To say that Thistle Whistle was confused and disoriented would be a massive understatement. Just last night she had nestled down to sleep in her beachside home on Butterfly Island, after a long party hosted by her dear friend, Star Catcher. Then the next day, after a dream of ice-cream sundaes the size of houses, she awoke to one of the strangest sights she had ever seen.
Clouds. An enormous city, floating high up in the air, made entirely out of clouds. The houses were clouds, the streets and roads were clouds, everything around her was completely made from clouds!
She gulped. Thistle Whistle had never been overly fond of clouds.
"Whu... What?" she mumbled, whistling nervously as she hovered a few feet off the floor. "What is this place? Where am I, how'd I get up so high?!"
She squinted up in the sky. The sun was hanging overhead, basking the land below in a stunning summer mid-morning. She whistled again. "Looks like it's already well into the day. Come on, Thistle Whistle, not like you to sleep in this late, not like you at all..."
She flew through the streets of Cloudsdale, taking in the strange sight of the cloud city, as pegasi of all shapes and sizes flew around her, heading into buildings or up into the sky above. "Just what is this place?" she asked again, to nopony in particular. "Did Butterfly Island turn into a floating cloud island while I was asleep? I'm pretty sure I'd have heard about something like that... And where did all these ponies come from? There weren't that many of us last night..."
"Your attention, please!"
Thistle's monologue was cut short, however, as a pegasus stallion flew down among the streets, ponies gathering around him. Without much of an idea of what else she could do, she shrugged and joined the throng surrounding him.
"I need volunteers," shouted the stallion. "There are strange new weather-patterns approaching from all directions, and it's up to us to check them out and make sure they won't cause any trouble. I'm sure some of you have noticed already."
A general murmur of agreement rippled through the small crowd. "Strange weather? What does he mean?" Thistle asked the pegasus next to her, whistling under her breath to get her attention.
"You know, the weird things in the sky that keep appearing and disappearing, the funny-looking clouds, that kinda stuff," she replied.
"Oh, I see." Thistle looked up into the sky and sure enough, not too far away she could see a large patch of clouds that seemed to shimmer and flicker in the air, like a lightbulb going out. And then, before her astonished eyes, the cloud vanished into thin air.
"Woah! Did you see that? Tell me you saw that!"
"See what?"
"That cloud! There was a huge cloud just over there and then it just... poof! It vanished!" replied Thistle.
The pegasus looked in the direction she was pointing. "Yeah, that's been happening all morning, that's what we're checking out. You coming?"
Thistle scuffed the clouds below her with a forehoof. "Oh! Er, I would, you know I totally would help but... I'm, uh, not too good with... clouds."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I guess... I guess they make me nervous," she replied with a nervous whistle.
The pegasus looked at Thistle with a slack-jawed bemusement that would not be out of place if she had just sprouted a second pair of wings. "Seriously? A pegasus... who's scared of clouds?"
"I know, I know!" Thistle covered her ears in embarrassment. "It doesn't make much sense, but it's the truth, I just don't like clouds!"
"You do realise you're in a city made entirely out of clouds, right?" the pegasus deadpanned as she took to the air to join the volunteer force.
"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that, where exactly am I?" she asked.
"Wh-what do you mean, where are you? You're in Cloudsdale, pretty much the pegasus capital of Equestria! How could you not know where you are?"
"Cloudsdale?" Thistle echoed, whistling thoughtfully. "Hmm, never heard of it. How far is Butterfly Island from here?"
The pegasus scratched her head. "Uh... Can't say I've ever heard of the place. But if it's an island then it's probably off the coast somewhere, in which case you're a long way from home. Anyway, look, the vounteers are heading off, if you're not coming with then I gotta split. So long!"
Without another word, the pegasus turned in midair and flew after the small group of pegasi, who all headed out of the city together towards a particularly large cloud front just off to the south. "Hey wait, come back!" Thistle called after her, trilling and whistling as loud as she could. "I still don't understand where I am! What's going on?!"
But to no avail, as the streets returned to normal, with nopony giving her a second glance. She sat down on the floor, hanging her head. "Oh, I've never been so confused..."
"You're telling me!"
Thistle looked up at the sound of another voice, and found herself staring into a huge pair of purple eyes. Jumping back with a start, the pegasus that hovered upside-down in front of her smiled and waved a forehoof, her neon yellow mane clashing brilliantly with her white fur. "Hiya!"
"Um... Hi," Thistle replied to this strange pegasus. "Who are you?"
"I'll tell you who I am, I'm a pony who's just as confused as you are!" she said in a shrill excited voice. "I mean, I go to sleep last night down in Dream Valley, and next thing I know I'm in a whole city made of clouds! Is this place cool or what!"
"Heh, if you say so... So you have no idea where you are either?"
The white pegasus shook her head. "Nope, not a clue. I'm guessing you just woke up to find yourself here too, huh?"
Thistle Whistle nodded. "That's right. I went to sleep in my home on Butterfly Island, and then I wake up today on this floating city. Ohh, this is all so strange."
"Omigosh, that's exactly what happened to me! I was throwing a birthday party for my friend Posey, but it wasn't even a huge crazy party because, well, Posey is a kinda shy little pony who doesn't really like those kinds of parties, which I just don't get, I mean, how can you not..."
Thistle cleared her throat loudly, stopping the pegasus' rambling in its tracks. "Oh, right, sorry! Anyways, after the party was all over, I went to bed like always, and the next thing I know, I'm floating high in the sky on the roof of a building made of clouds. Weird, huh?"
"Yeah, that is weird. But that's it? There wasn't anything else?"
The pegasus tapped her chin, flipping over in mid air to fly right way up. "Hmm... there was one thing. Just as I was falling asleep, I remember looking out the window at the night sky. It might've just been my sleepy eyes playing tricks on me, but I remember the moon looking kinda... blurry. Like I couldn't focus on it or something."
"Blurry? Hmm..."
"Yeah, I know, weird," the pegasus replied. "But hey, it's great to see I'm not the only pony confused by all this. Wanna hang out?"
Thistle eyed the curious pony up and down. She seemed excitable, to say the least. But any company was better than none. "Sure. I guess being confused together is better than being confused on your own. I'm Thistle Whistle, by the way."
The two of them flew off to explore Cloudsdale, the white pegasus flying upside down again. "Thistle Whistle, huh? I guess that explains the whistling. Well nice to meet ya, Thistle Whistle, my name's Surprise!"
"Is it just me, or is Ponyville especially lively today?"
Pinkie Pie stood behind the counter at Sugarcube Corner, watching as more and more ponies came through her doors and lined up. "I see what you mean. The brunch crowd isn't usually nearly this big, and I'm seeing alot of ponies I've never seen before. I dunno if I'll be able to throw welcome-to-Ponyville-parties for them all! Hmm, maybe I should just throw one big party for all of them... Oh, hey Twilight, hey Spike!"
As another customer left with a bag of delicious delicacies, Twilight Sparkle and Spike approached the counter. "Good morning Pinkie Pie. Boy, things sure are busy here, huh?"
Pinkie nodded, brushing a loose hair out of her face. "Oh totally! I've been serving ponies non-stop since early this morning! And this might seem weird, but I don't recognise alot of them. Is there a show in town or something?"
"I know what you mean," Twilight replied, looking around at the crowded bakery. "There definitely are alot of new ponies in town. And I've noticed that quite a few of them seem sort of confused for some reason, like they don't know where they are. Anyway, two iced buns, please."
The pink pony dutifully got to bagging their cakes as Twilight passed a few coins over the counter to her. "Mmm, delicious as usual, Pinkie Pie. How's yours, Spike?"
But Spike had not eaten his. It was held in one clawed one, as his body seemed to tense up. Suddenly, his stomach rumbled and swelled, and a burst of green flame erupted from his mouth with a mighty belch, which formed into a scroll of parchment that landed on the floor before them.
"A letter?" Twilight picked up the scroll and unfurled it, noticing the purple wax seal on the outside. "It's from my brother!"
Stepping aside to allow other ponies to reach the counter, Twilight and Spike read over the scroll at breakneck speed. Twilight's curious smile fell as she read, turning into a confused frown. "But... but this makes no sense..."
"What does it mean, Twilight?" Spike asked, just as confused as his unicorn friend.
"I don't know, Spike. But I do know we have to get to the Crystal Empire right away, c'mon!"
As the pair ran out of the bakery, Pinkie Pie called after them, "Twilight, what's up?"
Twilight shouted over her shoulder, "Apparently another 'me' has appeared out of the mirror portal in the Crystal Empire!"
"Wait, what?!" But before she could get an answer, Twilight and Spike had run out of the shop and were on their way to the train station. Pinkie watched them leave for a moment, then shrugged. "Huh, today is off to a very strange start. Ah, hello there, what can I get you today?"
A pony she had never seen before came to the counter. She was a bright green earth pony, with a pink and magenta mane and a slightly ditzy expression on her face. "Good morning, at least, I think it's morning. Is it morning?"
Pinkie nodded with a smile. "Yep, it's morning alright! Just enough time to pick up something delicious for breakfast or brunch. Anything in particular you're after?"
The green pony looked over the vast array of cookies, cakes, buns and pies in the counter, licking her lips. "Well, these all look great, but do you have any with green icing? I've always liked green icing the most."
"As a matter of fact, I have just the thing for you miss... what's your name?"
"Oh, I'm Minty."
"Miss Minty," Pinkie finished, whipping out a tray of small dense fruitcakes, wrapped in green fondant icing. "A little something new, my very own patented Pinkie Pie Green Bombs!"
"Ooh, looks delicious! I'll take three!" Minty said with a grin.
Pinkie scooped three of the cakes into a paper bag. "Excellent, that'll be six bits, please."
Minty's smile sagged. "Oh... I, uh, don't really have any money on me. Sorry..."
Pinkie frowned as well, about to retrieve the cakes. But she could not allow the poor little pony to go hungry. "Tell ya what, I'll give ya one of them on the house, just as long as you remember to come back and have some more another time, 'kay?"
The pony's eyes lit up as her smile returned. "Really? Oh thank you, thank you! And I promise, if these cakes taste as good as they look, I'll definitely be coming back. What did you say your name was again?"
"I'm Pinkie Pie, Ponyville's resident super-duper-party-planner. Nice to meet you, Minty."
Minty raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Pinkie Pie? You look different today. I've never seen your hair quite this... poofy."
"What do you mean?" Pinkie asked. "My hair's always been this poofy and floofy. And I'm not sure I've ever met you before. Are you new in town?"
"New in town? I've lived in Ponyville for years, Pinkie Pie," Minty replied, now very confused indeed. "And of course we've met before, we've been friends for ages. You stopped by my house for tea yesterday, remember? I spilled the milk all over your tail!"
Pinkie frowned. "I think I'd remember something like that. Sorry Minty, but I've never seen you before in my life."
"But... But..."
"Look, I'm really busy at the moment. But maybe once I'm done with my shift today, you and I can hang out. Just because I don't know you yet doesn't mean I don't want to know you," Pinkie said with a comforting smile.
Minty smiled back. "Okay. Hopefully by then I'll understand what's going on a bit more. Until then, Pinkie Pie."
"See ya!"
With a wave, Minty picked up her bag of cakes and headed out the door. So this is Ponyville, she thought to herself. It sure doesn't look like it to me. Just what is going on today?
Taking out a cake, she bit into it, chewing thoughtfully as she walked. She did not recognise anything she saw, not the buildings, not the ponies, nothing. Wherever I am, she thought, it's not the Ponyville I know.
But she was interrupted as from above, there came an ear-splitting roar. Ponies all around fell to the ground clutching their ears, scattering and fleeing into any buildings that surrounded them.
"Oh sweet Celestia, it's another one!" cried a lanky young stallion as he fled past.
Minty turned and called after him, "Another what? What was that noise?"
The stallion mutely pointed into the sky, and what Minty saw made her jaw nearly hit the floor.
At a first glance, it looked like some sort of dragon. But on closer inspection, she noticed a few things. First of all, it was much smaller than a dragon, and its wings were not flapping, swept back and motionless instead.
Second, that this dragon was seemingly made of metal, with an extremely pointed snout and glass windows where its face would be, as well as having no arms or legs.
Thirdly, that it was faster than any dragon she had ever seen. It streaked across the sky at breakneck speed, leaving a white vapour trail in its wake.
But then, just as soon as it had appeared, the strange metal thing flickered slightly and vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind but the fading vapour trail and the echo of its roar.
Minty got up off the ground, her limbs shaking and quivering, her eyes glued to where the strange metal dragon seemed to disappear. Yep, this is definitely not the Ponyville I know.
"Okay then, now start from the beginning," Cadance said, as she and Twilight Sparkle closed the doors of the throne room behind them. She ascended the steps and sat down on the throne, as the purple alicorn stood before her. "Tell me who you are, where you came from, and what you're doing here."
Twilight nodded, and cleared her throat. "Ahem, alright then. Well, in answer to your first question, I am Twilight Sparkle, daughter of Twilight Velvet and Nightlight Sparkle, younger sister of Shining Armour. I am also wielder of the Element of Magic and a commander of the Equestrian army, under orders of Princess Celestia."
"Equestrian army?" Cadance repeated. "But... Equestria doesn't really have an army."
"Maybe not your Equestria, but in my world, Equestria is one of the strongest military powers in history," Twilight replied. "And that brings me to your second question. I come from Equestria, but not the Equestria you know. You see, I'm from an alternate reality."
Noticing the baffled look on Cadance's face, Twilight continued. "That mirror that I appeared from, the one in the room downstairs, do you know what it does?"
"It's a gateway, right?" Cadance answered. "A door to another world, kind of like our Equestria, but different... So that's where you came from?"
Twilight nodded. "Something like that. But odds are I'm not from the world that that mirror leads to. I'm from a different one, you see, one of a number of alternate Equestrias. You live in a Multiverse, Cadance, one reality in an endless sea of universes."
Cadance blanched. She had heard old theories about there being alternate universes. But even with Twilight Sparkle's adventure with the mirror less than a year ago, it had never struck her as being possible on a larger scale. "How... how many are there? Other Equestrias, I mean?"
"I can't say for sure, but there's definitely at least a thousand."
Cadance gulped. Thousands?! How could such a thing be possible? "And... what reality did you come from?"
"Well, in my world, Equestria was much the same as it was here," she replied. "Prosperous, vast, ruled over by Celestia and Luna, relatively peaceful at the time. But in recent years, Equestria's borders had been spreading as the Princesses sent out military campaigns to conquer neighbouring lands, to add to their dominion. The Frozen North, the Changeling Kingdoms, Cervidas, the Dragonlands, even across the ocean to the Griffon Kingdoms. Equestria was the most powerful empire in recorded history, uniting almost half the globe under its banner. It was a pretty utopian rule, with all races and tribes, not just ponies, living together in peace under the Princesses' rule. My friends and I, the holders of the Elements of Harmony, were the commanders of the Princesses' armies."
"You commanded an army? At your age?" Cadance asked, eyes wide with shock.
Twilight merely shrugged. "Well I was already royalty, so commanding an army wasn't too big of a step. But this empire didn't last, sadly. And neither did my world, for that matter."
"What do you mean?"
"One day, out of nowhere, the Equestrian Dominion came under attack.. A vast armada of ships, floating down from the sky like blimps or enormous hot air balloons, came down from the sky filled with strange creatures that looked kinda like ponies, except they were nothing but shadow, solid shadow. And while our armies were vast and strong, we were nothing compared to them. And leading them was a fierce, vicious commander. A unicorn named Sombra."
Cadance gasped. "King Sombra?!"
"Close," Twilight replied, climbing up the steps and standing by the throne. "He called himself Emperor Sombra, Ruler of all Reality. He claimed that he had come from beyond our universe to conquer it, as part of his own empire. But what he wanted didn't matter, what mattered was that he had declared war on the Equestrian Dominion. And he wasn't gonna get away with that.
The fighting went on for years, Celestia and Luna leading us against Sombra's shadow creatures. There were countless casualties, and many of our soldiers also ended up turning into shadow creatures and joining Sombra's forces. It was practically a world war. But then out of nowhere, there came this strange wave of... nothing."
"Nothing? What do you mean, a wave of nothing?"
"I mean just what I say, Cadance. It was a huge wave of just... void. Not invisible, but not really anything either. And whatever in came into contact with was destroyed and wiped from existence. And this wave was moving across the entire planet, consuming all it touched. We had no idea what it was, but we knew Sombra was behind it. Some sort of ultimate weapon of his or something. Once it began spreading across our world, he and his armies fled and vanished.
I ran from the wave, until I reached Canterlot, where I hid in the throne room as my world disappeared all around me. As it approached me, I was backed into a corner. The very same corner where the Princesses had always kept a large mirror."
"... The mirror portal," Cadance whispered as it clicked in her mind.
"Exactly," Twilight said. "I didn't know what it could do at the time, but as I backed into it, I fell through and into some sort of tunnel of lights and colours, until I landed in Equestria. Or rather, another Equestria. You see, those mirrors exist in every Equestria, they are one of the few absolute constants among the universes. Each one leads to another universe, that is 'next to' that one. But the entrance to these bridges between worlds only opens every few years. It was just good luck that that mirror had been open at that time."
"So, what happened to your universe?"
"Gone. The entire universe was wiped out behind me. I was the only one who escaped," Twilight replied, her expression darkening.
"I'm... I'm so sorry," Cadance said softly, placing a comforting hoof on her shoulder.
Twilight sniffed, before looking up with a deep breath. "And after I figured out everything that had happened, I swore a vow: That I'd follow Emperor Sombra to whatever universe he and his army were heading towards, and do whatever I can to aid them in fighting against his conquest.
But it never worked. Most universes put up a good fight, but they would always eventually be consumed by the wave of nothingness, whether they resisted Sombra or not. All I could do is warn them ahead of time, hoping that they'd be able to put up a better fight than the last."
Cadance sat in silence, listening to this strange Twilight's story with awe, that quickly gave way to fear. "So, if you're here in this Equestria... then that means..."
Twilight nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so. I can't predict exactly when he will attack or how, time gets a little odd when travelling between universes, but Emperor Sombra is on his way here. I'm not sure why, but he seems to be really interested in this Equestria in particular."
The pink alicorn slumped forwards in her throne, clutching her head in her hooves. "This... this is all just too much. Hopefully Celestia will have a better idea of what to do than me."
"We'll know soon enough."
Shining Armour pushed the doors open as he joined the two alicorns in the throne room. "I just got a reply from our Twilight, saying that she's on her way here. So I guess that means you're telling the truth then. Whoever you are, you're not our Twilight Sparkle."
"So does that mean you'll help me?" Twilight asked.
"If everything you're saying is true," Cadance replied. "Then Equestria might be about to take on its greatest threat yet. So of course we'll help."
"I have a question," Shining Armour joined them at the top of the throne steps. "I've been hearing odd reports from a lot of ponies around the Crystal Empire: strange creatures appearing and disappearing, flying objects in the sky, whole buildings that weren't there before, and lots of reports that the sky looks weird somehow. Do you think this might have something to do with what you're talking about?"
Twilight tapped her chin with a hoof. "Hmm, maybe. I can't say for certain though."
"I hope Celestia will have some idea about that too," Cadance replied. "Any idea when she'll get here?"
Suddenly, there came a bright blinding flash of golden light in the middle of the throne room. As the light dimmed, the three ponies looked and saw none other than Princess Celestia.
"Wow, right on cue," Twilight muttered.
"Good morning Cadance, Shining Armour. Please forgive the rather abrupt entrance but I received your letter. I would have arrived sooner, but there is something very strange going on in Canterlot. I hope one of you may have some idea what is going...on..."
The princess trailed off as she saw the third pony sitting with Cadance and Shining Armour. If she was not so good at maintaining a facade of calm and collectedness, Celestias jaw would have dropped clean through the floor.
"Hello Princess," Twilight said with a nonchalant wave. "You may want to take a seat. This is where things get weird."