Colgate is bored, very bored. She decides to journey into the Everfree Forest and discovers a portal to a different world from an earlier time. She discovers something that not only she, but her sister would want.
Colgate is bored, very bored so she decides to take a walk through the Everfree Forest. She journeys into the darkest part of the forest and discovers a portal. She goes through it and discovers a different world from an earlier time. What she discovers there amazes her and piques her interest. She finds something that not only her, but her sister Lyra Heartstrings would want so she returns home and tells Lyra about this. The two sisters decide to go to this world and acquire what they want but the inhabitants will not make it easy.
A crossover of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and G1 MLP
It was a nice spring day in Ponyville as the sun shone in through Colgate's window, waking her up. Normally Colgate would be in a rush to eat some breakfast and get to work but it was Saturday so she was able to relax. She hit the snooze button a couple times but eventually she could not get anymore rest, the light prevented that so she headed downstairs to find her sister impatiently waiting at the table, waiting for breakfast. When she saw this she was not amused.
Lyra saw her come in and asked, "Colgate, are you ok? Normally you are already down here to fix us breakfast."
Even though Lyra was a decade younger than Colgate, this did not sit well with her. She asked, "Lyra, are you really that lazy that you have to wait for me to cook something for you?"
Lyra replied, "But I wanted to have eggs and bacon. You are so good at fixing that."
Colgate sighed, "Lyra, you are 18 years old. I would think that you would be able to cook for yourself."
Lyra replied, "Well if you wouldn't just always cook for us and teach me, I would be able to."
Colgate sighed, "Oh you're right. Ok, this morning will be your first lesson."
Colgate took Lyra to the stove and they began to fix breakfast. After fixing a couple eggs Colgate had Lyra cook a couple of her own and she did an excellent job at it as she did not even break a single yolk. Colgate did the same with the bacon and it turned out that Lyra could cook it quite well as well. Colgate patted her sister on the back and said, "You see Lyra, that wasn't so hard."
Lyra enthusiastically replied, "Now I can fix you breakfast before you go to the office!"
Colgate smiled, "You don't have to do that. How about we take turns? One day I cook, the next day you do and continue on that routine."
Lyra replied, "That sounds good to me."
They sat down to breakfast and gobbled their food before it got cold. After breakfast Lyra headed upstairs to read a new comic book she had bought recently while Colgate sat down to watch the news. While Lyra quickly got into her comic, it was a rather slow news day and Colgate quickly became bored. She flipped through the channels looking for something good but nothing decent was to be found. Soon she heard her sister scream, "What, humans and ponies coexist?"
Since she was not doing anything at the moment she decided to see what Lyra's loudness was all about. She headed upstairs and pushed Lyra's door open. She asked, "Lyra, what do you mean humans and ponies coexist? You know there's no such thing as humans don't you?"
Lyra motioned for Colgate to come over and look at her comic book. It was an old My Little Pony comic book. Colgate was looking through it and saw a blonde girl interacting with ponies and sighed, "Lyra, this is a comic book. It ain't real."
Lyra replied, "You never know, it could be like this somewhere else in Equestria!"
Colgate sighed, "Listen, if creatures like that existed we would have heard about them....and those ponies, their eyes are so small and they look so, how do I put this lightly, prepared for a famine."
Lyra replied, "Come on sis, you just have to believe!"
Colgate rolled her eyes and headed back downstairs. She began to pace back and forth wondering what to do. There was nothing good on TV, there was nothing she needed to catch up on at the office and she didn't feel like going out and mingling with her friends. She then decided that perhaps some time out of the house would do her good so she decided she was going to take a stroll in the Everfree Forest.
She knew Lyra would wonder where she was if she suddenly was gone so she yelled, "Lyra, I need some solitude. I'm going for a walk."
Lyra shouted back, "Ok sis, see you later!"
Colgate left their house and headed towards the forest. While she did run into Amethyst and talked with her for a few minutes, she eventually got to the edge of the forest. She said to herself, "Thank goodness! Peace and quiet!"
Colgate arrived at the edge of the Everfree Forest with a smile on her face. She had dealt with a lot of stress that week so this walk would do her some good. As she entered the forest she breathed a sigh of relief. While she had no idea how far into the forest she was going to go, she did know that she was not just going to go as far as the castle of the two sisters, she had plans to go deeper.
After an hour of walking she finally reached the castle and decided the time had come to take a short rest so she crossed the bridge and headed in. Besides, she had always wondered what kinds of information Twilight and her friends had discovered in there. As she was looking around she discovered the secret chamber where Twilight had found the journal of the two sisters. She was looking through some of the books and found one about legends. Despite her not being overly interested in old legends, she felt drawn to the book.
She was flipping through the pages and stopped at one that mentioned a portal to a different world that existed in an earlier time. Given that she is not only a dentist, but a time lady as well, she was kind of suspicious of this. She sighed, "A portal to a different world that existed in an earlier time? Yeah, uh huh. I'll believe it when I see it."
With the story behind the legend there was a map that showed where this portal was located. She mumbled, "You know what? I'm taking this book, I am heading to that spot on the map and I am going to disprove this book!" Being the rational minded pony she was she puffed her chest out and continued, "And then I will take this thing up to Canterlot and tell Celestia herself that this is nothing more than a bunch of hogwash!"
She quickly left the castle and headed towards her destination. While she did run across some timberwolves, they posed no threat as she was able to blast them apart with her magic. Eventually she reached a part of the forest that was so dark she could barely see her hoof in front of her face. She also heard what sounded like the roar of a waterfall. She headed towards the source of the sound and low and behold, that is what it was. She lit up her horn and levitated the book to where she could read it. She said, "Ok, so this portal lies in a cave on the other side of this waterfall?" She began to laugh, "Yeah right but at least this little journey has been fun!"
She teleported herself into the cave behind the waterfall and saw something that seemed to glow a bit. In the pitch darkness of the cave, she saw a gray portal in front of her. She said to herself, "Hmmm....maybe this legend has some merit to it. Well let's find out, shall we?"
She headed into the portal and crossed through. One she got to the other side it was pitch dark. She laughed, "Maybe I was just seeing things when I saw that gray vortex." She continued to walk forward until she ran into a jagged wall. She looked up and saw a speck of blue. She said to herself, "What the hay?"
She began firing bolts of energy at the wall blasting it away. It was not long until she realized that it was not the back of the cave she ran into, it was a pile of rocks. Once she blasted most of the rocks away she walked forward and was stunned by what she saw. She saw rolling hills, a green forest and a path that headed down into a valley. Everything looked odd to her, things didn't look quite the same way that they did in Equestria.
She began to follow the path towards the forest. As she descended into the valley and into the forest things continued to not feel right. This forest was different, much different than the Everfree Forest which was always dark and quiet. Once she dropped down to the valley bottom she could hear laughter coming from the distance. She thought to herself, "Now what is that laughing?" The laughter sounded a lot like Pinkie Pie but Colgate knew that there was no possible way it could be her.
Eventually she would run into a couple pegasus ponies who landed in front of her. In front of her stood a white pegasus pony with four balloons for a cutie mark and a pink pegasus with two blue lightning bolts for a cutie mark. The pink pegasus asked, "Who are you? I've never seen you around before."
Colgate replied, "My name is Colgate, and you two are?"
The pink pegasus replied, "My name is Firefly and standing next to me is Surprise."
Colgate looked at the two and then at the forest that surrounded them and asked, "Where am I? This place seems so different than where I come from."
To Surprise and Firefly, Colgate looked different as well. Surprise replied, "You are in Ponyland, well Dream Valley to be exact." She jumped on Colgate and continued, "And we're going to have throw you a party! We always throw parties for new ponies!"
Colgate gasped, "Did you say Ponyland and Dream Valley?"
Surprise replied, "Yeah. You seem surprised."
Colgate shook her head. She was in shock hearing the names Ponyland and Dream Valley as those are the places that exist in Lyra's comic book and in the mythology books she read when she was in school. She asked, "Wait a minute? So you are telling me that these places are real?, that they simply aren't places that are pure myth?"
Firefly seemed irritated by Colgate's statements regarding Ponyland being a myth. She asked, "Uh, yeah. Where did you get the idea that Ponyland and Dream Valley are mythological places. You don't live in Ponyland, do you?"
Colgate replied, "Well, not exactly. I come from a land beyond those hills off to the east of here."
While Surprise had no clue what she was talking about, Firefly knew a bit of what she was talking about. She asked, "Beyond those eastern hills? Do you mean beyond them or from with in them?"
Colgate was starting to get very frustrated with all the questions as they were making her very uncomfortable. She snapped, "Does it matter? Now if you will excuse me I would like to continue on my journey."
The two pegasi sighed and let Colgate continue on her way. As she headed further down the path the forest began to clear a bit and she saw something she did not expect to see. She saw another thing that was in the mythology books she read in school, a pink castle. She said to herself, "Wait a minute, a pink castle? Maybe all this is real!" She then smacked herself and continued, "Get a grip Colgate, you're probably just dreaming!"
Like with the book at the castle in the Everfree Forest, the pink palace seemed to be calling to her. She galloped towards it until she was met by two guards at the drawbridge. One of them asked, "Halt, who goes there?"
Colgate replied, "Well I am Colgate, a visitor from abroad and I would like to speak to whoever is in charge around here."
One of the guards said, "Well Queen Majesty does not just accept visitors on an open basis, especially ponies who just show up randomly."
The other guard added, "And besides, she is having a meeting with Megan Williams, someone who is extremely important."
Colgate knew she had heard that name before. Then it hit her, Megan Williams is the human from Lyra's comic book but she did not actually believe that she existed. She asked, "So who is this Megan Williams? I've heard that she is some weird creature that walks on two legs."
The guard replied, "That is information that we can not share with outsiders such as you."
Colgate began to step forward causing the guards to block the bridge further. Colgate picked them up with her aura and threw them into the stream under the bridge. When she got to the castle she confronted another guard but she had no time for being interrogated. She threw him to the side and ran into the castle.
When she got inside she discovered that the layout of Dream Castle was much different than the palace in Canterlot. Rather than having to go down several different hallways to reach the throne room, she only had to go down one to reach her destination. She galloped down the hallway into the throne room where she saw Queen Majesty and Megan Williams talking casually. Her jaw dropped open and the two looked over to see who had entered the throne room.
Majesty asked, "Who are you and how did you get past the guards? I was not expecting any other company today."
Colgate just stood there in shock as she took in the image of Megan. She then stuttered, "T-they really exist? H-hu-humans really exist?
Majesty in a more stern voice asked again, "Who are you and how did you get past my guards?"
Colgate snapped out of it and replied, "My name is Colgate."
Majesty asked, "And what is your business here?" She took a closer look at her and noticed that she did not look like the ponies of Ponyland. She continued, "You don't look like any of the rest of the ponies in Ponyland, you aren't a spy are you?"
Colgate replied, "No, I am no spy." She then realized that she needed to find a way to get out of this question. She continued, "I am a pony who comes from abroad. I simply wanted to see your land and see it's leader."
Majesty sighed, "Well you have seen her. Now I would suggest you go, I have strange feelings about you."
Before Colgate could reply Megan interrupted, "Queen Majesty, I do not see anything wrong with her. She seems perfectly nice to me."
Majesty replied, "But Megan, she doesn't look like us! She seems thinner than the rest of us, she is a bit taller and those eyes of her's are huge. She has to be something evil!" She gave Colgate a stern look and continued, "You aren't some vile creation of Hydia, Reeka and Draggle are you?"
Colgate gave her a puzzled look and replied, "Who? Who in Equestria are they?"
Majesty asked, "Equestria? What the hay is that?"
Colgate replied, "Oh it is just a saying that is popular where I come from."
This brought out suspicion in the queen. She asked, "You say you are from abroad. Where exactly are you from?"
Colgate replied, "I come from the east, far to the east of the hills that circle the eastern borders of your lovely valley."
Majesty's horn was beginning to glow which quickly caused Colgate to get ready to fire back if fired on. Megan saw this and wanted to deescalate the situation. She said, Queen Majesty, Colgate, this is no way to handle things. She put her hand on Majesty's back and said, "It's ok. We'll just get her to leave and everything will be ok." She then looked at Colgate and continued, "Colgate, I think it might be best if you leave. It is not wise to get on Queen Majesty's bad side."
Colgate rolled her eyes and replied, "Oh alright. It was nice meeting you two. You have a nice day."
Colgate teleported herself out of the castle and past the guards. She began to gallop back towards the cave where she entered Ponyland from. In the palace both Majesty and Megan sat there in shock. Megan asked, "Majesty, where did she go? How did she just disappear in a blinding flash of light?"
Majesty replied, "I am not sure but I do know this, no one in Ponyland can do that. She has to be either a creation of those vile witches or an agent of Tirac.* What if she were to aid them in enslaving all of us?"
Megan, while she had never seen a pony do that before, did not think that Colgate would be evil. She sighed, "Majesty, perhaps she just has some sort of special ability. I don't think she is anything to worry about."
Majesty replied, "I hope you're right, for the sake of Dream Valley and all of Ponyland."
After leaving Dream Castle Colgate began to gallop towards the cave where the portal is located. While a couple of ponies did try to say hi to her, she simply galloped past them. She had no desire to spend any more time in Ponyland than she had to and she figured that it is probably getting late back in Equestria. She did not want her sister to get worried and go out looking for her.
Once she reached the cave she quickly ran through the portal and teleported herself past the waterfall. While she was in the darkest part of the forest, she could tell that it was still daylight. She said to herself, "Wow, I thought it would be night when I returned! Perhaps no time passes here while I am in that other world."
Despite it being dark and the threat of being approached by dangerous creatures, Colgate was glad to be back in her own world. On her way to the cave, she walked slowly but now she knew the path so she galloped back to Ponyville. When she arrived everything seemed to be as mundane as they were when she left and like she did when she headed out, she ran into Amethyst, who was curious as to why she went into the forest.
Amethyst asked, "Colgate, what were you doing in the Everfree Forest? Weren't you scared something would get you?"
Colgate replied, "I just needed some solitude and as far as something getting me, my magic is strong enough to repel them."
Amethyst gave her a hug and said, "Well alright. I just don't want anything happening to my best friend."
Colgate replied, "Thanks for your concern but I really must be getting home. I don't want Lyra to worry about where I am."
Amethyst nodded as Colgate galloped back to her house. When she arrived she discovered Lyra had her whole comic collection spread out on the dining room table and was reading them one at a time. Colgate asked, "Lyra, why do you have your whole comic collection out down here?"
Lyra replied, "Uh, I just wanted to read them down here." She looked at the clock and saw how early it was. She continued, "Colgate, I thought you would be gone for a lot longer than just two hours."
Colgate replied, "Well it felt like a whole lot longer than that." She saw Lyra's old My Little Pony comic book and picked it up. She took it into the living room and began to read it thoroughly.
Lyra wasn't overly impressed with this and asked, "Colgate, what are you doing with my comic book? I thought you weren't into them."
Colgate replied, "Lyra, come in here and sit down. Out on my walk I discovered something that is going to amaze you."
Lyra asked, "Oh, what is that?"
Colgate flipped the comic book open to a page where it shows Queen Majesty and Megan Williams interacting in Dream Castle. She pointed her hoof at it and said, "You see this Lyra?"
Lyra replied, "Well yeah, I read this comic all the time."
Colgate said, "Well, I have discovered that this place and that human is actually real."
Lyra's ears perked up as she asked, "Really? They actually exist?"
Colgate hung her head in defeat and began, "Yes Lyra. On my walk I decided to pay the castle of the two sisters a visit and I found a book that mentioned a portal to another world and of course I was dead set on disproving that book."
Lyra asked, "So I take it you went to where this portal is supposed to be?"
Colgate continued, "Yes Lyra, I did. In a cave behind a waterfall I found a cave with a portal in it. I went through the portal and after blasting away some rocks, I found myself in a different world." She took a much closer look at the comic book and continued, "And you see how everything looks in your book, that is what it looks like. It looks much different than Equestria and the ponies there look like the ones in your book as well."
Lyra hugged her sister and laughed, "It looks like I was right all along!" She let go of her and said, "Tell me more!"
Colgate continued, "Well as I headed down into a valley I ran into two pegasus ponies. One was named Surprise and the other was named Firefly. Surprise was a whole lot like Pinkie Pie and Firefly was like Rainbow Dash. I didn't spend a whole lot of time talking with them and after shoving some annoying guards out of the way I reached Dream Castle and that is where I met Queen Majesty and Megan."
Lyra excitedly asked, "And how did they treat you? Were they nice to you?"
Colgate replied, "Well Megan was nice to me. I think Majesty has some serious trust issues though because she thought I was the creation of either Tirek or these witches named Hydia, Reeka and Draggle."
Lyra shouted, "Wait, those three are real too?"
Colgate sighed, "They must be."
Lyra began to bounce around the living room shouting, "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! I was right all along!" She calmed down and asked, "Colgate, do you think we could go visit this world! I want to meet Megan before she crosses the rainbow bridge back to earth."
Colgate sighed, "Lyra, I think we should wait for a while. Majesty said I was evil because I did not resemble the ponies there and if she winds up seeing two of us Equestrian ponies so soon, who knows what might happen."
Lyra pouted, "But Colgate, what if Megan goes back to earth before we go back there?"
Colgate replied, "Lyra, who knows, she might still be there."
Lyra asked, "How long are you going to make me wait to go there?"
Colgate replied, "Well maybe a month. Perhaps by then their queen will have forgotten about me."
Lyra shouted, "Oh thank you for even considering taking me!"
Colgate replied, "Don't mention it Lyra." She looked at the table with a scowl and continued, "Could you please take your comics back up to your room? I don't like having this mess on the table."
Lyra sighed, "Ok Colgate."
Lyra gathered up her comics and took them to her room. Colgate headed to her room and plopped on her bed. She sighed in frustration because she had absolutely no desire to ever set hoof in Ponyland again but she did want to make her sister happy. She hoped to make it a quick trip, one where Lyra could meet Megan if she were there and then get back home.
A month had passed since Colgate had told Lyra about the existence of Ponyland and Dream Valley. While she was hoping that Lyra had forgotten that she offered to take her there, that was not the case. It was another Saturday morning and before the sun even rose, Lyra would wake Colgate up. She nudged her and said, "Colgate, get up! We have a busy day ahead of us!"
Colgate glared at her and yawned, "Lyra Heartstrings, what are you doing waking me so early? The sun hasn't even came up yet and what do you mean we have a busy day today?"
Lyra replied, "Well it has been a month since you returned from Ponyland and you promised me you would take me there in a month, and it has been a month."
Colgate sighed, "Oh alright but don't you think both of us better get a bit more rest. I am still tired and if I am not well rested, I'm not going anywhere."
Lyra pouted, "Ok Colgate. I understand."
Lyra left Colgate's room and let her rest more. While Colgate was obviously angry that she was woken up so early, she did make a promise to her sister, a promise that she was not going to go back on. An hour later the sun finally shone in on Colgate and she woke up well rested. She headed downstairs to find Lyra ready to go. Colgate saw this and was not amused. She asked, "Lyra, don't you think we should eat some breakfast before we go?"
Lyra replied, "Oh yeah, we probably should. I'm just so excited to go!"
Colgate cooked them breakfast and as they ate, all Lyra could do was talk about how excited she was to go to Dream Valley and meet Megan. While Colgate smiled and pretended to be happy, she was a bit frustrated. She just wanted to get going, go there so Lyra could meet Megan and then come home.
Once they finished breakfast they headed out towards the Everfree Forest. While Colgate was walking at a rather leisurely pace, Lyra was bouncing along like Pinkie does and was soon way ahead of her sister. She looked back and yelled, "Come on sis, you don't have to walk so slow!"
Colgate sighed and increased her pace. Once they got into the forest they heard some timberwolves howling. This caused Lyra to freeze in her tracks. She said, "Colgate, I'm scared."
Colgate interrupted, "Look Lyra, you're the one who wanted to do this. I would think that the chance of meeting that human would cause your determination to push away any fear."
Lyra asked, "What do we do if we run into any timberwolves?"
Colgate sighed, "I'll just blast them apart with my magic. When your magic is as strong as mine is, timberwolves pose no threat."
After an hour and a half of walking they finally reach the waterfall. Colgate points her hoof to it and says, "Alright Lyra, the portal is behind that waterfall. Let's get going."
The two teleported beyond the waterfall and saw the portal. Lyra asked, "I take it that is how you get there?"
Colgate thought this was a rather dumb question. She replied, "Yes Lyra, it is. Why else would we have come here, just for the fun of it?"
While Lyra felt a little uncomfortable after the way her sister responded to her, she was still excited. As they crossed through the portal Lyra's excitement grew. Soon they saw light coming from the other side of the cave. Once they stepped out into Ponyland, Lyra excitedly said, "I always knew it was real but I never imagined I would get to see Ponyland with my own eyes!"
Colgate sighed and pointed her hoof off towards the valley. She said, "You see the path that goes down into the valley? That is how we get to Dream Castle."
Lyra hugged her sister and took off. She yelled, "Come on sis! You're lagging behind."
All Colgate could do was sigh and pick up the pace. Soon they began to descend into the forested valley and Lyra was surprised by how the forest was. She cheerfully said, "Wow Colgate. This forest seems so peaceful! It's nothing like the deep, dark scary Everfree."
Colgate replied, "Well just wait. If it is anything like it was when I came here, we will run into ponies who interrogate you over anything and everything."
Soon they ran into Surprise and Firefly. Given that Firefly was suspicious of Colgate when she first met her, seeing two large eyed ponies made her seriously wonder what is going on. Many of the ponies in Dream Valley had been warned by Queen Majesty to be on the lookout for Colgate and any other large eyed pony. Firefly pointed her hoof at Colgate and asked, "What are you doing here again? Are you a spy?" She then looked at Lyra and yelled, "A second one! We must warn Queen Majesty that more of the witches' creations are invading."
As they were getting ready to take off Colgate grabbed them in her aura and said, "Look, we are not creations of some group of witches." She glared at them and continued, "Is it a federal crime for ponies from abroad to simply walk around here?"
Firefly shouted, "Wait a minute, how are you doing this? No one except Majesty can hold other ponies with their magic. You have to be ev......"
Surprise began to giggle, "Being held in your aura tickles! How can you do it?"
Colgate replied, "Well where we come from, some unicorns can hold others in their aura."
Firefly snapped, "Oh, and where is that? The Volcano of Gloom?"
Colgate finally decided to release them and said, "Look, like I told you last time I come from way east of those hills. My sister and I have business we must attend to so we must get going."
Firefly shouted, "Come on Surprise, we must go and warn Majesty about these two."
The two pegasi took off leaving behind a nervous Lyra and an angry Colgate. Lyra asked, "Colgate, why does Firefly think we are evil?"
Colgate sighed, "Because we look different. I swear, she along with Majesty are very judgmental. Other than the white one, I wonder if any of the others aren't so suspicious of outsiders?"
While Colgate was not overly fond of the ponies she had met and felt that the others would be the same way, Lyra was shocked that Firefly would behave in such a way, after all, she does not behave like that in the comic book. Firefly's behavior would not dampen her enthusiasm of meeting other ponies though and it certainly wasn't lessening her excitement of meeting Megan.
After Firefly and Surprise left, Colgate and Lyra continued down the path to the castle. As they continued their journey they noticed that many of the ponies were staring at them suspiciously. While this caused Lyra to become rather nervous it irritated Colgate. Before they could reach Dream Castle a pink unicorn confronted them. She asked, "Who are you two and where are you from?"
Lyra replied, "Well my name is Lyra Heartstrings and this is my sister......"
Colgate put her hoof over her sister's mouth and snapped, "Does it really matter who we are?" She snorted and continued, "Why is it that everypony in this land interrogates us?"
The pink unicorn replied, "Because Queen Majesty has warned us all to be on the lookout for large eyed ponies such as you two. She thinks you might be evil. After all, you don't look like us."
Colgate grunted, "My my, aren't we the judgmental type?"
The pink unicorn again asked, "Look, I just want to know who you are and I will let you get on your way."
Colgate sighed, "Oh alright. Like my sister said, her name is Lyra Heartstrings and my name is Colgate." She glared and continued, "And who are you?"
The pink unicorn replied, "My name is Twilight."
Colgate asked, "Twilight? That's odd. There is a pony with that name back home, well Twilight Sparkle to be exact."
Twilight asked, "Really?" She glared at the two and continued, "Well I have a feeling that you won't tell me where you're from so I will let you get on your way."
Colgate sighed, "It's about time."
Colgate and Lyra continued towards Dream Castle and despite being watched closely by everypony, Lyra's excitement was building. Lyra asked, "Colgate, isn't this so exciting! I'll be so happy to meet Megan!"
Colgate replied, "Well I'll be glad to get there, for you to meet Megan and then go home where we don't have everypony staring at us and judging us because we look different."
Finally the two were greeted by a couple of guards at the drawbridge and one of them asked, "Halt, who goes there?"
The other guard said, "Wait a minute, it is that large eyed pony that Queen Majesty told us to be on the lookout for."
The first guard added, "And she's brought another one with her! We can't let them harm the queen!"
Colgate sighed, "You know what? I didn't harm your queen the last time I was here and I wouldn't harm another pony, ok?"
The other guard asked, "And what about the one you have with you?"
Lyra replied, "I would never hurt another pony!"
The first guard asked, "What business do you have with the queen anyway?"
Colgate lied, "Well last time I was here Megan was visiting and I told her about my sister and how she wanted to meet a human. Queen Majesty told me to come back and bring my sister so she could meet Megan."
The two guards stepped to the side. The first guard replied, "Well alright, you may pass."
The two nodded at the guards and approached the main gate. Given that the guards at the drawbridge let them pass, the guard at the main gate simply let them in. Once they were in they headed to the throne room where they saw not only Queen Majesty and Megan, but also Firefly and Surprise.
Firefly was the first to see them and yelled, "Your Majesty, it is them! It is the large eyed ponies. I knew they would come here."
Majesty looked and noticed that Colgate was there again but had brought another large eyed pony with her. She yelled, "Guards, seize them! The large eyed pony is back and she brought......."
Megan put her hand over Majesty's mouth and interrupted, "Your Majesty, I doubt they mean us any harm. Like I said the first time when Colgate showed up here, large eyed ponies are nothing to worry about."
Majesty grunted, "Fine." She then looked out at the two and asked, "So Colgate, what brings you back and who is this with you?"
Colgate replied, "This is my sister, Lyra Heartstrings. What brings us here is that my sister has always dreamed of meeting you and Megan."
Majesty asked, "How could she even know who Megan is? No one outside of Ponyland even knows she exists."
Megan looked out at the mint green unicorn and asked, "Lyra, could you come closer? I want to show Majesty that you mean no harm."
Lyra ran up to her and Megan began to scratch the side of her face, causing her to giggle. Lyra laughed, "That tickles!"
While Megan regularly scratches the faces of Ponyland ponies and it has no affect on them, the same can not be said of Equestrian ponies. Megan asked, "It tickles? That's odd, I've never seen anyone here having their face scratched tickle."
Majesty interrupted, "Well Colgate said that they come from abroad. I can tell they are different. Maybe their type are more ticklish."
Megan bent down and began to scratch behind Lyra's ears. While Ponyland ponies loved being scratched behind their ears, Equestrian ponies do not particularly care for it. She was causing Lyra a bit of discomfort but not enough for her to react. She was more focused on Megan's other hand. She realized that if she were to react in pain from being scratched behind her ears, that would warrant her biting her hand off. Eventually Megan began to scratch harder causing Lyra to scream out in pain, "Owww!"
Megan asked, "Lyra, are you ok? I've never had a pony scream like that before."
Lyra gave her a scowl and bit her hand at the wrist. "Owww!" Lyra had a strong hold of her wrist before Megan was finally able to get her hand free.
Majesty fired a bolt of energy at Lyra and yelled, "I knew you large eyed ponies were evil! No nice pony would bite Megan."
Colgate fired a bolt of energy at Majesty, striking her directly and knocking her out cold. She yelled, "Come on Lyra, we have to get out of here!"
Lyra and Colgate raced towards the exit and teleported themselves outside of the castle. In the state they were in they did not run towards the cave, they instead ran deep into the forest. Once they stopped Colgate yelled, "Lyra, why in Equestria did you bite her? Why would you bite a human?, a creature you claim to love so much?"
Lyra replied, "Because her scratching behind my ears hurt and I wanted one of her hands!"
Colgate sighed, "You know what? Now we are going to have to lay low. I'm sure they'll have pegasus guards flying everywhere trying to find us."
Lyra got a grin on her face and began to rub her hooves together. Colgate saw this and knew she was planning something, "What in Equestria are you planning?"
Lyra replied, "I'm just thinking of something."
Colgate said, "Well whatever it is, I can tell by the way you are acting that it is nothing good."
Lyra excitedly replied, "Sis, I want that human! I want to get her, take her back to Equestria and make her my pet!"
Colgate threw her hooves up in frustration, "Lyra, are you nuts! How in Equestria are you going to get her and if you were able to somehow get her, how are you going to transport her back to Equestria?"
Lyra giggled, "I'll levitate her home!"
Colgate continued, "Look, I highly doubt she will just let you levitate her home and I know that Majesty will likely provide her with added protection, not to mention if she hears Megan's screams when you are levitating her, she will come after us."
Lyra replied, "Well you knocked her out earlier today so couldn't you just do the same thing?" She gave Colgate puppy dog eyes and asked, "Please sis, can't we try to get Megan and take her home?"
Colgate sighed, "Look, let's just go home and forget about this. I want to get some sleep tonight. I don't feel like foalnapping a human or anything else from this place for that matter."
Lyra gave her puppy dog eyes and begged, "Please sis!"
Colgate replied, "You're not going home without her, are you?"
Lyra shook her head no. Colgate continued, "Fine, we'll wait till dark and then go abduct this human you want so bad."
Lyra giggled, "You know, you could always knock Majesty out and take her with us!"
Colgate replied, "No Lyra. I have no desire to have to put up with her any more than I have to."
Lyra laughed, "She is a different kind of pony and I know you have been wanting something different to conduct dental experiments on."
The wheels began to turn in her head and with a smile on her face she replied, "Alright Lyra. It will be a risk but perhaps I should take her with us. Once I have her in our basement I can punish her for firing energy at you!"
Lyra began jumping up and down shouting, "Yay!"
Colgate used her magic on Lyra and said, "Lyra, be quiet! We can't let anypony know we are here."
Lyra replied, "Oh ok sis."
In Dream Castle Megan was kneeling over an unconscious Majesty. She shook her and said, "Queen Majesty, wake up!"
Majesty finally started to come to. When she saw Megan she asked, "Ugh, what happened?"
Megan replied, "Do you remember us being visited by Colgate and Lyra?"
Majesty sat up and growled, "Yes I do. I remember Lyra bit you and I remember firing energy at her."
Megan asked, "Do you remember what Colgate did?"
Majesty replied, "Other than her standing like she was going to attack me I don't."
Megan said, "Well she struck you with a large amount of energy and knocked you unconscious. I don't know where she got all that energy from but she is quite powerful."
Majesty got up on all fours and growled, "I'll tell you how. She has to be evil. She has to be a creation of those witches or some other evil force." She glared at Megan and continued, "Now do you believe me that those large eyed ponies are evil."
While Megan normally would never see any pony as evil, after what Colgate and Lyra did, she shed some tears and admitted, "Ok, maybe they are evil."
Majesty felt like she finally got through to her over the nature of ponies such as Colgate and Lyra. It was getting late and she sighed, "Well Megan, it is getting late. Are you going to go home or are you going to stay here?"
Megan replied, "Normally I would go home but something is telling me that I need to stay here and look out for you. I just have a feeling that the blue unicorn is mad at you and may try to come and do something to you."
Majesty growled, "Well if she does, I will be ready for her and she will be sorry. I'll be more alert and attack her first."
After that the two headed to bed. While Majesty was completely confident that she could handle Colgate if she were to break in and attack her in the night, Megan couldn't help but worry about the queen. After seeing Colgate's power, she knew that she was capable of anything.
Many hours had passed before darkness arrived in Dream Valley. Colgate and Lyra began to sneak towards the edge of the forest, towards Dream Castle but noticed that there was still some activity going on. Lyra began to exit the forest when Colgate pulled her back. She whispered, "Lyra, there is still activity going on out there! We have to wait until all is silent to do this."
Lyra replied, "Ok sis. I'm just so excited to go and get my new pet!"
Colgate could only sigh in frustration. While she knew that Lyra would not leave without acquiring Megan and while she did like the idea of taking Majesty home with her, she still would rather be asleep in her own bed. She glared at her younger sister and asked, "Are you completely sure you want to do this?"
Lyra replied, "Of course, I've always wanted a human for a pet!" She gave her sister puppy dog eyes and continued, "Besides, don't you want to punish the pony who fired energy at your precious baby sister?"
Colgate sighed, "Oh fine. Once the time is right, we will do this."
A couple more hours pass and finally all is quiet in Dream Valley. There are no guards outside the palace, all the ponies have turned in for the night and all they can hear are the sounds of crickets. Colgate looked at her sister and said, "Alright, let's do this."
Despite it being dark and no guards present, they would hide behind bushes as they approached the castle. Once they reached the entrance Lyra asked, "Sis, do you think the door will be locked?"
This question really irritated Colgate but she knew that she could not react like she normally would. In a quiet but stern voice she asked, "What do you think? Do you really think that Majesty would just leave her entrance unlocked?" She sighed and continued, "You better be glad I can unlock doors or we would be going home without your human."
Colgate unlocked the door and the two quietly headed in. The two began to wander the halls looking for a staircase as they knew that they would likely be sleeping upstairs. Finally they found the staircase and walked up it. Colgate whispered, "Lyra, what are you going to do if Megan went home?"
Lyra replied, "Well I will be sad but I would still help you in getting Majesty." She began to smile and continued, "If she did go home we would just have to come back later for her later!"
Colgate sternly said, "Look Lyra, once we do this, I am NOT coming back here. I am sick and tired of being judged because of my appearance."
Lyra frowned but could understand Colgate's reasons for not wanting to return. Finally they find a long hallway and begin to walk down it. They hear snoring coming from one of the rooms and decide to investigate it. Lyra got a huge smile on her face as this snoring was much quieter than that of a pony. She had a good feeling that it was Megan. They sneaked in and sure enough, there was Megan sleeping peacefully. Lyra used her magic to uncover her, causing Megan to stir. Lyra grabbed her with her aura, causing her to wake up. "Help! Help! Majesty, help me!"
Colgate shouted, "Alright sis, you have her! Let's get going."
Lyra asked, "What about Majesty?"
Before Colgate could reply Majesty came rushing into the room! She shouted, "It's you two! What are you doing to Megan?"
She fired energy at Lyra causing her to lose her grip on Megan, but only temporarily. Colgate saw this and was enraged that she would fire energy at her sister. The two began to fire energy at one another but despite her best efforts, Majesty could not bring Colgate down. Colgate grabbed Majesty with her aura and slammed her into the wall, knocking her unconscious. Colgate yelled, "Come on Lyra, let's get these two back to Equestria!"
They rushed down the stairs and out of the castle carrying their captives. Megan was screaming for help as loud as she could and this did alert one of the ponies, Twilight. Twilight began to run after them and yelled, "Let them go or you'll be sorry!"
Colgate put her captive down for a moment and fired energy at Twilight, knocking her out cold. She yelled at the unconscious unicorn, "Me be sorry! I THINK NOT!"
She picked up Majesty and to prevent her alerting any other ponies, Colgate stunned Megan as the two galloped towards the cave. Once they were in the cave Colgate again dropped Majesty on the floor and began blasting the ceiling above the entrance until it was blocked. She grabbed Majesty and followed her sister through the portal and back into Equestria. While it was difficult, they teleported past the waterfall and began to rush towards Ponyville. There was only one problem. Like last time Colgate had went to Ponyland, very little time had passed in Equestria so it was still daylight. Colgate yelled, "Damn it Lyra, it's still daylight! How the hay are we going to get them through town without getting noticed?"
Lyra replied, "Well we could just wait here until it gets dark."
Colgate screamed, "Look Lyra, we can't just wait here forever. They aren't going to stay asleep long enough for darkness to arrive."
Lyra suggested, "Well you could always stun them again."
Colgate replied, "Oh you're right, I can do that."
While they waited for sunset and the darkness that would follow, Colgate had to stun both Megan and Majesty two more times. Once darkness arrived and Ponyville was quiet, they began to levitate their captives through the town. They had to be careful how close they came to windows though as both of their horns gave off a lot of light when they used their magic.
Luckily they were able to get the two into their house without being noticed and immediately took them down to their basement. Colgate knew that Majesty would likely try to escape when she woke up so she put a horn cap on her and wrapped her in enchanted chains. Lyra stood over her captive and giggled, "Oooh my precious biped, you are going to love being my pet! I'll feed you every day and take very good care of you."
Given that Colgate had Majesty secured to where she could not escape she couldn't help but laugh, "Well Lyra, you have your human now. I do hope that we don't have to return to Ponyland ever again."
Lyra replied, "Don't worry sis, we won't. The ponies there seem kinda mean anyway."
Colgate asked, "So Lyra, how are you going to secure your captive? I'm sure me stunning her all the time won't be good for her. It could cause brain damage."
This was something that Lyra had never even thought about, she did not think that Megan would try to escape upon capture. She replied, "Well, I don't know sis. I was so excited to get her that I never thought about how I would secure her."
Colgate grabbed some rope and tied Megan up. She said, "Ok Lyra, now you won't have to worry about her escaping but I do think we should sleep down here and keep an eye on these two."
Lyra added, "And once they wake up, we can get to know them better!"
Colgate suggested, "Well Lyra, I think we need to get some sleep. We have had a long day and I don't know about you but I am exhausted and need some sleep."
Lyra replied, "I'm tired too as well. Let's get some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow. I can't wait to get to know my new pet more!"
Finally Lyra had acquired Megan Williams and while she initially did not plan on it, Colgate had Queen Majesty as her captive. While Lyra was happy and was able to quickly fall asleep, Colgate laid there wondering what would happen in Ponyland now that their queen and human are gone. While she knew that she could easily take them out with her stronger magic, she worried about Twilight leading their military to the cave and invading Equestria which would likely lead to a counter attack and the possibility of one of them letting Celestia know that it was her and Lyra who foalnapped them as that could get them in a lot of trouble.
After a few hours of sleep Colgate and Lyra would be woken up as Megan woke up and screamed, "Help, help! Where am I?"
Colgate would be the first to wake and like she always is when she is woken up early or unexpectedly she yelled, "Would you shut up? I'm trying to sleep."
This caused Lyra to wake up and she snapped, "Colgate, DO NOT yell at my pet! She is just scared because she is in a different location."
Colgate turned on the light to see a terrified Megan and a still slumbering Majesty. Colgate nudged her and laughed, "Wow, I must have used a lot more energy on her than I thought."
Megan looked at the two large eyed ponies and yelled, "I didn't want to believe it but now I know you large eyed ponies are evil." She then realized what Lyra said. She asked, "Wait a minute, did you refer to me as your pet?"
Lyra excitedly replied, "Yes! I've always wanted a human for a pet and now I have one! Don't worry, I'll feed you three times a day, walk you every day and take very good care of you!"
Megan then realized she had been tied up. She yelled, "Why am I tied up? Untie me and maybe Majesty won't do too much to you." She thought maybe if she could wake Majesty up she could get them out of this situation. She yelled, "Majesty, wake up!"
Despite Megan's yells, all Majesty did was stir a little. Colgate laughed, "Megan, you simply yelling is not going to wake her up. I don't think you understand how powerful us Equestrian ponies are. When we need to stun an enemy, we stun them for quite some time."
Megan was baffled. The most powerful unicorn she had ever known was Queen Majesty yet here is a pony of non-royal blood that is far more powerful. She asked, "So how are you so powerful?"
Colgate replied, "Practice. When a unicorn practices using his or her magic on a regular basis, said unicorn's power increases. I consistently practice using my magic on more and more difficult tasks so knocking out a unicorn with average power is easy."
Megan yelled, "Majesty is not an ordinary unicorn."
This finally caused Majesty to wake up. She sat up and asked, "Megan, what is wrong?" She then looked around her and discovered that not only was she wrapped in chains and had a horn cap on, but also had two large eyed unicorns surrounding her. She shouted, "Where am I? Why am I wrapped in chains and what is this thing on my horn?"
Lyra laughed, "Oh good, you're awake."
Colgate added, "About the chains, we needed to make sure you couldn't teleport out of here and the thing on your horn is a horn cap. It prevents unicorns from discharging energy like you did towards my sister!"
Majesty began trying to struggle out of the chains yet all it did was tire her. She also tried to remove that cap but all she could do was release a few sparks from the base of her horn. She screamed, "You let us go, now!"
Colgate sneered, "Look, you fired energy at my sister and that is something that I will not tolerate. I have decided that you must be punished and it is something that you Ponyland ponies are likely unfamiliar with."
Before Majesty could do anything Colgate gave her a mild sedative, enough that she wouldn't struggle but not so much that she would become unconscious. Colgate grabbed her with her aura and strapped her in a chair. Colgate grabbed a drill and headed towards Majesty. While Majesty was not coherent enough to notice what her captor was about to do, Megan knew exactly what was going on. She yelled, "Stop it! You're not going to harm Queen....."
She then suddenly realized that her captors had something that the ponies in Ponyland did not have, electrical devices. She asked, "Wait a minute, how do you ponies have stuff like this?"
Lyra began to pet Megan and replied, "We just do. We are much more advanced when it comes to technology than Ponyland ponies are."
Colgate looked at her captive, turned her drill on and laughed, "And now little queen, you shall learn what happens to those who try to harm my sister!"
Colgate pried Majesty's mouth open with her aura and took the drill to her. She began to drill into one of Majesty's teeth. At first this only caused minor discomfort but once Colgate drilled completely through the tooth and hit her jaw, she flung her head to the side and knocked Colgate's drill out of her mouth.
Her screaming in agony caused Megan, despite her being tied up, to lunge towards Colgate but it was all for naught. Lyra placed her hoof on Megan's back and said, "Now Megan, lunging towards my sister isn't going to help Majesty any." She grabbed a glass and filled it with water. She held it up to Megan with her aura and asked, "Despite you being a bad little human, you must be thirsty, do you want a drink?"
Megan refused the water and yelled, "I am thirsty but I can get my own water and would you please stop talking to me like I am a dog?"
Colgate rolled her eyes and said, "Not with your arms tied to your side you can't. Now you know Lyra cares for you very much, she just doesn't want you getting dehydrated."
Megan screamed, "If she cares about me so much why does she have me tied up and why does she want me as her pet?"
Lyra patted Megan on the head and said, "Please Megan, just drink your water. Dehydration is not healthy for you."
Megan finally allowed Lyra to give her her water but still felt degraded by the way that she was being given her water. Majesty was coming to more again and despite having her jaw slightly drilled into, she yelled, "You two stop it! When I get free you'll be sorry! All of you large eyed ponies will be sorry!"
Colgate decided that merely drilling into Majesty's jaw was not enough to get her to behave so she smacked her. She laughed, "With the exception of a couple mindless colts here in town, us large eyed ponies are more powerful than you. Hell there's even a unicorn newborn that can levitate herself so if I were you, I would just behave and do what you are told!"
Megan was glaring at Colgate as Lyra had pulled her close and was stroking her hoof through her hair. Megan yelled, "Colgate, would you get your sister to stop petting me like I'm a dog?"
Colgate laughed, "It isn't my job to do that. How she treats her pet is her business."
Lyra gave Megan a smile and continued, "You must be hungry, I'm going to get you a bowl of oats and some cider."
Megan wrestled herself free from Lyra's hold and yelled, "No, I am not your pet and I don't want anything you would try to feed me!"
Lyra and Colgate both sighed in disgust. Neither one of them had any clue that their captives would be so agitated and hard to deal with yet neither one of them were going to turn them loose. Lyra had her human and was bound and determined to keep her while Colgate decided that she would never release the pony who fired energy at her sister.
Dawn arrived in Dream Valley and all was not well. The rising sun woke the stunned Twilight up. She sat up, shook her head and asked herself, "Ugh, what happened. Why am I laying on this path?"
Twilight did not remember anything about the night before and headed back into the valley. When she arrived other ponies were waking up and she was greeted by Firefly. She could see the dirt in her coat and asked, "Twilight, what happened? Why is your coat so dirty?"
Twilight replied, "I don't know. I woke up this morning and I was laying on this path that heads towards the hills."
Firefly asked, "Wait a minute, the hills? That is where those large eyed ponies claim they are from beyond."
Suddenly everything came back for Twilight. She remembered hearing Majesty and Megan screaming, her chasing them towards the hills and being knocked out cold. Twilight said, "Wait a minute, I remember now. I was going after those ponies that abducted Majesty and Megan."
Firefly shouted, "What, are you saying that they kidnapped them?"
Twilight replied, "Yes, I am. I don't know how they did it but one of them was levitating Megan and the other was levitating Majesty."
Firefly gasped, "They were levitating them? How could they have that much power?"
Twilight replied, "I'm not sure but I have a feeling I know where they went. There is an old legend of a cave in those hills that leads to another world. I am thinking we should try to find the cave that they went through, go to that world and rescue Majesty and Megan."
Firefly clearly was not amused by Twilight's rush plan to do this. She suggested, "Twilight, don't you think we should gather the rest of our friends and do this together? There are a lot of caves and if this cave that goes to another world actually exists, it will take more than just two of us to take on those ponies."
Twilight sighed, "Oh you're right, and chances are if we were to go there we would likely encounter many, many more of those powerful unicorns." She looked back towards Dream Valley and continued, "Well let's get our friends together and do this."
After gathering the rest of their friends they met in Dream Castle. Twilight began to address her friends, Firefly, Surprise, Sparkler, Applejack and Posey. Twilight began, "Ok everyone, as you know Majesty and Megan have been kidnapped by those large eyed ponies that were here a few days ago. Firefly told me that they mentioned something about being from east of those hills."
Sparkler asked, "Why would they kidnap them and what would they want with them?"
Twilight replied, "I'm not sure but I have a feeling that they may not be from east of those hills. I have a feeling that they come from within those hills."
Surprise asked, "From within those hills? How could they live inside the hills?"
Twilight began, "Well I'm not sure if this is true or if it is just an old legend but I have heard about a portal that is located in one of the caves that leads to a different world."
Firefly suggested, "And it is likely that world where those large eyed ponies come from."
Twilight continued, "If that is the case, then we need to be careful. If two normal unicorns from there can knock out Majesty and simply levitate her and Megan home, I really would not want to have a run in with their leader."
Firefly shouted, "Well alright then, let's go teach those large eyed ponies who's boss. Let's go rescue Majesty and Megan."
Firefly was already speeding towards the exit when Twilight yelled, "Wait! We can't just go into this with no plan whatsoever."
While this did irritate Firefly she knew that it was the truth. She sighed, "Oh alright, so what is the plan."
Twilight started, "Well there are many caves in those hills so finding which one it is in may take a while so I think each one of us should explore a different cave on our own. It will take a lot less time that way."
Posey interrupted, "Uhm, I don't think that is such a good idea. I really don't like the idea of going into a cave alone."
Applejack suggested, "You know, that might not be such a bad idea and another thing I would like to know, what is this portal supposed to look like?"
Twilight replied, "If the legends are true, it will appear gray. If you find it, don't go through it. Come and find the rest of us and we will go through it together."
Applejack sighed, "If we're looking in different caves and one pair of us finds it, it could take us forever. We may as well just all explore each cave as a group."
The rest of the ponies confirmed, "Mhmm...."
Twilight replied, "Alright, we'll go and explore each cave together. I have a feeling that it may take us a while to find the right cave but once we do, we can go rescue Majesty and Megan."
Most of her friends began to cheer and were ready to go but Posey shrank back and began to whimper in fear. She asked, "Uhm Twilight, I think it may be best if I stay here while you girls go."
Twilight sternly said, "No Posey. You have to come too. If we arrive there and Majesty sees that you are not there, she may think you don't care about her and you certainly don't want that, do you?"
Applejack added, "And I know Megan would be disappointed. You really need to come with us."
Posey hung her head in defeat and sighed, "Ok, I'll come with you."
The rest of her friends began to cheer and they began to headed out towards the hills. Despite her saying she would go, Posey's friends had to drag her along with them. While it did slow them down, they did arrive at the hills at a decent time and saw many, many caves. Firefly gasped, "Whoa! That's a lot of caves!"
Twilight replied, "Why do you think I initially thought we should explore them in pairs but like Applejack suggested earlier, it would probably be best if we explore them as one big group."
They began to climb the hills and go into the numerous caves. While they were enthusiastic at first, after a couple of hours they began to get very frustrated that they could not find the right cave. Firefly yelled, "Twilight, are you sure we shouldn't just search them in pairs? This is going to take us forever!"
Twilight replied, "Look, Applejack made a good point earlier and if we can't find it today, there is always tomorrow."
Firefly just grunted but as they were walking along the hillside they saw something that didn't look quite right. They saw a pile of rocks but what grabbed their attention was what looked like an opening at the top of the pile. Posey saw this and asked, "Uhm, I know I might be wrong but do you think these rocks might be blocking the entrance to a cave?"
Applejack added, "Perhaps it is blocking the entrance to the cave we need."
Sparkler asked, "Why do you say that?"
Applejack replied, "Because if those ponies are as powerful as Firefly said they were, they would likely blast rocks from the hillside to block the entrance."
Twilight added, "And I'm betting that's what they did. After all, they certainly wouldn't want us following them into their world."
While many Equestrian ponies can easily levitate heavier rocks the same could not be said for Ponyland ponies. Twilight sighed, "While this could be the cave, how are we supposed to move them? I don't know if Sparkler and I have strong enough magic to levitate them."
Sparkler replied, "Well we can always try and if we fail, maybe Surprise and Firefly could lift them."
Twilight sighed, "Well it is worth a shot."
The two unicorns began to try to levitate the rocks. While Sparkler was unable to do so Twilight, despite it taking every ounce of energy she had, was able to start moving the rocks. After an hour she was finally able to get the rocks moved. Twilight was very weary and said, "Come on, let's see if this is the cave we have been looking for."
As they headed into the cave they saw something different about this cave. Ahead of them they saw something gray. Applejack suggested, "You think this might be what we're looking for? You think that gray blob ahead of us is the portal?"
Twilight replied, "Well there's only one way to find out. Let's get going."
With that they walked towards the gray blob and walked through it. They hoped that if it was the portal that they could make this a quick trip but deep down they knew that rescuing Megan and Majesty would be an incredibly difficult task, one that they must complete.
Twilight and her friends had discovered the cave with the legendary portal and decided to go through it. As they went through nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Firefly asked, "Twilight, are you sure that was a portal and not just our eyes playing tricks on us, everything seems to be the same."
While things did seem to be the same suddenly the sound of a waterfall could be heard. Posey asked, "Uhm, do any of you hear a waterfall?"
They listened harder and they indeed hear a waterfall. They headed towards the direction of the sound and soon found themselves at the exit of the cave. They had one problem though, they did not know how they were going to get past it since they can't teleport. Twilight was looking closely and noticed that if they walk just right, they may be able to get out. She said, "Girls, if we walk just right, here along the edge of the hill, we can probably get out."
Her friends nodded and they began to exit the cave. While most of them would have no problem getting out, there would be one that would. As Posey was exiting the cave, she got caught in the falling water. "Help! Somebody help me!"
Firefly sprung to action and despite having a few problems getting her freed from the falling water, she was able to get her free. "Thanks Firefly," said Posey, "you saved my life!"
Firefly replied, "Don't mention it."
The six ponies began to examine their surroundings and quickly noticed that they were in a dense forest, a very dark, dense forest. Something did not seem right about it to them. Twilight asked, "Is it just me or does this forest seem different than the ones in Ponyland?"
Surprise replied, "Yeah, this place seems spooky."
Firefly grunted, "So it's a bit darker than the ones we're used to. We need to get going if we're going to save Majesty and Megan."
Her friends agreed in unison and started their journey through the forest. Applejack asked, "Before we go too far, how are we even supposed to know which direction we're supposed to go?"
Sparkler added, "Yeah, shouldn't there be a path or something?"
Twilight replied, "I doubt it. From the looks of things, it looks like this is an area that ponies almost never venture to. Maybe if we walk far enough, there will be some sort of landmark that will guide us to where we need to go."
As they continued their way south they could hear growling and had this constant feeling that they were being watched. Even Firefly, who puts forth a strong and tough attitude couldn't help but feel unnerved. She asked, "Is it just me or does it seem like we are being watched?"
Posey shrank down and replied, "It does. You don't think we'll get attacked by something do you?"
While most of them were worried about predators watching them, Twilight was more focused on the task at hand. She sternly said, "Look, we might have predators watching us but we can't let that stop us from doing what needs to be done."
They were a bit surprised by Twilight's stern tone of voice but weren't shocked by it. After a couple hours of walking they reached a clearing and breathed a sigh of relief. Posey said, "Thank goodness, I thought we'd never get out of that scary forest."
Applejack commented, "Well I think this might just be a clearing." Her guess was correct when they all looked off to the right and saw a castle in ruins.
Twilight suggested, "Look everyone, an old castle. Maybe we can find some information in there as to how to get to the nearest town."
As they crossed the bridge they couldn't help but be nervous as it was swaying back and forth. Twilight couldn't help but be concerned that all the weight on the bridge could cause it to collapse. She asked, "Surprise, Firefly, could you two fly across? I'm worried that all our weight will cause this thing to collapse."
Firefly and Surprise flied across the bridge while the others safely crossed it. Before them stood an old castle that lay in ruins. Applejack asked, "I wonder what happened here? I wonder why this castle is in this bad of shape?"
Twilight replied, "Perhaps this land was once ruled by monarchs but powerful ponies like those large eyed ones decided that they should take over and overthrew the government. That could explain why this castle lay in ruins and is so isolated."
They entered the castle and were amazed by what they saw. They saw two old banners, one with an Alicorn and the sun and one with an Alicorn and the moon. These images stunned the six, especially Twilight. She continued, "Wait a minute, unicorns with wings? Were there unicorns with wings here at one time?"
Sparkler replied, "I'm betting there were, either that or they were deities that the ponies worshiped."
Before getting too far into the castle they discovered something else amazing, they discovered a massive library. They looked in amazement as this library likely had more books in it than all of Ponyland combined. Surprise gasped, "Wow, that's a lot of books!"
One thing they couldn't help but wonder though was why would such a wealth of information be left in a place that is exposed to the elements. They began to wonder if perhaps the old monarchs were incredibly intelligent yet the power of the other ponies allowed them to take over and abandon the knowledge and revert the country into a more primitive state.
A piece of ceiling fell and nearly hit Posey causing her to suggest, "Uhm, I don't know about you but I think we should probably leave this place. I think the roof is about to cave in."
After a couple more chunks of ceiling nearly fell on them Twilight replied, "Yeah we better get going. We need to find a way out of this forest before nightfall. I have a feeling this place is rather dangerous after dark."
This caused them to head back across the bridge and continue their journey southward. It was not long until they finally found a path. Sparkler said, "Thank goodness! Now maybe we can find our way out of this place and to a town."
Firefly commented, "Well if that is the case, we had better be careful. Chances are it would likely be populated by large eyed, powerful unicorns."
After a couple more hours the forest began to become less dark which lifted the spirits of the ponies, until they heard the same growling they had heard earlier in the day. "There is that growling again," said Applejack "I wonder what it is?"
Soon they heard barking and saw three things that looked ferocious running after them. "Run!" shouted Twilight.
"Bark, bark, bark"
Twilight and her friends were terrified. They had never seen or even heard of such creatures in their lives. As they neared the edge of the forest they heard a voice yell, "Come and get me you goons!"
They saw a figure off to the left that had distracted the creatures that were pursuing them. Soon they heard howling as the creatures were getting hit with rocks but knew that they couldn't stop running and watch what was going on. As they were running towards the light in the distance Firefly yelled, "Wow, whatever that is, they must be brave!"
Firefly's yell would not be wise though as one of the creatures began to run after them again. Sparkler yelled, "Firefly, you just had to get their attention again, now didn't you?"
Firefly grunted and just as they reached the end of the forest, Posey tripped and found one last beast ready to pounce on her. She yelled "Help......"
The sound of splintering wood would stop her in mid-sentence. Something pounced on the creature causing it to fall apart. The figure yelled, "That'll teach yah to go after other ponies!"
While the ponies, especially Posey, were happy that the last creature was destroyed, they were shocked by how it was destroyed and what it was made of. What would shock them most was what stopped it from attacking Posey.
Something had just saved Posey and her friends from timberwolves, something that they did not expect, another pony. "Are y'all alright?" asked the pony.
Posey replied, "Yeah, thanks to you."
The pony looked at the six in shock. While they were ponies like her, they looked different. Their eyes were smaller and they seemed a bit more stocky but that would not stop her from greeting them warmly. "Howdy y'all. My name is Applejack, what are your names?"
Twilight replied, "Well my name is Twilight. The orange earth pony is Applejack, the yellow earth pony is Posey, the white pegasus is Surprise, the pink pegasus is Firefly and the white unicorn is Sparkler."
AJ** looked at her counterpart and asked, "Applejack? Your name is Applejack? You have the same name as me."
Applejack looked at her counterpart and replied, "Wow, and we have somewhat similar cutie marks."
AJ could tell that the ponies she saved were plum tuckered out and wanted to get to know her counterpart more. She said, "Why don't y'all follow me over to Sweet Apple Acres. You look hungry and thirsty."
Applejack replied, "That would be nice. We'd appreciate it."
Applejack led the ponies over to the farm. Once they arrived Applejack looked in amazement at the size of their orchard. While she had a few trees of her own, she had never seen an orchard that large. She asked, "Wow Applejack, how do you pick so many apples? How do you keep them from rotting?"
AJ ran over to a tree, kicked it and caused all the apples to fall off and replied, "Like this! Mah brother and I work hard to make sure none of the apples go bad."
Finally they reached the house and headed in, where they were greeted by Granny Smith, Apple Bloom and Big Mac. AJ continued, "I'd like introduce y'all to the Apple Family. This here is Granny Smith, Apple Bloom and Big MacIntosh."
Apple Bloom immediately rushed up to Applejack and asked, "Wow, you look almost like my sister? Are you related to us?"
Applejack replied, "I don't think so. My friends and I........."
Twilight knew that they could not reveal too much information to these ponies despite them seeming perfectly nice. She asked, "So, how long have you guys lived here?"
Granny replied, "Well when I was just a filly my family was looking for a new place to live and after Princess Celestia saw what a fine seed collector my father was, she told us to come out and settle this land."
Twilight asked, "So who is this Princess Celestia?"
AJ replied, "Y'all aren't from around here are ya?"
Firefly said, "Well no, we're from a distant land."
Applejack wanted to just get some food in her system and was very worried that her friends would wind up telling them about the portal and Ponyland, which could put their nation at risk. She asked, "It's nice to meet all of you but we're hungry and do you think we could have something to eat?"
AJ replied, "Sure!"
While the Apples were not expecting any company that day, especially six guests, they were able to provide enough food and cider for their visitors. They were amazed by the quality of the food, it was beyond anything they had ever tasted before in their lives. Posey asked, "Uhm....how do you make your food so good?"
AJ replied, "Well we do it through a labor of love. We put a lot of hard work into what we do and what really helps is that the soil here is very fertile."
Twilight asked, "So do you guys live out here alone or are there other ponies that live in this area as well."
AJ replied, "Oh, there are plenty of other ponies that live close by. Ah can take y'all to Ponyville and show you around......"
Surprise interrupted, "That sounds like fun!"
AJ replied, "Well let's get going. Ah have friends that would love to meet you." She paused for a minute and continued, "And the shocking thing is, mah friends seem a lot like y'all."
Twilight asked, "Really? How so?"
AJ replied, "Once y'all meet them, y'all will know."
Applejack led her company into Ponyville and the townsponies couldn't help but stare. It wasn't the fact that AJ had so many ponies with her, it was their appearance. Just like how the ponies of Dream Valley would stop and stare at Colgate and Lyra, the citizens of Ponyville couldn't help but notice how different they looked. Posey asked, "Applejack, why is everyone staring at us?"
AJ replied, "They're probably just wondering where y'all are from. They always take a closer look at new ponies."
While they wanted to believe that, Firefly knew that Applejack was just wanting to make them feel better. She had a feeling that they were silently judging them because of their appearance. She muttered to herself, "Well I guess now I know how those large eyed ponies that came to Ponyland felt."
Applejack led them to a huge tree like structure, Twilight's castle. She opened the door and led them into the throne room where they would be met by Twilight and Spike. The two looked in shock at the Ponyland ponies. Twily* asked, "Applejack, who are these pon.......?" She took a close look at them and asked, "What happened to all of you? Why are your eyes so small?"
The very first thing they noticed about Twilight was that she was a winged unicorn, just like those depicted on the banners in The Castle of the Two Sisters. Twilight gasped, "Wait a minute? A winged unicorn?"
Twily replied, "Well technically I am an Alicorn." She could tell that they were likely not from Equestria and decided to find out. She continued, "You're not from around here, are you?"
They all shook their heads no and Twilight replied, "Let's just say that we're from a distant land."
Spike chimed in, "A distant land?"
Twily asked, "What distant land are you from? Could you please tell me more about yourselves, such as your names and what distant land you are from?"
Applejack, who had done most of the talking at Sweet Apple Acres replied, "Well my name is Applejack, the pink unicorn is Twilight, the white unicorn is Sparkler, the yellow earth pony is Posey, the white pegasus is Surprise and the pink pegasus is Firefly."
Firefly snapped, "Why'd you mention my name last? You should have mentioned me first."
Twily rolled her eyes and said, "Does it really matter in what order she mentions you? Now tell me, where are you from? I have traveled to several nations in this world and nopony I have ever met has your appearance."
This caused them to become nervous but before revealing any information they wanted to know her name. Twilight asked, "We gave you our names, what is your name?"
Twily replied, "My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship and the baby dragon with me is my assistant, Spike."
Twilight and her friends were baffled. Not only were they shocked that this land would have a princess with a specific role, they were shocked that she would actually have a dragon as her assistant. Twilight asked, "Assistant? You mean as in like a helper or something?"
Twily replied, "Listen, we can go into all of that later. I am curious as to where you are from and why you are here."
Applejack began, "Well we are from Ponyland, Dream Valley to be exact. We are here because we are certain that two ponies from here abducted Queen Majesty, our monarch and Megan Williams, a human friend of ours and brought them here."
Both AJ and Twily began to snicker, "Ponyland, Dream Valley, Megan Williams, a human? You're joking, right?"
Applejack replied, "We're not joking! Why would you think we're joking?"
Twily replied, "Look, everypony knows that humans, Ponyland and Dream Valley are just old mares' tales and the stuff of comic books." Her voice became more stern as she continued, "Look, I want to know what your real reason is."
Posey said, "Uhm...I don't want to upset you your Majesty but Twilight is telling the truth."
Posey's respectful behavior caused Twily to take a closer look at them. While she thought their claims of where they are from and why they were there seemed far fetched, she saw a lot of her friends in the ponies that stood before her. She replied, "Well I don't believe one word of what you are telling me but I want to know one thing, why are you making these claims?"
Twilight replied, "Well two ponies that look a lot like the ponies here came into Ponyland and abducted Queen Majesty and Megan Williams."
Firefly added, "They went by the names of Colgate and Lyra Heartstrings."
Now this changed Twily's attitude somewhat. She asked, "Seriously, Lyra Heartstrings and Colgate? There are two ponies that live here in Ponyville that go by those names. What did they look like?"
Firefly replied, "Well Colgate was a blue unicorn with blue eyes and had an hourglass cutie mark while Lyra was a mint green unicorn with gold eyes and a harp for a cutie mark."
Spike said, "You know Twilight, they could be telling the truth. They did mention two of our citizens by name and gave accurate descriptions of them." He looked forward and asked, "How did they get there and why were they there?"
Firefly replied, "Well they said something about Lyra wanting to meet Megan since she was a human and seemed to have this obsession with seeing Dream Valley for herself."
Twily asked, "So, how did the six of you get here anyway?"
Twilight replied, "We came here through a portal that is behind a waterfall deep in the dark forest off to the north. I am thinking that is how they crossed over into our world."
Twily sighed, "Well I have never heard about this legendary portal." She looked down at Spike and ordered, "Spike, take a note."
Spike replied, "Okey-dokey."
Twily began,
"Dear Princess Celestia,
There are six ponies down here visiting me claiming that they came here through some portal behind a waterfall in the Everfree Forest. I find their claim rather questionable and they are claiming that two of our subjects went through this alleged portal and abducted two of their citizens. I'm sure they'll go into more detail with you once you get here. I am certain you will know what is going on here.
I await your quick response,
Princess Twilight Sparkle"
Spike sent the note and this shocked the Ponyland ponies. Sparkler gasped, "Wait a minute, he just burned it up? How is this Princess Celestia going to get it?"
Before Twilight could reply, *BELCH!* Celestia's response quickly arrived.
It read,
"Dear Twilight,
I will get there as soon as possible. Do not share any unnecessary information with these ponies.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia"
Twilight saw this and asked, "How did he do that? How was he able to cough up that message?"
Twily replied, "Listen, Princess Celestia told me to not share any more information with any of you. Once she arrives you will learn a lot more about this situation."
Firefly sped towards Twily and yelled, "What? That's it? You're not going to tell us anything else?"
Twily grabbed her with her aura and sternly replied, "No, I will not tell you anything else. Like I said, she will tell you more about this whole situation." She let her go and continued, "And I would advise against speeding towards Celestia. While she is a benevolent and loving princess, she may view it as a threat."
Firefly sighed, "Oh alright."
When they first arrived in Princess Twilight's castle, the six felt fairly relaxed but after what just happened and with a higher up princess coming, they couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. What concerned them more is that perhaps Celestia wouldn't even do anything about Majesty and Megan's abduction. They were secretly worried that she would simply lead them back to the portal and send them home.
Late that afternoon Celestia arrived at Twilight's castle and proceeded to the throne room where she was greeted by Princess Twilight, Applejack and Spike. Celestia asked, "Twilight, where are these ponies you told me about?"
The three stepped aside and Celestia saw the Ponyland ponies. Her jaw dropped open as she knew exactly where they had come from. She muttered to herself, "Oh great, the portal was discovered."
Twily asked, "Celestia, what is wrong?"
Celestia looked at AJ and asked, "Could you keep these six company while I talk to Twilight about this?"
Applejack nodded while Twily and Celestia left the throne room. Twily asked, "I take it this isn't good? I take it they are a danger to us?"
Celestia replied, "They are not a danger to us but something that I have hoped would remain hidden forever has been discovered. I was hoping that portal would never be discovered."
Twily asked, "Portal? They said something about coming here through a portal."
Celestia asked, "Did they say anything about how they discovered this portal or why they came through it?"
Twily replied, "They did but I think it would be best if they told you about this. They would probably be able to tell you everything about what brought them here."
Celestia simply nodded and they headed back into the throne room. While she would not show it, Celestia was a bit nervous as to what brought them to Equestria and was even more nervous about the possibility of citizens of Equestria discovering this portal and crossing through.
Once they returned to the throne room Celestia asked, "Could you six tell me your names and what brought you here?"
Twilight replied, "Well my name is Twilight, the white unicorn is Sparkler, the yellow earth pony is Posey, the orange earth pony is Applejack, the white pegasus is Surprise and the pink pegasus is Firefly."
Celestia said, "Alright but what brought you here?"
While the others seemed a bit intimidated by Celestia's size, Firefly was not. She pointed her hoof towards Twily and AJ and replied, "Well we are pretty sure that a couple of large eyed ponies like these two, two evil ponies abducted our queen and a friend of ours!"
Celestia spread her wings wide and stood tall, causing Firefly to shrink back. She yelled, "How dare you say that about any of my subjects! My subjects are not evil!" Her eyes began to shine white as she continued, "Perhaps it is you who is evil, perhaps it is you who has ill intentions against my subjects."
Firefly was actually a bit scared of Celestia at this point. Twilight realized that perhaps she should take over the conversation given Firefly's standoffish attitude. Twilight said, "I am sorry that Firefly disrespected some of your subjects your Majesty but we did have a couple ponies that resemble the ponies here pay our country a visit a while back. They seemed really close like sisters would but I'm not sure. I do remember them abducting our queen and a human friend of ours."
Celestia asked, "You're kidding, right? A human? You know those things don't really exist don't you?"
Twilight exclaimed, "But they do exist! Megan Williams is a friend of ours that comes across the rainbow bridge which connects our world to the human world."
The more Twilight talked about this, the more Celestia began to think they were merely troublemakers who were trying to cause problems in Equestria so she decided to ask them something that would provide more insight as to why they were there. "Ok, you claim that a couple of my subjects visited your world. What are their names and what did they look like?"
Surprise replied, "Well one was named Colgate and she is a blue unicorn with blue eyes and an hourglass for a cutie mark."
Twilight added, "And the other was a mint green unicorn that goes by the name of Lyra Heartstrings. She has gold eyes and has a lyre for a cutie mark."
Celestia's attitude changed suddenly given that not only did they give her the names of the two visitors but gave her accurate descriptions of them. She bent down to Twily and ordered, "Could you go and get Lyra and Colgate? I want to see their reaction to them."
Twily nodded and raced out the door. Celestia looked at the Ponyland ponies and said, "Very soon we should know what is going on here. Hopefully I can take care of things and IF what you are saying is true, your friends will be returned to you and you can go home."
At Colgate's house things have been going on pretty normally, well normally since they had brought their captives home. In the basement Colgate still had Majesty chained in a chair and Lyra was still having problems getting Megan to eat.
Majesty yelled, "I would like to know who you two work for." She became more angry and screamed, "Let me guess, your government is wanting to take over Ponyland! Well it isn't going to happen!"
Colgate smacked the belligerent queen and laughed, "The government wanting to take over your country? Everypony except for my sister and I believe Ponyland is a myth and chances are even Celestia doesn't know about that portal so you don't have to worry about us wanting Ponyland."
Majesty screamed, "And what is with this 'everypony, anypony' thing. Why do you speak like that?"
Colgate calmly replied, "That is just how we speak here in Equestria."
Megan interrupted, "Yeah and it sounds really weird. I know you are ponies but aren't there any other creatures that live here? Any creatures like me?"
Lyra laughed, "No, nothing like you!" Megan had not ate the oats Lyra got for her so she levitated her oats up to her and continued, "Megan, you haven't ate anything since we brought you here. Please eat, I don't want you to starve."
Megan sighed, "Look, I can't eat with my arms tied to my side like this."
Colgate sternly replied, "We will untie your arms if you promise not to try to harm us in any way and promise not to try and run away."
Megan sighed, "Fine, I won't."
Lyra untied Megan's arms and she began to eat her oats. It wasn't too long after that that they heard pounding on their front door. Colgate ordered, "Lyra, could you go and get that? I have stronger magic so I will stay down here and keep an eye on these two."
Lyra replied, "Yes sis, I'll go get it."
When Lyra headed up stairs she opened the door to find Twilight standing there. Twily asked, "Lyra, can we talk?"
Lyra invited her in and said, "Sure."
Downstairs Megan could hear Colgate talking to another pony and began to yell, "Help! Help! Somebody help us!"
Twilight heard this and asked, "What was that?" Twilight began to head towards the door to the basement but was blocked by Lyra. Lyra growled, "You can't go down there. I invited you in to talk, not to snoop around my house."
Twily pushed Lyra aside and headed down to the basement. She was horrified by what she saw. She saw a human girl with her legs tied together and a white unicorn with a blue mane and tail bound in chains and wearing a horn cap. She shrieked, "What in Equestria?" She looked at Megan first and asked, "Wh-what is that thing?" She then looked at Majesty and asked, "And why in Equestria do you have that unicorn chained in a chair?"
Colgate sighed, "Because she fired energy at Lyra and she had to be punished."
Twily pointed at Megan and asked, "And what is that thing? I've never seen anything like it before?"
Megan yelled, "I am not a THING!"
Lyra cheerfully replied, "She is my pet, Megan Williams! She is a human! I've always wanted a human for a pet and now I have one!"
Twily gathered herself together and said, "Oh no-no-no! This is bad, this is very bad! I guess those ponies in my castle weren't lying after all."
Colgate asked, "What ponies?"
Twily replied, "You'll find out soon enough." She looked outside and noticed that while the sun had set, there was still a bit of light. She continued, "Once it gets completely dark, all of us are going to my castle."
Megan's eyes lit up and she asked, "Really? Are you going to free us and help us get home?"
Lyra yelled, "NO! You are not taking my pet away from me! You have no idea what I had to go through to get her."
Twily ordered, "Colgate, unchain and free that unicorn from that chair and Lyra, untie your 'pet', once it is completely dark we're leaving."
While they were grateful that the purple pony had found out what was going on, they were curious as to who she was. Majesty asked, "I mean no disrespect, but who are you?"
Twily replied, "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, the princess of friendship."
Megan asked, "Are you going to punish these two for doing this to us?"
Twily replied, "Well I'll see what Princess Celestia wants to do. She is the leader of Equestria."
While Colgate and Lyra both wanted to stun Twilight and take her captive as well, they knew that if they did that eventually Celestia would come searching for her and maybe find them so reluctantly they freed their captives. The two were both happy that they were no longer bound but were a bit nervous as to what the purple Alicorn had in store for them and wondered what kind of pony Princess Celestia is.
Finally darkness had descended upon Ponyville. Twily headed upstairs and peeked out the door to see that all was quiet and nopony was out and about. She headed back down to the basement and said, "Alright, it is dark and nopony is out and about. Let's get going."
Lyra once again screamed, "No Twilight, you are not taking my pet away from me! I love her and she will have a safe home with me."
Megan yelled, "I will not! You will just treat me like a dog and never let me see the light of day."
Twily yelled, "Would you two be quiet. We can't have anypony hearing us."
The five headed towards the castle under the cover of darkness. Inside Celestia, AJ, Spike and the Ponyland ponies were wondering what was taking so long. Just as Celestia was getting ready to send AJ out to see what was taking so long Twily came through the door with Colgate, Lyra and their captives. Celestia saw Megan and screamed, "Aaaahhh! What is that thing?"
Megan yelled, "Would everyone stop calling me a thing, I am a human!"
Celestia gasped, "Wait a minute? They're real? How could they be real?"
The Ponyland ponies were ecstatic to see their friends. Twilight yelled, "Queen Majesty, Megan, I am so happy to see you!"
The two ran to their friends and they embraced. Celestia glared at Colgate and Lyra and asked, "Could you two explain this? Could you tell me why you two brought them here?"
Colgate asked, "How did you know we brought them here?" She scowled at Twilight, pointed her hoof at her and sneered, "Let me guess, they told you that we foalnapped them and brought them here?"
Majesty yelled, "Well that's what you did!"
Celestia could tell that this was going to turn into a shouting match between the two so she decided that things needed to be discussed in a more orderly manner. She first wanted to know how Colgate knew about the portal. She asked, "Colgate, I want to know something. How did you get to Ponyland to start with?"
Colgate began, "Well a bit over a month ago I needed some solitude so I decided to take a stroll in the Everfree Forest. After walking a ways I decided to rest for a bit in your old castle and I discovered a hidden chamber where I found a book on old legends."
Celestia interrupted, "Let me guess, you just had to see what was in it. You got it in your head that you would find an old legend, go and disprove it, bring the book to me and tell me that it was nothing but hogwash."
Colgate replied, "You know me too well your Majesty."
Celestia ordered, "Please continue."
Colgate continued, "Well I found the legend of this portal so I looked at the map that was with it and set out to disprove the legend. I headed to the darkest part of the forest where the waterfall is and teleported myself into the cave behind it. I saw a gray vortex so I decided to go through it. When I went through it I discovered what looked like at first the back of the cave but it turned out to be a pile of rocks blocking something so I blasted those rocks away and found myself in a different land."
Celestia interrupted, "That was not a different land Colgate, that was a different time."
Everypony gasped, "What? A different time?"
Celestia knew that with her saying that that she had to reveal what she had hoped to keep hidden forever. She replied, "Yes a different time. That is no portal to a different land in a different time, it is a time portal to THIS land from long, long ago."
Surprise interrupted, "Wait a minute, we're in the future!"
Majesty asked, "How far in the future?"
Celestia replied, "Many thousands of years in the future. I remember when my sister and I first came to this land it lay mostly in ruins and was shrouded in darkness. There were a few ponies, some that look like you and some that look like my subjects, but not many. Eventually all the small eyed ponies disappeared and it was just us Equestrian ponies that remained."
Majesty began to tear up, "You mean to tell me that Ponyland will one day be destroyed? That one day it will fall?"
Celestia replied, "Yes it will. To who or to what I am not sure."
Twily interrupted, "Princess Celestia, are you sure you should be giving them this information? What if it causes them to do something to alter their future and in the process, cause us and Equestria to never even exist?"
Celestia bent down and whispered, "Don't worry. I have a spell that before they go through the portal I will erase all of this from their memories."
Twily nervously nodded and Celestia stood back up. She continued, "Well now that that is out of the way," She looked at Colgate and continued, "How about you tell us more of what happened."
Colgate continued, "Well once I blasted all those rocks away I stepped out into what we all now know is the past, Ponyland. I decided to look around and I got curious. I wanted to know if what is in Lyra's comic books actually existed."
Celestia sighed, "And of course you discovered they did. Then what?"
Colgate continued, "Well I came back home and told Lyra about this and of course she was excited and begged me to take her there."
Lyra interrupted, "While it took her a while she eventually did take me there and that is when I got my pet and Colgate brought Majesty back here to punish her for firing energy at me!"
Majesty yelled, "Well she deserved it! She BIT Megan for scratching her behind her ears!"
Celestia's eyes began to glow white and she yelled, "What, you fired energy at Lyra? How dare you try to harm my subjects!"
Megan interrupted, "Put yourself in her shoes your Majesty, if a couple of Ponyland ponies came into your country and bit someone you hold dear, wouldn't you fire energy at them?"
Celestia replied, "No. I would just grab them with my energy and hold them in place."
Suddenly what Majesty truly feared looked like it might come to pass. The revelation that she fired energy at one of her captors had now been released and it was obvious that Celestia did not take kindly to her trying to harm one of her subjects. She asked, "Your Majesty, so what is going to happen now?"
Celestia replied, "I want to hear the rest of their story then I will decide." She glared at Lyra and asked, "Since you seem so enthusiastic about telling me what happened next, could you continue?"
Lyra replied, "Of course! Well when Megan scratched behind my ears it hurt so I bit her. We teleported out of the castle but I decided that I wanted her as a pet. We waited in the forest until nightfall, broke into the castle and I grabbed Megan with my magic and began to levitate her out of there."
Celestia asked, "What about Majesty? What caused you to bring her here?"
Colgate replied, "Well at first I didn't want to. I didn't even want to go after Megan but I eventually realized that Lyra was not going to come home without her so I helped her get her. I decided that since Majesty fired energy at Lyra, that she needed to be punished so I stunned her and we brought them back home. Once we got home I wrapped Majesty in enchanted chains and put a horn cap on her while Lyra tied up Megan so she couldn't run away."
Majesty yelled, "And that horn cap is still on me! Could one of you remove it?"
Celestia sternly replied, "Not yet. You have a history of firing energy at Equestrian ponies and with your attitude, I don't completely trust you. I will make Colgate remove the cap right before you go through the portal."
Majesty asked, "Why does Colgate have to be the one to remove it? Why can't you remove it?"
Celestia replied, "Because horn caps are often enchanted by the unicorn that uses them. Only her magic can remove it."
Majesty sighed, "Ok, but you better make her remove it before we go home!"
Celestia rolled her eyes as she was not impressed with Majesty trying to order her around but at this point she didn't feel like arguing with her. She just wanted to get the rest out of Colgate and Lyra so she could get Majesty and her friends back home. She asked, "Colgate, Lyra, could one of you tell me what happened after that?"
Lyra replied, "Well after we got them secured we pretty much just kept them secured although getting Megan to eat and drink was kind of difficult."
Meghan yelled, "You were trying to make me eat like a dog! Do you know how degrading that was?"
Celestia interrupted, "And then obviously Twilight saw that you two had them held captive in your basement."
Twily replied, "Yes your Majesty, that is true."
Celestia continued, "And now here we are in this situation." She glared at Colgate and Lyra and said "And I'm not even sure what to think about this. I do know one thing though, once these eight have returned back to their time, I will drain that portal of all it's energy so you two can not risk destroying the time continuum and preventing Equestria from ever existing."
Lyra sniffled, "Those eight? Does this mean I won't get to keep my pet?"
Megan yelled "I AM NOT YOUR PET!"
Celestia replied, "No, you can not keep her."
Majesty asked, "Celestia....."
Celestia interrupted, "That is your Majesty to you."
Majesty continued, "Ok your Majesty. So are you going to have them go through with us so we can properly punish them. Kidnapping me and Megan are serious crimes in Ponyland. They need to pay for their crimes."
Celestia replied, "No, they will not be going with you. Them going to your time once put the whole time continuum in great jeopardy and them returning could destroy it and cause Equestria to never come to be......." Celestia laughed a bit and continued, "Besides, they're more powerful than any of you are and could probably overthrow you if they wanted to so if I were you, I would just let things be."
Majesty asked, "You are going to punish them aren't you?"
Celestia replied, "Well I was until I discovered that you fired energy at them. I think making sure Lyra never sees Megan again will be punishment enough."
Firefly had been quietly watching all of this but simply couldn't stand the fact that they would get away with this. She yelled, "So you're just going to let these two go without any kind of punishment? You're going to let them get away with nearly destroying everything and kidnapping our queen and our friend?"
While Celestia was not thrilled that Firefly was yelling at her she did not feel like arguing. She replied, "Come on everypony, let's get these eight home." She looked at Colgate and continued, "Colgate, I want you and Lyra to come with me. After all Colgate, you do have to remove that horn cap from Majesty."
Twily asked, "What about me?"
Celestia replied, "Just stay here."
Celestia led Megan, her friends, Lyra and Colgate out of the castle and into the Everfree Forest to finally take care of this. While Colgate was happy that this would all be over soon and both were happy that they would not be punished, Lyra did feel sad that she would not get to keep her human that she had worked so hard to get.
After gathering all the information she needed, Celestia led Colgate, Lyra, Megan and the Ponyland ponies into the Everfree Forest and towards the portal. They could hear the growling and howling of the timberwolves yet they knew not to approach the group. They knew not to approach Celestia as unlike with the energy of regular unicorns or other methods of destruction, that they could not be reborn after suffering a blast of energy from her.
Several hours pass and they finally reach the darkest part of the forest, the place where the waterfall lies. Celestia looked at those from Ponyland, pointed her wing towards it and said, "Well, the time has come for all of you to return to your homeland."
Majesty asked, "So now will you force Colgate to remove this horn cap?"
Celestia replied, "Not yet, not until right before I cast a necessary spell before you go home."
Megan asked, "A spell? You are going to cast a spell on us before we go back through the portal?"
Celestia replied, "Yes, I am. I must cast a spell to erase the memories of this place, all of us and any other events that have taken place here. If those are allowed to remain, you may reveal information that could alter the future from your end and cause this timeline to never arrive."
Colgate added, "Long story short, she can not allow you to prevent us from ever existing."
This caused them to sigh in frustration as they did not like the idea of having part of their lives wiped out from their memories but it was Megan who was the most opposed to it. She asked, "Must you do that to all of us. Given that I live across the rainbow bridge on earth, can't you let me keep my memories of this place?"
Celestia replied, "No I can not. The risks are simply too high and the fact that you will be passing through Ponyland on your way home, you may say something and endanger altering the future from that point."
To make things easier Celestia teleported everyone into the cave where they saw the portal. Celestia knew that for the memory erasing spell to truly work, that they would have to be facing the portal, facing away from her, Colgate and Lyra. She said, "Alright, I need you all to face the portal." She looked at Colgate and ordered, "Colgate, now you must remove that horn cap."
Colgate sighed, "Oh alright" as she reluctantly removed the cap.
Majesty grunted, "Well it's about time. Ponyland would have been in grave danger had she not removed that cap, it could have caused it's demise sooner and ruined that continuum you are so concerned about which would have caused you to never come to be."
Celestia replied, "That is right. Now all of you must face the portal."
They all faced the portal as Celestia held them in her aura. She spoke,
"While having memories can be great, In some instances they can create hate. When this is the case, In the mind it has no place. For now the events of recent must be put away, As we can not allow the fabric of time to fray."
As soon as she finished the spell she levitated the eight through the portal. She yelled, "Colgate, Lyra, look away. Destroying this portal will create a blinding flash of light."
The two turned their backs to Celestia as she fired energy at the portal. She began to glow brighter than a thousand suns as she began to drain the portal's energy. As it became weaker it began to shine brighter and brighter until it disappeared entirely. On both sides a huge explosion rocked the earth. On the Equestrian side, it threw Celestia, Lyra and Colgate out past the waterfall into the river that it feeds. On the Ponyland side it threw Megan and her friends out of the cave and as it had been before, a rock slide caused the side of the hill to collapse, blocking the cave's entrance. While nopony on either side was injured, one thing was for sure. The portal between Ponyland and Equestria was gone forever.
As they peaked their heads above the water, Colgate asked, "Your Majesty, I'm curious, what caused that portal to form in the first place."
Celestia replied, "You know, I'm not entirely sure. If they remember anything at all about the portal on the other side, I'm sure Majesty would blame Tirek or some other evil force. I think it simply existed as some sort of strange anomaly."
Lyra's ears perked up and asked, "Do you think there are any other portals to Ponyland?"
Celestia glared at her and replied, "I doubt it."
Colgate growled, "And even if there are, I want no part of it. I will not search for it, I will avoid it like the plague and I do not want you going looking for it either. Doing so could destroy us."
Lyra asked, "What if it were to lead to the future from here, a future after Equestria?"
Celestia gave her the deepest scowl she had ever given anypony in her life and growled, "Lyra Heartstrings, that will not be the case because my sister nor myself will allow that to happen. As long as we are alive, which will be forever, Equestria will not fall."
Colgate asked, "So what is going to happen now?"
Celestia replied, "Well I am going to cast a spell around the old castle that will put a force field around it that only Luna, Cadence, Twilight and her friends and myself can penetrate. Nopony else will be able to."
Lyra asked, "Why?"
Celestia replied, "Because Colgate has proven that access to the information in there can not just be given to anypony....." Celestia paused for a moment and continued, "Perhaps instead of putting a force field around the castle, I should finally relocate those books from the old castle to the royal library in Canterlot."
Lyra asked, "But then won't ponies be able to go in and read them?"
Celestia replied, "No they would not because I plan on placing them in an area that nopony except for my sister and myself will have access to."
Colgate asked, "Not even Cadence or Twilight?"
Celestia replied, "No. After this I have decided that only natural born Alicorns can safely have access to all this information." She pointed her wing back towards Ponyville and continued, "Let's get going. I am hungry and I'm sure you two are as well."
While Celestia would never tell anypony else about this, there were several other portals that connected Equestria and Ponyland, portals that she decided must be destroyed. Over the next two weeks she headed to these portals and destroyed them, ensuring that Equestria could never be destroyed before it could even come into existence.
In Ponyland Megan and the ponies hit the ground hard when the explosion from the destruction of the portal threw them out of the cave. As the hill began to collapse Megan yelled, "Run! The hill is collapsing!"
They quickly got up and ran away from the collapsing hillside. While they knew what was going on, they had no clue as to why they were by that hill to start with. Posey asked, "Uhm, I'm not sure about any of you but why are we here with that hill collapsing?"
They all shrugged their shoulders as Twilight replied, "I'm not sure Posey. I don't even know why we were here to start with."
Besides her erasing their memories of Equestria and all that happened there, Celestia also erased all memories of Colgate and Lyra from their minds entirely. Megan said, "Well I don't know why we are here but think we should get going?"
They all nodded and headed back to Dream Castle where they were met by the guards. They bowed to Majesty and asked, "My Queen, it is so good to see that you and your friends are alive. We were worried about you."
Majesty asked, "Why would you be worried about me? It's not like I went on some dangerous journey."
The guard was puzzled by her statement. He asked, "But Majesty, you and Megan were kidnapped by those large eyed ponies! They took you off to who knows where!"
All eight of them burst into laughter. Majesty laughed, "Large eyed ponies? That is a good one."
Twilight added, "Come on, you know there aren't any large eyed ponies."
The other guard asked, "You don't remember that?"
A third guard asked, "How could you not remember that? Did they put some sort of spell on you to make you forget what happened to you?"
Majesty continued to laugh, "You know, perhaps you three have been working too hard and need some rest and relaxation. Tell you what, take a few days off. I don't want my guards being delusional and being unable to protect Dream Castle."
The three nodded and departed for home. Megan asked Majesty, "Why do you think they seemed so adamant that large eyed ponies actually exist and even if they did, how would they be able to take us to their world?"
Majesty replied, "Like I said, I think they are simply overworked and needed some time off." She paused for a minute and continued, "Megan, you've been over here for quite a while now. Don't you think you better get home? Don't you think your family might be worried about you?"
Megan replied, "Yeah, I probably better get home."
While the ponies were certain that the guards' claims of large eyed ponies were nothing but delusional nonsense, Megan, despite agreeing that they did not exist, couldn't help but wonder if their claims were legitimate. She reached the rainbow bridge and crossed over back to earth. Suddenly it hit her. She gasped, "The guards were right! Those large eyed ponies do exist, Equestria exists, that portal was real, that huge winged unicorn was real!"
While Megan wanted to reveal all of this to Majesty and the other ponies the next time she went to Ponyland, she decided against it. She did not want Majesty to react to her the way she reacted to the guards and while she would never admit it, she did not want to alter things that would stretch well beyond her lifetime and prevent an entirely new world to come into existence.
