“...so you’re from Equestria, then? So that means someone there must have access to magic that lets them open up to other dimensions.” Twilight Sparkle’s human counterpart explained to me the science behind it all. She had taken me into her house. More specifically up to her bedroom where she had many diagrams and equations on a board.
So this was the Human World. I knew about it a little thanks to Sunset Shimmer’s files back home, but I had never been here. In essence, the culture seemed mostly similar to Manehattan, albeit more focused on adolescent interaction and fun rather than everyone doing their own thing. Interesting.
“I see...listen, I need to get back as soon as possible,” I wobbled a bit on these two legs of mine, and looked in a nearby mirror. “Wow...I look...young.” My vest had turned into a long trenchcoat, I had on jeans, brown tennis shoes, and white tee beneath said coat. My skin, hair, and eye color remained the same. “Huh…”
Except you, know. I was a human now. A rather scrawny-looking one at that.
“You caught me at a good time, Pale,” Twilight had already tapped on a device with a screen. “I’ve already texted Sunset on my phone--oh, it’s a device that lets you communicate with someone far away even if they’re not here--but with text! Pretty revolutionary I know,” she said with a giggle.
Huh. This Twilight was much more...sociable. Made sense given that she wasn’t a princess. It was a nice refreshing take on the same personality. “Fascinating…”
“She said she’s on her way. Until then, do you mind if I ask some more questions,” she took out a pencil and a notepad with a starry gaze in her eyes. She was really excited to get my thoughts.
I figured I may as well indulge the girl. “Fire away.”
“Do you have any idea so to why you might’ve been sent here?”
Oh dear. “Well…” It was a long explanation. But I started from the beginning and worked all the way up to the present. Everything from my case regarding Cozy Glow, to now in which Neighsay had transported me here.
“Hmm…” she tapped the eraser tip of the pencil against her chin, then against her head. “Can’t say I know of a Cozy Glow. But Neighsay...that name does sound familiar.”
“Oh?” I wondered what his human counterpart would be doing in a world like this.
Twilight snapped her fingers, and adjusted her glasses. “Oh yeah! I remember. He’s the head of the State Education Association or SEA. Lame abbreviation if ya ask me. But I’m not gonna judge the government. Anyway, since Sunset is from there and gets journal entries from Princess Me--er Twilight in Equestria, she may be able to help you in both ways.”
I nodded. “Alright, makes sense to me.”
The bedroom door was kicked open. “Twilight!” A human with a distinctive red and yellow hairstyle had arrived. “I came as soon as I could. Is this the guy you texted me about?”
“Mm-hm. Apparently he came here from Equestria. But doesn’t know how he got here,” Twilight explained with a squeal of excitement, “Eee! That means the phenomena of magical portals are only increasing with time. This could aid my research in so many ways!” The purple girl ran to her board and started to scribble upon it with chalk.
I looked at Sunset. “Is she always this way?”
“You’ll get used to it. So...tell me about yourself. What’s your name?”
“The name is Pale Vestige,” I said with a tip of my hat, “My goal is--”
When I said my name, the orange girl blinked once and took off her backpack. “So that’s who you are,” she mumbled to herself as she took out a journal of sorts, “Princess Twilight has told me about you. She said you were trying to set Cozy Glow free.”
That was odd. How could she know if she lived in an entirely separate realm? “Does your knowledge of that fact have anything to do with that book in your hoof--er. Hands?”
Sunset nodded and opened it up. “Precisely, good guess. But that’s to be expected from a detective like yourself.” She flipped through to a specific page. “Here. ‘A pony is trying to make a case for Cozy Glow in order to set her free and give her another chance. As I’m sure you recall, Cozy Glow was one of the three members of a group who tried to destroy my world along with Queen Chrysalis and Lord Tirek. We put them all to stone, despite the fact that she was a filly. It never occurred to us that she may have had other problems that could be solved so I’ll keep you posted.’” She stopped reading, “She keeps me up to date on everything that happens there so you don’t need to provide context.”
Well that was good. I was a fish out of water, but at least I was among other familiar fish. Now what was my next move? “Okay...but I have to get back. The Neighsay in my world sent me here because he doesn’t want me to give Cozy another chance even though I managed to finally convince Twilight to allow me.” Then it hit me. “Speaking of which, what’s your take on the subject?”
“Me?” she asked, pointing to herself, “Well...I was the same way at once point.” With a sigh, she folded her arms, “I nearly tried to destroy this world for the sake of acquiring all of its magic because I was spiteful and wanted to get back at Celestia for not giving me what I thought I wanted…”
Over by the blackboard, Twilight’s scribbling slowly came to a stop. “...I can relate. Though, I didn’t cause it on purpose, I was just as guilty when it came to trying to take magic for selfish reasons.” She turned to face us, “I was just trying to study it. I love studying weird and wacky things, but...I got a bit carried away.”
Sunset giggled. “Heheh. Don’t worry, I was the same way. And we can totally help you get back home, Pale. We just need to find a portal to Equestria that--”
“Already have,” Twilight called out with a smug, confident expression.
Sunset was utterly perplexed. “Whaaaaa? But I thought they were hard to find?”
“Don’t you remember that cruise we took a while back?” Twilight pointed to her board which had a cruise ship drawn on it.
“Yeah, we found a portal to Equestria on an island in international waters,” she audibly shuddered and wiggled her arms, “we found Rainbow Dash on a deserted island and nearly got choked to death by creep tentacle plants!”
Twilight also responded with an equally disgusted groan. “Eeeyech! Don’t remind me! But more importantly, I mapped out a correspondence.” On the next part of the board, she had a drawing of the quicksand portal to Equestria. “Based on my calculations and the angle of which the magic was distributed to cause those plants to get all touchy-feely like something out of one of your video games--”
“Hey!” Sunset protested her purple friend’s jest. Guess it wasn’t a good idea to poke fun at a girl’s games. “Focus on the magic!”
“Hehehe! Sorry. Anyhow. I’ve deduced the next most logical location for another portal to Equestria to appear: About five miles west--at the beach! And if we can find this portal, we can not only send our new friend back home, we can close it so nothing will cause harm to the nearby town!” After she was finished talking, she took a bow, and straightened her glasses once more. “Any questions?”
“Sound good to you, Pale?”
I nodded. If there was a way to not only get back home to my world, but to also help this one, then I’d take it. “Absolutely. But we need to be fast. If I’m not home by the next day, I’ll miss the opportunity to meet with Cozy and the princess.”
“Hmmm…maybe, or maybe not.” Twilight rubbed her chin with her hand, and came close to inspect me. “Mind if I...run a few quick tests?”
“Um--ow!”
The girl had plucked one of my hairs from my head. “Heh, sorry. All for the name of research!” She clutched the hair strand with a wide, crazed sort of giggle as she ran over to her magical testing devices.
Once again, I looked at Sunset. “Is she…”
“Heh, don’t worry about it. There was this one time where she plucked both a strand of my yellow and red hair to see if she could create synthetic bacon.”
I recoiled out of disgust. “WhhhAT?”
Yet again, she laughed it off like it was no big deal. “Don’t worry. It was a pretty neat idea. Though it didn’t exactly work out because--”
“Aha!” Twilight ripped a sheet of scanner paper off her device. “You were hit with a spell that has essentially taken your consciousness and tossed it into another world entirely. Thus causing a time shatter effect that will reduce your…”
I looked on in confusion, and rubbed the back of my head. “In layman’s terms, please?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Basically you have about a day to spend here before you miss your deadline. We better hurry and get to the beach fast.”
“Luckily,” Sunset added, “We’re on Summer Break. So we don’t have to worry about school. In fact, why don’t I just invite all our friends? It’ll be a nice getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city,” she pulled out her screen device. A phone. Much different from our version of the telephone back home.
I smirked. Since I grew up in a city not unlike this one, I knew what that was like. “Yeah, I feel you. Manehattan was always full of rowdy and crazy things.”
“Tell me about it,” Sunset said as she tapped the device, “I guess that’s why I wasn’t really allowed to go there. Everyone always said it was full of crazy and rowdy people. Guess that was a biiiit inaccurate. You seem pretty chill.”
“You have to be, in this line of work. Can’t let your emotions take you over lest you lose focus.”
Twilight nodded. “Hm! That’s right. We scientists have to prioritize results over how we feel.”
“Yyyyyeah, so long as you turn into an evil shady scientist lady like the one from Groverwatch.”
Twilight had a crazed expression on her face. “Don’t mention that game! Do not mention that game!”
Sunset snickered at her friend and nudged me. “She’s mad since she keeps losing with her favorite characters.”
“Oh dear, I know what that’s like.”
“I am a lady of science!” Twilight retorted, “I have no time for games! Anyway, we should head out to that beach as soon as possible. Get ready Pale. You’re about to go on an adventure like you’ve never been before!”
The process was rather smooth and painless. Sunset invited her friends via...text. I put my vest and hat in a suitcase Twilight gave me to disguise myself properly as a recent exchange student that would get started once break was over. They all packed their swimming items and placed them in the rear compartment known as the trunk. Sunset, Twilight and I all pooled within her...motorized carriage? No wait, this had to be an automobile not unlike the one High Heel made use of in the Power Ponies comics.
It had a nice purple color and twinkling stars all over. I was intrigued but Sunset had a worried glare on her face. “Uhh...Twilight. You have your driver’s license, right?”
“Mm-hm! And it only took me thirty-seven--”
Sunset corrected her, “Thirty-eight.”
“Thirty-eight attempts on the driving test! Come on, you can trust little ol’ me,” Twilight ran around to the side of her car and opened the door. “Whoo! Carpool time! Beach here we come!” she hopped in.
“Please, please take shotgun,” Sunset pleaded with me. That was a term used for the front seat if I recalled correctly.
I shrugged. “You worry too much, Ms. Shim.” I opened the door, and sat down next to Twilight in the passenger seat. She would nervously enter the rear passenger seat and hooked herself up to both of the seatbelts. “How bad can her driving be?”
With a panicked expression, the orange girl simply said, “Buckle. Up.”
“Yahoo!” Twilight reversed the vehicle out of the driveway with excitement. In no time, we were on the road. To my surprise, she had very good control of it, and kept it steady. I suppose Sunset’s concern was for naught?
I looked behind to see the orange girl huddled up within the seatbelts. “...Are you okay?”
“Yeah! I’m fine...just being careful, hehe…”
“I see…”
“Relax, Sunset,” Twilight assured us as she adjusted the rearview mirror, “On my thirty-ninth attempt, I made sure to utilize flash cards, mental drawings, and brought my least-chewed pencil to take the test. It was simple logic, really. We can literally fire missiles and laser beams that defy the laws of physics. What makes you think I can’t drive?”
Sunset looked down at herself. She must have realized how silly she had been and removed the unnecessary seatbelts. “Hehe...you’re right, you’re right.”
“So, I just had a thought,” I spoke up, “Is it possible that I have a human counterpart here? Since I’m from Equestria and all. Do you know him?”
Twilight answered first. “Hm...I think I heard of a Vestige that acts as an editor for the school newspaper.”
“Oh that’s right! He has his name on loads of different articles and even helps with the blog. The one about the fact that Suri Polomare’s fabric was faulty was genius!” Sunset added.
“Don’t forget about the one that talked about Lightning Dust cheating on her assignments. Her logic on that paper mache volcano was all wrong. I knew she took it from Snips and Snails,” Twilight added.
Oh dear. Just how bad was that? More importantly, it was good to know that I had a counterpart that did work in this world. The more it was kept safe, the better. But for now, we had more pressing matters.
“Okay so these portals...or Gates to Equestria,” I mused aloud as I wrote down some notes, “Is left unchecked is it possible that they could--”
“Destroy the whole entire world as we know it? Essentially.” Twilight explained, “These…’Gates’--hm, yeah rolls off the tongue. These Gates between our worlds are going to cause mayhem and destruction if we don’t close them off. Could you imagine the sheer insanity that would ensue if a Gate opened up near something more destructive than a plant? Like killer dolls? Mechanical mascot bears? Killer mechanical mascot bear dolls?!” her eyes darted to the left, then right, then back to the road.
From behind, I could see that Sunset felt uncomfortable about this topic. She sighed. “The last thing I want is something like that.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“I was the one who brought the magic here when I first crossed over. So it’s ultimately my responsibility to take care of this world to make sure it’s safe for everyone,” she described her situation in a somber tone. Her guilt was palpable, and I completely understood why she felt that way.
“Hey...don’t get like that. If it wasn’t you, then it sure as hell would’ve been someone else. Plus, if you hadn’t, then who would’ve stopped the Sirens?”
She blinked, and raised her brow. “Wait...you know about them?”
I nodded. “Indeed. Three of the most deadly and seductive creatures in Equestria who used their singing voices to charm sailors and ponies...for power. Am I close?”
“Wow, you really do know. But I guess that’s expected from a detective, heh. But nowadays, they’re more...well, you’ll see.”
I was confused, but I supposed that would indeed find out eventually as she said. We all talked a bit more through the drive. I told Sunset about how Equestria had gotten along in its past few years. In return, she would tell me more about the culture of the Human World. School, shopping, phones, memes? It was all a rush that sounded fairly interesting.
Twilight would also chime in with information regarding their pasts and how they both used to take advantage of magic. But once they learned how to treat it properly, and gain discipline, they were able to use their magic for the force of justice and all that is right in the world. Mighty respectable indeed.
After a while, we finally arrived at the beach. It was a hot, sandy zone with not many other people nearby. The girls had already changed into more appropriate gear for swimming called...swimsuits? They gave me a basic tank and swim trunks to wear to be undercover--I put my other clothes in the suitcase.
“We’re here,” Twilight got out and grabbed her bag from the trunk. “If my estimates are correct, the magic should be coming from the South.”
Sunset grabbed her items and followed. “All of our friends should have arrived before us. So if anything goes wrong, they’ll be here for backup.”
Made sense to me. Though, now wasn’t the time for me to get distracted with overly long introductions to another group of poni--er, people. “Alright, I’ll scout ahead. You both meet up with your friends and explain what’s going on.”
“Here, catch,” Twilight tossed me something.
“Woah!” I barely managed to catch it in my hands. It was some sort of radar device. “Hm?”
“It’ll guide you right to the Gate. I made it myself out of an old calculator and a GPS. A-ya-welcome,” she said with a sassy sort of smirk which made Sunset laugh.
I smiled also. “Thank you, Scientist Twilight.”
“Ooh, I like the sound of that. Hrm...maybe shorten it to Sci-Twi or--ah!”
Sunset had grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the other end of the beach. “C’mon my Science buddy. Let’s meet up with everyone. Good luck, Pale!”
“You can count on me.” I watched as they went down the sandy path to meet up with their friends. I went on alone in the directions that Twilight told me about.
I slid down a sandy hill, tripped over a few rocks, and angered a few kids due to messing up their castle. No problem. This was normal for someone like me. Though, I had to admit that it was fun being out in the field again. Even if it was unfamiliar territory, I still enjoyed sneaking and snooping around like the old days. Felt like my old training sessions with my team.
But beyond that, the safety of my home and everyone in it was critical to this mission. I wouldn’t be able to handle Cozy Glow and all of these loose portals to this strange human world at once. There had to be some sort of…
Wait.
“...magic crap I swear…”
Just around another sand hill, I heard something. Someone was muttering about magic? This could be dangerous. I had to get closer.
So I did, and came upon a more private area of the beach where there were no other people. While there was no visual sign of anyone, I continued to hear mumbling. I kept going until the voice grew loud enough to confirm the fact that I was near someone.
“...can we even do here anymore without magic?”
Aha! I knew it. Someone close by was talking about magic. Now I just needed to find…
“HIYA!”
Someone jumped down from the coconut tree above me. Their thighs wrapped around my neck in an asphyxiation technique. I slowly lost air as I looked to both sides and noticed that the legs were a shade of light purple. “Ack…”
“You pervert. I saw you trying to catch a look at me.” I heard her--whoever she was--speak from above me. With her weight bearing down on my body in combination with her legs around my neck, I couldn’t move. “You have sixty seconds to explain just what the hell you’re doing here or I’m gonna beat your ass.”