//------------------------------//
// Welcome to Equestria! 
// Story: The Adventure of Two Sisters 
// by StormLuna 
//------------------------------//

Something had just saved Posey and her friends from timberwolves, something that they did not expect, another pony.  "Are y'all alright?"  asked the pony.

Posey replied, "Yeah, thanks to you."

The pony looked at the six in shock.  While they were ponies like her, they looked different.  Their eyes were smaller and they seemed a bit more stocky but that would not stop her from greeting them warmly.  "Howdy y'all.  My name is Applejack, what are your names?"

Twilight replied, "Well my name is Twilight.  The orange earth pony is Applejack, the yellow earth pony is Posey, the white pegasus is Surprise, the pink pegasus is Firefly and the white unicorn is Sparkler."

AJ** looked at her counterpart and asked, "Applejack?  Your name is Applejack?  You have the same name as me."

Applejack looked at her counterpart and replied, "Wow, and we have somewhat similar cutie marks."

AJ could tell that the ponies she saved were plum tuckered out and wanted to get to know her counterpart more.  She said, "Why don't y'all follow me over to Sweet Apple Acres.  You look hungry and thirsty."

Applejack replied, "That would be nice.  We'd appreciate it."

Applejack led the ponies over to the farm.  Once they arrived Applejack looked in amazement at the size of their orchard.  While she had a few trees of her own, she had never seen an orchard that large.  She asked, "Wow Applejack, how do you pick so many apples?  How do you keep them from rotting?"

AJ ran over to a tree, kicked it and caused all the apples to fall off and replied, "Like this!  Mah brother and I work hard to make sure none of the apples go bad."

Finally they reached the house and headed in, where they were greeted by Granny Smith, Apple Bloom and Big Mac.  AJ continued, "I'd like introduce y'all to the Apple Family.  This here is Granny Smith, Apple Bloom and Big MacIntosh."

Apple Bloom immediately rushed up to Applejack and asked, "Wow, you look almost like my sister?  Are you related to us?"

Applejack replied, "I don't think so.  My friends and I........."

Twilight knew that they could not reveal too much information to these ponies despite them seeming perfectly nice.  She asked, "So, how long have you guys lived here?"

Granny replied, "Well when I was just a filly my family was looking for a new place to live and after Princess Celestia saw what a fine seed collector my father was, she told us to come out and settle this land."

Twilight asked, "So who is this Princess Celestia?"

AJ replied, "Y'all aren't from around here are ya?"

Firefly said, "Well no, we're from a distant land."

Applejack wanted to just get some food in her system and was very worried that her friends would wind up telling them about the portal and Ponyland, which could put their nation at risk.  She asked, "It's nice to meet all of you but we're hungry and do you think we could have something to eat?"

AJ replied, "Sure!"

While the Apples were not expecting any company that day, especially six guests, they were able to provide enough food and cider for their visitors.  They were amazed by the quality of the food, it was beyond anything they had ever tasted before in their lives.  Posey asked, "Uhm....how do you make your food so good?"

AJ replied, "Well we do it through a labor of love.  We put a lot of hard work into what we do and what really helps is that the soil here is very fertile."

Twilight asked, "So do you guys live out here alone or are there other ponies that live in this area as well."

AJ replied, "Oh, there are plenty of other ponies that live close by.  Ah can take y'all to Ponyville and show you around......"

Surprise interrupted, "That sounds like fun!"

AJ replied, "Well let's get going.  Ah have friends that would love to meet you."  She paused for a minute and continued, "And the shocking thing is, mah friends seem a lot like y'all."

Twilight asked, "Really?  How so?"

AJ replied, "Once y'all meet them, y'all will know."





Applejack led her company into Ponyville and the townsponies couldn't help but stare.  It wasn't the fact that AJ had so many ponies with her, it was their appearance.  Just like how the ponies of Dream Valley would stop and stare at Colgate and Lyra, the citizens of Ponyville couldn't help but notice how different they looked.  Posey asked, "Applejack, why is everyone staring at us?"

AJ replied, "They're probably just wondering where y'all are from.  They always take a closer look at new ponies."

While they wanted to believe that, Firefly knew that Applejack was just wanting to make them feel better.  She had a feeling that they were silently judging them because of their appearance.  She muttered to herself, "Well I guess now I know how those large eyed ponies that came to Ponyland felt."

Applejack led them to a huge tree like structure, Twilight's castle.  She opened the door and led them into the throne room where they would be met by Twilight and Spike.  The two looked in shock at the Ponyland ponies.  Twily* asked, "Applejack, who are these pon.......?"  She took a close look at them and asked, "What happened to all of you?  Why are your eyes so small?"

The very first thing they noticed about Twilight was that she was a winged unicorn, just like those depicted on the banners in The Castle of the Two Sisters.  Twilight gasped, "Wait a minute?  A winged unicorn?"

Twily replied, "Well technically I am an Alicorn."  She could tell that they were likely not from Equestria and decided to find out.  She continued, "You're not from around here, are you?"

They all shook their heads no and Twilight replied, "Let's just say that we're from a distant land."

Spike chimed in, "A distant land?"

Twily asked, "What distant land are you from?  Could you please tell me more about yourselves, such as your names and what distant land you are from?"

Applejack, who had done most of the talking at Sweet Apple Acres replied, "Well my name is Applejack, the pink unicorn is Twilight, the white unicorn is Sparkler, the yellow earth pony is Posey, the white pegasus is Surprise and the pink pegasus is Firefly."

Firefly snapped, "Why'd you mention my name last?  You should have mentioned me first."

Twily rolled her eyes and said, "Does it really matter in what order she mentions you?  Now tell me, where are you from?  I have traveled to several nations in this world and nopony I have ever met has your appearance."

This caused them to become nervous but before revealing any information they wanted to know her name.  Twilight asked, "We gave you our names, what is your name?"

Twily replied, "My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship and the baby dragon with me is my assistant, Spike."

Twilight and her friends were baffled.  Not only were they shocked that this land would have a princess with a specific role, they were shocked that she would actually have a dragon as her assistant.  Twilight asked, "Assistant?  You mean as in like a helper or something?"

Twily replied, "Listen, we can go into all of that later.  I am curious as to where you are from and why you are here."

Applejack began, "Well we are from Ponyland, Dream Valley to be exact.  We are here because we are certain that two ponies from here abducted Queen Majesty, our monarch and Megan Williams, a human friend of ours and brought them here."

Both AJ and Twily began to snicker, "Ponyland, Dream Valley, Megan Williams, a human?  You're joking, right?"

Applejack replied, "We're not joking!  Why would you think we're joking?"

Twily replied, "Look, everypony knows that humans, Ponyland and Dream Valley are just old mares' tales and the stuff of comic books."  Her voice became more stern as she continued, "Look, I want to know what your real reason is."

Posey said, "Uhm...I don't want to upset you your Majesty but Twilight is telling the truth."

Posey's respectful behavior caused Twily to take a closer look at them.  While she thought their claims of where they are from and why they were there seemed far fetched, she saw a lot of her friends in the ponies that stood before her.  She replied, "Well I don't believe one word of what you are telling me but I want to know one thing, why are you making these claims?"

Twilight replied, "Well two ponies that look a lot like the ponies here came into Ponyland and abducted Queen Majesty and Megan Williams."

Firefly added, "They went by the names of Colgate and Lyra Heartstrings."

Now this changed Twily's attitude somewhat.  She asked, "Seriously, Lyra Heartstrings and Colgate?  There are two ponies that live here in Ponyville that go by those names.  What did they look like?"

Firefly replied, "Well Colgate was a blue unicorn with blue eyes and had an hourglass cutie mark while Lyra was a mint green unicorn with gold eyes and a harp for a cutie mark."

Spike said, "You know Twilight, they could be telling the truth.  They did mention two of our citizens by name and gave accurate descriptions of them."  He looked forward and asked, "How did they get there and why were they there?"

Firefly replied, "Well they said something about Lyra wanting to meet Megan since she was a human and seemed to have this obsession with seeing Dream Valley for herself."

Twily asked, "So, how did the six of you get here anyway?"

Twilight replied, "We came here through a portal that is behind a waterfall deep in the dark forest off to the north.  I am thinking that is how they crossed over into our world."

Twily sighed, "Well I have never heard about this legendary portal."  She looked down at Spike and ordered, "Spike, take a note."

Spike replied, "Okey-dokey."

Twily began, 

"Dear Princess Celestia,

There are six ponies down here visiting me claiming that they came here through some portal behind a waterfall in the Everfree Forest.  I find their claim rather questionable and they are claiming that two of our subjects went through this alleged portal and abducted two of their citizens.  I'm sure they'll go into more detail with you once you get here.  I am certain you will know what is going on here.  

I await your quick response,

Princess Twilight Sparkle"

Spike sent the note and this shocked the Ponyland ponies.  Sparkler gasped, "Wait a minute, he just burned it up?  How is this Princess Celestia going to get it?"

Before Twilight could reply, *BELCH!*  Celestia's response quickly arrived. 

It read, 

"Dear Twilight, 

I will get there as soon as possible.  Do not share any unnecessary information with these ponies.

Sincerely, 

Princess Celestia"

Twilight saw this and asked, "How did he do that?  How was he able to cough up that message?"

Twily replied, "Listen, Princess Celestia told me to not share any more information with any of you.  Once she arrives you will learn a lot more about this situation."

Firefly sped towards Twily and yelled, "What?  That's it?  You're not going to tell us anything else?"

Twily grabbed her with her aura and sternly replied, "No, I will not tell you anything else.  Like I said, she will tell you more about this whole situation."  She let her go and continued, "And I would advise against speeding towards Celestia.  While she is a benevolent and loving princess, she may view it as a threat."

Firefly sighed, "Oh alright."

When they first arrived in Princess Twilight's castle, the six felt fairly relaxed but after what just happened and with a higher up princess coming, they couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.  What concerned them more is that perhaps Celestia wouldn't even do anything about Majesty and Megan's abduction.  They were secretly worried that she would simply lead them back to the portal and send them home.