Beyond the Bounds of Universes

by CTVulpin

Scene 14 - Contentle Streets

Ash led Twilight out of Gomer’s and headed to the left. He was balancing an open paper bag containing the remaining fries on one hand while he swept the other around to take in the surroundings. “So, what do you think of Contentle so far, Twilight?” Ash asked.

Twilight looked around, observing the buildings on either side of the wide, paved street. “It’s nice,” she said. “The buildings seem to be trying to strike a balance between urban uniformity like Manehatten and the personalized character you see in Ponyville buildings. The layout of the streets seems a little… unusual. The roads are all straight, clearly a planned layout, but they don’t form a grid.”

“You noticed, “Ash said. “There is a pattern alright, but it’s based on concentric hexagons instead of the standard square grid. Well, it starts shifting toward a grid after the sixth ring out, but the town’s heart maintains the ancient pattern that designates this place as the location of one of the Avalon Vaults.”

“I keep hearing that term,” Twilight said, “Avalon. What is it?”

“The Lost Land,” declared Samantha from behind Twilight. “The mythical birthplace of many schools of magic, and unassailable bastion of Order which vanished mysteriously in ancient times, never to be seen again! At least, until the Order-naries found the six Vaults that held clues to Avalon’s location and put it back on the map.”

Ash slowed down slightly and looked back, raising an eyebrow at Sam. “You’re still here,” he stated flatly.

“Of course,” Samantha said haughtily. “Mysterious visitor from another dimension lands in the center of Contentle. Local legendary merc Ash the Pragmagic steps up to aid her in returning home. Esteemed wifwulf journalist smells a chance to go where no wifwulf has gone before!” She held her pencil aloft dramatically as she finished.

Ash opened his mouth, a rebuke clear in his eyes, but then just faced forward again and picked his pace back up. “If I tell you to go away, you’ll just hound me all the way to the Lirin and force me to block you from getting on board,” he said. “Fine then. You can come, on condition that you don’t publish anything about this without mine and Twilight’s approval. Compreende?”

“Not even a word of it to my editors,” Sam said. “On a separate note,” she said after a second, “why are we walking? Can’t you just teleport us to your ship, Ash?”

“The Lirin is still en route from Clara Gaton,” Ash said. “And attempting to teleport into a moving target without precise knowledge of the vector and speed differentials is not advisable. Besides, it’s a nice day, and Twilight ought to get a feel for the town’s layout.”

“Where are we walking to, then?” Twilight asked.

Ash pointed ahead and to the right. “Five blocks around and one ring out,” he answered, “to the Lirin’s usual parking spot at the deGrange Fabrication Garage, which was Maesi General Mechanics before the old man retired last year and passed the place on to Carmilla. That’s Gale, if you forgot,” he added, glancing back at Twilight.

“I still remember your actual names,” Twilight assured him. “How are Ray and Rachelle doing, by the way?”

“Eh,” Ash said with a shrug. “There were doing fine, last I heard from them. They’re off chasing rumors of a new set of Spiriter twins down in South Amerigo. They’re determined the next generation should have actual guidance in developing their powers.”

“Ah,” Twilight said. “Well, tell them I wish them luck next time you talk to them.”

“Will do,” Ash replied, and then stiffened as a ringtone went off from inside his robe. “Oh, what the skeb now?” he grumbled, gesturing impatiently with one hand to summon the ringing cellphone into it. He stopped walking as he checked the screen, his frown deepened, and after a second of thought he answered the phone with a curt, “Pragmagic speaking.” His eyes slowly rolled from side to side as he listened to the response, then stopped suddenly on the third cycle. “Purple, you say?” he asked. “…Yes, I’m pretty sure I know it too. Just keep him there; I’ll be right over, and you can tell him that if he gets antsy.” He hung up and slipped the phone into his robe with a sigh. “Welp,” he said, turning on his heel and walking away toward the center of town, “change of plans. Back to the library, ladies.”

“Why?” Sam asked.

“Because something just popped out of the same wall Twilight apparently did,” Ash answered. “One small, purple, wingless dragon wearing a messenger bag.”

“Spike?!” Twilight exclaimed. She took off at a run, leaving Ash and Samantha to follow in her wake.

As she approached the library, Twilight saw Spike standing between two police officers near the wall she’d emerged from. The little dragon was gripping the strap of the messenger bag he was wearing tightly with both claws as he looked around anxiously at the people who were gradually emerging from the library and the two other buildings on the block to gawk at him. Twilight pushed through the crowd and called out, “Spike!” as she approached him. The cops tensed and shot suspicious looks at her, but before either of them could speak, Ash appeared next to Twilight and put a hand lightly on her shoulder. The cops relaxed, apparently taking Ash’s action as a signal, and withdrew a couple steps.

“Twilight?” Spike asked, hesitantly, looking the girl over. After a second, his eyes brightened with recognition and his tension vanished as he ran over and hugged her around the waist. “Oh man,” he said, “I almost didn’t recognize you. Wait,” he looked up at her, “if you’re human in this world, why am I still a dragon?”

“We have dragons in this universe,” Ash replied. “They don’t come in purple, or anything close to your size, but we have ‘em. Where in the multiverse have you gone that turns you into something else?”

“Who are you?” Spike asked, stepping away from Twilight and glaring at Ash.

“This is Ashen Blaze,” Twilight explained.

“Oh,” Spike said, looking the man over. “Yeah, I kinda see the resemblance, I guess.”

Twilight knelt down and looked Spike in the eye. “What are you doing here, Spike?” she asked. “No, how did you get here?”

Spike took a deep breath, preparing to relate a story.