//------------------------------// // 7: Let Me Show You My World // Story: When A Door Closes, Another Opens // by Intet22 //------------------------------// “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.” ~ Helen Keller Dark… Why is it dark? Rainbow thought to herself as she opened her eyes. All that she could remember was the fairly bland bedroom, and then Twilight saying something… Then nothing… Rainbow sat in the barren space and tapped her head with a hoof. What was it that Twilight said? ‘I’ve got something to show you and I think that you’re going to enjoy it.’ What in the hay did she mean by that? Rainbow thought to herself as she looked around in the barren darkness, no source of light in any direction. There is nothing bucking here! All that I can see is black for miles. A small shiver coursed through Rainbow’s body, its suddenness sent a surge of fear through her. She was all alone, sitting in a desolate place that she knew nothing about, with no one around to ask what in the world what was going on. “Ha ha, very funny Twi,” Rainbow said, her panicked voice echoed through the nothingness that surrounded her. “Nice prank. You really got me…” “Prank?” Twilight’s said, her voice seeming to come from everywhere in the world at once. “Oh no no. This isn’t a prank Rainbow. I told you I wanted to show you something that you’re going to like and I meant it. The spell seems to be a little more complicated when you’re casting it on somepony else. Usually it just drops me in the right location, but for you it seems to have sent you off somewhere else. You should be able to see something of in the distance. Just head towards it and you will be fine.” “What in Celestia’s name are you talking about!” Rainbow shouted as she looked around the barren space. “There’s nothing here! I can’t see a damn thing and it’s starting to creep me the hell out. Undo whatever you did, and get back into that boring bedroom…” There were a couple of moments of silence before Twilight’s voice boomed through the world once more. “Please Rainbow, you should be able to see it now. Trust me,” Twilight pleaded. “If you want I can cancel the spell, and you will back in the room with me, but please… Just trust me.” Rainbow sat on her haunches, thinking about what she wanted to do. What the heck do I do? Twi said that if I wanted out that I could just say so, but she also said to head towards something, but there isn’t anything bucking here! Although… Twilight would never lie to me like this. Rainbow let out a deep breath, the calming effect almost immediate as she felt the worry start to leave her body. I’ll give it a couple of minutes, and then if I don’t see anything I’ll ask her to let me back out. In the distance, a small light began to radiate, its glow seemingly inviting Rainbow to walk towards it. With a small stretch of her hooves, Rainbow sat up and started to walk towards the ominous glow, her footsteps softly echoing with every step. As she slowly trudged towards the light, a pleasantly warm feeling began to wash over her, starting from her muzzle all the way down to her tail. After a couple of minutes of walking Rainbow stood in front of a large wooden door. A small gold handle lay in the center and with a simple push with her hoof, the door opened and she walked on through. With a flash of bright light, the world filled with color, and sitting in the middle of the center of this new colorful world, was Twilight, a big smile stretched across her face. As Rainbow looked around the new room that had materialized before her, she noticed that it looked a fair amount similar to the Golden Oak’s Library, but there was no ceiling. In its place lay a starry night sky, completely filled with beautiful stars that shone with a subtle dull glow. Rainbow continued to stare at the sky above her, basking in awe at the simple beauty. “Gorgeous isn’t it? ” Twilight said. “The stars are always beautiful, every single night, their brilliance shines without fail. Such simple beauty is always breathtaking, and it never ceases to amaze me. I remember times where I’d just look out the window late at night, looking at the sky for hours on end. Quite often, I would sit with Princess Celestia after a long day of lessons, and we would tell each other stories that we had read about. I know this night sky is not the same, but at least it is as close to the real thing as what I can remember.” “Yeah… W-W-Wait a minute…” Rainbow said as she whipped her gaze over to Twilight. “What the hell did you do to me?! I mean you could have at least given me some warning that everything was going to disappear. That scared the hell out me you know.” “Sorry about that…” Twilight said while rubbing the back of her head with a fore-hoof. “I’ve never cast this spell on somepony else before, and I guess I screwed up in some of the calculations. I’m sorry about not asking you if it was okay at first, but you seemed a little down after telling me about why you had taken such an interest in magic. I figured that this might cheer you up.” “Okay so where in Celestia’s name are we?” Rainbow glanced once more around the library’s interior. The only differences that she could see was the missing ceiling, and a collection of doors that surrounded the room, each with own label across them. “It all looks like the library back in Ponyville, excluding the obvious.” “This,” Twilight said while waving a forehoof around. “This is my mind.” “This is your mind? What do you mean?” “All of this Rainbow… It’s all me. The library, the night sky, and even the darkness that you came from. It is all me. What you’re seeing right now is a projection of the inside of my mind, a visual representation of how my thoughts are laid out if you will. At the moment we’re just simply sitting in the central hub, which kind of acts like a central point that connects to all the other parts. You said yourself that you wanted to see how magic works, so I thought why not take you directly to the source. This way I can give you an extremely detailed lesson on how my magic works, and it will also help us pass the time.” “Okay okay,” Rainbow said while waving her hooves in front of her, her mind still trying to make sense of the situation. “So. Let me get this straight… You cast a spell that let me see inside your head.” Twilight nodded in acknowledgement. “Right now we’re sitting in your mind, and all of this is you.” Another nod came from Twilight. “And you did this too...?” “To show you the lowest level on how magical theory works. Now come on, we’ve got a lot to see, and very little time to see it. The train should be arriving at the station in a couple of hours, and that should give us just enough time for me to show you what I wanted. Just follow me, and please, don’t venture off anywhere.” “Uh okay…” Rainbow said with uncertainty in her voice. Both of the mares got up, and began to walk to one of the many doors that surrounded the room. Twilight pushed the door open with a hoof, and proceeded to walk in, gesturing for Rainbow to follow as the door swung ajar. With a couple of steps into the new area, the door closed behind them. Rainbow surveyed the room as the two walked in. A large circular wooden floor lay at the centre of the room, but no walls extended from the base of the floor. Surrounding the wooden disk in the center, lay a vast expanse of night sky, filled with pearl white clouds. The dull glow of Luna’s moon provided a dim source of light throughout the world. Twilight sat down, and patted the ground next to her for Rainbow to join her. “Please sit down Rainbow, and be as still as you can be,” Twilight said. “Magic is very hard to coax out while casting this spell. It’s a lot like trying to look two different ways at time. So just sit perfectly still.” “Sure, I guess,” Rainbow said as she sat next to Twilight. “Should I be looking for anything or?” “Just give it a second.” Rainbow gazed around the sky, looking everywhere with serious intent, as if she was looking for something miniscule to appear. A small wave of energy materialized in front of her, and it slowly started to move towards the two. The energy flowed like a wave as it travelled through Rainbow’s body, effortlessly coiling around her as it moved. As the energy surged over Rainbow, she was filled with a sense of familiarity. What the hell? I swear that I have felt this before, it almost feels like… Rainbow turned and looked at Twilight, the mare’s eyes were closed tight, and she was chanting some spell underneath her breath. It feels like… Twilight. Calm, collected, organized, and a little crazy. Another wave materialized and washed over Rainbow. One by one, more and more began to materialize in the empty room. Some just floated through the air, while others sank lower into the sky below. “Closer, but it’s still not enough,” Twilight quietly said. “Just a little bit more.” Twilight’s horn began to glow with a lavender light. The waves of energy gathered towards the horn, and began to quickly circle around it. With a thunderous roar, the energy dispersed from Twilight’s horn, and the area around them roared to life. Tendrils of magic filled the world, each there own seperate colour, some entwined with each other as they danced around the room. Rainbow stared in awe, completely flabberghasted at the explosion of light. The pale glow of the radiant moonlight, now replaced by a vibrant hue of color. Curtains of red and green magic effortlessly fused together over head. Some of the coils of magic floated down towards Rainbow and circled her a couple of times before flying back off into the sky. “Wow,” Rainbow said, her gaze unmoving from the magnificent light show of a world that lay before her eyes. “It’s amazing isn’t it,” Twilight said, a hint of exhaustion could be heard in her voice. “When Celestia first told me about this spell I didn’t believe her that you could see magic like this. To be able to see magic, in its purest form, it is unbelieveable.” Twilight reached out a roof, a red stream of energy made its way over, forming a small orb on the top her hoof. “All of this is magic, Rainbow. Pure magic, untouched by any external factors, and just waiting to be shaped at will.” The small ball on top of Twilight’s hoof began to twitch, it’s structure bending back and forth, never settling on a particular form for too long. After a couple of seconds the energy morphed one final time into a bright purple flame. “All magic comes from here. It all depends on the type of magic that you want to use, and in what ways you want to use it.” Twilight stared at the small ball of flame that lay sitting in her hoof. “This magic is simple combat magic, and if it is used for that purpose it easier to access. But if you try to bend it outside of it’s usual purpose.” The flame gave a small shudder and materialized back into it’s base form. “It typically reverts back to it’s original form if you try to force it.” “That is so sweet!” Rainbow shouted. “I wish I could use magic that this, it would be awesome! Maybe I would be able to conjure a nice bed to nap in wherever I wanted.” “But Rainbow,” Twilight said as she brought over another stream of energy. “You do channel magic like this, just in a different way.” Rainbow sat with a confused expression on her face. “What do you mean? I’m a pegasus… Of course I can’t use magic like you do Twi. Kind of lacking the right materials there,” Rainbow said, pointing to her head with a hoof. “If you catch my drift.” That’s right. I didn’t go over that at all did I? Twilight thought to herself, as the stream of energy playfully continued to roll around on top of her hoof. I just explained how magic works for unicorns but not for the other tribes… I thought she knew since she was reading that aerodynamics book, but it must just go into the concepts behind flight, and not the pure basics. Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin, trying to think of an idea on how to explain the concept of non-unicorn magic to Rainbow, while keeping her engaged in the conversation. “Hey Rainbow,” Twilight said, as she came up with a solution to her small problem. “Think fast!” As the words left Twilight’s mouth, she threw the ball of energy at Rainbow, aiming just beside her. Rainbow’s wings shot out from the surprise of Twilight’s abrupt toss, and the orb whizzed by Rainbow’s head. What shocked Rainbow though was that the energy didn’t continue to fly past her like she thought it would. Instead the orb hovered patiently in spot, floating a small distance away from the tip of her wing. Rainbow moved the wing down, and the orb mimicked the simple action. “I did forget to mention one very important aspect about magic,” Twilight said as Rainbow continued to play with floating sphere. “All ponies have magic deep inside of them, the only difference between all of the races is how they use this energy. For all of the pony races, using magic comes naturally. Magic is what allows pegasi to fly, and it is also what gives earth ponies their deep connection with nature. Unicorns are unique in the fact that they can actively shape their magic with the use of their horn.” “So how do pegasi use magic then?” Rainbow said, taking a brief second to stop playing with the magical sphere, that still hovered next to her wing. “Pegasi wings act as their magic conductor. It takes the energy in their body and allows them to manipulate it so they can fly. This magic is also what allows pegasus ponies to control the weather.” Rainbow shot a confused look over at Twilight, not completely understanding on how the two were connected. “What do you mean that pegasi use their magic? Pegasi wings are like bird wings, you just give them a flap and off you you go.” “Bird bones are hollow, Rainbow,” Twilight said. “And because of that reason they require much less to lift them into the air. The magic that you have helps give the extra boost needed, and provides the necessary lift to get you off the ground. A pegasus’s flying potential is based on how well they can access their magical reserves. The more you can tap into this power, the faster you can fly. In fact this magic is the same substance that allows you to create the Sonic Rainboom. As you reach the extremely fast speeds, the magic begins to resonate with it’s surroundings, eventually reaching the point where the colorful explosion fills the sky.” “So you’re saying that I’ve been really creating magical explosions without knowing it?” Twilight gave a small nod. “That is so awesome!” Rainbow shouted as she did a small flip on the spot. “Is there anything else that I have been doing that I don’t really know of?” Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin. It did surprise her that Rainbow had never learned about the concepts of non-unicorn magic. Granted it was a lesson they probably would teach early in flight school, so she might have just forgotten about it. “Not that I can think of,” Twilight said. “Maybe when we get back from the Archmage Exhibition, I can try to show you how to access your own energy. I’ve heard that a select few pegasus ponies have been able to tap into their energy and draw small portions of it out at will. If you can do that, we can probably improve your overall speed by a little bit, as well as give you a way to fly without spending as much energy.” “We could?” Rainbow shouted, the happiness clear on her face. “That is great news!” Twilight’s ears perked up as a sound began to radiate through her mind. “Now arriving at Manehatten station!” The deep voice boomed. “Please secure all of your belongings and please move towards the exits in an orderly fashion. Thank you for riding with us and we hope you had a pleasent experience.” “And with that it looks like we’re out of time,” Twilight said. “Awwww,” Rainbow pouted, while crossing her forehooves across her chest. “I was having a lot of fun here.” “We can come back here if you want to sometime later on. Now just sit still and relax. It shouldn’t take too long to get you back into your body.” Twilight’s horn began to glow with it’s traditional lavender hue. As she lowered her head to Rainbow’s, she stopped just before the tip reached Rainbow’s forehead. “Uh you might feel a little weird going back. Some ponies have described the experience to be… Awkward, to say the least. “Thanks for the heads up this time Twi,” Rainbow said. “Now hit me with your best shot.” With those words, Twilight lowered her horn to Rainbow’s brow, and let the spell take over. The world around Rainbow gave a violent shudder, as the immaculate scenery of the cascading streams of magic began to violently twist and warp towards her. A wave of vertigo shot through Rainbow’s body as the world convulsed one last time and with loud pop, it vanished into blackness, only to be replaced moments later with the quiet train room. Rainbow sat staring at the wall, only able to blink as she began to feel herself trying to adjust to the new world in front of her. “Come on Rainbow,” Twilight said as she pulled Rainbow through the room’s small wooden door. “We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry up.” Surprisingly, Spike was already walking down the hall with bags in tow behind him. With little effort he dropped the bags at the mares’ feet and proceeded to walk towards the exit. Twilight walked on past, magically levitating the heavy satchels over her back as she walked by. Rainbow tried taking a step towards the saddlebags, but as she put her hoof forward to take a step, she instantly felt lightheaded. The sudden surge sent a wave of vertigo through Rainbow’s body as she pressed up against the wall of the train to keep her from falling on her face. Noticing that Rainbow wasn’t behind her, Twilight turned around, and shot a confused look towards the stumbling pegasus. Rainbow tried to take one more step, but once again a lightheaded rush filled her head, and she stumbled forward. “You okay there Rainbow?” Twilight asked. “You seem a little…” Twilight rolled a hoof in the air as she tried to think of a proper word. “Discombobulated?” “Twi…” Rainbow said, a deadpan stare making its way across her face. “Next time you want to describe some feeling, use a word that I will at least recognize.” Rainbow looked at her hoof, and put a small weight onto it, the rush filling her head once more. “Is there any side effects to that spell that you cast? It’s a little hard to walk here.” “Hmmm…” Twilight said, tapping a hoof to her chin. “Most of the books mentioned a weird sense of vertigo, and indescribable colours that were generated as the mental projections collapsed in upon themselves, and--” “Please get to your point,” Rainbow interrupted, clearly annoyed at the whole entire situation. “Yes, they did mention about some mental overload afterwards.” Twilight walked up to Rainbow. “Come on, you can lean on me to help walk, at least until the spell’s effects start to wear off.” “Sure.” Rainbow said as she leaned into Twilight. A slight tickle made it’s way through Rainbow’s wing, as Twilight’s fur poked in between the feathers. “I think it is a fair tradeoff for being able to see all of that awesome magic dancing in the air, and all of the sweet colours together.” “Well that is good to hear,” Twilight said, letting out a playful chuckle as the two walked out the train exit into the massive cityscape of Manehatten. “We will have to do it again some time.”