The Secret Zoo; Obscurities & Magic

Chapter 5; The First Crossing

The afternoon came and library was now packed with mares, Twilight's friends and the two parents. Twilight held the keepsake in her magical grip. All the mares knew what was happening and why they were here, the one reason find The Cutie Mark Crusaders!

"I would like to thank Lyra and Bon Bon for the use of this keepsake, I know it mean a lot to you.." Twilight began.

"Yeah, thanks a lot for what you gave us." A cyan Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane zoomed above them. "Trust me well find them."

Twilight glared at her for a moment but knobbed in agreement. "As I was saying. This will act like a compass pointing us towards Scootaloo's and hopefully the other girls. "Twilight reached out and gripped the trinket with her hoof. Holding it out in front of her a magenta glow came from it. The glow took the form of an arrow, the arrow aimed itself out of the Library.

"Lets go." Twilight confirmed.

They all followed Twilight out of her Library and she quickly lead them through town. In no time they were at the edge of Flutter Shy's cottage. It was there Twilight stopped and faced all the mares. "There is some good news and bad news girls," She started. "The good news is that I think I know where they are. The bad new, they are in the Everfree Forest."

"The Everfree Forest!" Every pony and baby dragon shouted.

Twilight watched their reactions, she could see looks of worry cross Rarity, Apple Jack, Lyra and Bon Bon faces. Bon Bon and Lyra’s reaction were more severe, she knew her friends were ready to go but she didn't want to drag any pony along that could become a liability.

"Don't worry the spell can only detect a living pony, so they should be OK." Twilight assured the older siblings and parents.

"Alright, lets go!" Lyra shouted but Bon Bon placed her hoof on her shoulder.

"Lyar," The Earthbound mare told her partner. "No! We're staying here." She looked over to Flutter Shy. "We'll stay here and watch your animals for you. I think it would be best if you take Spike with you this time. A dragon that can magically send messages could be very useful."

"Bonny!" Lyar whinnied. "We need to help, Scootaloo is our daughter."

"Don't Lyra, just don't. I know she is our daughter, but we can trust Twilight. Remember when she save her and the others form Chryliste, Scoots told us that Twilight blasted Chryliste clear out of her cattle and that was when she was a unicorn. Now Twilight is an Alicorn Princess, and she has the other Elements of Harmony with her, I think she can handle anything." She pulled her partner into an embrace.

"I'm worried."

"I know you're, so am I. We can trust Twilight and her friends. Especially Rainbow Dash, she wants to be Scootaloo's sister ." The earth bound mare smiled, which made the mint green unicorn smile.

Lyar look at the lavender Alicorn and the cyan Pegasus. "Bring them home."

Twilight levitated Spike on to her back. Both her and Rainbow Dash nodded.

The six mares and one dragon entered the forest. They raced along a small animal trail that looked only slightly worn, Twilight lead the way with her magic compass. They kept going until they made it to the clearing where they saw a black velvet curtain, hanging in the center. Twilight stopped in mid trot almost causing the others to run into her.

"Girls look!" Twilight exclaimed. Spike and the others just stared They were awestruck at the sight of the curtain just hanging there.

"Twilight," Rarity broke the silence. "Is that a black velvet curtain and if I am not mistaken, which I am not, it's full of magic?"

"Yes." Twilight stated flatly.

"N' I'm guessing that compass do-hicky of yours is pointing straight for it." Apple Jack asked.

"Eeyup." Twilight answered.

"So, what is it?" Flutter Shy asked.

"I don't know, it's possible that it's some type of portal. Star swirl did attempt to use cloth in his initial work into extra dimensional portal research. But, he did say that such a portal would be unreliable. It relied on very unstable magic and a constant supply of it."

"Unstable, unreliable?" Rainbow Dash asked floating near her friend.

"Oh, oh, you mean like cup cakes? Silly putty? Mrs. Cake when Mr. Cake forgets their wedding anniversary?" Pinkie pogo hopped in-between her friends.

Twilight continued. "Yes, massive amounts of Shadow Magic."

"Like Somber?" Flutter Shy squeaked.

"More like Nightmare Moon and Nightmare Rarity." Rarity said some what sadly.

"Don't forget Princess Luna, she is also a Master of Shadow Magic and then there's me." Twilight told her friend as they all closed in on the curtain.

"So are we going though?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Let me sure up the curtain so that it would be safer for us to pass through." Twilight's horn lit up with a magnate aura and she directed her magic at the curtain. She started to struggle a little and shifted her eyes to her friends. "The rest of you have to go through first. I think it's safer if I keep putting my magic into it."

"Well, lets get going. I'll go first!" Rainbow Dash quickly did loop-de-loop before plowing into the curtain, it flapped a back and forth and slowly stopped swaying.

Apple Jack pawed at the ground. "Well if she can do it I can do it too." She charged through the curtain, causing it to swing back and forth.

"Common Flutter Shy," Pinkie giggled. "It's just a small hop, skip, and jump." Pinkie leaped backwards laughing she grabbed Flutter Shy's hoof and pulled her into the curtain with her. Flutter Shy squeaking out a "Meep." As she disappeared into the cloth.

With a flip of her well groomed main Rarity trotted through the curtain.

Spike jumped down from Twilight's back. He looked at his old friend. "See you soon."

"See you soon Spike." Twilight said the her number one assistant.

Twilight watched him pass through the curtain, she trotted closer to it. She kept her magic going as long as she could she took a deep breath as she jumped into the curtain.