“MY BABY!” Shining shrieked, hugging his car tightly once it came to a complete stop, partway on the curb outside Crystal Prep, before turning to look at the inside of the car. He then turned his gaze to the two people inside the vehicle. “TWILIGHT! We’re going to have a… big… talk. Twilight?” he asked.
“I thought you said he was out on a date?” Glow asked, giving a nervous grin and weak wave.
“I-I didn’t think he’d be back so soon,” Sparkle said softly. “Oh dear… There’s Cadence. If Principal Cinch is with them...”
Glow nodded. Fortunately, there only seemed to be two people. A man with white and blue hair, tall, regal. Even if he hadn’t reacted the way he had to the car, she would have known him for who he was. Her big brother. Despite the fact he was obviously mad at them, she couldn’t help but fill her with a strange sense of calm. A feeling that everything was going to be okay. And if he was there, that meant the girl who was staring at them, her arms crossed and looking very disappointed, was Cadence. She couldn’t help but smile, seeing her old foalsitter’s familiar pink and multi-colored locks. Slowly, the two Twilights climbed out of the car.
“I can explain,” Sparkle said nervously. “Y-you see, I was, err, conducting an experiment with my, err, new friend, who’s from out of town and--”
Glow shook her head. “Don’t. Shining Armor, my name is Twilight Glow. I’m from another dimension that connects with yours. I’m, well, the Twilight Sparkle of that dimension.”
Sparkle cringed. “Glow, I thought you didn’t want--”
“He’s our big brother. If we can’t trust him, we can’t trust anypony. And Cadence is the best foalsitter in the world, she’d never betray us.”
Shining just stared, the anger turning to confusion. Finally, he spoke up. “What?”
“I’m from another dimension and, well. I ended up here, on accident. Sparkle has been helping me, trying to help me get back to my world so… I can save it, I guess.”
“What?” Cadence asked, moving to stand by Shining. Finally, both of them looked to Sparkle.
“What did you do?” Shining asked. “Did you clone yourself? You didn’t ACTUALLY summon someone from another dimension, did you?”
Sparkle shook her head. “No! I’m not responsible for it! Honest!”
“This is the lava lamp incident all over again,” Shining said, shaking his head.
Glow just stared at her alter ego, before sighing. “Just what kind of mischief have I been up to in this dimension?”
“T-the lava lamp incident doesn’t count! It was only a small, very small, temporal shift and it just, never mind,” she said, her cheeks burning. “I’m sorry we borrowed your car, but it’s very important! I swear! I would have never taken it if it wasn’t an emergency!”
Shining sighed and then, slowly, he reached out and patted her on the head, smiling. “I know, Twily. Just next time, call me. Okay? If it’s an emergency, you know I’ll help. I was worried about you.”
“Does… Principal Cinch know?” Sparkle asked.
“No. We covered for you,” Cadence said, shaking her head. “Though we were within inches of calling the police. I think all four of us have a LOT to talk about. Now… Twilight… Glow?”
“Err, yes. You can just call me Glow, though. Otherwise it’ll get very confusing.”
“As if it isn’t already,” Cadence muttered. “I think Shining and I are going to need the full story.”
Glow nodded. “Of course. But… we should do it inside. And, err… you may want to… fix your car. I don’t think that’s how you’re supposed to park.”
------
Shining and Cadence just stared at Glow, their mouths open. Finally, Shining spoke up. “So… I’m… I mean, the me there, is...”
“Yeah. It’s kind of--”
“I got you even in another dimension, baby!” Shining said, before high fiving Cadence.
“Best trans-dimensional couple ever!” Cadence said happily.
Glow blinked and stared at them. She then face palmed. “My… our brother is a dork. And you’re an enabler, Cadence.”
“In all seriousness, though,” Cadence said firmly. “This all seems very… odd. And magical. How in the world is this working like… there’s no magic here. How could it work here, if it doesn’t exist?”
“Oh, that’s due to the fourth law of Starswirl the Bearded’s dimensional travel.”
“Huh?” Shining asked.
“Basically, while some energies, in this case, magic, may not exist in a dimension, they can be brought over TO a different dimension. In which case, they will often try to find a way to mingle WITH the laws and settings of that universe. However, as the portal is connecting our two worlds, the magical energy would all come from Equestria, which is likely why the portal is set based on Equestria’s environment, NOT based on this world’s. To summarize, in sizeable quantities magic COULD be brought over to this world, and even operate. But it would likely operate in a different manner than it does in our world. On top of that, it would seek out those with connections TO my world and, over time, likely find its way back to where I’m from.”
“So then… this whole eternal night thing. Would… it affect our world?” Cadence asked.
Glow shook her head. “Unlikely. As your world seems to have a set cycle, regardless of who wants the sun and moon to be raised, which is VERY strange by the way, it is unlikely that ours will have any effect on yours. At most, you might get some animals that exhibit a few unnatural tendencies. While our dimensions are linked, they are still separate and don’t directly touch each other to the point that damage to one will necessarily affect the other.”
“If they’re not so linked, then… how come there’s a Shining Armor in your world? What are the odds that I’d even exist?”
“Oh, incredibly small,” Glow said with a shake of her head. “But you have to consider that there are, in theory, infinite dimensions. Every choice you make can, in theory, create a new dimension. It would literally be impossible to connect with all of them. Even for the most powerful creatures in existence, there are just too many, most of which are different in extreme manners. On top of that, trying to connect to one, any one, requires a huge amount of power and that the dimension in question be… similar. Very similar. In this case, it seems that our worlds are very, very closely connected. Mind sets and goals are likely very similar, despite our different bodies and lack of magic. In a lot of ways, it would not surprise me to find out all of you are very ‘pony’ without actually being ponies.”
Cadence nodded. “I see… and so, because of that...”
“It make sense that there are a lot of connections across all of us. Now, someponies might not exist in this dimension, or in my dimension, but I’d be willing to bet the majority would. On top of that, there are certain elements and facets of us that would remain. For example, in my world Spike is a dragon, but he is still closely tied to me.”
“… You have a dragon? That’s AWESOME!” Shining said, pumping a fist into the air.
“Only you, Twilight,” Cadence said, shaking her head. “So does this mean you’re a genius across all dimensions?”
“W-well, I’d hardly call myself a genius,” Glow said sheepishly. “I just like to learn, that’s all. But yes, it is likely that that thirst for knowledge is the same across many different dimensions, no matter where I am. Actually, there’s a huge theory in the pony world that there are some ponies who, across multiple dimensions, all hold the same destiny and, as such, many of the dimensions alter and shift themselves around the destiny itself, rather than the ponies themselves being altered. Granted, this theory assumes that the pony is so pivotal that, if they WEREN’T to fulfill their destiny, that the entire reality would have to be shaken and mixed around to ensure that things could get back on track.”
“How would that work?” Shining asked.
“Well.. for example. If Starswirl the Bearded had been born a pegasus, either Clover would have been the one to make all his discoveries or, according to many top believers in the theory, he would have made the same advancements but in different types of magic, likely weather or even potion making. In the end, the advancements would have existed and they’d have stood as a basis, but the core result, who he was, would have been the same.” She then paused. “Of course, there are others that believe that, were it to happen, those developments would have never happened. Instead, the dimension would begin to fall to decay as the destiny remained unfulfilled and, eventually, either collapse on itself or fell entirely to ruin. That to alter such an important, key pony would have destroyed everything.”
“Wow… that’s heavy. What do you think?”
Glow frowned and tapped her chin. Finally, she smiled. “I think if you altered somepony who had some great destiny like that, they’d either fulfill it or somepony else would. We’re stubborn like that. And I don’t really think the world depends on so few ponies. Sure, one pony might get the credit, but Starswirl the Bearded had a lot of help. He had assistants, friends, partners. He wasn’t alone, and removing one pony can’t truly alter the world to that extent. It may change things, but it won’t spell the end of the world. And, eventually, things will right themselves.”
“On that note, how do we plan to right your world?” Shining asked, crossing his arms and staring at her. “You’ve got a doozy of a problem with that Chrysalis running about.”
Glow nodded, before glancing to Sparkle. “That’s… why I need to work with myself. I guess. Is that the right term? Either way. Sparkle, how’s it going?”
“Terribly,” Sparkle muttered. “I can… I can kiiiind of measure it? I think? Maybe? But it’ll take me weeks to understand it well enough to do anything with it. Magic like this doesn’t exist. There’s not a lot of work to base off of.”
Glow sighed, nodding. She’d suspected that answer, though. As much as she’d have loved to be able to help, the science here was so much different from her world. She could understand it, but none of it accounted for magic, or even the possibility of magic. She thought, as an earth pony, she knew how to operate WITHOUT using magic.
But this was so much different. Magic didn’t EXIST here. She had no idea how to tap into her world’s magic without the tools and materials that ONLY existed in her world. The fact that Sparkle could measure it at all was a miracle in and of itself.
“We don’t have weeks, though,” Glow mumbled. “I’ll have to try, then. Do you think you’ll be able to tell me when the portal is ready?”
“Maybe,” Sparkle mumbled. “Now that I’ve run into it, I’ve been able to get a better idea of what it is I’m tracking. This should help, a lot. But...”
“But what?”
“What are you going to do, then?” she asked, turning to Glow. “She has magic, you don’t. And she’s the queen, right? There are probably other changelings. And we can’t exactly make a weapon to give you an edge.”
“And if changelings in your world are anything like the stories in ours, well,” Shining said, giving a shudder. “They could be anybody.”
Glow sighed and turned towards the window, staring at the night sky. It felt hopeless. How could she fight? If she could alert Nightmare Moon, she could save everypony. But what if she couldn’t? What if she just walked right into that queen’s hooves? Death could be a mercy, at that point. She could stay here. She had family, even if an alternate version of them. She could probably find her friends. There was even a Celestia. She could stay here. Leave Equestria behind. Stay in a world where the sun and moon moved in harmony.
Logically, it was the correct choice. The consequences for failure were incredible. There was almost no chance of success. Finally, she shook her heard. “I’m going to try. I have to. The ponies in my home need me and… even if I can’t do it, I’ll never be able to live with myself if I don’t at least try.”
Cadence and Shining shared a look, before leaning in and whispering to each other. Finally, Shining turned back to her. “We’re coming with you.”
“W-what?” Glow asked, taken aback. “W-why would you even, n-no! That’s dangerous!”
“You said in your world, I’m an alicorn, right?” Cadence asked.
“And I’m part of the royal guard, correct?” Shining asked.
“W-well, yes, but--”
“And if we came to that world, we’d become versions of who we were there, with our powers in tact? Or well… theirs?” Cadence asked, smiling.
“I-I mean, yes. But you wouldn’t know how to USE them,” Glow said. “No matter how strong you are, magically, you don’t know HOW to use magic. It’d be suicide! You’d be sitting ducks!”
“Then teach us,” Shining said with a shrug.
“W-what?”
“You know how magic works, right? So teach us. Give us lessons. It doesn’t need to be enough to do anything fancy. All we need to do is get Nightmare Moon’s attention. Right? We can buy you a bit of time.”
Glow stared at the two of them and felt tears in her eyes. Her fists clenched and she couldn’t help but tremble. “B-but… but why? You can’t… put yourself in danger like that. T-this is my world. M-my problem. You’re not--”
And then she was embraced, Cadence and Shining standing and pulling her into a hug.
“You’re my little sister, no matter where you’re from,” Shining said firmly. “And I would NEVER let my little sister walk into danger like this alone. We’re the best hope you’ve got.”
“Besides, a whole world is in danger,” Cadence added. “None of us can just stand by and let it suffer, when we can help. And I know you’d feel the same way.” She paused, and glanced to Sparkle. “I know you DO feel the same way.”
Glow stared at the pair, her entire body shaking while tears flowed down her cheeks. She wanted to tell them no. To stop. That it was too dangerous.
Instead, she choked out a few, soft words. “T-thank… thank you...”
She knew it wouldn’t be easy.
But she knew she wouldn’t be alone.