//------------------------------// // Chapter Two // Story: My Little Human: Equestrian Girl // by Jgame //------------------------------// The rest of the week was a painful exercise in patience. Constant whispers, stares, and pity for having the audacity to not believe in magical girls from other worlds took their toll on Twilight. But the library books were the last straw. At the end of each week, students overdue on their library books would be given a pink slip with their fine printed on the paper. Twilight was always organized, and her record with the library was spotless. Until now, Twilight thought glumly as Mrs. Cheerilee put the pink slip on her desk. Twilight started to berate herself. How could she have forgotten? But Twilight knew the answer. In all her fustrations with the girl that shared her name and face, she'd completely forgotten to return the books like she had jotted down on her calender to do on Monday. Twilight's hands curled into fists. Twilight looked out the classroom window. The lawn was becoming dotted with brightly coloured leaves. Her gaze traveled to the statue that seemed to meet Twilight's eye. Instantly, a spark fired up in her mind as an idea came to her. Twilight smiled for the first time that week and stood up straighter in her uncomfortable plastic seat. "Is anything wrong, Twilight?" Mrs. Cheerilee asked in concern, "I understand all this about the other Twilight Sparkle has been a little much for you..." "No, everything's going to be fine. It's hard to believe, but what else can I believe in, right?" Twilight said cheerfully. Sunset Shimmer and her friends turned their heads at this in utter disbelief, before Mrs. Cheerilee reminded them to face the front. Sunset Shimmer's gaze lingered until she received a second reminder. The bell signaling the end of the day rang and the students rushed out the door. Twilight, however, got up from her seat and stretched leisurely, and then sauntered over to the library to return her late library books. She took the librarian's remark about her uncharacteristic tardiness with a smile as she reached into her lavender purse, pullings out the remains of her lunch money to pay for the late fee. Twilight went outside to use her cell phone, dialing in the number of her house. "Hello?" "Hi, Dad," Twilight said. "Hello, Twilight," her father answered from the other end, "is anything wrong?" "No, I'm just going to be home a few minutes later than usual. I'm going to be doing a scientific experiment on my own after school, and it might take a little longer than usual to do. I'll be home by five." "A scientific experiment?" Twilight's father chuckled, "well, have fun then. Tell me and your mother all about it when you get home." "I will," Twilight promised. "Also, one other thing. I've been hearing some odd things about your school. Are you all right, honey?" Twilight's grip on her cell phone tightened. "Fine. Just fine." "Well, all right," Twilight's father said, "good luck with your experiment. Love you!" "Love you too, Dad," Twilight said. At this point, she had spent so much time lollygagging that the front of the school was empty of students and teachers. Twilight made sure there wasn't anyone around. She didn't want to admit that she was going to try the rumour Melody mentioned. Twilight strolled over to the marble horse statue, crouched and put her hand on the base of the statue. She shut her eyes in concentration as she listened for any noise. Nothing. Not even the sounds of passing cars or the athletes practicing in the back field. Twilight grinned. That was it. There was no other Twilight talking, there was no such thing as other worlds, and there definitely no such thing as magic. Twilight savoured her victory for a few moments before she heard electricity crackle around her as her limbs started to jerk around uncontrollably. Twilight forced her eyes open to see that she glowed bright purple. Lightning danced in front of her eyes as a electrical hum buzzed in her ears. She forced her head upwards to find her hand glued to the statue's base, which glowed pure white. Twilight screamed as her hand sank into solid marble like quicksand. The statue was sucking her in, slowly at first, but accelerated its pace by the second. Twilight tried to pull away for a second time, but her limbs wouldn't cooperate as her entire arm sank firmly in the statue, and then her weight tipped forwards, causing her to lose her balance and sending the rest of her body tumbling through the solid marble. All Twilight remembered as she fell into the statue was a tunnel that was made with all the colours of the rainbow. Twilight woke up on a cold silver floor. She groaned. "Where am I?" Twilight asked the empty room. The room gave her no answer as she tried to stand up. But her limbs felt odd, as if she suddenly could not remember how to move her hands. Twilight forced her hand down on the floor to push her upwards, only to hear a faint clop when her hand hit the floor. She cast her gaze over to the sound... only to realize that she no longer had a hand. Instead, a purple furry leg with a hoof replaced it. Twilight scrambled to her four feet and looked around the room to find a darker purple full-body mirror. She screamed when she caught sight of her own reflection. An ugly purple muzzle replaced her face with a small horn protruding from her forehead. She was covered in lavender fur with a darker purple mane that stopped just above her eyes. On both sides of her rump was a pinkish-purple star with several smaller white stars that clustered around it like a constellation. She was a horse... no. Not a horse. More like a unicorn from the fantasy books Twilight used to like as a little girl. The human turned unicorn looked around the room. There was nothing else in it but the mirror, as if the room had been made for the sole purpose of housing it. Twilight clumsily limped towards the mirror and reached out a hoof to touch the glass. She was interrupted by a grey stallion that burst into the room, wearing golden plate mail body armour and a helmet. "Hey!" the stallion exclaimed, "what are you doing here? And what was that scream for?" "Um, there was a spider. A big, hairy spider. It sort of took me by surprise," Twilight said. The guard, as that's what Twilight had guessed him to be, scowled at her. "Fine. How did you get in here? This area is off-limits to tourists." "Oh, it is?" Twilight inquired, "I was just looking around. I couldn't find the exit, and this place is just so... interesting." The guard snorted, apparently satisfied. "Very well, then. Please leave and tell no one about what you saw in this room." "Right. Of course. I'll do that," Twilight said as she exited the room quickly with the guard shutting the door. Another guard, this one orange but still wearing the golden plate mail and helm of his friend, seemed shocked when she saw Twilight exiting the room. "Excuse me, sir," the ornage guard said, "but I'm pretty sure our orders were to keep ponies out of that room." "Somehow she slipped in. How, don't know, don't care. Probably mucked up a teleportation spell," the grey guard said gruffly. "Shouldn't this warrant some kind of questioning, or at the least a report?" the orange guard asked in concern. Twilight took a sharp intake of breath and prepared herself to run. "I did the questioning already. She's clueless. As for the paperwork, if we sent a report every time some Sparkle, Glimmer, and Shine stepped a hoof out of line, the kingdom would be out of paper in a week," the grey guard said. The orange guard frowned. "But-" "If you think it's that important, take it up with the Captain. I'm sure he'll give you a nice pat on the head for your valiant efforts. In fact, I have something I need you to do while on your way there. Take this mare and kindly show her where the exit is." The orange guard bowed his head in defeat. "Yes, Sir." Twilight exhaled loudly in relief. "This way, Miss," the guard said dejectedly. Twilight accompanied the guard as he walked her through multiple clandestine halls. She didn't want to push her luck, but this was a good chance to figure out why she was a unicorn. "So, what's your name?" Twilight asked politely. "Flash Sentry," he sighed. "Do you have any idea about the mirror in the room?" Twilight cautiously ventured. The guard shook his head. "The Princesses know, but they're not saying anything. There's rumours going around that's it's a portal to another world, but that's impossible. And I have one question for you. Why are you walking like that?" "Like what?" "You're kind of limping around like a filly trying to learn how to walk," Flash Sentry remarked. "Um, numb legs." Mister Sentry smiled at Twilight in sympathy. "It's a pain, isn't it?" "Yeah," Twilight agreed before she fell silent. She focused on watching the guard's gait and subtly trying to mimic it as they walked. By the time they had both reached the exit, she could almost do it perfectly. "Here we are," Mister Sentry said, "try not to go anywhere you're not supposed to again." "I won't," Twilight promised. Mister Sentry nodded and went back inside the building, which was an enormous white castle that towered over her like a skyscraper. Twilight turned away from the castle and looked around at the sprawling foreign city that surrounded her. It occurred to Twilight that she had no clue what to do next.