CHAPTER 2 - Flipside

"…..iligh…."

"…Twilight…"

"Ugh…" said Twilight, opening her eyes. "What happened?" She stood up only to see a beautiful butterfly, with all the colors of the rainbow.

"Are you awake?" It said in a beautiful voice.

Twilight was stunned for a minute, having a butterfly talk to her, and all.

"Umm… w-what's your name?" asked Twilight, thinking this is a dream. She pinched herself… Nope, not a dream.

"My name is Tippy…" It said. "I am what is known as a Pixl… A sort of fairy…" Twilight was again, stunned. Well, there are things beyond her and other ponies abilities to understand them… So it made sense. Sort of…

"Twilight, I came to find you…" said Tippy, in a dramatic voice.

"What… do you want ME for?" asked Twilight, looking at her strangely.

"Are you… some kind of… assistant for Count Bleck or something?!" Asked Twilight, narrowing her eyes.

"I am no enemy…" said Tippy, kindly. "You met Count Bleck… he captures a kind and loving friend… and a rainbow-coloured flying champion…" Tippy looked at the floor, sadly.

"Is that not so?" asked Tippy, beginning to get a serious tone in her voice.

Twilight gasped, and shook her head. "How do you know?" she asked.

"That means Count Bleck is beginning to form The Void…" said Tippy, seriously. Twilight could tell this was not good news.

"We haven't much time…" said Tippy, using SOME sort of magic. "You must come with me… Yes, if your friends are going to be saved, you must come…" Tippy started becoming VERY serious… it sounded like she needed Twilight's help…

"You know I don't exactly trust you… but I guess I have no choice. I need to save my friends, and I don't know how to do it otherwise. let's go." said Twilight, suspiciously.

A weird arrow appeared, and dragged the 2-D cube along the wall like it was made of paper, surrounding Twilight. The same thing worked for Tippy.

"Huh?! What is this?!" asked Twilight, slightly panicking.

"It's a teleportation device. Kind of…" said Tippy, looking at the floor.

"Let us go…" said Tippy.

The squares flipped around, and taking Twilight and Tippy away. No one was left at Fluttershy's cottage… and it was errie… all the animals came out of their hiding places, and looked around. Nopony could be found.

Flipside…

Atop a white tower, there was a blue unicorn, with a long white beard, starry eyes, and a white book as a cutie mark. It looked similar to the dark book The Count had, except white. He was waiting for something.

Suddenly, a 2-D cube appeared in mid air, and flipped… revealing Twilight. "Whoa!" yelled Twilight, as she fell a few feet from where she ended up. Tippy soon appeared.

Twilight looked around… and was now even more shocked than she was before.

"Oh ho! Well, well, well… Back so soon, Tippy?" said the pony, looking at Tippy, smiling. "And who might this be? Purple mane… light purple coat… Tippy! You have truly outdone yourself!"

"She matched the description of the Light Prognosticus perfectly…."said Tippy, pleased with herself. "And her name is Twilight…"

"M-me?" asked Twilight, brushing off the dust from the fall.

"I welcome you, Twilight!" said the Blue pony, with a warm smile. "This is the town of Flipside!"

Twilight stupidly looked behind her, to check if there was another Twilight behind her.

"Um, why's it names that?" asked Twilight.

"Well, I'll explain all that now…" he said. "You have come far from the Equestria of your dimension…"

"Wait, DIMENSIONS?!" asked Twilight. "How…"

"All to be explained… just wait." said Tippy. Twilight looked at her, nodded and turned back. She still didn't trust her…

"Of course," said the pony. "Our fair Flipside is in no dimension at all! No! It is BETWEEN dimensions!"

Twilight nodded. "My name? Merlon! I am a descendant of the Ancients who created this town." Merlon said.

"I busy myself studying musty, ancient texts to forestall the end of all worlds!" said Merlon, happily. It seemed he didn't understand the badness of this…

"WAIT… END OF ALL WORLDS?! Like I said before, that doesn't sound good." said Twilight. "What… is… happening… exactly?"

"Ahh, you want to know about the end of all worlds?" asked Merlon. "What's happening, you ask? So Tippy has not yet told you, I gather…" Merlon gave a serious face.

"Actually, yes… please." said Twilight politely.

"Well then, Twilight… the answer hangs above you." Merlon says. Pointing to the sky. A black, void-like thing was there.

Twilight looked up. A void of some sort.

"Do you see that gathering darkness in the sky?" asked Merlon. Twilight nodded. "What does it mean?"

"It is a hole in the very dimensional fabric of space! Such a strange phenomenon…" Merlon shook his head.

"Whoa…" Twilight whispered, stepping back.

"Is it near or far? None know. It may appear small now, but it will only grow." said Merlon in a dramatic tone. "And in the end it will swallow all existence… all worlds, all dimensions…"

"WHAT?! B-but… what made it?!" said Twilight, shocked at this statement.

"This void was created by our enemy, Count Bleck, who wields the Dark Prognosticus." said Merlon.

"A gentle and loving pegasus friend… A rainbow coloured flying

champion…" said Tippy. "The union of these two will call fourth the Chaos Heart… The consumer of worlds…"

"Wow…" said Twilight.

"And the Chaos Heart will ravage the sky, and so bring fourth The Void." Tippy spoke in a dark voice.

"Yes… the passage Tippy just quoted is from the Light Prognosticus of my ancestors." Merlon said. "The book also says this… the void will swallow all. Naught can stop it, unless the one protected by the dark power is destroyed."

"The hero with the power of eight Pure Hearts will rise to this task. So it is written." said Merlon.

"And… how does all this concern me?" asked Twilight. "What part do I have?"

Merlon sighed. He took a deep breath. "Because… that hero…" said Merlon.

"Is you."

Merlon took something out of his pocket. It was a big shiny red heart."

Twilight was astonished by the beauty of it. The hero was HER?! What?!

"This is one of the eight pure hearts." said Merlon, lifting it up. "You are surely the hero spoken of in the pages of the Light Prognosticus."

"Me?" asked Twilight.

"Yes." said Merlon. "You are the only one who can defeat Count Bleck and save all worlds!"

"Twilight! Take this and save all worlds from destruction!" Merlon yelled.

"You mean… if I don't… all worlds will be destroyed, my friends and me… you and tippy… and everything in existance?" asked Twilight.

"Yes."

"OF COURSE I WILL!"

"Excellent! You truly are the hero of the book of legend! My eyes never deceive!"

"So! Ahem… Twilight, our brave hero… take THIS!" said Merlon, handing Twilight the first pure heart.

A red flash appeared as Twilight held it with her magic. "Thank you! I will not let you down!"

"Now, great hero Twilight… Your first task awaits. You must take this Pure Heart…" said Merlon, smiling, stroking his long white beard.

"And you must place it in the heart pillar in this town."

Twilight nodded. "Now, where is it exactly?"

"Tippy will lead you there. Return to me when you are through with this task."

"This way…" Tippy cooed, flying over to the left edge of the tower.

Twilight followed her and she saw a down button. She wondered if she should press it… but she decided she should wait for instructions from Tippy.

"Press it, please." said Tippy.

Well, there's one mystery solved. Twilight jumped up, and slammed the button. An elevator appeared, and it took her down the tower. Moments later, the doors opened and Twilight and Tippy walked out into a small town. Ponies walked around, and a few were staring at The Void, whispering to each other.

"This way please… Come along…" said Tippy, flying off somewhere to the right.

Twilight followed.

"This is incredible…" Twilight said. "I never seen a place so peaceful."

"Well, Flipside is always peaceful… but I can tell you when the hole in the sky grows… it won't be so peaceful anymore." said Tippy, whacking the up arrow on the next elevator.

Soon, they came to the third floor. Twilight stepped out, and saw some sort of Pillar to the left… with a hole shaped like a heart.

"THE HEART PILLAR!" yelled Twilight. "That was easy…"

Tippy sighed. "Somepony call staples…"

"Wha…?"

"Don't ask.

They walked a little distance before coming to the pillar.

"This is the Heart Pillar…" said Tippy. "Now, get close and place the pure heart."

Twilight was nervous, she slowly walked up to the pillar. She placed the heart in the hole… gently and slowly. But then…

A flash of red… a few red rings surrounded the heart, and a beam struck the tower. There was a rumble, and something happened atop the tower. The rings went away… and Twilight stood there, shocked.

"Well done… Now let's return to Merlon. The dimensional door should be waiting for us." said Tippy, flying towards the elevator.

Moments later…

The elevator stopped, and opened at the top of the tower. Twilight and Tippy stepped out, and headed towards Merlon.

"Ah, the two of you return!" said Merlon.

"Yes… we're back… uh, did we do it right? I mean… is… what is supposed to happen… did it happen? It did, right? Please tell me I…"

"Yes, you did fine, Twilight." said Merlon. "Look! A door has appeared!"

Twilight wondered what good a door would do…

"This 'dimensional door' was made to lead the hero to another Pure Heart." said Merlon. "Yes, somewhere beyond this door lies one of the seven other Pure Hearts…"

"Tippy, you must use your power to help Twilight find this Pure Heart and return here."

"Of course…" Tippy cooed.

"And Twilight… I have something to give you that will aid you on your journey." said Merlon. He gave Twilight a red pipe.

"Whenever you need to, if your in danger… jump into this pipe. And it will transport you back here." said Merlon.

"Okay… Thanks." said Twilight, putting it in her saddle bag she had been carrying.

"The Light Prognosticus foretells that the hero will meet a 'dimensional governor'…" said Merlon, in a weird tone. "And from him, the hero will learn the dimensional technique…"

"I'm almost certain this refers to my friend, the Flip Wizard, Bestovius." said Merlon, happy that his friend was part of the ancient book.

"Okay…" said Twilight, looking at the door.

"So go now through this door, and seek out Bestovius!" said Merlon, gesturing towards the door.

"Sure… I'll try." said Twilight.

"Well, let's get going." said Tippy, flying towards the door.

Twilight gulped. She slowly opened the door with her magic. She hesitated, but stepped trough the door. What lies ahead? Who is Bestovius? And what will Twilight do, if things go horribly, horribly wrong?