“I’m sorry I’m late,” said Allen to his co-workers as he entered the office, “but I got held up in traffic.”
“Well you didn’t miss much.” said Jeffery from across the room. “It’s only 9:15.”
Allen sat down at his desk and turned on his computer. He considered briefly telling his co-workers about why he was late, but even with the video footage he acquired, he doubted anyone here would believe him. Then again…
“Hey, have there been any brand new videos on YouTube that have gone viral recently?”
“Oh come on Allen, videos go viral on YouTube on a daily basis. You think that I keep track of them all?” asked Jeffery, looking annoyed at the question.
Still, Allen decided to check out YouTube to see if anything had come up. After he brought up YouTube on his old model Gateway computer, he searched for “Giant purple mole with horn in ground.” The results that came up were less than promising at a glance. But as Allen scrolled down the page, he saw a thumbnail that made his mouse pointer instantly click on the link.
Sure enough, as the video started playing, Allen saw that it was one of the clips that someone had taken on their iPhone at the place where he spotted the creature.
“Does this guy put everything he films up on YouTube the moment he’s done filming?” thought Allen as he turned his chair around to address his co-workers. “Hey guys, have you seen this new video on the internet?” he called out.
“Unless it proves that the value of my house is going to go up, I’m not interested.” said Jesse from her desk, as she continued to write her grant.
Allen looked at the view counter. It was still less than 300 views, and only had 40 likes, and 56 dislikes. He risked a glance at the comments section, and saw exactly what he expected to see. Comments like “Totally fake” and “Photo shopped rofl” littered the forum.
Allen resolved to return to where he first saw that purple creature after work, but for now, he had a chart waiting for him on Excel to finish.
Twilight was still sitting in the main chamber of the tunnel that was dug out. The portal leading back to Equestria scheduled to open soon.
“It’s fine, Twilight. The natives were just curious to see you. That’s all.” she thought as she remembered those hulking multicolored metal beasts with wheels. “How can they have wheels?! Life can take a lot of strange shapes, but wheels need a bearing, and an axle that can spin freely of the rest of the body! It can’t happen in nature!”
She couldn’t hear them any more, as she was too far down underground. They moved so fast, much faster than anypony could run on their own. And when those few had stopped close to her, she just knew that they were looking at her somehow.
Thoughts of the metal beasts continued to assault Twilight’s mind as she stepped back into the depression and was whisked back to Equestria.
Upon arriving in Whitetail Wood, Twilight saw Princess Celestia speaking to some of the miners, most of whom were packing up their gear in large wooden crates, as their work was done.
“Simple contact with another earth pony should be sufficient” Twilight overheard Celestia telling some of the diggers. “Because the energy within the other earth ponies will briefly discharge between you, creating the spark you need to get your magic back. From there, your magic will restore itself from the field like normal.”
The three stallions that Celestia was speaking to all bowed their heads and set off to continue packing their gear. Celestia then looked towards the portal and spotted her former student walking towards her.
“Twilight, it’s good to see that you made it back safely. So, I take it you will be wanting your magic back now?”
“Yes Princess, I would, but also, I saw the surface of that other world. It’s not what I expected.” said Twilight, looking uncertain.
“Well Twilight. For your magic to return to you, simply touch your horn to mine, and I’ll do the rest. As for what you found within that other world, we will have plenty of time to talk about it.”
Twilight bowed her head as Celestia did the same. When their horns touched, Twilight felt energy rushing back into her body. Her coat color became more vibrant, her eye color returned, and her cutie mark reappeared.
“Thanks Princess, but I think I should tell you now that there is civilization on the other side of that portal, and the locals are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”
Twilight told Celestia about all she had seen and heard on her brief look above ground, all the while Celestia was doing a good job at hiding her expression.
“So Twilight,” Celestia said after a pause in Twilight’s speech, “do you think that these metal entities have some form of language or communication? I think it would be best at this point to go back and try to gain their trust. The way you describe them, they could be very strong, even without magic.”
“Well Princess, I did see some kind of writing on the water pipe that I first saw which indicated that the other world was populated. So I assume they have some sort of language as well. But I doubt they could follow us back through the portal. None of them looked like they could have fit completely inside the diameter of the portal, so I don’t think we are in any danger of attack.”
“But all the same, Twilight, I think it would be in the best interest of both ponies and this new race if we were to find a way to befriend them.”
“Of course Princess, I would have done the same.” Said Twilight with an expression of confidence. “So what’s our next move?”
“Well, I think at this point, I should be the one to go through the portal, if only for a short while. And to do that, Twilight, I must impart my magic to you once more.”
Twilight shuddered at the memory of when it first happened. All that power, and Twilight was just barley holding on to it.
“Don’t worry Twilight, What you experienced before was the combined force of three other princesses. This time, it will be just me.”
“Okay Princess Celestia, I’m ready.” said Twilight.
Celestia began to pour her magic out of her horn into a glowing sphere above Twilight’s head. Twilight noted that it was much smaller than before when it began flowing into her horn, and into her body.
Once Twilight had absorbed it all, she looked back at Princess Celestia. Her hair had stopped flowing, her eye color had faded, and her cutie mark was nowhere to be seen.
“Alright Twilight, I won’t be long. I don’t think you’ll need to assume my duties of raising or lowering the sun again. But just in case I’m not back within the hour, contact my sister immediately. She will know what to do.”
“Good Luck, Princess.” Twilight said to her old mentor, as she stepped into the portal, and cast the spell to open it.
There was the familiar flash of light, and Princess Celestia was gone.