> Falling In > by OneOverTwo > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Princess Twilight Sparkle relaxed around her castle. “So what exactly are we doing about Starlight Glimmer?” said Spike. “Well the important thing is just to make sure she doesn’t cause trouble anymore,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “but let’s talk about that later, Spike, right now I just want to take a break and relax after all that time travel trouble.” “Uh, Twilight?” said Spike as he looked out a window. “What is it, Spike?” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. Spike pointed out the window at a widening tear in the fabric of space that seemed to have plenty of things falling from it. Including what appeared to be creatures of some sort. “OH COME ON!” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. Something was in the process of falling from the sky. That something was something called humans. One of these humans happened to be named Scootaloo. She always wondered what flying would be like and found that she was now free falling completely against her will to be very insulting. “AAAAAaaaaaaaaa- OOF!” said Scootaloo as she landed. Scootaloo’s landing hurt, sure, but it was much softer than what she was expecting; Scootaloo survived her fall. “Oooo, my butt,” said Scootaloo as she rubbed her hindside. Scootaloo took in her surroundings. What appeared to be thatched roofed cottages were everywhere. Around her creatures that looked vaguely pony like scattered away. One of these ponies approached her, however. The pony was tiny, with a light brown mane, an almost white coat, glasses, a tiara, and she was flying. “Hey there! Hey there!” said the pony, hovering at about a level that kept her face level with Scootaloo’s, “You look super duper weird! What are you?” Scootaloo stared at the flying pony for a minute. “Hello?” said the tiny pony, “Is there anything in there?” “Whuh?” said Scootaloo, “Oh right! Human, I’m a human.” “Wow, I never heard of that!” said the pony. “Nevermind what I am, what the heck are you?” said Scootaloo. “Pegasus pony!” said the pony. Scootaloo briefly wondered why she didn’t just say pegasus but then decided that if a mythical creature turned out to be real and could talk they would be the one who got to decide what the heck they were called. “Where am I?” said Scootaloo as she stood up. “Ponyville!” said the tiny pony. “That’s a bit on the nose,” said Scootaloo. “I didn’t name it,” said the tiny pony. “Fair enough,” said Scootaloo, “Hey, I’m gonna go look for some of my friends.” “There are more humans around here?” said the hovering pony. “I hope so,” said Scootaloo. Scootaloo felt that one person could help her in the impossible situation she found herself in. She was even magic so that was a plus. “RAINBOW DASH!” said Scootaloo. The tiny hovering pony by Scootaloo’s head wondered why the human was calling for Ponyville’s famous athlete, but decided to wait before she said anything. “RAINBOW DASH!” said Scootaloo, “RAINBOW DASH!” “Scootaloo?!” said a voice that sounded like Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash!” said Scootaloo a bit more excitedly. “Scootaloo!” said Rainbow Dash as flew over from behind a house. “RAINB- you’re not Rainbow Dash,” said Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash took one look at the human and decided one thing immediately. “Come on, kid, this is definitely a Twilight problem,” said Rainbow Dash. Flash Sentry fell from the sky. “Aw man! I broke my headphones!” said a voice behind him. It seemed that he wasn’t alone in his situation because when he turned his head a Crystal Prep student, one of the students on the team opposite his in the friendship games, Lemon Zest had landed behind him herself. The two of them somehow managed to land in the relatively narrow space between two buildings. They had not yet been noticed by the any of the several ponies near them. They were lucky enough to have landed in an area that was dark and hard to see into. “Dude! Are you seeing this?” said Lemon Zest, “These are biggest cats I’ve ever seen!” “Uh-” “No wait, I think they might be really snub nosed horses or something actually,” said Lemon Zest. “Er, yeah…” said Flash Sentry. He looked out and observed the ponies walking about their business. Flash did his best to try and figure out where to go from here. “Hey, Lemon Zest,” said Flash Sentry, hoping that he got her name right. “Yeah?” said Lemon Zest. “What do you think we should do?” said Flash Sentry. “I think we should ask if there’s anyone who can fix my headphones,” said Lemon Zest. “Uh, maybe,” said Flash Sentry right before resuming trying to figure out what to do on his own. ‘Maybe one of the horses can help us,’ thought Flash Sentry. Flash Sentry waited until a pony walked near enough to talk to without causing too much of a ruckus. When a pink coated pony with a bright green mane passed by Flash stopped her by placing his hand on where he guessed her shoulder to be. “Excuse me, m-” “AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!” said the pony right before dramatically fainting. Flash Sentry and Lemon Zest had gained plenty of attention from the plentiful amount ponies around them. “Hm, lesson learned, dude,” said Lemon Zest to Flash Sentry, “Don’t touch ‘em ‘cause then they die.” “The horror! The horror!” said the fallen pony. “Oh, nevermind then,” said Lemon Zest, “touchin’s totally fine, I guess.” The fallen pony ran away from them. The other ponies near by then had either also fled or had formed part of a cautious circle around the two of them. After some tense waiting, one of the ponies broke from that circle and approached the humans. “Hello there, strange new creatures,” said the pony in a slow deliberate tone, “My name is Lyra Heartstrings.” That caught Flash Sentry off guard. “Lyra Heartstrings?” said Flash Sentry, “I have a friend with that name.” Lyra was taken aback by that. She could only look at the two humans with confusion plastered on her face. “Dude! I totally just realized something!” said Lemon Zest. “Huh?” said Flash Sentry. “We’re like aliens now!” said Lemon Zest, “Take me to your leader!” “I don’t think-” “I can do that!” said Lyra Heartstrings, “Follow me!” “Ha!” Lemon Zest slapped Flash Sentry on the back, “I’m the mondo best alien!” Flash Sentry sighed and followed Lyra and the other human. Today was not Sunset Shimmer’s day. It was not her day at all in the slightest. She lied down on the ground and felt like she had been hit by a train. Sunset Shimmer felt a hoof poke her cheek. ‘Hoof?’ thought Sunset Shimmer. “E-excuse me,” said a yellow pony with a pink mane, “are you alright?” “Fluttershy? Did you become a pony?” said Sunset Shimmer blearily. “Oh, um,” said Fluttershy, “Well not become…” Sunset Shimmer heard someone getting up quickly. “Oh my gosh!” said a voice that sounded like Fluttershy’s, “You’re so cute!” At that moment Fluttershy was practically tackled by Fluttershy and was promptly harrassed with petting as if she were a house cat. “What’s your name you widdle schweetheart?” said the human Fluttershy. The pony Fluttershy mumbled inaudibly and became very frightened. Sunset Shimmer got up herself and checked her surroundings. She noticed that four more of her friends were behind her. "Erg, my head is killing me," said Rainbow Dash. "Ah feel mighty sore, but surprisingly less than I expected fallin' from the sky to feel like," said Applejack, "Everyone else alright?" "I feel super!" said Pinkie Pie. "I feel awful!" said Rarity, "My clothes are absolutely ruined!" "Yup, everyone's fine," said Applejack. "Hey Sunset! Did you know that you're still super shiny and stuff?" said Pinkie Pie. "What?" said Sunset Shimmer. It was then that Sunset Shimmer took a moment to look at herself. She still had the power borrowed from her friends surging through her. She guessed that her fight wasn't over yet. "Fluttershy," said Sunset Shimmer. "Yes?" Said the human Fluttershy. "Er, pony Fluttershy," said Sunset Shimmer, "Can you take us to Princess Twilight Sparkle?" "Twilight? Oh, you must be Twilight's Canterlot High friends," said the pony Fluttershy. Fluttershy finally managed to escape the grip of her human counterpart, "Follow me." Twilight was stressing out. It was frustrating enough that this was happening at all, but it was more frustrating given that she had only just finished going through time loops. She could spot a small group of humans in the distance. There were three of them, a light green skinned girl with purple hair in twintails, a grey skinned boy in a green shirt, and a girl with curly orange hair and dorky glasses. “From what I can see, we’ve landed in an empty field,” said the girl with glasses. “Nah, this field isn’t empty, Scribble Dee, it’s full of life,” said the girl with purple hair, “like flowers and, uh, grass.” “I think it’s suspicious, Starlight,” said the grey skinned boy. ‘STARLIGHT?!’ thought Princess Twilight Sparkle, ‘No, she looks completely different, it’s a coincidence.’ “I mean it’s really weird that what amounts to a supervillain dumps us into a peaceful meadow instead of a pit of spikes or something, right?” said the grey skinned boy. “Indigo Wreath Indigo Wreath Indigo Wreath,” said Scribble Dee, “she wasn’t motivated by a want of wanton destruction. She was opening a hole into a world of magic while not caring about what happened to our homeworld. Tsk tsk, I thought that was clear.” “Well excuse me for not exactly paying attention when the world was being destroyed,” said Indigo Wreath. “Um, hello?” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. The three humans stopped what they were doing to look at what had just spoken to them. She seemed oddly familiar to them. After a silence just long enough to be awkward, one of the humans responded back. “We come in peace!” said Indigo Wreath. Scribble Dee smacked him in the way that a friend would if you annoyed them. “Come on, we’re like aliens now,” said Indigo Wreath, “I pretty much have to say that!” “Aliens?” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “I guess you technically are aliens.” “Oh hey Twilight, how ya doin’?” said Starlight. “You recognize me?” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “Great, I can skip the part where I have to explain who I am. Follow me, please, I’ve been gathering others.” With that Twilight turned around and walked back towards her castle, expecting the humans to follow. “That’s Twilight?!” said Scribble Dee, “What happened to her?” “Of course it’s Twilight,” said Starlight, “can’t you tell?” “I’m not sure I believe it,” said Indigo Wreath. “Heh, I’m sure that it’ll all become as clear to you as it is to me,” said Starlight, “Man, you heard what she said, let’s follow her.” Several groups converged at Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle including a group of humans that were already there because they had been gathered by Princess Twilight Sparkle earlier. Princess Twilight Sparkle was very surprised to see Sunset Shimmer, or rather she was surprised to see her in the sky and about the power radiating off of her. Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy drifted down to meet Princess Twilight Sparkle. “Sunset Shimmer, you look… different,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “What’s happening?” “I messed up big time, Twilight,” said Sunset Shimmer, “I failed everyone.” “What?” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “What happened? I mean, I know that every human here fell from the sky, but I never really got the story since I was too busy rounding them all up.” “Your human counterpart destroyed the world,” said Sunset Shimmer. “WHAT?!” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, the pony Fluttershy, and the pony Rainbow Dash simultaneously. “I tried to stop her. I tried to talk her out of it. I couldn’t get through to her. She wouldn’t listen. I couldn’t stop her. The world ripped apart and everyone fell into Equestria.” “I did that?” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. “No,” said Sunset Shimmer, “It was your counterpart.” “I don’t know how to take this,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “The me from the other world destroyed it, why?” “She messed with magic she didn’t understand,” said Sunset Shimmer, “Like I once did. The difference is someone was able to stop me.” Princess Twilight Sparkle took another look at Sunset Shimmer’s current state. Twilight made sure to really look at what she saw. Sunset Shimmer’s shining horn and flaring wings showed significant purpose. Her friends’ power was still with her for a reason, they had to be. “I think you still might stop her,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “maybe even undo what she’s done.” Sunset Shimmer just looked down and away ashamed. > Chapter 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The outside of Princess Twilight’s castle was almost absolutely crowded with teenagers with a few teacher aged people also strewn about. It would have looked like a school prep rally or something if it wasn’t for the fact that it was in front of an oddly shaped castle instead of a High School. No one really knew what to do. Princess Twilight Sparkle flew up over everyone and cast a spell to amplify her voice. “Attention people from the other world!” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “I thank you all for your patience, especially given the circumstances! I would like you all to know that you are all welcome to stay in my castle for the time being, but please keep in mind that you will likely have to share rooms. Please wait while my assistant Spike gets my castle ready for you! Hopefully we will be able to find a solution to our predicament soon! Thank you!” With that Princess Twilight Sparkle flew back down to the ground and out of most of the people’s sight. Indigo Wreath looked all around him. He saw a portal hole that some people probably fell from in the distance silently imploding. He could see several students from both Canterlot High School and Crystal Prep Academy. He did not, however, see everyone from those two schools, let alone the entire world. ‘Did only some of us survive?’ thought Indigo Wreath, ‘That’s a scary thought.’ "Watermelody!," said a girl's voice, "Golden Hazel! Indigo Wreath!" "Sophisticata!" said Indigo Wreath, "Over here!" The girl made her way over to Indigo Wreath. "Thank goodness you're here," said Sophisticata, "I couldn't find any of the other drama kids." "Yeah, looking around it's clear to me that not everyone is here," said Indigo Wreath, "Only some of the students and staff are at this crystal tree castle thing." "Maybe they're all spread out across multiple places in this world," said Sophisticata. "I hope so," said Indigo Wreath. Rainbow Dash stood around Sunset Shimmer with the rest of the Rainbooms. The pony Fluttershy was doing her very best to stay away from her human counterpart so she decided to go home. They were mostly talking about what exactly they should be doing right now, but the weren't really getting anywhere at the moment. "RAINBOW DASH!" said Scootaloo. "Scoots!" said Rainbow Dash. The two humans embraced each other in a sisterly hug, complete with Scootaloo on the receiving end of a noogie. "Stop stop!" said Scootaloo. "Heh, alright," said Rainbow Dash, "I'm glad you're okay, kid." "Gyeh," said the pony Rainbow Dash, "somehow this feels really embarrassing." "Aw, I think it looks super sweet," said a tiny flying pony with a tiara and glasses." Scootaloo had been followed in her search. "Hi there hi there!" said the tiny pony, "I'm Zipporwhill!" "Uh, hey?" said the human Rainbow Dash. Applejack held Fluttershy back from approaching the tiny flying pony. “So,” said the pony Rainbow Dash, “you’re the me from another universe, huh?” The human Rainbow Dash stared at her pony counterpart. “Hello?” the pony Rainbow Dash waved her hoof in front of the other Dash’s eyes. “Gyeh,” said the human Rainbow Dash, “this is weird.” “Meh, I’ve probably been through weirder,” said the pony Rainbow Dash. Applejack and Rarity realized something when they looked at Scootaloo. “Uh hey Scootaloo,” said Applejack. “What?” said Scootaloo. “Where’re Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle?” said Applejack. “I- I don’t know,” said Scootaloo, “I fell from the sky and really the only ones I’ve really talked to are you all and those two pegasuses.” “Pegasi,” said the pony Rainbow Dash. “Whatever,” said Scootaloo. Rarity was visibly panicking, Applejack tried to reassure her. “There there,” said Applejack, “Ah’m sure our sisters are alright.” “And I am MOST certain that they are NOT!” said Rarity, “If they’re even here I just know that they’re starving or otherwise in incredible danger! What if they’re in the cave of a monster or- or-” “Easy there, Rarity,” said Applejack, “panicking right now isn’t goin’ to help right now.” “It’s helping me!” said Rarity as she dramatically collapsed to the ground in a kneel and set her face in her palms. Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes. Zipporwhill looked at the crying human, “You look like one of the Ponytones!” Rarity looked up from her hands, “Hm?” “You look like one of the Ponytones!” said Zipporwhill. “Um, what’s- what’s a ‘pony tone’?” said Fluttershy. “It’s like this super amazing singing group,” said Zipporwhill, “Does she sing?” “...A bit,” said Rarity. “We’re in a band!” said Pinkie Pie. “Yeah, but we don’t have our instruments right now,” said Applejack. “I always have an instrument on me!” said Pinkie as she pulled out a kazoo. All the others looked bemused at her when she played it. “Anyways…” said Sunset Shimmer, “What do you want, my little pony?” “Oh I’m just interested in what’s going on right now,” said Zipporwhill, “You look different from all the other ones. You’re glowier.” “Yeah, well, it’s a long story that I really don’t want to get into right now,” said Sunset Shimmer. “Mmhm,” said Zipporwhill. Zipporwhill flew down to Scootaloo. “Hey, do want to see the town?” said Zipporwhill. “Maybe?” said Scootaloo. “Follow me!” said Zipporwhill. Princess Twilight Sparkle looked among the humans and traveled amongst the crowd, trying to see who she recognized. “You play guitar?” said Lemon Zest, “That’s totally rockin’.” “Thanks,” said Flash Sentry, “Though I don’t really have one with me and I’m not sure this place has any at all.” “Flash!” said Twilight Sparkle excitedly. “Twilight?” said Flash Sentry confusedly. “Yeah… that’s me,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. “Uh…” Flash Sentry as he kept staring at the creature before him. “So…” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “What have you been up to?” “...Nothing much?” said Flash Sentry. “Sorry about my, um, counterpart,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. Flash Sentry pretended that he didn’t just put together the fact that he had met more than one Twilight Sparkle. “It’s fine,” said Flash Sentry. Lemon Zest looked back and forth between the two awkward dorks. “I feel like I’m missin’ something here,” said Lemon Zest, “There somethin’ between you two?” The two she referred to both blushed. “Uh, I’ve got to go… think somewhere for a while,” said Flash Sentry right before walking as far away as he could. “Huh,” Lemon Zest walked up to the purple alicorn and patted her hand on Twilight’s shoulder, “well this means one of two things, snub nosed pony.” “Huh?” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. “He’s either really bothered by what ya look like or not really bothered by it enough,” said Lemon Zest. “Not bothered enough?” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “I have to go, um, think somewhere for awhile.” “Bye Twilight!” said Lemon Zest as the princess made her way back to her room in the castle, “You are a different one from the crazy evil one, right?!” Scribble Dee and Starlight (just Starlight) walked on the edge of the crowd. “So what are we doing, exactly?” said Scribble Dee. “Ya know, look for a guide,” said Starlight, “I wanna really SEE this place.” “I guess I don’t really have anything better to do either,” said Scribble Dee. “Man, that’s not my reason, I wanna get a good idea of where I am even,” said Starlight, “Hey! Maybe that pony can help us!” Starlight pointed to a unicorn with purplish pinkish coat and purple hair with greenish bluish streaks in it. The unicorn gawked at all the humans visible right outside of Twilight’s castle. Momentarily she appeared to feel a bit guilty about something. “NOT MY FAULT THIS TIME!” said the unicorn as she ran off somewhere. “What was that about?” said Scribble Dee. “Nevermind, maybe that pony can help us!” Starlight pointed to a mint green unicorn this time. Lyra Heartstrings was fascinated with the humans. Though the main thing she was trying to do was finding her alleged human counterpart which was a goal that she had yet to achieve. “Hey mint colored unicorn!” said Starlight, “Can ya spare some time to show the town. Lyra snapped to attention, “Uh, sure.” Sunset Shimmer sulked in the corner of a room in Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle. the human Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity were keeping her company. The human Rainbow Dash had decided to follow the human Scootaloo and Zipporwhill. “Aw cheer up, Sun Shimmy!” said Pinkie Pie, “Things could be worse.” “Though the destruction of our universe is pretty bad,” said Fluttershy. Everyone gave her the ‘not helping’ look. Fluttershy backed away and did her best to make her smaller. Sunset Shimmer sighed, “It’s not just that. Our world’s Twilight is out there somewhere in Equestria.” “OUR world, huh?” said Rainbow Dash with a smirk. “Heh, it’s- well Princess Twilight said that I still might be able to stop her,” said Sunset Shimmer, “I just… I really wish that- that I…” “It’s okay, Sunset,” said Applejack as she did her best to put a reassuring arm around her friend, though the huge glowing and flaring wings of light made trying to do this quite awkward to attempt. “It’s not, but…” said Sunset Shimmer, “if we can find her I definitely want to get through to her next time.” “I’m sure that we will,” said Rarity, “I’m sure that we will.” “That over there is the schoolhouse,” said Zipporwhill as she showed two people around Ponyville, “and that over there is the Hayburger.” “She doesn’t seem much for detail,” said the human Rainbow Dash. “Seems really excited though,” said the human Scootaloo. “That over there is our local bakery: Sugarcube Corner,” said Lyra to the two humans following her, “Want to go in?” “Yes!” said Zipporwhill. “Oh, hello,” said Lyra, “are you showing humans around too?” “Yeah,” said Zipporwhill, “though mine I’ve seen the ponies for.” “Ponies for?” said Scribble Dee. “Mines a national hero,” said Rainbow Dash: ready to use any excuse to brag. “One of the humans said that he had a friend that had my name,” said Lyra, “Though I haven’t really seen her myself.” “Whoa,” said Starlight. “Forget that!” said Zipporwhill, “Let’s get something from Sugarcube Corner!” When the two ponies and four humans entered they were greeted with a huge surprised gasp. “Canterlot High Schoolers!” said Pinkie Pie, “I have to make so many preparations!” With that Pinkie Pie the pony zoomed off to the back of the store. “Scootaloo,” said Rainbow Dash. “Yes?” said Scootaloo. “Let’s make sure that she never gets too close to our Pinkie.” “Yeah,” said Scootaloo, “That’s probably a good idea.” “Now how are we supposed to get pastries?” said Zipporwhill. “Something tells me we should go back to the castle,” said Lyra who may have been licking her lips. Three girls found themselves in the most frustrating situations they could have possibly imagined. After a painful but relatively unharmful fall they found that they were in a grassy field. Around them were a number of tiny ewes. The purple one looked at her hands. She balled them into fists and threw them into the air. “OH THIS IS JUST FREAKING GREAT!” said the purple one who had her hair held in twintails by respective star decorations, “This is EXACTLY what I wanted after getting back to Equestria!” “Really? That’s weird,” said the blue one who had her hair in a simple pony tail, “I would’ve thought that you’d have wanted to turn back into a siren and get your powers back.” “Ugh, Sonata… just… ugh,” said the purple one, putting her hand to her face in order to signal her frustration, “You’re the worst.” “Hey, it’s not like it’s my fault we fell back in, Aria!” said Sonata, “Adagio’s the one who said that we should spy on the Friendship Games!” “Well something magical happened like how I thought it would happen,” said the orange one who had poofy hair and a spiked hairband, “Though I didn’t expect that its negative effects would get this far.” “What do we even DO now?” said Aria, “Not only are we powerless, our dumb bodies make us obvious too.” “What do we do?” said Adagio, “I guess I don’t have an answer.” “Adagio doesn’t have an answer?” said Aria, “That’s- that’s actually a first.” “Hey, um, what was the plan for if a pony caught sight of us?” said Sonata Dusk. “To dispose of them,” said Adagio. “What about… several of them?” said Sonata Dusk. “What?” said Aria. Aria and Adagio turned their heads to see what Sonata was looking at. She was looking at a massive amount of armored translucent and glittering ponies staring hard at them. “Ah sh-” said Aria. “Hello! We intend no harm!” said Adagio. “We’ll determine that after we take you trespassers in for some questioning,” sternly said the one that seemed to be their leader. “I don’t like the sound of this,” whispered Sonata. “For once we agree,” whispered Aria Blaze. Princess Twilight Sparkle sat at a desk in her room resting her cheek on it and tried to and failed to think there. “You okay, Twilight?” said Spike when he noticed from outside her open door. “I will be, Spike,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “After a while at least.” “TWILIGHT!” said Pinkie Pie as she figuratively exploded into the room. “GAH!” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “Don’t startle me like that, Pinkie.” “Sorry, Twilight,” said Pinkie Pie, “but why didn’t you tell me you were having Canterlot High Schoolers over? Also how come they haven’t been transformed into ponies?” “It- it wasn’t exactly planned, Pinkie,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “They didn’t come through the mirror; they fell into Equestria when my human counterpart destroyed their world.” “What? Human Twilight can’t be evil!” said Pinkie Pie, “And there’s no way she destroyed her own world.” “I want to believe that too,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “but it might just be wishful thinking on my part.” “Well if their world was destroyed,” said Pinkie Pie, “Then I have a lot of faces to put smiles on!” “Are smiles really what-” said Spike, stopping when it was clear that Pinkie Pie had already left. “Yeesh, I hope it’s not TOO disastrous,” said Spike. > Chapter 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was fascinating. Or at least she thought so. She could see magic everywhere and she wanted to understand it. She was in a dark crowded forest because at that moment she thought that it would be a likely place to find magic. “TELL ME YOUR SECRETS, LADYBUG!” said the human Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle paused at the ladybug she was looking at, “Nevermind, this ladybug is, against all odds, from my old world.” The human, if she could still be called that, looked around for something anything magical to study and get to know. She stopped turning around and around when she noticed a castle or at least a similar looking building protruding from a mountain. “Ooooh,” said Twilight Sparkle, “that definitely has to be magic.” Then she spread out her wings and flew towards the structure. A mare named Tree Hugger was in a forest that might be considered a little dangerous. She was doing research for the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures. She was talking to a new find. “Hey, I’m looking for someone,” said a small purple dog. “Looking for someone?” said Tree Hugger. “Yeah, have you seen her?” said the the dog, “She’s purple and I think she has wings right now. She’s needs glasses, but I think they’re made out of burning at the moment.” “Groovy,” said Tree Hugger, “How many legs does she have?” “Uh, two I think,” said the dog. “Oh?” said Tree Hugger, “Hmm, does she have hooves?” “No,” said the dog. “So your friends a diamond dog then?” said Tree Hugger, “Or maybe a dragon?” “Nah, she can’t be a dragon,” said the dog, “and I figured out that she wasn’t a dog yesterday.” “Hm, this sounds like it might be a rare new creature, unprecedented talking dog,” said Tree Hugger. “Please,” said the dog, “call me Spike.” “Radical,” said Tree Hugger, “I think I’ll help you search for your friend.” “Wow! Thanks!” said Spike. At that point they decided to walk towards the city of Canterlot. “So why’d you and your friend get separated?” said Tree Hugger. “I was running up to her when I got struck by something and fell into this forest,” said Spike, “It happened pretty fast. I think it was a leg.” “Bummer,” said Tree Hugger. Two unicorns were on their way to a dress shop. "Do I really need a new dress, Minuette?" said a unicorn with large eyebrows and glasses. “Come on, Moondancer, you can’t wear that frumpy sweater everywhere!” said Minuette. “I like my frumpy sweater…” said Moondancer. THUMP! “Ooh! What’s that thing?” said Minuette, curious about what had just fallen from the sky “Groan,” said the fallen thing. THUD! “Gyouch…” said the fallen thing for another thing of the same kind fell upon it. “Is that… Lyra?” said Moondancer. “Don’t be silly, Moondancer,” said Minuette, “Lyra’s a unicorn! This thing is a thing that isn’t that.” “Hey wait,” said the thing that was under the other thing, “I am Lyra.” “Woah! How’d you turn into a thing?” said Minuette. Lyra looked at what was on top of her and asked, “Hey, did I turn into a thing?” “Ugh, how should I even know,” said the person lying on top of her, “I feel like I’m going to vomit.” “Get off me first, please,” said Lyra. “That I other one is somepony I don’t know,” said Minuette, “Hey! Who are you?” “Sunny Fl- HURGL!” vomited the person on top of Lyra. “Aw gross!” said Lyra. One room in the castle of Princess Twilight Sparkle was suspiciously dark. “Dude! What’s that weird contraption over there?” said Lemon Zest as she pointed to an ornate mirror attached to vaguely scientific looking machinery doodads. There was a slight glow coming out of it. “Can you not call me ‘dude’,” said a pale skinned human with greenish hair, “I’m self-conscious enough about this chin as it is.” “Nah, Taffy Shade and Garden Grove got way worse man chins, Cold Forecast my pal,” said Lemon Zest. “Er… I’ll be sure to not tell them that,” said Cold Forecast. “Smart!” Lemon Zest as she slammed Cold Forecast in the back. Cold Forecast barely did not fall over. The pony Pinkie Pie sat away in the distance. “Grrr,” said Pinkie Pie, “I can’t start this party with only two!” “Can’t start what party with only two?” said the other Pinkie who appeared as if from nowhere. “The welcome party for all the humans of course!” said the pony Pinkie Pie. “A welcome party?” the human Pinkie Pie mulled this over for a bit, “That’s a great idea!” “I know, right?” said the pony Pinkie Pie, “Now if only I could attract more of them here.” “I can help with that!” said the human Pinkie Pie. “Really?!” said the pony Pinkie Pie, “Oh that would be just super!” “Okie dokie lokie!” said the human Pinkie Pie right before shuffling off to do the help she offered to do. Three girls were taken to a crystalline looking jail cell where they sat on a very uncomfortable bench behind what appeared to be a table made of solid crystal and waited for what felt like a long time. “Grahg!” said Aria, “It feels like we’re becoming less and less able to do anything by the moment!” “Calm down Aria,” said Adagio, “We need to focus if we’re to ever figure out a way out of this predicament.” “Yeah,” said Sonata Dusk, “calm down, Aria.” Aria crossed arms and sulked silently. A tall white unicorn stallion entered the cell, accompanied by a couple of crystal pony guards. He walked to the side of the table opposite the three girls. “Hello, my name is Shining Armor,” said the white unicorn stallion, “And please tell me your names.” “Let me do the talking, girls,” said Adagio, “My name is Adagio Dazzle, and the two at my sides are Aria Blaze,” Adagio pointed to her right then pointed to her left, “and Sonata Dusk.” “I see,” said Shining Armor, “Tell me, Adagio Dazzle, why exactly were you trespassing in the petting zoo?” Aria put her head down and groaned at how lame their crime sounded. “There is a simple explanation for that, Shining,” said Adagio, “but it might seem a little unbelieveable. Though surely you’ve noticed that we are a of a previously unseen species.” “Unseen, but not unheard of,” said Shining Armor, “My sister, Twilight Sparkle, has in fact told me about you humans and the universe you hail from. Though I am surprised that the mirror portal did not turn you into ponies or some other Equestrian race.” Adagio froze for a second at the mention of Twilight Sparkle. “We didn’t go through the mirror portal,” said Sonata Dusk, “I mean we fell into a portal hole, but not a MIRROR portal hole.” “Shut up, Sonata,” whispered Adagio. “My companion is right though,” said Adagio, “we were rather forcibly shoved out of the universe we had previously occupied by a mysterious creature when she teared holes in the fabric of space. The floor was taken out from under us so we and many others fell into this universe.” Shining Armor gave them an intense look. After about a minute he decided on what he should do. “Wait here while I write to my sister for advice on how to proceed,” said Shining Armor, “After all, she has experience with your species’ world.” Shining Armor left the cell. Two guards remained behind to keep an eye on the humanoid trio. “Well if he didn’t know what we were before, he’ll definitely find out about it now!” whispered Aria in an angry panic. “I’ll figure out something,” whispered Adagio through clenched teeth. “You’ll have to figure it out fast,” said Sonata. “Shut up, Sonata!” angrily whispered Aria. A human allegedly named Bon Bon fell from the sky. As she hit the ground she transitioned into a roll and hoped for the best. After a long time rolling she came to a stop and felt able to get up. The ponies all around her reacted with stunned shock. Bon Bon took a pair of sunglasses out and put them on. She calmly walked to the nearest low visibility area of the city. ‘This place seems-’ thought Bon Bon “Aw gross!” said Lyra. ‘Lyra and… Sunny Flare?’ thought Bon Bon when she saw her designated enemy on top of her friend, ‘Odd.’ Lyra carefully got up, making sure to avoid the puddle of Sunny’s puke. “Ungh,” said Sunny Flare as she fell into her own sick since Lyra did not make sure that she avoided it. “Is she alright?” said Bon Bon. “Bon Bon!” said Lyra, “Where did you get those sunglasses?” “Hey Bon Bon, how did you turn into a thing?” said Minuette. “Who?” said Moondancer. “You know, Lyra’s best friend!” said Minuette. “Wait, before we talk further, where are we?” said Bon Bon. “Canterlot,” said Moondancer. “Anything special about Canterlot?” said Bon Bon. “It’s Equestria’s capital,” said Moondancer. “And Equestria is?” said Bon Bon. “The country,” said Moondancer. “Hey, wait a minute,” said Minuette, “these questions make me think that these things have our friends’ names by pure coincidence!” “Maybe not pure coincidence,” said Moondancer, “recently I’ve been studying up on alternate universes. It’s possible that they’re from one.” “I remember falling into a space tear,” said Lyra. “Yes, so they’re probably alternate universe equivalents of our friends,” said Moondancer, “Except for the one who vomited, since neither of us know her.” “Have any other humans fallen from the sky?” said Bon Bon. “Not that I know of,” said Moondancer, “but if they have, I’m sure that we’ll find out soon.” “In that case…” said Bon Bon, “take me to-” “To…?” said Minuette. Bon Bon slapped her hand to her face, “I can’t say it.” “Can’t say what?” said Moondancer. “Take me to your leader?” said Lyra. “Yes,” said Bon Bon, “that.” “Well it’s a good idea,” said Sunny Flare from her place on the ground. The human Pinkie Pie went about knocking on everyone’s doors. Everyone was confused when they opened their doors and failed to see anything on the other side. Later realizing her mistake, Pinkie made sure to wait the next time she knocked. KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! “Hello?” said Flash Sentry, “Oh, hey Pinkie.” “Heya Flash! I need you to gather all your friends and take them to a specific room,” said Pinkie Pie, “Oh! And all your enemies too! And the inbetweens!” “I… huh?” said Flash Sentry. “It’ll all be clear later, bye!” said Pinkie Pie. The human Pinkie Pie knocked on the next door. “What?” said a teacher aged woman. “Hiya Ms.Cheerilee! Want to bring everyone you know to a dark secluded room for no clear reason?” said Pinkie Pie, “I bet you do~!” Ms.Cheerilee stared at Pinkie Pie with a concerned look. “Super! Gotta go!” the human Pinkie Pie repeated this process for a long while. Princess Celestia was out scouring Canterlot due to multiple reports of mysterious new creatures falling from the sky coming from a variety of different kinds of ponies in a very short timeframe. She definitely was not just looking for an excuse to skip day court. It was insisted that she had a couple of guards follow her. “Hey! Don’t any of you horse things not panic at the sight of a human?!” said a human with pale blue skin and dull purplish hair. “Hi,” said Celestia, not really expecting to find one of the creatures so soon. “Whoa, a big one this time,” said the human, “I-” Suddenly a dark purple winged human with her eyes seemingly on oddly colored fire drifted into town. It was the human Twilight Sparkle. She looked at Princess Celestia. “You! You look magical,” said the human Twilight Sparkle, “very magical.” The human Twilight quickly moved right into the immediate personal space of the alicorn of the day. Twilight Sparkle looked deeply at the princess. She could see everything, though she couldn’t process all that she saw. Princess Celestia was unsettled by the weird human staring at her. “Tell me,” said the human Twilight Sparkle as she grabbed Princess Celestia around the neck, “please tell me about magic!” Princess Celestia’s guards were quick to try to get the creature off of their princess. They did land a hit on her. “Gyah!” said the human Twilight Sparkle, “Grrrr!” The human immediately blasted the guards away. They disappeared in a burst of pink and blue-violet energy. “NO!” said Princess Celestia. The princess attacked the winged human in anger, she shot out a concussive blast. When the blast struck Twilight yelped and disappeared in a burst of pink and blue-violet energy herself. Very briefly, Celestia thought that she could see another city where the odd human used to be. “Oh my gosh, you exploded her,” said the pale blue human. Celestia sighed, “No, she definitely teleported.” “Dang,” said the pale blue human, “be careful, I think she destroyed my universe.” “Is that so?” said Princess Celestia. Sunset Shimmer walked around Princess Twilight’s castle. Well floated is probably more accurate. She had a lot on her mind and she wasn’t sure if wanted to think of it less or of it more. “Hey Sunset, wanna try to find your Equestrian counterpart with us?” said the human Scootaloo who was on her way out of the castle, accompanied by both the pony and human Rainbow Dashes. “Scootaloo, I’m from here,” said Sunset Shimmer. “Oh, right,” said Scootaloo, “Wanna come anyways?” Sunset Shimmer let out a breath, “I’m not sure.” “Come on Sunset, it’ll be fun,” said the human Rainbow Dash. “I guess… I guess I don’t really have anything to do right now,” said Sunset Shimmer. “Cool,” said the pony Rainbow Dash, “c’mon, I know where pegasus Scoots is.” Tree Hugger and Spike the dog exited the forest. “Is this Canterlot?” said Spike the dog. “Nah, this is right outside of Ponyville which is right outside of Canterlot,” said Tree Hugger, “So did ya say that you two were from Canterlot?” “No, but I think that was where we were last,” said Spike the dog. “Cool,” said Tree Hugger, “Hey, my friend Fluttershy lives around here.” Tree Hugger and Spike the dog walked a few feet over towards a sod roof cottage. After a moment, Tree Hugger knocked on the door. “Hello?” said Fluttershy after opening the door ever so slightly, “Oh, hello Tree Hugger.” “Hi, I’m Spike,” said Spike the dog. “Oh,” said Fluttershy, “Twilight is going to want know about this…” > Chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “COME ON!” said Minuette, “There are never before seen intelligent creatures right here!” Minuette pointed at the human Lyra, Bon Bon, and Sunny Flare. “Sorry ma’am,” said a stone faced earth pony guard, “Princess Celestia is not seeing anypony at the moment.” “Not even to deal with something like a previously unknown intelligent species?” said Moondancer, “What is she doing? Is she sick?” “She-” said the guard. “I’m back,” said Princess Celestia with a human in tow, “I’ve found-” Princess Celestia looked at the group standing at the entrance of her castle. “Hum, I see that you have found some of the creatures yourself,” said Princess Celestia. “Crystal Lullaby!” said Sunny Flare. “Oh, um, hey Sunny Flare,” said the human accompanying Princess Celestia. Sunny Flare walked up to Crystal Lullaby and put her arm around her. “I feel very sick,” said Sunny Flare, causing Crystal Lullaby to gain a slightly disgusted look. Bon Bon looked at Celestia’s crown, “Am I to guess that you’re this country’s leader?” “Yeah, you’re taller than everyone else,” said Lyra. “Heh, I am the leader,” said Princess Celestia, “though not specifically because of my size.” “Well it’s how it works for us,” said Lyra. “What?! No it isn’t,” said Sunny Flare, still leaning on Crystal Lullaby, “Don’t give the aliens the wrong idea about us!” “Or at least give them a favorable wrong idea about us,” said Crystal Lullaby. “Fine, jeez,” said Lyra, “and technically we’re the aliens…” “So… is it true that one who looks like you but with wings and a horn destroyed your universe?” said Celestia. “As far as we can tell,” said Bon Bon, “though I suppose that we should not discount the possibility that what we have seen is not what has indeed transpired.” “... I have to write to Twilight,” said Princess Celestia. The pony Scootaloo was not sure what she was looking at. “Hi,” said the human Scootaloo, “I’m Scootaloo and I got told you are too.” It was like looking in a funhouse mirror, she felt. Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow Dash for direction. What she saw was that Rainbow Dash seemed to be getting along with her odd looking mystery creature counterpart. That and a looming floating mystery creature with wings of light that looked like she was supposed to be more important, the pony Scootaloo figured that that one was probably their princess or something. Meanwhile the pony Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle continued to be quite confused by the three new creatures. “Sup?” said the pony Scootaloo. “So,” said the human Scootaloo, suddenly realizing that she didn’t really prepare anything to talk about with, in a manner of speaking, herself, “Uh… what’s that on your butt?” Pony Scootaloo’s eyes showed excitement. The other two Crusaders were also showing a bit of pride themselves. “It’s my cutie mark!” said the pony Scootaloo as she turned to show it off better, “Isn’t it totally awesome?” Human Scootaloo took a good look at pony Scootaloo’s mark, she found herself really digging the lightning wing on a shield, “Yeah, that looks really rad and cool… What’s a cutie mark?” “What’s a cutie mark?!” said the three Cutie Mark Crusaders. “It’s a mark on yer flank that shows what makes a pony special!” said Apple Bloom. “Are all of you born with them or something?” said the human Scootaloo, “That seems like it’d be constraining.” “Ugh!” said the pony Scootaloo, “You’re not born with one!” “That’s right,” said Sunset Shimmer, “cutie marks are earned.” “And it’s not like your cutie mark has to be about everything you do!” said Sweetie Belle, “It doesn’t dictate your life!” “Yeah, Pinkie’s mark is for party planning, but her actual job is helpin’ out with bakin’!” said Apple Bloom. “Oh, what are your cutie marks for?” said the human Scootaloo. “CUTIE MARKS!” said the Crusaders. “Huh?” said the human Scootaloo. “Wow, that’s actually pretty interesting,” said Sunset Shimmer, “You know, I was surprised to find out that humans don’t have cutie marks even though from what I’ve seen they usually wear their pony counterparts’ cutie mark on their clothes.” “Really?” said Sweetie Belle. “Yes, even though our world- er- the human world doesn’t have magic, the human Twili-” Sunset Shimmer cut herself off and looked down and away, “Nevermind.” The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at each other confusedly. At that point the human Applejack came running to them, “Y’all are gonna wanna come back over to the castle.” Adagio’s eyes darted about the cell. Then she noticed something about the bars. The bars were sized so that a pony wouldn’t be able to exit through them. Adagio and her two followers were significantly skinnier than the average pony. Adagio slipped through the bars as if she were an eal sporting a poofy hairstyle. She was also just able to slip past the guards. Aria quickly caught on to what she was to do and prompted Sonata to likewise realize. They were both able to get through the bars themselves, but the two guards were fast to prevent them from getting any further. Aria, in a split second decision, ripped off the stars holding one of her ponytails in place and threw them in the nearest guards face. She grabbed Sonata’s arm and ran away as fast as she could. When the girls caught up to Adagio they started turning random corners in an attempt to lose the guards on their tail. Eventually they came to a window; the fall was not very high. The trio ran to the edge of the city and escaped into the snow. It had taken some work, but the human Pinkie Pie got most of the humans in Ponyville to come to the room the pony Pinkie Pie had set aside for her welcome party. Flash Sentry really helped convince everyone that human Pinkie wasn’t (very) dangerous. The room was dark, but that quickly changed as lights burst to life and a blast of confetti and streamers exploded outward. A large banner reading ‘Welcome to Equestria!!!!!’ with smaller text reading ‘(& Super Sorry About What Happened to Your Universe!)’ hung from the ceiling. “SURPRISE!” said the pony Pinkie Pie. Pretty much all of the humans present felt very awkward and uncomfortable about this turn of events. Many of them tried to leave, but were stopped by the intense far off stare the human Pinkie, who positioned herself right outside the exit, gave whenever anyone tried to use it. Everyone decided to enter the room and spread out. A fairly large crowd grouped around the three dimensional map showing on the table in the middle of the room. Barely anyone talked to anyone else at that point, most settling to just stand around. The pony Pinkie Pie bounced over to her human counterpart. “This party isn’t doing too great,” said the pony Pinkie Pie. “Yeah, it’s gotta be missing something,” said the human Pinkie Pie, “have any party games?” “Pin the tail on the pony is just over that way!” said the pony Pinkie Pie. “Hmmm, not really the most appealing to most of us humans,” said the human Pinkie Pie, “Not the ones teenager or older anyway.” “What do you guys play?” said the pony Pinkie Pie. “Video games mainly,” said the human Pinkie Pie. “Oh I knew I should have gotten Twilight those Arcade cabinets!” said the pony Pinkie Pie. “I’ll think of something,” said the human Pinkie Pie. A huge statue that looked like a pony version of The Statue of Liberty could be seen in the distance. A human named Watermelody was leading a group of fellow humans. Well she tried to in any case. The group consisted of eight people, Watermelody included, and they were sitting in a dark but mostly empty alley. “Why on earth would we do that?” said a girl with curly orange hair and a scarf. “We’re not on Earth, Golden Hazel,” said Watermelody, “and I am absolutely sure that these buildings are close enough to each other to jump across.” “I don’t think that I can climb up the sides of these buildings,” said another girl with a pink bow in her curly orange hair as she raised her hand. “Not with that attitude, whatever your name is!” said Watermelody. “Sherbette,” said the girl with curly orange hair and a bow in it, “It’s Orange Sherbette.” “Anyways,” said Watermelody, “I say this is what we’re doing and since I’m leading this’ll be what we do.” “Why’re ya the leader again?” said a girl with a pink bow in her red hair. “Don’t question your leader, Apple Bloom,” said Watermelody. “Question,” said boy in a beanie. “Yes Norman?” said Watermelody. “Why are we hiding from the tiny ponies?” said Norman. “Because if we’re caught we’ll be dissected or something, Norman, and I don’t trust a pony with knives,” said Watermelody, “they don’t have thumbs so they’d probably get clumsy and drop them.” “I saw one of the horned ones lift stuff with some kind of glow power,” said a girl with two toned pink and purple hair. “Do you want to get dissected, Sweetie Belle?” said Watermelody. “N-no?” said Sweetie Belle. “Good,” said Watermelody, “Does anybody else need to say anything?” “Where’s Indigo Zap?” said a girl with pink skin and purple hair. Thump! “Grah,” said a girl with blue hair and goggles as she rubbed her backside, “I lost my grip there.” “See, this person gets it!” said Watermelody. “She fell,” said Orange Sherbette. “Excellent observation, Orange Sherbette,” said Watermelody, “Fifty points.” “Huh?” said Orange Sherbette. “There are points now?” said Golden Hazel. “Minus forty points from Hazel,” said Watermelody. “Pfft, not like it matters,” said Golden Hazel, rolling her eyes. “Suri, do you know what’s with this girl?” whispered Orange Sherbette to the pink skinned purple haired girl next to her. “It’s definitely a CHS thing,” said Suri, “Crystal Prep wouldn’t even look at the likes of her.” “I don’t think now is really the time for rivalry talk,” said Orange Sherbette. Thump! “Lost my grip again!” said the girl with goggles as she was back flat on the ground. “Maybe you should stop listening to beret chick over there, Zap,” said Suri. “I’ll stop listening when she stops telling me to do fun stuff,” said Indigo Zap. “Hey, um, our universe was destroyed,” said Norman, “Shouldn’t we be, er, worried about that?” “Guh, Norman, can we at least wait to get a roof before I stop being in denial?!” said Watermelody. Orange Sherbette raised her hand, “I also think that we should talk about the whole universe destruction thing.” “Yeah, what do we do right now?” said Apple Bloom. “Right now we hide from these pony things,” said Watermelody. A door in one of the walls next to the eight humans opened. “Stupid garbage, bleh!” said a short brown pony with reddish hair and freckles as she threw a bulging plastic bag into what seemed to be a dumpster, “Need ta brush my teeth now, bluh.” The eight humans stared at the pony, totally silent. The pony stared back at them. “Uh, hey,” said the pony. “Destroy her or run away!” said a panicked Watermelody. “I’m not going to destroy the cute ponies!” said Orange Sherbette with her arm raised high in the air, “That sounds incredibly evil!” “Yeah, Watermelody,” said Golden Hazel, “Maybe we shouldn’t kill the indigenous peoples of this world.” “Sorry! Panicking!” said Watermelody trying and failing to remove her boot to use as a weapon. “Are you going to dissect us?” said Sweetie Belle. “Nah, not like I got the authority ta do that kinda thing,” said the pony. The pony caught sight of Apple Bloom, “Hey, ya look a lot like my cousin Apple Bloom.” “How didja know my name?” said Apple Bloom. “Huh?” said the pony. “Maybe the ponies have psychic powers,” said Golden Hazel. “I doubt that,” said Suri. “Me too, I was being sarcastic,” said Golden Hazel. “Oh,” said Suri. “So I really don’t know what I’m s’posed ta do at this point ‘cause you’re not really doin’ anything,” said the pony. “You should tell them to take us to the pony leader,” said Indigo Zap. Golden Hazel placed her palm on her face. Watermelody seemed to be considering it. Apple Bloom and Sweetie didn’t seem to care much about the line. Suri did not show care at all. Norman just seemed confused. “Um, can you do that?” said Orange Sherbette as she remembered that she could put her hand down. “Bah, a young hairdressa like me? Nah, I ain’t got th’ connections for doing that,” said the pony. “Oh,” said Orange Sherbette, “can I ask your name?” “Babs Seed,” said the pony. “Wait, I got a cousin with that name,” said Apple Bloom. “That’s a weird coincidence,” said Watermelody. “So, uh, wanna get a pizza?” said Babs Seed. “So,” said Starlight, “your name is also Starlight?” “I don’t know why I’m here,” said Starlight Glimmer, “I just got swept up by a pink blur.” “Yeah, Pinkie’s pretty fast,” said Starlight not Glimmer. “Hey guys! You mingling? Cool,” said the human Pinkie Pie, “Keep doing that.” The human Pinkie walked over to a cluster of untalking humans. “Hey guys, wanna have some cake? This place has super delicious food!” said the human Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, I’m not sure that we should be partying right now,” said Scribble Dee. “Uh..” said the human Pinkie Pie. “Hey! Has anybody seen Cold Forecast?!” said Lemon Zest, “One moment we were next to a glowy mirror and the next she was gone!” “Uh… pin the tail on the pony?” said the human Pinkie Pie. “I knew this was going to happen this way,” said Spike as he walked by. “Brahp!” a scroll appeared from Spike, “Well, I gotta find Twilight.” “Er…” the human Pinkie Pie walked over to Indigo Wreath and Sophisticata, “What are you guys doing?” “Worrying about what happened to our friends,” said Indigo Wreath. “You know, standard our world has been destroyed stuff,” said Sophisticata. “Sigh, I’ll never get this party started,” said the human Pinkie Pie. It was cold. They felt like they were freezing. Three girls were huddled together in an attempt to warm each other. However, they could no longer see the city they escaped from. “I hate you so much right now, Adagio,” said Aria as she glared at Adagio. “I don’t like the situation we’re in either,” said Adagio, “but we have no choice now but to move forward now.” “I see a light,” said Sonata. “Oh great,” said Aria, “now Sonata’s dying. At least we’ve solved our food problem.” “No, stupid,” said Sonata, managing to make Aria’s eye start twitch with a word, “I see a light coming towards us!” At that point Adagio looked ahead. “That’s a train!” said Adagio with panic, “We’ve got to get out of its way!” “Wait,” said Aria, “Let’s jump on to it.” “WHAT?! Are you crazy, Aria?! If we don’t do that exactly perfectly we’ll be as good as dead!” “We’re already as good as dead in this extreme winter, Adagio!” said Aria, “This train will be our salvation either by letting us live or by cutting our suffering short!” Adagio hesitated, “Fine.” “It’s a good thing that train’s a fair way away right now,” said Sonata. The trio moved out of the direct path of the train and got ready to jump onboard. “Pizza sounds nice,” said Sweetie Belle. “How would you know that she’s talking about what you think she is?” said Suri. “Uh, I guess-” Suddenly a burst of pink and blue-violet energy appeared out of thin air. The human Twilight Sparkle snapped out of the energy and into awareness. She took notice of Babs Seed. “You look interesting,” said the human Twilight Sparkle. The human Twilight Sparkle blasted the pony with a bright blue beam. Babs reappeared in another burst of pink and blue-violet energy immediately in front of the winged human, slightly disoriented, after a few tense empty seconds. The human Twilight had Babs in her dangerously unconcerned magic grip. All of the other humans were near frozen in fear. Watermelody tried taking off one of her boots again. “Who an’ what’re you?” said Babs Seed with toughness and fear. “My name is… uh… my name is…” said the human Twilight Sparkle, “Something-ight Sparkle.” “Somethin’? Ya gotta know yer own name, right?” said Babs Seed, nervousness increasing by the second. “Of course I know my own name!” said the human Twilight Sparkle, “It’s… Midnight. Midnight Sparkle.” “Twilight’s completely lost it,” whispered Watermelody. “I think that was clear by the time she destroyed our universe,” whispered Golden Hazel. “Is that what happened?” whispered Sweetie Belle, “does she have the power to just up and destroy universes?” “That’s what it looked like,” whispered Norman. “As for what I am, I am a seeker of knowledge,” said ‘Midnight’ Sparkle, “Tell me, little pony, tell me all that you can about your magic.” “Uh, I never really studied much or nothin’,” said Babs still tightly gripped in her captor’s erratic magic grasp. “Let me see, CLOSE,” said ‘Midnight’ Sparkle as she got even more uncomfortably close to who she held, “Let me see very close.” “Twilight!” said Spike as he rushed back over to Princess Twilight Sparkle’s room. “Hm?” said Twilight Sparkle. “There’s a letter for you,” said Spike. Twilight took the letter and read it. “Spike, gather the others,” said Twilight Sparkle, “and my Canterlot High friends.” > Chapter 5 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fluttershy, Tree Hugger, and Spike the dog entered Twilight’s castle. “Twilight?” said Fluttershy, “Hello?” Fluttershy decided to go to the map room. She was not expecting the alleged party. “Oh my,” said Fluttershy, “There are a lot of them here.” “Hmm, these creatures don’t look that happy,” said Tree Hugger, “Hey, this what your friend looks like?” “Yup! Except the last time I saw her she had wings,” said Spike the dog, “None of these people have wings.” “Hum,” said Tree Hugger. “Hey Fluttershy!” said the pony Pinkie Pie. “Hey Pinkie,” said Fluttershy, “are you throwing a party?” “Yeah~, though I don’t think that it’s really going over well…” said Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie,” said Fluttershy. “Hm?” said Pinkie Pie. “I think that, um, maybe you should have waited a little bit before welcoming the humans since they’re probably still unable to get their minds off of their, um, home world and all…” said Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie became very silent for a moment. She looked back at the party and could see that Zipporwhill was the only one really enjoying herself as the filly was eating cake. “I guess you’re right,” said Pinkie Pie, “I probably don’t really get what thinking your home was entirely destroyed feels like, but I probably should’ve known that the answer to it wasn’t a party…” “It’s okay, Pinkie,” said Fluttershy. “Yeah, I gotta go tell Pinkie Pie that she can stop trying to get everyone to cheer up today,” said Pinkie Pie before leaving to find herself. “Ooh! Dog!” said Zipporwhill as she noticed and zoomed to Spike the dog. Zipporwhill started petting him. “Ahhh, that feels nice,” said Spike the dog. “Oh my gosh, you talked,” said Zipporwhill, “Tell me your secrets.” “I don’t have any secrets,” said Spike the dog, “I could tell you everything.” “Yes,” said Zipporwhill. “PINKIE PIE!” said the pony Pinkie Pie, “PINKIE PIE!” “Yes Pinkie Pie?” said the human Pinkie Pie. “You can stop trying to get people to enjoy the party,” said the pony Pinkie Pie. “Oh thank goodness, let me tell you I was not succeeding at doing that,” said the human Pinkie Pie. Spike came jogging in, “Pinkie and… Pinkie?” “Yes?” said the Pinkies. “I… for some reason I feel like I should be concerned for some reason,” said Spike. “Aw don’t worry, Spike,” said the pony Pinkie Pie. “Yeah, this party was a justified bust,” said the human Pinkie Pie. “Though I don’t really want to just stop this party,” said the pony Pinkie Pie. “But that’s probably fine since it’ll probably just peter out on its own,” said the human Pinkie Pie. “Uh… sure,” said Spike, “Anyway, Twilight needs you two to join her right now.” “Okie dokie lokie,” said both Pinkie Pies. “Er, right, I’ve gotta go,” said Spike as he left. “So, how ya enjoyin’ the party?” said the human Applejack. “It’s… it’s awkward as all heck, AJ,” said Flash Sentry. “That seems to be what should happen,” said the human Rarity. “Oh my gosh, it’s that talking dog!” said the human Fluttershy right before rushing right over to him. At that point Spike the dragon walked up to them. “Hey human Applejack and Rarity,” said Spike, “Twilight needs you to see her.” “Does she need to see Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer too?” said Applejack. “Yeah, both Rainbows and Sunset,” said Spike, “both Fluttershies too.” “Ah can go get Rainbows and Sunset,” said the human Applejack. “And I’ll get the Fluttershies,” said the human Rarity. “Thanks, now I just have to get Applejack and Rarity,” said Spike, “Um, the pony ones.” Then they all scattered. “I guess I’ll just stay here then…” said Flash Sentry. Sweet Apple Acres was experiencing an average day. “APPLEJACK!” said Spike. The pony Applejack paused her applebucking, “Howdy Spike, what’s goin’ on?” “Twilight needs you to meet with her right now,” said Spike, “come on!” “So we’re gatherin’ everypony?” said the pony Applejack, “That ain’t a good sign.” The two were outside Carousel Boutique. A pair of muffled voices were just hearable through the walls. The voices became more understandable as they entered the building. “Gugh!” said a human with pink skin, blond hair, and freckles. “Oh I do apologize, Ms.Taffy Shade, did I make it too tight?” said the pony Rarity, “I admit that I don’t have very much experience with bipedals.” “IT’S… fine,” said Taffy Shade, out of breath. “Ah see that your response ta seein’ a new creature is ta stuff it in a dress,” said the pony Applejack. “Pff- Kh- Chuh,” said the pony Rarity, “You mock me now, but this ‘hyoomen’ will look fabulous once I figure out how to fit her in one.” “That’s going to have to wait on that,” said Spike, “Twilight needs us right now.” “And that’s what happened today,” said Spike the dog. “That was super duper,” said Zipporwhill. “TELL IT AGAIN!” said the human Fluttershy. “Sure?” said Spike the dog. the Human Fluttershy got ready and grabbed both Spike the dog and Zipporwhill the pegasus. Zipporwhill was very caught off guard. The pony Fluttershy hid behind Tree Hugger who seemed to just be standing calmly. “So anyway, the first thing I remember is chasing a yellow ball…” said Spike the dog. “There will be time for that later,” said the human Rarity as she sauntered over, “We need to go to Twilight.” Three girls hung together precariously to the side of a screeching crystal train. They couldn’t hear each other whenever one of them tried speaking, they couldn’t even really hear themselves. They were moving so fast that they didn’t notice that they were no longer around freezing weather until they had travelled far outside the city they were escaping. Whether it was because they noticed this or because it was because of fatigue, they let go. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata hit the ground and immediately started rolling uncontrollably. When they stopped they coughed from all of the dust they kicked up. The trio saw a desert town all around them. A fair but not long distance away they saw the train come to a stop and a large sign declaring ‘Welcome To Dodge Junction’. “Oh that’s just FREAKING great!” said Aria right before releasing a hacking cough, “And I’m down a ponytail.” “Blehg,” said Sonata as she spat out sand, “Now it feels too hot.” “We’re in a desert, Sonata,” said Aria. “It sure doesn’t taste like dessert,” said Sonata. “DESERT, Sonata,” said Aria. “Oh,” said Sonata, “I knew that.” “Shush, you two,” said Adagio, “We should hide before anypony sees us.” The three girls zoomed off to hide in between a building and a set of barrels. “Now if we only had a way to hide ourselves,” said Adagio. “What about using those tarp thingies over there,” said Sonata as she pointed at a set of clotheslines holding various sheets. “Sonata that’s th- that’s actually not the worst idea,” said Aria. “Hm, yes,” said Adagio, “Let’s grab something to cover ourselves and remove what’s recognizable from sight.” Sunset Shimmer, Tree Hugger, both Rainbow Dashes, Fluttershies, Pinkie Pies, Applejacks, and Spikes joined Princess Twilight Sparkle in her room. Zipporwhill had decided to go home. In a short time it was decided that they would all go to Canterlot. They were able to buy out an entire car of the Friendship Express and were quick to board it. “Hey, are you sure that it’s okay for us to leave Starlight Glimmer alone right now?” said Spike the dragon. “Bon Bon said that she’d make sure that Starlight Glimmer wouldn’t do anything bad and Lyra assured me that I should trust her on that,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “So we’ll at least take the chance.” “So do all dogs talk where you’re from?” said Tree Hugger. “Oh no,” said the human Fluttershy, “Spike there is the only one.” “Groovy,” said Tree Hugger. “Are you sure that Scootaloo will be alright?” said the human Rainbow Dash. “I’m sure that she’ll be fine staying in Twilight’s castle,” said the pony Rainbow Dash. “GUYS! Have you tried Equestrian rock candy! My teeth have never been more deliciously in pain!” said the human Pinkie Pie. “Uh, Ah’ll pass on that,” said the human Applejack. “Your loss,” said the pony Pinkie Pie. “Ah don’t know if these humans can stomach something that has rocks as an ingredient. “You guys eat rocks?!” said the human Rainbow Dash, “Man, Equestria is nuts.” “Most of us don’t really go outta our way ta eat ‘em,” said the pony Applejack. Sunset Shimmer suddenly started acting a bit less depressed and a bit more panicky. “What’s the matter, Sunset Shimmer,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. “I just realized that I’m going to see Princess Celestia again,” said Sunset Shimmer, gripping the sides of her head, “I am NOT ready to do that!” “We’ll… we’ll help you deal with that,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. Sunset let out a freaked out squeak. Three girls were crawling around Dodge Junction, covered head to toe in long sheets. They made sure to keep anything that would identify them as human from sight. Only their eyes were visible and even then only barely. They crawled to seem more like ponies, but more importantly less like humans. “This is incredibly uncomfortable, Adagio,” said Aria. “Well get used to it,” said Adagio, “because we’re going to be like this for a while.” “So now what?” said Sonata Dusk. “What do you mean?” said Adagio. “I mean do we stay in Equestria or do we try to get back to Earth or what?” said Sonata. “Trying to get back to Earth would be difficult,” said Adagio, “We’re better off finding some place to hide for now.” “We should probably get out of Dodge,” said Aria. “I agree, and luckily I found a few bits lost in the laundry of the pony we pilfered these sheets from,” said Adagio, “With this we’ll be able to ride on the INSIDE of a train.” “And those coins from that jar on the other side of that easily broken window will come in pretty handy too,” said Sonata. “Ahem,” said Adagio, “all the more reason to leave this town.” The Friendship Express pulled up to Canterlot. Its citizens gawked at the humans that exited it all the way to the castle. As soon as they reached it Princess Twilight Sparkle’s group was let inside. Standing at the throne were Princess Celestia, the human Lyra Heartstrings, the human Bon Bon, Sunny Flare, Crystal Lullaby, Minuette, and Moondancer. Sunset Shimmer locked eyes with Princess Celestia for a moment, but quick as she could Sunset broke contact. “Hello, Twilight,” said Princess Celestia. “Hello Pr- Celestia,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle right before moving to show the humans at her side better, “My friends here can tell you what that thing that attacked you was.” “Hm, your floating friend looks very interesting,” said Princess Celestia, “Who are you, my little… human?” “Uhm… hello Priselestia,” said Sunset Shimmer in an uncomfortable sounding falsetto, “I am just-” “Why are you talking like that, Sunset Shimmer?” said the human Pinkie Pie, “Are you sick?” “Dang it, Pinkie,” said Sunset Shimmer, going back to her normal voice. “Sunset- Sunset Shimmer?!” said Princess Celestia. Princess Celestia flew close to her former student. They looked each other deep in the eyes. “Is it you,” said Princess Celestia, tears beginning to flow down her face, “is it really you?” Sunset Shimmer looked away, but near immediately placed her gaze back to her former mentor’s eyes. “It’s me, Princess, it’s me,” said Sunset Shimmer, “And it’s my fault.” Princess Celestia hugged Sunset Shimmer tightly, “How could any of this be your fault?” Sunset Shimmer hesitantly returned Celestia’s hug, “The power you see in me was supposed to stop the human Twilight, but because of me it failed.” “Wait… human Twilight?” said Princess Celestia. “Oh, did we not mention that?” said Sunny Flare, her jacket was removed and somewhere unseen. “I guess we were too busy gawking at everything,” said Lyra Heartstrings, “right?” “Sunset… what happened?” said Princess Celestia, letting her hug loosen enough to look Sunset Shimmer in the face. “The human Twilight she… that person was consumed by magic she didn’t understand,” said Sunset Shimmer, tears flowing, “I tried to snap her back to her senses, but I failed her and I failed the world.” Princess Celestia tightened her hug again, “It’s alright, Sunset, we can still stop her.” “But what about saving her?” said Sunset Shimmer. Princess Celestia smiled. Then she flew back in front of the throne. “So I suspect that the human Twilight is in Manehattan,” said Princess Celestia, “I can’t be sure, but that is where you should go next.” “Will do, Princess,” said the pony Applejack. “Excuse me,” said Moondancer. “Hm?” said Princess Celestia. “What should we do for these humans?” said Moondancer, “It’s not like they can be at say my house or anything.” “There are a lot of humans staying at my castle right now,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “They’re welcome to stay there.” “It’s likely that we have friends that are over there,” said the human Bon Bon, “We should probably go over there.” “I guess…” said Sunny Flare. “Now that that’s settled,” said the pony Pinkie Pie, “How’re we going to get to Manehattan?” “Time is of the essence,” said Princess Celestia, “I can teleport all of you to the city, though it would be better to get some help powering the spell.” “I still have all this power in me,” said Sunset Shimmer, “I can help.” “Me too,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. “Very good,” said Princess Celestia, “gather around, my little ponies, and get ready to appear in Manehattan.” > Chapter End > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “So is Ponyville nice?” said the human Lyra Heartstrings. “Oh yes,” said Minuette, “You should track down your counterpart, she’d go nuts with excitement!” “We’ll keep that in mind,” said the human Bon Bon. “I just had a think,” said Crystal Lullaby. “Don’t you mean ‘thought’?” said Sunny Flare. “Whatever,” said Crystal Lullaby. “Well?” said Moondancer. “What?” said Crystal Lullaby. “What’s your thought?” said Moondancer. “Oh,” said Crystal Lullaby, “Well if we landed in a weird pony version of Canterlot and there are people who landed in that Ponyville place, shouldn’t there be people that, like, landed in other places?” “Whoa,” said Tree Hugger who Fluttershy asked to look after her animals in case their trip took too long, “Gotta be, right?” “It does seem like it would be the case,” said Moondancer. “Really what I wanna know is why we didn’t all die from the fall,” said Sunny Flare. “You upchucked,” said the human Lyra Heartstrings. “... I was spinning a lot,” said Sunny Flare, “Shut up.” “ALL ABOARD!” said a conductor. “We should hurry and get on the train,” said the human Bon Bon. Meanwhile in various parts across Equestria: “And for Trixie’s next trick, she will pull a rabbit out of a hat!” said a blue skinned human with white and silver streaked hair. “Uh Trixie?” said a girl with short reddish pink hair. “What is it, Fuchsia Blush?” said Trixie. “None of us have hats around,” said Fuchsia Blush. “Well improvise something then!” said Trixie. Fuchsia Blush and a blonde girl with purple skin scrambled around the lack of a stage in a mad panic to find something. Opposite them sat two mares. “Grah!” said the one with a dark gray coat and a light gray mane, “I liked the pony Trixie better. She might not have been the best worker, but at least she DID WORK!” “Mmhm,” said the one with a dark gray mane and a light gray coat. “What the heck is a bit?!” said a human with red lips and lime green hair. “I can tell ya for a couple of bits,” said a griffon wearing a flat cap. “UGH!” said the green haired human. “If they ask for bits the first several times, you’re probably not going to get the answer out of them,” said a girl with blue skin and orange glasses. “Shut up, Sugarcoat!” said the green haired human. “Woah, calm down, Cherry Crash,” said a pale skinned human with dark pinkish hair. “Sugarcoat’s right though,” said a girl with purple hair and light but dull orange skin. “Whatever, Mystery and Ginger, I’ll ask one more,” said Cherry Crash, “Just one, okay?” “You’re going to do that regardless of what we say,” said Sugarcoat. “Yeah yeah,” said Cherry Crash, “Hey you!” “Yeah?” said a griffon with a brown body, a white head, and purple around her eyes. “What the heck is a bit?” said Cherry Crash. “Oh, that’s just our currency,” said the griffon, “Need some or something?” “Holly Molly!” said Mystery, “An answer?!” “Hah, I like this one,” said Cherry Crash, “Yo, what’s your name?” “Gilda,” said the Griffon. “A mild west dance? that sounds lovely,” said a girl with freckles and dark pink hair with light greenish streaks, “BUT THERE’S NO WAY THAT I’M IN THE MOOD TO DANCE SO SOON AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF MY UNIVERSE!” “Sheesh, Ah was just askin’,” said a yellowish colored pony in a brown vest and cowboy hat. “This place still does not sit well with me,” said a human with dull grayish purplish hair with white streaks in it. “It is a bit… low tech?” said a girl with a tennis ball on her shirt, “I don’t really think that’s the right way to put it.” “Our town is a bit isolated from the rest of Equestria,” said a mare with a dark blue coat and a gray mane. “I can chill here,” said a girl with green hair and a tan hat, “All these ponies are really nice.” Thanks,” said the gray maned pony. “So where’s the tennis court?” said the girl with a tennis ball on her shirt. “We… don’t have one?” said the gray maned pony. “Drat…” said the girl with a tennis ball on her shirt. The three girls in sheets had bought the second cheapest set of tickets listed at the Dodge Junction train station, tickets to Ponyville. Adagio briefly thought that she might’ve been forgetting something important about Ponyville, but shoved that thought aside. When the train pulled up to Ponyville the group of three carefully crawled off. All they had to do then was find a place to stay. “Dang that was an awkward party,” said the pony Lyra Heartstrings, “at least the cake was still pretty good.” Aria and Sonata watched Adagio approach the unicorn. “Excuse me, miss,” said Adagio, “My… companions and need a place to stay and we don’t have much in the way of bits.” “Oh,” said Lyra Heartstrings, “uh, I guess I can help you with that. Heck! I can probably help you with jobs even!” Adagio smiled beneath her covers, “Thank you, that’ll be enough for now.” “What’re ya doing?” said Babs Seed, “Don’t get so close.” “I want to see,” said Midnight Sparkle, “I need to see!” Eight humans barely moved from against a wall, they saw the monster that destroyed their universe. Watermelody had given up trying to take her boot off. “Augh!” said Babs Seed. A burst of yellow, cyan, and red-violet energy exploded into existence. Princess Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, both Applejacks, Fluttershies, Pinkie Pies, Rarities, and Spikes emerged from it. “Now to find m- STOP!” said Princess Twilight Sparkle as she noticed what her counterpart was doing. She sent out a concussive blast spell at her. Midnight Sparkle was struck. “HAUGH!” screamed Midnight Sparkle, dropping Babs Seed. Orange Sherbette went and squatted down to help Babs when she landed. The human Applejack noticed something. “APPLE BLOOM!” said Applejack as she ran towards her sister. Midnight Sparkle saw her running and sent a blast her way. Orange Sherbette stood up from her squat and was struck by the attack Midnight had intended for the human Applejack and subsequently disappeared completely. Most of the humans screamed or yelped in shock and fear. “Why are you doing this?!” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. “Knowledge?” said Midnight Sparkle, “No, that doesn’t make sense with blasting why did I do that?” Midnight Sparkle put her hands to her forehead and forced herself to think. “Rahg! I know I’m doing this for a reason,” said Midnight Sparkle, “I’ll just trust myself to know that. I trust myself. Orange Sherbette felt very disoriented. Her tush hurt like super bad. She looked around at her surroundings. She saw a couple of white ponies in golden armor and her friend Cold Forecast. “Hey Cold Forecast,” said Orange Sherbette, “I just had the strangest dream where I was killed by the one who destroyed the universe.” “Yeah, turns out the universe wasn’t as destroyed as we previously thought,” said Cold Forecast. Orange Sherbette looked around again. Then she looked back at the armored ponies. “Hello pony warriors,” said Orange Sherbette, “Been here long?” “Yes, actually,” said one of them, “We made ourselves scarce until we could reasonably decide what to do.” “At some point I popped out of the base of the horse statue that used to be there,” said Cold Forecast as she pointed at the base of what used to be a statue of a horse. “For some reason that statue base sucked up all or at least most of the magic that was present in this universe,” said a unicorn guard, “It’s likely that this happened once the creature that was tearing holes in space traveled into Equestria. It’s as if this thing was made to be a magical conduit and the moment the objects diverting the magic around left the area it became the only thing that any magic in this world could travel to. Or at least where magic would most want to travel towards.” “It seems a bit contrived to me,” said Cold Forecast, “but I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.” One of the guards whinnied in annoyance at that. Cold Forecast just rolled her eyes in response. “So,” said Orange Sherbette, “Plan on going back through?” “Yeah,” said Cold Forecast, “I almost feel not barfy enough to do that right now.” “Cool,” said Orange Sherbette, “I feel discombobulated, but I think I’m good for hopping into a portal hole. Probably need to tell all those people about my whole not being dead thing.” “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” said Cold Forecast, “Best not to let people falsely assume that you’re dead for too long.” “Dude, why doesn’t this party have any music?” said Lemon Zest. “Lemon Zest, everyone left once they realized that Pinkie Pie wasn’t here anymore,” said Flash Sentry. “Um, why’re you still here then?” said Lemon Zest. “There are less people here than in my shared room,” said Flash Sentry, “I don’t want to be around very many people right now.” In the distance the sounds of two girls and a couple of royal guards falling out of a mirror could be heard. “Woah, what was that?” said Lemon Zest, “I’m going to go look!” “Eh… I’ll follow you,” said Flash Sentry, “Maybe it’ll help take my mind off of things.” The two walked a short distance to where Twilight was keeping her mirror portal. “Blugh,” said Cold Forecast, “I feel all barfy again.” “Where are my hands?” said Orange Sherbette as she looked at her hooves, “WHERE ARE MY HANDS?!” The royal guards, of which there were a couple, pretty much stood silently. Though they did have confusion about the two girls’ newfound ponydom. “Sup, new ponies,” said Lemon Zest, “Whatcha doing?” “I’m not a pony!” said Orange Sherbette. “Uh, Sherbette,” said Cold Forecast as she got a good look at herself, “We’re ponies now.” Orange Sherbette shivered, “And naked.” “By the way, Lemon Zest, it’s me, Cold Forecast,” said Cold Forecast, “and our universe is still there. It wasn’t destroyed!” “WHAT?!” said Lemon Zest, “We gotta go tell everyone!” Sunset Shimmer felt that she should try again. She didn’t know if she could get through to the human Twilight Sparkle this time, but Sunset knew that she had to. “I know how you feel,” said Sunset Shimmer. “Do you?! Do you!?” said Midnight Sparkle, “I don’t so how can you?” Sunset Shimmer got closer to her, “You’re overwhelmed by magic. I’ve been through this before. You can still turn back. You still have a chance. Let the magic of friendship show you the way!” “No! I can’t,” said Midnight Sparkle as she seemed to cry, “There’s no room for me there.” Sunset Shimmer floated higher. “Honesty! Loyalty! Laughter! Generosity! And kindness! Will show you the right path!” Magic seemed to flow from Princess Twilight to each of her pony friends then to their counterparts as Sunset mentioned each virtue. Then the magic flowed to Sunset. Sunset Shimmer sent a light beam Midnight’s way. Midnight Sparkle fought back with her own beam, but she was having trouble. “TWILIGHT!” said Spike the dog, he didn’t like any of what he had seen, “Please! Please come back!” “Spike?” said the human Twilight Sparkle. She was engulfed in Sunset Shimmer’s friendship energies. “AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!” said Midnight Sparkle. The human Twilight Sparkle felt scared. She felt ashamed of what she knew she had done. “Take my hand, Twilight. Let me show you there’s another way… just like someone once did for me,” said Sunset Shimmer. The human Twilight Sparkle took the offered hand. Sunset Shimmer and the human Twilight gently floated down to the ground. Both of them had their enhanced forms leave them. “I never wanted this to happen!” said the human Twilight Sparkle as she was basically bawling, “I’m sorry! I wish I could undo what I’ve done!” The human Twilight Sparkle fell to her hands and knees. She couldn’t help but cry and feel miserable. Sunset Shimmer lowered herself and tried to comfort the human Twilight Sparkle. Princess Twilight Sparkle walked up to her human counterpart. “It’s okay,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “We’ll help you through this. “DUDES! THE UNIVERSE ISN’T DESTROYED!” said Lemon Zest, “WE CAN GO HOME AND STUFF!” Sunny Flare, Crystal Lullaby, the human Lyra Heartstrings, the human Bon Bon and the pony Bon Bon stopped their conversation about the living arrangements in the castle. The human Bon Bon insistently walked over to where Lemon Zest was. The human Bon Bon grabbed Lemon Zest’s upper arms and looked her square in the eyes, “Is that true? Can we actually go back?” “Nice sunglasses,” said Lemon Zest. Orange Sherbette and Cold Forecast walked up to them. “We should be able to go back,” said Orange Sherbette. “When I fell through this certain mirror as a human I fell into our universe as a human,” said Cold Forecast, “So at least everyone else will definitely be able reenter our universe.” “We don’t know what the portal turning us into ponies will do, but we hope that we’ll go back to being human once we go back,” said Orange Sherbette. The pony Bon Bon walked over towards them. “If you want to all go through this discussed portal then we first need to determine that it works and then you should all patiently go in in a single file line,” said the pony Bon Bon to all of the humans that could hear. “Shouldn’t we tell Twilight or some sort of authority figure?” said Flash Sentry. “Flash is right,” said the human Bon Bon, “we should send a message to Princess Celestia about this. Especially since there are likely to be unaccounted for humans in other places across this world.” “I’ll get the message to her as fast as I can,” said the pony Bon Bon before trotting off out of view. Two Twilights, two Fluttershies, two Pinkie Pies, two Rainbow Dashes, two Rarities, two Applejacks, a Sunset Shimmer, an Apple Bloom, a Sweetie Belle, a Suri, a Norman, an Indigo Zap, a Golden Hazel, and a Watermelody were all occupying a train car. The human Applejack sat close to the human Apple Bloom. The human Rarity hugged the human Sweetie Belle tightly. Babs Seed went home and tried to not think about what happened that day for a while. The human Twilight Sparkle was hugging Spike the dog and had a sad look on her face. Most of the people there felt uncomfortable around her. The human Twilight Sparkle sighed. “What’s the matter, um, Twilight…?” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. “Why are you forgiving me?” said the human Twilight Sparkle, “What I did was awful and I knew what I was trying to do.” “You weren’t yourself at the time,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “Trust me, we have a fair amount of experience with cases like yours.” “The people from my world won’t be so forgiving,” said the human Twilight Sparkle, “I destroyed our world just because I cared more about what I could find out about this one.” Sunset Shimmer put a hand on human Twilight Sparkle’s shoulder, “I’ll be there for you.” “Me too!” said Spike the dog. The human Twilight Sparkle smiled the slightest smile at that. “Alright everybody! Single file! Single file!” said the human Bon Bon as she directed humans through the mirror portal. Flash Sentry was standing at her side, helping when he could. Cold Forecast and Orange Sherbette could confirm that going back in turned them back into humans, but reentering would turn anyone into a pony. Princess Twilight Sparkle and those who had accompanied her on the train entered the room. “What is going on right now?” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, confused. “Oh hey Twilight,” said Flash Sentry, “Everyone’s going back to our universe since we found out that it wasn’t actually destroyed.” “It wasn’t destroyed?!” said the human Twilight Sparkle with hope, guilt, and confusion. “Uh hey, other Twilight,” Flash Sentry rubbed the back of his head, “sorry for confusing you with the Princess Twilight over there.” “It’s fine… you,” said the human Twilight Sparkle. “Princess,” said the human Bon Bon. “Yes?” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. “While we’re going through the portal to home now, there’s likely to still be people spread out across Equestria,” said the human Bon Bon, “So please keep an eye out for them.” “There’s no way I wouldn’t,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. Almost all of the humans that were in Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle had gone through the portal. The ones that still remained were getting ready to leave. “Bye Flash,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “I hope I can visit soon.” “Bye Twilight, today has been the weirdest day,” said Flash Sentry right before he entered the portal. “I’ll miss you, Pinkie Pie,” said the human Pinkie Pie as she hugged the pony Pinkie Pie. “I’ll miss you too,” said the pony Pinkie Pie as she hugged her back. The human Fluttershy was allowed one hug of the pony Fluttershy. The human Twilight Sparkle looked back, “Thank you all for snapping me out of it.” “You’re welcome, Twilight,” said Spike the dog. “If you ever need help, just talk to Sunset Shimmer,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. “I’ll be there for you,” said Sunset Shimmer, “we all will.” The human Twilight Sparkle smiled a hesitant smile. Then they all walked through the portal. Princess Twilight Sparkle sighed, “Well Spike, It’s mostly over, but we still have to find the humans still spread out across Equestria.” “Celestia’s probably going to get like a group of guards or a special squad on that,” said Spike. Princess Twilight Sparkle looked out into the distance. “Yeah, probably. And I’m sure that everything will work out,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle, “Let’s just figure this out tomorrow, Spike, I’m very tired.” The human Twilight Sparkle could barely believe what she was seeing. Everything was exactly where it was before. The only thing missing was the horse part of the statue. There was a huge crowd right outside of Canterlot High School. They stared at the human Twilight Sparkle. “Hey… sorry?” said the human Twilight Sparkle. Everyone gave her the stinkeye. “Aheh heh,” said the human Twilight Sparkle awkwardly. Fortunately for her, pretty much everyone decided that it would be better to just go home. They did not feel like messing with her. Sunset Shimmer placed a hand on the human Twilight Sparkles shoulder. “Our mistakes will hinder us, but we won’t let them stop us,” said Sunset Shimmer, “Right?” The human Twilight Sparkle hesitated for a moment, “...Right.” Twilight looked up to the sky and smiled a tired smile.