Previous Chapters Next
Close
Prologue884 words
Chapter 1: On the Other Side1,043 words
Chapter 2: Small Steps into a Strange World2,524 words
Chapter 3: Cookies and Crowns2,816 words

Chapter 2: Small Steps into a Strange World

"Hey, are you two alright?" the white wolf called out to Twilight and Spike, as she and the grey wolf approached them. Somehow sensing that they weren't a threat, but still feeling unease, Twilight manged to reply back.

"Uh, yes. We're fine."

"Well that's good." the white she-wolf with purple spectacles said with some relief. She glanced over at the other she-wolf carrying the stringed instrument. "Li Qin thought she heard screaming over here."

"I did hear screaming you mean." Li Qin remarked. "And I'm still surprised you didn't hear it Chang Xue."

"Hey, I already said I was sleeping when it happened." Chang Xue pointed out.

Li Qin rolled her eyes, then turned towards Twilight and Spike. "Was it one of you who screamed?"

"Well, yeah it was me." Twilight admitted. "Sorry if I was disturbing you at all."

"It's alright. You're not exactly the first one to disturb me while practicing my erhu." Li Qin looked at her stringed instrument, and then briefly at Chang Xue, before returning to Twilight. "Why were you screaming anyways?" she asked.

Twilight quickly tried to come up with an excuse. "I was uhh...doing a special kind of therapy. It's suppose to help relieve stress."

"Really?" Chang Xue spoke curiously. "Maybe I should give it a try." Just as she took a deep breath, Li Qin stopped her.

"I'll be the one needing stress relief if you do." She growled with a warning. "It's hard enough finding peace and quiet back home whenever you play your dagu drum nearly all the time!"

"At least you're now in the right place if you want peace and quiet." Chang Xue replied sweetly as she stretched out her arms to indicate the beautiful scenery. "Besides, you know I promised those three girls I'd help accompany them with their Lion Dance for the Autumn Moon Festival."

"Autumn Moon Festival?" Spike said with confusion and interest. "Is that anything like Nightmare Moon Night?"

"Nightmare Moon Night?" both wolves said at once as they looked towards Spike.

"Oh, it's just a special event we have where we're from." Twilight intervened. "Everypony- I mean- everybody dresses up in costumes, while children are given candy, games are played, scary stories are told and stuff. I guess that's not anything like what you were talking about, is it?"

"Not really." Chang Xue replied. "But that does sound like fun!"

"So, you two are actually not from around here then?" Li Qin asked as she stared at Spike and Twilight.

"Oh my gong you're right Li!" Chang Xue realized as she looked at her friend and then back at Twilight and Spike. "That explains why I've never seen you guys before."

"Yeah, he-he, I guess that would." Twilight agreed nervously as she turned around and started walking along the path again. "Nice meeting you both, but we better be going now, so-"

"Hold on!" Chang Xue said. "Why the rush? It's not every day we meet someone new in the Land of Harmony, and besides, you haven't even introduced yourselves yet."

"Oh right! Of course, I forgot, umm...I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"And I'm Spike!" the panda added in.

"Those are some cool names." Chang Xue said.

"But they don't sound very Chinese either. Mandarin or Cantonese." Li Qin noted.

"Chinese?" Twilight repeated that new word.

"Yeah you know? Chinese; as in China, as in the place where we are right now." Chang Xue said as she took off her spectacles, revealing two magenta eyes. When she noticed the strangers didn't seem to get it, she joked. "What rock did you two crawl out from?"

"One that looks like a giant turtle?" Spike answered. Twilight gave him a quick glare. The two wolves suddenly grew wide expressions as they stared at the Tonkinese cat and her panda cub companion for what seemed like a long time. Only the rustling of leaves in the breeze, the distant sound of wind chimes and flowing water filled the void of empty silence. The silence finally ended when Chang Xue started to laugh uncontrollably, as she rolled against the ground on her back.

"Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!! 'One that looks like a'- Bah Ha He Ha! Oh-ho, oh my, I- I can't believe you actually said that!"

"Yeah, me neither." Twilight muttered.

"Oh grow up Chang." Li Qin said to her friend with annoyance and embarrassment. "It wasn't even that funny."

"Yes it was- Ha Ha Ha!" Chang Xue said between fits of laughter. "The best I've heard in a long while."

Wanting to change the subject, Twilight pointed towards the strange white building in the distance, as she asked the wolves. "So, does this path lead towards that castle over there?"

"You mean the Palace of Blooming Lotus? No." Li Qin replied. "But it does lead to the Tower of Beating Wings if you want a better view of it."

"No thanks. I just need to know how to get there from here."

"Easy!" said Chang Xue, who had finally stopped laughing and began to clean her purple spectacles. "After you go outside the Moon Gate, turn right, and then follow the main road the rest of the way."

"And where do I find the Moon Gate?" Twilight asked.

"It's the big round entrance that you went through to get into Oogway Garden." Li Qin answered and pointed towards the direction on the path she and Chang Xue had come from. "If that is how you got in here anyways."

"Umm, okay, thank you very much." Twilight said as she started walking, with Spike right beside her.

"Nice day to be on all fours is it?" Chang Xue remarked.

"What?" Twilight said as she turned around. She suddenly realized that both Spike and the wolves were standing on their hind legs. Feeling embarrassed, she replied back. "I... thought it would help me move twice as fast."

"Makes perfect sense to me." Chang Xue said as she waved. "Take care of yourselves now."

"You too." Spike called back, as he and Twilight walked out of sight from the wolves. Twilight struggled as she tried to stand up, and wobbled with each step. She soon learned to use her new tail to help gain balance.

Turning towards Twilight, Spike finally decided to ask her something that had been on his mind. "Twilight, why didn't you tell them what we were actually doing here? They might have known something about the crown."

Twilight sighed before she answered him. "I was going to, but then I thought, what if one of them had showed up in Equestria, claiming they came from a place called 'China' where non-pony animals walked on two legs and wore strange clothing like this, we would think they were crazy! Besides, you saw how they reacted when you mentioned the turtle rock."

"Yeah..I guess you're right." Spike admitted. "But didn't those wolves look familiar to you?"

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked. The last wolves she remembered meeting were Timber Wolves near the edge of the Everfree Forest. And they weren't anything like the two she just talked with, in more ways than one.

Spike began scratching himself on the head. "Well, I can't help but feel like I've seen them before somewhere, or at least Chang Xue anyhow."

"You mean back in Equestria!?" Twilight said with disbelief. "Are you sure?"

"Not really," he admitted, "but she does remind me of a certain pony I've seen once or twice. Must be those glasses she's wearing." He glanced back over his shoulder, wondering if he could see the white she-wolf anywhere.

"Must be- Wow!" Twilight lost her footing and fell flat on her face. Slowly she got up, but still found it hard to stand on her hind legs again. She grabbed a near by bamboo stalk for support. "Come on Spike. I do not want to be like this any longer than I have to."

"Look on the bright side." Spike noted as he helped her. "You don't have those pesky wings to worry about anymore."

Twilight glared at him for a few seconds before continuing along the path. Had she not been too busy trying to learn how to walk on two legs, or that she needed to find her crown within three days or be stuck here for another thirty moons, she actually would have found this garden really enjoyable. The combination of rocks, plants, architecture and water seemed to be in harmonious balance with each other, to compose a sense of beauty and peace. Every turn along the serpentine path she was following, seemed to open up to a new glimpse of a different scenery in the garden. She wondered if her friend Fluttershy would have found this place better than the private garden in Canterlot. Then Twilight started wishing she had all of her Ponyville friends with her now. She wondered if they would have turned into cats like her too, or perhaps into different kinds of animals? How could five more ponies really upset the balance of this strange new world anyways? Would their presence have actually made it harder for Twilight to get her crown back? Or was Princess Celestia, by sending Twilight on this mission alone, secretly trying to test her, just like when they had been teacher and student not so long ago? But if so, was it a test of Friendship, or a test of being Princess? Maybe it was both, or perhaps neither.

As they walked across a bridge, Twilight took the opportunity to finally look at her reflection in the water. Her face and ears were dark brown like her paws and tail. The rest of her head and neck was coffee brown. Her almond shaped violet eyes were the only features familiar enough to indicate who she was looking at. She sighed heavily as Spike's reflection appeared right beside hers.

"You okay Twilight?" he asked while placing a paw along Twilight's shoulder. "I mean, you're not going to start talking to your new self, are you?"

"No." Twilight said reassuringly, but still feeling troubled. "I just wanted to see how I actually look like now, and... try to get use to it."

Spike looked at Twilight, then at their reflections. "Well, if it helps at all, you seem to look good as a cat to me."

"Thanks, same with you." she replied without so much as glance.

"Also, we must be getting closer to the Moon Gate now." He pointed towards several buildings and a white wall.

Looking up at the direction Spike was mentioning,Twilight let out another sigh and then faced the panda. "You know Spike, I am glad to hear that we'll be leaving this garden soon, but at the same time-"

"You feel like you just wanna stay here." Spike said as he put down the sack he had been carrying and began to look inside it. "I know exactly what you mean. This place is amazingly beautiful! Not to mention delicious."

"Yes it is- Delicious?" She watched as Spike pulled out two peaches from the sack, and proceeded to eat them both. "Where did you get those?"

Between mouthfuls, Spike answered, "From that strange peach tree near the portal, with all of its fruit and blossoms still on it, remember? Why? Do you want some?" Putting one of the peaches in his mouth, he went over to reach into the bag again.

"No. And do you think it's a good idea to be picking and eating fruit from a tree that you thought was 'strange'?" Twilight wasn't sure if there was perhaps something magical about this tree. She hadn't really noticed it herself at the time. And if it was, she wouldn't be able to do anything to help Spike, since she didn't have her horn.

After eating the peach in his mouth, Spike pulled out another one, as he reassured Twilight. "Don't worry, I already tried five of them before you woke up. Nothing strange has happened yet so far...aside from everything else that is. Besides, we didn't exactly have breakfast before we left, and this new body isn't helping much either." He began munching away once more, with peach juice dripping down his mouth and paws.

Before Twilight could give Spike a real good mouthful of something, she began to hear the distant sound of some kind of music playing. It went from a sad melodious tune, to a joyous jig. It was nothing like any music she had ever heard before. But it seemed to be almost singing as she kept on listening, and when it finally ended, she found herself weeping and smiling at the same. Turning to Spike, who had been weeping too but also eating and dancing as well, she asked. "Do you think that was Li Qin playing on her Erhu she mentioned?"

"If it is," Spike noted, "She certainly is really good at it."

"Yes," Twilight agreed. "I wonder if she'll do an encore soon."

After throwing away the peach pits lying on the bridge, and wiping his paws, Spike slowly picked up the bag. "Probably a good time to go find that Moon Gate now before she does. Or we may find ourselves staying in this garden for another thirty moons after all."

"You're right Spike," Twilight realized as she got up. "As beautiful as this place is, it's not our home. And our home remains in danger so long as my crown and Element of Harmony remains in this world."

"To the Mooooooon- Gate!" Spike proclaimed as he and Twilight reached the other side of the bridge.

Author's Note:

Who else felt that someone should have asked Twilight why she was screaming in that scene of EG?

4,225 views

146

Previous Chapters Next