Love transcends the wall.

by Ethera

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Sad, Romance
Length: 3647

Cheerilee finds an unexpected friend, and eventually lover, but who (or what) is she?

when cheerilee wakes up one morning, she finds a pony unconscious and injured, surrounded by scorch marks in the ground.
it's rather startling for the pink pony, but when she finds out that this mare is more than she seems, cheerilee takes quite a liking to her…

UPDATE MAY14th
ah, sorry its been so long, i've been tied up for months now D:
however, chapter 4 is on its way and should be here in a couple days, hang in there!

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-05-14 19:49:35 UTC

Chapter 1: Void

I have used my new spells to make an incision into the wall.

Although i have only attempted just the one journey.

the rip is extremely unstable, and I lost my most faithful student to its unforgiving maw.

I really must be cautious.

- Starswirl the bearded.

Cheerilee gasped even louder than she just had; what a sight. a jet black pony was lying in a crumpled heap just outside her house, surrounded by a large variety of scorch marks. the black pony made a small moan of pain, and this made Cheerilee jump. she had been a teacher for such a long time, she knew what the worst injuries sounded like. if a child had grazed their hoof or bumped their head they would make allot of noise. but... in the two most serious cases she had ever dealt with the ponies did not scream. they did not cry. they merely made the smallest noise, a small moan of pain.

all this flashed through Cheerilee's mind almost instantly, and being cool headed as she was, she immediately began formulating the best way to get this poor thing inside without damaging her any further. first she went and collected some brooms and pulled off the heads, then she tied a sheet to each corner in order to create a makeshift litter. it wasn't perfect but it would have to do for now. she gently nudged the litter under the black ponies broken body, and pulled her inside. there was no way she could get the litter up the stairs so she set it down on the rug in her front room, and started up the fireplace, piling wood on till it was at a nice steady blaze. she then poured herself the coffee  and sat down worriedly. maybe this day wouldn't be quite so boring after all, although looking at the broken thing she somehow wished it was.

cheerilee was expecting a delivery from a mailpony at any time this morning, although she suspected that it was the odd pony who seemed to crash into things allot. she sighed for the second time that morning and decided to carry on marking the tests from school, she walked out to the kitchen grabbed a stack in her mouth, and sat down to begin the long arduous process. maybe this was going to be a boring day after all, she hoped that when the mailpony got to her house that she could carry a message to the hospital, and also she would have to go to see twilight later on in the day. she was probably the first source of information for strange occurances like this one, and if not then princess celestia. hopefully she could get some answers from this mare when she woke up...

Ethera opened her eye's slightly, she had had the most awful dream. she had been falling, over and over again. she had rather damaged this body, but knew from experience that it was nigh on indestructible, she tried stand and once again crumpled to the floor in a heap. she would have to wait awhile longer before she could get up and walk around, however there was a mirror standing upright on the floor just across from her, she cursed silently. it seems her body had settled on jet black fur, with an oddly styled purple mane and a horn, it wouldn't be so easy to get around unnoticed here. "why is this body still broken." she muttered to herself angrily. suddenly a sharp pang of pain struck her head, a voice whispered in her ear.

Permanence.

she had the oddest sensation, like someone had punctured a hole in the side of her head, and all of the memories were flooding out. she cried out rather loudly, "No! STA....."

silence.

Chapter 2: Amnesia

Another one gone today.

One came back, but i sorely wish that she had not...

She was broken, a husk of her former self, a shivering wreck.

I am thinking of abandoning the project.

Although i fear the wrath of my princess if i stop now...

- starswirl the bearded

She opened her eyes.

She looked at the room, she did not know where she was, she did not know know who she was.

she did not know.

a trickle of memories struck her, immense pain, a nightmarish dream, and her name. yes, her name, it was... Ethera.

she sat up with a look in her eyes of a frightened animal that was being hunted, "I have to find someone to help me." she thought to herself. she stood shakily and walked through the nearest doorway that she could see. for some reason she was silent when she walked, as if she had trained for years to walk as she did now. she did not know why, but that was not at the foremost of her thoughts at the time. her eyes had caught on the back of pink pony sitting rather dejectedly and scribbling on several pieces of paper, Ethera opened her mouth shakily, as if she might hurt herself doing so, and said rather shakily "h-h-hello?". the pink pony jumped and cursed silently for being startled. Ethera shied away, afraid that this pony may hurt her, and started whimpering in the corner. the pink pony looked at her with a mixture of confusion and pity. the pink pony asked for her name, and she told her quietly.

Cheerilee was bemused by the pony, and at the same time she was sad too. whatever this mare had gone through had obviously left her broken and scared, or it could just be that that was part of her personality; fluttershy was rather similar, if not so chronic as this. She worked out the best way to approach the mare, years of dealing with children hadn't just given Cheerilee a knack with injuries, she walked up to Ethera slowly and spoke softly to her, "Don't worry, i'm not angry at you. please don't be afraid.". the mare looked up and uncurled herself from the odd little ball she had unconsciously formed, "where am I?" Ethera asked in an uncertain voice, still not entirely trusting Cheerilee."why your in ponyville dear, where else did you think you would be?". Ethera looked at her in an unsure manner and stammered "I um, dont know." cheerilee was feeling rather confused by this whole situation, and invited the mare to a cup of coffee and a place to stay for the night. a thought had struck cheerilee's mind just awhile earlier: An impact that large? it was a miracle that this poor thing was not dead, let alone walking. it wasn't entirely out of the question that she was suffering from amnesia. the day wore on, and eventually the sun dipped below the horizon, an amber haze settling over the peaceful town; bathing Cheerilee's house on the outskirt's in a warm glow. Cheerilee decided to call it a day and go to bed. She retrieved a quilt from one of her cupboards and tried to make a comfortable place to sleep for Ethera. as she was fussing with it her new friend walked up and said gently how she would be fine on her own with it. Cheerilee blinked once and nodded, she left the mare to do as she wished, and went upstairs to go to bed.

what an odd day.

Ethera tossed and turned in her sleep, she was falling, forever falling. endless. the wind rushing past in her mane snagging on the odd rock or shard of glass, ripping strands clear out of the roots. she screamed wordlessly, it was if invisible hands were reaching into her mouth and snatching the sounds before they could be uttered. the tunnel was pitch-black and claustrophobic, a blast of heat hit her from below, searing her underside and making her flesh crawl beneath her skin, her cheeks were caked with tears and blood.

impact.

she sat up screaming blue murder, the room seemed to spin whilst she was looking at it, she slowly curled up into a ball and started crying and whimpering softly into the pillow that she had found. cheerilee rushed down the stairs tripping up at the last step and face-planting the ground, she looked as if she had hurt herself but Ethera couldn't fathom anything at this moment except the immeasurable torment that she had just suffered, she watched the pink pony get up and rush worriedly over to her, she looked almost as frightened. "goodness gracious, whatever was it that made you scream so loudly?" she exclaimed. Ethera looked up and said softly "The dream, it was so real." this was accompanied by an undertone of whimpering. Cheerilee looked worriedly at Ethera and asked if she would like to sleep at the foot of her bed instead, Ethera nodded slowly. she rose in a fragile manner and between them they dragged the bedding up the stairs and set it in the best way that they could in cheerilee's room. Ethera once again bade cheerilee goodnight and lowered herself onto the bedding. she was doubtful that she was going to be able to sleep again after that dream; the horror was still as fresh in her mind as if it had actually happened, it was as if she was being punished for some reason. why would anyone want to punish her? she thought to herself. "i'm just weak minded and fragile mare..." this time she said it aloud without really noticing, and cheerilee poked her head up over the bed."Now don't talk about yourself in that way. i'm sure your just ill, it wont last forever." she gave Ethera a reassuring smile and it was replicated, if a little less enthusiastically. they both knew that it wasn't true, it was just one of those awkward moments when neither pony was willing to admit it. either way it helped Ethera a little, and she drifted off into a light sleep. It wasn't perfect, but the nightmare did not return. at least not tonight.

The sun rose slowly, and having her house on a hill, cheerilee always caught the first rays of light before anyone else in ponyville, and on this particular morning the sky was perfectly devoid of any form of cloud and the rays of light trickled through the window carrying with it a soft buttery warmth that slowly crept up her bed. as she gently opened her eye's she yawned softly, it had been a sleepless night. recounting the events of the past day, her head started to spin a little. it was all so daunting. she crept out of bed and went to check on Ethera. the space was empty and the bedclothes neatly folded into a pile in the corner. she blinked, and trotted down the stairs. Ethera was at  the door talking to a mailpony. just as Cheerilee got to the foot of the stairs, the door shut and Ethera turned around with a mouthful of mail. "How are you this morning dear?" Cheerilee asked. "Mmmph." Ethera replied. Cheerilee chuckled softly and told Ethera that the mail was fine on the table in the kitchen. She went to stack up the wood in the fireplace and then noticed that it had already been done. she blinked with surprise and looked down, the floors had been dusted as well. she walked out to the kitchen and asked why Ethera had done all of these chores, Cheerilee simply got the answer that she hadn't slept well and that she owed it after letting her stay there for the night. cheerilee thanked her anyway, and insisted that made breakfast for them both. as per usual she went out to pick some flowers for sandwiches, and gasped in shock. all of the flowers had been blackened and scorched surrounding Ethera's impact site. she hadn't noticed it at first because of the severity of the situation. disgruntled but not beaten she retrieved her stock of dried flowers and made toast instead. she had allot to do today, she had to go and see twilight in her library, deliver the test papers to the board of pony education and, she sighed, buy some new flower seeds. she told this to Ethera then asked if she would be alright on her own for most of the day. She nodded enthusiastically, rather an improvement on the previous day, and with that Cheerilee gathered her stack of tests and set off on her trip into town. Ethera however did not plan on spending the day recuperating, she intended on going and making some new friends, and she new the perfect place to start.

Chapter 3: Warmth

I think that I may have encountered a rather bewildering breakthrough in my research.

an artificial gateway could be constructed and kept open, with the aid of tremendous amount of magical energy.

i have already constructed a prototype version that is portable and big enough to pass small objects through.

Although judging by amount of energy that even that took me, i fear I will need the help of both princesses's for the gateway.

If only i could convince dearest celestia that nothing bad would come of it...

-starswirl the bearded

Ethera decided that she did not want to deceive her new friend too much, so she left a note saying roughly were she was going, she did not know exactly but she made it as clear as possible, finished up some more chores around the house, and then set off for her destination. firstly she wanted to get a look at the town itself, so she opened the door and stepped outside onto the pathway. the first thing she noticed was the smell of clean natural air. she took a deep lungful and breathed it out slowly. it felt absolutely wonderful, almost as if she had not taken a breath of fresh air for a very long time. she opened her eyes, she had not realised that they were closed, and took another step forward. the next thing she noticed were the huge scorch marks she had left in Cheerilee's garden and on her path, she instantly felt guilty and just a tad nauseous. it must have hurt so much when she hit the solid gravel path. either way the last thing she remembered was lying on Cheerilee's floor staring into a mirror. she gathered her wits about her and set off once again in the direction of ponyville. she found herself admiring the wildlife and tree's, and she hadn't the foggiest why. she picked out the details of leaves and of how some branches twisted in a rather beautiful way when vines grew up them. the small rabbits that were hopping around lightheartedly were such a masterpiece of life and things that were living. when she reached a rather large pond she stared out in total fascination at the beautiful crystal clear waters, her eyes fixed upon a solitary swan, and how its neck arched so gracefully into the waters in which it swam. it pulled out a single shining fish, that fish was built to perfection, its shining scales flowing seamlessly over it's streamlined sleek body.

thing's generally continued in that fashion until Ethera was almost on the verge of tears at the beauty of the wildlife that surrounded her. she had to sit down for a minute to regain her composure before she could continue on her journey. whilst she was sitting she was approached by another pony, who tried introduced herself. "um h-hello?" the newcomer said. Ethera cocked her head to one side, a smile was spread across her face and there really were tears in her eyes now. "oh hey..." Ethera said softly. the newcomer asked Ethera's name and she replied in the same soft tone that  she had used before. "well i-i'm sorry that i came up so quietly Ethera, i just saw you crying and wanted to see if anything was wrong.

Ethera then asked in turn "So whats your name?". The mare stuttered a little and said "oh, its fluttershy."

Cheerilee was getting rather impatient. she had been in the waiting room of the BOPE (board of pony education) for well over an hour now and no-one had bothered letting her into the office where all she had to do was drop of a stack of paper. she was gloomily looking out of the window to her right, it wasn't a very interesting view. this was the part of town where the the high-class and legal ponies dwelled. the buildings were straight and angular, each one set in an almost geometric fashion. they were either painted grey or brown, although not so they looked in any way like a checkered fashion, overall it was a rather boring wait. after another half an hour of waiting a clerk came over to tell her that she may enter now. she subsequently arose walked through the doors, turned off to one side, walked through another door, and delivered a stack of papers to an official looking stallion and left. done, such a pointless wait she muttered to herself. she stormed out of the BOPE in a rather bad mood and decided then and there to head for a more colourful part of town. as she headed into the shopping district her eyes caught sight of the gardening shop and she decided to go and get some more seeds to replant her garden. she stormed into the gardening store, and the storekeeper raised an eyebrow in question. Cheerilee realised that she was in rather a foul temper, and took deep breaths and closed her eyes. when she opened them again she felt calm and a lot less aggravated than before. Mrs seed lowered her eyebrow and said to the flustered looking pink pony "did you have another argument in the BOPE?". Cheerilee sighed and replied with the occurances of that morning, however  deliberately leaving out Ethera. she did not know why she kept it a secret but nonetheless she did. Cheerilee purchased a few seeds, and thanked her friend for the concern that she showed. the next stop on the list was the ponyville library, but unfortunately when she tapped the door with her hoof there was no answer, however she noticed a note stuck to the inside of a window, it read :Gone to canterlot to meet up with my old friends, back in a week or so! -Twi

Ethera was rather enjoying Fluttershy's company. it seems that allot of their interests crossed and not to mention their personalities. one of the oddest things it had seemed was that angel bunny had taken quite a liking to Ethera. Fluttershy was totally astounded, she described how it had taken even her hours of work and coaxing to get angel bunny to even come near her, let alone like her. Ethera currently sat on the floor in the middle of all of the animals along with Fluttershy, she was slowly stroking her hoof along angel's drooping ears and the little thing was chittering away happily whilst nibbling on a small carrot. this moment left a special feeling in her heart of a small taste of true happiness. just a small taste.

but enough to trigger one of the recepticals that had been left.

Remember.

she blacked out.

Ethera opened her eyes, her home was in total ruins and the orchard was on fire. she gasped in terror, she could hear her parents screaming inside. something snapped inside of her. she got to her feet and swore an oath to remember, one that she could never revoke, one that could never be broken. she clasped the dark grimoire in her hands and called upon a demon to seal her soul to. she vowed that she would destroy her attackers, and their families, and their friends. she felt the evil being pierce her soul.

it ripped her to shreds.

and remade her in its image.

Blink.

Prolouge: A boring day

from intensive studies of the wall, I have gathered enough information from my tomes and grimoires that i may try to surpass it...

I wont lie.

I'm shivering.

but i have a sensation that this could be one of the greatest discoveries in equestrian history, i dont want to destroy it's essence.

-Starswirl the bearded.

the curtains fluttered gently against the window, it was slightly ajar and a cool breeze was blowing in. the wind wafted over a bed and ruffled the mane of a worn out pink pony.  Cheerilee opened her eyes and yawned, it had been a long night. just the other day was the mid-year test, and she was up most of the night marking each little filly and colt's papers. she made a sound that was something between a sigh and a laugh, they thought they had it hard having to sit an hour's worth of exams, when she had to spend the same amount of time marking each paper alone.

Cheerilee dragged herself out of her bed and trotted down her stairs rather languidly, it was going to be another long boring day. she set some water to boil, and went out to her garden in order to pick some flowers for a quick breakfast. she trotted back in with a few flowers for a sandwich, picked up her kettle and poured the hot water into a filter with coffee in, and sat down to read the ponyville times. just as she sat down a large thud emanated from just outside of her house, the cup that she had set on the side wobbled and fell on the floor, it smashed into several pieces. cheerilee gasped "I only just bought that cup!". she went outside to see what had happened, it really was a vivid sight.

that was the moment everything changed.