Shadow Prophet

Time is a figment. A creation of the simplistic three-dimensional mind in its attempt to comprehend the vast incomprehensibility of the Universe. There is no time. No time. No time. No time. No time.

No time to mess around.

"There's no time to mess around! Hurry!" Shadow shouted. The mares were not faring well within the dimensional rift. They kept on waving their hooves about, and were coming terribly close to the lighted edge of the portal through worlds. Shadow was not exactly sure of what would happen if you fell out of a dimensional rift, but he could imagine it not being very good. They were also lagging terribly behind Shadow, who was acting as though he had done this many times before.

It was a weightless environment, but there was a strong current that pulled you helplessly to wherever your destination was to be. Shadow wondered where the portal would take them. He was rather surprised to find that, once he shattered through the closed window of time, he was inside a hallway.

A rather dull hallway, mind you. He didn't like it one bit. It had white tile flooring and white walls. There were no lights to be seen, but there was light nonetheless. the mares that had been lagging behind suddenly fell out of the air and landed on top of Shadow. Raven came first, then Rainbow Dash, who rolled off of Raven's back. Shadow and Raven opened their eyes to discover that she was on top of him in a most humiliating and suggestive fashion. Raven's face turned bright red and she jumped off of him. She looked down the hall while Shadow picked himself up. He looked to Rainbow Dash, who was looking down the hall in the other direction. She hadn't seen the embarrassing accident. Good thing, too, Shadow thought.

The hall was identical on both sides. It seemed to go on for a few yards, and on either end was a turn that led off to some other lighted area.

"Where... where are we?" Raven Wing asked, still dazed from the journey.

"I was about to ask the same thing," Rainbow Dash stated, also quite dizzied by the experience. Only Shadow, a thin and weak-looking pony compared to both mares, was ironically unfazed. He started down one end, then stopped, turned around and started down the other. "I don't know. I have no idea. We could be anywhere in time and space... I think."

Raven had many questions, but the one that came to mind for no reason except that it's answer would be more valuable than any others was: "How do you know all this wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff?"

He turned to her. "When you read the story before you met me, I assume you read my palaver with Twilight about my past?"

She nodded.

"That was a very abridged version. While I was in Sunshine's care, I didn't have much to do. She was studying theoretical physics, and had loads of books on the subject. With nothing else to do for such a long time, I read every single one multiple times."

"... Okay... I guess..." Was all Raven could reply with. She wished to know a more detailed version of his story. Perhaps her wish would soon be granted. But after the events currently passing had transpired, when there was time for such things.

Shadow waved his hoof - Raven noticed a rather fresh scar streaking across it in a horizontal line - signaling for them to follow him. They did. Close together, the lost ponies headed down the strange hallway, wondering what they would find at the end. But the end never got closer. Well, at first it did, but there was a point where it stayed put, and while they did continue to trot, the end never came any closer. They eventually broke into a desperate gallop, but no matter how fast they ran or how far they trotted, the end of the hallway was never reached by any of them.

"What the heck is going on?!" Rainbow Dash asked after a failed attempt at flying there."

Before Shadow could say that he didn't know, two brown ponies in very nice business suits came around the corner. One was a mare, the other a stallion. Both were wielding a large chart in front of them and were examining it closely, so they didn't notice the out of place ponies instantly.

"Um, hey!" Shadow called out. The ponies looked up simultaneously with surprised expressions.

"Do you happen to know where we are?"

"How would you have gotten here without knowing where you were going?" The mare asked.

"I... um, could you just tell us why we can't go down this hall?" Shadow asked, unable to answer the mare's inquiry.

The business ponies looked at each other, then back at the trio.

"If you can't move anywhere, you're unauthorized," The stallion said.

"What?"

"You're not permitted to be here," The mare clarified.

Shadow laughed nervously. "Well, if you could just lead us to the-" He didn't finish his sentence before the mare raised her hoof and stomped it on the ground. A large blue light surrounded the ponies, accompanied by a loud ZZZZZZAP! Then they were sitting on a bench along the wall of a hotel lobby.

Shadow looked around. The hotel was rather nice looking. It had patterned carpets and carpeted walls. It also had a very high ceiling that was embroidered with gold paneling. Bellhops and other assistants trotted here and there offering to help customers. It wasn't terribly busy, but busy enough for no pony to notice three ponies appearing out of thin air onto a bench.

"I know this place," Raven said. "It's a hotel right next to my town."

While it was good to again be on familiar ground, it was also a very bad thing. It meant that the Dark One would easily find them now. And there was nothing they could do about it.