The New World

The New World Chapter One

Randis Janeson is a man in his early twenties.  He is about six feet tall, with slightly wavy mid length red hair, and green eyes.  He was naturally built a little stocky, but had never attempted to exercise his form into that of an athlete, which had resulted in a slightly pudged looking man who had seemed slightly out of place everywhere he went.

Perhaps that is why he had chosen to go to college for a career in science.  Particularly a science that was merely theory, at the time of his high school graduation, but had quickly developed into reality, during his college career, and especially after his college graduation.  When he had walked into the small class, whose professor seemed slightly deranged, he had been asked a question concerning a certain high level principle in the science in which he wished to partake, Interdimensional research.

The question had been shocking at first, it isn't often one walks into a room and is assaulted by an eccentric man who insists you answer, “How do we currently split the universal-dimensional barriers, and why does this work?”

Randis took a moment to contemplate the answer, absentmindedly sticking his right hand fingers between the buttons on his over-shirt, and scratching at his belly.  After seemingly conferring with himself, and nodding, he stated simply, “We don't, but we think that if we could create a pair of gravity fields strong enough, and have them pull a common point in multiple opposite directions at once, we could cause a temporary rift in our space-time, which we could potentially manipulate to align with a similar rift in another's space time.”

His professor stood, shocked for a second, and then smiled a slow, knowing smile.  He nodded, and said, “you may take your seat, my student.  You are the first to pass that test, and I believe you should realize now that you have raised the bar for yourself.  For once I wont trip when I leave my classroom.”

That had been six years ago today, since then, Randis had graduated, and been granted a research laboratory and research funds to last him ten years.  He had assembled a team of the worlds top minds in a number of fields including energy, physics, nuclear, graviton (still a fledgling science in his time), and of course, interdimensional research.

He, and his team, had spent two years now developing and refining techniques for crossing the interdimensional barriers.  Their first breakthrough, and headlining, moment had been just under six months before.  They had successfully opened and maintained a portal and had been able to send a small drone through with a camera to grant a live feed to the lab monitors.

What they had seen had taken their breath away, as they had opened a portal right above an alien world, in a conceivably different universe.  Below their drone, now helplessly floating (or, perhaps in free-fall orbit around said planet) was a large, rocky world.  However, it was all a drab gray-black, with little atmosphere, and no signs of life.  Their drone slowly spun in the vacuum, and offered them a view of the surrounding space.  As it spun clockwise, they were given a view of a beautiful red dwarf, and further to the right, the planets small moon.  Then, it spun just a bit more right, and they got to see a small bit of space debris, which happened to be floating straight for their portal.

This had caused minor panic and forced them to cut power to their devices and close the portal rather abruptly. This had caused a few minor failures to equipment which was rather essential to their work.  However, after footage of the event was released to the world, donations and corporate sponsorships began to flood in.  This the amount raised was more than enough to repair, and replace, their damaged equipment.  They were able to replace their lost drone, and purchase another fiber optic line to run signal back to their monitors, and continue their research.

Over the next six months they had spent more time optimizing the operation of their portals, and making their opening, maintaining, and closing a more efficient process.  At least, that is what their official operations had consisted of.  Most of the scientists working with Randis were doing just what their reports said, however a small group had been working with Randis on how to target the portal.

Their portals had opened in a number of random places over the course of their work, but they had finally gotten their software programmed to the point where it could reopen the same portal, or even create one in the same area, which could view the location of the previous.  They had, in fact, recovered their original drone, and the other half of the severed cable.  Which proved to be another important step.

Their drone had been equipped with various sensors that were to monitor the rift they created.  Several were just to test the integrity, and strength of the portal, while others were to monitor its impact on various substances.

The drone had been housing a few small insects, to see how biological creatures faired in the portals event horizon, and in the theorized space between the first portal, and the output portal.  While the bugs were long dead, an unfortunate consequence of being left in space for several months, the drone had recorded their existence while they interacted with the portal, and had some good results.  However, others were less than desirable.

On the plus side, the insects had not been harmed by the event horizons on either end of the portal.  However, during transit between the portals the insects had been mentally scrambled.  Their behavior became unpredictable and irrational.  Ranging from spinning in a small circle on one spot in their enclosure, to eating their own limbs.  This behavior was part of a group of possible reactions to the high-energy area created between universes.  This had been discovered just seven days previously.

~~~~

Today Randis walked through the halls of his labs, hardly sparing a thought to what had brought him to where he was.  His life had been a good one, despite his feeling of incongruence, and he wished nothing against his fellow man.  However, he did not wish to live among them.  As a child he had often given thought to fantasies of elves, dwarves, and evil goblins.  When he had gotten older he had kept these thoughts just below the surface, as a main driving force toward his work, and had come within inches of completing his goal.

As Randis reached the portal generation chamber, he paused.  He thought back to the previous Saturday, when he had informed his team that experiencing the barrier caused the subject to lose their wits.  He had sent them on a short vacation, under the preface of having them think up an answer in their spare time, while he would spend some time alone in the labs.

Of course, one did not become the head of a field of science, unless they were not fairly good at problem solving within that field.  As soon as the insects had been studied, he knew had to get around the issue.  The real issue was that conscious mental exposure to the rift could drive one insane, which is most easily solved by unconsciousness.

Now, here he stood.  The hallway containing various pieces of equipment to monitor the portal generator was behind him, and the portal room itself was in front of him.  He opened the door, and began adjusting the equipment.  He was programming the various devices as though he were in a dream.  Of course, that almost was the case.

Each of his most important breakthroughs had come from dreams, as had his original wish to join this particular science.  He was currently calibrating the machines based on the calibrations he had seen in one of his oldest dreams.  His only reoccurring dream.  One that took him from his current world, and placed him into a world of medieval technologies and a multitude of races.  A world of magic, mystics, and gods.  And, while he was unsure of the exact nature of these races, he could wait no longer.

Randis had been taken over by a sense of urgency over the last few weeks.  This feeling had driven him on, and forced him to accelerate his plans to travel to this world.  He was receiving a message from a heavenly voice while he slept, and it was telling him that one of his closest allies was going to intervene.  Or, maybe even take his place in going to the world.  He couldn't have that now, could he.

~ ~ ~ ~

While Randis was busy doing final calibrations, calculations, and procedure, on his target world six friends were getting ready to have a picnic.  They each laughed as they trotted up a hill just outside of their hometown of Ponyville.  They were exchanging trivial gossip and recent happenings with the occasional giggle, until a chase broke out between a pair of the group, one having stolen the other's hat.

The other four stopped to laugh while their friends raced to their destination.  Twilight Sparkle, a purple unicorn with a pink striped purple mane, took the first step forward, and beckoned the others to follow.  As her four remaining friends folllowed, one of the group broke away from the rest to join the chase, bouncing onto Twilight, and after Rainbow Dash and Applejack.  This caused Fluttershy and Rarity to laugh again, while Twilight was left grumbling.

“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight called, knowing it wouldn't help, “Guh, fine.  Come on girls, lets catch up to those three.” With that, they made their way up the rest of the hill and found their friends in a pseudo-wrestling match with Applejack and Rainbow Dash fighting over the hat and Pinkie Pie making counts whenever one pinned the other to the ground.

“Oh, dear.  They are going to get absolutely filthy rolling around in the dirt like that!  It rained just the other day!” Rarity claimed, in slight exasperation.  However, she did so with affection for her friends.

“Oh, um.  I think they'll be alright.  But, um, I was wondering if, um, we could start the picnic.  I am, um, well kinda, just a little bit hungry... oh...” Fluttershy attempted to state.  She started strongly, but her sentence got weaker and quieter with each syllable.

“Thats a good idea, Fluttershy.  We can go ahead and set up, they will come over when they get hungry,” Twilight replied.  After which, she used her magic to take the basket from Fluttershy, the blanket from Rarity, and the dishes from her own saddlebags.  Once every item was in the air she bergan to prepare them for use, laying out the blanket in a perfectly-smooth and unwrinkeld manner, setting the picnic basket in the exact center of the blanket, having calculated the position on the way over, and placing the dishes for each member of their group.  “There, perfect,” she concluded.

Fluttershy clapped her hooves at the spectacle, while Rarity smiled and unpacked the basket.  Placing the various foods at cardinal points around the picnic basket.  Fluttershy tentatively began to place a small serving of each of the six choices and quietly dug in.  Twilight and Rarity each decided to wait for the other three, and gossip a little more before eating their share.  However, they were interrupted.

Just as Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack began to head back to the picnic (two of them panting from exertion), they stopped and looked skyward.  Pinkie let out a famous gasp, which caught the attention of those by the picnic basket, who looked skyward as well.  And what a thing they saw.

~ ~ ~ ~

Randis finally finished calibrating his equipment and was finally able to activate the portal device.  He had just a couple of things to do before stepping through.  First, he wished not to be followed.  To stop anyone from catching up to him he had written a simple command line which would run the portal for just long enough to get him through, then it would close the portal, then it would delete the coordinates and calculations he has used to get himself to his new world.  Once the programme had been activated he was given a set amount of time to get through his portal.

The second order of business was to be unconscious.  This was a bit more difficult.  He had purchased some knock-out gas the night they retrieved the first drone and had since had a small amount ready for this instance.  He prepared the dose, and opened the portal room door.  Once inside he experienced massive pull from the rift, as was expected.  He grabbed a hold of a rail to his right with all of his might and the forgotten door was pulled closed by machinations of the lab.  He felt the pull of the portal increase as it reached its maximum strength and his feet were pulled free of the floor.  As he became parallel with the floor, he applied the gas.

His goal was to use the portal to pull himself into the other world, as soon as he gained full unconsciousness.  Randis had done some thinking, and came to the conclusion that if he could no longer hold himself in his world, and was pulled to the other, then he would probably be unconscious.  And, so far, it seemed his plan would work.

He felt his last vestiges of active thought slip away and off he went.  His hand came free of the rail and his feet entered the portal.  Just about ten seconds after he disappeared the portal closed and the traces of his last act in the world of his birth were destroyed.  However, one had seen everything.

~ ~ ~ ~

As each of the six picnic-ing ponies looked toward the shimmering rip in the sky about twenty five feet above them, they could think of no action to take.  Then two, one of the brightest and one of the boldest, moved a small distance closer to the rift.  One being Twilight Sparkle began to probe it with a few spells to see what this was.  From her initial observations it was clear to be some form of teleportation magic, though the duration of this spell seemed to be incredible.  She attempted to scoop a sample of the power used to create the portal before her, but was shocked and thrown backward.  A sharp pain occurred in her head, similar to the magical overburn that young unicorns feel once they learn telekinesis.  Rarity apparently had a similar pain, as she screwed her eyes closed and put a hoof to her forehead.

The other who moved happened to be Rainbow Dash.  She had been tentatively moving slightly closer to the rift until she had seen Twilight get thrown back and Rarity gasp in pain.  Both of these instances were more than enough to get her back on the ground and next to her friends to see if they were alright.

As the six gathered together, a small flash occurred.  They looked upward and saw a form falling from the portal.  It was rather strange, with a short neck, odd clothes, and long legs.  The thing seemed to be vaguely aware of itself, as though it had just woken up.  They all heard a short scream before it collided with the earth about forty feet from them with a loud thud.

Each of the ponies paused taking a moment to cringe at the pain likely experienced by the creature.  “Oh, that's gotta hurt!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, likely from past experience.

After a few seconds the six friends cautiously trotted over to the creature, who's face had buried slightly in the ground.  “This is quite strange,” Twilight Sparkle began, “I have never seen anything like this!  It kind of resembles a minotaur, but t doesn't have hooves or a tail.  And so little hair!”  She began to poke at and prod Randis while he lay, twitching the occasional finger, on the ground.  “I think it is unconscious.  It seems to be breathing fine and it has a pulse, but I can't think of any other reason as to why it hasn't really moved or done anything. Strange,” She finished.

“Well, what do ya' recon that we do, Twilight?  I don' think we have ever dealt with somethin' like this before...” Applejack said with uncertainty.

Each of the six looked toward the De facto leader of their group, and she looked back.  After a few moments of pause, Twilight answered, “I think I need to write a letter.  But first, lets move this thing somewhere safer.  Where it can't escape from, just in case it is dangerous.”  She then picked the unconscious form of Randis up and looked to the others.

“Well, uh, I suppose we could put it in a barn.  We can always lock the door from the outside.  I can keep an eye on it until the princess tells us what ta' do,” Applejack offered.

“Good idea,” Twilight responded, “Girls, let's go.  We need to get this thing somewhere we can keep an eye on it and where it can't cause trouble.  Rainbow Dash, I would like you to go get Spike and take him to Applejack's where I can have him send my letter to the princess.  Everpony else, lets go!”  With that they each took off, Rainbow Dash flying toward the town library, and the other five galloped to Sweet Apple Acres, where they would lock up their temporary prisoner.

Once each group had completed their task and Rainbow Dash had deposited Spike next to Twilight, the purple unicorn began her letter.

“Dear Princess Celestia...”