Down to Earth

Twilight Sparkle stared at the picture she held in her hooves. It had been four months since Dash had left her and two weeks since she had gone silent. Since she had left all of them. “I… I thought you were my friend…” In tears, she telekinetically threw the picture at a wall, causing the glass panel to shatter. “I thought you said you’d come back. I thought you said you would be fine. I… I thought you said that friends don’t die on friends. I thought you said you l—”

The door slowly creaked open. “What do you want?” grumbled Twilight, attempting to keep her voice from cracking.

“I… just wanted you to know I’m fine.” Twilight couldn’t believe her ears. She looked towards the door, and saw Rainbow Dash standing there.

“Where have you been? You made us blame ourselves for your disappearance! Pinkie hasn’t talked to anypony since you left, Rarity’s clothes she designs are grey and lifeless, Applejack won’t even touch apples anymore, Scootaloo quit her hoofball team, Fluttershy will barely even leave her house, and I’ve been too upset to write any friendship reports lately. Why were you gone for so long? Why didn’t you come back sooner?”

“Twilight, is Spike here?” says Rainbow Dash, seemingly trying to avoid her questions.

“That didn’t answer my question, Rainbow Dash.”

“Tell Spike to get some paper.”

Twilight sighs in defeat and trots upstairs. “Spike, are you awake? I need you to get the parchment!”

Spike groans, and with a tired voice he replies, “Twilight, did you set the calendar two days ahead? Your next friendship report won’t be needed to be written before Friday!”

“Spike, get up, Rainbow Dash needs you to get some parchment.”

“But she’s dead!”

“No, she isn't dead.”

“But her funeral was, like, two months ago! Is she a ghost? Or did you bring her back to life with some crazy ancient magic stuff?”

“Well, there wasn’t a body at the funeral since nopony would, or could, go through after her, Spike, so we didn’t know if she really was dead.”

“So she isn't dead?” Spike asks.

“That’s exactly what I said!” replies Twilight with a frustrated groan.

Almost four months ago, six multicolored pastel equines stood in the center of their local library. Two were unicorns, both their horns lit aglow as if by some magical force. A yellow pegasus fluttered her wings nervously; what if it went wrong? An orange earth pony dug at the ground, with the same thoughts as the yellow pegasus. A pink pony smiled, hoping she’d be the next pony to go through if it worked. A final blue pegasus floated in the air with a daring smile on her face. “You ready yet Twi?”

“Almost, Rainbow Dash!”

The blue pony’s grin widened when the portal opened, emanating a bright grey light over the room. The actual portal itself was a shimmering silver orb which was emitting the light. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and flew through the portal.

The group waited nervously for her to return back to tell them what it was like on the other side. It was about three minutes until a hand emerged from the portal and gave a thumbs up. All the ponies in the room breathed a sigh of relief and a purple unicorn spoke out, “I can hold the portal open for about half an hour, just get some pictures and come back!”

“Will do, Twilight!” called out Rainbow Dash from the other side of the portal. She took several pictures, as evidenced by the rapid clicking noise coming from the portal, until Twilight suggested that she try recording a video using her camera. Her magical camera filtered light through a magic lens and into a crystal which stored it. She did so, and then called out, “Hey Twilight? Is the portal supposed to be shrinking?”

“No!” Yelled Twilight, her horn glowing brighter. “Quickly Rainbow Dash, get through the portal!”

“I can’t! It’s too small for me to fit through!” replied Rainbow Dash frantically. “What happened to thirty minutes?”

"Somepony is interfering with the portal! I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, I don’t think I can reopen it any further!” Twilight yelled out.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you can reopen it later. I’ll be fine, just rest until you can make the portal again.” Replied Rainbow Dash, trying to remain calm.

“I’m not sure if I—”

Suddenly, a shockwave sent the five remaining ponies in the library and the human on the other side of the portal flying. As the unicorns’ horns dimmed, the portal snapped shut and Rainbow Dash was stranded, unconscious, in an unknown world with only a handheld camera and her clothes Twilight had provided for her.

Several hours later, Rainbow Dash came to under a tree as the sun was setting. She rubbed her head; it felt like she had slammed into a tree. When she removed her hand from her head, the blood on her hand confirmed it. She had been sent flying into a tree by some unknown force and had hurt her head in the process. When she had arrived the sun was at its zenith; it had to be almost seven now, as the sun was at the horizon. Rainbow stood up and surveyed her surroundings.

She was in a relatively normal park. There was nobody near her, probably because it was getting late. She couldn’t see much due to the nearby trees, so she decided to climb up one a few meters away to see past them. As she scaled the tree, she grabbed a large but flimsy branch and it shook the tree, sending Rainbow and someone else falling towards the ground.

The human Rainbow had accidentally knocked out of the tree slowly recovered as Rainbow was startled from her fall.

“Hey, why’d you knock me out of that tree? I was just minding my own business, lying in a tree, watching the sunset, and what do you do? You shake the whole tree and knock me down! You could have killed me, you know that?”

“Whoa! I didn’t know you were up there in the first place! It’s your fault for being up there anyway, why not sit somewhere else like someone normal? Besides, it’s barely a seven foot fall onto your ass. I’ve fallen further and complained less.” Replied Rainbow. Of course, then she was a pegasus, but still. He at least shouldn’t blame her for him climbing into a tree and falling.

“Because it’s quiet here, or it was until you showed up.” He replied, annoyed with the girl who had appeared out of thin air. “How did you get here anyways? The park’s no entry after 5:00.”

“The same way you did, through the gate.” She lied. “I’ve been here longer than two hours, you know.”

“Doing what? Not like there’s much to do here.”

“I’ve been practicing my f—” Rainbow Dash stops herself and continues, “running. I once came in first place in a competition!” Well, it wasn’t a total lie, Rainbow Dash reasoned. She did win the Best Young Fliers competition, but she doubted that humans had such a thing. She decided to go on the safe side and change it to avoid suspicion.

“Yeah, whatever. I never knew someone so small could have such a huge ego.”

“Who’re you calling small, huh?” she said, poking him in the chest. She was easily a good three inches taller than him, making him sink down a bit.

“Hey, chill, I was just kidding.” He replies quickly. “No need to get in a fight over it.”

“All right, but the next comment I hear from you and—” she makes a gesture with her finger across her throat, “understand?”

He nods. “Yeah, all right. But we’re gonna get kicked out of here soon, so we better get going.”

“About that…” she mentions, rubbing her neck. “I kind of don’t have anywhere to stay.”

He sighs. “I think I have a tent I can put up in my backyard, if you don’t know anyone else who you can stay with.”

“Thanks, uh…” she pauses, waiting for his name.

“John. What’s your name, anyway?”

She thinks for a moment, and then remembers some random gibberish Twilight said involving some language from ancient Roam and magical rituals. “My name’s Iridis.”

He blinks. “Well, that’s something I haven’t heard before. Is that Latin?”

“Uh… I think so?” Great, now Rainbow was wishing she actually paid attention to all that stuff Twilight never stopped talking about.

“Anyways, we better get out of here before we get forced to leave. My house is only fifteen minutes or so away, so it’s not that long of a trip.”

“All right, lead the way.” She wasn’t eager to have to sleep in a tent, but she supposed it would give her more time to use her camera. It had a magical link to Equestria, which worked even if the portal was closed due to the relatively small amount of mana needed to transport the video and sound. Even better, it worked both ways, so if Twilight figured out how, Twilight could send Rainbow messages.

The ride lasted about twenty-five minutes due to traffic, so Rainbow was irritable when they finally pulled into John’s driveway. “I thought you said it would only be fifteen minutes?” she says.

“It was five o’ clock traffic, what did you expect?” retorts John. “It’s not my fault I can’t just snap my fingers and teleport here!”

“Of course you can’t, do you think you’re Discord or something?” she replies.

“Who?” asks John.

“Nevermind, it’s a long story and you probably wouldn’t believe me anyway.” She replies, sighing. “Probably his fault I’m stuck here.” He unlocks the car doors and they both step out before he locks them back.

“So… this guy can just snap his fingers and teleport? Sounds kind of familiar…” he mumbles. He unlocks his front door, and opens it for ‘Iridis’, who mumbles ‘thank you’ under her breath as she looks around.

Overall, it wasn’t that impressive of a house. It had one bedroom, two closets in the hallway, a kitchen, bathroom, living room, and dining area. Not to mention his basement, which had so much old junk in it he’d probably get poisoned due to asbestos exposure if he went down there.

“The tent’s in this closet, it should only take five minutes for us to get it set up outside.” Says John, as he opens the closet door and takes out the tent. He carefully maneuvers the tent through various doorways and opens the back door with his arm, before walking into the yard and setting the tent down. “We’ll have to clear out the pinecones on the ground before we set it up, but it should be pretty comfortable considering it’s a three-person tent.”

They quickly get to work clearing the area of rocks and pinecones before laying the tarp, staking it down, and putting the poles into the tent itself. After they open the vents on the side, they attach the rainfly and make sure the zippers work.

“All right, you’re all set. Looks like it’s going to storm, so remember you can always close the vents if the wind picks up.

“Yeah, yeah, I know a lot about weather. Can you leave now so I can get set up?”

“Okay, jeez, I’m going!” says John as he goes back into the house.

Rainbow Dash pulls out her camera and begins recording. “Twilight, it’s me, Dash. I just wanted to tell you that I’m fine and that I’m sure you’ll find a way to get me home. Remember Twi, I—” Her words are cut off by thunder, and she stops recording and sends it to Twilight.

Meanwhile in Equestria, the library was in total chaos. Twilight was frantically checking all her lab equipment, trying to see if there was a way to reopen the portal.

“Calm down, Twilight, Rainbow is fine. She has the camera, which is still linked to the receiver.” She says, trying to calm herself. “Besides, the elements have a fail-safe system in them. If a bearer is in a situation where the other bearers cannot help, they will create a bubble of protective magic around the bearer in danger, which can be tested. And seeing as there has been no magical activity from the elements since the portal’s opening, Dash must be safe.”

All the other elements were worried sick in the dining area of the library while Twilight was in the basement. She frantically shooed them out of there as soon as the portal closed.

“What do you think happened back there?” asks Rarity.

“I dunno, but I reckon that Twilight’s worried sick because her ma—” Applejack is cut off by an ecstatic squeal coming from the basement, and Twilight running up the stairs.

“Girls, girls! Rainbow sent a message!” yells Twilight, before practically leaping down the stairs. She taps a glowing facet of the receiver crystal and it begins an illusion spell.

“Twilight, it’s me, Dash.” The image distorts and wavers for a moment, and the sound crackles. “wanted to tell you I’m fine—” the image and sound pause for a moment, before continuing, “sure you’ll find a way to get me home. Remember Twi, I l—” The booming sound of thunder causes Fluttershy to shriek and hide, and the message ends.

The group begins cheering, clapping, and celebration that their friend is okay. All except Twilight, who has a melancholy look on her face.

“It’s my fault, I should never have let her go through the portal. It was unsafe and reckless of me.” She says, looking down at her hooves.

“Twi’, it ain’t your fault. None o’ us could’ve guessed what was gonna happen. But please, Twilight, don’t blame yourself.” Replies Applejack.

“It’s all my fault! I did something stupid and now Dash is gone! Who knows if there’s even a way for her to get back?” argues Twilight.

“The elements’ fail-safe would have activated and created a magical waypoint, which would create a link between here and there for the portal. Remember, Twilight, Dash knew the risks of this, and we can get her out.” Says Rarity.

“Yes, she knew the risks going in. With how she is, though, I don’t think she really understood them. She’s the type of pony who takes risks and jumps to action, then asks questions. I know I shouldn’t beat myself up over it, but I can’t help but believe that part of this is my fault.” Says Twilight.

“None o’ this makes any sense, though! You did all that magic stuff to keep the portal open, how did it close?” asks Applejack.

“You’re right, it doesn’t make sense…” She narrows her eyes. “And I know just who to ask.”