Sandworms, Assault Rifles, and the Merits of Extraneous Princesess

by GaPJaxie

Chapter 1

"Behold!" Twilight shouted, gesturing up at the shimmering gateway behind her. Towering as tall as four ponies or two princesses, it was constructed entirely out of shimmering crystal, carved with mystic runes. Two hexagonal pillars defined its edges, constructed upon large circular base. The portal itself was between them, pulled at the edges like fabric strained until it broke, and there in the center. The tear. The gateway between worlds.

All of Twilight's friends paused. Applejack coughed. Fluttershy offered an awkward smile.

"What? Oh come on." Twilight lowered her hoof, and then stomped it on the floor for good measure. "Look at this thing! It's awesome! You should behold it."

"We ain't saying otherwise!" Applejack was quick to insist, lifting a hoof. "It certainly is an impressive... whatever it is. It's just, we saw you set the whole thing up for the big reveal. So we've kind of already... beheld. It."

"What Applejack is saying, Twilight," Rarity cooed, lowering her head to nod to Twilight, "is we all admire your devotion to the dramatic form. Now, what is it?"

"It's a multi-threaded portal!" Twilight said, back in her enthusiastic form. "Given all the adventure's we had in alternate universes, I wondered: do we need to keep using all these separate gateways with their weird rules? Or, could we build one gateway that connects to all of them freely? And I did!" With a sharp swing of her hoof, she clapped the side of her creation.

"This baby can connect to any arbitrary alternate universe. Canterlot High. The Mirror World. The Shadow Plane. All the alternate realities Starlight Shimmer created. It can even go to worlds we've never seen before!" Twilight's tone was quick, upbeat, and excited, and her body language mirrored the tone, with lots of fast movement. "And right now, it's connected to a nearby alternate universe we've never seen before. There's no telling what's on the other side, so we'll have to be very careful--"

"But we're going exploring." Rainbow Dash spoke quickly, the words coming out in a sudden burst. "Whirlwind adventure. Evil alternate universe. Got it." Before anypony could object, she beat her wings, and in one abrupt motion, vanished into the portal.

"Of course she did..." Twilight sighed, lowering her head. "At least I checked to make sure the air on the other side was breathable before I invited you over Come on girls. Let's go save her."

Twilight and the rest of her friends pushed forward into the gateway at a more steady walk, and after a moment, their hooves crunched on the ground below. At once, they were struck by the heat like a physical wall, all of them coming to a sudden halt as the air around them seemed to boil. It was a desert they were in, with sand under their feet and a cruel sun in the sky. But more than that, it was a desert city. There were buildings of adobe and large canvases to block the sun, ponies in tan wrappings going about their business in crowded and confused streets. Though pegasai flew overhead, there was not a cloud to be seen, just a distant sandy horizon and the constant grit. In the maze of adobe, everything at first looked much the same, and it took a few moments for Twilight and her friends to notice the only obvious landmark. In the distance, sticking out above the crowd of one and two story structures, there was a palace. A beautiful palace, made entirely of gold that shone so bright in the sun it was painful to gaze upon.

"Wow..." Fluttershy let out a breath, tucking her legs in around herself and quickly looking all around. Nopony seemed to have taken much notice of them yet, and behind them was not a swirling portal but an inconspicuous door in a rock face. "This is... really different from anywhere we've been before."

"It smells like cinnamon!" Pinkie Pie offered. "And assault rifles! And fancy knives! And copyright infringement!"

"Right..." Twilight sighed, looking around herself in a more methodical manner. "No sign of Rainbow Dash. Come on girls, let's head into town." She spread her wings, preparing to lift off. "I'll check for her above the roofs first, then we-"

"LOOK!" a little filly cried, pointing their way. "IT'S THE PRINCESS!"

A wave passed through the crowd. At first, it was just a few people: the mild hooffull that pay attention to shouting children. But then they shouted in turn, and the wave grew, and grew, until the whole crowd was staring at Twilight and her upraised wings. Whispers passed among them, excited and uncertain, fearful and curious. They whispered of one who is many types of pony at once, and of how she stood in the market with the common ponies. Then, near the front of the crowd, one young mare threw herself to her knees. A stallion followed. Then the three behind him. Another wave passed through the crowd, and when it was done, the whole of the market had fallen to their knees before Twilight, staring at her with wide eyes.

After a moment, she coughed, and folded her wings. For several seconds, there was silence.

"Hi, everypony." She waved.

Comments

[KVFFour]

Awkward...

[Armageden]

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooof