//------------------------------//
// [9] Through Line 
// Story: Hero Of Harmony 
// by MattTOB 
//------------------------------//

None of them could believe it; Twilight, in her semi-crazed state of desperation, had actually found Spike! They didn't want to encourage this type of behavior, but dang did it get results.

"Well, Ah'll be..." AJ remarked. "Ya found 'im, Twi!"

Twilight was too busy concentrating to be happy; the spell, like last time, was taking a lot of her effort just to maintain. "Quick, get Spike's attention!"

The rest of the group began to shout Spike's name, trying desperately to signal him. But no matter what they did, he didn't notice; it seemed that the viewport didn't allow sound through.

Twilight sighed, "I didn't want it to have to come to this, but... Somepony, jump in!"

"WHAT!?" The group chorused.

"I just need somepony to jump in and join Spike! Knowing that somepony is with him is all I want, but you'd better hurry; I don't think I can hold it for very long!"

The group stared on in disbelief. Was she seriously asking one of them to jump into an unknown world just to keep Spike company?

Pinkie didn't seem that nonplussed. "Whee!" She called as she attempted to spring in, but thankfully, AJ grabbed her by the tail and stopped her.

"Woah there, Nelly! Ah don't know 'bout all this; it seems a mite rash."

Pinkie blinked. "I see your point."

Twilight grunted. "Come on, girls! I can't hold it open for too long!"

Rarity stepped forward — towards Twilight herself, that is. "Twilight, darling, you need to think about this rationally. You're asking one of us to jump into an unknown world, with no concrete way of getting back, just to keep an eye on Spike?"

The purple unicorn stuttered, "B-but—!"

"But nothing, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash, surprisingly, was the next to speak up. "I'm all for adventure, but this is just plain bonkers!"

AJ rolled her eyes. "She coulda worded it better, but nonetheless, Rainbow's right. If we went 'n jumped in there, ya'd have two missin' friends instead o' just one."

Pinkie, in her usual cartoon-ish manner, gasped. "I didn't even think of it like that! Boy, am I glad I didn't jump in there; how would you girls have coped without me?! I mean, really, what—"

"I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!" Twilight suddenly snapped, bringing everypony's attention back to her. "I can't just sit here and be useless; I need to do something, anything to help him! He's like a second brother to me, and knowing that he's all alone in a cold, unknown world..."

And then she started to cry. How she managed to keep the portal up while crying, nopony even thought to ask; it wasn't their main concern at the moment.

Fluttershy stepped forward, placing a reassuring wing on her friend's shoulder. "I know you're scared for him, — I would be if it were my brother — but you have to have faith in him."

Rarity continued, "Spike's a strong dragon, Twilight. That's why I keep accepting his assistance; because I know he can handle it."

Pinkie added, "And besides, he isn't alone. From what his letter said, and what I can see in the portal, he's got two traveling buddies already!"

"Just LOOK at him!" Rainbow pointed towards the portal. For the first time, Twilight forced her eye open to look through the spell for herself.

Spike was hiking down a dirt road with a sword and shield on his back, a green phrygian cap on his head, and two winged orbs of light fluttering by his side. Sure, he had a few bruises, but he was in overall good health.

"I-I..." Twilight bit her lip. "I want to trust in him, I really do...."

Rarity thought for a moment, then had an idea. "Twilight, do you know any communication spells you can cast on an object?"

Twilight thought (the portal momentarily wavering as her focus left it). After a moment of recollection, she gasped. "Of course, that's it! Starswirl's Phonics Cogitationes!"

Everypony blinked, unsure of what she'd said. Rarity, who had the most knowledge of Starswirl out of the other five (and that was only because she became curious after hearing about Twilight's Nightmare Night costume), stepped forward and bluntly stated, "Right, of course Starswirl had a spell for it. He had a spell for practically everything, didn't he?"

Twilight eagerly nodded. "Rarity, do you you have two gems on you?"

She pshawed, "Well, of course I do! What would I be without an assortment of gems?" She reached her magic into her... Wherever it is that she kept things, and procured a purse, out of which she obtained two rubies. "Here, rubies conduct magic far better than most other common gems."

"It's true!" Pinkie confirmed helpfully.

Everypony blinked, but nodded nonetheless. Better to not question the gem expert and the pink enigma, right?

Twilight siphoned some of the power off from the portal (making it shrink considerably, but not letting it disappear entirely), and channeled it into the gems. Verbally walking Rarity through the steps, they both cast a spell on the minerals.

When they were done, the two gems glowed faintly. "Did it work?" Rarity asked, floating one of the gems near her head.

The second gem echoed her words.

"I think that's a yes," Twilight concluded.





"Stupid Keese, scaring the goat away..." Spike muttered to himself as he continued his hike down the road.

"It's times like this that I wish we could whistle to call mounts back," Hamzah commented.

Just to humor him, Spike placed his thumb and index fingers into his mouth, and whistled loudly.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then suddenly, the sky seemed to violently rip open. The group shielded their faces and braced themselves as a fissure appeared in the sky, a small gem fell out, and the fissure disappeared just as quickly as it'd appeared. The gem hit the dirt in front of them with a soft 'plink', then lay motionless.

For a moment, nobody moved, unsure of what'd just happened.

Then the gem spoke up with a grainy, yet familiar, voice. "Spike? Can you hear me?"

The aforementioned dragon gasped in recognition. "Twilight!?" He rushed forward and picked up the mineral, a ruby. "Twilight, is that you?!"

The fuzzy voice on the other end breathed a sigh of relief, clearly tired. "Thank goodness that worked. Are you alright?"

"Am I ever!" He held the gem close. "How's this even possible?!"

"I remembered reading about Starswirl's Phonics Cogitationes, so I cast it on two gems, tossing one through the spell that'd sent you there."

Spike blinked. "I never thought I'd say this, but thank you, Starswirl! Oh, I missed your voice so much!"

Nuha finally snapped out of her stunned silence. "Woah, woah! What the heck just happened?!"

Spike turned and showed off the gem. "Everyone, meet Twilight. Twilight, these are my friends, Nuha and Hamzah."

Hamzah asked, "Is this the girl that you mentioned earlier? The one who accidentally sent you here?"

Spike nodded. The voice on the other end replied sheepishly, "Yeah... I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience for you to be helping him."

Nuha chirped, "Not at all! In fact, our entire culture revolves around helping travelers — so much so that we feed on exposition!"

"Really?!" Twilight gawked, and the sound of a quill scratching parchment could be heard over the static. "That's so fascinating; tell me more!"

As they launched into a heated discussion on fairy culture and biology, Spike sighed, but smiled nonetheless. Good ol' Twilight...