//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Whoops... // Story: The Foreign Factor // by Zombehhunter //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle was hard into a study fest. She had been finding it harder and harder to find the time to study, now that she had five friends that ate up a lot more of her time than she thought they would, but didn’t resent them for this. In fact, she was glad they did. It made the time she did get all the sweeter. So, after randomly choosing a selection of books from the around the library (replacing the ones she had already read), it was down to work. She couldn’t help but think that she had gotten a rather good selection of books to study; especially when she found a book on restorative magic. She knew it would come in handy: she could help out Redheart a bit now. Once most of her pile had moved from one side of the desk to the other, the next book caused Twilight to raise her eyebrow a bit. The book was small and thin, looking old and weathered, the pages beginning to yellow. Carefully she opened the book. The ink was faded and smudged in areas, but for the most part still readable. To her surprise it was indeed a journal, of sorts. There were pages after pages of scribbled notes, odd diagrams, magical formulae - so advanced that some through Twilight for a loop - and coffee stains. Deciding to pick up at the natural place, she turned to the beginning of the journal. She started reading, her face furrowing with interest: They shun me. Call me a fool, say my research is fruitless, and say it will never work. Even my own team has abandoned me now – heresy! I’ll admit… I can see why they left, I can see why. I know why I am mocked openly by my peers and teachers and colleagues. They want to keep their reputation in their fields intact. They want to still command the respect that their respective break-through or research has gained them in the field of magic. However, what disheartens me is that nopony is even willing to me give a chance. Nopony is willing to look over my research, and give their opinion based on that, not on foolish assumptions! Foolishness! I tore a hole in the page. I have to calm myself. The Arch Mage has kicked me out of the university. He said my research was too farfetched and unlikely to yield suitable results for the cost of the materials needed to research it. I understand his position. I’d likely do the same should our positions be switched. So, I –begrudgingly- packed my things and left. A few of my students were sad to see me leave – I hadn’t told them prior. I was quite happy to though, leave on such positive reenforcement. I’ve decided that I am going to continue my research. I’m not going to let some narrow minded tots dictate my work. I’m just going to do it in my home here, in the Tree. It is secluded enough, miles from anyone, so if something goes bang it shouldn’t wake anyone (I’ll never forget that time in the university – too classic). I am fully aware that if something does go bang, it may well be myself. The experiments that I am going to have to run, in order to get anything out of my theories, will be… well, dangerous is an understatement. We all know what happens when teleportation goes wrong. I guess that (through using some early data of course) that the effects will be magnified a-hundred-fold. However, I fear that I am getting near the end of my rope, as it were. My bones are creaking at me to stop using them whenever I stand. I fear that I may not be able to finish my research: such a pity. Mass Teleportation on this scale, not just two people or pony’s, but tens, if not hundreds of them, in one fell swoop of a spell could be delivered to Canterlot from… well, anywhere! The spell also works on an infinite distance principle too! Oh, if only I could figure it out. I’m done. I have now the bells tolling my name. I have not written like this for many years now, but all my notes and research are within. I ask of you, the reader or finder of this journal, that you continue an old colt's dream, my research. I feel I am close, but alas, my age… Well, I can only hope that this has not been fourteen years wasted. I can only hope, that this one day, helps. I really can only hope can’t I? Please… please continue, or find somepony who can…please? Her interest sparked, she began flipping through the pages of the journal. To anypony else, it would have looked like a mess of figures and diagrams. Being honest: it looked that way to her too. Except she could make sense of it. She came to the end, and licking her lips went back to the beginning to read more thoroughly. She had a hard time thinking of any research that she had seen better documented and maintained. The amount of detail presented was making her mouth water, things clicking into place as she began to see where this long dead colt was coming from. Better yet, she felt she could continue on the research. Sure, this old colt did loss his posisition, but back then ponies were very sceptical of any new magic. Conservatives. Her eagerness built rapidly and she quickly restocked all of her other books - bar a few she felt could help - and floated over to herself a quill and several scrolls. She quickly laid the scroll out on her research table - a surprisingly small thing that faced her on a tilt - and began feverishly taking notes and writing out new magical formulae. "This colt may not have been able to do this, but with all the teachings of the Princess behind me, I'm sure that I will be able to crack this. Hey, magic has come a long way since when this was written - I think - I'm sure it was simply... the constraints he was under that kept him from figuring this out... yeah." She rapidly scanned her notes and immiidiatly found a mistake. She scored it out thoroughly. "Right?" **** "Come on Twilight, you need to get outside and see your friends. You’ve been at this for nearly a month now! Don't ya think you should give it, you know, a break?" Twilight was hunched over her research table, her mane looking jagged and frazzled - as though she had been electrocuted- and her eye twitching dangerously and erratically. She was glaring intensely at the scrolls in front of her, threatening to put holes in them as she scavenged in the many formulae and diagrams for the mistakes she had made. She hadn't even heard Spike through her own thoughts, which consisted mainly of, "why don't you work!" Spike was truthful when he said it had nearly been a month now. The research had initially been going well - or so it appeared. She quickly learned however, that this wasn't the case. The first time she tried the spell, she had to rebuild half of the library. So, it was back to the drawing board; this is now the fifth time she has had to go back to the drawing board. Needless to say, she was a little sick of it. Everything she could think of checked out. There was, as far as her extensive knowledge could tell (as hindered as it was by a lack of sleep), nothing wrong with any part of her execution of the spell, or the spell it self. She grunted as she slammed her face into the table, crying out, "I can't do it! I just can't figure it out! And there I was thinking this was going to be so very easy, oh how wrong I was - wasn't I?!" Spike walked up to her, putting his clawed hand on her shoulder. "Come on Twi, I really think a break is in order for you. Why don't you go brush your mane, havecup of tea, and go outside and get some fresh air? And while you're out there, you could-” Spike was cut off when Twilight fused a tackle and a hug in one, pressing him tightly against her chest. "That's it, Spike, thank you! Fresh air might be just what I need to help me figure this out, thanks Spike, bye!" And then, too quickly for Spike to follow - his world was still spinning after all - her supplies and herself were out the front door (after a quick recoil at the harsh light of course). All Spike could do was huff a little. "That wasn't what I meant at all! Gah. At least she's outside...geez, women." It had taken Twilight half an hour to a find somewhere where she wasn’t being interrupted by everypony wanting to talk to her and find out why she was being so reclusive. One even asked her if she was having a relapse. But, after going through the town centre, the park, the hill and even behind the spa, she found herself amongst the orchards of Sweet Apple acres. "Nopony except the Apples come around here and... I missed Apple bucking season? Wow. Well, since the trees are bare, there'll be no bucking, so nopony at all should disturb me!" She was quite happy with her reasoning, so she lay herself down next to one of the larger trees, splaying all of her scrolls and other odds and ends around her, and began scrutinising them, hoping that the presence of fresh air and a gentle beeze would help. To her surprise, it did. She -surprisingly quickly- found herself identifying mistakes. Her confidence in her previous work confused her now, as she was finding very simple arithmetic mistakes. But her confidence in her editing was now growing with each and every mistake, but despite this, she could see errors that she simply wasn't sure how to fix. "Sugar - oh no, w'it happened? W'at's eating at ya Twilight? Come on, whatever it is, ah'm sure we can figure it out!" Twilight twisted her head to see the source of the panicked voice. Applejack was standing there, her orange coat and blonde mane being whipped by the breeze, with an expression that matched her tone to a tee. "Hi Applejack, what's the matter?" "Huh? Ya mean... yi're not goin' crazy?" Slightly bemused, Twilight could do nothing but blink at her for a few seconds before finding her tongue. "No and what in Equestria would give you that idea?" Applejack, herself becoming a tad confused, pointed at her with her hoof, "Your mane. Last time it was like that, y'all went crazy and caused quite the ruckus." Twilight flushed up in embarrassment as she remembered both the event, and the horrible state of her mane. "Oh," she started, the embarrassment spreading down to her smile, "yeah, I forgot to brush it. I guess you could say I was driven a little crazy this past month. It's because of this spell, it has been... difficult to say the least. I am trying to work some of the kinks out of it but..." she looked at her notes again and sighed heavily, "it hasn't been going too great." "Oh," Applejack looked relieved that her friend wasn't going mad again, "so that's why you've been relapsing." Twilight flustered a bit but calmed down when Applejack sat down next to her (being careful not to sit on the papers). "So, what is this spell that's had you up in a pickle?" "It's a spell for the mass teleportation of ponies and goods over potentially infinite distances using - absurdly - low levels of magic." All she got in reply was a confused blink and, "Complicated then?" Twilight let out a strained chuckle at the simple generalisation of her torment. "In a word, I suppose." She looked back at the scrolls and sighed discontent as she found another mistake. She scored it out. "Well, m'be ah could help?" Twilight shot her a look, so she elaborated, "nah, not with the whole making the spell stuff. I mean, maybe you could bounce a few things off me. Yah know, openly talk about what you're doin'. Might help?" Twilight didn't need to take much time to think it over. After all, Spike's suggestion had yielded good results, so maybe her friend’s help would too. "Okay then, it's a very sound suggestion Applejack." "Might ah make another one?" The look on her face told Twilight she was missing something obvious. "Yes...?" "How's about we go inside, hm?" Twilight was about to ask why when the answer became blatantly obvious. It was bordering pitch black outside. She hadn't noticed due to the light her horn made naturally when using magic. She figured that must have been how Applejack found her. "Oh. Hahaha... yeah, let's go inside." They shared a laugh as Applejack led the way back to the ranch. "If I do this... move this here... get rid of this entirely- no, move it here... will this work? Yes! That'll let me do this... so I can do this... simply remove this... I've done it!“Applejack nearly jumped through the roof at the sudden proclamation, but smiled a wide, though exasperated smile. After nearly three hours of basically doing nothing, offering only tid-bits of help and advice - where she could - when asked, she just wanted to go to bed. Twilight hugged her tightly, repeatedly thanking her for help and advice. Applejack just blew it off, saying it wasn't a problem and looked at the clock longingly. It was 3:21 AM. "Twi, Ah'm real glad you got this, but could I possibly get some shut eye? I got sellin' to do in the morn-" "Oh my, yes, it is a bit late isn't it? I'm sorry for keeping you up so late Applejack. I'll leave and let you get some sleep." With that, she quickly bunched all her stuff up and left the Apple household, intending to test the spell as soon as she got home. **** "Anypony know what the hay this is all about?" Rainbow asked, sounding somewhat impatient as she lazily hovered in the middle of the library. After all she had just helped make a storm, and there was nothing better than relaxing after making a storm. To Rainbow Dash at least. All of Twilights friends - Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash - had assembled in the library at Twilights request, which consisted of showing up in front of them out of the blue and saying, "Be at my house tomorrow, thanks bye!" Pinkie was the most confused at this, strangely enough. "I can't say that ah do for sure sugercube, but I think it might have somethin' tah do with some spell thing-y that she was working on for a while...don't know much else, ah was much too tired to pay 'nough attention to catch anything." "A spell?" Fluttershy asked curiously. "Is that why she has become a bit... reclusive?" "Reclusive is exactly the word I would use dear." Rarity said, "She hasn't been out in months! And as such, I haven't been able to get her dress off of her for the Grand Galloping Gala, for me to fix it. And it would be terrible if she turned up with nothing, so I just re-made it. With improvements of course." She glowed with pride at the remark. She must have really liked her improvements to the design. "Yeah! Since she has been cooped up in here, she has missed five! Five parties! Can you believe that! I mean, if I missed five parties, I'd go mad. Wait! What if that is why she has been staying in doors for so long? Maybe she's a crazy pony!" Pinkie was quickly silenced by the sound of the bedroom door shutting, but was (only slightly) disappointed to see Spike emerging and coming down the stairs, naturally carrying a small mound of scrolls and books. "No, she isn't crazy - yet," Spike commented, eyes rolling, "but she sure is happy about something." Some time passed - filled with idle conversation and the occasional discussion on the beginnings of the universe - before a tremendous blue ball formed in the middle of the room. All ponies were quickly on their feet, fearing possible hostility, but were shocked when the ball of light receded, leaving none other than Twilight in its wake. She giggled slightly at the stunned expression on her friends’ faces before smiling at them all. "Hi girls! I'm sorry that I'm late. I got so caught up chatting with the princess, that I- Whoa!" Twilight was found herself in a firm embrace from her friends, who all insisted that she not be so secluded when working in the future. After numerous promises that she would indeed not lock herself in her home for a month ever again, and scraping all of the ponies off of her (except Pinkie, who’s grip could easily be compared to a vice, so Twilight just let her cling to her leg), she was asked the obvious question; why? "Well, I have been working on a spell.” "Yeah, we've heard that from Applejack but what kind of spell? It must be big if it took you," Dash jabbed her hoof at Twilight, "a whole month to finish." Twilight quickly hid a blush at the implied praise and pulled out a scroll from a drawer in her study table. "This, this is what I have been working on the past month. This is a spell that allows for the mass teleportation of ponies, over potentially infinite distances, using very minimal power." Twilight couldn’t help but smile a little as she finished her, by this point, well-rehearsed explanation of the spell. "Excuse me Twilight," Rarity stepped forward squinting at the scroll, "I admit I don't know much about magic. I admit that my ability with magic is minimal also, but I do know enough to know that teleportation is exceptionally difficult with even two ponies over a small distance. How have you managed to come out with something like this, assuming it works of course?" Twilight knew to expect a lot of doubt over the spell, including from her fellow unicorn. She knew Rarity, and expected her to speak her mind. And she guessed from the look on the others faces; they were of similar opinion to her as well. She knew there was only one way to convince them that it worked. "Well, how about a day trip to Canterlot then?" The collective gasp and chatter of the ponies nearly drowned out the sound of light knocking at the door. Spike - who was lounging in a chair away from the conversation - was the only one to notice it, so he hopped off the chair and opened the door. Standing there was a dripping wet and shivering Scootaloo. Her mane was plastered to her face and shoulders and the saddle bags she wore were also dripping. "Oh my, er, come on in Scootaloo." Scootaloo gratefully obliged, nearly toppling Spike as she darted in and gave herself a shake, soaking the poor dragon. "Oops, sorry Spike. I'm just here to drop off that book I borrowed for my school project." She opened one of the saddle bags and pulled out the damp book. "Sorry it's a bit wet!" Spike was able to decipher from the noises she made around the book. "It's alright, all things considered with the weather out there, it is much better condition than I thought it would be. How did the project go anyway?" Scootaloo trotted over and put the book on the table in front of the couch before hesitantly replying, "Not... really well. I think I should have actually read the book and talked about it, instead of talking about what a book is..." Spike almost had to strangle himself to stop from snickering. "Ehh... Yeah, maybe." Scootaloo then noticed the group of ponies standing near the base of the stairs to the upper floor. "Hey, why is everypony here?" Spike through himself back onto the couch before answering. "Twilight is going to prove to them that the spell she had been working on for a month - in complete solitude nearly - actually works, by taking them all to Canterlot." "What good will that do?" "Well, the spell is a teleportation spell. So she is going to teleport them and herself to Canterlot, to show it works." Scootaloo looked at the group as they talked, when her eyes widened. "Do you think they would let me go too?" Spike looked up from a book he had picked and shrugged. "Sure, the purpose is to show it works with a lot of ponies, I'm sure she'll say yes." Scootaloo ran over to the group and after squeezing her way past Pinkie and Applejack - and off course fussing over Rainbow Dash - she asked Twilight if she could come along, with the promise that she would behave. "Sure you can Scoots, I wouldn't go if my favourite li'l filly couldn't come." That note from Dash sealed the deal, and Twilight said she could go. "Spike, you okay just watching the library while I am away?" Spike waved at her lazily with a nod. "How long will you be?" "Eh, a day or two I think sounds reasonible". Spike nodded again, and slouched back into the couch with a content sigh, giving them a mock salute as he sunk. "All right then." She turned her attention back to her friends and Scootaloo. "Stand still everypony." Complying with Twilight, all ponies present stopped any fidgeting and watched in fascination as Twilight read from the scroll (even though she knew the spell, she was just being careful). Her horn began to glow, waves of colour splashing across it as the spell approached its climax. And then, in a flash of green, they were gone. But to where?