“How is this even safe?!” Twilight Sparkle screamed as her plane landed and bounced up and down on the runway.
Spike, who had been equally as terrified, had been holding her arm the entire time. “Thi-this is crazy. To think a machine like that could fly people across the world!”
“You really don’t have planes where you’re from, hmm?” Skyburn Dash watched them with an amused grin. “Don’t worry. Everyone’s like that on their first flight. It’s not everyday you fly through the sky.”
“Well, we can fly just fine, actually.” Spike raised a finger. “We both have wings in Equestria. Twilight, in fact, can teleport. She actually never has to travel anywhere if she doesn’t want to.”
“Teleportation? For real?” Skyburn groaned. “Man, I wish we could do that. Then we don’t have to fly all this distance. “There’ve been plenty of technological advancements in the last few years, but even then, we don’t have teleportation. At least, not yet. I’m sure scientists will figure it out one day.”
“Yes, that’s something I’d like to study more of once we have the time.” Twilight nodded. “I want to learn everything there is about this world and how it works and maybe even bring some of these ideas back home.”
“Yeah, imagine if you had phones back where you’re from.” Skyburn sat with them until the seatbelt sign was turned off.
He had explained to them everything he knew about planes before they boarded and though he didn’t know the mechanics or their inner workings, he at least knew enough about what they needed to do on planes to avoid an embarrassing situation.
As for their current situation, it had already been two days since they had deduced Die Die Riches was in France. With Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom using the connections and resources of the Crusaders Foundation, they had easily gotten last minute tickets to France for the three of them and here they were now.
Loire Airport was the closest airport to the town of Angers, situated about a hundred and ninety miles away from Paris. While its name might seem weird to English speakers, one would have to look back to its history to understand its name. When it had first been set up during the Roman Empire, the town’s name was first called Juliomagnus Andecavorum, named after the ancient Gallic tribes that once inhabited the lands. After years and years, the name started to change little by little, eventually losing the Juliomagnus completely, before eventually ending up as Angers.
Museums dotted the city’s streets and it was one of the few cities left with old castles that showed the old way of life, as opposed to many other places Skyburn had visited during his vacations to other countries. Many cities had already progressed with the times, rebuilding their deteriorating buildings to house advancements like glowing light panels, holographic projections or just overall sturdier plating. Angers was not such a city, which now stood as a stark difference from the country’s capital of Paris, which could now color the night skies with animated holograms of the city’s past.
“So our best bet would be to take a train down to Angers,” Skyburn told Twilight and Spike. “I’m not sure how the others are doing, but we’ll all meet up in Angers to discuss what to do then.”
Twilight nodded in understanding. Skyburn’s aunt had apparently rang up allies in places called Japan and Germany. Twilight knew Equestria didn’t have such names, but then again, Equestria was a complete landmass without giant bodies of water separating cities. Apparently, their friends had also been at work taking down Die Die Riches and it was the group in Japan that had identified the exact city in France Die Die Riches was operating from.
That was the group that apparently had another Equestrian, Sunset Shimmer. Twilight had never heard of anypony called Sunset Shimmer, but perhaps Princess Celestia would know her, or maybe Pinkie Pie.
She had learned a little bit more about Skyburn on the trip here as well. He was an avid motocross rider, according to him, it was a sport where you would ride a motorbike around a track. Twilight hadn’t known what a motorbike was, but Skyburn had been kind enough to explain it to her. In her own thoughts, it was basically a cart with one wheel in front and one behind. He enjoyed seeking thrills in life and he had done things like jumping off a cliff into a blue hole, skydiving, knife throwing, and even running from rooftop to rooftop in an acrobatic fashion the humans called parkour.
Also, to her astonishment, she found out he was the grandson of Rainbow Dash, another of her closest friends, and from the rainbow hair, she should’ve already guessed that when she first met him. It was nice to see that Rainbow’s grandson and Applejack’s granddaughter had been together, and Twilight would’ve given anything if she could bring Appy back to life for them to one day see their own grandchildren running around.
She had promised them she would do her duty as Princess of Equestria to do what she could for this world. She was going to do her best to uphold that. As Equestria’s mirror world, she could not bear to see it fall. This was as much her duty than it was to Equestria.
As she followed the line of humans out of the plane, Twilight began to wonder about home. Her friends had assured her they would watch over the land in her absence and after all, she did have her students, like Luster Dawn, just like how Celestia once had her. Perhaps she would lead the next generation forward to a safer kingdom one day.
“What’s on your mind, Twi?” Spike walked along beside her once they were out of the plane’s narrow walkways.
“Just thinking of home. I wonder how they’re doing,” Twilight admitted. “You know how bad guys always tend to show up when you least expect it?”
Spike nodded.
“I hope Equestria’s not going through any rough patches while we’re here…” she sighed and looked out one of the connector’s huge windows at the runway outside. “By now we would’ve missed the mirror’s timeline and we’ll have to be here for another thirty moons.”
“We don’t have to worry. I know it.” Spike gave her a pat on the back. “Luster Dawn and her friends will handle it. You handled much of Equestria’s dangers for Celestia and Luna even before you became an alicorn. I know she’ll do the same now. She’s learnt a lot from you, you know?”
“Thanks, Spike. You’re always there for me.” Twilight turned around and gave him a thumbs up, a gesture she’d learned in this world. She had also learned one with another finger, but that one was reserved for her greatest foes.
The process through the airport was long and Twilight found herself waiting behind people for a very long time and occasionally peeking past them to see how many more remained in front of her before it was her turn. There was something she had been really interested in and that was the x-ray machines. All she had to do was stand in a machine and they scanned her from head to toe to make sure she wasn’t smuggling anything inside her body. She wanted to know how it worked, but the security answered nothing and told her to move on.
“Oh, I’ll find out one day…”
Sweetie Belle had acquired passports for them so that they could get into France. They were these little booklets that had your face and name and everything. She said that a passport would normally take months to process, but with the Crusaders Foundation’s help, they managed to push all that down to a few hours.
When it finally got to her turn, she gave the woman at the booth her best smile and did her best to look like herself in her passport photo to make sure they knew it was her. Soon, she was out and she found Spike and Skyburn by the exit, already done with their checks.
Outside, the air was warm, but it wasn’t as burning as Canterlot was and the wind was cool against her skin whenever it blew by. Now, according to Skyburn’s map, they first needed to head to the train station. The walk wasn’t far, and so they began making their way to the station. All three of them got to take in the sights along the way, which were mostly great fields of grass and flowers, something Twilight hadn’t seen much of since coming to this world. All the scenery reminded her of home and it was great to be among nature again, if only briefly.
“Hey, guys, I’m going to ask a rather important question now,” Spike suddenly said, breaking her imaginations of home.
“Yeah, go ahead, man. What’s up?” Skyburn asked.
Spike scratched the back of his neck. “How are we going to find Die Die Riches once we reach Angers? Will they have a building with their name on it or something?”
“You know what… somehow I doubt that…” Skyburn looked up at the sky.
“Come on, why not?” Spike shrugged. “Bad guys love to let everypony know where their evil lair is. It’s like a common trait amongst them. They just can’t help showing off.”
“Is that how it’s like back in Equestria?” Skyburn raised an eyebrow. “That’s a little… basic.”
“What, and your bad guys here are tougher? Smarter?” Spike shook a fist.
Skyburn just stared at him for a few seconds. “Well, uh, judging from what I’m hearing… yes. Yes they are.”
“Well, Twilight’s stopped her fair share of villains.” Spike waved at her. “She can tell you that some of them are pretty ingenious.”
“I’m not sure we should be comparing villains,” she added in. “Many of them had conquered Equestria for a time, but we’ve always managed to fight them back and prevail. I’m sure you can say the same about your world.”
“Well, two, in fact.” Skyburn held up two fingers in front of his face. “I mean, there’s been plenty of wars and stuff, but the entire world has only been on the brink of catastrophe twice. My grandmother was on the first adventure to save the world from a Principal Cinch and my aunt was on the second journey to save the world from the Nugget People. Do you have Nugget People where you’re from?”
“Nugget People?” Twilight shared a puzzled look with Spike. “Not remotely. I guess they must be called something else if they’re in Equestria too.”
“But see? Our bad guys are way more competent!” Spike clapped a hand against Skyburn’s cheek.
“Are we still on this topic?” Skyburn was so busy with his conversation that he failed to see a whip wrap around his wrist. “What the…? Woooaahh!”
It yanked back and he was pulled aside.
“Hey!” Twilight was about to follow it when a white stallion in golden armor shot down from the sky in front of her, cracking the road and sending debris flying up. One would’ve hit her in the face if she hadn’t summoned Strange World to slow it down, allowing her to bend lower to avoid it. “Another enemy Stand!”
Strange World threw a punch at its snout, but the more muscular Stand grabbed her palm, then lifted itself in the air with its golden wings and began pushing Strange World down. Twilight had it lean to one side, then sped up the enemy Stand, sending it right past Strange World and into the road. Her Stand jumped into the air, and while its body was parallel to the ground, it began throwing punches at the enemy’s back. She only managed to get in three good punches before she found herself standing by the hole in the ground again, in front of the enemy.
“Wait, what?” Twilight managed to say before the Stand whipped a hand out, sending her flying.
“Twilight!” Spike ran for her, but the Stand turned and faced him, breathing steam from its nostrils. “Hey, who are you? What are you doing?”
Spike looked at his hands, then tried to summon a Stand like Twilight had. He knew he had it in him. He felt it when they had first come to this world, but until Twilight used her Stand, he hadn’t thought twice about it. Now, it was as good of a time to use it as any. His friends were in trouble and they needed him to step up.
Come on, Spike. You’ve always been there, the sidekick ready to help protect Equestria. Step up this time. Take that power and use it!
A blue aura formed around him and he opened his eyes as the enemy Stand grabbed him by the hoodie collar. It tossed him aside and as he flew in the air, it was as though it had been a part of him for life. He knew just what to do.
A white and blue figure with an enlarged upper chest and wings came forth, spreading both arms wide as it tilted its head to one side.
“I’ve got it, I’ve got it!” Spike cheered. This time, it was his turn to protect Twilight. Seeing as it was his, he got to name it, and he already had the perfect name.
His Stand stretched both arms to the side, then bent them at the elbows and met in the middle, clapping both palms together. An ice storm began to form around him and his Stand and icicles formed throughout, swirling into the enemy Stand, pelting its armor with ice spikes. It tried to swing a punch at his Stand, but Spike had it flap its wings, creating a gust as it flew higher in its own storm. The winds began to blow harder and the enemy Stand’s wings could no longer keep itself flying inside Spike’s storm and it immediately began swirling around with the current, unable to break free.
Something tapped him on the shoulder. Spike turned around, only to get a faceful of fist as something pinkish punched him in the forehead.
“Aagh!” He fell back and hit the ground as a pink and purple figure with cloth around its shoulders stood over him, carrying a similar cloth in one hand. “There’s another one!”
It raised a fist to pummel him, but Spike had his Stand flap its wings, sending frost building up on the enemy Stand’s cloth and elbows. It flicked its cloth at him, twirling it until it was as thin as a spike before it thwacked his Stand between the eyes.
“O-Ow!” Spike curled up and rolled on the ground as he cradled his face. That stung.
It lifted its cloth over him, holding it with both hands, but its movements suddenly slowed and Strange World flew in, ramming it with its left shoulder, knocking it into the air as it spun in slow motion. The equine Stand returned behind her, its muscles bulging as it punched forward with both hands. Strange World slowed its movement, then ducked under them, but before it could walk around the Stand, it found itself looking at Spike again and the fists connected with its chest, knocking it down against Spike’s Stand, knocking the wind from his lungs.
“That hurt…” Spike coughed.
“Surrender now. Or die.” A young girl with purple and red hair emerged from behind a pillar, a scowl on her face.
“Like we’ll… surrender to the likes of you!” Twilight rubbed blood away from the corner of her mouth and ran over, crouching down beside Spike.
The girl looked unfazed and she nodded to her Stand. “Curtain Call. Do it.”
But Spike wasn’t done. Not yet. Pushing to his feet, he raised a fist under his chin and put his other arm behind his back, yelling the name of his Stand as he found the enemy had walked into a trap he had set up earlier.
“Winter Wrap Up!”
His Stand floated into the air as frost began to build up around its hands, spiraling down around its arms and body as the air started to mist over, growing colder by the second. The enemy Stand, Curtain Call, attempted to take a step forward, but found that it couldn’t. Spike smiled to himself as it looked down and saw that a thin layer of ice had spread across the road and it had latched on to both its feet, creeping up its ankles now. From above, Winter Wrap Up curled both hands inward, creating a giant icicle above its head, which continued to grow bigger as more ice pooled into it.
“You’re done for now!” Spike pointed a finger at the girl, whose feet were also stuck to the ground. “While you weren’t looking, I had Winter Wrap Up spread out a thin layer of ice like a spider’s web and as soon as you stepped in it, you were already trapped and I had it create more ice over your feet once that had happened.”
Something tapped him on the shoulder. Spike turned around, only to get a faceful of fist as something pinkish punched him in the forehead.
“Aagh!” He fell back and hit the ground as a pink and purple figure with cloth around its shoulders stood over him, carrying a similar cloth in one hand. “There’s another one!”
It raised a fist to pummel him, but Spike had his Stand flap its wings, sending frost building up on the enemy Stand’s cloth and elbows. It flicked its cloth at him, twirling it until it was as thin as a spike before it thwacked his Stand between the eyes.
“O-Ow!” Spike curled up and rolled on the ground as he cradled his face. That stung.
It lifted its cloth over him, holding it with both hands, but its movements suddenly slowed and Strange World flew in, ramming it with its left shoulder, knocking it into the air as it spun in slow motion. The equine Stand returned behind her, its muscles bulging as it punched forward with both hands. Strange World slowed its movement, then ducked under them, but before it could walk around the Stand, it found itself looking at Spike again and the fists connected with its chest, knocking it down against Spike’s Stand, knocking the wind from his lungs.
“That hurt…” Spike coughed. Then he blinked. It felt as though he had gone through this before. Something about it felt familiar to him. “Twilight, are you okay?”
“Yeah… Something about this feels odd…” She pushed to her feet as a girl with purple and red hair walked up to them, a stern look on her face.
“Seems like Daring Do is at it again,” the girl said, then shut her eyes and shook her head. “Good grief, three of you at once. It would’ve been better if it was still one of you at a time.”
“Wait…” Twilight’s mind took a second to register what she had just heard. “Daring Do?”
“Yes, I’m sure you’ve heard of her. And us. Didn’t expect us to get this far, did you?” The girl placed one hand against her hip and pointed the index finger of her other hand at Twilight. “Now you’re going to regret coming into my life.”
“The only ones regretting anything will be you,” Spike pointed a finger at the girl. “You and all your Die Die Riches cronies!”
The girl let go of her scowl for a second, giving way to confusion, which disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared. “You’re not… with them?”
“Wait!”
From the corner, Spike and Twilight spotted a female figure clad in green swing in on a whip before she retracted it into a metallic handle, which she stowed at her side. From behind her, Skyburn came running, a little beaten, but faring quite well.
“They’re not Die Die Riches,” he said, running between Twilight and the girl.
“What?” Twilight and the girl both turned to Skyburn. “But she has a Stand!”
"Good grief, and you just assumed that all Stand users besides yourself are with Die Die Riches?" The girl placed a hand on her forehead. "And I thought Granny Shimmer was dim."
“Well… Well, you attacked us first!” Spike started pointing fingers at everyone.
“Yes, sorry about that…” An elderly woman walked out from behind the girl’s position. “I had reason to believe you were the enemy. Skyburn! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you. If I had known you were traveling with them, I wouldn’t have attacked immediately.”
“No trouble, Mrs. Shimmer. I was too caught up in the moment of the attack.” Skyburn looked at the woman in green beside him. “You’re traveling with Daring Do! I can’t believe it! I should’ve recognized her from the outfit!”
“Wait, Daring Do?” Twilight looked at her. Only now did she realize how similar she looked to her Equestrian counterpart. They had roughly the same hair color, and they wore a similar jungle-trekking outfit. The only difference was that her Daring Do was a wizened old pony. This one was young and springy, younger than even her Daring Do was when she first met her.
“That’s right.” She put her hands on her hips and grinned. “Well, Daring Do the fourth, but you get the idea. The mantle’s been passed down from generation to generation.”
“Huh.” Twilight blinked. Then she returned her gaze to the other two women. “Maybe I missed something. And who are you? And why did you attack us?”
The older one tipped her orange hat to them. “I’m Sunset Shimmer. This is my granddaughter, Shiho Sunfast.”
“Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight remembered this name. Sweetie Belle had mentioned. “I’ve heard of you. You’re from Equestria too!”
“Too? That explains it!” Sunset snapped her fingers. “So you have no affiliation to Principal Cinch.”
“Who’s that?”
“No one important. Not anymore.” Sunset shook her head. “So you’ve come to this world too. You’ve picked a bad time, I’m afraid. Times aren’t exactly the best right now.”
“I’m well aware.” Twilight nodded and put an arm around Spike. “Spike and I came to explore the world after reading through Princess Celestia’s journals.”
“Spike…” Sunset looked at him as he waved and slicked up his green mohawk. “How is Princess Celestia? Is she well? I was once a student of hers before coming here.”
“Oh! So was I!” Twilight ran over excitedly. “It’s good to finally meet you, Sunset Shimmer. Celestia is well and so is Luna! They’ve retired from their duties and are enjoying life somewhere along the coast.”
“Twilight’s ruler of Equestria now. And the Princess of Friendship!” Spike said proudly.
Sunset smiled and bowed. “It is an honor to meet you, Princess Twilight. I must apologize again, you are very different from your human counterpart.”
“You’ve met her?” Twilight clapped her hands together. “Oh, I’d like to meet her. There’s much I want to discuss with her!”
Sunset scratched the back of her head and looked at her granddaughter, who just snorted and looked elsewhere. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. You see, years ago, the human Twilight and her dog, Spike, they attacked us. We were trying to save the world from Principal Cinch and Twilight was one of her Shadowbolts. We had no choice and she was killed in battle. That’s why I attacked you. I thought you were her, hunting us down once again.”
“She’s dead?” Twilight took a step back, her mind reeling as it tried to process it all. “And she’s been dead for such a long time. And Spike too?”
“I’m afraid so.” Sunset looked down. “I’m sorry. There was too much at stake. If we were to fail, the world wouldn’t still be free today. Cinch would’ve taken control of the minds of everyone on this planet and enforced her will.”
Twilight thought about that and frowned. “Well, the world isn’t doing much better for being free, is it?”
“No, I don’t suppose it is…” Sunset sighed. “I’ve wondered about that myself over the years… I’ve lived through two world-ending threats. Perhaps we prolonged something that was meant to change, that was meant to die out.”
“No use thinking about that now, Sunset.” Daring Do kept her whip and walked over. “We live in the present. Unless you have Yesterday, you can’t go back and change things. You did what was right for all of humanity. It’s not your fault that other people have made things worse.”
“Like Die Die Riches.” Skyburn clenched a fist. “They killed Appy, Mrs. Shimmer. They attacked Sweet Apple Acres and they killed her.”
Shiho growled and Sunset walked over to put a hand on his shoulder. The girl might look fierce, but Twilight could tell she cared about her friends and family. “I’m sorry for your loss, Skyburn. She was a sweet girl. Die Die Riches is going to pay more now. For Appy. For Shiho’s friend, for all those who have lost their lives to DDR.”
Shiho folded her arms and angled her head down so that shadows covered her eyes.
Twilight began pondering the state of the world and how it had only been getting worse over the years. Perhaps it would’ve been better if she had come years ago, like when Sunset first arrived here. Things would’ve certainly not been this dire back then. But she wouldn’t have met those she’d already met if she did, like Skyburn. He wouldn’t have even been born yet and over the last few days, he had proven to be a good friend. Twilight could see a lot of Rainbow Dash in him, and that made her happy to know that her friends’ legacies continued on, even Applejack’s through her sister’s family.
She mused about her dead counterpart and hummed. She must’ve been deadly enough to warrant her death. And Spike’s too. If he was a dog, unlike what he was now, then was he even a threat worthy of death? Did animals develop Stands too? There was still so much to learn about this world and all her counterpart had been through. Perhaps there would be time for that later.
“We’re expecting more allies,” Daring Do was the first to break the silence. “But they’re coming in closer to Angers by special transport. We’ll meet them on the way.”
“More allies, hmm?” Twilight rubbed her chin. It seems most of them have been affected by Die Die Riches. It would be good to stand with others against this threat.
“Well, it’s nice to meet all of you.” Spike shook the hands of the three newcomers. “I’m Spike. I’m Twilight’s aide.”
“No, Spike.” Twilight smiled and ran a hand through his mohawk. “You were once my aide. You’re so much more than that now. You have duties beyond just helping me. Why, you represent all dragonkind in Equestria now.”
“Dragon? Did you say dragon?” Daring Do got closer and looked into Spike’s eyes, then the top of his head and his behind. “You don’t look like a dragon to me. Can you transform into one or something?”
“I think there’s much to explain to you about Equestria.” Twilight laughed.
“We can do that on the way.” Sunset gestured to the train station, then curled a hand around and to her waist, before placing her other hand on top of her hat. “Come, there’s still some ways to Angers. I can fill you in about this world, princess, while you fill Daring Do in about Equestria.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Twilight snapped her fingers and followed. “But please, just Twilight is fine, Sunset.”