The Alleged Holiday I
Twilight Sparkle
The Mare Do'Well: The Vengeance of Ben. (Comic)
The Mare Do'Well: Nightfall (Another Comic)
Humans: The Canterlot Conspiracy, by Dr L. Heartstrings.
A History of Pony-Human Interaction from the Old Kingdom to the New, by Lord Righteous Rule III.
There, the books sat, illuminated in the light of summer.
“Um, Twilight.” Applebloom said. The young filly trotted forwards and placed both fore hooves atop the low desk, gazing at each of the books in turn. ”Don't ya' have anything else?”
It was late afternoon in the Golden Oaks Library, and the sun was beginning its descent; its read gold rays shone through the window panes, and bathed the dim interior of the great oak tree in warm light. Twilight looked on glumly as three inquisitive fillies stared forlornly at her proffered reading material. Couldn't they have asked about something well, I know more about? she complained inwardly. She didn't enjoy the feeling of being wrong footed.
“Yeah, Twilight.” Scottaloo exclaimed, stepping up besides her friend. “We're looking the good stuff! You know, the really down -and-dirty, nice-and-juicy stories about em'. Don't hold out on us!”
“Um, I'm afraid that this is it, girls. Twilight mumbled as she looked at the crusaders glumly. She swept a hoof towards the library's laden shelves. “There's absolutely nothing else on the subject of Humans in the library and I'm not surprised; it's kind of a 'niche' subject. To be very honest with you, girls, I'm the wrong mare for the job - er, and if I may ask, what's going on with the sudden interest in the Humans anyway?”
“I'm glad you asked, Twilight, ” Sweetie Belle had said sweetly. She trotted over and joined the two crusaders at the reception desk. “We have something super special planned for the Autumn Bake Sale later this year. It's gonna' blow the competition to smithereens.”
“Something flashy!”
“Something impressive!”
“Something powerful!”
“Which is?” Twilight asked dryly.
“The coolest and best-est of Autumn Themed Human Cuisine!” The Crusaders cried out in union. “We're gonna' make an Autumnic Bun! We're gonna' try for the baking, engineering and coercive diplomacy cutie marks all at once!”
“Was there a mark for Coercive Diplomacy?” Twilight parroted, as she fought down a snort. “Really? You want to make an, Autmnic... Bun heh. Just where did you girls get this idea from? I mean, I'm not an expert on Humans and Human matters, but even I know that making of of those things is a really, really, really, really bad id-”
“Sure we do, Twilight!” Apple Bloom cried, as she tapped the desk with a hoof. “It's a really Badass idea!” Come'on Scoots, Sweetie, let's show her we know our stuff! It's a-” they exchanged significant glances.
“It's a bun that transform into a giant mushroom when you light the candle on it!” they answered cheerfully. “How cool is that? Lyra helped us come up with it!”
“Er... I don't quite follow...” Twilight shrugged and quietly gave up. Sometimes the Crusader's (and certain unicorns') trains of thought, would run off the tracks, over a bridge, down a ravine and usually resulted in a spectacular explosion that sent flaming debris raining down upon a mime academy. She throught as the three fillies gazed up at her approvingly. The results would be painful, or funny. Quite possibly both.
“You know what, girls?” She said, as she forced a cheery smile to her face. “I don't really want to know any more. Ju-just take whichever of the books you think you need – I personally recommend Lord Regal Rule's Histories – he's one of the few ponies out there who's been across the Equestrian Barrier and I think he knows his stuff really well-”
The three fillies exchanged glances and quick as lightning, three sets of hooves shot out and snatched the comic books and the gossip rag out from under Twilight's nose. Before she knew it, they had rocketed straight out the door and headlong into whichever misadventure they had planned ahead. All that remained of their presence were three squeakily excited voices that tittered from outside, even as Lord Regal's Histories sat forlornly upon the desk.
“We're so gonna' be a hit at the bake sale! Gonna' make an impact, even!”
“Aww, Scoots, don'tcha think we should have taken that big book instead?”
“No way, Sweetie. We're looking for something cool like battle baking, and we're not gonna' find it in a boring ol' history book. Besides, we all heard Twilight say she wasn't the mare for these sort of thing – but that's all right. That's what Lyra is for; she'll answer any questions on the hard stuff.”
“Ohhhh... so are we're gonna' be all right then?”
“Darn tootin' Sweetie. We'll be more than all right! It's gonna' be a bomb!”
Twilight resisted the urge to bash her head against the table as the voices retreated into the distance. She liked the Crusaders as much as anyone else, but... couldn't they at least be a little more informed before they jumped to conclusions? But with any luck the Crusader cooking project would end right there and then. Lyra, for all her self directed endorsement, was in all likelihood just as equally clueless regarding the subject of Humans as her earnest little protégées. Soon, the they would eventually tire and move on to less potentially disastrous projects.
I hope.
On the up side of things, the lesser distraction had gone, and Twilight could finally return her attention to more pressing matters - the greater distraction; which took the form of Pinkie Pie. The pink coated mare was comfortably ensconced in her sitting room, where her bottom was depressed into some of the best cushions in the library. At the the table lay six identical tickets, made of material that Twilight had not seen before, all of them embossed with a winged emblem and blocky uniform text, akin to the results of a printing press. Twilight noted with some minor irritation that her bowl of honey baked apple crisps had been emptied.
“Alright, Pinkie. “ Twilight said as she sank into her own cushion across from her pink coloured friend. “The Crusaders have gone on their way. Lets continue, shall we?”
“Oooh!' Pinkie Pie beamed. “Awesome! Now where was I? Oh right, I was in the middle of saying please! Please? Please, please, please, please, please?” Pinkie Pie pleaded, her best impression of the famed Crystal Empire Begging Mastiff when faced with a treat, plastered upon her face. “Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese? I really, really, really really want you all to be there with me! Look, Inkey Pie even sent enough tickets for all of us!”
“Pinkie,” Twilight said, leaning in closely. She had been through this before. Several times, in fact. “You know perfectly well that the Human Earth is a dangerous place! From what I've read, to get anywhere out there at all, you'll have to lash yourself to a giant metal container, powered by explosive reactions that fling you across the sky; with one of those Human at the wheel no less. Does that sound remotely fun to you?”
“I know right!” Pinkie exclaimed happily, loud enough to rattle the teacups in their saucers. “Doesn't that sound like an adventure! I'd bet Rainbow Dash would like it!”
“Pinkie,” Twilight sighed, and assumed her most stern and lecturing tone. “Don't you know how dangerous Human Earth is?”
“Nope. Not a clue.” Pinkie smiled. “But that's where you come in, right, Twilight? With you around, we'll have nothing to worry about!”
“What? No!” Twilight yelped, taken aback. “Pinkie, the Earth is a magical void – it leaches dilutes magic, which means no spells and no flying. Nothing at all! Well... not necessarily true, but even so, any form of mage-craft would be significantly retarded.” She spieled, as she looked across the table to Pinkie with the gravest demeanour she could manage. "If your aeroplane were to, say, fall out of the sky, I probably couldn't teleport myself across the length of this room, let alone all six of us. And that's not the mention the wild weather, and the mind boggling number of things that want to kill you. It's not the place for me – or for any of us.”
“But-”
“But nothing Pinkie!” Twilight interrupted, agitated. “I'm no expert on Humans, but even I can tell you they're bloodthirsty as anything else out of the Everfree!They fought their last great war amongst themselves – I dunno', like, five minutes ago?”
“But Inkey's been there three years and no one's tried to declare war on her yet!” Pinkie whined. “ She's even opening her third restaurant, ya' know? It's called Inkey's Bistro by the Marina, right down town in Sunny Singapore – and she's invited me – and all of you too for the grand opening! I mean, doesn't 'Sunny Singapore' just sound so sinfully stupendous!?”
“I dunno' Pinkie.” Twilight sighed. Within her mind, the gears and cogs creaked, trying to dredge up some titbit of information, anything at all to dissuade her friend from embarking on this disastrous vacation. “Isn't Singapore in civil war right now?” She finished lamely. What does 'singapore' even mean anyway?
“Oh Twilight, you're so funny!' Pinkie giggled. “Of course Singapore's in civil war – they're gonna' be fighting each other for reservations at Inkey's place! Also, Singapore means 'The Lion's City,' or something like that. Cool, huh?”
“Ah...” Twilight sighed, and tried not to think too hard. “That's very... informative. But look, Pinkie, we can't all just pack up and leave Equestria at the drop of a hat. We all have responsibilities here! Rarity has her boutique, and A.J, her farm. Fluttershy has her animals and Rainbow has.... Rainbow has? Well, er... in any case she's probably busy.”
“Not to worry, Twilight,” Pinkie said, nodding sagely. “I checked before hand and they're all available.”
“Really?”
“Really, really!”
“But,” Twilight sighed, falling back to her final contingency. “But...eh, I need to be right here just in case the Princess needs me!”
“Ha! I've prepared for this too!” Pinkie cried, a smug grin upon her face. “Right...about...now!”
“Wha?”
As if on cue, the recumbent form of Spike sat up stock still, in his basket, a bemused expression plastered on his face. His eyes widened as he belched and a fiery gout of emerald dragonfire erupted from his throat. An intense flame which then congealed into sealed letter, penned in a familiar stationary.
“Thanks Spike,” Pinkie called and received a weary thumbs up in reply.
Twilight gaped as the letter was deposited into her waiting hooves. Swallowing a brief spark of irritation, she tore the wax seal away and read.
My Dearest Student, Twilight Sparkle
While I am exceedingly happy to hear that you take your responsibilities to Ponyville and Equestria so seriously, you needn't have hesitated to decide on a vacation beyond the barrier. You are young still and you should not feel you are constrained against going to see the world.
Please go with your friends. I am sure that Luna and I can hold the fort for a week or two.
You may consider it an order. You do need a little break.
Yours Sincerely,
Princess Celestia.
P.S Please bring back some of those White Rabbit Candy things. Luna loves them.
P.S.S We most certainly do not! Do not let mine sister conceal her uncouth gluttony. Had we not intercepted this, we would have been slandered and-
Twilight sighed.. “Pinkie! Why?”
“Oh, Applejack and I were talking over cider, the other night” Pinkie said, as she leant on the table. “ And the subject fell upon what kind of problems I could expect, and what I could do -and Princess Celly did say that all of us are free to write to her.” She sat there so perfectly innocent that there was almost a halo.
“And was I top of the list of problems?” Twilight sighed, defeated. “Alright Pinkie, I'll bite... if the Princess thinks it isn't that bad of an idea, then I guess I'm gonna' have to hear you out at the very least. How long a vacation are we talking about?”
And that had been the end of that.
[===]
This was a bad idea from the start. Twilight thought to herself as the carriage banged and rattled its way across the arid badlands that lay west of the Cantermount. They had left Spike behind at her parent's place, dragons could not cross the barrier, and she missed him already, but it was more than just that.
It wasn't the way the window panes rattled in their brackets, or the dry, dull heat of the badlands in summer or even Pinkie Pie's rendition of ninety-nine buckets of oats on the wall, which had been repeated thrice. Those discomforts, Twilight could endure with good grace. It was the large herd of angry looking ponies that shared the carriage with them that contributed greatly to an awkward atmosphere; fifty or more of the sign wielding ponies, distributed throughout the length of the train.
“Keep your dirty hooves out of Equestria.” Rarity read one of the signs, her expression disapproving. “What a charming bunch. All in all, an auspicious start to our little trip.”
“Oh, I don't know, Rarity” Fluttershy whispered as she gazed furtively at the grim gang. “They do look so very serious – maybe its something important.” She turned her butter yellow head towards another sign bearer. “Look at that. Keep Les Mis out of Equestria. Think of the children. I don't know what a Les Mis is but it does sound bad....”
“See that one! Magic > Monkeys?” Rainbow Dash complained. “What does that even mean? These bozos are seriously getting me down; its just depressin' .”
“Not a clue, Rainbow.” Applejack commented sleepily. “Ah' thought it sounded like the name of a rock band. What say ya', Twi?”
“Um,“ Twilight ventured. “I'm just as lost as you are, I'm afraid,” she conceded finally.
“What's this?” Rainbow Dash said, in mock wonderment. “So there is something Twilight Sparkle doesn't know after all.”She laughed as she turned to Applejack, who was lounging against a cushion. “A.J, you owe me a bit.”
“In ya' dreams, Rainbow.”
“Oh har har har.” Twilight said, her voice acid. “ Just because a sign says, magic on it, it doesn't automatically means I know anything about it.”
“Girls,” Pinkie's voice wafted over, her tone hushed, reverent even.
“Well, Twilight darling.” Rarity shrugged. “You are a lady of letters after all. Was it a stretch of imagination that we assumed that you would be happy reading up on everything pertaining to our destination?”
“Well, no. But I had that report on Theoretical Thaumaturgic Theosis to finish,” Twilight grumbled. “I don't know why, but ever since we got back from the Crystal Empire, the Princess has been unusually insistent that I get a working familiarity with it; I never thought I'd say that I could be sick of reading up on something, but I am.”
“Girls!”
“Wow,” Rainbow Dash quipped. “You're sick of reading? What's next? Is A.J gonna' give up apple farmin' and take up egghead hocus-pocus?”
“When pigs fly, Rainbow!” Applejack laughed from where she lay. “And the day I take up Hocus-pocus is the day you-”
“GIRLS!”
Twilight jumped and the rest of her friends fidgeted uncomfortably in their seats. Something was happening. Around her, the six's fellow passengers shifted in their seats, an electric wave of excitement running through the carriage. Signboards and banners were forgotten as ponies stepped towards the glass, goggling at something far ahead at the horizon.
“-welp, ah'm impressed.” Applejack finished.
“Look!” Pinkie Pie cried, gesturing towards the window panes. “Can you see it?”
Twilight gulped, and looked and looked and looked. And what she saw sent a shiver down her spine. There, towering in the distance, was a silvery window that split the very horizon. It was higher than the clouds and as wide as a mountain. A picture frame of nothingness that held the immeasurable vastness of an alien universe within its confines. A world known to the denizens of Equestria by more names than memory could remember. Vast beyond imagination and the subject of songs and stories throughout the ages; of riches and wonders, and yet also, suffering and death. And yet, also, a world ignored – a good many ponies would rather pretend it didn't exist at all.
“Human Earth.” Twilight whispered. “And, that must be the Great Barrier of course. It's the only way through – the only thing holding it back... I've read about it, but... wow. Just wow.”
“Can't you just feel that?” Rarity whispered, her voice hushed, awestruck. “I've felt plenty of potent spellwork in my time, thanks to you Twilight, dear, but that! That is just something extraordinary! Wha-what is it?”
“I've read about that,” Twilight said, her eyes distant. “You know how persistent enchantments require a framework of aetheric lattices and spell bindings designed to maintain that enchantment? Some of those are so immense, so incredible, that they become just as famed as anything else – that one is called the 'Gatehouse' and it maintains the barrier... well feel it for yourself.”
Rarity shivered. “Goodness...”
“If ya' feeling' what ah'm feelin', Rarity.” Applejack mumbled, her eyes wide. “That has gotta' some mighty impressive hocus-pocus, if even ah' can feel it. It's gotta' be strong ol' Kingdom stuff, or ah' ain't an Apple. And what ah' wanna' know is jus' how we managed to miss that gi'normous thing the first time we were around these parts?”
“Dashie!” Fluttershy whispered. “Look! Your feathers!”
“Aww, darn, I just preened them this morning!” Came Rainbow's irritated reply as she spread her wings for a closer look. “Yours too, Fluttershy. I dunno' about you, but mine are all tingly...”
The two pegasi looked at one another, their feathers fluffing up, and burst into laughter.
“Pinkie, “ Twilight whispered, as she turned to her last friend. “Are you okay?”
“My Pinkie Sense is going off the charts.” Pinkie replied, uncharacteristically calm. “If I were a robot, this is where I would go, 'Beep Boop. Can not compute”
“What's a robot?”
“Oh Twilight, you're so funny.” Pinkie giggled halfheartedly, though Twilight noted that her pink friend's eyes were a little wild. “You'll see once we go through.”
Not wanting to argue, Twilight just nodded, and turned back to the window.
They were not the only ones. Around them, their fellow passengers oohed and aahed and for a brief moment, the gloomy atmosphere was swept away, leaving only a big group of dumbstruck tourists. And then, just like that, the moment ended. The incredible vista was blocked as another train thundered past their own, hurtling away from the barrier at great speed. It was not a passenger carriage of polished wood; but rather a great steel behemoth that bore gargantuan machine parts; immense gears and bits of black metal, lashed down with chains thicker than a pony's leg.
“Oh my.” Fluttershy breathed as she looked on. “What do you think those are for?
“I dunno'.” Twilight sighed. “A robot, I suppose?” she said, and watched as Pinkie shrugged.
“Oh, no Twilight, dear.” Rarity said as she turned away from juggernaut of a train that rumbled by. “If I'm not wrong, I'd say that those are gears, ironwork and cables for the Manehattan's new Golden Delicious Gate Bridge, which will open on the New Years.”
“No way! How do you know? Metal ain't your thing.” Rainbow asked. “Ooh, I'm Rarity! Keep your heavy, nasty, rusty, smelly iron awaaaaay from meeeee! It'll stain my fancy doilies!” She chuckled as Rarity shot her a dirty look.
“Well, Rarity, you've never struck me as the type to be interested in metallurgy.” Twilight agreed.
“Dear me, girls, girls!” Rarity said airily. “A lady must be educated on a wide variety of topics. It helps when mingling with high society – for example, I discuss fashion trends with Baroness Fluer Lis De in the morning, politics with Princess Cadance at lunch and economics with Fancypants at dinner.”
“Booooring,” Rainbow laughed. “What does wherever you get your metal from got to do with anything anyway? Just go diggin' for it, if you want some so bad.”
“Well, if you must know, Rainbow,” Rarity began, her voice taking a lecturing tone. “Whilst Equestria possesses great mineral wealth in gems and gold and opals, we do have a great lack of iron, and by extension, steel.” She said, as she glanced towards the towering barrier in the distance. “Compounding the problem, Equestria has also almost no industrial capacity to process and shape pig iron whatsoever, and so, almost everything we have comes from, well, outside I wonder, sometimes, if Manehattan and Detrot know where their building parts and machines actually come from...heehee.”
She tittered nervously, as she caught both Twilight's and Rainbow Dashs's stunned appearances. “Well, it's nothing special, really. I just pick up bits and pieces from causal conversations with Fancypants and his associates. He is such a knowledgeable stallion. I mean, did you know that he's just imported several motorized boats to replace the old Manehattan Fancy Cruise Line. I might even go for a ride on one of them when I head down there next year for the Fashion Show.”
“Rarity, I am impressed.” Twilight admitted grudgingly. “You really do know your stuff. Dad, Mum and Shining always tell me I should spend a little time learning about that sort of thing but...well ...you know... I've never found the time. But I suppose I can't really expect the Princess to provide me with a stipend forever.”
“You've lost me at the 'industrial capacity' bit.” Rainbow shrugged. “And cruises? Boooring.”
“Really, Rainbow?” Rarity said. “Aren't you the least bit interested to know where all of your ironwork comes from? I, for one, know that my sewing machines come from the finest artisans in the Kingdom of Germany. Whilst, that insufferable Hoity Toity purchases his team's machines from a place called the Principality of Taiwan.” She said smugly. “I hope this kindles your interest in worldly matters.”
“Nope. Not at all.” Rainbow mouthed. “And now you've killed any interest I may had so hard that it died with its whole family. In a fire.”
“Girls.” Twilight sighed, but Rarity and Rainbow smiled good-naturedly at one another.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” The conductor's voice came, amplified by a palpable surge of magic. “ We will be arriving at Hippocampus Station shortly. If this is your first visit to the Hippocamp-Barrier Region, please be notified that you may experience momentary nausea. A medical clinic and sick bay is available in the station. Thank you for choosing Fancy Railways for your journey and we wish you a pleasant trip beyond the barrier.”
“That... doesn't sound very pleasant.” Fluttershy murmured as they drew along side a paved station platform and the carriage shuddered to a stop.
“Oh, we'll be fine.” Pinkie huffed. “I get nauseous all the time! I change diapers on a regular basis for hoof's sake! Bring it on barrier! Pinkie's ready for ya'!”
The carriage began to empty as ponies picked up their signs and disembarked, but the heavy atmosphere remained. Outside the carriage, the platform was awash with ponies, milling about the paved walkway towards the barrier, which seemed to stretch on endlessly into the heavens now that they were right at its door step. From beyond, shone a cold, pale light, an unnatural contrast with the arid heat of the badlands summer. A cold, chilly gust seemed to blow in from nowhere, palpable even inside the carriage and Twilight felt goosebumps rise as she realized she could detect the smell of salt in the air – a thousand Canterlot Stadia away from Manehattan and the sea.
“Let's go, shall we?” Twilight said, as she retrieved her trunk from the rack.
“Let's,” the girls said, almost as one, as the filed out into the open air.
Twilight found it cold, surprisingly cold. And the salty smell of the air only intensified as the cantered across the platform to the turnstiles.
“First Timers!” A great gruff voice called out, booming across the station platform alike a peal of thunder. “First Timers! If this is your first time going through the Barrier, step right up! Don't be shy! First Timers over here!” As it turned out, Twilight found the source of the commotion to be a sentry, clad in the standard burnished bronze of the guard. He, however had a crimson sash with a embroidered train on it tied to one fore leg. “Hey! You pretty girls are first timers? No?”
Twilight cringed and Rarity alongside her, but both Rainbow and A.J exchanged ribald grins. “We haven't crossed the barrier before, if that's what you mean,” Pinkie said happily.
“Well, you've come to the right place then.” He cried, gesturing to a chart. “The line for the special assisted crossing starts right'o here. Oh, and how long will your trip be?”
“A week.” Pinkie continued. Twilight nodded, along with the rest of her friends.
“A week eh?” The Functionary said, as he gazed intently into his documents. “Well, then you ought to be just fine without.”
“Without what?” Twilight asked, worried.
“Vitamins!” The guard barked out with a laugh. “But between you and me, pretty lady, I'm guessing it's jus' something the apothecary’s union tells us so we buy more of their stuff.” He finished as he nuzzled open the security gate. “Gate's open! Go through! That's it, nice and easy....”
Twilight stepped through, the feeling of unease welling up within her. Celestia's student she may have been, but the magic that formed the fabric of the Great Barrier was as alien to her as the world that it contained. She looked up, onwards and onwards and out of habit, and curiosity, she assumed a partial meditative state – one that the Princess had taught her; to feel, and visualize the lattice of the spell work within her mind.
Terrifying She decided. It seemed to stretch for miles in all directions – the novelty of barrier itself was dwarfed by the intricacies of the ancient spell mechanism. Twilight did not know why, but her heart ached, even visualizing it, the monument of aether her books identified as the Gatehouse. And the void it warded against, which chilled her to the bone. If the endless distances of spell mechanism were lines of Aether, glowing with the light of love, the void was nothing at all. All in all, it invoked a primal urge within her, half to sate her curiosity and half again to flee in terror. And regret – regret that her friends could not share in what she were seeing.
I could spend years here, studying the Gatehouse and the Barrier. No one else has done that. I wouldn't even have to cross at all She thought, awestruck. I could have my own little cottage – Live it out just like Daring Do. I'd like that...
“Okay, you girls!” The guard cried, breaking Twilight from her reverie as he paced a circuit around them. “There are a lot of stories about the barrier and even more about Earth – most of them are bullshit. I am going to tell you a few things that will make the crossing easier on you.”
Twilight looked ahead, now attentive. Along side her, her friends stiffened, preparing themselves. Pinkie Pie wore a serious expression, complemented with a colander helmet, whilst A.J simply looked determined, an expression she shared with Rarity. Fluttershy faced onwards with a calm acceptance, whilst it was Rainbow that looked like she was going to sick up.
“One. You may experience a mild shock. Keep going. Do not stop.”
“Two. You may experience some lethargy. I am told the natives call it 'gravity'. Keep going. Do not stop!”
“Three. You may hear your friends cry for help. Keep going. Do not stop.
“Four. You will be scared. You will be frightened. You may piss yourself. We've all been there – Keep going! And do not stop!”
“Last and not least!” The guard shouted, gazing at each of them for emphasis. “Listen to my voice and remember it. Now, it may be that you may hear my voice, shouting at you to bloody stop. What do we do???”
“We keep going and do not stop!” Twilight yelled, in union with her friends.
“What? No!” The guard laughed. “Then you'd better well stop. Trust me, I've been doing it for years.”
“But why-”
“No time!” The guard cried, as he broke into a determined grin. “Step it up! Let's go! I'll be with you all the way! Good luck, ladies! Go! Go! Go! And you especially, pretty purple! You're a lil' pudgy, but don't you dare stop anyway! Go! Run!!!”
Pudgy? Twilight thought, half offended as she cantered up to the surface of the barrier. There was no time for a confrontation, however, as all five of her friends bore down behind her, running full tilt, their luggage clattering on wagons behind them. Up close, the surface was not silvery as it first appeared, but rather like a thick, nearly opaque mist. Nothing else for it! she decided and hurtled through.
“Raaaarghh!!!”
The shock hit her like a thunderbolt. Twilight yelped as the sensation, at once both searing hot and cold flooded through her body like hot chocolate and naphtha. Her vision swam and her eyes watered, as she blinked in confusion. The world seemed to press down on her; great crushing weights that threatened to send her sprawling to the ground like a rag doll. Instinctively she drew upon her magic, focusing upon her horn, but to her horror, nothing came. Behind her, she heard someone scream, and she felt her heart leap up to her mouth.Fluttershy? Rarity? Pinkie? Rainbow? Applejack? Her mind wailed. What's happening? Where's the guard?
“Let me go!” she cried, struggling weakly against the crushing weight. “I'm not supposed to stop! I've gotta' find my friends!” With the last of her strength, she drew back a hoof and struck. A weak, desperate last stand – her magic had failed, but her blow connected, hoof against flesh and-
“Woah, there, Miss Sparkle, “ someone said. A deep baritone voice, that seemed right next to her. “Calm down now! You'll be all right, you'll be all right.”
Twilight opened her eyes, her breath running ragged and her body, aching all over. She gasped for air as she looked wildly around her and found herself looking into an unfamiliar sky. Seemingly endless and adorned with wispy white things that seemed too intangible to be clouds. In contrast, the wind that howled around her had a bone chilling weight to it, carrying a scent of salt too strong to possibly be salt. It was only then that she realized that she was surrounded by worried faces.
“I'm so so so so sorry!” Fluttershy wailed, practically tearing up. “I saw you collapse and I screamed, but then you started struggling and...and...”
“Wow,” Rainbow Dash said, trembling. “And I thought I had it bad. Um, I mean... er. I was gonna' do something but I couldn't! My wings felt so, heavy! And I thought that I was gonna' fall over or something, and then, Fluttershy starts yelling and....er... are you alright?”
“Dang it, Twi.” Applejack whispered. “Ah' was right up next to ya, and well, everything was so darn hazy and ah' couldn't bear to move to catch ya'! Me! An Apple! All tuckered out jus' from steppin' through a fancy door!”
“I must apologize, Twilight, darling.” Rarity said as she pushed up between Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “I tried to catch you, I did, but...”
“Nothing, right?” Twilight whispered hoarsely. “There's no magic here...ha ha ha... it's really true.”
“Well, not exactly, Twilight, darling,” Rarity replied, worry worn into her face. “There was a, well, trickle... but not really enough for me to do much of any good.”
“Luckily,” Pinkie interjected, “Richie was there to help you!” She alone looked none the worse for wear, instead beaming approvingly towards the pony who had rushed to her side. “He caught you when you tumbled right over there and sent that guard guy to pick up a first aid kit from the post! But you're all awake now, yay!”
“Richie?” Twilight slurred, as she turned to get a closer look at her benefactor. “Richie Who?” Strong, bold features, and dark brown mane with silver at the temples filled her eyes, a familiar, distinguished figure, dressed in a well pressed suit. Mr Filthy Rich of Ponyville stood, his face ashen and lined with worry.
“Well, Miss Sparkle,” he said, his voice gruff and unsure. “That's not something you feel everyday, eh? Everyone remembers their first time here – it hits you harder than a train.”
“Well, hello Mr Filthy?” Twilight mumbled, abashed and dizzy still. Flithy Rich cringed ever so slightly. “ Er... sorry” she remembered the older stallion's eccentricities and looked skywards in embarrassment. “What's that big sun thingy that looks a like a sun, but can't possibly be a sun because its way too big?” Twilight asked, her voice slurring as she tried to stand.
“Why, Miss Sparkle,” Filthy Rich said huffily, as he offered his hoof to help her up. “That's the sun of course. Or more accurately, that is their sun.”
“Oh.” Twilight wheezed, and felt her legs promptly give out beneath her once more.
The last things she remembered were the cries of alarm from her friends, and the glimmers of worried faces that filled her vision. Strange blurry creatures too tall and lanky to be ponies hoisted her body onto someone's strong back and before she could even feel terrified, she was carried away, with the whispers and gossip of the assembled crowd fading into the background.
“So that's the Twilight Sparkle?” Once voice in particular stood out amongst the rest, female, yet ostentatiously gruff and gravelly. “I'm not at all impressed...”
Who, or for what purpose, Twilight could not tell. Unconsciousness overtook her.