"Hiya, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie sang, sommersaulting into the library. "Just wanted to compliment you on your new mural! Hi, Rainbow Dash!"
"What new mural?" Twilight Sparkle asked, looking aside from the shelf of Daring Do books.
"Hi, Pinkie Pie!" said Rainbow Dash.
"Hi! You still reading Daring Do?"
"What new mural?" Twilight Sparkle repeated.
"Of course! Daring Do is only the single coolest pegasus in known literature!"
Pinkie Pie made a face. "The second book had that ditzy unicorn. I didn't like her."
"Pinkie, what new mural?" Twilight said, feeling worried.
"What was wrong with her?"
"She had a pink mane!"
"What's wrong with pink manes?"
"I'm sick of all the jokes that pink maned ponies are crazy! Who started that, anyway?"
"PINKIE PIE!" Twilight shouted.
"Yep?" said Pinkie Pie, about-facing.
"What new mural?"
"I dunno, Twilight. What new mural?"
"The one you mentioned!"
"Don't remember."
Twilight facehoofed.
"Uh, Twilight?" Spike said, walking in.
"What?" Twilight whirled around.
"When did you get a new mural done?"
"Mural? Where is it?" Twilight snapped.
"Just out that door."
Twilight raced to look at the portal.
"Oh, no," she said. "How did this happen? I was only gone for a few minutes! Where's Rarity?"
"How did what happen?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Did Rarity paint this?"
"Prettiful!" Pinkie Pie said. "It's like I could just reach out and touch it!"
She made a fair attempt, stretching her hoof as far as she could, but she could not touch the mural. Her hoof just went through.
"Where's Rarity?" Twilight asked, panicked.
"Well, duh," Pinkie Pie said. "She's in Canterlot!"
"But- but she should have told me!" Twilight said.
"That's probably where she is," Rainbow Dash said. "You can't exactly call her reliable."
"We have to find her!" Twilight said. "These portals don't last forever! She could be trapped on the other side!"
"She'd just have to buy a train ticket," Rainbow Dash said. "And maybe she'd learn her lesson and not mess with any of your experiments without telling you."
"Even so," Twilight said. "We should find her just to be safe."
"Fine." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "I'll look for her from the sky. See that steeple with a bell? I'll ring it when I find her and you can meet me back here." She flew off.
"Why does she think she's going to find Rarity?" Spike asked.
"Yeah, I know where Rarity is!" Pinkie Pie hopped off through the portal.
"Hey! Where are you-" Twilight sighed as Pinkie disappeared from sight. "Never mind..."
"Should we go?" Spike asked.
"I'll go. You stay here and-"
"You leave me out of everything!" Spike sulked.
Twilight blinked. Spike wasn't like this.
"Fine, then. Hop on."
Spike lept onto her back. "Okay, I think she'll be where all those stores are... you remember, Twilight?"
"Yeah, maybe we'll meet Pinkie Pie on the way," Twilight said. "But really, no one knows Canterlot better than us."
They started through the portal.
"Yes?" Rarity the alicorn asked.
Rarity the unicorn just gaped at her.
Cheerilee gasped. "Your highness- if you're there, then who is- who is this?"
Rarity fluttered her wings. "I... I thought you knew."
"No! I thought this was you!"
Rarity the alicorn, bewildered, spun around. "Twilight! TWILIGHT!"
"What is it, now? And I said, call me Princess Twilight!"
Given that Rarity was an alicorn, it shouldn't have come as a shock to see Twilight Sparkle, the vastly superior (in magic, anyway) unicorn, become an alicorn. But is wasn't just the fact she had wings, it was the wings themselves. They were shimmery violet butterfly wings that seemed to dissapear if she held them a certain way. If Rarity could make a dress like that...
Twilight's outfit was similiar to Rarity's, except that she wore golden crown bracelets with dark green emeralds in them.
"Rarity, what-" Twilight looked from one Rarity to the other. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"No!" Rarity the unicorn cried. "I was just trying to visit Canterlot! Where is Princess Celestia?"
There were gasps from the young ponies behind her.
"Ms. Cheerilee, she said a bad word!" a snobby-sounding colt said.
"You- you changeling, or whatever you are," Twilight said, pointing a hoof at Rarity, "I want you to come with me."
Rarity started to follow, feeling nervous. She looked over her shoulder at her winged twin.
"Can we give her our presents now?" a young pony asked.
"Sure," said Cheerilee.
The little ponies all bowed.
"Happy birthday, Rarity!"
"We love you, Rarity!"
"Thank you, Rarity!"
Rarity couldn't see the alicorn's face that well, but Rarity seemed...
Like the was about to cry.
And not happy tears, either.
"Where am I?" Rarity demanded of Twilight.
"I'll be asking the questions," Twilight said, her eyes narrowing. "Who are you?"
"I'm... I'm Rarity," she said, though she wasn't sure anymore.
"What do you mean? Where do you come from?"
"I'm... I came from Ponyville. You had just been trying to create a portal to Canterlot, and I made it work accidentaly, and I just... walked through. And, well... here I am."
"A likely story-" Twilight Sparkle frowned. "Wait a moment..." she screwed up her face in concentration. "Did anything just happen? I mean, besides the portal?"
"I- Pinkie Pie had just thrown that party. It was... Bon-bon's birthday, I believe. It's... a little hard to remember why Pinkie Pie throws parties, but... you had tried out a new firework?"
"Oh, yes, please don't remind me," said Twilight Sparkle, facehoofing. "Well, then..." She bit her lip. "What was the name of your first cat?"
"My first cat?"
"Sorry, you wouldn't- I mean- what was the name of your cat?"
Rarity supposed this was a test. "Opalescense."
"What did you call that line of capes you designed?"
"Cape-a-diem," Rarity said. "Tacky name, I know, but I've considered-"
"Which pony danced with you at Bon-Bon's party?"
Rarity bit her lip. "Nopony. I arrived late and missed the dancing."
Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn, slowly nodded. "All right, then. I believe you are from my past." She frowned. "But, then... what if..." she turned to the door leading to the throne room. "Princess Rarity?" She asked.
"Yes?" Princess Rarity joined them. Her eyes were red.
"Did you ever... have an adventure you didn't tell me about?" Princess Twilight asked.
Princess Rarity blinked. "Not that I can recall. What do you mean?"
"I mean, did you ever... travel forward in time and meet your alicorn self?"
"No! Why would I keep something like that secret?"
Princess Twilight shrugged. "Well, in that case... we have a problem."
"What kind of problem?" asked both Rarities.
"One that threatens the very fabric of time and space."
Applejack and Fluttershy were on their way home from church.
"Ah want to stop by Twilight Sparkle's place and return some books," Applejack said. "You can jist head on home without me."
"Oh, no, it's been a while since I've seen our friends anyways," Fluttershy said. "I've just been so... busy, what with that poor hedgehog family and the orphan racoon..."
"Well, here we are, then," said Applejack. "I'll just pop in an'... what the hay?"
She stared at the portal on the wall. The crystals were now flashing colors erratically.
"Twilight did mention something about a portal the other day," said Fluttershy.
"Well, you think we should follow them?" Applejack asked, adjusting her hat.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it isn't important." Fluttershy backed off.
Then one of the crystals shattered.
Part of the portal flickered in and out of existence before finally leaving the portal a third smaller than it was before.
"Hoo boy," Applejack says. "I hope they aren't still there- they could get stuck!"
Another crystal pulsated wildly.
"Oh my stars," Applejack said. "We have to do sumthin!"
"What?" Fluttershy asked, trembling.
"Find a unicorn I guess," Applejack said, squeezing through the remaining portal. "Canterlots full of the little critters. I'll go east, you go west. Meet here in five!" And she galloped down the street.
Fluttershy started to go through, then wondered if the portal might close while she was still in it. She squeaked with fright at the thought.
But no- her friends needed her!
Flinching, she pushed through the portal as fast as she could and raced to get away from it.
She missed seeing the portal collapse.