Bonds of Harmony

by FoxTheFirebird

Experimenting

The two ponies broke their concentration, opening their eyes to gaze upon the portal they created. Twilight's mouth hung open at this...this portal, their creation. And then…

"We did it! We did it! We did it!" Twilight giddily hopped around Luna a few times, not realizing that she was not acting the way she trained herself to act around the Princesses-calm and mature.

But Luna did not mind. In fact, she liked it. She just smiled as she watched Twilight bounce up and down in joy, but kept a sharp eye on the portal, floating idly by.

Luna inspected the portal from afar, careful not to get too close to it, in case it acted up. It was a remarkable feat the two ponies had accomplished, yes, but because this was a new portal that the two of them created together out of magic, Luna was not sure how this portal would act up on its own, considering Luna's power was far greater than Twilight's.

Twilight stopped pouncing from her dance of joy to catch her breath when she looked at Luna's thoughtful and stern expression. She asked, "What's wrong, Princess?"

Luna replied, "Although I am proud of our creation, I am not sure what the side effects may be, Twilight. We created a newfound portal, yes, but..." The royal alicorn gingerly walked to the portal and stopped about a good ten feet away from the swirling and colorful vortex, "we must be cautious. Even if the portal opens to another place in Equestria, there is a slight chance it could lead to somewhere else."

The alicorn gave Twilight a sideways glance. "Is there something in any of your books that say anything about Star Swirl and the concept of portals?"

Twilight tapped her chin with a hoof as she thought back to what she read on the famous unicorn's research. "Hmm…"

Nothing specific coming to mind, Twilight levitated a book with her horn again. The dark green book opened rapidly to a page in the middle of the book, and Twilight brought the book closer to her.

Quickly skimming the page until she found what she was looking for, she read, "According to his teachings, Star Swirl tried to create portals to other known places around Equestria, like Ponyville, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, Manehattan…" She looked up from her readings to glance at the still-wary Princess of the Night. "Places that we know as of today."

"I see."

That 'I see' from the Princess got Twilight to put down her book in confusion. "…Is something wrong?"

Luna finally broke off her gaze at the entrancing portal to look at Twilight. "I am not certain where the portal will lead us, Twilight. This is why I must ask-"

BOOM!

Both the ponies jumped back in shock about ten feet away as that 'boom' echoed from inside the portal. The portal suddenly fizzled. It suddenly danced and swelled all in a matter of seconds from a mere compact mirror-sized vortex into a large wildfire of pastels, hues, tints and shades of all colors. Smaller yet powerful sounds emitted from within; smaller rumbles and noises burst out in random sparks, like those of dancing electricity.

Even the Princess of the Night was gaping in slight shock at this threshold's unpredictable nature.

Out of the corner of her violet eyes, Twilight could see the Princess' slight shock. She felt a little uneasy about a princess expressing a powerful emotion; that meant BAD news.

"...Princess?"

At the sound of Twilight's uneasiness, Luna turned to the mulberry-colored unicorn and only slowly shrugged. "I…I am not sure what has happened, Twilight." She looked back at the vortex, more wary than ever.

But that wariness hardened into determination. She carefully walked a few feet in front of the dancing threshold, her hard glare piercing. Luna peered over her shoulder to Twilight.

"Is there any more information you can find on portals themselves?"

At Luna's determined urgency, Twilight looked through the book once more and rapidly skimmed the page for anything about portals.

"Yes. It says here that Star Swirl the Bearded tried to create portals that could go to strange and new places outside of Equestria, but abandoned the idea when he tried testing his theory with a...time recorder of some sort. He sent the time recorder to measure how long it could take for one pony to travel from one location to another….and…" She continued to skim through the passage she found, trying to find more answers.

Luna peeked out of the corner of her eyes. "And…?"

At finding the answer, Twilight covered her mouth with a hoof to hide her shock at what she read.

At seeing Twilight's expression, Luna's eyebrows creased a little in concern. "Well…what is it?"

"..."

Twilight slightly lowered her head, as if afraid to speak out. But she slowly answered, "…And the time recorder never came back."

Luna's eyebrows nearly flew off her beautiful and waving starry mane.

Another boom burst once more.

Both of the ponies jumped back in shock as the portal once more echoed. Sparks continued to sizzle and dance out from the portal. Whatever was creating that sound on the other side of this portal was about as loud as Spike's stomach.

Speaking of Spike…

"Holy guacamole! What's going on?!"

The two ponies swiveled their heads to the top of the stairs to see an alert and small dragon. The dragon was about two feet tall. His scales were light purple, and his underbelly was about as green as a healthy lime. His spikes, the origin for his name, were a darker and harlequin tint.

His pistachio-colored eyes shifted to Twilight for a quick and confusing glance before he noticed the Princess of the Night.

"Princess Luna…"

He gave a quick bow before asking once more, "What's going on? What…is that?!" He pointed with a claw to the unstable portal.

Twilight gave Luna a questioning glance before Luna stepped forward and explained herself. "Hello, Spike. I'm sorry we might have awakened you, but we were…experimenting."

Spike raised a brow as he ran down the stairs of the library. As he did, he asked, "I can see that, Princess. But what are you experimenting with?"

Twilight looked to Luna again, seeking permission to speak. Luna shrugged and let Twilight speak to her number one assistant. The purple unicorn mumbled, "Oh…well..we were trying to create a portal, Spike, to other places outside Equestria. I wanted to test out Star Swirl's theory while I was on a break from my regular studies with Princess Celestia."

"A portal? To other places? Cool!" Spike ran down the stairs to see the beautiful spiral for himself.

At Spike's plight down the stairs, Twilight's protective streak kicked in, picking up a hoof in reaction to his speed. "Be careful, Spike! Just because we're experimenting doesn't mean we know it's safe!"

When he reached the ponies, he excitedly asked, "But that's the point of experimentation, isn't it? You try to find out if it is safe for other ponies to try." He shot a grin at the wonderful colors dancing in the air.

Twilight was about to answer before she paused in thought, tapping her hoof against her face. He had a good point there…until she glanced at the serious expression on Luna's face changed her mind. She grinned sheepishly

The purple unicorn then responded, "True…but even so, Spike, we don't know too much about where the portal will take us. Not to mention, it's been acting strangely-"

KA-BOOM!

All three creatures jumped, startled at the extreme loudness. They turned their attention to the portal, as it suddenly sparked with a fury. More sparks fell out as the portal suddenly swirled faster and faster.

Spike yelled in astonishment, "Wh-what's happening?!" He clung to Twilight's leg and she clung to him with the same leg in a comforting and protective manner.

Luna glared at the portal's unpredictable nature once more and, ready for whatever would happen next, opened her wings in a defensive maneuver. She spread her hooves and lowered her head, as if ready to attack. Whatever was going to happen, she would protect her subjects, no matter what.

She was the Princess of the Night.

But even a powerful entity such as herself would not believe the new and wondrous things that awaited her on the other side.

The portal exploded with the power of a volcano once more, and it nearly deafened everyone's ears. As they recovered from the ear-splitting noise, they failed to see or hear, a wind slowly picking up. The wind gradually grew until it was finally accessible for them to hear. Its cold shrill pierced Luna's ears and she drew her attention to the portal.

A gasp escaped from her mouth as her eyes widened.

The portal was now as large as the library's interior, electricity striking in random locations and the wind blowing as hard as it could. The once beautiful and inviting colors darkened into a malevolent threshold. The portal swirled faster and faster like the inside of a tornado. The abyss of it was completely black and unknown.

...What have we done?

It was the first step to her journey.

Author's Note:

I understand this is a short chapter, but the chapter after this will focus on the other half of the crossover, so it was imperative that I made this one shorter, sweeter and straight to the point about what's to come after this. For now, enjoy and have happy days!