//------------------------------// // Prologue: Day 0 // Story: Otherworldly // by twisparkle95 //------------------------------// "Spike, could you get me that book on Changelings I bought last week?" Twilight called while searching through some shelves. "Sure thing, Twilight. But why are you so obsessed anyway? You kicked all the changelings out last week," Spike asked as he claimed the ladder leading to the newest addition to Twilight's library. "I know. But we never know when they could come back, so I want to be prepared," Twilight replied as she walked towards the ladder. At that point there was a knock on her door. It was the mailmare, Derpy Hooves with a letter from her brother. Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were on their honeymoon in Bridaly and this time, Shining had sent her a picture of them next to the Leaning Tower of Pony. She smiled as she set the envelope, letter, and picture into the organized piles she had made. Spike had just returned with the book, Changeling and Pony Relations over the Ages and promptly gave it to Twilight. She was about to begin reading when Spike began to look a certain kind of queasy, which usually meant a letter was on its way. When it burst from his maw as expected, she caught it in her telekinesis and levitated the letter away from the green flames released upon its arrival. She read it aloud: 'Dear Twilight Sparkle, Because of your recent assistance regarding the Changeling invasion at the Royal Wedding and the current calm in Equestria's foreign relations, I am releasing you for the week from any academic studies you may be engrossed in. Spend some time with your friends and take some much needed relaxation time. Sincerely, Princess Celestia' "That's great, Twilight! Now you can go to Pinkie's party tomorrow! How 'bout we go over to Sugarcube Corner to celebrate?" Spike jumped. "I would like to, Spike, but I've fallen behind on some books I've wanted to read because of the wedding and now I have books on the Changelings I need to read, too." "Come on! The Princess gave you the whole week off to spend with your friends! The least you could do is spend at least some time off." "But..." Twilight sighed. "Alright Spike, fine. I'll only read one full length academic book a day. This does not include casual reading though, okay?" "Deal!" Spike exclaimed with a smile. Twilight sat down, opening her book to the first page. After about another hour there was another knock on her door. Spike answered it this time. "Hey there, Spike. How ya doin'?" The orange mare on the other side said. "Good! Princess Celestia gave Twilight the week off so she's upstairs reading about Pony and Changeling relations." Applejack walked into the library and towards the stairs. "Ah could be wrong, but isn't that a little backwards?" she asked with a confused look. "Well, it's better than her original plan. She was going to read every changeling book in the library before that letter arrived," Spike followed Applejack up the stairs. "Well, that's Twi for ya," Applejack shook her head. "Hey there, sugarcube! I was wonderin' if you wanted to come to Fluttershy's cottage with me, she was wantin' to show me some new baby animals. At first I wasn't so sure, but Granny practically chased me out of the house with a broom to make me take some time off. So I figured, who else could need some time off but probably isn't taking it? Turns out I was right when I guessed you." "That's nice. Have fun with Fluttershy, but I'm too busy to go," Twilight replied with no regard to her tone of voice. Applejack and Spike gave each other a look. Spike spoke up first. "Princess Celestia gave you the week off. I really think this is exactly what she didn't want you doing with your time." "Well, I'm sorry, but I can't just abandon my studies. Besides, we had a deal didn't we?" "Well yeah, but-" "No buts! Now let me concentrate," Twilight snipped. "Now sugarcube, no need to be so mean. Spike and I are only trying to help you relax after what you went through at the wedding," Applejack walked toward Twilight. She didn't respond to the farmer's words or approach but just kept reading. Spike sighed. "It's no good Applejack. Let's go back downstairs." Back downstairs, Spike and Applejack said their goodbyes as Applejack left to head to Fluttershy's cottage. Spike picked up his broom and began to clean the library. A few hours later, Twilight finished reading the book and set it down. "Good. Now, to write a report on this to make sure the information sticks," A purple aura surrounded a quill, a bottle of ink, and a piece of parchment and the three items were pulled across the room to Twilight's desk. "Pony and Changeling Relations, A Report," Twilight recited as she wrote it. "Before the days of Equestria, during the time when the three pony races did not get along, Changelings were rarely sighted. This is because there was much discontent during that time, so the emotion of love that Changelings feed off of was too weak to sustain a population of Changelings." A green flash from downstairs drew her away from her work. "Spike! Is everything okay?" She called down the stairs. There was a delay in his response. "Twilight! Quick! It's an emergency!" Spike shouted. Twilight ran down the stairs and took the letter from Spike. It was obviously from Celestia, but it was hastily written and lacked her usual greeting and closing. Come to Canterlot immediately bring your friends is all it said. "This must be huge. What could be happening with the Princess that she would write a letter like this?" Twilight thought. "Spike, you go get Fluttershy and Applejack and bring them to the station. I'll get Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash." Spike left without a word and headed towards Fluttershy's cottage. Twilight headed in a different direction, towards Carousel Boutique. She slammed the door open in a hurry and began shouting for Rarity. "No need to shout darling, I'm coming," Rarity replied in a calm voice as she descended the stairs from her work room. "I'm sorry, it's an emergency!" Twilight said and showed her the letter. "Oh my! What could be happening?" "I don't know. Look, I have Spike getting Fluttershy and Applejack. I need to track down wherever it is Rainbow Dash is though. Could you go to Sugarcube Corner and get Pinkie Pie, please?" "Sure thing, darling. I'll meet you at the station, okay?" "Thanks, Rarity!" And with that, Twilight was off again to track down the prismatic mare. The skies were clear which meant that Rainbow Dash had finished taking care of the weather for the day, and was probably sleeping. Twilight saw Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon nearby and hurried over to them. "Have either of you seen Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked not even trying to hide her distress. "No, sorry. I think she said something about visiting Zecora though," Bon Bon replied with a thick Manehattan accent. "WHAT! THAT'S OVER AN HOUR AWAY! I NEED RAINBOW NOW!" Twilight shrieked and ran towards the Everfree Forest trying to catch up to Rainbow Dash. Lyra and Bon Bon shrugged at each other and continued on their way. Twilight continued on her mad dash to Zecora's hut. Trees whizzed by her as she galloped towards the hut. She arrived just as Rainbow Dash was about to leave. "Rainbow!" she shouted. "What's wrong, Twilight?" Rainbow asked. "Canterlot! Princess! NOW!" was all Twilight could say between gasps. She turned around and began running back to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash gave Zecora a look and took off after Twilight. The only reason the purple unicorn didn't collapse from the exhaustion screaming from her body was the adrenaline coursing through her blood. Because of her hunt, they missed two trains to Canterlot. They arrived at the train station and Twilight immediately collapsed. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Applejack, and Fluttershy were already there waiting. There was another ten minutes before the next train to Canterlot left. "Can you tell me what's going on, Twilight?" Rainbow asked a little annoyed about being left in the dark. "Give 'er a minute, sugarcube. Can't you see she's exhausted?" Applejack said. "The problem is guys, we CAN'T tell you what's going on," Spike said as he picked up Celestia's letter from the panting Twilight Sparkle on the ground. "This is the letter we got from Princess Celestia," he showed the others the letter. "What do you think could be wrong?" Fluttershy asked. "Maybe Luna was kidnapped by a horde of rampaging parasprites and now Celestia needs us to go rescue her and then throw a party celebrating our successful mission?" Pinkie guessed jumping up and down. "Oh no. Do you think Princess Luna is okay?" Fluttershy asked. "Ah'm sure she's fine, sugarcube. Pinkie just likes to get excited. We'll find out when we get to Canterlot," Applejack said. She started to fan Twilight with her hat to help her recover from her run. The train arrived and the seven of them boarded it. Spike sent a reply to the Princess telling her that they were on their way. He didn't get a response. By the time the train arrived, Twilight had mostly relaxed, but now it was time to hurry to Canterlot Castle. Celestia was waiting for them in the entrance hall. She had a frazzled look to her. "Thank you all for coming. I'm sorry, but could I see Twilight alone first?" Celestia asked. Twilight ascended the staircase and followed the Princess to the tower where the Elements of Harmony were kept. There were more guards than usual placed outside to make sure no one got in. "What's going on, Princess? What's so wrong that you'd need to write such a hastily written letter?" Twilight asked. "This," was all Celestia said as she opened the door to the hall. Everything looked fine except for a white light in the center of the room. Its general shape was that of a circle, but it's true shape was constantly morphing. It never remained still. Twilight was awestruck as she approached it. She circled around it, mouth agape. It was two dimensional, invisible when looked at at its side. "What is it?" Twilight asked. "I don't know," Celestia answered as she approached her student. "While I was waiting for you and your friends, I tried various spells to find out what it was, but none of them could tell me. I even stuck my head through it, but it just came out on the side you were on." "You mean, like this?" Twilight jumped through it with her closed eyes. When she opened them she was still in the room. Nothing had happened. "Precisely. If I had to guess, I would say that it was an incomplete spell," Celestia postulated. "Which brings me to why I needed the six of you. I want you and your friends to use the Elements of Harmony on it to see if they can complete it." "No problem! We'll definitely do it!" Twilight responded. "You get the Elements ready while I get my friends up here." Twilight returned to the entrance hall to see her friends pacing in circles. They followed her back to the tower where Celestia was waiting with the Elements. "What in the world is that?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "It looks scary," Fluttershy nervously muttered. "I think it looks rather gorgeous," Rarity said, eyes widening. "Whee! It kinda looks like jello! Is that what it is?" Pinkie jumped in excitement. "Ah wouldn't get too close Pinkie. It doesn't look too safe." Applejack cautiously approached it. Twilight repeated everything Celestia had explained to her. After she had finished, the six of them put on their Elements and stood in a circle around it with Spike and the princess waiting outside of it. Their Elements began to glow as they prepared to use them. They began to lift off the ground as their Elements brought up a gust of wind. A strand of light from each began to tendril out towards the new, unnaturally magical object in the center of the room. Red from Rainbow Dash, orange from Applejack, yellow from Pinkie Pie, green from Fluttershy, blue from Rarity, and purple from Twilight Sparkle. The circular, powerless object began to flash colors matching those from the Elements. It cycled the six colors faster and faster. It became brighter and brighter with each flash. It eventually became white again and the light that shone from it was bright enough to be seen from Cloudsdale. Ponies' eyes all over Equestria were drawn to the light. The seven ponies and one baby dragon couldn't keep their eyes open. Eventually a voice came from it. "H-hello? Is anyone there?" the voice paused. "I-I come in peace. Please, I need help!" it cried. The room's occupants couldn't see it. But slowly, a hoof began to come out of the now finished portal.