Dimension: Adventures in Odyssey

Planet: Earth

Specific Location: Abbington Falls, Iowa, United States of America

Time: Over two weeks after the Paradox took over Equestria

"I must admit," muttered Sherlock as he looked around the lush environment that was the forest of Abbington Falls, "I do like this place."

"Of course you do," chortled the Ninth Doctor, "I think everyone likes it."

"Eh, Whit's End was better. They had ice cream. But yeah! This place is awesome as well," said Jared.

Suddenly a portal opened next to them and Jetfire, Wild, and Rarity exited.

"We are here!" exclaimed Jetfire dramatically, "And I can tell you whippersnappers, Lady Rarity here knows more about chrome and paint jobs than any being I've ever known!"

Rarity blushed and smiled. Wild just rolled his eyes.

"Did you get what we came for?" asked Wild.

Sherlock nodded and pulled out the Pajama Sam lunch box.

Wild raised an eyebrow. "Is that Pajama Sam's lunch box?"

Sherlock snorted and rolled his eyes. "No. It's Putt-Putt's dog, Pep. What do you think it is?!"

"It is a replica Pajama Sam gave to Sherlock a while back," interjected the Doctor in a more jocund manner, "It contains the Imagination Energy source."

"Right," said Wild, who was now eying Sherlock rather truculently, "Let's go to Doxia then."

The group then set off to Finnian Jones' Bookstore. In a couple of minutes, they were at the doorstep. Finnian strolled outside with Doxia and said, "The returning heroes! Welcome! Welcome!"

"It is good to be back," sighed Jetfire, stretching. A screeching noise equivalent to fingernails on a chalkboard resounded from his rusty bolts and springs as flexed his metallic appendages.

Doxia chuckled. "Of course it is. Now, did everything go well? I can see that most of it did, considering Jared DeWhite is here."

Jared was staring at Doxia with wide eyes. Doxia nodded his head amiably at Jared, and then turned to bow elegantly to Sherlock, who had a rather surprised look on his face. He had only seen Mattimeo, so to see another Dimensional Lord up so close was quite shocking.

"Ah, Sherlock and the Ninth Doctor. The Dream Team, as I sometimes say. You two are very welcome," said Finnian Jones, rigorously shaking the Doctor's hand.

"Likewise, friend," said the Doctor, who was very pleased to see that his friend Sherlock was speechless for once in his lifetime.

"Um… Doxia, is it?" said Sherlock after a pause, "We have something for you."

Doxia turned his head to look at Sherlock again and said, "Oh? For me? Why, you shouldn't have. And do not worry; I am nothing like the old Kuzco. Thus, do not expect an acorn to the head."

What Doxia had said literally made no sense to anyone other that Finnian, but it did not matter. Shrugging, Sherlock handed Doxia the Edinium rock from the Pajama Sam lunch box.

"Oh! I see what you mean! If you want me to extract the Imagination Energy from here, I can. However, be warned, it is impure, so it will not run on any old Amethyst, Sapphire, or E.D.D. ship," said Doxia, looking over the rock.

"Actually, that is where some bad news comes in," said Finnian Jones, "Mattimeo and Archangel Michael went to look at that one ship in the Grand Theft Auto dimension. It was gutted. There was nothing in there, so I do not see where this will be helpful anyway."

"And that is where we have a surprise for you!" declared Jared dramatically, "I have a Winniex Empire Ship that is in fully functioning condition!"

Doxia nearly jumped for joy. "Absaballyloutly awesome! And, yes, this Imagination Energy will, in fact, run on those engines! They were designed to run any form of impure Imagination Energy. It actually looks like we are set then, even without the help of Desmond!"

"That is right, Desmond," said Wild, "Where is he? Did he get the Imagination Energy source?"

Doxia sighed. His attitude immediately changed from ecstatic to depressed. "No," he murmured, "He was captured by Pictor. Emilee was killed."

Wild bowed his head. "That is terrible."

The Ninth Doctor winced. "I remember those two. They were inseparable. I cannot imagine what that poor young man is going through as of now."

"He should be fine," replied Finnian, "Michael also said that, according to Celestial Intelligence, that the Paradox has order Pictor to place Desmond under the care of Sunset Shadow and Fluttershy. He should be fine in their care."

"That is good," said Wild, "Is there anything else that we missed?"

"Yes," replied Doxia, "It appears that the Paradox is wrapping up operations."

"What?" breathed Rarity, "How is that ever possible? Was there not that one impenetrable shield from Atraka blocking the Paradox's access to the Tree of Harmony?"

"I don't know how they are doing it, but they are nevertheless doing it," said Doxia, "They are shutting it down."

"Well, then, our course of action is clear," said Wild, "Once you have extracted the Imagination Energy, we will use the Winniex Ship to fly to the Kappa Space Bridge in the Amethyst Dimension. We will then fly from the Space Bridge to that one dimension that hold the Crystal of Harmony. We will then proceed to destroy it."

There was a pause… then…

"No," said Doxia firmly.

"What?" snorted Wild, "We NEED to do it!"

"I know we do," said Doxia, "But I do not think it should be our priority."

"Oh, well then," growled Wild, "What SHOULD be our priority?"

"Finding Kytax," said Doxia simply. Finnian Jones nodded.

"Who is Kytax?" asked Jared.

"He is supposed to be the greatest Dimensional Lord of all time," sighed Rarity dreamily.

"Well, that is great and all, but we really need to go for the more important objective," interrupted Wild.

Doxia snorted. "Kytax should be the more important objective."

"I disagree," snapped Wild.

"Please, you two, stop arguing," said Finnian, "We need to focus on extracting the Imagination Energy first. Then we can settle out what we should do next. It is obvious that we two courses of action. When we get the Winnie Ship running, we can either: one, go and attempt to destroy the Crystal of Harmony; or two, go and attempt to call Kytax back to us using the Beacon Crystals."

"I am a trillion years old. Does that mean I get twelve separate votes?" asked Doxia. If anyone could see past his one-way visor, they would have seen him giving them the "Bambi Eyes."

Naturally, they couldn't, so it had no impression on them. "Sorry, old friend, but no," said Finnian, "However, I am not even sure that this should be a vote. This is too large of a decision. If the Paradox is indeed finishing up his work with the Harmony Tree, then we are greatly limited with respects to time. Thus, the decision we make we must commit to, and there will be no turning back."

"Finnian speaks the truth," said Mattimeo abruptly as he joined the group on the doorstep of the Bookstore, "We are limited in time. We must be careful."

"Well, I guess we are at impasse then," said Discord as he, too, entered into the conversation, "I suggest we have a rock-paper-scissors fight to decide."

"That would be unwise, my friend," chuckled Finnian good-humouredly, "Doxia's reflexes are incalculably great. Additionally, he could simply read your mind to figure out what you were going to do. As I said, this is too great of a decision to be taken lightly."

"Yes, you keep on saying that," snapped Wild, "What SHOULD we do then?"

Finnian became to smile kindly. He then pulled out a small book. "I am so glad you asked. Here is a book I wish to read to you all. Come. Let us sit down in the Exploratorium."

Wild facehoofed. "Do we really have time?"

"Yes!" exclaimed every other being there.

Wild sighed in resignation and rolled his eyes. "Oh, very well…"

Doxia chuckled. "No one should ever argue with a good book. However, just before we do that…"

Doxia passed a hand over the rock of Edinium. The rock distorted and contorted, and then a thin stream of purple gas-liquid-solid energy dribbled out of the rock and hovered in the air as if it was in a zero-gravity environment. Then it swirled together into a tight ball, and a metallic container shimmered into view around it as Doxia conjured up the container. He then tossed the rock away and handed the container to Jared.

"Now we can go read that book," chortled Doxia. He then proceeded to half-walk, half-skip into the Bookstore.

Dimension: My Little Pony

Planet: Equestria Earth

Specific Location: Appleloosa

Time: Over two weeks after the Paradox took over Equestria

Krausk, Braeburn, and Applejack stood in a small group next to the massive piles of weapons that Applejack had just purchased.

"So, you space ponies are fighting those beings that shot my men down as well?" asked Krausk slowly as he worked on understanding the scope of the Paradox's crimes.

Applejack nodded. "Yer darned right! We've been under the Paradox's eye for nigh two weeks now! We just got the weapons to fight back!"

"You have weapons? Excellent. My ship, as extensive as it is, has lost everything other than its main engines. Weapons are down, the armory is a mess… it is almost as if they knew exactly where to hit me…" said Krausk.

"In all probability, they DID know exactly where to hit ya, partner," said Braeburn, "There Paradox isn't some random fogey with alien technology. I would go as far as to say he is a borderline god!"

"It's true," agreed Applejack, "The Paradox is crazy powerful. Here's to hopin' that them weapons work!"

"Well, from what I can see, space pony," said Krausk briskly, "These weapons work fine. However, how the hell are you going to transport them anywhere?"

"I've got that covered," replied Braeburn promptly, "I have some Buffalo friends that are willing to help us relocate this to a special hijacked train we have a-waitin'."

"Wait, so, there are sentient Space Ponies AND sentient Space Buffalo? Damn, this universe is random," snorted Krausk derisively.

"Mayhap, but yer goin' to have to get used to it. We need to secure that ship you have there and get these weapons off," said Applejack.

At that very moment, a large group of Buffalo showed up. The chief, who was adorned in a Native American style headgear piece, moved up to Braeburn and said in guttural tones, "We have arrived to help you relocate those goods."

Braeburn nodded his head respectfully. "We are grateful for your assistance, chief, we would not have been able to do it without you."

The Buffalo chief nodded his head. With a quick grunt, he signaled his followers to shoulder the large crate that held the weapons. They did so. Then, the chief glanced at Braeburn.

"Where to?" he asked.

Braeburn winked and said, "This way!"

The group began to trot off after him as he galloped away. Krausk stood to one side, with his arms crossed, as he looked at the developing scene before him with an eyebrow raised cynically. However, as the entire group began to move away, he gave Dried Apple Gorge a worried glance, and then proceeded to follow them.

In less than thirty minutes, Braeburn and the rest arrived at what looked like an abandoned shack. It was wooden, moldy, and run down; but the large structure was still hanging in there.

"I hope the vehicle residing within that piece of junk is not in the same condition," snorted Krausk.

"Oh no, it is in fairly good condition," replied Braeburn optimistically.

He then proceeded to motion the group inside of the large garage-like shamble. Inside was a giant steam locomotive. It was rusty, but it was sturdy. A couple of wood and iron cargo carriages were still attached to the engine with rusty couplings and rope. Krausk raised an eyebrow cynically again, but did not say anything. He seemed satisfied with condition at the very least.

"Please load the crate onto that there carriage please," said Braeburn optimistically as he motioned for the buffalo to come forward. The chief nodded his head slightly, and the buffalo loaded the crate into the first cargo carriage. Braeburn then nodded his head to the buffalo chief in thanks.

"I owe you a great debt," said Braeburn humbly. The chief blinked solemnly as he said in guttural tones, "Continue to make those apple pies, and we will be at peace."

Krausk facepalmed as Braeburn winked roguishly. "You bechta! Thank you again!"

The buffalo chief signaled his followers with a hoof, and he and his group rumbled away into the distance.

"Great, so now we have the weapons on a train. Wonderful," snorted Krausk grumpily, "How the hell do we get it anywhere? From up above, it looks like the whole alien armada is blockading this planet. I believe it is safe to assume that this planet is crawling with those white-armored freaks, correct?"

"Yer right," sighed Applejack, "From where I come from, the place is fairly crawling with Phasetroopers. Braeburn, cousin, how the hay are we going to get past custom inspections?"

"That's the trick, cousin," said Braeburn smugly, "We're not. With the weapons we have here, we have enough force to take back Canterlot!"

Applejack blanched. "Are you mad? Them Phasetroopers are beyond powerful! You saw how they butchered Krausk's followers! We wouldn't last half a second with them, even with them fancy shooters!"

Braeburn continued to grin. Then he held up a walkie-talkie. "I just received news from a spy in Canterlot. The Kottora Tanks and the troopers are all pulling back from Canterlot and everywhere else. They are beginning to blockade the Everfree forest. You see? Canterlot is now under-guarded!"

For Applejack, all she heard was "They are beginning to blockade the Everfree forest." She sucked in a sharp breath. "The Tree of Harmony in in the Everfree forest. If the Phasetroopers are goin' ahead an' withdrawing to the forest, it must mean that the Harmony Tree is almost ready fer activation and the likes!" she exclaimed worriedly.

Braeburn's eyes widened as he realized the implications of the activation. Applejack had filled him in a while ago about the Harmony System, so he understood very well the ramifications of the event he had just described. "Why in tarnation didn't I think of that afore?! By Celestia yer right! We have to move! If we can take Canterlot, then we can move down to Ponyville with the Royal Guard at our backs! We haven't a moment to lose!"

"I have no freaking idea what is going on," said Krausk nonchalantly, "So I suggest you space ponies make up your minds and get a move-on."

Applejack roughly nudged Krausk towards the locomotive. "Get in!" she shouted, "We're a-movin'!"

Krausk rolled his eyes and leapt in. Braeburn whispered some hasty orders to his followers and then leapt in as well. Half of his followers galloped away while the other half clambered on top of the cargo carriage that held the massive stash of weapons. Applejack then leapt into the train as well and began to shovel coal into the engine as it began to simmer and ignite. Soon the optimal flame level had been reached, and steam began to force its way through the locomotive's system. In several minutes, steam began to hiss through the joints and sprockets of the train, and the whole vehicle began to inch forward as it gained momentum.

"An' we're off!" shouted Applejack as the train screeched loudly as it began to barrel down the tracks.

"So... If you don't mind me interrupting this deceptively jovial celebration – no matter how premature it actually is – I would really like to ask how you even intend to attack this Canterlot place. I am just guessing here, but by virtue of the fact that it has the segment '-lot' attached to it, is it safe to assume that the place you intend to invade is a castle?" said Krausk as the train continued to pick up speed.

"That it is," chortled Braeburn, "But my grandpappy was a railroad pony, so I have some old maps that will give our approach by train an edge. We will be a-comin' through an old abandoned overpass. This particular train gate may be forgotten, but it sure as tarnation ain't broken. We will enter through there and attack whatever stands in our way."

"Well, I hope you are right," sighed Krausk, "Because I don't want to end up dead. My ship hasn't gone down, so I don't intend to go down either. Tell me, what is our estimated time of arrival?"

Applejack glanced at a couple of gages. Then she checked the fire. Then she licked a hoof and held it out of the window of the locomotive. After a pause, she said, "At this speed... Exactly a day I am a-thinkin'. Yes, a day ought to do it."

Krausk sighed. "A whole day in a cramped space with space ponies. God, I take it all back. I want to die right now," he muttered to himself.

However, it was obvious that God had other plans, because lightning did not strike him, nor did the reality of the multiverse warp in order to end his existence. Thus, Krausk just sit there with an ashen face as the train barreled down rusty old tracks at top speed on its way to Canterlot Castle.

Note: Right! Let's see if I can find something cool lying around here... Aha! If you give me reviews (a.k.a. Feedback) I will give you a dubstep gun. If laser beams and rippling energy pulses are not your thing, then could I interest you in a MSBS Radon?