"Ahh!" Twilight screamed as she and Sunset were going through the portal.
"Whoa! Is it always this bumpy?!" Sunset yelled as the two on them were swirling around in weird patterns.
"Yea! But the worst part is when you come back, you walk out on your back legs and it hurts so baaaaadd!!!" The princess exclaimed as she entered the place she hadn't been in such a long time...
"Oof!" She said as she fell down from her back legs. The same reaction came from Sunset as she walked out.
Both of them looked up to see what was awaiting them. Sunset's face stayed still, and Twilight's ears jerked down in fright. The crystal walls were broken, pictures were all over the floor, glass was shattered all over the place, some type of green goo was hanging from the ceiling, and the books in the library were scattered around with pages everywhere.. Twilight couldn't believe it. Was this the library she dearly loved..?
"Whoa!" Sunset exclaimed after a long moment of silence, "I can't imagine how this place used to look this before!"
Twilight sniffed as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Y-yea... It was a really good library..." She said wiping the tears streaming down her face. "In fact, this totally made up for the loss of the Golden Oak Library."
"Uhm... Sorry dear, but... What is the Golden Oak Library? And what do you mean by the loss of it?" Rarity questioned. Twilight took a deep breath as she stood up. She signaled Sunset to do the same. As the two were walking out the library, Twilight told Sunset and everypony (one) at CHS about Tierk, and how he destroyed her old home, the keys, and how they found the chest. She told of the sixth key being found, Discord's part in the story, the Rainbow Power, and how the castle itself came to be.
"Whoa!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "That. Is. So. AWESOME!"
Twilight shot her a cold look. "Yes, Dash. It was. In fact, this castle would still be its beautiful and stunning self if somepony, or should a say, someone started a plan to keep me in their world, and got everyone else to hitch in!"
Once again, there was an awkward silence. Guilty faces filled the detention hall until Applejack spoke up. "Principle Celestia and Vice Principle Luna, why did y'all need to give us only a year in detenion?!" She snapped. "Y'all did somethin' really bad. We need a punishment way worse than this!" She said in a flat tone.
"We are disappointed, but really, this is another dimension we're talking about." Celestia replied.
"Yes indeed. Twilight is from another dimension, it shouldn't take up most of our time. We can't let word go out about this other realm, so if the school board finds out about a heavy punishment, we're going to need a reasonable explanation." Luna added on.
"I see." Applejack said as she sat back down.
"Ahh!" Sunset yelled. All heads turned to the struggling unicorn stuck in the green goo, "Twilight, help!"
Twilight stopped as she examined the goo. A buzzing sound filled the air. It got louder, and louder, and louder!
"We need to get out of here!" She demanded as she teleported Sunset out of the goo.
"Why?" She asked.
"One word, Changlings." Twilight plainly said as she was finding out where they could escape from.
All of a sudden, Sunset's face froze. Changlings?
Twilight looked at Sunset with concern. "You don't know what Changlings are?" She asked.
Sunset shook her head. "Don't worry, I know. When I studded under Celestia, I learned about them." Sunset replied.
"Uhm... What are Changlings?" Fluttershy's small voice squeaked out.
"Changlings are shape-shifters. They take the form of somepony and feed off the love they have for another pony." Sunset explained.
A small "eeeee" escaped Fluttershy's mouth. Someone to take the shape of her and feed off the love she has for someone else? That didn't sound nice at all!
"Yea, but that's not all!" Twilight said. All faces turned to her with confused expressions. Twilight told them about Shinning Armour and Princess Cadence's wedding, and how Queen Chrysalis took the form of her old foal-sitter. Around the time the story was finished, they arrived at the front door. "Let's go." Twilight said as she opened the doors. But once her determined face fell flat, the same had happened to Sunset and the others. "P-ponyville..?" Twilight managed to say. But it was a mess. White fog filled the place giving it that creepy vibe. Most the houses were abandoned and wreaked. Broken signs were everywhere, and the market carts were left deserted in place. Was this the Ponyville she lived in? All of a sudden, Twilight and Sunset got tackled to the ground.
"That is it, Changlings! Y'all think ya can come into our kingdom and rule it, well then, think again ya darn varmints!" The voice said.
"A-applejack..?" Twilight said.
"Twilight?!" A squeakier and younger voice spoke.
"I-is it really you?" A much deeper and a little raspy voice said.
"Sweet apple cider! It is her!" A mature country voice sang.
"Well, I'll be. It really is you, Twilight!" Applejack said as she held her hoof out to Twilight up, "Sorry for what I did." She chuckled.
"No problem, AJ." Twilight warmly said as she hugged the orange mare.
When the two stopped hugging, Applejack turned her attention to the unicorn beside Twilight. "And who may this be?"
"Oh! This is Sunset Shimmer."
"Sunset? The one from all those years ago?"
"Yep! That's me!" Sunset said as sweat fell down her face.
"And what are you doing here after all these years?" Applejack addressed coldly. "And it's been 1,000 years! Why were you in the human world for such a long time?" Applejack said to Twilight in a much softer tone.
"Ohh... I'll tell you that later..." Twilight said as she shot a deathly glare at the white ball.
"What in tarnation?!" Applejack squeaked.
"Again, I''l tell you later. Now, are the CMC with you? I heard three other voices!" Twilight asked with delight as the three teen ponies walked up to her. She smiled until she saw that they had their cutiemarks. And they were all nearly identical! "Uh..." Twilight managed to say with a smile on her face as she pointed to their marks.
"Oh!" Sweetiebelle yelped with joy.
"Looks like we both got stories that we need to tell." Apple Bloom happily said, followed by a nod from Scootaloo. After the greetings went by, Applejack and the CMC, who were surprisingly still the CMC, led Twilight and Sunset to the Equestrian Base as they told their tales. They were sometimes interrupted by the humans who had questions on Equestria and how things work there. Sunset and Twilight happily replied as Applejack and the CMC didn't speak a word to them except for Flash and the two principles.
"See Sunset? When you were defeated the first time, you said that you didn't want to come back to Equestria because you though you wouldn't be accepted! But look now, AJ and the CMC are already with you!" Twilight said with a smile.
"Yea. I guess I should've never been so worried." Sunset replied with relief.
"Well, I cam assure you that you won't be gettin' any criticism from Rarity." Applejack said with a frown on her face.
At that moment, Twilight's face fell. "How's she doing?"
Applejack sighed. "Not too well..."
"Yea. I've been worried myself!" Sweetiebelle said.
"It started off as a harmless cold." Scootaloo continued.
"But now, It's been all kinds of nasty!" Apple Bloom finished.
Twilight looked down at the ground in shame. "Let's just keep going." She slowly said. She then whispered in Sunset's ear. "I just hope Equestria can except me..."
"Twi... Don't worry. I'm sure they'd be as accepting of you as they've been of me." Sunset reassured with a smile.
Twilight sighed. "Oh, Sunset. I hope you're right..."