For Elora, the lights shutting off was a terrifying event. In the middle of returning the two books to their place on the shelf,the entire room went pitch black. Something had blown. More like something had blown up. In a shock her hoof slipped off the fourth rung on the ladder and she fell to the floor followed by the heavy books landing on her face. Elora laid there dazed she didn’t know for how long.
“Ugh, what happened...” she groaned pulled herself up. She gripped the table for balance. There were footsteps. Someone running down the hall.
“Elora! Elora what happened!” The lights flickered back wildly just as Blink, a young mole and nephew to the professor, rounded the corner.
“Elora!” Blink paused at the threshold seeing the faun looking disoriented.
“I-I heard a noise. What was that? And are you okay?”
Two head shakes later and Elora was clear headed again. “I’m fine. What did you hear?” She went into the hall with the mole.
“I was going back to the kitchen when I heard a crash, no, an explosion! I was going back to the main lab when the lights went out.”
A power surge? Whatever had happened, the back up power had come on line relatively quickly so at least she could see.
“But the only thing that causes blackouts is the indoor portal, a few issues with recrossed wires, but it shouldn’t even be turned on right now!” That is unless the professor had decided to re-activate the portal on his own.
Please don’t be another coordinates malfunction! Elora thought. For a moment her memories traveled back to the first time the super portal had been used. When a friend of hers, the admittedly simple minded yet strong hearted Hunter, had decided to haphazardly enter coordinates corresponding to his birthday. It was safe to say that had not been one of his most shining moments of intellect. Yet after all the trouble they went through to get rid of Ripto, the cheetah had gotten off easy for it.
“The professor may be in trouble, lets go!” The professor’s island lab was like a maze so the faun had to lead. When they reached the main area in its center, the sight was a bewildering one. Agent Nine stood in the middle of the room in front of the super portal. Its vortex wafting gently on idle, waiting for a destination.
A few feet away next to the command console lay the professor,glasses smashed and laying crooked across his nose. The flashing machinery strewn around him lay ripped to chunks of scrap, the parts fixed into the wall were shredded, hanging off at the hinges. Exposed wires popped and crackled. Blink grabbed his uncle and pulled him away from the danger while Elora focused on the agent, not able to believe her eyes.
“ Agent Nine, what have you done?” Elora said with a gasp. Agent Nine turned to face her, his eyes were not lively bright green, instead pits of black with beady white pupils staring down at her and the two moles. Elora felt a sudden chill run down her spine and through her long tail. That monster couldn’t possibly be Agent Nine!
After Blink moved the professor, he knelt down and cradled his uncle’s head in his arms. “Wake up, c’mon please.”
The professor fidgeted slightly and opened his eyes.
“Ooooh, could someone get the name of that stampeding yeti...This area is off limits.” he slurred. The very fact that his old uncle was alive pulled a relieved guffaw out of Blink. A nasty bump on the head was the worst injury the professor had gotten.
“Nine get down from there right now!” Elora shouted through clenched teeth. She wasn’t getting the reaction she wanted. Not that she ever could get cooperation out of the crazy monkey. But this...this was unbelievable! To imagine he was capable of such a thing despite the professor raising him since childhood.
Nine ignored her and brought something out from his back pocket, it was golden, round and smooth,framed in dark decoratively carved tree bark. He held it toward the portal and cackled when the vortex roiled and swirled in agitation. It was responding. Before the faun could stop him, the professor had regained just enough presence of mind to speak up.
“D-don’t try anything rash, Elora! He has his blaster with him!”
“Ugh! This is why I told you giving a monkey a gun was a bad idea.” Elora enunciated near the end. But it was pointless to argue that now.
“Um...you guys. What is he doing up there?” Blink asked. The portal wasn’t supposed to work without a clearance command and a set of coordinates, both of which were impossible to use now.
Professor tried to adjust his broken glasses, only causing them to break in half completely.“The portal is responding to...whatever is in his hand!” He squinted his little black eyes. “What is it?”
Elora quickly understood. Of course the portal was artificial and required machines to operate. But in the end they had created something that was a natural recurrence in their world and inevitably portals only needed one thing to work. Magic.
“It can’t be...the Vortexous stone?” Elora’s mind raced over the implications. The thieves, the defiled temple in Fracture Hills, a robbed tomb...
“Wait, stop!” But Elora’s cry went unheeded. There wasn’t much time, she had to know if the real Agent Nine was really on that platform and not an imposter. In the moment there was only one recourse she could think of. “Hey!RHYNOCS!”
Nine spun around immediately,body completely rigid, his face screwed up in so much anger that wrinkles from his pressed brow ridge could be seen through his fur. He grabbed his blaster and ran in erratic circles on the platform, looking around the room for a creature that wasn’t there.
“What did you say?! Rhynocs? Where? Lemme at the ugly blotchy son of a gnorc! The peanut brained slow witted wart on a toad’s foot stool! I’ll blast em all to kingdom come!”
In the his spastic fit the blaster misfired. Blink yelled in terror. “Get down!” They all jumped to the floor just as the laser hit the wall behind them. It ricocheted to the other side cracking a window, again breaking a lamp and shattering a row of file cabinets. It finally exploded against the top of the dome ceiling with a massive crash leaving a shallow charred crater behind..
“Shut up you erratic simpleton!”
Elora dared to glance up and see Nine screaming at himself with a voice that wasn’t his. He sounded cracked and parched, draped in some overly proper and phony sounding accent.
“Hold the stone up, properly! Do as I say!”
“Ghost! Evil...Vampires...Somethings...stuck inside my head!” Agent Nine’s voice returned though under intense strain. He held the Vortexous up high as if fighting over keeping old of it or throwing it over the side.
“Won’t get out...HELP!” His grip on the stone tightened as the portal continued to swirl in response to its magic. And then the monkey simply stepped in, with a warping sound and crackling of electricity, Agent Nine was gone. Seconds ticked by before anyone stirred from their prostrated positions on the floor.
“I’m going after him.” Elora ran for the entry way and grabbed a brown cloak off its hook, she threw it around herself and yanked a satchel off the floor as she dashed to the other side of the room, past the file cabinets that were now on fire, to the only console that still worked and began frantically pushing buttons.
The trouble was over but now the two moles were puzzled by Elora’s actions.
“Going after the monkey? Are you seriously jumping through that portal?” Blink asked in a panic.. “Do you even know where it goes?”
“I don’t know, trying to stabilize it now.” Elora said in a wavering voice while her fingers fluttered over the keypad. Just a few more calculations...there! She went to a large metal chest and pulled out a spherical object, green, shimmering and clasped inside two golden braces. Time was running thin, she ran back to the platform.
“Elora what are you doing with that orb? This is far too dangerous and I can not allow it!” The professor pleaded that she not jump, even at the expense of his prized primate. His nephew was more preoccupied with the the smoking cabinets.
“Something was controlling, him! And he has the Vortexous Stone, I have to go in before we lose track of him or who knows what may happen?” Elora stuffed the orb into her pocket, determination set on her face.
“Track the orb, use it as a beacon to find me.”
“But what do we-” Blink tried to talk before Elora cut him off.
“Take care of your uncle and then get help!” With no more fuss, the faun turned and jumped through.
“Wait! Ah no, she’s gone, what now?”
The professor was already up and pacing the floor of his laboratory as if the knock on the head didn’t matter. He snapped his fingers. “ Yes!There’s a water spell you can use behind that wall panel. Just hit the button there and take care of that mess pronto!”
“Yes sir!” Blink darted for the panel, racing to put the fire out before it spread.
The professor went to work at the only console left in the lab, paying little attention to anything else. “We need to get to the Dragon Realms as quickly as possible, we haven’t got a moment to waste!”
_____________________________________________________________________________
It was the only fabric shop in Ponyville. A small arrangement since there was not a demand to sell an enormous array of fabrics in the small settlement. Though simple, the selection was varied enough for Rarity’s immediate needs. The tingling door bell summoned a blue unicorn with light yellow hair to the front counter. She smiled pleasantly welcoming the visitor.
“Ah, Rarity it’s good to see you again! I hope your last selection worked well for you.” Rarity was one of her favorite customers. A frequent visitor, always sure of what she wanted before even entering the shop. A keen eye with inventive creativity. It was not that she cared any less for her other customers but Rarity was a different experience. She always made sure her materials met the white unicorn’s standards.
“Yes it was wonderful! And I have you to thank for that. You have no idea how wonderful it is to walk here instead of commuting all the way to Canterlot when I need supplies.” Rarity said while casually cantering over to a row of bins filled with small ends and odds.
“ I know I’m usually here buying up several yards of your wonderful fabric, but today I only need a few small things.”
“Just a few accents then?” Ribbon asked.
“Buttons to be precise. I’m making a rain jacket for my sister. It’s that time of year again so of course during another one of her little adventures she managed to pop off every single one. And that is the least of it.” Rarity cantered to a set of baskets set to the side, inside of each were many finely detailed and colorful buttons for any sort of outfit.
Ribbon laughed softly. “At least your young sister is using your gifts to their fullest extent.”
Rarity groaned. “Raincoats are made to keep you dry not to go out and test experimental “submarines” made out of leftover barn materials on the lake. A mere two days after her birthday!” Rarity stamped her hoof with an expression that clearly showed irritation. But always being the calm and proper pony quickly brought her emotions back down to a much restrained simmer.
“Might I suggest less emphasis on appearance and more consideration for performance.” Ribbon said.
The white unicorn glanced over shrewdly. “Such as?”
“I think I have just the thing, wait here.” As Ribbon turned, a bright light flashed between the two unicorns. Rarity flinched and covered her eyes. When she looked down she saw the bottom half of a foal fused to the counter.
“Uh-um..” Before she could speak they heard a small cry from the storage room behind Ribbon.
“Mom! Mom help I’m stuck again!”
“Uh oh-sorry my little Thimble’s magic has been hiccuping and it...” she glanced over the counter at her son’s bottom half. “Seems like he is winking about again .” She walked to the back following her son’s wavering sobs. “He was stuck in the wall yesterday. Someone mistook him for a trophy!”
Rarity chuckled lightly to herself, thinking briefly about the past when she was a filly and her own magic would cause her more trouble than she thought it was worth before she finally gained control of it. Her thoughts went back to the raincoat. There was another shower scheduled today.
As she thought about the possibilities of making a Sweetie proof anything another flash from the back room flooded the shop. It was brighter, stronger, and blinding. Before she could think, a strange force like a wind whipped through and knocked her off her feet. Tumbling head over hoof she watched cloth, yarn, and string alike torn from the wall by the wind
Before Rarity could free herself from the mess of stray necklaces and lace tangled on the floor, she felt something clam onto her mane, yanking it with a strong tug. She shrieked when her vision was obscured by something long, brown and furry. She jerked towards the front door, somehow able to not slip and fall over the toppled displays.
“Little white horse or whatever you are! What is the name of this place?” The creature roughly demanded while pulling her purple mane to emphasize his demands for compliance.
“Whatever you are, get your grimy paws out of my mane this instant!” Her magic had the thing halfway off her head, unfortunately no matter how hard she pulled, its fingers were tangled too deep into her hair for her to fling it away. Maybe it listened though, its grip loosened and the weight on her back disappeared. Rarity tossed the creature away and watched in shocked fascination as it landed perfectly on its feet. What she saw she couldn’t believe. A monkey in a purple and green body suit rushing straight into the marketplace. Or at least that is what she thought she’d seen. It was gone in a flash.
“What on earth?”
“Oh no, he didn’t hurt you did he?” Rarity turned back to see something running out of the back room covered in a tattered brown cloak. It jumped the counter and into the storefront. At that moment she stood directly between it and the front door. Rarity ducked away on instinct hoping this one wouldn’t try to jump on her back as well. It was noticeably larger though she couldn’t tell its form completely from under the tattered fabric, it had to be several inches taller than herself.
“What is going on here?” Rarity demanded. She wasn’t exactly expecting a response and was surprised when the figure stopped and turned her way.
“A monkey-- in a suit! Did you see which way it went?” The voice was spritely yet hurried.
“Um...uh...yes!” Rarity stammered. “It went that way.” She pointed a hoof toward the market stalls. Ponies were on the run, dust kicking up in their wake. Several of the tents rattled and swayed and a few just collapsed completely. The market had exploded into chaos.
“A monkey with a blaster. Why Professor?” Elora sighed and pushed past the fallen storefront shelves to the front door.
“But- wait!” Unable to get the strange character’s attention, the unicorn ran back into the fabric shop’s storage room to make sure Ribbon and her child were okay.
Clusters of chatty market goers only had seconds to react and dart for cover before the crazed furball of erratic energy literally ran straight into them. He was determined to get as far from the faun as possible, and he had a head start.
Elora had to leap over several of the small four legged creatures, skidding to a halt when she made it to the junction. In the blur of giving chase and surrounding hustle, she could only identify them as small horses. Though clearly bewildered by the sight of a wild animal running down the streets, most merely assumed it was an exotic pet accidentally let loose, and went straight back to the matters of buying and selling as was the daily routine, giving Agent Nine a wide berth.
“Get back here!” Elora shouted for what Agent Nine was sure was the twentieth time. He groaned. If he hadn’t stopped the first nineteen times she said that, what made her think he would stop the next? But the faun was no pushover when it came to running. It was just a natural thing that she was quick on her hooves.
One of your silly little toys might stop her. A sudden voice, or was it an idea, shifted into his mind? It was the same voice that was driving the monkey to run despite his external protests.
“What? I’m not going to use that!” Despite his defiance in the brief window of free will, he didn’t have the strength to overcome the demand. He nearly toppled at the thought of drawing his blaster, and against one of his friends no less. But it was no use. The computer vampire, as he’d come to call it, was the one running the show, and the little monkey was just along for the ride. Agent skid to a halt in the middle of the market square and spun around, his finger already mashing down on the trigger before Elora could even realize his intention. A compact cylinder of blue plasmid erupted from the muzzle. It hit the faun right in the chest, knocking her back on her tail.
“No, Elora!” Agent Nine cried, before he turned regrettably around and tore off down the pass.
Tents toppled and stands collapsed before most of their occupants ever realized what had happened. What Nine hadn’t realized was that his blaster’s setting was to stun, not kill. The plasmid bullet had only winded the faun and ricocheted off her body like a pinball off a paddle, it had more havoc to wreak.
“Hayseed, I’ll say it once, I will say it one hundred times for future reference. Four bits for three cauliflower. That is my final offer.” For Petal Step this was a familiar song and dance. Not that bartering was a foreign concept to the mare or to anypony selling at the market. But Apples were the most notoriously willing to haggle any deal to the dirt without flinching. This also seemed to be the case with the extended family, she woefully noted. Hayseed stood silently concentrating on the vegetables with the patience of a chess player. The cranky yellow earth pony standing behind the stall groaned and laid her chin on the counter. “Please just...decide.”
“Weeeeell, you do drive a bargain harder than a peach stone! But ehhh.” Hayseed Turnip let his voice trail as he tapped his chin for several seconds. Then he turned his head, seeing a moving cloud of dust bustling down the path. Squinting he noticed it was a herd of ponies. “Huh what in the world is going on there? Huh, must be doggone super sale!”
“Deal or no deal!” The yellow pony couldn’t take it any more. If he was going to take an hour of her time fussing over cauliflower he should at least pay attention to her!
Finally he came to a conclusion. “Alright you have yourself a deal!” The transaction was never made. Before Hayseed could lay down his pay, he was launched up and over the stall in a gale of dust and showering bits.
“What the--?” Petal Step heard the turnip stallion holler as he flew somewhere a fair distance behind her but didn’t have a chance to wince at the drop when she noticed something at least twice the size of a house cat swinging from a rope next to her head. The bushels of vegetables she had meticulously perched onto it clattered to the ground. Not that she paid them much attention.
Her voice came out in a wavering shout. “Y-you have to pay for a-any damaged goods!”
Agent Nine looked away from her, clearly not interested. He coiled his tail around a sweet potato that had fallen to the counter, brought it up and took several large chomping bites. Petal Step’s left eye twitched.
“You’re gonna have to pay for that, buddy!”
The monkey’s head snapped around. He looked down at her with lidded, examining eyes. Then promptly spat mushy sweet potato onto her face.
“Ayiiieee!” The pony screeched and tried to wipe the foul goo from her face while simultaneously trying to take a swipe at the little pest that got it into her hair and eyes.
“You disgusting little furball, just wait till I-”
Agent Nine glanced back and squinted his eyes against the thick screen of dust and rumbling pony hooves. The faun was still after him, damn the thing. Time to leave! He flicked the half eaten potato at the yammering pony which bounced off her nose harmlessly.
“And you deserve to be tied up and stuffed in a cage where nopony could ever hope to fi-eep!” It didn’t hurt her but the contact was enough to make Petal Step believe she was being attacked.. She bucked in panic, her hooves knocked the poles of her little market stall off balance. They wobbled unsteadily before wood slats and canvas fell on top of her.
Elora had seen Agent disappear behind a row of stalls and was pushing her way past several ponies, trying to get over before he could duck out of site again.
“Excuse me, sorry, w-hey,watch where you’re going!” Then someone behind her screamed.
“Look out, run away wagon!” she heard several shrieks as ponies who were close by scrambled clear of the wild wagon now careening through the square. She couldn’t stop it, but it was going her way. She jumped it as soon as it rolled past, the downward slope made short work of the distance gap.
“Give up now before I-,” Elora glanced down to look for something to throw when she realized then that the wagon was full of nothing but fresh cut flowers. She remembered the orb still trapped in her pocket and pulled it out. Hard as rock and slightly larger than a baseball, it would have to do. “before I do something you’ll regret!” She shouted and brought the orb up, ready to throw it. He didn’t respond nor stop and Elora took aim, knowing she only had one chance. The wagon rattled on the uneven cobblestone as she threw the orb, but by some miracle her aim turned out better than she’d hoped. The Orb knocked into Agent Nine’s helmet, though it protected him from the full brunt, it was just enough to knock him over. Elora and the runaway wagon caught up and the faun reached out precariously over the edge, clutching onto the side for dear life to keep from flying out herself, and scooped up the delirious monkey.
“Gotcha!” she said triumphantly, for a flash she thought of the orb, she needed to get it back. But first-
“Woah, look out!” The warning slashed right through Elora’s train of thought and she pushed herself upright just in time to see the front of the wagon collide and shatter against the rim of a large stone fountain.
“Aaaah!” The momentum hadn’t been enough to catapult them but instead threw them straight into the shallow pool. Elora sputtered, coughed, and sat up, aching from the rough exit. She quickly grabbed Agent who was limp face up in the water just before the shattered wagon completed its lazy somersault over the rim, and flipped over completely to land directly on top of them.
Somewhere several yards from where the accident occurred a whistle blared making nearby ponies flinch and turn in alarm. Two ponies in blue jackets galloped into the square where the wagon had crashed into the fountain in a shower of splinters and flower petals.
“Make way make way! Step away from the wagon!” A few ponies had been trying to lift the wagon out of the well without success, they moved to the side as the police ponies got to the scene. One was a dark blue stallion lodged his hoof into a gap under the wagon, his partner did the same opposite. With a quick efficient heave the wagon went right side up, revealing the the two stowaways underneath. The officer stallion could only gawk at the pair.
“Jiminy, are you alright, miss?”
“Um, so yes. That’s the story of how I ended up here, more or less.” Elora kept her glance level with the bespectacled tan pony standing attentively in front her. The look she was receiving seemed to be one of slight misgiving but more so of annoyance. She shivered and took another sip of coffee from the cup she had clutched in her hands and pulled the blanket closer to her body. The wood stove that sat in the basement of the town hall put off very nice heat, but it wasn’t warm enough to dry out her fur. The tan pony seemed to notice and took a step back towards the stairway, where the two other ponies, Elora assumed to be police officers, were overlooking the conversation.
“Ah still cold? Filch, more firewood please!”
“Right away, Miss Mayor.” One blue coated pony responded. He trotted to a far wall and back holding a few pieces of wood in his jaw. The extra fuel was just enough and Elora let out a contented sigh finally feeling comfortable again after the nasty impromptu swim. The pony she had explained her predicament to, the apparent leader of the settlement waited until Elora finished her cup of coffee and asked if she wanted any more. Elora declined and it was back to business.
“Well that is an interesting story if nothing else. Your monkey friend must be very sick, and he certainly managed to cause quite a lot of trouble today.” The mayor was fank.
Elora nodded, of course having seen the wanton destruction and panic the monkey had caused. In the case of the wagon, his blaster plasmid had bounced all over the place, taking out dozens of stalls and knocking several ponies off their hooves. If nothing else she was lucky the thing hadn’t put someone’s eye out but there were probably a lot of them taking an aching trip to the hospital that day. The bullet had hit the wagon, destroying its breaking mechanism, which set it on its wild path.
“He’s always been on edge to be honest. But this is the first time he’s ever done something like this. That’s why I need to get him home right away.” Elora breathed in for a moment.
“As...far as the damages are concerned I can pay.” And she believed she could, as far as she could tell neither herself, Agent Nine, or the orb seemed to have suffered ill effects from the portal travel. And even from her short time in this world she felt oddly comfortable, as if she had never left Avalar. So surely a few chests of gems would make the journey fine.
“In fact I can make a down payment today!” she said. “My cloak is hanging on that rack right there. I have something in the right pocket that you may find of value.”
Mayor Mare went to the coat rack and searched Elora’s cloak pocket, when she pulled out the orb the way her eyes seemed to pop was evidence enough that her hunch was correct. The pony held the glittering orb out into the light, rotating it and admiring the cut of the large emerald and the shiny gold trim that encircled it. Elora could have sworn Mayor Mare’s eyes were twinkling.
“My...this is certainly a beauty and trust me, I know my rocks.” .
“And it’s yours.” Elora insisted. “As soon as my friends get here I can go back to my own world and come back with enough to pay for all the trouble we caused.”
“Fair enough.” Said Mayor. For a moment Elora was perplexed by the ponies very trusting nature, just before she could ask any questions she heard someone else trotting down the steps..
“There you are, I’ve been looking all over for you, the last place I thought to check was this old basement.” Elora and the pony made eye contact, this one was yellow with two toned blue hair, she also wore a white jacket which gave Elora the impression she was a doctor. Inwardly she cringed, had she come running from their hospital to report how serious several of the citizens were injured? The yellow pony went straight to Elora and lifted her hoof slightly.
“I take it you are the lady-faun, miss....Elora was it?” Elora nodded a confirmation.
“Good, and you are the owner of the oddly dressed brown monkey?”
“Yep, that would be me.”
The pony stuck her hoof out fully as if offering a hand to shake, though she obviously lacked hands. Elora grasped the hoof on impulse which was apparently the right thing to do as the pony shook her hoof up and down like a business executive.
“Allow me to introduce myself, Mane Goodall, resident veterinarian of Ponyville.”
Half an hour later, Mane Goodall, Elora, and the mayor were in the back of Goodall’s veterinary office. The front of the room housed shelves full of medical supplies and disinfectants, and on the walls sat dozens of cages of various sizes. Some with sleeping animals, left by their owners for an overnight examinations and observations or just a routine medical check up. A few dogs smelled them and jumped on the cage doors,barking and whining, excited by the presence of visitors.
“Okay you guys, settle down, settle!” The vet passed treats down to the animals in an effort to pacify them, and for the most part it worked and the animals gnawed in silence. She loved her job but the pony knew that the noise cooped up animals can make can be overwhelming. It definitely made talking to others almost impossible.
“Here we are. When he came in he was knocked out cold. Still a bit twitchy. I removed his outfit and that strange weapon he had. A quick examination shows nothing of any real concern, the bump on his head isn’t serious.”
Agent Nine was in the last cage on the left, snoring like a freight train and tangled in and about four fluffy white pillows with a swath of bandages wrapped around his head. Other than that he didn’t look too bad. “Hi you crazy oaf. You are in a mountain of trouble when we make it back to Avalar!’Thought Elora. To think of the trouble one person could cause. She put her hands through the linked chains of the cage door, she wanted to test its strength but assumed it would be strong enough. And without his suit and belt (which was full of various other nefarious gadgets) or blaster, there was not much he would be able to do. But still the faun had misgivings. Would this place really be able to hold the spastic primate?
“He’s smarter than he looks you know.” She said. “He may look comfortable right now but I don’t think he’ll look forward to waking up caged like this.”
“There isn’t a thing to worry about Miss Elora. Due to his, er, behavior, I thought it best to give him a sleeping potion, a strong one. He won’t be a problem to anyone for the rest of today and tomorrow.”
Elora had to think. Despite what little she knew about what had caused Agent Nine to destroy the lab and leap through the portal, it obviously wasn’t good. And then of course was the matter of the vortexous stone. How had it been stolen in the first place, and why? If nothing else she needed to make sure it was secure until help arrived.
“I hope it isn’t asking for too much, but I would like someone here to watch my friend over night. It would put me more at ease.”
The two ponies glanced at each other before Mayor Mare gave an answer. “Yes, I think that can be arranged.”
“Good. And um, like I said before, I'm very sorry about all this trouble."
Both the mayor and vet pony broke into a laugh so spontaneous the faun was taken off guard. A few moments later they calmed down and faced her with complacently dry smiles.
"In all honesty my dear, we've had trouble with much worse."
“She did what?”
“Yes that is the long and short of it I’m afraid.” said the professor sheepishly. Spyro could only look at the old bandaged mole, dumbfounded. He’d always felt dubious about the trustworthiness of the professor’s inventions, his super portal being the most sketchy. Anything that could pull monsters like Ripto out of nowhere just because of bad input couldn’t be fully trusted. He prefered to stick to the naturally magic portals if he could help it. But the situation with Agent Nine and Elora had put him for a loop. What the faun had done was essentially pretty crazy. If the professor’s already damaged and unstable portal had collapsed before she could make it to the other side, she would be lost between worlds. Depending on where you ended up, could be a fate worse than anything.
“Well I suppose this explains the hazardous state of affairs.” It was Bentley the Yeti who spoke. He’d been called from his home in Evening Lake and came right after hearing the distressing news. The yeti made himself useful as far as cleaning up the mess left behind as he hefted too halfs of a big computer cabinet over his head, on his way to dump it with the rest of the scraps of lab equipment that couldn’t be salvaged.
“I wonder who could have did this? My money’s on Ripto. He’s got a nasty habit of popping up again just when you think he’s gone for good.” Said Spyro.
“Or perhaps some malicious remnant of the sorceress.” Said the Yeti. Next to the callous and greed driven bear, Money Bags, the Sorceress was next in line on Bentley's list of People of Strict Relentless and Lingering Repugnance’. “Creatures of their sort have a way of escaping their rightful demise.”
“But about Elora, do you know where she went?” Spyro asked. The professor nodded as he observed one of the functioning consoles.
“She managed to stabilize the portal’s coordinates before she jumped through. But according to the computer its a long jump. Longer than anything the super portal has ever attempted before. Even with the orb, holding onto the location is difficult!”
“How long do you think you can keep the portal open?”
The old mole squinted at the calculations only he could understand. “Three days. No more than that.”
“In that case I’m wasting time just standing here,” Said Spyro in urgency as he turned towards the platform with a determined flare. “Ready, Sparx?” His loyal dragonfly blinked and buzzed a few times, hovering around his horns in affirmation. “Just keep this hunk of junk running till we get back!”
“Wait now don’t be too hasty, Spyro!” Bentley called out, Spyro skid to a halt just moments before vaulting through the portal. “Yeah what's up?” The hulking grey haired Yeti had finished setting aside another large piece of metal equipment, sorting out what could be fixed from what was basically little more than scrap. .
“Do you think you can just run off on another far flung adventure of rescue, exploration, and daring-do all on your own? Given the mystery of your destination and the urgency to discover the whereabouts of our comrades, I believe having a little back up would be a wise choice on your part, Spyro.”
On his part, Spyro flashed a toothy grin, sizing up his large friend. Of course the more the merrier. “Then I hope you’re ready to go!”
