Trixie's eyes widen and a bit of gibberish escaped her mouth. The images in front of her, from exotic islands in clear waters to metallic cities in the sky to bipedal creatures mingling and chatting, reflected a world beyond her imagination. What was more, simple and gentle sounds escaped the images, increasing the level of immersion the spell portrayed. With the pool of shadows blending into the background, it was like nothing stood between her and a new world.
“This is a flawless,” Trixie thought, refusing to allow her compliment to escape her lips. She took a few steps forward and brashly poked the pool of shadows, trying to test the spells contingency. Her hooves plunged through with no resistance but the image remained vivid and sharp. A tiny smile began to form on her face as a thought popped into her mind, “I'd bet even that know-it-all Twilight Sparkle couldn't do something like this.” Noticing Ditzy recover from a similar set of gasps only to stand there with her mouth open, Trixie switched her expression into the most neutral possible, relieved to feel the cursed apple still in her mental grasp. Glancing at the pile of shadows that formed Chase and shrugging her shoulders unimpressed, Trixie sighed out loud. “I guess its impressive.”
Unlike Trixie, the gray pegasus did not hold back her tongue. “It's so real and unbelievable. I've never seen anything like this before. How... Why... I don't even know where to start.” Bouncing close to the pool of shadows, Ditzy stared mesmerized into the images. “It's amazing!”
“It certainly was.” Chase's sudden statement made Ditzy blush and take a few steps back, but Trixie noticed something odd. From her short time with her new mentor, Trixie had come to expect a certain amount of joy or sarcasm every time he spoke or whatever it was that he did to communicate with her. So it bothered the blue unicorn to sense a complete lack of emotion from her new mentor. Before she could give this strange behavior much thought, a blue globe formed within the pool of shadows, casually spinning in a background full of stars. Earth, she presumed.
Trixie was just about to question Chase when she was once again interrupted, this time by a more composed Ditzy. The gray pegasus nervously gulped. “Oh no. Do you mean Earth doesn't exist anymore?” The blue pegasus raised an eyebrow. That was a bold thing to ask, but it did intrigue her.
The shadows at the edges of her vision shuddered after the question. A long silence filled the barn as Trixie waited in anticipation, not daring to breathe. When Chase finally spoke, it was quiet, tinged with a deep sadness in the most vulnerable tone she had ever witnessed. “I don't know.”
Trixie blinked twice before her anticipation made her burst in disapproval. “What! That's rubbish and you know it. How can you possibly say that after so much build up. You can't just not know. What about all of that power you have? There has to be something more you can tell me.” A little thud snapped Trixie out of her banter. The purple apple rolled between her companions, both of which were intently focused on her. Chase gave off the feeling of curiosity but Ditzy held a steady glared. Despite her unfocused eye, it was unsettling to say the least. Trixie looked the other way, both hiding her tinted cheeks and ignoring Ditzy's angry stare. Without another word, she resumed levitating her apple.
Chase's voice returned, careful but consistent. “You'll have to understand, I left suddenly, under the worst conditions.” The pool of shadows stirred once more and images, of what Trixie could only describe as a world in flames, flashed across its surface. “The planet was nearing its end. Fights for control of the last remaining deposits of natural resources left my kind desperate. Petty squabbles between factions blew out of proportion. And as you can see, I mean that literally.” Trixie could not quite believe what she was hearing. Who would ever take things so far that the planet would be in danger? Flashes of her dangerous actions in Ponyville, of the Ursa Minor and that twisted pendant, all entered her mind at once. She shuddered. Could she have taken things so far? Chase continued without pausing. “It was during this dire situation that a team was assembled.”
The images switched to more of those bipedal creatures, serious and somber. “Over two hundred participants were chosen, each an expert in their own feel. Our team only had about a month to find a solution. Desperate decisions were made, but ultimately, it was decided that the best chance of survival was escaping our native planet. We built a gateway, a portal, to the unknown. Every expense was taken to fund, fuel and finish it as quickly as possible. My job was to manage and stabilize the fuel chamber.”
Chase paused. In the pool of shadows, Earth came into view once more, but this time, a circular structure was visible on one of its oceans. It soon began to glow, a thin veil slowly forming on the surface of the ocean it encircled. The suspense irked Trixie to no end, but instead of bursting out this time, she succeeded in keeping a calm voice. “Then what happened?”
immediately, the inside of the ring exploded, sending a massive column of water well above the cloud line. As the water reached its peak, a sound like fabric being torn apart blasted Trixie's eardrums with sound loud enough to be felt. When she realized her heart was still in her chest, the image in the pool went blank. “I failed and the gateway collapsed into itself.”
Ditzy, trembling and spooked, managed to steady herself long enough to ask, “Is that how you came to Equestria?” Trixie blinked in surprise. Had Ditzy just put the pieces together faster than she had? With a huff, Trixie gave her fellow pony a flat look. Ditzy shrugged and flinched, still trembling. “Sorry.”
Chase sighed and the tension in the room wavered. “No apologies needed and you were right little one. Unfortunately, less than half our members survived and we found ourselves lost in a hostile land, away from our technology, our magics, our power.”
Had it not been for the constant strain that was levitating the cursed apple, Trixie might have extensively asked Chase to continue or explain his planet's doom with more detail, just the way Ditzy was doing. However, as it was, Trixie had had enough. Keeping her voice even but stern, she Trixie pushed past Ditzy, into her mentor's attention. “That is a most wondrous tale but I fail to see the point behind it. What did you really want to tell us?”
Ditzy gasped for the umpteenth time, Trixie noted but payed no more attention to her fellow pony. That is, until Ditzy regained her balance and stood directly in front of her. “How can you be so insensitive!”
Trixie was discovering that keeping a cool head around this pegasus was not going to be easy. Thankfully, Chase cut in, voice leaking from various points, “What Trixie says is true. There is a message behind all that I've told you so far, but it was vital that you knew what led up to my failure. I failed to keep the gateway functional because pride separated my team. As strong as I was, I needed help, but I was confident in my abilities. And as it was, so were all of my teammates in theirs. When problems in the system emerged, not one of our members asked for help.” An almost palpable smirk filled the hall with a soft warmth. “Do you understand now? What the point of my story is?”
Flashes of her previous times in Ponyville flashed through her mind again. A paw larger than her body tearing a building apart. A red dome over the town. The screams of the townsfolk and their distrustful glares. “I..”
Before Trixie could properly respond, a lock clicked open behind the barn doors.