//------------------------------// // Who are they? // Story: You're not Twilight // by Miner //------------------------------// “You know Grandma and Grandpa?” “Something like that,” Misty looks at Aaron, annoyed that he knows more about what's happening, and leaves her in the dark as Sparky starts roaming the room, “Aaron, we really going to have a nice long talk one of these days!” She emphasizes the long part, “So, what happened here?” “Don’t ignore me!” They exit the shop and start walking down the street, going nowhere in particular, not noticing that Sparky is trying to grab a fallen donut only to kick it away from him, “I don’t know all the details. Grandmama said something terrible happened here that scattered many ponies far and wide. She and her friends stay behind to fight back and won, but at a great cost,” They passed by a hole in the wall which Aaron had to do a double take because it looks strangely Discord shape, “Grandmama wanted to gather everypony together again, but the others wouldn’t have it. And said that they should be left alone. But Grandmama was able to gather a small group of ponies and settle down in Ponyville.” “PONYVILLE! It’s still around!” Taken back, Fluttershy steps back a little at the fanboy, “Ah yes. That is our hometown. It’s nothing fancy, but we get by,” “Can we go there, please?” He says with big sparkly eyes, as Fluttershy looks at anything but him, Being fed up with being ignored all this time, Misty shouts at the top of her lungs, “Aaron!” “What!” He turns to face her, annoyed, “Aren’t you forgetting something important?” She tilts her head, raising an eyebrow, “Like the very reason why we wanted to come here in the first place?” She looks away, suddenly remembering her own mission, ‘Speaking, which I have to also figure out somehow to get away from these two so I can look for that artifact,’ Before she was captured and sent to jail, she was able to hide a map that her Queen has given to her. It wasn't easy, but she knew if she lost this map, there would be many things to answer. She keeps it hidden in her hat for safekeeping; all she needs to do now is make up an excuse to search the castle grounds. “RIGHT, I forgot. Fluttershy, do you know where the old castle is?” “You mean the Canterlot’s ruins? It’s down the street; you can’t miss it,” She points in the direction before tilting her head, “But why do you want to go there?” “We are hoping to find any traces of the memory spell,” “A memory spell?” “Yes, it has the ability to restore lost memories. I am hoping that there will be a copy of it in the Canterlot library,” Fluttershy thinks about this before a look of realization crosses her face, “Oh, I see. But you won’t find anything there,” “What, why?!” Aaron and Misty exclaimed before having to stop Sparky from eating an old donut, “After the fall of Canterlot. Everything that had any importance was moved into the crystal museum,” “The Crystal Museum?” Aaron looks between the mares while playing keep away with a baby dragon, “What Museum?” “The one in Ponyville,” Aaron didn’t have to think long before he understands what building she was referring to, “Castle Friendship,” “Oh, no pony calls it that anymore,” Aaron had a mental breakdown hearing that, eyes and head twitching, ear flopping before he shook his head. This, unfortunately, gave Sparky the chance to grab the donut, “But why? That is the home of Princess Twilight Sparkle. It was given to her after she became a princess,” He raises his hoof and looks out into the distance, “Wait. She has been missing for a while, so that makes sense that somepony would move in and change up the place,” he clarifies much to Fluttershy's confusion, “Are you sure that everything was moved into this Museum?” Misty asks, hoping that maybe just maybe, the artifact she's looking for was still in Canterlot, “Everything?” Fluttershy nods at this, “Yes, as far as I know. The Great and Powerful Trixie spent most of her life trying to save what she could of Canterlot after the fall. Many other scholars have ventured into Canterlot throughout the years, also searching for anything that she might have missed. But they stopped sending any more ponies about a few decades ago. Once reports started coming in, that the castle was falling in on itself.” Fluttershy says, not seeing the look of frustration and disappointment on Misty's face, Misty cannot believe her luck. Here she is somehow magically teleported into Canterlot, which has been missing for thousands of years. And the very item that would please her Queen is most likely behind a glass case at this museum. She's going to have to return to the Dark Castle or get in contact with her Queen as soon as possible. Because things just got a whole lot more complicated. “Thank you, Trixie,” Aaron says, looking up in the sky, thanking an unseeable pony while Misty stops the ground in anger as Sparky looks in awe between the adult now sucking on his new magickly turn giant gummy corn, “Is there any way that we can see the magic spell books?” “Oh, you are going to have to ask the Curator,” “And this Curator. Are they available?” Fluttershy shakes her head, unsure, “I don’t know. We don’t talk much. But he spends most of his time in the museum. So, you are going to have to ask him yourself,” “And that means going to Pony Ville,” He squeals, “I always wanted to go there,” ‘Weirdo,’ Misty thinks to herself, “So which way to Ponyville?” She asks as Sparky has finished his snack as has started running laps around the adults, “A half-day flight south,” She points, using her left wing to answer her, “You mean that you spent half a day flying here to Canterlot?” “Oh no. I have Dystopia drop me off here,” “Speaking of which,” Aaron interrupts, “Why are you here in the first place if there is nothing here?” “Oh, every year, my family and I pay our respect to the fallen. I was making sure everything was ready for the visit. I was waiting for Dystopia to pick me up when I wanted to see how far I could go down that tunnel,” She looks away, embarrassed, “I am trying to become braver,” Aaron can understand where she is coming from, but Misty is taken back at something that the butter-colored mare said, “The fallen?” Misty questions as Sparky starts jumping on her back and going between her and Aaron, Misty glares at the Dragon while Aaron remains unfazed, “She means she was paying respect to a monument dedicated to the ponies that lost their lives in the fall of Canterlot, right?” “Yes, and it also serves as our graveyard,” She replies as if nothing is wrong with what she just said, Misty stares in horror before covering her ears, “I didn’t need to know that!” Confused, Fluttershy looks between the ponies trying to understand what she said wrong, “But death is part of life. What is wrong with talking about a graveyard?” “It makes me uncomfortable. Can we change the subject!” Misty begs before saying nonsense words trying to drown out any mention of that word, “Okay,” Fluttershy says, not sure if Misty heard her, Aaron covers her mouth, not taking his eyes off Fluttershy, “So, how are we going to get in contact with Dystopia? Last night check she left in a hurry,” “Oh, she will be back. She is probably back in the chaos dimension sulking for about ten more minutes before she teleports back to here,” Misty pushes the offending hoof away, having calmed down, “How can you be so sure?” She asks before Sparky started to swing on her mane, causing her to grab the little troublemaker, “And how can you be so hyper!” “It's just how she is. She can be a bit stubborn at times, but she means well. Also, he is a baby; it's part of the deal,” “I can imagine,” Aaron says as Sparky tries to grab Misty's mane again as she holds him away from her as far as her hoofs can, “So you think that she will take us to Ponyville?” “Maybe. I know she will help me, but I can’t be sure about you two,” Fluttershy grabs Sparky away from Misty as the dragon stares at her in wonder, Misty nods at this before she leans in close to Aaron, whispering in his ear, “Aaron, can I talk with you for a second?” “Sure,” They walk a good distance away from their host before Misty stops facing Aaron as Sparky looks torn about where he should go, “What is it?” “What are you doing?” “What?” “I mean, we just meet this mare and her chaotic cousin, and you are acting like this is another day in the park,” “It was a miss understanding, Misty. I am sure she had her reason for attacking us like that.” “That's another thing I want to talk about. Why are you so trusting of ponies that you just meet? As far as you know, they are secretly evil ponies that will backstab you when you least expect it,” Her eyes look away in disbelief, ‘I can’t believe I am the one saying that,’ “Because everypony is just a friend you haven’t met yet, that is why,” “That is the most childish reasoning I have ever heard of. Aaron, not everypony is trustworthy!” He huffs at her, being reminded of the problems in life, “I know that, Misty. I just get this feeling when I meet somepony. It is hard to explain, but it has never failed me before. And my gut is telling me that I can trust her. The same way that I can trust you. Isn’t that enough?” “No,” She whispers quietly, looking away, “What?” “Nothing. So fearless leader. What is the plan?” Meanwhile, in the chaos dimension, Dystopia paces in a rant in front of two figures sitting against a tree, one taller than the other, with the smaller one being a mare. The taller one has his right arm on top of the mare, holding her close as animals of every kind roam the area, “And then she said that she would tell my mom on me. Can you believe that? That is a low blow. I never expect her, of all mares, to use the mom card on me. That's blackmail. And I didn’t do anything wrong!” The taller one chuckles softly, “Dystopia, my sweet child. I understand. You should have seen what it was like when I befriended my first pony. It had its ups and downs, but I wouldn’t change what happened for the world. Ponies will always have a hard time getting along with us. But the same thing can be said for us as well. But if making and keeping friends was easy, then nopony would put in so much effort to protect them. After all-“ “Friendship is magic. I know Grandpa. You keep telling us that since we were little,” “Because it is true, Dystopia,” The mare says softly, “So where did you leave your cousin?” Dystopia's eyes widen alarmingly, “I left her at Canterlot!” In a flash of light, Dystopia vanishes in a panic, “Kids. Always have their heads in the clouds,” The taller one said as a teenage green dragon lands nearby and sniffs around before giving chase to a rock that transform into a small blue changeling flying away laughing, “Maybe,” The other figure pets some bunnies that move to her, “So what are we going to do about this?” “Don’t worry, my dear. Don’t forget we have planned for their return after all.” He plucks a flower before shaking it like a bell making a ding noise before another pony appears before them in a flash of light, She is an earth pony mare with a bright pink coat with a purple mane with white streaks, but what stands out from this mare is the fact that she is floating in the air. She looks confused before her swirl pattern eyes land upon the figures under the tree, “Hi Mommy, hi Daddy,”