Culture Shock
After Applejack and Sunset managed to pry Twilight loose from Fluttershy’s iron grip (and Rainbow Dash had stopped laughing), Rarity briefly retreated into the kitchen. When she returned, she was carrying with her the food Fluttershy had prepared for them, which included an assorted veggie platter with a bowl of homemade dip in the center, a plate of assorted bite-sized sandwiches, a bowl of nachos and a batch of chocolate-chip cookies fresh from the oven, as well as a stack of enough paper plates for all of them. However, despite their previous sentiments, no one was paying any particular attention to the food as Rarity went back and forth to get it all, instead focusing once more on the pony now sitting in the center of the couch.
Twilight tried to ignore their stares as best she could as she focused on preening her wings, realigning a few feathers that had become loose after being in an uncomfortably confined space for so long and from Fluttershy’s enthusiastic display of affection. She didn’t have to look up to know that the girl in question was still staring at her from across the room, one of Rarity’s throw pillows tightly clutched in her arms.
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash sat on either side of her, the occasional snicker still emanating from the rainbow-haired girl. Applejack had returned to her seat after helping Sunset free Twilight and hadn’t said a word since, while Sunset stood off to the side, trying to determine if she should step in and say something.
Returning from the kitchen once more, Rarity carried with her an equal mix of cola and bottled waters in both arms, setting them down on the table next to the food. “I believe that’s everything. Help yourselves… I guess.” Taking a seat on the floor next to Fluttershy, Rarity tried to look anywhere except towards the literal pony in the room.
Glancing around the room at the dreary expression on everyone’s face, Applejack finally chose that time to speak her mind. “Well, shoot, if none of y’all’re gonna say anythin', then I guess I might as well. You two want to fill us in on what in the Sam Hill’s going on?”
Putting her last feather back into place and pulling her wings against her sides, Twilight took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she began. “As I was trying to say, I was all set to come over here and spend the weekend with all of you. I had to push ahead and rearrange a few things in my schedule to do so, which in hindsight might not have been the best idea considering how much work it caused for Spike and me to have to deal with and that’s not even getting into—”
“Twilight,” Sunset interrupted, “you’re rambling.”
“Oh… sorry.” Twilight had the good sense to look embarrassed before continuing. “Anyway, I got the portal all set up like I usually do and stepped through without any issue. It was during the trip over that the mirror back in Equestria must have short-circuited or something, and instead of arriving as a human... I showed up looking like this.”
“If that wasn’t bad enough,” Sunset picked up where Twilight had left off, “the bridge between the two worlds has closed until the portal can be fixed.”
Or until the two portals can connect naturally, Sunset left unsaid.
Twilight watched Applejack closely as what they’d said slowly sunk in. Applejack’s face did nothing to betray her inner thoughts, remaining as stone-faced as ever. It felt like an eternity before she finally spoke. “Well then… I guess that goes ‘bout answerin' a few questions, don’ it?”
“Huh?” Twilight wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but Applejack’s response wasn’t it. “You’re… you’re not even the least bit weirded out by all this?”
“Seriously, Twi?” Rainbow Dash said with no absence of disbelief in her voice. “After everything that’s happened since we all met you, I’m not sure what I would call ‘weird’ anymore.”
“I reckon Dash’s right. When we first learned ya’ll were a pony, I wasn’t sure what to think at first, so seein' ya like this just caught all of us off guard is all.” Applejack seemed to take a second to look Twilight over once more. “Though what went and surprised me the most is I didn’ think you’d be so small.”
“I’m not! Well, not usually.” Twilight groaned before slumping back into the couch. “I don’t know why I’m this size. It’s really jarring seeing everything so much bigger than me now.” I feel like a filly again…
“Aww, its not so bad, Twilight.” Scootching closer, Pinkie Pie reached over and began scratching the alicorn mare behind the ears like before. “You’re much more huggable now!”
Twilight’s ears twitched slightly and she flicked her tail before giving a content “Mrrr.” in response. Fluttershy hugged the throw pillow tighter as she looked on with just the slightest bit of envy.
Applejack did her best not to giggle at the display, instead looking over towards Sunset Shimmer. “Ya said that doorway’s gone and shut her out. Any ideas on how yer going to go ‘bout gettin’ her back?”
“We’re working on that,” Sunset replied. “Spike’s currently going over the portal to see if he can figure out what happened. Right now all we can do it wait for him to reply back.”
Vrrr! Vrrr! Vrrr!
Sunset glanced down at her journal, which was now vibrating on top of the table while radiating a familiar violet aura. “Speak of the devil…” Picking it up, she flipped through it while everyone else looked on in hushed anticipation. As she read Spike’s message, a smile gradually curved across her lips.
“You’re in luck, Twilight. Seems Spike was able to figure out the problem already.”
“Really?!”
“Yep. He says that thanks to your notes, he was able to confirm that only one part of the machine was actually broken. Everything else should be working just fine.”
Twilight grinned in excitement as she clapped her hooves together. “That’s perfect! If it’s just one faulty piece, then all Spike needs to do is replace it and I can go back!” It took all her willpower not to outright squeal at the news. “Does he say which part it was?”
“Hold on…” Glancing back down, she read over the rest of the message. “He says it was something called a ‘mana resonation coil’. He’s even drawn a picture of it.” She flipped the book around so everyone else could see the image on the bottom of the page, which depicted a cylindrical device with two smaller cylinders protruding from both ends. Undecipherable symbols covered the entire thing.
Twilight blinked in mild confusion. “The mana resonation coil? But that’s supposed to regulate the flow of ambient arcane-electrical energy produced. If the mirror generated enough residual energy for it to break, then much more of the machine should have ended up damaged.” Ignoring the blank stares directed her way, Twilight tapped her hoof against her chin in thought. “The only reason I can think of for why it would break is that it must not have been properly calibrated long before I installed it. With each use of the portal, the coil would have decayed further and further under the strain of the portal until it just couldn’t take it anymore.”
“So… what you’re basically saying is this time was the last straw that went and broke the camel’s back, right?” Applejack pointed out.
“Um…I guess?” I’ll worry about the linguistics of that metaphor later. “But all Spike needs to do is replace the coil and the portal should work good as new! Luckily, I keep a few in the basement just in ca—”
In the blink of an eye, all mirth disappeared from Twilight’s face. Her eyes widened while her pupils shrunk to the size of pinheads, her mouth hanging open in shock while her right eye twitched slightly as she stared off into space. After several seconds of sitting as still as a statue, a pink hand reached over and lightly poked the stock-still mare’s horn.
“Uh… Twilight? You okay?” When prodding her several more times didn’t invoke a response, Pinkie Pie tried waving a hand in front of her face. “Heeelllooo? Earth to Twilight!”
Twilight finally blinked as she registered Pinkie speaking to her, causing her to let out an anguished wail before burying her face in her hooves. “No, no, no!”
“What’s wrong?” Fluttershy delicately asked.
“I just remembered I already used the last one to fix another piece of equipment I was using for an experiment! I’ve been meaning to order a batch of new ones, but with how busy everything has been lately I just kept pushing it back more and more!” If that wasn’t bad enough, a part of her was more than happy to remind Twilight that the busy week had been her fault in the first place.
“Can’t you just take out that one and use it instead?” Rainbow randomly suggested. “Like switching out the batteries on a remote?”
“NO!” Twilight yelled, leaping onto Rainbow’s chest while looking up at her with a frantic look in her eyes. “The mana resonation coil is a delicate piece of equipment that synchronizes to whatever it’s installed in! If I just ripped one out and installed it into another machine, the resulting disharmony between the two machines could cause the entire thing to explode! Or worse!”
“Okay, okay! I get it, bad idea.” Carefully pushing Twilight off, she backed up just a bit further away from the panicking Twilight. “Then just have Spike go out and buy a new one. I still don’t see what the problem is.”
“Nopony sells them in Ponyville, that’s the problem!”
“…‘Nopony’?” Rainbow Dash muttered, but was subsequently ignored by the increasingly hysterical alicorn.
“They’re such a particular item that I’ve always had to special order them from a supplier clear across the country. Even if Spike uses my title as a princess to get them to try to rush an order, it could still take days for them to arrive! Maybe even weeks!”
Hyperventilating, Twilight began to unconsciously flap her wings, causing her to start hovering off the couch. She could make out the voice of someone calling out to her, but she was too consumed with worry to register what they were saying.
Every time she had come to this world, she’d always had the option open to her to go back home should the need arise, but now she was well and truly trapped here.
What would Spike tell Rarity and Applejack when they came back? What about the rest of her friends? What if something important came up and she wasn’t there to help? Would everypony think she’d abandoned them? What if Parasprites attacked the town again? Or changelings tried to invade? What if a pack of Windigos appeared? What if Tirek broke out of Tartarus again and went after her friends out of revenge? What if—
Twilight was stopped from formulating any more possible scenarios when she was abruptly scooped out of the air and tightly embraced once more. She initially tried to struggle like before, but even panic-stricken she began to notice that this felt much different than before. Whereas before she had been almost smothered, this felt much more tender and inviting, as the sound of a familiar voice singing a soothing melody reached her ears.
“F…Fluttershy?” she managed to croak out as she felt a hand slowly run through her mane and down her back in a comforting manner.
“Shh… it’s alright. Everything’s going to be alright…” Fluttershy’s voice was like velvet to Twilight’s ears as she continued to sing to her.
As Fluttershy continued to hold onto her, Twilight could feel the comforting melody wrap around her, each note flowing through her body and mind. She could feel the panic that had been present ever since she had arrived gradually dissipate, taking with it bit by bit the fear and worry that had threatened to consume her. Her wings relaxed, folding up against her body as the world around her slowly faded out of focus. She just barely registered the sensation of Fluttershy carrying her somewhere, as she felt her eyelids grow heavy as she curled up against Fluttershy’s body, the calming voice keeping the mare on the very edge of consciousness.
Time lost all meaning to Twilight as she focused only on the pleasant voice, though eventually the soothing melody came to an gradual end. Opening her eyes, she looked up to see a pair of soft blue eyes looking down at her, a pleasant smile on Fluttershy’s face.
“Feeling better?”
Twilight nodded her head. “Thanks, Fluttershy. I needed that.”
If it was even possible, Fluttershy’s smile grew even more beaming at hearing that. “I’m just glad I was able to calm you down.” Leaning over, she gently placed Twilight down onto the throw pillow she had been previously hugging, having set it down when she had gotten up to help the distressed mare.
No longer racked with panic, Twilight glanced around the room to find Sunset and the others all staring at her and Fluttershy. Rarity and Pinkie Pie practically swooned with glee at the display, while Applejack sat back with her Stetson held over her face, though not enough to completely hide her grin. Still holding her journal open, Sunset Shimmer appeared rather amused by the entire thing, while Rainbow Dash just sat with her mouth hanging open.
Rainbow quickly picked her jaw up off the floor. “Whoa, Shy. That was amazing… How’d you know that would work?”
“It helps calm down some of my animals when they’re scared or worked up,” Fluttershy replied without looking away from Twilight, brushing a lock of hair out of her face. “I know I shouldn’t be treating you like any other animal, but you just looked so frightened that I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.”
“No, it’s alright, Fluttershy. I know you meant well, and panicking like that does nothing to help anyone.” Thanks to Fluttershy, Twilight was thinking clearly again, which made the ultimate solution to her current problem all the more obvious. “With no easy way to replace the coil, I guess I’m going to be here for a while. And here I was planning on just spending the long weekend relaxing…”
“Well, shoot, I don’t see why that has to change, sugarcube! You’re gonna be here for the long haul, nothin’ stoppin’ ya from enjoyin’ yourself!”
“Applejack’s right,” Rarity said. “Sure, we might have to get creative to help make your stay more comfortable, but I don’t see why we can’t still have fun.”
“But… but where will I stay?”
“You could stay with me,” Sunset offered. “Luckily my landlord is a bit more lenient than some in regards to ‘pets’.”
“Plus, I’m sure any one of us would be willing to take you in while you’re here, right girls?” Fluttershy suggested, turning to the others in turn.
“Ooh!” Pinkie raised her hand. “Count me in!”
“Reckon I’d be a poor excuse for an Apple if’n I didn’t offer ya some hospitality,” Applejack said.
“Hells yeah! I’d have to be some kind of idiot to leave you all high and dry!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“You’re always welcome here, Twilight. All you need to do is ask and I’d be more than happy to have you until you’re able to head home,” Rarity said.
Twilight felt a warmth well up inside her, a smile spreading across her face at her friends’ generosity. Seems no matter what world I’m in, Twilight thought, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of friends. “Thanks, girls. Though before any of that, I still need to send a reply back to Spike to let him know what he needs to do while I’m gone.”
“Ooh, I’ll go get a pen. Wait just one moment!” Rarity said.
As Rarity stood up and ran into the hall, Twilight realized that her previous panic attack had left her parched. Turning her attention to one of the water bottles on the table, Twilight casually willed her magic to draw the object towards her.
The water bottle didn’t so much as twitch. Glancing up at her horn, she tapped her hoof against it, only managing to produce a single spark from the contact between the two. Focusing on the water bottle again, she once more urged it to float over to her as she had done countless times before with nary a passing thought.
And again, nothing happened. Thanks to her still calm demeanour, her only reaction was to sigh and rub her head with her hoof. “I was afraid of this…”
“Need some help?” Looking up, Twilight watched Sunset Shimmer tuck her now closed journal under her arm before walking over and picking up the water bottle she had been staring at, twisting the cap off and offering it to her.
Carefully gripping it in her front hooves, Twilight offered a quick “Thanks,” in return, before tilting her head back as she brought the water to her lips and took a long drink from it.
“No magic, huh?” Sunset asked as she watched Twilight guzzle nearly half the bottle in one go.
Wiping her lips as she finished, Twilight shook her head. “No, I guess not. I was hoping since I still had my horn that I might have been able to at least levitate things, but I guess even that was just wishful thinking.”
“Yeah, I figured as much.” Grabbing one of the cans of cola, Sunset quickly popped the tab before taking her own sip of her drink. “I may not be able to sense magic like I could back in Equestria, but as far as I can tell this world is a veritable magical dead zone.”
Twilight simply nodded her head in understanding. While ordinarily the loss of her magic would have been a serious concern to her, she had already gone through that the first time she had come to this world and had long ago accepted that so long as she was here she would be effectively deprived of her magic. It seemed even as a pony that remained unchanged.
“Magic? Ya mean that there fancy glowin' stuff that give us all pony ears and what not?”
“Er…” Scratching the back of her head, Sunset Shimmer considered whether she should even try to explain to Applejack the concept of magic. Thankfully, she was saved by Rarity choosing that moment to return, pen in hand.
“Here you are.” Offering the pen to Twilight, the alicorn looked to the pen in Rarity’s hand, then up at her horn, before turning to Sunset with an unsure look on her face.
“Uh, Sunset Shimmer? Would you mind…?”
“Sure, no problem.” Taking the pen from Rarity, Sunset cracked open the journal and rested it against her arm, pen held against the fresh page. “Fire away, Twilight.”
Clearing her throat, Twilight began to dictate what she wanted to say to Spike. “Spike, this is Twilight. Unfortunately, you may not be able to find any more mana resonation coils in the castle, so I need you to go down to the Post Office and request an order form for a new batch. There’s a good chance they might already have a few forms on hoof, and, if you can, request their most express shipping.
“I know you may be tempted to cut the wait time anyway you can, but right now it’s more important that you get a quality coil to replace the damaged one with. If getting one quicker could potentially damage it, then I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait. I’ll be fine, I promise. Everyone’s offered to look after me while I’m here, so you don’t have to worry.
“If anyone comes to the castle, tell them I’ve been called away on important business and won’t be back for a few days. If they still persist, let them know that they can leave a memo and I’ll take care of it when, and only when, I get back. If any of our friends ask, then just tell them the truth: that I’ve gone to the other world for a few days and will be back as soon as I can.
“In the event that something major occurs, or even that the coil could take up to a week or longer to arrive, then you may have no other option but to contact the princesses, if you haven’t already.”
Pausing for a moment, Twilight tapped her hoof against her chin as a thought came to her. “After you’ve done all that, I have one more thing I need you to do: enjoy yourself.”
Sunset Shimmer raised an eyebrow at that part, but nonetheless kept writing as Twilight went on. “You’ve worked just as hard as I did this past week, if not more. You were just as excited to use this time to relax, and I would feel terrible if you were kept from that because of me. You did say this wasn’t the first time you’ve been home alone, so just do what you usually do when you’re home by yourself, whether that be reading your comics, watching hoofball or even making that chocolate emerald cake I know you love so much. I want to hear all about it when I get back.
“Until then, make sure to look after the place and stay safe.”
With one final stroke of her pen, Sunset finished writing down everything Twilight had to say before closing the book and setting it aside. “If I didn’t know any better,” Sunset said as she turned to look at Twilight, “I would think you were Spike’s mom or something.”
“Spike said something similar before I left. Although… he’s not entirely wrong. I have been looking after him since I was a filly, and I guess I do fret over him like a mother would. Though he looks after me just as much as I look after him, so I think he’s more like my little brother in that regard.”
“Must be nice, having someone like him around.”
“Yeah, Spike means the world to me.” I’ll have to remember to make it up to him once this is all over.
“Well then!” Rarity spoke up, clapping her hands together to get everyone’s attention. “Now that that business has been taken care of, I think it’s about time we partake in all this food Fluttershy has so kindly provided us, don’t you?”
“Sweet! Thanks for reminding me of how hungry I was!” Without warning, Rainbow Dash grabbed a fistful of nachos and swiftly shoveled them into her mouth, dripping salsa and cheese everywhere and nearly causing Rarity to have an aneurism.
Honestly, she loved Rainbow Dash as much as any one of her friends…but some days she couldn’t for the life of her remember why.
“Whoa there! Save some for the rest of us, why don’cha!” Applejack said.
“I call dibs on the cookies!” shouted Pinkie Pie.
“Like hell you do!” Rainbow Dash somehow managed to say through a mouthful of nachos.
As the three of them pounced on the food, Fluttershy grabbed two paper plates from the stack. “Would you like me to make a plate for you, Twilight?”
“That would be nice. Thank you, Fluttershy.”
Conversation died down for a spell as everyone began enjoying the food. As Twilight munched on one of the mini-sandwiches, she couldn’t help but get the feeling like she was still being watched. Peering out of the corner of her eye, she could just make out Rarity sitting nearby, absently picking at her own plate of food while keeping her eyes locked on Twilight.
“Uh… Rarity? Is something wrong?”
“Oh!” Rarity jumped up, swiftly averting her eyes and absentmindedly playing with her hair. “Well… no… it’s just…” Realizing she had been caught in the act, Rarity bowed her head, no doubt trying to mask the look of shame on her face. “I’m terribly sorry, Twilight. I know it’s rude of me to stare, it’s just that I can’t help but be rather…” She idly twirled her fingers in small circles, as if hoping to pluck the right word out of the air. “Intrigued, I guess would be the right word. Yes, I’m intrigued by certain aspects of your appearance.”
“Intrigued… how?”
“Well, I do remember that when we all got our first good look of you like this, Pinkie remarked on how similar you were to how we’ve come to know you. Now that the initial awkwardness has passed, I find myself noticing how few differences there actually are. Well… besides the blatantly obvious that is.” Reaching out her hand as if to touch Twilight, she suddenly drew back, thinking better of herself. “May I?”
“Oh! Uh… sure.”
Smiling, she reached out again and slowly ran her fingers down one of Twilight’s ears, causing the alicorn to flick her ear at the touch. “Your ears look the same as the ones we all get when we transform, same with your wings.” Moving downward, she traced her fingers along the side of Twilight’s face. “Your fur is the same color as your skin, and, despite the muzzle, I can’t help but see the resemblance between your face now and your face as a human. Your hair is virtually identical and your eyes are much bigger than any pony I’ve ever seen, almost human-like even.”
Moving her hand to Twilight’s forehead, she lightly tapped the tips of her fingers against the side of Twilight’s horn. “This, however, is something new to me. Even when all of us take on those half-pony forms, I can’t ever recall seeing you with a horn.”
“I’ve wondered that myself. The only possible reason I can come up with why it doesn’t appear as a human is I guess it would look silly if you and me suddenly had horns coming out of our foreheads.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow at the implication. “Me? Why would I have a horn as well?”
“Uh…” Twilight had to think hard about how much she should tell the others about Equestria. She had told her pony friends all about the human world after her first trip here, so it was only fair she did the same with her human friends. Plus, she knew she could trust them to keep all this a secret. “I have mentioned my other friends back in Equestria before, right?”
“I remember ya sayin’ once how we looked like people… er, ponies that ya knew,” Applejack answered as she chewed on a carrot slice coated in dip. “Frankly, I’m not sure which is more frightenin’: that there’s ‘nother me walkin’ around, or that there’s ‘nother Pinkie Pie walkin’ around.”
“That would be so cool! Just think about what I could do if there were two of me!” Pinkie smiled as she bit into a chocolate-chip cookie, seemingly deep in thought at the prospect of being able to be in two places at one.
“I’d much rather not, if’n I can help it, Pinkie.”
Oh, two Pinkies are nowhere near as bad as two dozen Pinkies. Twilight resisted the urge to cringe at the memory of a swarm of pink ponies invading Ponyville with endless chants of “Fun! Fun! Fun!” It was a wonder the whole town hadn’t all had nightmares that night.
“Well, there’s also a Rarity where I come from and she’s a unicorn, so she has a horn just like mine.”
“Interesting…” Rarity drew her hand back and tapped her fingers against her chin, seemingly trying to picture in her head what Twilight was describing.
“Hey, that reminds me!” Rainbow yelled from across the room. “When we transform, Shy and me get wings like yours! Does that mean that over in your world, we’ve got horns too?”
Twilight shook her head. “I’m sorry, but no. The Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy from my world are both pegasi, so no horns.”
“Aww!” Rainbow crushed her empty cola can between the palms of her hands and tossed the remains over her shoulder, wasting no time in snagging another from the table. “That’s lame.”
“Hardly. Not only can a pegasus fly, but they can also walk on clouds and most of them are in charge of controlling the weather all over Equestria.”
Luckily for Rarity’s carpet, Rainbow hadn’t been drinking when Twilight had revealed that piece of information. “Whoa, controlling the weather?! That’s sick! I could make it clear skies all week, every week! No more dreary rain cutting into practice!”
The look on Applejack’s face made it abundantly clear that she didn’t share in Rainbow’s enthusiasm. “Yeah, Rainbow, I’m sure all the farmers will be overjoyed when their crops all up and die from lack of rain. Now that I’m thinkin’ bout it, what does that make Pinkie and me then? I figure neither of our doubles have horns or ya would have said so, and we sure as sugar don’t have no wings.”
“You’re right,” Twilight said. “The Applejack and Pinkie Pie back home are both earth ponies.”
“Earth ponies? Sounds to me like a group of work horses who ended up gettin’ the short end of the stick.”
Twilight appeared horrified by such an accusation. “Oh, no, no, that’s not it at all! Everypony has their own kind of magic; an earth pony’s magic just tends to be more internalized and based on their connection to the land, often contributing to their greater physical strength, iron constitution, greatly extended life-spans and... whatever Pinkie does.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow at that last part. “Would’a thought ya’ll have tried to figure her out one of these days.”
“I tried that once. It ended with me cleaning pond scum and soot out of my mane. Best to leave it at that for everyone’s sake.”
Applejack glanced over at Pinkie Pie, who appeared to be acting out the role of a mad scientist as she drowned her nachos in vegetable dip and cookie crumbs.“Guessin' I’ll take your word for it. Though, if the ponies in your world either have a horn, wings or neither, then how come ya’ll got both, Twilight?”
“Me? Oh, I’m an alicorn. I guess you could say I’m kind of a mix between all three kinds of ponies. I mean, I used to be a unicorn, but then there was this whole incident with a spell written by possibly the greatest theoretical mind of the last millennia—long story—and next thing I know, I’ve got these…” Twilight briefly fluttered her wings to indicate her point. “…and I’m being made a princess.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Rainbow Dash raised her hand, as if attempting to stall while she tried to process what she was hearing. “Back up a sec. So not only did you just suddenly sprout wings, but they made you royalty too, just like that?”
“It’s mostly the principle of the matter.” Sunset spoke up, taking a sip from her drink before continuing. “The first alicorns appeared during the Era of Discord, long after the Hearth’s Warming Treaty united the previously conflicting races. As the three tribes were in danger of either being wiped out or driven mad, they were saved by the arrival of a pair of alicorns.
“Since an alicorn embodies the best traits of each race: the strength of the earth ponies, the wings of a pegasus and the power to channel and control magic on par or above even the best unicorn spell casters, they’re historically regarded as the best suited to mediate between the earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi.”
As she finished, she noticed that everyone was staring wide-eyed at her, especially Twilight. “…What?”
“No-nothing!” Twilight stammered. “It’s just… I’m surprised you remembered all that.”
“Cut me some slack, Twilight. You make it sound like I never went to see the Hearth’s Warming pageant as a filly!”
“I guess that’s true. Sometimes I forget that you’re originally from Equestria as well.”
A sudden gasp was the only warning Sunset got before Pinkie Pie inexplicably vaulted across the room before grinding to halt with her face mere inches from Sunset’s own, causing a stray nacho to become lodged in Sunset’s throat at the sudden invasion of her personal space.
“That’s right, you’re just like Twilight!” Pinkie Pie gasped again. “Ooh, what kind of pony were you? What kind?”
Draining the rest of her cola, Sunset politely pushed Pinkie Pie away from her once she had stopped choking. “I was a unicorn. Or… I guess I still am in a way? I don’t know… I haven’t thought about it in a while.”
Twilight might have imagined it, but she could have sworn she heard a hint of something in Sunset’s voice when she had said that. It sounded almost like… regret? Disappointment maybe? “Sunset—”
“Hey, I’ve got a question that’s been bugging me,” Rainbow interjected, pointing at Twilight. “What’s with the butt tattoos?”
“W-what?” Twilight frantically craned her to neck to see where Dash was pointing. “Oh, that’s just my cutie mark.”
Rainbow snickered. “Cutie mark? Seriously?”
“Yes, very much so. A cutie mark is a special mark that appears when a pony discovers their special talent, something that makes them uniquely them. It is a physical representation of their greatest skills, their aspirations or even what they treasure most in life. You can tell a lot about a pony from just seeing their cutie mark and no two marks are the same.” Though Twilight could recall seeing a few which seemed almost eerily similar. “The day a pony discovers their cutie mark is a defining moment in their life that most remember with fondness.”
“Still sounds silly to me.”
“I think it sounds lovely,” Rarity countered. “Just imagine being able to instantly know something essential to a person’s identity just at a glance; I could just see something so significant having a huge cultural impact!”
“Actually…”
As Twilight went into full on lecture mode regarding cutie marks, Pinkie Pie returned to her spot on the couch and was glancing around the room to see if anyone else had noticed that there was only one cookie left. When she was sure no one else was watching, she sneakily reached over to claim it for herself. Come to mama!
Just as she was about to grab it though, a hand reached over and snatched it out from under her. Pinkie Pie whipped her head around in time to see Sunset Shimmer take a big bite out of the cookie that should have been hers.
“Hey! Sunset, that was mine!”
Sunset’s answer to that was to stick her tongue out at Pinkie. As she savored her prize, she noticed Applejack smirking at her from across the room.
“What? Did you want it instead?”
“Oh, no. I’m just tryin' to picture y’all as some cute and fuzzy pony, is all. I must say, it’s quite the picture.”
As Sunset opened her mouth to retort, she felt a sudden chill run down her spine. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Fluttershy looking at her, a wistful look in her eyes.
“No, don’t even think about it!”
“Awwww…” Fluttershy whined, causing everyone to start laughing. After a moment, even Sunset Shimmer joined them in their laughter.
The night progressed in much the same way. It was like any other time Twilight had spent just hanging out and laughing together with her friends, regardless if she was a pony or not. They cleaned out all the food Fluttershy had made, swapped stories about everything that had happened since Twilight had last visited and even played a few rounds of party games (with some assistance for Twilight’s sake).
Occasionally, someone would ask a question or two about ponies, or Equestria in general, and Twilight and Sunset did their best to answer them (though both were extra careful to make sure they never mentioned either of the princesses by name). All in all, everyone was having a good time.
And then Pinkie had somehow managed to dig up a particular game from the dark recesses of Rarity’s closet.
With a grunt of exertion, Applejack finally managed to slam her hand down onto the bright red dot to her right. “Ha! Top that!”
The seven of them had convened to what Rarity called her “Inspiration Room”, which had originally been intended as a guest room before Rarity had managed to convince her parents to let her use it, her main argument being that she could never recall ever having guests over to warrant a guest room.
Now the room played host to several shelves of fabric and various sewing supplies, a desk with a sewing machine on top, a rather expensive looking red velvet couch and a few mannequins draped in some of Rarity’s designs, while potential plans and sketches littered the walls. Even with all that though, there was still more than enough room to lay out the small plastic mat, covered in four rows of colored dots, that was currently twisting its latest victims into knots.
Rainbow Dash had been the easiest to convince and naturally Applejack had jumped at the chance to once more prove she was more athletic than Rainbow. Somehow, the three of them had managed to drag Sunset Shimmer into their nonsense, which was how she found herself in her current predicament; pressed far too close for comfort against the others.
Wishing to participate, but unable to given her current state, Twilight had elected to run the spinner that determined which color each player would reach for with what limb. Sitting in Fluttershy’s lap while she did this, the pink haired girl ran a brush through Twilight’s hair (with Twilight’s permission of course), every so often wincing as she watched her friends become more and more twisted together.
Rarity had wisely chosen to sit out from the whole affair, calling it “juvenile” and “obscene.” Sitting back on the fancy-looking couch, she had her sketchbook propped up as she sketched away, occasionally looking up at the game currently in progress and rolling her eyes at the display.
Rainbow Dash scoffed at Applejack’s declaration. “Ha, why don’t you actually give me a challenge for once? Come on Twilight, hit me with a good one!”
“Hold on, it’s Pinkie’s turn.” Putting her hoof against the spinner, Twilight sent the arrow spinning with a light flick of her hoof. Seconds later, it came to rest on a chosen color. “Pinkie, left foot on green.”
“Okie Dokie!” With a shocking level of dexterity, Pinkie Pie managed to snake her left leg over Applejack and down onto one of the green dots. With how her limbs were splayed in every direction, Pinkie Pie could very well be mistaken for some kind of strange four-legged octopus.
“Alright, now it’s your turn, Rainbow.” With another spin, the arrow quickly decided on Rainbow’s fate. “Right hand, yellow.”
Sweat began to drip from Rainbow’s brow as she looked at her options. Given how she was placed, she would need to reach clear across the board in order to even come close to touching a yellow spot. Her eyes flittered across the tangled mess of limbs, trying to spot an opening she could use.
Aha! Stretching her arm as far as she could, she slowly edged her upper body across the board, ultimately crawling underneath Sunset Shimmer as Rainbow’s fingers just barely brushed against the nearest yellow circle, taunting her with just how close she was.
Come on! Just… a… little… more!
With one final lunge, Rainbow Dash managed to slap her hand down onto the yellow dot, letting out an almost herculean cry of victory. As she savored her accomplishment, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye thanks to her new position, something that prompted her to grin devilishly from ear to ear.
“Well, well… I always wondered whether you wore a bra or not.”
“Hey!” With her face quickly turning a bright shade of red, Sunset shifted her head to look down at Rainbow, giving her the single most seething glare she could muster. “Eyes up here, Rainbow!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity cried out from across the room. “I don’t believe you! To even think about speaking about something so personal in such a flagrant manner!”
“Oh, lighten up, Rarity! You can’t tell me you haven’t wondered too!”
“That is not the point!” Rarity shot back, while desperately trying to hide her blushing face behind her sketchbook. “One does not talk about a lady’s garments so brazenly!”
“Can the two of you just drop it?!” Sunset all but snarled at them.
“Aww, is Sunny embarrassed by the size of her b—” Before Pinkie Pie could finish that sentence, Sunset kicked one of Pinkie’s arms out from under her, causing her to topple forward. Unfortunately, this also had the unintended side-effect of causing her to fall into the others, causing all of them to knock against one another and fall into one big, uncoordinated heap.
“Ah! Get your elbow out of my face!”
“Whose foot is that?!”
“I can’t feel my hand!”
“That’s because that’s my hand!”
While the four of them struggled to disentangle themselves from the chaotic mess of jumbled limbs, Twilight meanwhile had an inquisitive look on her face. Peeking up at Fluttershy, she innocently asked, “What’s a bra?”
Fluttershy’s reaction was to emit an almost inaudible squeak in reply, as she tried desperately to hide her bright red face in Twilight’s mane.
For anyone who was wondering why this was rated teen... now you know!
Also, today (Aug 24) happens to be the birthday of my best friend NodoubtbuodoN, who some of you may remember as the author for Statue Garden. If you're reading this, buddy...
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Was about to get ready for bed when I saw I had an unread chapter. Told myself I'd just read it when I woke up but then I saw what story it was and dove into it without even checking the word count to see what I was getting into. This is definitely one of my favorite stories right now
Panicking Twilight? Check.
Nurturing Fluttershy? Check.
Fun times all around? Check, check check!
Also, have fun explaining to Twi what a bra is, Fluttershy. You're the best candidate for that!
Cuteness is increasing.....
Nice freak out of Twilight here.
So that faulty part is pretty rare and apparently used in high level magical contraptions... Then ask Celestia if she can spare one from one of her Royal Mages?
Keeping to the plan of having fun during the weekend is pretty sensible choice here. It isn't like Twilight can do anything else, really.
I wonder why S+T are hiding the names of the Princesses.
Since Sunset hasn't been any significant time in Equestria for a long time now I imagine she doesn't know Luna is back (I doubt she knows about the Mare in the Moon incident either)
After this woule conversation about "how do you look as a pony?" I think Twilight, once she returns to Equestria, should send a photo to herself and her pony friends to the Rainbooms to have them see how they look like as ponies.
What I disliked in this chapter was your choice of Twilight not having any magic (the movies show that objects and people who have magic in EqG!Earth can use it well enough). It also makes me ask myself if her hovering was done by using the last of her remaining magic, and if she can recover some magic by joining the Rainbooms in music.
Fun chapter. Nothing special I want to comment on here, so I'll just say nice work.
This is immensely adorable.
The amount of squeeing caused by this story is incredible.
I think my heart is going to explode. Again. For the sixth time.
Damn this lovable horsewords website.
All and all, everyone was having a good time
1. All in all, is how the saying goes.
If that's their reaction to bras, wonder what would happen if Twilight just ask why they don't just go nude. Though I'm not sure if Twilight could tell they don't really have fur coats... So to speak.
Am I the only one that sees the cover art and thinks "Twilight's jaw is REALLY jutting out."?
ha classic
Am I the only one that sees the cover art and thinks "Twilight's jaw is REALLY jutting out."?
HNNNNNG PLEASE STOP
So much ear-scratching in this chapter.
This is pretty funny considering that the humans in our world have smaller eyes than horses.
Ahem. The scientific term is "tramp stamp".
Or plot label.
Hang on, Twi has been in this world before as a human. Um...
6353500
Is Twi is so desperately in need of a new coil, why doesn't she order Spike to send a letter to Celestia? Sure the most important pony on the country can get a new one for the mirror.
Well, things are getting awkward.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.
This was just... strange.
And awkward.
6353500
She presumably has duties in Equestria that she needs those days/weeks for, and she's already said she's pushing her schedule to the limit in order to get away for a day or two. Without her there, they might need to cancel or reorganize everything she was going to do, and you know how much Twilight likes to stay organized.
6353303
6353528
Twilight wants to show Celestia that she can handle these small issues herself. She doesn't want to have to distract Celestia with an altogether minor issue, especially since she deals with so much already.
I agree that Twilight should inform Celestia about current events, but as long as there are no major crises, taking care of it herself is entirely acceptable.
Butt Tattoos...
This chapter was funny and awkward, but who cares about awkward moments? The bad thing about reading this story as it is released instead of waiting for it to complete, is the cliffhangers and the waiting. This isn't a true negative as one can take it that the story is good and I don't like waiting. But I seriously am enjoying this story. I don't read a lot of stories on this site as much as I used too, but I am following a small amount of stories and this has high priority and took me out of playing video games, so count yourself lucky that I am able to break from a really fun game to read horse words.
I find it odd that Twilight considers humans growning horns odd…considering how weird they ALREADY look when they 'pony up.'
6353500 cause every other week there's Some disaster she's needed to solve, on top of princess duties , on top of world threatening villains, without her Equestria is pretty much screwed.
I'm honestly surprised, since Twilight learned that humans obviously don't have Cutie Marks, that she didn't point out that all of them are almost constantly wearing the image of their pony counterparts Cutie Mark, point out it seems to be a constant, and ask for an explanation. That would have been a perfect opportunity for giving some sort of explanation...or existential conundrums by stating there isn't one.
Fluttershy was the star of this chapter!
ll have to say, is thanks for the Laughter friend, lookin frowrd to the explanation about Bras.
Battle
Ready
Armor
6353937 and if, as it said Tirek got free? Or Discord started wreaking chaos, or some ancient evil revived and tried killing everyone? Celestia has been said to be powerful but the only crisis she has ever averted in the show was Twilight herself during the Tardy incident.
6353375
Thank you for pointing that out!
6353450
NEVER!
6353500
If I may direct your attention to this line:
My intent was to portray the lack of control Twilight has here, as before she could have just stepped back to Equestria if something major occurred. Even when she was trying to get her crown back, nothing was stopping her from from going back home should the situation call for it. But now she has no choice in the matter, she is stuck here and powerless to help if anything should happen. I speak from experience when I say that her mind went immediately to "worst-case-scenario" territory, even though Equestria won't burn to the ground if Twilight takes a few days off.
6353528
6353303
Kage No Brony hit the nail on the head. Unless it's truly a life or death emergency, Twilight would prefer not to get Celestia involved if she can help it, especially if it's something Twilight can still deal with without resorting to bothering her fellow princesses. Also, even if I did that, I would still need to have included some kind of reason to stall for at least a few days, otherwise this story would be over before I get a chance to get to the good stuff!
Tell me, which would you prefer? A story where the conflict I've presented is resolved within hours and Twilight returns home, or one where she's stuck as a little pony in another world for awhile? My bets are on the latter.
To answer your second question, 6353303, I'm assuming that Twilight told her about Luna at some point. Or, Sunset realized it herself when she met Vice-Principal Luna and deduced that if the Celestia in this world has a sister, then it was possible that Princess Celestia did as well, even though the two worlds aren't a complete 1:1 mirror.
6353972
That's basically cause ahe ia grooming Twi to be a princess.
Happy birthday NodoubtbuodoN!
Great chapter!
6354036
Like it or not Twilight and the other girls are a Strategic Asset thanks to the Rainbow Power and Celestia needs to know it isn't available. An analogy is that if some weird anomaly knocks all the United State's nukes offline for a few weeks the President needs to know even though they've never been used and hopefully never will be used.
The end...lol!
Hmm . . . Sunset doesn't wear bras, huh? It kinda makes sense, considering she's really a pony from another dimension, though how she hasn't caught on to it being culturally taboo in a way is pretty odd. She's been living in that world for a while now.
Whenever the subject of cutie marks comes up in Equestria Girls fanfic, no author ever deals with the question of just why the mirror counterparts often find themselves obsessed enough with a certain image, like three butterflies or balloons, that they put it on their clothing. I remember noticing that Twilight had borrowed PJs from Pinkie because of the balloons...
I didn't, now I do :P
Also love the chapter! Hnnnng twilight using the spinner in fluttershys lap sounds like the most suitable thing ever. We need fanart for this story <3
Ah, Twister. Fun for all ages!
Well, that was adorable.
Also, I kinda want to see human Flutters go through the portal at some point. It would be absolutely hilarious and adorable to watch her confuse everypony as she bounces around fussing over all the cute things while looking like the Fluttershy they are familiar with.
now I wording flash sentry would still have crush on twilight now? I be laughing if still did if he see twilight now. I just can't imaged what will happen? lol.
media.giphy.com/media/H7iEm8CKI9ZAs/giphy-facebook_s.jpg
6353303
I believe you are referring to the Dazzling's use of magic in the second movie. Their magic happens to be caused by the magical amulets worn around their necks- a magical item. Once those necklaces were destroyed the Dazzling's no longer had access to their magic, leaving them completely powerless.
In fact Sunset Shimmer was only ever to control the students' minds with magic and transform because of the Element of Magic- another magical item from Equestria.
The ONLY time magic has been used in Equestria Girls which did not spawn from a magical item was both times the mane six used the "Harmony Blast" on Sunset Shimmer and the Dazzlings. While they have been shown to access magic twice already, it's only been in extreme cases and any other times, say when they transform while playing their instruments, the transformations have always been short lived.
So to be honest it's perfectly understandable that while there is magic in the human world, it's not as readily accessible as it is in Equestria. IN a dire enough situation I bet Twilight, or any of the mane six for that matter, could utilize magic.
Hahahaha, I found this a few weeks ago and for some reason I didn't add it to my favorites. Hmm, well that's changed so I'm following this piece of gold right here. ONWARDS!
Twilights comment at the end reminds me of this....
http://equestriagirls.deviantart.com/art/Comic-Block-The-Support-A-Girl-Needs-484639746
Now I want to pet Twilight.
While the four of them struggled to disentangle themselves from the chaotic mess of jumbled limbs, Twilight meanwhile had an inquisitive look on her face. Peeking up at Fluttershy, she innocently asked, “What’s a bra?”
So funny, Loved this can't wait for the next chapter and Happy Birthday
TwilightXLuna Out
Ah yes Twister. The one game where it's okay to hurt yourself, until that burrito returns. Also, Twilight's question made me fall out of my chair laughing.
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img14.deviantart.net/011a/i/2014/268/a/4/comic_block__the_support_a_girl_needs_by_dm29-d80jif6.png
So funny
And this is how you find out more about your friends than you ever wanted to know.
So, is Sunset wearing a bra, or...?
One issue I have with many fics that have ponies in human worlds is how they deny the ponies agency. They often leave them totally reliant on humans, emphasize the less mature aspects of their personality, and generally reduce them to pets to be cuddled. Often the pony's action are the source of the fic's conflict and the human actions resolve the conflict. In addition, the ponies are often manhandled in rather demeaning and rude manners, such as hugging them tight while they struggle. This would obviously be problematic between two human characters, but it's often just brushed off in an OOC manner.
Unfortunately, this fic is showing signs of this. Not only is Twilight trapped without anything productive to do, she is exceptionally small and her lack of magic forces her to get help to do even basic tasks. So, Twilight freaks out, causing conflict, and Fluttershy calms her like an animal, solving it. To make it worse, the freakout is emphasizing one of her weaknesses. However, you have glossed over moments that show her strengths, such as knowing and explaining things, by leaving them in narration instead of actually showing them. In some ways, the setup of this fic makes it worse. These girls all know Twilight already, and should be able to treat her with as much respect as they do when she's human.
Edit (x4, I'm too tired to write): I have enjoyed this fic so far, and hope that my concerns are unfounded so that I may continue to enjoy future chapters.