Chapter 1
It was a bright summer day today in the small town of Ponyville. The sky was clear of clouds, thanks to the diligence of the weather team, Princess Celestia’s sun was shining nice and strong in the sky. There was a nice gentle breeze blowing through, making the day perfect for a nice walk through the park or a picnic. Yes it was overall a perfect day here in Ponyville, and everypony was making sure to enjoy it.
Everypony that is, except for Celestia’s prize pupil and all around bookworm, Twilight Sparkle who had her face buried in book after book doing what she does best, studying. At the moment she was in the middle of a four day studying binge preparing for a task given to her by none other than the princess herself. Much to the annoyance of a certain purple dragon, who had to not only perform his normal duties of cleaning the library that also made up their home, but also was forced to take on Twilights duties. Things such as taking care of anypony who just so happened to need a book. These tasks were made infinitely harder by Twilight herself. She would constantly put one book down, grab another one, and shortly after grabbing that one, put it down, and send Spike to get another one. Spike didn’t hate the work, but there were times he wished he could have a bit of help in these tasks. At the moment, he was desperately trying and failing to get Twilight to go with him to the picnic with the rest of their friends.
“Twilight come on! You’ve been cooped up in here for the last 4 days and you haven’t eaten since yesterday!” Spike was getting frustrated at all his failed attempts to get Twilight away from the books. “You know everypony’s expecting you to be there. They’ll be so disappointed if you don’t come.”
“I can’t leave now Spike, I’m 'in the zone' as Rarity would say. I’ve almost gotten all the information I need to complete the assignment Princess Celestia has given me. And besides, I’m not even hun…” Before Twilight could finish her sentence she was rudely interrupted by her stomach growling loudly; complaining to its owner that it needs to be fed. Twilight groaned and hung her head in defeat. “Fine, I’ll go to the picnic.”
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It took the two of them about 10 minutes to reach the clearing where three mares were waiting for them. When they reached the spot they were immediately greeted by the orange coated farm pony.
“Well howdy there Twi. Ah was afraid we were gonna have ta drag ya here. Looks like Spike was able ta convince you ta drop the books and come have fun fer once,” Applejack drawled out in an upbeat voice.
“Yea, what the hay is up with that! You haven’t been enjoying this amazing weather we’ve been having thanks to yours truly,” stated the always boastful Rainbow Dash who was hovering just behind Applejack.
“It’s nice to see you Twilight,” Fluttershy said with a small smile present on her face.
“Hi girls, sorry I haven’t been around much lately,” Twilight apologized with a sheepish look on her face.
“You haven’t been around at all,” Rainbow Dash interrupted, earning her a stern look from Applejack. “What?”
"I know, but I’ve been so nervous about this assignment, and I just want to make sure nothing goes wrong.”
“Nervous is an understatement. You’ve hardly gotten any sleep since you started. I practically had to drag you up to bed on multiple occasions,” Spike said. “I even had to threaten to burn all of her data yesterday to get her to eat and go to bed. Her reaction was hilarious...until she started hyperventilating. After I calmed her down she finally ate some dinner and went to bed.”
“Well, it sounds like a picnic with yer friends is just what you need Twi. Some time out of that stuffy ol library will do ya a world of good,” Applejack said.
“Speaking of friends, where’s Rarity and Pinkie? I expected us to be the last ones here,” Twilight questioned, just now noticing the absences of the beautiful fashonista and Ponyville’s very own premiere party pony.
As if on cue, Twilight was immediately tackled in a patented Pinkie Pie hug, knocking the air out of her lungs. “Hiya Twilight! It’s been so long since we’ve seen you! Oh, we should throw you a “You’re finally done with all of your studying party!” Pinkie Pie yelled while continuing her relentless hug.
After about a minute, Pinkie finally let Twilight go allowing her to get enough air in her lungs to speak. “Hello to you too Pinkie, but I’m afraid I’m not done yet. I’ve almost gotten all the information I need to start the experiment. After I finish with that, I just need to acquire a few things from around the town, the hardest being a flawless star shaped diamond approximately 4 inches in diameter.”
“Oh darling, that shouldn’t be a problem. I should have a big enough diamond back at the boutique. I could just take it to Fine Cut and have him shape and polish it into the perfect shape,” Rarity called out from a short distance away carrying small basket and a large intricately designed thermos. “Sorry I’m late girls, I had some last minute business at the boutique to take care of.” Rarity joined the rest of the group exchanging hellos.
While Twilight was happy the diamond wouldn’t be as hard to find as she thought it would be, she couldn’t let Rarity give her something that valuable. “Oh thank you for the offer Rarity, but I couldn’t just take something like that without at least paying Fine Cut for the work.”
“Oh no I insist darling. I would gladly help you with your assignment from the princess. Besides, I’ll need Spike's help hunting more gems soon anyway. I think letting me borrow the little dear for the day would be payment enough.”
Spike who had been fawning over Rarity since she arrived finally spoke up. “Of course I’ll help you Rarity, I’d do anything for you.”
“Settle down there lover boy. Since were all here, why don’t we start eatin. Ah’m hungrier than herd of buffalo,” Applejack jumped in, adding herself to the conversation.
“That is marvelous idea Applejack. I too am quite peckish, just let me get the paper plates and...” A loud gasp met the rest of the group as Rarity stopped mid sentence with a horrified look on her face. “Oh no, this can’t be happening, this is The worst! Possible! Thing!” She cried before using her magic to pull a fancy couch seemingly out of nowhere and dramatically throwing herself onto it.
“Oh dear, what happened Rarity?” Fluttershy squeaked out from her hiding place behind Pinkie.
Rarity pushed herself up before speaking again. “I’ve forgotten the napkins! Now what are we going to use to wipe our mouths and hooves while eating!” She then proceeded to flop back onto the couch.
“That’s it?” Rainbow Dash groaned between bites of a daisy and tulip sandwich. “I thought it was something important.” She then wiped her mouth with the back of her hoof much to the horror of Rarity.
The rest of lunch went on without a hitch and Rarity lead Twilight and Spike to her boutique to see if she did have a diamond that would suit her needs. After they put the basket and the remaining paper plates away, Rarity set out on finding the diamond with Spike floating right behind her the entire time. After a few minutes, Rarity returned to Twilight with her prize.
“This will be perfect, thank you so much Rarity.”
“No need to thank me darling. Now come along, if you want this finished by tomorrow we should get to Fine Cut immediately.”
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“Hmmm, well it certainly is flawless, but shaping this will take some time,” The older unicorn stallion said as he closely examined the diamond. “If I had to guess, it will probably be done in about in about two days.”
“Two days? Are you sure you can’t finish it sooner than that?” Twilight asked hopefully.
“I’m afraid I have too many other jobs right now to finish it before then,” He said in a level tone.
“Oh Twilight it will be fine, and trust me you don’t want to rush an artist such as him.” Fine cut gave a proud smile at Rarity’s compliment. “Besides it will give you some more time to prepare yourself for the experiment.”
“I suppose you're right, thank you for your time Mr. Cut.”
“No worries Ms. Sparkle, now for the price. With the Ms Rarity’s frequent business discount the total comes out to 35 bits.” Rarity took out her purse and paid Fine Cut before leaving the shop.
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The day had finally come. Twilight would finally finish her assignment and report her findings to Celestia. While Spike was resting, Twilight took her time collecting rest of the materials needed. Spike was cheery after his day off and raring to go; setting up for the experiment as Twilight went to go pick up the diamond from Fine Cut’s place. “Good morning Mr. Fine cut.”
“Ah good morning Ms. Sparkle. I just finished your order about an hour ago.” He walked into the back room of the store. When he came back he was holding a brilliant star shaped diamond, perfect in every way.
“Oh Celestia, it’s so beautiful. Thank you so much.” Twilight nearly gushed at the sight of the beautiful diamond. She was almost afraid to take the diamond out of his magical hold. She didn’t want to risk scratching it in any way. He wrapped the diamond in fine velvet like cloth and put it in a hard cushioned case so not to scratch it and handed it to Twilight. She thanked him and trotted out of the shop, making a b-line for her library.
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She arrived just in time as Spike had just finished setting up the experiment. “So Twilight, you never explained to me what were doing here.”
“Well Celestia wanted me to try a new spell that was just discovered by some of the scientists at the Lunar Institute of Science. It requires an immense amount of magic and Celestia said she trusts me to be able to pull this off. With help of the other materials, we’ll channel magic through the diamond and it will open a portal to another dimension. If done right, the spell should deposit something from the other dimension into our dimension where we will be able to study it and find out something about said dimension.”
“You lost me at 'channel magic through the diamond',” Spike stated in a flat tone
Twilight just sighed as she magically lifted the diamond into the center of the circle. “Stand back Spike.” Spike stood at the edge of the room as Twilight started up the spell. The pink light around Twilight’s horn started dim as she slowly channeled magic into the diamond but quickly began to brighten as she continued. The diamond began to glow as magical energy was being pushed into it. About 30 second into the spell, the diamond began glow a bright blue and started to float in the air. All Spike could do was sit back and watch in amazement.
After another 30 seconds the diamond began to give off a bell like humming sound. Twilight was exhausted, and her body was covered in sweat. The spell was exhausting to say the least. She didn’t know how much more of this she could take. Suddenly the diamond stopped taking in magical energy. The light the diamond gave off became blinding, making Twilight flinch and cover her eyes with her hooves. The diamond gave off a loud thunderous boom as the energy exploded outward. After the explosion the diamond proceeded to fizzle out and gently fall to the ground.
“What happened?” Spike asked shaking in fear under a pile of books that were knocked off the shelf in the explosion. Spike had to wait to get his answer. Twilight needed to get her bearings again before she did anything. He had to help her up and help her into a chair so she wouldn’t collapse on the floor. After she slowly finished a couple glasses of water, she was finally able to speak.
“I don’t know Spike, but I think Celestia will want to know about this as soon as…” She couldn’t finish her sentence as she almost collapsed in the chair. The spell had taken more out of her than she had originally thought.
Afraid to leave her alone in this condition, Spike woke up Owlowiscious and told him to go get one of their friends. About 10 minutes later, Owlowiscious came flying through the window with Applejack following through the door seconds later. The first thing she noticed was the general state of the room. Most of the books were knocked off the shelves. The pictures on the wall had fallen to the floor. All of the windows on the main floor had been blown out. “What in tarnation happened in here?” It was then that she noticed a barely conscious Twilight slumped over in the chair. “Twilight, are you OK?!”
“I think she’s just exhausted. Could you help me get her up to bed? I don’t want to try moving her alone in this state.” Applejack just nodded as Spike gently got Twilight onto Applejacks back. They got her into bed where she almost immediately fell asleep. After tucking her in, Spike and Applejack quietly walked back into the main room.
“Ah’ll go get the nurse. Ah wanna make sure she’ll be alright.” The worry was obvious in Applejacks voice.
“Good idea, I think I’ll start cleaning up around here while I wait,” Spike said as he started picking up books. Applejack returned about 20 minutes later with Nurse Redheart.
It only took Nurse Redheart a few minutes to examine Twilight. She came down the stairs back into the main room where Applejack and Spike where waiting. “She’ll be alright; she just needs a few days of bed rest. I’ll stop by tomorrow afternoon to see how her recovery’s coming along.” The two of them thanked Redheart and she went on her way. Applejack decided to stay with Spike a while longer to help him with tiding up the library.
With Applejacks help, Spike had the room cleaned up in about 2 hours. “So all this and the spell didn’t even work, that’s a shame.” Applejack said with disappointment in her voice.
“Yea and Twilight had worked so hard on this too.” Spike said as he was hanging the last of the pictures. “Thanks for the help today Applejack. You really didn’t need to help me clean the place up.”
“No worries sugarcube. Big McIntosh was there to watch the shop so Ah’m in no hurry to get back. Ah’m just glad Twi’s goin' ta be OK,” Applejack said as she shelved the last of the books. “So what'r yer plans fer the rest of the day?”
“I think I’m going to take the rest of the day off. I should probably send a quick message to the princess explaining what happened first though. Then I’ll probably catch up on some of my comic books.”
“Ya”ll deserve the day off Spike. Ah better be gettin' back to the farm. Big McIntosh’ll be mad enough as it is that Ah left him alone at the stand. Ah’m gonna have ta take some of his chores tomorrow ta make it up ta him,” She gave a quick goodbye before trotting out of the library.
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All was calm on the edge of the Everfree Forest. Birds were happily chirping and the other critters were skittering around like they had no care in the world. The river was calm and the fish were lazily swimming around. All the peace of this place was shattered as a portal was suddenly ripped open about six feet off the ground. A strong wind was blowing through the portal as something was slowly being pulled through. All the animals in the surrounding area fled immediately while some of the slower animals just hid behind rocks and trees watching in fear at what was happening. After about 10 seconds some strange creature fell out of the portal with a loud thud. It slowly sat up rubbing the back of its head as it spoke.
“Seriously, fuck my life,” the creature growled as it gritted its teeth in pain. After a few seconds of making sure nothing was broken, it started looking around at its surroundings. “Where the hell am I?”
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Friendship is magic © Lauren Faust