//------------------------------// // Portals and Pinkie Pie // Story: A Tale of Two Lunas // by Everythingpossible //------------------------------// “Just as I suspected” Princess Celestia said, magically retrieving an archaic brown volume from a shelf. The alicorn had brought the six young ponies from Ponyville to the older section of the Canterlot Library, where books from the earliest years of the sisters’ rule were kept, preserved by ancient spells now lost to the ages. “The Possibility of Multiple Universes?” Twilight inquired, seeing the title. “An old work, by the philosopher René Descolts. Mostly ignored in its time, but a valuable historical text nonetheless. Descolts believed that, instead of just one world, there are actually infinitely many universes, each mostly separate from each other”. “He couldn’t possibly– wait, did you say mostly separate?” Twilight asked. Princess Celestia nodded. “It’s only a theory, but he proposed that there can be rifts, ‘warp zones’, as he called them, where two universes could interact with each other. Some only the size of molecules, some large enough to devour planets. And some,” she said with emphasis, “just large enough for one pony”. “Luna”. “Exactly. Now, I am only speculating, but I believe that one of these… warp zones could have appeared, and she could have fallen into it, while the human fell from the other side, coming into our universe”. “Well, then we just need to find this warp zone, right?” asked Rainbow Dash. Celestia shook her head sadly. “If only. According to Descolts, these zones exist for only brief amounts of time. If he’s correct, then it has probably disappeared”. “Is it possible that we could… make one of these holes?” Rarity asked. “I’m not sure. It would be very dangerous, considering the fact that we don’t know the exact location of this other universe”. She sighed deeply. “There is one more thing. Descolts says that, if left unchecked, a warp zone can possibly destroy both universes that it connects”. The six ponies gasped appropriately, except for Pinkie Pie, who had become absorbed in the same magazine she had discovered earlier that day. “Pinkie Pie, would you please put that down? This is serious!” Rarity said to her urgently. “I can’t, Rarity! I’m glued to the pages!” Rarity looked at her hooves, and yes, she had in fact glued her hooves to the tabloid. If there was anything Pinkie was serious about, it was visual puns. “Pinkie, please! It’s all just garbage, anyway” Twilight pleaded. “Twilight, I think we could learn much from that ‘garbage’”, Celestia said. Twilight looked away embarrassedly. “Now, Pinkie Pie, what exactly have you learned?” “Oh, lots! There’s snorkacks, and rhongos, and zombie beetles…” Pinkie Pie’s voice continued like a frantic typewriter in the hands of an over-caffeinated monkey. Her friends rolled their eyes, but Princess Celestia was quite engrossed in what she had to say. After a few minutes, they began to get quite bored. Twilight looked at her mentor, who was still listening attentively to the pink mare. Without losing a single word, Celestia nodded, answering the question that was never asked. Taking the signal, Twilight led her friends out of the archives, leaving the princess alone with Pinkie Pie, still speaking at full speed. “So do you actually believe this Descolts guy?” Rainbow Dash asked, once the five were outside again. “I don’t know, Rainbow. I guess it’s all we have for now” Twilight answered. “I, for one, would never put my faith in such an outrageous theory” Rarity added. “I think it’s…. nice” said Fluttershy. “Well, ah’ just don’t know,” Applejack interjected. “Ah mean, it kinda makes sense, if y’think about it.” “I guess so” Twilight said. “Also, I don’t really trust this… human. I think she’s a spy” Rainbow Dash said. “Rainbow, you think everypony’s a spy” Applejack retorted. “Who would she be spying for, anyway?” Rarity asked. “Isn’t it obvious?” She said, stopping abruptly in front of the other four. “Discord! He opened this… warp thingy to another dimension so that this human could set him free!” “She’s not a spy” Twilight said. The other four turned to her, the only one who had so far had contact with the alien. “How do you know?” Rainbow Dash asked. “The Princess interrogated her. She’s not a spy, she’s just a confused student that accidentally fell through the portal. She only freed Discord because she thought he was some sort of dragon”. “A likely story!” Dash said. “Where is she now?” Rarity inquired. “She’s being kept in the North Tower. The Princess doesn’t think she’s much of a threat anymore” Twilight said. “I think we need to have a little talk”, said Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie, having finished her talk with the princess, was browsing merrily about the Royal Canterlot Gardens. She hopped gleefully from shrubbery to shrubbery, whistling a merry tune, until she came upon the statue of Discord, the Lord of Chaos. She sat in front of it for a while, reminiscing about the time when this godlike being had made the sky rain chocolate. She didn’t want him back, of course; nopony wants that much chaos, but he was fun to have around from time to time. She looked down his strange body, until her eyes finally met the base of the monolith. “What’s this?” she said, eyeing an object in the tangled vines at the base of the monument. She lowered her head into the greenery, and emerged with a long, straight piece of oak, about thirteen inches in length hanging from her mouth. “This will make an excellent addition to my stick collection!” she thought.