanks!