//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Portal 42 // by Paradox //------------------------------// (Chris) I was still calmly working on my drawings and drinking more coffee when Dawn Whistle came back. "Nightwish just raced with a pegasus, and he would've won if she hadn't grabbed his leg," she said, sitting down next to Pandora. I almost choked on my coffee, because I only knew of one pegasus that Tyler would try to race. "Was she cyan with a rainbow mane?" I asked. "Yeah, why?" "No reason." In my mind, I was actually thinking of how stupid Tyler was to race Rainbow Dash. Another part of my brain was thinking about how he almost won. While I was spaced out, Dawn Whistle was talking with Pandora about something. I was so lost in thought that I almost spilled my coffee all over my drawing, but I managed to steady it before it fell. "I'm going to go outside for a little bit," I said, putting my notepad in my saddlebag and putting it on my back. "To do what?" asked Dawn whistle. "To clear my head a little bit," I replied. Dawn Whistle looked questioningly at my "sister" but Pandora only shrugged. I walked outside and stretched my new wings a little bit, hearing them crack a little as I loosened them up. Taking off my shades, I lifted the goggles to my eyes and let them snap tight, barely wincing as they hit. Flapping my wings a few times, I took off and flew as high as I could. Breathing in the fresh air, I sighed as I exhaled and looked around. "Maybe I should stay here," I said to myself. "And do what?" asked a voice from the air next to me. Final Hour materialized a moment later, and she had a pair of jet black wings keeping her in the air. "Since when did I give you the ability to change yourself like that?" I asked curiously. "I'm the pony of death remember? I can do pretty much anything I want," she replied with a smirk. "I still don't see why you have to follow me everywhere." "Oh I follow your friend as well, to make sure he doesn't cause too much trouble." "Good luck with that, Tyler won't listen to you." "Oh, he will if I threaten to send him back to your world." "And how do you propose doing that? You said the only way to get back is if we die in this world." Even as I said it I facehoofed. She's the pony of death, of course she could easily kill him. Sighing, I sat down on a nearby cloud and rubbed my forehead. "So where is your little friend anyway?" she asked, sitting down next to me. "Probably napping somewhere," I replied. "Sounds like Storm Shadow." "Hey, I can't be blamed for not knowing that whatever I wrote became real." "Oh, I know. I just like messing with you," she said, nudging me in the side with her hoof. When she got no response, she turned and looked around. "Looking for Tyler?" I asked. "No, I'm just bored," she replied, resting her head on her hoof. "Why don't you go have some fun?" I asked. "Go to a party or something." "It's not very easy with the symbol of death on your flank," she replied, pointing at the crossed scythes. "Why don't you change it for a bit? Arcane can do it, so why can't you?" She looked at me for a moment while she thought it over, then her horn glowed and her cutie mark morphed into a pair of crossed lightning bolts. "See? How hard was that?" I asked. "Not very," she replied, frowning (probably because she hadn't thought of it). "See, it's easy. Now go have some fun and leave me and Tyler alone for a bit." "Okay," she said with a smirk as she made her horn vanish. "I'll see you later." She flew off, leaving me alone on my cloud (No more stalker pony!). I thought about going to look for Tyler, but remembered how angry he can get if you disturb him while he's napping, so instead I decided to lay back and enjoy the view. Pushing my goggles up onto my forehead, I looked down at the massive expanse of trees that was the Everfree Forest. I reached into my saddlebag (which surprisingly hadn't fallen through the cloud) to grab my notepad, and I was just about to start drawing when I heard flapping wings. "Can't I get a single moment of peace?" I muttered, stowing my notepad back in my saddlebag. I turned my head to see who it was, and wasn't really surprised to see Tyler flying towards me. "It's about fucking time I found you," he said, landing a couple feet away from me. "I thought you would still be napping by now," I replied. "Nah, I was only taking a short nap. Anyway, do you want to go exploring?" "Sure, I guess. Where do you want to go?" "I figured we could explore the Everfree a little bit." "I'm not sure if that's such a good idea." I was thinking that Arcane was still occupying the abandoned castle, and he may not take kindly to two strangers walking near his hideout. "Come on, don't be such a sissy," he taunted, and I could tell he would be willing to start making chicken noises if I said no. "Fine, as long as we stay away from the castle," I said. "Okay, come on!" He took off and I flew after him, following him to the edge of the forest before landing. He immediately took the lead, pushing his way through low hanging branches and looking around. I was a little more paranoid than usual, looking in every direction that an attacker could possibly come from. Tyler was just about to step into a clearing when I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. I pulled him back and put a hoof over his mouth. "What's wrong?" he asked, whispering as I took my hoof off his mouth. "Look over there," I whispered, pointing to the left side of the clearing. A pair of ponies clad in jet black armor were walking side by side. "How are the preparations coming?" asked the pony on the right, who was a light yellow color with deep brown eyes. "They're coming along just fine. A couple more days and we should be ready," replied the one on the left, who was a dark tan and had a patch covering one of his eyes. "Good, though it would've been better if you hadn't tried to pick a fight with that manticore." "Hey, I could've killed it if you hadn't dragged me away." "That, or it could've taken your other eye, and then what use would you be?" The other pony just scowled at her, his ear flicking in annoyance. "Let's get out of here," I whispered. I went back the way we came as I fast as I could without making any noise, and when we finally got out of the forest, I collapsed on the ground in relief. "You need to work out more, you know that?" asked Tyler as he sat down next to me. "Oh shut up," I replied, not really in the mood to put up with him.