• Published 6th Aug 2015
  • 831 Views, 5 Comments

Elements of Independence - Paintbrush235



Twilight steps through the portal once again, only this time she and her friends find a different world to see.

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Chapter One: Through the Portal

Deep inside the spectacular complex that was the new Castle of Friendship that now dominated the landscape around the small crossroads town of Ponyville, is the personal library of the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle. On this particular day, the newly appointed monarch sat in her own archive of information, reviewing and packing books and journals into her saddlebags that sat on her desk. Just opposite her in the room, sat the mirror that acted as the portal to the human world.

Twilight inhaled with excitement. Her heart was going a mile a minute. She was about to embark on a personal journey of research and study she had been planning for months now. Since her second visit to her Canterlot High friends, she had become fascinated with the idea of returning and studying the humans further. She had never had the opportunity to do so on her last two visits, and she intended not to waste her new chance. She had prepared herself for an even longer stay than before; at least a couple of months. This was possible with her new ability to control the opening and closing of the portal.

She had just finished packing her last quills and ink bottles into her bags when a series of knocks came from the door to the room.

"Come in." Twilight called, quickly hiding away her saddlebags.

The door's latch clicked and then swung open. Behind the door, it revealed Twilight's number one assistant Spike the dragon, and her five closest friends, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. Twilight was surprised to see them, but not nearly as surprised to see the two figures standing behind them. One of them was Applejack's older brother Big Macintosh, and the other was Twilight's own big brother, Shining Armor.

The group shuffled it's way through the door and stood in front of Twilight. They all had serious expressions on their faces that would've made Discord cringe.

Twilight looked at them all with confusion. "What's wrong everypony?" She looked at the two stallions present. "Big Macintosh. Shiny. Why are you here?" She didn't want to sound rude. She loved their company and was always happy to see her BBBFF. She just wanted to know why they all had come to see her.

The ponies and dragon facing her all looked at each other with worry painted on their faces. Finally, Applejack sighed and spoke up.

"Sugarcube. We know you are going back to that other world today."

Twilight face immediately showed her nervousness. She sighed as she admitted to herself that she had been found out. She hadn't told any of her friends or family that she was going on this trip to the human world. The reason why was stated when Applejack spoke again.

"And we all want to come with you. No buts about it." The farm mare said firmly.

Twilight shook her head. This is exactly what she had been trying to avoid. "Like I said last time girls, you can't come with me. There can't be two of you all running around in that world."

"Oh don't give us that excuse Twilight." Rainbow Dash now piped up. "We know that you aren't even going to the world that has that school this time."

Twilight gulped. The cyan pegasus was right. Twilight had found a way to change whatever place the portal led to and had deliberately set the portal to any random location as long as it was in the human world.

The purple alicorn sighed. "That is true Rainbow but I still can not let you come with me. It could be dangerous, and I don't want any of you to get hurt on my account."

"Twilight darling." Rarity now put forth her thoughts. "I think that after everything we went through by now, you know that we are no strangers to danger."

"Yeah silly!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "We can take on any meanies that stand in our way!"

"You bet we can!" Rainbow Dash agreed. "We can handle ourselves Twilight. Plus we want to make sure that you are okay y'know."

Fluttershy nodded at Rainbow Dash's last statement. "Yes. And um I could make sure that you don't get um sick. If thats um okay with you though."

Applejack smiled and removed her hat. "See sugarcube. We'll be fine."

"So will I." Spike now joined in. "You definitely will need your number one assistant to help you on your trip."

Twilight smiled, feeling tears come to her eyes at her assistant and friend's loyalty. She trotted up and brought them all into a group hug that they all quickly joined in.

"You are all the best." She sniffed. "I love you all." She then stepped back and looked at the only other males in the room besides Spike. "There is one thing I don't understand though. Why are you two here? Shiny shouldn't you be in the Crystal Empire?"

Big Macintosh was the first to speak. "Ah can't let mah sister go into danger by herself anymore." he explained. "I've decided to come with her this time." Big Mac then walked over to his sister and nuzzled the top of her head.

Twilight then turned her attention to her own brother, who was wore a brotherly smile across his face. "My reason is the same as his." He said gesturing to Big Mac. "I can't let you go by yourself anymore. I'm here now to do my duty as a brother and a guard." Twilight's tears finally broke through and she ran up to hug her brother, who returned the embrace. "Besides," he continued, "It's time I started saving you for a change." Twilight giggled at this.

She then stepped back and sighed. "Alright everypony." She said. "You all can come with me. I guess I should wait for you all to pack though."

"Oh no need darling." Rarity said, and promptly lit up her horn. Immediately, seven saddlebags and one backpack for Spike floated into the room and came to rest on the backs of their respective owners. "We packed already."

Twilight chuckled and rolled her eyes. "You weren't going to take no for an answer were you?"

All eight individuals shook their heads.

Twilight sighed. "Alright then. I guess there is no point in delaying it. Just follow me and expect to be a little dizzy when we get there." With that she turned to face the already active portal and took a few slow steps towards it. Pausing to take a deep breath, she finally took the step that plunged her into the portal. And one by one behind her, her friends and family followed after her into the human world.

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Twilight groaned. Her head ached like somepony had rattled and beat drums around her for eight hours straight. She slowly began to open her eyes to see how her body had changed. When she opened them and saw these changes, she immediately knew something was different than previous visits.

She had gained hands like before, but her skin was paler than before. Taking a further look at herself she saw that her clothes were also different than her clothes at Canterlot High. She was wearing a long green dress that reached all the way down to her feet which were covered in black shoes with brass buckles on the tops of them. Draped across her back was what appeared to be a black shawl and atop her head rested white cap that covered her hair, which she could tell was tied up into a small bun.

Twilight at last took in her surroundings. She was in a dense forest of some kind, and telling by the temperature and the fact that the leaves were off the trees, she guessed it was winter. The sky was filled with light grey clouds and a light chilled breezed was sweeping through the trees, causing Twilight to shiver. Where am I? She thought to herself.

*Groan*

Twilight snapped her head around to see where the groan came from and saw three figures laying down in the leaves. One of them was a male, Twilight could see, and had the same pale skin as her. In fact they all had varying shades of her own pale skin. The male had blonde shaggy hair and wore a dark brown jacket that ran past his waste and dark tan pants that cut off at the calves where they were met by what Twilight assumed were stockings. He wore black shoes and a black hat that looked like a beaten up triangle from the top. On his back was a brown knapsack and slung across his chest to the left was a wooden canteen.

The second figure was female and had pink curly hair underneath a cap similar to Twilights. Her dress looked a little more dirty than Twilights and was dark blue at the skirt and dirty white at the top. She too wore a dark wool shawl across her back and also carries a canteen.

The final figure was male, though younger than the other, and had faded rainbow colored hair a top his head in a pony tail. He wore a light brown jacket similar to the first figure and a white vest underneath it as well. He wore dark black pants and had stockings similar to the other man. His clothes were also patched up in random places and his hat was wide brimmed, brown and beaten up. He lastly had on a knapsack, cloth bag and wooden canteen.

Twilight soon saw that the groan had come from this person. "Ugh. Twilight. Why don't you warn us next time huh?"

Twilight couldn't believe her ears. The voice sounded so familiar, albeit a little deeper than before. There is no way it can.... she thought, Could it be?

"Rainbow Dash?" She asked hesitantly. "Is that you?"

Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight with confusion as she sat up. "What do you mean Twilight? Of course it's....." She stopped when she saw her friend. "Whoa Twilight. So that's what you look like when you come hear. Wait. Why does my voice sound deeper?"

"Because you've turned into a male!" Twilight blurted out.

"What?!?" Rainbow exclaimed before looking at her (I should say himself). "What the heck?! Why am I a male?!" He yelled.

"I don't know Dashie, but you look great in those new clothes." The voice came from the newly humanized Pinkie Pie who had sat up next to Rainbow Dash and was taking a look at her new self as well as her friend. To Twilight's expectation, she didn't seem to fazed about her transformation.

"Can somepony tell me where the hay we all are?" Twilight looked back at the last figure when she recognized the deep country accent. Big Macintosh sat up behind Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie and was looking over his new figure and his new surroundings. He also was scratching at the sleeve of his coat. "These clothes are mighty itchy."

Twilight looked around at the forest, trying to see anything that might be recognizable. But she saw nothing but trees and low hills. "I have no idea where we are guys." She admitted. "I've never been to anywhere like this when I came here before."

"Hey wait a minute." Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Where is everypony else?"

Twilight froze. She quickly looked around and saw to her horror that Spike, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and her brother Shining Armor were no where to be seen.

"Oh my gosh!" Twilight started panicking and stood up looking around in random directions. "Where are they? We need to go find them! Oh I knew this was a bad idea! What if they are lost or hurt or in trouble or..." she was stopped when Rainbow Dash stood up, grabbed Twilight by the arms and shook her out of her rant.

"Twilight get a hold of yourself!" he commanded. "Everything is going to be fine. I'm sure they are ok."

Twilight stared at her friend. "Y-you really think so?" She stuttered.

Big Macintosh now stood up and walked over to the pair with a reassuring smile. "We know so Miss Twilight." He said calmly. "I'm worried fer mah sister to, but ah know that she can handle herself if need be. And so can the rest of them."

"Yeah Twilight." Pinkie Pie now joined them. "They'll be ok. You know they will."

Twilight looked at her friends for a moment letting all that they said sink in. She then took a deep breath and relaxed a little. "Ok you guys. I believe you. We should start looking for them though. In the meantime there are a few things you should know about the humans."

"Like what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well for one they don't say 'everypony' or 'anypony'. They say 'everybody' and 'anybody'. They also always walk on two legs and they use their hands to grab things. They also do not fly nor....." Twilight stopped when she felt something cold land on her nose. She looked up and saw tiny white snowflakes starting to fall down around her and her friends. The snow soon began to fall faster and harder until it was similar to the early snowfalls of winter in Equestria. The four figures shivered in the cold.

"M-maybe we should get out t-this forest and f-find shelter?" She suggested.

"L-Let's do that." Rainbow Dash shuddered.

"S-seconded." Pinkie Pie squeaked.

"E-Eyup." Big Mac agreed.

Twilight looked around for a direction to go, and saw that they had ended up in a shallow ravine that seemed to head downhill to their right. She gestured for her friends to follow her and they slowly began to make their way down the path.

The wind howled like windigos and the snow fell even harder. Twilight squeezed her eyes to slits as she and the other trudged on down the hill. After about fifteen minutes of walking, they halted at what appeared to Twilight to be a dirt road. It ran perpendicular to the path the had come down and in either direction ran through to woods.

"Which direction should we go now Twilight?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

Twilight was about to answer when a sound pierced it's way through the wind and entered Twilight's ear. Twilight could tell that it had come from the right down the road and it appeared to be getting closer. It was the sound of a horse neighing. Twilight recognized it from the time she had visited the human Applejack's farm. The neighing got closer and closer, followed by the sounds of rattling wagons as they bounced along rocks and ruts. Twilight and her friends stood still and stared down the road. Suddenly from around the bend, another human appeared. Twilight could just make out that he wore a blue coat with red facings and a hat similar to Big Mac's. He also carried a strange stick in his arms and had numerous bags and pouches hanging from his body. The blue coated human was followed by another, and another, and another, and another, and still even more came around the bend. Twilight could see that some of the blue coated humans were riding on horses, and some were pulling wagons with strange metal tubes on them. Most of them had patches on their coats and pants, Twilight could see as they got closer, and almost all were carrying the strange long sticks.

Twilight tensed up as they came to within 10 yards of her and her friends. Rainbow Dash and Big Mac put on protective glares and Pinkie Pie instinctively wrapped her arms around Rainbow Dash for protection.

The group tensed up even more as two of the blue coated humans noticed them and started approaching them. Twilight and her friends backed up slightly and were about to back up even further when a loud voice startled them.

"Halt!"

And they did. From the crowd of blue coated humans appeared one that had what Twilight recognized as epaulettes on his shoulders and carried a sword on his left side. He walked up in between the two humans with the sticks and approached Twilight and her friends.

"What are you all doing out here?" He asked. He seemed to sound accusatory. "What are you doing on this road?"

None of Twilight's friends said anything. The human was about to speak again when the sound of a rapidly approaching horse came from behind him. Looking behind him, Twilight saw a human sitting atop a white horse trotting towards the scene. When he stopped, Twilight was able to get a good look at the human. His hair was grey and he wore a light blue cape over a dark blue coat with light yellow facings. He looked like a commanding figure and Twilight guessed that he was a leader of some sorts.

The other humans present quickly stood up straight and still when the rider approached. The human with the sword brought his right hand up into what Twilight assumed was a salute.

"General Washington Sir." he said to the rider. Twilight saw that this General Washington was looking at her and her friends with great interest.

"Who are these civilians captain?" General Washington spoke calmly and with a regal voice Twilight noted.

"We were just about to get to the bottom of that sir." the captain replied.

"Well we won't do it here." Washington stated firmly, pulling at his cape. "The British could be anywhere in these woods and we must reach the Delaware before they do." He then motioned to Twilight and her friends. "Also, they appear to be near freezing. We'll take them with us. Ma'am" He spoke to Twilight. "Will you follow the captain here."

Twilight hesitated. She didn't know who these humans were. On the other hand, she and her friends were lost and these humans seemed to at least know where they were going.

"Yes we will." She replied briefly.

"Good." Washington nodded. "Look after them captain."

"Yes sir." The captain replied. With that, the human known as General Washington rode off down the road with the rest of the mass of blue coated humans. The captain then turned and faced Twilight and her shivering companions.

"Ma'am, if you and your friends will please follow me."

Twilight looked at her friends, gave them a nod of reassurance and followed after the captain into the cold.

Author's Note:

Hello everypony!!!!!!!

As you may have guessed if you read in the update on my user page, this is the story that takes place during the American War for Independence.

Me starting this story is by no means an end to my two current stories, Over There and Fluttershy and Big Mac's Children. I will be working on all three of these stories simultaneously.

Again, I hope you enjoy this story. What's gonna happen to Twilight and her friends? :trixieshiftright: Where are the rest of her friends and her brother? Who are these blue coated humans?

Find out next time!

See you ponies later! :pinkiehappy: