A Forbidden Doorway

It was four o'clock on the third of December, and the sky was covered with clouds. It had been a particularly cold and snowy year, and as such, the streets and land of Canada were covered in snow. Holiday lights were strung up on houses, and decorations were placed upon some of the street lamps around the town of Edmonton, Alberta. Inside one of the many decorated houses, was a young man of twenty-one. His name was Jack Robert Spade, and he was not having a very good day. Firstly, his head was pounding hard, like he’d been hit by a train. Secondly, he hadn’t made it to his bed before he fell asleep, and he had slept on the floor beside it instead. Because of that fact, his whole body was in pain with his head. Thirdly, he was a mess. With the small amount of strength that he had in his weakened state, he was able to pick himself up off of the floor and look in his mirror, paying witness to how much of a messy state he was in. His hair was scraggly and out of shape, and his eyes had large bags under them. Not to mention, his eyes were bloodshot to hell.

“Fuck me, I feel like complete shit.” He said, stating aloud his general discomfort. He slowly walked over to his dresser, which held up his mirror, and grabbed his favourite hair brush, and began to brush his dark chocolate coloured hair, which he had gotten in a sidecut style, and extended to his chest. He scratched one of his mutton chops as he did so, and when his hair was in a decently presentable condition, stopped halfway through a brush, leaving the brush in his hair. He walked out of his room and into the kitchen, walking over the trash and bottles of booze that he and his friends had ate and drank the night before. He’d invited them over for a holiday party, and even paid for all of their tickets in advance. They were all asleep in the guest room of his house, and he was glad for that, because it meant that he didn’t have to worry about being too quiet. He walked over to his fridge, and grabbed his last remaining full bottle of Rum Chata. He picked up his shot glass off of his small dining table, and drank the small amount of Rum Chata that was left in it, before pouring himself some more.

He dropped himself onto one of the couches in his living room, and began to drink out of the shot glass, pouring more every time he downed one. Rum Chata was the only alcoholic beverage he drank, because all the other ones didn’t taste as good to him. Just as he downed his third shot, however, he saw something through the bottom of the glass. Something black. He stopped to stare at the glass, confused as to why he would see something through it. He looked around at the room, seeing nothing black that could have been as close as what he had seen in the bottom of the glass in his very hand. He slowly brought the glass up to his face, curiosity getting the better of him, and put it up to his eye, a drop of Rum Chata dropping on his cheek as he did so. He looked through the bottom, and lo and behold, he saw something again. He looked up and down at the object in front of him. In front of him, standing in the middle of his living room, frame and all, was a door. He set his Rum Chata down on the floor, and walked up to the shot-glass visible door.

The door was made out of dark ebony wood, and had silver-made inscriptions in a language he swore he recognised upon it. The handle, as well, was made out of pure silver. He wondered just what the door went to. He noticed that in the center of the door, was a blank circle that the inscriptions started from. He cautiously raised his hand, ever curious, and placed it in the center. The inscriptions lit up with a bright purple sparkling light as he did so, lighting up from the center, and flicking off of the door as they reached the frame, and fading into nothingness. He heard the door unlock, and then it burst open with the same sparkling purple light the inscriptions had made, flinging him back onto the couch. He coughed as he sat back up, and saw at that moment that the door had become visible to the naked eye, most likely from him activating the magic imbued within it. Well... He thought, I think it was magic, at least... He stood up from the couch once more, and looked at the door, seeing that through it was complete blackness. He looked behind the door, and the rest of the room was still there. It was as if the door was a portal of some kind.

He didn’t waste no time rushing to his room. He threw on a clean pair of clothes, put on his glasses, and put his shoes on, before quickly coming back out to the living room, happy to see the door was still where he had left it. Or rather, where it had placed itself. He grabbed his shot glass off the couch, and put it in his right pocket, before doing the same thing with his bottle of Rum Chata and his right pocket, closing the bottle as he did so. He turned to the doorway, the inky blackness inside it, along with the wood, both utterly, and indomitably, still. He stood there for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should go through it. He stared into the pitch black portal, and simply thought.

If I go into this doorway, there’s no way of telling where I might end up. It could be somewhere dangerous. It could be somewhere with lots of monsters in it. For all I know, it could take me to another universe, or another planet. Then again... He looked deep into the darkness inside the dark ebony frame, and then a different thought came to his mind. It might take me to a place of wonder, and excitement. A place I could only dream of being. A place like... Naw, there’s no way it would take me there. But I do know one thing... He turned around and looked at the street in front of his house. He looked at the world outside of his house, and his face went straight. Wherever that door takes me will most likely be a hell of alot more interesting than the place I’m in now. He turned to the door, and with his mind made up, ran towards it, jumping into the tenebrosity as he reached the frame. As he did, the door shut loudly behind him, and locked itself once more, before vanishing into thin air. He began to fall. He fell down and down through the gloom and dark, no sign anywhere that he would ever stop.

He fell for what felt like hours. The air that he cut through felt like wind around him as he only continued to descend ever faster. He thought he was going to fall forever. That is, until he finally did stop, the never ending fall coming to a close as he felt that he landed. It felt as if he landed on something soft and firm, yet at the same time, he still couldn’t see anything, even though he knew for a fact he had landed. He even felt his whole body get cold, as if he was outside on a snowy day. He felt as though something was obstructing his eyes, and when he realised just what it was that was obstructing them, he felt like an idiot for not thinking of doing his next action sooner. He opened his eyes.

He was finally able to see, and the sense of sight that he had gained back allowed him to see something that greatly astounded him. He sat up to get a better look, because the first one he had gotten was something he could hardly believe. He was in a grand forest of pine trees. The pine needles were the greenest he had ever seen in his life, and the trunks of the trees were a perfect dark brown. The snow on the ground and on the top of the pine needles that were all around him was the whitest snow he had ever seen as well. The colour of everything, even the clouds and the sky above, was so vibrant, and almost... technicolour. The world he had entered when he went through the door was definitely a beautiful one, he gave it that. He stood up, the backs of his legs, and his butt both almost numb, and the wind that blew through the forest stinging his body as it blew against him. He began to walk through the forest, all the while hearing what he thought was the roar of a waterfall. He followed his ears, letting his sense of direction be based purely on that sense.

After a little while, he finally made it to the source of the sound, and found that his guess had been correct. Before him was a huge waterfall, the size of Niagara Falls, with a large lake below it. The water, just like everything else around him, was a vivid and rich colour blue as well. It almost seemed to sparkle as well, showing just how clean it was. He knelt down, and put his lips to the water, and tasted it. It was the best tasting water he had ever had the pleasure of having in his mouth. It was astonishing to him, the world he had entered. It was so magnificent and wonderful, as if it had been freshly painted by someone with the skills of Da Vinci and Van Gogh combined. He looked around at the environment he had found himself in, and began to walk down the shore of the lake that the waterfall created, eventually reaching a river, which he continued to walk beside as well. He walked for about a couple hours or so, nearly freezing to the bone. Winter was his favourite season, and he loved to be cold, but the chill that he was feeling was extreme, almost to the bone.

After walking for thirty more minutes, he came upon a bridge, with two train tracks running across it. The sky was becoming dark, night arriving fast, and Jack could tell. He stopped to rest for a bit, tired from the long walk he had just made. He sat down and leaned against the side of the bridge as he took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. They were just as tired as his body, it seemed. As he put them back on, and felt his jeans constricting both of his thighs, it was at that point that he finally remembered his only supplies he had brought. He took out the bottle of Rum Chata and his shot glass, and after cleaning the shot glass out with the edge of his shirt, making sure to get all of the pocket lint out and off of it, poured himself some. The rum warmed his throat and stomach, making him feel as though he was a much more bearable temperature than the one he was. And with that, he lied down on his side, getting comfortable, and took a nap.

AAA

Jack awoke four hours later to the sound of a train’s brakes being used, as if it was pulling into the station. He quickly pocketed his drinking materials, and looked a bit over the edge of the bridge, keeping close so that the night would disguise him. Luckily the tee shirt and other clothes he was wearing were all black, which would allow him to stay unseen in the dark better. He guessed that the reason the train had stopped was because something had gone wrong with the engine or something, and was told that he was partly right when he heard the voice of the conductor.

“We need more coal up here! Dang thing just stopped completely! I need to get some rest, come on, hurry it up!” He was obviously grouchy from the length of time he’d gone without sleep. Conducting a train was a hard job because of the amount of hours you had to work every day.

Now’s my chance to get a free ride. Jack thought, before running as fast as he could along the side of the train, quickly making his way to one of the cargo holds for the steam powered transportation machine, which he found was open, and did not hold anything. He thought that the train had probably just made it’s last delivery for the day, and was heading back to it’s station, which would explain why the engine compartment had run out of coal to shovel. He hopped inside, finding a couple of piles of hay in the corners, almost looking like makeshift beds. He shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to think about it too much, and lied down on one of the piles, getting comfortable once more before he fell asleep again. He slept through the rest of the night, once he started, and didn’t awaken again until he heard the train stop in it’s station, and even then went back to sleep. He didn’t fully awake until he heard the train stop a second time, and he heard voices, and the clip-clop of horse hooves. He sat up, taking off his glasses to rub his eyes before standing up and putting them back on.

He saw through the open doors that he was in a station, but a public one. He heard a voice yell again, this one being a female one. “Alrighty, let’s get all the cargo inside, it’s time to get to work!”

Oh, shit. He thought, knowing that it was his time to get off, and fast. He quickly hopped out and onto the station platform so that way he could begin his escape, but when he looked around, and saw just what was coming towards him and whistling a happy melody, he couldn’t believe what his eyes were perceiving at that very moment. Trotting towards him on the station platform in that instant, was a technicolour pony of the female persuasion, a young mare to be exact. She was wearing a train conductor’s outfit. As she trotted towards him, she was continuously looking at the train itself, not paying attention to what was in front of her as she did so. She was performing a maintenance check to make sure all of the holds were connected securely and tightly, so that they would not disconnect along the way. Jack couldn’t move as he looked at her. He was still in shock at the images that were being sent to his mind from his eyes. He realised just where he was as soon as he had seen the conductor pony, and the epiphany that grasped his mind when he did, was too much for him to bear.

I’m in Equestria... I’m in Equestria! His mind repeated those words over and over, trying to process the massive revelation it was going through and failing. He blinked quickly and erratically, almost nearly freaking out at what he had just learned. He fell to his knees just before the conductor pony bumped into him and backed up to look at him.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t... wha... what are you?” The conductor pony said, seeing just what the figure before her was. She’d never seen something like Jack before, and for all she knew, he was some kind of animal. “Are you from the Everfree Forest?” That was the only thing she could think of. The Everfree had some strange creatures in it, but still, she’d never even heard of something fitting Jack’s description before.

Jack shook his head, snapping out of it, and looking at her, still slightly unbelieving. He summoned the will to speak, and swallowed it down, before he finally did. “Err... I... I’m a human?” He said it questioningly, wondering if she would do something after he spoke. And to his surprise, she did. She spoke back to him.

“Wow, you can talk? What’s a... a human?” She said, tilting her head to the right, her mane and ears moving as she did. The only sounds that came out of Jack’s mouth after she spoke were muttering and mumbling ones. Tears began to form in his eyes, and pour down his cheeks. He wasn’t just imagining it. He was really in Equestria, the place he had always dreamed of going ever since he watched the first episode of Friendship is Magic over a year ago. He hopped forward, hooking his arms around the conductor pony’s neck, hugging her. He needed to hug something, just to know he could feel it, and that he really was there. His dreams had become reality before his very eyes, and he was breaking down with joy over it.

The conductor pony smiled nervously, and patted him on the back with a hoof. “Umm... It’s okay, I’m here for you.” She honestly didn’t know what to think. A strange creature had appeared out of seemingly nowhere, spoke, and then had begun to cry and hug her. It certainly wasn’t something that happened every day. She heard hooves from behind her, and then heard the voice of one of her fellow workers.

“Oh my goodness, Daisy’s being attacked by a strange creature! Quick, get some help!” It was one of the other mares she worked with, one who always drew conclusions too quickly.

“No, wait!” Daisy tried to say, turning around awkwardly with the human hanging around her neck. Just as she was going to ask Jack to stop hugging her, he fell off.

His face was one of pure bliss. He was happier than he had ever been in his entire life, and that was saying something. He slowly fell into a euphoric state, beginning to fall asleep, so his mind could adjust to everything it had just gone through. The last word he said before he fell asleep was the name of the wondrous and magical land that he had come to after all of the nights he dreamt of doing just that. “Equestria...”

After a moment, a guard came galloping up to her, being blunt and concise. “Is this the creature, ma'am?” He said, pointing at Jack, who was curled up happily on the ground. Daisy could only nod, confused at the whole situation that had just happened. The guard then levitated Jack with his magic, and escorted him off.

Daisy Axel II, who was named after her late mother, shook her head, and decided to get back to work, as long as she could. She knew that not before long, she’d have to get someone to replace her, so she could stay in Canterlot and answer any questions that the guards may have about the human, so she wanted to get as much work done as possible before she did.

It certainly was not a normal day in Equestria.