Prologue: Through the Portal
The Mystery Shack was a simple place. It was, as the name suggested, little more than a shack. It had two simple floors, was made of wood, and the entrance was full of knick-knacks and other merchandise. A gift-shop and house all mixed into one. Yes, it was a very simple place indeed. Well, for the most part anyway.
Upstairs lies a room. To many, it would seem to be an attic. That it was, but it was more than that. It was a bedroom for two. One was clearly a girl. Her bedsheets were a bright, hot pink. Over her bed hung many posters of boy bands, romance novels, and glittery stars. The other was clearly a boy; posters about mystery novels and... well, mostly geeky things posted up over his bed. On said bed lay a single boy, the very same boy that slept on this bed normally. He lay on his back, holding his book above his head, reading intently. All was quiet and calm in this simple shack, and nothing would ever change tha-
"HEY DIPPER!" Dipper screamed in shock as his head jerked off the bed, making into the bedpost on its way up. He grunted and closed his eyes as he recoiled in pain and hissed, lifting his hand to rub his forehead where contact had been made, brushing aside his hair and revealing the tattoo of the little dipper constellation on his head.
"Ugh," he said when he had recovered enough to speak. He turned to look at the twelve year old, brown haired girl that was now standing next to him. She was wearing a sweater with a cat on it, and smiling so wide her braces were practically gleaming. Of course, for her, this was her normal face. She was hardly ever without a smile on her face. "What was that for Mabel?" He said with a frown.
"That was your birthday scream! AHHHH!!" She screamed, flopping her arms around in front of her. Dipper shut his eyes tight and covered his ears with his hands until the scream was over. When it was, he lowered his hands and opened his eyes, which he promptly rolled with a groan.
"Mabel, our birthday isn't even for another week."
"I know, I'm just so excited! We'll be teenagers!" She said, her smile never fading. She squeed a little right after as Dipper gave a sort of friendly smile, his anger having quickly faded. "You'll be in the same school-type thingy as Wendy," she said in a mischievous tone. He blushed despite himself and rubbed the back of his neck as she chuckled, before he gave a prompt cough as his blush rapidly faded.
"No, I'm done with Wendy. Besides, we'll be leaving Gravity Falls before school starts. It doesn't matter either way." He sighed sadly as his face fell when that sentence sunk in. Even Mabel's smile turned into a slight frown. "This summer's been crazy, what with all the monsters and supernatural world-destroying threats. We fought gnomes, zombies, and sea monsters. I met the author of the journals. Heck, we've done battle with a reality shattering dream demon, TWICE, who still happens to be on the loose!" Dipper sighed once more as he looked down, the hat he perpetually wears covering his eyes. "How can we just go back after all that now?"
"Yeah, I'm going to miss Candy and Grenda too." Mabel's frown turned into a sad smile. "I don't want summer to end either. But I'm sure you could still talk to Grunkle Ford about your geek-spiracies or whatever the junk you guys talk about. Maybe he'll even let you take one of the journals or something." Dipper looked up a little more, but still bears a sad look.
"I doubt it. I'm sure he needs it. How can we leave with Bill on the loose? He could..." He immediately stopped, remembering that he can't tell her about the rift. Mabel's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he smiled nervously, hoping she didn't catch his slip up.
"He could what? Do I need to beat up another unicorn?" He gulped and continues his smile nervously, sweat slowly beading down his face. She looks at him suspiciously for a little longer before smiling widely. "You're being weird again." He chuckled nervously and nods, hoping she simply leaves with that. She looked towards the ground and seemingly takes notice of something and grins. "I know what will cheer you up..."
"What?" He says, his melancholy having been forgotten by his momentary fear and subsequent relief. He raises an eyebrow in nervous apprehension. She smiles and quickly leans over and grabs something, swiftly standing back up and shoving a pig in his face.
"SUPER WADDLES!!" She yells. The pig oinks at Dipper in response, causing him to laugh. They both laugh together for a little while and sigh as their laughter subsides. "No matter where we go, we'll always have each other." Dipper smiles before the door bursts open. Standing in the doorway is probably the most buff old man ever to ever.
"Great uncle Ford?"
"Dipper! I need your assistance! I've done the calculations, and-" Ford stops, noticing Mabel there. He turns back to Dipper and signals him to follow before walking away. Mabel puts the pig down as Dipper scoots off his bed.
"I'll be right back Mabel, Ford needs me." Mabel smiles and bats her hand.
"Don't worry. You two go off and do whatever geeky things you do. Save the world or some junk." Dipper nods and gives a quick thanks before running out of their makeshift room. He runs down the hallway and turns in time to see Ford turn the corner at the bottom of the stairs. Dipper runs down two steps at a time and turns, seeing Ford motioning to him from behind the vending machine.
To many, that vending machine was your average snack dispensing machine. But enter the code AB1C3 and you find a whole other world. To many, this was just a normal, quiet shack in the woods. To a select five people, it was more. To two, it was even more than that. Those two were currently on the elevator behind the machine, heading down to floor three.
"The rift has been becoming even more unstable. For now it is still contained, but at this rate it will escape the containment orb by week's end." Dipper gains a look of fear on his face before acquiring one of contemplation.
"But... if the rift escapes, Bill could use it to bridge the gap between our world and the nightmare realm." Ford nodded gravely.
"Indeed. It would mean the end of the world as we know it... luckily I have a plan." The elevator opened and they stepped out into a large room. lining the sides of each wall were things no normal man could explain. Scanners, graphs, items, glyphs, all of it beyond the normal man's comprehension. Some of it Dipper understood, but the majority of it was a complete enigma to him. Ford confidently strode through, glancing at past or current projects of his. They walked to the other end of the room, looking through a window. On the other side stood a large metallic triangle device with a circle inscribed within. One might even say it looked like-
"The portal?" Dipper inquired, confused. "But... you dismantled that. You said it was-"
"Too dangerous, yes," Ford finished before Dipper. He turned and looked down to Dipper. "Unfortunately, it's our only hope now. The rift is too far to seal from this side. However, if I were to go back through, I could seal it from the other side." Dipper's eyes widened as he reeled in surprise and shock.
"But... but if you did that you'd have to go back into the nightmare realm! Even if you succeeded, wouldn't you be stuck?" Ford closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, turning back to gaze up at the machine.
"Normally, yes. But I think the gap is just large enough that I can squeeze back through the gap on the other side and close it behind me as I go. " Dipper opens his mouth to speak but Ford preemptively interrupts him. "Yes, that would tear the rift open again, but if I'm careful — and correct mind you — the new tear should be small enough that I can close it again from this side, this time permanently." Dipper closed his mouth, his question having been answered, and thought for a moment before speaking up once more.
"W-what if you're not correct... or careful enough." Ford thought in silence for a moment before speaking quietly.
"The rift will rapidly expand as it tears open and the nightmare realm is released upon the world." Dipper gasps loudly as Ford nods.
"Gasp indeed. However, at this point that would only be speeding up the inevitable. Inevitable, that is, unless we go through with this plan." Dipper stares at the floor in stunned silence as helplessness floods through his veins.
"But... can't we fortify? Protect ourselves from the nightmare realm without doing this." Ford nods.
"There is. If I reverse the polarity of the portal, it would shoot outwards and create a bubble. I don't know exactly how large, but nevertheless it would. We'd have our own pocket of reality, completely shielded from the nightmare realm's influence. But if we do that... then everyone else hasn't even a shadow of a chance. Your choice." Dipper grits his teeth as he struggles, trying to decide. Guaranteed safety for us... or a chance at saving everyone. Eventually he nods and turns to Ford.
"We have to go through the portal. We can't just leave everyone else." Ford smiles at this and nods.
"You were raised nobly, Dipper. Good job." Dipper smiled outside, and beamed on the inside. He was getting praise from the author! It was still a shock to him that here he was, the author's only trusted confidante, when only a week or so ago meeting the author had been little more than a fever dream. Suddenly, he arched an eyebrow in confusion.
"Wait, you were going to leave the fate of the world in a 12 year old's hand? Especially when you already knew what should be done?" Ford guffawed and wiped a tear from his eye.
"Oh, of course not Dipper! That was merely a test to see if I could trust you with the task I called you here for. You passed with flying colors." Dipper nodded as they both walked into the portal room to gaze up at the towering machine before them. "I'm going into that portal, but I can't take the journals with me. Should I happen to not come back, I can't let my research be lost. You might be able to use it to find some other way to stop the rift, and Bill while you're at it. That's not even mentioning what could happen if it falls into the wrong hands on the other side. I need you over here to be my operator. I have radios gathered from my multiverse travels that SHOULD allow us to communicate across the realms. I'll need you to be here to relay and info that I might need from the journals via radio." Ford kneeled down in front of Dipper and grasped his shoulder, one of his six-fingered hands placed on it. "Can I trust you?" Dipper nodded and Ford smiled. "Good. Now I just need to recalibrate the portal to account for a few remaining variables. Time doesn't work the same there as it does over here, and the rift hasn't helped. I need to make sure I don't get lost in time or anything like that." Dipper chuckled.
"The one time you have to account for time as a dependent variable." Ford chuckled at that and walked back into the previous room to finalize the calibrations.
"Don't step over that yellow hazard line!" He yelled as he left. Dipper looked down and noticed half of his foot was over, so he stepped back. He looked around and all the other science-y things laying around the place. One day he'd understand all of it, and that excited him. He walked over to the table and picked up the number 3 journal, gently touching the surface. It had been awhile since he'd had it last, and was excited at the prospect of using it again. He placed it under his sweater as he heard a door open behind him. He quickly pivoted around to see, not Ford as he'd expected, but Mabel walking through and looking around with an excited and awed expression on.
"Woah, all this nerd stuff is INSANE! I should totally take Candy and Grenda down here some time."
"No you shouldn't," Dipper spoke with a deadpan expression. "Candy would start touching everything, and Grenda would probably smash stuff... with her presence." Mabel chuckled.
"Yeah... woah, is that the portal?" Dipper nods. "I thought you guys destroyed that or some biz."
"Yeah, well it's fixed." Suddenly the portal turned on. Blue light shot out from the circle as glyphs lighted up along the sides.
"Just a test run of the containment field!" He heard from the room behind him. He turned to give the thumbs up to Ford when he heard a scream behind him. He turned to see Mabel floating in the air.
She was past the hazard line.
She began to rapidly accelerate towards the portal. Dipper jumped to grab her, but ended up himself floating towards the portal. Ford, noticing this, rapidly scrambled to shut it off. He pulled the emergency shut off lever as everything rumbled. The twins flew through the portal as the whole thing rumbled and exploded, the whole thing falling apart. Ford ran into the portal room. Dipper and Mabel were nowhere to be found.
"Oh sh-"
"Uugh... my head." Mabel groans as she sits up and rubs her head. Dipper follows suit, and soon they both stand up and survey the surroundings. Around them are dirt roads going each and every way. Strangely made houses of plaster and straw roofs are scattered every so often along the roads. The moon was hanging high in the sky. On the side of the road was a sign, saying "Welcome to Ponyvile!"
"Ponyville?" Dipper questioned, raising an eyebrow at the strange name. This seemed like a town, something one certainly wouldn't expect from a land of hellish nightmares. "Why is everything so... peaceful?" Dipper glanced around, confusion becoming more and more evident. "This is the nightmare realm, isn't it? Everything seems so calm and serene." They turned around, viewing everything. On one street lay a strange cart with hay piled on it. On another, a sort of outdoor bistro complete with flowers. In front of them was a giant tree with a doorway and balcony. It almost looked like... "a house?" Suddenly, he saw a large shadow pass over him. He looked up to see a sort of winged creature flying through the sky. He couldn't make out all the details, but it seemed equine in origin. Dipper quickly grabbed Mabel and ran inside the tree, wary of whatever beasts the nightmare realm would throw at him.
Inside was a small sign saying "Golden Oaks Library." Books lined the walls, past which was a staircase leading up to an alcove he couldn't see. Mabel walked around investigating the place. On the wall were some pictures, more than one of which showed horses. He quickly saw a document listing librarians of this place, with the bottom name underlined saying "Twilight Sparkle," with the name "Spike" in parentheses next to the former.
"Is this a library? Inside a tree?" Dipper asked. Mabel grabbed a book and turned to Dipper, showing off a book with a sort of strange horn with an aura coming off it as the title picture.
"That is adorable and disturbing on a deep level," Mabel said in her ever perky and chipper tone. Dipper frowned, rubbing his chin. He pulled out a book, reading it. On the title said "Elements of Harmony: A Guide." He put it back and pulled out another, this one saying "Starswirl the Bearded," followed by another titled, "History of Equestria." Dipper mouthed out the word "Equestria," to himself, followed by a silent what?
"But... I don't get it. Nothing horrible is happening. This can't be the nightmare realm. It couldn't possibly-"
"Spike? Is that you?" They hear a female voice call from behind them. They both turn around to see a small lavender horse with a dark purple mane walking towards them. Also, it had a horn which was levitating a book in front of it. The horse's head was practically buried in the book. On its flank was a symbol of a large star with five smaller stars surrounding it. "I don't know why you'd be up at this time, it's very l-" the unicorn looks up and finally notices the two people in her house. Dipper stared on in complete shock as Mabel smiled, her pupils dilating. A pregnant pause stretched between them, before Dipper and the unicorn burst out screaming.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!" They screamed. Mabel looked between them before screaming herself for no good reason, then chuckling soon afterwards.
Chapter 1: Going in Blind
Silence. Silence resonated throughout the library: A nervous tension hung like death over the room as the two beings took the other in with fearful eyes. Thoughts raced through their minds as they struggled to comprehend the other. The unicorn's eyes danced over the intruder's strange body, failing to understand this beast she'd never seen the likes of. Dipper's too raced around, taking in all the details as his breath stayed. Unicorns existed in their world, that he knew, but this was the nightmare realm. He was wary of everything. The two stayed in silence for moments as the tension rippled and radiated through the air before it cracked with a snap. They both frantically pulled out books and began flipping through pages rapidly. Mabel focused on her brother's actions, but did nothing herself. Dipper flipped through the journal, looking for any notes on unicorns of the nightmare realm, and the unicorn herself rapidly flipped through books at blinding speeds, somehow understanding the words of pages that moved so fast they themselves could hardly be seen. They both dissolved into panic as their breathing picked up. Mabel walked over and put her hand on Dipper's back as he slammed the journal shut. Twilight followed suit, and they both spoke with panicked yells.
"THIS ISN'T IN THE JOURNAL!!"
"THIS ISN'T IN THE BOOKS!!" They both yelled simultaneously. Dipper gripped his head in frustration and panic and turned to Mabel.
"There's nothing in there about magical unicorns of the nightmare realm!" He gripped her shoulders fiercely. "I have no idea what to do!" Mabel chuckled and spoke whilst batting her hand.
"Aw Pshhhh," she sounded, getting more than a bit of her spit on Dipper's face, though he didn't notice through his panic. "I've dealt with these guys before. They're not actually magical. They can just play rave music, and be absolute je- WATCH OUT!" She yelled, pointing at something behind Dipper. He turned and yelped himself as both of the two dove to the ground as a chair sailed overhead and crashed against a wall. The two of them turned to see the wreckage of the chair and looked back at the unicorn, who was momentarily rubbing her forehead in annoyance. The twins slowly backed away as the unicorn did some sort of strange breathing ritual, wherein she lifted her hoof up to her head whilst inhaling and lowered it down and away from herself whilst exhaling. She repeated it a few more times before opening her eyes and glaring at them. Dipper and Mabel's faces contorted into one of fear.
"Alright," she said glaring at them. She looked them over once more, though this time, rather than fear, her eyes conveyed a feeling of anger with the slightest hint of academic curiosity. "Who- no... what are you two? Why are you here? Are you from the Everfree? Are you some monster?" Dipper and Mabel recoiled with each sentence, the beginning of which were always punctuated with a sharp entrance and each one stung them with fear. Dipper looked back in fear at his sister, but after seeing the equally fearful expression on his sister he knew what he had to do. He inhaled then exhaled, internally steeling himself. He took a step forward with a determined and defensive look. One that radiated the confidence that Dipper most certainly didn't feel. He would protect his sister though, and that would change for nothing.
"We could be asking you the same question," Dipper said, the confidence having made its way to his voice. He had hoped it would cause the unicorn to back down, but instead it only served to make her narrow her eyes.
"YOU'RE an intruder in MY home." Each pronoun she spoke she punctuated with a hoof pointed at the person in reference.
"This isn't your home, this is a public library. The sign told us," Dipper retaliated, determined to not back down to the unicorn. He didn't know what it wanted or what it was capable of, but he would make sure Mabel got out of this. He couldn't very well do that if the first creature he encountered took them out.
"It doubles as my home," she replied calmly while maintaining her glare. "It's closed during these hours." Dipper raised an eyebrow in confusion, wondering why the door wasn't locked in that case. "Now answer my questions."
Dipper groaned and rubbed his nose. Now that he was calmer and could think clearly, it was obvious that the unicorn wasn't intending to attack him unless he pulled something. Still, he didn't want to take any chances. He was ready to fight if necessary, but it'd be more beneficial to make allies. Especially if said ally knows the nightmare realm and has magical powers. On the flip side, that'd be an awful enemy to make. He'd (apparently) invaded her home and been openly hostile to her. He'd have to try to carefully repair the situation. First order of business would be answer her questions.
"Okay, okay," he ceded. "My name is Dipper Pines, and this is my twin sister Mabel." He gestured to the girl standing behind him before drawing his hands back after a wave and nervous smile from Mabel and a curt nod from the unicorn in response. "So... you asked what we are? Well... humans, I guess. I assume that's what you mean..."
"Humans?" The unicorn tilted her head. Her glare was still present, but it was being lost behind a look of curiosity and inquisitiveness. She seemed to be almost struggling to keep the look up, making Dipper question the authenticity of the glaring look, and the possibility of it being a facade. "Humans..." she repeated, "Is that what your species calls itself?" Dipper nodded, and the unicorn smiled brightly as a spark of excitement ignited in her eyes. "Humans! An entirely new species that I've never heard of! Maybe nopony has!" She quickly trotted in place in excitement with a little squee. Dipper and Mabel exchanged befuddled glances. "I could have discovered a new species! But you're clearly intelligent, so how could you have stayed away from public eye for so long, and why show yourself now? Oh! Maybe you're some strange breed of golem animated using some sort of near-organic fiber. Or maybe even organic tissue created by some sort of mad scientist. Oh, or maybe-" She stopped, realizing what she was doing. She coughed and cleared her throat, shaking her head a little before lowering her head back into its glare position again. Mabel nudged Dipper with a bright smile.
"Dipper! She's into nerd stuff too! You can be nerds together!" She gasped.
"Irrelevant," the unicorn said as Mabel continued smiling. The unicorn, having turned her gaze towards Mabel, turned it back to Dipper and continued. "What do you want here?" Dipper took a moment, considering how to answer. He didn't know what this creature knew, how she thought, what she wanted, or even how this world worked. He had no idea what would be the right thing to say. Honesty, he decided, was the best policy here. He would just have to hope.
"Safety and shelter," he said. She rolled her hoof, a gesture Dipper recognized as similar to a human saying to elaborate. "We got..." Dipper considered just how much to say, before deciding to somewhat forgo the truth. He'd do everything he could to not lie, but the whole truth wasn't necessary. "displaced." The unicorn continued its glare, looking over them once more as it searched them for any signs of falsehood. When they checked out, she raised her head once more and smiled softly.
"Well... okay then. I'm truly sorry for the... rude welcome," she said as she glanced over at the broken fragments of wood from the chair. "I'd never seen anypony like you before, and I was worried you might be some strange creature from the Everfree." A few questions about what she'd just said ran through Dipper's mind, but he chose to continue defusing the situation before getting curious.
"No problem. I imagine living in the nightmare realm will do that to people." Twilight raised an eyebrow at that statement. She too had questions, but like Dipper chose to hold off on them until everything was calmer... barely. She looked between the two siblings as an awkward silence hung in the air.
"Oh," she exclaimed, a thought coming to her head. "I haven't introduced myself. I am Twilight Sparkle." She heard a barely repressed laugh coming from the two, and after a quick glare they slowly became quiet. When it was done, she regained her smile. "I am of the species pony, subspecies unicorn. Though I'm sure you've heard of us."
"Nope!" Mabel spoke aloud out of nowhere. "I mean, we know about unicorns, but not ponies."
"We have ponies where we come from, but they're not sapient or... purple." Twilight stared in shock before facehoofing. Of course. They said they were displaced. They're from a far off land. Though how is it possible that there are ponies there that aren't sapient? Yet the unicorns are? That doesn't even make sense... I wonder if their culture considers unicorns as supreme. If that's the case, it would make sense then that they don't associate the two, and consider other ponies to be a lower form of intelligence than unicorns. To go so far as to say 'not sapient?' That's extreme to say the least. What's going on here... "Twilight?" Twilight was startled out of her thoughts by Dipper's voice. "You've been holding your hand-"
"HOOF!!" Mabel yelled into Dipper's ear, popping out of nowhere. He jumped in shock and pain and covered his ear with a groan.
"Yeah. Hoof. You've been holding your hoof to your chin-"
"MUZ-!" Mabel yelled, popping up before immediately having her mouth covered by Dipper's hand.
"Muzzle." Twilight nodded and simply explained she was thinking. Dipper nodded in understanding when she finished. Twilight looked outside and noticed the still hanging moon in the sky and sighed.
"It's getting late you two. We should head to bed. I'll get something for you guys to sleep on. Tomorrow I'll introduce you to my friends." Dipper appeared concerned, but before he could get a word out Mabel squeed.
"Oooh! Are they pony people like you?"
"Um... yes?"
"Yay!" Dipper chuckled as Mabel ranted to herself about what pony play things they were gonna do. He turned to Twilight.
"What if the other... ponies react similarly to you?" Twilight abashedly rubbed the back of her head as Mabel stopped talking to listen once more to the conversation. A light blush formed on her cheeks at the embarrassing reminder of her actions earlier that night... morning... whichever it was.
"Many will probably be scared of you. They may even flee. I wouldn't be worried though. I'll get the town to accept you two slowly, and I doubt anypony would attack you. If they do, I'll defend you." Mabel chuckled at that and Dipper rolled his eyes.
"How will you protect us? I mean, sure you can levitate chairs, but so what? Mabel took on three unicorn that were at least twice as big as you back home and destroyed them." Mabel chuckled and held up her fist and pointed at it.
"I made them bleed rainbows." Twilight stared, horrified at the two.
"Why would you make anypony bleed?"
"Because they were jerks and I needed their hair." The two stared at each other before Twilight decided to forget she heard that.
"They must have been weak mages. I assure you, I can protect you." Dipper gazed in contemplative thought as Mabel punched the air, apparently recreating her fight with the unicorns. Dipper sighed and looked once more at Twilight.
"Promise?" Twilight smiled and moved her hoof in an x across her chest before shoving it in her comically large eye.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." The twins looked on, incredibly confused at the display.
"You've got it wrong, silly," Mabel said with a laugh. "It's 'cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.'" Twilight gasped in horror.
"That's awful! Why would you say that?" The two groups looked at each other before Twilight groaned. "You know what? Nevermind. l'll just get you some sleeping arrangements." Soon the twins had a place to sleep, uncomfortable as it was, and Twilight had bid them good night. She laid up in her bed, awaiting sleep, as she thought about the events that had transpired. She was nervous about these... humans, and worried about how her friends would react. More than anything though, she was excited at the academic prospects this could grant and what she could learn. It was with a racing heart that she fell asleep, unknowing of what would happen the next day.
Author's Note
The official first chapter is done! Whew. I hope to update this more frequently, but there's just so much crap going on in my life that I have a tough time occasionally. I got pissed off on Supremacy: 1914 followed by a loss on the final part of the semifinals in a Nine Men's Morris tournament at school and thus lost my extra credit that I was so incredibly close to. 3 weeks of training down the drain. I needed to take a break from all things happy after that.
