The other Ponyville (G3/G1 crossover)

by Peace Petal

Chapter Four

Fizzy liked the Rainbow Lights Party, or the Night of a Thousand Lights, as some ponies called it. The unicorns decorated the whole town with lights, then they gathered in the castle ballroom—the chamber beneath the Crystal Dome—for a dance and party. Rainbow Dash had given Fizzy a rented gown in nearly Neapolitan colors, with forest green replacing the brown. It had a saddle-shaped back and a lacy hem. Rainbow Dash gave her a heart-shaped, rose quartz necklace and black shoes to go with it, and she helped put Fizzy’s fluffy mane up in a beehive hairdo. Fizzy gave Rainbow Dash as many thanks as she could until her tongue felt like rubber, then she rushed off to join the party.

All the unicorns at the party wrapped a string of lights around their horn, except the party organizer, Lily Lightly, whose horn glowed naturally. Fizzy was happy to do the same with a string of green lights around her horn. There were refreshments, lights, and music. Fizzy had a brilliant idea. She shot bubbles high into the air, near the dome roof. The bubbles fell gradually, catching the many little lights and making a dazzling display. The unicorns all cheered.

After maybe half an hour, Fizzy noticed Gusty standing at the edge of the room. She was wearing a dress, and she didn’t look too happy about it. It was pink, with vines, leaves, and flowers embroidered in red. She had combed her unruly mane straight but hadn’t styled it beyond that. Fizzy trotted over to her. “Hey, Gusty!” Fizzy said. “What’s up?”

Gusty sighed. “Just waiting, I guess. We couldn’t find anything about alternate universes or anything. We can wave that wand around all we want, but we don’t know how to make it do what we need.”

“That’s too bad,” Fizzy said.

“The unicorns have a Crystal Carriage that can travel really fast,” Gusty said. “Tomorrow we’ll take it to Butterfly Island to see if the others made any progress.”

“Wind Whistler will think of something,” Fizzy said. “She always does. Hey, you look tired.”

“I’ve been awake for a long time,” Gusty said. “We crossed a few time zones getting here.”

“I know what will get your blood moving,” Fizzy said. “Do you want to dance?”

“No thanks, Fizzy,” Gusty said. “I think I’ll just sit this party out.”

“I think the homesickness is getting to you, Gusty,” Fizzy said. “You’ve been almost as stiff as Wind Whistler.”

“It’s not that,” Gusty said. “This just isn’t my type of fun. I’d rather play volleyball or polo.”

“Come on, Gusty,” Fizzy said. “If you’re coordinated enough to play polo, dancing will be easy for you! Just follow my lead.”

Fizzy faced Gusty and started doing a simple dance step. Gusty rolled her eyes but followed her. Pony dances usually involved two dancers mirroring each other’s movements, but there wasn’t much contact. Humans may have been able to dance with each other, but ponies mostly danced at each other. Gusty picked up the pattern of the dance quickly, as Fizzy had predicted. “Rainbow Dash sure is generous, isn’t she?” Fizzy said as they danced. “She said I could keep this necklace.”

“I didn’t really want to come to the ball, but she pressured me,” Gusty said. She looked around; no ponies were standing too close to them. The music would drown out their conversation. “Is it just me, or are the ponies of this world kind of strange? I mean, is it really just a coincidence that we arrived at the night of a party? Did you see the leftover party stuff at Pinkie Pie’s house? It seems like they’re always throwing parties.”

“Maybe we just got lucky,” Fizzy said.

“And the way the Rarity burst into song when we arrived…” Gusty continued.

“We do that too,” Fizzy said.

“Yeah, but it was different,” Gusty said. “And ponies here seem to have… catchphrases. How many times has Rainbow Dash said the word ‘dashing?’”

“I like it here,” Fizzy said. “Everypony’s so cheerful all the time, and we haven’t met any scary monsters. And this party is so much fun! I know we throw parties too sometimes, but this one is way prettier!”

“Well you may like it, Fizzy, but I can’t wait to get out of here and go home,” Gusty said.

* * *

Shady and Wind Whistler were walking along the beach. Star Catcher was using her magic to fiddle with the Rainbow Waterfall, trying to get it to track where the flying creature had come from. It was taking a while, and Shady and Wind Whistler didn’t have the magic to help. Apparently the pegasi here had some kind of magic beyond just flying, although Shady wasn’t sure what abilities it granted them. Since they could do nothing to help, Shady and Wind Whistler had gone to the beach. Their arrival at this island was the first time either of them had seen the sea.

The sand was white and fine. Waves crashed rhythmically, and gulls called. The air was warm and humid, although right now there was cloud cover. A salty breeze blew in from the sea. They slowly walked along the beach. “It’s a lovely day,” Wind Whistler said.

“That’s true,” Shady said. “But I wish I could do something to help.”

“You’ve helped plenty,” Wind Whistler said. “But neither of us has the magic that Star Catcher does.”

“Have I helped?” Shady said. “You figured out Ribbon’s message. Gusty and Fizzy are getting help from the unicorns. But what did I do? I lead us into a net.”

“We walked into the net together,” Wind Whistler said.

“Don’t you remember?” Shady said. “I was walking in front. I should have seen it.”

Wind Whistler hadn’t considered that detail. “In any case, nothing bad came of it,” she said.

“It seems like nothing good has come of me, though,” Shady said.

Wind Whistler stopped in her tracks, aghast. “Nothing good? Gusty told me you saved her life in the Everfree Forest.”

“Oh, well… kind of,” Shady said. “But that was Equestria. I haven’t done anything here.”

Wind Whistler shook her head. “Shady, it seems to me that you are your own worst enemy. You’re being illogical. If you could look at your actions from an unbiased viewpoint, you would see your own merit. You are a considerate friend and a courageous hero.”

Shady frowned, thinking. Somehow, Wind Whistler’s weirdly analytical way of thinking made sense. Shady was biased against herself. “Thanks, Wind Whistler,” she said. They continued walking along the beach. Shady turned and trotted into an oncoming wave, getting her feet wet. The water was warm. She kicked a splash towards Wind Whistler with a laugh. Stern as ever, Wind Whistler just took cover behind her wing and kept walking. But Shady was almost certain she caught a faint smile on Wind Whistler’s face.

A bright, clear sound pierced the air, kind of like a bird call. “What was that?” Shady said, looking around.

“It sounded like a whistle,” Wind Whistler said. “Maybe Thistle Whistle.” She pursed her lips and mimicked the earlier sound, at the same pitch and inflection.

A second whistle came back, a different set of three notes, this time. Wind Whistler responded in kind. No response came back, but a few seconds later a blue pegasus came into view overhead. Thistle Whistle hovered over them and said, “There you are! Star Catcher wants to talk with you two. Follow me.” She flew off, most likely forgetting that Shady did not have wings.

“Wait up!” Shady called after her, but Thistle kept flying.

“It’s no complication,” Wind Whistler said. “We are already familiar with the route.” They trotted off and returned to the bottom of the Rainbow Waterfall. Star Catcher and Thistle Whistle were waiting there.

“I’m afraid I can’t make the Rainbow Waterfalls do quite what we need,” Star Catcher said. “I believe it potentially could work, but the pegasi built this magical connection to Ponyville over time. My magic just doesn’t have the power to manipulate it so quickly.”

“Explain to me exactly what problem you’re running into,” Wind Whistler said. “Maybe some of the magical theory I learned in Equestria could be of service.”

While Star Catcher and Wind Whistler were discussing, Shady thought she saw something glimmer in the corner of her eye. She turned her head. Yes, she hadn’t imagined it! A rainbow was streaking across the sky right towards them. Shady pointed and said, “Look!”

At the front of the rainbow was an open carriage, pulled by two yellow birds. The carriage came to a stop in the sand next to them. Gusty, Fizzy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and two other unicorns were in the carriage. One of the new unicorns was a pink filly who held a wand. The other was a purple adult. “Gusty, Fizzy!” Shady said. “Who are your friends?”

“I’m Rarity,” the filly said.

“And I’m Cheerilee,” the adult said.

“Have you discovered any magic that could help us?” Wind Whistler said, apparently forgetting or skipping introductions.

“We have this wand,” Gusty said, pointing her horn at Rarity’s wand. “It can do some teleportation magic, which is how we got here so fast. But we couldn’t find anything about interdimensional travel.”

“I see,” Wind Whistler said. “We’ve run into obstacles, as well.”

Before Wind Whistler could explain further, Star Catcher cut in. “I sense that the magic of the wand is strong. It might be just what we need, actually, to control the Rainbow Waterfall.”

“You mean if we combine our magic, we might be able to do something that neither could do alone?” Cheerilee said.

“Star Catcher, that’s potentially a genius idea,” Wind Whistler said. She looked at the unicorns. “Tell us everything you know about the magical properties of the wand.”

* * *

It took several hours to get it right, but Wind Whistler was quite certain that they had nailed down the magical theory of using the princess’s wand to manipulate the Rainbow Waterfalls. They should now be able to make the falls trace wherever the flying creature had come from. They had even figured out how to keep the portal open both ways in case the flying creature had originated from somewhere besides their own Ponyland.

Minty, Sky Wishes, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Star Catcher, Thistle Whistle, Rarity, Cheerilee, Gusty, Fizzy, Shady, and Wind Whistler had all gathered. They were going to test their theories. Rarity would use her magic on the Rainbow Waterfall, then the four Ponyland ponies would step through together. They would look around and try to confirm if they were in the right place, while Rarity would keep the portal open. After they found out where they were, the four Ponyland ponies would return to the Rainbow Waterfall to either let Rarity know that she could close the portal or return to Butterfly Island and keep trying if they were in the wrong place.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye, unless it takes us to the wrong place,” Fizzy said, looking fondly at the other ponies, especially Minty.

“Aww, I wish I had brought some socks to give you all,” Minty said.

“You’ve done a great service for us,” Wind Whistler said to them all. She looked at Thistle Whistle in particular and said, “Additionally, your whistling tone is impeccable.”

“Th-thank you,” Thistle said, seeming flustered. “You’re not too bad yourself.”

“This place is sure… different from Ponyland,” Gusty said. “But you ponies are cool. You went out of your way not just to help us get home, but to make us feel comfortable and welcome. Thank you.”

“Say thank you to Spike for us as well,” Shady added for the Ponyville ponies.

Tender hugs were exchanged all around. Rarity stood at the bank near the Rainbow Waterfall. “Here we go!” she said. She twirled her wand and sparkles came off it.

Star Catcher hovered near the fall. “It feels right,” she said. “Remember, whether it returns you to Ponyland or not, come back here to let us know.”

“Yes, of course,” Wind Whistler said. “Are we ready?” Gusty, Shady, and Fizzy nodded.

“Together,” Gusty said, stepping into the shimmering, rainbowy water. They waded into the water, but they had to swim the last stretch to the falls. Wind Whistler watched the others carefully to make sure they stayed as a group. They swam into the falls. Unlike last time, water did pour over Wind Whistler’s head, getting her mane wet. Why didn’t it have the same effect as before?

The air and water became colder. They found themselves in a different pool at the bottom of a different waterfall, made of regular, clear water with no rainbow sheen. Several fillies were playing in the water, and they jumped back in surprise. Wind Whistler noticed that they were all earth ponies. “We’re sorry to interrupt,” Wind Whistler said, swimming to where she could stand. “Could you tell us where we are?”

There were seven fillies, four in the water and three lounging on the bank. They all stared at Wind Whistler and the others in amazement. “Where did you come from?” said one of the ponies on the bank, with a pink coat and blue hair. “And what are you?”

“She’s a pegasus!” a cyan pony with blue hair said. “And those two are unicorns!”

“But that one’s just a regular pony,” a lavender filly with a pink mane said, pointing at Shady. It was impossible to tell if Shady had blushed due to her pink coat, but she certainly looked uncomfortable and singled out.

“Pegasi and unicorns aren’t real!” a chubby yellow pony with purple hair protested. “They’re just a myth!”

“Are you really, truly sure about that?” a white pony with pink hair said.

“We’re in the Old Forest, outside of Ponyland,” a filly with a pink coat and blonde hair said. She looked to be the oldest of them. All but one of the seven ponies had spoken, a peach-colored filly with pink hair. She just stared at Wind Whistler and the others, wide-eyed.

“Outside of Ponyland?” Gusty repeated, confused.

To Wind Whistler and her friends, there was no “outside” of Ponyland, excluding other worlds. Ponyland was the whole world, not a particular place. “In Ponyland, do you fillies know of a place called Dream Valley?” Wind Whistler said.

“I’ve never heard of it,” the cyan pony said.

“And Bright Eyes really knows geography,” the lavender pony said. “She aced our last test.”

“Then it appears we’ve come here by mistake,” Wind Whistler said. “Pardon the interruption.”

“Thank you,” Fizzy said. “Have a nice day!”

Wind Whistler turned to the waterfall and tried to walk through. But she found stone behind it. “What…” she mumbled. She felt around with her forehooves, the cool water beating against her legs and splashing in her face. It was stone all around. She couldn’t walk through. “Rarity, Star Catcher?” she called. “Are you keeping the portal open?” No response. Just the crashing of the waterfall and seven confused fillies staring at her.

“Oh, no…” Shady moaned. “We’re stuck again!”

Author's Note:

The saga will be concluded with the third part, “Tales of home.”  I promise I’ll be prompt with releasing it.

Comments

[Emerald Aura]

Gusty is not a G3 fan, it seems =)