//-------------------------------------------------------// Escaping the Heat -by Spades- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Escaping the Heat //-------------------------------------------------------// Escaping the Heat Spades (Somewhat-less than) Proudly Presents: Escaping the Heat I woke up feeling refreshed from my lesson in long-range exportation that occurred last night, my body no longer sore from the extreme strain. I stifled a yawn as I levitated the covers off me, my wings extending to their full length as I mentally prepared myself for the day. Solaris didn't have anything planned today, or for the next for few days either, so I had taken the liberty of making myself a schedule. The first part of it was brushing up on the history of Spell-making by reading a couple of books on in the library, followed up a hearty lunch and a second secession of studying. After that, a trip down to the Royal Gardens to get some flying practice in before it was time for dinner. I hadn't been in the Castle for long but I was capable of getting myself from Point A to Point B. As I managed to pull myself out of bed my eyes fell upon the crown my mentor had given me mere weeks ago, the star set in the center of it still glowing as brightly as ever. I smiled and made my bed quickly; I had a whole lot reading to do and I didn't want to waste any time. I floated my saddle bags over and made sure to tighten the belt, last time I forgot to I had nearly dropped ten pounds' worth of hard-covers on a wall-eyed stallion that had the misfortune of being below me during one of the book transfers between the two libraries. I, of course, apologized but I was surprised when he said for the piano that fell on me a few months ago. I didn't recall the event but accepted his apology nonetheless. I shook my head to shake me out of the memory and pushed open the door leading to the hallway outside my chambers. A pair of female Royal Guards stood vigil outside, their golden armor gleaming in the sun the beamed through the skylights positioned above us. I gave them a curt nod, which they returned with a brief smile and a surprising bow. My brows furrowed in confusion as I pondered the action, but I also took note of the whispers they spoke when I had apparently walked out of hearing range. Something about... tonight? I didn't understand the significance that tonight held but I made a mental note to ask Nocturne about it later. I strode past another pair of Royal Guards, who acted very similar to the two posted by my chambers. Right down to the whispering. This happened again and again, all the way down to the library where I decided that I had enough. "Alright, spill it! What's going on around here?" I demanded. The Royal Guards just giggled to themselves, but immediately straightened when I stomped my hoof. "I'm being serious. I demand to know what has gotten the Guards whispering and bowing and all this nonsense!" The Guard to my left batted her eyelashes at me, and I had an uneasy feeling that I wouldn't like the answer. "Oh, you don't know you Highness?" The mare cooed, her companion joining her in circling around me like condors do when they've spotted their prey. I let out an uneasy gulp as one of them brushed my hindquarters (and a bit underneath there) with her tail, whose touch was like silk. Before I could let my mind wander I teleported myself out of the circle and by the doors, which resulted in both of the Guards giving me a look of sadness mixed with disappoint. "I'm sorry ladies, but I'm afraid I have to get to my studies." The duo let out a grunt of defeat and went back to their posts, though I could tell from their posture they hadn't achieved whatever goals they had. I rolled my eyes and pushed open the doors leading to the library, my nostrils opening wide as I got a whiff of all the metaphorical knowledge that filled the air. "Ah the library. Been a while since I've been in here on my own terms. Now let's see...." I browsed the hundreds of isles and rows that made up the Royal Canterlot library, which seemed to extend into the event horizon as I continued to walk down the main path. Eventually, I came across the desired section and thus the book written by Swirly Star the Wise; "The Guide to spell creation and you- How to create your very own spells!" I rolled my neck and metaphorically cracked open the book, where in reality I merely dusted off the tome and merely turned to the first. The table of contents was faded and the pages threatened to break apart at my mere touch, something I remedied fairly quickly with a quick restoration enchantment. Before my eyes I watched the pages turn white and the faded text restored back to their former solid black color. I flipped through the entire book page by page to make sure the spell had effected the entire tome, and much to my credit the spells had the desired effect. I spent the next hour or so studying Swirly Star's book on the creation of new magical spells, managing to create several unique ones of my own by using the instructions clearly stated by the book. It was only that I reached the back and breeze through it again did I discover that a few pages near the end had bound themselves together. With a careful flick of my magic they separated, and revealed something of grave interest. It appeared that Swirly Star had been creating her own teleportation spells, with one sending the caster to a predetermined location while another teleported you to the closest destination that matched where you wanted to go. For instance, if you needed to go the bathroom it would teleport you to the closest one. However. they were far from perfect and I spent a good ten minutes or so refining the instructions for the experimental teleportation spells. I only stopped when I noticed that my inkwell had gone dry, and the fact that it was well past lunch time assisted in me deciding that I should probably grab a bite. It's a good thing I had come prepared! I opened my saddlebags and pulled out a daisy sandwich, which also had a couple of lettuce leaves and pickles thrown in for flavor. I went over my notes as I idly chewed and swallowed, taking note of a miscalculation I had made with one of the longer-range teleportation spells. I quickly corrected the error but couldn't help that it just wasn't right. So I did what any good spell-caster would do: I preformed the spell. The spell itself wouldn't take me that far, just to the outskirts of Ponyville just like I made it. Or it should if I had written it down correctly. Which I did, and it worked fantastically. I could make out the dirt road that let to the village that sat a few hundred miles away from Canterlot, the Castle spires visible even from down here. However, the spell had taken more out of me then I had thought and I decided to plop myself down in the grass to take a quick breather. I heard birds chirping, animals moving, and the wind blowing past as I sat there admiring the world around me. I guessed a few minutes had passed since I sat, and due my biology now matched that of an Alicorn I could preform difficult spells that required large amounts of energy that would normally deplete any regular unicorn and recover within a matter of minutes. With refilled vigor I began to make my way towards Ponyville, I thought it would be nice to meet up with my friends while I'm down here. <><><><><><> I knew something was wrong as soon as I walked into Ponyville. It was like a ghost town. Not a single soul in sight. Where is everypony? I thought to myself as a walked towards Butterscotch's. As I walked, I took notice that EVERYTHING was closed, despite the fact that lights were on in every house. I'd have to ask the Mayor about that when I got the chance. I walked into Butterscotch's yard to find it was surprisingly animal-lacking. I walked up to the door, but before I could knock, I heard some, disturbing sounds... Assuming Butterscotch found himself a "special" somepony, I walked away, not wanting to intrude on his, ahem, previous engagements. I decided AJ would be my next stop. A nice chat with him could help clear my head before returning to Canterlot. On my way there, I swore I could see a pair of eyes watching me from an alleyway. When I turned to look, nothing. Chopping it up to my imagination, I continued to trot towards AJ's. As I walked up the dirt path, I heard a growling sound behind me. As I turned towards the sound, I breathed a sigh of relief, It was just Mike, AJ's dog. "Hey boy, it's just me, Dusk." I said "Grrrrrrr..." he replied back. "Whoa, calm down a minute, it's just me." I said. Realizing I was going nowhere with this, I continued up the path, reminding myself to tell AJ to take Mike to the vet, his voice sounded a bit more, feminine. Luckily, he couldn't follow me because he was leashed to a nearby stake in the ground. I walked up to the door and knocked, half-expecting to have a similar experience to mine at Butterscotch's. No answer. Must be out on business with Red Gala I thought to myself. Well, time to see if Bubble Berry had time to speak, Hell, he never STOPPED talking. I walked through the center of town to find it much the same as everywhere else, empty. Pushing these thoughts out of my head, I knocked on the door of Sugercube Corner. A VERY disturbing answer came back. "I'm ope- I mean it's open!" came a very hormonal answer from the other side. Panicking, I teleported away, landing me right in front of Elusive's house. Cautiously, I approached the door, knocking lightly. No response. Well, it looked like I had only one option left, Blitz's house, maybe HE could help me figure this out. I extended my wings, and took off, thankful for Blitz's help in learning how to fly. As I flew, I noticed THREE shadows moving on the ground. Turning my head, I saw two pegasi mares with creepy smiles. Realizing their intentions, I took off, leaving them behind me. They gave chase. As they closed the distance between us, I realized I wasn't fast enough to out fly them. Quickly, I set my concentration on a teleportation spell, and focused ALL of my energy into getting away from the two behind me. A flash of light later, I landed right below his house. I had to figure out what in Celestia's name was going on. I walked up to the door, only to see it was moving, No wait, the ENTIRE house was shaking. Violently. Pushing all perverted thoughts out of my head, I decided the best course of action was too talk to Solaris about this. HE would be able to help me make sense off all this. I silently extended my wings, and started my flight towards Canterlot. Probably scared for life because of this. <><><><><><> The streets of Canterlot were JUST as empty as Ponyville, all the shops were closed, doors were locked up, and nothing but the stray newspaper out on the streets. It was quiet, Too quiet. I needed to break the silence or else I was going to go insane. "WHERE IS EVERYPONY?!" I shouted into the streets, immediately regretting it. Moments after the words escaped my lips, a huge rumbling sound accompanied by the streets shaking came out of nowhere. I turned around to see the most horrific thing in the world. A literal WAVE of mares coming straight at ME! "HE'S MINE!" one called. "I CALLED DIBS!" another shouted. My first instinct was to run... and run I did. I'd never run that far, that FAST in my life, it would have felt good in different circumstances, but not now, not while being chased by mares who want to do unspeakable things to me. I probably would have gotten caught if not for the hoof that extended out of a nearby building and pulled me into it's dark recesses. After a few seconds of sitting there in silence, a deep voice came out of the inky blackness. "Good thing I was making my rounds, else you would've been done for." a definite masculine voice said, a welcome sight at this point. "Well, that was a close one... thanks." I say, not trying to be rude. "Don't mention it." he responds. "But wait, what's going on, why were all those mares chasing me?" He sighs, before responding "Didn't you know it's mating season? Every mare from Manehatten to Ponyville is trying to find a stallion and seeing that there aren't that many...." This surprises me, since when are there THAT MANY mares in Equestria? "Dang, I knew it was mating season but did almost all of Equestria's colts just bolt or something because there shouldn't be THAT many chasing me." He paused for a second, then replied "Actually, quite a few did. All the stallions I could find are holed up in the Castle along with the Guards. Unfortunately, most of them got taken in the initially wave and not very many are left, but we're doing our best to hold out. Why don't you come with me? It's a lot safer than being out in the streets." "That WOULD be the best option here. Let's move." I say as a blue light envelops us and we arrive in what looks like the Royal Guard barracks. Only several stallions are left here, making me realize the true danger I'm in. I turn around and almost have a heart attack at the spectacle before me.The stallion before me looks JUST like my sister. "Gleaming Shield?" I say nervously. He turns around and he has a reaction similar to mine when he sees me. "TWILIGHT!? What happened to you?!" he shouts. "Who in Solaris' name is Twilight?!" I scream back. After about an hour of explaining, thinking, and face-hoofing, we realized what had occurred. "I screwed up, or Swirly Star did, but either way we're screwed. Both figuratively and literally." I say. "So your dimension has times like this?" Shining asks. "Yes, but since stallions outnumber the mares there 3 to 1, it's not really an issue, obviously the opposite is true in a gender-flipped universe." "Yeah, pretty much, we need to get you back to your dimension, before anything, awkward can happen to you. I suggest we t--" He's interrupted by a dozen or so horny-sounding voices behind the door, which is starting to splinter under the weight being applied to it. Shining lifts one of the stones off the floor and ushers the other stallions into the secret passage way as the door breaks, the last few colts being snatched by the lusting mares. We run for our lives down a series of passages until we run into a group of maids... nothing can go right for me today can it? This group take the last of the stallions until only me and Shining and I are left. We run down a hallway until, lo and behold, the library is before our eyes. For once I think I'm going to get a break before a dark blue alicorn (that seems all to similar to Artemis from my dimension) appears in front of us, with an all-too perfect smile on her face. "Well, looks like the fun is going to be doubled tonight!"  she says as she lunges for us. In that small window of time, Shining pushes me out of the way and the blue one teleports him Solaris-knows-where. In the short time it took me to get up, the massive army of mares managed to catch up. Not realizing what I was doing, I ran down a hallway and into a room with a Sun Symbol above the entrance. Grabbing random items from the room, I piled stuff in front of the door. It was over, I managed to get out of this while keeping my virginity intact. Only to here the sound of hoof steps from behind me. "Great.." I said as I turned to face the occupant of the room. She was a pure-white mare with a light-rainbow mane looking at me with a coy smile. She spoke with words like silk. "Oh goody, looks like all that waiting finally paid off." My cheeks flush red and I tried to escape but it was no use. I had trapped myself, no choice but to let what happens... "Oh, how funny- you look like my student Twilight. But you're male, and a male alicorn at that. It's been a long time, you know, since I had one in my bed. I thought they were all extinct, or at least gone. But I think it’s time the alicorn race repopulated. Don't you think?" ...happen. Then all the lights went out, and she proceeded toward me. <><><><><><>