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// Gorge 
// Story: The Disappearening 
// by Abraman 
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The journey to Galloping Gorge was relatively uneventful. Apart from Rarity beating Rainbow Dash at checkers fourteen times in a row (“I quit!” Rainbow screamed in anger), it was a quiet trip. Almost too quiet, Twilight thought. It was like the calm before the storm. She felt like she should be using this time to prepare for something, but she didn’t know what or how she should be preparing. Eventually she just settled in to watch Rarity and Rainbow play checkers.
“This place is, like, a gazillion times bigger than Ghastly gorge!” said Dash, and while hyperbole, it was a good way to describe Galloping Gorge. The sight struck the six friends with awe. Stretching as far as the eye could see, the gorge was not only long but very wide as well. They stood there for a minute, taking in the view.
“Well, you know what they say, time is candy!” said Pinkie, breaking the silence. She bounded down the start of the trail into the gorge.
Walking down the trail, the friends passed many tourists taking pictures. Twilight wondered if their activities would disturb the tourists, and she thought about warning them. She had no idea what was going to happen in the gorge. But warning the tourists would take too much time, something that the six friends didn’t have much of. If they waited too long, eventually all of the towns in Equestria would be snagged by whatever was taking them. She would have to chance the danger and get to the bottom of this mystery quickly, before that happened.
Arriving at the bottom of the gorge, the Galloping River was galloping down its path toward the ocean. The rapids were fierce, and the spray hit the six friends in the face as they trotted down the path toward their destination.
“According to the records we found,” Twilight said, “our destination should be about ten miles down the river.”
“Man, that’s a lot of walking.” Rainbow Dash said with a smug smile on her face.
Walking at a brisk pace, the six arrived at their destination in under a half an hour. The spot Twilight had taken interest in was a curve in the canyon that went about fifty meters in from the river. There was a lot of space between the river and the wall of the canyon.
“Alright, start looking I guess.” Twilight said to Rarity, who nodded as her horn lit up in a magical glow. “The rest of you, just have a seat or something while Rarity and I look for some trace of magical activity.”
Twilight and Rarity began to slowly pace the enclave, scanning with their horns for any sign of something magical, any prick of magical energy. It took a very long time to do, as the enclave was bigger than it had first appeared. The four ponies who were not searching eventually got bored and hosted a few small tic tac toe tournaments. Pinkie won most of them.
Eventually Twilight felt a prick in the back of her brain. She was near the back of the enclave, towards the wall away from the river and as far away from her friends as she could probably get. The area was in the shade, and Twilight felt a chill go down her spine. This was definitely what they were searching for. Now she just needed to figure out what to do with it.
“Hey everyone!” Twilight called to her friends. “I think I’ve found it.” The rest of the ponies crowded around Twilight and obviously began looking for some sort of physical object.
“No, stop looking and concentrate.” Twilight said. “Feel.” As soon as she said that she could visibly see shivers run down her friends’ spines. There was no doubt in Twilight’s mind: this was the spot they needed. Now all she needed to do was figure out what to do.
“Now what?” Applejack voiced Twilight’s thoughts. The six stood there, not really knowing what to do. They all looked around awkwardly, before Rainbow suggested “How about we try the elements?”
Twilight had completely forgotten that they had all brought the elements with them. She had put it on when they went to White Tail and forgotten about it. It had been on for so long that it almost felt like a part of her.
“It’s worth a shot.” Said Rainbow, and the others agreed. Forming a circle, the six friends concentrated on their friendship. As they did, their elements started to glow. The magical energy swirled around a point in the center of the circle until a shockwave sent all six ponies flying backwards in a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, the friends were shocked to find a ball of energy floating there, crackling with energy. It looked deep, and it was a dark purple in color. It was just as big as a pony. Almost as if it was…
“A portal.” Twilight exclaimed, breathlessly, as her friends gathered around her.
“D-d-do we have to go through it?” Said Fluttershy, looking quite timid.
“I would guess we do, if we’re going to see what’s causing these disappearences.” Said Twilight. “Don’t worry, we’ll all go in together.” She reassured her friend. This calmed visibly Fluttershy down, but she still seemed uncomfortable at the fact that they would have to enter the portal.
“Everyone ready?” asked Rarity, and the rest of the group nodded. 
“Well, what are we waiting for?” exclaimed Pinkie. “Let’s go!” she said, as she bounded through the portal, the rest of her friends following in tow.
Twilight thought for a second about how Pinkie seemed to be the initiator of travel for the group, then cautiously stepped through the portal.