• Published 8th Apr 2019
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Through the Aurora - Starscribe



Theo knew arctic research was dangerous. He didn't know those dangers involved getting sucked into other worlds, changing into a bird, and having to somehow find a way home. Turns out it was more dangerous than he thought.

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Chapter 6: To a Snowy Door

The stairway into nothing was waiting for them exactly where Theo remembered it. Yet despite how little time had passed, as they approached it from the sled, she saw it with new eyes.

When she’d stumbled out of the gateway in a body that wasn’t hers and nothing making sense, she’d taken the structure for something out of The Lion King. Yet now that she saw it from the ground, that clearly wasn’t the case. Snow and ice covered it, but from the ground there were plenty of sections where wind or simple gravity had dislodged them, revealing what was beneath.

Not an ancient rock, but an ancient structure. Huge pillars, wider than her body and taller than she thought could stand on their own, had collected sediment between them with the passing of numberless eons, and in sections she could see where they had crumbled away. Where she had emerged was a platform into the sky, but also the roof resting upon those pillars. All those archeologists who can’t figure out how they built Stonehenge are gonna have a helluva time explaining this.

“Wait, hold on a second.” Theo hopped off the sled, catching herself on the ground only with the aid of sharp claws. She tore up the ice and snow for a second, then came to an abrupt stop. She removed the little instant-camera, then snapped a picture. “They’re going to want to see this when I get back.”

“Why?” Edge did stop, though it had taken him a moment to slow down. She hurried to catch up, spreading her wings involuntarily as she moved. She still didn’t know what to do with those wings, but it felt good to have them out and useful. “Are there… scholars in your world as well? Did they know about the portal?”

She hopped onto the edge of the sled. “Yes, and no. In some ways, I was a scholar. But what I studied… would be hard to explain. But just because we didn’t know about this thing… I’m sure it’s going to fascinate scientists for a generation after this. Female scientists.” She shuddered, tucking her tail a little between her legs, blushing.

“Does that mean you might come back?” Emerald asked, grinning. “You should! You really need the practice with those wings… I could teach you!”

That does sound fun, she thought. She leaned forward, patting the kid once. “We’ll see. They might send me again just because I’m familiar with this. Or… they might think I’m insane and lock me up for the rest of my life. Guess I’m about to find out. How do we… work this thing, anyway? Just climb back to the top?”

“No.” Edge brought them up to a huge pillar that had been swept clear of debris and snow by the wind, then started undoing all the clasps from his back. He fished around in the cart for just a second, then emerged moments later with a metal pickaxe over his shoulder.

Time to play Minecraft?

Apparently not. Edge swung with all his might, and huge chunks of ice went flying. His body was sturdy and muscular, but even still the two passengers had to back away and get clear of the avalanche of ice and snow Edge was producing. “Control room is… down here. Cut my way in… few years ago. Know where…” He heaved, breath fogging up in front of him. Theo looked away with all her might, as her mind took what she saw in directions that she’d rather not explore.

No no no no stop it. Your real body is waiting on the other side of that ice. Go away, instincts. I’m almost out of here. A few moments later and he’d broken through, into a massive, vaulted space. There was a metallic superstructure underneath, one that hadn’t rusted despite the moisture and the climate. Not steel, then. Interesting.

Edge lifted a gas lantern from the sled, then lit it with flint. “Come on, then. Let’s switch it on. Should… should work for you. You’re a Traveler, after all. Your claw on the controls is what it needed.”

Despite its incredible age, the structure seemed intact. There were no chunks of fallen rock on the inside, only little piles of dirt and rubble near where the other pillars had once opened.

“This used to be open to the sky,” she realized. “Like some kind of… airport.”

“I think it was religious,” Edge responded, as they reached a smaller circle near the center. It was so deep under the mountain that every word they spoke echoed around them, and the sunlight behind came through in a line. “The carvings seem like rituals. I don’t know what they were doing, or why. Lots of ancient cultures mixed their religion and their magic, and that makes studying difficult.”

Guess our worlds have that in common. Except for the magic part.

“Here, this is where all the spells converge.” Edge gestured at a semicircular ring of pillars, with a single slab of stone resting above.

“Is this… the same thing?” Emerald asked from beside her. “They built a little one inside the big one!”

“I guess they did.” Sharp looked up, but the beam from his lantern didn’t even make it to the stony roof far above. “Dunno why. Probably has something to do with how the magic works, but…” He shrugged. “The controls are on the ground, Theo. You should be able to see it.”

“Summer,” Emerald corrected, as though she’d barely even listened. “That’s what we’re calling her. It’s a better name.”

Theo ignored them both, ducking through the arches so she could see the patch of ground that Sharp had indicated. There was a… wheel set into the ground, the sort that she might’ve turned to lift something heavy. It stood vertically on a metal rod, and looked to have some resistance to it. Theo nudged it with one claw, and found it resisted her. No way this is powering the trip over. But what could power a trip between universes?

No, don’t think about that. Just get home, leave the mystery for scientists and conspiracy theorists.

“Just grab it, and twist as far as you can. The wheel will start turning the other way, but it should give you plenty of time to climb to the top. A good twenty minutes at least.”

“Before I do…” Theo blushed, but she wasn’t going to give up. “Could you two pose with me? I want to take a picture of this.”

“Not for an hour!” Edge said. “Holding still underground… even if the ancient hippogriffs who built it were good engineers, I don’t want to trust the stone for that.”

“No!” She rolled her eyes. “Just for a second.” She settled the camera up on a bit of rock, then hurried up to Sharp Edge. “You can stand here, Emerald. Just look at that box.”

“It’s making noises.” Emerald watched it suspiciously.

“That’s a countdown. It’s just a camera, promise.”

“If you say so.” She flew up beside them, and was actually hovering in the air when the flash went off. Emerald whined, covering her eyes with the back of one leg. “Egh, that was bright!”

“Just the flash.” Theo collected the camera. “Thanks, I… just wanted something to remember you by. If I don’t get to come back.” The camera was already spitting out the little print, though “little” for their current size actually made it about the same size as a standard photograph in her claws. She tucked the picture away under the strap with her radio. “Thanks for bringing me back here, Sharp. Emerald. It’s been… you made this trip way better than it could’ve been.”

“No problem.” Edge smiled back at her. “Though if you don’t mind, Traveler… when you do leave, I would like that jewelry back. I may need it when your replacement arrives. One of those… ‘scientists’ you mentioned, yes?”

“Oh, right.” She hesitated, one claw on the edge. She didn’t remove the necklace. “How about I give it back once we get up there. You’ll watch me go, won’t you?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

Theo leaned forward, gripping the wheel with both legs, then started to walk it around in a circle.

The ground began to shake. Far away, she could hear the sound of ice breaking, stone rumbling as though her muscles were somehow invoking a distant earthquake. Little pebbles started raining down around them, and chunks of ice and snow fell away from between the huge pillars outside.

“To the top!” Edge called. “Rather swiftly, if we can. This doorway seems less stable than when I used it. Probably a good sign. Your hippogriff blood has activated it!”

Theo hurried out beside the others, scooping Emerald up from underneath as soon as she couldn’t keep up. They made it out without getting crushed, though bits of rubble and debris continued to tumble down from inside. Hold together until I get across, she thought, pleading with the doorway. Please.

They ran around the side of the ramp, leaving the sled behind. Emerald could’ve flown straight up, but of course Theo didn’t know how to do that. At least the little pony moved under her own power after a few steps. As she climbed, Theo could see a storm of wind and snow at the edge of the platform, despite the clear weather all around them. Wind whipped up at the trash she’d left behind, and scoured the stone clear.

Then her radio started to buzz.

“This is Barrow Observatory Station; come in Theo! God, you’ve got to be out there somewhere! You didn’t even leave the base!”

Theo stopped walking, snapping the radio off the strap and holding down the transmit. Her picture from before ripped right out from underneath, and was swept up in the wind with everything else. But she was too intent on the radio to try and catch it. “Corey, it’s me! I’m alive, and I’m coming through! Get ready for the story of your life!”

She was really running now, and for once even the ponies were having trouble keeping up with her.

“What? Whoever is spamming this channel with fucking birdsong, that’s a federal crime. We’re doing search and rescue, cut your shit.”

He can’t understand me, she realized. She reached around her neck, tossing the necklace back to Edge. Whatever the other ponies said next was lost on her completely as she raced up the platform in the sky. “It’s me, Corey! Corey, can you hear me?”

“Woah.” The radio fuzzed for a second, filling with more static. “Who the hell is that? You sound awful.”

“THEO,” she answered. “Listen, it’s a long story, but I can tell it when I get there! Just get me some spare clothes and maybe a frostbite kit at the observation tower.”

“Sure thing! God, you sound like shit. What happened?”

She was getting closer now. A crack in the sky, running straight up from the edge of the stone and up as far as her eyes would let her see. “Nothing you’d believe. It’s… incredible. The Observatory did something to the aurora. Opened up a… portal, I think. I know how insane that sounds, but I’ve got proof. I’m on the other side, and I think we figured out how to open it. I’m coming across.”

“Sounds like you’re on the edge of insanity from cold,” Corey responded. “But I don’t care. We’ll get you sorted, Theo. Just hold on!”

Thunder cracked from the edge of the platform, and from the cloudless sky lightning struck the stone only feet in front of her. Chunks of rock and ice exploded through the air. Theo’s world went white, and she was thrown backward, away from the portal. An earthquake shook the structure beneath them, with a sound of crunching gears and grinding stone. She landed in an explosion of powder towards the bottom of the slope.

The wind settled down, leaving no portal in the air.

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