But little Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often askew,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!
– Excerpt from Robert Burns’ “To a Mouse”
Chapter 1: A Bad Spell
“Come on, think!” a frustrated Twilight Sparkle said.
Twilight burst into the room, looking around frantically for some sort of inspiration. Using her magic, she grabbed several books from the bookshelves and began to quickly scan through them, hoping to find something of use.
“No, no, no!” Twilight said worriedly. “None of these books are giving me any ideas. It feels like everything’s been done before.”
Spike sat nearby, chewing on a bit of amethyst. “Jeez, Twilight. Calm down. What’s the big hurry?”
“Spike, I need to create a new spell for the Magic’s Day Festival in Canterlot,” Twilight explained. “Princess Celestia has asked me to demonstrate some new magic for the unicorns at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”
Spike laughed. “Is that all? I bet you could make a new spell in your sleep.”
Twilight stopped scanning the books and ran over to Spike, looking straight in his eyes. “But that’s just it. I don’t have anything new that’s impressive. I can’t just go out there and show them something like the spitting colors spell.” She dashed back to frantically searching her books.
“Twilight, you are seriously overthinking this,” Spike consoled. “Why don’t you just go see your friends for some inspiration?”
Twilight lit up. “That’s it! I’ll get inspiration from my friends! Ohh, you’re the best, Spike.” And with that, Twilight rushed out of the house towards Sugarcube Corner.
Spike just sat there awkwardly. “Uh, no problem.”
==========
Another time, another world…
“Dude, you should have seen it! It was epic! You should have been there, Mark.”
I had just picked Lucas up from the skating rink, and was headed back to my place. Lucas was rambling on in his standard fast-talking too-much-coffee voice about a trick his friend Mike did that day at the rink. It was a Thursday evening, and it was starting to get dark. I never liked driving in the dark, especially with someone like Lucas distracting me.
I was getting a bit frustrated with his ramblings. “I told you, I had to finish working on the project that WE are supposed to be doing. Why is it that I always end up doing all the work?”
“What do you mean, all the work?” Lucas said defensively. “I helped too, you know.”
“As in, you came up with the title,” I stated. “Meanwhile, I had to stay at the library reading about this star alignment thing while you goofed off at the skate park.”
“Well, I couldn’t have left them hanging like that,” Lucas defended. “I just HAD to show them that trick I came up with, which, you have to admit, was AWESOME!”
“Oh, yeah, ‘the kneebreaker’?” I asked sourly.
“Yeah, that’s the one!”
“Either way, you’re lucky my night was open,” I told him. “Normally on a night like tonight, I would be brainstorming for D&D campaigns.”
“You really should get out more.” He thought for a moment. “Maybe you should come to one of my skateboard competitions. Yeah, that sounds good.”
“But, I…” I started to protest. Before I could finish my statement, Lucas jumped up.
“Oh good, we’re here. Come on.” He dashed out of the car and into my house.
“Ugh, how did I ever become friends with him?” I asked, mostly to myself.
**********
Down at Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie was putting some cookies on the counter for an order when she saw a peculiar cloud of dust approaching from down the road.
“Pinkie Pie!”
Twilight ran up to Pinkie, stopping just in time to avoid slamming into her. “Hey, huff, Pinkie Pie, huff,” Twilight gasped, out of breath. “I need, huff, some help.”
“Well sure!” Pinkie Pie said in her usual Pinkie manner. “What do you need help in? Did Zecora get shrunk? Are rabid butterflies attacking the town? Did Spike fall down the well again?”
“No, no, and not this time,” Twilight explained. “I need help in thinking up a new spell to impress some little unicorns. I need it for the Magic’s Day Festival”
“Well, I don’t know much about magic, but I think a spell that makes candy fall from the sky would be about the best thing EVER!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
“That’s been done before,” Twilight said. “I need something new, something impressive, something that will make the Princess proud.”
Pinkie Pie gaped at Twilight. “You can do that? You HAVE to do that spell at our next party! Everypony will LOVE it!”
“Yeah, I’ll try to do that next time. In the meantime, I need to figure out what I should do for the Magic’s Day Festival,” Twilight said.
“Well, maybe you should talk to Fluttershy. I’ll bet she will want to help!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly.
Twilight thought for a moment. “Yeah, I think I’ll do that. See you later, Pinkie.”
“Oki doki loki!” Pinkie Pie said before going back inside to finish the order.
==========
I got out of the car and walked up to the house. Hanging above the door is a sign that said “Beware of Dragons”, and I touched it out of habit as I walked through the door. When I got inside, the house was pretty much how it has always been. The main parts of the house, such as the living room, kitchen, hallways, etc., have been cleaned up by my parents. Since we never really eat at the dining room table, it had become my own personal cave of nerdness. The table still had the mat and figures on it from last night’s D&D game. I walked into the kitchen to find Lucas already half-way through a can of Mountain Dew.
Lucas always was a bit of an eccentric. He was tall and lanky, with black hair that combed over smoothly. He was wearing his favorite skating shirt, a red T-shirt with “Skate to Live” written on the front. I, however, have always been a shut-in. I am short and thin, and the only cool-looking thing about me is my fiery-red hair that refused to lie down no matter how much brushing or combing you took to it. I was wearing my usual ensemble; khakis and a light-blue collar shirt.
“Dude, don’t drink so much,” I said. “You’re already as hyped up as a squirrel on coffee. Are you trying to vibrate or something?”
“No, just getting ready for tonight,” He explained. “We’re going to be out there for a while, you know. But for now, CALL OF DUTY TIME!” He then dashed over to where my Xbox was and started it up.
“OK, I just got to get something from my room,” I said. I then said “I’ll be back” in my best Arnold Schwarzenegger impression before I headed up to my room.
I have sometimes been called the epitome of nerdness. My house, other than the parts that my parents clean, has been somewhat of a train wreck. My room has miniatures, game guides, and some R. A. Salvatore books scattered all over the floor. My trusty DM’s Guide was under my pillow where it had always been, and I had various character and monster designs and concept art stapled all over my room. I grabbed my DM’s guide and went out of my room.
“Aww, yeah, EAT IT!” I heard from the other room. I walked back into the living room to find Lucas, corndog in mouth, shooting up people in Call of Duty. “Stop camping, you fag. It doesn’t work.”
“Dude, I got the book,” I told him. “Now we’re all set.”
“So what exactly are we doing?” Lucas asked.
“Well, tonight, there are 4 stars that are supposed to align with earth. Those stars are normally too small to see, but when they align, they will have enough power to shine all the way to earth.”
“Do you think we should head out?” Lucas asked.
I checked the clock. “Nah, it’s only 6. The alignment doesn’t start until 10. Hey, sign me in. I’m gonna go grab me a bite to eat.”
**********
“Hey Fluttershy!”
Twilight ran up to Fluttershy’s house, only to see Applejack there too, getting ready to pull a cart. Fluttershy was busy putting various vegetables into the cart.
“Oh, hi Applejack,” Twilight said. “I was wondering if you guys could help me with something.”
“Well, sugar-cube, we’re a mite busy right now,” Applejack said as more food was piled into the cart.
“What do you need?” Fluttershy asked, her voice little more than a whisper.
“I’m trying to come up with a new spell for the Magic’s Day Festival in Canterlot,” Twilight explained.
“Well,” Applejack grunted, “a spell that will help me get these here, *groan*, vegetables over to them animal dens would be mighty appreciative.”
“We don’t know much about magic,” Fluttershy whispered. “Maybe you should ask Rarity.”
“That’s a great idea. I think I’ll do that. See you guys later.” Twilight ran from Fluttershy’s house down the path to the Carousel Boutique.
==========
“Could you help me with this, please?” I groaned.
I was gathering supplies for the expedition. Living in Baton Rouge, there were few places where the lights of the city would not drown out the stars. We were planning to go into the woods behind my house and lay down in that clearing to watch the alignment and take notes. Lucas insisted we bring his skateboard, even though we were going to be on grass most of the time.
“You could at least help me,” I grunted.
Lucas replied, “I’m in the middle of a multiplayer game. I can’t jus-; AWW, COME ON!” he yelled at the screen. “You were supposed to be watching my back. What is WRONG with these people?”
About 20 seconds later, the match ended, and Lucas was raging. “Let me play another! We have time, and I got to show these people how a REAL master plays.”
“Nope, sorry!” I said, as I turned off the Xbox. “Now let’s go. We won’t be able to set up if we don’t leave right now.”
“Ugh, fine,” Lucas resigned. “But when we get back, I’ll show this jerk who’s the boss.”
He got up and dashed around the house, grabbing things he needed, including his skateboard. He was done in about 20 seconds while I took 2 minutes to get my supplies.
“Ok, let’s go!” Lucas exclaimed. He ran out the house towards the little path we created to the clearing.
“Hey, wait up!” I shouted, locking up before I left.
**********
“Hmm, mhm, hmm,” Rarity said as various cloths flew by.
Twilight burst through the door. “I need your help, Rarity.”
“Hmm?” Rarity said nonchalantly. She set down the fabric and turned to meet Twilight. “Yes, darling, what is it you need?”
“I need help in coming up with a new spell to show off at the Magic’s Day Festival in Canterlot,” Twilight rushed. “I was selected by Princess Celestia to show the young fillies and colts in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”
“Well, that is a sticky situation, now isn’t it?” Rarity looked around for some inspiration, and then looked out the window towards Canterlot. “Hmm, now there’s an idea.”
“What? You thought of something?” Twilight asked hopefully.
“I was just thinking about how long it takes to get to Canterlot by train,” Rarity explained. “Maybe we could come up with a way to teleport longer distances.”
“I thought of that, but there is a problem,” Twilight said. “The amount of energy needed to teleport longer distances is massive, even more than I have.”
“Well,” Rarity thought aloud, “what if we got the energy from another source?”
“Well there’s an idea,” Twilight said. “We could use the force-to-magic spell to fuel the teleport. But what could possibly give us enough energy to get us far enough?”
“Hmm,” Rarity said. They both brainstormed a bit about the problem. Then, it hit them.
“Rainbow Dash!” they both said simultaneously.
==========
“Dude, this walk is creepy,” Lucas muttered. “What if something was watching us right now? They could, you know. There could be, I don’t know, an axe murderer, or something, right behind that tree, and we would never know, and—,” I cut him off there.
“Don’t worry,” I told him. “Only me and Janie know about this clearing.”
“Janie?” Lucas questioned. “You mean that girl who comes to play your nerd games on Wednesday? Man, how did you score a hot chick like her?”
“She’s a friend, not a ‘hot chick’,” I explained. “And it’s not a nerd game; it’s a fantasy-based Role Playing Game.”
“Nerd game,” Lucas muttered under his breath.
We walked the rest of the way in silence. It took 20 about minutes to get there, and I made a mental note to congratulate him for the longest he has been both silent and conscious at the same time. We finally got to the clearing, and I started to unravel the cloth we were to sit on.
“So, we still have about 30 minutes. What should we do?” Lucas asked.
“I don’t know about you,” I said, “but I brought a good friend with me.” I took out my DM’s Guide and my notepad and started brainstorming ideas for a new campaign.
“Well, what about me?” Lucas complained.
“You brought your skateboard with you,” I joked. “Play with that.”
“Ha, ha, very funny,” he said sarcastically.
**********
“I’m supposed to do WHAT?” Rainbow Dash questioned, staring incredulously.
“It’s simple,” Twilight explained. “All you have to do is fly at me and do a sonic rainboom when you hit me. My magic will do the rest.”
“I heard you the first time,” Rainbow Dash defended. “But, I mean, you saw what happened to Applejack’s old barn when I hit it. It was demolished!”
“Yes, but Rarity will be standing nearby,” Twilight explained, “and will make a protection bubble around me in case something goes wrong.”
“Are you sure it will hold up?” Rainbow asked?
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” Rarity said.
“Well… Ok, but don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Rainbow said.
“Well, let’s get started!” Twilight said excitedly.
==========
“Hey, look, it’s almost time!” Lucas said excitedly.
I looked up. He was right of course. The stars had been out for a while, but a faint sparkle could be seen where the stars should be. It was growing brighter, albeit very slowly.
I toss a notepad and a pen to Lucas. “What’s this?” he asked.
“It’s your project, too,” I explained. “You should take notes on it too.”
“Ugh, fine,” grumbled Lucas.
**********
“Ok, I’m going to send a small beam of light to where we should be arriving,” Twilight said as a beam of light shot out from her horn into the sky. “That way, other ponies know to stay away from the area.”
“Aren’t we going to teleport to a field?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I thought it was supposed to be an EMPTY field.”
“It is,” Twilight explained. “It’s just a safety precaution, that’s all. Go ahead and get high up. When the beam turns yellow, that’s your cue to start.” Rainbow Dash flew up into the sky and disappeared.
“Ok, ready, Rarity?” Twilight asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” Rarity said.
“Ok, here goes nothing,” Twilight said hopefully.
Twilight’s horn started to glow purple as she prepared the force-to-magic spell. Rarity took that cue to put up the protection bubble, and a white bubble appeared around Twilight, with just the tip of her horn poking out. Twilight grunted as she started the teleportation spell. Her beam of light turned yellow, signaling Rainbow Dash to start heading down. Rainbow Dash strained as she picked up speed, going faster and faster. Twilight was approaching fast, and Rainbow Dash put on the speed. Rarity hid behind a tree. At the last moment, a giant flash of light erupted from Twilight’s horn.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOoowwwhhhsssiip---
==========
“Woah, dude, look at THAT!” Lucas exclaimed.
A beam of white light shone down from the skies, landing on our table cloth. It was like a white laser, like something that would come from a laser pointer.
“Check it out!” Lucas said excitedly. He swished his hand back and forth through the beam of light. “It’s like a laser pointer.”
“That’s because it probably is a laser pointer,” I reasoned. “We are near a favored parachuting spot. I heard a plane pass by a minute ago. There might be parachuters with laser pointers coming down.”
“Really? Do you have to be such a buzz kill?” Lucas asked. “Why can’t you just let the magic of the moment continue?”
“I’m just being logical, that’s all,” I told him. “Oh great, now it’s turning yellow. Someone up there must be trolling us.”
I approached the yellow beam, passing my hand through it. It shined on it just like a laser pointer. “See, nothing mysterious abouAAAAAHHH!”
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, making me feel like the world was tipping.
WSHHHHHIIIIIP
**********
WSHHHHHIIIIIP
“—AAAAAAHHH!” I screamed as I felt myself falling.
WHUMP
We landed on the ground, dazed and confused. It turned out we only fell about 5 feet, but it still hurt.
“Ow, my head,” Lucas said, staggering to his feet. “What the hell happened?”
“Don’t ask me!” I said. “I have no idea what… hold on.”
“What?”
“I feel something strange, like a held breath,” I explained.
“Huh?” Lucas questioned. “I don’t feel anything. Where are we, anyway?”
I looked around. We were on a grassy hill, with no buildings in sight. The only other thing was a nearby tree.
“I don’t know,” I told him. “I don’t think we’re in Baton Rouge anymore, Toto.”
“Well, we should probably find somebody. Maybe they can tell us something,” Lucas said.
I heard a noise coming from the tree. “Hello?” I asked. “Is anyone there? I thin--- Ugh.” I doubled over, feeling sick to my stomach.
“Something feels really bad,” I said. “It feels like, I don’t know, like the held breath is about to come out.”
“Well, I don’t feel anything. Maybe we should—AAAAGGHHH!” Lucas and I screamed at the same time as pain shot through my body. It felt like I was being torn apart. Within seconds, I blacked out.
==========
wshhhhhhPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM
An explosion erupted from the clearing, as two ponies appeared and subsequently smashed into the ground at supersonic speeds.
“Wha… what was that?” Twilight said, still a little dazed.
“That… was… AWESOME!” Rainbow shouted. “That felt SO COOL!”
“Uh, thanks,” Twilight said. She looked around, puzzled.
“Where are we?” Twilight asked. “We were supposed to appear in a clearing.”
“I don’t know, maybe you were off by a couple hundred feet,” Rainbow consoled. “It’s no big deal. That was a test run; I didn’t expect it to go perfectly.”
Rainbow Dash looked down at the crater they were now standing in. “Next time we should find a way to dampen the power of the sonic rainboom. I don’t want to make craters every time we want to go somewhere.”
“Well, maybe we should… ooohhhhh,” Twilight said, suddenly feeling woozy.
“What, what’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I feel a wave of magic coming towards us,” Twilight said, sounding worried.
“Should I be worried?” Rainbow asked. Twilight nodded her head.
“Well,” said Rainbow Dash, “we should probably find somepony whAAAAAGGH!” Rainbow Dash and Twilight screamed at the same time, falling to the ground, unconscious.
“He-Hello?” I asked, well, more like I thought, since it was in my mind.
Everything was dark, and I couldn’t feel anything, which was kind of a good thing, considering how much pain I was in a few moments ago.
“Hello? Who is this?” asked a voice, female, inside my mind. “What is going on here?”
I was surprised that there was another voice in my mind, if this really was my mind.
“I don’t know,” I explained. “I was out in the woods when this beam of light appeared. There was a huge flash of light, and me and my friend appeared on top of a grassy hill in the middle of nowhere. Then, there was a flash of pain, I fell unconscious, and, well, here I am.”
“Same thing happened to me, in a way,” she said, sounding a bit guilty. “Only I started on top of the hill, and appeared in a forest.”
“Hmm, very strange,” I said. “Maybe we… hold on. Something’s happening.”
And indeed something was. My vision was turning from black to white, as if waking up. I felt like I was being pulled out of a deep dream.
**********
“He’s coming to!” someone said excitedly. I opened my eyes. The sun was shining, and it stung my eyes. I squinted and tried to look around, but I immediately began to feel dizzy. My head was pounding, and I decided it wasn’t worth the effort to get up.
“Where… where am I?” I asked. Suddenly, I heard Lucas bolt up beside me, then immediately lay back down.
“EEP!” I heard a small shriek from the direction of the first voice.
“Ow,” Lucas said. “My head is killing me. What happened?”
“Oh, good. Y’all are both awake,” said a female voice with a Texan accent. I looked up and saw the most peculiar sight, an orange horse with yellow hair staring down at me.
“Woah, woah, what?” I gaped. “Talking horse, talking horse. I must be going crazy. Am I going crazy, Lucas?”
“If you’re going crazy, Mark,” Lucas said, “then I must be, because I see it too. And it’s flying.”
“I don’t see a flying one,” I told him. “Maybe if I just…”
It took a little effort, but eventually I sat up. I looked around. I saw the orange horse that spoke earlier, as well as a white one with violet hair. I gasped, for on top of its head was a horn. I was looking at a unicorn. A UNICORN! Now, I knew fantasy, and I knew that unicorns were magical creatures of benign qualities that were not to be messed with. Chaotic Good, as I recall.
Across the way I saw another horse, this one pink all over, and a yellow pegasus with pink hair, standing and hovering by, you guessed it, yet another horse, this one another pegasus. It was red with black hair, and it seemed strangely familiar.
“Ok, what the HECK?” I exclaimed. “We appear on a hill, I get this crazy-ass dream, and I wake up in horse world. This can’t be real. Who’s the DM?”
The horses looked at each other, and then the unicorn spoke to me. “Ehem, excuse me? We are not ‘horses’. We are Ponies.”
“Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!” I heard Lucas muttering. “There are freakin PONIES talking to me. I mean, they talk, one of them flies. What if they decide to take us captive because we’re humans? I don’t want to die!”
“I don’t think they want to take us captive, Luke.” I turned towards his voice. “They seem pretty friendly and… hey, where are you?”
Then I saw the red pony with black hair look in my direction. “Mark, man, where are you?” What I heard was Lucas, but what I saw was the red pony talking.
“Lucas? Is that you?”
The red pony just stared at me, obviously freaked out. I looked down, and nearly flipped backwards. My hands were now hoofs. My body was a light-blue color, same as my shirt was. My hair, or mane, I guess, was still the same fiery-red it has always been. I noticed that the red pony, who I now assume is Lucas, was doing the same.
“Lucas… I think something is very wrong here.”
“You’re telling me!” Lucas shouted. “You’ve gone and turned into a unicorn!”
I looked up, and sure enough, there was a light-blue horn, like my skin. “I’m a unicorn and you’re a pegasus.”
Lucas looked to the sides, noticed the wings, and jumped. “So I can fly?”
“Hey, not to put a damper on things,” the orange pony interrupted, “but have any of you seen Twilight or Rainbow Dash?”
“Rainbow who?” I asked. Before I could get a response, however, I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me. I laid myself back down, rubbing my head
“Uh, e-excuse me, b-but,” the yellow pegasus stammered, “w-we should pr-probably get you t-two to the h-hospital. You aren’t l-looking v-very good.”
The white unicorn’s horn started to glow, and I was picked up through telekinesis or something and put on the back of the orange pony. Likewise, the yellow pegasus picked Lucas up and put him on the back of the pink pony.
All the fatigue from teleporting and transforming and whatnot finally got to me, and I fell unconscious on the ride.
==========
“Ahhh, my head,” Twilight groaned.
Sunlight was shining into the crater where Twilight and Rainbow were laying. Twilight sat up, dazed, looking around. Something felt different here. It felt similar to being in the Everfree Forest.
“Rainbow, do you think we may have appeared in the Everfree Forest?” Twilight asked. She heard a sound behind her and turned around to find the strangest thing. It didn’t look like a pony, or a bear, or any of the animals they had back in Ponyville. It was light pink in color, with a cyan dress on it. Instead of hoofs, it had some peculiar appendage with five extensions coming out of it. Strangely enough, its mane was all different colors. It seemed very familiar. Suddenly, it groaned and sat up, rubbing its head with the peculiar hoof.
“Twilight, what happened?” the creature asked. Twilight gasped, it was Rainbow Dash’s voice!
“What have you done to Rainbow Dash?” she yelled, getting ready to use magic on the creature.
The creature stared at Twilight, the most bewildered look in its eyes. Twilight followed the creature’s gaze to her body. The first thing she saw was her hoof. But instead of a hoof, it was one of those appendage things.
Twilight shrieked and stumbled backwards. She examined herself as best she could. She was wearing a purple dress, like the one on the creature. Her skin was light pink as well. Her mane seemed unchanged, thankfully. She turned her gaze back to the creature, which was now checking itself in horror. Finally, it looked back at Twilight.
“I think something may have gone wrong with your spell,” stated Rainbow Dash.
Twilight also noticed that Rainbow’s wings were missing. She felt around at the top of her head, and confirmed that her horn was also missing. “Yeah, no kidding.”
“What do we do?” Rainbow Dash panicked.
“I don’t know,” Twilight said. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my books.”
“Well, we can’t just sit here,” Rainbow Dash reasoned. “Can’t you use your magic to get us back?”
“I don’t think magic will work without a conduit to focus it,” Twilight explained. “See, the magic comes from within, and—”
“Boring!” Rainbow interrupted. “Cut to the chase, will you?”
“I need my horn to use magic,” Twilight said definitively. “And in case you didn’t notice, I don’t have a horn to use.”
“Well, we can’t just wait here,” Rainbow said. “We should find somepony. Maybe they will be able to tell us what is going on.”
That was easier said than done. Twilight soon realized after a few tests that her newly-changed forelegs were not supposed to be used to walk. Her hind legs, however, seemed more than capable for walking. Now the challenge was how to use them.
Naturally, Rainbow Dash figured it out before Twilight. “You need to stop bending over. We’re not supposed to walk that way. Look.” Rainbow Dash then stood up on her hind legs. It was a bit wobbly at first, but eventually she was able to keep herself up. After a few more minutes, Twilight was just starting to get the hang of walking, while Rainbow Dash was pacing the clearing, trying to figure out what to do. Eventually, Twilight got the hang of it, and both were pacing around trying to understand what happened.
Suddenly, Twilight felt a wave of fatigue hit her. She wobbled, dizzy, and sat down with her back to a tree.
“Uh, you ok, Twilight?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“Yeah,” replied Twilight. “It’s just magic fatigue. This happens when a unicorn uses too much magic. Basically, I need to rest.”
“Jeez, we can’t just keep stopping for naps,” Rainbow said. “We need to figure out what’s going on.”
Twilight hardly heard her, as the waves of fatigue started dragging her into unconsciousness.
Chapter 2: The First Day
“Hello?” That female voice again.
“Uh, hello,” I said. “Um, why are you in my head? Again?”
“Huh?” She said, obviously confused. “I just sat down for a nap after the most bizarre day of my life. And trust me; I’ve seen some weird things.”
“Your day was weird? Mine was beyond weird!” I exclaimed. “It’s like something out of one of my D&D campaigns.”
“D&D?” asked the voice.
“Dungeons and Dragons,” I explained. “It’s a fantasy-based role-playing game. You make characters and such, and you fight things such as goblins and griffons and dragons. Only, in this campaign, it seems like all the people are freaking ponies!”
“Ponies?” the voice exclaimed. “You mean you appeared in a land full of ponies?”
“Yeah,” I said. “But what’s even weirder is the fact that me and my friend were turned into them!”
“But that’s exactly what has happened to my friend and I, except opposite. I was a pony, and now I’m some pink monster.”
“Not monster,” I corrected, “human.”
I then explained what happened to me and Lucas. She listened quietly to the story, up until I got to the point where I woke up with a pony in my face.
“Orange pony with yellow hair?” she asked. “You must mean Applejack.”
“There were others, too,” I explained. “There was another regular pony, this one pink. Then there was a yellow pegasus with pink hair and a white unicorn with blue hair.”
“Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity,” she said, calling each out as I described them.
“So, what’s your name?” I asked.
“Twilight Sparkle, at your service,” she said. “My friend Rainbow Dash and I wound up here after a failed spell. So, I guess it was kind of our fault.”
“You did this to us?” I asked.
“Well, technically yes. But it didn’t work right, and we apparently swapped places.”
“Wait, you have magic where you come from?” I asked.
“Only the unicorns do,” Twilight replied. “Why, don’t you have magic?”
“Not that I know of,” I said. I started to feel a familiar pull. “Hey, listen, this talk is great and all, but I don’t think we can talk much longer. I think I’m coming to.”
“Wait!” Twilight yelled. “What should we do?”
“Well, you need a place to stay. Follow the path from the clearing, and you should come to a house. Tell my parents that I said you could crash there for a night.” I had to yell, because I felt like I was getting farther and farther away. “Tell them you are part of an opening act for a band Lucas plays in called ‘Eden’s Corruption’. They’re a little paranoid, and made a ‘security question’. The answer should be ‘an egg’. Oh, and there is some spare money in my sock drawer. You may need it.” Then, my vision went white, and I woke up.
**********
“Mph, uhg, five more minutes, mom,” I mumbled groggily.
“Why isn’t that the sweetest,” a soft voice said. “He thinks he’s with his mother.”
I bolted upright. I was in a hospital, by the looks of it. White rooms, curtain down the middle, monitors; it had to be a hospital.
“Finally, you’re awake,” said Lucas. I turned towards him as he pulled back the curtain between us. And yes, he was still a pony. That ruled out one scenario, I guess.
I also noticed the other four ponies standing around in the room. “Girls, this is my friend Mark,” Lucas said. “Mark, these are—“
“Lemme guess,” I interrupted. “Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity,” I said, naming them off. Needless to say, they were a bit surprised.
“How’d you know our names?” Rarity asked.
“Twilight told me,” I explained. “She and Rainbow Dash are stuck on the other side.”
“An’ how do you know that?” Applejack asked.
“Apparently, when we sleep, we have a collective dream-space in which we both think and talk.”
“Nerd talk aside,” Lucas said, “you basically dream the same thing and talk in them?”
“That’s what I just said,” I muttered.
“A-and where are th-they?” Fluttershy asked.
“They’re on earth, where I come from. They have been turned into humans.”
I looked to my left and saw a bedside table. I was surprised to see some saddlebags lying on the table. “Where did these come from?” I asked.
“We found them next to you, silly!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
I started looking through them. In it, I found the pencils and notepads we were taking notes on, Lucas’s skateboard, my dice bag, and my DM’s guide.
“So this is what happened to my backpack,” I said as I pulled out the DM’s guide. Luckily, the transfer to Equestria didn’t change it up, and I started looking through the familiar pages.
“We were wondering what sorta book it was, but we couldn’t read it,” Applejack said.
“What are you looking for?” Lucas wondered.
“I’m trying to find something,” I told him. “It’s hard to turn pages with these hoofs.”
“Why don’t you use your magic?” Rarity asked.
“I guess it couldn’t hurt to try,” I said. I started concentrating, not quite sure how to start. I decided to start focusing on the page, telling my mind to turn the page. I noticed a hopeful sparkle coming from my horn. “Come on… come on…” I pleaded.
There was a flash and a fizzle, and the sparkle went away. I fell back on the bed. “I guess it does hurt to try.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Rarity confided. “You will learn eventually. In the meantime, would you mind telling me what page to turn to?”
I browsed the book with Rarity helping until I found the page I was looking for. “Here it is!” I exclaimed.
It was the page on unicorns. “Unicorns,” I read, “are mystical Chaotic Good creatures that live in enchanted groves. They are magical in nature, and possess a number of spells, mostly good-natured. The horn on their head is the conduit of their magic, and unicorn horns are highly valued. Despite their good-nature and serene background, they are quite dangerous if confronted, and it is usually best for them to be left alone.” I thought for a moment. “Well, obviously there are some differences, but for the most part it lines up.”
A white pony with pink hair walked in. She was holding a clipboard and wearing a white hat with a red cross on it. I assumed she was the doctor.
“Alright, Mr.… uhh,” she started to say.
“Mark. My name’s Mark, and that is Lucas,” I explained.
“Well, now, Mark and Lucas,” she said. “You should be ready to go. Just try to refrain from any vigorous exercise.”
“Will do!” I said. My stomach grumbled. “I’m hungry. Anyone know of a good place to eat?”
“I do! I do!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “We can go to Sugarcube Corner!”
“That sounds great!” I said enthusiastically. I started to get out of bed, trying to stand up the human way, but I kept falling over.
“Why are you tryin’ to stand on yer hind legs?” Applejack asked.
“That’s the way I used to walk,” I explained. “This will be tricky.”
I noticed that Lucas was also trying, and failing, to walk the way the ponies did. Suddenly, I had an idea. I grabbed the skateboard from the saddlebag, put it on the ground, and pushed it over to Lucas.
“Hey, my skateboard!” he exclaimed. He tried to get on the skateboard like a human would, but, like with walking, it was difficult. He found that he could stand on it with both of his right legs, and push with the left legs.
“This is actually a bit easier than trying to walk,” he said, “since I kind of already know how to use this.”
“I think I’m getting the hang of this walking business,” I said. “Let’s go get a bite to eat.”
==========
“Twilight, get up!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
Twilight jumped up, looking around. They were still in the crater. Rainbow Dash was pacing around in the middle, still a human, still no wings.
“I’m awake!” Twilight shouted. “How long have I been out?”
“About 30 minutes,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Then why did you wake me up so urgently?” Twilight asked.
“I decided you slept enough,” Rainbow said. Upon seeing the irritated look on Twilight’s face, Rainbow started to backtrack. “I, uh, found this path,” she said, pointing to a path that led out of the clearing.
Twilight recalled the dream she just had. “That’s the way! We need to go that way.”
Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight skeptically. “How are you so sure?”
“He told me,” she said.
“Who told you?” Rainbow asked.
“Mark,” Twilight explained. “He and his friend apparently swapped places with us. They are over in Equestria right now.”
“And you trust them?” she asked Twilight. “How do you know they didn’t send us here?”
“He sounded as confused and scared as I am,” Twilight explained. “They turned into ponies, just like we turned into humans.”
“So that’s what they’re called,” Rainbow muttered to herself. “So now what?”
“Now,” Twilight said, “we follow the path.” She started walking towards the path, with Rainbow Dash trailing behind.
“You know, this place feels weird,” said Twilight.
“Yeah, it kind of feels like the Everfree forest,” Rainbow said.
As they walked, Twilight examined Rainbow’s outfit. She was wearing a short cyan shirt and some shorts made of some strong, fibrous blue material. It looked pretty roughed up and casual. Twilight’s own outfit, however, was a bit different. She had a purple shirt with a matching purple skirt. Her outfit still seemed casual, but not as roughed up as Rainbow Dash’s.
After walking for about 20 minutes, Twilight heard Rainbow Dash’s stomach grumble. “I guess we should eat something.”
“Well, there’s plenty of grass here,” Rainbow Dash said. She bent down, pulled up a tuft of grass, and put it in her mouth. A disgusted look flashed across her face as she spit out the grass. “Eww, gross!” she said. “I don’t think humans are supposed to eat grass.”
“We should probably get to the house, then,” Twilight said.
After about 10 more minutes, the house was in sight.
Twilight knocked on the door. “Hello? Is anypony home?”
They heard someone coming, and stood back. A woman with auburn hair stood in the doorway. “Yes? What do you need?”
“Um, Mark said that we could, uh, crash here for the night,” Twilight stumbled through the words. “We’re part of a band that is, um, opening for Lucas’s band.”
“Really, now? What’s the name of your band?” the woman asked doubtingly.
Twilight started sweating. “Uhh, our band? It’s, uh, it’s called, umm…”
“The Nightmares!” Rainbow exclaimed.
Relief washed over Twilight. “Yeah, the Nightmares.”
“Hmm,” the woman said skeptically. “Ok, then, what is the name of Lucas’s band?”
“He said it was called ‘The Corruption of Eden’,” Twilight said.
The woman was still eyeing them suspiciously. “Alright, then. If you really do know Mark, then answer me this riddle. A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid.”
Figuring that to be the security question Mark mentioned, Twilight responded. “An egg.”
The woman relaxed. “What’s your names, girls?”
“I’m Twilight Sparkle, and this is Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said.
“Strange names,” she replied. “Those your stage names?”
“Uhh… yeah, sure,” Twilight said.
“Alright then. I’m Mrs. Karen,” said the woman. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Karen,” Twilight said.
“Well, come in,” Mrs. Karen said, motioning them inside.
Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other, and then walked on in.
**********
“Wow, nice place,” I said.
After leaving the hospital, Pinkie Pie said that she knew a place where we could eat some very good food. It was a little slow at first, seeing how I could barely walk. Lucas was having a better time, using the skateboard to get about instead of walking. At one point, he even attempted to use his wings, resulting in faceplanting into the dirt. I couldn’t help but laugh.
Eventually, we arrived at a place they called Sugarcube Corner. The smell of baked goods intruded my nose and made my mouth water.
As we walked in, Pinkie Pie ran up to a mare holding a tower of boxes. “Hey, Mrs. Cake!” Pinkie Pie yelled, causing the mare jump and to drop the boxes she was carrying.
“Oh, Pinkie Pie, it’s just you,” Mrs. Cake said, sounding relieved. “How have you been?”
“I’ve been super!” Pinkie said enthusiastically. “But I have some hungry friends in desperate need of cupcakes!”
“Well, you should go make some, then,” Mrs. Cake said. “You make the best cupcakes around.”
Pinkie Pie squealed with glee as she dashed into the kitchen, swiftly followed by Mrs. Cake.
“Aw, sugar, you are going to love Pinkie Pie’s cupcakes,” Applejack said.
“I can’t wait!” I said excitedly.
Suddenly, a crash sounded from inside the kitchen. “Girls!” Mrs. Cake exclaimed. “You knocked over our last bag of flour!”
“Sorry, Mrs. Cake!” a little voice said. Three young ponies came out of the kitchen covered in flour.
One of them, a pegasus, shook off the flour, revealing her orange coat and purple mane. Her eyes widened when she saw me. “Who’re the new ponies?” she asked.
The other two fillies perked up, shook off the flour, and ran over to me. One was a regular pony, with yellow fur and a red mane. The other was a unicorn, white with a pink and purple mane.
“Applebloom, what were you doing?” Applejack questioned.
“Well,” the little yellow pony said, “Scootaloo wanted to try her hand at baking, so we tried making cookies.”
“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity exclaimed. “Look at yourself, you are absolutely filthy.”
“Sorry, sis,” the little white unicorn said. “I was just trying to help.”
“Applebloom, Sweetie Belle,” the orange pegasus, who I assumed was Scootaloo, called, “come look at this pony’s cutie mark!”
“My… what?” I asked.
“Your cutie mark,” Applebloom said. “It’s on your flank right there.”
I stretched to see what they were talking about, but I couldn’t quite turn my head far enough. Rarity handed me a mirror. Holding it up, I could see something on the side of my waist. When I looked closer, I realized what they were and laughed.
“Well, what do you know,” I said. “I’ve got d20s on my flank.”
“D-whats?” Applejack asked.
“D20s. 20-sided dice. The main type of dice we use in D&D. And they’re natural 20s, too.” I looked over at Lucas, and noticed a skateboard on his flank. “Well, that figures, I guess. But why do we have these?”
“A pony’s cutie mark represents what his or her special talent is,” Applebloom explained. “The mark only appears when a pony discovers the talent.”
“We’re on a mission!” said Scootaloo. “A mission to find our special talents and earn our cutie marks. We’re…”
“The Cutie Mark Crusaders!” they all said in unison.
Lucas and I just stared at them. I wondered what the D20s on my flank could mean.
“Come on, crusaders!” Scootaloo called. “Let’s go see if squirrel catching is our talent!” Scootaloo rushed out of Sugarcube Corner towards Fluttershy’s house.
“Oh, nonono!” Fluttershy muttered as she took off after him.
“Yeah! Cutie Mark Crusaders Animal Control!” Applebloom shouted. She started towards the door, but before she could get there, Applejack intercepted her.
“Oh, no you ain’t,” Applejack said. “You’ve gotta stay here and help clean up this mess.”
“And as for you, young filly,” Rarity stated, “we are going home right now and you’re going to have a bath.”
“But Rarity…” Sweetie Belle started to complain.
“Uh uh uh, no buts,” Rarity said. Rarity started walking out the door, with a sad Sweetie Belle meandering behind.
“Well, looks like no cupcakes for now,” Pinkie Pie said regretfully. She started to walk away, but then she perked up. “I know what we can do! I can give you a tour around town!”
My stomach grumbled again. “Sure, but only if we make it quick. I still haven’t gotten a bite to eat all day.”
==========
“So, how long are you two planning to stay here?” Mrs. Karen asked.
“Oh, no more than a couple days,” Twilight said. She looked around. The room they were in was big, with a couch and two chairs situated around a table. Across from the couch was a large black rectangular thing.
“This is a pretty nice house,” Twilight said.
“Yeah, but do you have anything to eat?” asked Rainbow Dash as she plopped herself down on the couch. “I’m starving.”
Mrs. Karen smiled. “There should be stuff in the fridge, or you could have some fruit. I think there’s still some left in the bowl over there. Help yourself.”
Twilight wasn’t quite sure what a fridge was, so she decided to head over to the fruit basket. Upon arriving, she saw many different fruits. She grabbed two of the type she was most familiar with, apples.
“Here you go,” Twilight said, dropping the apple on Rainbow’s chest. She then sat down in the nearby armchair and started eating her apple.
“Hmm…” Rainbow said thoughtfully. “Not as good as the ones from Sweet Apple Acres.”
“So, did Mark ever tell you where he was going?” Mrs. Karen asked.
“Oh, uhh…” Twilight stammered. “He said he, uhh…”
“Was going to a field!” Rainbow rescued, “to, uhh…”
“To see the star alignment better!” Twilight finished.
“Hmm, he did say something about that,” Mrs. Karen mumbled. “But I thought he said he was going up next week.”
“Umm, he was,” Twilight stumbled, “but, he had to go this week because, uhh…”
“Because the weather was nicer,” Rainbow finished.
“Yeah, the weather,” Twilight said.
“Uh huh,” Mrs. Karen said doubtfully. Fortunately, she seemed to have dropped the matter, and she walked up the stairs to her room.
After her snack, Rainbow Dash decided to take a nap. Twilight, however, was too curious. “I want to see the rest of the house,” she said.
“Yeah, sure, go ahead,” Rainbow said sleepily. “I’ll just rest here for a little bit.”
Twilight first went into the kitchen. She was overwhelmed by all the appliances. Twilight wasn’t sure what they all did, so she decided it was best that she leave them alone. Her next stop was the dining room. The table was covered with a checkerboard style mat, and there were small statues on the squares. At one end of the table, there was a pile of books. Twilight tried to look through them, but the words seemed complete gibberish to her.
Next, Twilight went up the stairs to the second floor. The first room she checked was all white and shiny. It had a tiled floor, a ceramic bowl with a peculiar bent metal rod coming out of it, and a mirror hanging on the wall.
Twilight stared into the mirror. For the first time, she was able to see what she actually looked like as a human. Her skin looked much like Rainbow Dash’s, but her hair was the same shade of purple her mane used to be, with a pink striped down the middle. Her gaze dropped down to her dress. It was purple, like her fur used to be. All in all, she didn’t look half bad.
The rest of the room wasn’t as interesting. There was a porcelain bowl next to a very large ceramic bowl that reminded her of the spa back in Equestria. She exited the room and continued down the hallway. It ended into two rooms. She checked the left one first. It was big, with a large noticeable bed. She heard some noise coming from the small door on the other side of the room.
“Oops,” Twilight said. “This must be Mrs. Karen’s room.” She then turned and approached the other door. It had a sign hanging on it, with a picture of a dragon sleeping, and some words above and below it. Like the books, she could not read them. She opened the door and stepped inside.
The room was a complete mess. There were clothes and books scattered all over the floor. The bed was unmade and the sheets unwashed. Papers were taped up on the walls all around the room. Some of them were words, unfortunately, but most of them were pictures. There were dragons breathing fire and brave warriors fighting other smaller green creatures. To tell the truth, they weren’t very good. As she glanced around, she noticed some drawers with clothes hanging out. Opening them, she eventually found the sock drawer, where she found a couple slips of green paper. She grabbed them, and turned to leave.
As she was leaving, one picture caught her attention. It was one of a human in a long robe and pointy hat. He was doing something with his hands, causing a magical ball of fire to appear. “Interesting,” Twilight thought as she went out of the room and back down stairs.
“I can’t read any of the words here,” she complained as she walked into the living room.
“Well, it makes sense,” Rainbow said. “I mean, if two different worlds had the same language, it would be too weird.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Twilight said. “But it stinks not being able to read anything.”
“Don’t you have a translation spell or something?” Rainbow asked.
“I don’t have a horn, remember.” Twilight said, pointing to her head for emphasis. “No magic.”
“Oh, right,” Rainbow Dash said, sounding dismayed.
Twilight returned to the dining room, looking at the symbols printed on the cover of the book. Something about it made her think back to the picture upstairs. “Maybe,” Twilight pondered, “they use their hands instead of a horn.” It made sense, after all. “Guess it couldn’t hurt to try.”
Twilight began to concentrate. She felt the magic brewing up inside her, rising towards her hornless forehead. “No,” she pleaded internally, “not that way.” Using all her willpower, she slowed the flow of magic, and started redirecting it towards her hands. Her hands started glowing, and she lifted her hands to her eyes. There was a bright flash, and Twilight’s vision went white. She stopped the flow of magic, letting it recede back into her body.
Twilight’s vision slowly returned, and she looked at one of the books. The words were still gibberish to her. Dismayed, she started to turn away, but something caught her eye. The words on the page began to wiggle. She turned back to it hopefully. The words started to twist and change, split and squish, until they finally stopped moving all together.
Staring back at her, still in the same style, were the words “The Player’s Handbook” in beautiful equestrian letters.
“It worked!” Twilight shouted. “It actually worked!”
“What worked, hon?” The sound of Mrs. Karen’s voice traveled down the hall from her room.
“Oh, nothing,” Twilight replied, quite happy with her new findings. Now, where to begin?
**********
After leaving Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie immediately began the tour. “That,” she said as we walked out the door, “is Sugarcube corner. Mr. and Mrs. Cake live there, making the best baked goods in all of Ponyville.”
We passed by the post office, where Derpy Hooves was gathering packages for delivery. “She’s a little slow, but she gets her point across,” Pinkie Pie said.
Walking down the street, we passed through town center. Pinkie Pie started naming off people that we passed by as we went along.
“That’s Mrs. Cheerilee. She teaches at the school down the street. There’s Dr. Whooves. He visits often, and stays in that blue barn on the hill. Oh, and that’s the weather team. They’re in charge of the weather over Ponyville.”
On and on, she named places and people. I started to notice a pattern. Most ponies lived in the same place they worked. We passed by the Carousel Boutique, where Rarity lived. We also walked by Fluttershy’s pasture, Sweet Apple Acres, and Rainbow Dash’s cloud home.
“It’s been pretty quiet without Dashie around to spice things up,” Pinkie Pie said absently.
As we were walking past the library, which looked like a giant tree, I heard some commotion from inside. “Twilight!” shouted a voice. “Twilight, where are you?”
A small, scaly creature ran out of the library, and I did a double take. It was a baby dragon, and an extremely young one at that, only about 8 years old, considering dragons can live for thousands of years.
“Oh, hi Spike!” Pinkie Pie said cheerily. “What’s the rush?”
“I need to find Twilight,” he explained. “I got a letter from Princess Celestia. Take a look.” He held up the letter, but the strange symbols meant nothing to me.
Pinkie Pie gasped. “Princess Celestia wants to see us in Canterlot? I need to get my party wagon!” Pinkie Pie started away.
“Go tell the other four about it!” Spike shouted at Pinkie.
“Oki doki loki!” came the reply.
“I need to find Twilight,” the little dragon mumbled.
“Uh, I don’t think you will have much luck in finding her,” I said.
“Oh really?” Spike asked. “And why is that?”
“Because she isn’t on this plane of existence anymore,” I explained.
Spike just stared at me, dumbfounded.
“Look, it doesn’t matter,” I said. “If royalty wants to see us, we should go.”
Spike looked at me. “And who said you could come?” he asked.
“Considering that Twilight and I swapped places, I’m pretty sure I could sit in for Twilight,” I said definitively, ending the discussion. We went to gather the others, and then set off towards the train station.
==========
“I don’t understand why you dragged me out here, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said.
They had left the house earlier that day, after Twilight performed the translation spell on Rainbow. Rainbow insisted that they see all there was to see in this town. Or city, as it were.
“This place reminds me of Manehatten,” Twilight said. They had decided to go to the nearby park, but it quickly became obvious that they were not going to be able to go much farther than the neighborhood they were in. Large, metal beasts roamed the streets, moving insanely fast and roaring in the most peculiar way.
“Going somewhere?” A voice from behind asked. Mrs. Karen came up from behind them. “If you need a ride, I can drive you.”
Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other, and then back at Mrs. Karen. “That would be great,” said Rainbow. “Thanks!”
They got in a metal contraption, which Mrs. Karen called a ‘car’. “So, where should we go?” Twilight asked.
“Well, I have some shopping to do,” Mrs. Karen said. “How about you girls join me?”
“Well, we would love to, but…” Rainbow started to say.
“Why, sure we’ll come with you!” Twilight interrupted.
Mrs. Karen looked pleased. Rainbow looked at Twilight confusedly, and then leaned over.
“What are you doing?” Rainbow whispered. “We don’t have any money.”
“Actually, we do,” Twilight replied, holding the green slips up.
Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Where did you get that?”
“Oh, you know. From the sock drawer,” Twilight replied casually.
Mrs. Karen lived surprisingly close to the mall, and pretty soon they were exiting the car. They had parked in a large rectangular area with a bunch of other cars. The ground below them was made of some rocky black material. Luckily, they arrived on earth with shoes.
When they entered the building, they were speechless. It was nice and cool inside, much cooler than it was outside. There were people, TONS of people, walking about and minding their own business. She saw store after store along the walls, with people going in and out. Twilight and Rainbow felt like utter foreigners.
Mrs. Karen turned around to address the girls. “You can go off into any stores you want. Just meet me back here at 3:30.” Mrs. Karen then turned around and walked off, disappearing in the crowd.
Twilight glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 3:00 now. “We have 30 minutes and 30 dollars each. Let’s go explore.”
There were tons of stores to see. Some sold clothes, others sold electronics, and one exclusively sold hair products. Further down, they found all the food shops in one area, labeled ‘The Food Court’.
Twilight’s stomach grumbled. “I guess that apple wasn’t enough to hold me over,” she said. She got in line for a stall called ‘The Pretzel Twister’. Rainbow went off towards some of the other stalls.
As she was waiting in line, she noticed a group of kids that were staring at her. She tried to ignore them, and instead focused on the menu hanging above the counter. She wasn’t sure what a ‘pretzel’ was exactly, so she decided to get the regular. She could still see the people who were staring at her, and she was able to catch a few words. She heard mentions of ‘MLP’, ‘bronies’, and an occasional reference to ‘cupcakes’. She eventually got to the counter.
“Welcome to the Pretzel Twister,” an acne-ridden young man said from behind the counter. “May I take your order?”
“Why, yes, thank you,” Twilight said. “I think I will have a regular pretzel, please.”
“One regular pretzel, coming up,” he said.
While she waited for her pretzel, she looked over to where Rainbow Dash was getting her food from. She couldn’t quite make out the name, but it had a picture of a yellow roundish thing on a stick, with a red and yellow squiggly line running down it. She saw the group of kids get up and start to walk towards the stores, passing right by her. One of them stopped and turned to her. Her blood grew cold as the little girl started to ask her something.
“Are… are you… could you… uhh…” the girl fumbled. “Uhh… actually… uhh… never mind,” she said quickly, and ran off to catch up with the others.
“Well, that was weird,” Twilight said. Before she could contemplate it further, however, the person behind the counter handed her a pretzel in a paper envelope.
“Here you go,” he said. “That will be 2.59, please.” Twilight handed him a ten, got her change, and sat down at one of the tables in the food court. Rainbow sat across from her when she got her food.
“They call this a ‘corn dog’,” Rainbow said. “I’m not sure what’s in it, but it sure looks good. What did you get?”
“I got a pretzel,” Twilight explained. “I think it’s some kind of pastry.”
Twilight bit into her pretzel. The buttery salty taste filled her mouth. “I’ve never had anything like this. It’s fantastic! I gotta show this to Pinkie Pie one day.”
Rainbow bit into her food. “Mmm, thish ish goord,” she said, talking with her mouth full. She finished up the chunk that was in her mouth. “I wonder what’s in it.”
Rainbow looked at her corn dog and did a double take. “Oh my god, there’s meat in here!” she exclaimed.
“What? Really?” Twilight asked. Rainbow held the corn dog out so Twilight could see. Sure enough, there was a link of meat in the middle of it.
“Umm, I’m not really hungry,” said Rainbow, pushing his meal aside. Twilight continued to eat her tasty snack. Suddenly, she heard some familiar voices. It was the group of kids she saw earlier. They were whispering to each other and pointing towards the girls. She could have sworn she heard one of them say ‘ponies’.
“I think we should leave,” Twilight said. “Like, right now.”
“Sure,” Rainbow said, and they went off towards the mall entrance.
**********
Luckily for my stomach, the train ride to Canterlot came with a snack cart. After eating a hay and daisy sandwich, which was surprisingly good, I asked Rarity if she would be interested in teaching me how to use magic.
“Why sure, dearie, that would be lovely,” she replied.
We decided to practice in an empty car near the back of the train. It was a luggage car, and there wasn’t that much luggage in it, as the bulk of the suitcases was in the earlier cars. It was perfect for practicing magic.
“Ok, tell me,” Rarity said, “what do you know about magic?”
“Well,” I replied, thinking back to wizards in D&D. “I know in most cases magic comes from within. It wells up inside you, replenishing during sleep. Now, I’m pretty sure that is where the relationship ends, because wizards have to prepare spells before rest, and sorcerers learn spells when they gain enough experience.”
“If that’s the case,” Rarity said, “I would place us closer to your ‘sorcerers’, because we learn spells as we study our magic. Let’s start with the simplest of spells, moving objects through magic.”
Rarity demonstrated telekinesis by lifting a suitcase that was on the wall, letting it hover between us, and then settle on the other wall. I noticed how seemingly little concentration it took to move it, but I chalked it up to years of practice. “Ok,” she said, “now you try it.”
I began to concentrate. I felt the magic well up inside me. I tried to channel it up towards the horn. I saw my horn glow hopefully. I then tried to focus it on the bag of luggage. There was a spark, and then the magic faded from my horn.
“Hmm,” Rarity said. “Something’s not adding up here.” Her horn started to glow, causing my body to glow with her magic. I felt her magic entering my horn, probing for the cause of the problem. “Interesting,” she said as she searched. “I think I… AHA!”
I felt something shift in my brain. It felt like some passageway opened up in my brain. It made sense, now. I tried telekinesis again, allowing the magic to flow through the newly opened passageway to my horn. My horn glowed brightly, and I focused the magic on the suitcase. This time, the magic continued to flow, and the bag started to lift. I was doing it! I pulled the bag along, leading it to the other side. When it finally arrived, I lowered it down, and then cut the magic.
“Bravo!” Rarity exclaimed as she clapped, or stomped, as it were. “I knew there was something blocking the flow, so I had a little look and opened it up. Worked like a charm!”
We continued to practice for a little while. Then Rarity got tired, and ended the lesson. I, however, was too interested to put magic to bed for the night.
“But I still want to learn more magic,” I complained.
“I’m too tired to teach right now,” Rarity explained. “But if you really want to learn more tonight, you could do it Twilight’s way, and read a book.” She took a large tome from her suitcase and brought it up to me. The front was covered in strange letters and symbols. I couldn’t understand any of them.
“I can’t read these words,” I said. “I don’t know this language.”
“You don’t know Equestrian?” Rarity asked. “Well, that is a problem.” She walked around the car, thinking. “I’ve got it!” she said enthusiastically.
Rarity walked up to me, her horn glowing, and put her horn up against my head. I felt a surge of magic flow into me, settling on my eyes. My vision went white for a couple seconds before returning to normal. I looked back at the book. At first, nothing happened. But as I continued to look, I noticed the letters start to wiggle and change shape. After a couple seconds, they stopped moving. Instead of strange symbols, they now showed English letters, spelling out “Equestrian Magic at a Glance”.
“Hey, it worked!” I exclaimed. “What spell was that?”
“That was a translation spell,” Rarity explained. “It allows a pony to view other languages as their own, and, after some time, read and understand the language fluently.”
“Cool,” I said, and I sat down to read the book. I was only able to get through about a page and a half, however, before Lucas plopped in from the skylight above.
“Hey, Luke,” I said. “Where’ve you been?”
“I was up on the roof learning how to fly,” he explained. “It took a lot of begging and pleading, but eventually I convinced Fluttershy to show me the basics. She’s a good teacher, even though she prefers to stay on the ground.”
Fluttershy hopped through the skylight, landing next to Lucas. “He was a very good student,” Fluttershy said. “And pretty enthusiastic, too.”
“Yeah!” Lucas yelled. “Check this out!” Lucas started to fly around the room. He was still a little clumsy, and he ran into suitcases many times.
“Jeez, man, calm down,” I said. I used my magic to put the suitcases back in their places. Lucas noticed and calmed down a bit.
“Hey, cool!” he said excitedly. “You’ve learned some magic.”
“Yep,” I said. “Now let’s go back to the sleeper car so we can get some rest.”
When we walked into the sleeper car, all the lights were out, and not a sound could be heard. “I guess everyone is asleep,” I said quietly.
Suddenly, all the lights came on, as all the ponies jumped out yelling “Surprise!” The whole car was decorated with ribbons and streamers, and there was even a cake.
“Woah,” I said. “Is this for us?”
“Of course it is, silly!” Pinkie Pie replied. “I always throw parties when new ponies arrive in Ponyville, but since we didn’t have time to have one there, I thought I would whip up a party here on the train!” She emphasized her point by blowing one of those party noise-makers in my face.
I’m not one for parties, but I had to say, Pinkie sure knows how to put on a party. There was music and dancing and food. I’m not much of a dancer, but Lucas was all in it, performing dance moves that even I had to admit were pretty cool. The cake was delicious, too. Everypony had a good time until, eventually, everypony grew tired and decided to go to bed.
==========
“Did you see the way they were staring at us?” Twilight asked, worried.
Twilight and Rainbow were back at Mark’s house. Mrs. Karen had gone out with some friends, leaving the girls stuck at the house.
“I was too busy staring at the meat in that corn dog,” Rainbow replied. “The corn dog was surprisingly good, though. I guess it was the initial shock that made me put it down.”
“Um, helloo?” Twilight exclaimed. “Are you not worried that they might know about us? About how we’re not from this world?”
“What’s there to worry about?” Rainbow answered. “Maybe they did know about us, and they were trying to show us how to get back home.”
“No, there was something about them,” Twilight stated. “They looked curious, and a bit frightened.”
“Look, they couldn’t possibly know who we are,” Rainbow said. “Before today, we didn’t even exist on this planet. How could they possibly know about us?”
“You may be right,” Twilight said. Twilight pondered over it a few more minutes, and then decided it was just coincidence. She decided to devote her time pouring over the book that she decided would be most useful in finding a way home; The ‘Spell Compendium’.
While perusing through the Spell Compendium, Twilight stumbled upon the “Teleport” spell. She read through the spell description, and noted that at the bottom, it said “Player’s Handbook 190”. She opened up the Player’s Handbook to page 190, and discovered a section on “Transportation through Magic”. She looked to the subsection of “Interplanar Teleportation”. She noted how the planes are not stationary, but move through the astral plane, as well as the many ways for interplanar teleportation. Some she was able to rule out altogether, such as a wizard actively calling upon a denizen of another plane.
One part of the section stood out to Twilight. It explained how certain places in each plane can touch, or sometimes overlap, creating “hotspots” in which interplanar travel becomes easier, sometimes to the point of unintended teleportation. Usually both planes share a common phenomenon when they touch or overlap. “What could both Earth and Equestria have in common now that they didn't have before?” Twilight wondered.
Then it hit her. The Magic’s Day Festival was at the end of the Magic Solstice, a time in which four stars aligned, enhancing a unicorn’s magical abilities. Strange things have been known to happen during the Magic Solstice, such as ponies disappearing, and strange objects being found throughout Equestria. The same alignment of stars was also occurring on Earth. The two planes must be touching, Twilight decided.
If that were to be true, then they didn’t have much time. The Magic Solstice only lasts for about a week, and only returns once every 7 years. Twilight couldn’t imagine staying here for 7 years. And so, with a new reason to study, Twilight began pouring over the books.
