Equestria: Across the Multiverse

“When considering the history of multiversal exploration in Equestria, one must remember that the groundwork for travelling between universes was already established long before the time of Princess Twilight. While it is true that Princess Twilight had begun the modern age of multiverse exploration, she merely perfected the method of traversing parallel worlds into a practical form, and her endeavors began as a private project exclusive to only her and her companions.

Even so, however, without her insight into the full implications of its potential, modern trans-universal colonization and commerce would never have occurred. And without her support and efforts to gradually expand this endeavor into a national, then international, and eventually cross-universe enterprise, the benefits and impacts of inter-universal travel upon this Equestrian society and many others would never had been fully realized.”

--- Looking Glass, Earth-Pony Historian, “Crossroads of Infinity: A brief history of inter-universal travel” [Equestria Variant AXC-15274]

Twilight Sparkle looked at herself in the mirror.

She scrutinized her own reflection with the care of a veteran researcher, eying for the tiniest details that normal ponies may miss.

It has been a few years since she has arrived in Ponyville, and while it’s true that much has happened and changed since then, she found herself remarkably remained much the same pony she was. For one thing, her mane and tail still have the same violet, purple and magenta streaked hair, done simply in square cuts with bangs, complementing her dark purple pupiled eyes. Her coat color remained the same lavender hue from horn to hoof, interrupted only by the bright magenta-and-white star Cutie Mark she has on both her flanks that defined her incredible talent in magic.

Of course, it would be wrong to say that she has remained exactly the same as she was; even normal ponies grow up or grow old, after all, though she had become far more than a normal pony. For one thing, she has grown taller, her horn has become slightly longer, and had a pair of majestic wings to complement both developments.

There were more changes as well, the result of time and many events, but they couldn’t be seen in a mere reflection. One thing was sure, she was no longer the lonely, antisocial unicorn student of Princess Celestia that left Canterlot for Ponyville those few years ago; she is now the Alicorn Princess of Magic and Friendship, Celestia, Luna and Cadence’s peer, capable of wielding magic of all three tribes, and is an intimate member of a group of wonderful friends through thick and thin. She even had a whole new castle to go with it, a crystal construct shape reminiscent of the poor, lost Golden Oaks Library that she once lived in.

She was not dwelling on thoughts of her past and comparing them with her present, however. Right now, a far less personal, and in some ways far grander question was at the forefront of her mind.

She raised and lowered a hoof, and she watched as her reflection did the same. She tilted her head, and her reflection responded in kind. She hopped once in place, and she followed her reflection as she went up and down in mid-air. Everything she did, her counterpart followed with exact, perfect precision. Twilight giggled at this display.

When she was very young, almost a newborn, she had regarded much the same with her own reflection, piqued with curiosity and amusement at the antics of the filly that she saw in the mirror. She did so even long after she realized, far more quicker than most, that the filly was herself; it was a simple matter of pretending that her own reflection was some-pony else. Her parents had thought it eccentric, but it was, in many ways, the start of her intellectual curiosity that would see her become one of the most learned and gifted geniuses to ever grace Equestria, her achievements in defending Harmony and becoming a Princess notwithstanding.

But certain adventures, with a certain special mirror, had changed the way she had thought of this strange habit of hers.

The Crystal Mirror had been the creation of Starswirl the Bearded, and if there was any-pony who would conceivably discover the Multiverse and found a means to travel through them, Twilight conceded, it would had been none other than Starswirl, the greatest wizard in Equestrian history, an inspiration whose shadow she had followed, and whom she had been trying to keep up, already matched and even surpassed in several ways.

To think, Starswirl had been travelling across the multiverse long before ponies had even invented the steam engine. His own records of the places he had visited was enough to fill an encyclopaedia, once she had finished deciphering the coded language he had used in his notes – well, what was left that she found preserved, anyways.

It was sad to imagine that such a brilliant invention like the Crystal Mirror was left, forgotten and disused, in the depths of the Canterlot Castle, long after Starswirl’s time. And it would had remained so, had it not for Princess Celestia’s previous student, Sunset Shimmer, who had discovered how to reactivate the Mirror and travel through it following centuries of dormancy. Former foe had turned into friend, and now she and Twilight had a few adventures of their own in the world on the other side, another time and place both bizarre and strangely familiar.

It has changed both worlds, but more importantly, it has changed herself, her frontier of knowledge, and how she sees her own place in existence. When she looked at her own reflection in the mirror, she no longer needed to imagine that the mare in front of her was some-pony else – there was no need to, for she know, both empirically and in her heart, that they are out there, somewhere. Even now, at the back of her head, she wondered how many alternate versions of herself were doing the exact same thing as she was, across the Multiverse, looking into a mirror and thinking the same thoughts. How she wished to meet them; there is so much that they could talk about and share…

The Princess paused and shook her head. Don’t get distracted, Twilight, she thought to herself, you’ll get there soon enough, but first… “Let’s get back to work.”

Of course, enabling that to happen is part of the myriad of reasons which motivated her to pursue her current project – to improve upon Starswirl’s method of inter-universal travel. She had the Crystal Mirror, which could take her to any universe that she desires.

But it has many shortfalls in terms of design. In its original configuration, it takes around thirty moons for the portal to reopen a route between worlds; partly as a preventive measure against inducing a ‘paradox’ effect, the accidental synchronization of home timeline’s causality with that of the destination timeline. The other reason was due to the enormous power requirements involved to breach the barriers between worlds. It was partly the latter reason that made Princess Celestia moved the Crystal Mirror to the Crystal Empire originally, taking advantage of the higher ambient concentration of magical energies there to try and reduce the recharge time.

She has modified the Crystal Mirror as much as she has been able to, making improvements that would inhibit the ‘Paradox effect’, as well as greatly increase energy efficiency and charge rate, enabling her now to use it whenever she wants. But then there are other problems – beautifully crafted it may be, the Crystal Mirror is a big, cumbersome thing, which limited where she would arrive in another world, the area she could explore, and where she could potentially return home from. As for going to other worlds, details on how to dial the Crystal Mirror was sadly lost - deliberately destroyed apparently by Starswirl, if some of his notes were any indication. It meant that for the moment, she could only access the world where Sunset Shimmer have went to, as the last recorded use of the Crystal Mirror by Starswirl was to banish the monstrous Sirens that she and Sunset had once confronted there.

(There was also a prototype Crystal Mirror, but that was another story)

If she want to make trans-universal travel more practical, she’ll need to make a device much more optimized and compact than the Crystal Mirror.

She moved back from the large ordinary bedroom mirror she was looking into, and went back to said device, sitting on a table. It was the culmination of months of work, with many hours’ worth of tinkering and testing. Physically, it was a cylindrical-shaped machine, looking like and was the size of a small hoof-held cannon. To an untrained eye, with the addition of an assortment of diodes, wires and fins of undiscernible purposes, it would resemble a large ray-gun from a pulp science fiction comic-book. What looked like a radio frequency meter was present on a square panel mounted on the top of the device, above a dial, a number of switches and a keypad. A long, snaking cord was attached to a metal box on its side, with more assortments of diodes, buttons and dials on a panel on top, next to a power-meter.

A radiator fan on the box started spinning as Twilight threw a switch. Diodes lit on both the box and cylinder lit up. Meters moved and counters ticked. A hum could be heard as the device came to life, which got louder by the moment as power built up within the device. A final few adjustments by clicking a few buttons and turning a few dials, and Twilight had it primed and readied for use.

“Great, now to tell the others to be ready on their end.” Twilight muttered to herself. Then, raising her voice, she called out to her assistant. “Spike!”

It took only a few moments for the green and purple baby dragon to appear at the entrance of the  Friendship Castle’s basement lab. “Hey Twilight! I was wondering when you’ll be test-firing that thing today.” He said, quickly coming down the stairs, a familiar book tucked under his armpit, “I always missed it whenever you do.”

“That’s because you’re either usually asleep whenever I’m working on it in the middle of the night, or too busy with other errands I sent you out to do. You wouldn’t want me to bother you when you’re too tired or distracted now, would you?” Twilight teased, taking the book from Spike, “Thanks for bringing me this, by the way!”

“Thought that you’ll dial that place first.” Spike remarked, “Which makes obvious sense, given what you’re doing. Do they know that you’ll try and portal them today?”

“I wrote to them last night. They should be near the statue at around this time. If this goes well, I should be able contact them through the tear and do everything I need to do without complications.” Twilight confirmed, writing down a few things into the enchanted notebook that she had used to correspond with Sunset across worlds. Soon enough, a message appeared, and Twilight went to activate other machinery and make other preparations.

“‘If this goes well’… yeah, sure, here’s hoping for that. I’ll go take a seat.” Spike muttered, before looking around to find some place to sit and watch the test unfold – preferably some place far enough but still have a clear view, and with a few objects to improvise a barricade. He’s been in too many of his surrogate mother/sibling’s experiments to know it’s better safe than sorry.

“Use the pair of goggles from the table, Spike. The portal creation process might get a bit brighter than the Crystal Mirror!” Twilight reminded, moving to grab her own and put it on. Then, when all was ready, she moved behind an opaque blast-screen she has set up in her lab and grab hold of the device’s trigger with her telekinesis. “Test one: portal activation. Initiating!”

She squeezed the trigger. There was a whine and a flash of light; a beam steaked out of the device’s barrel at light speed and into the bedroom mirror. Despite the arcane energies battering it, the mirror did not crack or break. The impact point glowed bluish white, which proceeded to spread across the entire surface within a moment.

As soon as it began, it was over. The beam stopped, but the device remained active. Before them, the mirror had a portal much like the one in the Crystal Mirror

Spike eyed it in awe, “It… it worked! You created another Crystal Mirror!”

“A temporary one. Let’s check…” Twilight commented. She clicked a stopwatch, before grabbing a storage box nearby and pulling out an object. In the world on the other side of the mirror, it was called a ‘smart-phone’, a communication device that could function without magic. Sunset had given it to Twilight as a present during one of her previous visits. (Using it with her hooves had been difficult, given who or what they were designed for, but she mastered it as soon as she started utilizing a touch-stick).

She pressed a few buttons on the smart-phone and dialled a number. She paced as she waited for the phone’s signal to link up with another on the other side. Then, the call dialled through.

“Hello, Sunset?” Twilight began, but was interrupted by a familiar, excited voice.

“Twilight, we saw the portal form on the other side!” Sunset exclaimed, “And it seems like it can be traversed!”

That’s true, Twilight thought, otherwise electromagnetic signals we’re using to communicate would bounce off. “I’m getting Wi-Fi on my end as well. I’ll put the phone on webcam!” Twilight replied, before cantering to a bench where she had set up a home cinema projector. It wasn’t easy to jury-rig a connection between the two devices without breaking either of them, but she had managed.

She wired up her phone and turned on the projector. Sunset Shimmer, in the human form provided by the Crystal Mirror, soon appeared on the projector screen as the webcam app connected. Behind her was the familiar campus building of Canterlot High. What Twilight didn’t expect though was her own counterpart in that human world, wearing a lab-coat and her distinctive glasses, standing behind Sunset and waving her hand.

“Sci-Twi would be assisting us test the portal. She insisted on coming.” Sunset explained.

“I can’t let such an opportunity to learn more about magic and cosmology go to waste.” Sci-Twi added, gawking slightly at the image of her Alicorn counterpart before her. The baby dragon meanwhile was waving to her dog Spike, his counterpart. “When you’re ready, princess.” She said, taking a baseball in her hand.

Princess Twilight nodded. “We don’t know how quickly the portal drains energy and how long it could remain stable, so let’s do this as quick as we can. Test two: inanimate object displacement.”

With that, Sci-Twi tossed the baseball through the portal. It disappeared with a splash of light, and reappeared on Princess Twilight’s end. She picked it up, and examined it thoroughly with an enchanted magnifying glass.

“Inanimate object test: baseball appears undamaged and unchanged in transit. Returning object.” Twilight said aloud, before tossing the ball back into the portal. She watched as it appeared back in Canterlot High, while Sunset wrote down the results in the enchanted notebook.

“Test three: biological displacement.” Sunset declared as she and Sci-Twi brought out a pole, with a caged mouse hanging at the end of it. “Our Fluttershy is going to ‘Stare’ me down so hard if she ever hears about this…”

They stuck the pole through the portal, and Princess Twilight watched as it came out the other side. Quickly, she brought out a special tripod-mounted camera – more enchanted than the magnifying glass for enhanced analytical functions – and begin examining the lab mice.

“From initial observations, living specimen appears to be unharmed and unchanged in transit.” She said, snapping off pictures in various wavelengths – visible, infrared, X-ray, thaumatic and others, all to be developed in a dark room later – as she examined. Indeed, other than scrambling in fear and agitation from suddenly appearing in an alien environment, the mouse appears to be fine in its cage. “Still, long-term evaluation would be necessary to establish any long-term effects on health and composition for both inanimate and animate test samples.”

“This is great! Everything seems to be in order.” Sunset commented as she took the mice back through the tear in space-time, “With any luck, we can begin – wait, Twi, what are you doing?!”

Sci-Twi was standing close to the portal, too close for comfort. Her eyes were wide, staring in awe at the glowing white tear before her. Then, she made an unhinged, disturbing grin. “Test four: Sophont entity displacement!” She declared, and before anyone could react, reached out towards the portal with her right arm.

“Other me, don’t – !” Princess Twilight exclaimed in panic, but then halted and looked in shock when she saw an arm – an unchanged human arm, with a human hand – appear on her end of the portal. Sci-Twi managed to flex her fingers before Sunset pulled her back and took her arm out of the portal.

“Darn it, Twilight, what were you thinking?!” Sunset admonished, flat on her rear on the pavement with Sci-Twi on top of her.

Sci-Twi laughed awkwardly “I – sorry, I guess… I just couldn’t resist.” She excused as she and Sunset got up, dusting themselves down, “In any case, at least it’s evident that species change in transit by the Crystal Mirror is purely a product of its design, instead of the result of any inherent cosmological phenomena in nature.”

“You could had try proving that after we have done more testing to ensure it is as safe as using the Crystal Mirror!” Sunset exclaimed, throwing her arms up, “We don’t know how long that portal could stay open, and if the portal collapsed at that moment, it could have taken your arm off, if not worse!”

“After so many tests, we’re so close to success! I never stopped wanting to visit your home reality, Sunset, even before I went Midnight Sparkle back then…!” Sci-Twi tried to justify herself.

“You’ve got to keep that mad scientist knack of yours under control.” Sci-Twi’s dog Spike said disapprovingly, which caused the dragon Spike in the pony world to yelp in surprise. “Seems like you haven’t got that obsession of yours all out of your system, even after what happened at the Friendship Games.”

Sci-Twi hanged her head in silent shame. Sighing, Sunset turned back to the phone webcam and Princess Twilight. “Sorry about that. We’re still helping her through the worst of it; mental scars don’t disappear overnight, if at all. In any case, the portal is working like a charm so far. As I was saying…”

“Oh right, yes!” Princess Twilight remembered, getting over her shock, and outrage, of Sci-Twi’s unprofessional stunt. “I’ve got copies of the plans for my device here. I’ll send you the data we have collected later through the Crystal Portal. I’ve already triple-checked the details to make sure I haven’t miss anything, but if you suspect anything to be missing, let me know.”

“Will do, Twilight. And I’ll have them photocopied as soon as I can, just in case transit bodies are still unstable with your prototype device and the baseball started disintegrating overnight.” Sunset replied, while Sci-Twi had a nervous, audible gulp as she picked up the rolled-up scrolls being deposited through the portal. “Getting some of the parts here is going to be tricky, but I and Sci-Twi should be able to improvise and develop our own version of the trans-universal portal projector, and we’ll message you for parts if we can’t find any.”

“I’ll be happy to help you any way I can.” Princess Twilight replied, smiling, “In fact, I can give you a few of those spare components right now if the portal…”

Whatever she was going to say next was interrupted when she heard a sizzling noise, coming from the portal. The rectangular shaped tear seems to be flickering, and its edges seems to be starting to retreat towards the centre. There were even a few small stray bolts of arcane energies, arching into the ground close to the mirror. Behind Spike, the various machinery that Twilight had prepared for started to raise alarms, lights beeping, klaxons blared, counters ticked furiously, and in the corner of the projector device, a power-meter indicates the device was running on the last few drops of energy.

“Looks like the portal has reached its limits and is starting to destabilized!” Princess Twilight warned, before she and Spike ducked behind the opaque blast-screen once more “Clear the area!”

“Twi, come on!” Sunset ordered, as she and Sci-Twi picked up the phone on her end along with other materials and ran for cover. It was the last sight of the Canterlot High world Princess Twilight saw before the signal was cut.

The portal’s end was as spectacular as its beginning. The portal’s edges became hazy, and subsequently shrunk, collapsing into a tiny pint-point. Then, the pinpoint of light went out in an explosive blast of light and wild magic, bathing the lab in a blinding glare.

When the light died down, all that was left was an ordinary bedroom mirror, now singed in the centre and cracked at the edges, where the portal was. There were steam and smoke coming out of the mirror, the small charred radius mark on the floor around the mirror, and around the lab.

“… Well, we’re alive.” Spike noted as he and the Twilight edged cautiously out from behind the blast-panel. “Not so sure about the rest of the lab though.”

“Oh no, the portal generator!” Twilight galloped to where the device was mounted. She ran a quick diagnostic check, and then sighed with relief when the results came out. “Thank goodness… I should had remembered that the Orichalcum alloy I used to contain the energies inside the projector could also protect the delicate circuitry from any electromagnetic and arcane energy pulses as well.”

“Same can’t be said for some of the other devices.” Spike said as he ran diagnostic tests on the other equipment in the lab, “Some that are made with what you used are fine, but the others are fried. At least the data printouts from the analysis machines you used haven’t been burnt, even if the machines were.”

There was a chime, coming from the enchanted notebook. Twilight opened it to reveal a message from Sunset. ‘Everything alright?’

‘Physically so, as is the projector.’ Twilight wrote back. She looked at the smartphone, damaged internally beyond use, and added, ‘Not so much everything else. Also, I might need a new phone.’

‘Same here. Our phones are also fried.’ Sunset wrote back. ‘Luckily our smartphones are still within their warranty periods. Might need to consider shielded containers and equipment in any future cascade failures. I read that humans invented something called ‘faraday cages’ that we could use to shield from electromagnetic pulses, which we can also adapt for thaumic pulses with different materials.’

‘Meanwhile, I’ll try to see if I could develop some components that could reduce the after-effects of a portal collapse.’ Twilight wrote. Then, smiling, she wrote, ‘Other than that and a lot of tidying up to do, though, I think this test was an astounding success. I can’t wait to tell the others!’

= = =

Of course, it wasn’t until after another month of extra testing before Twilight decided to inform the rest of the Mane Six, having perfected the prototype and ensured, beyond reasonable doubt, that transit would be as safe. She was positively giddy with excitement when she broke the news; with a compact, portable trans-universal portal projector (Spike had suggested nicknames like the ‘Porta-Port’), she and her friends could explore the multiverse with ease. Now it was a matter of seeing if they would come along for a jaunt.

In hindsight, she shouldn’t be surprised to find the initial reactions of her friends to her proposal to be… cautiously mixed. They had valid, understandable reasons for them, however.

“While it’ll be fun to travel to many other worlds, battling evildoers and helping people, I got a life here in this world, and a farm to take care of.” Applejack said, speaking her mind in her usual honest way. “I’m missing harvest right now just by being here! And when we go jumping across other worlds, my family would be left hard-pressed without an extra hoof for work and the extra bits that would bring.”

“I also got many animals to take care of back in the cottage. I can’t bear to think what would happen to them whilst I’m gone.” Kind and gentle Fluttershy added, meekly as usual, “But if you insist, I… think I can come with you on these trips.”

“I got to help the Cakes back at Sugarcube Corners. I got multiple orders of super-sized, super-sugary, super-deluxe birthday cakes to bake today, all from Canterlot, strangely enough. I’m going to be busy-busy-busy-busy all day long!” Pinkie Pie joined in, waving her hooves for emphasis, “Not to mention that Pipsqueak’s birthday is coming tomorrow and I have to get down to business planning. And who knows what orders that would pile up while I’m in another universe for who knows how long, possibly without parties or cake while at it!”

“We all have some affairs or businesses to run, darling. Winter clothes are selling like hot-cakes now that winter is coming, no pun intended Pinkie.” Rarity noted, brushing her mane on her crystal throne in the Friendship Council, while Pinkie giggled mirthfully, “All the other times we have to go out on these adventures is usually because of the urgency involved, between Princess Celestia and the Cutie Map.”

“And speaking of which, I wouldn’t want to leave our Equestria hanging, going on an adventure in another universe, while another bad guy comes up to trying to conquer Equestria or bring about Eternal Whatever in our absence.” Rainbow Dash threw in her two bits. This surprised every-pony else somewhat, since the impulsive pegasus would usually jump at a chance at adventure without second thoughts. “I may be the best flier in Equestria, but even I know I can’t be everywhere at once!”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, we’re more than happy to go with you on this, but we all have our priorities to take care of first.” Applejack vouched for every-pony.

“I understand, Applejack, and every-pony.” Princess Twilight replied, while writing down a list on a clipboard, “In fact, I appreciate that you all are open in sharing them with me. I have anticipated some of these potential problems, and has made the necessary arrangements to address them. As for the others that I didn’t consider, I may have a few suggestions.”

Twilight hoofed the pages to Spike, who then walked around the Cutie Map to hoof them over to the rest of the Mane Six. They were pleasantly surprised by what they found.

“A generous loan from an agricultural bank owned by the Crown, for hiring farm-hooves and buying equipment?” Applejack read, “Oh Twilight, you shouldn’t have…”

“This was actually Princess Celestia’s idea.” Princess Twilight mentioned, “She understands that Sweet Apple Acres is still struggling a bit financially, and wanted to help relieve the pressure and bring your farm to more modern levels of productivity. She said that considering all you had done for Equestria, you and your family earned it, and hope you consider this your hard work rewarded.”

Applejack scratched the back of her head, feeling flattered by the faint praise. “Much as my pride want me to turn it down, wanting no special treatment and earning my honest, fair share, past experience and common sense tells me to take it; we do need all the help we can get. I guess Granny Smith and Big Mac wouldn’t complain …”

“Aren’t you afraid that this would be considered nepotism by some?” Rarity pointed out as she finished reading hers “It feels like we’re taking advantage of our connection to you and the rest of Royalty.”

“It seems so, but I don’t think many ponies would complain about the Princess of Friendship helping out her friends any way she could.” Princess Twilight noted, “I promise there will be no hard feelings if you do say no.”

“Well, a lot of these suggestions are common sense, as Applejack said; though Sassy Saddles in Canterlot Boutique understood now how I run my business, hiring a few more designers and managers to help out like she suggested does make sense from a business point of view.” Rarity said “I had been meant to expand my business, and I can use the list you just gave me to hire or negotiate for joint-enterprise as a start. I’ll discuss this with Coco when I and Sassy visit Manehatten Boutique this week.”

“Treehugger and her friends would be more than happy to help me take care of my animals.” Fluttershy smiled at Twilight’s suggestion to her predicament, “I had thought about it, and if you and others do as well, I’m sure it would be alright, so long as they don’t make much of a mess.”

Can’t be as much as Angel bunny and you-know-who. Twilight thought snidely, then turn to Pinkie Pie, “Pinkie, your particular problem is actually quite tricky, but I think I have a work-around. Rainbow mentioned Gilda is considering coming back to Equestria for apprenticeship in culinary arts. She has tried applying for a post at Gustav Le Grand’s establishment, but there isn’t any post available there yet. Maybe you could help her out?”

“Of course I’m more than happy to help her out!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed in her usual excited way, almost bouncing in her seat, “When I met her again in Griffonstone, I noticed she looked like the sort who’s willing to work as hard as I do when it comes to bakery! Most ponies in-town probably forgotten her first visit anyway, so she’ll blend right back in. I got all sorts of recipes that I had been wanting to teach her! And if there’s any-pony who I’m sure could make that grumpy birdie smile, it would be the Cake twins!”

“I can see then she could easily fill in for you whenever we go on a field trip.” Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash, “That leaves us with what would be the biggest problem of going universe-hopping: National defence. Rainbow Dash is right; we’ll leave Equestria vulnerable to whoever comes along in extended trips, and when we go universe-jumping, we would have no way of knowing what happened back home, and circumstances beyond our control could prevent us from getting back quickly even if we did.”

“Have you discussed this with the other Princesses too?” Rarity inquired, her voice showing a hint of concern, “Even ignoring inter-universal travel, having villains appearing every next month or after is starting to get on our nerves, not to mention sanity, given all the pain and horrors we often have to endure fighting them off …”

“Luna and Cadence had raised that point to me when I discussed my plans with the other Princesses.” Twilight mentioned, while taking out and going through a document full of plans. “We reached a consensus on what to do about it; the Royal Guards would be seeing a major increase in the budget this quarter, which would be invested in increasing recruitment, improving training and acquiring better equipment. Whenever we go on a ‘jaunt’, Princess Celestia and Luna would put the whole Equestrian Armed Forces on alert. They would be running sweeps personally to ensure all the sealed past evils remains so and new ones don’t emerge. Plus, now we have a draconequu on our side; Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, you two have worked together to reform Discord, can you make sure he’ll keep himself in line and under control?”

“He’s been a good boy ever since Tirek and the Grand Galloping Gala, rebuilding burnt bridges and doing good deeds” Fluttershy, who taught Discord kindness and empathy, reminded Twilight, skipping past the annoying shenanigans that mischievous chaos serpent still gets up to. “I’m sure that he will behave while we’re gone.”

“And just in case, I can extract Pinkie Promises from him!” Pinkie added, having taught Discord how to have fun without hurting others. Then, she glowered menacingly, “No one, not even that zoo-animal-patchwork, breaks a Pinkie Promise and gets away with it!”

Applejack shuddered. Meanwhile Rainbow Dash asked, “What if there’s something only those who can use our Rainbow powers comes along?”

“About that…” Princess Twilight began, “I think it’s time for me to test my student in friendship, to see if she has learnt enough about the Magic of Friendship to use the Elements of Harmony.”

“Who, Starlight Glimmer?” Rainbow Dash asked, to which she received a head-shake in response.

“No, I don’t think she has learnt enough yet, though she is trying her best.” Twilight explained. “No, I mean my first student of friendship. I’m talking about Trixie!”

“That insufferable showboat.” Applejack said, snorting derisively, “You really think she has changed after that stunt she tried to pull on you and all of Ponyville?”

“Now, I know you still feel antsy about her, after all she did. But I think she should be given a chance.” Twilight said, Of course, it was hard when Trixie had humiliated Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack on-stage the first time, and then came back the second time to take-over Ponyville as a tyrant with the Alicorn Amulet following the Ursa Minor incident. “While Trixie hasn’t been most diligent one when it comes to writing friendship reports, what few she did wrote had shown significant progress in making friends and learning humility. You checked her letters with your Rainbow power on, Applejack; even you said that she wasn’t making it up.”

“Well... I even had my folks in Appleloosa confirm that story about her and her associates’ adventure there.” Applejack admitted begrudgingly, but doubled down, “But if you ask me, it’ll still be mighty hard pressed for that haughty, egocentric mare to fit the requirements for being the Element of Magic. Assuming you can still get those Elements back out of the Tree, that is.”

“With Discord having removed the Plunder Vines he planted millennia ago, the Everfree should calm down significantly enough for the Tree of Harmony to hold back with its current reserves. If Trixie removes them in an emergency now, it should be able to last long enough for Trixie to deal with whatever threat she faces and then replace it back in the Tree.” Twilight explained.

“You seemed to have everything thought out before-hoof, Twilight…” Rarity said, noticing something, “How long have you been planning this, really? I can’t help but noticed that you seemed rather enthusiastic, thrilled even, by all this.”

Twilight blushed. “Well, truth be told, I… I had been thinking about it ever since I was a filly. But it wasn’t until Sunset and the Crystal Mirror showing me it was possible that this minor obsession of mine really took off. My life has always been acquiring knowledge and learning magic, but there is only so much of it in one world, and only one of me. With an infinite number of worlds out there, however, there’s no telling how much I can learn, exploring other realms, and even meeting with our counterparts! The potential had been nagging in my brain since I visited the Canterlot High world. If you were an academician, you would understand why I cannot let this chance pass.”

“I can understand, darling… in fact, we all would benefit in our own way from all this. I would love to see high cultures of other worlds and sharing them with our Equestria.” Rarity said, pointing to herself, “Applejack would love to plant other kinds of apples and crops for her farm that only other worlds have.” She continued, pointing to Applejack, whose eyes widened at the prospects. “Fluttershy would love to meet animals unique to other worlds.” Fluttershy actually grinned when she realized this, “There’s no telling what kind of comedy routines and culinary arts Pinkie Pie could learn out there.” Pinkie Pie looked up and tapped her chin, thinking. “And who knows how many contests, fights and other daring-do that Rainbow Dash would get into while we’re in other places.”

“We all stand to gain something from this. Equestria stands to gain everything from this. That’s why Princess Celestia and Luna had given their blessings.” Twilight mentioned. At the confused gazes from her friends, she elaborated, “When I read the records, I discovered that in his exploration of many alternate worlds, Starswirl the Bearded brought back with him many things that has enrich Equestria in ways beyond our imagination. From our magic and technology, to fashion and even simple things like the coffee we drink, many things we had taken for granted has its distant origins in Starswirl’s adventures beyond his Crystal Mirror. If a few journeys could bring such benefits to Equestria, who knows what else we can find that could enrich our realm and our lives even further, from across the void between parallel realities? It’s yet another reason why we should go for it. It’ll be a great disservice to all ponies in Equestria if we don’t.”

“Are you sure there aren’t any ponies in Equestria who would be more than happy to explore the multiverse in our stead?” Fluttershy asked hesitantly.

“I’m sure there are many ponies out there who would jump at this chance of a life-time, and I would like to recruit them into this, when we expand this into a national project. But right now, we all are the most qualified ponies for this endeavour. We have to be the ponies who set the example, who take the first steps and become the pioneers of this new, infinite frontier!” Twilight concluded with a flourish. Then, she asked, “So how about it? Will you join me?”

It took a moment, but eventually the others gave their approval.

“We’re all buddies here, Twi. We’ll be with you wherever you go!” Rainbow Dash declared, her enthusiasm for their future adventures now apparent.

“Besides, now that we are going to have most of our problems squared away, we should be free to make jaunts to other worlds for a while.” Applejack noted happily. “So when do you plan to set off?

Twilight smiled at this wonderful news, “How about another week? That way, we would settle whatever matters we still have on our hooves and make all the proper preparations.”

With that, the meeting was adjourned.

= = =

The departure for the first jaunt went without much fanfare. Princess Luna had advised to keep this as quietly as they could, both for security reasons, and because they still have nothing to show for it yet that is worth publicity. A simple gathering of friends, families and close associates in the chamber of the Friendship Castle Twilight had designated for ‘Jaunts’ was in order, where final checks for everything could be made.

The target reality that was chosen by its relative ‘proximity’ to this Equestria, requiring the least amount of energy with their current portal-caster to breach, thereby the easiest to maintain a connection to, and if the situation requires it, a quick get-away. Even so, when Twilight made a final briefing with the rest of the Elements of Harmony, she warned doing that might not be as convenient as it sounds.

“Perhaps I haven’t find a way to optimize it better yet, or maybe it is a fundamental trade-off by making it all compact, but for the initial few forays into a new reality, once the portal closes, in 7 minutes’ time…” Twilight explained to the assembled ponies, “We won’t be able to return home for at least 48 hours.”

“But why?” Some-pony asked.

“Because of its small size, the mana-collector in the charge box will take around 16 hours to fully-recharge the caster. But for the fabric of reality itself, that may take longer.” Spike pushed in a chalkboard on a trolley, and Twilight drew a few diagrams. “In lay-pony’s terms, the barriers between universes normally behave like a flexible membrane. Both the Crystal Mirror, and the device I developed, breaches that membrane, often at spots where the barrier is the weakest, such as in the Crystal Empire, and here in the Friendship Castle, where large concentrations of reality-altering magic constantly puts the barriers under significant stress. To create a breach, our portal devices magically stretch the barrier out of shape on both ends into a tunnel, creating a passageway that could be travelled through.”

On the blackboard, two lines, one blue and one red, represents the barriers between worlds, with the words ‘INTERDIMENSIONAL VOID’ written in between, while a pony figure stood under the words ‘OUR WORLD’ behind the blue line, and the words ‘ANOTHER WORLD’ behind the red line. At a pulse of magic from Twilight’s horn, the chalk drawings begin to animate; the two lines representing the membranes begin to converge down the centre, the bulges eventually converging, and then, fusing together. The pony figure walked through the passage that form in its wake to the other side.

Twilight paused to let the other ponies digest this information. Then, she continued, “However, the barriers are not supposed to be stretched that way. A stretched sheet of elastic rubber, if you let go, would bounce back to its original shape. In the same way, once so would the barrier between worlds.”

On cue, the animated chalk-drawing on the blackboard collapses, and the barriers bounce back into their original shapes, leaving the pony figure stranded on the other side. Then something curious occurs; like a surface of water upon impact of a water drop, as the membrane surfaces of the barriers on both worlds finish retracting back to the tunnel’s centre point, a bulge briefly formed in the direction away from the INTERDIMENSIONAL VOID, before settling back to a flatter morphology.

“What you see there is a phenomenon which I would call a ‘Barrier Rebound’,” Twilight explained, “The energy or momentum of collapsing space-time membrane causes barrier to briefly ‘squeeze’ together, creating a thicker membrane and/or briefly increasing the relative ‘distance’ between two universes. While I had measured that a rebound usually dies down within 48 hours, for that period of time, not only would it be impossible to reuse the same location to perform a world-hopping jump, even if you had the energy for it, it would be difficult to puncture through the barrier.”

“So wha’ yer basically sayin’ is, once the portal closes, we’ll effectively be stuck in another world fer two days straight?” Applejack summarized.

“In essence… yes.” Twilight admitted awkwardly. “But as our understanding of interdimensional mechanics and subsequently tools improves, I’m sure we could shorten that time period considerably.”

Some of the ponies present shifted uncomfortably at this revelation.

“Not that I don’t have confidence in my sister and her friends handling themselves well in another world, that still sounds pretty risky.” Shining Armor, husband of Princess Cadence, co-regent of the Crystal Empire, and big brother of Twilight Sparkle, stepped forward from the crowd to voice their collective concerns. “If it turns out you landed in a hostile reality, you’ll be effectively trapped there for two days, and would be forced to survive in an unknown environment, completely cut off from any support or egress route, possibly even surrounded by unknown hostile natives. We won’t even know that you would be in danger for that long, let alone help you in any way. We have a term for that back in the Royal Guards academy: ‘Trapped behind enemy lines’, which is one of the worst case scenarios for any soldier on a mission.”

“Well, Daring Do had to do that all the time on her adventures! If she could do that, I don’t see how we couldn’t as well!” Rainbow Dash boasted confidently.

“With all due respect, Ms Dash, Daring Do is fiction. This is reality, and alternate realities!” Shining Armor insisted.

Meanwhile, in a book convention, A.K. Yearling sneezed.

“There are so many unknown dangers that you six could face on the other side, things and situation that no-pony might immediately know how to handle! And if anything happens to you…!”

“Calm down, honey, they’ll be alright.” Princess Cadence, Alicorn princess of the Crystal Empire, wife of Shining Armor, laid a reassuring hoof upon his shoulders, “Twilight and her friends had been to a lot of adventures like this before and came out relatively unscathed. And besides, this is Twilight we’re talking about! I’m sure your little sister would have thought about every possible scenario and had some plans for them.”

“We had thought about it, and made some preparations.” Twilight confirmed. From a backpack, she pulled out what appeared to be a leather-bound notebook, “For one, we’ll stay under a low profile to avoid attention, and get involved with affairs of other worlds only if it’s absolutely necessary. I’ll carry an enchanted diary like the one I gave to Sunset Shimmer that will allow me to regularly contact you and every-pony else back here in Equestria. I’ll update regularly every day, we spent on the other side to report our status. If we miss a check-in at an arranged time, or outright wrote for help, you’ll all know right away.” Even as she elaborated, she hoofed out more enchanted notebooks to the rest of the Mane Six, “And for extra security, everypony would carry one as well, both to keep in touch with each other and being able to independently contact home if we get separated.”

“And what if say… you lost your portal-caster device and couldn’t get back? Or you get subverted or have duplicates created by some-pony evil and sent back to Equestria?” Princess Cadence added, voicing her own concerns. Twilight noted there was a palpable look of fear and anger at the mention of the latter problem, and catches her implications immediately.

“For the former problem, I’ve left design schematics for my portal-caster, which should allow a second device to be quickly assembled; I’ll also be leaving a note of the co-ordinates for the universe we’re visiting. That way, in the event that we lose the device and get stranded, a rescue operation could be mounted.” Twilight reassured.

She would love to go on elaborating how this would also allow for an expanded operation in the future, with other teams of ponies assembled by the Royal government could go out exploring the multiverse, but she left that for a later date. “As for the latter problem, I have this security measure: I have here a number of different trick questions, each with only one specific, fully correct answer.” She gave a few sealed envelopes to each of the other Princesses and her brother, “Read yours some-place private, and don’t tell anyone. I know the answer and the others already memorized their own. When we return, each of you must ask each of us one of the questions you got, and you’ll know that it’s us if we answer it exactly as detailed.”

“What if some-pony who’s trying to impersonate you wrangled those answers out of your brain with telepathy or something?”

Twilight shrugged, “It’s a stop-gap measure. I’ll come up with something better once we started coming back with knowledge and tools that could give us more options. For now, though, these would cover all the necessary bases.”

With that out of the way, and all preparations made, it was time for departure. Farewells were made, and each of the Mane Six had a few words with their friends, associates and loved ones.

“Come on, Dash! Don’t just leave me here!” The orange coated pegasi filly that called Rainbow Dash her surrogate sister begged, hugging her leg tightly. She didn’t entertain the thought of her idol and mentor risking her life and limb adventuring in some other world – at least, not without her.

“Hey, now Scootaloo, I know you want to come with me, but… well, it’s too dangerous for young fillies to come along.” Rainbow Dash explained, as best she could, giving her surrogate sister, and apprentice a stroke in her purple mane, “Tell you what, when you grow up and get yourself trained up, all big, strong and fast like me, you can join me on as many of these field trips as you want, just like Daring Doo and her companions!”

“But that’ll take too loooong!” Scootaloo whined, hugging tighter. “And what if you need me, your sidekick, to help you out of a jam like Daring Doo does?”

Rainbow Dash smiled; having saved the real deal once, she knows how that feels. “Maybe, but I got my friends with me; they won’t leave me hanging like I won’t leave them hanging, out there. And besides, I need you here for a special task only you can do.”

“What, really?” Scootaloo’s ears pricked upwards at that.

“Sure do.” Rainbow Dash confirmed, “With me going out on jaunts with the others from now on, I won’t always be around to look out for Ponyville, and you know how crazy some days could get here. I need you to look after it for me; and don’t forget, you won’t be alone, not when your two buddies here to help you out.” She grabbed Scootaloo’s head, and stared down at it, her smile growing wider as she threw a challenge in to motivate her, “Do you think you got what it takes to protect Ponyville, Cutie Mark Crusader? To be the hero it needs?”

Scootaloo’s sour disposition brightened, and she accepted the challenge issued to her with a salute, “Don’t worry Dash! You can count on me! I won’t let you down!”

Rainbow Dash looked up to three other ponies behind Scootaloo. She looked at Spitfire and SOarin, her superiors in the Wonderbolts. “I won’t let you down, too, madam.”

“We know you wouldn’t.” Soarin said, returning it. “Despite a rough start, you’re one of the finest Wonderbolts we’ve got. Just make sure to come back safe and sound; we got more shows to fly here in our Equestria!”

“And don’t forget that out there, you’re our sole representative.” Spitfire added her two piece, “There’s a duty resting on your shoulders. Maybe someday, some of us would join you on your jaunts and share it with you, but until then, do us and our traditions proud!”

“Yes madam!” Rainbow saluted.

The last pony Rainbow turned to was one she knew from birth; her father, Spectrum Blitz, looked at her impassively. She wished mother could be here as well, but she’ll take what she got.

“Dad?” Rainbow asked, wondering what he has to say.

The proud pegasi merely grinned, “Knock ‘em dead, kiddo.” He said simply, raising his hoof.

Rainbow smiled, and returned the hoof-bump.

“Take care of the farm while I’m gone with the others, will ya?” Applejack said to her little sister Applebloom.

The young filly fidgeted; she also didn’t want her sister to go, but by this point she has accepted it. “I promise, sis. I’m an Apple filly, and a dependable and trustworthy Apple always keeps their promises.”

“And an Apple also remembers the Golden Rule, no matter which ends o’ the world they end up.” Granny Smith, even though an old green mare lacking in mobility, had stubbornly insisted on coming all the way from Sweet Apple Acres to see her granddaughter off. “Don’t know much about this here world-jumping thingamajig, but what I do know is you’ll probably be seeing Apples from other places. Remember to treat them like any other kin, even if they’re from somewhere way off the branches. And always treat every-pony else otherwise the way you want to be treated!”

“I will, granny.” She gave her a hug, then turned to Big Macintosh, her ever quiet and sturdy big brother. “Everything’s well at the farm now?”

“Eeyup.” Big Mac confirmed. The bits and farmworkers from the loan Twilight had arranged came that morning.

“Come back in one piece for the harvest?”

“Eeyup.” The maroon stallion repeated.

“And don’t forget to bring back some new crops to try out?”

“Eeyup.” Came the third time.

Applejack smirked slightly, “Maybe I could also bring back something that would help you speak more freely.”

“No need!” Big Macintosh said firmly, stamping a hoof. He didn’t want a repeat of what happened when Starlight Glimmer tries to befriend him, “I can speak my mind if I want to.”

“I’m sure you do.” Applejack said teasingly.

Fluttershy had given all her family members goodbyes and a hug – and to Discord a few stern reminders to keep in line. She turned to her animal friends, “If you would kindly do so, my little friends, please behave while I’m gone. Treehugger is a wonderful friend, and I don’t want to impose on her as much as I already have asking her and her friends take care of you for me. I promise I’ll come back to talk about all the other strange creatures I’ll find and befriend out there.”

She gave a frightened ‘Eep!’ when her ferocious bear friend… bear-hugged her, whimpering uncharacteristically, while the rest of the birds, squirrels, and other little critters swarmed around her, each chirping, hooting or singing their own take-cares and farewells. Angel the bunny would admittedly miss her caretaker, but right now, he’s standing aside, gleefully thinking of all the wonderful, wonderful things he has planned to make Treehugger’s life a living Tartarus.

“Mother, father, I know this may be asking a bit too much.” Rarity began as she spoke with her own parents. “But please take care of Sweetie Belle while I’m gone.”

“Oh don’t worry about it, sweet heart! We’ll make sure Sweetie would be safe and sound while you’re off on a trip of a life-time!” Magnum, her father, declared loudly.

“You’ve taken care of Sweetie Belle for us for so long, it’s about time we take care of her for you.” Rarity’s mother assured. “Don’t forget to do some shopping while in other worlds! I want to see if those markets there have some good merchandise!”

“Bring back a new doll! Or a new dress! Or maybe a spell book for me to practice my magic with! Please, big sis!” Sweetie Belle practically squeed as she begged, enthusiastic at the prospects of finally being able to spend time with her parents.

Rarity coughed politely and smiled. Her family; she loved them, but they always seemed a burden, somewhat. Between the way her sports fanatic of a father and her shop-a-holic of a mother, they always seemed to be off doing other things and being out of her and Sweetie’s life at Ponyville Boutique. Not to mention how badly they dressed; what are they wearing right now to see her off?!

“Thou hath always brought some much needed brightness upon our fair household.” Igneous Rock Pie said to Pinkie, adjusting his rock-farmer’s hat slightly as he did. “Tis’ would be a shame to see it dimmed with ye gone into the wild-blue yonder.”

“Don’t worry too much, daddy! I won’t be gone long, and when I come back, I’ll throw the ‘Welcome Back, Pinkie!’ party myself!” Pinkie reassured. For emphasis, she fired a shower of confetti from her party cannon.

“Thou shalt surely bring forth mirth and merriment to many a dour world out there as you had us, methinks.” Pinkie’s mother, Cloudy Quartz, casually observed.

“Don’t forget to bring some friends back for Boulder.” Maud Pie, Pinkie’s big sister, reminded in her usual monotone voice and expression. She was filling in for Limestone and Marble Pie, who were left behind to take care of the Pie Rock Farm while their parents went to Ponyville.

“And not to mention some recipes and ingredients for Sugarcube Corners, too!” the tall and lanky Mr Cake added, Mrs Cake beside him, “Having cakes and confections that are literally out of this world is going to bring us record business!”

“I will! And I’ll bring back some wonderful toys for the twins to play with, too!” Pinkie added as she nuzzled Pumpkin and Pound Cake resting on Mrs Cake’s back.

At last, only Twilight remained to see her loved ones off.

Twilight looked towards Princess Celestia, her own idol, former teacher, and now fellow Princess; she and Princess Luna looked back at her. Both, however, kept their silence.

“So ...” Twilight began, uncertainly, “… No advice? No encouragements? No insights? No words of wisdom? No reminders? No discretions?” At their apparent lack of response, she added, “I mean, I know am still thinking about the concerns and misgivings you have raised about my proposed expedition. I know it could be dangerous, and if you think I and the others not ready for this, I can just -”

Whatever she wanted to say next was cut off by Celestia coming forward to give her a comforting equine hug, quieting her. “Have confidence in yourself, my little pony.” Princess Celestia reassured her, “We gave you the go-ahead because we know that you and your friends always had the strength to overcome over any challenge, the insight to solve any mystery, the will to endure any hardship, and the wisdom to make correct judgement in any choices. What is there left to say? We trust you to find your way home and out of danger, even if separated by the gulf between realities.”

“The answers to all predicaments always lay within your heart and mind, Princess Twilight. All my sister had done was merely help you find it.” Princess Luna added, putting a hoof on Twilight’s shoulders, “She has watched you grow from a young, naïve filly into mature, brilliant mare. You have earned not only our love, but every pony who live free and harmonious lives today, because of the times you and your friends had delivered us from tyranny and chaos. In doing so, you have surpassed our expectations, and even ourselves. You can count on us to help you when you need it, but remember that you can always count on yourself. Magic can never find a better wielder, and few ponies could deserve Alicornhood than you.”

“Now go, Twilight; go forth with our blessing, spread friendship and harmony across the planes, enrich your lives and ours with what you find as I and Starswirl had done before, and… and…”

Princess Celestia paused, uncertain how to continue. At the sight of her pained expression, Twilight guessed what she wanted to say. What she was referring to.

“We’ll find him, Princess.” Twilight whispered, “We’ll find a way to go back to that world and save him. No matter how long it takes.”

Princess Celestia gave a thin smile. “Thank you, Twilight.” She said, hugging Twilight once more with her wings and then releasing her.

“Take care of yourself out there.” Moonlight ‘Night Light’ Sparkle, Twilight’s father, said to her for both him and her mother. “We look forward to you sharing stories of your extra-dimensional adventures at Hearths Warming Eve.”

“I will, mom and dad.” Twilight assured, “I’ll bring back the pictures and new books.”

“And maybe something for Flurry Heart as well.” Shining Armor added. Behind him, on his back, baby Flurry Heart waved at her auntie, cooing as her mother leaned closer to nuzzle her.

Starlight Glimmer stepped forward. “Are you sure you’re fine with me staying here by myself?”

Twilight patted her back, “You have gone a long way from who you were already, Starlight. I trust you and Spike to look after the caste and Ponyville while we’re gone. We’ll take you both with us for our next jaunts, if you want to. Just remember to keep yourself open to ideas and new friends until then.”

At the trust placed on her, Starlight gave a warm smile and nodded, moving aside to let Spike and Owlicious, Twilight’s owl, to say their goodbyes.

“Everypony! It’s time.”

The Mane Six putted on their saddlebags, carrying their supplies and tools, and waited before a bedroom mirror at the centre of the room. The others stood back behind the blast panels set up in the chamber. At the throw of the switch, the portal-caster mounted on Twilight’s saddle fired up once more; and before them, a glowing portal appeared, and with it an infinite frontier beckoned, waiting for its pioneers to take their first steps.

“On this day, a new age begins!” Twilight declared, trotting forward, as did the rest of the Mane Six. “Onward, my friends! New worlds, new friends and new adventures awaits us!”