//------------------------------// // Out of Nowhere // Story: Returning Home // by ferret //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle was a very literary pony. She knew well the tales of great ponies long passed. A mare gets stranded on a distant shore. She forms heartwarming friendships with the local ponies or other creatures. Working together, they help her return home and reunite with her family, a better mare for the experience. That's how it works. That's how it always works. But soon Twilight and her friends would encounter a mare for whom nothing seems to work at all. It all started innocently enough. Fluttershy was tending to her animals, making sure the ones who were sleeping were sleeping well, and the ones who were cold found places to be warm. Applejack was tending to her apples, or lack thereof, pruning branches and turning compost. Rainbow Dash was doing tricks, a brilliant dot of blue in the cool grey Ponyville skies. Twilight Sparkle was seated in her tree library, with her dragon Spike at her side, a cup of hot cocoa, and a book braced against her hooves. Very frequently, a page would turn. And Rarity was in her inspiration room, searching her mind for the next new, big, greatest fad to sweep across Equestria when spring came around. Would it be socks? Braids? Necklaces? Hats? So of course it would have to be Pinkie Pie who found her. Because Pinkie Pie didn’t have anything special to do, so she was taking a nice walk outside and greeting everypony she saw, and also because Pinkie Pie is never the one who finds her. With a nice warm scarf wrapped around her neck and draped over her flank (hoof knitted by Sew’n’so), Pinkie Pie was just hopping along without a care in the world. Her bountiful curls put a spring in her step as her hooves crunched along the frozen ground, and she reveled in the simple, sweet joy of movement. Her whole life was a dance from one party to the next, and she loved it that way. “Oh Rose, you’re looking lovely today!” she said to somepony. “Gardenia, those dried flowers smell amazing!” she said to somepony else. “Hello Fidget, I see you got your wheely thingamabobber working!” she said to somepony else. Pony talking was one of Pinkie Pie’s most favoritest things to do, since each and everypony had an amazing story to tell, just from their day-to-day experiences. “Hey Cranky, how’s the wife?” Pinkie Pie said talking to everypony she passed by, “Good afternoon Miss Skillet. Sassaflash, that carrot cake isn’t for your special somepony, is it? Caramel just loves carrots! Oh hey, you don’t look so good, whoever you are. Lemon Daze, hi! You got back from your trip early? Why yes Sally Forth, I have your chocolate bunnies all ready for wrapup.” Pinkie Pie stopped cold. She skittered backwards, passing Sally, and Lemon, and Sassaflash, oops too far. Pinkie Pie skittered forward past Sassaflash, and really saw her for the first time. The mare didn’t seem to have noticed Pinkie yet, which was fine and dandy. Nothing unexpected there. A bright pink pony like Pinkie Pie was pretty easy to miss in a crowd. The pony Pinkie Pie saw was a young mare, just about the same age Pinkie had been, when she moved to Ponyville. Boy was that a crazy time in her life. In appearance, she was an unremarkable pony with a creamy coat of fur, and a dissheveled looking mane of cotton candy pink that might once have been pleasantly curly. She looked quite a bit down on her luck now, though. She had abruptly sat down over by one of the buildings, with her hooves clumsily folded under her, leaning her head wearily against its wall. Sitting like that, it was obvious she had no story mark on her hindquarters, which was pretty strange in of itself, but that wasn’t the strangest thing about this mare. The mare didn’t look distressed or anything, though she did look a dirty, sallow, and maybe dehydrated. It was certainly weird how she just stared around vaguely, like somepony with some serious shell shock. That made sense for a farm pony who’d just been dropped in the middle of Manehattan, but it shouldn’t have applied to a pony being dropped into a smalltime farming village like Ponyville. But no, that still wasn’t the weirdest thing about this mare. What really drew Pinkie Pie’s attention was that she did not know this pony. No, that really doesn’t describe the situation here. Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, Pinkie Pie saw a golden chariot descend on her village, pulled by the very hunky personal guards of the Princess Celestia herself. On it was the attachè to the princess: her personal student! Pinkie Pie never expected such an important pony like that would just walk up and say hello to her, but Twilight did, and that made Twilight doubly special: special on special. Pinkie Pie made up some excuse about Twilight being new, but really she just wanted to give an amazing pony like that an amazing welcome to Ponyville. But even with Twilight, Pinkie Pie had known about her as an important student princess pony, albeit only from reading it once in the Canterlot Quarterly. There was that donkey whose name she didn’t know at first, but when Cranky Doodle came to town, Pinkie Pie knew who he was. She’d heard tell of his coming long before he stepped into Ponyville. A strange donkey with strange stuff on a strange cart. Even though he didn’t like it, she made sure to have a song and dance routine well rehearsed. She went through a lot of trouble to get that confetti cannon cake oven spectacular greetomatic party cart together, even if she got the confetti and the cake batter mixed up. The fact of the matter is, and she wouldn’t deny it if you asked, but Pinkie Pie knew everypony in Ponyville. The last pony to really surprise her was Rainbow Dash, and when Rainbow Dash moved to Ponyville, she didn’t give any notice beforehoof, and she did it by flying straight at Ponyville, faster than the speed of sound. Pinkie Pie was not an inattentive pony, and she usually if not always knew what she was looking at when a new pony came to town. This pony, Pinkie Pie had no idea what she was looking at. “Hey Daisy,” Pinkie said cautiously, picking out a green and pink pony she recognized as one of Twilight’s neighbors. “Do you know who that pony is over there?” Daisy outright laughed at Pinkie Pie’s question, caught seriously off guard by it. “Don’t you know who that pony is?” the watermelon colored pony said with another chuckle. “But... that’s what I asked you, silly,” Pinkie Pie said with a calculated smile, poking Daisy in the chest. Daisy looked puzzled at Pinkie’s pokie hoof. “Okay, is this a test?” she asked in that sort of quivery hoarse voice of hers, “Um... no I don’t think I ever saw that pony before. Who is she?” “I don’t know...” Pinkie remarked thoughtfully, looking over at the new mare again and rubbing her chin. “You... you don’t know who that pony is?” Daisy squawked, her pupils narrowing and her breath coming quicker as she stared at Pinkie fearfully. “No, no, no, of course, I know who she is,” Pinkie Pie said, turning and ear and waving a hoof dismissively. “It’s um... Paisy Flower from... Whinnipeg.” “Oh,” Daisy said with a relieved sigh. “You had me really worried there for a minute, Pinkie!” Daisy wandered off, and Pinkie continued to surreptitiously observe this down-on-her-luck mare. The mare didn’t seem to have anything to do, or anywhere to go in her plans. Pinkie wasn’t sure why she was sitting there leaning against that building at all. Daisy’s reaction bothered Pinkie Pie, even if it was just Daisy being Daisy, because Pinkie didn’t like scaring ponies. No, really. She had kind of a hard time with that sometimes, and as Pinkie licked the last of the maple syrup off of her hoof, she found herself bordering on obsessed with the source of this mysterious pony. Pinkie wondered if maybe she shouldn’t be known as the pony who knows everypony. Maybe it wasn’t a big deal, and occasionally a pony could come out of nowhere, and it’d be no problem. ...or it could be changelings!! Pinkie moved from concealed location to concealed location, in the bushes and behind corners. The mare struggled up at one point, and walked around town, but her course was lost and purposeless. She seemed very shy about talking to ponies; she seemed afraid about even approaching them. The mare didn’t seem very cranky, or ill tempered, just... lost. And Pinkie had never seen her in Ponyville, or in anywhere, ever. This was possibly the pony most in need of a welcome to Ponyville, in the history of all Pinkie Pie welcome to Ponyville parties! “Oh hi, Pinkie,” Twilight Sparkle said to Pinkie, whose head shot straight up out of the bushes with a surprised squeak! “What are you doing in the bushes?” Twilight asked casually, not even seeing that the strange mare was about to see her and blow Pinkie’s cover! Pinkie dragged the princess into the bushes, whispering harshly, “Ssssh! See? That pony over there. The one standing by the water trough.” “Uh huh?” Twilight said, giving Pinkie more of a worried look than the mare. “What about her?” “I don’t know who she is.” “Oh. Ohh,” Twilight said, taking a more serious look at the cream colored mare. “Is she new here?” Twilight asked hopefully. “I don’t know!” Pinkie whispered in response, “That’s why it’s so weird! She just came out of nowhere!” “Well, I’ve certainly never seen her before,” Twilight said, “What did she say when you asked her?” “I haven’t asked her, yet,” Pinkie whispered, going for a nearby pair of binoculars to see the mare better with. “Oh, well. That’s an easy one, Pinkie,” Twilight chuckled. “I’ll go ask her and—” “No, don’t!” Pinkie hissed urgently, holding Twilight with a hoof, “I want to throw her a party! She needs it more than anypony and it’s better if the party is a surprise!” Twilight’s slowly raising eyebrow seemed to indicate she didn’t see eye to eye with Pinkie on this. “Right. Going to ask her,” Twilight said curtly, jumping out of the bushes and flutterpoofing the leaves off her wings. “Wait!” Pinkie whispered in vain, but today her outstretched hoof was unable to reach the retreating princess without leaving the protection of the bushes. “Hello there!” Twilight Sparkle said brightly, as she trotted up to the confused looking mare. Twilight gave a friendly smile as the mare looked her way, but a friendly smile didn’t seem to calm this mare whatsoever. The mare’s breathing quickened slightly and her eyes widened, as if she had seen a ghost. As if she was seeing a ghost. Twilight really wasn’t sure what to think about that, but it was obvious this mare was not ready to be surprised. “Sorry to bother you,” Twilight said amiably, “But you seem to be new to town, is that correct?” The mare just stared at her silently, her mouth vaguely moving in some semblance of words. “Are... you alright?” Twilight asked her, tilting her head. “It’s really you,” the mare said at last with a soft, sweet soprano. Her voice was hoarse from exhaustion, yet she spoke in the most reverent tone Twilight had ever heard herself addressed. “Twilight Sparkle...” “Oh...” Twilight said, putting a hoof to her chest modestly and trying not to blush too much. “You’ve heard of me, huh? I am pretty well known it’s true, but don’t let that fool you. I’m just a pony like you.” Twilight coyly swayed on her hooves, giving her wings a little fluff as she added, “Maybe with a few extra additions, heh heh.” The starstruck mare didn’t answer, and Twilight hadn’t seen a mare so taken with her since that filly back at Rainbow Falls... the filly who Pinkie Pie scared away. Twilight glanced back worriedly at the bushes, but Pinkie still hadn’t made her move. “I’m not here for any particular reason,” Twilight said quickly to the mare, “Just doing some shopping, you know. But I thought you should know that it’s something of a Ponyville tradition that ponies who move here get a pretty big welcome celebration. So if you’re moving here, you should know it’ll get pretty crazy for a while, because there’s a pony by the name of—” “Pinkie Pie,” the mare answered distantly. “Yes... I suppose you’ve heard of my friends, too,” Twilight said a little off kilter by this mare’s reactions. Was she just a fan, or was that genuine fear in her eyes? Fear of what? Fear of why? “It’s just when I first moved here,” Twilight continued carefully, “I found Pinkie a little overwhelming, and you looked like you could use some advance warning.” “I... yeah,” the mare said, looking away and touching her chin, and knotting her brow, classic signs of a pony thinking furiously. “That’s all I wanted to say,” Twilight said appeasingly to the frustratingly fluttershish mare. “I guess I’ll... leave you alone now?” “But...” the mare started to say, then just attempted a smile, saying, “That would be fine. And um... thank you.” Twilight was now thoroughly confused. The mare at least seemed to realize this, and clarified herself nicely, saying, “For... being such a nice princess! P-pony. I mean. T-thanks.” “My pleasure,” Twilight said with a smile, “Now I really do have to be going, so you take care, miss...?” “Um,” the pony said, with another one of those looks like she’d seen a ghost. “Miss Um?” Twilight asked hopefully. The mare shook her head though, saying, “No, um, it’s... I’m sorry I...” “Quite alright,” Twilight said sketchily, squinting at the mare. No answer. “Aaanyway, ta ta.” Twilight was happily trotting past the bushes, when within them her hot pink friend hissed out, “Did you ask her where she came from??” Too busy blushing to answer, Twilight Sparkle reversed directions, and trotted right back in the direction that unnamed mare had wandered in. “Excuse me miss,” Twilight said, while the mare startled to a halt again, then turned her head to look at Twilight as the purple princess said, “Sorry to bother you again, but can I ask where you moved from? My friend wants to—see, er, Pinkie Pie wants to plan a party for you, and she wants to know more about you. So, um... where are you from?” And cue the mare staring speechlessly at her again. Seriously, there was something weird about this mare. Even Fluttershy didn’t seem at this much of a loss to answer somepony’s question. “I don’t know if I should say...” the mare said in a worried tone, quite suspiciously, shaking her head and sinking bashfully on her hooves as she looked anywhere but Twilight. “I guess it’s... I mean I don’t really have any other choice. I... I’m so hungry. Um, sorry, I mean...” Then she looked at Twilight Sparkle with deep blue eyes and said very urgently, “I’m from a place called Earth.” “Um...” Twilight replied, feeling more like navigating a minefield than a conversation at this point, “Yes, you are? Most ponies call it Equestria. But I meant what township are you from?” “No, I mean, I’m from a different universe,” the mare said a bit more clearly. Twilight was still confused though, and said, “You know there’s only one universe, right?” “Right, but-but if there was a portal into another one—” the mare started. Twilight handily finished the mare’s thought experiment with a helpful smile, saying, “Then they would both be part of the same universe, just not connected with each other by way of conventional spacetime.” The mare was once again back to dumbfounded staring, and this time her mouth was hanging open. It would have been so adorable if she didn’t look so... well... hungry. She actually did look kind of... pale, for an off-white mare, and it wasn’t clear how she was avoiding shivering without any sort of coat, hat, scarf or boots. And her coat was a ratty mess of twigs and sadness, that looked like it hadn’t gotten brushed in a week. Twilight tried to explain to the mare about the importance of using the term “verse” as opposed to “universe” or the inaccurate “world,” but the mare just seemed to get more frustrated at her! The mare pulled her jaw shut, and said to Twilight once she was done, now with a somewhat peeved expression, “Fine. I’m from a different verse.” Actual emotion! Good, we’re really making progress here! Wait, what?! “No you’re not,” Twilight chided the mare in good humor, “Nopony’s ever come from another verse before. Is this... some kind of joke?” “No, I...” the mare semi-consciously wavered in place, saying, “I came out of the portal in the middle of the woods, and I was like... this,” she looked down at her smooth pastel hooves, before beseeching Twilight Sparkle again. “There was nothing but woods around me. I didn’t know where to go, or if there was anything at all—” the mare said, having to pause to give an unsettling cough, “S-so I went in circles, until I found a river,” she said persistently, desperately even. “And... well, I sort of couldn’t find any, and I was getting hungry I just... I made it to Ponyville, but it took d... days, and I’m really not sure who I ask, to g-get something to eat and I’m... really tired...” When Twilight had to catch her as she fell against Twilight’s side, the mare’s body felt cold as ice. Rarity was having no ideas whatsoever. Socks. They had been done a dozen times! Braids weren’t last decade. They were last century! What was she going to do? Was she going to go out of business? Was she going to lose her house and home? Was she going to have to move in with her parents again?! Rarity’s tummy gave a rather uncouth grumble. The alabaster unicorn’s glare at the offending organ softened as she realized she had forgotten to eat dinner today... again. That was surely her problem, feeling faint from lack of proper nutrition. A terrible habit to get into, but a small sacrifice to cultivate that creative fire that thrilled her. “Then it’s settled!” Rarity told herself, levitating her reading glasses off of her snout and placing them aside. “Inspiration can wait, but food waits for nopony!” With no one to observe her theatrics, Rarity just gave a slight sniff and no other noise other than hooffalls on her way out of her inspiration room, and her boutique. Making her way quickly down the stairs, and through the staging area, she paused long enough to touch up her face, comb her sleepy curlicue mane, toss on her winter scarf and beret, and leave an “OUT TO LUNCH” sign on her doorknob, before heading down the road at a brisk trot. Her day was long overdue for a nice, hearty meal. Sugarcube Corner was quiet when she arrived. It probably meant Pinkie Pie was wandering around town again, doing... whatever it is that Pinkie Pie does. There was something of a line this time of day for ponies out to lunch, but it didn’t take Rarity long to wait before she was at the front counter. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Cake!” Rarity told the bakery owner in good cheer. “Well hello there, Rarity,” the portly mare answered with a polite smile. Understandable as she wanted to move things along. “What can I get you?” “I’ll take two of your red velvets,” Rarity said without a great deal of thought in the matter. It was her usual order, and one of her favorites. “Perhaps a croissant, and a tall glass of holly juice if you would be so kind.” Rarity did have bits with her this time, but it wouldn’t be polite to pay right away. No, these bits were to pay for Rarity’s orders from last week, not that Mrs. Cake was sad to see them in the slightest. With her tab mostly clear, a tray with delicious pastries and a deep red glass of juice on them, Rarity went to sit herself at one of the little tables outside. It was a bit chilly, but doing so would leave the tables inside open for other ponies to use. From her seat there, Rarity observed a light colored mare approach Sugarcube Corner, without so much as a scrap of cloth to keep her warm, walking on rather unsteady hooves. She was accompanied on either side by Rarity’s good friends: Pinkie Pie, and Princess Twilight Sparkle. PTS was looking rather harried, but not so much as the mare who looked positively dreadful. The two were walking close to her sides, so she had somepony to lean on, it seemed. What was most odd about this, is that this new mare had clearly finished her growth spurt, but hadn’t any symbol on her rump. After Twilight, Pinkie, and whomever had vanished inside the restaurant, Twilight zipped back out the door, coming up entirely too close to Rarity, and saying her name urgently, “Rarity!” Rarity really should have expected something along these lines. “I don’t know how to deal with this,” Twilight said frantically to the surprised unicorn, caught halfway through a burnished red cupcake, “You know what to do, right? I’ve never assisted a panhandler before. Is that a normal thing for ponies to do? Is it legal for me to do so? She was falling over on her hooves I’m sorry I didn’t—am I being swindled Rarity? Am I being ‘played for a rube?’” Rarity stared evenly at Twilight until the princess fell silent, then Rarity levitated the uneaten of her two cakes, saying, “Care for a cupcake, darling?” Twilight took it in her... hooves, oh dear. She must have been seriously bothered by this. “Twilight,” Rarity said deliberately, “I don’t think this is over some two-bit pan-handler. You seem really upset. What’s got you so worried?” “Well I didn’t... I don’t usually fall prey to panhandlers,” Twilight said sensibly enough, staring at her cupcake, “I learned my lesson with the whole changeling harvest thing. But um... she seemed really sincere. She wasn’t even trying to get bits from me, really. It was like she was trying not to ask me for help.” “Perhaps she was playing hard to get?” Rarity offered with a wry smile. “Twilight, don’t worry so much over it. So she’s lying, and got a free meal out of you and... Pinkie Pie, so what? Worse things have happened. Most panhandlers are not mind sucking creatures, after all.” “But that’s not what’s bothering me!” Twilight protested, taking a nibble of her cupcake. Of course that’s not what’s bothering her, she finally admits it. “What I’m worried about is... um... what if she’s telling the truth?” Well... ...what? That was... Rarity had no idea what Twilight was getting at here. “Let me get this straight,” Rarity prompted carefully, “That pony in there claims to be destitute,” “Uh huh,” Twilight said licking at the last of the icing on her hooves. “And she entreated you for assistance,” Rarity continued. “Yup,” Twilight said curtly. “And you’re worried that she really needs your help?” Twilight blinked. “Oh,” Twilight blurted, looking up at Rarity in realization, “Oh! No, it’s not that at all. That mare said she was from an entirely different verse than ours, which is patently ridiculous of course, so I figure she’s just trying to weasel a free meal out of me. But... she seemed really sincere. I dunno, I’m just seeing worldwide crises in everything these days.” Now it was Rarity’s turn to blink. “So this... verse is... some kind of combat... poetry?” Rarity ventured uneasily. “Ugh,” Twilight facehooved. “No, not verse like poetry. Verse like universe.” “I don’t believe I’ve ever heard the universe referred to as just a... verse before,” Rarity said cautiously. “No, you haven’t,” Twilight said sadly, then with a bit more fire in her eyes, asserted, “But it should be!” “I c-c-can’t believe I didn’t n-notice this place,” the cream mare said in amazement, shivering there as she sat on her haunches in Sugarcube Corner, wrapped in a blanket there in front of an indoor dining table. “I m-m-must have walked p-p-past it a dozen times. It looks s-so different from below!” “I’m just surprised you didn’t notice the smell!” Pinkie Pie said, gesturing around the bakery at the amazing smells in here, feeling a sort of weirdly pitying sympathy for this warming mare. Pinkie was getting the distinct impression that this mare was not what you’d call a normal mare, in a normal situation. And that’s coming from Pinkie Pie. The mare seemed normal, but there was just something so off about everything she said. Like for instance, when Pinkie continued, “Sugarcube Corner makes the best gingerbread this time of year,” trying to get some understandable response out of this mare. “You can smell it all the way across town!” The mare turned to Pinkie Pie, eyes filled with gratitude and asked her, “How good is a pony’s sense of smell?” Pinkie blinked. “Um... good?” she answered uneasily. The mare laughed lightly at that, which was good... right? “Sorry, you wouldn’t be the one to ask,” she said enigmatically. Pinkie Pie wasn’t sure whether to feel insulted, or gratified. But there was one thing she was coming to understand. This mare was completely unreadable! A soft chnk turned Pinkie’s ear behind her, and she said a bit nervously, “Oh hey that sounds like the toaster. Be right back, cutie!” Then she went bouncing off, while the young mare stared wide-eyed and blushing after her. Instead of scrunchy faced and blushing, like a mare her age should have reacted having been called cutie. Pinkie returned shortly, with a tray that had a nice tall glass of grape juice, and one and a half sizzly hot bagels on it. Pinkie’s was a sesame bagel, with lots of strawberry cream cheese. (Pinkie loved that flavor because it was pink, like her!) And for the mare... one half of a plain bagel. No cream cheese. “I know it doesn’t look like a lot,” Pinkie said apologetically, “But pleeeeease take little bites, and eat it really slowly. If you really haven’t eaten in days, you might not be able to eat very much at first, but I promise it gets better.” “I–I’ll be fine I think,” the mare said uncertainly, “It’s only been a few days, but it was getting really cold out there...” The mare stared at the bagel like a fox stares at a chicken. Like, a fox who’s reeeally hungry, but really doesn’t want to get his eyes pecked out. Then she went and lifted her hoof, and touched it to the bagel for... some reason? Was she trying to... pick it up? Pinkie put her own hoof to the mare’s hoof, gently pushing it back down to the floor and saying, “No silly, use your tongue!” The mare looked up Pinkie’s hoof to regard the pony incredulously, saying, “R-really?” “Yeah, see?” Pinkie said, picking up her bagel and expertly tossing it in the air, just in time to catch it in her mouth as it descended. “Fee?” she said around the puffy egg dough, “Ish gool!” The rest of her bagel minus one hearty bite landed neatly on Pinkie’s little plate. Pinkie chewed for a while, but the mare was just staring at her. Why wasn’t she eating too? “What?” Pinkie said self consciously, looking down at her fluffy pink chest. “I have any cream cheese on me? (Not that you could tell! (giggle-snort))” The mare just shook her head, as though coming out of a daze and said, “N-nothing. I’ll just... I’ll just um...” and she craned her head down and started picking up the bagel like she was a very young foal, wrapping her lips around its curved edge and taking a clumsy bite. “Oh! I get it!” Pinkie exclaimed with a light bulb, right when Twilight trotted in the bakery, accompanied by Rarity. “Twilight c’mere! I figured it out!” Pinkie squealed over to her friend. While Rarity observed the mysterious mare with open curiosity from a bit of a distance, Twilight hurried up. Twilight didn’t address the mare at all, but that’s okay, because addressing the mare was pointless, because the mare was completely focused on the strangely difficult process of keeping the bagel from skipping across the plate, while she tried to take bites out of it. Instead, Twilight addressed Pinkie Pie, saying, “Oh? Really? What did you figure out, Pinkie?” “Well I’m telling her, not you,” Pinkie waffled at Twilight, pointing at the uneasy looking pink haired mare, “But you’re free to listen to what good old auntie Pinkie Pie has to say!” “So... tell her, then?” Twilight asked in a bemused tone, not getting the joke at all. Darn. “You’re just a little foal, aren’t you?” Pinkie said, stretching her head towards the mare, who of course stiffened when she said that. “You must have found a potion,” Pinkie went on confidently, “Or gotten into some bad magic that made you grow up really fast!” “That’s... what?” Twilight said, tilting her head at the mare. “Why would you think she’s a—” “Look at her eat!” Pinkie exclaimed, waving a hoof at the mare who seemed to have gotten a bit of bagel down the wrong pipe with how she was spluttering. “I see ponies eat every day, and she’s eating just like a little foal! And walking like one too, did you see her walking? I thought it was because she was cold, but really it was because she met a secret gypsy fortune telling machine that told her she was gonna be big from now on and we gotta find it so we can switch her back!” And now the filly in a sort of adult’s body was desperately trying to drink from the glass of juice without much luck, but auntie Pinkie Pie knew just what to do. She cradled the glass in the crook of her hoof, tilting it just enough that the filly/mare could get her nose in there. She became aware of Twilight’s eyes staring intensely at the mare. “Of course...” Twilight murmured behind Pinkie Pie. “Of course. That’s it! I didn’t even think about that. It’s... it’s okay little filly, you don’t have to make up stories. You’re not in trouble. I need to go research aging spells, so you hold tight and we’ll have you fixed up in a jiffy!” “No, wait!” the “mare” gasped out, having finally cleared her mouth with the juice, able to speak again now that her mouth wasn’t full of dry bagel. Because ponies can breathe through their mouths, incidentally. That’s totally a thing. Twilight turned to face that mare again, and Pinkie turned to face Twilight, so she could see Twilight turn to face her. So just to make things clear, Twilight -> mystery mare, Pinkie -> Twilight, mystery mare -> no idea because Pinkie wasn’t looking at her. “I’m not a...” and now the mare was hesitating to speak, after sounding so urgent about it just a second ago! Pinkie had to break her cool to glance over her back at the mare. Seriously, what is this mare’s deal? “I’m not a filly...” she said finally. Then, “I’m not supposed to be a p-pony. I... I’m acting like a foal because I’m not used to this... this body. I wasn’t a pony, in the other... verse. Yeah, that’s it.” “Verse?” Rarity said skeptically, glancing at Twilight. Then she added dryly, “Oh, now you’ve got her saying it, do you?” “It’s a more accurate terminology!” Twilight protested, much to Rarity’s amusement. “This is so clichéd...” the mare mumbled into her tilted glass of juice. “Woo hoo!” Rainbow Dash cheered as she shot through the skies. She really got a lot of momentum out of that trick! ...too much momentum. Dash began to bank around, but it was really putting a strain on her wings. She needed a cross current or something to... there! She caught her wings on the sharp wind and beat them carefully but firmly, managing to slow down to cruising speed. “Gotta work on the followup to that one,” she said to herself, as the buildings of Ponyville zipped by below her. Rainbow Dash actually talked to herself a lot, up here. Ponies on the ground would think she was weird for it; you really have to experience it to understand just how big and empty the sky is. Considering the close call just now, maybe it really was time she found somepony to cheer her on today. Alighting on a low hanging cloud, Rainbow gazed around at the grey expanse above her. Boring. She turned her gaze down to the more interesting movements and activities of the ponies below her. Sitting up here on the cloud, it made Rainbow Dash feel like she was queen of the world. You could see everything from up here. From her best friend’s sleeping apple farm, to the forbidding dark foliage of the Everfree, it was all laid out for Dash, like a cloud city below her, except this city was cold, solid and dangerous. Just the way she liked it. Her best friend’s tree library was decked out for the season still. Seemed like Twilight finally caved to Rarity’s insistence that they keep the lights up until after wrapup is over. Dash took a trip down to the library, but it didn’t look like Twilight was in. Rainbow Dash alighted on the balcony and looked around. Dash didn’t know half a thing about the books in it, but this library sure was a pretty building, especially after the tree got that huge makeover once again courtesy of the awesome power of Friendship. It wasn’t exactly the Crystal Empire, but the broad green foliage had never looked healthier, even peeking out from the snow as it was. The ugly gaping wound that had been left after the thing got blown to kingdom come wasn’t entirely gone, but a beautiful faceted crystal had filled the gap, some sort of carbon crystal Twilight brainy thing that made the tree stronger than ever. Rainbow poked her nose in the second story balcony door and walked further in, looking around to see if that cute little baby dragon was around. Rainbow Dash found Spike busily reshelving books, not in the crazy over the top way Twilight did it, but actually reshelving the books ponies pulled out to read. “Yo, Spike,” Rainbow Dash said, earning a quizzical look from him. “You seen Twilight around?” she asked. “I wanna show somepony my latest trick, and I kind of could use a spotter.” “A spotter?” he asked in that high, bright voice of his. “Yeah, a spotter,” Dash responded, “Like when you’re doing a routine and you know... vvvrroooom,” she swept a hoof through the air dramatically. Spike didn’t seem to pick up on it, and he just said in a practical tone, “Twilight went out to get some writing supplies. She wants me to stay here, and put all the books away, and keep the library neat and tidy.” “Well, you’re doing a great job!” Rainbow Dash said, despite how unqualified as she was to say it. “I’m sure you’re gonna make her real proud with what you’re doing.” Spike puffed his chest up proudly at that, and if it were any other pony Rainbow Dash would have had a hard time saying that with a straight face, but Twilight? She really would love it. That pony loved books like Pinkie loved cupcakes. “Anyway, I’m gonna jet, see if I can catch her at the quillery,” Dash said lazily, then hovered up into the air, leaving Spike to his thing, and swooping right out the balcony window she came in. Well, Twilight wasn’t at the quillery, but Rainbow Dash got a few more bits off her tab, passing on some of her loose pinions. Rainbow was starting to get puzzled now, because she wasn’t sure where any of her regular friends were. Well, Applejack she had a good idea, but the farm was pretty far from here, and it was an awfully big orchard to canvas. But Rainbow hadn’t seen Rarity, Twilight or Pinkie Pie in the last couple of hours or so. She didn’t want to go bother Fluttershy again. And in fact, she ended up not running into them until the evening, when Rainbow Dash got done with her afternoon cloud packing and saw Rarity and Twilight down there, walking together, alone. “Hey!” Rainbow said swooping down to her two favorite unicorn friends. Except one wasn’t a unicorn anymore. “Haven’t seen you ponies all day!” “We had a bit of a holdup with Pinkie Pie,” Rarity said diplomatically. “But good to see you, Rainbow! I trust we’ll have that snow as planned by morning?” “It’s all set,” Rainbow said agreeably, landing to trot along with her friends. “So you better get somewhere warm before it gets dark. Anyway, what was the holdup?” “A very odd mare,” Twilight Sparkle said in a bemused tone. “She seems to think she was teleportaled here from an alternate verse.” “Like a poem?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously. “She means universe, dear,” Rarity said patiently. “It’s not a universe, though!” Twilight protested grumpily. “There’s nothing uni- about it. Why did that terminology ever catch on?” “It is like a poem if you think on it, Twilight,” Rarity said softly, “If you think of our time on this earth as a poem, if her version was different it would be like a different well, ‘verse’.” “Universe, verse,” Dash said hastily, “Whatever you call it, are you saying she’s an alien?!” “We’re not sure,” Twilight said frankly. “The mare only has her word, and her rather troubling state of health to vouch for it. She could be just lying to try and get a warm bed to sleep in.” “But why would she?” Rarity asked, nonplussed by Twilight’s irritation. “She could get a warm bed simply by asking nicely. Nopony would just leave her out in the cold!” Rarity paused, looked down at her hoof, and added in a somewhat disgruntled manner, “Almost nopony would leave her out in the cold.” “Well, I haven’t ruled out time travel,” Twilight admitted, “But it’s pretty clear of one thing. This mare isn’t from around here at all.” “She knows about the shelter, right?” Rainbow Dash asked, her curiosity piqued. “If she was an alien pony, then maybe she wouldn’t know what a shelter is!” “She writes with an alphabet I’ve never even seen before,” Twilight told Rainbow passionately. “I wish she could tell me more—I mean, she was exhausted, the poor thing.” “The poor dear couldn’t put up with Twilight’s questioning, and fell asleep on her own hooves,” Rarity said with a teasing tail flick in Twilight’s direction. “So, just like any other pony in Equestria?” Rainbow quipped back. “My lectures are not boring!” Twilight insisted. She didn’t have her heart in being outraged though. She knew they didn’t mean it. “Seriously though,” Twilight said, “I’m a little miffed, but the mare needed sleep almost as much as she needed food. Pinkie’s watching over her for now, but all the rest of us can do is get some sleep ourselves, and ask her more about it when she’s feeling better.” “Sounds like she was in big trouble,” Rainbow said a little worried. “Was she stuck out in the wilderness or something?” “Why yes,” Rarity said, “She said that she erm... came out in the middle of the wilderness, unaware of what had happened to her, unaware of how to so much as even walk! Yet somehow she persevered, and pined away for days seeking civilization, before she emerged from the White Tail, with Ponyville in sight! She must have come from hundreds of miles away!” “Actually, she said she searched for a creek in a spiral pattern, then walked downstream,” Twilight said like she thought she was being helpful. “So if she walked in a spiral path at a good trot for two days straight—” “I thought she couldn’t walk?” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “How does that work?” “Oh um, heh...” Twilight blushed, “Well then, at a two day um... vaguely spiral shaped plod, assuming she stayed about QTQ feet away from where she last walked, she could have covered perhaps... um... “Three miles,” Dash said impatiently, “But there’s plenty of places in the White Tail woods that are that far away from a creek! How are we gonna find where she teleportaled in from?” “That’s... correct,” Twilight said, giving Dash a curious look, “But that’s assuming she didn’t take any breaks while walking.” “Two miles then,” Dash grumbled, “That’s even harder to find though!” “She can’t have been going very fast... and her tracks are probably still good,” Twilight mused worriedly. “Not with this snow coming up!” Dash protested, pointing at the ominous grey cloud layer. “Okay, how long do we have before her tracks are covered?” Twilight asked Dash hopefully. “About an hour, maybe?” Rainbow answered uncertainly. “Look, I can just zip over there and see what’s up.” “I’ll come with you,” Twilight said with determination. “There might be important magical traces still left behind, and at the very least I can leave a beacon on site.” “Okay, if you think you can keep up,” Rainbow said, lifting up off the ground. “First one to the woods wins!” She zoomed off then, with the princess in hot pursuit, but Twilight had a long way to go before she thought she could compete with the best. Rainbow wasn’t going to lose but she kept a steady, respectable lead on Twilight. They got to the border of the woods, and Twilight caught up, breathing hard. “You didn’t hafta push it,” Rainbow winked at her, “I know I’m awesome.” “I just... don’t want to push my luck... with this snow...” Twilight panted, hovering unsteadily in the air with her still unfamiliar wings. “Let’s find her tracks and get moving.” Neither Rainbow Dash nor Twilight were expert trackers like Fluttershy, but the tracks of a pony clumsily stumbling through the snow were pretty distinctive. The trail made a beeline for Ponyville upon leaving the woods, and sure enough it left the woods right alongside a partially frozen creek bed. Looking up at the grey sky warily, the two ponies landed, and followed the mare’s trail into the woods. Barely a mile in, the tracks diverted to the left away from the creek bed. “C’mon!” Dash said, darting down the direction of the tracks. Twilight gallopped after, but they didn’t get so much as a quarter mile before Twilight shouted, “Stop!” Dash halted, flapping up into the air to face Twilight saying, “What’s up? You see something?” “I’ve been observing which way the trail curved,” Twilight stated, “And judging by the curvature, we can just cut across to find where she started from.” “Okay, cool,” Rainbow said, “Which way, princess?” “That way,” Twilight pointed a hoof to her right, “Follow me, I know the exact orientation. And don’t call me princess.” “You got it princess,” Rainbow said, sweeping her hoof out for the princess to pass. Twilight glared at her, but a white flake landed on her nose then, and then she just fluttered up into the air, going above the tree line. Rainbow followed, and she and Twilight soared off across the snow covered tree tops. Not a few minutes later, Twilight backwinged to a halt saying, “Okay, we need to go on hoof from here.” “Right,” Dash said, descending down after her friend through a gap in the trees to land in the snow between some sleeping bushes. “Where to now?” “Should be this way still,” Twilight said, “But I want to catch her trail directly now, since I can only estimate the exact epicenter.” “Great, so we look around for somepony crashing through the bushes?” Dash said, eyeing the foliage around her. The light was still good, but too much longer and this snow would really start to pick up, and they’d be at a loss for any way to find it. “Over here!” Twilight shouted, getting Dash’s attention. Zipping over there, the pegasus landed beside Twilight before a trail crunched in the snow. It had a noticeable curvature this time, clearly the mare was canvassing the region trying to find out what’s where. Trotting along through the forest, the two seasoned ponies navigated the bushes, fallen trees, and rocks a lot easier than the one who came here before. The mare had been avoiding difficult terrain anyway, in her search, so it was pretty easy to retrace her hoofsteps. They reached a spot where there was a thick depression with the snow spread around in all directions to make a sort of hollow. “We’re close,” Twilight said intensely, “This must have been one of the times she rested. Hopefully the first one. If we hurry, we should be able to cover her first day’s walk in an hour.” Twilight wasn’t exaggerating. It was a little risky maybe, but the two ponies made good time as they dashed through the woods at a fast clip. Jumping over logs, and banking on hills, the flakes of snow dusted off their coats even as they worked themselves up enough that not even the scarves and earmuffs were needed. As Rainbow was more intent on Twilight, and Twilight was more intent on the tracks, Rainbow Dash took the rear, so when Twilight came to a sudden halt, Rainbow almost ploughed headfirst into princess posterior! “What gives, princess?” Rainbow Dash said irritably. “We gotta move. This snow is getting...” Then she saw what had made Twilight stop in her tracks. The silent snow fell down all around them, as together the two ponies walked out into a clearing in the woods. It wasn’t a natural clearing, though. All around it were fallen trees, torn up roots and all. It was like a crater from some giant explosion. “...woah,” Rainbow Dash said in astonishment, gazing around with wide eyes. The center of the cleared area had the lightest dusting of snow, but only recently fallen snow, not any accumulated over days before. All that old snow, and much of the soil had been blown away, leaving a smooth, circular depression of blackened earth that the two of them walked into. The smell of soot and ozone was heavy in the air. Twilight spread her wings and stopped again, saying, “Hst! Hold on.” While Dash clustered beside her, Twilight kicked a stone in front of them. It sparked and hissed as it tumbled in front of them, shrouded in eerie blue bolts of lightning, moving in an erratic path as though it was being knocked around by an invisible hoof. “I think we found where our mare came into this verse,” Twilight said soberly.