//------------------------------// // Awakening // Story: My Little Pony : Explorers of Dimensions // by Jelly Bean //------------------------------// The first thing Twilight saw was green. A lot of green. Not green as in grass on a field under a blue sky, green as in it occupied her entire vision, like she had painted her own eyes green. Also, don't paint your own eyes green to replicate this experience. It will hurt. Twilight attempted to speak, but found that she had nothing to speak with. Or lungs. Or a body, for that matter. Panic quickly set in, as it is apt to do when you realize you are missing your body. The area turned purple. She tried to thrash, but found that movement was impossible. Well, not impossible. She just had no idea how to move like this. The area turned blue. Before her sanity could go flying out the metaphorical window, a thunderous voice boomed from all around, "WELCOME!" Twilight finally figured out how to speak in this strange void, and promptly used her new found abilities to vocalize to screech at the top of her lungs in terror. "Oh, come now, come now. There's no need to scream." Twilight disregarded the helpful advice and continued to scream. The area turned red. "Seriously, stop. That's annoying. I'm a giant voice, do you want to annoy the giant voice?" Twilight decided she did not, in fact, want to annoy the giant voice and promptly shut her yap. The void turned orange. "There we go. Just relax, and I can explain what's going on." "Okay..." Twilight commented, trying as best she could to relax when she was soulstuff. "Well, let's get the script out of the way. The voice appeared to clear it's throat. "This is the portal that leads to the world inhabited only by Pokémon. Beyond this gateway, many new adventures and fresh experiences await you! Before-" What sounded like papers crashing to the floor echoed throughout the void, which, Twilight noted, had changed color. SHIT! The voice roared. Twilight flinched, both at the volume and at the profanity. There goes my papers... Oh well, I guess we get to the question answering part early." If the formerly purple alicorn had a face, it would have lit up in glee. "Oh, great! I have SO many questions." The voice gave an audible gulp. "First, where are we? No, scratch that, who are you? Why don't I have a body, and why are all the colors changing so rapidly? What are Pokemon? How did I get here? Where did-" Twilight fired off questions at a speed that would make Pinkie proud. "Woah, woah, woah!" The voice interrupted, irritated. "Let's slow down, and take a few breaths, alright?" Twilight stopped babbling and took a few breaths. When she finished, she felt much more calm. "Okay, I'm good. So, where are we?" "Twilight Sparkle, welcome to limbo! And not the limbo where you end up if you die. The other, less scary one." The voice commented. Twilight attempted to raise an eyebrow but found she had none. "Limbo? Where's that?" "Limbo is the space between universes. I know you're going to ask more, so allow me to clarify: Universes are separated. You can't just waltz out onto the edge of one and into the other. They have ends, and at those ends is Limbo. Past that, is another universe. It's hard to explain in three-dimensional terms, but essentially you're sandwiched between two universes." A sense of disbelief emanated from the unshaped soulstuff that was Twilight, mixed with a sense of awe. For where else could she be, in an empty void of ever changing color? What other place could recreate such an indescribable experie- "Waiiit, did Pinkie spike my drink again?" Twilight asked suspiciously, this suddenly reminding her of an acid trip. The voice seemed incredulous when it next spoke. "Pinkie spikes drinks?" Twilight sighed. "Pinkie decided that making everyone stoned as Discord was would be a great idea for a prank." "Was it?" "No." "A shame, that. No, you're not lying in a puddle of your own drool. You blew open your universe and ended up here." The voice commented flatly. "What do you mean I blew open my own universe?" Twilight asked disbelievingly, with a faint hint of accusation added in for flavor. "Think for a moment. What do you remember last?" Twilight gave the impression that she was scowling. "I remember casting a long range telportation spell, and then-" Horror permeated the space around her as memories flashed through her mind. A haywire spell. An explosion. Flames. A crater. A crack in the sky itself. Falling. "Yep, you went and Kool-Aid Mare'd through your own universe. Way to go." The voice snarked. Twilight was still frozen in shock. "And if you're worried about your friends, don't be. There were no casualties anywhere. You caused a ton of property damage, though." Twilight could finally move again. "I...did that?" She asked hoarsely. If she had tear ducts she would be crying. "No, no. It was partly you, but the universe was already cracking. You see, there's a reason you're here. There's something wrong with the Pokémon universe too, and if you don't stop it, it'll spread." "Pokémon?" Twilight asked, some of her horror abated at hearing that no one had died and it wasn't totally her fault. A lot of it still was, though, so it didn't help much. "What are they?" "Pokémon are...well, you'll see when you get there, won't you? The short story is, they're setinent creatures from another universe, and very powerful. You'll be getting there soon too, so you can see for yourself." Twilight didn't like the voice's attitude much, but put it aside. "Who are you, anyway? I can't just keep thinking of you as the voice. A rush of impossible memories and sensations bombarded Twilight. Many words would express part of what she was feeling as she sifted through aeons of memories, but sadly, none of them included the word 'Discombobulate.' Which is unfortunate, because that's a really fun word. Seriously, say it. 'Discombobulate.' Heh. After several minutes of stunned awe, both of which are not nearly as fun words as 'Discombobulate', Twilight spoke. "Oh." "Yeah, hard to understand, isn't it? Quite simply, I am The Voice. And it seems my role here is ending." "What? Ending?" Twilight questioned. "Ending. This entire time, I've been evaluating you and your personality, to see how you'll fit in with the natives. They don't exactly look like ponies, you know, so I had to make some...'adjustments.'" "Evaluating me? Adjustments? What do you mean? What did you adjust?" "Too late, not enough time to explain. Just put your hoof here." A ripple in the everchanging empty void appeared. Before Twilight could voice that she didn't have any hooves, she realized she was back in her pony body. Twilight put her hoof on the ripple. The void pulsed once. It pulsed twice. It pulsed thrice, and everything was a mystic purple. "Congratulations! Your aura has been analyzed, found to be a mystic purple, and you are now departing for the World of Pokemon! Have a nice trip!" "Wait! WAIT! What do you mean by aura? I still don't understand what I'm supposed to do! When can I see my friends again? WHAT HAPPENED TO SPIKE?!" The panicky purple alicorn screamed as she began vanishing. My dear Twilight, it's so simple! All you need to do: Is live." And then, before Twilight could ask another question, she vanished into another universe. _____________________________________________________________________________ Twilight blearily opened her eyes, her vision blurry and the air stinging them. She blinked twice to clear the blur from her eyes, before realizing what had just happened. "Wha-URGH! That stupid voice! It sent me away without even telling me what to do!" Twilight cried angrily, stomping on the ground. Even as she was angry, she couldn't help but appreciate the view. She was laying on a large, somewhat mossy rock in the middle of a light, sparse forest totally unlike the dank, dark and creepy Everfree. Twilight never knew how much she treasured breathing until she had lungs to breathe with. Instantly, the anger was wiped off her face, replaced with scholarly glee as she realized something important. She was in an entire different UNIVERSE. Mountains upon mountains of unknown discoveries lay before her. An entire new sentient species, too. Twilight leapt off the rock with oddly catlike agility, and moved quickly around the treeline, investigating every last plant and tree like they were made of gold. Perhaps they were. Even as the Alicorn of Friendship ran about eagerly, investigating everything, she felt odd as she moved. Sleeker, faster. More agile. Her vision was more acute. But even as she was curious about that, she was even more curious about everything else. Her split tail twitched eagerly as she thought of all the- Wait a minute... 'Split tail?' Thought Twilight, referencing her own sensations, not my narration. Twilight turned around. Right behind her, was a long, very pink, very split, very NOT PONY tail. She gulped, and looked down. Paws. Pink fur. The former Alicorn of friendship, currently Espeon of Panic attacks, screamed. And deeper in the forest, something heard her.