Tales of home

by Peace Petal

Chapter Two

Gusty and her friends plus Patch and Clover walked from Lancer’s mansion to the cliff overlooking Ponyland. The path wound uphill through a thick forest. It was a chilly morning, and the wind made it colder when they reached the top. The trees thinned out, and they had a clear view of an impressive city dissected by wide, straight roads.

Wind Whistler scanned the skies with diligent pink eyes. Gusty started grazing on the tall, stiff grass that grew up here. After a few minutes, there was still no sign of the pegasi. “Oh, maybe they’re not coming,” Clover said worriedly.

“Don’t lose hope yet,” Gusty said.

“Can you tell us a story from your world?” Patch said. “What’s it like there?”

“You want a story, huh?” Gusty said, thinking. “You seem like the type of filly to relish a scary story, am I right?” Patch nodded eagerly. “Alright then, let me tell you about Grogar, his enchanted Bell, and Tambelon, the Realm of Darkness.”

* * *

“Then, North Star kicked the Bell,” Gusty said eagerly. Patch and Clover were enthralled. “It rang clear through the night, harbinging our freedom. Grogar’s power was broken! We rushed out of the blasted gate of his cursed fortress. I looked back and saw the whole city flicker away and vanish.”

“Wait, what about North Star and Megan?” Clover said, full of worry.

“What about them, indeed,” Gusty said. “For just a moment I thought that they had vanished with the city, forever trapped in the Realm of Tambelon. Then I saw the silhouette of North Star streaking through the black sky, Megan on her back. They had escaped just in time!”

“Wow, that was incredible,” Patch said. “It was like a fairy tale.”

“Did that really happen, or did you make it up?” Clover said.

“Oh, it all happened, for sure,” Fizzy said. “I was there too, remember? I broke the prison wall with my bubbles.”

“Yeah, that was the hardest part to believe of all,” Clover said.

“We saw two unicorns and a pegasus walk out of a waterfall yesterday,” Patch said. “I’ll believe anything. Your Ponyland sounds like a magical place!”

“Oh, it is,” Gusty said wistfully. “I wish more than anything that we could return… I miss Dream Valley! I miss the magic, the adventures, even the scary parts.”

“I miss our friends,” Fizzy said.

Just then, Wind Whistler called out, “I see something!” She ran off the cliff and jumped into the air. Gusty spotted a cloudy shape that seemed to glitter in the sunlight. It moved through the air at high speed, and it veered towards the cliff.

“That’s them!” Patch said.

There was a flash of light as the cloud came closer, and suddenly two shapes appeared. They were ponies that glittered and glowed as they hovered above the edge of the cliff. Their bodies were covered in marks beyond just their cutie marks, star and heart shapes. Gusty was instantly reminded of Star Catcher, the majestic pegasus from Butterfly Island. One of them was a red pegasus. The other, most strikingly, was a pink pony with both wings and a horn.

“It’s good to see you again, Patch,” the red pegasus said.

“Brightglow!” Patch said excitedly.

“It’s good to finally meet you, Wind Whistler, Gusty, Shady, Fizzy,” the pony with wings and a horn said. “My name is Dazzleglow.”

“How do you know us?” Wind Whistler said.

“You’re trying to get home, yes?” Dazzleglow said. “I can take you there. But first I owe you an explanation, and I need your help if you’re willing.”

“I’d like more information before agreeing to anything,” Wind Whistler said.

“Yes, that’s only natural,” Dazzleglow said.

“I think the four of you had better come with us back to our home,” Brightglow said. “We do have a good deal of things to explain, and we can offer you food and a place to stay.”

“Wait, can I come, too?” Patch said.

“Of course,” Brightglow said with a smile.

“If she’s coming, don’t leave me out,” Clover said.

“As you wish,” Brightglow said. “Do you all consent to being brought to our home?”

Each of the ponies said, “Yes.” Dazzleglow’s horn lit up, and sparkles whirled all around Gusty’s body. She was lifted into the air. Her weight didn’t rest on her hooves or any particular part of her body, but she didn’t feel a discomfort in her stomach as though she had become weightless. Instead, it felt completely natural. All eight ponies turned in unison towards the rising sun on the horizon. They floated forwards as a group, rapidly picking up speed. Then, in a flash of light, the whole landscape changed.

* * *

Wind Whistler’s eyes took some time to adapt to the darkness. The sparkling magic set her down gently on ground that felt sandy. The air was chilly and dry. The other ponies clamored in amazement. They had clearly been teleported.

As Wind Whistler’s eyes adjusted, it became clear that it wasn’t all that dark here. It was night, but the sky shone with countless stars, nebulas, and even distant galaxies that radiated with more light and color than any night sky that she had seen before. The landscape was as strange as the sky. The land was flat, although a sudden and prominent peak stood near them. At the top was a point of white light. The ground glittered in the starlight, and strange, lumpy shapes rose from the ground, about the height of a pony. Wind Whistler walked closer to one and inspected it. It was made of the same sparkly material as the ground—tiny, crystalline grains that reflected the starlight.

“Salt!” Fizzy said, smacking her lips and raising her head. Of course she had licked the ground.

“Welcome to our home, Mount Milky Way!” Brightglow said. She pointed to the conical peak. By now Wind Whistler’s eyes were better adjusted, and she noticed various paths, tunnels, and buildings all along the mountain’s slopes. In this lighting, it was clear that Brightglow and Dazzleglow were still shining. Their bodies seemed translucent, with glowing flecks inside.

Brightglow led them towards a tunnel at the base of the mountain. Dazzleglow, the pony with wings and a horn, looked towards the others and said, “I ought to start explaining.” Her horn lit up, and a circular distortion appeared in the air. A rainbow of colors refracted it through it in jagged, swirling patterns.

Wind Whistler stopped in place. “The portals,” she said. “This looks like the portal we first encountered.”

“I created the portals,” Dazzleglow said. “I brought you here.”

“This was all your fault?” Gusty said. “Why did you do it?”

“It was hard to control at first,” Dazzleglow said. “I never meant for you to be whisked around to so many different places. I meant to bring you straight here. And, in fact, I never meant to get you four at all. Galaxy was the intended target of my magic.”

“What do you want with her?” Gusty said, sounding ready for a fight.

“I needed the help of as many magically gifted ponies as possible,” Dazzleglow said. “Our world doesn’t have much magic; we magical ponies are few in number. So I learned to look into other worlds and find ponies with the skills I needed. However, bringing them here was more difficult than I had guessed. Nevertheless, I am mastering this type of magic, and I am now confident that I can send you home. However, you four seem to have accrued quite a lot of knowledge about the magical theories behind interdimensional travel, so I would ask your help before you return to Dream Valley.”

“What would be the nature of our task?” Wind Whistler said.

“A wise pony named Starglow foresaw the destruction of our world by a terrible creature of calamity and chaos,” Dazzleglow said. “She said it is to come from nowhere, a vacuum between realms. I believe we can prevent its arrival by blocking its path to our world, leaving it stuck in its limbo space.” They reached the entrance of the tunnel. Its ornate gates were wide open. The tunnel was lit by glowing gems mounted on the walls. They seemed to refract and reflect some brilliant light source, as though they had been held in bright sunlight and frozen in that state. The air was warmer here.

“I understand that I took you from your home without permission, so I know that I am in no position to ask for favors,” Dazzleglow said. “And, of course, whatever this creature is, I assume it is very dangerous, so I cannot promise your safety.”

Wind Whistler turned to Fizzy, Gusty, and Shady. “Are we willing to offer our assistance?” she said.

“Let’s buck this creature back to the void!” Gusty said.

“It sounds awfully important,” Shady said.

“Let’s do it!” Fizzy said.

“I will request an estimate of the time frame,” Wind Whistler said. “We left our friends with no warning, and undoubtedly they are looking for us.”

“I doubt it will take more than a day or two,” Dazzleglow said. “You’ll be impressed with the talent I’ve assembled. In fact, you’ll recognize several faces.”

The tunnel came to an end at a door. The glowing ponies stopped there, apparently waiting. A few minutes later, the door opened by itself, leading into a large, cylindrical cavern that extended up for dozens of stories. The floor was made of a translucent, crystalline material. Through the floor they could see that the cavern extended beneath them as well. A glowing line ran vertically through the center of the cavern. Several other ponies were standing here as well.

The line’s white light intensified, and the floor moved upwards. It stopped six stories later, and a set of doors opened. One pony left through the doors, and two more came in. It was some kind of lift, then, that led to the top of the mountain. The other ponies all glowed, as well, though some were earth ponies or unicorns. Dazzleglow was the only pony Wind Whistler spotted with wings and a horn.

At a certain floor about halfway up, Brightglow turned to Patch and Clover. “You two might not want to stay for all the magical lingo,” she said. “Would you like to see the rest of our city?” They nodded eagerly, and the three of them left.

The air grew colder as they ascended. By the time they reached the top floor, it was just Dazzleglow and the four Dream Valley ponies. The doors led to an open-air stairway that spiraled up the mountain. “Watch your step,” Dazzleglow said. Looking closer, it seemed the stairs were made of ice. They reached a flat, circular platform at the top of the mountain. The platform shined with a white light, a head-sized sphere that floated a pony’s height above the center of the platform. “The Fallen Star,” Dazzleglow said. “Its power shines throughout this land. It is because of this that we are different from the other ponies of this world. Here our magic will be strongest.”

Several other ponies were here. Immediately Wind Whistler’s eyes were drawn to a familiar, dark pink unicorn with stars on her flank and gem eyes that twinkled in the light. “Galaxy!” Fizzy said. She ran forward and nuzzled her friend.

“Fizzy,” Galaxy said happily. “Wind Whistler, Gusty, Shady. I’m so glad to see you.”

“It’s really you?” Shady said. “Not some… other Galaxy?”

“I’m the Galaxy you’ve always known from Dream Valley,” she said. “We sent search parties out after you disappeared. I was with Whizzer, Posey, and Ribbon. Dazzleglow already sent those three home.”

Wind Whistler scanned the group of ponies. She recognized Star Catcher, the mystical pegasus from Butterfly Island. She also recognized Twilight Sparkle, the ruler of Equestria. Next to her was a purple unicorn who Wind Whistler didn’t know. There was also another glowing pony like Dazzleglow, a dark blue pegasus.

“I’m so glad you four are alright,” Star Catcher said. “We were quite worried about you when you never returned to Butterfly Island.”

“It’s good to see you again, Star Catcher,” Wind Whistler said.

“Wind Whistler!” Twilight said, running up to her. “I’ve learned so much since we saw each other last. The multiverse is more intricate than I ever could have imagined. And this Fallen Star, Wind Whistler, it’s amazing!” Twilight had maintained an air of regality the last time Wind Whistler had seen her. But she was no longer in her own regime, Equestria, and now she glowed with passion for the study of magic.

“Let me introduce you to Starlight Glimmer,” Twilight said, pointing to the purple unicorn.

“She’s told me a lot about the four of you,” Starlight said. “Seriously, she can’t shut up about the ‘ponies from another dimension.’”

“Starlight, we’re from another dimension here!” Twilight said. “How cool is that?!” Starlight just rolled her eyes.

Dazzleglow introduced the new arrivals to the other glowing pony, named Starglow. “She doesn’t have the same magical capabilities as some of you, but she is blessed with supernatural wisdom and foresaw the impending doom that we must avert,” Dazzleglow said.

Another glowing pony, a pink pegasus, came up to the platform. Behind her was an orange earth pony who looked at the Fallen Star with wonder-filled eyes. She introduced herself to the other ponies of the group as “Sunny Starscout.” It seemed she already knew Galaxy but none of the others.

“Thank you for bringing her, Happyglow,” Dazzleglow said. “That’s all the ponies I was hoping to gather. You are the brightest minds in the multiverse, the best versed in magic, and the most powerful at wielding it. We must stop Starglow’s prophecy from coming true. Let us begin.”