Cube Land

by Divide


Chapter One: Generating New World

Cube Land

One: Generating New World


Twilight Sparkle was looking forward to a nice relaxing day. After the... traumatic events of the wedding, she was looking forward to taking it easy and spending time with her five closest friends. Twilight had proposed the idea of having a picnic where they normally brought their pets to play, and her friends had agreed wholeheartedly.

Here they were, eating delicious baked goods courtesy of Pinkie Pie, listening to Applejack play the guitar, and enjoying each other's company when a purple flash of blinding light made everypony stop what they were doing and focus upon where the flash had came from. From the epicentre of the flash stood a strange, blackish-purple rectangle amid scorched and blackened grass. There appeared to be writhing purple energies that made up a kind of membrane in between the top and bottom layers of the... thing.

"What do you girls think this is?" asked Twilight.

All of her friends shook their heads and shrugged. All except for Pinkie Pie.

"I think it looks like a portal!" she exclaimed, bouncing happily, the remains of her cupcake smeared across her face.

Twilight walked closer, inspecting the strange object. It appeared to be flawless; it had no discernable cracks or imperfections along the entire structure. Twilight tapped it with her hoof, which caused it to give off a loud tinking sound.

"If it's a portal," said Twilight suspiciously, "then why did it appear here out of nowhere? That flash was uncannily similar to magic, but there doesn't seem to be any other unicorns here. And I'm also pretty sure that they don't come with a strange stone bordering." Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight noticed Rainbow Dash slowly creeping towards the dark, purple structure.

"Dash! What do you think you're doing? The portal could be dangerous!"

Caught red-hoofed, Rainbow Dash stopped her skulking and challenged Twilight's claim on exactly what the portal was. "Just look at it!" she exclaimed. "It doesn't look dangerous, it looks awesome!

"Uhh... What does it do, exactly?"

Four out of the five ponies shrugged. "If I remember correctly from my studies," began Twilight, the only pony not to shrug, "a portal is an opening from one place to another, generally used only when great amounts of matter must be transported very quickly.

"I don't know exactly how much magic is required to summon a portal, but I know that it would take several powerful unicorns to even attempt making one."

"Well then," said Rainbow Dash, breaking the stunned silence as the ponies simply observed the flickering form of the creation before them. "Why don't we see what's on the other side?"

"Are you nuts?! What if there are monsters or other bad stuff on the other side? You don't know what lies beyond!" exclaimed Twilight.

Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out at Twilight. "Yeah, well, neither do you!" Twilight continued to glare at her. Not withering from the glare in the slightest, Dash continued to persuade Twilight to see things her way. "C'mon Twilight, lighten up! What if I go first and then come back? Will that prove to you that its safe?" she asked, an adventurous glint in her eye.

"Well..." debated Twilight, unsure.

Without waiting for a proper answer, Rainbow Dash grinned mischievously, unfurled her wings, and flew straight into the portal before anypony could stop her. As soon as Rainbow Dash touched the purple membrane of the portal structure, she vanished.

"Gosh darn it, Rainbow! Y'all never listen to common sense!" called Applejack, unamused.

All of the ponies remaining on the opposite side of the portal were extremely concerned with Dash's well-being. This wasn't the first time that she had done something reckless, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

It was with great relief that after only a minute had passed before she flew back out of the portal. Panting from excitement and exhaustion, Dash exclaimed, "You girls totally need to see this! It's... it's..."

The ponies waited with bated breath to hear her recollection.

"Awesome! Everything's all... well, you have to see for yourselves!"

"Is it safe, Dash? Are there any creatures or monsters there? Is the air safe to breath? Where is this 'other place' located?" asked Twilight, always the precocious one.

"Yes, no, yes, and you'll have to see it yourself! It's... hard to explain," replied Rainbow Dash, looking hopefully towards Twilight while putting on her best pleading expression.

"Well..." began Twilight. Finally cracking from Dash's puppy-dog eyes, she sighed and relented. "I guess we could at least look around..."

Rainbow Dash face broke into a huge grin. "That's the spirit!"

One by one, the Bearers of Harmony cautiously walked up to the portal and touched the purple film, each disappearing the same way that Rainbow Dash had: no puff of smoke, no flash of light... they were simply gone.

Naturally, Fluttershy had needed some extra coaxing, but faced with the decision to be with her friends or left behind, she chose to follow the others through the portal.

Twilight found herself to be the last pony to take the plunge.

Should I tell somepony where we're going? she asked herself. After a few seconds of deliberation, she thought against it. We should only be there for a little while... oh what the hay, I want to see this other place too!

And with that, Twilight touched her hoof to the purple portal and felt herself whisked away to another dimension.


Here I go.

I've decided to start a... journal of sorts due to a number of strange occurrences that have started popping up recently. This is for my own recollection, since I doubt anyone else will want to read my memoirs. But what do I know? Perhaps there is someone, somewhere, who will find this recollection and enjoy it...

...Ah, who am I kidding? I'm the only one who will read this.


Day 94, late afternoon


The day started the same as all the others; me rising at first light. I have ascertained the perfect sleep schedule for some time now. Going to bed as soon as the sun sets and rising as it rises has proven to be the most effective balance between safety, and getting stuff done.

I performed my daily routine: gathering eggs from the chickens I have penned up, harvesting the wheat that has fully matured while replacing them with fresh seeds, and then leaving my home to continue where I left off in exploring the Mine.

I brought my usual collection of items with me: a stack of torches to light my way, my clock to alert me when it was time to leave, several loaves of bread in case I felt peckish, an iron sword for defence, an iron shovel for digging through dirt, and my trusty diamond pickaxe for crushing through everything else.

I walked the hundred or so blocks to the entrance of the Mine, constantly looking behind me in case I was being stalked. While it hadn't happened yet, it never hurt to be prepared for every eventuality. As I approached the entrance, I realized that even with all the torches I had placed around the outside and along the steps leading down, the Mine still seemed foreboding.

Making sure there were no unpleasant surprises awaiting me around the corners, I carefully descended down the rough, cobblestone staircase that I built for the sole purpose of making it easier to climb up and down into the only quarry that I have ever needed.

As I continued downwards, the illumination from the Sun giving way to the flickering torchlight, I realized that I had traversed through most of the paths within. There was one path, however... one path that I was reluctant to explore.

The Pit. Simply named, and simply avoided.

The first time I had attempted to find the secrets that it held, I very nearly died. Ever since my near-death experience at the hands of the Pit, I have felt terrible tremors and fears wrack my body whenever I so much as look towards it. There was something down there, I thought. Something that didn't want my scrutiny.

Needless to say, I have not tried to go down there again...

...Until today, that is.

Today was different: I looked at the dark and foreboding descent and felt no dread, not even a fluttering of my stomach. Instead, I felt the need to find. Explore. Uncover. I'm not sure where the sudden onset of wanting to explore my possible tomb came from, as I had no clue what I would find within.

What was down there, I asked myself. More iron? Gold? A cache of illustrious diamonds?

Stowing away my fear, I descended into the depths of the Pit... and found nothing of interest. For many hours, I placed torches at regular intervals, descending ever deeper into the pitch-black cavern. When my patience and need to explore was about to finally reach its limit, I caught the sight of strangely familiar stone, one that I recognized immediately, but couldn't remember where from. It wasn't pure stone; I have mined enough to know. It definitely wasn't cobblestone, nor even the mossy variety that I occasionally found during my underground jaunts.

No, this stone was different. It was... strange. Familiar, but not. Carved not by erosion, but by hand. I would've stayed there for longer, trying to remember exactly where I had seen the stone beforehand, had I not glanced at my clock and realized that it was much later than I thought it was.

Sundown was rapidly approaching, so I retreated back to the entrance of the Mine, leaving a staggered path of torches to help me remember the way.

I will be back to uncover the secrets that lie dormant in the Pit. It may not be tomorrow, nor the day after that, but I will return and I will uncover whatever secrets are being withheld from me.

The strangest part is... my brash exploration wasn't even the oddest occurrence today.

When I stepped out of the cave system and back onto the marshy ground, I saw a most curious sight. Flying high in the sky was a creature that I had never seen before. From my location on the ground, I could only discern that its colour was blue and that it had most certainly had wings.

Feeling a rush of anticipation towards meeting this strange new creature, I raced back to my home and deposited all of the unnecessary objects that I was carrying. I subconsciously kept my sword on me, on the off chance that the creature was hostile, but that was simply a precautionary measure.

My curiosity is piqued; I cannot write any more.

I go now to try and find this new and exotic critter.

With any luck, I will find it before nightfall.