Parallel Worlds

Chapter Two; One Second They Were Here...

*Thump*

Twilight pried her eyes open, taking a look to see what happened. She faintly remembered excruciating pain and a falling sensation after activating the spell. The first thing she saw was the other girls laying next to her. They looked fine and were just coming to. The nerdy mare let a sigh of relief escape her.

"Did anypony see what the scroll did?" Spitfire's voice echoed through the field as she looked around.

The trio had found a small hill right next to the wall of trees that marked the Everfree's border. Now when Spitfire looked around she noticed that, while they were still next to a wall of trees, it was now to their right rather than left.

"Did it just turn us around?" Rainbow Dash asked, noting the same changes, "All that over something you could already do? So uncool."

"I don't get it," Twilight said, pulling out another copy of the scroll, "Was there something I missed?"

Spitfire shrugged, "Maybe the scroll was just to get our attention."

"It got my attention, alright." Rainbow Dash grimaced, stretching out her wings.

The group was silent for a bit as Twilight read and reread the scroll, almost missing the approaching hoove steps and voices.

"I'm telling you Resin, I saw a flash over this hill. The only thing that could have done that was magic."

The masculin voicce sounded young, the speaker must have been a stallion just in his twenties. The mares didn't pay much more attention to it past the word 'Resin.'

"It's him." Twilight mouthed excitedly, Rainbow Dash looked nervous. Spitfire was more curious than anything.

"I'm not doubting your eyesight, my lord, but don't you think an experamental alchemist or distillery could have just as easily caused it?" This voice sounded just as young, if not one or two years older.

"An exploded distilery giving of a purple flash?"

"Maybe it was the wine in the air," A tired female voice pointed out just as they reached the top of the hill.

Both sides stared at eachother, neither knwoing quite what to make of the others. There were six creatures on top of the hill, three of which looked like pale diamond dogs. The other three were large ponies, each easily as big- or bigger- than Big Macontosh. The pony holding the heaviest dog was completely brown, the next was black, and the third and smallest pony was brown with white patches, similar to a cow. Their manes were equally strange, maching their fur and cut short. The trio stared back at them with tiny, bored eyes above their enourmous muzzles.

"Twilight, what's with those earth-ponies?" Rainbow dash whispered, but her friend shook her head and walked up the hill.

"I'm honored to meet you," She said to whom she took to be Resin, "My name is Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Celestia."

The large black and white pony stared dully at her.

"Um... I found the scroll you wrote, with the spell we just cast."

The earthpony held it's silence. Twilight looked back at her friends, who shrugged. Turning around again, she began sweating a river. Why weren't any of the ponies talking? She had heard them only a minute ago.

"Um, Resin?" The female voice spoke again, slightly less tired this time, "That horse is talking."

Twilight looked up at the rider, surprisingly speaking fluint Equestiran for a diamond dog, she was looking back with a raised eyebrow.

"If it's not too much trouble, my friends and I would like to know what the scroll did." There was more silence.

Things were getting awkward before Twilight heard a sigh from her left and the sound of metal sliding on metal. The horse bearing the armored diamond dog trotted foreward and the creature on it's back pointed a sharp looking steel instrument at her.

"By order of her majesty Sarina, I have been sent to slay all demons threatening our borders. Do you have any final words?"

"What?" Twilight asked just as a rainbow blur threw the dog off of the as of yet unnamed pony.

"Nopony threatens my friends!" Rainbow yelled at the stunned dog.

"I am no pony, fiend!" The armored dog struggled in vain for a second, "Resin! Tell this thing to get off of me!"

The name jogged Twilight out of her stupor and she turned back to the other pony, but it wasn't him that spoke.

"And what do you want me to say, my lord?"

All three mares' heads jerked up at the sound of the second male's voice.

"I don't know, you're good at talking to monsters, make something up!"

Rainbow dash kicked the armored figure in the gut, winceing when her hoof met steel.

"Look who's talking!"

The diamond dog that used to be in the center of the group sighed and dismounted his pony, allowing Twilight to get a good look at him. He had a longish brown mane, just enough to cover his ears and reach his shoulders. Tan robes covered his torso and arms and were buckled beneath a simple belt and a satchel. He was wearing simple brown pants and boots, and Twilight also finally got the oppertunity to see their faces. Mostly hairless beside some light stubble and ape-like ears. These weren't diamond dogs, but... what were they?

"It seems capable of speaking, my lord. I don't believe it's a monster, still..." Resin shook his head, "Pegasus, it may benefit you the release my prince."

"Prince!" All three mares shouted, needless to say Rainbow practically jumped off of the armored figure.

"Well that seems to have worked," The female creature smirked and hopped off of her steed as the prince stood to his feet. Twilgiht felt slightly queesy noticing most of her cloths were furs and animal skins.

"We are so sorry!" Twilight stepped foreward first, "We had no idea you were a prince, if we had I'm sure Rainbow Dash wouldn't have-" She was cut off as the armored figure raised his weapon again.

"Resin, you have some explaining to do, what are these?"

There was a long sigh from the apparent scholar, "It seems to be a unicorn and two pegasi," He said slowly.

"And those are?"

"Pegasi are meesengers from the gods sire, and unicorns are said to be their personal servants and symbols of their power."

"Oh," The weapon dropped to the princes side with alarming speed. "Oh," He said again, "But their-"

"Small and colorful? Perhaps as a test, or perhaps an upstart sorcerer decided to satire the work of the gods."

"If it is the latter," The prince said, voice dripping in venom and causing the mares to shudder, "I will see them suffer greatly before their excecution. What god do you serve?" He asked.

"C-Celestia, raiser of the sun," Twilight stuttered, she don't know why she introduced her that way, it just seemed to fit.

"A son god? Lies, sol is the only god of the sun!" The prince bit back agressively.

"Sire, our scripts are quite old, it's entirely possible that Sol could have anointed a daughter to raise the sun in his stead. After all, this is obviously a servant of the gods telling us this."

The prince seemed to think for a minute, then his helmate dipped down in a nod.

"Let us find shelter while we discus this then," The prince said at length, climbing back onto his steed.

"Sire-" Resin gestured to the ponies.

The prince looked from him to them and back again, "They're to smal to ride."

Resin grimaced, the un-named mare snorted and turned around, pretending to scan the horizon for shelter. Twilights jaw dropped.

"Prince or not, Nopony rides me!" Rainbow exploded.

Resin turned to her with a raised brow, "Of course not, it would be an insult to the gods," The last four words were clearly enphasised, but even then it took the prince a few seconds to get their meaning, but when he did he quickly slid off of his horse.

"Right, shelter then," He said sheepishly.