//------------------------------//
// Friends in High Places 
// Story: Supersymmetry 
// by Europa 
//------------------------------//







Twilight Sparkle


It didn't make sense. Had the spell failed somehow? How else would she be in Canterlot?

Flapping her wings, so far up that likely nopony even saw her, Twilight looked around what was supposed to be the Shadow Realm.

She was flying high above Canterlot, but it wasn't the Canterlot she remembered. The general color scheme was the same despite there being more gray, but the street layout was entirely different and it wasn't quite as opulent as the city she'd grown up in. But perhaps the biggest difference in Canterlot was that there wasn't a castle. In fact, now that she thought about it, the place she flew was precisely where the castle should have been.

Blinking several times to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her, Twilight said the only thing she could think of. "Bwaa?!"

Had the spell gone wrong? No, it hadn't. A quick look at the magical tether she'd wrapped around herself - it was now going through a portal - confirmed that she was indeed on the other end of the portal. And she was... in Equestria? But then why was the castle gone? Why was Canterlot different? And why was it high noon despite the fact that she'd left, at the latest, at ten in the morning?

Twilight tried to picture what had gone wrong. Maybe... maybe instead of going to Nightmare Moon's world she instead came to this one, whatever it was? It was the only logical explanation. This merited investigation. Perhaps she could find a way further on this way. Before she did that, however, she sent a signal back along her tether of magic to let the Princesses know she was okay; she could send a report once she'd gotten a firm grasp on what had gone wrong with the spell. Was it the fact that Princess Luna had used her magic on the tether connected to herself? It seemed... viable.

Briefly wrapping herself in a Somepony-Else's-Problem cloak to make herself all but invisible - paranoia was fitting in this mission - Twilight Sparkle began a slow, spiraling descent into almost-Canterlot. The air was surprisingly humid and the thermals were immense, so it took a while for her to get down comfortably without being jostled by the rising winds, but before too long she touched down on the paved streets of upper Canterlot.

At first glance, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Ponies were walking around, visiting shops or speaking with friends. Like back home, the nobles wore lavish garments, but it was a shock for them to appear just as friendly and reachable as anypony else. She carefully made her way through the crowd; her spell would keep anypony from even noticing her in most cases, but if she bumped into somepony who didn't see her it'd be broken and reveal her to anypony around, including anypony who could be unfriendly.

Twilight tried to imagine why Nightmare Moon's magic would've led her here. Maybe she hadn't been dispelled by the elements, and instead sought out another world to put under her hoof? But that wouldn't explain the sunlight, unless the parasite had possessed somepony other than another Princess Luna. And that was assuming that among the multiverse she'd just so happened to have been pushed into another Equestria. No, something was very wrong here, and she was going to figure out what.

Walking around the city, Twilight tried to keep an open eye and ear to everypony's conversation around her. Normally she'd be against eavesdropping, but um... royal business?

She didn't really hear anything useful from the background chatter of everypony; there were mentions of Manehattan and business there, mentions of minotaurs and zebras. To her surprise she'd heard two pegasi debating the pros and cons of the Wonderbolts compared to the 'Shadowbolts', but she lost them in the crowd before she could listen in more. Twilight remembered that Rainbow had told her Nightmare Moon tempted her with the Shadowbolts; hearing about them in this wrong-Canterlot made her absolutely certain that the Nightmare was here. She was still confused that the sun was seemingly locked at high noon, but at least she'd gotten something to work with.

In terms of what she saw, however, she was only more confused. Canterlot's streets were completely different, so she'd walk down a street and expect to arrive somewhere at the next left, only to find herself nowhere near. The combination of similar and different played havoc with her internal map, but that wasn't even the most confusing thing. The most confusing thing was the Royal Guard.

Back home, the Royal Guard's armor was enchanted to give the appearance of uniformity, white coat with blue eyes and such. These guards however, they were much different in terms of uniform. For starters their armor looked like it was made out of solid amber in contrast to gold. And their fur, instead of snow white, was dark orange like cooling cinders, their manes and tails pitch black. There were also a lot more of them, patrolling Canterlot in groups of four, a zone of silence and awkward conversation following them wherever they went.

What would Canterlot need with so many Royal Guards on patrol? Did something happen? Twilight Sparkle resolved to find out.

She walked through Canterlot virtually unseen; the Somepony-Else's-Problem cloak was something her BBBFF had taught her as part of self defense, and while active everypony would look at her, and their subconscious would decide simply not to deal with her presence. However, that didn't protect her from ponies running into her, or from inanimate objects. She knew nothing about this increasingly strange world, and she needed to keep looking everywhere in case she got in serious trouble.

Twilight needed somewhere to sit down and organize her thoughts. The outdoor restaurant across the street was perfect. Trotting over to it and finding a random seat under an open umbrella to block the sun, Twilight took out a nutrient bar from her saddlebags and began going over what she knew.

Nightmare Moon was definitely here, if the existence of the Shadowbolts was known. Canterlot's layout was completely different and there was no trace of any castle save for little foal's dioramas in stores, and even those didn't look anything at all like Canterlot Castle. The sun was certainly not moving, which was more than a little disconcerting. Clearly she was in some sort of alternate Equestria, however bizarre the idea was. There was just too many similarities and differences for any other explanation. Perhaps the Nightmare had been 'blasted' here by the Elements, and had taken over this world's Celestia?

That was a worrying thought. Her mentor and friend, the pony she'd looked up to practically all her life, tainted and driven to madness by that... that demon! If that was the case then there had to be some way to free her, with or without the Elements. Maybe she could ask Fluttershy to guilt Discord into helping them, though she resolved that would be an absolute last resort.

If this world's Celestia had been... taken... then it would explain all the guards with different armor.

Twilight lit up her magic and focused on the link binding her back to home, and tried to find the tether of Nightmare Moon's magic. After all, their bonds went through the same portal, so she should be able to find it, snip it, and then go back home to reconvene with the Princesses on what to do with this... other Equestria. The only problem was that Twilight couldn't find Nightmare Moon's magic. Without Princess Luna's bond to the moon to give her a place to start, no matter where she looked she just couldn't find the tether.

She wasn't going to believe for a second that the magic had broken in the time she'd been here. She needed to find the other end of the tether, and odds were that was Nightmare Moon herself. Twilight faced a dilemma; she could try and find the Nightmare, break the magic then, and get home before being blasted to cinders, or return now and develop a way to trace the tainted magic while in the other-Equestria. The latter option seemed much safer and more likely to succeed.

She finished off her nutrient bar and, waiting until a patrol of guards passed, Twilight lit up her horn to begin the complicated spellwork to bring her back. 

Twilight was interrupted when a pony tried to sit on her.

"Oh!" the stallion in question said. Twilight could imagine his confusion; he tries to sit in a seemingly empty space, but when he tries he suddenly 'remembers' that a pony was already there. He stumbled back from her. "So sorry miss, I didn't notice you there."

Twilight, her magic fizzling, chuckled and reformed the S.E.P cloak, but now that this pony had directly interacted with her it wouldn't work on him until she got some distance. "Heheh, don't worry about it. Everypony spaces out now and again."

"Even so, that was appalling of me!" he said, raising a steely blue hoof to his business suit, which was impeccably well pressed. "Let me make it up to you, miss...?"

Deciding that giving out her name would do no harm, she said, "Twilight Sparkle."

He nodded. "Miss Twilight." He raised a hoof, and she shook it. "Baron Track, Fast Track." Ah, so he was a noble. He tilted his head. "You know, I think I remember seeing you walking around. You wouldn't happen to be lost, would you?"

She rubbed a foreleg. "Well, sort of. I was just wandering, really." She decided to embellish the truth a little; how Applejack would be disappointed in her. Still, it wasn't really a lie. "It's my first time in Canterlot, so I don't really know the landmarks."

"Ah, well then! You my dear just stumbled on my favorite place for a break. Really no place better for a sandwich than Roasted Loafs."

"I'm at a sandwich shop?" She looked around. Sure enough, everypony around her was eating some form of sandwich, a fact that she'd completely skipped over in her musing. "I didn't notice."

"It sure is, Twilight Spark..." Fast Track trailed off when he looked over to the side, seemingly attracted to something on Twilight's back. His garnet eyes collapsed into pinpricks. "Wings?" His eyes widened and he leaned in to whisper. "You're an alicorn?!"

She leaned back at his sudden fear and nervousness. "Um... yes?"

His horn lit up with a scarlet aura and red magic layered itself over her wings, hiding them from view. "There. What were you thinking, walking around in the open?" he hissed. "Do you want the Coronal Guard to find you?"

"The Coronal Guard?" she asked dumbly. Was that the name for the strange dark orange guards? It was surprisingly fitting. But why was her being an alicorn also putting her in danger of the Guards? She'd done nothing wrong. "Why would they be after me?"

"Do you live under a rock? Last I checked there are only two alicorns, so another one is going to put a serious, serious strain on the government. How weren't you found when you were younger?" he asked urgently. "It's not like you're good at keeping yourself hidden."

She wanted to snap back that the S.E.P. was working fine, but settled on saying, "I only got my wings relatively recently."

His eyes narrowed, a dark shadow forming under his well combed gray mane. "Well that would explain it, I suppose. Listen, do you have any friends here?" She shook her head. "None? Curses. Do you have a home? Any bits?" Twilight shook her head to those as well. She had no home, not in this Equestria, and the last thing she'd thought she'd need in the 'Shadow Realm' were bits. "Well, that simply will not do! Does a daisy sandwich with cheese sound good?"

"Um, sure?" she asked, caught off guard by the apparent non sequitur.

"Great. Stay here." He got up and walked into the shop, much to her surprise. Was he... buying her a snack? She shifted nervously in her seat; she didn't want to bother him. Still, she was still a bit hungry after the snack.

There was apparently some stigma against alicorns in this world. If it was true that the Nightmare was here, potentially possessing either Celestia or Luna, then it would make sense for it to desire alicorns to be detained, or worse, lest they threaten its power. Them being called the 'Coronal' Guard, combined with the sun that definitely was not moving seemed to confirm her suspicion that it was this world's Princess Celestia that had been possessed. But that still didn't answer why there were Shadowbolts, and there was still her scientific curiosity over how it only felt like summer, instead of the world being a scorched wasteland.

Before long, Fast Track returned, a few crumbs on his suit, with two plates levitating in his crimson telekinesis as well as two large glasses of ice water. Hers flew over to her, and Twilight took a bite of the sandwich. It was good. "Thank you," she said after swallowing what was in her mouth. "That was very kind of you."

Taking a seat across from her, Fast Track lifted his own sandwich - lettuce and cheese - and took a bite. "Well, when you're in my line of work, it's expected." He took a large sip from his water. "Besides, how can I leave a newly minted alicorn out on her own? Gotta give some help."

"Err, what is your line of work?" she asked politely.

"I run several charities over in Everfree and one or two here in Canterlot."

That sent Twilight's mind reeling. Everfree? As in the forest? Who would hold a charity there? Unless... unless maybe the old castle was still inhabited here. Would the Nightmare try to relocate the capital of Equestria to there? It wasn't impossible.

"Oh, that's nice." She took a sip of the iced water, the coolness providing a wonderful contrast to the withering heat in Canterlot. "But really, I can protect myself. Thank you for the concern though."

He waved it off. "Think nothing of it, Twilight. That disguise spell on your wings should last long enough to get you safely out of Canterlot, you hear me? I recommend heading to the Minotaurian Republic, they'll keep you safe."

"Uh, okay. At any rate, when can I pay you back for the food? How many bits was it?" she inquired.

He held up a hoof. "No, no. This is a gift, from me to you. I insist you not do such a thing."

"Oh, um... thank you," she said uncertainly. "Well it was nice meeting you, Baron Track," she said, lifting her daisy-and-tomato sandwich in her magic and downing the ice water. "But I think I'll take you up on that offer." Not really, she was going to fly around Canterlot some more; her S.E.P. would hold unless anypony flew into her, like Fast Track had. There was a mystery ahoof, and she was going to figure out what was going on! "I'd better get going."

He waved to her. "Stay safe, Twilight! Nopony knows precisely what would be done if another alicorn was found, hasn't ever happened you see, but it can't be good." He reached over and put a hoof on her shoulder. "You're a good mare, hate to see anything happen to you."

"Hehe, right. Thanks, bye!" She stood and walked off, floating her sandwich along with her. Once far enough she spread her wings - breaking the disguise spell with a flicker of red - and flew into the air.

She found a perch on bakery's roof not too far away, and finished off her sandwich. Lighting up her horn to shroud herself in cool air, Twilight tried to ponder her next course of action.

There was zero doubt, the Nightmare was here. The capital city of this Equestria was likely still the Everfree. While before she'd planned to return to Celestia and Luna and inform them of the circumstances, Twilight's curiosity was burning hotter than ever. What exactly were the range of differences? The Nightmare had been blasted here not half a decade ago, how many changes could it do in that time? She needed more information, and to do that she needed to get to 'Everfree'.	

But if the Nightmare was in Everfree, going closer to her would be foalish at best. She was better off staying in Canterlot a little and figuring out what was going on from a safe distance. It was at least somewhat more familiar to her than this 'Everfree' city... that and she was terrified of meeting the Nightmare. The wicked specter that had changed Luna into a demon of maddened jealousy, potentially possessing her mentor, was a terrifying thought to comprehend. She didn't want to see Princess Celestia like... like that.

She needed... she needed a checklist! Floating paper and a pencil out of her saddlebags, Twilight made a line down the middle and three columns: What she knew, what she thought she knew, what she needed to find out.

"Okay," she said aloud to herself. "I know that Nightmare Moon is here, in this 'other Equestria'. I know that Canterlot does not appear to be the capitol, but I think the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters has been rebuilt. The sun is not moving and the Royal Guard is instead called the Coronal Guard, which leads me to believe the Nightmare has possessed Celestia instead of Luna in this world."

She frowned. "As evidenced by Baron Fast Track, there is a stigma against alicorns in this world. No other alicorns have been found, but would not be treated well if they were. Possible fear of the Nightmare being challenged." She tapped the pencil against her chin. "What I want to know: Is the Nightmare truly possessing Celestia, if it is why does it use the Shadowbolts, why did the cameras not record anything, can I sever its magical connection to Princess Luna, why was it not dispersed by the Elements of Harmony, and what ways can be employed to disperse it for good this time?"

Satisfied with that, she decided it'd be in her best interests to inform Luna and Celestia of what was going on here; she pulled out another scroll and began writing furiously. "Dear... Princess, no erase the Princess... Celestia," she began. In her letter she jotted down everything she'd seen so far, including the alternate Equestria, her theory as to what the Nightmare was doing, and insistence that she was alright.

Before she sent it, she paused.

Following the tether of Nightmare Moon's magic had not brought her to Nightmare Moon, but rather to her corresponding point in this Equestria; since there was no castle, that equated to mid-air. She didn't know what her current location translated to in her home Canterlot, so her best bet would be flying to 'the castle'. She did just that, taking to the air and flying to roughly where she had entered this other-Equestria. Once there, she focused on the tether of magic tying her back to her home, and sent a wave down it. She shielded the note and entangled it with the wave, watching it fade out of sight.

"Alright," she said aloud to herself. "More extensive research needed... the library!"


***-_***_-***-_***_-***-_***_-***



Celestia


She kept the resonance crystal close at hoof, watching and waiting out of the corner of her eyes for any signal from her student that she was fine. The first one had come through almost immediately after Twilight went through, and she knew that there was one day until the next was due, but Princess Celestia couldn't help but worry. Twilight Sparkle was ever so dear to her, and every time she went off to face some danger, however much it may be necessary, made her sick with worry. 

She had to keep reminding herself that Twilight wasn't the little filly who bounced around eagerly at the promise of a lesson. She was a grown mare, more than capable of taking care of herself, who'd faced off some of Equestria's most heinous foes... who bounced around eagerly at the promise of a lesson.

Currently, Princess Celestia was holding court. Her eyes looked down at her current petitioner, and her ears picked up what she asked for, and her mouth moved to create an appropriate response, but her mind was somewhere entirely different.

The pseudo-return of the Nightmare brought up all the old wounds and pain that she and her sister had already healed from, reopening them and pouring salt in the wound. 

All the nights that Luna needed love and nopony had been there to provide it, not even her own sister! Luna had never been the same once they'd banished Sombra into ice, slowly descending into madness. She spoke to her less and less, became more withdrawn and prone to snapping at her and Celestia hadn't spoken to her about it! She always assumed that if Luna had wanted to talk about it she would. She knew what dangers laid in assuming things and... and she did it anyway.

The petitioner left, and another arrived. Still not focused on them, Celestia continued to beat herself up. And she was the one who hadn't been rejected, abandoned, and driven mad, exiled from any pony contact for ten centuries. She could hardly imagine what was going through Lulu's head.

She knew that it did no good to dwell on it, that they'd both made terrible mistakes, but she couldn't help it. Looking back on it, it was so easy to see what she could've done, how little effort on her part could've avoided the whole thing.

Then, much to her surprise, a guard came in, a scroll of paper tucked under a wing. The current petitioner's voice died in her throat. "Your Majesty, I found this scroll on my patrol over in the east wing. It was addressed to you, and scans reveal nothing harmful within it."

"Thank you," she said, taking it into her magic. "You may return to your duties, Blue Skies." He saluted and trotted out, while Celestia opened it up. Immediately, she recognized the hornwriting of Twilight. "Please excuse me, this is quite important." She began reading. At first she was happy to see Twilight was doing well, but when she described the world she arrived in, Princess Celestia's brows furrowed underneath her serene mask. When she reached Twilight's hypothesis of the Nightmare having possessed 'her', she suppressed a shiver.

Twilight was insistent that she be left to discover more information before they made any moves against the Nightmare. Every motherly instinct in Celestia screamed at her to do something, to send her Royal Guard over there to help Twilight, to throw herself into the other world if needed, but she had to trust in Twilight.

Deep breath in, deep breath out.

There was nopony better qualified to gather information on a place, and there was no good reason not to trust her with this. And at the very least, if something went poorly, she could always ask Fluttershy to point Discord at the problem and be done with it. She didn't want it to come to that; reformed or not, Discord was not exactly what anypony could call 'helpful'.

She rolled up the paper and returned her attention to the mare before her. "Apologies for the delay Miss Sunflower. Continue, please."

While Noon Court continued, Princess Celestia again allowed her mind to wander to the letter's topic. The idea of another Equestria was bizarre and confusing, but after Twilight's explanation of the Mirror Pool, she had to give some plausibility to the idea. The concept of her, possessed by that demonic parasite, ruining the land and terrorizing her little ponies made her coat stand on end.

She had a theory as to why the Nightmare was there, and not obliterated. It was simply possible that its corruption was just too potent to ever truly purge. When wielding the Elements of Harmony on her own, all she'd managed to do was banish her and her sister away. It seemed that even with six ponies using them, all they could do was relocate Nightmare Moon even further away. Just what would it take to finally end that monster?

Princess Celestia reminded herself that Twilight was busy figuring out just that.


***-_***_-***-_***_-***-_***_-***



Twilight Sparkle


The library had been a bust.

Coronal Guards had prevented anypony from entering without some sort of identification - which she lacked - but none of their security measures took into account an alicorn using an S.E.P field. As a result it hadn't been that hard to get into the library, but once inside she really didn't know where to look. The History section was, to her surprise, completely empty. No, not even that, there wasn't a history section at all. It didn't bode well if the Nightmare was actively covering up history, but what would it gain from that? Ponies had memories, didn't they? Or maybe Twilight just wasn't looking in the right spot.

Either way, the library hadn't turned up much in an hour of searching. One thing she noticed was that there was a clock, running counting out twenty fours hours in twelve spaces such that one and thirteen, two and fourteen, and so on overlapped. In the middle was a counter that was, at the moment, reading '12+', which combined with the clock's hands put it at three in the afternoon.

That meant she'd been here quite a while already. In that time she'd perused several medical articles and some of the clearly biased political newspapers, and had come no closer to figuring out the Nightmare's game than she was when she entered the library. Twilight had, however, found several maps. 

This Equestria looked quite different from the one she knew, larger and completely consuming the northern lands; there was no Griffon or Crystal Empire. The other countries were quite different as well. The Diamond Dog plains, normally home to many scattered tribes, was instead labeled as the Mohr Empire. The Badlands were also labeled as the 'Unified Changeling Swarm'. Even some of the oceans and lakes had different names. Just what was the Nightmare up to?

Twilight had a sinking feeling that whatever it was, it was much more widespread than just keeping it day and ruling Equestria.

Still, the library had more or less not given her anything, so now it was time for her to exhaust another option. She promised herself that if her next idea - the library in what should be Ponyville but was instead called Harvest Brook - didn't pan out she'd go back home and ask the Princesses for ideas. There was no sense putting herself in excessive danger.

There was, however, Baron Fast Track. His presence indicated that some ponies were still resisting the Nightmare's influence, which was good. Even if it was just a token effort, every bit counted. She could go follow after him under cover of her new S.E.P., but that involved finding him again. She could in theory do it, but it'd take up so much time and Twilight had no idea what she'd do if she found the Baron again.

She walked out into the streets of Canterlot, the unfamiliar, strange streets of Canterlot, which she thought she knew but didn't making it so easy for her to get lost in a moment.

Taking to the air for a moment to see which way 'Harvest Brook' was, Twilight landed and began to canter there at a brisk pace; no sense flying and missing out on something important.

She took a few wrong turns, but she soon felt she was going in the right direction to leave Canterlot. In fact, if her eyes weren't deceiving her, that up ahead was the gate out of Cante - 

"Ow!" she yelped. Stumbling back from whatever she'd rammed into, Twilight raised a hoof to rub her cheek. "So sorry, I should've been paying more attention."

The pony in question turned around, glaring down at her with stark, fiery red eyes, his amber armor blinding in the sunlight. "That is correct, citizen," the Coronal Guard answered gruffly.

Twilight's next apology froze in her throat, and her wings suddenly felt very, very heavy. Numbing, primal fear settled on her like a blanket. Maybe if she didn't move her wings, he wouldn't notice. "Ah, um, hehe, err, uh..." she babbled. "H-Hey," she said weakly.

"Mmhmm. Move along," he said, his three companions watching the exchange silently. He turned around Twilight was about to breathe a sigh of relief, teleport away and refresh her Somepony Else's Problem, when he froze. The Coronal Guard turned back to her and narrowed his eyes.

"Hold on," he said. "Miss, turn ninety degrees." His tone of voice brooked no argument. Twilight knew right then; she was busted. She knew that placing her trust in the Baron's words a hundred percent wasn't exactly intelligent however, so she resolved to give the guards the benefit of the doubt. Regardless, she formed the matrix for a quick teleport in her mind in case she needed to get away, quick.

"Oh, of course," she replied carefully, turning around to show the guard there was no doubt about that fact that she was an alicorn. "Is there a problem, sirs?" she asked, pretending not to know what was wrong.

The four Coronal Guards began whispering to each other. Twilight couldn't make out what they were saying, but she was certain it was nothing good. 

It was time to leave.

She fired up her horn to teleport away, but that was as far as she got. Moving faster than anypony ever should, the closer of the guards sprung towards her and delivered a heavy punch right to the base of her horn. A strangled yelp rose in Twilight's throat as the energy she'd built up went askew and, erupted from the tip of her horn. The magic first formed a bubble around her, then crashed down and exploded outwards radially.

When the sharp pain receded into a painful throb, Twilight looked around and saw that she'd blown everything back quite a ways, knocking ponies off their hooves and stripping some loose feathers off of pegasi. The Coronal Guards had been blown back quite a ways, but they'd open their wings to catch the backlash easily, and were already flying head on towards her at remarkable speed.

Twilight's horn lit up again, this time to form a shield, but the guards advanced faster than she'd expected and while her barrier kept most of them out, it trapped one of them in with her! He lashed out with a forehoof in a large arc, but she expected that and ducked below it. What she hadn't expected, however, was for him to use the momentum to spin around, clip her in the head with a wing, keep turning, and buck her in the head with both legs.

Lights out.