The Thousand Year Door: Of Rainbows and Starlight

by snivygamer97

The Adventure Begins

One morning in Ponyville, Twilight called her friends together in order to show them a new spell she was practicing with Starlight Glimmer. One by one, the friends met up inside of the castle tree that Twilight lived in. Rainbow Dash was the last one to arrive, arriving five minutes after everyone else did.

“Sorry I’m late, guys. I ended up falling asleep after Twilight told me to come to the castle,” Rainbow Dash explained.

“Seriously Rainbow? You got here even later than I did. I know that you can be fashionably late, but just because you’re fast doesn’t mean you can afford to take too much time,” Rarity said.

“Rarity’s right, Rainbow Dash. Why did you take a nap when you knew you were expected to be somewhere?” Applejack questioned the pegasus.

“Hey! I didn’t plan on taking a nap! I just was tired and thought I could afford to close my eyes for a moment! I didn’t expect to take a nap!” Rainbow Dash countered.

“Please stop fighting you guys. Look, Rainbow Dash made a mistake and she feels bad. We shouldn’t gang up on her in this situation,” Fluttershy pleaded.

Rarity and Applejack both had guilty looks after what Fluttershy said. “You’re right. Sorry darling,” Rarity apologized.

“Same here, sugarcube,” Applejack also apologized.

“It’s okay,” Rainbow Dash accepted the apologies.

“Well, now that that’s settled, Twilight, can you tell us why we are here? Is it to get ready for a party to celebrate the new spell you learned?” Pinkie Pie asked the purple alicorn.

“No, Pinkie Pie. I brought you all here in order to help test out my new spell. Starlight, Spike, care to do the honors?” Twilight asked her friends to explain the spell.

“Sure thing, Twilight. You see, after going into that alternate dimension with the different versions of ourselves, Twilight wanted to have a new way to reach this place just in case the portal ceased to work,” Spike began.

“So, I helped her to develop a spell that allows for one to travel between different dimensions. With it, she can go to Canterlot High or anywhere else with just one spell,” Starlight Glimmer continued.

“Sounds cool! But can you explain why we are here for? It sounds like you are already getting more than enough help with the spell and it sounds like you don’t need us to test it,” Rainbow Dash questioned.

“Well, you see I wanted to try and test the spell and see if it could work if I used it on multiple ponies rather than just myself. So, are you willing to help me out? I understand if you don’t want to be teleported into a new world,” Twilight gave the others an out just in case they didn’t want to be warped out of Equestria.

“Are you kidding? That sounds amazing! I’d love to see Canterlot High or wherever else you’d like us to see,” Pinkie Pie agreed.

“I agree with Pinkie Pie! It may take some getting used to not having wings, but I am more than ready to go see new places,” Rainbow Dash gave her affirmation.

“It would be good to see ourselves and compare clothing designs between the dimensions. I’m in!” Rarity said.

“I’m in. I’d love to help you, Twilight. Who knows, it may be nice to meet our counterparts at Canterlot High,” Fluttershy said with a nod.

“If you need our help, I’m more than willing to give it to you,” Applejack agreed.

“Perfect! Now that you’ve all agreed, it’s time we cast the spell and try it out!” Twilight said. In an instant, her horn began to glow purple. However, as the spell was cast, Twilight’s horn started to change from glowing purple to glowing black. The spell suddenly began to backfire and a vortex began to form above Twilight. One by one, everyone began to be sucked into the vortex. The ponies tried to hold their ground, Rainbow tried to fly away, and Starlight tried to form a barrier around herself and Spike. In spite of this, everypony couldn’t escape the vortex and were sucked into it.
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The vortex ejected Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Starlight Glimmer into the woods of an unknown world.

“Ow! That was pretty rough. Hey, is everyone alright?” Rainbow Dash called out, only to see that Starlight and Spike were the only ones there. Not only that, but they had a papery look to them. “Hey, wait. Where is everyone else? And why do you two look like paper?” Rainbow Dash asked in confusion.

“I don’t know where we are at, but we definitely are not in Canterlot High. We’re still normal outside of all three of us looking like paper,” Starlight answered.

“Wait, I’m paper too?!” Rainbow Dash was shocked. She looked at her reflection in a nearby puddle of water and saw that she did indeed look like a paper pony. “What is this place, and where is everyone else at?!”

“I don’t know, but we should probably be careful. We don’t know what dangers could be hidden inside of the woods,” Spike warned the brash pegasus.

“Spike is right, Rainbow Dash. It would be best if we sticked together rather than split up in this strange world,” Starlight warned her friend.

“You’re right,” Rainbow Dash agreed as she started to fly. “We need to be careful and find our way out of these woods. Maybe then we can learn more about where we’ve ended up and where the others may have gone. I’ll take to the skies in order to see if I can find our way out of these woods.” At this, Rainbow took to the skies until she was above the trees and looked around for any sign of civilization. She ended up seeing a house nearby with some green pipes near it. Upon seeing these things, she descended and informed the other two of their group, “Hey, there is a small house close by. Maybe the ones who live there can be of help.”

“Perfect. Maybe then we’ll know where we’ve ended up,” Spike was happy upon hearing this.

“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Starlight said. It took a few minutes of hiking in the direction that Rainbow Dash pointed them in, but they eventually made it to the house. “Well, here we are. Let’s hope that whoever lives here is friendly.” Starlight used her hoof in order to knock on the door. It took a minute for the door to be answered, but eventually a man in blue overalls, brown shoes, white gloves, and green shirt and hat opened the door for the trio.

The man looked shocked at the trio for a moment, unsure whether or not they were friend or foe. Before he could make his decision, Spike said, “Don’t worry. We mean you no harm. We’re here to try and find our way to civilization. We’re lost and didn’t know where else to go.”

The man was uncertain as to whether or not to believe them, but then suddenly another shorter man dressed similarly, but in red instead of green, arrived at the door. “Oh, Mario! These strange creatures ended up at our door and say that they need help getting to civilization.” The man told his older brother. Mario looked at the trio for a moment before he told Luigi to let them in. “Wait, are you sure, bro? They could be new minions for Bowser or some other villain,” the man in green was wary. However, his older brother informed them that if they wanted to hurt them, they would have done so by now. The man in green, realizing that his brother had a point, changed his tune and allowed the trio to enter their home. “Come on in.”

The trio were relieved to hear that they were allowed into the small home. Upon getting inside, they noticed that the house wasn’t too large inside. There were only a few rooms, the main ones being a kitchen and a bedroom. There were also only two chairs in the kitchen, meaning they would have to stand. “So, is it just the two of you that live in this house?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yep. Just me and my big bro, Mario. Oh, I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Luigi. Sorry about earlier. With all that Bowser has done in the past, it is hard to tell who works for him sometimes,” Luigi apologized.

“Um, if you don’t mind me asking, who is Bowser?” Spike asked.

“Oh, he is a Koopa that always finds ways to cause trouble around the Mushroom Kingdom. He always captures Princess Peach in order to force her to be together with him. Fortunately, the Mushroom Kingdom has Mario and me to keep the Mushroom Kingdom safe from that fire-breathing tyrant,” Luigi answered.

“Sorry to bother you, but we have a few other questions as well. Where are we? What is a Koopa? Anything else we need to know about the Mushroom Kingdom? Why are we paper?” Starlight asked the confused brothers.

Fortunately, Mario was incredibly patient with the trio and was willing to answer their questions without issue. He explained that they lived close to Toad Town, a place where mushroom people called Toads lived at the capital of the Mushroom Kingdom. He also explained that a koopa is a turtle-like creature, that the Mushroom Kingdom is inhabited by many strange creatures like Goombas, Koopas, and Lakitus. As for why they are made of paper, Mario was unable to give an answer.

“That sure is a lot of information to process. So, Mario and Luigi, have either of you seen any other ponies like me or Starlight?” Rainbow Dash asked the pair. Unfortunately, the pair shook their heads. “Oh. Well, that sucks. Well, hopefully the three of us can find our friends around here somewhere out in the Mushroom Kingdom. Once we find them, Twilight can fix her spell and get us back to Equestria.” At this, Mario and Luigi looked at the trio in confusion once more. “Oh, we are from a different dimension from the one we are currently in.”

“Yeah. We-,” suddenly, Spike started to gag as he burped out a letter. Spike was quick to pick it up and read it. Once he was done, he informed Rainbow and Starlight what he had read. “Oh, Princess Celestia says that she agreed with Twilight that we can have a festival in Canterlot in a few weeks. Wait, I got it! If Celestia can still send us letters, then we can contact Celestia by sending her a letter!”

“Great! We can get some help with getting back home after we find the others,” Starlight was happy to hear the good news. “Spike, take a letter.”

“You got it!” Spike grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and began to write.

“‘Dear Princess Celestia, this is Starlight Glimmer. Twilight was trying out a new spell and we all got sent to a different dimension as a result. We need to find out where everyone else is and get back home. If there is anything you can do to help us, please let us know. Look forward to getting a response. Sincerely, Starlight Glimmer,” Starlight finished.

Spike was quick to use his green flames to send the letter to Princess Celestia. A few minutes later, a response was sent. Spike was quick to read it. Once he was done, he replied, “I just read the letter and Celestia says she doesn’t exactly know how to get us back. However, she and Luna will work together in order to try and find a way to bring us back.”

“So, we’re stuck here for now. What do you think we should do? Look for everyone else?” Rainbow asked.

“You know what, yes we can. Mario, Luigi, can you please give us a hand looking for our friends in the Mushroom Kingdom?” Starlight asked the two brothers.

The brothers had spent the last few minutes staring at the events that had just occurred in confusion. However, the duo were quick to nod in agreement, wanting to help their new friends out and not having much else to do for some time. “Sure, we can help! We know the Mushroom Kingdom like the back of our hands! Just come back here tomorrow and we can begin searching,” Luigi said.

“Wait. Where do we stay for the night?” Spike asked, not wanting to sleep out in the woods where they could potentially be attacked.

“Oh, there is an inn in Toad Town. You can get to town by taking the green pipe outside,” Luigi explained.

“Well then, you heard. Let’s go to town!” Starlight said with Spike and Rainbow Dash following after the unicorn. Upon getting outside, they said their goodbyes to the plumbers for the time being and went to town to get some rest for the following day.

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading so far. If you have any suggestions as to what I can do to improve my writing please let me know. I have done some writing before, but I am still somewhat new to it and could use all the help I can get.

Comments

[nightshroud96]

“Yeah. We-,” suddenly, Spike started to gag as he burped out a letter. Spike was quick to pick it up and read it. Once he was done, he informed Rainbow and Starlight what he had read. “Oh, Princess Celestia says that she agreed with Twilight that we can have a festival in Canterlot in a few weeks. Wait, I got it! If Celestia can still send us letters, then we can contact Celestia by sending her a letter!”

Is this referring to the Friendship Festival from the movie there?

[SwitchRun]

I gotta say. Not a bad start to this story. I hope you'll write more chapters for it soon.

[Justin Mershimer]

Hope this story's continuing.