Chapters The Link Between the Worlds
"Is it ready?" asked a very worried Princess Celestia. Shining Armor stood at attention in front of her. "Are the wards up? The guards stationed? Where's Twilight? Is she safe yet?" As her voice grew more and more frantic with every question she asked, she started to pace the ground in front of the castle. She'd been like this ever since Twilight had failed to respond to her letter. The captain of the Royal Guard sighed before answering. Her Highness was acting very unprofessional.
"The wards are active and the retrieval team is ready to go, Your Highness."
Celestia stopped pacing. "Where's Twilight?" she asked, almost pleadingly. She didn't care how uncomfortable being called "Your Highness" made her. She just wanted to see her former apprentice. She could be stuck in some sort of dimensional limbo, she thought. Drifting forever in the void. Celestia shook her head, reminding herself to not loose her cool. That's what Equestria needed.
"The unstable area that you showed us doesn't seem to like ponies. Our strongest soldiers weren't able to break through the barrier. There're hitting it just as hard as everypony else." He chuckled a bit. "It's actually pretty funny to watch. They're taking bets on who's going to get in and everything." Shining Armor shrugged. "I don't understand what's the big deal is. We'll eventually break in, get Twily-" he paused to correct himself, "Princess Twilight, and then it will all be over."
The princess of the sun was silent. She was silent for a very long time. Don't get angry. Don't get angry. she repeated. But this stallion has the nerve to ask you "What the big deal is." Your student is trapped in a portal zone, and he doesn't care in the least. She raised her head, and looked him straight in the eye. "You want to know what the big deal is?" she asked quietly. Shining gulped. He'd said something wrong.
"The big deal is that we're getting a visitor from another universe!" She was practically screaming as she picked up the unfortunate stallion with her magic. An angry Alicorn Princess with the power to banish him to the moon was enough to make him wish he had stayed in the Crystal Empire with his wife. "Some time soon, that castle is going to be the entry point for whatever is coming through! And do you know what will happen to anypony that gets caught in that entry point?" The captain shook his head. "They'll be sucked into the portal as well!" Celestia threw the stallion to the ground as his eyes widened at the implications of what Her Highness had just said. If he survived this, he might never see Twilight again if she didn't leave the castle soon. Poor Twily, he thought. She must be scared out of her mind.
"Uh, Twilight, you might want to see this."
The purple Alicorn raised her head slightly to look up from her book on quantum physics. She grumbled under her breath. She was at the good part and Spike had the nerve to interrupt her.
"What is it Spike?" she called back.
"I think Princess Celestia is trying to strangle your brother on the front lawn."
Twilight snorted at his comment and set down the book. She'd gotten the information she had needed and was going to try out her new spell. In theory, it should align the polarities of an object and magnetize it automatically. The practical uses were endless. Time to see what magic can do, she thought, as she rubbed her hooves together. She paused for a second, feeling a certain spark in the air that hadn't been there before. She waved it away, though, explaining it as her nerves. Spike had given her a letter from Princess Celestia that was so rushed she could barely read it. But the splatters of ink on the page told her that Celestia was worried about something. Too bad Spike had eaten some bad gems and couldn't respond by dragonfire. It was probably just Discord playing a prank on her. After all, who else is there to fight? she thought to herself. I think I would notice if Tirek was back. She smiled at the thought. It was just an ordinary day, after all.
"Uh, Your Highness, what are you doing?"
Both the Alicorn and her victim turned toward the voice and saw that it belong to an orange-coated guard. What's his name again? asked the white stallion. Oh, right! Flash Sentry. The rookie had been the laughing stock of the Royal Guard for the past few weeks, mostly for his crush on the caption's little sister. Shining Armor failed to see much humor in it though.
Awkwardly, Celestia released him, realizing that she was throttling the Caption of the Royal Guard. "I was… trying to convey my concern on this matter to Shining Armor here." Flash took this as a sign to be cautious around the princess for the next couple of hours.
"I came here as fast as I could, sir," said the rookie.
Some other guards yelled from across the lawn, "Hey Flash, worried about your fillyfriend?" which sparked some laughs which was followed by the thump of another failed attempt. Flash winced and Shining Armor silenced the guards with a glance.
"How is the mission going?" asked Flash, apparently over his embarrassment.
"Our soldiers haven't been able to get past a certain point in the grass. It's like they hit a wall. It's a portal to another universe or something. And we can't teleport in for fear of prematurely activating the portal. If Princess Twilight is in there when the portal activates, she'll get sucked in and come out the other side."
Flash took a few seconds to process the information. "So your soldiers haven't been able to get past it."
"That's right."
Flash paused. Should I really ask this? "Well, do you think an Alicorn could?"
The Link Between the Worlds
"An… Alicorn?" stuttered Shining Armor. "Are you suggesting that Her Highness should walk into a portal and most likely never return?"
Flash mentally slapped himself. What a stupid idea. Only an idiot like me would think that something like that would work. The orange stallion glanced at the Princess of the Sun. She seemed to be at a loss for words. His eyes darted towards he castle.
Then again…
"Yes, that's what I'm suggesting." He tried to speak with as much confidence as possible. "If our soldiers are unable to get through, then that suggests that the barrier is immensely strong." His voice had a little more force about it now. "So, it can be concluded that to enter, you must be immensely strong in magic. And Her Highness is powerful enough to subconsciously guiding the sun across the sky all day."
Flash barely hid a smile. He almost sounded smart. But his captain thought otherwise, judging by his vigorously shaking head.
"I'm sorry, but it's too risky. What if Her H-" He never finished his sentence.
"Shining Armor, please! I'm right here, and I would prefer it if you called my by my name," reprimanded Celestia. His bones aching from her last outburst, he was all too happy to comply.
"What if Celestia's magic accidentally se-"
"I wasn't finished speaking yet."
"Of course, sorry Princess." The captain gave an apologetic duck of the head.
"What I was going to say was that I think young Mr. Sentry's plan is the best course of action that we have."
Both stallion's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Celestia, we could-" An electric POP sounded behind him followed by another round of laughter. A look of resignation pass over the stallion's face. "Go on."
But by that time, his princess was almost to the wall.
"Okay, Soos, let's get you unzombie-ified."
"Brains," Soos called from his spot on the floor.
"Yeah, we heard ya, buddy," replied Dipper. He glanced at the book to see if he'd gotten the markings right. The cinnamon over there, the Japanese silk worms over there, the charcoal here. Everything seemed to be in order. The boy checked to make sure that his family was in position. Stan was on the fifth point of the star holding his candle, and Mabel was on the opposite side of the room, holding hers upside-down for no reason at all. Dipper shrugged. It should work. But it was going to let off a lot of energy if what the book said was true.
Celestia slowed as she reached the burnt ring of grass. How should I proceed? she wondered. I may not have thought this through. She thought for a few seconds. I don't run into it like those guards. That would most likely result in more harm than help. Her musings were interrupted by a well timed "Ow!" as another guard fell prey to peer pressure. Definitely not that. Maybe I should just touch it and see what happens from there. The white Alicorn breathed in and out, preparing herself, and fully aware that every second that she took meant less for her former student. She closed eyes, and reached out with her mind, locating the barrier. She slowly reached her hoof forward, and made contact. This is it.
Dipper closed the book, ready to begin the purification. "Everyone ready?" he asked. Stan and Mabel nodded. Dipper breathed in and out, preparing himself, and completely obvious of the chain of events that would follow. He started his chant. "Mortuum non relinquunt eum." The ritual began.
The touch left a burning sensation on her hoof, but Celestia had felt worse than this. She pushed against the barrier, one though repeating in her mind. Am I going to save her, or doom myself?
"Corruptio et derelinquam eum." Soos' body was lifted into the air by an unseen force. Normally, Dipper would have tried to take a picture to show Stan proof that magic existed, had he not just discovered that Stan had known all along. But Dipper's concentration was one of iron, not to be broken, not even by the blue ring that was appearing in the grass around the Mystery Shack.
Celestia pushed and pushed until finally, she was through. It felt like teleportation, being in one place and suddenly being in another. She shook her head to clear away the fog in her mind. She couldn't waste any more time. The blue ring that was forming around the castle told her that she wasn't going to be able to get back out if she tried to grab Twilight. She galloped through the doors, in a desperate search for the obviously distraught young Alicorn.
"Twilight! You need to see this! Please! It's urgent!"
Spike's claw was banging on Twilight's door with almost enough force to break the solid crystal. But still, Twilight couldn't hear him. Her intricate spell was almost complete. Soon the apple in front of her would have its picture featured on the front page of Canterlot Monthly . Just a couple more seconds and it would all be complete.
"Et derelinquam eum, infectio," The zombie essence was pouring out of Soos' body, filling the air around him. The glow of his eyes dimmed a little. The foul black fog of an essence tried to return to the host, but the shielding spell activated, forming a bubble of light around the handyman's body. The light hissed as it made contact with the blackness, but the shield held firm. The blue ring's energy was rapidly approaching the center of the shack, though, and it was nearing the portal.
Celestia galloped up the crystal stairs toward Twilight's room. She just needed to throw up a quick shield spell, and then they should be fine. She rounded the corner and saw Spike knocking on Twilight's door. She threw him out of the way with her hoof and he skidded down the hall. She levitated the door open just in time to seen her former apprentice complete her reality-warping spell.
"Fruadulenti et oculi." Dipper couldn't make much sense of this line. It's Latin translation made no sense. "The trickster and the eye"? What did that even mean? But the mysteries of the journal would have to be pondered later. The spell was complete. "Amina reditura!"
And at the same time, the blue light hit the portal.
"No!" screamed Celestia as she was swallowed by the explosion of blue.
"Yes, this will be fun." said a voice.
"Fun indeed." said another.
The Link Between the Worlds
Chapter Three: Are You There?
"Hello?"
"…"
"Are you there?"
"…"
"…"
"Why do you ask this?"
"I have questions. Questions about you."
"We all have our questions, don't we? What is life? Why is there life? What is our purpose?"
"But I have questions that can be answered."
"You already have the answers. They are there, but you don't reach out and find them."
"You are being cryptic."
"Some would say otherwise."
"But who are you? What is your name?"
"I am called many names by many people."
"But what do most ponies call you?"
"Who are you?"
"Excuse me?"
"Who are you? What is your name?"
"My name is Discord, a draconequus, a spirit of unrest and disharmony, and I once ruled over Equestria in a state of absolute power."
"…"
"Hello?"
"Ugh, what happened?"
The lavender Alicorn shook her head. The apple seemed to have disappeared. The the experiment fail? She rubbed her hoof along her neck, taking in her surroundings. She saw a rectangle of light ahead of her, probably a door of some kind. Feeling with her hoof, she deduced that it must be made of wood. Wood? All of my doors are made out of crystal. She decided to ask if anypony was nearby.
"H-." Her efforts of greeting were immediately stopped by a hoof stuffed into her mouth. She looked up and saw Celestia shaking her head, bringing her other hoof to her own mouth, making a shh motion.
Twilight was obviously confused. Where were they? Why was Celestia here? And were was Spike? She'd have to figure it out without asking Celestia.
So, there's a door ahead of me, and I'm in a tight space. I must be in a pantry, or closet or something. What can I feel around me? Twilight moved her hoof around and felt what she thought was clothing of some kind. So I'm in a clothing closet. That information might be useful. Now let's see where I. She cast a quick spell, keeping the light from her horn at a minimum. Just a simple location spell.
To Twilight's surprise, her spell told her that she was somewhere undetectable by magic. That's odd. Where could I be in Equestria? The changeling hive? No, wood isn't something that they would use. Dragon Country? No, there's that problem with wood again. Wait! The Griffon Kingdom! That's it, I'm on the other side of the border. And ever since that cannibalism incident last week, it's been a no-magic territory. So Twilight concluded that her spell must have gone wrong, and Celestia had come to teleport her away before she finished it and hurt herself.
But her musings were cut off by a sudden noise. "Dipper? Mr. Pines? Mabel?" Twilight ears perked up. Hm. It sounded male, and the worry in his voice made his sound like he was looking for somepony. Those don't sound like griffon names, though.
Whatever was on the other side of the door moved around, called out for a "Dipper", and finally said, "Must have passed out after the ritual. They're probably outside." Twilight could hear hoofsteps heading away from the closet. A door opened with a creak and shut. The two occupants of the closet breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, now that that's over," came a voice behind both Twilight and the Solar Deity.
"Spike!" cried the purple pony. She dodge around Celestia and pulled the baby dragon into a hug.
"Hey, Twilight." Spike returned the embrace. "I was calling and calling for you to come out of your room, but you wouldn't answer."
"Yeah… sorry about that." The young mare blushed in embarrassment. I was so wrapped up in the spell, I didn't even hear him. She turned to the white Alicorn. "Do you know why and where we are here?"
"Don't I get a 'Hello?'"
Twilight took a step back. The clothing she'd touched earlier just talked to her.
Celestia sighed. "Discord, why were you in Twilight's castle?"
The clothes slowly stood up and in a flash of white, our friendly neighborhood draconequus was there. "Well, you see, Tia, there's a simple, rational, completely ordinary answer to that. The voice in my head told me to."
"Right…" Celestia made a mental note to have Discord sent to a mental institution in Manehatten.
"But enough about me. You were about to tell Twilight here how you failed to save us and doomed us all to eternity in an alternate dimension." He chuckled. This will be interesting. "But this closet is rather cramped, don't you think? Let's talk outside, why don't we?"
The draconequus grabbed the knob in his claw and threw the door open. All of them, except for Discord, of course, stood in awe at the sight of the building before them. What they could tell about it was that it most certainly created by something other than ponies. Or it had been created by something other than ponies and then been destroyed. What used to obviously be walls were reduced to rubble, and a gooey acid pooled on the floor. In the middle of the room, though, a complex rune just exuding exponetial amounts of power was etched into the floor.
Discord seemed unfazed by the wreckage surrounding him. He dawned a magician's cape from seemingly nowhere and from the depths of it, pulled out a table. "Now then, Celestia, please explain to Twilight were we are." A devilish smile played on his lips. Celestia despised that smile.
"Well, okay then." The Princess of Friendship, her servant Spike, and the snow-white Alicorn took a seat around the table. "It went down like this."
Soos had been looking for the Pines family for over 10 minutes, and had come to the conclusion that they must be in the top floor of the house. As he neared the Mystery Shack, though, he thought he heard voices. The one speaking sounded like a female. Soos leaned against the door.
"And that's how we got here," the voice finished.
Soos backed away from the door and walked toward the shattered window, intent on getting a look at the intruders. He paused. What was that rustling in the bushes behind him. He tensed his shoulders and turned his head. No one was there. Must of been a pterodactyl or something.
He reached the window and, careful not to touch the grass shards, grabbed the window sill and lifted himself up, finally getting a good look at who was speaking.
What he saw made him fall back to the ground with a loud thunk .
Dipper groaned. What had happened? His vision was blurry, but he could tell that he wasn't in the Mystery Shack anymore. Just gotta wait 'til I can see straight. A sharp jab in his side told him that someone else thought otherwise.
"Other-dimensional travelers, wake up." Another sharp jab with, was that a spear? Yeah, it looks like a spear. His eyesight fully restored, he looked at what was trying to wake up. And wake up he did. What was on the other end of the sphere seemed to be a pale blue equine, about three feet tall and sporting golden armor.
Okay, Dipper, you've seen worse. Nothing's going to top an angry Bill Cypher. Gather some data and formulate and explanation. But before the first words were out of his mouth, his sister yelled, "Oh my gosh, a pony!" and rushed at it, pulling it into a tight hug. The poor thing, fortunately, didn't have time to draw his spear to ward off the attack. Dipper heard his sister whisper into its ears, "We going to have so much fun together." as the pony's eyes went wide.
As hilariously awkward as this situation was, it was interrupted by the screaming of an old man. Or rather, an old stallion. Yes, our favorite cheapskate who didn't drive someone to suicide (seriously, how did Nickolodeon not censor that episode?) has been transformed into a lovable, huggable equine, a pegasus specifically, complete with white fur, a fez, and a mark on his flank resembling a triangle surrounded by four ovals.
"I'm a monster! An adorable monster!" screamed the newest edition to the pony race.
"Actually, sir, you are a pony," responded a guard, stating the obvious.
"I know that! Why do you think I'm screaming?!" Grunkle Stan angrily retaliated.
"I still might take offense at the fact that you are calling me a monster," responded the ever so insightful guard.
"Why does the universe hate me?!" Stan was crying now.
"Actually, the multiverse hates you. And your transformation was most likely completely random, with a one out of a million chance that it would occur," explained the guard.
Stan looked up. "So, the multiverse hates me?"
"Err, yes."
The old stallion rose, creating what would have been a very rude hand gesture, had he actually had hands. "Darn you multiverse! I will have my revenge!"
Somehow the first guard had extracted himself from the Iron Grip of Mabel. "I'm going to go check on something. You two stay here."
"Yes, sir," came the two responses in unison.
The guard hurriedly trotted out the main castle door, shaking in fear of the creature with no concept of personal space. Monsters, all of them, he thought.
Dipper took in his surroundings. Around him appeared to be a home made of pure crystal, although why an architect would take such an expensive job was beyond him. I don't know how we got here, and I have no data to work off of other than the pony calling me "other-dimensional". So I managed to break through the barrier of space and time?
But as he retreated into deep thought, he failed to note that time seemed to slow, and the world took on a gray color scheme. What did get his attention, though, was the laughter.
"Hello there, Pine Tree, fancy meeting you here."
Dipper took up a rather pathetic fighting position to combat an unseen foe. "Bill."
"Incorrect. I'm part of Bill." The table in the center of the room, the one surrounded by seven crystal chairs, slowly turned toward him. An eye with an elongated pupil stared at him. "Bill is safe back in your dimension, but I, of course, the part that was watching you, was sucked into our little dimensional mix-up as well."
"Why are you here, Bill?" Dipper inquired.
"To warn you. Sometimes ignorance is the best thing for the mind. Knowledge has the power to be harmful if used correctly." The eye closed, and the world returned to its normal state.
The Link Between the Worlds
The citizens of Ponyville gawked at what was being escorted out of Princess Twilight's castle. The air held no hint of noise beyond the soft droning of insects. Lyra Heartstrings, labeled Local Nutcase by most of the town, would have raised her hoof in triumph if she hadn't been carrying her lyre. Her roommate, however, seemed to have something in her eye, as it would not stop twitching.
Shining Armor trotted toward the newcomers, expecting an attack of some sort. He looked them over, no detail missing his keen eyes. The pink one wore a smile that was consistently expanding. It's eyes were darting everywhere in its field of vision, eventually landing on the town's pastry cheif. It was wearing a full set of clothing, including a sweater with a beatbox design. How odd, Shining Armor thought.
The boy, however, was squinting at the ponies, as if he were trying to discover the secrets of the universe. He had a hat with a pine tree marked on it. What is its purpose? Why would you wear unessecary clothing? thought the stallion. The boy was now reaching into his vest for something. The Captain instantly suspected an attack. Shining Armor reacted immediately, firing a blast of magic at the child and knocking the dangerous weapon from his hands. Lifting the nefarious construct from the ground, realizing it was, a book?
He caught a glimpse of the number three before the voice to his right exploded in scalding rage.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?!"
Shining Armor winced. Right, the old pegasus. "I was, err, looking for a weapon."
The senior was seething with rage. The pink one was glaring at him while helping the other child up. "You honestly think that Dipper would carry a weapon?"
This is getting more and more awkward. "Well, see, you have to understand, you're all possibly hostile in our eyes, and I had to be careful, so I…" his explanation died on his lips as he felt the white pegasus' eyes boring into him.
Mabel blinked at him. "We're still human, aren't we?"
The depth of Mabel's words were lost on him. So, they call themselves humans. Interesting. But his musings were interrupted by the high-pitched voice right beside his ear.
"Yeah, you shouldn't have done that, Shiny." Shining Armor cursed under his breath.
"Pinkie Pie, how did you get past the guards?" inquired the Captain, sighing as he did so.
The little baker giggled. "They said something about leaving them alone, so I decided to see what you were doing."
Shining Armor lifted an eyebrow. "And they let you walk right past them?"
Pinkie giggled again. "Well, they were on the ground with their hooves over their ears. So, yeah, I guess they let me walk right past them. Why do you ask?"
Shining Armor turned around, and, indeed, two guards were shivering on the ground, their hooves clamped over their ears. Yet another sigh escaped his lips. "No reason, Pinkie, no reason at all."
The unicorn turned back towards the children. The one with the pine tree hat had gotten up, and was brushing off some dirt from his arms. The pink one, however, was simply staring at Pinkie, and Shining Armor swore he could see fireworks in her eyes.
Right, back to business. "Well, I have a few questions for you."
"Where are you from?"
"Gravity Falls, Oregon."
Flash Sentry was not a pony who liked following a checklist. He would rather add his own, personally signature in everything he created. Yet here he was, reading questions off of this checklist to the human child with the hat. Just my luck that I got this job. Shining Armor probably hates my guts right now. Of course, I can't blame him after what I did to Twilight. Of course, when somepony is in danger and somepony else cares for that somepony, the mind takes hold. Maybe she's lost in the middle of the desert, with no food or water. Maybe she was turned into a frog and is trapped under a log right now? Or maybe, she's floating in space, slowly dying from the lack of oxygen! Flash sucked in a breath. He needed to concentrate. If he didn't get any information to his superior and active leader of Equestria, Celestia knows what he would do to the orange pegasus. He shook any more thoughts of Twilight of his head. He needed to concentrate. His first two interview had been extremely unsuccessful. The old pegasus, who identified himself as "Mr. Mystery", or "Stan Pines," had started to spout some gibberish about how he had just killed twenty zombies with a baseball bat and brass knuckles, and refused to answer to any "cutesy little pony." Upon being reminded that he himself was a "cutesy little pony," Stan walked out of Lyra Heartstring's house and hadn't come back in.
The pink one, or "Mabel Pines," had been asked one question and responded with thirty thousand of her own. Flash had decided she was useless and sent her outside.
"What's your planet's name?"
"Earth." Dipper paused for a moment. "Could I maybe ask you a few questions?"
Flash hesitated. This wasn't supposed to happen. But he was never one to follow a checklist. "Sure, why not?"
"Okay, uh, what's your name?"
"My name's Flash Sentry."
"So, what's this place called, anyway?"
"You're in Ponyville, which is a city in Equestria, on the planet Equus."
Dipper snorted at the names.
"What's so funny?"
"It's just that you named a city filled with ponies Ponyville."
Flash cracked a smile. "It does seem rather silly, doesn't it?"
Dipper nodded his head. "And on top of that, 'Equestria', in an old language of ours called Latin, means 'Land of Horses', or 'Land of Ponies', rather."
Flash chucked at that. "Is that so?"
Their laughter died into silence.
"So whose's the ruler of this country?"
Flash Sentry tensed. "It was, up until one hour ago, Princess Celestia."
Dipper didn't catch the hesitation in his answer. "A princess? Who is the queen?"
"Well, the only queen we know of was Queen Crysalis, queen of the Changelings."
There was silence for a minute, an Dipper started laughing again. "What is it?" asked Flash.
When the laughter stopped, his response was, "I just realized that I'm talking to a magical pony in the land of Equestria after fighting off a zombie invasion."
Flash was a bit confused, but he decided that this a good place to end the interrogation. "Well, good talking to you, Dipper. And sorry about Shining Armor earlier. He was just really worried since he lost his little sister and all."
Dipper's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"
Flash mentally facehoofed. Now he was going to have to explain it to Dipper, but the jovial atmosphere had already left room. Why not tell him?
"Well, the spot that you came in, the castle, it was somehow linked to a somewhere in your dimension. Anyone who was caught in the entry point would be sucked into and out the other side."
Dipper's head was asking so many questions that it physically hurt. But one question shouted above the rest. "Where's Soos?"
"Okay, I think he's waking up."
Soos opened his eyes and saw a yellow and red pair staring back at him. He yelped and jumped off of the table that had mysteriously appeared inside the Mystery Shack. Before him was one of the strangest things he had ever seen, and that was saying something. On the far left, he saw a white horse, about eye level with himself. It had a horn protruding from its forehead and wings folded by its side. Its mane seemed to be made a rainbows and was rippling in the nonexistent wind. If he had to guess a gender, he would say female.
In the middle, there seemed to be the sum of an eagle, a lion, a horse, and a deer, as well as other such random animals. It was currently sporting the typical attire of a doctor, a stethoscope, a white lab coat, the works. He looked male.
And on the right was the most adorable thing he had ever seen. It was a small, purple pony with wings and a horn like the first, but this horse only reached Soos' chest. She had a sheepish grin on her face that just screamed, Hug me.
The collase of animals stepped forwards. "I believe we have some explaining and introductions to do, don't you agree?"
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The Link Between the Worlds
Chapter Five: Well, I Guess We Should Split Up
"So what do you think of them, rookie?"
The orange pegasis and the white stallion were conversing outside Ms. Heartstrings's house, with the humans and the new pegasus inside, under keen eye.
"I think that you should give them a chance. The boy seemed nice enough."
Upon listening the his superior's silence, he added, "I don't know why you're so suspicious of them. They're just as confused as we are."
Flash could see the stallion turning the information over in his head. After a minute, he turned to Flash. "Let's say you're right. They're completely harmless. What do we do with them?"
It was Flash's turn to think. "Well, you know those mares Twilight always hung out with? The ones with the rainbow laser of death that's saved Equestria three times already?"
Shining nodded. "Sounds somewhat familiar."
"What if we let Dipper, Mabel, and Stan stay with them? They've been all over Equus, so they should be able to explain how Equestria works better than anypony."
A look of agreement showed itself on Shining Armor's face. "And if I'm right, then they'll be living with the most watched and heavily guarded mares in Equestria."
The orange pegasus felt a hint of satisfaction at the compromise. "That way, everyone's happy. And nothing can go wrong. Ever. Not in a million-" Flash paused. "Wait, did you say heavily guarded?"
The white stallion smiled. "Yeah, we've got undercover guards stationed all around Ponyville acting like regular ponies."
Flash rolled his eyes. "I would question the morality of decieving an entire town and stationing incredibly well-trained fighters in said city's most public places, but this day has been so weird, I just couldn't be bothered."
Shining Armor's voice took on a tone of finality. "Well, thank you for your help, Soldier Flash Sentry. You may now return to your post in Canterlot." Shining Armor seemed to have completely forgotten that it was Flash's idea that had caused the Princess of the Sun to be considered MIA.
As Flash walked out of the square, Berry Punch approached him. "Hey Flash, where are you going?"
Pinkie Pie appeared out of seemingly nowhere. "Oh, he's going to disappear for a few chapters, meaning that his tag on the main page will be replaced by yours truly!" She smiled broadly while everypony who heard her gave her a strange look. "What, it's true." Everypony rolled their eyes in unison and returned to their occupations. The pink mare bounced away singing under her breath.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the creature in the middle greeted. "I'm Discord, comedian, stunt devil, history expert, showhost, restaurant owner, thrill seeker, guidance counselor, therapist, and prank gimmick seller. Nice to meet you."
Soos, by now, had decided that the Pines family were playing an elaborate prank on him. As Discord reached out his hand, the handyman replied, "Hello, life-size puppet hung by invisible strings. My name is Soos, the handyman here at the Mystery Shack."
"I'm going to assume that your universe's greeting is a bit different from ours." Discord pointed at the tall, white one. "This one right here, her name's Sun Butt, better known as Princess Celestia." Now he gestured toward the small purple one. "This is Princess Twilight Sparkle, who I have yet to create a nickname for. She's the newest Alicorn in Equestria."
The handyman decided to play along with the prank. Chuckling, he said, "Sorry dude, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Discord smile grew all the wider. "Right, I forgot. Alternate universe." He snapped his fingers and a chalkboard appeared behind them. Soos found himself sitting in a school chair. Dipper really went all out on this one, he thought.
One history lesson later…
Soos had decided that this wasn't a prank. It was just too elaborate. Dipper would have to use the book if he wanted to make something like this, and he had promised Mr. Pines he wouldn't touch the book if not for self-defense.
Before he could comment on the Cheese Wars of Minotauria, he was interrupted by a loud SQEAK
The man smiled. "Hello, I'm on a road trip across the U.S. and I heard about this place from the locals. It seems… interesting," he said, eying the purple and white pony wax figurines, as well as the gray creature wrapped around the rafters. "Is the famed Mr. Mystery here?"
"Sorry, sir, he's out for a little bit. Why don't you leave the money you were going to spend over there?"
The tourist's head bobbed enthusiastically. "Sounds good to me." He dropped twenty dollars near the cash register and walked back out the door. Soos relaxed and sighed with relief. Too close.
As the tourist neared the woods at the side of the trail, his arms and legs fell off, revealing the five gnomes operating the pseudo-human. The bushes rustled, revealing the twenty other gnomes behind to.
"Sir, the Pines family seems to have left the Mystery Shack and the building is currently in a very damaged state. We should be able to infiltrate it very easily."
"Good," the leader replied, turning toward the shack.
"GNOMES, ATTACK!"
The Link Between the Worlds
No Excuses, Just an Apology
That title sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Listen guys, there's a lot of problems with this fic. First: It's awful. Second: I cannot write a new chapter.
Seriously, I sat down and realized that I spent so much time on Now You See , which was a huge wake-up call in the effort department, that I cannot write a new chapter.
Maybe it's for the better. It probably is.
While this fic will be cancelled, there is one thing that hasn't changed in these three months. I still like Gravity Falls. I will be writing another Gravity Falls crossover, most likely with the same premise, and one that doesn't sound like a Zelda crossover, but I won't write a chapter in four hours and then publish it. Because you guys deserve better than what I've given you.
Remember, this isn't goodbye! Another GF fic is brewing in that desolate wasteland of my brain, and the next chapter of this fic will have a link to the new fic.
Happy Derping,
DerpyMuffin7
The Link Between the Worlds
Chaotic Double.
So let's talk about where I planned for The Link Bewteen the Worlds to go. Are you ready for disappointment? Good.
So originally, the plot was that the reader would see certain similarities in Gravity Falls and Equestria. The Pines family would partake in some high jinx that had no relevance to the plot, but would eventually find Bill has taken residence in the Everfree. The Mane 5 and the Pines family visit him, and he tells them the story of how Equestria was made.
Meanwhile, Discord has been hearing voices in his head, and eventually finds a pool of water in the forest. The voice tells him that if he looks in the water, it will reflect who he truly is. He looks in the water, and sees a pyramid with one eye. For some reason, this devastates Discord, and he runs into the forest, slowly transforming into the reflection. Eventually, Discord sees Bill in the forest, and to two merge together, completing the transformation.
With Discord's power at his hand, Bill realizes that he no longer needs anything else to complete his plan. He is about to terraform Earth into his realm until he is stopped by Celestia and Twilight. The two can't stop the spell, but they can alter it. Earth is terraformed in a matter of seconds, the forest becoming the Everfree, the Mystery Shack and Gravity Falls fading from existence, and ponies becoming the dominant species. Celestia also modifies the spell to take them home, and cries a single tear of sunshine.
Back in Equestria, Bill tells them that he changed into Discord soon after, forgetting the past. Soon, Celestia arrives at the scene, and meets the visitors. But before she can send them home through the portal, Bill shows them one last thing. On the ground under him lays as single tear of sunshine.
Yes, that was where this fic was going. Wow. Hard to believe that I thought that was a good idea.
The Link Between the Worlds
Stan walked towards the portal, carrying a lantern in one arm and the last two journals in the other. He walked past the old computers, set there all of those years ago. He plodded down the hallway of machinery, thinking to himself, This it. And to think Dipper had the last one. He reached the desk, and he glanced briefly at picture of Mabel and Dipper, thinking about what would happen if they ever found this place. The old man sat down, opening the books to the pages he needed.
"After all these years. Finally, we have them all," he said to himself. He started typing.
Celestia stopped eating her banana. Something was wrong. She didn't know what, but something was very, very wrong. And because Luna was cleaning up Tirek's damage and Cadence was protecting the Crystal Empire, she would have to be the one to fix it. The monarch called for a chariot and immediately penned a letter to Equestria's newest princess. My dearest Twilight…
The portal started to light up. Stan's excitement increased exponentially. "It's working!"
He rushed towards the gateway. Reaching the front of the monstrous creation, and quickly pulled a lever. He stood there, gazing in at the wonder before him.
It was getting worse. Celestia knew it was serious. She finished her letter and sent it to her former student. It's an inbalance, she thought. An unbalance between worlds. And she couldn't dare teleport in fear of disturbing the weakening threads of reality. And not only that, but she knew where the distortion of space was located.
"Set a course for Princess Twilight's castle," she called to the chariot pegasi.
"Here we go," smiled Grunkle Stan.
