Unexplored Worlds

Chapter 1: Dealing with a magician.

The sky was clear, birds chirped as they flew through the air, teenagers walked down the street with skateboards. It was happy and positive, no one’s mood could be brought down by anything.

Except Sarah’s.

She had returned home from college, thrown her bag aside as she ran into the house expecting to see her older brother again. Instead she was met by a weeping mother, speechless father and a letter that had the army stamp on it.

“W-what happened?” Sarah feared the answer as her father rubbed his eyes, a pained expression ran across his face as he looked at her.

“His plane was shot down,” Sarah’s father took a moment to calm himself before continuing. “Their base was attacked as they were leaving and a rocket hit the cockpit.”

Sarah’s heart turned to lead as it dragged her to the floor, her hands and knees shook as she couldn’t contain her tears. Her only sibling was gone, she was alone once again. She was heartbroken when she discovered that her older brother was joining the army and was leaving for four years.

Her brother was only three years older than Sarah, and she had only just turned nineteen in the previous month. She was the brains of the broken family, the females in her bloodline had always gone onto some form of advanced education. The males had always done something in the military or something requiring service to a noble cause.

“W-when are they bringing John back?” Sarah shuddered as she spoke the words, she heard her mother continue to weep as no comfort from her father could sooth either of their pain.

“They haven’t listed him as KIA,” Sarah’s father said with a tone of disgust. “They searched the wreckage but couldn’t find a trace of him and his squad.”

Sarah’s heard lost its lead coating as it raced back up to her throat. “So he might be alive?”

“His plane was shot down,” Sarah’s mother turned to glare up at the father. “Stop clinging to false hope!”

“What would you suggest?” Sarah’s father spat in anger. “You just want us all to move on! But we can’t! Not while he is still out there!”

Sarah shook her head as her parents began to argue, she could understand due to the circumstances. But it was those same circumstances that made her stand up and run out of the house, throwing her phone aside so she could guarantee that nobody would contact her.

She ran as fast as he legs could carry her, not looking back as she charged through the group of teens that took up all the space on the sidewalk. Sarah’s eyes continued to stream tears as she silently prayed that her father was right.

The wind rushed through Sarah’s hair, she ran until her legs ached. She saw a gap between some trees that lead into the nearby park, her legs quickly took her through the gap and she caught her foot on an exposed root, she tumbled to the ground and landed on the hard ground.

Sarah felt as if the whole world decided to turn on her, punishing her for some unknown reason. The exhausted girl pushed herself to her feet, her lungs grasping at all the air it could as she looked around the park she had run into.

She silently cursed herself as she saw she was between a pair of tents, the sound of funfair games made her dip her head again. Of all the places she could have ran to, she had to end up in the one place where everyone was with their families.

Children with parents were rushing around the busy carnival, the various stalls with games all had enthusiastic owners trying to lure in more customers that would waste money on the almost impossible games.

The weeping girl quickly pulled up a sleeve to wipe her face as she darted for somewhere quieter, the horde of kids and tired parents blocked her view of the outside world. She eventually found a quiet fortune teller tent and ducked inside.

“Ah how may I help you?” The fortune teller offered his hand to the seat opposite him and pulled a handkerchief out of his ear before passing it to the girl.

Sarah didn’t notice the small display of magic as she wiped the tears from her face, “I’ll sorry, I’ll be gone in a moment.”

“There is no rush,” The fortune teller smiled. “So Sarah, why are you so upset?”

“H-how do you know my name?” The girl looked over in surprise at the strange wizard. He had a small ponytail accompanied by large eyebrows, a large tooth poked out of his mouth. He had one golden gauntlet that started the strange combination of clothes he wore.

The fortune teller rubbed his hands over his crystal ball that was actually a coconut, “Well I am magical and I know what has happened.”

“This isn’t funny,” Sarah stood as she threw the handkerchief on the floor. “You are sick and I don’t care who you are, just leave me alone.”

As Sarah reached for the exit, the fortune teller let out a small yawn, “There is a way to bring your brother back.”

The girl froze, she only found out about her brother’s fate a few minutes ago. Now this stranger was talking about it like it was common knowledge, there was no way he could actually know. Sarah wasn’t about to buckle over a lucky guess.

“I have read books about you so-called ‘psychics’,” Sarah turned her sadness to anger at the man that was using a toilet brush to clean his nails. “You are just trying to look big and clever, but what do you really know?”

“You are Sarah, you are nineteen, your brother has recently lost his life in Iraq,” The magician rose his eyes to look at the girl as her glare loosened slightly. “Your favourite colour is red, you are the top of your class in almost every subject, and you have a few close friends but you make sure push away anyone else who might try to know you.”

Sarah sat in a stunned silence before shaking her head, “I am still not convinced.”

“The reason you don’t talk to boys is because you believe that they will distract you from your education,” The fortune teller sniffed. “You are afraid that if you make a mistake then your parents will resent you.”

Bull’s-eye.

Sarah shuddered as she took a few breaths to calm herself, “W-who are you?”

“You may call me Discord,” The magician stood and took a bow before falling back into his seat. “Now you are wondering how I know so much about you.”

Sarah merely nodded, her answer didn’t come in the form of some long winded speech, but instead a cake was placed in front of her. The words ‘Because magic’ were formed in gummy worms across the top of the icing.

“It would be a bad career move if you were doing this and you weren’t magical,” Sarah sighed as she looked at her feet.

“What if I told you that I was actually a magical being from another world?” Discord leaned on the table as he smiled at Sarah, a large tooth showing as he grinned.

Sarah let out a short laugh, “If you were then I would suggest you find somewhere better to go other than some cheap carnival.”

Discord nodded in understanding as he slowly leaned back in his chair, “I believe we can assist each other Sarah.”

The teen’s eyes opened in surprise as she looked across at the man, “Umm, what do you mean?”

“Well I can use my magic to bring back your brother,” Discord started. “But in exchange you have to do something for me.”

Sarah’s eyes narrowed in wonder, “I don’t believe in something I can’t see.”

Discord snapped his fingers and a flash of light brought a chessboard into existence, but all the different squares were at odd angles or some were even floating away from the rest of the board. Sarah waved her hand around the floating squares until she was satisfied that they weren't being suspended by wires.

“You must be using magnets somehow,” Sarah stood as Discord snapped his fingers and her vision filled with white.

“Am I really?” Discord stood and walked over to the tent entrance, pulling it open so Sarah could see the long stone wall that went as far as she could see.

“T-that’s the Great Wall of China,” Sarah stepped outside and felt the real wing against her skin, the moon in the sky as she gulped. “H-how?”

Discord placed a hand on her shoulder, “Magic!”

“And you can bring my brother back?” Sarah looked at Discord with a new-found sense of respect and fear.

Discord nodded.

“What do I have to do?” Sarah cast all her fears aside as she waited patiently.

“Save a human,” Discord started. “He is on the world I come from, he is the only human and he has been exploited for the past year and a half.”

Sarah gasped slightly as she allowed Discord to continue.

“He is being mind-controlled by a pair of ruthless princesses,” Discord shook his head sadly. “They use him to stop any threats to their kingdom and have currently been enhancing him with powers that make him… dangerous.”

“Like what?” Sarah asked as she stepped closer to her only hope of seeing her brother again.

Discord shook his head, “You won’t believe me unless you see it yourself.”

Sarah sighed, her previous statement concerning her way of believing things had already returned to bite her backside. “Well how should I help?”

“I can return us to my world of Equestria,” Discord smiled. “The more powerful magicians will be able to sense my presence so you will be alone for most of the time.”

“And I guess that you are letting me go uninformed so my surprise all seems real?” Sarah nodded in understanding. “But will you help me where you can?”

Discord nodded, “I don’t wish to see the princesses get any stronger, for fear they may use the human to a more… hostile intent.”

Sarah rubbed her hands together in nervousness, “I guess there isn’t time for me to pack or explain this to my family?”

“No,” Discord shook his head. “There is a portal in this world that links to the other world, I can take you through but I will have to spend some time making sure that the portal doesn’t change in anyway.”

“So I will be alone for a while,” Sarah felt her throat go dry. “Ok Discord, I will help you save this human.”

Discord smiled happily as he extended his hand, “Don’t mention my name unless I am present, the princesses and I have a history that will expose you and we will both fail.”

Sarah nodded as she took Discord’s hand, “I will try my best.”

“Bet you didn’t wake up knowing you were going to be a hero,” Discord smirked as he snapped his fingers and both the magician and his new companion disappeared in a flash of magic that sent them hurtling through a magical portal on the edge of space.

…

Sarah groaned as she opened her eyes, her vision blurry as she found herself in a pile of hay. She pulled herself out and looked around the dark barn she was in, the moonlight streaming in through an open window.

A trough was nearby and she saw it was full of clean water, she walked over and saw a sponge hanging from a piece of string. She submerged the sponge and brought it out of the water and rubbed her face with it, her vision returning to normal.

She saw her reflexion in the water, her long strawberry blond hair was no longer being held back by the hairband that normally kept it behind her head. Her clothes were slightly damaged, her light blue jeans had a split just above her knee, and her white shirt had a small rip along her sleeve.

“Nothing major,” Sarah smiled as she used her hand to scoop some of the water up and brought it to her dry lips. She didn’t hesitate to have another sip as the cool water was instantly refreshing, her hazel eyes moved to the window as she saw the moon touch the horizon and suddenly speed up.

Sarah watched as the moon seemed to fall from the horizon and the top of the sun quickly taking its place, as if someone had decided that it was taking too long for the night to end. “I guess I am on another world.”

Discord was right about the magic, he was right about the new world, so Sarah was instantly fearful of the princesses she heard about. She bolted to her feet in fright as she heard a cockerel outside call out to the rising sun.

“At least some things are the same here,” Sarah sighed thankfully as she sat down at the edge of the trough, her thinking placed on hold as she head a door open, and some hooves making their way towards the barn.

Sarah hurried behind the hay as she made sure nothing was visible when the owner of the barn stepped in. She lowered the sound of her breath as she heard the barn door creak open and the sound of hooves made their way closer to her hiding spot.

The sound of groaning made Sarah’s heart skip a beat, she didn’t even know what the inhabitants of this world looked like. She was on a new world and the odds of the locals looking human were impossible.

I have to know, I have to be prepared for what I am going to be against, Sarah thought as she silently turned and gradually moved her head to look out. She was thankful she was wearing soft shoes that allowed her to slowly peek out.

She saw an orange tail flick briefly into her view, she froze before moving a bit further and saw that the tail was attached to a large red stallion, a green apple was marked onto its flank as he placed his head through a large brown yoke.

Sarah retreated slightly as a female voice caught her off-guard.

“Big Mac!” An obviously western accent called. “Are ya out here yet?”

The large stallion rolled his eyes, “Eeyup!” He called.

Sarah poked her head out again to see the blond mane and orange head of a mare poke itself into the open barn, an orange hoof placed a brown Stetson on her head.

“Those trees to the west all need to be bucked by tonight,” The mare called. “We have ta make up for lost time ya hear?”

“Eeyup!” The stallion called Big Mac responded. “I hear ya Applejack!”

The nervous human waited until she was sure that the mare called Applejack was walking away before she slipped slightly more out of cover to see Big Mac placing empty baskets onto the back of a cart.

Hang on, Sarah thought as she stared at Big Mac’s flank. I assume ‘Big Mac’ is short for Big Macintosh… so maybe those marks have something to do with their names?

The curious human hummed quietly before she realized Big Mac had been still for the past few moments, her cheeks turned red as she moved her gaze to see the large pony’s eyes were staring at her.

“Were ya staring at mah…?” Big Mac glanced at his rear before looking back to the blushing human.

Sarah slowly shook her head before she realized something very important.

“A talking horse?”

Big Mac rose an eyebrow, “Pony.”

Sarah nodded, “Ok… talking pony.” The human felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her as she dropped face first into the hay and passed out.