//------------------------------// // S2 Ch 21: Glow? Sparkle? // Story: The Story of Twilight Glow // by Jeweled Pen //------------------------------// Twilight groaned, collapsing forward. The ground under her… hurt. Cement? It dug into her hooves and knees. It was dark, but brighter than back home. She glanced up and froze. There were houses all over, with streets lined with lamps. She looked up and she could see the moon. Half full. She couldn’t even make out the stars, though. She tried to stand and fell over with a small shriek, before looking down. She screamed, staring at her hooves. Or rather, hands and arms where her hooves SHOULD have been. Like Tirek or Discord! She flailed them about and, to her horror, they were definitely hers. She stared down at her lower hooves and, new icy cold terror gripped her heart, realized they were just as bad. She let out another scream, flailing about! “Twilight, what in the world are you doing?!” an angry voice snapped. Twilight looked up and saw a strange girl, a small… furless minotaur? A kind of monkey? In the strangest clothes. She was wearing a plaid purple skirt, with a white top and purple vest. She also had small, dark blue shoes and long, purple socks. “Are you TRYING to get us busted?” “U-uhhh...” “I KNEW bringing the teacher’s pet was a bad idea,” the girl snapped. “Come on, we just finished. Did you you tee-pee the gym like we said?” “Uhhhh… y-yes?” “Good. At least you’re not totally useless,” the girl muttered. It was then that Twilight realized she was wearing the exact same clothing. Wait, SHE was a furless minotaur! Or… something. The appearance was oddly familiar. Had she read about it in a book before? She sure she-- Her thoughts were cut off and she let out a squeak when the other girl grabbed her hoo-- hand and dragged her up. Twilight was shaky, but she at least tried to mimic the other girl’s movements and stay standing. “Where are--” “The others are waiting for us. If I hadn’t heard your screaming… ugh. I thought someone from Canterlot High had busted you. Come on, let’s head back before Principal Cinch realizes we’re gone.” She dragged the confused girl to a strange vehicle that she couldn’t identify. She let out another yelp when she was tossed into the back seat. “Buckle up,” the girl said. “What took you so long, Sour?” one of the other creatures asked. “Ugh. The teacher’s pet was having a freak out in front of the statue. I told you bringing her was a bad idea.” “Doesn’t matter. We got them good. Crystal Prep rules, Canterlot High drools!” the creature said. A boy, Twilight thought. “I swear, buckle up!” Sour snapped, sitting next to the very confused girl, before grabbing a pair of strange metal squares attached to strips of material. Twilight quickly mimicked the movement, before letting out a startled shriek when the vehicle they were in took off. What in Equestria was going on?! How did these ponies know her?! ------ Twilight gulped, stepping out from the, now thoroughly covered in toilet paper, gym. It had actually been oddly exhilarating, finding the ideal angle to toss the toilet paper and cover the highest surface area. “Okay, everyone. I’m… finished?” she said, staring in shock when she saw the car taking off down the road. “W-what? H-hey!” Ugh. Not again! She sighed and started making her way towards the bus stop. ------ Twilight stared at the long halls and the lines of lockers. The others, her… friends? Had run off to their rooms, leaving her behind. She had managed to gather a bit of information, however. Apparently, she was ‘Twilight’ here, as well. Or rather, there was a Twilight here, who she looked like. This appeared to be an alternate dimension. Apparently, this version of herself went to this school, Crystal Prep. She had to admire whoever she was, here. As this school was obviously a very well respected establishment, judging by how clean and sparkly everything seemed to be. The trophies, too. Though she wondered what it meant to tee-pee a gym. Perhaps it was some kind of volunteer project? Well, whatever it was, she couldn’t wait to learn more about this place. It seemed absolutely fascinating! But first, she had to find a source of information. Somepo… somebody who could explain what all this was. She’d been making mental notes of everything the species she seemed to be had going for it, and finally she could only come to one conclusion. She was a ‘human’. Absolutely fascinating. She’d heard of them, in her Ancient Myths of Equestria class. But she’d NEVER thought they could be real. They were nothing more than old stories, now! She wondered if the original myths were inspired by this dimension. Was it possible that, thousands of years ago, a link was formed between their two dimensions? Maybe, at one point, ponies and humans traded and mixed their society. It was entirely possible that she was the first ‘pony’ they had met in millenia. She then held up her fingers, spreading them slowly, then scrunching them up into a fist. Though she wasn’t a pony, now. She wondered if they had ancient myths like-- “Twilight Sparkle!” a harsh, icy voice called. Twilight shrieked and jumped, turning around to see a very, very annoyed woman, glaring at her through half-circle glasses. Her hair was swirly and bouncy, in different streaks of purple. She quickly glanced around, but there was nobody else here. She resisted correcting the woman. But what kind fo silly name was ‘Sparkle’ for a earth pony? “U-uhhh… m-ma’am?” she asked, staring up at her. “I-I was just… errr...” Lost? Was she, really, if she didn’t know where she was going to get lost from? No. Lost suited her, perfectly. “Lost, I--” The woman’s gaze softened and the frown turned into a smile. “Oh, my protege, you know you can call me Principle Cinch,” the woman said, shaking her head and reaching out to put a gentle arm around her shoulder. “You should know better than to be out so late, even if tomorrow you only have weekend classes. A mind like yours needs rest. Tell me, what project were you working on tonight?” Twilight stared at the woman. A… project? She tried to scramble for an excuse, before speaking up. “The stars. The moon. I was studying the moon for, ummmm...” The woman chuckled, shaking her head. “Oh? Planning to pay a visit there?” she joked. “Either way, it is late and you need your sleep. You have classes tomorrow and I fully expect you to not be sleeping through them. What example would that set for the other students?” Twilight nodded, letting the other woman guide her through the school. Eventually, they came to a door and the woman waited. “Well?” “Err...” “Did you forget your key again?” “K-kinda?” Twilight said sheepishly. The woman merely shook her head and laughed. “Oh, you genius sorts.” She then pulled out her own key and unlocked the door, motioning her inside. Twilight quickly went inside, the woman flicking on the light and closing the door. The young woman just stared, her mouth falling open. It… looked like her old room from school. Very little clutter, an assortment of scientific tools and devices. A bed, a desk. A… okay, that was new. She never had a small dog bed. With a dog inside it. A small purple and green dog. That was staring at her. And, slowly, beginning to growl. She squeaked, staring at the dog. “N-nice doggy. I… I’m Twilight.” The dog only seemed to growl louder. “Not the Twilight Sparkle you know. I’m a different Twilight. Twilight Glow. I’m--” The dog slowly got up and began to advance on her, giving the lightest growl, its eyes narrowed. She tried to think of a name, what could it be? If this was her universe, what would she name the dog? Winona? Wait, no, that was Applejack’s dog. What did Rarity name her cat? Owlicious? Wait, no, that was if she ever got a pet owl! Or an assistant owl. It would be a-- Her eyes flickered to the dog once more. “S-Spike?” she tried. The dog stopped and stared at her, now more curious than angry. Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “Oh Spike… You’re a dog here? Well… it’s good to know that-- EEK!” The door behind her opened and shoved her, sending her stumbling forward. She tripped, landing on her knees and turning around. And saw herself. Her mouth fell open. As did her mirrored persona. The two stared for the longest time. Finally, Twilight spoke up. “Twilight… Sparkle?” Slowly, the other girl nodded and stepped inside, closing the door slowly. “Y-yes. That explains why Principle Cinch was so annoyed. How… do you look so much like...” “I’m you. Well, not YOU you. I’m you from another dimension, Twilight Glow,” Twilight said quickly. “It’s a long story and--” Her eyes widened. Wait. How did she know this WAS Twilight Sparkle? How did she know this wasn’t a fake, like Chrysalis had-- Spike raced passed her, barking happily. The other girl picked him up and gently pet him. “Easy, Spike. It’s okay. From another dimension? How did you end up here?” Twilight stared at the dragon and smiled. Well, leave it to Spike to put her mind at ease. He truly was her number one assistant, in all dimensions. “Okay. This is going to be very hard to believe. And… I don’t really have a firm lock on how things work in this dimension. But-- Nightmare Moon!” she said, her eyes going wide. “Oh no. Oh no no no. Queen Chrysalis is going to, how did I forget?! Everypony is going to be in grave danger if I don’t… I have to get back. But… no. She’s going to be waiting there. Can I wait her out? How long until she drains her highness? Moondancer is in trouble, too! All of my friends. Oh no. Spike. What if he’s able to figure it out? He’ll be in big trouble… Oh Spike...” ------ Chrysalis rolled her eyes, glancing at the baby dragon. To imagine he had actually been suspicious of her. A quick gift of rubies and all thoughts that anything was wrong was shaken from his mind. Dragons were so simple. ------ “I think you’re going to have to start from the beginning. Do you mind if I take notes?” the other Twilight asked. “I’d prefer it if you did,” Twilight said, before sitting down. “Okay, so I’m you, so… from another dimension. An earth pony, and… errr. Okay. If I call you Twilight, and me Twilight, this is going to get confusing. While I’m here, ummm… How about you just… Call me Glow. Okay?” “Glow?” “My name is Twilight Glow. Remember?” “Oh. That’s… Interesting. I wonder why our names are different if you’re named that. Do you have any family?” “Yes. My big brother Shining Armor, my--” “I have a big brother named Shining Armor!” “Big brother best friend forever?” “And ever!” the other girl said. “Okay. Then I’ll go by Sparkle, you go by Glow. Though I do wonder what this’ll mean if I was to cross over into your dimension...” Glow hummed. “Well, according to the seventh law of Dimensional Travel, you would likely become a copy of me. However, if you were to cross over into a different dimension, you’d transform into a copy of whatever Twilight is there. It could be Twilight Sparkle, Twilight Glow, Twilight Flight, heck. In some universes I’d likely be a stallion, so… Dusk Shine or something,” she said with a wave of her hand. “A lot of commonalities would likely remain. Such as Spike. However, if YOU do have a Spike that likely means he is a common element to my life which… is actually quite interesting. I always thought he was just a happenstance. This opens up a lot of questions about why I’m supposed to have a dragon. He must be closely tied to my life...” She rubbed her chin, lost in thought for a moment. “You studied dimensional travel in your dimension?” “I have a minor in it.” “You can get a minor in it there?! Your dimension sounds amazing!” “It’s not as much as you’d think. We haven’t traveled through dimensions in ages. Aside from a few select ones. Some spirits, like I believe Discord, can travel through different ones at will. But most of us cannot and the magic to do so was incredibly powerful and dangerous, much like time alteration.” “Time alteration? You can… do that?” “I can’t, but an incredibly powerful unicorn could. Or an alicorn. Either way, we’re getting off track!” “Right, right… so, tell me about your home.” Glow nodded, sighing. It was going to be a long, long night.