༺Tu 11/17/2015 8:00 PM ࿇ 40 miles north of St.Joseph, MO༻

Inside a huge cylindrical steel building that was about a quarter of the size of Walmart, there was a party going on this very moment. It was no ordinary party, and its subject was of no ordinary nature. The reason for the party was to celebrate My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Yes, this was a Bronycon. Lights, signs, and other colorful advertisements were placed around the outside of the cylindrical building. Fields surrounded the building in all directions, with only a single road leading out of the area. On the front of the building was a huge lit sign saying "Bronycon 2015". Even from the outside of the building, music can be heard. The music of pony songs. On the inside, pony media was all over the place. In the center of the room was a stage made of wooden pallets and hay. Encircling the stage were bronies and pegasisters of all ages and backgrounds. They were all dancing to the song that was sung on stage. A loud rumble sounded overhead.

It was nighttime yet the moon was hidden behind thick layers of storm clouds. Occasionally a bolt of lightning struck the ground in the distance, leaving a yellow fractal in the sky that faded within a second. The occasional crack of thunder didn't effect the bronies inside of the building. They were too busy having a good time listening to music, sharing their creations and other stuff that they had brought to show off. Tables also lined one of the walls in this building. The tables were full of pony toys, plushies, shirts, cakes, pies, and a lot of other indescribable pony things. The song was now over, and the building went quiet as the main speaker spoke.

"Today we have celebrated our 2015 Bronycon. And..." that's when he was cut off by someone falling into the stage and dropped a bag of seeds on the stage. Seeds? Oh well, who cares. Finally, the speaker continued "...seeds. You know what? I have an idea. If everyone would cooperate with this experiment, we will be able to do the impossible. In the Bible, Jesus says that with faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. Let's all focus on one spot and imagine... no, believe that a portal will open to Equestria. I believe that we all collectively will acquire enough faith to do anything. SO let's all stare at this spot," he pointed at a standing pallet "and make it happen."

The whole building fell silent as most of the bronies stared at the standing pallet. Eyes glared at the pallet for many minutes. "Believe, and it will happen" the speaker kept reassuring the crowd of focused bronies. A few more minutes passed, maybe more. The pallet remained standing and it seemed like nothing was happening. The occasional crack of thunder, now audible through the silence of the focused crowd, would startle a few. Then they returned to their intent focus. Finally one brony broke the silence "I don't think anything's happening. Whatever we might be doing, isn't enough."

"Well we need to focus harder, we need to WANT it to happen with all of our being. we want to BELIEVE that it WILL happen." replied the speaker on the stage. A few more minutes of intent staring, and a few more minutes of absolutely nothing. Finally, one by one, bronies started to break off from the focused group and milled about the building, talking silently to the other bronies that had also broken from the group. Eventually the entire building was filled with the sound of chatter and the sight of people randomly walking about the building, making last minute sells and purchases. It was now 8:52 and people started to leave the building. At 9:24, the building was again void of sound, for the only people who remained was to clean up the place. At 9:48 everything was clean and the building became dark, soundless, and empty.

The storm was still lingering overhead and the lightning became more frequent. Streaks of lightning was giving their own light show now. Then all of a sudden, lightning struck the steel building. More specifically, the still standing pallet. An orb of yellow light hovered about an inch in front of the pallet. The orb then exploded, revealing a ring of yellow light and on the inside, it was like a window into a forest.

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A car pulled up as a brony returned to get something that he has accidentally left there. It was now 11:27 p.m. With a flashlight in hand, he entered the huge building. He found a box in the corner containing other pony items that had been left behind. He quickly found what he came for and then...

"What in Celestia's name is this?" The voice came from the stage and it sounded like... no this can't be right. The voice was calm and had an airy feel to it. Fluttershy? The man's heart started to beat faster from fear.

"Wh... who's there?" said the brony.

A gasp sound came from the stage, then a soft squeal. Then the sound of footsteps running, then it sounded the footsteps was on grass or dry leaves. Questions started whirling around the brony's head. Slowly, the brony made his way to the stage. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the portal that had a yellow, glowing outline. This outline separated what he should be seeing: the front of the pallet, from what he shouldn't be seeing: a forest. He slowly made his way to the opening.

Minutes passed as he just stood there, not knowing if he should pass the opening, or leave with his lost pony figurine. Finally, he made up his mind and stepped through. A tingling sensation passed his body like he walked through a waterfall into a cave. A sensation that startled him at first, but then he got his grip again. It was now 27 minutes until midnight. He emerged in the forest, well, it was more like the edge of the forest. It here was also nighttime, but the sky was clear and a bright moon illuminated the ground. And not to far away was the outline of a building. It was most likely Fluttershy's cottage. The brony found himself walking toward the cottage.

He finally reached the door and decided to knock. The door opened and there she was, Fluttershy looking at the brony for a brief moment. Before he could do anything, there came a squeal and the door slammed shut. The brony stood there in shock over the sudden door slamming. Well that figured, Fluttershy is easily scared. He found himself knocking again. Another squeal and a shaky voice broke the silence. "Whatever you are, please leave me alone."

"Please don't be afraid, I am not going to hurt you." said the brony.

a shaky voice came from inside "What are you? I have never seen anything like you in Equestria. Did you come from the yellow ring or something? Was that you who sent me running back to my cottage?"

"I... I am a human. Of course you haven't seen me in Equestria because that yellow ring is some type of portal connecting your world to mine. Yes, I am sorry I startl... scared you, Fluttershy." Another squeal stopped the brony cold.

"How do you know my name?" she responded, slightly snappy.

This was a very difficult question. He couldn't say to her that she was a fictional cartoon and was recorded. She surely looked real now. All of the detail, just like on earth. No cartoonation of anything. What would he tell her? "I asked you a question!" she said, even more snappy.

"Uh... " The brony looked around, trying to think of something. Then he noticed a mailbox on a path leading away from her house. Surely her name must be on that somewhere. "The mailbox over yonder," he pointed "I saw your name on it and assumed that a 'Fluttershy' must be at this house."

This time, her voice was calm again "Oh, I nearly forgot about that old mailbox having my name on it. What's yours?"

"David" the brony responded.

"Alright, David, you can come in now."

With that, David walked into the cottage to see Fluttershy curled up into a ball in a corner, shaking a little bit. "It's alright, don't be afraid, I am not gunna hurt you, dear." he said again as he stepped through slowly and closed the door. Did he really just say dear? Fluttershy uncurled and slowly stood up. That's when they began exchanging questions and other basic information. They talked past midnight.

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Author's Note

This is the first chapter of the Etheral Fissure. I really hoped that you would enjoy it. If you have any ideas that you think might go well with this book, please feel free to submit them.

Thanks to some suggestions from my comments, I fixed a point of view error, and increased the struggle between David and Fluttershy. Some things after the second page break has been changed since the chapter's publication.