A Portal for Two

“So what d’ya mean you made yet ANOTHER spell, Twi?” Applejack questioned the purple alicorn. She looked around the scenery that surrounded her. She, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Spike were sitting inside a hollowed out tree that was converted into the Golden Oaks Library. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom were downstairs having a sleepover since their sisters were there for Twilight’s demonstration.

“I mean, after finishing Starswirl the Bearded’s unfinished masterpiece, I figured I could upgrade the basic teleportation spell as well, so that not just the alicorns can use teleportation as a decent means of transportation. It was already upgraded once, the first teleportation spell using a massive amount of energy to teleport even a small distance. Then over a thousand years ago, it was revised so instead of using all the energy to teleport, it would automatically use your subconscious brain to calculate how much magic energy would be used to teleport the distance requested, so unicorns could teleport, even if it was just for show. Alicorns and the highest level unicorns can teleport greater distances, ranging from through walls to across several miles, city to city in Celestia’s case if need be. The sheer amount of magic needed for a distance is just too great for the average pony.” Twilight Sparkle said, putting on her lecture glasses and pointing at a chalkboard filled with diagrams, equations, and the anatomy of the Starswirl gland in all unicorns and alicorns.

“I am creating a way to enchant a gateway so that a massive amount of energy only goes in once, probably requiring some more unicorns along with my magic to make, so a stable portal can be made, placing one in each major city. Put one in Ponyville’s town hall, one in Canterlot Palace, and instant transportation in case of emergency. Won’t be a very scenic view, however.”

“So you mean, even we could teleport, even pegasi and earth ponies?” Rainbow Dash asked, suddenly taking an interest in magic for possibly the first time in her life.

“Yes, and I think I found the way. Rainbow, whenever you perform a Sonic Rainboom, you break the sound barrier, causing the magic inside you to erupt at full capacity for those 15.78 milliseconds. All ponies have magic, because without it, those wings couldn’t support a fully grown pony. Griffons and dragons have such large wings because they do not have magic to help. What we need you to do, Dash, is when the frame is built to the proper specifications, we are going to raise it into the air, and you have to do a Sonic Rainboom exactly as you are passing through the ring. We will have a team of unicorns enchanting it and Thunderlane and Soarin’ can hold it up with ropes. We all know how much you want to impress him before Applejack’s pies do.” Rainbow blushed at the last part with the rest going way over her head, save for the Sonic Rainboom inside the empty frame part. Applejack blushed a little at the praise her Apple Family Recipes got while Pinkie Pie was bouncing up and down, smiling at nothing in particular. A long night of calculations were ahead of the team, as well as scoring the ingredients for the portal frame, them being crystallized magic inside rare blue diamonds, some favors would need to be called in.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going to bed.” Spike said as he started for the stairs that lead to the basement.

“Um, Spike? Your bed is upstairs, not downstairs.” Twilight said with a confused look on her face, not uncommon on the lavender studybug.

“I know, but Sweetie Belle said the crusaders wanted to play a new game they heard from the colts at school. Seven minutes in something, I dunno.” Spike said with a  shrug and walked down the staircase that leads below the mighty oak library.

“ Should we tell him?” Rarity asked out of concern, getting only ‘Nah’s and ‘Just Wait’s in reply.

“Let us not dwell on that, he will learn. Come on girls, I’ll make some coffee. We have a long night ahead of us, we should be ready to build in less than a week!” Twilight’s small speech brought a chorus of cheers and a small ‘yay’ as she trotted to the kitchen and started boiling some water.

Twilight rose groggily out of her desk, face in a book now covered in drool and looked around at her sleeping friends. They had two more variables to balance and then they could begin double checking to confirm. So far they have been favorable and it looked promising. She slowly and quietly tiphoofed around the web of ponies and made her way to the stairs to check on Spike and the fillies. She made her way down to see Spike lying on a mattress, fast asleep, with three colorful fillies nuzzling into his scales without a care in the world.

‘That is adorable.’ Twilight thought to herself as she left them alone again. She trotted up the stairs to the library, waltzed into the kitchen, and started prepping breakfast for her friends. A half hour later of smoke and liquid being where liquids should not ever be, Twilight gave up cooking and sliced some fruit.

“Is Sweetie Belle still downstairs? I don’t want to hurt her feelings.” Rarity asked, walking in the room almost completely vented of smoke by now.

“No, she is still curled up with Spike downstairs on those old mattresses. I didn’t want to wake them so I gave another shot at culinary work.” Was a cheerful reply given by the purple alicorn.

“That’s what I was afraid of, darling. Sweetie Belle is the only pony I know that can liquefy toast, but you completely evaporated it and we are breathing it in right now. Sorry, dearest, but cooking isn’t one of your many fields of expertise.”

“Yeah, I know, I just didn’t want to wake up Spike, he looked too adorable with three fillies piled on top of him, snoozing away.” Twilight said, taking a piece of cored pear and taking a gentle bite out of it.

“This I have to see!” Rarity squealed and ran to the stairs, trying not to make too much noise, causing a confused look to come upon the faces of the rest of her friends, who walked in the room at the same time.

“Something adorable?” Applejack asked to Twilight.

“Yup”

“Figures.”

“How much more do we have to do? If you don’t mind my asking. I have to tend to my animals soon.” Fluttershy asked, poking her head out from behind Applejack.

“ Oh I only have to balance two more variables before I can substitute the ones I already calculated to get a solid number, then triple checking. I don’t need help with this, if your responsibilities are piling up.” She said, glancing at Applejack who took yesterday off earlier than normal so she had some serious work to do to get caught up. Applejack got wide eyed at her missed chores, grabbed an apple with her mouth and bolted out the door before Big Mac came knocking. One by one, her friends eventually left, the CMC leaving with their sisters, Applebloom being an exception as it was a Saturday. The fillies had no school today, but they still had to get cleaned for the day at their respective houses. Twilight just sat at her board, chalk held in an aura of purple magic, mind in intense concentration. Spike was taking a nap on the couch, dreaming of that seven minutes game.

Over the next several days, Twilight balanced the equations, substituted the variables with controlled numbers, predetermined by other balanced equations, and drew up some plans for the portal frame. She determined that each blue diamond would have to be enchanted with seven seconds of a power-up spell, level six version. There would be fifty blue diamonds of at least a one inch diameter and twenty five fire rubies, enchanted at level three for ten seconds each, in special rings. The portal frame would be five feet wide, circular, and have a base material of granite plated with platinum on the inside, as platinum doesn’t react with magic. Before a second frame could be built and linked with the first one, she made an adjustment to the plans so if a teleportation spell was going to be cast and a destination was in mind, just a spark of magic would be enough to enact the spell, but the gems would be discharged slightly. This is just a redirection of magic from higher level unicorns and would have little benefit besides educational ones.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student” The letter that woke Spike up read as he read it out loud to a smiling Twilight, proud of her work. “in your last letter you said that you had a way to build a portal between cities but needed some exotic materials. If you can send me a copy of your plans to do this, I could review them to determine whether or not it’s possible, and redirect the requested materials if it is plausible. I am very proud of you, Princess, you have come a long from the filly I met who turned her parents into plants at my school for gifted unicorns. Yours truly, Princess Celestia.” Spike finished reading and went upstairs while Twilight began assembling and duplicated plans, lists, samples, and equations, as long as plenty of work shown. Once she had a hefty packet assembled, she bound it and had Spike send it via DragonMail.

“I think I’m going to go for a walk, it’s kind of stuffy  in here.” Twilight told Spike and walked out.

“Took her long enough.” Spike said and started dragging a kitchen chair to the freezer for some uninterrupted ice cream time.

“Do ya think we might’ve gone a little bit too far with Spike last night?” Applebloom asked her fellow Crusaders during their meeting at the Cutie Mark Crusaders Headquarters.

“I was wondering that too, I hope he doesn’t hate us now.” A nervous Sweetie Belle replied while Scootaloo just smirked.

“Nah, he was totally into it once we got started.” The young tomboy replied with ease, relaxing and putting her forehooves behind her head, leaning back.

“You tied him to a wall with a roll of duct tape!” Applebloom yelled.

“And taped his mouth shut when he tried yelling for help.” Sweetie Belle added.

“He said he wanted to after!” Scootaloo countered the two fillies.

“After you tickle tortured him for half an hour.”

“So?”

“Enough!” Sweetie Belle yelled, causing the headbutting fillies to shut up and sit down. “Thank you. Now, why the hay did we do that in the first place? I know the colts play seven minutes in heaven, or so they claim, but we didn’t have to! Plus don’t forget they are like four years older than us.”

“Don’t act like you didn’t want to now, it was your idea, Sweetie Belle.” Applebloom said.

“It was also your idea to have the sleepover at the library. Where Spike lives. Something on your mind, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo added to the Apple’s daunt and they brohoofed at Sweetie Belle’s ever growing crimson blush coating her white cheeks.

“NO! I mean no, I don’t. What is with you girls?” Sweetie Belle said, failing to recover from the experience.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of Sweetie Belle, you just have to admit you like him.” Scootaloo taunted toward the young unicorn filly sitting across from her.

“I don’t love him! He’s just a friend!” Sweetie yelled at the pegasus, while the earth pony butted in again.

“She never asked ya if ya liked him, Sweetie Belle, she said ya loved him. Not liked. Care to rephrase that?” Applebloom said, causing Sweetie to blush uncontrollably and run out of the clubhouse to cover her embarrassment.

“Sweetie we were just teasing, come on!” Scootaloo yelled at the doorway, hoping to grab her attention before she was gone.

“Alright, fine.” Sweetie Belle said as she trotted back in. “Now, which one of you likes Rumble?” A blush on Scootaloo’s cheeks sparked a grin on the white unicorns face. She nudged Applebloom and pointed with a hoof at Scootaloo’s increasing blush and they giggled quietly.

“So who do you like, Bloom?”

“Twilight, there is a fleet of some weird looking royal guards with a large crate asking for you!” Spike called inside the library. Twilight rushed to the door, moving Spike with her magic and running outside with a large smile on her face.

“Yay they’re here! Oh and Spike, these are my royal guards. Like the golden clad guards for Celestia and Cadence, and the bat winged Night Guards for Princess Luna, these ones are for me. Princess Celestia insisted.” Twilight said, checking on her inventory for her new invention. Spike inspected these new royal guards. They had lavender and deep purple armor, coats and manes dyed purple and white. Their armor was made of a thick fabric enchanted to protect against spells and plated in hard metal that was painted and polished. Their weapon of choice was a gold plated spear with a  solid core, with a simplified version of Twilight’s cutie mark as a spearpoint. Their forehooves also had larger plates to serve as shields in case of a sword attack.

“Nice guards, which one is Sentry?” Spike asked aloud, getting a blush from Twilight that went unnoticed by her guards and Spike.

“The Flash Sentry here isn’t the same one as from the mirror world, you know this. Besides, I hung out with him here for a few days right after the whole incident and he is kind of a pain. Pretty forgetful and has his head in the clouds. Granted he is a Pegasus, but you know what I mean.” Twilight said. “All right, we have everything we need, let’s begin constructing the smaller bits in the basement. Spike, take a letter.”

Spike ran inside and ran out a second later with a quill and parchment. “Ready!”

“Dear Mayor Mare, the shipment from Canterlot arrived with my specialized guards as requested. I request Thunderlane and Soarin be present at the launch of the portal in one week’s time. Also post a notice requesting at least five unicorns that are adept to very experienced in magic to help me with enchanting the gemstones required on Friday afternoon, beginning at one. The more stamina they have with spells, the better. I will alert all the other ponies required for this myself and hope you can attend the final stage of its construction, Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom, which activates its power. Yours truly, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight finished and glanced at Spike, who was finishing his writing.

“Twi light Spar kle! Done!” He said and took a breath to send it, as habit dictated. Twilight grabbed it with her magic and Spike blew a stream of green fire at the nothingness that resided in his claws. “Hey, what gives?”

“I’m sending this to the mayor, not Celestia. I’ll teleport this to her office.” And with that, she focused her horn and sent the letter into oblivion, only to appear half a town away on top of an oak desk covered in other papers.

“Sorry, force of habit.” Spike sheepishly said, hands behind his back, looking up.

“It’s alright, Spike. Everypony makes mistakes.” Twilight said with a smile as she levitated the cargo sitting outside into the basement. The guards have been long since dismissed by the lavender mare and she trotted inside, two large wooden crates in tow behind her. The sun was setting on the peaceful town of earth ponies and she began closing down the library as the time has come. Same time, every day. Six o’clock PM.

Twilight opened the first crate and began sorting through them, isolating the gems, blue diamonds in one pile, fire rubies in the other. The platinum plates were stacked on the worktable she had set up, next to the buckets of gems. The granite slabs were left outside, behind the library where nopony normally went. She felt bad for the guard who had to tow the granite in a chariot all the way from Canterlot, but it was necessary. After all the stuff had been sorted, she saw an extra box, one she did not request. Opening it with her magic, it revealed a rather large brick of the most delicate and well mixed chocolate she had ever laid her now growing eyes on. A note was on top of the small slab, with the words ‘Enjoy’ written in Celestia’s hoofwriting in fancy writing on a fancy card. Twilight used her magic to carve a small piece off, exactly five grams worth, and ate it in one bite.

She nearly fell over from the flavor.

Friday evening: four o’clock. All the blue diamonds and fire rubies have been enchanted, leaving five unicorns and one alicorn very drained and tired. They discussed and agreed a short nap would be in order and were all stretched out on two mattresses that Twilight brought from the basement using her remaining strength, snoozing away the hours until a five o’clock alarm rang, waking them from their temporary slumber.

“That was wonderful and I had a great time, but I must leave. I hope your portal works Twilight!” A now refreshed Colgate said as she left the golden oaks library, prompting goodbyes/lucks to come from the other four, departing immediately afterward. Twilight walked into the kitchen to find Spike beginning dinner for the two.

“Spike, starting dinner? Can I help?” Twilight asked, now perky from her rest.

“Oooohhh no. You stay away from me and this kitchen while I cook. You are bad luck when it comes to food. No offense anyway.” Spike said as he attempted to push the much bigger mare out of the cozy room.

“Fine.” Twilight said with a grump and walked back to the main library room to find a good book. She selected one about theoretical physics and many theories that have yet to be proven or disproven, one that she often enjoys thinking about. After a good read, a good meal, and another good read, she was finally ready for bed. She trotted up the stairs after blowing out all the lanterns and made sure Spike was tucked in correctly, nuzzling his sleeping carcass slightly before squeezing into bed.

Finally the day had come. Rainbow Dash and the Mayor convinced Captain Spitfire to lend Soarin to Ponyville for the day to lift the portal. They claimed it was because lifting granite fifty feet in the air is a hard job, which it is. Really it was just because Rainbow Dash wouldn’t stop talking about how awesome he is and Twilight thought she should get a chance to show off the Sonic Rainboom yet again. It was impressive, both by an aesthetic and a scientific standpoint.

The gate was made of several slabs of granite several inches thick aligned in a circle, plated with platinum sheets on the inside and laced with the enchanted blue diamonds and fire rubies that would amplify and redirect background magic into a tangible one. Two iron loops were drilled into the top and ropes were tied to them, Thunderlane and Soarin, being the two strongest flyers besides Rainbow Dash in Ponyville, held it up about fifty feet high in an abandoned field in case they drop it. The weather team cleared every cloud in the sky and three unicorns, each in a chariot held up by a royal guard and Twilight flying, all had their horns charged and ready to fire at the very center at Twilight’s command. Rainbow had an orange flag tied to her tail so everypony could tell when she began her descent. The orange flag was stationary about three thousand feet above the ground when it began flapping and slowly drifting.

Rainbow had untied it and began quickly falling and gaining speed as she flapped her wings and a small cone began forming in front of her as two thousand feet fell around her in less than a minute. She pitched up her wings in an effort to pull up. She did, and she began hurling at a ludicrous speed toward the stone ring. As she had two thousand feet until she hit the ring, Twilight gave the signal, prompting the other unicorns to fire their beams at the middle. Rainbow Dash kept at her fastest, keeping her altitude steady and speed gaining, the Boom almost approaching. As she passed right through the ring, the famous Sonic Rainboom erupted from her, encasing the gems in pure raw magic energy while being contained by the unicorn’s barriers.

After Rainbow had sped away to slow down after breaking the sound barrier once again, the frame was lowered to the ground, being placed in a holding groove dug into the ground. Twilight landed and tucked her wings in firmly, as not to get a wingboner from the pure science involved. She slowly approached the portal and noticed something was wrong. Very wrong. The gems were glowing, but what should not be happening was some were glowing, some were pulsing, some were dead, and some were gone. Several electrical sparks jumped from gem to gem before a barrier of blue-green energy encased the inside, forming the portal field.

“Okay everypony, from what I have gathered, it works.” This brought a huge wave of cheering that was settled down by Twilight flaring her wings and giving a disappointed look. “However, it did not work as I had hoped it would. It was supposed to be able for any unicorn to teleport wherever they wanted to without the magical experience or stamina to actually do it. Unfortunately, I created a pathway to another place in which I have no idea where it is. I need time to review with the Royal Council and the other princesses about how to proceed. In the meantime, the portal is not to be touched and you should go back to your business. I will be here tomorrow with the results of our meeting.” Twilight said with a very authoritative voice and everypony grumbled and left, talking amongst themselves about what they had just witnessed.

“Hey Soarin, I brought some pie from Applejack’s, thought you would want… some… What happened, Twilight? Where the hay is everypony? Did they leave? Did I scare them or blow them away? Did the portal suck them? Did they…?” She was cut off with a hoof in her mouth that was removed so the owner of the hoof could speak.

“The experiment failed, Rainbow. Everypony went home. Except I think Soarin is looking for you for some reason, keep that pie warm.” Twilight solemnly said to the rainbow maned mare.

“That sucks, Twi. I’m going to find Soarin, let me know if you can fix the portal.” And with that, she took off to the skies to find the wonderbolt. Twilight sighed and walked back, slowly, to the failed attempt at making a pony’s life easier transportation-wise. She walked right up to the portal and stared into the hypnotizing embrace of the glow. She was tempted to touch it, but dared not. She had a royal duty to follow and she took off towards the train station to catch the next train to Canterlot.

“Thank you for joining us here today, Twilight. Take your seat in the Royal Council.” Celestia said as she led Twilight Sparkle into the small chamber that housed the other princesses. Celestia had closed the Day Court for the day to discuss the portal and what to do with it. Cadence and Shining Armor had teleported themselves using the power of the Crystal Heart to arrive quicker than the train could provide. Each princess sat in a small throne decorated in their own design, sitting in a circle around a table filled with information about the portal. Shining Armor and Flash Sentry sat outside the sealed doors, guarding it with their lives. Having all four Princesses in one room was a risky move, but one they deemed necessary.

“What is the status of the portal, Twilight?” Princess Cadence said, the Princess of Love turning her head to look at the Princess of Magic.

“It seems stable, but instead of a live link to determined destination, it seems to be in a phase loop. I am afraid that whatever location one of the ponies involved in the project seems to have imprinted upon the gems. I assume you have looked over the plans I sent Princess Celestia?” Twilight said, still with a touch of nervousness in her voice.

“Yes, and the project looks very promising. So who was involved in the enchanting? All of them, not just the ones doing the gems. The unicorns involved must have been thinking of where they want to go with the portal, I assume.” Cadence responded. The other princesses agreed and nodded.

“Twilight, we need you to go back to Ponyville and interview each of the unicorns that were involved in the project. Once you have isolated the location most likely that the portal will lead, come back here and we will determine whether or not it is save to attempt to enter the portal. Dismissed.” Princess Celestia said to Twilight, who was now getting out of her throne.

“Yes, Princess. I won’t let you down.”  Twilight said with a salute and galloped out of the room. As Twilight ran out of the room, charging her horn to teleport to Ponyville, Shining Armor saw Flash Sentry look at her as she ran past.

“Careful about her, if you want to date that princess, you have to get past her older brother first. I hear he’s pretty awesome.” Shining said with a cheeky smile as Flash just rolled his eyes.

Back at Ponyville, several young colts and fillies were surrounding the portal at a safe distance, trying to figure out what it was. They were interrupted by a lavender alicorn appearing in front of them in a flash of light, looking at them sternly.

“I thought I told you not to touch the portal.” Twilight said.

“We weren’t here when you did whatever you did.” Snips said to Twilight in his defense.

“Yeah, we were at school with Ms Cheerilee!” Snails said, defending his childhood brethren.

“Alright, fine. You cannot touch this portal. Royal business only. This is not the fun you’re looking for. Move along.” Twilight said as the young ponies totted away with a collective groan. “Now, first up is Colgate.”

She knocked on Colgate’s front door. Her dentistry had been closed for the occasion and she was likely being bored around the house, either that or she was hanging with Bon Bon and/or Lyra. Colgate opened the door with a little frown but it instantly changed to a smile when she saw Twilight at her door. She led her in and trotted to the kitchen, returning with two cups of coffee in her magical grasp. She floated one to Twilight, who graciously accepted it before they sat on the small two cushion sofa that sat in the living room of Colgate’s home.

“Did you find a way to make the portal work without remaking the entire thing? I am not really in the mood to make another one from scratch.” Colgate kicked off the conversation as Twilight took a sip of her coffee.

“Unfortunately, no. I am trying to figure out what happened. The portal apparently linked like it was supposed to once we built another, but we didn’t! The portal is linked to an unknown location, and it is probably a location that one of the ponies enchanting the portal at the time of the Rainboom. So I have to interview you, Lyra, and Rarity. Were you thinking of where you would teleport if you could teleport anywhere?” Twilight asked her as the pleasantries continued.

“No, I was concentrating on putting all my magic into the spell. My mind can’t wander when performing magic or it goes crazy.” Colgate replied, as the two finished their coffee at the same time. They wrapped up their conversation and Twilight eventually had to leave to interview the other two mares, Rarity being the next pony on her list. Twilight trotted over to her Boutique in a hurried fashion, no pun intended, and knocked on her door before trotting into the public business.

“Rarity? You in?” Twilight called into the Carousel Boutique, where everything is sheik, unique, and magnifique.

“Coming! Hold on! Don’t worry! I’ve got it!” a filly’s voice yelled as the source of the voice fell down the stairs attempting to strangle a piece of red ribbon. “Sorry, Rarity isn’t in right now, she’s running a few errands. She told me to stay here and try to find the difference between cinnamon colored ribbon and cherry colored ribbon.” Sweetie Belle said with a grin.

“Aren’t they both red?” Twilight asked with a confused look on her face.

“That’s what I said! She just doesn’t get it. She said she would be back in fifteen minutes, like, half an hour ago. Feel free to stay in the waiting room or something, I have a score to settle with some ribbon.” Sweetie said as she dragged the helpless stream of fabric back up the stairs with a smirk on her face. Twilight sat down on one of the chairs just as Rarity waltzed into the Boutique humming the song about dresses she loved ever so much.

“Oh hello, Twilight! What brings you around? Did you get that portal thing working?” Rarity asked with a smile as she levitated her baggage from her saddlebags into the other room for later use. “Would you like some refreshments? Coffee or tea perhaps?” Rarity asked out of generosity.

“No thanks, Rarity, I just had a coffee at Colgate’s. I was here to talk about the portal actually. I needed to know exactly what you were thinking about when we were firing the activation spell when Rainbow was flying through the empty frame.” Twilight replied, sitting down again.

“Well, if I recall, I was just thinking about how awful it would be if Rainbow Dash missed the portal and had to do the Rainboom all over again I believe. Either that or how much better the whole ordeal would look with some ribbon on it. Cinnamon or cherry would go nicely with the fire rubies, don’t you think?” Rarity asked, going into one of her fashion delves.

“It’s just red!” Twilight calmly said while Sweetie Belle yelled it at the top of her lungs from the staircase while wrestling the crimson ribbon. “Were you thinking about the destination you would go to if the portal was a success? I know even the most powerful unicorns cannot teleport between cities very easily and many unicorns would love the opportunity.”

“No, I was more concerned with Rainbow’s well being, darling. Normally I am used to her injuring herself, but if she missed and hit the granite slabs, she could have died or worse! That would be the worst! Possible! Thing!” Rarity said as she fell over on her fainting couch. Twilight got up, bid her farewell and left, heading over to Bon Bon and Lyra’s place. Twilight trotted into town, took a left turn, then a right. Over the bridge, then cutting through the market, she trotted along, waving hello to a few passing ponies and cutting through a few alleyways. She eventually made it to the small house. She trotted up the small path and knocked on the door to be greeted by Bon Bon.

“Hi Twilight, come on in! Here to see Lyra about the portal?” Bon Bon inquired as she led the mare inside. They sat down on a small couch, similar to Colgate’s. Lyra walked in the door as they were sitting down, and after floating a small bag of apples into the kitchen, sat down on a chair next to the seat, sitting in her own unique way.

“Let’s cut to the chase here, I’ve already done this twice today. The portal was messed up because I believe that one of the ponies that were performing the spell to keep the Rainboom enclosed in to affect the jewels to the maximum extent, was thinking and letting her mind wander during its execution. I’ve talked with Colgate and Rarity already and I have gone over what I was thinking and I fear the worst. Lyra, were you thinking on where you would teleport to if the portal worked?” Twilight said with a slight cringe, hoping Lyra wouldn’t start ranting about those mythological beings she overindulged in far too often.

“Heck yeah, I was thinking about humans again! Why, did I make a portal to their world? Do you know how awesome that would be?!” She asked with excitement in her voice. Where she was calm and collected before, now she was bouncing in her chair with excitement and happiness.

“That is what I fear, yes. If you were thinking too hard about these ‘humans’ you may have created a portal to their world, assuming one exists anyway.” Twilight said. Lyra’s eyes were slowly getting wider and her grin was wider alongside with every second that passed inside the small abode.

“Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh! This is so fantastic! Real life human beings! And I get to hug them and have their fingers mess around my mane! I have had my fake human hands do that while I manipulate them and it feels great! I wonder how a real hand will feel?” Lyra asked to nopony in particular. Twilight had all the information she needed. She bid farewell and focused her strength and stamina to charge her horn to its maximum extent and teleported all the way to Canterlot. She was thankful for her new alicorn powers and had a guard show her where the other princesses were gathered. They were having dinner in the grand hall at the time with some of the other guards. Not a formal dinner so many guards could attend, save for the ones on duty and those out on the town.

“Twilight, did you find out where the portal most likely leads if disrupted?” Cadence inquired.

“Yes, my friend Lyra Heartstrings was apparently thinking intently on teleporting to the land of her ‘humans’ and that is likely the location it would lead. Assuming that location exists anyway. Since that location is fictional by all my knowledge, I claim that it would be safe to destroy the portal without fear of sudden extraterrestrial transportation.” Twilight said, taking a seat at the large table that the others sat at, one of four occupying the large room bustling with ponies.

“That is good, if you feel there is no salvaging the project, I would be glad to provide materials for another. If you do make another that is, under more controlled circumstances.” Princess Celestia said to Twilight, while the goddess of the sun was enjoying a particularly large piece of black velvet cake.

“I don’t think Equestria really needs instantaneous transportation to anywhere quite just yet, Celestia.” Twilight said, before grabbing a salad from one of the ponies carrying a large tray of them from table to table. “I think the whole thing would be great in the long run, but there are just too many variables. I’ll have it dismantled personally and the gems drained of their magic. I’m sure Rarity would have a use for the blue diamonds in one of her dresses for Sapphire Shores and Spike has never had a fire ruby before. They’re pretty rare. Unless you need them back, Princess, because I am sure I can get them back for you.” Twilight began rambling now and the Princess of the Sun cut her off.

“It is quite alright, my faithful student. I need not the gems; otherwise I would not have provided them to you. Feel free to give them away or use them personally at your disclosure. I trust you also enjoyed the other gift I included as well?” Celestia said as Cadence just gave a confused look to Princess Luna, who was chatting with a night guard and did not notice.

“What did you send her, auntie?” Cadenza asked her aunt who sat across from her.

“Oh, just some Zebraskan Chocolates.” Celestia said with a small grin.

“Aren’t those extremely rare and expensive?”

“Not to mention delicious.”

“She sent me a brick.” Twilight cut in after finishing her salad and thinking about the chocolates.

“Really? Wow she gave me a brick as a wedding gift. That was great. If she gives you a brick as a just because present, you should get married while she’s in a good mood.” Cadence teased her as Twilight blushed at the thought. She looked out the window and saw the sun was beginning to set and she realized she had to close the library and get Spike to bed.

“This has been a great dinner and I thank you for the chocolate and the gems, but I have to get back to Ponyville to get Spike to bed or he will just stay up all night eating my ice cream.” Twilight said, and with a flash of her horn, she was gone.

“Well that was fun.” Cadence said, pulling a small slice of chocolate from her room with a poof of magic and nibbling on it. “So good!” she squealed.

“Spike! How much ice cream did you eat?” Twilight called into the Golden Oaks Library, catching the baby drake’s attention.

“Uh, a gallon?” he said while putting another spoon in his mouth, belly extending out a few extra inches from this morning.

“Yaknow, the fillies don’t like it when you’re out of shape. No offense, but you’re getting a little plump.” Twilight said, floating the ice cream away from him and back into the freezer where it belonged.

“What do you mean, the ‘fillies don’t like it’? Why would I care about what they think of me?” Spike asked, earning him a knowing smirk from the purple pony.

“I mean the ones who think you’re cute. Like Sweetie Belle for example?” Twilight said, Spike groaning in disgust at the thought of that.

“Fillies are gross! I don’t want a marefriend yet, I am only like four years old!”

“But you behave like a ten year old filly does, which coincidentally Sweetie Belle is.” Twilight said to him. “C’mon, you will learn to like fillies someday. Let’s get you to bed.”

“Alright, but you have to get to bed too. I don’t want you to fall asleep on your desk again, it hurts your neck and you complain a lot.” Spike said, yawning as he floated up the stairs in Twilight’s magical grasp.

“Sorry buddy, I have a lot of work to do on how to disassemble the broken portal without disrupting the field. If I do, then I might cause the jump and either get pulled into a world that might not exist or bring a being here that does not belong. This is very serious.” Twilight instructed as she tucked Spike into his basket and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Spike groaned and wiped it off before falling into a quiet slumber less than a minute later. As Twilight walked out of the room and blew the lanterns out to make it darker again, she thought about how to go about the current situation and pondered about how the kingdom she shared in ruling might react if she actually brought a human into this world. She knew the thought was ludicrous but she couldn’t help wondering. Does she even know what she got herself into this time?