//------------------------------// // The Portal and other Problems // Story: The Twilight and Moondancer Investigations // by KingJoltik //------------------------------// One hours ago... “Okay Spike...according to my calculations...this should work...” Twilight said as she rubbed her chin with her hoof. Spike merely let out a groan and said, “Ugh...you said the same thing the last four times we did this...and we've been doing this all day! Can't we go to bed already?! You've been up longer than me!” “I know Spike...I know.” Twilight said as her horn began to shine. “Now, on my signal, pull the lever.” “It's not gonna shock me again, is it?” “No. I promise it won't shock you. Again.” Twilight pressed a few buttons and said, “Okay, pull the lever.” “Alright.” Spike said with some hesitation. KER-CHUNK! ZAP! “AAAaaaahhhhh!” yelped Spike as electricity filled his body and blasted him across the room. “SPIKE! ARE YOU OKAY?!” screamed Twilight as she saw her assistant go flying. She quickly ran over to him, only to see the little dragon laying on the floor, his eyes spinning. “I'm okay...I feel fiiiiinnnneeee...” Spike said as he flapped his arms around. “I feel great...” “I'm sorry Spike...” Twilight said as she picked up Spike and put her on her back. “I should have noticed the electric discharge...” Spike let out a huff of smoke and said. “Can I go to bed now? I'm tired of getting hurt...” “Yeah...I'm sorry.” Twilight said as the two went to Spike's room in the castle. As Twilight put Spike to bed, she gave him a hug. “I'll stop experimenting with the mirror for now Spike, I'm sorry I hurt you. Again.” “It's fine.” Spike said as he hugged back. “I'm okay Twilight.” “That's good...thanks Spike. I'm sorry I treat you like that.” “It's fine...I'm your number one assistant after all!” Twilight gave Spike a kiss on the forehead. “That's right Spike. Good night.” “Good night.” Twilight left the room, closing the door. She let out a yawn as she rubbed her eyes with one of her hooves. Soon, she found herself at her bedroom and opened the door. “Ugh...what a day...maybe I should just go to sleep...” she said to herself as she went to a desk. As she shuffled a bunch of papers, she thought, 'Let's see...where's the other theory paper I had...I know I'm close...just a little more and I should be able to see other worlds with the mirror...' Twilight found the paper she was looking for and let out another yawn. “I'm so sleepy...maybe I should do this tomorrow...but I have to turn off the portal...and turn...the lights off...” Before Twilight knew it, she fell on her bed, fast asleep. The Present... “AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!” yelled Twilight and Moondancer in unison. A few seconds later, the two flew out of the mirror. The duo fell onto the floor, both faces kissing the floor. “Owwwww....” moaned Moondancer as she tried to lift her head. As she did, she looked around only to see nothing but blurs. “Uh...what the...” Then it dawned on her, “My glasses! Where are my glasses?!” “Your glasses?” said Twilight as she lifted her head as well. “Did they...WHOA!” she yelped as she saw Moondancer in pony form. Twilight just stood in disbelief as Moondancer responded. “What?! What happened?!” “I...uh...er...” Twilight stuttered as she watched Moondancer look around, squinting her eyes. “Twilight?!” “Uh...Moondancer?” Twilight asked with a gulp. “Yeah...what's wrong Twilight?” “Why...why are you a unicorn?” she said slowly. “A unicorn?! What are you talking about?!” Moondancer said as her head continued to shift around, still trying to see where she was. “It's just...you...uh...I think you've become a unicorn...” Twilight said as she pointed her hoof at Moondancer. Twilight then looked down and saw her hoof. “WHOA!” she yelped as she stared at her hoof. She began flailing them around and said, “What happened to my hands?!” “Okay Twilight, you have stop panicking over whatever you're panicking over and help me find my glasses!” Moondancer said in a disgruntled tone. However, Moondancer's words fell on deaf ears as Twilight continued to wiggle her hooves in front of her. “What is happening?!” she said, “What am I?!” As this was going on, Moondancer began crawling on the floor, her hooves tapping the floor. 'Why can't I feel my fingers?' thought Moondancer as she continued to crawl. 'Something is definitely wrong here...' Twilight took a deep breath. 'Okay...stop panicking Twilight...' she thought as she tried to compose herself. But didn't work. “AAAaaaahhh! What is happening?! Why is this happening?!” Despite her screams, the other two in the castle were still fast asleep. It was then that Moondancer finally found her glasses. As she tried to put them on, Twilight finally calmed down. Twilight tried to stand on two legs, only to fall over. 'Okay...' Twilight thought as she looked at the rest of her body. 'Okay...I'm a pony, er...unicorn...I think...and I still have my jacket and glasses on...' Twilight shook her head and got up on all fours. 'Right...a pony is a quadrupedal. That means I need to be on all fours...' Moondancer finally put her glasses on. She found it extremely hard to do since she couldn't feel her fingers. As her eyes began to focus through her glasses, her eyes began to grow in shock of what she was seeing. Her body shook as she looked at Twilight and then herself. “Uh...Twilight?” “Yeah?” responded Twilight as she turned and looked at Moondancer. She saw the now frightened face Moondancer was wearing and tried to give a comforting face back. It didn't work. Moondancer began to shake her hooves up and down as her body shook all over. Twilight tried to walk over to Moondancer to comfort her, only to fall over. “Ow...right...on all fours...” “Aaaaahhhh! Why is this happening?!” yelped Moondancer as she kept staring at her shaking hooves. “What is going on?!” “Wait Moondancer...oof!” Twilight’s face kissed the floor again. “I panicked as well but...ow!” As Twilight finally got to Moondancer, she suddenly stopped. Moondancer just stood there, adjusting her glasses with her hoof. “I'm fine now.” she said in confident tone. “Uh...you sure?” Twilight asked with a confused face. “Yeah...I'm sure. I'm not much into panicking, unlike you.” “I'm not into panicking Moondancer.” Twilight said with a disgruntled look. “I was freaking out because I somehow turned into a pony...just like you!” “I know...I know...” Moondancer said as tried to steady herself on four legs. “Now...how do we get out of here and turn back to human beings?” “Well...” Twilight said as she began to look at her surroundings. “We need to find the scanner and...” Twilight’s jaw dropped as she saw the next sight in front of her. There were books upon books around her and she felt so embarrassed that she hadn't noticed yet. “Moondancer...look at all these books...” Twilight said as drool began to fall out of her mouth. “So many books...” Moondancer chuckled as she saw the drool come out of Twilight’s mouth. She looked around as well and was significantly impressed with the amount of books around them. Then, she saw something that impressed her more than anything. She saw the mirror and the mechanical apparatus around it. “Twilight...look at that...” she said as she pointed her hoof. Twilight turned and saw the machine with the mirror. Her jaw dropped in astonishment. “Amazing...” “I know...” Moondancer replied as she began to scan every inch of the machine. “Twilight...this machine...is it what I think it is?” Twilight looked over it as well and said, “If you're thinking this is the portal back...yeah, I'm thinking the same thing.” “Looks like the apparatus is designed for some power source into this...looks like a mirror...” Moondancer said as she scratched her chin in thought. She turned to Twilight. “Is this machine being powered by a book?” “Uh...” Twilight looked the machine over again. “I don't think so...it kinda looks like the machine is using the book as a sort of signal instead...perhaps the book has something that connects itself to other worlds...” “You mean...you think the book is connected to...where we live?” Moondancer said with some skepticism. Twilight just gave a shrug. “I'm not sure...but that's my guess.” “Well...I won't deny the possibility...especially considering what has just happened to us, anything is possible...” Moondancer still showed a skeptical look but gave Twilight a nod. “Now, let's get the scanner and get out of here.” “What?!” yelped Twilight. “But...but...look at all this Moondancer! Look at this place!” “Yeah...I see it. But we agreed to get the scanner and leave, remember?” “But Moondancer...We finally found something!” Twilight pleaded. “We finally found out why it always gave that signal! We know its a portal now!” “Yes. We do. Now let the scanner collect the data and we can process it back at the house.” “But...” Twilight racked her brain, trying to find some way to make Moondancer listen. Then an idea hit her, “Wait! What if this is are only chance to explore this place?” “What do you mean?” “Well...we've been examining the statue for days, remember?” Twilight said as she sat down, twiddling her hooves like they were thumbs. “What if the portal stops tomorrow?” Moondancer sat there, thinking for a second. She glanced around at the equipment, only to notice a lever was pulled down. She pointed at it and said, “Perhaps that's why we were able to get through.” Twilight looked at the lever. “Someone left it on? You mean...this was someone's mistake?” “That...or its their experiment. Perhaps they're testing how long it can stay on.” “Maybe...” Twilight said as she began to look around some more. There, she saw a chalkboard that covered in diagrams and calculations. Moondancer saw Twilight staring at the chalkboard and soon followed. As the two looked it over, Twilight spoke up, “Um...Moondancer? Is this what I think it is?” “Well...are you thinking this is an experiment about going to different worlds?” “Yep. That's what I was thinking...” Twilight said as her eyes began to shine again. “Amazing...whoever made this...wow...” “Twilight...you're drooling again.” “Oh...sorry.” Twilight said as she wiped her mouth. “Now...what do you think we should do now? We can't just leave, we might never be able to get back here.” “Then let's use the scanner and collect all of the data we can. After we print it off of that house, we can go from there. After all...” Moondancer glanced over the machine and the mirror again. “I've memorized most of the parts of this machine...I should be able to replicate it.” Twilight looked at the machine again. “I've memorized it too Moondancer but...” Twilight looked at the chalkboard. “Based on these calculations...I think the mirror is more important...” “What do you mean?” “Looks like this mirror...I think it was already a portal, or at least a portal device.” Twilight said as she rubbed her chin. “Besides, if we want to replicate this...we also need the book.” “But we can't leave if the book isn't in the machine?” Moondancer responded with a sly tone. “Is that what you were about to say?” “Well...yes.” “Then don't worry about it.” “Why not?” “Think about it Twilight, why does this mirror portal thing need the book?” “Uh...” A lightbulb turned on. “Ah! There must be another book! It's using the book to connect to our world! Or...at least I think this is another world...” “Yeah...” Moondancer looked back at the notes on the chalkboard. “Say Twilight...could I propose something?” “Sure.” “Why don't we try using the mirror without the book?” “Without the book, huh? I guess that could work...but why do you want to try that?” “Well...if the book is what connects to our world...I would like to see what it connects to without the book. Perhaps it connects to some singular point of space...” Twilight eyes turned to stars at the very mention of the idea. “Oh wow! What a wonderful idea Moondancer! Let's try that immediately!” “But...what if it doesn't work?” “Doesn't matter! Half the fun of being a scientist is doing the unknown!” “Okay...I'll agree with you there...” Moondancer glanced at the machine again. “But...how are we going to get the book down? I mean, there's no way the two of us can reach it up there.” “Yeah...we're a bit smaller in this unicorn form...” Twilight said as she looked over her body. “Oh, I know! Maybe there's a ladder somewhere around here...after all, whoever made this had to put it there somehow.” “Okay...should we both go look for one?” “Well...I wanted to explore this place anyways, so I'll go look. You stay here and look over all of this again. Make sure we don't miss anything before turning this thing off and removing the book.” “Okay Twilight.” Moondancer said as she turned back to the chalkboard. Twilight began her venture outside of the room, looking down the dark hallways. 'Gee...I wish we didn't have to do this at night...' she thought as she roamed the next hallway. 'These halls sure are creepy looking in this darkness...' TINK! Twilight’s ear twitched as she heard the sudden sound and she slowly turned around. There, she saw a pair of glowing eyes. “Uh...hello?” Twilight said to the eyes. “Grrr...” it said with a hiss. “What the...” Twilight said before the creature attacked her. “Aaah!” Back at the portal... Moondancer continued to look over the machine and chalkboard. “Perhaps I was wrong...now that I look at this again, it looks like the mirror might already connect to our world...” She looked at the mirror again. “Could that book just be there to help the portal?” Moondancer let out a yawn. “Ugh...I hope Twilight comes back soon. Its so late...I need a nap...” Meanwhile... “Hello my minion. Did you get that blasted Twilight Sparkle?” said a voice as the creature delivered an unconscious Twilight to her. “Yes my queen.” the creature said as she put Twilight down. “Here she is my queen.” “Yes...well done my little changeling.” she said as she poked Twilight with her hoof. “Hmm...I thought she had become an alicorn now...strange...” “Did...did I fail my queen? Should I be punished Queen Chryalis?” “No. This is her, odd that it might be. I recognize that blasted purple pony anywhere...Put her in a cocoon. She's just the beginning of my plans for Equestria." "Yes my queen."