Ch.1: Portal to Equestria
An Alicorn Statuette
Ch. 1: Portal to Equestria
Awash in the moonlight stood a ramshackle town, something little more than a village. But in a certain house of this little town, there lay the object of many troubles.
"Wake, young one..."
Thorn turned over in his bed.
"Get up, time is short..."
"5 more minutes...."groaned Thorn.
A cold jolt of ectoplasm was all his response.
"AAH~must you scare me like that?"
A spectral figure floated over Thorn. Thorn was nonplussed for a second, then gathered his items into a bag and went over the items in this house. The house was, of course, not his. He had found it unoccupied, and so decided to...trespass. Finding indications that the owner would be out of the city for awhile, he used the place as his own.
His eyes lit upon a small jeweled ring, on the dresser. Perhaps it would earn him enough to be on his way “honestly” for awhile. Perhaps not. In any case, he pocketed the ring and turned to the ghost.
"So what's the situation?"
The ghost spoke in a strange otherworldly voice that seemed to bypass the ears and go straight to the mind.
"They are closer, milord."
"How much closer?"
"Just a few hours."
Thorn cursed. "Then why did you let me sleep?"
"I have seen a strange disturbance in chaos magic close to here. The vibes seem to be from a portal. Other than that, I cannot say."
"Very well then. Show the way."
The odd pair of ghost and human left the house. The smallest glow from torches was on the horizon. With nary a glance that way, Thorn proceeded to pull on his boots. It must be noted that these weren't just any boots. These were 7-league boots. These boots had the ability to grant the user great speed. Powerful enchantments had been placed upon these boots. These enchantments had been set by Thorn himself.
Thorn was an enchanter. He had the ability to make objects into something more. The boots were one of his greatest magic. Travel magic often is quite hard. He was proud of his ability to do such magic, and so enchanted many things. His hat had a night-eye spell woven into it, and his ring had a water breathing spell. However, the lone dagger at his side was a mystery.
The ghost set off at tremendous speed, and Thorn, with the help of his boots, followed. The town they had taken residence in disappeared quickly. They passed over some dry plains, a lake or two, and arrived at a dark forest. Here they slowed. After all, no good could come from running into trees at great speed.
As they proceeded deeper into the forest, the darkness deepened. The forest became quieter and quieter as they progressed further into its depths. The darkness became so stifling that even the sounds of Thorns footsteps were muffled. Thorn tried the night-eye spell on his hat, only to find it nullified by the powerful darkness.
"What manner of sorcery is this?" muttered Thorn.
The specter answered. "This forest was cursed in some war or another. I believe that the natural curse is being strengthened and warped by the chaos vibes of the portal."
"Bah. How long till we get to this portal of yours?"
"We should be arriving shortly."
Indeed, a clearing did open up before the pair. The whole area was overcast with a sickly blue light. At the center of this clearing pulsed a pony figurine. The figurine had both a horn and wings, The mark or a gate shone from its flank. The eyes glowed with an mysterious blue light.
Thorn looked around. Seeing no portal he pointed to the figurine.
"That is our portal?"
The ghost drifted over.
"Yes. It has a strange form, but its a portal nonetheless. It seems unstable, so It may close at any second. Come now, lets enter. Place your hand on the flank, and we shall go through."
"Stupidest portal I've ever seen," grumbled Thorn as he placed his hand on the alicorn. "Doesn't even look like a po-"
Thorn was cut off as the portal activated.
===
Twilight Sparkle was apologizing. She had gathered her friends in the library.
"Um...everypony should be wondering why I called you all here..."
There was a smattering of agreement.
"Well the fact is, I would like to apologize. I realize that I have been dragging you all into my magic, and it hasn't been...all that great."
"But at least we had fun!" squeaked Pinkie.
"Yeah," loyal Dash interjected, "and its not as if we would want to stop being your friend."
"Even so," Twilight continued, "I realize now that it was wrong to drag you into this and-"
"Come now sugarcube, you aint no worse than Big Mac and his fancy mathematics!"
"AND IT WAS FUUUNN..." Pinkie yelled.
Everypony stared at her.
"What?" demanded Pinkie, "Its true, right?"
"Anyhoo, the poin' we're tryin' ta make here is that you don't need to worry about apologizing. Maybe just be a bit more careful"
"Um. Yeah." agreed Fluttershy.
Rarity piped up, "I even designed a few sets of hardy clothes for when such a thing arises! I can not WAIT to try them out."
Twilight beamed. "Thanks for your support everypony. I promise to study more and not mess up next time."
The ponies nodded their agreement. Then Rarity spoke up once more.
"I'm afraid I have to fill 5 orders by tomorrow night. Some out of town ponies. You know the deal."
"I’m gonna try sonic-rainbooming through some thunderclouds again, ‘kay?"
"Maybe we should have a huge TWILIGHT APOLOGIZED party! It could be Saturday, I'm setting up the party to celebrate the grand opening of Lucky Clover's new shop today, I LOVE his trinkets and bobbles and..."
Still talking, Pinkie Pie bounced right out the door.
"Well, ahm sorry sugarcube, I'd love ta stay and chat, but Big Mac an' I have a contest going on. Apple buckin’ ‘n all that..."
"How about you, Fluttershy? Are you also busy?" asked Twilight.
"I'm sorry Twilight, but I promised Zecora I'd help her today."
"Okay then. Well, I'll see you all later then!"
With that, 5 ponies left the library, and Twilight waved. As they left, Twilight felt the strangest magical disturbance come from the Everfree forest. It had a sense of displacement like it was supposed to move you. It was slightly similar to that of a teleport spell. Feeling this, Twilight frowned.
"SPIIIIIKE! SPIIIIIIIIIIIKE! SPIII- oh there you are. Would you get me a book about the magical vibes given off by certain types of magic, please? Thanks."
"I'm on it," yawned Spike. "zzzzzzzz..."
"You can get back to your nap later. Book NOW please!"
Spike grumbled a bit, but obliged and retrieved the book.
"Thank you, Spike." said Twilight.
With that, Twilight Sparkle delved into her book, and Spike resumed his nap.
===
"-rtal."
Thorn took a look around. He started as he saw his ghostly accomplice. Not only had he gained a body, but an amazing transformation to a pony had taken place. He was a pegasus with a coat of the most brilliant white, although it had a slight pallor that was unattractive. His mane was of the deepest black. And the eyes...oh the eyes. They seemed to shift colors with every passing moment.
The ex-ghost quickly caught wind of the stare.
"What?" stated the ghost.
They both jumped. They had, after all, been expecting the otherworldly voice that they had become all too familiar with. So a somewhat normal voice was shocking.
"I wonder if...yes, it is possible."
The pony had spoken the first three words in the lilting, otherworldly voice. The last four words had been...normal.
Thorn finally spoke.
"I can understand that you regained your voice when you got a body, by why the buck are you a pony?"
"A pony? Speak for yourself!!"
Thorn took a gander at himself. He was quite shocked to find that he, too, was a pony. He had a blue coat, with a light-orange mane. Emblazoned on his flank was a symbol of a wand crossed over a feather. When he tried to cast a spell that would allow him to see this marking better, his forehead glowed. Exploring this region, he found that he had a horn in the middle of his head. After some analyzing, he decided that it acted as a sort of a wand, allowing him to better channel his power. Then Thorn returned to gazing at the mark on his flank.
Thorn turned to the other colt. "Hey...I never got your name, did I?"
"You can call me Amyth."
"Amyth? Okay then. Lemmie have a look at your flank then."
Amyth turned, and Thorn had a good look at his flanks. One had a symbol of a black hand, while the other had an image of a chisel.
"I wonder why you have a different image on each flank." mused Thorn. "I just have one image on both flanks."
Amyth shrugged.
"Milord. Lets get outa here. Put this statue in your bag, okay?"
"Fine, off we go then." Thorn conceded.
With that, the pair left the clearing and set out into the forest. The forest wasn't all that strange, but it had an energy of things past, things best left alone. Almost as if a great power had once resided here, and its absence had left the forest desolate. Indeed, they passed some ruins indicating a sort of castle. From these ruins the pair decided to follow the road for a little bit. However, the road quickly ended and they were lost once more. Finally, after a few hours of aimless wandering, they took a rest under a rock outcropping.
"Milord, I'll test out these wings and go up for a look," suggested Amyth.
"You do that."
Amyth smoothly glided up, and almost immediately returned to the ground.
"There is smoke coming from about a half-mile that way. We could make it in 5 minutes."
The two ponies once again plunged into the forest, but this time with a destination. The forest thickened as if it opposed their advance. Nature itself seemed to wish the ponies no closer to the source of the smoke. And perhaps other ponies would have turned back. But not these two. They forged on through the brambles and muck. Finally they arrived at a small path leading towards the smoke. It was dominated by a strange blue flower. Thorn and Amyth walked through them, barely noting its magical properties. At long last, they arrived at the source of the smoke, a tree that had been carved into a house. Here they paused.
The reason for such pause was a yellow and pink pegasus. She fluttered up to the house and gave the smallest of knocks. The door was opened by none other than a zebra. After a shy greeting the pegasus entered, and the door closed behind them.
Thorn glanced at Amyth, and Amyth nodded.
"Master, I believe it to be safe."
"I agree. Before we enter, I want to grant you one thing."
"What, milord?"
"Your freedom. You are alive and I have no wish to rule over you. You are no longer bound by my will."
Amyth digested this.
"If you don't mind, I think I'll stick around anyway."
Thorn grinned.
"Then onwards, into the dwelling!"
===
Twilight closed her book. She believed she know what had caused the magical disturbance from the Everfree forest, but more questions were raised than answered.
The vibes were not violent, nor healing, so right off the bat, two schools of magic were eliminated from the list. Nor could it be illusion, for the sensation from illusion magics were subtle or dramatic, never anything in between. That just left summoning and transportation, because they both involved the similar magic of moving things from place to place. However, only the princesses could do magic that might justify vibes like the ones she felt. Plus the thing summoned would usually leave an imprint of its own, but bound to the summoner. While there were imprints left by the new arrivals, only one of them was bound, and recently that binding had been released, leaving her without a lead. The natural magic of Equestria was quickly covering them, soand soon, almost no imprint would remain from the arrivals. For this to happen the summoned would have to remain for an above average amount of time. An amount of time that NO pony could sustain a summoning spell for. (There is a reason summoning isn’t used as battle magic anymore.) That left but one option. Transportation magic. Very potent transportation magic, but transportation magic nonetheless.
That meant somepony or something had arrived from Celestia knows where. This in itself wouldn't be a problem unless Celestia didn't know where the arrivals came from. This was unlikely, but even so, Twilight made a note to write her a letter later. The other problem was that the vibe had come from the Everfree forest, where potent untouched magics had resided for millennium. While nothing seemed to be disturbed by the magical disturbance, there were certain things not meant to be disturbed.
Plus Fluttershy had just left for Zecora’s. The two equestrians probably would have no idea what was going on if they encountered their strange visitors, as was likely. She only hoped that if they did come into contact with the possibly malignant creatures, no harm would befall them.
Twilight started composing a letter to the princess.
===
Somepony knocked on the door.
Fluttershy and Zecora were in deep conversation, and they were quite shocked to hear such noises emanating from the door. As such, they became so silent, you could have heard a pin drop. After all, they were in the middle of the Everfree forest.
"Hello?" inquired a muffled voice, "may we come in."
The zebra sighed in relief and Fluttershy squeaked.
"Come in, if you must; wipe your hooves, I hate dust."
Then Zecora turned around. Her face convulsed into one of pure shock. As if she had seen a ghost. And indeed, she had.
Amyth had shapeshifted his wing into an arm, and was flexing it. Seeing the expressions on the gathered faces, he quickly changed it back into a wing. An awkward silence ensued.
"Minor shapeshifting, check..."
Thorn turned to Amyth.
"Didja have to go and test your powers right now? Really."
"I understand how it might be shocking. It was just a spur of the moment thing."
Zecora coughed.
"Come inside, its plenty warm. We take it that you mean no harm."
The pair raised their eyebrows a tad at that, but proceeded inside anyway.
They entered the living room. It was a fairly welcoming place, although a bit unkempt. As with every room, it held a mask. It seemed as though it had not received visitors for a very long time.
Zecora came by, balancing a tray of drinks on her head. She was followed closely by our very own Fluttershy, who was, of course, hiding behind Zecora. Zecora put the drinks down on the table, and took a seat.
"Now what are your names, and why are you here? Perhaps you had a mite too much beer?"
"I'm Thorn," said Thorn.
"And I'm Amyth," said Amyth.
"And...we're lost."
===
The cosmos held no mysteries to it. "It" of course being a legend, older than father Time himself. No mysteries did he behold, in his omnipotence. In entirety, he was reminiscent of all of the universe. He was Existence.
Existence had no shape or mind, and just was. It did not possess a personality. However, being everything sentience was present. This sentience manifested sometimes, but not often. Only when Existence was threatened. After all, there is no individuality in Existence. The sentient manifestation was an individual, but truly connected to Existence.
The manifestation had been awakened. Woken by the subtle tearing in the cloth of Existence, the fabric of the universe. The universe and Existence were one and the same, of course, but the Universe was younger, and a tad brighter. It was from the Universe that the manifestation of Existence began.
So the fabric of the universe tore. In time, such a tear could reduce the cloth of Existence to shreds, and then what would happen? Perhaps Existence would grow cold. It is not known as such things were never allowed to happen.
The cloaks of Existence were a gift from father Time, woven together with Time's thread. There were several, perhaps infinite cloaks in the closet of Existence. Each cloak, woven by father Time, was built from the fabric of the universe. Each cloak grew through Time, changing as he chose. And in the closet of Existence, such cloaks could rub together. The fabric of time would rub against itself. Such was how the universes interacted with each-other. Never directly, for that could lead to disaster. For even the smallest tear in the fabric of the Universe could let the velvet inside spill out onto the other neighboring universes. Such might or might notthreaten Existence in ways unimagined.
And if there is a closet of Existence, logic states that there are also the coat-hangers and hanger-rail of existence. The coat-hangers held the cloaks of the Universe, hanging from the hanger-rail. And upon the hanger-rail was the tiniest speck of pink. Just the tiniest bit of consciousness, hiding quite close to the Universe of Equine. Perhaps related to it in some way, feeding random tidbits from other universes into its depths.
It was from this universe that the tear was beginning. The sentience of Existence pondered the destruction or salvation of such a fine cloak. It was, indeed, one of the finest in the collection. Existence's sentience shrugged. Judgement would be passed after the tear had developed. Sometimes they went away by themselves. Sometimes they were fixed by father Time. And sometimes, the cloak had to be removed from Existence. This had happened few times, and always troubled Existence. And nobody likes a troubled Existence.
Immense was the power of Existence, wearer of the fabric of the universe, held together by the strands of time.
===
