Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Journey Through the Dark - Part 31

Twilight took a moment to check the door again before she continued to write to Celestia. Some of her findings she would merely keep in her head for the sake of time, but part of them was worth sharing quickly. Already she was coming up with ideas for how she could use what she'd learned, though most of it would have to wait safer times and a chance to properly train.

It had taken her a little to get used to the controls on what she'd found there in the room, which she could most accurately describe as the magic based equivalent of a computer. One day she'd try to replicate the design herself if she had the chance to. Thankfully the language used was roughly the same as the one she was familiar with in Equestria.

The researchers there were somehow far ahead of them in terms of utilising and understanding portals, probably because of how they'd come to them. Rather than discovering the property of scales to open them, they had reversed engineered the leftover energy and radiation from the ones she'd opened in the capital, and built machines to open them. They utilised Nightmare Moon's feathers as catalysts, encased in crystal to stabilise them, and a complex structure built around that to actually direct the portal to their world.

The most interesting part was the way they operated them, though. While still fuelled by unicorn magic in their ignition, the ponies working on them there had actually managed to influence and direct where the portal would appear in the other world using something else. Pegasus magic, specifically. Looking over the readings the portals have off, they were next to identical to those of scales and their equivalents, so in all likelihood their findings could be applied to regular portals too.

Another look at the door. Still closed. She'd figure out how to leave when that became her immediate problem, she could probably just teleport directly outside, knowing what was actually there, and just hope there was nopony there at the moment.

She'd found more precise details about the attack plans too. Where the new portals would probably be opened, where the previous ones had been, and roughly how many of them would be there and how many ponies and other things would come through. She was more personally interested in the research, but she'd taken note and communicated all that too, as it could be vital information.

She'd try to look into things a while longer, figure out if there was something else useful in there. Afterwards, she'd try to leave for the Crystal Empire in her world. Risky, but there was no way she could afford to make the trek back to the capital. She simply didn't have enough time for it. She'd already told Celestia to shut off the portals and bring the scales with her to the Empire.

Three days were theoretically enough to organise everything. Provided she made it back properly, and she could if she caught the researchers still testing, which she knew took them a fair bit going by what she'd read, all she'd have to do then would be a bit of back and forth to get the unicorns to safety. And another thing. She looked over her notes again. It was a long shot, but it certainly couldn't hurt to have a third plan if the other two failed.

Comments

[Speckle]

Back-up plans for back-up plans is never a bad idea.

[Saix]

The researchers in Nightmare Moon's world are pretty impressive to have made so much progress with the portals so quickly. Hopefully it'll come in handy for Twilight's world, especially if they ever lose access to a scale but need to get to the world it led to without having to try and universe hop with multiple scales until they find the place again.