“Mommy!”
A filly Twilight Sparkle frantically ran through the streets of Canterlot, searching desperately for her mother amongst the crowds of ponies going about their everyday routine. Her face was wet with tears and her throat burned from screaming so much, and yet she still called out in the vain hope that she would hear her mother’s voice answer back.
“Mommy!” She sobbed before she suddenly found herself pressed up against the side of some older pony. Twilight looked up with tear filled eyes at the pony.
“Hey! Watch it!” A scowling stallion yelled, shoving her harshly aside before walking around her and muttering, “Stupid brat…” under his breath.
Lying on her side in the middle of the street, Twilight sniffled as she curled up into a ball, cradling her tail against her chest as ponies strolled around her without so much as a passing glance, like a river flowing around a stone.
“Mommy…” Twilight muttered in between sobs, “Daddy… Shining… Princess… ” Images of her parents, her brother and her mentor flashed through her mind as her sobs worsened. “Somepony… please…”
Overcome with sorrow, Twilight didn’t notice as her horn began to glow with a radiant violet light. “I… I wanna... I wanna go home!”
In an instant, the glow of her horn burst forth into a sphere of magic that quickly eclipsed the sobbing filly. Several ponies cried out as the sudden sphere of raw magic expanded across the street before bursting with a deafening pop.
Twilight felt the sensation of weightlessness, like a balloon floating in a spring breeze. The bustling sounds of Canterlot had vanished, an almost eerie silence filling the gap left behind. For a brief moment, Twilight felt like she was floating within a vacuum.
Then, as abruptly as it had occurred, Twilight felt herself being pulled back to reality, reappearing a foot in the air before dropping onto her side against the ground. Twilight groaned as she rolled over onto her belly, rubbing her throbbing head. Spots danced across her vision, making it hard to see more than a foot in front of her. Pulling herself up onto her haunches, Twilight gave a shake of her head to clear away the spots, gasping as she took in her surroundings.
Gone were the cobblestone streets and rows upon rows of businesses and houses, replaced by gleaming laminate flooring and walls carved out of the finest polished marble. Beneath her was a vibrant red carpet that ran the length of the room, the sides adorned with golden threads. Massive stained glass windows ran from floor to ceiling along the walls, the carefully forged glass casting a cascade of colors across the room as the light passed through them.
Twilight whimpered and clutched her tail tightly as she noticed several Royal Guards advancing towards her, glaring down at her like she was an unwanted intruder. A choked sob escaped her throat as she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for them to descend upon her. “Mommy…”
“Twilight Sparkle?”
Snapping her eyes open, Twilight whipped her head around in the direction of the voice. Seated upon a golden throne at the back of the room was none other than Princess Celestia, her white coat positively glowing in the light of the sun—her sun—as her prismatic mane flowed behind her. Her violet eyes gazed down at the helpless filly before her, her mouth hanging open in a rare moment of shock.
“Pri—Princess Celestia…” Twilight stuttered, her ears pressing flat against her head as fresh tears threatening to leak down her face.
“My student,” Celestia said calmly as she stepped off her throne, taking slow steps towards the scared filly. “I must say I’m surprised to see you. I thought you were spending the day out with your mother?”
“I… I was…” Twilight replied, just barely holding back her tears. “But… But I got lost, and… and I couldn’t find mom anywhere. I… I looked… looked all over for her, but she wasn’t there… and… and then…” Despite her best efforts, Twilight was unable to hold back her grief anymore, crying out as a torrent of tears flowed down her face and onto the throne room floor.
Soft wings embraced Twilight as she was pulled against Celestia’s chest, a soothing warmth radiating off the princess as she comfortingly held the sobbing filly, running a hood gently down her back. “Shh… It’s alright,” Celestia whispered into Twilight’s ear. “You’re safe now…”
Twilight said nothing, burying her face into Celestia’s fur as she wailed with anguish. Holding Twilight protectively in her hooves, Celestia turned her head to lock eyes with one of the pegasus guards. “Go and locate Twilight Velvet at once. I doubt she’ll be hard to find since her daughter’s missing.”
Saluting, the guard flew off at breakneck speed. Before he had even left the room, Celestia turned her attention to the closest guard. “Cadet Shining Armor should be at the barracks. Tell him to report to the throne room immediately; his little sister is in need of her big brother.”
Saluting as well, the guard raced off towards the barracks. The rest of the guards kept a respectable distance from the Princess as she cradled the distraught filly in her hooves, the sounds of Twilight’s sobs echoing through the throne room and making Celestia’s heart break from the sheer despair in her voice.
Several painful minutes passed before Twilight’s tears finally ran dry, her sobs slowly subsiding into little more than sniffling hiccups. With her face still buried in Celestia’s fur, she muttered, “I’m so sorry, Princess… you must be so mad at me…”
“On the contrary, my faithful student,” Celestia replied, looking down at her with a smile on her lips, “I’m actually rather proud of you.”
Twilight glanced up at Celestia, confusion written clear across her face. “W…what?”
Celestia’s smile could have melted ice from its warmth alone. “Tell me, Twilight; do you remember how you ended up in the palace throne room?”
Twilight’s muzzle scrunched up in thought, thinking back to before. “I… I remember lying in the street, thinking about my family. I wanted to go home so badly, but I remember thinking about the castle too. Then… then I was suddenly here. How… how did I…”
“You teleported yourself here, that’s how, my faithful student.”
“Teleported? Really?” The smallest glimmer of a smile poked at the edge of Twilight’s face.
Celestia nodded. “Really. Teleportation is a very difficult spell to manage, and yet you were able to do it instinctively. However…” Celestia’s voice dipped slightly as her expression shifted to a much more sterner one. “It can also be a very dangerous spell if not performed properly. It is fortunate that you were able to pull it off perfectly on your first attempt, but I need you to promise me that you won’t try and teleport again unless you know for certain you’ll arrive safely.”
Sniffling, Twilight sank into Celestia’s embrace. “I promise, Princess.”
A moan of pain escaped Twilight’s lips as she drifted awake. Struggling to lift her head, Twilight felt like her brain was caught in a fog, her thoughts a scattered mess as she tried to grasp onto one for more than a moment.
She remembered… a man… with a net. There had been… a raccoon in a cage, maybe? She could vaguely recall having cast a spell, but what that spell had been or why she had cast it at all escaped her.
“Where… where am…”
With a grunt, Twilight’s head flopped back down as she slipped back into unconsciousness.
***
Sunset sighed as she leaned against her bike, taking a bite from her chocolate bar. She had stopped at a random convenient store to grab a quick snack before continuing her search, sipping from her watermelon slushie as she scanned the streets for even the smallest glimpse of purple fur or feathers.
I must have covered half the city by now, and still no sign of her, she thought, going over her mental map of the city. I suppose now would be a good time to check the Sweet Shoppe and the library again. She might have headed there since the last time I—
The chirp of her phone shook Sunset from her thoughts. Placing her slushie atop her bike, Sunset pulled her phone from her pocket, frowning at yet another text from Rainbow Dash. Rainbow had been rapid-fire texting her non-stop for the last two hours, asking again and again if she’d found Twilight or not. She’d received texts from the others as well, including one from Rarity informing her about her meeting with Principal Celestia. “Exactly what I didn’t need right now,” she groaned as she stuffed her phone back into her pocket.
If Principal Celestia was anything like Princess Celestia, then Sunset knew her words were anything but idle threats. Getting expelled could potentially threaten her ability to remain in this world, especially since, despite being a full-grown mare in Equestria, she was still considered a minor by their standards. Some people might even feel the need to ask a few pressing questions about her situation, questions Sunset couldn’t easily answer.
Even still, the thought of abandoning Twilight for her own selfish reasons was twisting her into more knots than that game of Twister from before. Biting her nails, Sunset gazed up at the towering skyscrapers in the distance. “Come on, Twilight… Just give me a sign that you’re alright…”
Vrrr! Vrrr!
“Oh, for the love of—” Yanking her phone out again, Sunset quickly switched it to silent before returning it to her pocket. “There. Rainbow can yell at me all she wants afterwards, but right now I don’t have time for this.”
Quickly finishing her snack—and unsurprisingly getting brain freeze for her troubles—Sunset slipped her helmet on as she climbed back onto her bike. Gunning the engine, she sped off down the road, her jacket fluttering in the wind against her back.
In her haste, she failed to notice the clouds brewing on the horizon behind her.
***
Twilight groaned as she slowly regained consciousness once more, her eyelids pressing up against her face like weights as she struggled to pry her eyes open. Managing to open them a crack, all she saw was darkness surrounding her.
“What… what happened?” She muttered, wincing as a sharp pain shot through her horn, like an ice pick being jabbed into her skull. The darkness was briefly broken by the glow of sparks coming off her horn, each one only making the pain in her horn worsen.
Though her memories were hazy, she remembered being captured in a net before being carried over to a van filled with cages. She had struggled desperately to escape, channelling magic into her horn on instinct. There had been a bright flash of light and then… nothing.
I must have cast a spell while I was trying to escape, but what spell did I cast?
Gradually picking herself up, she shook her head to try and clear the cobwebs clouding her thoughts, perking her ears up at the sound of a twig snapping to her left. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could finally make out the wall of leaves surrounding her.
“Am… am I in a bush?” She wondered out loud, brushing a few stray leaves and twigs from behind her ears. “How did I get here? Did that man with the net drop me here? No… I think I would have remembered that…”
Twilight gasped, a chill running up her spine as she came to a sinking realization. “Could… could I have teleported myself here, like that time when I was a filly? But… But I promised the princess I wouldn’t teleport anymore unless I knew where I was going to end up!” Twilight bit her lip, frantically checking herself over from head to toe to make absolutely sure she was still in one piece.
“23… 24… “ Twilight paused as she realized she was missing a feather on her left wing, though considering that was the only thing she had found to be missing, she supposed she could live with it, breathing a sigh of relief. “Okay… so I managed to get here in mostly one piece. The question now is… where is here?”
Reaching out and parting a small opening in the wall of leaves, Twilight winced as the afternoon sun assaulted her tired eyes, reeling back and holding a wing up to shield herself. After waiting a moment for her eyes to stop burning, she carefully lowered her wing and peeked through the opening she had made.
Twilight gazed across an open field, a massive oak tree sitting at the edge of her vision. To her right, she could just make out several pieces of brightly painted playground equipment in the distance, including a swing set, a jungle gym and a seesaw shaped like a pair of snails. As Twilight looked around, she noticed a tennis ball fly past her field of vision, following it with her eyes as it rolled to a stop.
“Go fetch!”
A small dog with shaggy brown fur bounded across the field towards the thrown ball, happily snapping it up in its mouth before racing back towards his owner.
This is a park, Twilight realized, retreating back into the bush. I don’t recall seeing a park on my— “My map!” Frantically digging around in her costume, Twilight came to the sinking realization that she had left her map behind when she’d teleported. “Just great! Back to square one, with no idea where I am or how I’m going to get back to—”
“Hey, did you hear something?”
“Eep!” Twilight squeaked, throwing her hooves over her mouth in a panic. Chancing a peek, she noticed a bench she had overlooked a few feet away from her location.
A young woman with light beige skin and rose coloured hair peeked over the back of the bench, searching around for something. “I could have sworn I heard something…”
“You’re imagining things, Roseluck,” Her companion, a young man with dark grey skin and metallic cyan hair, confidently remarked.
Roseluck looked unsure, but sat back down regardless. “I guess I’m just being a little jumpy, Thunderlane.”
Roseluck? Thunderlane? Twilight recognized both names, having seen them hanging around Canterlot High, as well as having interacted with their Equestrian counterparts back in Ponyville. Peering closer, Twilight noticed something sticking out of Thunderlane’s pocket, the sun reflecting off its metal casing.
A phone! The pocket-sized device was one of the few pieces of technology that Twilight had been able to gain a basic understanding of, having used one briefly to stay in contact with her friends. The wonders of such a device aside, it was exactly the thing she needed right now to finally get herself out of this mess. If I can get my hooves on that, I can use it to call the girls and let them know where I am.
Hoping to levitate it towards her, Twilight tried to channel a bead of magic into her horn, only to give herself a splitting headache for her troubles. Right then, no magic, she thought as she rubbed her throbbing temples. Guess that means I’ll have to do this the hard way.
Crouching low to the ground, Twilight crawled out from beneath the bush and slowly inched her way towards the pair of high-schoolers, keeping a close eye on her surroundings to make sure no one spotted her. Creeping up behind the bench, glancing up at the phone sticking out of Thunderlane’s pocket.
Not wanting to flap her wings lest she give herself away, Twilight braced her front hooves against the bench and pushed herself up onto the toes of her back hooves. Leaning forward, she stuck her muzzle through the gap in the back of the bench and gently bit down on the edge of the phone. Gripping the phone in her teeth, Twilight slowly pulled her head back, smoothly sliding the phone out.
“Hey!”
Twilight froze, her eyes widening as she looked up at Thunderlane, expecting to find him staring down at her.
To her relief, however, he wasn’t even looking at her, instead pointing at something across the park. “Roseluck, look at that!” he said, elbowing Roseluck in the side to get her attention.
Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Twilight yanked the phone out of Thunderlane’s pocket, clutching it in her mouth as she dropped back down and raced back towards the bush. Diving back into the foliage, she spat the phone out and tightly clutched it to her chest, taking deep panting breaths.
“That was more nerve wracking than it should have been,” she whispered, now more mindful of keeping her voice down. “Now let’s see…” Setting the phone on the ground, she tapped on the screen with the toe of her hoof, bathing her face in a blue light as it came on. Hovering her hoof over the sea of icons on display, Twilight’s muzzle scrunched up as she tried to recall how to operate the device.
“I think it was this one,” she said as she tapped on an icon with the image of a human silhouette, bringing up a list of names and contact info. “Now I just have to find their names…” Scrolling through the list, Twilight scanned for any of her friends’ names.
Her breathing quickened slightly when she reached the end of the list without having spotted a single one of their names. Scrolling to the top again, she ran through the list once more, hoping that a familiar name would leap out at her.
And then she did it again, her hoof trembling as she frantically searched through the list name by name. “There has to be someone here I can—”
Her hoof froze, her eyes widening as she finally came upon a name she recognized.
[Flash Sentry]
A smile spread across Twilight’s face. Flash will be able to help me, I just know it! Pressing the button, his contact information popped up, alongside an icon shaped like a receiver that read “Call?” Tapping the icon, the image shifted to a white screen, the words “Calling Flash Sentry…” displayed in the centre of the screen as the sound of a dial tone rang out once, then twice.
On the third ring, a brief static hiss came from the phone before a familiar voice came through. “Yo, Lane, what’s up?”
Twilight froze at the sound of Flash’s voice, her throat suddenly drying up as she tried to form words. “Uh… um…”
“Hello?” Flash replied, sounding noticeably impatient. “Thunderlane, you there? I swear, if this is another butt-dial—”
“F-Flash?” Twilight finally squeaked out, holding her mouth over the speaker.
There was a lengthy moment of silence on Flash’s end before he finally answered, “Who… who is this?”
“Uh… It’s me, Flash…” Twilight answered, “It’s Twilight.”
“Tw-Twilight?!” Flash exclaimed, the utter disbelief in his voice coming through loud and clear. “How… what… why do you have Thunderlane’s phone?”
“I… I kind of stole it from him when he wasn’t looking,” Twilight sheepishly replied. “But I had a good reason too, I swear!”
“Is… is everything okay, Twilight? You sound nervous.” Twilight swore she heard him growl through the phone. “Did Thunderlane hurt—”
“No! No, no, no! He didn’t even know I was there! I promise!”
“Oh… that’s good. Still, is something wrong? Do you need my help?”
“It’s…” Twilight bit her lip, her wings rustling against her side, “…kind of hard to explain. All I can say is I really need to get in contact with my friends. Do you think you could call them for me? I couldn’t find their names in Thunderlane’s phone when I looked.”
Flash loudly sighed. “Wish I could, but I don’t have any of their numbers either. Sorry, Twilight.”
Twilight sagged in defeat, sighing at having hit yet another dead-end. “No, it’s alright. Thanks anyway—”
A booming crack of thunder split the air, making Twilight glance up to peer through the foliage. The storm clouds from yesterday had returned in full force, a wall of grey blocking out the previously clear skies. “Oh no…”
“What was that?” Flash asked with worry in his voice. “Was that thunder? Where are you right now, Twilight?”
“I… I don’t know…” Twilight reluctantly admitted, using her wings to shield herself as a torrent of rain poured onto her head. “I’m in a park, but…”
“Which park?” He desperately asked, his voice straining with concern. “Just tell me where you are and I’ll come get you.”
Twilight bit her lip, debating with herself if she should tell him or not. If she did, then not only could he potentially get her out of the rain, but he would be able to bring her to her friends. And yet… she had never told him that she was really a pony, so she had no idea how he would react.
Another crack of thunder made up her mind for her. “Flash… I need you to promise me something first.”
“Anything, Twilight.”
“Promise… promise me you won’t freak out when you see me, please? I might look a bit… different than the last time I saw you.”
There was a brief pause on Flash’s end. “Alright, I promise.”
Twilight could hear the sincerity in his voice, putting her slightly at ease. “Alright, give me a minute.” Scooping up the phone, Twilight tucked it under her wing as she checked to make sure the coast was clear. Seeing the park deserted, Twilight leapt out from her shelter, shooting across the park as she looked around for something she could use to pinpoint her location.
Spotting a sign on the edge of the park, she raced over to it, skidding to a stop against the wet grass. Written across the sign in large white font were the words, “Meadowgrace Park.”
Memorizing the sign, Twilight quickly ran back, ducking under the bench in the hopes that it would provide her with better shelter than the bush. “Flash?” Twilight asked as she raised the phone to her ear and spoke into the receiver. “You still there?”
“Still here, Twilight. You find something?”
“I found a sign that says “Meadowgrace Park.”
“Meadowgrace? That’s only about fifteen minutes from my house. Hang tight, Twilight, I’ll be there soon.”
Further rumbles of thunder made Twilight hug the phone tightly as she whispered, “Please hurry…”
***
“Almost there,” Flash muttered as he jogged through another puddle, the rain pounding against his umbrella. As soon as he had hung up the phone, he had torn through his house like a hurricane, quickly stuffing some supplies from a first-aid kit and a spare raincoat into his bag before donning his own raincoat and racing out into the storm. It had only gotten worse since then, coming down in a never-ending torrent of rain.
Finally, Flash spotted Meadowgrace Park in the distance, running as fast as his legs would take him. The wet grass squished beneath the soles of his shoes as he looked around for any sign of Twilight.
“Twilight!” He called out, trying to be heard over the roar of the rain. “Twilight, where are you?”
His phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw Thunderlane’s name pop up on screen and quickly answered. “Hello?”
“Flash?” Came Twilight’s nervous voice from the other end. “Is that you?”
“Yeah, I’m at Meadowgrace Park, but I don’t see you. Where are you?”
There was a moment of uncertain silence on Twilight’s end before she replied, “You… you promised not to freak out, right?”
“Twilight!” Flash practically screamed into his phone. “No matter what it is, I don’t care right now how you look. All I care about is getting you out of this rain and somewhere safe. So please, Twilight, just tell me where you are…”
Twilight was silent again, before sighing. “Alright. I’m hiding by the bench. You should be able to see it from there.”
Glancing around, he quickly spotted the bench in question. “I see it,” he said into his phone as he ran over, stopping in front of the bench. “But I still don’t see you.”
“I’m right here.”
Flash glanced down in time see something crawl out from beneath the bench. He could only stare in disbelief at the creature standing a foot away, staring back at him with big, violet eyes.
It looks like some kind of horse… he thought, before correcting himself. No, too small to be a horse. Pony maybe? But I didn’t know ponies could get this small— are those wings?! And a horn? Although, its mane kinda makes it look like… No… no, it can’t be! … Can it?
“Tw… Twilight?”
With a sigh, Twilight nodded her head. “Hello, Flash.”