//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Running Into Old Friends // Story: Tales Through the Mirror: Twilight Sparkle and the Defender of the Realm // by FancyFan //------------------------------// Chapter 1 Twilight awoke to the harsh whitewashed walls of Ponyville Central Hospital. It said something about how much her life had changed since moving to Ponyville from Canterlot that she recognized the walls immediately while still groggy, whereas she had only been to the Canterlot hospital once since becoming Celestia’s personal student. Although to be fair, most of her visits here had been to check on Rainbow Dash after she had hurt herself trying out some new flying stunt. “Oh good, you're awake. How are you feeling?” Twilight turned her head, recognizing the voice of Nurse Redheart. “Still a bit dizzy, but that should pass. I just used waaay to much mana at the same time.” “Ah, that confirms our diagnosis. You must have been doing something incredibly taxing to drain yourself to depletion(*) like that; from what Doctor Stable could tell about your typical mana levels you might even be able to stand up to Sunset Shimmer for a couple of minutes! Now, there’s no reason not to let you out of the hospital as long as you promise to take it easy until you're fully recovered. So if I could just get your name miss?” Twilight froze, something was very wrong. Nurse Redheart knew who she was and wasn't the kind to play silly jokes like this, especially not while on duty. Plus she mentioned this Sunset Shimmer pony and her power like she was common knowledge, and Twilight knew, despite her fear of seeming like a braggart, that their were very very few ponies in Equestria who could match her in magical combat, and none of them were named Sunset Shimmer. She should know, most had been her professors back at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Something was obviously up, and until she knew what was going on, it was probably safest to play along. “Miss, are you okay?” “Oh, sorry nurse, still just a bit out of it I’m afraid. What was your question?” “Your name please miss.” “Twilight Sparkle.” Nurse Redheart jotted down Twilight’s name on a form lying on the bedside table. “You're free to go Miss Sparkle, but do please try and not teleport here from Saddle Arabia or whatever it was you did to deplete yourself into unconsciousness.” "Thanks you for making sure I was alright. Say, who brought me to the hospital? I should go and thank them.” “That would have been been Applejack, one the owners of Sweet Apple Acres. They have a stall in the town square, but if they're not open today, their farm is right outside of town to the southeast, you can't miss it.” "Ok, got it. Thanks again!” Twilight called over her shoulder as she walked out the door into the main hospital corridor and proceed to make her outside. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ As Twilight made her way to the market square, she couldn't help but be a bit weirded out by the way everypony kept looking at her. It wasn't an uncomfortable kind of looking, like the kind ponies do to those they are suspicious of. Instead it made Twilight uncomfortable because she had gone through it before. It was the glances thrown at the new person in town and while silently betting about how long it would take Pinkie to throw that person a party. Going through it now, after living here for years and personally getting to know all of the residents, felt odd.. Furthermore, it reinforced her theory that something had happened as she passed through the barrier of the dome earlier that day, something that had made everypony forget her. Her comfort level was also not helped by all the small changes from the Ponyville that she called home. Most ponies in her situation wouldn't have noticed them, but most ponies weren't as obsessive as Twilight. Flowers were different breeds than last time she had seen them, drainpipes were broken where the had been fixed and fixed where they had been broken, the scorched paving stones from Spike’s last bout of hiccups were unblackened,... BY THE BRIDGE OF FIRE! SPIKE! Twilight felt at once worried and deeply ashamed. How could she have forgotten about her young charge? He had gone through the dome right before she had, and now he was gone! Twilight, noticing that she was getting more stares than she had been before, attempted to calm herself with logic. There were two situations she could come up with. One, Spike’s draconic resistance to magic had protected him from whatever had happened in the same way her shields had; or two, that Spike had been affected just like the rest of town, which meant that he had never met her, so he had never been hatched, so his egg should still be safe. The second was, in Twilight’s opinion, much more likely. Spike was still a baby dragon, so his resistance to magic wasn't very strong yet, and it definitely wasn't near the level of all of those shields she had cast. Plus, no one had been screaming in good old Ponyville fashion something along the lines of ‘Oh the horror, the HORROR! DRAGON ON THE LOOSE!” So as depressing a thought as it was the Spike hadn't been hatched, it was the one Twilight had to base her actions on. At this point in her pondering and theorizing, Twilight had made her way to the market square, where she, not paying much attention to her surroundings as she brooded on the idea that she had entered another world where she hadn't been born, ran into a very pink mare, in the process knocking her bag if bits from the top of her saddlebag onto the ground. “Oh I am so sorry I didn't…...see you there Pinkie?” Twilight started apologizing to her friend but before she could finish, Pinkie had gasped perhaps the loudest gasp Twilight had ever heard from her(1), cocked her head so far to the left it was facing upside down, gasped even louder, than bolted off towards Sugarcube Corner fast than Rainbow Dash after a cup of coffee. “Ohhh, kayyyy. That was...different.” A passing blue unicorn stallion chuckled as he lifted Twilight's bit bag up to her with a flash of green magic. “That’s just Pinkie mam, you’ll get used to her.” Twilight nodded, and taking taking her bag of money in her own magic field replied. “If you say so, and thank you for your kindness.” Inwardly however, Twilight was concerned, she was one of Pinkies best friends and been so long enough to notice patterns in the chaotic pony’s behavior that others might have missed. Relating to this instance was the fact that Pinkie always greeted new ponies to town before she ran of to throw them a party. Still, it was Pinkie Pie, and Twilight had bigger concerns. With another new question to answer, Twilight decided to temporarily postpone thanking Applejack and make a checklist of what she needed to find out. Setting herself down on a bench gave the market a once over before getting to work. This unfortunately, added some more items to checklist, as some things about the market square had drastically changed. The three biggest concerns: Carousel Boutique, Rarity’s home and place of work, was closed and looked like it had been for years, Derpy was spotted coming out of her old apartment above the post office, and not the combined clock shop/house of Doctor Whooves, which she had moved into after their wedding during Twilights first year in Ponyville, additionally the clock shop wasn't even a clock shop, but a rug store, and had that look to it that indicated it had been so for a long time. Finally, the apple stand was being ran by not Applejack or Big Mac, but their cousin Caramel. Caramel was never left in charge of the stand, he was one of the worst salesponies in Equestria. Twilight shook her head, this was time for a checklist, not noticing more changes. 1: Ask Caramel where Applejack is so I can thank her. If possible determine why he is running the stall. While there, buy lunch. 2: Thank Applejack 3: Go to library and research what has changed. 3.a Do I exist here? 3.b. If I do not, or am not one of the Elements of Harmony, how where Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, and Sombra dealt with. 3.c who is Sunset Shimmer? 4: Find a place to spend the night. 5: If there is time left in the day, find out why Carousel Boutique is closed. 6: Investigate other changes, starting with the apparent lack of Doctor Whooves(2). Nodding, Twilight memorized her mental checklist and made her way to the apple stand. On the way she thought to herself, ‘Ok, he’s not going to know who you are, so don't act like you know who he is.’ “Howdy miss! What can I do for you today?” called Caramel as she approached the stand. “I’d like an apple and a case of fritters please.” “That’ll be four, no wait five, or was it three? No I was right the first time, four bits. Apologies mam, I ain’t got much a head for numbers.” “Its quite alright, heres the four bits.” said Twilight as she handed over the money. “Do you know where I can find Applejack? I need to thank her for taking me to the hospital.” Caramel’s eyes light up in recognition. “So you're the mare she mentioned, you don’t look near as bad as she described yeh.” “Oh, it wasn't much, just a simple case of using too much magic at once. So is Applejack around?” “Oh right, she just popped by the bank, she should be back in just a tick.” Twilight’s face sunk in concern. Sweet Apple Acres, despite its near monopoly on fruit sales in the Ponyville area, could barely make enough money on local profits to keep up with living expenses and property taxes on their land. Before Applejack's mother and father had died in a tragic fire, they had been able to sell their apples in other areas, but AJ’s parents had been the ones with the connections, and they hadn't gotten around to teaching their son or daughter how to manage that aspect of the farm. The Apples could have sold some land, or filed an tax appeal to the princess but the family's stubborn pride prevented that. “She doesn't need a loan does she?” Caramel broke up laughing, which was about the last reaction Twilight was expecting(3). “A loan? Oh that a brilliant one mam. To think of Sweet Apple Acres needing a lone! Why we've got the personal recommendation of Sunset Shimmer herself! Oh hohoho, a loan!!!” Caramel fell to the ground and continued to laugh his cutie mark of. Twilight just stared at him for a moment before turning away slowly and dashing of a way from the stallion who's laughter had now devolved into insane giggling.“Right well ummm. I guess that's all. I’ll just go to the bank and thank Applejack, seeyoulaterBY!” Running toward the bank, Twilight crashed into a pony for the second time this day. Also for the second time this day, that pony was pink, and named appropriately. Jarred from the impact, Twilight fell to the ground, but Pinkie, who had apparently seen Twilight coming this time, remained standing. Pinkie lifted Twilight to her hooves and looked her right in the eyes. Twilight was disturbed by what she saw. The face staring back at her wasn't the usual happy and chipper Pinkie Pie, it was deathly serious and when Pinkie spoke, her voice was hard and gave no indication of being willing to compromise. “We’re going to my room now. We have some things to talk about.” She then grabbed Twilight with one leg and drug her back to Sugarcube Corner. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ On the other side of the market, the blue unicorn who has spoken to Twilight earlier walked into a dark back ally, and a moment late, from the same ally, a bronze colored pegasus leaped into the skies and flew away. *.Depletion: a condition that occurs when a unicorn, or occasionally pegasus, exhausts or nearly exhausts his or her mana reserves. The condition is theoretically possible in earth ponies, but as they have such large reserves and none of their magical talents involve large sudden mana expenditures, it has never been recorded. Symptoms include fainting, dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath, being incapable of joining group musical numbers, and a craving for alfalfa and jelly. 1. It’s competitor was the time Pinkie gasped upon learning that the grocery stores supply of sugar had been ruined by a water leak, and that a shipment of more would not be arriving for another two weeks. Many citizens had come to Twilight asking for memory removing spell after the sugar had finally arrived(1.5) 1.5. While horrified, they were polite enough to not want to ask her to cast the same spell on them twice. 2.While not best friends with Derpy. Twilight knew the mailmare well enough and respected her, so she felt that it would be cruel not to investigate what had happened to such a great source of happiness in Derpy’s life. Plus he still owed her an interview for her Temporal Mechanics dissertation. 3. All of the reactions she was expecting even less involved either Discord, Caramel turning into a bizarre bipedal hairless ape, or both.