For Elora, the lights shutting off was a terrifying event. In the middle of returning the two books to their place on the shelf,the entire room went pitch black. Something had blown. More like something had blown up. In a shock her hoof slipped off the fourth rung on the ladder and she fell to the floor followed by the heavy books landing on her face. Elora laid there dazed she didn’t know for how long.
“Ugh, what happened...” she groaned pulled herself up. She gripped the table for balance. There were footsteps. Someone running down the hall.
“Elora! Elora what happened!” The lights flickered back wildly just as Blink, a young mole and nephew to the professor, rounded the corner.
“Elora!” Blink paused at the threshold seeing the faun looking disoriented.
“I-I heard a noise. What was that? And are you okay?”
Two head shakes later and Elora was clear headed again. “I’m fine. What did you hear?” She went into the hall with the mole.
“I was going back to the kitchen when I heard a crash, no, an explosion! I was going back to the main lab when the lights went out.”
A power surge? Whatever had happened, the back up power had come on line relatively quickly so at least she could see.
“But the only thing that causes blackouts is the indoor portal, a few issues with recrossed wires, but it shouldn’t even be turned on right now!” That is unless the professor had decided to re-activate the portal on his own.
Please don’t be another coordinates malfunction! Elora thought. For a moment her memories traveled back to the first time the super portal had been used. When a friend of hers, the admittedly simple minded yet strong hearted Hunter, had decided to haphazardly enter coordinates corresponding to his birthday. It was safe to say that had not been one of his most shining moments of intellect. Yet after all the trouble they went through to get rid of Ripto, the cheetah had gotten off easy for it.
“The professor may be in trouble, lets go!” The professor’s island lab was like a maze so the faun had to lead. When they reached the main area in its center, the sight was a bewildering one. Agent Nine stood in the middle of the room in front of the super portal. Its vortex wafting gently on idle, waiting for a destination.
A few feet away next to the command console lay the professor,glasses smashed and laying crooked across his nose. The flashing machinery strewn around him lay ripped to chunks of scrap, the parts fixed into the wall were shredded, hanging off at the hinges. Exposed wires popped and crackled. Blink grabbed his uncle and pulled him away from the danger while Elora focused on the agent, not able to believe her eyes.
“ Agent Nine, what have you done?” Elora said with a gasp. Agent Nine turned to face her, his eyes were not lively bright green, instead pits of black with beady white pupils staring down at her and the two moles. Elora felt a sudden chill run down her spine and through her long tail. That monster couldn’t possibly be Agent Nine!
After Blink moved the professor, he knelt down and cradled his uncle’s head in his arms. “Wake up, c’mon please.”
The professor fidgeted slightly and opened his eyes.
“Ooooh, could someone get the name of that stampeding yeti...This area is off limits.” he slurred. The very fact that his old uncle was alive pulled a relieved guffaw out of Blink. A nasty bump on the head was the worst injury the professor had gotten.
“Nine get down from there right now!” Elora shouted through clenched teeth. She wasn’t getting the reaction she wanted. Not that she ever could get cooperation out of the crazy monkey. But this...this was unbelievable! To imagine he was capable of such a thing despite the professor raising him since childhood.
Nine ignored her and brought something out from his back pocket, it was golden, round and smooth,framed in dark decoratively carved tree bark. He held it toward the portal and cackled when the vortex roiled and swirled in agitation. It was responding. Before the faun could stop him, the professor had regained just enough presence of mind to speak up.
“D-don’t try anything rash, Elora! He has his blaster with him!”
“Ugh! This is why I told you giving a monkey a gun was a bad idea.” Elora enunciated near the end. But it was pointless to argue that now.
“Um...you guys. What is he doing up there?” Blink asked. The portal wasn’t supposed to work without a clearance command and a set of coordinates, both of which were impossible to use now.
Professor tried to adjust his broken glasses, only causing them to break in half completely.“The portal is responding to...whatever is in his hand!” He squinted his little black eyes. “What is it?”
Elora quickly understood. Of course the portal was artificial and required machines to operate. But in the end they had created something that was a natural recurrence in their world and inevitably portals only needed one thing to work. Magic.
“It can’t be...the Vortexous stone?” Elora’s mind raced over the implications. The thieves, the defiled temple in Fracture Hills, a robbed tomb...
“Wait, stop!” But Elora’s cry went unheeded. There wasn’t much time, she had to know if the real Agent Nine was really on that platform and not an imposter. In the moment there was only one recourse she could think of. “Hey!RHYNOCS!”
Nine spun around immediately,body completely rigid, his face screwed up in so much anger that wrinkles from his pressed brow ridge could be seen through his fur. He grabbed his blaster and ran in erratic circles on the platform, looking around the room for a creature that wasn’t there.
“What did you say?! Rhynocs? Where? Lemme at the ugly blotchy son of a gnorc! The peanut brained slow witted wart on a toad’s foot stool! I’ll blast em all to kingdom come!”
In the his spastic fit the blaster misfired. Blink yelled in terror. “Get down!” They all jumped to the floor just as the laser hit the wall behind them. It ricocheted to the other side cracking a window, again breaking a lamp and shattering a row of file cabinets. It finally exploded against the top of the dome ceiling with a massive crash leaving a shallow charred crater behind..
“Shut up you erratic simpleton!”
Elora dared to glance up and see Nine screaming at himself with a voice that wasn’t his. He sounded cracked and parched, draped in some overly proper and phony sounding accent.
“Hold the stone up, properly! Do as I say!”
“Ghost! Evil...Vampires...Somethings...stuck inside my head!” Agent Nine’s voice returned though under intense strain. He held the Vortexous up high as if fighting over keeping old of it or throwing it over the side.
“Won’t get out...HELP!” His grip on the stone tightened as the portal continued to swirl in response to its magic. And then the monkey simply stepped in, with a warping sound and crackling of electricity, Agent Nine was gone. Seconds ticked by before anyone stirred from their prostrated positions on the floor.
“I’m going after him.” Elora ran for the entry way and grabbed a brown cloak off its hook, she threw it around herself and yanked a satchel off the floor as she dashed to the other side of the room, past the file cabinets that were now on fire, to the only console that still worked and began frantically pushing buttons.
The trouble was over but now the two moles were puzzled by Elora’s actions.
“Going after the monkey? Are you seriously jumping through that portal?” Blink asked in a panic.. “Do you even know where it goes?”
“I don’t know, trying to stabilize it now.” Elora said in a wavering voice while her fingers fluttered over the keypad. Just a few more calculations...there! She went to a large metal chest and pulled out a spherical object, green, shimmering and clasped inside two golden braces. Time was running thin, she ran back to the platform.
“Elora what are you doing with that orb? This is far too dangerous and I can not allow it!” The professor pleaded that she not jump, even at the expense of his prized primate. His nephew was more preoccupied with the the smoking cabinets.
“Something was controlling, him! And he has the Vortexous Stone, I have to go in before we lose track of him or who knows what may happen?” Elora stuffed the orb into her pocket, determination set on her face.
“Track the orb, use it as a beacon to find me.”
“But what do we-” Blink tried to talk before Elora cut him off.
“Take care of your uncle and then get help!” With no more fuss, the faun turned and jumped through.
“Wait! Ah no, she’s gone, what now?”
The professor was already up and pacing the floor of his laboratory as if the knock on the head didn’t matter. He snapped his fingers. “ Yes!There’s a water spell you can use behind that wall panel. Just hit the button there and take care of that mess pronto!”
“Yes sir!” Blink darted for the panel, racing to put the fire out before it spread.
The professor went to work at the only console left in the lab, paying little attention to anything else. “We need to get to the Dragon Realms as quickly as possible, we haven’t got a moment to waste!”
_____________________________________________________________________________
It was the only fabric shop in Ponyville. A small arrangement since there was not a demand to sell an enormous array of fabrics in the small settlement. Though simple, the selection was varied enough for Rarity’s immediate needs. The tingling door bell summoned a blue unicorn with light yellow hair to the front counter. She smiled pleasantly welcoming the visitor.
“Ah, Rarity it’s good to see you again! I hope your last selection worked well for you.” Rarity was one of her favorite customers. A frequent visitor, always sure of what she wanted before even entering the shop. A keen eye with inventive creativity. It was not that she cared any less for her other customers but Rarity was a different experience. She always made sure her materials met the white unicorn’s standards.
“Yes it was wonderful! And I have you to thank for that. You have no idea how wonderful it is to walk here instead of commuting all the way to Canterlot when I need supplies.” Rarity said while casually cantering over to a row of bins filled with small ends and odds.
“ I know I’m usually here buying up several yards of your wonderful fabric, but today I only need a few small things.”
“Just a few accents then?” Ribbon asked.
“Buttons to be precise. I’m making a rain jacket for my sister. It’s that time of year again so of course during another one of her little adventures she managed to pop off every single one. And that is the least of it.” Rarity cantered to a set of baskets set to the side, inside of each were many finely detailed and colorful buttons for any sort of outfit.
Ribbon laughed softly. “At least your young sister is using your gifts to their fullest extent.”
Rarity groaned. “Raincoats are made to keep you dry not to go out and test experimental “submarines” made out of leftover barn materials on the lake. A meretwo days after her birthday!” Rarity stamped her hoof with an expression that clearly showed irritation. But always being the calm and proper pony quickly brought her emotions back down to a much restrained simmer.
“Might I suggest less emphasis on appearance and more consideration for performance.” Ribbon said.
The white unicorn glanced over shrewdly. “Such as?”
“I think I have just the thing, wait here.” As Ribbon turned, a bright light flashed between the two unicorns. Rarity flinched and covered her eyes. When she looked down she saw the bottom half of a foal fused to the counter.
“Uh-um..” Before she could speak they heard a small cry from the storage room behind Ribbon.
“Mom! Mom help I’m stuck again!”
“Uh oh-sorry my little Thimble’s magic has been hiccuping and it...” she glanced over the counter at her son’s bottom half. “Seems like he is winking about again .” She walked to the back following her son’s wavering sobs. “He was stuck in the wall yesterday. Someone mistook him for a trophy!”
Rarity chuckled lightly to herself, thinking briefly about the past when she was a filly and her own magic would cause her more trouble than she thought it was worth before she finally gained control of it. Her thoughts went back to the raincoat. There was another shower scheduled today.
As she thought about the possibilities of making a Sweetie proof anything another flash from the back room flooded the shop. It was brighter, stronger, and blinding. Before she could think, a strange force like a wind whipped through and knocked her off her feet. Tumbling head over hoof she watched cloth, yarn, and string alike torn from the wall by the wind
Before Rarity could free herself from the mess of stray necklaces and lace tangled on the floor, she felt something clam onto her mane, yanking it with a strong tug. She shrieked when her vision was obscured by something long, brown and furry. She jerked towards the front door, somehow able to not slip and fall over the toppled displays.
“Little white horse or whatever you are! What is the name of this place?” The creature roughly demanded while pulling her purple mane as if to emphasize his demands for compliance. But Rarity wasn’t willing to give an answer.
“Whatever you are, get your grimy paws out of my mane this instant!” Her magic had the thing halfway off her head, unfortunately no matter how hard she pulled, its fingers were tangled too deep into her hair for her to fling it away. Maybe it listened though, its grip loosened and the weight on her back disappeared. Rarity tossed the creature away and watched in shocked fascination as it landed perfectly on its feet. What she saw she couldn’t believe. A monkey in a purple and green suit rushing outside straight into the marketplace. Or at least that is what she thought she’d seen. It was gone in a flash.
“What on earth?”
“Oh no, he didn’t hurt you did he?” Rarity turned back to see something running out of the back room covered in a tattered brown cloak. It jumped the counter and into the storefront. At that moment she stood directly between it and the front door. Rarity ducked away on instinct hoping this one wouldn’t try to jump on her back as well. It was noticeably larger though she couldn’t tell its form completely from under the tattered fabric, it had to be several inches taller than herself.
“What is going on here?” Rarity demanded. She wasn’t exactly expecting a response and was surprised when the figure stopped and turned her way.
“A monkey-- in a suit! Did you see which way it went?” The voice was spritely yet hurried.
“Um...uh...yes!” Rarity stammered. “It went that way.” She pointed a hoof toward the market stalls. Ponies were on the run, dust kicking up in their wake. Several of the tents rattled and swayed and a few just collapsed completely. The market had exploded into chaos.
“A monkey with a blaster. Why Professor?” Elora sighed and pushed past the fallen storefront shelves to the front door.
“But- wait!” Unable to get the strange character’s attention, the unicorn ran back into the fabric shop’s storage room to make sure Ribbon and her child were okay.
