//------------------------------// // I Ain't From 'Round Here // Story: Interdimensional Princess // by Blaze Spectrum //------------------------------// Ludo's circular throne room was never lit by anything more than open fires, but it was more than sufficient illumination and only emphasized the atmosphere of the area. It was built primarily from worn stone bricks, plain and mostly functional in their use. Multiple pillars supported the walls as well as the open fires, built from nothing but skulls and bones. Banners lined the walls in between each pillar. Two sets of stair leaded up to the throne, separated by a small drainage door sealed with iron bars. Ludo's swivel chair itself had two massive horns jutting out of the back support, and two skulls at the end of the armrests. Ludo himself sat at the top of it, with several multi-colored cushions elevating him as if it made him look more intimidating rather than diminutive. Regardless of what kind of atmosphere the place was aiming for, it was trying too hard. Right in front of the throne room, a nick of energy and a scissor blade materialized out of thin air. Shortly after, it expanded into a usable dimensional portal and Buff Frog stepped out of it. As Ludo's main spy, his arrival drew his master's attention - or at least got him to stop licking his ice cream. "Master Ludo," Buff Frog began after he saluted, "Star Butterfly has left for another dimension and has yet to return." Ludo laughed and then said, "Excellent. We will follow after her and get ahold of that wand, catching her where she least expects us." "There's one problem," Buff Frog stated reluctantly, "I don't know where she went." "What?!" Ludo shouted, "Incompetent fool! I suppose we'll just stand guard all around her house and ambush her when she returns - it's brilliant, she won't be ready for it at all!" He dropped his entire scoop of ice cream in his beak and promptly choked. "Yes she will," was the thought that resonated through every one of Ludo's minions. "What do we do now?" Star whispered. "I guess we just answer their questions, we don't seem to have much else of a choice," Marco said. "Why did you come to here in Ponyville?" Twilight asked. Star bit the tip of her wand as she attempted to gather her thoughts to explain all she knew. After a few seconds, she seemed satisfied and smiled. "Well," she began, "I'm the princess of Mewni, Star Butterfly, and I came here from-" "You're a princess?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, "Twilight over here is one too!" "What kind of princess dresses like that?" Rarity said in disgust not a moment after Pinkie, "That dress is so simple! That devil horn hair band and boots with a spike at the end are so conflicting with the rest of her wardrobe!" "Girls, one at a time!" Twilight shouted, "Go on, hu - I mean, Star." Star, satisfied, started speaking again, "Now, the boy next to me is named Marco Diaz, and we came here from Earth. In dimensions connected to Mewni we use interdimensional mirrors to communicate between dimensions, and they charge money for that service and the gems I deposited as payment have been used up. Now I wanted to go to Uni, the dimension of flying pony heads to get my mirror service changed over to there, but my dimensional scissors got damaged and now I'm here." "I didn't understand a word of that," Applejack stated. "Thank you," Twilight said, "Now, what exactly are dimensional scissors?" "Well, I'm not too sure about how it works but I generally think of a location that I want to go to and then I use these to cut through mid-air to generate a portal that leads to the said place." "That explains the sound similar to magic I heard earlier," Twilight noted, "Now I want you to tell me about this Mewni and this Earth place." "Well, back in Mewni, people always called me reckless and irresponsible because I like fighting monsters! I liked to have fun, and kept it up until I got this sweet little wand for my fourteenth birthday," she said, gesturing to the wand in her right hand. "She's not really all that in control of it," Marco added. "Are you sure that ruffian is really a princess?" Rarity whispered. Nothing after Star finished talking reached Twilight. Her brain might as well as have imploded upon itself and promptly regenerated as she realized the implications of the girl's words. While her questions helped shed more light on the situation, she wasn't all that more comfortable with it - there were possibilities that she never considered. If what this 'Star Butterfly' girl said was true, then chances were there would be many, many complications involved in this situation. She said she came from another dimension using dimensional scissors, which implied that supposedly more interdimensional beings could possibly show up in Equestria at a moments notice - anywhere, anytime. Additionally, she was a princess, and the implications of not handling her with caution could be extreme. Firstly, it meant no dissections or keeping them around for research - period. Of course, she would never do such a thing to a sapient creature, but she couldn't let anypony else do it. Rainbow Dash's threat probably didn't help matters either. If she wasn't brought home in time or kept here, then surely other monarchs in Mewni would become worried and mount a search. If they treated her too roughly and then returned her, then things could go pear-shaped - fast. The worst case scenario from both of them was war, and dimensional scissors meant that nopony would be safe anywhere. That wasn't even considering that she implied that they could use magic - which humans never were able to do so in pony mythology. "Twilight," Fluttershy whispered, "Are you alright?" "W-Wuh?" Twilight said, snapping out of her thoughts, "Oh, I'm alright. But we won't be if we don't handle this correctly." "What do you mean, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked. Twilight sighed for the umpteenth time, "Look, I'll explain later, because in the off chance that they're lying it'll show them how much there might be at stake and they can take advantage of it. But whatever you do, don't treat them too roughly both physically and verbally. Pass these instructions on to everypony else." She stared off into space, alone with her thoughts once again. All she had to do was keep them in one spot until she could get Princess Celestia over on the scene. But still, she wondered how Celestia could get room to safely and maintain a safe distance. Perhaps she and her friends could do a little crowd control... "Hey!" Marco shouted, "Lavender unicorn with wings, mind if I ask you any questions?" Twilight gasped, once again shocked out of her thoughts. "Oh," she said, "What's your name - Marco Deez?" "Marco Diaz," he corrected with a hint of indignation, "what's your's?" "Sorry," Twilight replied, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, princess of friendship." "Cool," he replied, "now first things first, why did you run when we first met?" "In our mythology, humans were always deceptive but barbaric monsters that raided villages and ate foals," Twilight replied a little reluctantly. "I'll make sure to tell Star that later," Marco said, "now what are the names of all those other ponies?" "Well," she said, biting her lip,"The white unicorn is Rarity, the orange earth pony is Applejack, the rainbow-maned pegasus is Rainbow Dash, the pink pony is Pinkie Pie, and the yellow pegasus is Fluttershy." "All hippie names?" Marco thought, although he showed none of it and said, "How does society operate? Is there any method we can use to get home?" "Well," Twilight said, "it's kind of a mouthful." "Hey Twilight!" Rainbow Dash shouted from her vantage point, "Celestia's arrived on the outskirts of Ponyville!" "Sorry, I can't tell you now," Twilight told Marco as she took off to get a better view. At first, Celestia was only recognizable in the distance by her distinctive flowing and sparkling mane and her notably adorned chariot. The Royal Guard pegasi pulling the cart might have as well as been invisible in the daylight if it hadn't been for their golden armor. As they came closer, it became more and more distinctive. Right then, Twilight realized that the chariot and the guards would never be able to land in such a tightly packed space, and the crowd was already packed enough. They would have to escort them out. "Alright girls," Twilight said, "Celestia is never going to find space to land here. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, you watch them from behind. Applejack and Rarity, you clear a path through the crowd to the southern exit. Pinkie Pie, you follow right behind the two. I'll go direct Celestia where to land." It was the dead of night in Echo Creek, and few were awake. The majority of the awake sentient beings were Ludo's army of minions surrounding the Diaz household.  This naturally drew the attention of anybody who was still awake, although none of them really cared by now - monsters often surrounded that building now and then, and Star never even tried to hide her powers. They more or less completely surrounded the house, including the chimney. "Have all the possible entrances been covered?" asked Spikeballs, one of Ludo's minions with spiked balls for his hands - hence his name. "Yes, yes, of course," Ludo said dismissively. "What about inside the house?" "Bearicorn has that covered," Ludo replied. "Then why is he out in the yard?" Spikeballs gestured to the mentioned monster. "You incompetent fool!" "Alright, girls, just take a left turn, keep on going, and you'll make it to where I directed Princess Celestia to land!" Twilight ordered. By then, the group had managed to escort Star and Marco out of the market, and Twilight had returned to help contribute to keeping the two surrounded. While it should have been a rather simple task, Twilight's thoughts made it torture. Every off move that the two humans made could have been ones to get themselves in a better position to escape. The mere possibility of having been fed a load of lies was unnerving enough - but that wasn't counting that the two probably wouldn't exactly enjoy their treatment which could become quite complicated indeed if they told the truth. If she didn't do anything really stupid then a rational leader wouldn't go so far as war, but Star could always lie. Twilight mentally slapped herself. Those possibilities were too small, too irrational to be worrying about now. Besides, she seemed so genuine - could she really be lying? She had to have some modicum of trust with the unknown or she would never get any sleep at night. She saw that Celestia had already exited her chariot a hundred or so meters away. If she had any of the same thoughts that she was having a hour before, then she wasn't showing it. She wasn't too sure about how well she'd take it if she discovered the status of Star, but she took comfort in knowing she'd probably work out something. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight said louder than she intended to, "There's a lot that I've heard after you got that letter." "At ease, Twilight," she replied, "I'd be happy to hear it." "It's a long story," Twilight sheepishly stated, "and I think it's better if the girl there tells it to you." "Oh I hear them all the time," Celestia said with a patient smile. Celestia listened to Star recall the chain of events that led to their current situation for the second time. Never did she seem impatient or alarmed, merely listening while still making the speaker feel like they mattered. After all, it had been a skill that had taken centuries to perfect for her, and it more or less always put itself to good use when listening to anyone rational. "So you say it would be better if you got going right away?" Celestia asked. "Yeah," Star said while playing with her wand, "my mom wouldn't really take kindly to us staying around and I kind of shouldn't even be here." "If so, then I'll provide you as much assistance as you'd like," she offered. "What?!" Rainbow Dash shouted, "That's it?" "I suppose we could devise a spell for it - preferably somewhere quieter," Twilight said. The chemistry lab of the Friendship Kingdom Castle was everything the Golden Oak Library's could have been with the equipment properly in place. The most significant difference, and an important one, was that this new chemistry lab was far more blast-proof. The most flammable components of the lab wasn't the building, but the ponies. "So we need a spell for making these dimensional scissors work again? Where is the point of damage?" "Right there on the gem where the blades connect," Marco replied. "Alright then," Twilight said in acknowledgement, "Girls! We're going to make a spell to repair these dimensional scissors. I'm not going to bore you all with the details but if I ask for any ingredients or equipment, then please fetch them for me. Spike, you can help me do the measurements, since if anything blows up in your face, all it's doing is disorienting you." At first, the rest of the ponies were a bit confused by the vagueness of the instructions and the apparent lack of something to do. Gradually, as Twilight took more notes and jotted more ideas down on paper, she began to call out more instructions. It wasn't long before the lab was a flurry of activity, one that would leave an untrained observer completely confused. After a while, Celestia struck a conversation with Star. "Star?" Celestia asked. "Yes?" Star replied. "Would you mind telling me a bit more about how it was like growing up?" Celestia inquired, "I'd be interested in knowing." "Well, Princess Celestia-" "Please, you can just call me Celestia." "So," she said while twirling her wand around, "Growing up in Mewni was quite nice, although I found my parents a bit controlling. For the first several years of my life, I wasn't allowed outside of the castle, although it was plenty of fun for me back then. The Royal Guard had been assigned to guard me, but they really could only babysit me by then. They showed me all kind of cool tricks, like how to snap necks, aim for pressure points, and some weapons training on flails, morningstars, and swords. I remember riding away on chariots that I shouldn't have touched, stealing treasure from monsters with Princess Pony Head, and more." Celestia smiled and said, "That must have been a lot of fun. I remember playing numerous games with my sister Luna, ranging from hide-and-seek to making forts out of books and throwing them at each other while shouting threats." "Now," Star continued, "When I began to wander around outside, I began to find other ways to occupy myself. I would beat up monsters for fun, and other things like tame wild unicorns that wanted to impale me at first. I'm not sure if I completely tamed some of those unicorns though - they don't always head right where I want to and tend to cause lots of panic and property destruction." "That takes me back," Celestia said, smile not wavering, "When me and Luna got bored of our games and our royal duties, we started wandering deeper into the Everfree Forest, looking for dangerous creatures to fight. I rarely have any time for those anymore, as I do have many responsibilities as the Princess Regent, but I tend to like having a bit of fun here and there." "So Celestia," Star said shortly after she finished speaking, "what's it like to be suffocated by royal duties without an overbearing mother for your entire life?" "I've had thousands of years to get used to it," she replied a little sadly, "but I still manage to stay sane by having a bit of fun there and here. It also doesn't hurt that now my sister's around to bear the burden with me." "Now? I thought your sister was always with-" "The spell's ready!" Twilight announced. Celestia turned to Star, "Now that's a long story. You can hear about it later if you can come back next time, but for now - I think it would be better if you didn't leave your mother worrying." Everybody huddled around Twilight, forming a circle. She levitated the dimensional scissors as horizontally as she could, and held up a beaker filled with a blue, thick, sparkling liquid. "Now," she said, "it wasn't all that difficult to create, and all the ingredients used were pretty stable. I just need to apply a little magical assistance to it and it should seal the crack." Rather than taking the time to pour a tiny drop to seal the crack out of the beaker, she levitated a drop out of the beaker ran it along the length of the crack. The liquid gradually seeped into the length of the crack at a painstakingly slow speed. After half a minute, the crack was mostly filled by the liquid, still glittering in the brightly lit conditions of the lab. Over the course of the next minute, the crack solidified and left no trace of what had happened. She levitated the excess liquid off, and dropped it back into the container, which she promptly sealed with a cork and levitated it to a rack containing several other formulas. "There, good as new!" Twilight said, levitating the scissors back to Star. "Oh," Star said, "Thank you! I'll make sure to come back soon! So, Marco, should we stop by Earth or Uni first?" "I don't know about you," he replied, "but I'm pretty dead beat tired and I guess going home for another night won't make your mom that much more anxious." "Well," she responded, "she'll probably be asleep right now - Mewni and Echo Creek are only an hour or two off in time. So I suppose getting some rest wouldn't hurt." With a few flicks of her fingers, she spun the scissors around, opened them, and started snipping. The portal opened like any other, slowly expanding with every snip. Finally, she pulled it open to it's full size. Looking back, she waved her hand and said, "Bye!" "I'll throw a party for you when you return!" Pinkie Pie blurted out. "I'll make you a more exquisite dress too!" Rarity offered. "If you wanna race any time," Rainbow Dash said, "it's on me. I'll try not flying to make it more fair." "You ever feel thirsty," Applejack said, "you can stop by Sweet Apple Acres for a nice cider or two." "If you ever want to help me take care of the little critters," Fluttershy said, "You can stop by my cottage - if it's okay with you." "I hope the best for our nation's relationship with Mewni," Twilight stated. "She reminds me a bit of myself when I was younger," Celestia thought as she teleported away, assuming her work to be finished. Just as she was about to step in, Bearicorn appeared through the portal and tackled Star.