(Arc 1) Where It All Began
The storm raged across New York City and its trees swayed with great ferocity as they tried to fight the brute force of the wind currents. A random metal pole was uprooted and sent flying somewhere in the center of the city and had found its place at the central power station of New York, cutting the distribution of electricity across the metropolis.
Meanwhile, in a small subdivision in the suburbs of the city, the whir of a small motor could be heard as a generator powered on a certain strange machine. The swinging of hammers and the screeching of shifting gears echoed throughout the basement of a colorless, abandoned house. After a few clicks from a wire-cutter and resounding echoes from falling screws, a large CLING! came from the impact of a monkey wrench with the ground.
A teenager had just built the first ever inter-dimensional traveling machine in the world.
As he pressed a red button and pulled some levers from the main control panel, the machine lit up and generated what seemed to be a shimmering blue field of energy.
"Finally, it's finished!" The boy laughed hysterically over his newest invention.
Gripped tightly in his hand was a lock of purple and pink hair alongside a small golden pendant with a purple stone embedded on its center. He stared at the shining jewel and smiled. Faint memories of the past danced in his mind. "Twilight, I'm coming back. I made a promise, didn't I?" He laughed a bit more before he stepped back and watched as the blue coat of plasma reshaped itself into an image of a city he knew far too well.
"Just a little bit more..."
Nine years ago...
In front of more than a thousand distinguished scientists around the world, five of the best known biologists who specialized in cancer research were positioned in a table stationed on top of the stage in the auditorium. In their hands were thick stacks of papers held together by paperclips. As they eyed the documents, more than a few eyebrows were turned up; the others merely stared blankly at their contents. One of the five raised a hand and gestured to the emcee of the event. He whispered something to the emcee before sending him on his way.
"May we call on August Winters for his thesis defense," the emcee called out as he read from his card.
The auditorium went silent. Thousands of scientists watched as a young boy in a neat tuxedo walked over to the stage to face the five judges. The air became still as everyone froze in anticipation of what was going to happen next. In their minds was a single question: what could a young boy such as this one possibly be able to contributed to the scientific field?
"August Winters?" One of the Judges asked.
I bowed in respect and replied, "Yes."
"Very well then, let us get straight to the point." The judge, who seemed to be somewhere in his sixties brought my thesis close to him and adjusted his eyeglasses. "'Methods of Cross Examining Oncogenes Through Horizontal Gene Transfer to Drosophila Melanogaster'... the thesis you wrote here could potentially cure cancer. Did you know that, boy?" He asked while rubbing a white stub on his chin.
I nodded confidently. "Given the methods I have introduced in my thesis, if any animal has a possible cure for many forms of cancer, then scientists can efficiently test whether the results are positive or not within a couple of weeks—days even depending on the facilities of the research laboratory."
The white-haired judge nodded and leaned back on his seat, queuing the other judges to ask their questions. One of the five, a Chinese judge, leaned forward and again looked at the paper in his hands. "Mr. Winters, I confess that many of the thesis reports I have received in the past few years of my life have not reached more than three pages before I dropped them. Remarkable ones get me until the tenth page." He placed the paper down and closed his eyes as he leaned back on his chair, "But your paper— your paper has piqued my interest like no other. The amount of scientific relevance that your paper contains is just... extraordinary. I've read this forty page report from start to finish all in one sitting as I was afraid that if I stopped, I would have been missinging out on valuable knowledge that could potentially lead to a major breakthrough in the biological sciences."
The other judges nodded in agreement with the Chinese Judge. Silence filled the room again as the leader of the five, a man who wore a monocle and had won a Nobel prize back in the nineties stood up and extended his hand towards me. "Mr. Winters, I believe—and I speak here for all of the judges-" he looked sideways at his nodding acquaintances "-that what you have discovered here not only warrants the first perfect grade given by this university but also the first thesis defense that requires no 'defense' at all as your paper clearly answers all of the questions that could have been given to you. Furthermore, this is a discovery that deserves a Nobel Prize for its creativity and extravagance. I, on behalf of all the judges here present today, would like to nominate your work for this year's Nobel Peace Prize."
When I shook his hand, claps surrounded the auditorium as people stood up and cheered for me and the recognition I received from the Judges. The cancer patients and their close relatives at the corner of the area jumped with joy and hugged each other with tears streaming down their eyes. One of the Judges patted me on the back and muttered something about surprising the world more with my discoveries. Some scientists even brought out white flowers and threw them at my feet to celebrate the wonderful occasion. For everyone, this truly was a glorious day.
Everyone except me.
I did not share the same sentiment that everyone seemed to have for the event. Amidst the joyous atmosphere, I felt insipid. I felt neither the happiness of my success nor the depression of... whatever I should even be depressed about. Emotions that I was expecting to be there simply weren't. My heartbeat remained steady. I couldn't sense any supposed rush of adrenaline even as I accepted my diploma from the head judge.
My mother and father stepped onto the stage and took my hand. After smiling a few times for the cameras of the research world, we went straight to out car and rode back home to our house. Being a small area, it did not require great effort to maintain, which led to it being surrounded by plant life despite being situated right in the middle of New York.
As I got down from the car, a cool breeze blew past my arms which sent a shiver down my spine. I hugged myself with my hands and proceeded up the steps of my house. It was neither extravagant nor downright garbage; it made it special from the rest of the houses in the subdivision was a small lever found on the side of my bed which, when pulled, reveals an entrance leading to my self-engineered laboratory.
The very first thing I encountered when I descended was a big brown box which contained a variety of medals, certificates, and trophies I won as (and still am) a child. For some reason, awards and achievements never made me feel accomplished and proud. Whenever I received them, I could only view them as either circular aluminum necklaces or scratch paper for my calculations. Of course, I completely understood the practical point of awards. They were either to create a distinction between mediocrity and superiority or to inspire mediocre people. However, for me, it was none of the above After receiving the supposed physical manifestation of my achievement, it immediately goes whoosh down the trash chute.
I walked towards a circular machine situated at the center of my lab. Connected to it were various cables directly linked to the main computer at the far right of the room. I pressed a few buttons in the machine and twisted a few knobs before rotating the whole device one hundred and eighty degrees to view the results. Squiggles and lines were projected on a glass screen on top of the machine. I scanned the graph for any irregularity before rotating the device halfway back to its original position and turning it off.
"Still no signs of any distortions in the dimension," I sighed, walking towards my working table to write down my progress.
The device I had at the center of the lab was a simple machine I invented which could detect spatial rifts or distortions in the dimension from across the galaxy. So far, it had successfully located rifts in both the Andromeda galaxy and the edge of the Milky Way in the span of a single year. Even though spatial rifts were extremely rare and unpredictable, I was at the very least curious of the possibilities they carried along with their anonymity. One of the theories I am currently working on involved the possibility of alternate dimensions—that the only reason they haven't been discovered yet was because people had no way of travelling though the fabric separating the dimensions.
Day by day, I would check the progress of my machine hoping that it would have landed a hit on a distortion in a nearby planet. At the very least, I hoped it would be near Neptune where I could observe it with the telescope I'd crafted.
"Let's call this a night," I stood up from my chair and subconsciously put my hand on my mouth and yawned. I realized that my eyelids were beginning to grow heavier with every minute that passed.
As I climbed up the bed and rolled in my blanket, I wondered when the day would come that I'd actually feel excitement and passion for something... for anything really: in or out of this world.
Click, click, click, a sound echoed from somewhere to my right. I looked over in an attempt to locate and subsequently shut down the alarm clock responsible for the awful noise. This effort was sadly in vain as I remembered that I didn't even own an alarm clock. Waking up early was just a part of my daily routine. I brought my hands to my eyes and rubbed them to remove the drowsiness that I usually encountered in the morning.
Click, click, click— wait, if an alarm clock isn't the one making the sounds, then what is? I rummaged through my mental folder for any machine I bought or created that was capable of such a feat. Jumping off from my bed and running straight to the lab, I remembered only one machine with the ability to produce clicks.
"The rift detector," I muttered as I ran towards the machine. This sound was both familiar and unfamiliar as I've only heard it twice in this house, and during those times it usually meant that it had discovered an irregularity somewhere in this universe's physical space.
Upon reaching my lab, I immediately analyzed the chart the machine projected and tried to single out the specific coordinates of the irregularity. I jotted down every last bit of data that could help me determine its location. After finishing, I immediately went over to my main computer and tabulated the results.
The screen suddenly displayed a large area in the universe that contained the different galaxies surrounding the Milky Way. After a few moments, it zoomed into the Milky Way followed by a close-up of the solar system.
A spatial rift in this specific solar system? This is an event that only has a one in a million— no, a one in a billion chance of occurring. I zoomed in the scan on Earth, focusing the magnification on the United States of America.
No, no, no, this can't be right. It was much too convenient. A rift in my home country? The chances of that happening are incomprehensible.
Finally, the machine opened a tab which read "maximum scan obtained" and marked down the exact coordinates of the irregularity with a marker. I squinted, trying to identify the location marked on the screen. I did a double take and nearly fell off of my chair when I realized that the dotted mark was situated exactly at the center of a certain subdivision. My subdivision. In a playground to be exact.
Wasting no time, I immediately grabbed my bag and threw a couple of chips in it before proceeding towards the door. A large BOOM! followed by the sounds of dripping water stopped me on my tracks.
It had begun to rain. I could see the flashes of lighting outside from my window. The trees swayed as the wind tried to tear them from the ground. Based on normal protocol, I would usually abort the mission and wait for another time to observe whatever I was going to observe, but not this time. I decided that, no matter the circumstance, I will gather information about that rift.
I stepped out into the raging storm wearing only my raincoat to protect my body from the rain. I instinctively shielded my eyes from an oncoming twig carried by the wind. The streets were beginning to flood as the canals overflowed with water. Usually, rains around this area would only consist of light drizzles. Storms of this magnitude very rarely, if ever, happened. I had no idea what was causing this much disturbance in the skies. The distortion maybe? I can't tell unless I go back to my lab and examine the phenomena.
I perished the thought. I had no time for that now; I have something I need to do. I emptied my thoughts and set my body to auto, running towards the center of the subdivision completely ignoring everything else around me.
I finally reached the center of the area after sprinting for three full minutes. It was an abandoned playground. Leaves were scattered across the slide and the ground underneath the playground flourished with plant life. It was clear that people barely used the place.
I brought out a mini-GPS and took note of the exact position of the dot. It was right beside the broken slide.
Bringing out my camera, I carefully approached the assumed site of the irregularity and circled it a few times, noting the smallest of details which could lead to the rift. The slide was intact, no external force had ripped it apart into a million pieces and the foundation of the whole playground set was solid. The four legs that supported the structure seemed to be standing strong on its own. I couldn't sense any stress from the environment other than from the winds trying to topple it over. It was unnatural because if there were any rips in dimensional fabrics, like black holes, their gravity should be massive. They should be causing at the very least some type of disturbance in the area.
I stood on the point where, according to the GPS, the irregularity was present. I looked up into the rain and wondered whether the reason I couldn't see or even feel the rift was because it was situated in high altitudes in the sky or the atmosphere.
No, that wouldn't be right, if that were the case, the pattern of the rain should be extremely unpredictable and the clouds would be forming a concentrated pattern in the sky.
I ran my hand on the base of the slide. Was there even a rift to begin with? What if the machine I created simply malfunctioned and gave me false data? What if some wire in my invention had just short circuited and tricked itself into believing that space time was distorted in this particular area near my home?
As I questioned my current situation more and more, my excitement died down and I was beginning to accept the fact that everything here was just far too convenient for me to actually exist. Well, it wasn't that I was excited to actually discover something for the betterment of the world. Earth and everything in it all fall on the same category to me: colorless. I was conscious of my apathy towards everything in this world and I was not afraid to express it given the chance.
Everything I do is for the sake of self-interest. While people worry about natural disasters and their dying family members, I'm anxious about my being unable to remove this apathy I have inside me. I feel as though throughout the rest of my life, I'd live like a machine whose sole purpose is to exist.
My parents noted that my capacity for thought far exceeded that of a regular nine-year-old. However, they personally couldn't determine whether I actually cared for anything in my life. I heard them conversing with a teacher of mine back in kindergarten how my weakness was my inability to become completely illogical and forget about the limits of the objective universe. It didn't bother me. I saw no importance in that statement anyway.
And now I'm here, bracing the heavy storm with my essentially frail body; waiting for the perfect opportunity to discover something that will at the very least reduce this "weakness" of mine. But for some reason, I know it most likely never will. A rift on the human solar system is already rarer than winning the lottery using sheer luck seven times. In a row.
Sighing, I returned my camera inside my bag and left the playground. I ignored the puddles and mud distributed along the road and continued walking disregarding whether or not my feet landed on them. It didn't matter anyways, the GPS had stopped beeping. The rift had already disappeared.
*****
I stepped into my room with my shoes covered in mud. Normally (according to my parents), a nine year old would cry out "Mom!" to clean up a mess like this. However, I knew that microorganisms don't magically die with a dry rug. Just because the floor looks clean doesn't mean it is. I grabbed a bottle of alcohol and sprinkled it across my room, wiping the surfaces clean with a piece of cloth. I know it's a waste but the government funds most of my stuff anyway.
After fixing the mess I created, I immediately went to my worktable and pulled out a cyan notebook labelled Work Entries. On page forty-seven of the notebook, I recorded the events that happened today. This wasn't an ordinary journal where I write adventurous content or emotional stresses. This journal served the function of a logbook more than anything else. I wrote down numbers, dates, times, and the false coordinates of the rift.
On a small portion at the bottom, I described the events of the nonexistent irregularity.
The machine located a rift at the old, abandoned playground. According to the GPS, it was located somewhere around the broken slide. My assumptions—
My writing was halted when my pen suddenly slid out of my hand and dove straight behind me. It was followed by my marble paperweight and a few other pens that were laid out on my table. I ducked down to evade an open soda can from smashing right into my face. As more objects flew past me, I felt my chair slowly accelerate towards the same direction.
This isn't good.
I looked back and my eyes widened at the sight of a black globe surrounded by some white aura at the center of my room. It was about as big as an exercise ball and seemed to be magnetically attracting various objects around the room: hangers, light bulbs, old toys, calculators, and a plethora of other objects surrounding it. What happened to the objects sucked inside? I don't know, nor do I know why there's suddenly a large rift at the center of my room. Streams of questions entered my mind as I tried to think of what could have made this event possible; I shrugged them off when I realized that I was getting closer and closer to the black globe.
Crap, I stood up, grabbed my bag, and ran to the wall farthest from the rift. I observed my chair instantly levitate and fly towards the center. Instead of feeling rather sad at the fact that the chair was imported, I grabbed the nearest thing that was firmly attached to the wall: a metallic clothes hanger. As the strength of the pull increased, i felt my legs point towards the black globe while levitating.
By this time my room looked like a complete mess of objects, big and small, trying to reach the rift. The paint on my wall was beginning to rip and my wooden table had already been sucked into the shimmering vortex. My closet was toppled sideways on the wooden floor with a large thud and started sliding, along with the other large objects in the room, into the rift. The ripped paint from the walls were sent flying towards my face and covered my vision for a split second, much to my dismay.
As much as I hung on for dear life, my hands released their grip, and I felt my body fly backwards towards the rift. My vision was quickly reduced until only darkness surrounded me. I realized that my arms and legs were freely moving. I could tell that none of them made any contact with anything which meant that I was floating in a sort of space.
My capacity to think was overcome with my sense of fear. One of the common, universal things that humans were frightened of had always been the unknown, I was no exception. In a place where darkness was dominant and the air was filled with silence, I couldn't help but imagine the possibility of being stuck in a place like this for all eternity.
It was only a matter of time before I felt a large force hit me on the forehead and made me lose consciousness.
"Ugh," I grunted as I put a hand on my forehead and checked for signs of concussion. Standing up, I looked around the area that the rift had supposedly sent me to.
It was dark, the only source of illumination from the area seemed to be coming from the silver moon above and the dimly lit lanterns that hung by the walls. I squinted at the shimmering lights and tried to make out a rough outline of the structures surrounding me. From what I could tell, a narrow pathway formed by two parallel lines of houses led forward into the darkness. Yet I when I looked back, a tall wall obstructed the pathway to the other side of the road. This kind of setting reminded me of dark alleys encountered in the 90's movies.
In a way, the area around me felt very unnatural. It looked extremely similar to what you would expect to find in certain areas of Earth, but something in my gut was telling me otherwise. I could have been transported by the rift to another dimension, but there was also the possibility that I was just relocated to another part of Earth.
I jumped up a few times and noted the amount of time it took for me to land square on my feet. About a little less than a second, seems the same as my time on Earth. From that alone, I determined that the gravity of this planet had similar strength to the one back home.
Grabbing a small wooden box from the sides, I ran my hand against its surface and compared its texture to a block of wood I had stored in my bag beforehand. They're nearly impossible to tell apart.
After running a few more tests, I came to the conclusion that this planet was extremely similar to Earth— in terms of elemental composition and structure— yet I can't shake off the feeling that this wasn't Earth. The aura was different, pollution seemed non-existent and most of the doors in the houses were about my height, which meant that they were far too small to accommodate even the smallest humans.
I felt my heart start beating faster at the thought of being stranded in an alternate dimension for eternity. Conflicts arose between my desire to search for excitement and my running instinct of survival. I felt like I needed to find out more about this world, yet at the same time felt that I needed to hunt for food. Yes, hunt, I wouldn't want to encounter the inhabitants of this planet without knowing a good deal about them first. Which means I can't allow any interaction or trade between me and whoever— whatever species lived here.
CLICK! One of doors opened and a a small figure slowly walked outside into the road. I squinted at the figure to construct a better outline of the organism approaching from the door. It was a small horse, a small...purple pony? Moreover, I could clearly hear the words "thank you" coming from the animal's mouth as it exited the building. I stepped back, a little disoriented from the weird occurrence.
To add more to my confusion, the purple equine had a little stub on its forehead— like a horn of some sort.
As I tried to process the things in my mind, the pony shifted its gaze towards me and dropped the basket it was carrying on its mouth. Its jaw fell open and it started to take in a deep breath. Instinctively, to prevent some sort of scream from coming out of the equine's mouth, I lunged towards it and covered its muzzle with my hand.
Based on its interaction with whatever was behind the door, it knew how to talk and communicate with the use of words. I felt like it could at minimum understand a portion of what I say to it.
realizing that my grip was too tight on the pony's muzzle, I lessened it when it shut its eyes in pain.
"I'm as confused as you are right now, one moment I was discovering a spatial rift and the next thing I know, I'm right here in this...world" I slowly guided my hand away from its mouth and hoped that it wouldn't suddenly scream or call for help. "Try to understand it from my point of view."
I felt stupid for trying to establish some sort of verbal connection with a horse, but I really didn't have a choice. If my words weren't the ones which sent the message, I hoped that the tone of my voice along with my gentle actions did.
At first, the pony remained perfectly still, and for a second I thought that it had not understood any of what I have just said. But after a few seconds, it slowly nodded its head. A purple aura started to envelop its horn and generate multiple sparks from within. Suddenly, I felt searing pain spread across my skin as my surroundings flashed white.
*****
When I opened my eyes, what lay before me wasn't a dark alley but an open field covered in grass. Burn marks were etched on the floor of where I sat and I realized that some part of my hair and my skin were singed. Taking out an ointment from my bag, I carefully applied it to my burns and allowed the cool breeze to brush past it to reduce the pain.
I looked behind and spotted the purple pony panting with its forelegs holding its body up for support. Like me, it had burn marks around its body and black spots on its purple hair. Seeing it twitch as it rubbed some of the marks, I slowly approached exhausted equine and extended my hand which held the ointment. "Place this on the burn marks, they help."
The pony squinted at me, then at the ointment before grabbing it and applying it around the marks. I could see from its face that the ointment helped relieve the searing pain. I was surprised at the figure of the equine on front of me. It's back was really short and its head was very round. It's mane, or hair, was dark purple but contained two streaks of pink and violet. I know that this is a horse, but it was alot smaller than the horses back on earth. Maybe it's still at an early age? or... a filly?
I scrapped the thought as more important questions circled my mind. What just happened? Did we just teleport? How?
Before I could open my mouth, the equine stood up on all fours and met my gaze. "Twilight Sparkle."
"Huh?" I scratched my head. What did it mean by that?
"My name, Twilight Sparkle." the pony repeated. She was now pointing to herself with one of her hooves. Well, assuming from the name and the tone of her voice, I think she is female.
"August Winters" I replied, putting a hand over my chest. "That's my name."
"That's a very weird name," Twilight chuckled. She walked closer to me and sat down, extending her neck to observe my physical appearance. "Where did you come from? And, what are you? I don't think I've seen your species in any of the books I've read." I could see her round pupils expand as she examined my body. It seemed like wonder filled her more than the fear of me.
Ignoring the fact that I'm having an intellectual discussion with a purple equine who can speak perfect English, I decided to answer her questions before asking mine. "I'm from a planet— or dimension — called Earth. It's in a solar system located in a galaxy known as the Milky Way. So far, the only planet discovered that contained living organisms is Earth, where my species— generally known as "humans"— are found."
"Humans..." Twilight tried to say the foreign word.
While Twilight was busy attempting to imitate my dialect, I took the initiative to ask a question. "awhile ago, what just happened? the last thing I remember was a purple glow from your forehead and then we suddenly ended up here— like magic."
"Well, it is magic," Twilight responded. "I used all of my strength to generate a teleportation spell in order to bring us into a deserted field right outside of my city, Canterlot."
I gave her a questioning look, "magic? isn't that just a fairytale? or a myth?"
Twilight looked surprised at my response, "A fairy-what? Wait, never mind that, you don't have magic in your world?" after shaking my head, she began to give me a lecture on the existence of magic in this magical world of "Equestria". She explained to me the four different types of ponies and the different abilities they possess as well as a short insight of the lifestyles that this world had grown accustomed to.
I sat down and absorbed everything she said. After all, this was a new world, it would only be disadvantageous for me if I had missed the essential parts of her talk.
"—and that ends my lecture of 'A Brief History of Equestria Volume 1." Twilight looked at me, anxious at what my response would be.
Having almost all of my major questions answered, only one thought remained in my head. "Just how old are you?"
"I'm turning ten this year," Twilight replied.
Ten what? Years? Were years here in "Equestria" even similar to the length of years back on Earth?
Never mind that, I'm simply going to assume that "ten" in this world is about as young as the "ten" on Earth. "Then why did you teleport yourself along with a stranger to a deserted place far from help?" I raised an eyebrow, "Didn't it cross your mind that I might have actually wanted to hurt you in some way?"
Twilight gave me a reassuring smile. The word "cute" passed through my thoughts for a split second as her mouth widened. I shrugged it off and gazed at her purple eyes.
"Of course I was scared at first. I thought you might actually try to hurt me, but after you spoke to me and told me about your experience with the spatial rift, I just knew that I could trust you." Her smile widened even more as she raised her head and put her hoof on her chest. "And I was right to do that."
"What's so special about a spatial rift?" I asked, then realized how stupid my question was, "I-I mean why did it get your attention? For alot of people,an alternative name for my species, Physics is boring and bland."
Twilight's eyes drooped down as she played with a few blades of grass with a hoof. "The reason it got my attention..." she repeated, "Well... I'm not exactly what you would call an average student or pony. When I was young, I tried to make friends, but whenever I would try to discuss the things I liked, like derivatives or integrals, they would either leave or just feign interest. So I decided that making friends wasn't a special talent of mine and spent my time on books."
I chuckled at her explanation. "They thought derivatives were complex? Back in my hometown, people the same age as me couldn't even accomplish the simplest algebra problems."
Twilight laughed and edged closer to me. "That seems pretty horrible, is that why you were treated as an outsider by other po—humans?"
"I guess— wait, how did you know I was an outcast?"
"It's written all over your face, silly. I may not have many friends, but I have a big brother that plays with me and takes me away from my studies." Twilight pointed at my fingers that fiddled with the straps of my bag and then at my face," You can't look at me straight in the eyes and most of the time you look at the ground when you talk. I do that as well when I'm with my classmates, which is why I can clearly tell if you have friends or not." She concluded.
Ouch, that explanation was blunt and straight to the point. I realized that even when my brain was focused on her, the other parts of my body involuntarily found an interest in the environment. My hands twirled the laces of my bag, my foot was constantly exercising its ankle, my eyes continuously shifted from left to right, and my face was pointing downwards most of the time.
Twilight put both of her hooves on my face and aligned it with hers. In reflex, I immediately dashed back and returned my gaze to the grass below me, hugging my legs in the process.
Twilight laughed, "See?"
I nodded sheepishly, focusing too much on brain control left me none in my body. I nervously grabbed a fistful of dirt with my right hand and dropped it on the hole I got it from. My fingers started drawing lines along the earth which soon escalated to the four kinematics equations.
Awkward silence dawned between me and Twilight, and being isolated most of the time, I didn't think I had it in me to break that silence. Did I even need to? What's the use of even talking to her? I mean, I have have my priorities, maybe I should find a way to generate a spatial rift in this world using the element of "magic". It's possible, but who knows how long—
"You're overthinking things right now aren't you?" I felt a short foreleg rest on my shoulder. "I do that sometimes too, but whenever it becomes serious my brother would usually break me out of my trance."
As twilight rubbed her hoof on my shoulder, a sense of relief and relaxation overcame my body. I guess that's because when I was younger, maybe four or five, my parents forgot about the importance of proper emotional nursing and focused on improving my mental capabilities. It was the first time that I felt a touch so sincere without any expectation or judgement.
I let out a breath of air and looked up at Twilight, "Then, can you tell me about the 'magic' in this world?"
Twilight gave me a gentle smile, and at that moment I couldn't believe that I was interacting with someone— somepony the same age as me who didn't roll their eyes or fall asleep whenever I spoke. I remembered by the time my preschool classmates sketched undefinable drawings on their notebooks and showed it to their happy teachers, I had already listed down Newton's three laws of motion on mine. When I tried to explain my essay about those laws to the teachers, they immediately walked me to the office to take an IQ test— which according to the staff, I perfected in the shortest time recorded for that exam.
Twilight's horn lit up and produced a few sparks from the base. She raised her hoof and pointed at the glowing stub. "This is the horn, the source of magic for all unicorns and alicorns. This is what they use to bring out the essence of magic to use to their advantage..." Twilight continued on, explaining to me the different concepts of magic in their world. She told me how magic was still mostly a mystery, like how no one knows how it had even started or whether or not it was here when the first pony arrived. Following that, she gave me a short insight on its proper uses and mostly the extent of its abilities. Some included proper harvest, levitation, teleportation, and alot of other feats impossible on Earth.
One aspect of her talk caught my interest. "So...based on what you just said, no unicorn's magic is identical. Like, everyone— *ehem* everypony here who is either a unicorn or an alicorn have different magical abilities?"
"Yup!" She giddily replied, "You're starting to get it!"
I scowled at myself for feeling a bit accomplished at her small remark. "And these magical abilities are determined based on a pony's special talents?"
"M-hm" Twilight nodded.
"Then what's yours?" I pointed at her glowing horn. Judging from her previous actions like the teleportation spell, her magical ability should amount to something big. I don't think a teleportation spell is something that anybo—pony can do.
I immediately regretted asking the question when Twilight's smile suddenly faded to a small frown.
Twilight stood there in silence for a moment before she looked away from me and turned around to face the oak tree behind her. Her mane, along with her tail, was flowing with the wind. Twilight silently stared at the body of the oak then closed her eyes as she looked down. I started to worry whether or not I had hit a nerve.
The atmosphere around us suddenly became heavier as the tension from her movements grew. The silence was beginning to deafen the sounds of the floating blades of grass and dirt that collided with the leaves of the oak tree above us.
"Twi—"
"Nothing." I was cut off. Twilight grabbed a leaf with her hoof and sent it flying into the breeze. Her stare followed it as it disappeared into the plane. "I have nothing..." I saw a glimmer in her cheeks as a teardrop rolled down her face.
Normally, when I saw acquaintances of mine shedding tears and sobbing loudly, I'd simply walk away and find someplace quiet to spend my time. I wondered why people even bothered to cry during an emotional lapse or whatnot. Was crying a choice? or was it something you just couldn't control? I've never cried before, maybe when I'd hit my toe the corner of the bed, a tear or two would drop from my eyes, but I've never actually cried with my "philosophical" heart.
But this time it was different.
I stood up and walked around Twilight. I turned around and extended my hand to wipe away her tear. She tried to turn her face away but I held on to a side of her cheek and softly resisted her push to look at the ground. After a short struggle, she stopped resisting and a few more tears came out of her eyes. "I know that I have magic, I know that I can make my horn glow and levitate small pieces of candy and maybe even a small toy but—" She brought both of her hooves up to her eyes and covered them. "— compared to the other ponies who could lift tables and chairs, I couldn't even make a flower vase budge."
Seeing her face wince in pain of the thought, I gently rubbed her shoulder in an attempt to bring the comfortable feeling it brought me awhile back, "but what about the the spell— the one you used to bring us here, I don't think anypony could have done that."
"That was just a chance occurrence, I felt that my life was in danger so my control of magic disappeared and it just started going wild up there." She pointed at her glowing horn. "Young fillies are known to contain a large amount of magic when they're still young which dissipates as they grow older. That spell there was just another outburst of the magic I have." More tears started falling from her purple eyes. "I've been trying so hard to hide it from everypony because everypony's expecting so much of me. If they realize that I'm not what they expect me to be, I'll be thrown out, away from my own family. I won't even be able to attend the best school of magic in Equestria! I'll be a laughing stock"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Twilight sighed and dropped her hooves on the ground, "A few years ago I found out that I really liked magic, I was really happy whenever I could conjure little sparks with my horn. I would read books about magic everyday and even have a poster of the greatest wizard who ever existed— Starswirl The bearded— in my room." She grabbed the basket and brought it beside her. "When my parents saw me trying so hard to be really good at magic, they were inspired to find me the best school they could get. Just a few weeks ago, it finally came. Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns had opened slots and were accepting fillies of my age. My parents instantly filled out my application form and now I'm scheduled to take the test in a week."
"Isn't that good then? In a week you'll be able to study there and pursue what you want." I pointed out.
My statement seemed to make Twilight's eyes grow darker. "That's the problem, I've been practicing for weeks— months and I still can't improve my magic!" She stomped her hoof at the grass, sending a bit of mud flying over to my shirt. "Everyday I tried to find new ways to improve my magic. I checked my diet and even controlled my sleeping habits, but in the end, the best I could accomplish was lift a book."
Twilight sighed and waved her hoof, "One day, I guess I just decided that I needed help. So I—"
"—Went to a amulet shop and got an accessory which you believed would help you in the exam." I pointed at the basket in her hooves. Based on the sign hanging from the side of the store she came from back at the alley, I assumed it sold necklaces or special charms.
Twilight's mouth hung open after my interruption, clearly showing that my assumption was spot-on.
She was desperate enough to actually try and break the rules, that drive was something unfamiliar to me.
I've never cheated or tried underhanded tactics to achieve my goals, but that's mainly because I never needed to. However, given the chance, I would definitely break a couple of rules and ethics to complete the task at hand. Based on what I learned from the failures of others, the idea of cheating— or the drive to "bend laws" isn't what causes the failure of people who actually cheat. Failure is caused by doing it (cheating) the wrong way. When a person's drive surpasses his morality and values, he will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. But, he must learn how to do it the "right" way or else the results will simply be failure.
The foundation of this idea stems from the Italian philosopher Machiavelli who stated that:
The end justifies the means.
Breaking the rules is a part of one's journey to self-discovery. This was no different for such a young filly like Twilight. I wanted to share with her that the results are all that matters, Even on Earth, where betrayal and adultery often occurs, it was always the results that really mattered and not the process. If I were faced with the "dilemma" of killing one for a thousand, then I would not hesitate to do it seeing that it is obviously the better choice. I've saved a thousand, it wouldn't matter whether I killed one.
I guess these thoughts are the long term effects of my apathy towards human culture in general.
I scratched my head in confusion. Twilight was right, I was overthinking things.
"Twilight, hand me the accessory." I opened a hand. She stared at it for a moment before putting her hoof in the basket and bringing out a large silver necklace. It had the shape of a pony hovering its hands over a red crystal. As she handed it to me, I felt a strong presence enshroud the area. I felt like vomiting out my breakfast at that moment but didn't because I never had any breakfast this morning. I had run to my lab without taking in food because of the immediate clicking noise.
I grabbed a piece of cloth and wrapped it around the amulet then threw it at my bag. I'm going to make sure that goes somehwere it won't be found, but then again, I'm jinxing it.
Twilight's face was still frozen in a frown, like she had lost all hope of passing the entrance exam. "Twilight, don't get me wrong, but I want to ask you a question. From what you've told me, I can see how determined you are to finish this exam with flying colors. You are so driven that you would try to break the rules just to pass. Where do you thing this path will bring you? " Twilight stayed silent and lowered her body to the ground. She laid her head on the grass and slightly opened her eyes.
"I—I don't know."
"Nowhere, Twilight. I can feel from the tone of your voice and the emotions you try to express to me that you want this, but I don't think you're doing it correctly." I felt Twilight's shoulder's tense up at my words. " You're trying to increase your chances by relying on something that you aren't sure is even safe."
"But what can I do?!" Twilight shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks and dripping onto the ground. "I've worked hard, practiced all the spells, read all the textbooks which taught unicorns how to use their magic, but nothing works! This is the only way, I have to break the rules, and I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to pass the test!"
It was like time had suddenly stopped dead on its tracks as Twilight uttered her words of determination. The birds had paused their chirping, and the wind, which blew ever so softly on the leaves of the great oak produced slight, audible rustling sounds. Our eyes were locked in an unbreakable stare. Twilight refused to let my mind escape until I had given her a response to the event that had just occurred. I felt the intensity of her gaze as she seemed to forcefully withdraw the answer from my soul.
"If that's the case, then go ahead." I said blankly.
Twilight's gave me a questioning look. "What?"
"The cause of your failure won't be because you "cheated", but because of the way you cheated. To be honest, I would do the same if I were put in your position. It didn't matter what I had to do to get what I wanted; as long as I get it in the end, that makes everything else worth it." I knelt on one knee and inched closer to her face."I don't see why you shouldn't do the same."
"But...isn't that wrong? Doesn't that make me a bad pony? Won't ponies around me hate me for doing it?" Twilight asked.
I reminisced the time I was shunned by my acquaintances at a lab one day because I displayed a sharper scientific mind than theirs. At that time, I was still unaware of the competitive nature of science. Who discovers what first gets the prize— which comes in the form of the Nobel Prize or your name in an equation. During that time, I still felt hurt and sad that people couldn't share my happiness, and I saw my past self in Twilight over here.
She was afraid of being shunned, having nopony to lean on when she needed them the most. I could see her legs shaking, she was still unsure whether or not chasing her desire was more important than what others thought of her. Right now, Twilight needs someone who will never ever turn their backs on her, she needs assurance that someone will always be there her when she's in a tight spot.
And I think I know who can fill in that exact position at this moment.
I sighed and extended my hand outwards to Twilight. "How about we make a deal, even if everypony in the world— no, everypony in the whole universe hates you, I would still be your... friend." The word sounded more foreign than how I thought it would be.
Twilight's frown suddenly turned into a large smile which became a small grin. I saw most of the burden in her eyes vanish. My hand, which was still on top of Twilight's shoulder, relaxed as she slowly fell to the ground and covered her face with both her hooves. "Are you sure?" She asked, face still obstructed by her front legs.
"Of course." I said, "No matter what you do."
She slowly extended a foreleg and shook my hand with it. "Then that's a promise" she whispered, head still buried in one of her hooves.
"It's a promise" I repeated.
"Then will you help me?" Twilight asked, "can you help me find a way to pass the test?" Her tone sounded shaky, like it was the first time she had actually asked for help from someone else.
"Isn't that already a given?" I chuckled, then stood up and grabbed my bag. Pulling out a pen and a stack of papers, I walked over to Twilight and laid down the items in front of her.
"What's this?" she asked.
"It's a pen and paper, we're going to invent a spell." I said, refusing to take my eyes off the blank sheet.
Confused Twilight inched closer to me and tilted her head. I smelled a faint scent of Jasmine from her mane, but I shrugged it off and continued searching my mind for some sort of "solution".
"To be honest, the moment you explained to me most of the theories about magic, I realized that magic, although it was random at times, exhibited behavior similar to that of science." Like how Physics and Chemistry were defined by solid equations and unbelievable theories, I believed "magic" could definitely be defined by them as well. The control that these ponies have shown over magic just supports that hypothesis.
My pen suddenly stops scribbling as a thought enters my mind. I'm surprised at my ability to accept the concepts of alternate dimensions in which "magic" exists. From my experience, others would be completely alienated from an environment like this. Maybe my scientific background is to blame for this. When you're working with intangible concepts such as gravitational waves or chemical compounds, "magic" becomes an understatement to the phenomena which usually happens in a lab.
"August?" I felt a hoof land softly at my back. "Why did you stop all of a sudden?"
I chuckled a bit, even my dialect was already paralleling this dimension's. "It's nothing," I went back to scribbling Greek symbols and and letters onto the paper. "Say, can you tell me more about the magic books you've read?"
Twilight looked up for a bit, as if trying to remember something. After a moment, she gave me a smile and her face began to beam with confidence, "Ok!"
"Good!" I yelled as Twilight uprooted the oak tree and returned it, roots and all. She also snapped a few branches with her magic and perfectly combined them to form a pony out of wood.
Twilight was already panting heavily at this point. She had just lifted something over a hundred times her own weight and created a piece of art with the use of her magic. I observed her tongue come out as she tried to catch a breath.
"I think it's time for a break," I called out.
Twilight suddenly dropped down to the ground, I think she was more than happy to agree.
It shouldn't be a surprise that she was very exhausted from executing those spells. After all, they were one of a kind. Just a few hours ago, Twilight and I had invented a few spells which contained similar effects to already existing ones but were completely different in terms of execution. I realized that the problem might not be Twilight's affinity for "magic" itself; but her affinity for specific types of magic. The spells written on books that she read, weren't designed for her. They were designed for the majority of the pony population but were completely inaccessible for someone like her.
In the few hours I spent with Twilight developing the spell, I questioned her about her own experiences with her magic and what the books in her library explained. From that,I determined the problem at hand. A few moments later, I had combined both elements from Physics and Chemistry with the science of "magic" and created an equation which followed Twilight's affinity from magic. From then on, it was smooth sailing as we discovered how to "convert" the different types of magic she couldn't use to the ones she could use.
I ran up to Twilight and sat down beside her, I brought my hand up her mane and started petting her. "Great job. Not only were you able to increase the power of your magic, but also the accuracy and precision of your spells."
I swear I saw her blush as I ran my hand up and down her neck. She laid her head down on the ground and closed her eyes in thought. I'm guessing she was still too exhausted from practice to reply.
I stared at the sun as it peeked above the horizon. It was a beautiful sight, like the beginning of something new. Its warm rays spread across my skin and gave me a sense of satisfaction and bliss. The wind was less ferocious as well, its gentle breeze brought upon slight movement from my hair as it passed. Nothing felt wrong, it was like the previously tense atmosphere had dissipated and was instead replaced by a relaxing wave of serenity.
I laid my head on Twilight's back, it was a bit moist from her sweat but nevertheless comfortable because of her smooth fur. Twilight twitched a bit at my action but relaxed after a few seconds. The exhaustion began to overcome my body's will to stay awake. I remembered that I haven't slept in a long time, and that I had already been awake for one whole day.
I noticed my eyelids were starting to grow heavier— which was only supported by the relaxing touch of the wind and Twilight's soft back. As time passed, my vision started growing dimmer and dimmer until my eyes were completely shut. I decided to let go for a moment and drifted onto sleep.
*****
I woke up to the sound of boiling water and a sweet aroma of apple under my nose. When I opened my eyes, the sun was still peeking from the horizon, but this time it was to say goodbye.
Dusk was approaching, which meant I had been asleep for over twelve hours— or not, I still have no idea whether this world followed the same "twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week" schedule. On a normal basis I would ask, but right now my body felt sluggish and I wasn't in the mood to open my mouth.
I realized the my head still lay on Twilight's soft fur, she probably hadn't moved since I slept. It was a kind gesture that I appreciated.
"Oh you're awake?" Twilight asked, turning her head towards me. I noticed that her horn was glowing— which, according to her, meant that she was in the process of using magic. "I'm making apple soup and sandwich, they're the main staples here in Equestria. You know what an apple is? It's a red—"
"Twilight, I know what an apple is," I said bluntly. "We humans eat it too in our world."
"Great!" Twilight yelled, "we can share the soup I made, I made enough for the both of us— probably. I still don't know how much your stomach can handle."
Ah so that's where the aroma was coming from. Wait, how in the world is she cooking outdoors if she didn't leave me here. I looked to my side and saw a cauldron made of grass that was enveloped in a purple aura. Bubbly sounds came out from withing the drops of hot soup escaped from the cauldron.
I see, she used her magic to heat the cauldron and prevent the leaves from burning from the extreme heat. Wow, she learns really fast. Even if I provided the "formula", no one should be able to grasp its whole concept in one day, more or less even apply it. She had done both without any problem at all except the lack of endurance to continue on.
Twilight brought a leaf bowl over to my face along with a nicely carved wooden spoon and waved her hoof, motioning for me to get it. Hmm, so humans and ponies use the same utensils. I started to wonder how natural selection occurred in this environment. Normally ponies shouldn't be able to grab spoons, more or less produce them for convenience.
As I slowly extended my hands to reach out for the bowl and the spoon, Twilight suddenly brings it away from me after seemingly coming up with an idea. "Oh! umm, the bowl and the spoon are still probably too hot for you to touch." she began to blush as she talked. "A-and since you're tired and all, maybe you should rest your hands and let me do the feeding. O-of course as payback for what you did for me." She turned away and covered her head with her mane, which was still too short to completely cover her red cheeks.
Why is she blushing so hard? I don't think I'm stupid enough to not notice that she's flustered, but why? I don't think she actually has romantic feeling for me— I mean, other than the clear difference in species, I don't think it's just possible to fall for someone in such a short time—
I glanced at my sides and saw Twilight giving my bowl, along with the spoon, a light blow to cool it. I felt my heart beating a bit faster as I observed her lips form a slight "O" to let the air escape. I could sense my blood rushing to my face at that moment and my body starting to get warmer.
"H-here you go." Twilight brought the spoon close to my face, waiting for me to open my mouth. I looked at the pale, yellowish contents of the spoon. I couldn't remove my thoughts from the water molecules in this soup that mixed with Twilight's air molecules. Nevertheless, I opened my mouth and the spoon came driving in. As soon as I swallowed the soup, Twilight gave a light chuckle and turned back.
I'm guessing we both had the same thing in mind about the molecules.
"Thank you." I heard Twilight say from the side. "—for everything."
I was suddenly caught off guard by the sudden expression of gratitude. Raising my head from her back, I sat up straight and looked at her purple eyes. I felt like a hitch-hiker expecting a random minivan but got an 18-wheeler instead
But for some reason, I can't seem turn away from her. It was like her eyes were drawing me in to her soul.
No no no, bestiality is not something I will be proud of in the future. Even if the feelings are mutual and probably consensual as well for future...actions; even if this is the first time I've had a friend; even if I'm starting to feel attracted to this gorgeous filly in front of me.
Our stare lasted a few seconds before Twilight slowly approached me and brought both of her hooves behind my neck. "Can I hug you?" She asked me. I was surprised at her initiative to take action. Based on what she told me, she didn't really seem like the type who would do something this brave.
I gave a small nod. Our faces were just literally pi inches apart (yes, pi), I could smell the apples in her breath as she breathed in front of me.
She laid her head on my shoulder and strengthened her grip on my back. I could feel her smelling the rainy scent I was giving off from the experience at the playground.
Twilight carefully brought her mouth to my ears and whispered. "I know I just met you today, and that I am still a filly who probably doesn't know what she's doing. But you make me feel really...nice and comfortable"
Okay, now Twilight was beginning to sound more and more weirder (but definitely not worse) than how she was awhile ago. But I felt the sincerity of her words. She really believed what she was saying, and she was trying to make her voice reach me, her sincere voice. I guess that's one thing you won't find in the human world, purity.
Twilight pulled back and shaped a purple aura into a pair of scissors. She used the magical scissors to cut pink and purple strands of her hair and twisted it at the end to form a lock of hair. She grabbed a golden pendant out of the basket and placed the lock of hair inside it.
"This is for you," She said, handing me the pendant using her mouth. "Think of it as a gift." She smiled.
I grabbed the pendant and twirled its laces with my fingers. It was soft and beautiful, like a jewel of some sort— but not the one that shone because of it physical beauty, but one that shone because of its superior sentimentality, and of course, quality.
I went for my bag and got a pair of old glasses and a single picture. I handed those out to Twilight and said, "Here, I used to wear these glasses everyday back when I was a younger, but I got laser surgery sooner or later and didn't need them anymore. Also, this is a photo of me standing at the beach. It was a beautiful sunset that time and I just felt like it was one of those times I felt genuinely happy. So I'm giving these to you in exchange for your 'gift'."
Twilight got both items and held them close to her chest. She muttered something inaudible and placed them in her basket. She blushed a bit and looked down to hide the expression.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! a sound came from my bag.
I immediately rushed to my bag and pulled out my GPS, which was vibrating furiously as a red dot repeatedly blinked on its screen. It detected another spatial rift near this area. Usually, a normal GPS wouldn't be able to tell, but I set it such that it would indicate the presence of a spatial rift within a hundred miles.
Being in an alien world, the GPS could only tell me whether or not there was an irregularity nearby but not its exact location or its coordinates. the ferocity of its vibration informed me that the rift was nearby. I had only one speculation of where it could be.
"Twilight, can you bring me to the dark alley where I first saw you?" I asked her. For a moment, I saw her frown at the thought. I could sense her refusal just at the tip of her tongue.
"I-I don't know" Twilight said, "I don't think I'm capable of replicating that spell yet without ripping us to pieces."
She's lying, definitely. Twilight bit her lower lift and broke away from my gaze.
"Twilight, I know you can, you've done way harder spells since the time I taught you the formula. If you want I can help—"
Twilight put a hoof on my lip. She sighed and then brought her eyes to mine. "I know, but, what happens if we go there and you get thrown into the rift and transported back to your world? I mean, I've just met you, and I don't know who you are that well yet. I want to spend more time with you, and make jokes, and talk about theoretical physics. I want to know why you wear clothes all the time and why we're similar yet we're not."
Twilight leaned in closer to me until her muzzle was just an inch away from my face. "I-I don't know what I'd do without your help, guidance, and company."
I blushed profusely at the proximity of our faces. "There are others who can—"
"No! I've met alot of ponies in Canterlot, some were sweet, some were kind, other were bullies, even adults seemed very childish at times. But you're different from the rest— I can see that— which is why can't let you go!" Twilight stomped hard on the ground. A tear started to roll on her cheek as she smashed her hoof on the grass. She may be smarter than most kids— or fillies her age but by the end of the day, she's still a child. Tantrums like these are just part of their behavioral patterns.
I brought both of my arms behind her back and pulled her towards me in a closed embrace. I traced lines on her back and ruffled her mane a bit with my fingers. I could feel her twitch and let out a small moan at my movements. "Look, Twilight, I promise you this. One day somewhere in the future, you and I are going to sit down and have a cup of tea. Then, you and I will talk about our respective lives. How does that sound?"
I continued caressing her back, "I also want to stay here, it's great, the environment, the way you described the system, even the lifestyle is amazing— but I have to finish what I started. If I don't find a way to close the rift, it might expand and swallow up the whole of Equestria. And the two of us can't really have that now right?"
I could feel Twilight slightly nod at my shoulder. In a few seconds, I heard sparks emerging from her horn and a bright flash surround us.
I braced myself for the incoming burns that the last "trip" had given me, but to my surprise, there were none. Twilight had completely mastered the spell. Instead of painful sensations crawling up my skin, a wave of calmness washed around my body in the brief moment that we teleported to the dark alley. By the time I felt my feet touch the ground, most of my anxiety had completely disappeared.
However, there were other matters I had to face. The vibration of my GPS could be felt from deep inside my bag, signalling the unmistakable proximity of the rift. Although I was still a few meters away from it, I could already feel its strong pull. Twilight's pendant, which hung around my neck, started levitating towards the center of the rift. I grabbed Twilight's shoulders and gently pushed her away from me. "Stay here, I don't think going near the rift is going to make it any safer for you."
"What about you?" She asked.
"It's okay, I've dealt with this before. I promise you Twilight, I have no plans of returning home now. I still have a promise to keep right?" I gave her a smile. She received it warmly and offered a smile back in return.
"I'm counting on you for that." Twilight said.
I let go of her shoulders and started walking straight to the black rift. My thoughts began to process the information that I've gathered from the rift as I stepped closer and closer into area. I could feel the force exerted by the irregularity trying to grab me and suddenly haul me towards its center, but it was still too weak to completely carry me over there.
Why was I walking towards it in the first place? To gather samples? To explore its mystery? The questions passed my head as I walked closer to the center. Why do I need to figure it out? Is it for the sake of "excitement?"
No, I didn't want that anymore. I had already found it, here, in Equestria, with Twilight. Right here, I don't feel the pain of boredom, the torture of feeling like a machine and only being appreciated because of your capabilities and not your personal essence. Earth has no use to me anymore, and walking to this rift will only increase my chances of being brought back to Earth, to my plain old life.
Forget it, I'm not taking the risk.
I turned back and called out, "Twilight! I think my study here is done, we can leave now." She waved back at me and smiled to show that she heard my message.
A different set of thoughts started clouding my mind, where will I stay? Will I become an outcast here? How will I be treated? I began to worry about my stay in Equestria. I thought about how its inhabitants will react to my culture as a human. But, I will try my best to—
Suddenly, I felt it, the strong pull from the rift as it increased in size and the intensity of its gravitational force. I grunted at its heavy touch, I quickly shouted "Twilight, quick! Use your magic transport me there, we don't have much time!" Twilight got the message and a purple aura enveloped me and dragged me towards her with ease. Once I was beside her, I motioned her to run after me and started sprinting towards the opposite direction of the pull.
The force became weaker and weaker as we increased the distance between the rift and us. I stopped on my tracks once the pulling force had completely dissipated.
"That was close," Twilight said, wiping some sweat on her forehead. "Let's go back to my house before the rift catches up with us."
I was about to walk away when a thought crossed my mind.
"No, I'm going to have to stay."
Twilight's round eyes suddenly widened at my statement, "W-what?"
"Twilight, I've discovered how to close the rift." I said grimly.
"If that's the case, then just close it then we can go back—"
"No Twilight, we can't go back, I can't go back. There's only one way to close the rift, and that's by disrupting its core with nanoelectric charges from a living being. That means someone has to get sucked inside to close it." I said, I looked down on the ground and felt the small pull of the rift on my body. It was starting to catch up.
"Then let somepony else get absorbed! It doesn't have to be you!" Twilight shouted. Tears started forming at the bottom of her eyes.
Letting a pony inside the rift wouldn't guarantee it closing, the physiological difference between a pony and human may just be to wide. Taking that risk will only increase the number of casualties. "I'm sorry Twi—"
"No! don't tell me you're sorry for something you shouldn't be sorry about. I'm the one who should be saying sorry here for being selfish. But I don't care if it means getting you to stay here. All of Equestria can burn if it that's what it takes." Twilight stomped her hoof on the ground. Her eyes displayed fiery determination and bloodcurdling aura of ambition. At that moment, I knew she wasn't joking and was completely honest to the last letter.
I turned away from her, ashamed and hurt by the amount of pain I'm causing her. My heavy heart seemed to slow down my steps as I slowly walked to rift, accepting my fate. Tension was rising again, its the only source wasn't the large irregularity that was about to swallow Equestria, but also the mental strain it was giving to both me and Twilight. To be honest, I'm sure that the rift will shut down if anypony else went into it— I mean, we are all still biological creatures, but then what happens to that pony when they get transferred to Earth or to who knows what dimension that rift is connected to.
I'm surprised I actually cared. Usually my only objective was to do what was profitable to me, but since when did I consider the fate of others when I decided on things? Only one person— pony came to mind.
Twilight.
I sighed and grabbed on the straps of my bag. Here I go—
Two hooves suddenly grabbed my face and turned it around, Twilight took a good look of my face before closing in on it. She opened her muzzle and said, "At least let me give you this," then gave me a small peck on my lips.
My knees wobbled at the sensation. It was brief, but it was soft and the intensity of the emotions it brought forth were massive. My whole mind went blank, and in that moment, nothing else mattered except me, and the filly in front of me. She carefully circled her hoof on my cheeks and gave me one last hug before running to the opposite direction.
A tear formed at the base of my eye and rolled down my cheek. I hate this idea as much as you Twilight, but I have to do it. I really don't have a choice. My heart was crying out loud, telling me to stay, but I knew if I did, I would just sacrifice the life of another pony. I couldn't do that, even if it meant hurting Twilight.
I shrugged off the idea and ran straight towards the rift— whose area had already expanded to a few meters. I'm surprised that nopony has been sucked in yet.
Whatever, the only thing that matters is that I'm the only one that gets in, and gets out.
I dive towards the black center with my backpack, as I traveled within its contents, my vision becomes blurrier and blurrier until it ultimately becomes black.
*****
I drop down from the ceiling of my room with a large THUD! as I slammed into the wooden planks of the floor. The scent of the old antique lumber drifted across my nose which confirmed that I was indeed back at my house in New York. Standing up, I examined my surroundings. The whole area was a mess, fragments of wood and plastic were drilled into the floor. My closet, which previously collapsed due to the presence of the vortex, still lay on the ground. My clothes were scattered across the room with some finding their places under my bed or on the shrapnel of wood that protruded from the walls.
However, none of that mattered now. Only one thought circled my mind. "Twilight." I muttered.
Without bothering to organize the room, I ran straight to my working table and pulled out a brand new sketchpad from a stack of old ones. Grabbing the nearest writing tool from my surroundings, which was a worn out permanent marker, I immediately wrote down the name of my next project. At that very moment, I decided to drop all of my current projects and concentrate all of my efforts into completing this new one.
I re-read the title of my project to ascertain its function, "Induced Atomic Transmission through Distortions in Dimensions by Gravitational Waves" I drop the sketchpad on the floor along with the marker and stared outside my window. My eyes veered towards the gray clouds that hung over the atmosphere. "Yes, this will work."
It should
