The Portgate

by Archival

Part 1, Chapter 6: Entry

"Hell is a devilish place, but it's a playground compared to the unknown. I know what tortures await me in hell; I do not know what awaits me in the unknown."

-Captain Jorman S. Haymell, "The Fifth Invasion"

-Luna-

Celestia and Luna sat in one of the castle's smaller dining halls, at a surprisingly dull oak dining table that seated six ponies at maximum. The morning sun shined through the room's lone window, landing on the plain white tablecloth and the slate tile that lined the floor. The wooden chairs they sat on were well worn from centuries of use, and the ponies who sat in them day after day had grown fond of their simple design that favored function over form. The two princesses had lived for millennia together, and their many years of living in much less comfortable conditions taught them to appreciate a simple lifestyle and spartan accommodations. Although they made sure that the public saw them living in luxury, the truth was that they preferred to live their lives much more humbly than their subjects expected.

Their simple yet filling meals also reflected their preference for a simple lifestyle. Celestia was enjoying a hearty bowl of sweetened oatmeal, while Luna was digging into a simple garden salad. Because of their duties as the alicorn rulers of Equestria, their sleep schedules (and mealtimes) were directly opposite one another's. Whereas Celestia was eating her breakfast in preparation for her solar duties, Luna was having dinner right before she slept through the brightest part of the day.

Luna, however, didn't feel like sleeping much after what she had just seen. After the weapon she had found in the dreamscape had...for lack of a better term, exploded, she had quickly exited that mind so as to not disturb it any further. Luna woke up from her trance at around five in the morning, and she was still a bit shaken by the encounter.

"What's wrong, Luna?"

Luna looked up from the salad she had been poking at with a slight twinge of unease. Being sisters meant that Celestia and Luna could read each other's emotions as easily as they did books. She sighed, unsure of how to say what she had on her mind.

"'Tia, you know those beings I've found in the dreamscape?"

Celestia nodded. Luna had told her about the three magicless minds that she had encountered in the dreamscape, and the book she had found in it. Though Luna was rather interested, Celestia was slightly apathetic towards the discovery. Celestia was never too interested in change and preferred tradition and routine, so the news didn't particularly interest her. Luna's news would change that, though.

"Yes, Luna, the consciousnesses. They're quite notable, from what I've heard of them from you, but they aren't all that important in my opinion. That table was interesting, but I don't see how it's supposed to affect our country. If anything, it's probably a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. Probably an alchemist's notes or something."

"Well...it's more that that, 'Tia. I looked into another one of the minds... and I found a weapon."

Celestia had just finished her oatmeal, but she didn't get up just yet. Her eyes widened in surprise as the implications of the discovery entered her mind, though they soon went back to normal.

"Go on," she pressed as she lowered her spoon into the bowl.

"The first mind I went into had a bookshelf inside of it. This one had a metal rack in it. I could tell that it was a soldier's from the symbols on much of the items on it. I remember there were several green clothing articles, a couple of boxes, and... the thing that caught my interest was a sort of... here, I'll show you."

Luna's horn lit up, and a replica of the weapon materialized, floating in the middle of the air. Illusion spells were handy when somepony wanted to show an image of something that was hard to describe, and Luna's experience with magic made the fake weapon all the more convincing. Celestia stared at the black shape, her eyes tracing the outline of the L as Luna rotated it mid-air.

"Interesting."

"There's more," she continued as the weapon faded from their perceptions. "From what I've gathered, these creatures are from a country. A well-organized country with a military force that arms itself with weapons like this. It came with a guide on its use, Celestia, and I learned a lot. These creatures have fingers, like Minotaurs. And they have more than one group that manufactures these! Why? But that's not the biggest thing, Celestia. These weapons are unlike anything Equestria has in her arsenal. From what I've seen from the guide, it's apparently a miniature cannon. And it's light, only about one and a half pounds."

"That's ridiculous! A weapon that light, that's a cannon?"

"Absolutely! It's a small arm, though. Definitely too weak to take down a wall. But from what I've gathered, it can outrange the average archer. It apparently has a range of one hundred hooflengths, and it can fire once every second! Imagine, Celestia, an entire army with these weapons. One casualty per second, over such a range..."

"Relax, Luna. If these beings are here to fight, we can easily defend ourselves. Equestrian armor is the best, and I doubt those things can pierce it. Not only that, but didn't you say that those creatures had no magic? They'll have a hard time against unicorn mages in an open battlefield. Go ahead and look into it, though. I'm rather interested in what you might find."

With that, Celestia stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Luna to her thoughts. She would look in the other mind tonight, that was for sure.

-Rainbow Dash-

Getting up this early is a crime against proper sleep, Rainbow Dash grumbled as she trotted up to the green door. The heavy saddlebags she carried at her side dug into her back, and the chilly morning air was just cold enough to make her shudder a little as she knocked on the door. The dull grey of the morning sky gave little light, but Dash could still see the various critters that surrounded Fluttershy's cottage. It was surprising that the yellow pony was so good with animals, since earth ponies were the natural-born creature handlers. Perhaps it was her kind and caring nature, which made itself evident in all of her actions and habits, that allowed her to care for and tend to them with ease. Even the way she carefully and cautiously opened the door displayed her gentle personality. A warm, homely smile spread across her lips as she pulled the door further open and stepped to the side.

"Oh, hi, Rainbow Dash. Come in, Twilight and Applejack are waiting, they're in the dining room."

"Thanks, Fluttershy. Is everything ready?"

"Yep! You should have everything you need, plus enough food for three or four days. Pinkie Pie had fun making her, uh, 'Super Tummy Filler Bricks for Hungry Little Colts and Fillies'. She told me to tell you that."

Rainbow Dash set down her saddlebags, then trotted into the dining room. Applejack and Twilight were sitting at the dining table, their saddlebags resting next to the stools that they sat on. A lantern sat in the middle, its candlelight illuminating the myriad assortment of bags, belts, and ropes that were strewn across the table. As she entered the room, Twilight turned her head from the map she was reading and Applejack stopped munching on the toast she had in her hoof.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!"

"Howdy, Dash."

Rainbow dash took her seat at the end of the table and looked around the table. "So," she asked, "what's the plan?"

Twilight set down the map on the table and moved it closer to Rainbow Dash. The map was of the Everfree Forest and its surroundings, with several paths and landmarks scattered throughout the trees. The Everfree was about fourty gallops long at its widest and was about five thousand plots in size. Several lines were drawn across it in pencil, and the lines seemed to converged somewhere in the middle of the forest.

"I've gathered some information from ponies around the forest regarding the source of the noises. Using their reports, I've triangulated the general area that the source of the noises should be in. I had to make do with what ponies have told me, and they weren't very exact about the direction of the booms. Our search area is about four plots, so we have a lot of looking to do. Luckily, it's actually very close to where we are now, so we won't have very far to go. We'll enter here," she said as she pointed at the nearest edge of the Everfree, "and walk straight towards the sound. We're walking through dense forest, so it will probably take us about a half-day to reach the noises. From there, we'll set up camp and search for the source. Hopefully, we can find it. We'll leave after about two days if we haven't, same way we came in. I'll go into further detail once we're inside. Understand, Dash?"

"Sounds like a load of egghead talk, but whatever you say, Twilight. I trust ya."

"Great. Now get ready to leave at sunrise, which should be... in about thirty minutes. We don't want to be late, since we want to have as much daylight as possible for us to look around."

As Twilight and Applejack went back to their preparations, Rainbow Dash grabbed her saddlebags from the living room and began to slide supplies into it. She didn't plan on carrying one of the heavier rucksacks that the others were, since she was a pegasus. If anything dangerous were to happen, she would need to be fast and agile enough to deal with it.

It was easy to underestimate the dangers of the Everfree.

-Leah-

Okay, maybe it was a dumb idea to try and take a bite out of the acid monster.

Leah sighed as the third needle melted inside the hydra's flesh, leaving nothing but a plastic syringe that mildly reeked of a burnt chemical smell. She had been trying to get some samples of the creature's body before the boys decided to blow it all up, but the green liquid that trickled out of its corpse was ruining all her equipment. How the heck does a creature live with acid for blood? And what other freaky things would they find?

All the more reason to find out.

To be honest, she hadn't exactly kept up with her promise of "doing science" since she had arrived. Sure, she did put a couple of plants under a microscope, but she had actually spent most of her free time playing video games like the lazy little girl she was. Besides, biology wasn't her major; physics was, and she didn't exactly remember too much of the former from her high school days. She had little idea what all the organs in the local critters were supposed to do, so how was she supposed to figure out how a monster was supposed to live when its internal fluids were literally caustic?

Leah sighed, then walked back towards the tent with her plastic container of material sampling equipment in her hands. The mid-morning air was nice and cool, and her green T-shirt fluttered in the windy breeze. The clean forest air, though refreshing, was tainted by the smell of old, sour sweat. Her shirt was beginning to really stink after two (three?) weeks, and she would need to wash it soon.

Leah didn't bother pulling the door-slab over the entryway, since the guys were still taking demolition equipment outside and preparing to remove a huge chunk out of the hydra corpse. She put down the box on her table next to her laptop and a low-magnification microscope, then opened her laptop. Andrew's table was covered with tens of thick instruction manuals and a large toolbox, and Noah's had little on it but a half-disassembled pistol, several cartridges, and an empty rifle magazine. Leah sat down at her desk, typing the observations that she had made onto her computer. There wasn't much to type out; all she really did was take a few pieces of its outer flesh that had minimal amounts of blood on it and put it in a glass bottle. She did, however, take a video of the creature, showing it off from all angles and examining its insides (or rather, what was left of the insides as observed from the giant holes in its corpse.) The video would probably be the most important part of her recordings, since she couldn't and didn't know how to properly examine the samples that she had managed to recover. She still had about a petabyte of storage available on her computer, so storing the hundred or so megabytes that the high-definition recording took up on her computer wouldn't be an issue.

"Hey, Leah, what're you doing?"

"Nothing much, just trying to get some samples from the hydra. What about you?"

Andrew smiled as Leah turned to face him. He walked past her, his heavy construction boots thunking on the wooden sheets that served as a floor with his every step. He stopped for a moment in front of a pile of boxes to wipe his forehead and dry his brown skin. Sweat rolled off of his black hair and fell to the floor, each drop plopping onto the dusty and dirty floor. Everything about Andrew, from his height and his musculature to his serious brown eyes and stereotypical Mexican stubble, made him look big and threatening to those who didn't know him. A couple of days with him, however, had convinced Leah that he was actually a calm, quiet man who tried his best to keep those around him happy. Leah watched as Andrew pulled the lid off of a small metal box, then took four tiny metal spikes with wires sticking out of one end.

"That should be all we need. Hey Leah, you should come out of the house. Noah wants you behind proper cover just in case things don't go as well as planned. It probably won't go too bad, but just in case..."

Leah stood up as Andrew slid the blasting caps into his pocket and walked through the doorframe. She followed him to a pile of dirt about two feet high and ten feet wide, where Noah was already kneading what seemed to be white clay into a cone. There were three of them on the dirt ground, each one only about the size of a badminton birdie. Just as she was about to ask about the explosives, Noah noticed her and waved at her to come closer.

"You're interested in the C-4? I thought you'd run away from it. Don't worry, this definitely won't explode unless one of these little metal rods," he said while wiggling a detonator in the air, "goes off. And that's not happening until we hook it up to the blast control box."

"I'm not too concerned about what looks like old dough. Why are you shaping it like that, though?"

"The cone shape lets the blast deliver its explosion precisely and accurately. Our plan right now is to set the charges facing away from the camp to minimize shrapnel - AKA corpse meat. The explosions will just barely blow out almost all of the body's mass, which'll hopefully leave some easily movable pieces of scorched meat that we can shove somewhere else. Andrew did the calculations, don't ask me. Speaking of which - Hey Andrew, I'm done!"

Andrew set aside a black box with several rows of switches and lights on it jogged towards Noah. He took the four charges from his hand, their combined mass barely larger than the the four-by-three inch box the detonators were packed in.

"Thanks, Noah. I'll set these onto the hydra. You guys get behind cover and prepare for detonation, I don't want anyone to get hurt."

As Andrew began to walk towards the corpse, Leah and Noah crouched down behind the mound of dirt. Noah grabbed a nearby ballistics helmet and handed it to Leah, who put it on as he tightened the chin strap. Safety was number one when it came to high explosives, after all.

Several rapid footsteps came from over the crest, and Andrew soon vaulted over the miniature hill of dirt, landing squarely between Noah and Leah. He then plugged a nearby wire into the switch-covered box, his hands shaking as he did so. A rapid panting pierced the calm of the meadow, which was then accented by a high-pitched drone as Andrew turned the box on. A series of red lights flashed across the top, flickering and flashing for several seconds before they turned off. A single green light labeled "READY" lit up, and Andrew took a moment to compose himself.

"Okay, okay... Is everything safe, Noah?"

"Yep. The blast won't damage the house, and the shrapnel should fly towards the forest and away from our base."

Andrew leaned back into the dirt and let out a deep sigh. "I want you guys to assume the fetal position and cover your ears. And whatever happens, DON'T LIFT YOUR HEAD UP UNTIL I SAY SO. Got that?"

Leah and Noah nodded, then grabbed their heads and hunched over their legs. Andrew let out a soft sigh, then crossed himself. His Hispanic upbringing had gave him an appreciation for the power of the Holy Trinity, and it had done him him well through his life. Even when he was trillions of miles from home (and probably several dimensions away as well), he had managed to endure with faith and hope.

With the blessing of the Lord behind his actions, Andrew flipped the "CHANNEL 1" switch.

A small spark of electricity shot through the wire from the detonation box to the four blasting caps. The gram of lead azide in each detonator was then ignited, causing a series of small explosions that would barely make a dent in the hydra body. That wasn't their purpose, though; they were meant to initiate the much more destructive Conposition-C.

C-4, when put under high amounts of simultaneous heat and pressure, chemically decomposes into a mixture of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and several other gases. These gases then violently expand at a rate of eight kilometers per second, resulting in a large, loud, and undeniably destructive explosion that tends to destroy anything in its path.

The hydra had died laying on its side, its stomach facing away from the house and towards the Everfree. By about a thousandth of a second after the lead azide had detonated, the primary explosives attached to its belly had completely activated in a thunderous explosion that rang out across the forest. The earth trembled and shook as shockwaves liquidized and pulverized the monster's insides, turning them into an acidic broth of blood and flesh. The soft underside of the three-headed beast was immediately torn open, sending small chunks of scales and muscle flying into the trees.

The deafening boom that came with the shockwave hit the trio's ears and sent a jolt of shock down their bodies. The echo of the explosion lingered for several seconds, overpowering all other sounds. Then a pittering sound, not unlike rain, edged its way into the surrounding soundscape, followed by a faint bubbling and hissing.

"Oh, oh shoot...shoot! That isn't good, goddamn it!"

Andrew was right. Though most of the acidic flesh-mush was thrown harmlessly into the forest, some of it was randomly flung the other way - towards the house. Andrew wanted to rush towards their precious supplies, but he could only sit in regret and wait for the deadly rain to stop falling. What was actually two minutes felt like hours of waiting and wondering what would be damaged by the shower of liquid monster and acid.

He patted the shoulders of his friends as the last echoes and patters faded out, signaling that it was safe to get out of cover. Andrew shakily stood up, then nervously crawled up over the mound and looked at the carnage he had unleashed. It was hard to tell exactly how much of the body was remaining, but he knew that not much of it was still in one piece. The explosion had blown acid in a hundred-degree fan, leaving a hazy cloud of white gas and a hissing that could still be heard in the silence that surrounded the forest. Not all of the scorch marks were in that direction, though. Andrew turned his attention to the house, scanning it for signs of damage - and let out a sigh. It was mostly unharmed, even though visible holes could be seen in some parts of the walls.

"Jesus..."

"I know, Noah. I know, but we can't let this get to us. We have to just endure whatever nature throws at us. And maybe stop being such idiots while we're at it. Come on, we gotta clean this mess up."

Andrew turned around and walked towards the house, bracing himself as he inspected the damage. For what was probably the thousandth time in a row, Lady Luck had been on their side. As he approached the house, he discovered that the holes he had seen earlier were just chemical burns, most not even deep enough to penetrate the wood and canvas walls of their shelter. The meat and blood mixture was certainly still caustic, but it was apparently diluted enough to protect their shelter from serious damage. Luckily, the solar panels were preemptively stored inside, so nothing was seriously damaged. They would have to be a lot more careful in the future, though. Sooner or later, their luck would ran out.

Andrew just hoped it would be later rather than sooner.

-Expedition-

The journey into the Everfree was tougher than Twilight had expected. Even with her expert planning, they were still only two gallops deep in the forest, and it was already midmorning. The dense forest underbrush grew wildly and densely, meaning that Twilight had to brush them aside with each step. At least they didn't need to worry about critters; so far, the only "dangerous" beings that they had encountered were a bunch of insects and a couple of squirrels. The journey into the forest was rather dull, though, and Twilight's hooves were beginning to get tired.

Though the air was cool and breezy, Twilight still managed to work up a sweat. She looked back at Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who were still fine. They were tougher mares whose lives involved more exercise than Twilight's bookworm personality afforded, and they barely showed any signs of tiring.

Suddenly, Twilight held her hoof up. They stopped, and the sound of running water could be faintly heard up ahead. All three ponies knew what that meant, and they wordlessly pushed on towards the sound of water. Twilight pulled bush after bush aside, continuing forward until there was no foliage left to pull aside.

The creek that they had stumbled upon was a small one, with water slowly trickling down its path. The two or three meters to its side were covered with dried leaves and the occasional fallen tree. Using her magic, Twilight pulled out a map and a compass, taking a moment to reorient herself.

"...If we're here...and that's in the east, then... we should be...aw man, that's bad."

"What is it, Twilight?" Applejack asked.

"It's nothing big, we're just a bit behind schedule. Why don't we take a rest here? We can fill up our canteens and maybe eat something. It'll be nice to rest our hooves after such a long walk," Twilight suggested as she stuffed the navigational equipment back in her bags.

Rainbow Dash was the first to sit down and take her bags off of her back. She flipped open her saddlebag and reached into it, pulling out a surprisingly heavy brick of what looked like condensed fruitcake. Rainbow Dash needed a lot of food to fuel her high metabolism, and the trek into the forest only accelerated it. Still, the bricks were quite filling, and she managed to scarf down only a third of one. The taste was mildly sweet and a little salty, but not bland. She could taste a faint strawberry taste with a little bit of peanut, and the overall flavor was pleasant but not overpowering. Applejack and Twilight were also hungry, and they bit into their blocks as well.

Pinkie sure knew what she was doing with these, Dash thought.

As Twilight finished filling her belly with the surprisingly calorie-dense food, she stood up and trotted over to the river, canteen in hand. Tasty as they were, Pinkie's food bricks were quite dry and thirst-inducing, and a lot of water was necessary to get the pasty bricks down her throat. She dipped the canteen into the creek, waiting for it to fill with water.

*BOOM*

Yesterday's explosions sounded like faraway thunder; this one sounded - and felt - like an enormous explosion. The three ponies immediately turned to the sound of the noise, ears perked up in surprise. Even though they were closer to it than Ponyville, they could tell that it would have been much louder even back in Rainbow Dash's cloud-house. The echo hung around for what seemed like forever afterwards, its persistence only barely dampened by the surrounding trees and foliage. Twilight immediately telekinetically grabbed her compass and map out of her saddlebags again, her head still pointed towards the explosion. She looked at her compass, then back at the noise, then back at her compass, then at her map. A pencil levitated out of her bag's side pocket, and she immediately drew several lines across the map.

"...what was that, Twi?" Applejack nervously asked.

"I don't know. But I do know where it is; northeast of us, about 40 degrees. It doesn't sound too far off, either. We should probably rest for a bit longer, though; I want to be prepared for whatever it might be."

"Whatever it is, I'll beat the tar out-"

"Don't, Dash. It probably ain't a good idea."

Twilight sighed as she walked back to the group, taking a swig from her canteen and putting the map back in her bag once again. Dash is just being Dash, she mused. At least she would have some help if whatever made the noise was hostile. Twilight sat down and watched Rainbow Dash read her Daring Do book as the sound of running water calmed her nerves. Applejack had lowered her hat and was peacefully napping the minutes away. The orange pony was surprisingly calm at times, and her nerves almost never got the best of her.

The three ponies sat there for an hour in uninterrupted peace before Twilight decided that they had rested long enough. They continued on, venturing further into the forest and deeper into the unknown.

Author's Note:

As always, comments, criticisms, suggestions and feedback are always helpful, so leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Comments

[Cross Lament]

and was about five thousand plots in size.

Is the standard for that Princess Cakelestia's plot, or Princess Moonpie's plot?

[Flare Blacksmith]

Celestia is over 1000 years old, She's smart enough to know not to underestimate a potential enemy just because they lack magic And she's a military leader as well she would send scouts

[JDunk1971]

I guess the Terrible Trio never heard about the Oregon Department of Transportation attempt to blow up a decaying whale corpse back in the early 70s with several hundred pounds of dynamite.

[AnormalUnicornPony]

We have to just endure whatever nature throws at us. And maybe stop being such idiots while we're at it.

I love the fact the characters are not perfect.

[GreenPacifist]

we should be...aw man, that's bad

That is a bit strange to hear from a pony. Especially considering the ponified language.

Also, why did Andrew say

stop being such idiots

about himself? Did he not expect that some caustic stuff may rain around them after an explosion or did he consider blowing the corpse up a bad idea? Either way, it seems a bit off since no better idea presented itself at the time and a bit of common sense (and he also claimed to know something about explosives) would have been sufficient to predict that blood could get all over the place, shelter included.