12 years prior…
Of all the things he could've said, why couldn't have he said something less terrible. Sure, she was suspicious, but he shouldn't have gone so far. Even when it had been exposed to her that her sister-in-law to be was a fake, those words haunted her as she and the real bride raced through caverns of crystal. Now, just as the wedding was about to begin, their foes blocked their path. Narrowing her violet eyes, she spoke to her former foalsitter.
"I'll take care of them. Go!"
She was reluctant at first, but time was running out, so the bride past by the insect-like ponies and dashed for the exit. The creatures were about to turn when a blast of magic stopped them.
"Leave her alone!" The lavender pony shouted.
Enraged, they attacked her. Despite her magic and developing skills, she received many beatings from her foes, bruising her flesh and cracking her bones.
It hurt, yes. But it was for a good cause. For her brother and his bride. One of the creatures struck her in the gut, causing her to kneel as she gasped for breath. They then chittered something amongst each other, the only their body language gave her an understanding on what's going on. They were motioning amongst each other to bring her mangled body somewhere and she only got the idea when two of the creatures picked her up by her hooves and dragged her to an adjoining chamber.
In the chamber was an arch with images of alicorns carved into it, the beneath the arch was a strange light that illuminated only a small fraction of the chamber. Menacing green eyes narrowed in wicked glee as she realized what they were going to do.
They were going to throw her in.
She struggled to get out of their grasp, but with her injuries and the loss of energy, she was unable to escape as she was thrown into the fading portal.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
On a group of islands unfamiliar to Equestria, a human boy of fifteen was riding his bicycle down a winding road as the sun began to set. His short brunette hair moved in the wind and his clothing, composed of a brown jacket, a green shirt, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes protected his body from the breeze.
He was hoping to get to the docks before the sun could set in order to get home on a neighboring island. But he wasn't near his destination when a flash of light caught his eyes. It came from a lone island northwest of the archipelago. Curious, he pedaled down to the docks and freed his sailboat he would take every day across the islands and to save time, he placed the motor he used in emergencies into the water and took off.
Once he reached the island, he looked around the foliage until he neared the base of the plateau when he saw her. A girl his age with straight, indigo hair with a pink highlight and a purple highlight down the center of her hair. And she was in the buff with a magenta star tattoo on her 'flank'. A blush overcame the boy's face as he reached towards her to wake her.
"Hey. Are you…"
But his voice trailed off as he saw bruises and cuts on the girl's body.
Worried, he tested her arm and felt that at least one of her bones was broken. His eyes widening, he reached into his pocket and dialed the emergency number.
"Hello? Yes, I need an ambulance. I found an unconscious girl on Fortuna Island with bruising, cuts, and I'm pretty sure she has some broken bones. My name is John O'Reilly."
John then called his parents to let him know what was happening before the ambulance boat arrived.
Back in Equestria…
It had been about five minutes since the defeat of the queen of the Changelings and already celebration was in order. In the ceremonial chamber, the real bride and the groom were talking with the princess and five other ponies.
"Well, now that the queen and her Changelings have been defeated, shall we get ready for the real wedding?" Princess Celestia spoke with a kind smile.
The groom nodded before he noticed there was a pony missing.
"Where's Twilight?"
Remembering her future sister-in-law, the bride spoke in worry.
"She's still down in the caverns where I was imprisoned!"
Heeding the bride, the eight ponies entered the caverns with her in the lead. But as they find themselves in the caves, they found no trace of her.
"Are ya sure she's here, Princess Cadence?" the orange, freckled pony with the Stetson hat asked.
"Yes. This was where we parted. Twilight stayed behind so I could get away." The bride, Cadence, replied.
Now the groom was getting worried. Where was his little sister? And he wasn't the only one. All of the ponies present were getting worried. After thirty minutes of nothing, Cadence remembered something she had seen when she was imprisoned.
"Wait a minute…"
She then headed towards the entrance of the cavern where she got separated from Twilight and looked around in a different corridor until she saw something familiar. "Over here!" The princess, the groom, and the five friends followed Cadence's voice until they found her in front of the strange arch that Twilight saw. The only difference is that the light that Twilight saw earlier was gone.
Celestia recognized the arch.
"I don't believe this. The Gate of Sleipnir."
"Who-the-what-now?" The rainbow manned cyan Pegasus, Rainbow Dash, asked.
"Sleipnir. One of the ancient pony gods. Legends say that he created a magical gate that can take a pony to another world. Unfortunately, the gate can only stay open for three days every twelve years."
"TWELVE YEARS!" the ponies cried out in shock, fearing the worst.
Cadence spoke up. "I was able to overhear that the queen was going to toss me into another world using this gate once she took over Equestria. If that's true, then…"
Tears filled the bride's eyes as she now figured out what happened to her future sister-in-law. The others, especially the groom, refused to believe such a fate would befall on one pony.
"Check the caves again! Maybe she's hiding somewhere!" Rainbow Dash cried out in desperation.
The others were about to agree when the princess, Celestia, spoke. "I'm afraid the deed is already done. I had just casted a detection spell and the only source of life in these caves are ourselves."
She then looked sadly at the gate.
"I am afraid Twilight Sparkle…is lost to us."
The ponies' inner worlds fell into a piercing silence. The groom, however, was shattered emotionally. His little sister, the only one who was able to detect that something was wrong with his wedding and his dearest friend, was gone.
"No. It can't be." He choked as tears began to fall from his eyes.
His guilt over his lack of action and the hurtful words he had said to her earlier created more tears.
This was his fault.
As Cadence began to comfort her fiancé, she looked to Celestia and spoke.
"I think we should postpone the wedding."
There wasn't a single argument against that, but it could be seen that the five smaller ponies believed that Twilight was still alive.
However, it was going to be a long wait to truly know what had become of her.
Meanwhile, with Twilight…
Twilight struggled to get a grip on her consciousness. Whatever those creatures did to her, it was quite a number. While she was mentally conscious, her body was too weak to respond right away.
"I hope it's only sleep paralysis. Please let it be only sleep paralysis!"
It felt like hours before she managed to open her eyes to find herself in an unfamiliar surroundings. Looking around, she was able to quickly deduce that she was in a hospital. Could somepony found her and brought her here?
But she got the shock of her life as she reach for her head, only to find that instead of a hoof, it was some sort of five-digit appendage in a peach-colored tone. She looked down and saw that her entire body had changed. Even though she couldn't see due to the sheets and the hospital gown, she figure she was bipedal and oddly-shaped. She had two mounds on her chest and she felt no tail beneath her.
She wanted to scream, but was too weak.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened up and, to Twilight's further surprise, a biped similar to her new body although she could also see some differences.
"Is this…a male?"
The male smiled as he stepped in, she could see that he was holding a vase filled with lilacs, her favorite flowers.
"I see you've finally woken up. You've been out for three days."
Twilight's plum eyes struggled to widen.
"Three days?! What about the wedding? What about everypony?"
The male set the lilacs on the table next to her before he sat down.
"I found you unconscious, naked, and beaten up pretty badly." He said as he blushed at the second condition. "I called an ambulance and had you brought here. Doctors said a good portion of your bones were broken, but they should heal in time. Nothing too damaging, thankfully."
As Twilight listened to the story, her thoughts drifted from Equestria to the male. He was so kind as to call for help and from the look of the additional vases of flowers across the room, he had been coming at least once a day.
For her.
"Wh-where…in the world…am I?" She managed to ask.
The male raised an eyebrow at the question.
"Uh…I just told you. You're in a hospital."
"No. I mean…what land am I in." She managed to mutter.
The male folded his arms, confused.
"You're in the Divine Archipelago. This hospital we're in is on Solis Island."
Divine Archipelago? Solis Island? Where in the world was she? Unless…she wasn't in her own world.
"That could explain the different body."
"But where are my manners. My name's John O'Reilly. Can you tell me your name?"
She thought for a moment. She was in a world where nopony was familiar and ponies weren't the dominant race. Not to mention there was by far no way she could get back without knowing how she got here in the first place. This left her with one option.
She had to adapt.
"My name is…Twilight Sparkle."
Narration…
Things had been difficult on both sides of the gate, but while the ponies of Equestria were dealing with their apparent loss, Twilight was adapting well into her new environment. It was a couple of more days before she could tell John about her true identity and of Equestria. At first, he thought it was because of the drugs the doctors were giving her. But her eyes told him she wasn't lying. So he agreed that once Twilight was well, he'd help her adapt to this new world.
The first hard part was finding a place for Twilight to live. He couldn't tell his parents. He would've had to give a lengthy explanation to his parents and there was no way they would believe him or Twilight. So that left them with one other option: make Twilight a new home.
They both agreed that if the portal does open again, it would most likely be on Fortuna Island. So over the summer, the two got to work in making a small cabin until they could expand. John then taught her how to sail and how to act like a human, as Twilight soon found out what they were called.
When fall came close, Twilight went and got enrolled at the same school as John. She stayed close to him once school started, but eventually she made some new friends. Since John was her only ride to Fortuna Island by far, Twilight had to make sure they weren't late to catch any ferries.
But over time, Twilight and John soon fell in love. At first, they both tried to deny it, knowing it would be awkward for them. But love was stronger and by the end of the first year, the two started dating. And when graduation came two years later, John proposed and the two immediately married before entering college.
Because of his love of ancient history, John decided to study archeology; while Twilight studied to become a teacher. And thanks to her high scores, it wouldn't take her long to get her degree. But during their first year of marriage, Twilight and John received an immense blessing.
Twilight was pregnant.
While studying, Twilight spent most of her free time reading about becoming a mother, both excited and afraid, with good reason. She feared for her baby's health. Would it be alright? Would it have attributes the same as its mother? Would it look like a human or a pony?
Needless to say, John had to be careful at what he had to say.
But with this great news came sadness. John's parents, who loved Twilight like their daughter, were killed in a hurricane that came shortly after graduation, leaving the young couple with a small inheritance. John decided to use this to build a better house for him and his family. With his childhood home destroyed by the same hurricane, he recycled the lumber and paid architects to build them a two-story red farmhouse with two bedrooms and a front porch.
A few months later, Twilight gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
When John came to see her, she was lying in the same hospital bed where they had met. And in her arms was their baby daughter, wrapped in a blanket, and very human. Like the first time Twilight saw him, her husband had a lilac bouquet. This time, with red roses.
"Isn't she beautiful?" The former unicorn said with tearful glee.
The infant eyes remained closed, but had inherited her mother's hair coloring.
"Just like her mother." John replied as he gave his wife a one-armed hug.
He then asked something that had been bothering him for a while.
"When are you going to tell her? You know. About your history?"
Twilight knew what he was talking about. She wanted her daughter to know about her pony heritage, yet at the same time she didn't want her to be an outcast because of that.
"I'll have to tell you when I know." She told her husband.
John shook his head.
"You know the longer you wait, the harder it will be to tell her."
"I know. But I want her to grow up with a normal childhood. If I tell her too soon, it could harm her."
John didn't say any more about the subject. He knew one day, they would have to tell their daughter the truth: that she was half human, half unicorn, and her mother was a unicorn from another world called Equestria.
But Twilight was right. They should let the child experience normal human life first.
Wanting to be rid of the silence, Twilight spoke. "So…what should we call her?"
That changed John's mood as he smiled at his wife.
"I think I have the perfect name for her."
Twilight raised an eyebrow as she smirked.
"Oh? And what name would that be?"
John answered Twilight's question as he stroked their daughter's soft hair.
"I say we name her after her beautiful mother, but I didn't want to confuse you both during her life. So I say we should call her…'Aurora.'"
Immediately, Twilight loved the name.
"Perfect."
Then she spoke to her magnum opus.
"Welcome, my little Aurora."