My Little Pony Friendship is Magic is owned by its creators and Hasbro.
Story concept and outline by Scoundrel and Rain Charger.
Written by: Scoundrel
Art by: Rain Charger
Prologue
The castle ruins were dark underneath the sky that had been blackened by Nightmare Moon’s eternal night. Inside the old royal hall, there were six ponies fighting to regain peace, their kidnapped Princess Celestia, and the daylight that came with Celestia’s release.
“You see Nightmare Moon… When the Elements are ignited by the… spark that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth Element…”
The jewels circling around each of the ponies started to glow and increase in speed and almost instantly the jewels fused together creating necklaces around five of the six.
“The Element of… Magic!”
The final Element, newly appeared above the group, glowed brilliantly and transformed itself into a magnificent crown which laid itself upon the top of Twilight Sparkle’s head. Her eyes glowed as the magic ran through her. The group levitated off of the ground as a burst of rainbow-colored magic emanated from the group.
Nightmare Moon, having sat through this miniature lecture, had had some time to think about what was happening.
‘These meddlesome foals, they think they can thwart my plan that simply.’ She thought.
As the burst of magic approached her she yelled, “You don’t know the first thing about magic!”
There was a brilliant burst of white light.
CHAPTER 1
Trina awoke gasping for breath.
“Whoa. I think that was the closest thing to a lucid dream I’ve ever had!” She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. “I need to write this down.”
She turned toward her bedside table to grab her old, worn dream journal that sat upon the table face and couldn’t help but glimpse the glowing green numbers of her digital clock. Her heart rate immediately jumped.
“8:30?!? I overslept!”
Trina jumped out of bed, her mind racing as fast as she was trying to pull herself together.
“I can’t believe I overslept! What is everyone going to think of me? Ooh, I can’t forget that… Good, I’ve already got that in my bag… Grah! What is the subject going to think! The proctor late for the test! I really hope they don’t hate me…”
Her voice trailed as she ran out the door with her bag of books and supplies in tow behind her. The door slammed behind her as she dashed toward the lonesome bike racks outside of the apartment complex. Trina fumbled with the lock for only a few seconds trying to enter her combination. Upon success, she grabbed her bike, hopped on and pedaled quickly toward campus.
The night was clear and the air crisp with the slightest nip to it, a perfect September evening. Trina loved nights like this. In fact, she really enjoyed night-time, or at least, she was more accustomed to it as a result of the many late-night study sessions.
She pulled up in front of the Neurology building of Perrysburg University. There she was a graduate student pursuing her fourth degree, a Masters in Psychology. As of this year she was the head of the sleep study lab where she conducted studies on the psychological and physiological effects of dreams on the subjects in her studies.
Trina rushed into the building, up the stairs and burst through the door of the sleep lab to find all of the lab members present and at their respective stations. The subject of the study was already lying in his bed, preparing for the night. The first voice that Trina heard was that of her young assistant Spencer.
“Um, Trina? Do you realize what time it is?” He asked in a somewhat condescending tone. “You should have been here a—“
“An hour ago! Yes! I know! And I’m really sorry! I overslept. Please don’t hate me.” She stammered out in a hurried manner.
Spencer sighed. “I guess it’s alright. We’ve already got Nate hooked up and ready to go. All that’s left is to wait for him to fall asleep.”
Trina beamed. “Perfect! Just as usual my assistant is on top of everything!” She reached over and started to ruffle Spencer’s spiked hair before he rapidly reacted, pushing her hand away and turning to the side, blushing slightly. Trina retreated quickly realizing what she had just done also blushing slightly. Spencer’s face suddenly lit up.
“Oh! Trina, this came for you in the mail today.” He proceeded to pull an envelope from his lab coat’s pocket and passed it to Trina. “It looks important.”
“Let’s see…” Trina said as she took the letter and after looking at it for a second she continued, “…This says it’s from someone named Professor Charmichael. Never heard of him before.” She proceeded to loose the lip of the envelope from its bonds and remove the note inside.
“I can help you.”
The look on Trina’s face went from puzzled, to annoyed, to simply enraged.
“Is this some sort of joke?” Trina asked loudly. “Who in the world would write such an inane note? It doesn’t even make any rational sense! ‘I can help you.’ Please! Help me with what?!?”
“Whoa! Trina! It was probably just a prank from one of the other students,” submitted Spencer, trying to calm the thoroughly enraged Trina. “You know how jealous they can be, and are of you! You’re a prodigy. They’re bound to want to try and get on your nerves. They’re just insecure.”
Upon hearing Spencer call her a prodigy, it reminded her of where she was and she decided to calm down.
“You’re right Spence. It probably was just a prank. I mean, really, who wouldn’t be jealous of me?” She laughed. “Alright, let’s get back to the study, shall we?”
And so they turned to their respective stations and took a seat. The subject was in his bed behind the one-way glass just beginning to fall into a peaceful slumber. Trina was busy scribbling various notes into her notebook, noting the subject’s status and the time. Finally, Nate fell asleep and it became quiet. Quiet aside from the frantic scribbling of Trina, but even that sound subsided as Trina’s mind wandered away from the study back to the mysterious note.
‘I can help you. How asinine.’ She thought to herself, starting to tap her notebook, each tap louder and more rapid than the rest, ‘Who would send such a note? It doesn’t even make sense.’ She continued the tapping until Spencer noticed her state of aggravation. He reached over, grabbed her shoulder and gave a little shake. “Trina, snap out of it!”
“Huh -- what?” Trina responded as she came back to the world.
“What’s going on with you? You were sitting there mumbling to yourself and making a ton of noise during a sleep study. That’s some pretty strange behavior, even for you.”
“Huh, I was? Strange… I must be overly stressed. I think I’m gonna go to the café down on the corner and get some tea. That should help. You’ve got things covered here, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve got it. Just, go try and calm down.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” she said, waving her hand.
And with that, Trina rose from her seat, turned to the door and walked out, making sure to tread lightly as she went.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
‘Twilight is my bestest friend, whoopee! Whoopee! Pinkie…
She’s the cutest, smartest, all-around best po-nee! Po-nee! Pinkie.
I bet if I throw a super-duper fun party! Party! Pinkie!
She’ll give her extra ticket to the Gala to me!!!’
“HELLO?!?” Trina yelled while pulverizing the service bell.
The girl at the counter awoke from her slumber, the slightest bit of drool dripping from her agape mouth onto the counter. Her eyelids sprang open revealing bright blue eyes which immediately lit up when she realized the situation.
“Oh! Hello! Welcome to The Corner! Sorry about that, I was having this awesome dream where I was singing to someone about something. I don’t really know what I was singing exactly, but I remember we were colorful ponies and whoever I was singing to starting yelling at me, and I—“
“Yeah, ok, whatever! I don’t want to hear about the inner workings of your brain. I just want a simple cup of Earl Grey tea. Is that too much to ask?”
“Oh! Right! Of course! Ok, I’ll get you some tea.” She started to rush toward the back of the kitchen only to turn around with a smile and ask, “I forgot! What size?”
Trina was exasperated, “I was thinking about a small, but now… let’s make that a large.”
“Okey dokey loki! Coming riiight up!”
The shop was a quaint establishment that smelled of the baked goods it sold; there were cupcakes, various breads, muffins, and scones. Pretty much anything you could think of, it was baked there. Reminiscent of the Fifties, the floor had the classic checkerboard black and white tiles and there was a jukebox in the corner playing soft doo-wop music keeping a timeless feel to the place. Trina tried to enjoy the atmosphere but her thoughts kept drifting toward the note. Soon enough, the girl returned to the counter with Trina’s tea.
“One large Earl Grey tea! That’ll be $3.72. I wonder who Earl Grey is anyway… I mean, did he invent the tea or something? I didn’t know you could invent tea! Who would even think—“
“That’s enough!” Trina interrupted, clearly irritated by the girl’s rambling. She reached into her pocket, grabbed whatever cash she had, and gave it to the girl. “Here’s the money.” And with that, Trina took her tea, turned, and left the shop.
“Huh… What a stick-in-the-mud.” Said the girl with a smirk.
“Diane?” Inquired an older female voice from the rear of the shop, “Could you come back here for a moment?”
“Of course!” responded the girl.
She walked to the back of the building to the owners’ office. Inside sat a middle-aged couple.
“Hey there mister and missus Clark! What’s up?”
Mrs. Clark responded first. “Well, Diane, you just fell asleep on the job… again. How can we trust you to run the shop when we’re not here when you’re constantly falling asleep or daydreaming on the job?”
Unfazed by Mrs. Clark, Diane cheerily started, “Oh! Speaking of dreaming, I had this really awesome dream about me singing to someone, and we were all…“
Diane continued with her story while the Clarks spoke softly with each other.
“One of these days she’s going to cost us business, Frank.” Mrs. Clark stated.
“Oh, I don’t know about that Cheryl. We knew she was a bit… eccentric… when we hired her. Besides, we can’t kick her out; she’s cheap help seeing as part of her wages goes toward her rent here.” Frank responded.
“Well,” resigned Mrs. Clark, “I guess you’re right, dear, but we’ve got to find a way to keep her more occupied, obviously.” She turned and interrupted Diane’s story, “Yes, that’s very nice dear. I need you to take the trash out back.” With that, Mr. Clark motioned toward the trash bags in the hall.
“Okey dokey loki!” She grabbed the bags and headed out the front door of The Corner, and as she rounded the bend, she bumped into something, or rather, someone.
“Whoa! What the hell?!?” said a somewhat irritated voice.
Diane looked up to see a girl with rainbow colored hair looking somewhat surly and staring down at her with a scowl. “Why don’t you look where you’re going?” the girl said bluntly.
“Oh! I’m sorry! I guess I was just thinking about this weird dream I was having a few minutes ago—“
“I really don’t have time to listen to this.” The girl offered her hand to Diane, “Here.”
Diane smiled brightly and took her hand and was somewhat impressed by the girl’s strength. The girl paused for a second after helping Diane up, peered over her sunglasses, and asked, “Do I know you? Because I feel like I’ve met you before.”
Diane stared intently at the girl’s face for a moment and responded, “Nope! I don’t think we’ve ever met! Ooh! My name’s Diane, my friends call me Di for short. What’s your name?” she asked enthusiastically.
“Oh, um, my name’s Dash. Well, actually it’s Wren, but I never really liked that name, so most people just call me ‘Dash.’ I got that nickname back in high school. I was the best in the state in the 1600, 800, and 100 meter dashes,” she smiled and flexed her arm, “You may have heard of me.”
Diane had been lost in thought, “Mmmmm, nope! But it was nice meeting you Dash!” And with that, Diane wandered off toward the alleyway that housed the trash bins.
‘Huh, weird kid,’ Thought Dash as she sauntered down the street. She was headed toward her part-time job at the local garage, Jim’s Jiffy Stop. She entered the shop to hear her boss talking over the phone.
“Yep… Ok. We’ll see you in a little while… Ok. Goodbye.” The middle aged man hung up the phone and turned toward Dash. “So! You dyed your hair again, eh Wren?” Dash rolled her eyes.
“You know I don’t like that name Jim.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He snickered, “I just like picking on you.”
“Yeah, well, I’m gonna get to work on my baby. You know, since we don’t have any customers at the moment.” With that she turned toward the back of the garage wherein sat a vintage 1968 AMC AMX. She caressed the car and said in an almost motherly tone,
“One day… one day you’ll be the fastest out there, just like me.”
She turned on the television for some background noise. There was an advertisement being played trying to recruit young men and women for the Air Force, showing footage of different aerial acrobatics and finally a sonic boom. She spaced out for a moment. It was a feeling of familiarity that she couldn’t place, almost like déjà vu. She felt pride although it didn’t have a place in the moment. She had drifted pretty far into her own thoughts until she heard Jim yelling, breaking the silence.
“Wren! Get out here. We’ve got customers.”
“Oh.” She responded, coming back to earth, “Be right there!” Dash then bent over and whispered to the car, “I’ll be back. Just hold tight.”
She smiled as she turned to the storefront. When she emerged through the door into the lobby, there was a duo of what appeared to be farmers, a man, and a woman, accompanied by a little girl in a scout’s uniform. The man with dirty blonde hair spoke with Jim.
“It needs some work. Probly an oil change and an alignment. Nuthin’ I couldn’t handle mah-self, but things have really picked up around the farm. Ah jus’ don’t have time tah do anythin’ on it.”
“No worries Bill, we’ll have your truck back to work in no time!” Jim turned to Dash, “Work on Bill’s truck, it’s our first priority!”
Dash looked at Jim and said, “Alright, I’ll get right at it.” She turned toward the truck and got to work.
Bill looked over at the woman, “AJ, why don’t you take Amy and go get Winona from the vet? Ah need to get back to the farm.”
The woman responded, “Ah think we can do that.” She turned towards the little girl in the scout’s uniform, “Cain’t we sis’?”
The girl beamed and said, “Sure can!”
The duo turned to the door and left.
The day was warm and sunny and Amy could feel the warmth permeating her skin. She immediately struck up a conversation with her older sister.
“Sure is a nice day, isn’t it, sis’?”
“I reckon it is. Nicest day we’ve had in a while. Ah didn’t think we’d ever get out o’ that rainy period. As good as it was fer the crops, it was gettin’ on mah last nerve.”
“Ya know, ah sure wish I could earn a merit badge.” AJ’s expression went from a smile to more of a pained frown, knowing what was coming next. “Why haven’t ah been able tah earn a merit badge yet? Everyone else has got one!”
“Well, maybe it’s because they all’ve been workin’ on simple ones. Maybe you should do the same.
“But ah don’t wan’ one everyone else has! Ah want one and ah want it now!”
AJ rolled her eyes as they walked up to the old veterinary office. They walked inside and the duo was greeted by a woman in what appeared to be her early forties.
“Afternoon folks, what can I do for ya?” The woman asked in a friendly businesslike manner.
“We’re here for Winona. I hope she wasn’t too much trouble for ya.” AJ said with a smile.
“Oh, no! She was no trouble at all!” she turned and called toward the back, “Felicity dear!”
A girl with pink hair and gentle eyes peeked around the corner.
“Yes?” she asked timidly.
“Would you be a dear and fetch Winona for the Daniels?”
The girl’s face brightened immediately after hearing Winona’s name, “O-ok!” She scurried back into the kennels and within a few minutes, she returned with a pristine, mid-sized sheepdog in tow. “Your family is here Winona, see?” she motioned toward AJ and Amy.
The pooch let out an exuberant bark and trotted toward the duo. Amy reached around Winona’s neck, giving her a hug and leashing her at the same time.
“Thank ya kindly Doc! And you too, uh, what was your name again?” she directed toward Felicity.
The girl blushed a bit and responded softly, “Felicity.”
“Ah! Right. Thank ya kindly, Felicity!” With that, the now trio left the building and the woman turned toward Felicity.
“You did an amazing job with Winona, Felicity. Keep up the good work and I’m sure you’ll be a great veterinarian someday!” the woman stated, beaming.
“Oh, t-thank you very much. I really do love working with animals.
“That reminds me, I need you to do me a favor.”
“O-of course! What do you need me to do?”
The doctor pulled an occupied cat carrier down from the shelf, “I need you to take little Opal here over to the owner of the clothing store down the street. You know, that fancy store, I believe it’s called ‘Vision.’ The owner’s name is Rachel.” She handed the carrier to Felicity who looked inside at the ornery cat.
“Ok, I’ll be back.” Felicity turned and headed out the door and down the street.
The street was fairly busy for the time of day, filled with pedestrians, bikers and other vehicles. “It’s a lovely day, isn’t it Opal? It’s warm days like this that I would like to go on forever! It’s so relaxing just to go for a stroll on warm days.” She then thought to herself, ‘Maybe I’ll go for a walk later.’
The two arrived at the boutique where they heard a ruckus coming from inside. There were no customers, only one very loud voice complaining over the telephone.
“You said those shawls would be in yesterday, yet here I stand, shawl-less… Yes, I’ve heard your excuses, but you’ll just have to get them here by tomorrow morning… Thank you and good-day.” The scowling woman in glasses hung up the phone with a noisy clack and turned to Felicity.
“Yes dear, can I help you?” She inquired, thinking, ‘Medical scrubs, seriously?’
“W-well, Dr. Rose sent me with Opal here,” she motioned to the carrier, “to give her to the owner of this sh—“
“Oh! Opal dear! Mommy’s missed you so much!” she took the cat-carrier from Felicity. “Thank you ever so much for bringing her home, um,” she paused for a second, “I don’t believe I caught your name, dear.”
“U-um, it’s Felicity.”
“Oh thank you Felicity. I will send Dr. Rose’s check in the morning.”
“O-ok, thank you!” Felicity responded turning toward the door.
Felicity stepped out of the shop, sighed, and turned back toward the veterinary clinic.
It was right then that a still very aggravated Trina just about ran her over with her bicycle headed in a rush toward home, not noticing what had almost happened. Felicity stepped back shocked and said to herself quietly, “Huh, I guess I should be more careful…”
All the while Trina pedaled frantically thinking to herself, “’I can help you.’ Seriously, what could that mean?!?”
-Download the full chapter with illustrations at http://www.4shared.com/office/i4Gd2lJA/Through_the_Gate_Book_VersionF.html?
Chapter 2
Trina burst into her apartment in a huff.
“What could it mean?!?”
She threw her book bag onto her desk, the contents spilling everywhere. Trina pulled the envelope from her jacket pocket and tried to calm herself.
“Maybe Spence was right… Maybe it was just a prank…”
She drew the note from its paper sheath and observed it intently. Finally, exhausted, she flopped onto her bed, exhausted, and held the note above her head. It was then, as the paper caught the light, she noticed something that she hadn’t before.
“What’s this?” Trina wondered to herself.
It was fairly simple, yet quite elaborate in design. Two alicorns encircled a sun and a moon with a banner-like unfurled scroll beneath which read simply:
“Per Sol et Luna”
‘By the Sun and Moon, huh?’ Trina thought, “That’s strange…”
Looks of weary perplexity were exchanged for those of excited promise.
“That’s it!” she yelled as she jumped around the room for a few moments. Without hesitation Trina ran to her computer and started her investigation. For hours she franticly searched making sure not to leave a single stone unturned. She became frustrated to the point of anger, and finally, she slouched in her desk chair and gave up, exhausted.
“Urrgh! I can’t believe it! Not a single thing on the phrase ‘per sol et luna’ or anything on this
symbol!!!”
She placed her face in her hands in exasperation.
“How am I ever going to figure out what this means when there’s nothing out there?!? It’s starting to look more and more like what Spence said… but then again, who would go to such lengths as to put a water mark on a prank note?!? There’s got to be more to this.”
She sat there in silence for a few minutes when suddenly the thought came to her, and she chuckled.
“Why didn’t I think of that before?” She asked as she rose from her chair and stretched. “It looks like it’s time to visit the Library. There’s got to be something on this symbol there!”
And so, Trina cleaned herself up, grabbed her book-bag, and left for the Library.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Trina searched the archives deep within the bowels of the local library. The room was a very dim place with flickering fluorescent lighting, a place only a dedicated researcher or student would dare tread. After wearily searching for around an hour, she finally found what she was searching for.
“There it is! The symbol!” she exclaimed as she pulled the file from its spot among the archives.
The file was as thick as a book with a picture of the same alicorns and banner that Trina had seen on the note.
“I can’t believe it! I finally found it!”
A slight tikka-tak noise could barely be heard over Trina’s exuberant cheering.
The lights went black.
Trina was jolted from her jubilations, “I-is someone there” she asked, hoping that the lights simply went out from loss of power. Only the same tikka-tak noise was the response.
“Hello? I know there has to be someone down here. I can hear you.” She was truly beginning to feel frightened now.
It was as if Trina’s worst nightmare had come to fruition right in front of her, for in response, a monstrous, threatening shadowy apparition of a face appeared from within the darkness. The demon’s eyes glowed pure blood-red as it opened its mouth and released a blood-curdling roar that could have been heard for miles. Trina found herself unable to move, and then, it lunged at her.
“OH MY GOD!” Trina yelled before screaming and running out of the room at full tilt, right through the apparition itself.
Trina continued running straight out of the front door of the library, still screaming and panting, meeting confused and somewhat frightened stares of others as she went. And who would she happen to see meandering by? Her assistant, Spencer.
“SPENCER!” Trina yelled.
Spencer turned at the sound of his name.
“Wha—?”
He was interrupted by a panicked Trina, who was unable to stop from her dead sprint, tackling him.
“Ow! What was that for?” Spencer asked from the ground, rubbing his head.
As he rose, a chaotic jumble of words burst forth from Trina’s mouth.
“Spence! *huff* library… *huff* file... *huff* found… *huff* gone! *huff*”
“Trina, slow down. What happened?”
Trina caught her breath, breathed in deeply and began again.
“I was just in the library archives looking for some information on that note I got the other da—“
“You mean that prank?” Spencer interrupted.
“It’s not a prank! But anyway, I was researching and found a file on a school—“
“And why were you searching for a file on a school?”
“Because I found a watermark in the note!” Trina pulled the note from the envelope and held it up to the light. “See?!?”
“Nope.”
“Really? Right there.” She pointed.
“Still not seein’ it.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”
Off in the distance Dash happened to notice Spencer and Trina’s squabble, but mainly, she notices Spencer.
‘Hmmm…’ Dash thought, ‘That guy arguing with that nerd is hot.’
And with a sly grin, Dash snuck up behind the two and proceeded to grab Spence by the shoulder in a flirtatious manner.
“Hey there stud. What’s hangin’?”
Spencer nearly jumped out of his skin.
“Wha- What?!?” Spence stuttered.
“You heard me. What’s goin’ on? What’s a guy like you hangin’ around with a girl like this?” she motioned to Trina who at this moment had a stern yet shocked look on her face.
“What do you mean ‘girl like this?!?’ Who are you to come over and interrupt our conversation?” steamed Trina.
“Whoa! Who are you?” Dash asked, and after a moment she said, “OH! You must be this stud’s girlfriend!” She then looked to Spencer and said, “You can do better.”
Trina and Spencer both sort of blushed at this comment, because, it’s not like they hadn’t both thought of that possibility before. Spencer recovered first to hurriedly say,
“Oh no! No! We’re not together!”
To which Dash responded, “Ohh, so what you’re saying is you’re single.”
Trina, finally recovered from that fairly personal comment, said,
“You know, we were having an important conversation before you so rudely interrupted, and I’d like to finish it if you would butt-out!”
“Well excuse me! Wouldn’t want to get in the way of you getting nowhere with this good lookin’ dude.” Dash winked at Spence.
Trina, getting more and more flustered by Dash’s personal comments retorted, trying not to trip over her own words.
“I’m not trying to get anywhere with Spence! I’m trying to show him the letter I received from Professor Charmichael, whoever that is, the other day isn’t a prank!”
Throughout this intense moment, Trina was waving the letter around in the air, and, taking advantage of this, Dash snatched it from Trina’s hand.
“Huh. ‘I can help you.’” Dash read aloud while she held the letter up to the sun, just out of the reach of Trina who was trying to snatch the letter back.
A sudden look of realization crossed Dash’s face.
“Hey! I recognize this!” she said.
A look of surprise appeared on Trina’s face, she couldn’t believe this stranger like this would know anything of a seemingly prestigious institution like that represented by the note.
“You do?!?”
“Yeah, I could never forget it! It’s the crest of my old school.”
“WHAT?!?”
“Mmhmm. Yeah, but I’ve never heard of a Professor Charmichael or anything. Might’ve been before my time.”
“This is GREAT! You have to come back to my place!”
“Whoa! Hey, I’m not into that sorta thing sweetie. Besides, I don’t even know you.”
“Oh. Right,” the implication passing right over her head, “I’m Trina, and this ‘handsome stud’ is my assistant Spencer.”
“Ahh, so that’s your name. Alright, I guess I don’t have any plans, as long as you’re coming along.” Dash shot a flirtatious look at Spence, who blushed.
“Oh yeah. He’s coming.” Said Trina.
“Bu—, I was sort of on my way to—“ Spence tried to sputter out.
“Alright then, let’s go!” Trina excitedly said.
And with that, Trina and Dash hurried off towards Trina’s apartment dragging a reluctant Spencer behind them.
