Princess Twilight Sparkle stood there, back in the universe she was second most familiar with out of all the universes she had ever been to. However, she was still in the body she was the second most familiar with instead of the one she was third most familiar with. She still wasn’t quite used to her wings.
“Um… Hello?” said Twilight.
Atom picked up the book that had flown thru the portal.
“What’s with this?” said Atom.
“Heh heh, I was just testing to see if something other than Derpy could go thru the portal while Derpy was touching it,” said Twilight Sparkle, her hoof rubbing the back of her head, “Then I got a bit too eager when it worked.”
“Understandable,” said Atom.
“Weren’t you human-looking last time you were here?” said Watermelody.
“She was here before?” said Atom.
“Yeah, can’t you hear? She sounds just like the girl who won at the last ‘Fall Formal’ event,” said Watermelody.
“I never really heard her speak, really,” said Atom.
“Um, to be honest, I was kind of expecting the portal to change my appearance again,” said Twilight Sparkle, “Then again, I probably should have expected this when I saw Derpy’s hand pass thru to my side unaltered.”
“Twilight Sparkle,” said Sunset Shimmer, “I hope you realize that we’ve stumbled upon quite the unlikely break-thru today. Especially given your successful trip thru the portal.”
“Sweet Celestia, you’re right, Sunset,” said Twilight Sparkle, “And if I can make good use of that reading I got, we might even be able to create a new portal to here!”
“I hope you’re not getting ahead of yourself, princess,” said Sunset Shimmer.
Atom looked at the book he had picked up.
“Pepper Pie’s Big Adventure?” said Atom, “Can’t say I’ve ever heard of this.”
“Looks kind of interesting,” said Golden Hazel.
“It’s a lot longer than I thought it would be, but not bad,” said Derpy, “Sorry guys, I was talking to the people on the other side. Excuse me, I need to focus on talking to the ponies.”
Derpy crawled to an area where she wouldn’t intrude on the humans’ conversations.
Watermelody stared at the book Atom was holding.
“What’s wrong, Watermelody?” said Golden Hazel.
“I feel like I’ve seen that book somewhere before,” said Watermelody.
“Impossible, this book is from a different dimension,” said Atom.
“Still seems familiar somehow,” said Watermelody, she took the book out of Atom’s hands and opened it somewhere in the middle while flipping it turnways.
“Hey!” said Atom when she did that.
“You really need to learn to ask people to hand you things when you want to look at them,” said Golden Hazel.
“Pfft, there’s no guarantee they’ll let me handle them if I do that,” said Watermelody, “This way, there’s a hundred percent chance!”
“Yeah, think there might be a reason people might not want you doing that?” said Golden Hazel.
Watermelody looked to the side and tried to think.
“Nope, can’t fathom one,” said Watermelody.
“I hate you so much,” said Golden Hazel.
“Where did the princess go?” said Dinky.
“I think she said something about this mirror being a portal to somewhere,” said Amethyst Star.
“I think she went after the book she dropped,” said Written Script, “but she fell in as she was reaching for it.”
“This isn’t the time for jokes, dear,” said Carrot Top.
“Aw dang,” said Written Script, “and I had some good ones too.”
“No he didn’t,” said Amethyst Star, whispering to the side as if to say it to somepony else. Even though there wasn’t any pony else there.
“I think they’re funny,” said Dinky.
“Oh no! My dear sweet little sister, they’ve gotten you! If only I could have saved you from the horrible joke demons! But alas, I was too late,” said Amethyst Star.
“Actually, I think you’ve been snagged by your father’s ‘horrible joke demons’ to a much greater extent than Dinky has,” said Carrot Top.
“... shut up,” said Amethyst Star.
Carrot Top closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Just like your father,” said Carrot Top.
“It’s a lot longer than I thought it would be, but not bad,” said Derpy.
“Huh?” said Carrot Top’s family together.
“Sorry guys, I was talking to the people on the other side,” said Derpy, ”Excuse me, I need to focus on talking to the ponies.”
“What was that all about?” said Amethyst Star.
“Yeah, what was that all about?” said Dinky.
“Oh, my human friends were just talking about the book Princess Twilight threw thru the portal,” said Derpy.
“What book was it?” said Written Script.
“Pepper Pie’s Big Adventure,” said Derpy.
“Huh,” said Written Script.
“What the hyummins doing now, Derpy?” said Dinky.
“I don’t know, really, I’m blindfolded on the human side,” said Derpy.
“Why?” said Dinky.
“Because…” said Derpy, “Now that you mention it, the pony body is probably the one that should be blindfolded…”
“Hindsight is twenty-twenty,” said Written Script.
“Go get my blindfold,” said Derpy.
Derpy, now blinded on both sides, removed the blindfold on her human half. She saw Sunset Shimmer talking to Princess Twilight Sparkle. To her amazement, Princess Twilight Sparkle was still a pony. She walked over to them.
“Twilight, why are you still a pony?” said Derpy.
“That’s actually what we’re trying to figure out,” said Sunset Shimmer.
“We think it might be your touch activating the portal, but not all the way,” said Twilight Sparkle, “We’re really not sure on the details though.”
“The short version is: The portal can let things pass thru it when you touch it, but it won’t change a single thing when things go thru it,” said Sunset Shimmer.
“Okay,” said Derpy.
“Also, I think we might have a working duplicate portal by tomorrow,” said Twilight Sparkle, “I might need to clone your DNA though.”
“Me too,” said Sunset Shimmer, “It needs both bodies to work.”
“Gee, it won’t hurt. Will it?” said Derpy.
“We just need some of your hair and mane,” said Twilight Sparkle.
“Or your spit,” said Sunset Shimmer, “but we’d prefer the hair.”
“Anyone and anypony got some scissors?” said Derpy.