“I still can’t believe that she told us to go outside…” pouted Twilight. After Ms. Jade returned home to find several things knocked over and three kids wrestling, two of which were nearly half naked, she calmly insisted that it was probably bad to leave them in an enclosed space and asked Rachelle to show them around town. She, Rachelle, and Spike had been walking around aimlessly since.
“I blame Spike,” muttered Rachelle. “If he just stopped squirming long enough for me to get his pants off we wouldn’t have broken so much stuff.”
“I somehow doubt that my mark in on my butt,” Spike sighed. “Seriously? Why would it even be there?”
Rachelle turned to him with a glare. “I don’t know! And now we’ll never know!”
While they were arguing, Twilight took the time to look around the town they were in. Surrounding her was a fairly small town. Most of the buildings seemed to be made of bricks, a sharp contrast to most of the wooden structures of their old town. While not as large or bustling as the town that they came from, their current location was definitely warmer, more welcoming, and much more modern. The people passing by turned their head to the sound of Spike and Rachelle.
Every so often a single car would pass by them, and every time Twilight would gasp in glee as it passed. She had heard about the machines known as cars and how they were used widely in more modern places. Unfortunately, the town she lived in was one that valued old ways and refused to upgrade. She always hoped that she’d be able to see one in person, or even better, to drive one some day.
“By the way, you’re pretty light with those things, huh?” Spike turned to look at Rachelle, who had, at some point, started hovering above the ground via her magic wings.
From her reaction it seemed that she didn’t even realize it. Smirking, she rose into the air and did a small flip. “Yeah!” she cheered. “I’m the fastest thing around here you know.”
Spike stopped and gave her a look. “Oh?”
Twilight noticed the glint in his eye and suddenly had a bad feeling. Rachelle, however, didn’t. Instead, she turned upside down and looked him in the eye. “Yeah, you think I’m wrong?”
Spike grinned. “I think you think your right. And, you probably were the fastest thing around.” He shrugged and continued walking. “Till I got here anyway.”
Rachelle’s jaw fell and she flipped back up. “Oh, hell no!” she yelled, flying back in front of him. “You! Me! Race! Now!” she ordered.
Right into his trap. “Done!” Without another word, Spike sped off down the street, leaving Rachelle to gape in surprise for a second before flying off after him.
“Guys?” muttered, Twilight, still confused on exactly what happened. Before she knew it the two of them had run out of sight. “Guys?!” she yelled, trying to run after them.
“You cheater!” Dash yelled, speeding to catch up with Spike’s head start. She had to admit, he was faster than she expected. Already, homes and cars were beginning to whizz past them in a blur.
Spike laughed. “You challenged me! You should’ve been ready!” he yelled back at her. Seeing her gain on him, Spike slow down slightly. He didn’t know when they were gonna stop and he didn’t need to waste energy trying to stay in front of her.
Now face to face, Rachelle couldn’t help but grin as she believed she was gaining on him. “Hah! Getting tired already?”
Spike scoffed and the two continued to speed down the street, Luckily, it seemed that the people were used to Rachelle flying down their street because they all made way for the two to zoom down the middle. Some even cheered Rachelle on.
“See, I’ve even got fans!” she bragged.
“Well see about that!” Spike, in a burst of speed took the lead. Rachelle gasped in surprise and rushed to keep up with him.
~~~
“Gu… guys!” Twilight gasped, coming to a stop and leaning and hand on a nearby building. It wasn’t even a quarter mile before she came to a stop from exhaustion. “Wh-wherever those two ran off to *huff* probably around the whole town I imagine… I’m never gonna catch up to them.” She turned and pressed her back against the wall to catch the rest of her breath. “Maybe I should just head back to the shop.”
“Hello there.” Twilight heard a door open and turned to see a tall man with a large bushy brown moustache, black glasses, and wearing a black vest over a white dress shirt. “Are you alright?” he asked. He had a kind voice, and from the book shaped mark on his forehead twilight recognized him as a mage.
Twilight quickly stood back up and bowed. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to loiter.”
The man chuckled. “No, don’t worry about it, my dear. Would you like to come inside?”
Twilight shook her head politely. “I really wouldn’t want to bother you.” She looked up at the building. “What is this place anyway?”
“It’s the town library, young miss. You look like you fancy a lot of reading and I…” He trailed off when Twilight turned back to him with a bright smile and shimmering eyes. He smiled nervously, “Would you-”
“Yes please!” she nearly yelled. The man opened the door and Twilight wasted no time in running straight in. Looking inside she didn’t care that it was small all she saw were books. Glorious books. “Eiiieeee,” she squealed running towards the first bookshelf.
“I guess I was right then,” the man snickered, closing the door. “Though remember, please keep your voice down.” Though it didn’t really matter since there wasn’t anyone else in the building.
Twilight, whom had already picked out three particular books, blushed at her outburst. “Sorry.” Holding her books to her chest, she walked over to a table and sat down. Soon enough the man came over and sat with her. “Excuse me, sorry for forgetting, but My name’s Twilight Sparkle, what’s yours?”
The man smiled and nodded. “My name is Tall Tale, my dear. I see you have a history book. Are you studying for something?”
Twilight shook her head. “I just like to know more. Would you mind explaining anything I don’t understand?” she asked.
Tall Tale reached up and rubbed his moustache. “Well I’m not really the teaching type. I’m more of a story teller. If you want I can just recite the history for you. I’ve memorized it after all. It’d be much more interesting to hear it as a tale then reading in silence, I believe.”
Twilight frowned slightly and looked down at her book. “Hmm… I do like reading in silence though. But I think hearing it as a story would be more fun. I just kinda wish Spike and Rachelle were here to listen. They could use this knowledge.”
“Rachelle?” he muttered, apparently trying to recall the name. “Ahh, yes the avian girl that lives with Ms. Jade. I do recall hearing her voice outside.”
His frown didn’t go unnoticed my Twilight however, and she was quick to change the subject. “A-anyway, since it’s just me you can start. I’ll just tell them later.”
“Ah yes, yes of course. Tell me, Twilight, what do you already know of the world we live in?”
Twilight thought on it. “I know that our world is names Equis and that we have three primary races, avians, earthans, and mages. All of us have access to magic that we can use in different ways.”
Tall Tale nodded. “I see. Twilight, what would you say if I told you that our world is not the only one out there?”
Twilight’s eyes went wide. “Really?”
Tale nodded. “Indeed, for you see it’s said that each and every star out there is a world in itself. Our world, in particular, is quite special you see. For we are a part of a series of worlds, all in close proximity. A constellation, if you will.”
“You’re joking!” said a stunned Twilight, leaning forward in her chair.
Seeing her look so amazed amused Tall Tale, and he continued. “I fear not, young one. It’s all true. Listen to my story, and you will know.” Tale closed his eyes and recalled a story, an ancient story passed down from days long past. He knew that the story had changed some since it’s original telling, but the message remained the same.
“A long time ago, in ancient times long since past, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. So much so I’m afraid that, when, consumed by greed, people began to fervently fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves. The fighting bared resentment, and then darkness was born in the hearts of those who fought. The darkness spread its malicious shadows, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world soon began to fade and disappear.”
Twilight gasped in fear but Tale held a finger up for her to wait.
He continued. “However, small fragments of light survived. They survived and thrived in the hearts of small children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt their lost worlds. They named it Radiant Gardens in honor of their predecessors mistakes, and to remind them of the dangers of darkness. Though, Radiant Gardens isn’t the only world to share this story, different versions of this same tale apply to each world, even ours. However, while different, we all share one aspect: the true light we had craved so badly at one point continued to sleep deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds were still scattered, divided from each other. But one day, after a great battle, a door to the innermost darkness opened. And the true light returned.
The worlds gathered and merged to fight the darkness and protect the light. Everyone, big and small assisted in the battle. Unfortunately, they could not completely fight back the darkness and only succeeded in sealing the worst of it away, as darkness can never be fully extinguished. The worlds separated once again, but they were no longer sealed off from one another.”
Twilight was nearly hopping in her seat. “Does that mean that we can travel between worlds?”
Tale nodded. “The story goes that the warriors who led the fight against darkness had methods of inter world travel. Unfortunately, they were lost. Though I’ve heard tell of some worlds discovering new ways, I do not know if such a way has been found here.”
Twilight’s expression fell, though it didn’t last long as another question popped up. “You said that our world was special right? How so?”
Twilight noticed a mad glint in the man’s eye and she was slightly unnerved by the matching smile. “Ahh now that is one of my favorite stories. Twilight, you know that our world contains three races, correct?” Twilight nodded. “No doubt you’ve taken notice of the differences in the amount of races relative to one another.”
Twilight tilted her head in confusion for a second. “Oh wait, you mean how there are more mages than avians or earthans?”
He nodded sagely. “Indeed. But before I tell you that, I must impart to you another tale. I hope you don’t mind.”
Twilight shook her head. “No, this is extremely enlightening, please keep going!”
Tale nodded. “Not long ago, our world contained equal amounts of each race. In fact, back then, Equis went by a different name.”
Twilight leaned forward. “A different name? What was it.”
Tale smiled. “Canterlot. It was named that before our world suddenly split into three.” Twilight leaned further closer and opened her mouth but Tale politely held up a finger. “It won’t be a good story if you keep interrupting.” Twilight blushed, sat back in her chair and nodded. “Indeed, you remember when I said that we’re a part of a series of worlds? Specifically there are three worlds that make up the constellation.” He held up three fingers. “We all orbit in a triangle formation and each world is home to a specific race now. There’s our world, Equis, home to the mages. There’s Aeros, where most of the avians live, and there’s Tria home of the Earthans.”
“Woah,” gasped Twilight, struggling to take all of this new information in.
“Get the hell out of the way!” Twilight’s head snapped up at the familiar brash voice. There was a clamour of noise and a few loud complaints. Twilight sighed. “Look’s like they’re still going at it.”
~~~
“Get the hell out of the way!”
Rachelle screamed as the two of them bulldozed down the street. She and Spike’s foreheads were pressed against each other as they continued their race around the town. By this point both of them had completed a full lap around the small town and both were giving it their all. Spike underestimated her stamina, expecting her wings to require more energy to maintain than he thought they did. One thing was for certain, both of them were starting to reach their limits.
“Give up!” he ordered.
“Screw you!” she replied.
“You can’t fly forever!”
“You can’t run forever!”
“You can’t... Wait a sec!” Spike skid to a stop and, breathing heavily, looked around. “Speaking of you sucking at running…*huff* Where’s Twilight?”
Rachelle, flying and having no natural traction to stop with, had to exert herself to come to a stop several feet further ahead. Unfortunately, since she was unaware that she was running on fumes as far as magic went, stopping resulted in her wings disappearing and her plopping down on her butt. “Say what?” she groaned rubbing her backside.
*Huff* Spike turned back to face her, urgency covering his face. “Twilight, where is she?”
Rachelle stood up on shaky legs. “I think we left her behind when we took off,” she said, walking over to him.
Spike growled and clenched his teeth. “Goddamn it! I got carried away again!” He turned to run back but Rachelle grabbed his arm to stop him. “What?” he growled.
“Woah, what’s the hurry? She’s fine the people in this town is cool…Well, most of them anyway.”
Spike yanked his arm away. “But the last time I left her behind she passed out. Who know’s what could be happening to her. Those idiots could be attacking her right now for all we know.”
Rachelle scoffed. “I doubt it, they don’t even know who she is.”
“That didn’t stop them from picking on you,” he said, glaring back at her.
Rachelle flinched from his gaze but continued nonetheless. “Jeez, calm down. I promise she’s fine. She probably found the bookstore or library or something. Man, where are we anyway?” Looking around, she realized that they had stopped in a slightly darker area of the city. The walls had various pictures and phrases drawn on them and there were a lot of alleyways leading into various different areas. There were no streets leading down this way, with the closest one ending in a cul-de-sac some distance back the way they came.
Rachelle smiled. “Hey, I know this place. Follow me! I wanna show you something awesome!”
Spike just looked at her like she was crazy. “No! I gotta find Twilight. You can show me afterwards.”
Rachelle sighed and waved her arm over. Spike looked at her in confusion before he suddenly felt himself being lifted into the air.