Pandora's Box

As Matt walked back into his room he heard a distinct Click! Looking down he saw another landmine. A hushed snickering could be heard from the smokey haze.

 

Anthony let out a long sigh, as he was starting to become visibly frustrated with the unicorn. He looked over to Zoey.
"Could you give us a second?"
He didn't wait for a response and walked over to Violet. He got down on one knee so they'd be about the same height and whispered to her.
"Alright, look, Commander...Sky? Commander Violet? Can I just call you Violet-- forget it, doesn't matter. Here's the thing. I'm guessing you came to us because you could tell that people with some...unique abilities live in this area. Here's the thing. This girl just got here and I don't think she's like us. If I'm right and she doesn't have powers, you'd be sending her on a suicide mission and you know it. If you really want someone else to go on your mission...quest...thing, you'd want someone like--"
He was interrupted by an explosion that, while some distance away, was still way too close for comfort. This was soon followed by another explosion. He looked over and saw a hole in the wall where...well, a wall in his apartment should be. He then noticed Matt who didn't exactly seem to be in the best of moods. Pointing to Matt, Anthony tried his best to force words to come out of his mouth.
"Someone...like...him, actually. Please tell me you didn't have anything to do with that."

 

"Um, not me. No." Violet Sky said. She let out a groan when something began to snicker. "Great, I was followed." Turning her body towards the sound her horn began to glow. The snickering stopped, replaced by a low growling. The glow from the unicorn's horn grew brighter, illuminating the burnt out room and the creature hiding in the corner.
She stood in the shadows wearing a loose garment of clothing. Two red eyes peered out from under a shock of white-blue hair, the girl's skin was grey and a medium length tail came out of her back that ended in two fins. She seemed shocked to have been discovered and dug into the bag slung across her body. Pulling out a grenade she shouted, "Papa!" Then threw the grenade up into the air and ducked out as the flash of light and deafening sound incapacitated everyone.

By the time everyone had blinked away the stars and the ringing in their ears had stopped, the unicorn was muttering under her breath.
"Dusky Doom, that fiend. I knew that Pegasus was fast, but for one of his agents to have beaten me here..."

 

Anthony stood perfectly still, waiting for the effects of the flashbang to wear off. He looked mildly annoyed more than anything.
"You know, I was trying to be a good sport by allowing myself be affected by stuff like that, but it's starting to get old."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Wait...did that thing say 'Papa' before it ran away?"
He turned to Violet.
"You heard that, right? And what's a Dusky Doom? Sounds like some kind of Saturday morning cartoon villain. And why did they try to blow up Matt? They know weapons like that won't even scratch us, right?"
He looked back in the direction that the shark creature left from.
"And why did that thing say Papa?! Who was it talking to, anyhow?"
His head started to spin from all of the questions running around in his mind.

 

"Dusky Doom is the enemy of creation. His schemes are diabolical, but ultimately stupid. He hasn't succeeded once yet. However this time around he has someone working for him. I don't know who, but it's someone from your world. So I need others from your world to fight this foreigner." Violet looked between the three humans, one who was keeping oddly calm, the other fuming while standing on an armed landmine, and the third asking so many questions.
"I don't know why it said Papa either. But I can't help but think we'll find out sooner or later."

 

Matthew emerged from the cloud of smoke, looking sooty and disgruntled but none the worse for wear.
"I swear to the gods, if I find one more landmine, I am going to punch the living bejesus out of whoever hit me with it. This place is a RENTAL!"
He turned to the pony. "Look, whoever you are, it is an absolute pleasure to meet you and I am sure we shall end up being the best of friends, but in the interim, if you could point me in the direction of the bastard who just tagged me, I would much appreciate it."

 

"The young creature that pranked you has no doubt vanished back across the dimensional fold. I opened a doorway there, if you would like to pursue."

 

Anthony instantly whips around when he hears an explosion go off nearby. It went off right next to Zoey, but she was protected by some kind of energy shield along with Tegan and all of her luggage. Anthony's jaw instantly feel open.
"Well...that just happened. Wait, so does that mean she really COULD be an assassin, after all?!"
He shook his head at the thought, and pushed it to the back of his mind. He didn't have time to think about things like that, not when there are epic feats of heroism that need to be performed! He regained his composure and looked back to Violet as his expression turned serious.
"Okay, it looks like she can hold her own after all. And it looks like Matt is dead set on revenge, so we should be able to hold our own against anything that comes at us. Jenova can join up later if he wants to, but for now..."

He looked at the door that Violet summoned.
"...There's evil that needs to be conquered. A desperate cry rings out in the darkness, calling for a hero, and we will answer it!"
There was no stopping him at this point. His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree; he was definitely in full-on hero mode right now.
"We will drive back the darkness and vanquish those who would oppress the innocent! We will fight for honor! For glory! For the dawn of a day where we can all live together in peace under the rising sun!!"
He was almost shouting now, pouring every ounce of his soul into his speech in a manner so heroic that surely the likes of King Theoden, William Wallace, Patrick Stewart and King Leonidas would weep manly tears of pride.
"Prepare for battle! Prepare for victory! Our bonds with each other will carry the day and all will see our destinies fulfilled as benevolence triumphs over the evils of the world! Let us unite and ride forth together!!"

The sun shined ever so perfectly on Anthony's glorious form as he stood, arms folded, eyes burning as brightly as his warrior soul burned inside of him. The caw of an eagle could be heard clearly as it flew overhead. The wind picked up, making Anthony's hair flow beautifully in the wind. It was picturesque. It was beautiful. It was glorious.

 

"Oh sweet Celestia, does this human have to monologue like this?" Violet groaned at the over-enthusiastic man.
"So our party is now three. That's perfect!" Violet said with a grin. "Whenever you're ready, please step through the doorway." At her words, the cartoony-looking door swung open to reveal an inky blackness that could only be described as very dark and very wet looking, for some reason.
"It would be rude for me not to warn you, but the jump between dimensions is a bit... disorientating." The unicorn said while looking at Anthony.

 

After snapping back out of "hero mode," Anthony listened to Violet's warning. Naturally, he pretty much ignored it, but he at least pretended to take it seriously. When Zoey invited the others to go first, Anthony gladly accepted the offer.
"Alrighty then, don't mind if I do."
He turned to the...weird gate thing and let out a battle cry.
"Alright, thumbs up, let's do this! LEEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYYY JEEEEEEEEEENNNKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINS!!!"
He took off like a bolt of lightning and fearlessly plunged into the inky blackness that waited for him on the other side.

 

Matthew could only face-palm.
"Oy vey... right, you know what, for the first time in history I'm actually going with Anthony's approach on this."
A previously non-existent breeze ruffled Matt's hair as he stood firm, facing the portal.
"Right. For truth. For justice. For freedom. And for the fact that the landlord is going to murder me with rent advancements... let's fight evil. The only way I know how."
He flexed, just a tiny amount, and to a strumming of guitars his clothes burst off him revealing muscles so thick they were practically bulletproof.
"Ole. Toro, diablo. Toro, ole." He then strode after Anthony, not caring in the world about his unrepentant nakedness displaying the miracle that was his body to all present.
Matthew, the word, meant "gift of god". And looking at him naked, it was easy to see the name was apt.

 

(Sorry for the wait folks. Three 12 hour shifts throws a lot of crap outta wack. I'll try to post more frequently.)

As the three adventurers stepped into the void they felt their bodies, neigh their very souls, be torn asunder. It was the most intense pain they had ever felt or imagined before in their lives. At one moment they experience pain, anger, pleasure, insanity, sanity, and several other emotions that there were no easy names for. This endured for eons, until each one began to forget the concept of existence and that they were beings with a solid form.

And then it was over.

Our three heroes are deposited into an open field. Behind them is a dark forest expanding to the hazy outline of mountains in the distance. Green grass sways with the trees on the edge of the forest as the wind blows. Birds of odd shapes fly through the air emitting odd sounding calls. Standing in the middle of the field is a large facility that, from the looks of it, is abandoned and falling into disrepair. It has the aura of a military base.

(The door is nowhere to be found.)

A ball of light appears near our trio, depositing the Unicorn Commander Violet Sky onto the ground unceremoniously. Getting to her hooves she shakes her head back and forth then looks around. Her eyes betray that something is wrong.
"Where are we?"

 

The experience of moving between dimensions would have caused unmitigated destabilization and most likely destruction of the average human mind. Matthew had his own suspicions as to why Anthony was immune, of the girl he knew nothing, but as to his conscious mind he knew precisely why he could endure the madness he'd witnessed.
1) He maintained a constant vigil over his own emotions, as to not lose control over his own powers.
2) The spirit of Hope lived within his head, and he had had to focus on the incessant protection keeping it safe necessitated.
3) He'd seen Ronald McDonald/Megaman Rule34. All the nightmares of interdimensional travel had NOTHING on that.

"I was hoping you knew the answer to that..." he said warily, looking around him with the air of a dog which has just realized that it is not at the park, but instead at the vet's to get neutered.

 

When he emerged from the other side of the portal, Anthony appeared more or less unfazed by the effects of dimensional travel. In fact, he was smiling and his heroic pose was full on confidence.
"Hah, that was nothing. If I couldn't even handle this much then I'd have no right to call myself a hero! Bring thrice as much if you wish to stain me!"
After throwing out a reference that he knew nobody would get, Anthony took a quick look at his surroundings. When Violet said that even she didn't know where they were, he immediately turned towards her with a look of surprise.
"Wait, you don't know where we are? Even though we just traveled through your portal?!"
He let out a groan of frustration.
"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe someone set us up. So, do you have any way of finding out where we ended up?"

 

"I apologize." Violet said humbly. "I must have messed up the spell somehow. We could be anywhere right now, or maybe this is the right place but we're in the future or the past. I don't know." The unicorn seemed to be on the verge of breaking down.
"What have I done, what have I done? If we don't get back to my world then the entire universe might be destroyed. Or then again it might not. But if we don't stop Dusky Doom then he'll probably end up enslaving all of ponydom. All while I'm wasting away here. Maybe, maybe I can try again."

Gathering up her wits, Violet closed her eyes and focused hard on the spell. She could feel the magic building up. Just a little bit more charge and she could try again. Just a few more seconds... Press X to cast Inter-dimensional Portal ....There! It was working! Violet opened her eyes as the magic flowed out of her. The doorway began to appear, faintly at first but growing in solidity. Then she blacked out as something penetrated the flow of her magic.

 

Matthew was by the pony's side in seconds.
"Hey! What happened?"
He looked around for something that could have done this. He could sense what felt like a magical disruption of some sort.
"Everyone be on your guard."