//------------------------------//
// Season 1 Prologue - Hey Soul Sister 
// Story: Dusk and Dawn 
// by PinkFluffyAlex 
//------------------------------//

Twilight Sparkle slammed the library's door shut behind her, and tried to rub her headache out. She was trying to stay awake to be able to clean up the remnants of her party, though at the same time she was also ready to drop into a dead sleep after all the crazy that had just happened. She had stayed up all night for the Summer Sun Celebration, spent hours in the most dangerous forest in Equestria, channeled the power of an ancient artifact, then (to top it all off) had the second Pinkie Pie party in a 24 hour period. One which had just carried on into the night.

To say she was tired would be the most obvious statement ever. Of all time.

Her need for sleep won over her obsession for tidiness, and she moved in the direction of the stairs that led to her new room. After climbing the second set of stairs to the same level as her bed, something stopped her from just jumping right into the covers and embracing sleep. A prickling at the base of her horn, a tingle in the back of her head. Twilight walked past the bed and out onto the library's balcony. 

She had a great view of the town and Sugarcube Corner from there. She listened to the distant arcanotronic music being played at Princess Luna’s party. Who was the DJ? Record Spin, or something? It didn't matter. No. Twilight told herself. It does matter. If I'm going to be staying here with the other Elements- my friends, then I might as well get started on learning the locals' names.

Twilight let out a sigh, considering the unknowns of her new life in Ponyville as she stared up at the bright turquoise star above. Her brow furrowed. She blinked a few times. That's not right. She looked up at the turquoise light that was getting brighter by the second. Was it... screaming? 

Something clicked in Twilight's brain- a fight or flight response, perhaps- and she ran back into the house and dove into her bed in time for the shooting star to enter the room. There was a great crashing noise, some panicked yelps, some books falling, then quiet, muffled mumbling. She slowly lifted her hooves off her head, then jumped off her bed in curiosity, fear, and apprehension.

The blue glow in the room died out, leaving Twilight in darkness as her eyes worked to readjust. There were a few more muffled shouts from over her bedroom's ledge. "H- hello? Anypony there?" Twilight whispered while peeking her head over the ledge. She blinked. A pony groaned. Twilight pulled her head back, rubbed the last of the turquoise glow out of her eyes, then looked back over. It was her but...nother. The frame was larger, the hair was messier, and the muzzle was... masculine. 

Her mouth worked to find something else to say that was appropriate for the situation. "Are... are you alright?"

The not-her rolled over on the floor, draped a fetlock across his eyes, then took a few heavy breaths. He lowered the hoof so it was blocking his mouth and blinked at Twilight a few times. "Hold on. You aren't nothing. Neither is this floor." He held his hoof out, then looked himself over. "I'm not nothing, either. Not only that, but I'm... oof. Figures." His head fell back onto the floor, then he flopped onto his side. "Well, of all the crazy things that have happened to me, the afterlife spitting me out tops the list." 

He flailed for a moment as he tried to get his hooves under himself, then stood up, brushing himself off as he did so. He froze. "Oi, wait a minute!" He turned around and pointed at Twilight. "Who're you? Because my eyes are still burnt out and all I'm seeing is a vague pony shape."

Twilight stammered and stomped a hoof. "I should be asking you that question! Who are you, and why did you just crash into my room!?"

"You don't know- ah, no, of course not. I'm... actually, give me a moment. See, I've just gone through a rather stressful ordeal, and I did not plan to end up here. I'm processing this all, hold on." The pony sighed, covered his face with a leg, and let out a long groan. "Oh, I'm gonna feel this in the morning." He blinked. "Y'know, I'm taking this surprisingly well. I mean, I really should be panicking more, right? I mean, I'm here, all small and young looking. That's an issue."

Twilight shook her head, trying to catch hold of something that made sense. "What do you mean, anissue? and you still haven't answered my questions!"

The stallion stood up, then waved a hoof dismissively. "Don't worry about that, it doesn't really concern you."

"You just crashed into my bedroom, of course it concerns me!" shouted Twilight.

He tilted his head. "Nnnnno, it doesn't. Sorry about the room, though. Who knew crashing could be so destructive? Anyways, enough rambling. To answer your question, I'm Dusk Shine, Herald of the Sky, Element of Harmony, and Agent of Chaos. How about you, little pony?"

Those titles spun in Twilight's head. How could one be an Element of Harmony and an Agent of Chaos? What did Herald of the Sky mean? How could Dusk also be an Element of Harmony when her friends were just named as the Elements? "I'm Twilight Sparkle. The Element of Magic."

"Really, it changed already? I wonder how long I was gone... Well, it's nice to meet you, Miss Twilight Sparrrrr..." He trailed off and became silent. His horn lit up with a brilliant turquoise light, illuminating his equally concerned and shocked expression. "Now this issue concerns you. Not only am I here, you're also here. With me." Dusk turned around, taking in the room. "Oh. Oh no. Ahhhh..."

Twilight began walking down to the lower level of the bedroom. "What is it? What are you talking about?" She cast a glance at the windows behind her. "Where did you come from?"

Dusk scratched his chin. "Those aren't easy questions. Uh, I need to orient myself. What happened today, or anytime this last week? What was the most exciting part?"

"The Summer Sun Celebration was today. Nightmare Moon escaped from her prison and was turned back into Princess Luna."

"I'm really- oh for the love of- why couldn't it have been at least post-chaos- I'm really that far back!?" Dusk sat down on the floor, then rubbed his horn. "Oof. Okay. Out of the frying pan, into the heart of a star. I come from... a universe parallel to your own, apparently. I left that universe, for my own reasons, and then somehow ended up in your universe. I'm the version of you from my own universe, with a sister named Gleaming Shield and an adopted dragon sister named Barb."

Twilight's headache returned tenfold as this bombshell of information was dropped right on her head. She stammered for a good minute as she processed it all. Dusk watched her hair slowly deteriorate from perfectly straight to 'Smarty-pants'. She shook her head. "I don't believe you. I- I can't believe you, it's just not possible." Her mouth made strange shapes as her eyes rapidly blinked.

Dusk held his hooves out and tried to comfort Twilight. "No, no, calm down, it's okay. You'll believe in time, so don't worry about that for now. Just answer this simple question for me: are the Elements of Harmony and the ruler of Equestria all mares?" He walked over to Twilight and patted her withers. 

Twilight flinched at the sudden touch, but slowly nodded her head. "Alright then, good. Take deep breaths. Put your hoof to your chest like this, grab the stress, and push it out." Twilight followed his motions, taking deep breaths as she did. "There you go, there you go. Now, I understand that this is all very strange and perhaps scary for you, so we can put off explaining it in detail later, and just focus on the here-and-now.

"Okay, you know what? Let's go to the party. It's been a stressful day and your world has been turned over multiple times." Dusk's voice transitioned from a quickened ramble to a slow, comforting, and somehowwisesound. "Let's just relax, grab a cupcake or two, and forget about everything."

Twilight nodded, still in shock from realizing that not only was Starswirl's theory on alternate realities true, she was standing next to another version of herself, older and displaced. She held up a hoof. "I expect an extensive explanation in the morning, though." She looked around the room. "You need to clean this up as well."

Dusk's horn flared turquoise (Twilight frowned at this), and the books flew onto their shelves, perfectly organized. The dented floorboards pulled in every splinter and bent back into shape, and the dust disappeared from every surface. "Of course, I could never leave a library in disarray. Come on."

He ushered Twilight through the door, down the stairs, then glanced back. "Well. This is going to be all kinds of difficult."