//------------------------------// // Lies // Story: Portal to Another World // by Backburner //------------------------------// The room was an office type space; clothes dotted the largely empty ground. A small bed sat in the corner of the room next to a simple desk with a chair in front of it, atop the desk was another machine looking object shaped like a cube with a glass front and plastic on all other sides. It was the opposite wall, however, that caught Twilight’s attention the most. On it was a large poster about two by three feet. It was covered with a collection of ponies from Ponyville. Princess Celestia, Spike, she even saw herself on there, but how could this picture exist? Roger walked to the machine on the desk and sat down in the chair, pressing a button on the side of the plastic cube. The glass lit up with another picture, this time of Twilight and her friends huddled around a large sign. My Little Pony: Friendship is magic, it was written in Roger’s language. Twilight knew THIS picture was fake, it had to be, she had never seen anything like this before. Roger turned toward Twilight; his face was serious, but compassionate. “Look, this isn’t going to be easy, but I really need to tell you this. When I found you in the woods all sorts of things ran through my head, I never thought I’d get an opportunity like this. You see… this picture is from your television show.” Twilight, remarkably, knew what this meant. The dictionary she had absorbed contained a plethora of words for which there were no equestrian equivalents, one such word was television. If she was on a television show… “Roger, I don’t understand. Do you mean I’m an actor or…” “No Twilight, you’re from an animated show. You have a voice actor, but there isn’t anyone like you here.” “You have a word for pony, if you have a television show about us you must have had something to reference as to what we look like, are other Equestrians here?” “I’m afraid not Twilight, the ponies we have aren’t from Equestria.” Not from Equestria, how was that possible? All ponies came from Equestria didn’t they? “Roger, this doesn’t make sense, are you telling me I’m not real?” She asked it flatly, expecting the answer, but Roger took on a worried expression when she asked this. “No! No if you’re here you must be real, you can talk and look like any other living creature. In order to get here in the first place you must have been real.” “If I’m on a television show how could I end up here? How could I be here if what you’re saying is true?” “I don’t know Twilight, I don’t have any experience with magic. What exactly did you tell the portal that brought you here?” Twilight looked away from the screen and sat in the doorway staring at the floor. “I don’t remember exactly, everypony wanted something different. Not to rainy, or cold, or windy, I…” Twilight’s voice trailed off as she remembered what Applejack had told her. “We told it to take us as far away from Ponyville as possible.” Twilight didn’t need to say anymore. A world where you don’t exist is farther away then you could ever get. Roger looked at her sympathetically; he adjusted in his seat as silence gripped the room. Twilight now understood what was going on, her magic, Rainbow and Fluttershys wings, Pinkies…Pinkie, all didn’t exist here. It wasn’t the portal or the surroundings that weakened them, it was the fact they didn’t belong here. Twilight stood up and walked back toward the staircase, Roger didn’t follow. What was she going to tell the others? How could she tell them? It’s not every day you walk up to a pony and tell them they don’t exist, never existed. How is this possible? When she returned to her friends they gathered around her noticed her morbid expression and bombarded her with questions. “What’s the matter darling?” asked Rarity. “What did that thing do to you?” Rainbow said, her wings sticking straight up as her nostrils flared. “Come on Twilight what’d he tell ya?” Pinkie said jumping onto the couch expecting Twilight to join her. Twilight’s original intention was to rest on the couch before starting, but as the ponies’ questions and faces became more intense she cracked. “Girls, it’s bad. I don’t think we’re going to be going home.” She said. The questioning stopped as the group processed this statement. “Whatcha mean by that Twilight?” Applejack said worriedly. “Exactly what I said, Roger showed me something, and I don’t think you’re going to like it.” “Well darling I don’t like being left out of a scandal, I think the suspense would kill me faster than anything you could tell us would.” Rarity stated. Twilight looked at the faces of her friends, how could she tell them? Tears snaked down her face as she began. “Girls, we’re a lot farther from home then we thought.” How would they react? “Roger told me where he believes Equestria is and he has some pretty convincing evidence.” Did they really need to know? Twilight paused to ponder this. They all trusted her, believed she could get them home. How could she tell them there was no home to go back to, At least not one that they would ever truly be able to call real again? Did they need to know? “What is it sugar cube?” Applejack asked. Twilight wiped away her tears and put on a stony face. “Equestria is…” The ponies looked up at her hopefully eyes wide and expecting. “I’ll be right back.” Twilight said as she bolted from the room leaving behind a stunned audience. Roger was making his way slowly down the stairs when Twilight rushed past him “Hey!” he called after her “Twilight where are you going?” Twilight ran into the room Roger had shown her and tore the picture off the wall. “TWILIGHT WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” Roger nearly screamed when he caught up and saw this. “How do you turn this thing off?” Twilight asked pointing to the glowing box on the table. Roger rushed over to the machine and pressed the same button he had earlier. The screen went dark as he turned to face the frantic Twilight. “Do you have anything else with us on it?” Twilight said as she neatly folded the picture into a small cube with her magic. “Twilight hold up, what’s all this about? Why are you ruining my poster?” “Roger I’ll explain in a minute, do you have anything else with us on it, yes or no?” Twilight’s voice was intent and serious. “My bedspread, I have a comforter of you and Celestia.” “Where?” “Next door to the left.” Twilight galloped out of the room, poster held tight in her mouth as she carried the machine behind her using her magic. When she reached the door she thankfully found it slightly cracked and pushed it open with her nose. Tossing the folded poster and machine onto the comforter she folded the entire bedspread over itself so none of the picture showed. Roger entered the room as she pulled the bundle off the bed. “Is that all you have?” “Yes that’s everything, now will you please tell me what’s going on here?” Twilight looked around the room and spotted a window in the wall opposite the door, opening it using her magic she pushed the bundle through. Before Roger could react she had dropped it to the ground and peered out to see if any of the image shown. When she was satisfied the other ponies wouldn’t find it; she turned back to a speechless Roger. “I’m sorry Roger, but I can’t have the other ponies seeing these things. I don’t want them to find out we’re not in Equestria.” Roger slowly nodded his head; his expression locked in a concerned stare, as Twilight continued. “Everypony is counting on me to get them home, and I need them to keep up hope until I can find a way to do that. I’m sorry to ask this of you Roger, but is it possible for us to stay here tonight? We don’t have many other options and you already know who we are so you might be able to help us.” Roger nodded again. “Twilight I don’t mind if you stay but do you think-” Twilight didn’t stick around to hear any more. Darting around Roger she made her way back downstairs, pausing at the top of the staircase to change her speed and pretend she had been walking the whole time. Shocked ponies stood silently outside the room Twilight had left them in watching her approach. When Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs she looked up at Roger standing on the upper floor. Motioning with a hoof for him to follow her, she approached the group of her friends. The ponies shared similar faces of confusion, their focus strictly on Twilight. “I’m sorry about that everypony,” Twilight said. “I needed to convince Roger to come and help me explain. He can do it a lot better than I can.” Twilight’s smile was obviously forced, but the skeptical ponies accepted her answer before and were quickly ushered back into the living room. When Roger reached the bottom of the stairs Twilight quickly turned to him. “Did you get all that Roger?” “What, you mean all that… pony speech? No Twilight I can’t understand you when you do that.” Roger replied. Twilight was still getting used to switching languages, but the fact only she could understand Roger was what gave her this idea. “I hate to do this, but I don’t want everypony to panic when they find out we’re not in Equestria. Right now we all just need to calm down a bit so I can figure out what to do. I’m the one who brought us here and It’s my responsibility to get us back, a bunch of panicked ponies isn’t going to help with that so I need your help to convince them you know where we are. I’ll find a way to break the news to them when the time is right.” “Twilight, I don’t think it’s a good idea to lie to your friends. What would Applejack say?” But Twilight had made up her mind; she walked into the room without giving an answer and took up her same spot on the couch. Roger stood in the doorway casting a disapproving look at Twilight before the other ponies could notice him. “Everypony you’ve already met him, but this creatures name is Roger.” Twilight pointed to Roger with a hoof as his expression changed to one of a calm smile. “What kind of name is Roger?” Rainbow Dash said smugly. “It sounds so… like what can you do with a Roger?” Pinkie jumped up from the corner of the room. “What’cha mean dashie!?! You can do all kinds of things with Roger! We can go kite flying or scuba diving or cupcake eating or room painting or hang gliding or banana hammocking or cow chasing or Canterlot yodeling or interning or beetle chasing or..." “Pinkie that’s not what I mean!” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “With normal names you can kind of tell who the pony is. Applejack works on the apple farm, Twilight Sparkle knows magic. But what the hay is a Roger?” Rainbow Dash made a good point. “I’ll ask him.” Twilight said, happy to delay telling the ponies where they were, she turned to Roger. “What does your name mean?” Roger looked confused. “What do you mean Twilight, like what’s it mean in your language? I told you I don’t speak pony.” “No Roger, I mean what do you do? What’s your job?” “I’m a farmer.” Twilight repeated that to the ponies. “Well, I coulda told y’all that.” Applejack said. “What type a farmer is it?” “He.” Twilight said. “He.” Applejack repeated. “They want to know what type of farmer.” Twilight told Roger. “Well I mostly grow wheat and corn, but recently I started raising horses.” Twilight perked up at this. Horses? Other creatures like her? Granted no pony had seen a horse since the times of caveponies but it was something. What did he mean by he ‘raises’ them? “Why do you raise horses? Can’t they raise themselves?” Roger searched for a response. “Well…they can, and some of them do. But I don’t think you’re thinking of the same thing I am.” Twilight tried to form a response, but before she could say anything Rainbow Dash interrupted. “So what did HE say, Twilight, don’t keep us hanging.” Twilight turned to her friends. “He grows wheat, corn and…‘raises horses.’” The other ponies were just as confused as Twilight. “You mean he takes care of them?” Fluttershy asked. “Twilight that’s silly.” Pinkie added. “Horses aren’t real, maybe he was just telling you a little pony tale. “I don’t think so, he said it’s different from what we might think.” The ponies sat pondering this. Fluttershy spoke first. “Can we see them?” she asked. Twilight thought about this, maybe one of the horses could tell them how they got here. Maybe they could tell them how to get home. Twilight turned to Roger. “Do you think we could see the horses you…‘raise’?” Roger looked surprised at the suggestion. He looked at the ponies and tried to look calmer than Twilight knew he was. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, my horses aren’t…” “Your horses?” Twilight said, “what do you mean by that?” Roger froze, Twilight could tell he was hiding something. “Roger, what do you mean when you say you raise horses?” Roger dropped his false smile. “Twilight you don’t want to know.” Twilight stared at Roger square in the eyes. His sorrowful look returned by her questioning gaze. “If you know me as well as you say, you’ll know that’s a lie.” A long pause followed, each passing moment brought no change in either of their faces. “I’ll get my truck keys.” Roger finally said with a dejected tone as he turned around and made his way to the stairs. “Are we going to see the horses?” Fluttershy asked. “I think so.” Twilight responded. “Looks like I’ll have to tell you where we are later girls.” “I wonder what these horses are like, being so far away from our civilized culture I’m sure we’ll be treated like royalty.” Rarity said checking her mane in the glass of the coffee table. “This place not city enough for ya Rarity?” Applejack said. “I woulda thought you’d love being in a place big enough to actually hold your ego.” Rarity ignored the orange mare and continued with her touch ups. When Roger returned the six ponies followed him outside and were loaded into the machine. “Roger can I ask you something?” Twilight said. “Sure Twilight, I’ll do my best to answer anything you want to know.” “You said a truck driver told you where we were. If I’m right you referred to what you’ve got us in now as a truck. Are you telling me this machine is called the same as that huge thing he was driving?” Roger thought it over before responding. “ Well it’s more to do with transporting things then the size of the vehicle. Both this truck and his truck take things from place to place. That’s why they’re called the same thing, they perform the same task. Understand?” Twilight nodded and Roger got into the front of the truck Fluttershy shrieked when the truck started, but once they started to move she calmed down. Roger drove around the house allowing Twilight to get a good look at the building, it was even bigger than she thought, with easily double as much space as Applejack’s barn. “Oh Celastia that’s big.” Rainbow Dash said. “I wonder if clouds hit the top of it when they float by?” Twilight looked up to see clouds lazily floating across the sky. “Wait a second, I just got an idea.” Rainbow’s wings shot straight up as she stood in the back of the truck. “Why don’t we just wait for the next cloud squad to find us?” “What are ya talking about Rainbow, the cloud patrol just came through Ponyville yesterday. They won’t know we’re gone from Ponyville for at least a week and they don’t know where we are any more than we do.” Applejack countered. “No, look up at the clouds.” Rainbow Dash pointed at the sky as everypony looked up. “Oh Dashie that’s brilliant! if we’re close to Equestria we can just wait for a passing cloud patrol. We’ll be home in no time!” Pinkie elated. “Now hold up, Twilight never said we were close to Equestria, she said Roger knew where it was.” Rarity interjected, “Twilight, do you think we’re close enough for a cloud patrol to find us?” Twilight didn’t know how to respond, on the one hoof she hated lying to her friends, but on the other she couldn’t let them worry about how they we’re going to get back. “Umm…Roger says where a couple of miles from the edge of Equestria’s borders. I don’t think any patrols come out this far.” “Well if they won’t come to us why can’t we go to them? They’re only a few miles away, we can make that journey.” Rainbow said, getting revved up. Twilight had to think of something quick. “It’s not that easy Rainbow, we can’t just walk back.” “Why not?” Rarity started. “Darling I’m not much of a fan of trudging along for miles, but I want to get home sometime before Sweetie Bell ruins everything I own.” “Roger hasn’t told me exactly what’s stopping us, but we can’t do that. I’m working on it, I promise.” Rainbow realized Twilight was shooting down her idea and sat back down, folding her wings back at her sides. “Great, I almost thought I’d be able to fly for a moment.” Twilight winced at Rainbow’s words, she didn’t like this, but what other options did she have? Roger had taken a path around the back of his house that went relatively straight through fields of corn. As the group finished their conversation the corn began to give way to a large fenced field. At first there was no signs of the horses, but soon the ponies could see them in the distance. Roger stopped the truck and turned it off. He got out and carried the ponies one at a time to the fence. It was a good four feet high and Twilight was surprised he could place them on the ground inside of it before letting go. When all six of them were inside the enclosure, Roger climbed over and started walking into the middle of the field. The ponies followed, and Twilight could tell they were all nervously eager to see the locals. As they got closer to where the horses were gathered, Roger stopped. He turned to Twilight and said, “Last chance to turn back.” Twilight responded by walking past Roger toward the gathering. The horses were about as tall as Princess Celestia, easily hitting five feet. When Twilight approached one it snorted and got up on its hind legs, waving its fore hooves in the air. Twilight didn’t know how to respond. “Hello, we’re from out of town, what’s your name?” The horse set itself down and turned away from Twilight. She managed to see its lack of cutie mark before it galloped away. “Well that was rude.” Rarity said. “Couldn’t take the time to show a young mare around the…field?” “Where are all their houses?” Twilight asked. “They don’t have any.” Roger said. “I’ve got a barn for them to sleep in but a lot of the time they stay outside to sleep under the stars.” “What? Why do you do that? It’s borderline abuse!” “They want to.” Roger replied. The group of ponies walked around the field approaching horse after horse to no avail. Each time the group tried to communicate with one of them they received no response. After nearly an hour of fruitless effort, the ponies made their way back to Roger who had been observing them from a small hill on the way back to the truck. “Roger,” Twilight said. “Why won’t anypony talk to us?” “Twilight I told you this wasn’t going to be what you’re used to.” “Roger…what’s going on here?” Roger sighed, “I only raise horses, but if I had any other animals you’d find that all creatures act the same here. They don’t talk, or live in cities, or do anything like you or I can. On this world you not only don’t exist, but outside the human species there’s nothing, nobody and nopony, like you. I didn’t want to tell you, but you gave me no choice. They won’t talk to you because they can’t, they don’t understand you; they’re not sentient beings.” Twilight’s eyes fogged up. Maybe it was all the stress finally catching up to her, maybe it was what Roger had said, but somehow knowing there was nopony else who wasn’t a world away to talk to planted a rock in her stomach. She kept herself from crying as she turned to her friends; did they need to know? “He says horses don’t talk here, there mute.” Another lie, but Twilight told herself it was for the best. “Twilight I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a mute horse.” Rarity said. “But then again we’ve never seen a creature like Roger a’fore today” Applejack said. “I want to go home” Fluttershy wailed unable to keep back her tears. “So much for waiting ‘till we get home to cry.” Pinkie pie said. While the other ponies went to comfort Fluttershy, Twilight and Roger locked eyes. “I’m sorry.” Roger said. Twilight said nothing, but hung her head. Roger walked up to her and knelt on both knees. Before Twilight could react he lifted her head and wrapped his fore legs around her neck in an embrace. Twilight did not return it, but pressed her cheek against the side of his face. “I think it would be best, if you took us back to your home.”