//------------------------------// // Chapter Four - The Other Side // Story: A Dream in Written Pages // by Mister Meowmerz //------------------------------// “Alright, you remember what to do, right?” “Uh, I guess, but are you sure-” “‘Kay, here we go!” Kirth and I watched as Ryker swan dived into the gaping, cavernous hole before us, the long bungee cord (I don’t know why he had bungee cord, either) tied to his feet trailing behind. The hole was actually a kharma’s den, and we were jumping into it because… well, okay, we didn’t really have a good reason, for that. Anyways, to summarize the events up until now, the three of us had been traveling through the Frosthelm for about two days, so far, and from what I’ve heard from Kirth, we were just about at the verdant forest’s edge. However, there were plenty of ‘detours’ we still had to take (at least, according to Ryker), and this little stunt was just one of many, in a long list of things Ryker claims we have to do before we leave. “I think I’m just going to pass on this one.” Kirth said, beside me, untying the cord wrapped around his own leg. “Yeah, I think I will too...” I started, but Kirth only grinned, nudging me playfully in the ribs. “Aw, but don’t you wanna see what it’s like down there? I’m sure it’s deep enough that you don’t go splat…” The goblin teased, all the while pushing me towards the edge. I pedaled backwards reluctantly, but he was far stronger than his thin limbs would imply, and I found my hooves grinding into the wet dirt, below, as I inched closer and closer to the hole. “Woah, c’mon, this is a bad idea…” I pleaded, but Kirth wasn’t hearing any of it, and with a final, powerful shove, he threw me into the hole, me screaming bloody murder as I plummeted into its depths. As darkness pervaded all of my senses, I quickly tried to focus on one of the ‘tricks’ Ryker taught me, gathering magical energy around my horn; instead of releasing it for a spell, however, I let the energy flow throughout my body, channeling it through invisible circuits I didn’t even know I had before I came here. It was a strange sensation, and still pretty amazing when I thought about it… though my falling into a dark, bottomless abyss took away most of that amazement, for the moment. I shook off the thought, concentrating once more. “Okay, now just speed up the flow…” I reminded myself, willing the magical energy, or ‘mana’ as Ryker called it, to circulate faster throughout my body. I tried to envision it creating a thin shell around me, pushing it outwards, and I couldn’t help but grin triumphantly when a faint, red glow slowly formed in the darkness, a sign that my ‘enhancement’ was a success. The technique was supposed to serve as a sort of kinetic barrier, using the circulating mana to redirect force and shield the body from harm, but... I wasn’t very used to using it, yet. I mean, I could barely deflect the pebbles Kirth was helping me practice with, so would it really help me survive a fall from this height…? Thinking about that, though, made me notice something else: the fact that I was still falling. ”How deep is this hole, anyway?” I wondered, before I saw Ryker’s rope beside me in the dim, red glow of my magic. Suddenly, it went taut, then relaxed once more as I assumed Ryker began coming up on the return bounce. I also started to hear a strange, rumbling sound… “Hey, Scratch!” I heard him yell out, before he zipped past me with a wild grin on his face. I felt my own rope go taut, making my heart leap out of my throat, before I bounced back up, as well, dangling by my hoof. I looked up to see that Ryker had my bungee cord in his teeth, pulling me up with him as he scrambled up the side of the pit like a monkey. “Uh, R-Ryker? Everything alright?” I called up to him, as I swung and bounced precariously, below. Then I heard the rumbling grow louder, accompanied by a tremor that could only mean trouble. Looking back down into the pit, I saw a few faint spots of light in the dark, spots that were slowly growing bigger… I screamed. There was really no alternative. Down below us was a huge, centipede-like creature with gaping jaw and mandibles that was slowly making its way up the pit, and those tiny specks of light I saw were the multitudes of beady, green eyes on its face. The pit itself rumbled as hundreds of legs clawed into its sides, propelling the creature upwards, and I couldn’t help but notice that each leg was breaking into the solid rock quite easily. “Sweet Celestia, what is that?!” I shouted at noone in particular. Of course, the only reply I heard from Ryker was his muffled laughter, as he leapt and bounded back up the pit. This was it. This was how I died. ”I wonder how things are doing back home?” Came my strangely calm thought, even as I was screaming my lungs out. Indeed, I could only wonder... *** Saelus’ Note: From here on out, I may briefly intersperse narration of events from other individuals’ points of view. Though I do not have a direct copy of their memories, a certain individual was kind enough to provide me with a look into their lives; he did, however, take plenty of artistic license in his retelling, so reports may not be fully accurate... Ponyville, night before the incident… Twilight entered the warmth of her Library with a contented sigh, her belly full of food after a nice dinner at her favourite restaurant. “Give me just a second, Scratch, I’ll go grab that book for you.” She called back over her shoulder, heading for the door to the basement and trotting down the steps. Her eyes wandered to where a certain baby dragon was cleaning down below, dusting some shelves and putting back books. He looked up at her as she approached, raising a clawed hand in greeting. “Welcome back!” He said, “How’d it go with Scratch?” “You mean dinner? It was nice. It’s always better eating together with friends!” Twilight answered, giving Spike a happy smile. “Aw, c’mon, you know what I mean!” The dragon said, putting down his books, for now, and walking up to Twi. “What did he say? Did he make any moves?” “Make any… what? I’m not quite sure I’m following you.” She said, walking past him. “Anyways, I just need to get a book for him, the really big one, patterns on the cover?” Spike just sighed and pointed to a table off to the side, where the thick, heavy tome was resting. “It’s over there, just finished dusting the shelf it was on.” Twilight nodded, taking the book up in her telekinetic grasp with a smile and going back up the stairs. “Thanks, Spike. I knew I could count on my No. 1 Assistant!” “No problem.” He said, “Say goodnight to Scratch for me!” Spike puckered up his lips and crudely mimicked some kissing noises, but his friend and sister-figure either didn’t notice or pretended not to. She proceeded back up the stairs, trotting towards the door and gently floating the heavy tome over to the stallion still waiting there. “Alright, here it is.” “Thanks. Uh, you sure you won’t be needing it or anything…?” He trailed off, giving her a sheepish grin. “Don’t worry about it, I’ve been looking at the thing for days, now.” Twilight said, “I think it’s about time somepony else had a try with it.” Scratch just grinned even wider, stuffing the book into one of his saddlebags and turning to leave. “Alright, I’m gonna give it another look when I get home. Good night, Twilight!” The other unicorn waved goodbye as he headed back home down the well-lit streets of Ponyville, Twilight watching him go from the doorway. She heaved another sigh as Scratch’s lonesome figure receded into the distance, then closed the door, going back inside. “What’s wrong, Twi?” She looked to the basement stairs to see Spike coming up the steps, cleaning his hands with a scrap of cloth. Twilight just looked up thoughtfully a moment, before shaking her head. “Nothing. It’s just that Scratch hasn’t really been himself, lately, ever since he lost his job; I was hoping I could cheer him up a bit with our little get together, today.” She answered. “Do you think it worked?” “I hope so. He looked a little happier than before…” “Huh. Well, I’m sure your ‘romantic dinner for two’ must’ve had something to do with it!” Spike teased, causing Twilight to blush furiously. “Spike! There wasn’t anything ‘romantic’ about it!” She huffed, “It was simply two friends going out to eat a meal together!” “I dunno,” Spike trailed off mischievously, “Don’t ponies usually call that a date?” “It was not a date!” “...Am I interrupting something?” Spike and Twi jumped in surprise with the intrusion of a new voice, and looked to the doorway of the Library to see Princess Luna standing inside, midnight-blue coat shining under the room’s light. Her flowing, dark-blue mane glittered like the starry, night sky, and she wore an impassive, though somewhat curious, expression on her face as she stared at them. “P-Princess! No, no, we weren’t in the middle of anything!” Twilight managed to stammer out, quickly lowering into a bow, “S-sorry, we didn’t hear you coming in… Erm, how did you get in, by the way?” “I carried myself in with the night wind. ‘Twould be more convenient if none should know of my presence, here.” Luna said, before looking at Twilight’s prostrate form and fidgeting slightly. “...Please, get up. Are we not… ‘friends’, now?” This gave Twilight a start, and she got up to her hooves, smiling as she did. “Of course! So, should we get to my report?” “Yes, I am eager to know what you’ve found out.” The two gathered around a table in the middle of the Library, Spike getting some scrolls for Twilight, who then unfurled them. “Well, for starters, the book’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The spell matrices all conform to Post-Classical Standards, but whoever enchanted it uses them in some really inexplicable ways…” She began, shuffling through her notes with her magic, “If it wasn’t for that strange feeling I get when I work with it, I’d say it was just the product of some inexperienced enchanter.” “Strange feeling, you say?” Luna asked, putting a hoof to her chin. “Yes. I can’t really explain it, but it just gives off this… otherworldly feel.” The Princess of the Night seemed to deliberate over this a moment, nodding her head slowly. “I understand. That strange feeling you’ve observed is something that had come to my attention, as well.” She said, “Noteworthy, because the magic binding this book is much akin to the spells my sister and I use to raise the Sun and Moon.” Twilight let this new information process, looking back through her notes with renewed vigor. “Really? So, it’s like… Celestial Magic?” She asked. Luna just bit her lip, looking somewhat more thoughtful than before. “No, the scope of this school of magic is much more broad, than that. It’s more… divine, a magic of the gods.” She explained, “I’m not entirely sure how best to explain it either, as the spells we use to move the celestial bodies were gifted to us, near the beginning of our reign. I wasn’t even sure if my thoughts were correct until I looked through the Royal Archives.” Twilight’s eyes widened at the prospect, that the rulers of Equestria were actually given their powers by some other divine being. “Wow… you have got to tell me about that!” She squealed. “Hm. Perhaps another time, but for now, we must focus on this tome.” Luna answered, with the slightest hint of a smile. “Where might it be located, by the way?” “Oh, um, well… I kinda lent it to somepony.” Twilight said with a sheepish grin. “Lent it? Are you sure that was wise?” “Oh, yeah! Don’t worry, the stallion who has it is one of the most trustworthy ponies I know, and I didn’t tell him about your involvement, either. I was actually just looking through some reference material, so I didn’t really need it anymore...” “Hm.” Luna smiled again, bowing her head respectfully and turning towards the door. “Well, if you trust him, then so shall I. However, if the book isn’t present, at the moment, then I see no point in continuing this meeting. I shall take my leave for now, and advise you to look into ‘Ancient Histories’, by Ink Quill.” As the princess reached the doorway, a gentle breeze suddenly swept into the room, swirling around her form and slowly making her disappear from sight. “It doesn’t have the specifics on the spells I had mentioned, but it should give you enough of an idea so as to know where to start, and I will continue to look into the matter, myself, now that my suspicions are confirmed. Farewell, Twilight Sparkle.” And with that, she was gone, the wooden door barely even opening as the breeze flew out of the room. Twilight could only nod her head slowly, looking towards the doorway. “Ohhh, so she meant that ‘night wind’ thing literally.” Spike just shrugged his shoulders in response, starting the long climbing up the stairs to his bed for a night of well-deserved rest. *** Back in Balance… “Hm, d’you think she’d like a crystal as a souvenir?” Ryker and I sat neatly in a cave filled to the brim with crystalline ore, the multi-colored material covering the solid, rock walls like a carpet. However, while Ryker was preoccupied with scrutinizing different crystals of various sizes, I couldn’t help but continuously glance back towards the entrance, where Kirth was standing and keeping watch. “I guess, but don’t you think we have some more, y’know, important things to worry about, right now?” I asked, voice tense. Ryker just closed his eyes and nodded solemnly, breaking off two more chunks of crystal as he did. “You’re right. What’s important is the color! Now, d’you think she’d like blue or green more?” I sighed, smacking a hoof to my face in exasperation. Why do I even bother? Of course the lunatic wouldn’t be worried about the dozen or so bloodthirsty monsters that could be heading back to this cave at any moment. “Can you hurry up in there? My Alarm spell has a pretty decent range, but I’d rather be gone before the inhabitants get that close.” Kirth called from the mouth of the cave. He had set up a sort of magical field that would alert him to the presence of anything entering it, beforehand, and although I didn’t doubt the effectiveness of his spell, I shared his sentiments. “Yeah, yeah, I’m almost done.” Ryker called back, still appraising his ‘souvenirs’. “You just keep watchin’ for any rock-munchers comin’ our way, alright?” “Speaking of those things, you’re sure they won’t be mad about us ransacking their home like this?” I asked. “C’mon, we’re not ‘ransacking’ anything! The stuff’ll grow back. We just gotta make sure we’re very clear about our intentions, and it’ll all be fine.” Now that, I highly doubted. One thing I learned about Ryker is that when he says ‘it’ll be fine’, chances are, things are not going to be fine. Why couldn’t he have remembered to grab a crystal from Frostfall Cavern, anyway…? “Incoming magical signature, four hundred yards down.” Kirth called from his post, making me jump in surprise, “From the size of it, I’d say it’s the Rakshas that live here.” “Come on, Ryker, we should really get going…” I said, casting another nervous glance towards the entrance. “Hold on, I’m still thinking…” Shaking my head, I trotted up to where Kirth was keeping watch, scanning the treeline for any signs of movement. “...They’re definitely picking up speed. Heading our way.” He commented with a sigh. I just started biting on my hoof, nervously; I really didn’t want to see what these ‘Rakshas’ looked like. Well… okay, maybe a little. But I didn’t wanna die for it! “Ryker!” I shouted behind me. “‘Kay, I’m coming!” The human bounded up to us with his usual enthusiasm, apparently done window shopping as a large, blue crystal was clutched in his hand, large pack slung over his shoulder. “So, can we get out of here, now?” Kirth asked, waving his staff in the air to dispel his magical ward. Ryker just scoffed, rolling his eyes as he crossed his arms. “Well, we gotta meet the things that live here, first, right? It’d be pretty rude if we just left without saying hi.” I could think of a few reasons why that logic was flawed, but I wouldn’t have time to voice them as a dust cloud rose up in the distance, followed by an ominous rumbling. There were some shadows moving within the cloud, the rumbling growing ever stronger as the figures made their way towards our location. “There they are!” Ryker exclaimed, stepping forward and raising a hand to wave. “Heeeey! We were just visiting, mind if we take some souvenirs?” Loud as his shouting was, I really didn’t think they’d be able to hear him over their stampeding. If they could even understand him at all… “Really? We’re just going to ask them if it’s okay?” Kirth said from beside him. “We should just leave, right now…” “Nah, give ‘em a bit, they’ll slow down once they get a little closer.” Ryker responded, waving him off. The rapidly approaching shadows, however, didn’t look to be slowing down in the least, and as they got closer I could just barely make out their sharp, craggy faces, with stone-like hides and large, yellow eyes that were filled with rage. “They don’t look too happy to see us.” I pointed out. “...S’pose you’re right.” Ryker said, slowly nodding in agreement. The beasts were only about two hoofball fields away, by now, letting out terrible roars and howls, and I couldn’t help but shuffle behind him as they continued their rampage. “Ryker…!” The human simply rubbed his chin in thought, before turning back to us and shrugging his shoulders in resignation. “...Yeah, we should probably just run.” He let out a cheerful laugh as he sprinted off into the woods, me and Kirth looking at each other in alarm before running off after him, and together we fled from the angry beasts that were rapidly closing in on us. The monsters seemed to take notice, though, and quickly changed course to give chase, and soon enough we were running for our lives, the Rakshas following right on our tails. And that’s how we spent most of the afternoon. Trying to escape the completely avoidable wrath of some strange forest-beasts. When was I gonna get back home…? *** Ponyville, morning after the incident… Vinyl yawned as she felt the first rays of morning sunlight creep along her muzzle, sitting up in her bed to stretch and rub the sleep from her eyes. Time to get the morning started. She hopped to her hooves, not bothering to tidy up the sheets or anything like that, and immediately began to make her way to her brother’s room, hoofsteps falling softly on the hardwood floor. ”Better wake him up before breakfast, this time…” She thought to herself, remembering the hectic events from last morning. It was still pretty early to be up, but she was sure he’d be fine; besides, he was getting too used to sleeping in, anyways, it wasn’t healthy! “Scratch!” She called from the hallway, slowly walking up and cracking open his door. The sight of him sleeping on a book at his desk couldn’t help but make her smile, and she had to stifle a laugh as she went to rouse him. “What are you, nine again?” She said, grinning as she remembered the bookish colt he was when he was little, “C’mon, sleepy-brains, wake up!” She gave him a light shake, but he refused to get up, still snoring softly. ”He must’ve pulled an all-nighter…” Vinyl thought, letting out a huff of irritation. She considered letting him sleep, some more, but… well, she figured she should at least wake him up to cook breakfast. “Scratch? Bro! It’s morning!” She yelled. Still no response. She shook him a little harder, but gasped as he fell out of his chair, hitting his head against the wooden frame of his bed and landing in a heap on the floor. “Ah, sorry!” She cried, sitting him up against his bed with her hooves. He still wasn’t waking up, though - or even responding in any sort of way, for that matter - and Vinyl could now feel a small hint of worry creeping up her spine as she continued to try and wake him without success. “Scratch…? You alright, bro…?” She whispered, gently patting his cheeks. She tried jabbing his belly with her horn, but while that usually startled him into consciousness, before, this time it didn’t elicit much more than a slight exhale of his lungs. She tried again, harder this time, but with the same results, and now that small worry in her stomach was starting to turn into full-blown panic, her breathing growing more rapid and pronounced. “Shoot… okay… y-you stay here, alright? I’ll… I’ll go find someone who can help!” Using her magic to levitate Scratch up onto his bed, Vinyl dashed back out of the room and out her door, not even bothering to tidy up her mane or coat as she left. Meanwhile, back in Scratch’s room, a mysterious blue glow rose up from the book on his desk, bathing the pages in light… *** Twilight yawned as she felt the first rays of afternoon sunlight creep along her muzzle, sitting up in her bed to stretch and rub the sleep from her eyes. Time to get the day started. She looked over to her clock: 12:45. Blinking a few times, her eyes widened as she slowly realized what that implied. “Twelve… Oh no! I overslept!” Kicking off her sheets, she rushed downstairs, though she did pause a moment to go back and magically make her bed. Running off to the bathroom, she hurriedly brushed her teeth and combed her mane while simultaneously reviewing some notes she had written down last night, mentally going over a checklist of topics she still had to cover by the end of the day. “Hey, Twi, what’s all the rush?” She heard a voice from the kitchen say, and looked over to see Spike giving her a curious look from the bathroom hallway. “I scheduled myself to wake up at eleven, but it’s almost one already!” She cried, quickly rinsing out her mouth. “I’ll have to push in some extra study time if I want to get enough research done, today…” “Relax, Twilight. You spent all of last night researching, I’m pretty sure missing an hour or two isn’t gonna kill you.” The little lizard replied. Twilight just rolled her eyes, trotting past him and pulling some books from off of their shelves, which she then proceeded to open and lay upon her table in an organized semi-circle formation. “Maybe so, but I was tasked with this by Princess Luna. It’s of the utmost importance that I get it done as soon as possible! What if she’s expecting it done by a certain time? Tardiness, while permissible, is simply not something I wish to exemplify!” And with that, she sat down and began her work, while Spike simply sighed and returned to his breakfast-making duties. That is, she would have begun if not for an insistent knocking at the front door, and she had to suppress the urge to ignore it as she went to answer. “Hello?” She intoned, wondering who it could be; the Library was closed, today, so she assumed it must’ve been one of her friends. Pulling open the door, though, she saw that it was Scratch’s sister, Vinyl Scratch, and smiled happily in greetings. “Oh, hey Vinyl! What a surprise, how’s Scratch doing?” However, the look on Vinyl’s face put a damper on her mood almost immediately: a tired, sullen look of quiet desperation that even Twilight, despite not knowing too much about the mare, could tell was extremely out of place for her. “Hey, Twilight.” She said, “I…” Twilight waited for her to go on, but she seemed stuck, her mouth frozen around still unspoken words. The librarian just frowned in worry, extending a hoof to rest on Vinyl’s shoulder. “Are you alright? Um, whatever it is, you can talk about it with me.” She said with a sympathetic smile, to which Vinyl smiled back in appreciation, taking a deep breath to steady herself. “It’s… It’s about Scratch.” She let out with a sigh. “Ever since this morning, he just won’t wake up. I called on Nurse Redheart to take a look but she said there wasn’t anything wrong with him and he’s still sleeping and I’m useless and I just don’t know what to do and-” “Vinyl! Vinyl. Just calm down.” Twilight said, comforting the panicked mare who now had tears in her eyes even as she smiled. “Tell me: what can I do to help?” Vinyl sniffed, taking a few moments to calm herself before answering. “I was wondering if you could come and take a look at Scratch, yourself. Nurse Redheart said that his condition might be magical in nature, since she couldn’t find anything wrong with him, physically. I figured, since your talent is magic, and all, and he hangs out with you a lot…” She trailed off, scratching a hoof on the ground. The librarian just nodded, a resolute smile on forming on her face. “Of course, Vinyl, don’t worry; I’ll do everything I can. Scratch is my friend, too. Oh, but before I go…” Twilight dashed back inside and grabbed a couple of books off of their shelves with her telekinesis, namely “Perplexing Pony Plagues”, “Mysterious Magical Maladies”, and, of course, “Supernaturals”, then stuffed them into some saddlebags which she promptly put on. “I’ll need some reference material if I’m going to help with a diagnosis,” She explained. “Now, let’s hurry!” The two mares rushed out of the Library, off into the streets of Ponyville. In her haste to help Scratch, however, Twilight had forgotten about Spike, and he wobbled out of the kitchen with frying pan in claw as he looked for her. “Hey, Twi, do you want your hash browns with ketchup?” He was met with only silence. “...Hello? Twi?” The little dragon looked to the collection of research notes and books left bare on the table, with Twilight conspicuously absent, then shrugged his shoulders, walking back into the kitchen. “Huh, more hash browns for me, then…” *** “...So there aren’t any physical complications, at all?” Twilight, Vinyl, and Nurse Redheart stood around Scratch in his bed, which was currently surrounded by a multitude of small, fancy machines giving out various numbers and readings. “No. I’ve already conducted an MRI (Saelus’ Note: Magical Resonance Imaging) scan, and as far as injuries go there are no signs of damage, anywhere. Even his brain waves are completely normal-” Nurse Redheart paused in her diagnosis as she rubbed her chin, looking back towards one of the machines next to the bed. “Completely normal for somepony who would be awake, that is, which he’s obviously not. That’s why I’m guessing his condition is magical in nature; unfortunately, the equipment we have here isn’t up for diagnosing much more than your run-of-the mill curse or hex, and I don’t know of anyone on our staff that’s up to casting a spell that can do more than that, either.” “I see…” Twilight said, nodding. “Well, I think I have a spell that can help, but I’m going to need some time to prepare it. Do you think you could leave me alone in here for a while? I’ll need some space.” The two other mares nodded and vacated the room, Vinyl whispering a soft ‘good luck...’ before she left. Twilight just gave her a winning smile, and went about cleaning up the clutter on the floor, which was oddly messy and disorganized. Then again, this was Scratch’s room, so she supposed it was to be expected of him. She was almost done with putting away his comic book collection, though, when something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention: the book. More specifically, the book she had given Scratch that was currently laid open on his desk. Now, normally, she wouldn’t have paid it much mind under the current circumstances, but even at a glance she could tell immediately that something had changed about it... “There’s… writing?” She asked, aloud, walking up to the book in question. Sure enough, the once-blank pages were now filled with words, written with black ink in neat, flowing manuscript. Twilight, quite curious at this point, picked a passage at random and began to read. ”He didn’t know how long he’d sat there, thinking by the fire,” It read, ”But it was long enough for tiny cracks of grey, pre-dawn light to start breaking through the top of the forest canopy, and eventually, Scratch wiped away the still unshed tears and dragged himself up to his hooves. There'd be plenty of time to worry, later, he figured; he should at least go and get some sleep, before Ryker woke up…” “Wait, Scratch?” She read the passage again, and found that, no, she wasn’t mistaken. Flipping the book to its first page, she started reading from the beginning, intent on taking in every little detail. ”In a distant plane of existence, far away from Equestria, there lies a mystical land known only as ‘Balance’. A frightening place, filled with monsters and mayhem, but also with hope and boundless adventure. A place where men and mer, beast and spirit alike fight for their place in the world, strive to find their calling; mostly, though, it’s a fight to survive. And survive they do, whether by working together or believing fully in the self, it’s their will to live that triumphs over the day. It’s here that an unlikely individual now finds himself stuck: a gentle pony from Ponyville, named Scratch Pad. A quiet stallion in unfamiliar territory, he’ll have to adapt quickly if he hopes to return home, though that certainly won’t be easy. What trials await him, and will he make it through, unscathed? Only time can tell. We start his story in a forest clearing, not unlike some he’d remember back home... *** Back in Balance… Hm. You know, if there was anything that would’ve made this trip worthwhile, I think this would be it. The three of us had finally made it to the forest’s edge, and let me just say, the view from up here was amazing. I’d kinda forgotten that we were up in an island on the sky; I think I remember Ryker mentioning it, but I suppose I wasn’t paying much attention… Rolling, green plains spread out as far as I could see, broken up by the occasional patch of trees and houses. Out into the distance, I could see the enormous, marble-white walls of what I assumed was a city, golden spires rising up above the battlements. To the south of us, there was a sea of trees, standing taller than any I’ve ever seen; some of them even rose up to our current altitude, I’d wager, and I’d say we were at least a few thousand feet up. “Pretty neat, huh?” Ryker asked from behind me, and it was all I could to simply nod my head, still trying to take in everything before me. Kirth just smiled beside us, lingering at the edge of the forest proper. “Well, this seems to be where I’ll be taking my leave,” He said, giving a wave of farewell. “It’s been a... strange pleasure, to be sure.” “Thanks. We wouldn’t have had as much fun, without you!” Ryker exclaimed, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit saddened by our imminent departure. “So you’re going to your tribe, now? You sure you’ll be okay by yourself?” Kirth nodded, turning to walk back into the forest depths. “Of course. I have plenty of spells to help me in that endeavor. You two, on the other hand…” He paused a moment, looking to the sky as if for guidance. Finally, though, he sighed, shaking his head mysteriously. “Never mind. Just, remember what I’ve said about our ‘mystery presence’, from before. It may be gone, now, but with its disappearance coinciding with your arrival on our world, I would exercise caution...” The goblin shook his head again, chuckling this time. “Then again, I may be overthinking things. I’ll be going, now; safe journey.” We waved goodbye as he shuffled back off into the forest, staff waving in the air as he seemed to melt into the surrounding foliage. I let out a forlorn sigh, lost in thought as I surveyed the new lands, below. ”Well, there goes one of the few friends I’ve made, here.” Friendship is fleeting, I suppose. I’m not really sure what I expected, though, since he did say he’d only be taking us this far. The one thing about not having too many friends is that you never remember how bad it feels when you have to say goodbye... “Well, better keep moving then, right?” Ryker said, looking down over the edge of the floating island. “I guess so. I’ve been meaning to ask, though: how are we gonna get down?” “Jump, duh! How else are we gonna get down there?” Oh, I don’t know, maybe some other way that won’t end up killing us? Ryker seemed to think of his method as self-explanatory, however, and promptly leapt off the edge without a second thought, turning back to me with a salute as he fell. “Seeya at the bottom!” Great. I looked over the edge to see Ryker’s now-tiny form rapidly falling out of sight, gulping when I saw just how long a fall it was. Then again, I suppose it wouldn’t have been the craziest thing I’ve done this week… ”He wouldn’t tell me to do it if it wasn’t safe… would he?” I wondered. I shook my head, though, as I remembered all of our ‘detours’ in the forest. He would. He definitely would. Still, he hasn’t lied about anything, other than withholding information about certain details (he calls it ‘keeping it a surprise’), so there was a good chance that this really was a legitimate way of getting off the island without killing myself. That, and I didn’t exactly have any other bright ideas. I blamed lack of sleep. “Okay… Here goes nothing!” And with one final cry of determination, I jumped. *** Ponyville, early afternoon after the incident… “...And then, he jumped.” Twilight read aloud, setting the book down on the desk before her. The rest of the pages were still blank; she assumed that’s as far as Scratch’s adventures had taken him, so far. “He WHAT!?” Vinyl yelled, jumping up to her hooves for what must have been the seventh time during Twilight’s reading. “He’s going to get himself killed!” “You’ve already said that twice before, and he seems fine, to me.” Nurse Redheart said from beside her. “Besides, he didn’t exactly have too many other choices, did he?” “Well, that’s where it ends, so I guess we’ll have to wait before we find out.” Twilight said, closing the book. “Bogus! I need to know if my little brother is alright!” “Not very nice of him to leave us with a cliffhanger, like that. No pun intended, of course!” “Um, not to sound rude,” Twilight started, “But don’t you have other duties to attend to back at the hospital, Nurse Redheart?” “Hm? Oh! Well, I suppose I do. It was a very interesting story, though…” The other two mares just gave her a deadpan look, to which she rolled her eyes and sighed, packing up her stuff. “Alright, alright, I suppose I should get back to work. You can’t blame me, though; it’s not every day you find a stallion sucked into a storybook.” Twi could definitely agree with that. Still, there was one thing that was bothering her... “Is all that stuff really happening? Or is it just some crazy dream he’s having?” Vinyl asked, grabbing the book and flipping through the pages, herself. Twilight could only shake her head, giving the book a thoughtful look. “We can’t really be sure, at this point. What I do know is that the book has to be related to all of this, somehow, and it needs to be studied further so we can get to the bottom of this mystery.” “Whatever the case may be, I’ll need to have a talk with Miss Vinyl about taking care of Mister Scratch’s body, in the meantime.” Nurse Redheart chipped in. “If we’re unsure of how long he’s going to be stuck in this catatonic state, then we’ll just have to make sure he gets his nutrients and such, ourselves.” “Thanks, nurse.” “And I’ll have to ask you to let me come over and study the book when I can, Vinyl; I’m still not sure how the book and Scratch are connected, and I don’t want to move it until I know it won’t hurt Scratch…” “No problem, Twilight.” The three mares looked to each other and nodded, before Vinyl escorted the other two back to the front door. There was a bit of small talk, mostly about the events that had just transpired, and then it was time to say goodbye. “You’ll have to let me know when more of the story appears in the book.” Nurse Redheart said, smiling. “I wouldn’t want to miss any of our dashing hero’s adventure!” “You could take this more seriously, nurse.” said Vinyl, grimacing. “Though I guess he was handling himself pretty well, back there. He’s a lot tougher than I give him credit for.” “Don’t worry, I’m sure Scratch’ll be fine. At least he has some sort of a guide with ‘Ryker’, though that guy might be a bit lacking in common sense…” “Haha, yeah. And… thanks for all your help, Twi. I don’t know what I would’ve done if we hadn’t figured out what was happening.” “Oh, it was nothing, I mean, I’m sure you would’ve figured it out, on your own-” Vinyl pulled Twilight in for a hug, causing Nurse Redheart to smile as she excused herself. Twi, a little surprised by the sudden embrace, returned it a moment later, until the two broke it off with Vinyl heading back inside. “You know, when we get Scratch outta that book, you should come by more often. I’m sure he thinks about you a lot!” Vinyl laughed at Twilight’s luminescent blushing, waving goodbye and closing the door. Twilight just huffed in annoyance before smiling, trotting down the stairs and down the streets of Ponyville. This was definitely one of the stranger things to have happened around town… but at least, this time, it wasn’t some town-destroying, scream-inducing menace that she had to take care of. Still, one of her friends was in trouble, and she wouldn’t spare any effort in seeing him to safety. “Well, the first thing I need to do is get some more research done… To the Library!”