Chapter 17 - Drama at Sea (Edited by JBL 03.04.2017)
The meeting room was packed, not a single chair or cushion unoccupied, with many expedition members forced to stand. Scientists, professors, doctors, and scholars murmured amongst themselves, discussing what was about to transpire. To say that the mood of the room was animated was an understatement.
Twilight entered with Spike behind her, and all the ponies stood up and bowed to her. “Thank you, please take your seats,” Twilight called out, the crowd quickly following her instructions. Reaching her cushion at the head of the table, Twilight sat down and Spike handed her the checklist she had compiled earlier on what had to be done in order to normalize the ley line.
“Thank you all for coming.” She coughed lightly into her hoof, already slightly uneasy about everypony's attention being on her. “Now, as you all know, I have received confirmation from the princesses. We are indeed dealing with a case of ley line disharmony, and I wish to thank Junior Assistant Pattern on the ley line team for discovering that. Without him, we would all be sitting here with nothing to work on. Please give him a round of applause.” Twilight pointed out the young stallion in the crowd, who blushed as the thunder of hooves stomping the floor and clopping together shook the room.
After the applause and words of praise died down, Twilight spoke once more, “I have received instructions on the way forward, and will now brief you all on the plan. We are going to need a lot of magic, so every single unicorn with a magic level of thirty and above on the Universal Thaumatic Scale will need to participate. The unicorns in the Royal Guard accompanying us will also help us with this. Everypony know their magic level?” Every unicorn in the room nodded.
“Good. Now, as I said, we are going to need a lot of magic and one focusing point. I will act as the focusing point and you all will focus your magic onto me. After a certain level of magic has been reached, I will be able to interact with the crossing ley lines and untangle them, thus normalizing the flow.”
The gathered ponies in the room began to whisper to each other, many of them not quite believing the young princess would be able to perform such a feat. Seeing as she was the Element of Magic and her list of accomplishments was rather lengthy, the debate died down as quickly as it had sprung. Twilight sighed in relief; she didn’t need any doubts now, not at this critical moment.
“With some luck, we’ll have this situation sorted out tonight.” She looked over the gathered ponies, who nodded in agreement. None had complained, but she knew that many of the expedition crew felt uneasy being at sea and had frequently paid homage to the waves. They all wanted to be on dry, steady land again, herself included.
“We’ll all need our strength when it’s time to begin the operation. Those who will be attending can relax until then. If any of the teams has any tasks left that is not yet completed, you may want to finish them up before then. We’ll meet again at seven this evening to begin normalizing the flow.” The assembled ponies nodded. “Until then, you are dismissed.” Hearing the finality in her voice, the ponies stood up, bowed, and began exiting the room.
Exhaling in relief, Twilight nodded to the ponies as they passed by, some of them complimenting her on how well she had handled the expedition. It felt nice to be praised, she thought to herself as she observed the members exit. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Professor Nebula chatting with Pattern. The old unicorn was smiling and seemingly speaking eagerly with the skinny unicorn stallion, and after a few moments, Pattern nearly jumped into the air in surprise and enthusiastically shook hooves with the professor.
After a minute, Pattern walked by Twilight, stopped, and bowed respectfully to her before trotting out the door, grinning like an eager colt. Before she could query his behaviour, Professor Nebula approached her with a smile of his own.
“I offered him a position as my assistant at the Academy of Magic,” the elderly unicorn said, casually fixing his dishevelled hair back into place. “He accepted. I could use a bright youngster working with me. He’s polite and friendly, and I think we’ll get along well.”
Twilight giggled and replied, “I could see that he agreed. I think he’ll become a good assistant. After all,” she looked over to Spike, who stood next to her with a smile on his face, “a good assistant is great, but a good friend is even better.”
***
‘There is no sound… There is no movement… There is only silence. The magic within the mana opal, the magic within me… My beating heart… my lungs filled with air, expanding as I inhale, deflating as I exhale… My heart pumps blood around my body, delivering oxygen and nutrients where it is needed… No cell goes thirsty for air; no cell goes hungry for nutrients… I am… at peace…’
Meditation and focus, two exercises that I was combining into one. According to Celestia, I could build my magical stamina by simply focusing my magic, thus increasing how much magic I had within myself. It made sense if magic was like a muscle that needed training in order to be strong and healthy. The fact that it acted like a physical aspect when it was non-physical was surprising.
After breakfast, I was told that my potion for this morning wasn’t needed because I would receive my final potion later today. No offense to hospitals, of course, but this room and its decor had gotten old fast, so I was stoked at that information. Instead of reading, I tried focusing my magic with a small break in between. I couldn’t discern any difference this early on, and I’d be surprised if I could. Like training, it took time and effort.
One of the nurses, a rather pleasant earth pony mare named Clean Bandage, said that she had a daughter who was at that age when unicorn children wanted to learn how to use their magic and practiced it every day. The first week or two, a unicorn's magic would increase slowly but steadily before levelling out at a much slower pace. It was a learning curve. Still, I was happy with it. The feeling of magic in me felt so vibrant and alive, like a rush of life, happiness even. I dreaded the day when this beautiful sensation passed, and was determined to enjoy it while it lasted.
‘Breathe in… breathe out… Calm… peace… serenity… now… focus…’ I thought as I laid there, enjoying my magic pulsing inside of me and the sound it made as it danced around my horn. If my concentration faltered for a moment, my magic would quickly slam back into me. After that unpleasant experience yesterday, I made sure to pay attention.
The sound of hooves came from the door, followed by slight creaking of the hinges. I guided my magic back into my horn and opened my eyes, looking towards the entranceway. I saw Doctor Mgangah staring at me. “Sup, doc?” I greeted him in my best Bugs Bunny impersonation, although it didn’t sound right in Equestrian.
“Good afternoon, Magnus,” he said and trotted inside and closed the door. He looked at my horn curiously. “Magic with two colours? Quite unusual,” he remarked.
“Yeah, it was a… a gift of sort,” I stated with a sigh. Instinctively, dreary emotions were attached to that thought, though I quickly shook it off.
“I see. It sounds like an unpleasant memory, so I will ask no more of it,” Mgangah replied, most likely having discerned the undercurrent in my voice.
“Thank you, it’s something I’d rather not talk about.” I tried to smile, showing that I appreciated his discretion. “So, it’s final potion day, right?” I might have sounded a bit too happy, but I didn’t bother hiding it. I would soon be able to walk out of this dreary room.
“That’s right. You sound happy; isn’t this room to your liking?” he asked with a short laugh.
“Oh no, I love it,” I replied and took a deep breath of air. “Smell that air? The lingering scent of disinfectant and rubbing alcohol? The sound of the guard’s armour rattling just outside whenever one of them moves? The sound of nurses pushing that cart in the hallway and the rattling of cold steel bedpans? What's not to like?”
Shaking his head lightly, Doctor Mgangah chuckled. “I was once hospitalized for a week with a broken leg, and I enjoyed it as much as you have. It’s true what they say; doctors make the worst patients.”
I smiled, imagining the zebra in a bed, complaining about everything with his deep voice. Seemed the similarities to Earth jokes were pretty spot on, or maybe that was a doctor thing? I once suspected that one of the things medical students had to practice was their ‘doctor's handwriting’.
“Well then, all jokes aside, how long has it been since you ate?”
“Hm, about an hour ago. A few pears, bread with cheese, and some salad.”
“Good, good.” The doctor nodded absentmindedly. “Can you remove the opal for a moment, please?” I grabbed the chain, removing the magical necklace, and placed it on the nightstand. Slowly, the magic faded before disappearing completely. Though I wasn’t fully healthy, I was almost there. Like a mild flu, I felt a slight throbbing in my head and easily ignorable pain. I wasn’t sweating a waterfall anymore, and my hands didn’t shake either.
“How does it feel? Do you feel better or worse?”
“I feel pretty good actually. Just a mild headache, and some fatigue,” I said and rolled my head on my shoulders, feeling my muscles relax a bit and a few kinks in my neck disappearing.
“Excellent,” Mgangah replied enthusiastically. “You’re nearly there.” He reached into one of his coat pockets and presented me with a large vial. It resembled the magic door vial from Super Mario Brothers 2, a red bubbling liquid and a cork on top. He hoofed the potion to me and I removed the cork, taking a whiff of the content. It smelled like a mix of several types of herbs. Some scents were mild while others assaulted my nose with their pungent odour.
“Well, this doesn’t smell funky at all.” I yanked my head away from the vial, inhaling somewhat fresh air before bringing it close to my mouth. “Here we go!” I held up the vial and toasted before downing it like a tequila shot. Where was the salt and lime when you needed it? I cringed as the foul liquid hit my tongue. In addition to the strong herbs, there was also a sour taste, like biting into a lemon.
“I know, I know,” Mgangah said as I passed him the empty vial. “It doesn’t taste good, but the best medicines are the worst tasting ones.” He tucked away the vial and focused on me again. “Now, the sleeping effect in this potion is quite strong, so I suggest you get comfortable quickly. You won’t feel sleepy at all; you will just fall asleep at the drop of a pin.”
No shit! This stuff barely had the chance to make it known in my stomach before deciding it should knock me out. My eyelids felt heavy as fatigue coursed through my body.
“Yeah… will… jus… sl…” My head struck the pillow as I fell back. The colours in the room seemed to blur together, and I could see a darker spot in my vision moving towards me.
“That was quick,” I heard Mgangah say as he reached up and pulled the covers over my shoulders. “I’ll inform the nurses to check up on you… every… will info.... princesses… sleep…. healthy again…” were the last words I heard before everything went dark.
***
A harsh wind churned the seas, the rough waves battering the Sea Mare. Despite the waves, the ship was unaffected. Several thick ropes were tied to the ship, and the ropes themselves extended up to the airships, enabling to keep the ship steady while the unicorns and Twilight Sparkle could work uninterrupted by the unruly sea and wind that had appeared as the sun descended.
“Alright, everypony!” Twilight shouted so that the expedition members could hear her over the howling wind. “This is it! This is not going to be easy!” She looked over the unicorns, the gathered crowd looking eager. Some horns were already glowing with each individual's own magical aura, while others seemed to be warming up. The tension in the group, even amongst the non-unicorns, was like was like the crackling electricity in the air.
“This has been done before by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and by many others. Now it’s our turn! Are you ready?” Twilight shouted as the wind picked up. The response was a cacophony of voices, the enthusiasm of the group and cheers was a definitive yes. “Okay, then we will begin. Professor Nebula, if you will.” Twilight nodded to the elderly stallion, who closed his eyes as his crimson aura surrounded his horn.
Twilight assumed her stance, her forelegs spread wide for balance and her hind hooves with a firm base on the wooden planks. Professor Nebula opened his eyes and looked straight at Twilight. She could feel the magic built up inside of him, and nodded.
Nebula’s magic formed a beam of concentrated energy that erupted from his horn, heading straight for Twilight. The crimson magic struck her horn and Twilight instinctively dug her hooves into the deck, bracing herself for the incoming surge of energy, feeling the other unicorn’s magic within her. A strange sensation to begin with, but not unwelcome.
“There! I got it!” Twilight called out as she felt the professor’s magic falling under her control and empowering her. “Next!” Closing her eyes, she braced herself for more.
Several more beams of magic struck her, and with each focused beam of magic falling under her control, she began to feel stronger by the second. A crescendo of sound resounded around her, the magic of over a hundred ponies filling the air, making it almost vibrate.
Though the sensation of power was immense, it was still nowhere near to when she had become the keeper of alicorn magic during Tirek’s rampage. Back then, she had felt unstoppable, and even the mightiest blows Tirek had delivered felt like nothing but a scratch. Now she felt like she could lift the ship out of the water with ease.
Twilight opened her eyes to an awe-inspiring sight. The individual magic of all the unicorns reminded her of the aurora she had seen in the Crystal Empire. Every strand of magic, each beam, twisting into the air, they all curled around each other like a braided rainbow flowing directly into her own horn. So many colours and so beautiful to behold. Sadly, she had no time for sightseeing.
Twilight walked over to the railing, feeling the deck bend under her now considerable power, almost as though it was bowing to her presence. She stopped and looked down into the dark, churning sea. Using her magic, she cast a sight spell provided to her by Princess Celestia in one of the scrolls. It allowed a pony much better vision, magically amplifying her eyes to the point where one could see through solid objects and even see far into the distance.
She looked at her own reflection in the water, but where her eyes would be, she saw two piercing white lights emitting from her eyes, like lighthouse beacons in the dark. Looking around, she saw magic in the air, in the water, and in every pony around her. It flowed slowly, undulating, pulsing, a strange yet poignant sight to behold.
She turned her attention to the sea again, this time gazing beneath the waves. She saw the various species of fish as they darted past in the briny water. She saw shellfish on the ocean floor and then looked beneath the muddy silt and stone. Gazing through the many layers of stone, she saw gems, thousands and thousands of them, millions perhaps, all of them with a brilliant inner light of blue, green, red, yellow, and every colour imaginable. But underneath that, she witnessed something her eyes had never laid eyes on.
Two mighty flows of colours twisted around and changed shape as smoke in still air. One river of magic flowed from east to west; the other from north to south, and where they briefly intersected, a pulsing sphere of unstable magic was situated.
“...Beautiful…” Twilight whispered, for the first time in her life witnessing magic in its purest form. A once in a lifetime sight, something that she doubted she would see again, and she was happy she was given this chance.
She wished she could have more time to study this phenomenon, yet the pulsating orb seemed to be unsound, occasionally looking like it was about to implode onto itself. Twilight felt uneasy observing the sphere, knowing that it had cast Star Swirl from Equestria and Magnus into an unknown world, yet aware that it had to be dealt with immediately.
“I see the ley lines!” Twilight called out over the wind. “I’ll try to lift one; get ready!”
Twilight widened her stance, forehooves digging into the deck and hind legs steady. She began focusing all the magic at her disposal into a single spell, one that would allow her to untangle the ley line, lifting it as if it had mass and weight. Her horn glowed intensely with her raspberry magical aura, and the magic of the other unicorns joined with hers into a tornado of colours. The swirling magic erupted from Twilight’s horn and shot into the sky briefly before diving towards the water, breaking the surface without disturbing the sea.
Twilight watched the magic as it dove down, rushing through water, passing through rock and briefly illuminating the gems as it then made contact with the two magical flows. The magical tornado twisted itself around one of the ley lines and began tugging it, trying to separate it from the other. At first, it seemed like a stalemate, but that quickly changed. The flow of the stream suddenly separated from the other and was yanked violently upwards, separated from the other flow which resumed its current as though nothing had happened. The flow held in the combined magic was still attached, and with nothing holding it back, it shot upwards at a phenomenal speed. Passing through rock, stone, and water, the tornado breached the water’s surface.
The chiming sound of the unicorns and one alicorn was drowned by the ley line rocketing upwards. It sounded like unicorn magic, only amplified a thousand times. The sound and the overwhelming sight stunned the ponies on the ship and airship, and Twilight felt her grasp on the line falter. She knew that a significant portion of the unicorns had lost focus as she felt her magic weaken. However, she refused to release her hold. It felt heavy, as if a massive weight was balanced on her horn. Her legs began to shake under the strain, forcing her to lie down on her stomach so that she could hold her focus.
With the loss of so much magic, and the enormous weight on Twilight's horn, the magical tornado began to fall apart. Twisting and swirling, the ley line struggled to free itself from its restraint, and as the tornado finally quaked one last time, the ley line broke loose. The two ends of the flow that originated from beneath the waves trembled as though someone had yanked it, and with a violent motion, the massive magical river slammed into the sea, the surface barely rippling.
With the ley line gone, an eerie silence reigned. The only sounds heard were the howling wind and the humming drone of magic, which gradually faded as unicorns stopped focusing their magic into Twilight.
Twilight was exhausted, feeling as though her body had been entirely stripped of magic. Huffing and panting, she decided to lie on the deck for a moment to regain her breath. All around her stood ponies, some of them staring into the sea while others rushed to her, trying to help her back on her hooves.
“I’m okay.” She panted as several guards tried to help her up. “I just… need a moment…”
“Your Highness, are you alright?” Professor Nebula asked her as he trotted towards her, seemingly exhausted as well. Sweat was pouring off his brow, and even his glasses were fogged. Twilight looked up at him, finding his hoof reaching down to her. Carefully, she grabbed it and with the help of the guards, she carefully stood up.
“Th-Thank you,” she muttered after she got up, leaning onto a pegasus guard. “I’m okay… just so tired.” The pegasus brought out a canteen of water which he lifted to her mouth, letting Twilight drink to her heart's content.
When Twilight finally felt somewhat steady enough to stand without help, she thanked the guards and Nebula for their help and looked around at the expedition crew. Some unicorns had collapsed on deck, panting at the exhausting ordeal they had gone through together. Some seemed to have fainted, but were in good hooves as they were tended to by the sickbay’s doctors and nurses and ponies with basic medical knowledge. Many non-unicorns stood by the railing, staring into the sea, studying it curiously.
A high-pitched voice reached Twilight. “Twilight! Are you okay? TWILIGHT!” Spike yelled as he ran towards her, shoving ponies out of his way as he frantically ran towards her. Upon reaching her, Spike hugged her as hard as he could.
“I’m okay, Spike, I’m okay,” she told him, the tiredness in her voice betraying the severity of how she had been pushed. Wrapping a foreleg around Spike’s back, she patted him gently.
“Did it work?” Spike asked as he released her, looking concerned and more than a little afraid. Twilight looked down to the shadowy sea.
“I think so.” She nodded. “According to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the ley lines only needed to be separated in order to harmonize them. Although…” She paused and took a deep breath. The strange feeling that permeated the entire area was still there, coming from the depths of the sea.
“Twilight?” Spike asked, but received no immediate reply. He followed Twilight as she walked to the railing and looked down at the sea. Her eyes widened and she gasped. From the sea came a bright green light.
“Look!” Ponies shouted out as they noticed the phenomenon. Nearly every pony ran to the side to catch a glimpse of the light as it increased in intensity. Shimmering and pulsing, the light swelled as each second passed.
“...no…” Twilight whispered silently as tears fell from her eyes. Had she failed? Was this it? Had something gone wrong? Was this strange light a final stubborn surprise from the ley lines? Could it be that a portal was about to erupt in front of them, devouring them all and sending them away from Equestria?
Almost a hundred meters from the ship, the light erupted from the sea, bathing the area with furious intensity. It swirled around in the air, menacing those mortals it dwarfed. It illuminated the ship and the surrounding areas as the ponies gaped up at it.
Silence gripped the members of the expedition. Just what was this peculiar phenomenon? Twilight had an idea of what it was, and it was nothing good. She could not let it happen to them!
She called upon her magic, ready to teleport ponies away from the area, only to find herself spent. The entirety of her reserves had been spent on the ley lines, and now she had nothing left, not even enough to lift Spike. However, while she was almost immobile, the ship was not.
“Captain, we have to get away from the sphere! NOW!” Twilight shouted to the old stallion who stood at the helm. He was also gawking at the sphere, but quickly focused on his princess.
“Aye, aye, yer Highness!” he called back and shouted over the ship in a way only a pony hardened by the sea could. “Haul anchor and hoist the sails! Cut loose the ropes to the airships! We need every sail unfolded and catching the wind or so help me I will keelhaul the lot of you!”
Twilight was impressed by the old pony's voice—he could certainly match Princess Luna during her first Nightmare Night. She then turned to the guards who had helped her. “Warn the airships; they have to leave the area immediately!” The pegasi in the group saluted and bolted off, flying up to the airships with haste.
The crew was jolt into action by their captains’ voice. Pegasi flew up to the masts and unfurled the sails which immediately caught wind, while ponies on deck bit down on ropes, tightening the sails. The anchor was hauled from the depths by a crew of strong earth ponies and pegasi guards flew up to the airships to relay Twilight's information to them, understanding the urgency of the situation.
For a moment, everything seemed to be under control. The situation was chaotic, but everypony knew what they had to do. Ponies did their jobs, although some of them were afraid, clearly understanding that something was wrong. The sound of the airship’s propellers cutting the air came from above. Twilight looked up and saw the airship had begun to move away. “Good, the airship should be safe. Now we have to move.”
“Yer Highness!” the captain called to Twilight. She saw him at the helm, jabbing a hoof towards the mast. She followed his hoof and saw the sails filled with wind, but somehow the ship continued to drift backwards, dangerously closer to the sphere.
“How is this happening? The wind is good enough to get us away from here, but how—” The ship groaned as the sound of wood bending pierced the air. Slowly, the aft of the ship began turning directly towards the sphere, as if dragged towards it by an unseen force.
“No, no, this can’t be… How can…” Then it struck her. Magnus had said that his boat had been pulled into the sphere by something, something that had destroyed his ship, and now it seemed as if the same was to happen to her, to Spike, to them all. She looked up and saw the airships struggling to get away, only to drift slowly backwards.
She attempted once more to summon her magic, though it quickly spluttered and died. There was nothing she could do. Ponies began to panic, not knowing what was happening.
“Princess Twilight!” A random stallion suddenly ran up to her, fear evident on his face. “Please, do something! I can’t be here; I want to go home to my herd! I have foals waiting for me at home!”
She could only stare at the pony whose name she didn’t know. She could not even utter hollow words of reassurance, for she didn’t know what would happen to them. She was paralyzed as the reality of the situation dawned on her.
“Princess?” the stallion asked, but received no answer from Twilight. She was simply at a loss on what to do.
“Twilight?” Spike called from beside her. She turned to look at him, her assistant, her baby dragon, her baby brother. The way Spike looked at her, fearful and distressed, told her that he knew what was about to happen. “Can’t you do something?”
She shook her head slowly. “I’m sorry, Spike, but I don’t have any magic left. I can’t, I just can’t—” Tears began to stream down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”
Spike stared at her, tears filling his eyes as well. He hugged Twilight and sobbed. “Then... then fly away.”
Twilight pulled Spike closer to her and hugged him. “Never! I won’t leave you alone!”
‘Will we all disappear now? Where will we go? I shouldn’t have brought Spike along. He doesn’t deserve this, nopony does. I’m so sorry, everypony.’ Out of comfort and fear, Spike hugged her back, his little claws digging gently into her fur.
The green sphere hung silently in the air, captivating its frightened audience by the slow pulses it emitted. Abruptly, it trembled as a crack appeared on its surface. White light shone through the cracks, illuminating the sea and ships around. A gasp went through the crowd as the green light flickered like a candle before instantly disappearing, leaving behind a smaller sphere of white light. It flickered as well for several moments before its glow began to diminish.
Tense seconds passed, the smaller sphere developing more fractures, all the while growing smaller. All that remained after nearly a minute was a small faint light the size of a hoofball. Its glow was little more than the luminescence coming from a cluster of fireflies, and the light showed no signs of increasing in density. For the first time in what was arguably the most terrifying minutes Twilight had ever experienced, she felt a small flicker of hope in her. Perhaps she would see her friends and family again, for losing them frightened her the most.
The tiny ball of light grew smaller and smaller every second until all that remained was a small speck of light that seemingly vaporized into thin air. The moment the light disappeared, the ship ceased drifting backwards and the wind died down. The sound of the airship's propellers suddenly became more prominent in the silent night. A collective sigh of relief echoed over the ship and its many ponies. Then somepony began to laugh, mostly in relief, and soon many others joined in. Cheers of happiness and joy erupted all around Twilight. She still held Spike close, refusing to let him go. The idea of what she believed was about to happen had shaken her to the core. Thankfully, her worst possible scenario had not happened, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she smiled, knowing that everypony was okay and that they were still on Equus where they belonged.
“Is… Is it over?” Spike asked meekly, his eyes still tightly shut. Twilight looked down at the baby dragon who meant the world to her and smiled as she nuzzled him.
“It’s over, Spike.” She hugged him, glad that they were still together. “We’re all okay and we’re still here.”
Spike cracked his eyes open and looked around carefully. The smiling ponies and Twilight's voice was all he needed in order to understand that everything was as it should be.
“Huh… we’re okay… We’re okay!” he shouted gleefully. He released Twilight and jumped around with a big smile. “We’re not gonna disappear!”
Twilight let out a relieved sigh and giggled at Spike’s joy. “Yes, we’re not going anywhere.” She looked around and saw relieved ponies everywhere. Ponies hugged each other, some cried out of joy, and some had fainted, while others still looked traumatised.
The wind had calmed, and the strange sensation of magic was gone. In fact, it had disappeared the moment the last remnant of light had vanished.
‘Perhaps that light was simply magic that faded away with background magic? A portal that was dispelled by our efforts?’ Twilight wondered as she looked around, happy that everypony was okay.
“I guess we are done here.” She exhaled in relief, exhaustion still gripping her. She and many others on board the ship could use some well-deserved rest, but before that could happen, Twilight wanted to make sure that they would all be safe.
“Captain,” she called out to the shaken stallion at the helm. “Send messengers to the airship. We’re going back to Equestria.” The stallion nodded and relayed her orders.
Looking back at the rejoicing ponies around her, she couldn’t wait for them all to be back with their families where they belonged. And she couldn’t wait to get back to where she belonged.
New week, new chapter. Edited by The Invisible Man, so give him a round of applause.
The portal is gone. Forever. Magnus won't be going home, but that is the point of this story; accepting, learning, and adapting. We're still a few chapters away from the end of the first arc, and thanks to Bethesda I haven't written anything in nearly a week and a half. Thanks, Todd Howard.
Gonna see if I can finish a new chapter this weekend though, but it won't be posted just yet.
Edit.: My reaction when seeing what JBL did to my story 
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This is just the first arc? Damn I cant wait to see what coming next.
That was intense. Love it
I still kinda want him to be stubborn and gain immortality out of spite for Celestia's making life choices for him.
I'm glad you didn't have the expedition get sucked to Earth or something like that.
twilight hatched spike egg so wouldn't that make her more like his mother
6653878 Ya I'm glad it didn't go that way.
6653596 You talking about him staying in Equestria? Although Alicorns are immortal and are very powerful, I doubt they are powerful enough to tunnel a hole through space and time in order to reach Earth which at the time of their arrival could be any moment in Earth's history.
6653878 I never intended them to. I love HiE stories, but hate pony on earth stories. I'm strange like that.
6653998 I believed that at one time, but when Twilight hatched Spike's egg, she was somewhere around 8 or 10 years old, a bit young to take care of a dragon. I think that Spike lived in Canterlot castle at one point, being taken care of by Celestia, and then as they grew older moved to Twilight's parents, with Velvet and Night Light acting as surrogate parents, which in turn would make them something like siblings. It's strange that Twilight and Spike have known each other for so long, but Twilight only refers to Spike as his assistant and nothing else. I would like to see an episode where Twilight and Spike visit their parents in Canterlot.
6654927 If he's immortal, and in the past, he could just wait 'till his other self goes through that portal.(to stop a paradox) If it's the future and his friends are gone he might be able to get a ride from The Doctor, if you're a fan of that sort of thing. To get a portal, he'd just need to rub those laylines together a bit and if it leads to the wrong earth, it's still better than being with those who stole your home from you!
6655210 Maybe he could, if the Ley Lines could produce the exact same effect. But the thing is that Magnus was taken from Earth in order to live, and in order to live in Equestria, he has to learn and accept Equestria and its inhabitants. Star Swirl felt guilty for the things he caused, and he intended to make things right by taking Magnus to Equestria. It's all about living and building a life, even from scratch.
6656265 If earth needs magic, couldn't he drag part of one of the lines through (like a big rope) to both keep the portal open, and seed earth with magic?
6656277 Star Swirl said that Earth have magic, but it is very weak. It needs to grow stronger. It's just strong enough to support lifeforms born on Earth, such as humans and so on. If an Equus creature was born there, for example a Unicorn, it would also suffer from a lack of magic and eventually die.
6656312 Yes, that's why you'd want a source of strong magic to "evolve" the earth's underdeveloped magic field, or whatever earth has. Then our protagonist could travel between and keep his friends while still becoming a ~cool wizard~, if you will.
6656354 Maybe he could, but that's not the plan I have for this story.
6656384 Well, at least being a ~cool wizard~ is still on the table.
6656429 I've seen a lot of stories where a human ends up in Equestria, and by chance they become powerful spellcasters instantly, becoming stronger than Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Twilight, Chrysalis, Discord, and Discords grandmother put together. Once in a blue moon a story appears where the human actually has to train hard in order to become an average spellcaster. I like those stories; it's all about training, studying, focusing and training some more until they got it right, and even then they might be able to pull off a somewhat useful shield spell. If humanity discovered that magic was a real thing, we would be like children playing with a flamethrower. There would be accidents, deaths, disasters and the like over a period of a hundred years until we knew what this strange new force is. In, say, 500 years we might have a better understanding of it, cause we're good at that. Now, ponies knows about magic, it's always been there, and I would think that they too had their fair share of accidents involving magic. After a few millennia of studying magic, understanding it, developing spells and the like, the basic knowledge of magic would be integrated into each and every single pony through school, teaching and training until they know what to do and what not to do.
In short, Magnus won't be all-powerful.
6656482 That doesn't exclude him from being ~cool wizard~!
If "has magic" = true
then "~cool wizard~" = true
6656504 Now I gotta look into ways to make Magnus a cool wizard, maybe a pimped up Gandalf?
6656786 Uhhhm... Natsu's a pretty cool wizard, right? Also, something funny is that when I typed "wizards in anime" into google images, I found a picture of Ichigo from Bleach after scrolling down for a few seconds. Because he's TOTALLY a wizard.
6653878
Certainly was looking that way at first. A very well written scene that kept you on the edge of your seat, right?
6657467 It certainly was a gripping chapter that very much seemed like it was about to be a half PoE / HiE story. Thankfully, our author only wants HiE, so we're all good.
6657911 But they didn't know how long a human lifespan is. For all they know, a human could live as long as a dragon. It doesn't help that they don't believe Magnus either.
Well, I'm only slightly dissapointed at this, seeing it join the endless hoard of stories where the human stays in Equestria. Oh well, that's just my personal opinion. The writing is still good, and I'll continue following this, but I'm saddened nonetheless. Ah well, c'est la vie.
6654928 I happen to like PoE fics but there is a lot of danger in them. Way to much damn misanthropy is the biggest danger. The other is authors ideas that since aliens probe and experiment with us in science fiction sterotypes, humans would act the same way to a peaceful alien.
There's just one problem with that theory. The original portal was colored Gold and Black with a night sky/galaxy motif in the center, colors synonymous with Celestia and Luna. But this one was Green and White... the same colors as Magnus' magic.
Lord give Magnus strength for if this fool turns native he's going to be in for one hell of a loop when he finally stumbles upon...herds