Prologue- Twilight Fails ANOTHER Spell?!
The Pony Virus: Between Dimensions
Prologue – Twilight Fails ANOTHER Spell?!
Twilight Sparkle hummed to herself as she trotted through the Everfree Forest on the way to Zecora’s hut. Normally, the Everfree Forest scared her, and she gave it a wide berth; however, she would travel through the foreboding trees to see Zecora, and she was so excited at the prospect of trying out her new spell to be affected by the forest’s frightening aura. She would, however, have to make sure to head back to Ponyville shortly after she got what she came for; the late afternoon sun was shining down on her coat, and she had no intention of getting stuck in the Everfree Forest at night.
Upon arriving at the shaman’s hut, she knocked on the door. As she always did, Twilight took notice of the various masks and other decorations that adorned Zecora’s hut at the same time that she took notice of Zecora herself. The foreigner’s decorations, which supposedly belonged to her culture, were such a change from the familiar style of Ponyville that they never got old. Something else that never got old was Zecora herself; after all, she was the only zebra Twilight knew, so she didn’t know if the gold bands around her neck and front leg were part of the foreigner’s culture, or if it was personal preference. Zecora’s two-tone mane, which Rarity described as “garish” the first time Twilight saw Zecora, was also an uncommon sight, although one that Twilight knew for a fact was something all zebras had. And to top it all off, the fact that Zecora’s snout was flattened at the end, something usually only found in stallions, was something that Twilight never got over, although she didn’t show it.
“Ah, Twilight Sparkle, certainly a familiar face,” the zebra greeted with a warm smile, rhyming as she always did, “what is it that brings you to my place? Are you merely here as a friend, to say hello? Or are you here to assist somepony with their woes?”
Although she rarely ever said so, Zecora greatly enjoyed the company of other ponies. This wasn’t because she was afraid to admit it, but she just didn’t see the need to take the time to say so every time somepony came to visit her. Not to mention the fact that it would make it sound like she was asking for pity all the time, and almost nopony other than Apple Bloom came to keep her company rather than asking her for something.
“Actually Zecora, it’s kind of both. You see, there is a pony in Ponyville that has a bad case of the flu, so I came here to ask you if you could make a potion that will help. But that’s only one of the reasons I’m here. See, normally, we would just have Rainbow Dash come out here to pick it up, since she’s faster, but I came out here to try out a new spell. So yes, I am here for something other than conversation, but I’m also here to give you some company in the meantime, and afterwards, I’ll show you my new spell.”
The forest shaman smiled again, partly because Twilight was going to give her some company, a rare commodity when you live in a forest that everypony inherently fears, and partly because the bookish unicorn had started to ramble again, which was something Zecora found funny.
“I am glad you are here, I will not lie, for in here, company is hard to come by,” the foreign herbalist chimed, “I will make your cure for the flu, as that is something I can easily do.” She then set to work, gathering ingredients hanging on the walls and the ceiling, as well as sitting on the tables and crushing them up into powders, pastes, and juices.
Twilight glanced over at the cauldron in the center of Zecora’s hut, bubbling and frothing with an almost neon green liquid. Suddenly, something occurred to Twilight, piquing her curiosity. Not taking her eyes off the cauldron, she asked Zecora, “Umm… Zecora?”
Without stopping, the zebra in question looked over her shoulder to reply. “If you have a question, dear Twilight, ask away; you did say that for conversation, you would stay.”
“Okay then,” Twilight started, “what exactly fills your cauldron? How is it always bubbling? And why is it that the cauldron always seems to be full? Doesn’t it ever have to be refilled?”
Zecora paused to hold a hoof up to her face, wearing a thoughtful expression before replying. “I believe the reason my brew is always boiling, is the result of much toiling; my zebra elders had much to do, to make my cauldron always ready for a brew. This is also the reason why my brew has never run dry. As for what fills my cauldron, I do not know; that is a secret lost long ago.”
The herbalist then took the now-crushed ingredients and poured them into her cauldron one by one, swirling around the mixture before taking a wooden ladle and filling a glass vial with the green potion. Zecora held the vial out for Twilight to take into her magical grip.
“There you are, my magically inclined friend,” Zecora smiled as the vial floated out of her grasp, surrounded in a purple glow, “now, what of this trick you said you would perform at the end?”
Twilight looked slightly annoyed at having her spells called “tricks”, as they reminded her of Trixie, exactly the kind of pony Twilight never wanted to become, but she answered nonetheless. “It’s a spell to teleport objects without me going along with them. It’s useful not only because it’s fast, but because it takes less energy than if I were to teleport myself, meaning I could send objects much farther than I can teleport. This means that not only can I send letters to the Princess myself, but other unicorns who aren’t as… mentally inclined,” Twilight blushed when she said that; even after the talk she got from her friends after the incident with Trixie, Twilight was still shy when it came to talking about her magical abilities to anypony other than Princess Celestia, “can teleport objects, even if they can’t teleport themselves.”
Zecora smiled, even though she hardly understood anything of what Twilight just said. “If it succeeds, I’m sure it would be interesting indeed, so cast it and we shall see.”
Twilight smiled back, part in confidence of her skills, and part because Zecora was being supportive even though it was obvious just how much she understood of the spell. “Well then, here goes,” the unicorn said to encourage herself before her horn started to glow and she opened her mind’s eye. As always, she spotted the glowing streams of magic, the leylines that she used to teleport. However, something was off; the lines looked… fuzzy and indistinct. Twilight was confused until she realized that she was on the wrong frequency for teleporting. She mentally facehoofed before trying to remember what frequency she was supposed to be on.
‘Let’s see, what was it… oh yeah, it was 40.1 Kiimehertz!’ Satisfied that she had the right frequency, Twilight tuned into that frequency, and the field of leylines surrounding her changed, and more importantly, clarified. She selected the one heading towards Ponyville and cast the spell. She opened her eyes and…
The spell had worked! The vial was gone from the hut, and she felt the absence of energy that signified a successful spell. Smiling, Twilight bid Zecora goodbye before heading back to Ponyville.
“Just remember, Twilight Sparkle, remember this well: if there is anything you cannot fix with a spell, come see me, and I will have a remedy.” Zecora bid Twilight goodbye in return before trotting back into her hut and closing the door.
The trip back through the Everfree forest was uneventful, and once Twilight was back in Ponyville, she immediately headed home since she didn’t have anything left to do but read and she didn’t have any obligations toward anypony. A few minutes after she got settled in, however, Rarity walked in and called for her. When Twilight got to the main area of the library, she saw that Rarity was clearly upset.
“Twilight, dear,” the alabaster unicorn started, talking in her elegant fashion as she prided herself in doing, “where is the cure that you went to Zecora’s hut to get? Sweetie Belle’s flu isn’t getting better very quickly on its own.”
Confused, Twilight tilted her head before replying. “I thought I sent it back here, to Ponyville, before I left Zecora’s hut. I didn’t take it with me, and it wasn’t in Zecora’s hut when I left, so the spell must have worked.”
Rarity let out a huff. She didn’t doubt her friend’s magical ability, but when her younger sister was in trouble or hurt she tended to not think rationally. “Well then, maybe your spell didn’t work right. After all, it certainly didn’t appear in the boutique. Are you sure you did everything correctly?”
The magically-inclined unicorn was sure she did everything right, but she checked everything anyway. The vial leaving Zecora’s hut? Check. The spending of magic on Twilight’s part? Check. The correct frequency? Che-
Twilight’s eyes shot open in shock as she realized what she had done wrong. The reason that frequency stood out to her was because of her recent adventure involving it, and now she knew there was a problem.
’40.1 Kiimehertz?! How could I be so stupid?! That’s-‘
Twilight never finished that thought, as her train of thought was interrupted by a scream right before a rainbow blur crashed into her library through the window.
An unfamiliarrainbow blur.
Hey everyone! That’s the end of the first chapter! This is my first story, so I have no idea how I did, or if this is even of any merit. In any case, DO NOT hold back when it comes to criticizing me. If you want to say something, go ahead and say it; I can take any kind of verbal abuse you guys throw at me, and if it’s positive reinforcement, then it will do nothing but help! I would also like for someone to proofread for me, so if you want to, PM me and I’ll consider having you as a proofreader (at which point I will give you the password to read my chapters before I submit them)! Also, for those of you who don’t recognize the “40.1 Kiimehertz” reference, and more importantly, the significance of that term, don’t worry. You’ll get another hint in a few chapters and a few chapters after that, if a lot of people still don’t get it, I’ll tell you what it is if someone asks. Thanks!