//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: A Strange New World // Story: SuShi's Bizarre Adventure: Twilit Curtain Call // by Jojoleopard //------------------------------// As the wee hours of the morning passed along in the quiet streets of Canterlot, most people had already retired for the night, waiting for the dawning of a new day to come. But two people still walked the streets, the clatter of their footsteps echoing into the air around them. Around them were rows of houses, each one larger than the last as they went forward down the road. One of them was dressed in a tight striped outfit of purples and pinks, and the other one had on a purple hoodie over a similarly striped shirt. “I don’t think I will ever get used to these feet, Spike,” a tall lavender colored woman said, lifting a foot to wiggle her toes. Even though she couldn’t see them through her shoes, she could still feel them moving around, like worms in a can. They felt grotesque, but at the same time, she saw their use. “I already walk on two feet, Twilight,” Spike shrugged. “This isn’t much different.” “And you have these fingers too.” Twilight opened and closed one hand. “But it seems we can no longer fly here. Nor use our magic. It’s weird, but I still feel like there’s magic flowing through my body, but more… disconnected. Like it’s a separate part of my spirit, if that makes sense.” “I feel it too.” Spike looked at his hands. “Like there’s something within me, trying to get out.” “This is so exciting, coming to a new world. Imagine everything we’ll learn out here.” Twilight grinned and looked up at the night sky. It had already been decades since Princesses Celestia and Luna had retired as rulers of Equestria, passing the torch on to her. Twilight Sparkle didn’t think she had it in her to replace them, but after years and years of being in charge, she found that it wasn’t all that bad. Under her rule, Equestria was prospering in a state of peace no other princess had ever achieved, but she would never forget the guidance Celestia had given her over the years, secretly grooming her all this time to eventually replace her. According to Celestia’s journals, she had come to this world long ago, when it had still been in its medieval age. She had discovered the surface of the mirror in a deep cave somewhere at the border of Equestria and she had it forged into a mirror and transported to Canterlot where she had studied it and this other world for a while before eventually stowing it away in storage deep within the castle’s walls. And now it was her turn. She had already learned a lot since walking through the mirror hours ago. For one, the sun and moon weren’t raised and lowered by magic in this world. They did it on their own. She had asked around, curious as to how it worked and from knowledge of the humans, it was all the work of spatial gravity. It was a gravity unlike anything Twilight had ever studied and if she wasn’t a believer of gravity, she would be now. Another thing she had learnt here was that the mirror world was indeed a mirror world of sorts. Right now, she was standing in Canterlot. Its locations were the same, but everything looked different and there was no ruler here. Instead, it was a single city in a larger whole and the only leader here was a mayor, not a princess. “And everything smells worse here…” Spike scrunched up his nose a few times. “The air isn’t as fresh and clean as back home.” Being early in the morning now, the streets were completely devoid of people, and Twilight was starting to feel her eyelids drooping. Perhaps it was time to go back, seeing as there was nothing more she could learn if everyone was asleep. “Maybe we should head back now. Before we lose the moonlight,” she said, remembering the rules in Celestia’s journal. Apparently, the mirror only allowed access to this world once every thirty moons for three days. “We can come back tomorrow when they’re all awake again. Perhaps we can visit the library to learn more of this world’s history. Perhaps there could be some guidance on how I could be a better ruler.” “But Twilight, you’re already an amazing ruler,” Spike contested. “You’re the Princess of Friendship, after all. Because of you, the world is at peace.” “Doesn’t mean I can’t learn to do better. As Applejack would say, ‘Raise a barn today. Raise another tomorrow, then raise another the next day.’” “What does that even mean?” Twilight ran a finger down her cheek, then pointed it to the sky. “Build your best today, then keep building your best everyday. Never be satisfied with how things already are. Always find ways to improve and make the world a better place.” “Spoken like a true princess.” Spike chuckled, then darted his eyes to one side and pointed a finger ahead. “Hey, Twi. Look, more humans.” “What? I don’t believe it. At this hour?” Twilight followed his finger, spotting a trio of humans jogging down the road, stopping in front of a fairly large home with a faintly familiar shield sigil on the front gates. “What do you think they’re doing?” They pressed something against the gates and were quick to flee the scene. “Something’s wrong here.” Twilight was about to go to the gates to see just what they had done. Before she could, there was a rush of hot air around her and she suddenly found herself on her back, her vision blurred as she looked up at the sky. There was an orange glow coming from her front and she tilted her head up to see the home’s gates had vanished, along with a majority of its front lawn. Instead, fire had taken over, snaking around trees and bushes, absorbing them into its fiery mass. “What the hay was that?” Spike exclaimed, who had also been knocked onto his back. “Some kind of magic?” He got to his feet and helped Twilight back up, brushing her clothes down. “This is some welcome!” Twilight turned her attention back to the inferno. “There must be people in that house! We have to help them!” Twilight and Spike rushed over to the burning house, looking around for any way they could help. Twilight began to channel a water spell, but then she remembered this strange world’s seeming lack of magic and let out a small scream of frustration. “The fire will soon spread through the compound, and then to the house itself, because of all the grass and vines.” Spike directed her attention to the greenery all around the house. It was designed to look like plants had grown over places of the building. A bad design for times like this. “Whoever is in there, they aren’t burning yet, but if we don’t do anything now, the fire will eventually reach them.” Twilight looked around wildly. It seemed the people that had caused the fire were long gone, and right then, she had her decision. Jumping over the flames at the new destroyed gate, Twilight ran through the house’s walkway, darting straight for the house’s front as she brought both arms in front of her head. At the speed she was going, she crashed right through a ground to ceiling window, shattering glass all over the floor as she crashed into a dining table, knocking two chairs over. “Ow!” Twilight flipped herself around and rubbed at her arms. They were going to be bruised for a while.  “Twilight!” Spike ran over to his friend. “Are you okay?” Twilight shook her hair out of her face. “I think so. How about you?” Spike grimaced. “I don’t think I’m fireproof in this world, Twilight. I can feel the heat of the flames and it’s not very comforting.” Looking back, she noticed that the fire had already spread to the facade of the home and it was already spreading upstairs thanks to the vines along the walls. They both heard coughing and they turned to see an elderly man walking down the steps, fanning the front of his face with a hand. He had a curly moustache and messy hair, like he had just woken up. “Who are you? What is going on here?” he asked Twilight and Spike. “Your home is under attack!” Twilight rushed over. “We came in as soon as we saw the fire spreading. There’s not much time, you have to get out of here!” “The lady of the house. We have to wake her and her husband before they are consumed.” The man pointed up the stairs. “Spike, wait here with him. I’ll get them. Call the fireponies or something!” Twilight sprinted up the steps, faster than she had moved since coming to this world. If she still had her wings, she would’ve been able to move faster still. The house was three stories tall and each floor had at least ten rooms. Twilight had considered barging through each door to find whoever lived here, but she knew the fire would spread faster than she could check each room. “If only I had my magic right now. I could get to each door quicker than the eye could blink!” Twilight groaned. Complaining wasn’t going to help, but she could use a venting. Perhaps she should’ve just asked the old man downstairs where everyone was sleeping. Twilight groused about her predicament in her mind, when all of a sudden, all the doors began blowing open one by one, as though they had been struck by some unseen force. She blinked a few times, unsure of what had just happened, but she used this chance to run down the hall, peering through each room. There was not a single soul down here, meaning they would be on the next level. Not wasting anymore time, she headed back for the staircase and raced up, finding another hallway of doors to look through. Though she willed it with all her power, the doors didn’t blow open this time, but then she heard coughing from one of the rooms and ran forward. “Hello? Where are you! We’ve got to get you out of here!” Twilight called. “H-Here!” a voice answered her. Twilight had listened carefully and determined the voice to be coming from the third door on the right. Running over, she kicked it open, revealing two very surprised looking elderly humans, still dressed in their night clothes, hands over their mouths as smoke poured in through one of their windows. “Who are you?” the elderly woman asked. She had curly hair of white and pale pink, though the pink was already starting to fade. The man with her had greying hair with some orange near the tips. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, but now’s not the time. We’ve got to get you out. Is there anyone else here?” Twilight ran to their sides and began ushering them out. It had been years since she had to do any rescuing herself, not since she had become Equestria’s ruler, but the actions were not forgotten to her. “Just the butler, Steel Tongue,” the woman replied. “My children live abroad. I’m Sweetie Belle. This is my husband, Button Mash.” “Nice to meet you.” Twilight pointed to the door. “The butler’s already downstairs with my friend. We’ve got to get out before your whole house goes down in flames! By now, the fire must’ve already spread halfway across your property.” “I knew we shouldn’t have grown plants all over the house. I just knew it!” Button Mash threw his hands down. “We’ll talk about this later. Right now, we need to focus on getting out!” Sweetie Belle replied. She stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled. “REO Speedwagon!” A green backpack with crab legs appeared at her feet and Twilight jumped back in surprise as it took a few steps forward. “Yeah, uh… kinda hard to explain.” Sweetie looked apologetic. “Strange, isn’t it?” Twilight pointed at it. “What is that thing? Yeah. I thought this world didn’t have magic?” “My world?” Sweetie looked at her husband, then back at Twilight. Twilight watched their confusion, then shook her head and waved a hand around. “Nevermind. Let’s get out of here. Already, the fire’s spreading to your floorboards from the window!” True to her words, fire was now zig-zagging in through the window, eating away at the wood supporting it up before spreading to a nearby bookshelf. “There’s too much wood in the house, we’ve gotta get out of here!” Button Mash wailed. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do,” Twilight said as a sliver of fire licked out at her arm, scorching her sleeve. She recoiled and quickly patted it out before pushing Sweetie and Button out of the room as the fire jumped from the window to their floorboards below. “Whoever did this really wants you dead!” “I can’t imagine anyone would want us dead.” Sweetie Belle picked up at her nightdress to run better. “The Crusaders Foundation has done so much to help the world. Anyway, hang on. I’ve got a plan to make things easier for you.” Sweetie Belle snapped her fingers and her little walking backpack opened its flap, revealing a void within it. It was completely black and Twilight couldn’t see anything inside. Sweetie suddenly stuck one leg in it before giving her a nod. “No way. You can fit in there?” Twilight watched in bewilderment as the elderly woman slipped into the void entirely. A hand came back out and signaled it was her husband’s turn. “Just sling REO Speedwagon around your shoulders and you can just get out of here,” Button Mash told her before disappearing into the bag. “Uh huh. This is definitely magic.” Twilight watched as the bag walked up to her, then bumped into her left leg. “I’ll have questions a plenty once we’re safely away from this fire.” She picked it up and slung it over her shoulders, shuddering once as the crab legs rolled up her spine. It was weird for a bag to have legs, but then again, she’d seen more stuff that would surprise her back home. Running down as the fire began to catch up, she found the butler and Spike by the stairs, with the butler holding some kind of device with a projected image. “Ah, you have the lady and the master in the Stand?” Steel Tongue clapped his hands together. Twilight squinted one eye. “A Stand? What’s that? You mean this bag?” “Ah. I apologize. It is not normal for people to know about Stands…” He looked like he had just done something offensive. “I am sure the lady would explain it all to you in due time. I have contacted the fire brigade. They will be over to put out the fire. Hopefully most of the house will still be standing when they do.” “Do you have somewhere to go in the meantime?” Twilight slipped the bag off her shoulders and opened its flap. “We can’t stay on the streets. Whoever attacked your home might be back.” “I’ve got a place in mind,” Sweetie Belle’s voice echoed out from the bag. “I’ll get REO Speedwagon to direct you.” “Then we should go. I don’t want to be anywhere near this fire.” Spike raised a hand in front of his face as a ball of flame blazed across the curtains. “Is it weird that I’m having a problem with fire?” “No, not really.” Steel Tongue eyed him weirdly. “But we should go. Now.” “I couldn’t agree more, sir.” Twilight nodded and led the group out, jumping through one of the full length windows, shattering it to pieces as they emerged back outdoors. If anyone told her she would be saving people when she came over to investigate this strange world, she would’ve laughed it off and left it to the protectors of this world to deal with it, but it seemed this world was far different from Equestria. Very very different. And it seemed there was still so much to learn about it, especially about these things called ‘Stands’. She would have questions for Sweetie Belle once they were safe. Wait a minute. Sweetie Belle… Twilight stopped in her tracks and looked back at the burning house. That was a name she hadn’t heard in a while. Sweetie Belle was the sister of Rarity, one of her closest friends. It seems it wasn’t just the world that was mirrored, but its inhabitants too. “There is indeed still a lot to learn about this world, Spike,” Twilight told her companion before they broke back into a run, leaving the ruins of Sweetie’s home behind.