Prologue
“Spike! Come on!” Twilight Sparkle yelled as she ran around the library she resided in with the purple dragon. Being the overly orchestrated princess that she was, Twilight wanted to make sure each and everything was in place for their trip into Canterlot. They were meeting the other girls at the Ponyville train station and right now they were very much going to be running late if they didn’t leave at this very moment.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” He groaned, running towards her, cradling a claw full of gemstones. Twilight groaned before using her unicorn magic to place the baby dragon on her back while simultaneously doing the same with her six point stared saddle bags. She bounded for the station, nearly making it as the rest of her friends were getting on board.
She handed the conductor her ticket before boarding the train herself, running to sit over by her friends. “Twilight, darling!” Rarity called. Twilight smiled at her, trotting to the section of the train they had situated themselves at.
“Boy, am I glad to be seeing you girls!” She greeted, sitting on her haunches in her seat.
“Ah wonder why the Princess called us so urgently though...” Applejack wondered.
“I’d like to know too.” Twilight agreed. “But I’m sure she’ll brief us once we get there.”
“Do you think it’s Discord?” Rainbow Dash asked as she hovered over her friends.
“I doubt it!” Pinkie Pie chirped as she stuffed her face with cake she had brought along from Sugarcube Corner. “If it was, it would be raining chocolate rain by now!” She licked her lips. “Mhmmm. Chocolate rain.”
“Uh, no.” Applejack deadpanned. “Besides, didn’t you reform him or something like that, Fluttershy?”
“Well, yes, I did. I know it’s not him because I told him if he ever did anything bad again there would be serious consequences for his actions!” Fluttershy’s voice rose as she remembered the very heated argument they had had before she had left.
“Okay...” Rainbow responded, then, “Well whatever it is, it must be important.”
The rest of the train ride was full of laughter and jokes, courtesy of Pinkie Pie. They ate once they were halfway to the city, nervously thinking of what was to come. By the time they reached the station, they were all deathly silent, a creeping feeling washing over them as they took in the city.
Guards were stationed everywhere. The protection spell Shining Armor had put up during the wedding and Chrysalis’s attack was once again in it’s position protecting the city.
“What’s going on?” Twilight asked, spotting her brother as one of the guards standing at attention. He stepped out of line to answer her, his face grim.
“I can’t really say. You’re going to have to talk to Cadence and Princess Celestia about that.”
The girls shared a look of awe then nodded.
Shining nodded back, then trotted forward towards the castle. The walk there was tense and ominous, the cafes and quaint little shops along the main road deserted as well abandoned. There was absolutely nopony in sight. Twilight shivered. She didn’t like this feeling she was getting.
She glanced at Applejack, who flanked her on her right, and then Dash who was on her left. Both had the same expressions of worry on their features. She looked behind her to see that Pinkie Pie wasn’t bouncing like she usually does, but trotting along as serious as the soldiers that surrounded them. Rarity looked just as serious as her, trying all her might not to reach out and comfort poor Fluttershy, who was shaking with downright fear.
They had finally made it to the castle. Twilight noticed there was a protective spell around it too, and walked into the throne room where the other three princesses sat. Celestia nodded towards her student, who knowingly nodded back before telling everyone to come forward.
Cadence stepped down from her throne to briefly greet her husband before turning to her sister-in-law and the other Elements of Harmony. “Something not of this world has made a threat against Equestria.”
The girls gasped, and Twilight gritted her teeth. She knew something was up the minute they stepped off the train. “What’s going on?” She asked, her wings spreading.
“The Elements of Harmony have been stolen.” Celestia said, now standing next to Cadence.
“What?! But how?!” Rainbow Dash asked, her mouth agape.
“These, thieves, they are nothing that we have dealt with before. They have very strange magic.” Luna responded.
“But they were locked up after I retrieved my crown from the other world! How is this possible?!” Twilight asked in disbelief. She was so incredulous that she hadn’t even noticed that the other guards had left.
“We don’t know. That’s the problem.” Cadence sighed. She looked fatigued, her horn glowing just as much as Shining’s. She was helping him, and Twilight was seeing that it was taking a mighty toll on the princess of love.
“You must get the Elements of Harmony back or Equestria and the entirety of this world will be grave danger.” Celestia commanded. “Do you ponies understand the importance of your task?”
“Aye, aye, ma’am!” Rainbow saluted.
“Yes, ma’am!” Applejack responded.
“Why of course, princess! We’d never let you down!” Rarity assured.
“Yes...” Fluttershy squeaked.
“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie giggled.
Twilight nodded surely. She knew she could do this. She had her friends on her side, and if there was anything she has learned in her time spent with them, it’s that friendship can help you overcome anything. Even something as dire as this.
“Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked.
“Yes, my faithful student?” The alicorn responded.
“What exactly did these thieves look like look?” She asked. She was curious. Were they ponies? Or of a different species?
“We don’t know. A guard had discovered the case open and saw a abnormal shadow run along the walls. He tried to catch up with it but it jumped into a open portal before he could catch it. It turns out that mysterious shadow didn’t leave empty handed.” Cadence answered for her.
Twilight thought for a moment. “So this portal, is it not identical to the one through the mirror?” She asks, raising her hoof to her chin in thought.
“Not exactly.” Celestia answered. “Where they come from it appears that they too walk on two legs. But, their world is completely different than ours. It is cold, and void of any harmony.”
“Void? As in, there is none?” Twilight was confused, she had never heard of such a thing.
“But how do they survive?” Applejack asked.
Celestia sighed. “My guess is as good as yours, Applejack.”
Cadence cleared her throat. “It appears the portal that these thieves escaped through is still open. Though I suggest you girls hurry. We don’t know how much longer it will stay open so you all must leave now.”
Twilight nodded. “We’ll do our best. You can count on us princesses. Come on, girls.” She turned around and sighed in relief when she heard the sound of her friends hooves following after her.
“What do you guys think will happen once we go through that portal?” Dash asked. She wasn’t too keen on losing her wings. It was the one and only thing that set her apart of the other ponies. Well, besides her rainbow mane.
“I don’t know. But what I do know is that whatever happens, we stick together.” Twilight replied as they reached the wall a guard had been assigned to lead them to. He gave Twilight a curt nod and then a salute.
“Good luck, your highness. May you and your friends be successful in your mission.” She saluted him back, before he excused himself.
“Ready girls?” She asked.
“Ready as I’ll ever be!” Dash shouted, her hoof pumped high in the air with anticipation.
The others gave her strong and sure willed affirmative nods. “Let’s do this!” She said, before stepping in the portal. The girls followed suit, but she didn’t get the chance to check on them to see if they were really right behind her. Twilight suddenly felt tired, and before she knew it, everything went black.
Author's Note
Dont forget to like and give me a comment! I really want to know what you guys think! :)
A surge of air forced itself through Twilight’s lungs causing her eyes to snap open and make her gasp for even more air. She looked around herself, seeing that she had hands and feet again. But that’s not exactly what caused her to scream. She wasn’t her fur color, like she was before, but a subtle shade of brown. She scrambled to her feet, looking around herself. Her saddlebags had turned into a purple messenger bag, and she didn’t see Spike anywhere. She did however, notice five unfamiliar unconscious bodies laying splayed out in different places in front of her. She realized she was in a grassy field, overgrown with weed and other plants, so tall that she made the conclusion that if anyone was walking past at this very moment, they wouldn’t be able to see her.
Twilight decided to inspect the bodies of the girls in front of her. One was barefoot, with bright pink hair that came down in loose curls. Next to her was a blonde girl, a cowboy hat covering half her face, freckles dotting it attractively. On the left of that girl was another girl who was on her stomach unlike the other girls. She had rainbow hair that came down to her back scruffily. Holding her arm was a thin girl with willowy light pink hair. The last girl was laying on her side, her purple curls covering over her face.
Twilight had a feeling she knew these girls, a very strong one, but she couldn’t quite put the names to their faces. The pink haired girl began to stir, her eyes fluttering open to reveal piercing blue irises. She struggled to stand up, but couldn’t. It appeared to Twilight that this girl was having trouble standing up on two feet. “Do you need help?” She asked, sticking out a hand.
The pink haired girl accepted the gesture. “Thanks, Twilight.” Twilight was startled. How did this girl know her name?!
“H-how do you know my name?!” She demanded.
The pink haired girl gave her a confused look, before picking up her bright pink backpack. It had three balloons on it. “Huh? Twilight, it’s me! Pinkie Pie!” the girl tried to advance towards her but Twilight took a step back.
The pink haired girl was genuinely confused. Twilight could see that. She just couldn’t tell why. “You say your name is Pinkie Pie, but you’re not a pony!” Twilight shot back.
The girl who called herself Pinkie seemed a bit shocked. Then, she looked at her hands, her arms, and felt her face before wiggling her bare toes in the dirt. There was a tense silence before the girl erupted into giggles. At first is was a small snort, and then a full on laughing fit, complete with a lot of snorts.
“W-why are you laughing?!” Twilight asked. Now she was the one confused.
“You don’t recognize me!” Pinkie laughed. “You don’t recognize me because I’m not me!”
Twilight stood there for a moment, and then cracked a smile herself. Of course. Now she remembered. They were sent here on a mission to bring back The Elements of Harmony. This world was full of creatures that walked on two legs. Of course their bodies would have to change in order to fit in.
At this moment the others began to stir, Applejack being the first, then Rainbow Dash, then Rarity. The only one still not awake was Fluttershy. “What in tarnation am Ah?!” Applejack asked, pulling at her orange flannel shirt.
“Who cares?! My wings are gone!” Rainbow Dash wailed.
“You guys! Fluttershy isn’t waking up! I think your wings are the least of our problems!” Twilight yelled laying a hand on Fluttershy’s forehead. She put her ear to her chest, sighing in relief when she heard a heartbeat.
“We have to go find somewhere to stay and make a game plan.” Applejack said. She walked over to where Twilight had laid Fluttershy, and put the lithe girl on her back, in a sort of piggyback way.
“Why on earth are you barefoot?” Rarity asked Pinkie Pie.
“Who knows! Truthfully, I like it this way!” Pinkie bubbled, digging her feet into the dirt again.
“Well, I’m just glad I didn’t end up like that. I mean really, being barefoot in this place is so uncouth!” The fashionista responded.
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Says the girl who never wore shoes unless she had to.”
“That was different, Applejack! We had hooves! Not these, these,- Whatever these things are called!”
“They’re called feet.” Applejack responded, giving her a smug look.
Rarity growled but said nothing. She’d win this battle some other time.
“Guys, It’s growing dark. We better go.” Rainbow said, looking up at the sky.
Twilight did the same. “Rainbow’s right. C’mon girls. Let’s see what we can find.”
They realized that where they had landed was the side of a highway. Twilight suggested they take the forest alongside it, since it seemed more familiar. By the time they had made it out on the other side, the moon was high up in the sky.
They had been walking for hours, and it was taking a serious toll on all of them. Especially Applejack, who had to carry Fluttershy. Dash had offered to take her a few times but AppleJack refused. Not only because she was stubborn, but because she didn’t have the heart to tell her that although while Fluttershy was a relatively small girl, she was relatively heavy.
“There’s a cabin!” Rainbow Dash shouted, pointing at seemingly abandoned house on top of a hill. They all ran up to it, driven by exhaustion and hunger.
“Sweet! Looks like the coast is clear!” Pinkie said. Twilight jimmied the door and it opened. The first thing that they did was lay Fluttershy in the bed in the upstairs bedroom, then look for something to eat.
Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, Twilight and Applejack sat outside around a fire discussing their plans for finding the elements while they ate.
“There seems to be a city around here. We should follow that road and see where it leads.” Twilight said, as she read a map she had found in the cabin.
“But what about Fluttershy? We can’t just leave her here and as much as I love that girl, carrying her around is mighty tiresome.” Applejack replied, rolling her aching shoulders.
“Want me to rub them, darling?” Rarity offered.
Applejack blushed but nodded, sighing with pleasure the minute she felt Rarity’s hands working her shoulders.
Dash snickered. “Enjoying yourself there, AJ?”
Applejack glared at her, albeit it was a weak one but she glared at her nonetheless. Rarity was too good at what she was doing to let Applejack be angry at Rainbow Dash.
“Well, we could let someone stay with her. That way she won’t be alone?” Twilight suggested, staring at the way Rarity was working her magic on Applejack. She was beginning to think she needed a shoulder rub herself.
“Nah. Because we don’t know how long whoever leaves will be gone. We still don’t know this place, and it’d be wise to stay together. There are things we still don’t understand about this place either. And that could be a serious problem if something happens.” Dash said, throwing some sticks into the fire to keep it from dying.
Pinkie burped. “Well, I say we wait and see what happens in the morning. She could wake up at anytime you know!”
“For once, Pinkie’s right.” Dash agreed. “Fluttershy is a lot weaker than all of us. It’s probably just taking her longer to wake up.”
“It’s been five hours. How long is she going to take?” Applejack asked. “Ah mean, is she even breathin’?”
“I felt a heartbeat.” Twilight assured. “But I don’t think she was breathing.”
“She has to be breathing or else she’d be dead.” Rarity corrected. Then she thought for a moment. “We left her inside alone.”
The girls shared a look before bounding in the house one after they other. They made it in, and ran up the stairs and into the bedroom to see Fluttershy sitting up in the bed dazed and confused. She looked at them, but seemed even more terrified.
“Uh, someone wanna tell her?” Applejack asked.
After an hour of explaining what was going on, Fluttershy seemed to calm down. “What are we going to do?” She asked.
Twilight sighed. “Well, now that you’re up, first thing tomorrow morning we’re following that road."
Somewhere in downtown Manville...
Tati Sparks extinguished her cigarette under her boot before going back into her apartment. She snorted when she found Piper and Rani passed out on her couch. Slackers. They were good for nothing friends that she kept around just because she knew they had no one else.
“Get up, you selfish assholes!” She shouted, pushing them onto the floor. They landed with a thud, Piper groaning and Rani cursing under her breath.
“Yo! Rachel! April! Flora! Get out here!” She called.
“Tati will you calm down? There’s no reason why you should be treating them like that.” Flora said as pushed a strand of her pink hair out of her face.
Piper blew a pink strand of hair from her face. “Yeah! As much as we help you out with your stupid schemes!”
“Oh please!” Tati snorted. “You and Rani are the cause of all my problems!”
April shook her head. “Says the girl who don’t know her own limits.”
“Shut up, you hick! I damn well know what I’m doing!” Tati shot back. “In fact,” she giggled, pulling out a chest from under the couch. “Check these out.”
In the chest were five necklaces, one with a balloon on it, one with a butterfly, another with a diamond, one with a bolt and another with an apple. And then there was the one that shone above the rest. There was tiara with a giant purple jewel in the middle and nine smaller blue jewels within it.
“Hehehe. I told you idiots I hit the jackpot.” Tati sneered.
Rachel gasped. “Tee, where did you snatch these from?”
“Don’t know. I went through some portal and wound up in this fancy smancy castle. They were the first thing I saw when I got there. It was being guarded by some pathetic pony.”
Her friends shared incredulous looks. “You sure you weren’t messed up when you stole this crap?” Rani asked.
Tati tugged at her rainbow hair. “You calling me a junky, bitch?”
“I didn’t say that, you shithead!” Rani shot back.
Tati pulled on her hair even more. Tears were starting to form in Rani’s eyes.
“Let go Tati! You’re hurting her!” Rachel yelled.
Tati didn’t listen. Instead she grunted, pulling even harder on the poor girls hair.
“Tati that’s enough!” Flora shouted.
Tati ignored her too. This time she wrapped her nimble fingers around the other girl’s neck. “You say too much. Maybe you’ll finally shut up once you’re dead!” She growled, her grip squeezing tighter and tighter on Rani’s throat.
The poor latina was turning blue. “That’s it.” April said. she ran up to Tati and punched her in the face. The hit distracted her long enough to make her let loose of Rani. The girl gratefully took gasps of air as April picked up Tati by her black t-shirt. “Ah don’t care if you’re our leader. You lay one more hand on her, Ah’ll beat you senseless. You hear?!” She barked.
Tati nodded wildly. “Good.” April said before letting Tati drop to the floor. Rani snickered. Tati sent a middle finger her way before grabbing a bottle of whiskey off the table.
She took a long swig before she spoke. “Whatever.” Then she took the tiara out the chest and put it on her head. As she did, a surge of power ran through her, making her drop the bottle. She started convulsing, her eyes open wide and glowing white.
“Tati?! Tati!” Flora called, shaking her.
The shaking stopped and then Tati closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again.
“Dude, you okay?” Piper asked.
Tati could feel the tiara’s magic flowing through her. Oh the things she could do with this kind of power. She chuckled before answering. “Oh, I’m better than okay. I’m just dandy.” She had great plans for her group now, and they started tomorrow.
Author's Note
Okay. The human versions of them are the anti versions of themselves. i.e. Twilight is smart and kind, Tati is smart and rude. hope you guys liked this chapter! :D
