Another Dimension

Chapter 9


AN: my family hates me. my mom basically threatened to punish me if I went to sleep yesterday, because she wanted me to video tape a belly dancer. so how was your friday night?


"Atten-tion!"

Ella, Juliet, and their friends were all stood up straight in a line, along with many other students. In their similar uniforms and serious look on their faces, you would think they were a real army.

"Today's lesson in Survival is gathering wood and making a fire," said the teacher.

A boy raised his hand. "Why would we need to know that?" he complained.

The coach walked right up to him. "You think because you're in the army it means you shouldn't be able to know basic survival skills? Are you telling me that if you are lost or abandoned in the wilderness after a mission gone wrong, you're not going to use these skills?"

"T-that's not what I meant," mumbled the boy.

"You bet your life you didn't mean that!" yelled the coach. "Now, in teams of two!"

Ella and Juliet pressed their arms against each other.

"You will go forth into the wilderness and gather wood! Then come back. Here are axes for both of you."

The coach pointed to a box full of heavy-looking axes. He blew his whistle and everybody bustled forth to grab the best axes. Ella and Juliet waited for the crowd to thin before taking an axe for themselves. The axes were sharpened nicely, and had thick wooden handles.

"Let's get going," said Ella, noting the way Riley hoisted his axe on his shoulder.

"This axe is too heavy," whined Juliet.

The pair ventured into the woods, taking care to keep in sight of the school and their friends. Soon, they found a nice thin tree.

"This will be good to practice with," said Ella. She took careful aim, and lifted the axe. She felt the muscles straining in her arm, but ignored the pleas to drop the heavy object. She took a swinging hit, and the axe hit the trunk with a satisfying thunk. It made a little chip in the surface.

"Wow, excellent swing," remarked Juliet sarcastically.

"I'd like to see you try this," retorted Ella.

Juliet flipped her purple curl and positioned herself against the tree. She also took a swinging hit, and the axe made another chip, much deeper than Ella's. She smirked at Ella's piqued expression.

"Your turn," she said curtly.

Ella and Juliet each took turns swinging at the tree, working harmoniously and quickly. They stopped for breathers, and to see how everyone was doing. To Ella's joy, Riley stopped by several times to say hello and see their progress. Soon enough, they had cut down the entire tree. The tree fell sideways with an ear-splitting crash. Everyone looked at them. They were among the first to fell a tree. The coach sauntered by and congratulated them.

"You two are going to be great survivors! Now, chop the trunk up, nice and thin stacks, then use the stump as a counter to split your logs."

Ella and Juliet went to work immediately, hacking away at the trunk.

"So," panted Ella. "Princess Celestia wrote me a letter."

"Did she?" asked Juliet, mopping her brow with a snow-white hankie that was cleverly hidden in her pocket, out of the view of the tough instructors who clearly stated no accessories allowed. "She wrote me one too. She said that Fine Thread, my apprentice, is taking care of my boutique, and Sweetie Belle." Juliet's voice wavered as she spoke of her little sister. "Sweetie Belle…"

"Please don't cry," pleaded Ella. "We'll be back before she knows it."

"Okay, I'm alright," sniffed Juliet.

They continued their quest, chatting about their feelings and thoughts. After a while, they had a reasonable amount of logs, and took a short rest before splitting them up.

"I never thought I would live to see the day when you would be chopping wood in the middle of a forest," said Ella, smiling at Juliet as her purple-haired friend grunted and split the logs.

"Neither did I," laughed Juliet, flexing her tired fingers. "I think we're done."

The girls stood back to survey their work. About 30 split logs were stacked neatly beside the stump of the tree.

The coach lumbered by and smiled. "Excellent, excellent! Now carry them back to base and we'll build a fire."

Ella and Juliet each took half the logs and then walked back to the open space. They laid the logs next to a roughly shaped circle of stone, surrounded by smaller rocks.

"Make a triangle shape with your logs, then come and collect a tinderbox from me," shouted the coach so everyone could hear him.

Ella grabbed two logs, stared hard at them, and constructed a stable triangle. Juliet then laid two other logs at the bottom, so their fire would be nice and big. She walked to the coach and brought back a tinderbox. Inside was a packet of matches, some flint, crumpled up paper, and grass.

"Ella, you're smart, do something," Juliet thrust the box over to her friend.

"I don't know what to do with this!" cried Ella, taking two pieces of flint and bashing them together.

"What are you doing?" asked Juliet as she watched Ella mash the rocks together.

"Whatever they're doing," Ella pointed to a group striking flint together to make sparks.

"I think we put grass or something in between," suggested Juliet.

Ella stuffed some tinder into the cracks, and then took out a match. "What's this?" she asked.

"Do I look like a human expert to you?" retorted Juliet.

Ella looked at the other groups, and then realized what she had to do. She took a match tightly in one hand and grasped the matchbox in the other. She took a deep breath and struck the match on the rough part of the box. The fire burst and singed her thumb and forefinger.

"Ow!" cried Ella, and she dropped the match onto the wood. The grass and paper soon caught the flame and the fire began to spread.

"You did it!" cheered Juliet; patting Ella as she sucked her burnt fingertips.

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Ella, nursing her fingers.


"I thought we did quite well today, don't you think?"

Everyone was back in their dorms after the day, their bellies full of dinner. Juliet was lying in bed, her head propped up on a pillow, looking down at Ella who was sat on her desk going through the papers on her desk.

"Yes, we did really well," agreed Ella. She took out a quill, opened her little diary and began to write:

Dear Princess Celestia,

Rarity and I made a fire today! We cut down a tree and chopped it up and made a fire! I can't really believe it, and neither can Rarity. The rest of the day flew by, and I only got hurt a little. I also learnt that humans EAT COWS. How sick and twisted is that? Well, I have a busy day tomorrow. It's my first lesson of History, my only theory class. I'm so excited!

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle