//------------------------------// // Clearing // Story: Portal to Another World // by Backburner //------------------------------// The journey (If you can call it that) was instantaneous. Twilight had closed her eyes, only realizing she had walked into the portal when the terrain beneath her hooves changed from the hard floor of the library into wet grass. Twilight’s first feeling after realizing she was no longer in her home was that of fatigue. Washing over her entire being was a sense of sleepiness; even her magic that in her longest study sessions had proven inexhaustible, now felt significantly reduced. Twilight had not read of such fatigue in the book, she attributed her feelings to nervousness and shook her head to clear it with little effect. As the portal closed behind her Twilight observed the new place she found herself in. All around her was a hilly forest, but the portal had placed Twilight and her friends in a relatively large, flat, and open clearing surrounded on all sides by trees. Twilight noticed her friends exploring the clearing. Applejack was at the opposite side looking at some of the leaves that had fallen from the trees. Nearby Pinkie Pie attempted to climb one of the smaller trees that had unusually large branches closer to the bottom. Rainbow Dash alternated between flying around twenty feet off the ground over the clearing and walking around the area with Fluttershy trailing behind. Rarity had taken the liberty of unpacking everypony’s saddlebags and was arranging the picnic in the center of the clearing. A large red cloth had been spread on the ground that was starting to amass a good selection of apple based foods. However Twilight immediately noticed that something was wrong. “Rarity, can I have a word with you?” Twilight said as she approached the white mare. Rarity, who had been arranging the food in the middle of the cloth, looked up at Twilight. “Why aren’t you using your magic?” Rarity frowned at Twilight as she put down the small apple pie she had been holding between her hooves. “Twilight it’s the strangest thing, I can use my magic, but for some reason it’s a lot harder to do the simplest of spells. And anything but the basics is impossible. I tried to simply open the bags and get this fabric out to use as a picnic blanket. But just unfolding it left me exhausted. I couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to try and do anything else.” “Now this is just a question Rarity, but are you feeling, tired? Or is it only your magic?” “Now that you mention it, that portal made me incredibly sleepy, but am I not supposed to feel this way?” “I don’t know, I mean everypony else seams to be unaffected. Maybe the portal just has a different affect on unicorns.” Just as Twilight said that Rainbow Dash flew over to her, both of her wings beating profusely. When she reached Twilight and Rarity she dropped down onto her hoofs. “Boy, I don’t know where we are, but it’s hard flying. I can barely get thirty feet before my wings start to hurt. It takes all my energy to move forward at just a moderate speed. And Fluttershy’s doing even worse.” Rainbow Dash and Twilight looked to see Fluttershy slowly walking toward them breathing hard, her wings hung at her side. Twilight looked beyond Fluttershy to Applejack, she was circling a tree appearing to observe the pink flowers that where emerging from the many small buds dotting the branches. “There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with Applejack.” “Maybe you just can’t see it from so far away.” Said Rarity, a slight amount of concern detectable in her voice. “Although I think it’s a good sign I don’t see Pinkie Pie anywhere.” It was true; Twilight couldn’t see the pink pony anywhere in the clearing, the tree she had been attempting to climb now had a branch broken off. “This doesn’t feel right, I think we should go see if the others are feeling like we are. At the very least Fluttershy looks like she could use a hoof.” Her own weariness forgotten, Twilight started a slow trot to Fluttershy. With her friends following behind her, Twilight was just about to reach the exhausted looking pony when Fluttershy collapsed. Twilight quickly changed her pace, running to the place she saw the pegasus fall, her friends close behind. Fluttershy made small movements in the grass around her. At first Twilight feared the worst, but as she drew closer she discovered Fluttershy had only fallen asleep. The three standing ponies gathered around her unsure what to do. Applejack apparently saw what had happened and had rushed to the group. “What the hay is wrong with Fluttershy, is the poor mare ok?” Fluttershy opened her eyes and wearily lifted her head to see the ponies around her. “Why is everypony looking at me like that, what happened?” She asked, with her lack of strength apparent in her voice. “I think you fainted, Fluttershy.” Said Twilight inching closer to her friend to help her up. “Must have worn you out trying to keep up with me.” Said Rainbow Dash confidently. “You alright, sugar cube?” Said Applejack. Supporting one side of Fluttershy as Twilight helped her up with her nose. “I’m, I’m just so tired…” Said Fluttershy now standing dazed and leaning heavily on Applejack. “Tired?” said Applejack, apparently unfazed by the extra weight. “But we just got here. “You’re telling me you don’t feel the least bit drained?” said Rarity. “No, we’ve only been ‘ere two minutes, I’d think y’all had a might more spunk then that.” Applejack said confused. “It’s not that Applejack.” Said Twilight. “I think the portal might have affected us in some way. Rarity is having difficulty using her magic, and I don’t know if my own abilities are running at full strength either. Rainbow’s told me she’s finding flying difficult here, and you just saw what happened to Fluttershy after attempting flight.” Applejack looked to each of the ponies and then back at Twilight. “Now I ain’t the brightest mare in Equestria, but this don’t sound to good. I reckon we best find another place to have our picnic.” Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash. “Do you think you could go with Applejack and try to find Pinkie? Rarity and I will stay here with Fluttershy and try to open a portal back to Ponyville.” Rainbow Dash nodded as Applejack tried to keep Fluttershy standing but eventually had to set her back on the ground before she sped off into the woods; Rainbow made two feeble attempts to take off before angrily galloping after Applejack. Twilight turned to Rarity and told her how to work the spell. The white mare asked no questions and soon the two unicorns were charging their magic. Twilight was amazed at how difficult it was to focus on her task; every second was harder than the last and they hadn’t even started the spell. As first Twilight and then Rarity began to direct their magic, the line began to draw itself toward the sky. Even with Rarity’s help however progress was incredibly slow. Twilight couldn’t help but worry when she saw this. A task only moments ago she completed without effort had somehow become ridiculously difficult even for two unicorns to complete. As the line grew it became too hard to focus the magic; Twilight fell to her knees as her horn stopped glowing. The spell was too much for Rarity to hold on her own and it quickly dissipated. What’s going on here, what’s happened to her magic? Twilight couldn’t think straight. Once Rarity had stopped her magic she dropped her head breathing hard. As Twilight turned to see her friend, she was amazed that Rarity was able to walk next to her and help her up. Twilight felt completely depleted, every fiber of her being felt spent. She groaned as she stood up, leaning on Rarity for support. But Rarity was not as strong as Applejack, barley able to support the weight, and wobbling on her hooves. The three ponies made a rather sad sight, Twilight and Rarity panting and magically spent, and Fluttershy barely able to keep her eyes open. But as the two unicorns caught their breath and Twilight eased off Rarity, Rainbow Dash came galloping back from the woods. “Oh Rainbow darling,” Rarity said, with relief plain in her voice. “Please tell me you’ve found Pinkie and we can start figuring out our next move.” But Rainbow Dash’s face was full of worry. When she had caught her breath she began to speak. “We found Pinkie, but she found something else. There’s this, it’s, it’s like a line but it’s, it doesn’t matter. Theirs something wrong with Pinkie, she’s acting funny, like funny even for her! Twilight you have to come fix this.” Twilight was still tired from her attempt at opening the portal, but hearing the gravity of the situation in Rainbows voice she began to walk toward the forest in the direction Rainbow Dash had come. The rest of the ponies, including Fluttershy who virtually dragged herself along, followed at the pace Twilight set, Rarity filling Rainbow Dash in on the attempt at reopening the portal. “But you can open it right, if you try again you can do it can’t you?” “I don’t know Rainbow, we gave it our best shot.” Said Rarity sullenly. Rainbow Dash refused to accept that answer, She galloped up to Twilight who hadn’t said a word since they began walking to find Pinkie and Applejack. “Twilight, you’re the most powerful unicorn in Ponyville, tell me we’re going to be home once we get Pinkie to snap out of it.” Twilight stopped and turned to Rainbow Dash who was trying hard not to look worried. “I’ve been thinking about that Rainbow, and I don’t know. Until I find out what’s weakening my magic I don’t know what we’re going to do. For now we have to find Pinkie Pie and Applejack. When we find them I’ll work on getting us home.” Rainbow turned to Fluttershy and Rarity in desperation, but they returned looks that could provide no encouragement. Twilight continued walking deeper into the woods, the other ponies following behind. “Rainbow how much further is it to Applejack and Pinkie Pie.” “Not much further.” Said Rainbow Dash, her voice burdened by the knowledge of their peril. “We should be nearing the thing Pinkie Pie found about now. Twilight was incredibly curious as to what this thing was. From the description Rainbow Dash had given (or more appropriately lack of one) it sounded harmless. Although Rainbow's warning of Pinkie acting strange made it so Twilight didn’t know what to think. It was in a state of pondering what it could be that she noticed the ground under her hoofs had changed. Twilight looked down to see a solid black surface and jumped back as her hoof began to burn. Before the ponies was a long black line that stretched to the horizon on either side of them splitting the forest in two. As Twilight had observed firsthoof, the surface was smooth and hot. In the center of the line where two much thinner yellow lines that seemed to be painted on, and followed parallel the black lines course. “What’s this,” said Fluttershy, moving behind the rest of the ponies, her eyes now fully open and alert. “It looks like a really big shadow.” “I doubt it,” said Twilight “When I stepped on it, it burned my hoofs. Besides, the yellow lines in the middle don’t make it look like any shadow I’ve ever seen. I think it’s more likely this is a path of some sort considering how it cuts through the trees like that, but I’ve never seen a path like this before. I wonder what pony made it.” “Well it’s certainly wasn’t this pony, Black is not my color.” Said Rarity joining Fluttershy. “Even if it isn’t a shadow it doesn’t look very inviting.” Rainbow Dash stepped up to Twilight and looked both ways down the path. “I think they’re this way.” She said pointing to her right. Rainbow started off but the other ponies were less willing to continue traveling next to this newly discovered oddity. When Rainbow realized she was the only one walking she turned around to face the other ponies. “What are you three waiting for? All I want to do is go home, I don’t like this place, I don’t like being unable to fly, and I don’t want to waste time. Guys, this isn’t good, I know as much about this thing as you do, but it hasn’t jumped up to get me yet. When I left Applejack with Pinkie Pie, Pinkie didn’t look to good, and something serious could happen to her if we don’t hurry. Unless you can find them on your own this thing is the only way I know to guide us to them.” Twilight didn’t know what to say, exertion and worry clouded her mind. A silence followed broken only by the sounds of the woods. Rarity was the first to break the stillness of the scene. “Darling I’m sorry, there really are bigger things at stake here and I’m sure everypony knows this. But we don’t know what this is, and if it made Pinkie act differently how do we know it won’t do the same to us?” Twilight looked at Rarity, despair taking the place of the confusion. “We don’t, but if we don’t get moving we’ll go insane from standing around wondering what is the best choice.” Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash, and the sight of cyan pony smiling at her put a slight amount of confidence in her stance. “Lead the way Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow Dash seized the opportunity, and before more protest could be heard started off again followed closely by Twilight. Rarity reluctantly followed shadowed by a terrified Fluttershy. It wasn’t long before they spotted Applejack trying to calm Pinkie Pie, who sat near the path crying a steady stream of light tears. Applejack sat beside her talking too softly for the other ponies to hear. Applejack spotted the group from a distance and greeted them with a sigh of relief. “I calmed her fits as best I could. But this fillies got allot of her marbles missing right now.” Applejack said running a hoof down Pinkie’s now straight mane. “What’s wrong with the poor dear?” Said Rarity, her concern quickly replacing weariness and fear. “Oh girls,” said Pinkie Pie choking back a sob. “I hate it here. At first I thought this would be fun, a picnic with my friends on a sunny day. But after I went through the portal I started to feel weird. I couldn’t bounce nearly as high as before and I got really tired. I tried to climb a tree by bouncing up it, but the branch broke out from under me, that NEVER happens!” “Now, now, sugar cube it’s all right, don’t fret.” Said Applejack continuing to stroke Pinkie’s mane. “I thought I’d go look for a town nearby, to invite some new ponies to our picnic. But as I walked through the forest I was hit on the head by a falling branch. Normally I wouldn’t mind, it didn’t hurt that much. But what bugged me was my Pinkie sense didn’t tell me I was in danger. I didn’t feel a thing!” “Now darling that’s alright, all of us have had strange things happen to our talents.” Said Rarity in an attempt to soothe Pinkie. “But that’s not the worst part!” said Pinkie, fresh tears flowing down her already wet cheeks and into her mane. “I tried to do that thing, where I fit behind a really skinny tree and nopony can see me, but I fell flat on my face, so I tried singing a song to make myself feel better. But I couldn’t hear any music, NOTHING!” Pinkie’s tears streamed full force down her face; her sobs shook her body as she looked up at her friends. “Hey, Pinkie don’t start crying like that, it’s not all that bad.” Said Rainbow Dash stepping closer. “Oh, Dashy it is this bad, I was so afraid when I couldn’t hear the music that I started to run into the woods. I didn’t know where I was going, I just didn’t want to be here. That’s how I found this.” She gestured to the path with both hooves. “I tried to figure out what it was. But it looked so strange and when I tried to turn my head upside down to get a different view I fell over onto my side. I couldn’t help it anymore, I sat up and started to cry. I’d been here only five minutes and I felt so different. Twilight please oh please take me home.” “Pinkie, I’m sorry you’re so upset,” Began Twilight, choosing her words carefully. “But Rarity and I had trouble opening the portal. Something about this place is preventing us all from using our talents. I promise as soon as I find out what it is we can leave.” Pinkie Pie turned away from Twilight and the others as she continued to cry. “Now why did you have to go and tell her someth’n like that.” Applejack’s voice was harsh as she turned to Twilight. She stopped stroking Pinkie’s mane and walked over to the group of ponies. “Can’t y’all see she’s upset enough, I don’t know what’s going on here but we better do SOMETH’N or Pinkie is gonna have a breakdown.” “Darling I think we’re already at the point of a breakdown.” Said Rarity looking past Applejack at the sobbing Pinkie. “I’m sorry Applejack, but I didn’t want to get her hopes up.” Said Twilight. “Y’all wouldn’t be getting her hopes up, but even if ya did it’d be better then what’s goin on now. I ain’t seen a pony cry like that since Applebloom was born.” “This is bad girls,” said Twilight. “I don’t know what we’re going to do. We should probably get Pinkie back to where we left all our things. Maybe if Rarity and I try again we’ll be able to open the portal this time.” Rainbow Dash, who had been standing at the edge of the conversation, walked into the middle of the group and turned to Twilight. “That’s a plan, sounds great, but there’s just one problem. How are we going to get THAT back to the clearing.” The group turned to see Pinkies hopeless state. But as they stood pondering their options Fluttershy slowly approached the sobbing Pony. Twilight had forgotten Fluttershy was there. Her quiet nature and tired state had kept her out of the conversation. But as she approached Pinkie something held Twilight and the rest of the ponies from stopping her. “Pinkie Pie.” Fluttershy’s quiet voice was barely audible above Pinkie’s sobs. The ponies leaned in to hear, but none of them made a move to step closer. “This morning, I woke up to a sunny day. All the newly released bunnies were running around the field, and just as I thought I’d never be able to watch them all, a pony came bounding up the road. A smile plain on her face, and when she saw I was overwhelmed, she didn’t hesitate to help me.” Pinkie rubbed at her eyes with a hoof. “Fluttershy what are you trying to say? I remember coming to help you.” Fluttershy kept going as if she didn’t hear. “Then I was invited to a picnic. At first I didn’t want to go, but Rainbow wouldn’t take no for an answer. So once help had been found for Angel, I packed some things, and went to see all my friends excited and ready to go on another adventure. I was worried about Angel, I had no idea where I was going, and no idea when I’d be back.” Pinkie Pie had stopped crying, but she still snorted occasionally as she stared up at Fluttershy. “Then when I got here, I felt tired, I couldn’t fly without falling unconscious, all my friends felt at least as bad as me if not worse, and to top it all off I might not get to go home for hours, days, maybe ever.” Pinkie sniveled again but kept herself from crying, Fluttershy put out a hoof and held it on Pinkie’s shoulder so she wouldn’t turn away. “I’m not going to lie to you Pinkie. I want to do what you’re doing right now. I wish I could sit down and cry and make this go away. I’m terrified, if I ever make it back to Ponyville I’ll have a hard time stopping myself like I am now. But until we get home I can’t do that, everypony needs you to cheer up, we need your help.” “Fluttershy.” Pinkie said looking like she was about to start seriously sobbing again. “What can I do? Everything I’ve tried to do hasn’t worked out close to how I’m used to. I don’t know if I can do anything like I did back home.” “Pinkie Pie, do you remember your Element of Harmony?” Pinkie’s tears slowed, her face turned from sadness to confusion as she tried to turn away only to be stopped by Fluttershy’s hoof. “Laughter.” Pinkie said as Fluttershy smiled down at her. “You know I never thought that was right, I always thought it would be better to call you the element of joy. You make everypony laugh because you make them happy. You’re not just funny, you’re fun. Right now we’re in a bad situation, Twilight and Rarity have to focus on getting us home, Rainbow and I have to deal with not being able to get around like we’re used to, and this is riding all our nerves. If we ever needed you to make us laugh it’s now.” Pinkie stopped crying. Her eyes were wide as if expecting more. But Fluttershy said nothing as she lowered her hoof from Pinkies shoulder. Pinkie looked down at the ground before gazing at the ponies behind Fluttershy. Slowly, a smile crossed her tear stained face and her main puffed itself out. Fluttershy turned to walk back to the group and Pinkie followed behind her. “You’re welcome.” Said Fluttershy as she walked through the group and turned around to see the faces of her shocked companions and the shyly smiling Pinkie. The relative chaos of the past few minutes since their arrival finally caught up with the tired group leaving them emotionally spent and another silence deafened the little group before Applejack finally spoke. “Y’all, I think we should head back to our fixins. We came here for a picnic so we might as well have it afore we figure out what ta do.” Nopony could respond, so without another word they began walking back to the clearing. The journey was nearly as silent as the response to Applejack’s proposal. The sounds of the ponies hoofs ruffling the twigs and brush on the ground was the only thing anypony could hear. The time it took was shorter coming back and soon the ponies reached their destination. As the ponies circled around the blanket and the food upon it, each looked at the others to see who would make a move to eat. “Isn’t anypony hungry?” Said Rarity. The first of them to speak since they began walking. “No thanks, I lost my appetite trying to find Pinkie again.” Said Rainbow Dash. “I ain’t got much of a hunger nether.” Said Applejack. “I know this may sound weird.” Said Twilight as she looked around at her friends. “But we’re all pretty tiered, if we’re going to get home any time soon I think we should all try to rest.” “But it’s like, the middle of the day.” Said Rainbow Dash, not quite understanding. “Rainbow, your welcome to stay awake if you want to, but I’ve read that when confronted with a problematic situation sleep is often a good idea in order to help find a solution.” “I’m sorry Twilight but I must agree with Rainbow. I am a lady, and I will not be reduced to sleeping on the ground.” Said Rarity, her voice taking a serious tone. “Make up your own minds, but I’ve been tired since I got here and I’m going to sleep. Rarity, do you have any spare cloth?” Twilight said. “Of course darling, but I don’t think it would…” Rarity’s attempt at protest went unheeded as Twilight rustled through her bag. Seizing on a purple cloth, she took it to an area of the clearing a comfortable distance away. Laying it out on the ground she created a makeshift bed by folding the fabric into a neat (if thin) square. As she lay down upon it the fatigue of the journey and stress of the situation she found herself in overcame her. It wasn’t long before the pony had closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.