//------------------------------// // Marco Polo // Story: Equestria Girls: The Edge of Destruction // by Sidral Mundet //------------------------------// Marco Polo “Pinkie?” Applejack was in a haze as she began to stir; noticing that she was lying on the floor as she slowly began to awaken from the strange journey through the magic portal. Slowly stirring, she tried to stand up. However she noticed her legs would not bend the way she wanted them to, as if she was missing her knees. Pushing off the ground with her arms, she noticed something. Particularly that she had no hands. “YAAAAHHHHH!” she screamed as she examined her newly hoofed arms. Turning her neck around, she noticed what had happened to the rest of her body. Instead of a human torso and legs, her body seemed to be that of a horse, with tail included. Looking around, she noticed several other multi-colored horses lying in what appeared to be an unused storage room. Breathing heavily, Applejack approached the white and purple horse lying closest to her, walking uneasily. The horse was beginning to stir. “Rarity!?” Applejack tapped the awakening horse. Looking up, it took notice of Applejack. “AAAHH-“it began to scream until Applejack placed one of her new non-hands over the horse’s mouth. “Rarity!?” Applejack asked once more. The horse, wide-eyed in shock, nodded as Applejack removed her arm, “Help me with the others.” Applejack started to move towards the horse she believed was Rainbow Dash. Rarity was still in a state of shock and was examining her new body. Applejack ignored this and started to stir the cyan horse. “AAAAAAHHHHHH!” The scream had not come from the cyan horse next to Applejack, but a yellow and pink one next to a large mirror. “Fluttershy?” Applejack asked. With eyes as wide as Rarity’s, the horse nodded. “Applejack?” she responded. Applejack, also nodding in conformation, returned to what was almost certainly Rainbow Dash. “Uh, my head,” Rainbow Dash began to groan, lifting her arms to her rainbow maned head. “Uh, Rainbow?” Applejack was helping her to her feet, well, hooves now. “What happened Apple-” Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to see the horse versions of Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity looking at her. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!” Rainbow Dash leaped into the air several feet. In doing so she unfurled a pair of wings attached to the side of her new body and started to hover, wings flapping. “AAAAAHHH!” Rainbow Dash cried out at this unexpected development. “Rainbow Dash, calm down,” Applejack called to her airborne friend, “we ain’t gonna get anywhere by panicin’.” However, Applejack was still as bug-eyed as the rest of them and was still breathing hard. “OHMYGOD, THIS IS SO EXCITING!” a pink horse, next to Fluttershy, had said that. “Pinkie Pie?” Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity shouted, with Fluttershy adding what would be a scream for her. “OOOOOOO! Fluffy!” Pinkie Pie was now examining her new tail with much delight and completely ignoring the others in the room. “Pinkie, what the hell did you do?” Applejack asked the oblivious horse. “Well, it obvious, I pushed us into the magic mirror and now we’re in Twilight’s world.” Pinkie Pie responded, still focusing on her new body. “New teeth, that’s weird.” She said as she licked her lips. “Why the hell are we horses?” Rainbow Dash yelled, still hovering in midair. “We’re not horses Dashie, we’re ponies.” Pinkie Pie replied. “Alright then, why are we ponies?!” Rainbow Dash asked, still in a state of slight shock and panic. “Duh, this is Twilight’s world; you know, the super-awesome-magic-kingdom-land filled with talking ponies.” Pinkie Pie now had one of the largest grins Rainbow Dash had ever seen on her. “That doesn’t answer my question,” Rainbow Dash stated, still with a hint of panic in it. “The magic portal is what changed us into ponies. I mean five humans might stand out, don’t you think?” Pinkie Pie replied. “That doesn’t make any sense. Do you have any idea how complicated DNA is? You can’t just go taking out chromosomes and what not and get a horse, ponies, or whatever we are.” Rainbow Dash continued. “It’s a magic portal, Dashie, it can do what it likes,” Pinkie stated in a matter-of-fact sort of way. Rainbow Dash, clutching the top of her head with her hooves, stared at the pink pony with a mix of anger and confusion, “THAT MAKES EVEN LESS SENSE!” “GIRLS!” Fluttershy, in a rare moment, had been the one to yell. As soon as all eyes were on her however, she began to retreat a bit under her hair. “Uhm,” she began in her normal tone, “We don’t need to be arguing right now about trans-dimensional physics. All we need to do is simply walk back through the portal and go home.” “Quite right dear,” Rarity started walking over to the rather large mirror in the room. “Come now, let’s go back home and forget this ever happened.” BANG! Rarity had run straight into the mirror and had gotten her face stuck to the mirror. Using her two front hooves, she peeled herself from the mirror. Tapping it, she found that it was an ordinary mirror. “Ah think we may have a problem,” Applejack said, noting Rarity’s constant taping of the mirror. “B-b-b-but why isn’t working,” Fluttershy said. “Shoot, I knew I forgot something,” Pinkie replied. “YOU FORGOT SOMETHING!?” Rainbow Dash yelled. “WHAT THE HELL WAS IT, OR WAS THIS MEANT TO BE A ONE WAY TRIP!?” “Jeez Dashie, all I forgot to do was reverse the polarity of the neutron flow,” Pinkie responded. “OKAY, NOW I KNOW THAT’S JUST STUPID TECHNOBABBLE!” Dash replied angrily. “WOULD Y”ALL JUST SHUT UP!” Applejack was getting tired of the pointless back and forth between those two. “Pinkie, you brought us here,” she began in a calmer tone, “Can you bring us back home?” “Sure I can,” Pinkie turned to the mirror and gave a half-hearted laugh, “It may just take some time.” “How much time,” Applejack knew she wasn’t going to like the answer. “Oh, about a month,” Pinkie responded. “Why in tarnation do you need a month?” Applejack asked, “You got our side working in five minutes.” “Well that was a big old statue, this is a foot thick mirror, the dimensions are completely different and I’ve got no idea how the physics work here. Jeez, it’s like you guys never took inter-dimensional quantum mechanics before,” Pinkie rolled her eyes. Applejack face-hoofed, “Okay then, since we can’t go home right now, our best option is to go outside and find someone who can help us. Twilight said she was a princess here, maybe if we go and find her, she’ll be able to help us once we’ve explained ourselves.” The others looked at her skeptically. “Yeah, ain’t got nothin’ better,” she said realizing how absurd her plan was. “Well at least I do look gorgeous,” Rarity said fully taking her new self in at the mirror, “For a horse that is.” “Yeah, never mind the fact the your naked right now,” Rainbow Dash replied. A moment of slow realization dawned on Rarity. “ALL OF YOU TURN AROUND NOW! NOBODY LOOK AT ME!” “Uh, Rarity, in case you haven’t noticed, none of us are exactly wearin’ clothes,” Applejack responded, sighing at the overly dramatic pony, “Well, save for mah hat,” Applejack said noticing the rather well fitting Stetson on her head. “And besides, it not like you can see anything,” Rainbow Dash said. She was soon met with annoyed stares from the others, save Pinkie Pie, who was too occupied with her own reflection at the moment. “What? It’s true.” Rainbow Dash responded to their looks. “Anyhow,” Applejack said, trying to change the conversation she started making her way to the only door in the room, “Uh, how Ah’m ah goin’ ta open this?” she said looking at a completely ordinary door handle, “Don’t exactly have hands.” “Oh, I can do that,” Pinkie Pie walked up to the door, placed her hoof on the handle and swung the door out. “How didja do that?” Applejack asked. “It’s a door handle, AJ. All you gotta do is turn it and the door opens, silly,” Pinkie said that with the utmost sincerity. “But,” Applejack began before Rainbow Dash placed a hoof over her mouth. “It’s Pinkie Pie, let it go.” Rainbow Dash had gone from angry to just plain tired and seem to have stopped trying to figure out how this new world in which they were in worked. “You gonna join us here on the ground?” Applejack asked her still airborne friend. “I, uh, don’t know how to get down,” Rainbow replied while running a hoof through her mane, with a look of embarrassment on her face. “Well maybe you should stop flappin’ those wings you got there,” Applejack said. “Hey, why do Fluttershy and I have wings anyhow and the rest of you don’t?” Rainbow Dash then stopped her wings and fell face first onto the floor. Applejack held back her laughter. “I have wings?” Fluttershy inspected her body and discovered that she did in fact, have wings. “Ah don’t know, we’ll just add it to the list of unexplained shit this world is throwing at us, anyhow we need to figure out which way to go,” Applejack stepped out of the room. The group was now entering a rather large and ornate hallway lined with arches and stain glass windows. “OOOO, I say we go this way!” Pinkie was pointing to her left. “Sure, why not,” Applejack led the way. Continuing down the corridors for several minutes, the group came across several weirdly dressed ponies at an intersection. Fluttershy pulled the group into a closet on the side. “Whatcha-“Applejack began as Fluttershy put her hoof over her mouth. The group now got a better glimpse of the ponies through the crack in the door as they passed. It was clear that they were guards of some sort as they had on large helmets, what appeared to be body armor, and they were carrying rather large spears. Waiting for the guards to pass, the group exited the closet and continued down the hallway. “We must be in some sort of royal palace,” Rarity explained. “That would explain the guards,” Rainbow Dash commented, “Hey, why don’t we just ask them where Twilight is. I mean she is a princess, so they’re the ones who are probably guarding her. They can take us right to her.” “Or to a dungeon,” Fluttershy responded weakly. “OOOOOO, I hope it’s one of those super geeked out dungeons, you know where the guy’s got a massive TV system, all the major consoles, a deck out surround-“ Pinkie was interrupted by Applejack. “Ah don’t think it’s that type of dungeon,” Applejack said, “Ah think Fluttershy’s right on this one. If they are guarding Twilight, they’re not goin’ ta let five strangers just walk up to her.” “We could tell them about the mirror and how we got here,” Rainbow Dash offered as a reply. “Nah, can’t do that. They’d think we're plum crazy,” Applejack continued down the corridor, paying much more attention to their surroundings. If there was one thing about this new body of hers, it was that it definitely had better hearing than her human one, and the ears could move around, allowing her to detect the direction of any sort of noise. Up ahead she heard voices in the distance and hoof steps coming closer. “Quick,” Applejack whispered, motioning the group into another room located nearby. As the group entered the room, the voices started to become more intelligible. “Sweet Celestia, this is boring,” the voice, to the shock of the group, was identical to Rainbow’s, “I mean there’s a ton of booths and other awesome things outside and we’re stuck in here waiting for Twilight.” “Listen dear,” said a voice similar to Rarity’s,” Twilight’s a princess now, so she needs all the support she can get and since Princess Cadence and Shining Armor are overlooking the fairgrounds, it’s Twilight’s duty to take their place at the Parliament meeting.” “Yeah but that was supposed to end, like what, an hour ago?” said the Rainbow Dash sound-a-like. “Ahm sure the only reason she’s late is that somethin’ important is goin’ on down there,” this voice was unmistakably Applejack’s, “We all know how orderly she can be.” The ponies were now in view of the door, unaware that the group of inter-dimensional travelers were watching them with awe and surprise. “I hope it’s nothing serious,” the yellow and pink pony who was identical to Fluttershy spoke. In fact, the entire herd walking down the hall looked exactly like they did, save for the fact that these ponies had some strange markings near their hindquarters. “Now don’t you worry, Fluttershy,” the Rarity clone said, “Twilight’s will probably be joining us shortly, she probably just had a minor hiccup in her first royal meeting.” “Hey, does anyone else feel that this is super expositional, like we’re informing people about things we clearly know but have to inform them in order to explain why we’re here and what we’re doing?” the Pinkie Pie one had been the one to say this. The rest of the group stopped right in front of the door which housed the group from Earth, and shot the pink pony some strange looks, “Just me then? Alright.” “Anyhow,” the white and purple pony began as the look-a-likes continued down the hallway, save for the pink one, “we don’t get to see the inside of the Crystal Palace very often. The architecture is simply divine.” “I, uh, think it’s Neo-gothic in design,” the cyan one commented, her voice trailing down the hall. However the pink one was still in view of the door crack and seemed to be sensing something. “I sense something,” she began, “A presence’s I’ve not felt since-“ “Pinkie Pie, you coming?” The Rainbow Dash like voice snapped the pink pony’s concentration and she ran down the hall. “Coming.” She replied back. The voices and hoof steps slowly started to fade as they continued down the hall. The group stood motionless inside the room. “Was-was that US?” Rarity finally addressed the elephant in the room. “Ah reckon so,” Applejack responded, still in a state of shock and staring at the door where their counterparts had just passed. “So there are two of me? Awesome!” Rainbow Dash had flown back into the air as she said this and noticed Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy was holding down Pinkie Pie, trying to restrain her. “Uh, Fluttershy, what are you doing?” “Trying to stop the collapse of the universe, that’s what,” Fluttershy stop holding Pinkie as she stopped struggling. “Shoot, just missed her,” Pinkie said to no one in particular. “HUH?! What do ya mean by that?” Applejack was talking to Fluttershy. “Well, whenever there are two identical people in the same place and they interact with each other, bad things always occur. We could melt, or giant bat like creatures could start eating reality, or we could blow a hole in the universe the size of Belgium,” Fluttershy answered, curling up into a ball as she did so. “Belgium? Seems a bit dramatic, doesn't it?” replied Rarity. “It wouldn't be so nice if you’re at the center of it,” Fluttershy had resumed a normal stance now, at least normal for a pony, anyhow. “Okay, and just where are you getting these ideas from?” Rainbow Dash question Fluttershy. “Well, uh,” she began, retreating slightly into her hair, “Mostly from Sci-fi shows, but I’d rather not take the chance on finding out whether they’re right or not.” “She has a point there, Dash,” Applejack responded. “Fine, we won’t interact with our doubles,” Rainbow Dash began in a defeated tone, “Beside, Fluttershy’s right. The universe couldn't handle the sheer awesomeness of two of me,” Her voice was full of pride. Applejack rolled her eyes at the comment, but let it pass, “So we’re all agreed, we won’t interact with our doubles.” The three other heads in the room nodded in agreement. Applejack checked the number of faces. “Where’s Pinkie Pie?” Applejack stated as she noticed the door to the room had been swung open. “She must have left when we weren’t looking,” Rarity responded. “She must be looking for her opposite,” Fluttershy said, “We’ve got to stop her!” The group left the room only to notice a pink blur rushing to the right at the end of the hallway. The group followed after the streak. Running, they noticed they were going much faster than what should be humanly possible and had soon caught up to Pinkie Pie, who seemed to not be running but jumping along at a reasonable pace. Soon enough, the group caught up to her. “Hey, girls,” Pinkie said, “You want to meet your twin too?” “Pinkie, didn’t ya hear what Fluttershy said?” Applejack replied, “The entire universe could be destroyed if that happens.” “Or at least Belgium,” Rainbow Dash muttered to no one. “Don’t be silly,” Pinkie was still bouncing down the hall,” The only way the universe could be destroyed is if me and myself held such a huge party that we accidentally bring about the heat death of the universe early. But don’t worry, I’m sure the party won’t be THAT big.” Applejack looked confused at Pinkie Pie for a second before moving back to the topic at hand, “Sorry Pinkie, but we can’t take that chance,” she put a hoof out in front of Pinkie to stop her. “AWWW, come on guys,” Pinkie said with a sad look on her face, “we could have so much fun with them. Rainbow Dash, imagine all the cool athletic things you could do if there was two of you.” “Yeah, that be pretty awesome, but I kinda need the universe to exist for that to happen,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Now, Pinkie, Ah don’t mean to upset you, but we need to find Twilight, get the mirror fixed, and go home before anyone misses us or we end up destroyin’ all of creation,” Applejack started moving down the corridor. “Come on, y’all” “You guys are just no fun sometimes,” Pinkie complied. “I’d rather be alive and no fun at all then dead, Pinkie,” Rarity replied. “Uh, girls!” Fluttershy motioned behind them. Around the corner, they could hear faint hoof steps and saw shadows on the wall approaching them. Applejack motioned them into the rather large and impressive doors next to them and they entered the room. The room the group had just entered was no ordinary room. There was a long walkway surrounded by marble columns and incredibly detailed stained glass windows, all of which lead up to a rather impressive throne located at the back of the room. Lucky for them it was also completely empty. “This must be some kind of throne room,” Rarity said. “Shhhh,” Applejack hushed Rarity. “Then this is perfect,” said Rainbow Dash in a whisper, “All we got to do is wait here until Twilight shows up.” “SHHHH!” Applejack said with more force, “Y’all gonna get us caught.” Soon, the group could hear voices approaching. Unfortunately, the voices were all too familiar. “Admit it Rainbow Dash, we’re lost,” It was Rarity’s duplicate that had spoken. “Please, I know this place like the back of my own hoof,” this time it was Dash’s double. “Alright then, where are we?” The Rarity double sounded annoyed. “Uh, here,” said the Dash double matter-o-factly. “And just where is here?” It sounded like the Rarity double was losing her patience. “Y’all quit your fightin’ I think this is the throne room,” the Applejack’s voice sounded like it was right beside the door, “Betcha there’s a map in here.” Applejack looked around and noticed there were no other exits save the large door their duplicates were standing in front of. Noticing a space behind the throne, she motioned the rest of the group behind it. Just as she slid behind the large chair, the door swung open. “Here we go,” the Applejack double said. It sounded as though they were still near the entrance. Applejack took a quick peak from behind the throne. The group of identical ponies were looking at a map on the wall at the other side of the room, facing away from the throne. “Aw shucks, we’re on the other side of the castle,” the Applejack double said. “I told you we were lost,” said the Rarity double. “Whatever,” the Dash double replied in a tone of bruised pride. “Ah said quit it,” the AJ double snapped, “Ah got the direction, now we can go back to our quarter and wait for Twilight to get done with her meetin’.” “Achoo!” Applejack turned around to see that the Fluttershy next to her had just sneezed. As with all things Fluttershy, it had barely been noticeable and Applejack hoped that her double and her friends hadn’t noticed. However, her heart felt like it could burst out of her chest at any moment. “Bless you,” the Rainbow Dash double said nonchalantly. “Who’re you blessing, Dashie?” The Pinkie Pie double had said. “Uh, Fluttershy, did you hear her sneeze?” The Dash double responded. “Uh, I didn’t sneeze,” Fluttershy’s double imputed. “Okay,” the Rainbow Dash double sounded suspicious. “So ya thought you heard Fluttershy sneeze, no big deal,” the AJ clone retorted. “Come now, let us return to our rooms so I can take a nice relaxing bath,” Rarity’s clone has spoken up. “Yeah, you guys are right,” The Rainbow Dash double said, still holding the same suspicious tone in her voice, “Let’s leave.” There was the sound of hoof steps exiting the room, followed by a loud bang indicating the doors had closed. Waiting a few minutes to make sure the group’s doubles didn’t re-enter the chamber; Applejack closed her eyes and drew a breath of relief, “That was a close one.” Opening her eye, she discovered a certain cyan pony standing at the top of the throne looking down on them, “Yeahh, not really,” the rainbow haired pony replied. Next Time: Earthshock