Through the Mirror
Chapter 4
A Strange New World
Twilight felt dizzy and faint as she slowly fluttered her eyes open. She then heard five very familiar groans as well.
"Somepony wanna tell me what the hay just happened?" A very familiar southern voice asked. And Twilight knew that voice. But before she could turn to them, another voice screamed.
"What happened to me?!" A prim and proper voice shouted. "What are we?!"
Twilight then looked down at her hooves, but when her vision cleared, she quickly realized that she didn't have hooves. She had thin and dainty appendages with five much smaller and skinner ones on each. She then screamed as well.
A similar appendage, except pink, quickly covered her mouth. "Relax, Twilight. It can't be too bad." A voice assured her, removing the appendage.
Twilight looked around and saw her friends. Or at least, they looked like her friends. "Girls?" She asked, not believing what she was seeing.
They all nodded slowly, confirming that they are indeed her friends, and she slightly glared at them. "You're not supposed to be here."
"What were we supposed to do?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Leave you in another world to handle Sunset Shimmer alone? No way!"
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were also looking over at their new bodies. "Fluttershy, do you know what the hay we are?" Applejack asked her.
"Well, not exactly." She said. "But, what I do know is that we are some sort of primate, since we have hands and feet."
Twilight looked at each of them and saw that she was right. They all did look like some sort of primate. Their muzzles had shrunk, their bodies had a couple of more curves down the sides and chest, and their hair became longer and more voluminous. They didn't have fur, but instead, soft yet smooth skin. And they were all wearing clothes, and she had a hunch as to why.
But despite their new appearances, they still looked a lot like how they did back as ponies in Equestria. Applejack still had her Stetson hat on her head, emerald green eyes, freckles, and blonde hair in a low ponytail down to her waist. But, the color of her skin was more of a pale orange now. She also wore an apple green tank top with an apple red short-sleeved sweater tied across her chest, dark blue jean shorts with a brown belt having a red apple as a buckle, and brown cowgirl boots with red apple prints.
Rainbow Dash still pretty much looked the same, and she wore a pale yellow shirt under an orange tank top having her cutie mark on the front and the shoulder straps red, a green and white gym skirt with blue biker shorts underneath, and purple sneakers with rainbow colored soles and gray socks. It was like she was wearing her namesake.
Fluttershy also looked the same, except having a butterfly barrette in her hair, and she wore a white tank top with a jagged neckline and that was showing her shoulders with teal straps, a lime green skirt with her cutie mark imprinted on the side, and tall matching heeled boots.
Pinkie Pie also looked the same, except primate-like. She wore a yellow shirt with orange, pink, and magenta stripes, and having one shoulder strap and one short sleeve, a matching ruffled short skirt, and short orange boots with her cutie mark on the side.
Lastly, Rarity still looked the same as well, except she had blue diamond stud earrings in her now tiny primate-like ears. She wore a mountain purple ruffled shirt, exposing one of her shoulders, a skirt of a different shade of purple (plum she would call it) with her cutie mark on it, and tall matching heeled boots. She also wore a blue bracelet on her new left wrist.
The girls all looked around. "Where are we?" Fluttershy asked. Behind them, there was a road with strange vehicles zooming around with those primates walking around. And it seemed that they came out from a statue nearby with a horse on top.
"I'm not sure." Twilight admitted, crawling to the statue and touching the flat surface. "But that probably serves as the gateway back to Equestria." Her suspicion was right as her hand went through and appeared back as a hoof. She took it out, and it was a hand again. "We need to find my crown as soon as possible and get back there."
The others nodded in agreement, and then all six turned around and saw a large building.
"I say we start with the castle." Twilight suggested.
"Are ya sure that's a castle?" Applejack asked.
"It's definitely... smaller than what we are accustomed to." Rarity observed.
"Well, it's all we got right now." Rainbow Dash said. "Let's just go for it."
They nodded, and were about to head towards the building on all fours when Pinkie stopped them.
"Hold it!" She shouted.
"What, Pinkie?" Twilight asked.
"In case you didn't notice, but I think that we are not supposed to be on all four legs." Pinkie gestured to two similar creatures who were indeed not on all fours, but just walking on two legs.
"We're supposed to go around walking like that?" Applejack asked.
"It seems so." Fluttershy confirmed. "It would very much help if we blended in."
The girls sighed heavily, knowing that the two of them were right. Slowly, they all started to get on their new two legs. They all wobbled and flailed around as they tried to balance themselves as they walked.
"This isn't as easy as it looks." Rainbow said as she nearly lost her balance and faceplanted on the ground for about the fifth time.
Finally, Twilight grabbed the metal bars of the staircase leading up to the front doors of the building. She then used them to pull herself up the steps. The others followed her lead once they got close enough.
"Come on, girls." Twilight said as she pulled herself up. "I think we all don't want to have to be stuck like this for longer than we have to."
"Ditto on that, Twi." Applejack agreed.
"Look on the bright side." Pinkie piped up. "You don't have those pesky wings to worry about anymore."
Twilight glared at her, telling her that what she said wasn't helping. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash screamed.
"My wings!" She screamed, looking and feeling over her back. "They're gone!"
Fluttershy looked over to her own back and screamed as well. "Mine, too!"
"Calm down!" Applejack took hold of a hyperventilating Rainbow Dash. "It's just only for a couple of days." She reassured her and Fluttershy.
The girls finally made it to the doors. Twilight tried to be graceful entering in, but she instead walked right into them. She "hmphed" while rubbing her head, and tried to use her magic to open the doors. But, nothing happened.
"My magic. It's not working." She said.
"Makes sense." Pinkie said. "You don't exactly have your horn."
"WHAT?!" She screamed as she tugged her hair and felt around her forehead. Rarity did the same.
"I don't have mine, either!" She yelled horrified.
Rainbow slapped her own forehead and went up to the door. "We really need to find us a mirror." She said before pushing the door open.
The girls entered the building, and it was all quiet. They tiptoed in, looking around.
A nearby glass case caught Twilight's attention. Inside it, there were trophies, ribbons, and framed pictures.
They all went over to it. "What do you think, girls?" Twilight asked her friends, gesturing to the trinkets and referring to Sunset Shimmer. "Other artifacts she stole from Equestria?"
Finally, the girls saw what they all looked like in their bodies. For Twilight, she saw that her skin was a shade lighter, her new hair went down to her waist, and she still had the same violet eyes. Her clothes were a light blue blouse, a purple star with her cutie mark on the side, and matching boots. Her saddlebag became a different bag strapped onto her back.
"What are we?" She asked, checking herself out.
Rarity was admiring herself in the faint reflection. "Well, for our new appearances, we do look quite nice."
"Only you can see the bright side of our new looks, Rarity." Applejack said.
Suddenly, there was a loud ringing throughout the building, and instantly, the halls were crowded as many of the primate creatures began walking around.
It quickly became very hard for the girls to get around. It was tight, and they had to duck down to the ground to avoid people hitting them, but they also had to make sure they didn't get stepped on.
Finally, they all squeezed through to a much less crowded hallway off the main lobby. When Twilight squirmed out, she tumbled over and bumped into something. Or rather, someone.
It was a male primate creature with pale orange amber skin, blue hair and matching eyes. He wore a white shirt with a lightning bolt and shield on it, a black leather jacket, jeans, and black and white running shoes.
"Whoa! You okay?" He asked Twilight, and extended his hand to her. Twilight relaxed her hand on his palm, and he pulled her back up to her feet. She only nodded, assuring him that she was fine, and he went off towards the crowded lobby, with Twilight keeping her eyes on him.
"I don't think this is a castle." Fluttershy voiced out her thoughts. The other girls only nodded in agreement. Whatever this building was, they had a hunch that there may be a clue to where Sunset Shimmer took the crown.