//------------------------------// // As If We Met In Another World (Edited) // Story: Equus Magi Twilight Magica // by Dragonfire2lm //------------------------------// In the colourful village of Ponyville, near the marketplace not quite in the centre of town, was a large oak tree. It was tall and grown by the finest Earth Pony gardeners the government could afford, enchanted by skilled unicorn mages and given the prime spot of sunlight by the weather pegasi employed by the mayor. It had a balcony, windows and a front door. The sign next to a small flower bed to the right of the entrance read, Golden Oaks Library. The curtains were drawn closed, the lights were off and a 'closed' sign hung on the front door, as well a notice from the council seeking somepony to take the job of resident librarian. The shadow of a pegasi-pulled carriage passed overhead as it circled around to land in front of the tree. The door opened and a pony stepped out, squinting at the brightness of the midday sun. She was young, a teen. She wore a plain magenta dress that highlighted her purple fur and eyes. Her navy blue mane was tied up into a simple 'pony-tail', the fringe parted evenly in the middle to make allowance for her horn, while her tail was neatly combed, a pink ribbon tied around the base in a modest bow. The carriage driver climbed off from his perch in the driver's seat and walked around to the back to retrieve the girl's bags and place them beside her. "Is that everything Miss Sparkle?" he asked. Miss Sparkle took a moment to look over all of her possessions, a roll of parchment levitating in her magenta aura. With a satisfied nod she rolled it up and finally turned her attention to the driver. "Yes, thank you," she replied politely. As the carriage left, the filly walked up to the front door and produced a key from a pocket on her dress, she slid it into the lock and opened the door, taking care to bring her bags in one at a time. Her horn glowed and the curtains opened, the interior lighting up instantly and showcasing the rows upon rows of books resting on the shelves carved into the wood of the hollowed-out tree. With a sigh, the purple pony got to work unpacking her belongings and began to carry a few bags upstairs to living quarters, all of the bags shared the same label. “Property of Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight reached the bedroom and opened the curtains to reveal a small room with an oval shaped window next to a bed that begged to be given clean sheets and pillows, a small personal bookshelf, a nightstand and a vanity. With swift precision, the bed was made, a few dozen books occupied the shelves and a hairbrush took its place on the vanity. The unicorn used her levitation abilities to aid her in the many tasks that needed to be done with cleaning and dusting to ensure the library was fit to live in and re-open. A few hours passed and Twilight stepped out of the library with a saddle bag on and followed the path towards the marketplace with a checklist levitating before her. Ponies of all colours, ages and dress code passed her by, she gave a small smile and a nervous wave to those that said hello, but for the most part kept her head down and quietly made her way to the stalls and shops she needed to purchase from. "Ok so that’s a loaf of bread, some oats, some daisies and a hooful of carrots all that's left is some-" "Hi there!" "Wah!" Twilight yelled, startled from her train of thought by the pink mare in front of her smiling cheerfully. Nervously, Twilight pawed the ground. "Um hello," she replied and took in the appearance of this new pony, a pink earth pony mare with a frizzled pink mane and tail a shade or two darker than her coat and baby-blue eyes. Like many ponies, she wore nothing, save for the gold chain necklace around her neck, hanging from that was a smooth, oval-shaped gem that matched her eyes and seemed to glow slightly. Twilight was once again pulled from her thoughts when the pony spoke. "Hi my name's Pinkie Pie! What's yours?" "My name is Twilight Sparkle and-" "Nice to meet you Twily!" Pinkie said and Twilight stepped back, her ears flattened and her tail moved instinctively to curl around a hind leg. "Can you...Please not call me that?" "Oh sorry," Pinkie apologised, then smiled as if nothing had happened. "Anyway, you're new to Ponyville right?" "Yes, you see I just moved into the town's library and-" "Great! That means I can give you the town tour! Oh I can throw you a 'welcome to ponyville' party too!". "That's...nice and all, but I really need to finish my grocery shopping so if you'll excuse me-" Twilight began. "No time for that silly, filly, I’ve gotta show you around Ponyville" "Wait Pinkie-Wah!" Twilight exclaimed as a pink hoof wrapped around her foreleg and dragged her off. *** Trees ripe with apples of every kind surrounded the land in front of the two ponies, woven baskets surrounded each and every plant in a set of three and before them was wooden arch that read 'Sweet Apple Acres' with an apple carved into the wood above it. The sound of fast-paced hooves reached Twilight's ears as an orange pony with a long blonde mane and tail tied into a loose braid and green eyes, galloped past and moved to a nearby tree, pivoted around and used her back legs to kick the trunk of the tree, sending the fruit raining down into the baskets. Twilight watched in amazement as the process continued for the next dozen or so trees, until the farm horse stopped and used the brown Stetson she was wearing to fan herself. It was only when the mare turned to face them did Twilight see the orange, oval-shaped gem pinned to the hat, as well as the fact that Twilight was gaping at the other pony. "Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres, I'm Applejack," the orange pony said and chuckled. "Ah can see you've already met Pinkie, she giving you the town tour?” Twilight quietly chuckled "I guess so, I'm Twilight Sparkle-" "Well howdy-doo Miss Twilight," Applejack said, grasped one of Twilight's forelegs in her own and shook hooves with the unicorn. "It's a pleasure to meet ya, I'm just taking a break for lunch, would you two care ta join me, shoot you can meet the rest of the Apple Family," "Um I don't know-" Twilight began, only to be interrupted by Pinkie Pie. "We'd love too! Oh Twilight, you're just going to love Granny Smith's cooking! She makes the best apple pies, apple fritters, apple everything!". *** "I think I ate too much pie..." Twilight moaned as she trudged along the cobblestone street behind Pinkie Pie. "That's a good thing, it means you like the cooking," Pinkie replied with a smile. "Look out!" A voice yelled and the next thing Twilight knew, she was face first in a mud puddle. "Nng, what in Equestria was that?" she groaned and tried to move the weight pushing her into the mud. "Oops, sorry" the same voice answered, the weight moved and a pair of hooves helped her up. Twilight looked up to see a sky blue Pegasus pony with rose-red eyes and a scruffy multi-coloured mane and tail. "Hi Dashie! This is Twilight, I'm giving her the town tour!" Pinkie said. "Until somepony crashed into me," Twilight grumbled and wiped some mud off her snout. "Sorry," the pegasus said and laughed sheepishly. "Here, let me help you,". The winged pony flew upward and a shadow fell over Twilight. The unicorn looked up to see a mass of white only seconds before a torrent of water fell on her. The cloud was moved and the pegasus dived towards her, for a second Twilight thought she was going to crash into her again, only for the world to become a blur of solid colour, the wind picking up and spinning her around as the mud covering her saddlebags and dress vanished. The world continued to spin as the colour faded to be replaced with the vague shapes of buildings as she tried to right herself. "My name's Rainbow Dash-" the blue pony managed to introduce herself before falling to the ground in a fit of laughter. "What? What's so funny?" Twilight asked. "Oh man I'm sorry, I guess I overdid it but-bwahahahaha!" Rainbow replied and tried to keep a straight face, only to fail and burst into another laughing fit. "What?!" Twilight asked and turned to Pinkie, only to watch as she giggled and joined Rainbow on the ground. "Your *snicker* mane, hahahaha ha!" Pinkie laughed. "Rrng..." Twilight said and frowned. Eventually the duo calmed down. "Ok...Ok I'm sorry, anyway what brings you to Ponyville? Here to see my awesomeness right?" Rainbow stated and flew up into the air to pose. "Um no, I moved here from Canterlot-" "Woah you're from Canterlot? Have you met the Wonderbolts? I heard they have their own race track there" Rainbow said excitedly. "No, sorry" "Well that's cool, I guess not everypony can see the best fliers in all of Equestria". "You must really like the Wonderbolts," Twilight said. "Like them? One day I'm going to join them, Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria!" the proud pegasus announced. "Really?" Twilight asked skeptically. "Prove it". "See all these clouds? I can clear the sky in ten. seconds .flat," Rainbow stated and took off. The rainbow-maned pony flew faster than Twilight had ever seen, leaving a mulit-coloured trail in her wake as clouds were bucked, punched, flown into or sucked up by a minature tornado. "Woo! Go Dashie!" Pinkie cheered, snapping Twilight out of her daze and the unicorn closed her mouth as Rainbow landed, slightly out of breath. "What'd I tell ya? Ten seconds flat," she said with a proud grin. Twilight was speechless, which caused Rainbow to chuckle. "Well, I gotta get going, weather duty calls. See you later Twilight, maybe we can hang out sometime?" the pegasus said and flew off. "Don't just stand there! We still have all sorts of things I have to show you!" Pinkie interjected and dragged her off. *** "Over there is Bon Bon's house, she works at small candy store, there's the post office, just ignore the blue box next door, The Doctor doesn't like ponies snooping, that's the news office where they print the newspaper, oh and the radio station is across town, I should take you there sometime-" Pinkie rambled, pointing out every building and its use to Twilight as they walked. "And this the Boutique, my friend Rarity lives here. Hey let's go say hi!" "Pinkie I don't-" Twilight's argument was rendered invalid as Pinkie charged inside the carousel-like building. At the front counter was a white unicorn with blue eyes and an elegantly styled purple mane and tail, she wore gold earrings with smooth purple gems studded in them. "Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic and unique, how can I help yo-WHAHA!" she yelled as she got a proper look at her 'customers'. "My word whatever happened to your coffuire?" she asked and walked towards Twilight. "Oh you mean my mane? It's nothing really, I'll just get out of your hair-" "My hair? But what about your hair?" Rarity asked and used telekinesis to pull Twilight towards a mirror. "Really its fine, you don't need to do anything," Twilight protested. "Nonsense dear, my name's Rarity by the way, and I absolutely refuse to leave anypony in such a state," "Don't worry Twilight, Rarity loves to help out ponies," Pinkie chimed. "Oh, so sorry Pinkie, I didn't see you there! How are you?" Rarity asked as she pulled out a brush and began to untangle the mess that was Twilight's mane. "Just peachy! I'm just showing Twilight around town" the pink pony replied. "My, that is interesting, so Twilight was it? You simply must tell me all about yourself," "Well, I'm the new librarian, I just moved here today in fact," Twilight said. "Oh? Where did you move from?" The fashionista asked. "Ow, Canterlot," Twilight winced as Rarity tugged a bit too hard on her mane. "Canterlot?! Oh the style, the sophistication and you lived there? My stars it must have been simply wonderful, you'll have to tell me all about it!" Rarity gushed. "Maybe some other time," Twilight replied nervously. "Certainly Twilight, I won't keep you any longer than necessary, I promise," Rarity replied warmly. *** When Twilight walked out of Rarity's shop, her mane and tail looked presentable and her dress looked like new. "See, I told you Rarity likes to help ponies!" Pinkie stated. "I guess you did," Twilight replied with a smile. "So where to next?". Pinkie stopped and put a hoof to her chin and frowned in thought. "Hm...I know!" the pink pony declared and Twilight blinked in astonishment as a light bulb appeared over Pinkie's head and lit up. "Next stop..." *** "...Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie declared as Twilight looked at the building that looked like it a giant gingerbread house. "You waited five minutes to say that?" Twilight asked. "It was necessary for the scene transition," Pinkie replied. "Huh?" "This where I live, I work for Mr. and Mrs. Cake and in return, I live upstairs," Pinkie explained. "Anyway, I need to get everything ready for your 'Welcome to Ponyville party'. I'll get everything set up and bring you back here tonight, ok?" "You don't need to go to all that trouble on my account..." "Pfft, what are friends for!" Pinkie replied casually. "Friends?" Twilight asked, surprised. "Well duh! You're my friend, Applejack's friend, Rainbow's friend and Rarity's friend. Wasn't it obvious?" "No..." "Well get used to it! 'Casue we're gonna have so much fun together!" Pinkie said cheerfully. *** The party was in full swing when Twilight arrived that evening, tables laden with food and punch bowls, games scattered around the room and some music was playing, courtesy of a stallion working as a DJ for the event. "Hey Twilight, Nice to see you!" Rainbow said and hovered over to the unicorn. "The guest of honour's here!" "Woohoo!" Pinkie shouted and pulled out a microphone from nowhere. "Everypony, say hello to Twilight Sparkle!" Various party goers began making their way over to Twilight, saying hello, asking simple questions, and it didn't take long for a crowd to form. Twilight's ears fell flat against her head and she took a step backwards, when the crowd pressed forward she panicked, her horn glowed and in a small burst of light she teleported to a dark corner of the room, unseen by the confused guests. Clutching her tail like it was a rope to safety, Twilight sat still as she tried to get her heart to stop racing. "Shh, It's ok," a soft voice cooed and the hyperventilating unicorn was wrapped in a feathery embrace. Twilight sat there wrapped in the warmth of yellow feathers as the other pony spoke soothing words to her, unaware of four others staring at her in worry. When Twilight calmed down, she stood up and turned to face the pony that had helped her. It was a light yellow pegasus pony with a long, light pink mane and tail that curled gracefully near the ends. Soft, kind green eyes met hers. The pony was wearing a gold bracelet with a pink jewel, the bracelet itself resembled leaves. "Are you ok?" the pony asked. "Y-yeah, sorry about that, I don't like crowds all that much.." Twilight replied with an embarrassed smile and was instantly crushed by hug from Pinkie. "I'm so sorry Twlight, if I knew you didn't like crowds, I wouldn't have invited so many ponies, and then you wouldn't get scared, and then wouldn't have panicked, I'M SO SORRY!" the party pony almost yelled. Twilight pried herself from Pinkie's death grip, looking surprised at her outburst. "It's ok, really Pinkie, you did a great job with the party," Twilight replied reassuringly, then turned to the pony that helped with her panic attack. "And I guess I should thank you for helping me, miss-?" The pony smiled shyly. "M-my name is Fluttershy," she mumbled, just barely audible over the music. "Well it is very nice to meet you, I'm um..I'm Twilight Sparkle, but you probably know that already...". "It's nice to meet you too Twilight. You probably didn't see me during Pinkie's Tour because I run the animal shelter near the edge of town. Maybe-maybe you'd like to come with me some time and I can introduce you to all the animals?" Fluttershy asked. "That sounds lovely Fluttershy" "Here's an idea, why don't all six of us go?" Rainbow suggested. "We could be, like, helping Twilight get used to being around lots of ponies and stuff". "That sounds like a wonderful idea Rainbow, though I'll have to design an outfit appropriate for such an outing," Rarity said. "Ah say that's a mighty fine idea, maybe ya'll can stop by the farm on your way there and treat yourselves to some of Equestria's finest apples?" Applejack said. "I'll bring cookies, and cake!" Pinkie stated, her grin in full force. "I can bring some books on animals if you'd like? It could help...maybe?" Twilight offered. "Sure, I'd like it if all of you come, the other workers and I could use a hand, what with all the new animals we're getting in. All those poor puppies that ended up as unwanted Hearth's Warming Eve gifts need food, shelter and plenty of love," Fluttershy replied. Twilight spent the rest of the night playing games, eating snacks and chatting with ponies and staying close to the five new ponies she had bonded with during her first day in ponyville. By the time she trudged to her new home and crawled into bed she was exhausted, but happy. This was the start of something magical.... *** Deep within the Everfree Forest, a voice cried and cackled, chanting something to the tune of a nursery rhyme. "ekahs elttil a od dna, sevooh rouy palc, ekawa sgubydal, enihsnuf enihsnus".