Chapter 6: Between Storms
Spike paced around the ground floor of the library. He impatiently scratched at his lower arm with the talon of his opposite claw. “Come on, Twilight,” he grumbled. “Where did you go? I got a letter from Princess Celestia hours ago asking you and the others to take on an important task, and you’re nowhere to be found.”
He had seen the two Applejacks. Twilight and Pinkie Pie ran after the fake along with the real Applejack. However, Twilight told him to stay behind and mind the library. He did just that thinking they would be right back. However, it was like they had fallen off the face of the Earth.
A knock came at the front door.
“Finally.” Spike walked to the door and opened it. “It’s about time you got back.”
He looked up to see a light pink pegasus and light blue pegasus behind her.
“Oh…” Spike grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. I thought you were somepony else. Can I help you?”
“We need to talk,” the pink pegasus said.
“What are you talking about?” Spike asked. “I don’t even know who you are.”
“You know us more than you think.” The pink mare walked into the library and her blue companion came in after her, closing the door behind her. The two quickly drew all the curtains in the library.
Spike gulped nervously. “Who are you?”
The two ponies looked to him. They started to glow and change shape. The pink mare grew much larger and gained a long horn and her hair started to wave as if in a gentle breeze. Her blue companion changed in shape and also gained a horn. They reformed into Princess Celestia and Princess Luna only missing their regal wears.
“Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!” Spike bowed graciously. “How can I serve you?”
“Has Twilight Sparkle returned?” Princess Celestia asked.
“No,” Spike answered.
Princess Celestia bent her mouth into a concerned frown. Her long horn glowed with a soft, pale pink light. “I don’t sense her magic. She’s not in Ponyville or the surrounding area.”
“Could she have passed through whatever you sensed?” Princess Luna asked.
“That’s seems to be the case,” Princess Celestia replied.
“What are you talking about?” Spike asked loudly. He slapped his claws over his mouth when he realized he had just raised his voice to the two monarchs.
Princess Celestia looked to him, but with gentleness and understanding. “I’ve sensed a disruption in the dimensional fabric near here. I was going to have Twilight Sparkle investigate, but it seems like she might have already gotten closer to it than I planned.”
“Uhh…right.” Spike barely understood what Princess Celestia was talking about. “What are you going to do about it?”
“We will investigate ourselves,” Princess Luna said. Her horn glowed her body reformed into her disguise. “We don’t know what threat this could pose to Ponyville and the rest of the Equestria.”
“Then take me with you.” Spike hopped onto Princess Luna’s back. “I’m Twilight’s loyal assistant. If something’s happened to her, I should do whatever I can to help her.”
“I can’t argue against that.” Princess Celestia shrank into her disguise. “In these forms we’re called Dawn and Moonbeam, by the way.”
“Got it,” Spike said.
Dawn pushed the door open and they stepped out. Everypony on the streets outside the library continued with their daily lives, not knowing both of the Royal Pony Sisters were in their midst. After Moonbeam closed the door, they took to the air and flew towards Sweet Apple Acres.
* * *
Rarity stared at the giant painting in the grand hall. It was a larger than life portrait of a white unicorn mare with flowing blue hair with a white streak in her mane. She wore a bright red blanket with white fur along its edges and a simple gold crown sat on her head. Next to her was a purple, juvenile dragon looking much like both the Spike living here and their Spike.
“Admiring Queen Majesty?” a voice asked.
Rarity looked behind her with a start. “Oh…yes I was.”
A powder blue unicorn mare stood behind her. “Hi, I’m Sparkler,” the unicorn said. “I’m sorry if I startled you.”
“Rarity,” Rarity replied. “And it’s alright.”
She looked back to the painting.
Sparkler walked up beside her. “Queen Majesty ruled the Pony Kingdom around a thousand years ago and is one our most storied monarchs.”
“Who’s the dragon?” Rarity asked.
“That’s Spike, her faithful companion and friend,” Sparkler said. “We named our Spike after him because he looks so much like him.”
The mention of lookalikes made Rarity look at Sparkler. Aside from being a different coat and the red streak in her curly, purple mane, Sparkler looked a lot like her. They had similar eyes lined with full body eyelashes. Although Sparkler’s mane did not curl like Rarity’s perm, it had a similar sheen and texture. Even Sparkler’s haunch mark was three diamonds like hers. Perhaps she was her Applejack.
“Tell me, Sparkler,” Rarity said. “What do you do around here?”
“Well…” Sparkler paused to ponder. “My favorite hobby is collecting shiny, sparkly, and colorful trinkets and stuff.”
“Really?” Rarity said excitedly. “My special talent is finding gems too.”
“However,” Sparkler said as if not hearing her, “my main talent and life’s passion is explosives.”
“Explosives?” Rarity asked weakly.
“Yup,” Sparkler said. “If you need it to go boom, I’m your pony. And the bigger the boom the better as far as I’m concerned.”
Rarity forced a weak laugh. She should have never asked. She wanted to picture who was probably her counterpart as being as sophisticated as her. However, she could not get the image of Sparkler with belts of dynamite strapped to her shoulders and holding a stick in her mouth out of her mouth. Such a graceful looking pony clad in such crude equipment had to be the poster foal of “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
“That’s certainly an interesting talent,” Rarity said, trying to sound as polite as possible.
“And oh so much fun,” Sparkler said eagerly. “I just wish I had more opportunities to use it.” A bright spark appeared on the tip of her horn. “I mostly use my spark magic to blind and scare enemies.”
“It’s a real shame.” Rarity forced a grin and batted her eyes.
She should not be this concerned with Sparkler’s choice in occupation. Even if she looked like Rarity, she was not her. It was just like how the Applejacks were completely different ponies as were Pinkie Pie and Surprise. However, those two pairs were so similar in personality and talents. Why would her counterpart not only be completely different from her in personality, but enjoy something as crude as explosives.
“Are you okay?” Sparkler asked.
Rarity quickly recovered her composure. She coughed to clear her throat. “I was just surprised a unicorn who takes as much care of her image as you would be into that line of work.”
Sparkler shrugged. “Yeah. I got that a lot at first. However, there’s nothing like seeing a brilliant fireball rise into the sky followed by a satisfying boom.”
Rarity looked back to the painting. She tried to think of some other subject matter they could discuss.
“Hello,” a voice said from above them. A white unicorn with straight, purple hair and a brilliant blue streak in her mane stood on the balcony above them. She disappeared in a shower of sparkles and reappeared at ground level. “What are you doing?”
“I was just admiring this painting of Queen Majesty,” Rarity said. “She certainly had a good taste in clothes.”
A thought then popped into her head. “That gives me an idea. How about I make some dress designs for you?”
“Dress designs?” Sparkler asked.
“Certainly,” Rarity said. “I am recognized as one of the best designers in Equestria. My designs have been featured in magazines and worn by top celebrities. However, I’m still a simple dressmaker at heart and always will to share my talent. After seeing what you have for clothing, I feel it is my duty to show you true fashion.”
“Right…” Sparkler said halfheartedly.
“I like the idea,” the white unicorn said with a slight drawl. “I’m Glory, by the way.”
“Pleased to meet you, Glory,” Rarity replied. “Let’s go to the wardrobe room and I’ll show you the magic I can craft.”
“I might just come along too just to see this,” Sparkler said.
The three walked towards the door. Rarity slung her front legs over the two on either side of her. “Prepare to be amazed, girls. Prepare to be amazed.”
* * *
Firefly stretched her legs and wings. She inhaled the air which was noticeably cooler and drier. All that remained of the storms was the tattered backside of the cloud deck departing to the southeast across Lake Michigan. The cold front pushing them forward had passed too, leaving them in the refreshing atmosphere behind it.
“There’s nothing like a cold front passing by,” she said. She beat her wings and leapt into the air. “The cooler drier air gives you more lift.”
“But it also reduces your speed,” Rainbow Dash said.
“I have to admit I’m not much for speed,” Firefly said. “I’m more for aerobatic tricks, and this kind of atmosphere is perfect for it.”
She flew high into the air. She then turned and tucked her legs in to perform her signature double inside out loop. She made two tight loops with her legs on the inside. She came out of it and shot towards the ground as if she had been fired out of a cannon. She opened her wings to brake and reduce the speed she gained in the loops. She fluttered to a stop and gently planted her hooves on the ground.
“That was pretty impressive,” Rainbow Dash said. “It’s got to be hard to maintain a loop with your legs inward let alone two.”
“If it ain’t hard, I’m not interested,” Firefly declared. “It took me years to perfect it and I think I crashed into just about every pony living in Dream Valley practicing. However, it’s the go to move to ditch something after you.”
“I’ve dabbled in tricks some,” Rainbow Dash said. “My dream has been to fly as part of the Wonderbolts, a famous stunt team in Equestria. Though, I’m more of a racer than an aerobat.”
“Do you race for a living?” Firefly asked.
Rainbow Dash frowned and glanced away from Firefly. “No. I’m just the weather manager for Ponyville.”
“What’s a weather manager exactly?” Firefly asked.
“We move the clouds in to make rainstorms or get rid of them when it’s supposed to sunny,” Rainbow Dash said with clear disinterest. “It’s an occupation that would never exist here.”
“You don’t sound too proud of it,” Firefly said.
“It’s how they get ‘unruly’ pegasi out of Cloudsdale,” Rainbow Dash said, stressing her disdain when saying the word “unruly.” “They dump them on a small terrestrial town and make them a weather manager. ‘Failed in Cloudsdale, Try Ponyville’ is a common saying for it. That’s why I want to become part of the Wonderbolts. Then I could return to living in Cloudsdale.”
“I see,” Firefly said. “What caused you to get kicked out?”
“I felt squeezed in by all the rules and didn’t have the patience for the plodding pace of flight schools,” Rainbow Dash said. She spread her wings and hovered just over the ground. “I taught myself much of what I know through trial and error well before it ever got covered in school. They just didn’t recognize me for being gifted and talented.”
“Firefly,” Medley called out. The greenish-aqua pegasus landed next to them. “Cherries Jubilee wants the pegasi to do a quick flyover of the valley to check for damage to the fruit trees.”
“I’ll get right on it,” Firefly replied. She looked back to Rainbow Dash and then Medley. “Medley, I want you to meet Rainbow Dash.”
“Hey,” Rainbow Dash said.
“I hope Firefly isn’t being a bad influence on you,” Medley said with that joking smirk she had when she feigned condescension to Firefly.
“Har. Har,” Firefly said, acting wounded. She returned her attention to Rainbow Dash. “Anyway, let’s talk about this while we do tree patrol.”
“Okay,” Rainbow Dash replied.
Firefly took to the air and Medley and Rainbow Dash followed her towards a cluster of apple trees.
“As I was saying, I was bored out of my skull at flight school and ended up acting out,” Rainbow Dash said. “I got kicked out of just about every class. Then they shipped me to the ground when I was old enough. They figured I could be Ponyville’s problem.”
“What are you talking about?” Medley asked.
“Rainbow Dash was telling me about how she ended up as Ponyville’s weather manager,” Firefly answered. “I’m surprised they would make such a vital job a punishment.”
“What do you mean a vital job?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“It seems like Ponyville depends on you for rain,” Firefly said. “You’re indispensible.”
Rainbow Dash stopped. “I never thought of it that way.”
“Maybe they realized you needed to get out of Cloudsdale because it wasn’t the place for you,” Firefly said.
“Besides, aren’t the others friends you met because you ended up in Ponyville?” Medley asked.
“I guess,” Rainbow Dash thought out loud. “I somehow feel better about my place in life.”
“Then our mission is complete,” Medley said.
“Now let’s look at those fruit trees.” Firefly descended to the cluster.
She looked at the trees. No branches of any significant size were on the ground and nothing looked snapped or broken. There were several twigs and leaves scattered about, but they could easily be raked up.
“This cluster looks good,” Firefly said. “I guess the wind wasn’t as strong as it looked.”
“There’s still plenty of valley to inspect,” Medley said, still hovering above them. She looked to the sun sinking towards the western horizon and the golden developing in the sky. “And little daylight left! Let’s get going.”
* * *
Twilight Sparkle saw the mint green pegasus with teal hair sitting by the lake near Dream Castle. Monsoon was certainty older than the others. The corners of his mouth were a bit wrinkled and his eyes seemed a little tired. Though, e was by no means ancient, but more just over the hill.
“Monsoon,” she said as she walked up to him.
Monsoon turned to her. “Oh, hello, Twilight Sparkle.”
“You can call me Twilight,” Twilight Sparkle replied.
“Paradise probably informed you that could cause a bit of confusion,” Monsoon said.
“Oh, right.” Twilight Sparkle remembered there had been a pony named Twilight here. “What were you doing here?”
“I was thinking our friends, the sea ponies,” Monsoon said. “They live in a coral reef near where Dream Valley was in our home dimension. A few mares and fillies even came up river to play with the land ponies in this lake. I often wonder if they’re worried about us.”
“Oh.” Twilight Sparkle had read about ponies who lived in the sea. They were supposedly a myth as no encounters could be verified. She then remembered why she wanted to talk about them. “Anyway, I was wondering if you could tell me about your group seeing as you’ve been here since the destruction of your kingdom. Why did you stay behind, and why did others leave?”
Monsoon paused to think. “Paradise told how our kingdom was destroyed, right?”
“She said it was destroyed by a group of witches,” Twilight Sparkle said. “You were almost wiped out completely and most left for your homeland.”
Monsoon nodded. “Out of the several hundred survivors, only fifty or so stayed behind. Those who left feared the witches would try to finish the job if we stayed behind or simply wanted to get away from our ruined civilization and memories of their shattered lives. Those of us who stayed thought we could beat off the witches and then repair our valley and rebuild our civilization here.”
He smiled, but it seemed to not originate from a happy thought. It looked like it was forced to hide a frown or born out of scorn for misplaced pride. “Unfortunately we didn’t do so well on the last one. The witches almost completely wiped themselves out and retreated to whatever dark corner of the world they had come from. We also brought our valley back to life with some help. However, civilizations aren’t so easy to rebuild.”
“That’s why more left,” Twilight Sparkle said.
Monsoon nodded and let the frown he had been hiding bend the covers of his mouth down. “I got good news and bad news. The good news is a pony hasn’t died in Ponyland since the Fall. The bad news is because they’ve all left instead. Over the decades most left along the trail of the original exodus in the hopes those who left had had better luck wherever they ended up. Even my mate, the previous mistress, got so discouraged she left without me.”
“I’m sorry for bringing it up,” Twilight Sparkle said in a soft voice. His wife abandoning him had to be an old wound for Monsoon.
“Don’t be,” Monsoon said warmly. “At least they could still be alive somewhere in our home dimension. They might have found our brethren and the civilization they’ve built. It’s also possible they’re all vulture picked carcasses in the desert, but I prefer to believe the former. When you’ve lived as long as I have and seen what I’ve seen, tend to want to believe in the best case scenario. It helps keep you sane.”
Twilight Sparkle smiled. Monsoon reminded her Princess Celestia a little. Both were wise and yet not too serious about their place in life. She could see the two walking along casually talking about their enormous lives. Though, Princess Celestia would have far more to tell. Even at over a century old, Monsoon had only been alive less than a tenth as long as Princess Celestia.
Twilight Sparkle then thought of friendship and how these ponies approached it. “I see you all get along fairly well.”
“You haven’t been here long enough,” Monsoon said. “There are plenty of clashing personalities here. However, when you have to live close together and work together, you learn to tolerate each other’s foibles. If nothing else, our more belligerent ponies have at least a begrudging respect for each other.”
“I can attest to that.” Twilight Sparkle remembered her first sleepover and the near disaster it turned out to be because of Rarity and Applejack’s clashing personalities. “After you brought your valley back to life, what did you do?”
“We’ve actually ended up fighting for much of the past century,” Monsoon said. “Old enemies returned hoping to gain power now that we were no longer the force we were. Even one of the surviving witches set up shop in their old base near Dream Valley and tried to destroy us by whatever means she could think of.”
“Paradise told me she was the one who sent you here to this dimension,” Twilight Sparkle said.
“She probably did us the biggest favor ever,” Monsoon said. “Back in our home dimension, we were looking for our place in the universe. We were no longer what we were, but we did not know what we should become. Here, with the rainbow and support from the humans and others, we’re a force for good again.”
Monsoon stood up and strolled along the edge of the lake. He beckoned Twilight Sparkle to walk with him. “But enough about us. Why don’t you tell me about you and your world? What is it like there?”
“Well, it’s nothing like here or your home dimension,” Twilight Sparkle said. “We have no enemies because ponies run everything, and by everything I mean everything.” She looked to the sinking sun and the golden sky in the west. It probably did this on its own like the storms earlier. “Even the sun and the moon are raised and lowered by ponies. We don’t have storms like the one that just blasted through. We’ve made the world into a paradise we can happily live our lives in and pursue our special talents. There are other kinds of intelligent creatures like griffons and dragons, but they look to us to keep the world running.”
“An interesting position to find yourself,” Monsoon said.
“Though, there is the Everfree Forest where disasters do happen and all kinds of pony-eating monsters live,” Twilight Sparkle said. “It’s like it’s there to remind us what the world could like if we weren’t there. Though, it sounds like that’s normal for you.”
“Normalcy is the eye of the beholder,” Monsoon replied. “What about you and your friends? How did such a diverse group of young mares come to be so close?”
“Oh boy, is that a story to tell?” Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes.
“I’m all ears,” Monsoon replied.
“It all started when I learned of Nightmare Moon’s return,” Twilight Sparkle started to tell to Monsoon who listened intently while they walked.
* * *
Fluttershy looked around for the tree she saw the robins in. Its trunk and branches were very thin. The storm could have easily snapped it.
She found the tree and bush in question. She gasped when she saw the branch that held the nest had broken completely off the tree and the nest lying upside down in the grass.
She landed and immediately looked in the bush. To her relief the baby robin was huddled under it. It suddenly started chirping greedily for food. One of the robins flew in and shoved an earthworm in its wide open beak.
Fluttershy backed away. “At least you’re safe,” she said softly to them.
She then realized it was a good thing she did not have the chance to put the baby back in the nest. If she had, it might have died in the storm.
“I should’ve known you’d come out here,” Gator said from behind her.
Fluttershy turned around to see him standing there.
“How are our feathered friends doing?” Gator asked.
“They’re doing just fine,” Fluttershy said. “However, they might not have been if I had put their baby back in the next. The storm broke the branch off. They could have been killed.”
“However, they weren’t,” Gator replied.
Fluttershy smiled. “I guess you’re right.” A thought then occurred to her. “The Bushwoolies said I looked a lot like a pony named Posey. I was wondering if I could meet her.”
“Sure,” Gator said. “She’s probably in her garden making sure everything is fine. Come on.”
* * *
“That’s when we used the Elements of Harmony to free Princess Luna from her Nightmare Moon persona. After that, I decided to live in Ponyville with my new found friends and learn more about friendship,” Twilight Sparkle finished her story. Even though she gave him the short version of it, the sun was touching the hills to the west and the sky was turning dark in the east. It had to have taken an hour at least.
“That’s quite a tale,” Monsoon said, genuinely impressed.
“What’s really strange is we later learned we had a connection going much further back,” Twilight Sparkle said. “The same event led to all our cutie marks. Perhaps it was fate that we would meet.”
“Perhaps,” Monsoon said. “You’re story actually reminds me of something and makes me think you should see something. Come with me.”
* * *
Twilight Sparkle followed Monsoon into a room. It was large and open with no furniture. Colorful tapestries were draped on the walls depicting ponies in all kinds of dashing poses.
Monsoon walked up to a red, heart-shaped locket hanging on a peg. “This is our ultimate weapon.” He touched the locket with his hoof. The locket popped open and a brilliant rainbow streamed out of it. The ribbon of light and color snaked around them. Twilight Sparkle felt a gentle warmth from it as it passed near her.
“We call it the Rainbow of Light,” Monsoon said. “Queen Majesty discovered it and it’s protected us ever since.”
“It must not have been much good against the witches,” Twilight Sparkle said.
“It’s actually the reason they took such drastic action,” Monsoon said. “They had nothing that could match it. However, not even it could stop two cubic miles of water.”
Twilight Sparkle watched the Rainbow of Light slither around near the high ceiling. “I can see why my story made you think of it. The Elements of Harmony summoned an attack much like it. Perhaps they are somehow related or dimensional parallels like the two Applejacks.”
“Maybe.” Monsoon tapped the locket. “Okay. Time to go back.”
The Rainbow of Light flew back into its locket. The locket closed once all of the ribbon of color had disappeared inside it.
“I have so much to write to Princess Celestia when I get back.” A thought suddenly occurred to Twilight Sparkle. “Actually, I wonder if I should. Before today, I didn’t even believe other dimensions existed. I don’t know how Princess Celestia would react to learning all this.”
“How do you know she doesn’t know already?” Monsoon asked.
Twilight Sparkle thought about that possibility. Although Princess Celestia’s special talent was raising the sun, she was very knowledgeable about many things. She might know there are other dimensions. She also knew a lot about magic and knew many spells. She might have even sensed the connection between dimensions when they happened.
* * *
Dawn landed on the dirt road leading to Sweet Apple Acres. This was where she had sensed the disturbance. She looked around to make sure they were alone. There was nopony to be seen anywhere.
She released her disguise spell and her body retook her normal form as Princess Celestia. Spike hopped off Moonbeam’s back so she could transform back into her little sister.
“You’ve never shown this magic to Twilight,” Spike said.
“There are many things I haven’t shown to Twilight yet,” Celestia replied.
“Is this the place?” Luna asked, bringing them back to the task at hand.
Celestia scanned the area with her magic. She could feel the aftereffects of whatever happened. “Yes.”
She concentrated to get a more precise location. There was still a weakness to the dimensional fabric. She detected it exactly above the road ahead of them. It felt like when someone pushed their hoof through ice just enough to form a spider web of tiny cracks without breaking through. Whatever the event was had closed, but the anomaly hadn’t completely disappeared.
“It’s there.” She pointed to the invisible weakness. It looked like everything was normal, but her magic told her otherwise.
“If Twilight and the others passed through something here,” Spike said, “how are we supposed to get them back?”
“I must go to the other side of this thing and retrieve them,” Celestia said.
“Princess!”
“Big Sister!”
“You can’t go!” Spike insisted. “You have no idea what could be on the other side.”
“He’s right,” Luna said. “I should go.”
“You’re still recovering your powers,” Celestia said, using a tone as stern as she had used in centuries. “Besides, evening is almost here and you have your duties to perform.”
Luna paused. She frowned but nodded. “You’re right, Big Sister.”
“I’ll go with you,” Spike said.
Celestia shook her head. “No. I will go alone.” She smiled. “Don’t forget how powerful I am. I’ll be fine no matter what lies beyond.”
“But, how will you get there?” Luna asked. “Whatever caused the disturbance is gone.”
Celestia looked to where the disturbance was. “Over the centuries, I’ve learned many things. One of them is the possibility of other dimension and means by which to travel to them. There is a spell that could supposedly bridge dimensions, but not knowing the destination made it impossible to use. Perhaps with the path already laid out, I can form a bridge of my own.”
Celestia pointed her horn at the disturbance. She concentrated and her horn glowed with a pale pink aura. She concentrated hard and the aura grew in size and intensity. It was almost blinding.
She kept her eyes open, even though the impulse to close them was strong. She needed to see what was happening to make sure she did this right.
Her horn prickled with energy. The aura had taken on several layers of light. She had to brace herself against the magical forces swirling around her.
Finally, she saw something happen. A circle in front of them started to distort. It looked like the center compressed inward while the edges stretched. Her magic was pressing the very fabric of space and time.
The fabric fought back. It pushed against her, not wanting to be punctured again. She pushed on and shoved her magic deeper into the pucker.
Finally, like a needle pushing through tough cloth, it broke through all at once. The circle opened and her magic went straight through.
Celestia had to steady herself on all four hooves to keep from falling over. She drew in deep breaths to refill her lungs. After several seconds she had recovered enough to breathe normally.
She looked at her hoofiwork. A perfect circle sat before them. It was the portal she could pass through and gave them a glimpse of what she would arrive into. It was a swamp with trees sitting in water and moss hanging from their branches.
Spike gulped. “Twilight is there?”
“If my suspicions are correct, then yes,” Celestia said.
She stepped towards the portal. She raised a hoof and passed it through the circle like it was a doorway. She looked back to Spike and Luna staring at her worriedly. She smiled as well as she could, though she did share a little in their concern. “I’ll be back in time for sunrise.”
“Good luck, Big Sister,” Luna said.
Celestia hopped through the portal into the other dimension.
She land in slimy, ankle-deep water and her hoof sank into the soft mud under it. She usually wore slippers, but she had discarded them along with her other regal wears for her disguise. She regretted that decision now as her bare hooves felt the mushy texture of the mud all too well.
She tried to pull her left front hoof out of the water. The mud seemed to pull back, keeping her stuck. It made a disgusting sound as she slowly pulled her hoof free. Finally, it came out like a cork from a bottle. She looked at the greenish-brown gunk cleaning to her white hoof and stuck her tongue out in disgust. She pulled her other hooves out and hopped onto a mound of grass that was thankfully solid.
She took one last glance at the portal as it closed up like an iris on a camera lens. Both Luna and Spike watched worriedly until that disappeared completely.
She looked around her new surroundings. They were like what she had seen in the portal. Trees grew out of the water and grassy areas rose out of it. The sounds of strange creatures echoed around her. The air was hot and sticky with humidity and held the pungent odor of a swamp.
She heard a low groan. She looked behind her to see a giant alligator flowing through the water towards her. She spread her large wings and flew into the air. The large reptile climbed out of the water under her and snapped its long, toothy jaws at her.
Paying attention to the waters around her, Celestia saw several alligators in the water and lying on land. Wary of landing again, she flew up through the canopy.
She flew and looked around from the vantage point of the air. All around her were clumps of trees, murky lakes, and muddy rivers. There were roads that appeared to be made of strange, black dirt with yellow and white markings running down them. There were also some clusters of buildings.
She looked to the hazy sky. Evening was already well underway here. The orange sun was sinking towards the horizon.
She wondered where Twilight Sparkle could be. If she was close by, she could sense her magic. Celestia concentrated on her detection spell. However, nothing came back. Not only was she not detecting Twilight Sparkle’s unique magic, but no magic period. This world seemed devoid of it.
That could not be right. She must have done the spell wrong. There had to be magic. Nature itself had magical properties. However, even making sure she was using the spell properly, she was greeted by a desert of magic.
She then detected something. It was several hundred miles to the north and a little east. It was magic, a fair bit of it clustered together. It was not just magic, but the distinct magic of unicorns.
That might have been where Twilight Sparkle was. However, how did she get all the way up there? Perhaps that was where she arrived and Celestia’s spell ended up poking through in a different location. Either way, it was the best place to start looking.
She flapped her mighty wings and flew towards the magical signature. It would take many hours to reach it traveling through this alien world devoid of magic otherwise. Celestia could not help but wonder what kind of intelligent creature could call it home.