The Sirens stared at the mare smiling in front of them, confused.
The mares smile faltered to a frown. She cleared her throat and straightened her hat. "Perhaps you did not hear me. I am the awesome and amazing! Phoenix Sprite! And I have come to rescue you!" Phoenix smiled at the Sirens, hoping to have made a positive reaction to the girls. When the Sirens continued to stare at Phoenix, she frowned and sighed. "Phoenix Sprite! You know, legendary adventurer! Savior of Equestria! Savior of the entire world in fact!"
The Sirens continued to stare with confused expressions.
Phoenix was starting to become annoyed. "The phoenix adventurer!? The ever burning flame!? Any of these ring a bell!?!"
" . . . . Who?" asked Sonata.
Phoenix face hoofed. "Well . . . guess not everypony knows about me yet . . . WHY DOES EVERYPONY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME YET!?!"
"Is now really the time to worry about you reputation?" asked Draco.
"I agree! Is now really the time? You always do this!" shouted the green stallion at the door.
"I am not worried about my reputation! I am merely trying to make sure that this hero is never to be forgotten!" said Phoenix.
"And your doing that by boasting?" asked Draco.
"It is not boasting! It is clarifying my complete and unadulterated awesome heroicness!" said Phoenix.
" . . . Ya, your boasting" said Draco.
"I am not-"
"Um, guys! I don't mean to interrupt this completely useless argument. But any second now a squad of guards are going to come in here and kick our flanks! So do you think we can, oh I don't know, LEAVE!?!" shouted the green stallion.
"Leos right! We must leave immediately! Draco, you keep your friends safe. Leo, you help Draco. Phoenix will try and get us out of here!" said Phoenix, as she ran out the door.
Everyone quickly followed her.
"Do you know where we're going?" asked Leo.
Phoenix chuckled. "Of course I do! Phoenix knows these dungeons like the back of her hoof!"
"What about the guards?" asked Draco.
"The guards shouldn't be patrolling this part of the dungeons at this time unless its Monday. That's when they have alternate shifts to their guard posts." said Phoenix.
"But it is Monday" said Leo.
"Please, I do believe Phoenix would be aware if today was Monday. Today is actually in fact-"
Suddenly, the group heard a squad of guards making their way down the hall towards them.
"Monday!" Phoenix practically shouted. She turned to the group and pointed in the opposite direction. "Go, go, go! The other way! Hurry!"
The group obeyed and ran in the opposite direction. They ran down the hall until they made it to a path that split into two.
"Take the right path, that'll lead us to the stairs which should be the way out!" said Phoenix.
"But there's going to be guards at the top!" said Draco.
"Don't worry, Phoenix has a plan!" said Phoenix.
They took the path and eventually made it to the stairs. Once at the top of the stairs, they stopped in front of a think wooden door. Sure enough, two guards were posted outside the door.
"How do we get past them?" asked Draco.
Phoenix smiled. "Step aside followers! And watch as I amaze you with my cunning use of phoenix magic!" Phoenix dropped to her belly and carefully blew against the bottom of the door. As she blew, a light gray fire formed from her mouth in a blow torch sort of fashion. She placed the flame to the bottom of the door and cut a hole into it. Once she cut a hole, she then charged the density of her magic into a small flame, making it stronger. Once she determined it was strong enough, she fired through the hole at an object no on could see.
Everyone heard an explosion in the other room. The guards that were at their post immediately left to the explosion. Phoenix smiled and bucked the door open. "Come on! That distraction won't last long enough!"
They followed Phoenix through a very large room. On one side of the room there was a large fire (one that everyone assumed Phoenix had started). Several guards were running to the fire, trying to see what had started it. Fireponies were running with hoses and buckets of water to extinguish the flame. They ran towards the exit as fast as they could.
"This way! We just have to make it through this-"
When they were five feet away, the door had suddenly burst open, revealing Starswirl the Bearded. The grouped skidded to a halt when they saw who had entered.
"Door" Phoenix finished her sentence.
Starswirl looked at the group with a confused expression. "Draco?"
"Hey" said Draco.
Starswirl looked to Phoenix. "Phoenix Sprite? And her companion?"
"H-Hello" Leo said weakly.
He then looked to the Sirens, and his expression turned to an angry one. "And why are THEY out of their cell?"
Phoenix looked to the Sirens, then back at Starswirl. She smiled then walked up to Starswirl (Leo followed, staying close to Phoenix). "Ah, Starswirl, I'm glad your here". She suddenly turned to the group and stood in a fighting stance. "Draco here was helping these criminals escape!"
"What!?!" Draco shouted.
"They caused that fire over there as a diversion. I barely came here a few moments ago to stop them when you arrived" said Phoenix.
"You lying son of a ditch!" shouted Draco, taking a step towards Phoenix.
"Don't take another step or I'll be forced to take you down!" said Phoenix, aggressively. She turned to Starswirl. "Don't worry Starswirl, I'll take care of them!"
Draco walked to Phoenix and shoved her. "Oh so that's how It is huh? An old stallion walks up to you and now your on his side!?"
Phoenix shoved him back. "No I am on no ponies side! I am on the right side! MY side! And technically I'm older then him!"
"Well you sure are stupid for an old wrinkly mare!" shouted Draco, shoving her harder.
"Phoenix does not have wrinkles! This body may be forty eight years old, but I am as beautiful as ever! And don't you dare insult Phoenix Sprite" shouted Phoenix, socking him in the jaw.
"Ooh!" said Adagio.
"Ouch" said Aria.
Leo and Sonata looked scared. Starswirl merely watched with a calm expression.
"I can say whatever I want to Phoenix Sprite! Because Phoenix Sprite is a stupid boaster who won't stop talking in THIRD PERSON!!!" shouted Draco, punching Phoenix.
"Well at least I'm not a stupid kid who thinks the world revolves around me!" shouted Phoenix, hitting Draco's shoulder.
"We'll at least I'm still me! And not somepony traveling in the wrong body!" shouted Draco. He tried to punch her, but she caught his hoof in midair.
"Take. That. Back!" Phoenix growled.
"Oh I'm sowwy, did that make you mad? Please, allow me to apologize. I am humbly sorry for my atrocious behavior Misses Phoenix Sprite the seventh!"
"Shut up!" Phoenix growled.
"Or is it the sixth? Are you Phoenix the sixth?"
"I said SHUT UP!!!" Phoenix shouted, twisting his hoof.
"I have no idea what their talking about" Sonata whispered to her sisters. Her sisters agreed, they were equally confused.
"GAH! O-Or are you the fifth! Phoenix the fifth!" Draco shouted, ignoring the pain in his hoof.
Phoenix didn't answer, she glared at Draco, panting from anger.
Draco chuckled. "So . . . number five huh? So you must be, what, five hundred years old? How does it feel Phoenix? Knowing that you can never truly live a normal life. That no matter how many friends you make you will lose them all in the end. From either them leaving you, or you leaving them! Either they die and pass on! Or you die and move on!"
"SHUT UP!!!" Phoenix bellowed. She grabbed Draco and threw him at Starswirl. Starswirl used his magic to form a force field, preventing Draco from hitting him. Draco tried to lift himself to his hoofs, but Phoenix was too quick. She grabbed Draco by the shoulders and pinned him against Starswirls force field. "Listen very closely Draco! I am not the kind of mare that you should make angry! I have seen things that would make you wet yourself! Terrible things that would haunt you day and night! Things that would make you wish you were dead! Because death would be much more peaceful then what I've had to face! Do you want to know what I've seen Draco? I've seen wars like you couldn't imagine! The most gruesome deaths that anypony could ever think, and worse! Oh, I've seen so much worse! But do you want to know what's the most terrifying?" Phoenix leaned close to Draco's ear and whispered. "I've seen . . . myself!" She leaned away from Draco's ear, smiling deviously. "Out of all the terrifying things that inhabit this world, I by far am the worse of them all! I didn't just see those wars. I didn't fight in those wars or lead those wars. No, no, no, I controlled those wars! Every villain I've fought, every monster I have faced! Every last one thinks that they have the upper hoof, that they are in control! But they are wrong! All of them are wrong! They aren't in control, they are but mere controllers! I am the master of those controllers! Me! Phoenix Sprite! I AM IN CONTROL!" She released Draco and stepped back. "Even now I am in control. This whole argument has been a diversion so that I could figure out a way to get past Starswirl. Starswirl has known from the very beginning what I was up to. He knew that I'm helping Draco rescue the Sirens. Isn't that right Starswirl?"
Starswirl chuckled. "Quite right Phoenix. Although I am quite confused on why you would want to help these criminals escape from prison?"
Phoenix stepped towards Starswirl, glaring angrily at him. "How could I not! Especially after what Draco told me! Why would you want to banish three children!?"
"Children? My word, has Draco's lies honestly gotten into your head Phoenix? They are not children, they are monsters! And monsters must be dealt with!" said Starswirl.
"Even monsters have feelings Starswirl! Monsters live lives of their own too! And just like us, monsters start off as children! They need to learn things just like we do! You can't punish them for not knowing what they did was wrong!" shouted Phoenix.
"My dear, I think this new body of yours has taken some of your wisdom away" said Starswirl.
"The same can be said about you. I think age has taken some of yours as well!" said Phoenix.
"I may be old, but I still know what is right!" said Starswirl.
"And banishing children is the right thing to do!?" shouted Phoenix.
"Phoenix you have been my friend all my life. Please do not tarnish this friendship by letting your emotions get the best of you!" said Starswirl.
"Oh I think you've done a fine job tarnishing this friendship all on your own! Do you even know the meaning of friendship? What it means to be a true friend? All your life you've chosen the path of learning over the path of friendship! Some believe that your magical strength comes naturally to you, that its your "special talent"! But I've known you since you were a child! Your strength comes from your loneliness! Studying all your life! Hiding in a dark room with a pile of books and a candlestick! I wish I could say we were friends Starswirl, but I don't think we were friends from the very beginning! And I just don't think you are even capable of learning the magic of friendship!"
Starswirl chuckled. "Friendship cannot save you from your predicament Phoenix. You talk like friendship is the key to all of your problems!"
"I prefer to think of friendship as a "sponge". You can't unlock a path to a happy life, because things will always get in the way and make it dirty. But you can make it clean, so that the path can be more visible. Nothing stays clean forever. Friendship can help you during those dirty nasty times. You can fall in the muck, and they'll be there to help pick you right back up. There is no "key" to your problems. There never was and there never will be. But if you ask me, I'd prefer the sponge any day!"
"Such odd words of wisdom, coming from a boaster" said Starswirl.
"I assume you preferred the poet" said Phoenix, cocking an eyebrow.
"It matters not who you were, what you are, or what you will become! The law stands over friendship! And these monsters will receive what is coming to them!"
Phoenix laughed. "You just don't get it do you Starswirl! Nothing stands over friendship! Nothing! Not even the law!"
"And that is where I will prove you wrong!" Starswirl charged his horn and fired force fields at everypony, trapping them all. "Remind me again what you said earlier Phoenix? I do believe you said the you were the "master controller". Well I have you and your friends trapped! Tell me, who's in control now?"
Phoenix chuckled, then pointed down.
Starswirl looked beneath him and saw a metal plate with electrical sparks flying off of it. "WHA- WHEN DID YOU?"
"To answer your question. Who's in control? The awesome and amazing Phoenix Sprite of course!" shouted Phoenix.
There was a burst of light, followed by Starswirl screaming. When the light was gone they saw Starswirl unconscious, the ground beneath him appeared burnt. The force fields disappeared, freeing everyone.
"What did you do?" asked Leo.
Phoenix walked up to Starswirl and checked his pulse. She sighed, "still alive. The ponies tough for his age, I'll give him that". She pushed Starswirl aside, revealing a hole with broken metal tubes sticking out.
"What's that?" asked Draco.
"This is a gas tube. I recognized it as soon as Starswirl opened the door. Before the three races of ponies started living together, earth ponies would use gas filled tubes to open the doors to higher class ponies. Giving the illusion that the doors are opening by themselves without the use of magic. So while I had Draco pinned against Starswirls force field, I used my phoenix magic to charge a few volts of electricity into the metal plating and into the gas tubes. It took a few minutes, but the electricity surging through the plate combined with the gas caused a small explosive reaction to occur. Funny, just like everypony else. Even Starswirl thought that he had the upper hoof. And yet once again, I'm two steps ahead of everypony". Phoenix placed a hoof on top of Starswirl and knelt close to him. "Let this be a lesson, don't anger the one who's in control. Or you might wish the master hadn't chosen you to be her controller!" She pushed him away and turned to Draco. "Sorry for making you mad, I had to make it look real".
"Ya, well if you want to give me a real apology you can start by getting us out of here!" said Draco, angrily.
Phoenix smile. "I agree! Lets get out of here! Come on!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sonata, can I stop you for a moment" said Twilight.
"Sure! Why?" asked Sonata.
"Well its just that. I kind of thought you were going to give us real facts about how you came into out world. Not a fictional story about hero's coming to your rescue" said Twilight.
"What do you mean? Everything I've told you so far is real!" said Sonata.
"I don't think it is Sonata. It's really hard to believe that Phoenix Sprite actually came to help you and your sisters escape" said Twilight.
"But she did! Draco found her at a campsite and asked her to help him rescue us!" said Sonata.
"Who's Phoenix Sprite?" asked Applejack.
"She's a fictional character created for adventure books. Its the longest lasting book in our world because the main character, Phoenix Sprite, can die and come back to life as an all new character. Its lasted for hundreds of years now. And although I am confused on how you know who Phoenix Sprite is because those books weren't invented during your time, I still find it highly unlikely that a fictional character like her came to your rescue".
"I know it sounds fake! But I'm telling you its real! She's not a fictional character! She's real!" said Sonata, becoming annoyed.
"Phoenix Sprite is a phoenix pony! There's no such thing as phoenix ponies Sonata!" said Twilight, also becoming annoyed.
"Ya well how do you know! Have you ever been to Alburnia?" asked Sonata.
"Alburnia?" asked Applejack.
"Its the phoenix ponies home country. And no I have not been to Alburnia, no pony has because it doesn't exist! There is no such thing as Alburnia! There is no such thing as phoenix ponies! And there is no such thing as Phoenix Sprite!" said Twilight.
"Phoenix Sprite is a hero! Not a fictional character!" said Sonata.
"She sounds like a soda to me" said Applejack.
"She's fake!" said Twilight.
"Real!" said Sonata.
"Fake!" said Twilight.
"REAL!!!" shouted Sonata.
"Oh my Celestia, I see where this is going. Look, lets just say that Phoenix Sprite is real for the time being. What happened next?"
Sonata crossed her arms. "Well, we escaped the castle and were trying to escape Canterlot. But the alarms went off. A bunch of guards came and almost cornered us. So Phoenix brought us to a cliff on Canterlot's mountain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This way! we're almost to the cliff!" shouted Phoenix.
"What are we gonna do then!?" shouted Draco.
"We're going to fly away! That's what! I'll use my magic to form a lighting flash! That way it'll blind the guards long enough for us to escape! I'll hang onto Leo, your going to have to grab onto one of the Sirens. Do they know how to fly by any chance?" asked Phoenix.
"Well duh! Were not babies!" said Adagio.
"Phoenix doesn't take too kindly to snippy little sirens! Let's not forget who's rescuing you here!" said Phoenix.
They ran for a few minutes until they were at the edge of the cliff.
"Everypony jump!" shouted Phoenix.
Just as they tried to jump, everypony froze in mid air.
"What happened? are we flying?" asked Leo.
"No, someone's got us!" shouted Phoenix.
"RIGHT YOU ARE PHOENIX!!!" shouted a familiar voice.
They turned to the direction of the voice and saw Starswirl. He was smiling deviously at them and he had several squads of guards behind him.
"I congratulate you on having been able to come this far Phoenix. But I'm afraid the charades end here!" shouted Starswirl.
"Starswirl! You are not banishing these girls!" shouted Phoenix.
"You cannot tell me what to do! I am the princess's personal wizard! I am now the one in control!" shouted Starswirl, a twitch having developed in his left eye.
"You won't be in control much longer if you do that spell Starswirl! Its unstable! All of Canterlot will be in danger! Even Equestria!" shouted Phoenix.
Draco looked to Phoenix, confused. "What are you talking about? How is Equestria in danger?"
Starswirl laughed. "So that's what this is all about! The only reason you wanted to save these siren's is so that you can prevent me from creating that portal! Well your too late Phoenix! I'm making that portal! And there is nothing you can do about it! Don't you see? I'll be making Equestria safer! We'll never have to worry about monster's like them ever again!" Starswirl laughed in a maniac sort of manner.
"By Celestia he's lost it!" shouted Leo.
"Phoenix what is he talking about? How is Equestria in danger?" asked Draco.
Phoenix groaned loudly. "Its a long story so I'm giving you the summarized version! I found out ten years ago that the princess and Starswirl wanted to find a way to make Equestria safer! Starswirl recommended creating a portal that could banish monsters and villains out of Equestria permanently! The princess agreed and Starswirl has worked on it since! However! I found out that this wasn't an ordinary portal! It's a portal that sends you to another dimension! And no ones supposed to do that! Traveling to other dimensions can rip the fabrics of reality itself! I didn't think it was possible, but apparently Starswirls found a way to open this portal! That's why when I found out about you and the Sirens I just had to help you rescue them, so I can stop Starswirl from opening that portal!"
"But we can make Equestria safer Phoenix!" shouted Starswirl.
"Ya, or we might break reality and nothing will have or will ever exist! Don't open the portal Starswirl!!! Its unstable and you know it!!!" shouted Phoenix.
"No! Not when I've come so close to ridding this world of all its evil!" shouted Starswirl.
"Let's just say this portal does work! Let's just say that by some miracle! This portal doesn't break reality and it actually works! What happens next? Are you going to send everypony who's evil into this brand new world? And what about the inhabitants of this new world? What'll happen to them!?!" shouted Phoenix.
Starswirl laughed. "Not our problem!"
"He's going to banish the sirens to another world!?!" shouted Draco.
"Not if we stop him!" shouted Phoenix.
Suddenly from within the distance, the Canterlot bell tower could be heard, ringing eight times.
Starswirl laughed. He looked to the sky and laughed harder.
Everypony else also looked to the sky.
The full moon usually provided enough light to help see through the night. However, the moon shinned brighter then usual, and emitted a strange light.
"Do you know what that means? Does anypony know what that mean!?!" shouted Starswirl.
"It's just the moon. It does that every few years" said Draco.
"NO!!! Not every few years!!! Every three and a half years to be EXACT!!!" shouted Starswirl, laughing. "I have predicted that every three and a half years the moon is in perfect position to causes a slight change of imbalancement through out our worlds magic! If I can take our magic and combine it with a teleportation spell! Then take the imbalance frequencies and concentrate it into one single area! With a magical density high enough, I can take this imbalancement and our magic-"
"And convert it into a physical form thus creating a portal!" shouted Phoenix, finishing his sentence.
"Glad to see you were paying attention!" shouted Starswirl.
"Hold on, an imbalancement to our worlds magical frequencies? Impossible! That would take quite an anomaly for something like that to occur. How does the moons position relate to any of this?" shouted Draco.
"That my dear boy is thanks to the princess of the moon herself" said Starswirl.
"What!?!" shouted Draco.
"As you may know. Several decades ago Celestia banished her sister to the moon. Both sisters receive their magic from either the sun or the moon. And vice versa as well. The sun and moon receives its magic from the two princess's. Because the princess's are millions of miles away from the sun and moon, it caused a perfect balance between the sisters and the star and satellite. This allowed them to move the sun and moon with ease. However, now that Luna is physically on the moon. Her magic is much closer to the moon, causing an imbalance that occurs depending on the moons position. And it looks like TONIGHT is that moons position!" shouted Starswirl.
"I can't believe it. A portal to another dimension . . . he's actually going to make a portal to another dimension!?!" shouted Draco.
"Oh my Celestia we're gonna die!" shouted Leo.
"No we're not! Cause Starswirl is not making that portal!" shouted Phoenix.
"HA! HA! HA! IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK PHOENIX MARE!?!" shouted Starswirl. He walked to the edge of the cliff and activated his horn. First a lumpy ball appeared, then the ball smoothed itself out. The ball turned purple and started expanding. As the ball expanded, dark black electricity emanated from it. Then, he fired the ball into the air.
A few moments later, the ball had risen high into the air, and stopped. The ball then started flattening itself into an oval shape. The oval slowly stretched itself until it was fifty feet wide. Then, its color started to change. It changed from purple, to blue, to green. Until it was flashing a whole spectrum of colors at rapid speed. It started swirling and continued to stretch. One hundred feet, one hundred and fifty feet. It didn't stop.
Starswirl laughed manically. "It worked! My portal worked!!! Todays the day everypony!!! Todays the day that I save you from evil!!! I will rid this world of all its evil!!! Once and for all!!! I WILL BE THIS WORLDS SAVIOR!!!" Starswirl shouted, the corner of his mouth foaming.
"He's gone mental!" shouted Leo.
Draco growled. "JAM IT!!!"
Starswirl looked back to the ponies he had trapped in his force fields. "And now my little ponies! Its time to see how well this portal works!!!"
He took the Sirens and slowly drifted them towards the portal. "Starting with you!!!"
"Wait! Stop! Please!" shouted Adagio.
"We won't cause any more trouble! We promise!" shouted Aria.
"Please don't send us away! Please!" begged Sonata.
"MONSTERS LIKE YOU DON'T DESERVE MERCY!!!" Starswirl shouted.
"Leave them alone you ash hole!" shouted Draco.
"And your next Draco!" shouted Starswirl.
"W-WHAT!?!" shouted Draco.
"Once I'm done with these monsters, I'M SENDING YOU THROUGH THE PORTAL NEXT!!!" shouted Starswirl.
"YOU BLASTARD!!!" shouted Draco, slamming his hoof against the force field.
"Draco help! Phoenix! Leo! Somepony! Anypony! Help!!!" shouted Adagio.
"Help us!" shouted Aria.
"NO PONY CAN SAVE YOU NOW!!! NO TRIAL!!! NO ARGUMENTS!!! JUST JUSTICE!!! SWEET, SWEET JUSTICE!!!" shouted Starswirl.
He brought the Sirens closer to the portal.
"Draco!" shouted the Sirens.
"GIRLS!!!" shouted Draco, pounding against the force field.
"DRACO!!!" the Sirens shouted, before Starswirl forced them into the portal. There was a flash of colors, and slowly the Sirens screams faded away.
They were gone.
"NOOOOO!!!" Phoenix and Draco simultaneously screamed.
Starswirl laughed. "YOUR TURN DRACO!!!"
Slowly, he lifted Draco towards the portal. "Your going to pay for this Starswirl!"
"Ha! That's what you think! Everything I'm doing is for the sake of pony kind! Even the princess agrees with what I am doing! I won't be punished in the slightest! On the contrary! I will forever be known as the hero who defeated the monsters!!! The one who banished the sirens!!!"
"I won't let you get away with this Starswirl!" shouted Phoenix.
Starswirl gave Phoenix a devious smile. "Then I'll have to BANISH YOU TOO!!!"
A guard walked up to Starswirl. "But sir, isn't that Phoenix Sprite? She's a hero, she wouldn't do anything to harm us. Why would-"
Before he could finish, Starswirl fired a beam of magic at the guard, knocking him to the ground. "DO NOT QUESTION ME!!! I KNOW WHAT IS BEST!!!"
"But Starswirl-"
"SHUT UP NURSE!!! SHUT UP!!!" shouted Starswirl, interrupting the squad medic. He turned back to Draco. "I'm sending you, the phoenix and her little companion to that world! AND NO ONE IS STOPPING ME!!!"
"Hey what did I do!?" shouted Leo.
"Starswirl! You've gone mad with power! Stop this now!" shouted Phoenix.
"Stop this? STOP THIS!!! Why would I stop this! I am going to save everypony! And you want me to stop! You want me to stop a portal that could save everypony!!! YOUR JUST LIKE THE MONSTERS!!! AND I'LL TREAT YOU THE WAY MONSTERS SHOULD BE TREATED!!! WITH JUSTICE!!! AND WHAT IS THE BEST FORM OF JUSTICE!?!" He used his magic and threw Draco towards the portal.
"BANISHMENT!!!" Starswirl shouted.
"DRACO!!!" shouted Phoenix.
"AAAAAAGH!!!" Draco screamed, as he was hurled towards the portal.