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// Sky Factory 02 
// Story: The Many Destinies of Sunset Shimmer 
// by ratedoni 
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I hope you both will excuse me for the way in which I took you both from your normal lives; although, considering the way things were going you have to admit some things weren’t as good as before. I’m not blaming either of you for what happened, it is a fixed point of time that cannot be removed or modified and I am not powerful enough to do something on that scale, at least for now.

Your world is okay, it is right now frozen in in one second so everything will be just like you left them before that amazing laser fight you both had. That doesn’t mean everything is alright but I am working on fixing the tear that caused everything. As you are reading this you will have many questions about me and the world you inhabit now, well, let me answer some of those questions with this nice guide I created for you.

My name is Madeleine and some people have called me The White Queen; I am but a simple traveler across the multiverse who has no intention of interrupting your daily life but when something of this magnitude happens there are some people that step in and save you all, sadly they are busy right now with a very dangerous entity so I had to do it this time. Do not worry, you are not in danger of being attacked by this entity but that still doesn’t mean you are safe or out of danger, that’s why I put you two in this pocket dimension. Basically, you are the only two beings in existence on this world, with the exception of the tree you are standing up; I didn’t have enough time to create more things, but do not fret; from this mighty tree you will be able to get everything you need to not only continue your lives, but to master magic and technology that exist in this pocket dimension and -if everything goes well- you will be able to create a portal to your very own world once again.

How does this work? Well, that’s the crazy part and you have to trust me on this. This world is made out of blocks; all these blocks can interact with each other in many different ways and can even create new stuff when you put several pieces together. Physics are a little wonky right now so expect strange things that make no sense, but since this is a pocket dimension things will be stable enough.

I know what you are thinking. How could you get enough stuff to create new things? I mean, you are on top of a tree that is planted on a block of dirt that is floating in the middle of the air on a void world. If you have ever heard of the phrase ex nihilo nihil fit, then forget it, because you can create stuff out of a very little piece if you know what you are doing.

This book contain several tips and information on how to advance through what you can call eras; starting from the wood age to the point where you will be able to build anything you can imagine until you are back home. So why am I putting you in this challenge? Because I know that if I didn’t give you something to do and think about you two would be bored out of your minds; you will thank me later.

This book has most of its information locked behind very strong seals and will only unlock once you advance through the challenges that are written inside; this is so you will be able to think about each and every step and not try to jump through them with no idea how to do things, so, this is me Madeleine hoping you girls have a great adventure in this world in the sky. Have fun.

“And that is that she wrote, or at least what is available right now.” Sunset said while Twilight had her eyebrows furrowed at the mountain of information that they were given. Not only where they trapped in a pocket dimension -if she could even believe the book, but really, how couldn’t you believe in a book?-, she was trapped alongside the one girl that had warned her about using magic like that. Just as she was falling into that train of thought she felt Sunset’s hand on her shoulder. Looking at her she only saw a confident smile, but more than that, it was serene and understanding.

“How can you take all this in stride?”

“Is not my first dalliance with a pocket dimension, you could even say that my previous teacher used one or two as she taught me. Don’t worry Twilight, I promise I will bring you back to our world, you are not alone in this and I will do my best.”

“Then I will do too,” Twilight nodded at the other teenager as Sunset once more opened the book and checked the few lines that were visible in the book. The instructions were simple and even had some lines of writing explaining stuff, but instead of getting ahead of herself she read the first one.

“Okay, here it is the first thing; ‘As you wake up in this new world, you may find yourself in the middle of the air. To start everything simply break two blocks of the tree, then check your pocket and do what you can with those pieces to make the floor. Be quick though, since the leaves will disappear from the tree and you will to manually destroy a block of leaves to get more seeds for more trees. You need a lot of trees to make this world as woody as you can’.”

“Well, that is helpful, or is it? I don’t know how to take it right now,” Twilight said after hearing the instructions that were left for them “what does it mean by breaking blocks of wood? We cannot do that with our hands, they will break before we do anything to the tree!” She said trying not to start pacing around the top of the tree considering how little space they had in there.

Sunset simply shrugged going through her pockets to see if she could find anything else she could use or anything she may have missed. After a couple of seconds rummaging she visibly brightened as she took out something from her jacket’s inner pocket. Looking at it she found a small tablet of 4 spaces with another one in the top right corner. Sunset’s eyes widened recognizing the instrument and how useful it could be for them.

“No way… is this a transmutation tablet? Well, a very, and I meant very, basic one, but this is awesome!”

“What are you talking about?”

“This is… well, an item that very few wizards use where I came from; they are very rare and only a few still exist, but the uses that we have of this are practically limitless. What did the book say? Break the first two blocks?” At the same time the two girls nodded and with their fists they slightly hit the top block of grass. A few seconds later it simply broke off leaving no traces behind much to their surprise; the way it broke apart was surprising, but nothing like watching the wood underneath the grass block.

“Is everything made out of blocks?”

“I’m just happy we are not affected like by this world and we keep our own bodies, I don’t want to imagine myself as someone made out of blocks,” Sunset answered as she began to hit the wood, watching as small cracks began to appear and spread. In the blink of their eyes, the wood block broke like the leaves, but instead of disappearing, the only thing that happened was that it turned into a small version of itself that seemed to float above the surface of the block underneath it “alright, I wasn’t expecting that.” And with that, the race for survival as on.