//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: A New Day A New Universe // by King_Bearo //------------------------------// A homing crystal, a powerful crystal found in the mountains north of the crystal empire. It has been used for many things but the main one was for enhanced form of teleportation. This form of teleportation can send ponies to where they come from, but in order for that to happen it needs its counterpart, the frequency crystal, on the other side. There is a powerful spell only a few know,  that needs to be cast in order to work. If there isn’t a frequency crystal activated, the user could potentially end up in a different world. This is all I know for now about this crystal.      -Bijou Goldhoof  “So I don't know whether this is good or bad news,” Rainbow dash said “How could my friends know they need to get the frequency crystal?” I said, “I could possibly find a spell when we get to the crystal empire.” Twilight said The train started to move, making me rock back and forth a little. We were on a sleeper train since it was a long ride, fourteen hours to get to the crystal empire. We decided to bunk in pairs, Fluttershy and Rainbow, Rarity and AppleJack, Pinkie and twilight, and I’m just in a room of my own. “I’m gonna go to the dining car!” Pinkie said and bounced out “Wow it sure got dark quickly,” Applejack said looking at the window  I looked over and saw it was indeed dark out. It felt nice being in the dark again, the sunlight was very pretty but it’s the night where I belong. Yet again this signals that I don’t belong here and I need to get back. “Quick question, what are we like in your world? ‘Cause, clearly we’re going to be a little different if we’re going off of you.” Rarity said “Well, Rarity designs and makes most of the uniforms for the different jobs around the castle, she is more sassy and blunt. Applejack is a construction worker, she pretty much has the same personality. Twilight works as a researcher, she’s a lot nerdier than you are and closed off. Rainbow dash is a part-time wonder bolt and works on the weather team, she's less competitive. Pinkie is the most different, she works as a chef, and she’s tons more chill than this one. Sure she gets excited easily but isn’t hyper.” I explained to everyone “So we all work at the castle? Wow, I would have never thought that I would work somewhere fancy like that.” Applejack said “I’m a wonder bolt too? Awesome!” Rainbow dash said, “You have been a wonder bolt since you were eighteen.” I chuckled a little. “I remember when we first met, you crashed into a trash can while trying to find the tryouts building. I think you earned the nickname crash from your peers.” “Aw come on! I’m also named Crash in your world too!” “Hi! What did I miss!” Pinkie said coming back in with a tray of food on her back “Well, Fluttershy over here, was talking about what we’re like in her world.” Rarity said pointing at me “Hey, girls, I’m starting to get tired, I’m going to go rest now.” Other Fluttershy said softly and left to her room “Yeah same, I think we should rest up for tomorrow.” Twilight said We all nodded in agreement and headed to our respective rooms. The single rooms looked exactly like the doubles, except there was one bed. It was very small, one lamp and a bedside table. The bed itself was surprisingly comfortable, and with that, I quickly fell asleep. ----------------------------- “Hello? Hello? Is anypony there?”  I didn’t realize my eyes were open until I looked around. I was in my room in the castle, how did I get here? I exited the room and went down the hall, it was dead silent, with not a pony in sight. “Hello?”  It was the same voice again, quickly, I went to follow the voice. It sounds so familiar but I can’t pinpoint who it is because it sounded so echoey. Rounding a corner I bumped into someone, the pony had white fur and a purple simmering mane put up into a bun. “Rarity! Oh my! You’re here, you’re ok!” I said, excitedly hugging her “Fluttershy? You’re ok! Where have you been darling?” “It’s a long story. That reminds me, I have something important to tell you.” I said “You have to get a crystal called a frequency crystal, it's in the mountains of the crystal empire. it’ll help me get back.” “I already know, we’re heading there. We got mail from someone anonymously trying to help us.” She said “Wait, ‘we’re’? The others know too?” My eyes widened with hope “Of course! Now you got to tell me what happened!”  I told her everything that happened leading up to now. About the crazy inter-dimensional stuff, the sun, meeting different versions of them. What surprised her the most was that I got to meet princess Celestia. “You got to meet Celestia! What is she like?”  “She talks like she has lots of wisdom in her, which I have no doubt she has. She’s also super tall, like really tall.” “She sounds like a true Princess, I wish I’d gotten to meet-“ she was cut off and everything went black. ———————————————— CRASH! I fell from my bed as something rammed into the side of the train. Looking outside, the sun was beginning to rise, casting the wasteland in a gold hue but the train was going off the tracks. I quickly went out into the hall and saw everyone running around in panic. I tried to look for the others and saw they were already outside trying to fight it.  The monster had sharp horns and matted grey fur. Strong stubby arm with sharp claws swinging around wildly. I realized I fought this monster before, it’s called a Horcle, I don’t know where ponies get these names from. Why is it here though, they only come out at night, my eyes widened, what if they came from my world?  Twilight and the others clearly didn’t know how to fight this thing. They were putting out attacks at random, they should know that these monsters are a lot different than your average everyday ones. Noticing they won’t be able to defeat it with what they’re doing now, I quickly flew in, studying its attack patterns.  “Rarity! It likes shiny things, do you think you can get something shiny? Rainbow, get it as far away from the train as you can. Twilight, can you get the train back on the tracks, AppleJack go help her. Pinkie and other me, can you help me take it down?” I commanded They all nodded and went off to do what they were told. Fluttershy looked a little hesitant but still did as told. Rarity somehow got a giant gemstone and with Rainbow’s help, led the monster away. “Are you sure we can’t just be friends with it? What if they don’t really want to hurt us” Fluttershy said to me “Fluttershy over here is a major pacifist,” Pinkie said  “Trust me, I tried before, but these aren’t your average monsters,” I said then handed them a spare blade I brought before leaving Sparing no time I quickly flew towards the beast and stabbed it in the neck. It howled in pain as it threw its head back, pulling away, I went and tried to strike it again. In a fit of pain, it lashed its arm at me, sending me tumbling away from it. That’s the hardest part of fighting this thing, its attacks are so random.  “Fluttershy! Are you ok?” The other shy said “Uh yeah! Can you use the stare? If we don’t stop it now, it’ll go and attack the ponies” I asked  She nodded hesitantly, wanting to protest but knew it was the right choice and went to use it, instantly the monster froze up. Again I went to stab it, this time the blade went into its chest, and again it howled in pain and fell to the ground. It was dead or at least dying. I looked around and saw that Fluttershy looked disturbed about what just happened. “Look, I am very sorry I made you do that but these monsters are not something to be trifled with. Like I said before, I tried multiple times to be friendly with them, it just wouldn’t work like it would simpler ones like dragons or manticores. Kindness doesn’t always work for everything” I said to the other shy and put a hoof on her shoulder   We flew back to the train and saw everyone was back inside trying to calm everypony down. When they saw us, they immediately calmed down and went to hug the other shy. When the conductor saw that the threat was gone and everyone was back on the train, he went to start it back up. The rest of the group decided to go into one of the rooms for a little talk. “Wow, I knew you are a Captain but you are really really good at it,” Rainbow said, impressed  “Yeah for sure, and how did you manage to get Fluttershy to help you? She a major pacifist.” Apple Jack said  “Well, I told her that I also tried to do the same thing she did. But like I also told her, these monsters aren't like your regular manticore or Ursa Major. These monsters do out of pure nonreasoning instinct.” I said recalling from experience.  “Hmmm, I’m still wondering why this one appeared in the daylight. Didn’t Apple jack say they only come out at night?” Twilight asked, “I have a theory that they somehow managed to slip into this world.” I said “When my world Twilight and I had our regular conversations, alternate universes came up at one point. She said each universe spins around each other, some closer than others. Making it so something in one world is similar in another but never the same. But some universes are completely different from what is here now.”  “Just like the human world!” Twilight exclaimed “Exsact-! Wait, what? What's…a human? I asked  “Uh, It's a different world I got myself trapped in while trying to get my crown back,” She said sheepishly  I nodded pretending to understand, not knowing what to say. While we waited we just talked a little about where I came from and Twilight told us the story about the human world. It was roughly around nine now and the conductor announced that we only had an hour left. —————————————————— The Crystal Empire was pretty much glowing from within the darkness. The chill atmosphere blew around as five ponies got off the train and bags on their backs. They looked up in awe as they saw crystal buildings lined up leading toward a giant castle.  “Wow, that is a spectacle” Rarity said in awe “I know Shining Armor talked about how stunning it was but he was undershooting it” Twilight added The group continued to walk towards the castle looking for Princess Cadence. They saw other ponies doing their chores, and some fillies stopped and looked at them. When they got to the main doors of the castle the two guards stationed there crossed their spears denying entry. Their armor was a lot different than the ones in Canterlot, a lot more shiny and vibrant. “You can’t come in here, only the princess, guests, staff, and guards are allowed.” The one on the left said, “We have a letter from Princess Luna confirming our visit to Princess Cadence.” Twilight said showing a letter signed by princess Luna After they read the letter they let the group pass. The inside was humongous, guards patrolling the halls as the other staff were walking around doing what chores they needed to accomplish. There was one guard that was escorting them to the throne room. The inside was a lot smaller than the one in Canterlot, but it still has its size. “Hello, Twilight! Welcome” Cadence said  “Wow Shining Armor was really underplaying how gorgeous this place is,” Twilight said hugging her  “It ‘awe’ wears off after you live here for a while,,” she said “How is he anyways?” “He’s having a fine time in Appaloosa, he misses you dearly,”  “Uh, sorry to interrupt, but you do know why we’re here, right?” Applejack asked  “Ah yes, sorry, I can't be helped but, I can let you stay in the castle until you have to leave. There’s a library that might help you learn about the mountains. They can be tricky to navigate if you're unfamiliar with them.” She said  They said their thanks and left to find the library. After asking around they finally where it is, Twilight’s widened and sparkled with amazement. The library was humongous, two stories, with a staircase separating it and tons of books. Before anyone could blink Twilight quickly rushed towards all the books, jutting around to see the titles. The rest of the group chuckled, totally expecting her to do such a thing.  They were searching every book on the crystal empire to see if they could find anything about its mountains. It turns out there are tons of books on the Empire, most of which are about its history and culture. Rainbow dash looked like she was about to die from boredom but luckily Pinkie found something. “Guys! Lookie here, I think I found something!” She said The cover said it was about the Empire’s geography and it had a picture of the mountains on its cover. Upon opening it had a bunch of text about the land’s foliage and the crystals itself. After turning lots of pages there was finally information about the mountains. It said it was home to many creatures, plants, and animals.  The next page had a map of the tunnel systems inside. It was a maze, tunnels twisting and turning, connecting to different ones. Cadence was right we would get lost if we just went in blind. “Looks like we’ve hit the jackpot, why don’t we leave after lunch. That should get us up to the base of the mountain when night hits.” Twilight said Everyone collectively agreed and they made their way to find the dining hall. They got lost again, but luckily they ran into someone, or some dragon. “Hello, are you guys lost?” It was a purple dragon with green spikes “Yeah, we’re trying to find the dining hall, do you know where it is…” twilight asked “Spike, I’m Spike, and yeah come with me I know where it is,” he said “You know, I don't think I've seen you around before, you guys new?” “You could say that, we’re here to try and find our friend, Fluttershy” Rainbow said “Fluttershy. Isn’t she a high classed guard and animal lover? I’ve heard of her around the halls, never met her before.I’ve only moved here a few months ago” He said   “Can I ask where you came from before moving here?” Twilight asked “Sure! I was from the Dragon lands. I couldn't stand it there, everyone was mean to me because I was soft. Not like the others, tough and mean, so I left the first chance I got.” He said “You’re parent must have been sad to see you go,” Apple jack said “I never knew them.” He said “And we’re here! See you guys around!” With that he left and the group went inside to find food.