"My little pony?" A mother's caring tone called from the endless void.
Heterochromatic eyes snapped open to blinding white light. This area, cold and empty. Everything a horrid white color that assaulted the senses, yet dead silence remained unbroken. With weakened white hooves the mysterious mare lifted to a standing position.
"Ah, you're able to stand!" A soothing voice spoke from nowhere in particular.
"..." The odd pony scrunched her muzzle confused.
"It's rude not to say hello." The voice scorned in a gentle manner.
"..." With a shake of her multicolored mane of orange and blue, the pony let a sneeze escape her nostrils.
"Bless you." The voice replied quite swiftly.
"..." The mare would only yawn.
"Do you know where you are?" The voice suddenly jumped upward, echoing from a black door high on a second level to this odd room.
"..." The mare parted her muzzle to speak, hoof lifted at her side proudly.
Yet she decided to just shrug instead.
She had no idea what this place was?
Or who she was?
Or why she was listening to a voice?
"You're at Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns!" The voice reappeared closer to her right.
The mare pointed to herself truly befuddled.
What was school? It sounded quite dangerous.
"You dear are a unicorn." This voice spoke slowly as if to drag a point across.
The mare let her eyes widen shocked.
"You're also gifted, imagine that!" The voice swung back to the level above.
The mare felt herself in a panic. Her chest heaved as fear began to set in, these traits sounded full of mischief and malicious intentions. With her mind ablaze of an intimate demise, she felt a surge of power explode out of an odd protrusion from her forehead.
A swirl of neon blue magic splashed against the blank canvas of the wall ahead.
"Yes, go on." The voice spoke with far more interest.
The mare swallowed a massive lump caught in her throat. Walking towards the swirl she caressed a delicate hoof over the surface, it was cold and unwelcoming. Mind adrift with thoughts of pleasant warmth, she lifted her head towards the second level.
An orange glow of magic firing off with a static crackle.
To her amazement, the shot landed right beside the door.
"Good girl!" The voice oddly enough sounded near.
The mare turned to face the blue swirl once more, yet instead of vast nothingness, she could see the upper level. This was indeed curious, if not a plausible thing to witness. So as any curious creature would do, she plunged her head through the portal.
With a stunned gaze of amazement, the mare found herself up quite high. A headless pony down below pressed creepily up against a glowing oval. In fact, that corpse seemed familiar, if she were honest it was herself!
The mare jumped forward astonished. Her body soon toppled onto the cold floor with a thud, her head lifted with muzzle lowered in awe.
"It's called a Portal Spell." The voice spoke as the door swooshed open.
"It's the only spell you know, it's what makes you gifted." The voice giggled before going silent.
The little pony lifted up to her feet. She was unsure how gifted one could be, yet decided to follow the mysterious voice deeper. This odd blank room had become boring, perhaps the next area would have some other unicorns.
Maybe even a friend.
The light of the next area was just as sickeningly white, in fact possibly even brighter. The mare had to squint her colorful eyes to prevent a headache. This new room was claustrophobically cramped, just tiny enough for herself and maybe another.
But they wouldn't dare to add a third.
The door a few steps ahead.
She figured it was already time to leave, with a joyous canter she dashed muzzle first into the solid surface hard. The mare collapsed on her flank, her muzzle sore and a bright red.
"You can only leave after testing." The voice spoke politely.
"..." The mare rubbed her nose with a huff.
"You see dear, at this school we test for Princesses!" The voice sounded far more excited.
She had no idea what a princess could be, but it sounded delicious.
"This school was created to find certain attributes in ponies, qualities that would allow for ascension to a higher purpose." The voice danced around every corner of the room at a frightening pace.
The mare pointed to herself.
"Perhaps." The voice cooed.
With an odd sense of hollow accomplishment, the mare waited for the next test to begin.
"Hello." A polite soft-spoken voice appeared.
The mare turned around just as the floor opened up, a sleek white mare lifted into view from the abyss. She had no mane or a tail, she seemed shiny just like the room with no coat over her frame.
Two oversized red eyes glowed lifelessly staring at nothing in particular.
The mare gave a wave of her hoof.
"Hello." The odd thing spoke once more.
"..." The mare snorted aloud.
"Hello." It continued to rattle on aimlessly.
"This will be Princess Test .01." The voice became serious, a bright red apple suddenly fell from the ceiling and into living hooves.
The mare was in awe of such a lovely red fruit. In fact, she wanted a nibble, dare even a large juicy bite?
"In this test, you've eaten several apples yet your friend has had none. ~ What will you do with this last apple?" The voice asked a question curiously.
"Please be advised that these are replica apples crafted from diamonds. ~ Genuine apples went extinct during the Fruit Wars of bzzzt…" The voice seemed to malfunction before going silent.
The mare left to sit alone with her thoughts, an apple diamond wedge between her jaws. The taste was pretty bland anyway, far too tough to eat if she were honest. Spitting out the slobber covered jewel, she offered the faux fruit to her companion.
"Thank you." It snatched the apple ravenously away, quick to power down afterward.
"Very good! ~ We share what we have, with our friends!" The voice screamed out of the deafening silence, the mare nearly shocked out of her coat.
"As an added bonus, I came across what could possibly be the last apple in existence outside." She teased playfully from above.
The mare lifted a hoof to her open mouth, stomach churned with painful hunger pangs.
"Yes, if you can say Apple. ~ I'll gladly give it to you." The voice sounded more reassuring.
The mare could feel her ears perk up high. Tail lifted upward as she could taste the bitter fruit now, with a sense of pride she performed a backflip.
"Say Apple." The voice asked once more.
The mare pinned ears back in deep thought, suddenly everything became clear.
With even more pride, she performed a fantastic front flip.
"Next area please." The voice quickly vanished annoyed.
The door ahead suddenly opened with a loud swoosh.
When one is forced to walk down a bleak dark hallway, she is given precious nanoseconds to contemplate her life. The sound of leaking pipes, a creak of the foundation, or the fleeting scent of something sweet.
These sensations would craft a vision.
The flash of turquoise light, the feeling of being frozen in time.
Asleep but still conscious in an endless loop of emptiness.
The silhouette of a metallic tube, enough to fill her soul with dread.
Out of nowhere, she plummeted off a platform to the sterile floor below. The thud of her fragile frame echoed across another blinding room, her hooves sore with a sharp stab of pain.
"My apologies, I hadn't completed the staircase to this room." The voice gave a delicate sigh.
Near instantly a staircase lifted from the floor to the platform.
The mare flashed a quizzical glance towards the ceiling, at least this rude little voice apologized. She lifted up to her hooves, shaking off the numb pain from her body swiftly. What test could be awaiting her?
"Before we begin, I guess you'd like to know your name?" The voice asked as if awaiting a reply.
"..." The mare yawned with a sense of purpose.
"I have you cataloged as Student #1498." The voice sounded as if she read info off a clipboard.
"..." The mare shrugged half-heartedly, it was a fine name she supposed.
Though #314 would have been truly beautiful.
A fluorescent sign flickered to life on the nearby wall.
Portal Test .01.
"I must leave you to complete this test alone." The voice trailed off.
"But first a surprise." A sudden jolt of red magic shot down from above, the mare struck by it with a loud clack.
"Surprise!" She giggled.
"Focus on anything you'd like to see shift away, I think you'll find it quite moving." The voice abruptly vanished.
The mare glanced around the nearly empty room with curiosity. Her hooves clicked across the sleek metallic floor, an oversized red button bulged from the center of the room. Placing her hooves atop it a click could be heard, the door to her right powering on as it opened.
Smacking her lips she spotted a translucent tube near the door. Cantering over she tapped it, a large silver box suddenly plopped down with a thud. Focusing on the odd box she watched it levitate upward coated in multicolored magic, her eyes slow to guide the object towards the button.
With a dull thud, she dropped the box upon the red surface.
The door flung open as a hue of white magic covered the exit.
"Congratulations! ~ Please go to the next testing area." The voice urged the pony forward.
The mare curiously stepped in front of the odd barrier, her hoof extended out to touch it.
"Don't be afraid this is merely a Vaporization Barrier, to prevent naughty students from carrying objects out of other testing areas. ~ Such objects as our patented Counterweight Cubes." The voice spoke in a very informal tone.
"I assure you it's adequately safe." The voice coldly explained.
The mare nodded, cantering through the mist like barrier with ease.
"On a side note, The Vaporization Barrier has been known to vaporize parts of students on rare occasions. ~ Such as horns, eyeballs, tongues, and complete skeletal structures." The voice added flippantly within the next room.
The mare scrunched her muzzle annoyed by the delayed information.
Portal Test .02.
"Please note that portals can only be applied to Magic Conductive surfaces." The voice added with a playful tune.
The mare noticed this room was devoid of the sickening white color, instead it was a musky dull grey covered by orange rust. An icy chill covered the tiny space, full of uncertainty.
One simple square of white on the wall, directly across atop a high platform stood the door.
Another square sat on the ceiling to her left corner, one last square directly below it.
The mare thought this test was actually intriguing, her horn set ablaze to fire a blue portal on the wall. With a triumphant snort, she flung an orange portal to the ceiling, now it was time to fly.
A sensation she assumed would feel romantic.
Galloping through the blue portal, she plummeted out of the orange at a dangerous speed. With closed eyes she quickly shot another orange portal to the floor, soon flying at top speed through the blue and crashing into the exit door.
The mare rolled over on the floor, her body wracked with pain.
Yet her heart overflowed with excitement.
"Hmm, that could've been completed with more grace. ~ But I suppose nopony is perfect, please drag yourself to the next test." The voice snorted unamused.
The mare grinned sore but not discouraged.
"Since you seem to enjoy falling from vast heights, complete this next test for another gift. ~ Gifts are objects given to those we love, or in some cases to pay off those we despise...but more on that another time." The voice spoke in a quirky melody.
Princess Test .02.
Another odd metallic pony trapped dead center in the room.
Her hoof wedged under a massive marble boulder, this room back to being distractingly white.
"Hello." The pony spoke with zero emotion.
"..." The mare sighed in reply.
"Your friend's hoof is trapped under a boulder. ~ Do you go get help, or…" The voice began to rattle along.
The mare fired a blue portal under the boulder, quick to add an orange off to the corner wall. The boulder suddenly rolled out of sight, and out of mind.
"Oh, well that was surprisingly inventive of you! ~ Ahem, carry on… I suppose?" The voice sounded slightly annoyed by the outcome.
The mare smiled full of smug satisfaction. Quick to canter towards the exit, the bot lifted her hoof to wave goodbye.
"Thank you." It spoke gratefully as the mare vanished.
The floor under the boulder lifted suddenly upward, the massive object tossed directly atop the bot with a loud crunch.
"I forgive you." She groaned softly, eyes powering down for good.
Derpy Hooves promptly made her way down the twisted hallways of Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns. Which in her opinion was something of a lie, this location hadn't been a real school for a long while now.
In fact, she felt it was more along the lines of a Testing Facility, the students simply an easy source of labor for more detailed experiments taking place. Celestia believed that her mentor Starswirl had found a power source hidden within various elements of the pony soul.
What type of power?
Uncertain.
Could it be harnessed?
Uncertain.
Starswirl also believed that a common Portal Spell could be used to transverse dimensions if wielded by a pony of vast hidden strength.
Celestia believed many things, no matter how many failures compiled over the years.
She trusted her mentor would succeed in the end.
Even as the school plummeted into uncontrollable debt.
The young pegasus finally arrived at the main office elevator. Her once neat blonde mane a frazzled mess of tangles, white blouse stained by coffee and red skirt crumpled towards the hem. She wasn't feeling absolutely the best, but as a personal secretary to the solar princess, she was expected to persevere.
A soft click echoed from her right, Miss Yearling, Luna's personal secretary had called forth the elevator. She had her long raven mane in an elegant bun, serious eyes hidden behind crimson glasses.
Her violet blouse pure perfection, black pencil skirt untouched by the chaos of the day.
How she kept herself so collected was a true mystery, it was barely even noon and Derpy felt as if she were about to collapse.
"Hello, usually you're night shift?" Derpy cleared her throat nervously.
"Hmm?" Yearling quirked a brow.
"I'm Celestia's personal secretary." Derpy felt her weak eye wander slightly.
"That's nice." The door opened as both pegasi climbed inside.
"Must be quite important if you're called during the day shift." Derpy watched the door close.
"I work both shifts, a complete seventy-two-hour workday." Yearling sighed as if struggling to make small talk.
Derpy scrunched her muzzle, she only worked a ten-hour day.
"How's Luna anyway?" Derpy quipped.
"Not at liberty to say." Yearling sighed.
"Oh, any important projects?" Derpy coughed, this elevator ride excruciatingly long.
"I'm not at liberty to say." Yearling puffed out her cheeks.
"Taste the new coffee in the break room?" Derpy began to sweat nervously.
"I'm not at liberty to say." Yearling sighed in relief, as the elevator door finally opened.
Both sisters were sat at a large oval-shaped table, dozens of various files spread over the surface in a sea of controlled chaos. Yearling galloped over to Luna's side with a professional smile and courteous bow. Derpy attempted the same, only to trip on her skirt and topple to the floor under Celestia.
"Ma'am, the excavation of the Stasis Ore has hit a snag." Yearling spoke through pursed lips.
"What kind of snag?" Luna placed a hoof on her cheek curiously.
"Deadly." Yearling bit her lower lip a tad worried.
"Send some mercenaries or something." Luna groaned at the news of further halted progress.
"Stasis Ore!?" Celestia frowned towards her little sister in disapproval.
"Indeed sister. ~ It's quite the valuable ore at the moment." Luna replied in a cold emotionless tune.
"Also highly toxic! ~ With dozens of unknown side effects!!" Celestia's hoof slammed the table hard, earning a yelp from Derpy who had lifted off the floor in a daze.
"They're my men! ~ I'll pursue whatever projects I so desire!!" Luna snapped with a roll of her translucent blue eyes.
"Hmm, what's the status of my top student?" Celestia turned her attention towards the frightened pegasus at her side.
"Midnight is still stuck on Test.18," Derpy whispered as a large lump formed in her throat.
"Midnight? ~ I hate that dumb nickname!" Celestia grumbled under her breath annoyed.
"Um, she prefers to be called by it." Derpy giggled out of fear.
"Well, I don't! ~ Her name is Twilight, I demand she is called by…" Celestia heard her sister giggle from across the table.
Luna flaunted a hoof in a mocking manner. "18? ~ Isn't that the cake one?" She burst into a loud chortle once more. Celestia could feel her cheeks burn a bright red in embarrassment, her students had fallen behind across all subjects.
"Derpy, tell that moron to solve the test! ~ Or she'll spend a week in the isolation chamber!!" Celestia glared daggers to her secretary, the pegasus frantic to nod in agreement.
"These tests are futile." Luna's gaze locked upon her sister.
"They just need more time." Celestia huffed in reply.
"Ever since the technological boom led by Cadance, the world has begun to advance at a wonderous pace!" Luna let her gaze fall to the table below, her hoof lifted to dismiss her secretary.
"Quality of life comforts!" Celestia snorted with a melodic laugh, her hoof dismissing Derpy just the same.
"No longer just comfort, it's pushing forward advancements in our society! ~ Medical, technological, and weaponry!!" Luna's voice filled with excitement about what the future held in her lifetime.
Yearling exited towards the elevator, holding the position to wait for the other mare.
"Technology is a delightful resource I admit. ~ Though our future is intertwined with magic always has been." Celestia bit her lower lip with uncertainty, as her mane cascaded over her face messily.
"Magic is quickly becoming outdated, sister. ~ Most students know more about computers than our simplest spells." Luna frowned as she stated the sad truth.
Derpy stood still in awe, blatantly eavesdropping.
Yearling's loud cough enough to snap her back into reality, Derpy quick to gallop towards the elevator as cheeks burned red.
"What would you have me do?" Celestia lowered her head in shame.
The elevator hummed as it lifted upward from below.
"Place your trust in me, before it's too late." Luna lifted to her hooves, voice full of comfort.
The elevator soon arrived, as it opened with a swoosh.
Both pegasi climbed inside, Derpy desperate to hear more.
"Sister." Celestia whimpered, ears folded down nervously.
"I call it, Black Acres." Luna smiled with confidence in her newest project.
