//------------------------------//
// 003 - Ponies on Earth 
// Story: Songs of the Spheres 
// by GMBlackjack 
//------------------------------//

A full day had passed since Twilight and her friends had returned to Equestria from their little outing in the jungle. Twilight had not slept for any of that time.

She still hadn't the foggiest idea what the green diamond was and the lack of information was driving her up a wall. It matched no mineral she had ever seen, was completely devoid of magic, and produced more power than she could even measure. The only other things that did that were the Tree of Harmony itself and the being known as Discord.

At the moment, she had her eyes level with the diamond, unblinking, staring in a vain hope of observing some pattern in its constant shifting appearance. Despite the odd texture and apparent vibrations, the diamond didn't actually move at all. It felt a little fuzzy and unstable when touched directly, but apparently the table it was on didn't think so.

It was just green and mysterious and powerful. 

She really hated not knowing more.

"So, you going to put it in the mirror now, or are you going to keep staring at it hoping the 'eureka' moment will come?"

Twilight turned to Spike, her always-faithful assistant. He'd been helping her examine the diamond over the last several hours, though he was asleep for half of it. Despite getting fed up with the lack of progress about two hours in the little dragon was still willing to help her, including slapping her across the face (metaphorically or otherwise) to get her to realize how silly she was being.

Twilight sighed. "I... Guess it is time for that, huh? It is what it's for."

"Good, because I was beginning to worry that you'd put away a thing that can travel to other worlds just because you hadn't studied it enough yet!"

Twilight chuckled. "I'm not that bad. Plus, I did tell Mlinx we'd return one day. Can't really do that without this or some other power source. This object just seems the most... Versatile of all the options. Mainly because I don't want to rely on Discord for anything."

"Good idea," Spike said. "That guy can't even be found half the time."

Twilight shook her head, banishing thoughts of her most annoying friend. She picked up the diamond with her magic and trotted over to the Mirror Portal, placing it at the top-center and affixing it with a simple adhesive spell. The Mirror sparked with an overflow of alien energy as a result. Twilight touched her hoof to the shimmering surface and it passed through easily. With a smile, she stepped through, appearing in a very familiar jungle by way of a glowing shimmer of energy affixed to a tree. There were no signs of any demons - but why would there be? This was far from the giant red flower.

Spike came through behind her. "...Huh. Feels a little odd not to be turned into a dog."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to be a dog?"

"Oh, no!" he said, waving his hands back and forth. "It's a good kind of odd!"

"Uh-huh. Well, it works," she said, walking back through the tree's shimmering side, appearing back in her castle.

Spike bounded after her. "Hey! I wasn't done looking at the alien jungle! It was cool!"

"You'll get another chance, Spike," she said. "Right now I need to test something..." She removed the glass jar she had filled with magic gasses the day before and created another one with a different set of gasses. She plugged the new spell into the Mirror Portal and stuck her head through.

There was no transformation vortex. That was good. She went right to her destination - the base of a statue. She knew there was a giant marble horse behind her, but she didn't bother to turn so she could see it. She was looking at the familiar school in front of her - a building composed mainly of maroon bricks that rose three stories, significantly taller than most buildings in Ponyville. There were two separate wings of the structure, each flanking a central entrance adorned with glass etchings of horses and the sun.

Much like both the statue and the glass etching, Twilight reared up in glee, leaping out the rest of the way into the world. "It worked!" she cried.

Three or four faces looked up at her outburst - decidedly non-pony faces. They were the faces of two-legged apelike creatures with mostly bare skin. Said skin came in a wide range of colors, and while there was a preference for peach tones, Twilight could see green, yellow, and blue. The hair on their heads was usually much more vibrant, with a tendency for brilliant solid hues. These beings lacked horns or wings, had hands at the edge of their arms for holding amazing devices like cellphones, and wore copious amounts of clothing.

In other words, just humans.

Twilight waved. "Hi Coco!"

Coco - a blue haired girl with cream skin - blinked, bewildered at the talking alicorn. She waved back, confused, and continued on her way.

"Huh... Guess I do look different. Must be odd to them."

"No kidding," Spike said, coming through the portal himself, retaining the form of a scaly reptile. "Did you know dragons are legendary creatures to humans?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Not sure if I'm going to like being a real dragon here or not, is all I'm saying."

Twilight grinned. "Well, it's time to find out. Come on, let's go inside and say hi!"


~~~ 


Sunset Shimmer was a woman who had allowed herself to get a little too comfortable with the status quo. Understandable, since she was currently happy, something she couldn't have said for most of her life. Most of this previous unhappiness had been her fault, a direct result of having ambition as a primary character trait. As so many had before her, she had attempted to climb to the top and gotten burned by the sun - though in her case this was more literal than most.

Those days were behind her. She had given up her delusions of grandeur to live amongst her human friends at a high school instead of... Well, almost anything else. She was mentally much older than her classmates, was a master in magic in her home world, and knew ponies in high places. But she stayed here because she liked it. She didn't want it to change. She didn't see any reason why it would until one of her friends asked a very particular question.

"So... Sunset!" Pinkie said, sitting herself and her lunch tray across from her fiery friend. "What're you going to do after you graduate in a few months?"

Sunset looked up from the book she was reading - Essays on Quantum Theory - tossing her red and yellow curls. She stared blankly at her pink friend with her crimson eyes.

Pinkie sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. "Please tell me you've actually given it some thought..."

"Uh... No..." Sunset said, face blank, nervously clasping her gloved hands together.

"Sunset, it's my job not to think things through! ...Okay, so, it's actually Dashie's, I'm just supposed to be ditzy. Still, you're a genius, you think about things."

Sunset smirked slightly. "I wouldn't say I'm a genius..."

"What about all those magic-scanny things you hooked us up to? Or those times you outthought the bad guys? Or those mysteries you solved? Or that book you're reading?"

Sunset blinked. "Fair point. I'm not as smart as Twilight though, yo-"

"Oh no, we aren't derailing the topic into 'which Twilight are we talking about' territory. I see your ploy."

"Sorry," Sunset said, leaning back in her chair. "I... I really haven't thought about it Pinkie. I guess I'll go wherever you girls go."

Pinkie facepalmed. "Sunset..."

"What?"

"Not all of us are graduating. Fluttershy and Rarity will be out the same time as you but the rest of us are staying another year. Fluttershy's already got a job offer and Rarity's headed for fashion school or something," Pinkie shook her head, a sure sign of not really being sure what Rarity was doing.

"Oh," Sunset said. "...I knew that."

"Yes, but you haven't thought about it." Pinkie put her chin in her hands and leaned forward. "Sunset, school's ending. You're going to have to do something. Go to college, get a job, go back to Equestria... School doesn't last forever, silly!"

Sunset bit her lip. "Well... Great."

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong? There's a whole new life out there for you, you just have to find it!"

Sunset shook her head. "I don't want to leave you girls. You are-"

"We are not your only friends. Twilight, Spike, and Starlight will all welcome you in Equestria. As well as the other me!"

Sunset blinked. "...Are you pony-Pinkie right now?"

"Wouldn't you like to know!?" Pinkie giggled.

Sunset narrowed her eyes. "Yeah. Should've expected that answer."

Pinkie nodded. "Profound observation! Now stop sidetracking."

Sunset chuckled. "Fine, fine... You're right. I should think about it. I'll figure something out, Pinkie. It's still several months away, don’t worry."

"Several months can burn like dynamite Sunset! Starts out slow then BOOM! DOOOOOOM!"

Sunset reeled back from Pinkie's sudden outburst. "Good point. I'll probably talk to Twilight about it."

"Which one?"

"Probably both, come to think of it."

"I ask because there's one standing right behind you."

Sunset smirked, turning around slowly. "Twilight, why did you sneak up on-"

She was stunned into silence by what met her gaze. It was Twilight, all right. Twilight the pony. Still a pony despite being on Earth. All of her was there, the wings, the horn, the purple fur coat... The eyes...

"Because I wanted to surprise you!" Twilight answered Sunset’s unfinished quesiton, grinning.

Sunset touched Twilight's muzzle with her finger. Fuzzy, a little damp, but definitely solid.

"Uh..." Twilight cocked her head.

Sunset shook her head. "Just...Checking to see if you're real."

Sunset heard a laugh that drew her attention to the small purple reptile on Twilight's back. "We're real, all right. As real as your hanging jaw," Spike said, smirking.

Pinkie giggled.

"You're... Both... Here..." Sunset managed.

"Uh... Yeah?" Twilight said, smile fading. "Is something wrong with that?"

Sunset darted her eyes left and right, scanning the cafeteria. Yep. People were staring. None were afraid - they'd had enough experience with magic mumbo-jumbo to be used to it - but they had a lot of phones out.

"Nothing to see here!" Sunset blurted out suddenly, trying to position herself over Twilight and Spike. "Nothing at all!"

Twilight fumbled with her wings. "Sunset, they know who I am..."

"NOTHING AT ALL!" Sunset grabbed Twilight by the scruff of her neck and ran her out of the cafeteria, checking to make sure Spike stayed on board. Sunset didn't let Pinkie's maniacal laughter deter her. Nor the sounds of cell phone camera apps snapping pictures.

"Sunset what are you-"

"Shush until I get you into a closet," she blurted, kicking the doors of the cafeteria open. She stepped into the well-lit - but abandoned - hall. She turned a sharp corner and tossed Twilight and Spike into a broom closet, slamming the door shut with them inside. She leaned against the door, breathing hard, sliding down to the hall floor.

"Ow..." Spike muttered from behind the door.

"Sunset, why are we in a closet?" Twilight asked.

Sunset took in a breath. "Because you can't just walk around as a pony, Twilight! People were taking pictures!"

"...So? They know me, and it's not like you girls aren't on TV with your fancy powers and dresses. Weren't you in a movie or something?"

Sunset opened her mouth, closed it, grunted, then opened it again. "Look, Cinch is watching us. I've tried to get us to be more careful than before so she doesn't learn too much..."

"...Cinch? Isn't she that incompetent principal who bullied Sparky?"

Sunset took a moment to process Twilight's nickname for her other self. "...Yes."

"Why should we care what she knows?"

"Because she's going to want revenge eventually and the less she knows, the better."

Twilight was silent for a moment. "...Wasn't this still an overreaction, even then?"

"Uh... Yeah. Probably," Sunset admitted. "Maybe I just wanted to have something happen. Or maybe I still haven't processed that you're a pony. Oh my gosh you're a pony how are you a pony Twilight, how!?"

"...Can you let me out of the closet first?"

"Nah, I'll just come in." She opened the closet and shut it behind her. It was pitch black inside. "Huh. Dark."

"No, Really?" Spike said.

Twilight sighed, creating a light with her magic. "Fine, guess we can do it in here to satisfy your baseless and sudden paranoia."

"Thank you," Sunset said. "So, first question. HOW!?"

"Mysterious transdimensional power source and an accompanying adventure," Twilight said.

Sunset blinked. "That...That doesn't help me."

"Maybe you should start from the beginning?" Spike suggested.

"Oh. Okay," Twilight cleared her throat. "It all started with me walking down the hill for no discernible reaso-"

"Stop," Sunset said, holding up a hand. "I know your storytelling voice when I hear it. How many hours will this take?"

"Uh... Four?"

"Five," Spike corrected. "It took seven with me, and that was because we were doing science at the same time."

Sunset shook her head. "Yeah, don't have time for that. Lunch ends in twenty minutes." She lifted up her hand and removed her glove. "Let's do this the fast way. Think of... The story you were telling."

Twilight looked at Sunset's bare hand, confused for a second. Then realization dawned on her face - she glanced at the red crystal pendant hanging around Sunset's neck. "Oh. Got it. Go ahead."

Sunset delicately touched Twilight's forehead with her bare finger. The red crystal sparked, and Sunset was flooded with emotions and images from Twilight - she saw Twilight walking on the hills... She saw the man of light and the enchantress... She saw the ball... She saw the jungle, felt Twilight's barely contained panic... She saw the demons... She saw the Nightmare, the Spirit, and the green crystal...

She slowly retracted her hand. "Woah..." It was a bit much to take in all at once. She raised a hand to keep Twilight from talking while she sorted out her thoughts. Twilight had just uncovered a spell that could travel the worlds easier than the Mirror Portal ever had and she had the power source to activate it. She'd met an alien race that was, frankly, pretty awesome looking. And Twilight was prepared to go looking for more worlds.

Sunset grinned. "Twilight, this is amazing!" She grabbed Twilight by the shoulders, forgetting she wasn't wearing her glove and absorbing a rush of excitement from Twilight, raising her own adrenaline levels even further, making her hyperventilate. "Easy... Easy..." she gasped.

"Probably should put the glove back on," Twilight observed.

"No... Kidding..." Sunset gasped, slipping the glove over her hand. "Yeesh..."

"So yeah!" Twilight grinned. "That's what's up and why I'm here! Just decided to tell you in person since the opportunity arose!"

"If I walked through the portal right now I'd appear in Equestria as a human," Sunset realized.

"Yeah! We might not even need to use the Mirror Portal - I could probably use the energy from your crystal to open my own portal. It doesn't take all that much power to open a gate to Equestria, compared to the jungle anyway. I could probably do it with my own power from here, actually…”

Sunset's pupils contracted. "Twilight... Do you think other you..."

"You mean Sparky?"

"...Yes. Sparky." Sunset rolled her eyes. "Do you think she could... learn this spell?"

"Well, probably, but she isn't exactly skilled at magic and the spell is somewhat complex."

Sunset smirked. "Do you doubt her fidelity with gadgets? She had that locket, remember? She can just make something to cast it for her."

"Well, yes. I could probably store the spell in something like that for her but she'd still need power for going to other places... Oh. Right. Crystal."

Sunset was giddy - most of it was probably just excess excitement from Twilight, but Sunset didn't care about that at the moment. There was something new to do and... well it just felt like she had to be part of this world jumping fiasco. It felt like... A natural evolution of herself.

Couldn't have come at a better time. 

"I'm going to go get her so we can do this thing," Sunset said.

"Uh, isn't lunch almost ov-"

Sunset stood tall. "Who cares? Pshaw, this is more important than school! Stay here, I'll be back!" She ran out, closing the closet door behind her. She dash down the hallway, towards the room she knew Twilight/Sparky would be.

Sunset was probably letting Twilight's excitement affect her a bit too much. She noted this, and pushed it out of her mind - there was a goal for her right now. An... adventure. Yes. That was right. Adventure. She was going to throw open the floodgates.


 ~~~ 


The Twilight Sparkle known as Sparky was currently in Canterlot High's labroom, an enclosure that had at one point just been a place for chemistry professors to make vain attempts at being cool. Now, however, it was filled with all manner of scientific gadgets thanks in no small part to Sparky herself. Sunset may have started it up, but Sparky, like all good aspiring researchers, had connections. Those connections were more than willing to provide extra funding to a budding science program for a student as full of promise as she was.

Currently, she was experimenting with magic. The purple crystal around her neck glowed slightly as she tapped into its power with her mind, producing a small telekinetic aura around a block of iron. The cube was precisely ten centimeters by ten centimeters by ten centimeters. After she lifted it a full meter off the ground, a disc-shaped device clicked on and absorbed the magic field into itself and displayed the number 71.2. She wrote this number down in her notebook, to be put on a spreadsheet later, at which point she'd run it through a complex series of programs to find any discernable patterns.

Until then she was just going to move onto the next experiment she had running. She glanced at the ocarina she was printing in the brand new 3D printer. The machine was putting the finishing touches on its first printed design, finishing the smooth blue plastic of the woodwind instrument. It was currently on the top... or side... or... Actually, Sparky had no idea if ocarinas really had any directions besides 'put mouthpiece in mouth.' Considering how sideways the mouthpiece was that didn't really help analyzing it in three-dimensional space. She decided she'd need to look at the design on the ocarina's virtual model to see what equations defined it.

Regardless, Sparky stared at it for the two minutes it took to complete. She opened the sleek door of the printer and took the instrument out, tossing it in her hand to test its weight and stability quickly. She'd measure the dimensions and mass accurately a little later, right now she just needed a ballpark estimate to see if everything made sense - which it did. She fed a small piece of string through the side of the mouthpiece and slung it around her neck, just like she'd seen in pictures. Then she brought it to her lips and blew.

The noise that came out was atrocious. It worked though; she just absolutely sucked at it. She looked at it incredulously, wondering if she could either find the time to practice or if she could find some other use for it. Something to think about later - now was the time to take those measurements...

Or it would have been had Sunset not pushed into the room with a frantic smile on her face.

"...Sunset?" Sparky said, concerned.

"Guess what?"

The concern left Sparky instantly. She raised an eyebrow. "Rainbow needs another guitar string?"

"What? No! Well, maybe, but that's not what this is about." She rubbed her hands together rapidly. "Twilight has-"

"-Twinkie-" Sparky corrected automatically.

"...Twinkie has found a way to travel worlds! Worlds other than just Earth and Equestria!"

Sparky glanced at the clock. Thirteen minutes until the next class. If she responded positively to Sunset she was likely to miss said class and probably a few more. There were no exams or tests today as far as she knew so the chances of her grades actually being affected in any way were pretty low, seeing how forgiving Celestia was about absences.

Sparky grabbed her notebook, camera, pens, and assorted devices quickly, stuffing them into her purple laptop bag. She held tightly onto her labcoat and stared right into Sunset's eyes with her own - eyes that were almost identical to a certain purple alicorn's. "When do we leave?"

Sunset grinned. "Glad we're on the same page. That's up to Twil-Twinkie though. Come on, she's in the broom closet."

Sparky blinked. "The broom closet?"

"Oh... I may have been trying to hide her."

"Why?"

"...You can see for yourself. Come oooon!"

"Are you high on excitement again? Did you touch Pinkie?"

"No!" Sunset raised her hand. "Just Twinkie! ...Man, that's a dumb name."

"It's adorable," Sparky countered. "Plus, she likes it."

Sunset shrugged. "Eh... Guess so. Come on." She grabbed Sparky by the hand and ran her across the school to the broom closet. They passed the school's resident 'cool dude' on the way.

"Hi Flash! Bye Flash!" Sunset called, leaving the blue-haired boy rather bewildered at the rapid encounter. He didn't even manage to formulate a response before they were out of his sight.

Sparky was shoved into the closet shortly thereafter and rather unceremoniously flopped onto her pony self's back. "Oh. Twinkie. You're a pony."

"Yep! Amazing, right?"

"I'd say so." She stood up and dusted herself off. "So, Sunset, why are you hiding her?"

Sunset twitched and Spike broke out into laughter.

"What's so funny... Spike?"

Spike managed to nod in agreement with Sparky's greeting but couldn't get any explanation out, he was too busy chuckling. The responsibillity fell to Twinkie. "Oh, just that Sunset hid me because I was a pony, trying not to make a scene or let information fall into the wrong hooves or something. I'm honestly not all that sure."

Sunset sighed. "Fine, you all win, I was being silly.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Can we do the thing now?"

Twinkie raised an eyebrow. "I can't teach or give Sparky the spell like this!"'

"Wait, you want to teach me how to do it!?" Sparky said, grin widening. "I can try, I've been studying those scrolls you sent through and I think I can..."

"You are not versed in higher spellcasting Sparky, sorry," Twinkie apologized. "You'd need to use one of your machines to unleash the spell, or at least something similar."

Sparky was already drawing up plans in her mind on how to create the device she would use to capture the spell and activate it over and over again. Something similar to the magic disc device she had, but with a power input valve so she could use her own power on it, and of course a safety mechanism...

"Uh... Sparky?"

"Sorry, just... thinking up designs."

Twinkie grinned. "Great! We’re part way there. But that'll take time. You'd have to design it, I'd have to distill the spell down, and I'm pretty sure Sunset doesn't want me to spend all day in the lab here."

Sparky's eyes widened. "C-can we go to Equestria to do it?"

Twinkie smiled. "Yes. Yes, we can. Let’s see if I really can open this connection with my magic…” Her horn flared up and she cast the spell to connect directly to Equestria. She tore a hole in the fabric of reality similar to the one she had torn a day ago in a far removed jungle, though this one was considerably smaller and cost significantly less power to open, small enough that she could generate it on her own. Light poured into the closet from a world of green hills, blue sky, magic aura, and crystal castles.

The three girls stared at the bright light, blinking as their senses adjusted.

Spike sighed. "Well, I'm going through." He hopped into Equestria. "You coming?"

Twinkie shrugged, entering her world with a flap of her wings. Sunset stepped through next, looking at the world with an expression of nostalgia.

Sparky came out last, stepping slowly, legs shaking. This new world felt different to her - and it was more than just the unrealistically bright landscape, more than the somehow 'off' sun, more than the magic crystal castle nearby. The substance of this world was different. Was the gravity slightly altered? Were physics somewhat different? Was it just the magic?

She didn't know.

All she knew was that it was amazing and a little overwhelming. She'd always just accepted that there was another world through the Mirror Portal that had ponies in it. How had her scientific mind never fully realized the implications about that? Never asked the questions? Never told her to come here?

She stood in abject awe a full minute and twenty seconds before she started snapping pictures and taking notes. "My gosh why didn't we do this sooner?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "You were nervous about, and I quote 'my molecules being torn apart and re-arranged by some unknown force through unknown means with unknown side effects'!"

"Oh. Right." She blushed.

"Hey, don't worry, we're all here..." She blinked. "Hey, is that Lyra over there?" she said, pointing down the street towards Ponyville proper.

Twinkie's eyes suddenly flew wide open. "Hide."

"Huh?" Sunset said, bewildered.

"Hide! Lyra's crazy about human conspiracies!"

"Twilight I don't really think-"

Twilight teleported herself and the humans into the foyer of her castle, startling the unicorn who happened to be standing there, Rarity. "Oh! Uh... Sunset? What a surprise! And uh... Are you Twilight, or... Oh my..." She put a hoof to her mouth, glancing back and forth between the purple alicorn and the purple human.

"...Rarity?" Sparky gawked.

"...Sparky, right?" Rarity waved gracefully, regaining her composure quickly. "Welcome to Equestria. What brings you here?"

"Twinkie's paranoia."

Rarity stifled a laugh at the absurd nickname. "Well, that's certainly how she is all right. What was it this time?"

Twinkie rolled her eyes. "Lyra's here."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Why is that a problem? She's such a nice mare."

"Humans, Rarity. Humans. Right in front of you,” she said like this explained everything.

"Dear, there's nothing to worry about. I'm sure she'd love to meet these two."

"Oh, you think everything will be fine... It won't be. Spike will be distracting her now, but I'm not sure if that'll last."

Sparky winced. "Poor Spike..."

"Yeah. Sorry, we're going to have to cut the tour short, get you two back before she-"

Sunset put a finger to Twinkie’s muzzle. "Shhhhhh. We'll be fine."

"This is not the time to get on my case for calling you paranoid!"

"Yes. Yes it is."

Sparky giggled. "Hey, Lyra!" She called outside. "Come on in! Got some people for you to meet!"

"Celestia save us..." Twinkie muttered.


~~~


Less than a minute ago, Spike had walked up to Lyra, a minty green unicorn with a lyre upon her flank. “Hey, Lyra, what brings you here?”

Lyra bit her lip. “I… I need to talk to Twilight about a… problem.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Did you and Bon Bon have a fight?”

“Oh no, Bon Bon and I are fine! It’s just…” Lyra sighed. “I’d like to talk to Twilight, okay?”

“Well, she’s a little busy, but I’m sure she can-“

“Hey, Lyra!” Twilight called. ”Come on in! Got some people for you to meet!”

Spike groaned inwardly. Lyra raised an eyebrow at him. “…Should I not go in?”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to answer that question until I see your reaction.”

Lyra blinked. “Well, that’s certainly an odd response.”

“You’ll understand in about ten seconds. Come on.” Spike led her to the front doors and threw them open. “Tah-dah, be amazed!”

Lyra’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

“Hi!” Sparky said, getting down on one knee. “I’m Twilight Sparkle. Not the Twilight you know, but-“

Lyra did not let her finish her introduction. “HUMAN!” She shrieked, her previously frowning face turning into a stupid grin. She flung her front hooves wide and tackle hugged Sparky. “OHMYGOSH A HUMAN!”

Twinkie turned to Sunset and raised an incredulous eyebrow. Sunset just kept grinning at her.

“Uh… Yeah, I’m a human!” Sparky said, trying in vain to pry the minty unicorn off her. “And I hear your name is Lyra!”

“YOU KNOW MY NAME! The texts were right, you know everything...”

“…What?”

Lyra stared into Sparky’s eyes. “Tell me the secret of the seven-sided chest.”

Sunset shrugged. “Lyra, we don’t know anything about any seven-sided chest.”

Lyra stared into Sunset’s eyes with a grin that was somehow both stupid and terrifying. “If you exist, that means I was right! I was right all along! You can’t hide the truth from me anymore! I will find out what really happened at Tartarus’s Inception, you can bet your bottom bit on it! Now tell me!”

Rarity blinked. “…I’m going to leave you dears to this, it looks like you have quite a bit to-“

“Oh no you don’t,” Twinkie said. “You’re going to stay right here and suffer through this like the rest of us.”

“I’d hardly call this suffering…”

Lyra interrupted the train of thought again. “Enough talking about normal things. Human-Twilight, I need to know what your people did…”

Sunset facepalmed. “Humans don’t exist on Equestria, Lyra. We come from another world entirely.”

“Aha! I knew it! You’re all aliens from another planet!” She cackled. “Brilliant deduction, Heartstrings!”

Sunset chuckled a little. “Actually, I used to be a pony. But yeah, Sparky here’s an alien. We’ve got a magic mirror and everything.”

Lyra stared closer at the human in her hooves. “…Why is your world concerned with ours? Why have you altered our history? I need answers!”

Sparky blinked, face straight. “…We didn’t know your world existed until a couple years ago.”

“I’m sure Starswirl had some contacts when he forged the mirror,” Twinkie said.

“No, this comes from before Starswirl!” Lyra wailed. “Ancient humans! We have legends about you all from long before ponies had even formed the three tribes! They were the authors of our world, the builders of our society-“

Twinkie sighed. “This is why I thought this was a bad idea.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “I happen to be enjoying this.”

“Hey!” Lyra interrupted. “Answer my questions!”

Sparky squirmed. “Lyra, if we were somehow in your world all those thousands of years ago, we don’t remember it. It’s just not likely!”

Twinkie nodded. “Yeah, those legends were probably based off the Handmaid, since there was no way humans could have been here before Starswirl made the mirrors.”

Lyra stood up and shook her head, releasing a thankful Sparky. “No… No you’re wrong!”

Sunset knelt down to be level with Lyra. “Lyra… Rarely is anything as it seems, or as you have believed for so long.”

“I… But you don’t understand, I’ve been researching the human myth most of my life! They existed way back then! How do we have records of the name ‘human’ from that far back if they didn’t exist?”

Sunset frowned. “I… I don’t know. I never studied ancient world history that well. But you have to be willing to accept that things are not as you think they are. We sure don’t know about your ancient humans.”

Lyra sat down, dour. “Well… This is disappointing.”

Sparky stretched her back to make sure it was okay from Lyra’s death-grip. “It’s fine, really. I’m admittedly a little interested myself why you have legends about humans.”

“Oh, we have the best legends about humans! Once, long ago, a tribe of ponies and other races lived in Tartarus, sealed from the world above by a terrible magic wrought by the demons of the past. But then a human child fell into Tartarus and led them all to freedom! …Well, in one version of the story at least, the one I like. In others, the human kills them all to ensure the dominance of humanity."

Sparky blinked. “…Morbid. Though I guess ancient legends tend to be. We have ones where a wolf eats a kid and she has to be cut out. Rather… Gorey.”

“…I always liked that story,” Sunset said out of the blue. Noticing the strange looks she was getting, she put her hand behind her head. “I also liked Hansel and Gretel!”

“…They cooked the witch, Sunset. In her own oven.”

Sunset raised a finger to protest, but Rarity shushed her. “Just face it dear, you’re a girl with a penchant for morbid stories. Nothing to be ashamed of.”

“But-“

“No buts Sunset, you are who you are. Accept it!”

Sunset hung her head. “…I like explosive and violent things. Sometimes.”

“Hrm?”

“…Almost all of the time. It’s not something I’m proud of!”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “I just said it was nothing to be ashamed of. While those of your ilk aren’t all that common, there’s still merit in the way you hold yourselves. The world needs warriors, just like it needs ponies with an eye for the finer things.”

Lyra blinked. “I am learning so much about human culture…”

“Pony, remember?” Sunset said.

“You’re a human right now. …I need a notebook.”

Spike raised a claw. “We’ve got plenty!”

Twinkie twitched. “Spike!”

Lyra grinned. “Where are these notebooks!?”

Spike pointed to a nearby bookshelf, one of many many places notebooks could be found in this castle. Lyra grabbed it hastily, along with a nearby pen. She clicked the pen several times in her magic. “Okay! Let’s get this show on the road! More culture! Hit me with it!”

Sparky blinked. “Well, I can’t really give a good survey of our culture…”

“…I can,” Sunset said, a grin appearing on her face. “I’ve lived among the humans for almost four years now. I can give you a very interesting look at the way they tick, Lyra. It will, of course, take several hours to explain in full, and require a lot of tangents and random factoids, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it!”

Lyra’s eyes twinkled while Twinkie’s became crestfallen. “Sunset… We really don’t have time for that…”

“We have all the time!” Lyra shouted.

“Actually, I don’t think you do,” Spike said. “Didn’t you have a problem?”

Lyra’s cheerful expression suddenly dropped. “Oh… Right… Twilight?”

“Yes?” Sparky and Twinkie said.

“The princess,” Lyra said, walking up to Twinkie. “I… I have a problem.”

Twinkie raised an eyebrow. ”Fight with Bon Bon?”

“Why does everyone assume that? No, it’s…” She glanced at the two humans, the dragon, and the unicorn standing around them. “Uh…”

Twinkie spread her wings. “Can you all wait outside, please? Lyra needs a word with me in private.”

Sunset nodded, quickly leading everyone else outside without a word. Soon only Lyra and Twinkie stood in the hall. Lyra sighed. “So, you know the Canterlot gang?”

“Yeah. Did something happen between you and one of them?”

“Lemon Drops.”

Twinkie smiled at the memory of the yellow mare, one of her and Lyra’s mutual childhood friends. “Ah, her. What’s up with you and her?”

“Well… I was talking to her about my human theories. I’d never shared them with her before! Don’t know why I never did – I did with both Moondancer and Minuette a long time ago. Moondancer actually gave me most of my human legend books!”

“That explains a lot.”

Lyra chuckled. “Yeah, a bit. But when I started explaining things to Lemon she got… Angry. Screamed at me for being stupid and… stomped off back to Canterlot. And… Well, you’re her friend and the Princess of Friendship, I figured you might know what that was about.”

Twinkie frowned. “…No… I have no idea why she’d act so negatively. This sounds like more than… annoyance at your antics.”

Lyra smirked. “Twi, if I cared about ponies being annoyed, I’d’ve stopped being a human conspiracy theorist years ago. This was different. She was angry. Not even Moondancer got angry at me for this. Fed up? Yeah. Frustrated? Oooooh yes. But never angry.”

Twinkie nodded. “…Looks like we need to go on a trip then. Can’t let hurt feelings like this stew for too long. Come on, we’re going to Canterlot.”

Lyra raised an eyebrow. “But what about your… visitors?”

Twinkie furrowed her brow. “I guess I could bring them along…”

Lyra laughed. “Humans? Out in the open? That won’t cause a scene, nope, not at all.”

Twinkie smirked. “I can always just turn them into ponies. …You know what, that’s one of the best ideas I’ve had all day. Do you care if they join us?”

“I mean, no? I just don’t want Lemon to be mad because they exist.”

“I gotcha.” She and Lyra left the castle, stepping outside to meet up with the others. Sparky was currently talking to Rarity about differences in fashion while Sunset and Spike were talking about fire. “Hey guys! We’re going to Canterlot.”

“…Like this?” Sunset said.

“No,” Twinkie said. “Sparky, you okay with becoming a pony?”

Sparky’s jaw dropped. “…I mean, let me think about it, it’ll rearrange my molecules and have an unknown number of side effects, and it wouldn't be the natural modification we went through l-“

“She’s fine, cast the spell,” Sunset said.

“Sunset I did not say I was fi-“

Twinkie cast the spell anyway, transforming the two of them into ponies – unicorns to be exact. Sunset stretched the familiar legs of her old body and smiled, noting that they had boots instead of gloves. “Been a while…” She glanced at her brilliant solar cutie mark, still bright upon her flank. She lit her horn, creating a fireball in midair. “Yep, I’ve still got it.”

“You going to burn something?” Spike asked.

“I’m not a pyromaniac!”

“I sense lies.”

“No, really! Just because fire is my thing does not mean I like to burn everything. Come on!”

There was a thump behind them that interrupted their conversation. Sparky had just landed flat on her face, glasses falling into the grass. “…Observation: four legs does not make it easier to stand as hypotheses would suggest.”

Lyra chuckled. “Can’t handle the hooves?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "Sparky, you were a unicorn during spring break, you didn't have too much of a problem then."

Sparky considered this. "More evidence that this transformation isn't natural... I feel like an eternal hunchback."

“A what?”

“Have Pinkie show you sometime. It’s creepy,” Twinkie said. “I’m curious…Do you have more magic now that you’re a unicorn and have the crystal?”

Sparky focused her energy into her horn, lighting it up. She tried to lift a nearby rock and instead condensed it into a fine powder. “…I’d say so. Holy cow.”

“Holy… cow?” Lyra said.

“Expression,” Sunset explained. “Twinkie, you have an airship right?”

“Yeah?”

“To Canterlot then!”


~~~ 


Sparky, Twinkie, Sunset, and Lyra all sat in the basket of Twinkie’s ‘airship’.

It was a hot air balloon in the shape of her face.

“Question,” Sunset said. “How can you be a princess and not have a personal airship?”

“I do! It’s… Just at Canterlot all the time!” Twinkie smiled sheepishly. “Only big cities have full airship docks!”

“Ponyville needs to hurry up and grow,” Lyra said. “Get more modern fun stuff. No offense to Pinkie, but sometimes I want to go out for something a little fancier than baked goods.”

Pinkie poked her head out from under the basket. “I heard that!” Then she vanished.

Lyra shivered. “…There are no secrets from her…”

Twinkie shook her head. “No… Rainbow Dash successfully lied to her for years about, of all things, pies.”

“Question,” Sparky said. “…Pies?”

“Long story. One that Rainbow Dash should probably tell you, actually, not me. Besides, we’re at Canterlot.”

The glorious capital of Equestria was a true feat of pony engineering. Built onto the side of a tall mountain, numerous levels of pearly-white city hung over the valley below. Hundreds of buildings weaved in and out of the numerous levels, entering and exiting the mountain itself, winding up towards the largest structure in the city by far. The castle was an awe-inspiring work of art with dozens of yellow-tipped minarets scraping the sky. Gardens flourished in the brilliant sun of the day and pegasi flew all around the complex structures, casting fleeting shadows on the lands below.

“This looks nothing like the cities back home…” Sparky observed, adjusting her glasses. She took out her phone to take a picture – but it slipped out of her hooves. “My phone!”

Sunset teleported it back with her magic. “There you go.”

“…How do you ponies hold anything with hooves?” Sparky said, snapping a picture using her magic to hold the phone.

“Traction theory,” Twinkie said. “There’s a faint magical field that exists on all pony hooves that allows us to hold objects. It’s unwieldy and far inferior to your hands, but it works well enough.”

Lyra raised an eyebrow. “…I always just thought they kinda held things. Never bothered to think if it was weird or not.”

Twinkie smirked. “You were focused on other things.”

“Still am. Those ancient humans were a thing. I’m telling you.”

Twinkie rolled her eyes. “Riiiiight. Regardless, I’m taking us down…” She guided the balloon to a flat area of the city, behind the castle so as not to draw unwanted attention. The four of them hopped out like large rabbits, glancing around the city with mixed expressions of wonder, nostalgia, nervousness, and amusement. “Lyra, I uh… Don’t remember where Lemon’s house is,” Twilight admitted.

Lyra rolled her eyes. “This way. When we get there, Sparky, Sunset, you might want to hang back a bit, k?”

Sunset nodded. “Of course.”

Sparky agreed absentmindedly – she was busy staring at the society around her. Ponies of all three kinds lived here, though there was a visibly higher concentration of unicorns. She watched them go about their lives, particularly fascinated by the many many restaurants they passed, including someplace that made her think ‘Indian’, even though there was no way India existed here. The food smelled so good…

She took a picture and tore her nose away, allowing herself to take in other sights. Guard ponies patrolled the areas with stern expressions and rigid postures. Sparky found it odd that most of them were male in an obviously female-dominated society, but didn’t question it openly. “So… This is your capital.”

“Yeah,” Sunset said. “Pretty cool huh?”

“I have to admit, it looks like it was designed with artistic aesthetic in mind, rather than functionality...”

“It’s really, really old,” Twinkie admitted. “The lower levels are newer, built less with art in mind, and there are several sections of the city inside the mountain.”

Sparky noted this in her book. “Celestia rules from here?”

“Both Celestia and Luna, as equals. Legally, Cadence and I have the same say, but in practice they do all the actual ruling.”

“Huh. I wish Principal Celestia was the president.”

Sunset let out an annoyed sigh. “You and me both.”

“Hey, that’s the problem with electing your leaders,” Twinkie commented.

Lyra shook her head. “They elect their princesses!?”

“Well, they don’t have immortals over there. Or magic. Because of that, there are no wise rulers who can live forever. Invariably kings, queens, princesses, princes… All will pass away, and less altruistic leaders take their place.”

“Woah… Kinda like how we elect mayors?”

“Yeah. Actually, exactly like that. They just do it all the way to the top.”

“That’s pretty weird!”

Sunset gave Sparky a knowing look.

“Okay, fine! I was biased!” Sparky threw her hooves in the air – and fell over. “Ow…”

Twinkie helped her up. “You okay?”

“Fine, thanks.”

“We’re here,” Lyra said, walking up to the door of a very yellow house seamlessly placed among other similar houses, forming a bit of a house wall. Twinkie followed close behind her while Sunset and Sparky stayed behind.

Sparky looked to Sunset. “Okay, my observations about this world. One: you never told me enough about it. Two: these ponies are far too colorful and happy all the time about everything. Three: can we go get a bite to eat at that Indian place?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “It’s not ‘Indian,’ but sure. Though I don’t think I have any bits on me…”

“Oh…”

Sunset smirked. “Twinkie – still feels odd to say that – can pay for us. We just have to wait for her to deal with-“

“GET OUT!”

Sunset and Sparky swiveled their heads back to the front door. Lyra was thrown out the front door – caught by Twinkie’s telekinesis before she could hit the ground. Sparky couldn’t see who Twinkie was talking to, but Twinkie’s expression was rather angry.

“Lemon, that was uncalled for.”

“Twilight, I’d appreciate it if you left.”

Twinkie shook her head. “As both your and Lyra’s friend, I can’t just let this be. I want to know what’s going on.”

“She’s bat-hoof crazy that’s what’s wrong!”

“…And this is news?”

Lyra raised a hoof. “Yeah, okay, maybe the calling me crazy all the time is a little irksome.”

“Shut up,” Lemon spat.

Lyra obliged. Twinkie didn’t. “Lemon, I need to know what’s going on-“

“What’s going on is that Lyra’s crazy and I don’t want to hear about it!”

“I’m sure Lyra will agree not to talk about it if we just know why, Lemon.”

Lemon twitched. “Twilight, just go. Please.”

Sunset sighed, walking up to the front door.

“Who are you?” Lemon muttered.

“I’m Sunset.” She removed one of her front boots. “And I’m going to figure this out.” She touched Lemon on the shoulder, and the red pendant glowed…

Sunset saw what Lemon remembered. She saw a stallion – obviously Lemon’s father – digging into ancient tomes, his long beard draped over the texts.

“Dad?” A young Lemon asked. “Watcha lookin’ at?”

“Legends of the ancient humans!” He chuckled. “Did you know, long ago, that ape-like creatures ruled the world?”

“Really?”

“Yes, after the age of demons was the age of man, an apparently brilliant age. We don’t know much about them because they left only scant traces behind, but we know they existed!”

“…I thought things that far back were just legends?”

“Oh, I suppose Tartarus is a legend then?” he asked with a chuckle.

“I dunno. I’ve never seen it!”

“I have. Went there myself when I was younger. It really is full of terrible creatures – but also a really friendly dog.”

“Cerberus! You’ve told me the story before!”

“Have I? I suppose my memory fails me then…” He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I’m studying these ancient texts and I think I may be onto something. Starswirl’s encounter with the Sirens – I told you about that a week ago – was a wild goose chase. There probably is no Mirror. I found something greater. In the land of Tauryl, there are great towering relics older than time itself.”

“Tauryl? Never heard of it!”

“It’s the land of centaurs and gargoyles, the homeland of the great sorcerer Tirek. I’m thinking of planning a trip there, to see if I can find the humans.”

“Can I come along?”

“Sorry little Lemon, a bit too dangerous for you. But I’ll be sure to bring back souvenirs!”

Sunset took in a deep, pained breath. She knew what was coming. Lemon’s memory blurred to her sitting on the porch of her house, looking at the street. Waiting for her father to come back. Days passed. Lemon the filly eventually gained her cutie mark and grew into a mare, still staring out the front door for her father. The stallion who never came back…

More years passed. Lemon got her own house – this one. Still, many days she would sit by a window and stare at the road, wondering.

Sunset pulled back from Lemon, shaking her head. “I am so sorry.”

“Did… Did you just apologize for going into my head?”

“No,” Sunset asserted. “You needed somepony to go into your head since you weren’t yourself. Lemon… You’ve been holding onto this for too long.” She slipped her boot back on.

“I…”

“You’re mad at the mystery of the humans for taking your father from you. And you don’t want to face that – so you get angry. You fight back…” Sunset realized something in that moment, chuckling. “...I’m guilty of that too. I don’t want to think about my future, so I either get angry or dismiss it. It’s something a lot of ponies do.”

Lemon looked at Sunset, baffled by how she was acting.

Twinkie smiled. “What Sunset’s trying to say is that, sometimes, we need to think about things to move forward, not push them out of our minds. The best way to do that is talk about it.”

There were tears in Lemon’s eyes. “I haven’t seen him in decades…”

“And I’m not going to say he could come back. I am going to say you can move on.” She hugged her. “You can talk to Lyra and I. Neither of us are here to corrupt your memory. We could even call Moondancer, Twinkleshine, and Minuette, if you want.”

“I… don’t want to drag them into this.”

“It’s not a question of want, Lemon. It’s a question of if you need more friends with you.”

Lemon sniffed. “I… Don’t know.”

“Then… How about you just start by telling the story of your father? Don’t worry about us, or what we think, or even about the humans. Just tell it.”

Lemon looked at Sunset. “…She already knows.”

Sunset shook her head. “I don’t know how you need it to be told.”

Lemon nodded. “…Yes. You… You’re right. He… Well, I don’t know what his childhood was like, but his adult life was full of adventures…”

And she told her story.


~~~ 


After it had become clear the story would last several more hours, they moved to the ‘Indian’ restaurant, which turned out to have the rather uninspired name of the Tasty Treat. What it lacked in creative names it more than made up for in food. Twinkie, Lyra, and Lemon were sitting at one table, leaving Sunset and Sparky alone at another.

Sparky looked at Twinkie, a faraway look in her eyes.

“…What is it?”

“She really is amazing, isn’t she? World leader, diplomat, magical scientist, librarian…”

Sunset smiled. “She is, isn’t she?”

“I’m just… some kid with a phone and a magic necklace.”

“Twi… You’re so much more than that. You’re a genius.”

“Yes, but I’ll never amount to what she is.”

Sunset smirked. “How does ‘dimensional traveler’ sound to you?”

“But she’s already that too…”

“Ah, but she’s new, just like you. You could both start on this path and find something different. A bit of… competition.”

Sparky rolled her eyes. “We both know you’re the leader, not me.”

“Who says the glory has to go to the leader?”

“Why does there have to be glory at all?”

“Cause it’s fun,” Sunset said. “Doesn’t have to be diabolical, you know.”

“I guess so. Do you really want to start our own dimensional exploration thing? I mean, we aren’t that experienced.”

“We have powers, we have skills, and we have something they don’t have – science. Or, more accurately, technology. They have to expend a lot of effort to make something like an iPhone. We have billions of them around. We’re not advantage-less.”

Sparky nodded. “We better ask principal Celestia for a new club then.”

“No doubt.”

“What kinds of worlds do you think we might find?”

Sunset grinned. “A world made entirely of donuts. I’m placing my bets.”

“I’d be curious to find a world that exists only in two dimensions! Or four dimensions!”

“A place where there are no men at all!”

Sparky shot Sunset a look. “That’s impossible.”

“You won’t know until you find one!”

“I… That’s… …That’s right. By that logic, there may be a world identical to this one, except you never get the idea to travel to other worlds. And you will, by chance, never travel there.”

Sunset blinked. “…Wow, we really don’t understand anything about this, do we?”

“Nope.”

Sunset grinned. “That makes it really exciting!”

“You bet it does!”

They hoofbumped for no particular reason.

“What are you two planning?” Twinkie asked from her table.

“Nothing you need to be concerned with! Yet!” Sunset responded, chuckling.

“I don’t believe a word of what you’re saying.”

“You don’t have to! We just want the dimension-hopping spell you were going to give us anyway.”

Lemon blinked. “…Dimension hopping?”

Lyra shrugged. “I dunno what they're talking about. But I might want to find out.”

Twinkie shrugged. “Maybe eventually. Right now, we don’t even know what we’re doing. But in the future… Who knows? We might have a big national production.”

“Yeah. Who knows?” Sunset laughed. Of course, that was just wishful thinking. There was no way this thing would get that big.


~~~ 


Pinkie the human (or at least a Pinkie who was a human at this moment) stood in front of the Mirror Portal, tapping her foot impatiently.

Sunset, Sparky, and Twinkie walked through the portal as ponies.

Pinkie shook her head. “You know, for being ‘Ponies on Earth’ you didn’t spend all that much time on Earth!”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Sure, Pinkie. …Hey, I’m still a unicorn. Huh.”

“I can change you back, somewhat easily,” Twinkie reminded her.

“Wonder if there’s a way to keep my horn…” Sunset mused.

“That’s something to wonder about later, right now we need to get the spell in your hands. Er… hooves.”

Sparky chuckled – and tripped over her hooves again. “Ow.”

Sunset laughed. Then she looked around nervously. “You know…”

“Sunset, you have nothing to worry about,” Twinkie said. “It’s not like there’s a bunch of people spying on us, waiting for the right moment to strike.”

Pinkie rolled her eyes. “Yeah. That’d be silly.” Nopony noticed her sarcasm, they just walked into the school, prepared to make a scene. Pinkie shrugged, following them and preparing a party at the same time.

Of course, they were being watched. But it wasn’t by Cinch – or anyone associated with Cinch in any way. A woman dressed in all black stood at the window of a nearby apartment complex, binoculars in her hand. Her skin, purple; her hair, red; her face, scarred over the right eye. She slowly lowered her binoculars as her targets left her sights.

She pulled out a phone, dialing a government number.

“They’re definitely ponies,” she said.

“Good work agent Shadow! I assume there’s more information since you’re actually calling. Did you figure out how their portal works?”

“No. I have discovered that, normally, their kind can use magic naturally, through their horns.”

“Woah, so they’re unicorns? How… interesting. I bet they can do some pretty awesome things in their world!”

“That remains to be seen. Do I move through the portal?”

“Only you can make the call if it’s time for that.”

“…For now, I will just keep watch on this Sunset. She shows promise.”

“You do that. Welp, it’s Friday, time to give the office its weekly cake. Don’t disappoint me, agent Shadow.”

“I won’t,” she said, hanging up.

Agent Tempest Shadow took one more look at Canterlot High before ducking out of sight. No one knew she had ever been there.