It is the harmony of the diverse parts, their symmetry, their happy balance; in a word it is all that introduces order, all that gives unity, that permits us to see clearly and to comprehend at once both the ensemble and the details.
-Henri Poincare
Twilight pondered through dinner how Russel disappear like that. More importantly where did he go, she saw him step into a painting and then he simply disappeared. She didn't know if it was some illusion or ancient spell but she was determined to find out. After dinner was done and everypony headed to bed, she ran back up to the painting and hid behind a decorative suit of armor nearby. She had check the room that Russel was staying in and he still had not returned. She planned to see what would happen then report it to Celestia.
As she thought about where he could have possibly gone, the picture began to warp and distort. It changed from the image of the sun and the hills around the castle to an image she could not recognize. The image was too distorted to make out anything definitive but it looked void of color. She waited and the image shimmered as Russel passed out of the picture. It returned to its original state shortly after. He stood there for a moment like he was pondering something before he headed to his room.
As soon as he was out of sight, she walked up to the image noticing that the picture held some residual energy. It was like the portal was waiting to be opened again. She teleported to Princess Celestia's bed chamber to tell her about the events she witnessed. The solar princess was sitting at her desk reading a book. Whatever she was reading must have been interesting. She did not immediately take notice of her student standing there patiently waiting for her to respond.
"Hello Twilight, how was your day? Sorry i didn't take notice sooner, I've been enjoying this new book by Prancy Drew. Her crime stories are really exciting reads. What do you want talk about," Princess Celestia asked as she closed the book and put it back on the shelf.
"It was definitely different than I thought it was going to be but still productive. I also stumbled upon something interesting about Russel," Twilight said as she began the long process of telling her where they went and what they did. She talked about the natural mines they explored. She talked about the transaction and even Russel's vanishing trick through the painting. When Twilight finished sharing her findings she was surprised to see that Celestia was not shocked at all.
"What you're telling me isn't uncommon, there are many realms that exist alongside our own. They normal never interact with each other. Discord has proven this as he can travel through to his own pocket dimension. That's all I know, I don't have the time to investigate them. Luna would have more knowledge about this, she travels through the dream realm almost every night. In fact she probably in her room right now, Celestia explained before waving her hoof for Twilight to follow. They walked at a brisk pace down the corridor to the Princess Luna's chambers.
When they entered, they found her busily filling out scrolls. She had a look of annoyance and anger about her.
"Hello sis, I cant do much at the moment. the night court paper work has got me swamped and i wont be done for a while. this stuff is so annoying and the further i go the more angry i get. complaints from the nobles are hardly worth my time. what is it you need," Luna ask as she was about ready to just throw all of the scrolls in the waste bin.
"Luna, what do you know about inter dimensional bridges," Celestia ask which got Luna's attention.
"Well, they are complex passages that normally are closed. With the right know how and enough magic you could open the passages and walk through. they are unpredictable however cause passageways cant be opened up just anywhere. They exist in fixed locations and you have to find them. However they are undetectable by location spells. The only way to track them is to feel for the vibrations of the portal and each one exists on a different wave length. Since few have ever existed that can detect those vibrations, they go unnoticed by pretty much everyone. Why do you ask," Luna said as she got out of her chair, no longer caring for the work she was previously doing.
"As luck would have it, Twilight stumbled upon one when she followed our guest Russel to it. She witnessed him open it and step through for two hours before returning. I was hoping you'd be interested in taking a look at the portal when I confront him about it at the meeting tomorrow. He knows where it leads and I'm pretty sure I can get him to confess everything," Celestia explained the plan to Luna.
"Ill give it a look, maybe something interesting will come up. See you tomorrow," Luna said as the two vacated the lunar princesses bed chambers. Twilight and Celestia called it a day and went to their respective rooms as well. When twilight made it to her room, she crawled into bed and laid there wondering what exactly was going on. Russel seemed friendly and he was making an effort to show thanks to her and her friends for taking care of his. That did not dismiss the fact that hes keeping secrets about certain things and she wanted to know what they were.
He was doing things that she could only dream of doing and she wanted to know how he did it. She was eventually able to clear her mind and fall asleep, however her dreams were not much more relaxing.
(The next day, meeting reconvened)
As the new day continued into the afternoon, the meeting remained mostly uneventful. It consisted of renewing and revising different terms and amendments. This session had including some new things into it but their wasn't much. They had finished with a particular set of terms that involved a shipment, some material in exchange for precious stone. Celestia decided that this was as good a time as any to confront Russel about her suspicions.
"Russel, I understand that you learned quite a bit about magic in its many aspects. What do you know about seams and natural portals," Celestia asked as she began staring at him intensely. She scanned him for any hiccups in his answers.
"Like the one that brought me, Jessie, and Rob here; or are you referring to a different kind of portal, Russel responded albeit slightly interested.
"To a degree, there are many portals and I was wondering what you knew about them. You posses a fair amount of knowledge about ancient things," Celestia asked pushing for more answers.
"I know that they behave of their own accord. They open up only under the right conditions and you have to know how to sense them. They are not as easily traceable like artificial portals. They require special knowledge to find them. Why do you ask," Russel said in a stoic demeanor.
"its a little convenient that you are capable of doing such complicated magic. Things even my student Twilight who with all her knowledge knows very little about. How were you able to locate the seam so easily," Celestia questioned.
"Thats was fairly simple once i learned how. i remembered the exact spot where the seam was that we came out of. once i tested it on the portal we came out of, i knew the method worked accurately. i honed its precision from there Russel said as he smirked.
"Well that's not the only one you've encountered. Twilight saw you going through one in the east hallway on the second floor. When you were given your original room you requested for a different one not to long after. You said that you like rooms with large views. Now there are many rooms in this castle that fit that bill; however you specifically requested the one that conveniently sits fifty feet from a portal. Such a portal could be considered a dangerous breach of Equestrian security and that goes against section forty-two clause eight of the cooperation act.
Involvement of anything that could result the immediate danger of Equestria's citizens must be made aware to the princesses. Such defiance of said clause is grounds for immediately dismissal of trade operations with the respective party," Celestia said as she had him backed into a corner. He had to reveal how he discovered it and what he had been using it for.
"Whoa whoa whoa, whoa, now hold on a second. I learned and seeked that portal during my personal time so that claim has no validity here. I neglected to tell my master for that exact reason, and I don't like that tone you giving me. What I do on my own time is of my own accord and has no direct involvement of the dragons. I also kept it a secret because I made a promise to a another that I'd do so. However, if you insist on knowing what I have been doing then I'll show you.
I'm almost done with what I was doing there anyway. I was going to go there when this meeting was over so, follow me. In Krosis Fah Ni Fun Hi Nuz Zu'u Fen Dal Maltid," Russel said as he bowed to his mentor. He proceeded to lead the three princesses and the rest of the group to the picture in the east hall.
"It looks like an ordinary painting, how is this a portal, rarity asked with much confusion.
"You will see, you all need to stay close to me once we pass through. Remember, whatever you see on the other side, do not bother with it. Everything there is dangerous and regular magic doesn't work. Only dark magic can," Russel warned the group before he waved his hand in front of the portal. The picture began to contort and change into the dark fluid like image that Twilight saw before. It held the same grey scale colors and did not show much life to it.
Russel stepped through and disappeared into it. Twilight walked up to it and touched the swirling image before hesitantly entering. The rest of the group soon followed. The transition took several minutes but everyone eventually showed up on the other end. They all took a good look at their new surroundings. There were many gigantic trees that towered so high you couldn't even see the top.
The ground was mostly dirt and and bushes were scattered about in the nearby areas. The whole place looked like one big forest but there was no color and everything was in shades. The things in the forest normally with light feature were light grey, the dark things were pretty much pitch black and everything else was different shades in between.
"Why is this place so dull and lifeless," Applejack asked as she was shocked by the lack of color.
"This place has many names and exist separately in every universe you could ever find. In my world its called Purgatory or Limbo, in your world its called Afterlife. Its the transition plain between the world of the living and the world of the dead. Before we venture any further there are some things you need to know. This place is not friendly to the living. It is filled with the souls of dead creature from your world who have long since passed.
They all possess varying degrees of awareness but all want to come back to life. In order for them to do so, they have to possess a living body. That means they need to purge you from yours since your soul already occupies it. I've only met one so far that acted neutrally and that's who we're here to see. I will protect you as much as i can but you'll need to be on your guard. You must be ready for a fight if it comes down to it and it probably will.
This way," Russel explained before starting down a pathway in the forest. The rest of the group kept behind him as they continued deeper in.
"This whole place is so filthy, why would anypony elect to stay here? Its so drab and colorless," Rarity said in disgust of the whole dimension.
"some souls do not want to move on. Some of them feel like they have been cheated by death, that they were taken at the wrong time. They crave to feel alive again. Most have unfinished business on the plain of the living and refuse to go until they're completed. They've even constructed buildings here to make it feel more like home," Russel stated as he pointed in a one direction. The group followed its line of sight until they saw a small group of buildings down the hill path they were standing on.
They looked plain and very worn but they stood tall non the less. He waved to the group and they continued down a different path leading away from the area. This new path took them to through a winding dirt road leading out into a fairly sized opening in the fauna life. Sitting at the middle of this small clearing was a modestly small house. It looked like it was capable of housing two ponies at most and was very plain if not mostly bare. As they got closer to the house they could see a very faint light coming from inside.
It was an odd source of light as its hue was blueish in nature. Russel approached the door and immediately knocked in a serious of thumps that sounded like a code. As soon as he was done the door opened and out stepped a pony who was completely cloaked. The cloak was mostly tattered and there was a mark patch on the side but it was to worn to make out. The mysterious pony removed the cloak and what the rest of the ponies saw shocked them. The pony had white fur and a green mane and tail.
Her signature Cutie Mark however was the dead give away. It was none other than Clover The Clever.