Isaac's Storm

by EquusStorm

7. Of Portals and People

If one were to assume that the exterior of Canterlot Castle was the most amazing display of architecture and outright stunning beauty to be found in Canterlot, or perhaps even all Equestria, one obviously had yet to see the inside of it. While the vast expanse of the castle's interior had been captured on the show a few times, seeing it in person was a new experience entirely.

After Twilight placated the guards - having connections (and a brother who had essentially been leader of the royal guard at one point, of course) with Canterlot royalty certainly had its advantages - she and Isaac stepped into the grand entry of the castle. Isaac was completely in awe. The entry hall was decked in splendid and exquisite decor far beyond what he could have ever imagined. Sunlight beamed in through massive stained-glass windows on either side, flooding the room with many colours. Giant banners and royal emblems hung off intricately-carved pillars lining the path, which itself was an immaculately maintained red carpet leading into the next room, which Isaac assumed was the heart of the castle, where many similar halls branched off leading into the various wings of the massive structure.

"Twilight Sparkle!"

Isaac snapped out of his mesmerised state at the sound of a familiar voice calling out.

"Princess!" Twilight galloped to the alicorn standing in the doorway ahead.

"I'm so glad you were able to come as quickly as you could. There is so much that I need to tell you!"

Twilight looked slightly uneasy, fearing bad news, but at the same time, excited - any opportunity to learn was certainly welcomed!

"Oh! Um, Princess!" Isaac dutifully bowed to Celestia, which elicted an amused smile from the princess.

"Don't worry - that isn't necessary. Isaac, is it?" With a rather calm and commanding tone, she continued, "Welcome to Canterlot! I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but hopefully, by tonight, we'll be able to get to the bottom of all this."

Something about her voice made Isaac feel at ease. It was an almost motherly tone, one which conveyed both dignity and solace. Perfect, then, for her position as ruler of Equestria.

"Thanks, Princess! Yeah, I'm... hah, I'm still confused about lots of..." Isaac stammered, the realisiation hitting him once more that he was really in Canterlot, and directly addressing Princess Celestia herself. How he managed to not completely fall apart in confusion and elation is a mystery beyond the scope of this story.

Twilight giggled at his awkwardness, and a curious shade of red began to brighten his cheeks. "Hehe. You're going to have to work on your communication skills, Isaac."

"Twilight, come with me." Celestia glanced once more at Isaac. "And Isaac, please follow us - I'll need to talk with both of you." With that, the two dutifully followed the Princess deeper into the castle.

Isaac must have looked akin to a tourist in New York City as he trailed the two ponies through castle corridors - his head was craned upwards, admiring the beauty of the halls and chambers he was walking through. In fact, more than once he almost ran straight into a pillar while distracted - much to the amusement of Twilight and the Princess. He could pick out occasional snippets of the conversation the two ponies were engrossed in, but he was paying too much attention to the massive castle - and the fact that he was following a unicorn and a pony princess through said massive castle - to eavesdrop.

It was becoming obvious that, whatever secluded room Celestia had designated for their discussion place, there was no way Isaac could find his way back out after so many winding halls and staircases. Though the scenery was gorgeous - and the castle's beauty still fascinated the human - the length of the journey was wearing on Isaac. He'd still not eaten anything but bread since the night he arrived. With a sigh, he shoved his hands into his pockets... and was quickly reminded of the petals he had stashed there from breakfast. Too bad I'm not desperate enough yet to eat these. In truth, they hadn't been walking long - the castle was laid out for efficiency, after all, and their destination wasn't that far from the entry - but he was hungry and certainly not used to walking as much as he had today. He was finally getting some of that exercise his mom had tried to prod him into.

Finally, they arrived. Isaac gasped as he realised that the hall they now stood in was the very same one depicted in several episodes as the location with the stained glass representations of the ponies' conquests and victories - the artistic depictions of the battles with Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, and Sombra filled the walls of the massive chamber. This was one of the most important rooms in the castle.

"Wow! This is... it's..."

"I'm glad to see you're enjoying the scenery," Celestia japed. "Feel free to walk around, but don't stray too far. I need to talk with Twilight, and then I'll need you to join the conversation. In the meantime, is there anything I can get you? Something to read? A drink? Food?"

"Food, uh, please!" Isaac graciously answered. "I've not eaten much-err, I haven't found much that I can, you know... I..."

"Yes, I assume your diet is quite different from ours." She thought for a moment. "Hmm. Do you like bananas? I've just received a shipment from the market. I had them placed in that storage room right over there." She raised a forehoof to point in the direction of a nearby hall. "And I think there are also some strawberries."

Thought that was going somewhere else, he thought, with much amusement. "Yes, Princess! Actually, I do! Fruit is good."

"Indeed it is." She smiled at him. Such a gentle, peaceful smile - any fears that meeting Equestrian royalty would be stressful or intimidating were being laid to rest. "Now don't go far - I've got to keep an eye on our special visitor, you know." She smirked. "And of course, you are perfectly free to listen in on our conversation. In fact you probably need to know about this as much as Twilight does."

"Yes ma'am!" Isaac obediently made his way to the crate, and began to indulge himself in fine, high-quality Equestria-grown bananas. No Everfree surprises with these fruits, hopefully.

In the meantime, Twilight's history lesson began.

"Twilight Sparkle. My most faithful student. I assume you've gone through all the books in your library already in search of more insight into humans, correct?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I read all I could find about them, and then of course asked him a lot of questions so I could make my own notes." Twilight beamed, proud of her work.

"Well, there are a lot of things about humans you need to know that you won't find in any of your books, nor from Isaac. That's why I called you here."

Twilight's brow furrowed. "Really?"

"Yes." Celestia glanced at the hungry young fellow still helping himself to the much-welcomed food stash. "In fact, you'd have to delve deep into ancient Equestrian history to find any mention of our previous dealings with humans. Most books that contained information on that part of our history have been lost or re-written."

"Previous dealings? What do you mean?"

"I'm going to give you a history lesson, Twilight - a lesson in history that very few ponies are even aware of."

Celestia's horn glowed with a magic aura, and before her developed a vision, a window to the past. In this vision appeared a pale and diffuse reflection of a long-gone era. A visual companion to the tale she would tell.

"Long ago, before Equestria was even founded, many things about this world were different. Pegasi were just beginning to discover the ability to control weather and use clouds as a tangible building material. Earth ponies were transitioning from gatherers to developers of the earliest stages of agriculture. And, perhaps most relevant to what we're going to be discussing, unicorns were in the process of writing, practicing, and perfecting the earliest forms of magic."

"So we're talking a VERY long time ago then?"

"Yes. About 2,000 years, to be exact. This was shortly after the Great Ones shaped our world and passed their duties on to my great-ancestors. In this time, most ponies were still nomadic. There were small settlements here and there, but for the most part, the world was wild and untamed, and ponies were just beginning to form societies and culture."

Twilight listened intently, mesmerised.

"In this time, ponies were beginning to discover and interact with the other creatures throughout the land, who were also developing culture and societies. Before long, it was determined that trade was beneficial, and earth ponies led the way to diplomacy with the ancestors of the gryphons, the dragons, and the like."

"So then they started interacting with humans?"

"No, we'll get to tha-"

"And I thought gryphons and dragons were, in general, not that fond of ponies and Equestria in general. How could we have traded and interacted with them so well in those days? Weren't our ancestors rather... primitive?"

"This was a very long time ago, Twilight. Much has changed in our respective societies since then. Our ancestors weren't savages, you know. They just had to learn how to use their respective skills, like every young pony born today."

"And the unicorn tribe, the pegasus tribe, and the earth pony tribe were at odds back then, right?"

"Well, yes, before the respective leaders learned how to get along peacefully - leading to the formation of Equestria, of course - the tribes weren't exactly on perfect terms. But they still interacted. And I think we're getting a little off-topic here."

"Oops! Sorry, Your Majesty."

"That's quite alright, Twilight. Now, back to what I said earlier about the early unicorns - seeing the earth ponies benefitting from trade with the various races that inhabit our world, the unicorns decided that they could do better, as they felt that they were the superior tribe. While you might think that early magic was primitive, you would be surprised at how quickly discoveries were made. Before long, unicorns had discovered the secret of dimensional portals, and found that other dimensions indeed contained sentient life."

"Wow, that's very advanced magic! How did they manage that?"

"Well, at that time, there were few boundaries or rules to the use of magic. Today, the reason that such magic is nearly impossible to perform is that, as our society evolved, we have placed many safeguards and enchantments on dimensional boundaries and other high-importance, potentially dangerous elements of our world to prevent such easy access. Back then, though, any unicorn with enough skill could do things that are considered impossible today. Early magic carried very high risks, but, because it was unrestrained, it was actually a lot more powerful than most magic today." Celestia changed the vision to that of early humans meeting early unicorns. "Before too long, our ancestors discovered the world of humans through one such gate. Even 2,000 years ago, it was obvious that human society was advanced enough to make trade advantageous. So a few portals were opened up at strategic locations to allow humans access to Equestria for trade and alliances, in the case of the occasional war or skirmish that would break out in our early societies."

"And ponies could, then, enter the human world through such portals?"

"Yes, easily. However, few unicorns dared set foot in the human world. They quickly learned that humans were far more violent than ponies - in fact, their culture seemed to be based on warfare - and as such, they were reluctant to visit. While this tendency for violence made for a good allegiance in times of battle in our world, it also made many ponies very uneasy. Many thought that the trade and battle advantages were outweighed by the potential threat. Humans are omnivorous, after all, and seemed rather adept at hunting, even in these early times. Even more so than gryphons. The pegasi weren't quite as uneasy, as they had benefitted somewhat from learning early human battle tactics, leading to some rather skilled early warriors in the tribe. Besides, they were quite safe from human attacks in the clouds. This more milataristic approach to culture would continue to be a part of the Pegasi society until the formation of Equestria - and, to be honest, a lot of remnants of things we learned from humans helped to shape our culture. Earth ponies, though, joined the outliers in the unicorn and pegasi tribes in voicing their concerns over the new creatures that the unicorns had brought to our world. The highest-level unicorns of the tribe dismissed these concerns, and claimed that the concerned and fearful were merely jealous of the advances that the unicorns' connections had earned, and that, besides, humans were the safest and most advanced creatures they had brought into the world yet."

"So there were there other dimensions that were allowed access, too?"

"Briefly. Many other sentient beings were discovered through dimensional experiments, but humans proved to be the only viable species safe or advanced enough to bother with. All the other portals were sealed, leaving only the human world gates open, save for occasional experiments or further attempts at discovering other forms. But after a while, the human connection would also suffer the same fate." The vision turned dark and somewhat macabre, radiating an air of tension and conflict.

Isaac had long stopped his eating to stare intently at the vision and listen to Celestia's revelations, and, likewise, Twilight was completely engrossed in the story.

"It seemed as though the humans that went between the worlds had, with time, went from gracious at the opportunity to explore new worlds and make new and useful contacts, to desensitized and less friendly. Sometimes, almost hostile. I can only assume that, for a species that's accustomed to war for survival and territory protection, old habits are hard to break. One day, during routine transactions and interactions, a small band of humans turned on the unicorn tribe. Nopony is sure exactly who these humans were, what part of the human world - and portal - they came from, or whether they had been one of the longer-standing bands that had a stronger connection with the unicorns or a new, more hostile group of humans, but one fact is clear: with their sharp spears and fast footwork, they attacked the unicorns before they even realised what was going on." Both Twilight and Isaac looked away as the vision replayed a rather gruesome moment in time from two milennia before. "When it was over, the grisly scene finally convinced the higher-level unicorns that humans were becoming a bigger threat than benefit to their growing society. As such, at one of the very first tribal summits ever held, it was decided nearly unanimously that the portals would be sealed with a magic barrier, and, rather than destroying the portals entirely, which would run the risk of causing major damage to the very fibres of space and time, they would be moved to the furthest and most inaccessible regions of Equestria. It was also decided to wipe the memories of all known humans that had visited, but, of course, that couldn't be performed with a complete success rate, as that spell was rather new at the time."

The vision transitioned to scenes of the wildest, least populated regions of the land. "One portal was moved to the frozen north, even further away than where the Crystal Empire is now. One portal was buried in a cave under the sea. One was taken to a desolate wasteland beyond the land of the dragons. And one was moved to high above the Everfree Forest, where I presume Isaac came from. With the gates sealed, and before it was learned that magic seals of this kind would slowly weaken over centuries without re-casting, it was assumed that no human would ever again be able to enter Equestria." The visions continued to show changing landscapes of various places from Equestria and beyond. "Of course, the portals to other dimensions besides the world of the humans were also moved to desolate places, in the same manner. These gates, dimension rifts, were determined to be too unstable to destroy, or, again, run the risk of damaging the fibers of the universe. Most of the other gates have been long forgotten, and even I am not positive that all are accounted for in our limited modern knowledge of trans-dimensional travel." With a slightly more serious countenance, she continued, "Since the gates were sealed, a few select unicorn elites have ventured to the known gates and re-cast the sealing spell, hopefully ensuring that they remain closed. But there is the possibility that a few have been forgotten entirely, and the spells haven't been refreshed, allowing them to degrade. I assume this is what happened to the one above the Everfree forest."

"But if humans were prevented from returning to Equestria, and very few ponies know of this history, why do we have the information that we do in the books that we DO have?"

"We've had humans occasionally since then, allowing us to study them before they find their way out or succumb to the changes in our respective societies. Just because the portals were sealed doesn't mean that humans can't wind up in Equestria from time to time. There are glitches in the fabric of the connections to our worlds, and, as it seems in Isaac's case, it is also apparent that the dimensional seals occasionally weaken or fade, allowing access." With a slight look of concern, and a slight pause, Celestia continued, "... I just hope that Isaac's entry doesn't mean that the seals are starting to wear off. That kind of magic does slowly lose its effect in time, if not re-cast, of course, and if the portals to the human world are starting to re-activate, that might mean that other, even MORE war-like worlds that unicorns discovered in the distant past may be able to take advantage of the weakness in the portal seals and enter as well."

"Could that really happen?" Twilight inquired, slightly disturbed by the implications.

"It has. A few times, at least. Occasionally a stray wanderer from another dimension has shown up throughout history, but we've been well-prepared to deal with the small threat that mere individuals posed."

"But what about... more than one?"

"Fortunately, that has yet to happen." The vision turned slightly brighter, moving closer to the present, then faded out. The magic aura dissipated. "Do you have any questions, before we invite Isaac to join us?"

"Well yeah, this is all so... new. And fascinating. First of all, these portals... did they stay open at all times, or did the unicorns have to 'open the gate', per se, to let the humans in?"

"Much like a locked door, the portals did indeed have primitive measures in place to control the traffic. Our side could be opened by any unicorn with enough skill or knowledge to do so, but the human side could be only opened by the repetition of certain incantations, as humans lack magic. The incantations were taught to the humans by the unicorns, so that, unless a human that had been taught the phrase or phrases told another in the human world, only a human that had been to our land before would know the correct method to activate the gate. This was to prevent humans with no knowledge of ponies from entering, hopefully ensuring that the unicorns would be able to control the flow of humans in and out."

"What were these incantations? Do we know? And how long did the gates between worlds stay open?"

"We don't. We only have a general idea that the incantations contained information that only one with knowledge of our world could possibly know." Isaac paid close attention. Incantations, he thought. Role-playing next to a portal, which happened to be in the forest behind my house. Wait, no, no. This is ancient proto-Equestria we're talking about. The Elements didn't even exist then. Couldn't have been that since I don't know anything about ancient uni- "We also know that, due to the primitive nature of the spell, the exact incantation wasn't set in stone, either in the knowledge required or the time it was active. Presumably, the portals could have been activated with the repetition of any knowledge exclusive to Equestria at any time - perhaps even today, with knowledge exclusive to even modern Equestria, if the seal is weak enough."

Welp.

"The gates only stayed open for a brief time, to avoid an army of humans coming in or a unicorn forgetting to shut the portal. A sentry would usually stay nearby and keep the portal open when there was the need."

"That's very interesting! We've come a long way, and yet... well anyway, about the gryphons and dragons - I know it's a little off topic, but I'm curious, you said they used to be a lot more friendly?"

"This was in the time before any of us really developed a culture of our own. With time, as ponies advanced, they had less need for the others, and various quibbles here and there led to hostility enough to divide the land into the regions we have today. Furthermore, the diets, lifestyles, and cultural traditions of the various species became so different that it was hard to get along as well as we all once had."

"Kind of like the opposite of the uniting of the pony tribes on Hearth's Warming Eve, then?"

"More or less."

"So what about, when the portals were shut... what if there were unicorns in the human world, or vice-versa? Did they make sure to check?"

"I suspect a scant few may have been trapped, but we'll probably never know. As memories were wiped as best they could, humans would've probably regarded the unicorns as an unknown oddity, and, as there are no indications that a population survived in the human world, they would probably be consigned into the realms of legend, much as humans have become legends to most of the general population in Equestria."

"Wow. Well... I think it's time we involve Isaac in the session then, maybe?"

Celestia turned to Isaac, who was still riveted to the questions and answers being thrown back and forth. "Isaac, your turn."

He stood up, legs slightly shaking, as he took in all the information that had just been passed on - and one last strawberry. It all seemed so bizarre, yet it somehow made sense - he might well have brought his fall into Equestria on himself.

"You heard all that I've told Twilight. Given that, you probably have some questions. I'll let you go first before I ask you my questions."

"I... I... this makes... this is weird. I can't believe... I mean... I don't..."

"I know it's hard to believe, and a difficult story to comprehend, but that's my best explanation, and I think it also explains how you managed to get here. You said you came through the portal in the Everfree Forest?"

"Yeah and I... but I... if what you said is true... you said the portals could be opened with, like, an incantation or... or knowledge of Equestria?"

"Yes."

"And maybe it could be... maybe even now, with stuff from Equestria today?"

"Presumably. If, of course, the seal is weak enough - as it apparently is where you fell in."

"Well, right before I fell through into the Everfree Forest, I was role-pl... I was, kind of, re-enacting my favourite scenes, and said stuff from the show, then the ground opened up. Could that have opened the portal?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow and inquired, "Scenes from the show? What do you mean by that?"

"That's one of the things I wrote in my letter," Twilight said, "what I said about our world being human-made fiction in his world."

"Fiction? Made by humans?" Celestia laughed. "Are you sure, Isaac, that you didn't hit your head really hard when you fell?"

"I'm sure. In fact I can... I know about just about everything that's gone on since Luna came back. I know about, like, um, Discord being revived from stone and causing chaos and getting sealed up, then getting un-sealed and reformed by Fluttershy. I even know about when your phoenix, Philomena I think, was stolen and turned to ash and made Fluttershy cry and..."

"I have no idea how you could possibly know about these things unless Twilight told you or you're some intergalactic spy," Celestia replied, still somehow unphased, "but I assure you that nothing here is fiction, at least not in the sense you seem to be indicating. It's as real as it gets."

"I see that, but... it doesn't make sense how there's a show and it's made my humans and not really real and..."

"Some things don't ever make sense." Celestia turned to Twilight, with a wink. "But sometimes you have to believe something is real even if you can't figure it out yourself." The unicorn smiled, remembering the whole Pinkie Sense fiasco not long after she moved to Ponyville.

"Well yeah, I believe it's real now of course, but that doesn't make it any more... yeah, never mind." Isaac shrugged and decided to brush that off for now. Being in Equestria was awesome, and it didn't require an explanation to see that. Still, the history lesson that he had been told bothered him a little. Suddenly the concept of a three-year-old girls' TV show had morphed into a real thing that apparently tied in with human history... IF what Celestia said was true. If Equestria is fictional on Earth, Isaac mused, then so are the history lessons and stuff that are told here.

But I'm still here, and it still seems so real...

Author's Note:

>> NOTES LOCATED HERE <<
http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/118822/authors-notes-isaacs-storm-chapter-7--of-portals-and-people

Still looking for pre-readers and critique; gonna be a long road ahead without some help!

Coming soon, Chapter Eight: The Welcoming Party.

Comments

[MyLittleBurger]

Well obviously somewhere in the chain of wiping human minds, they missed one... or a couple.