The Wrong Twilightby PinklestiaChapters01 A Purple Unicorn In The Mirror02 The Harsh Reality03 Teacher's pet04 Consequences05 RealizationBonus Chapter: Equestrian Sunset06 Friends01 A Purple Unicorn In The MirrorMy head hurts. Oh my god how I hate hangovers! Why the hell I had to drink? I am not even the legal age! Maybe it was because I was tired of being called 'Little Miss Bookworm' and of being teased for always studying and having no fun. No, that's not it, to be honest I just needed a break, I had to study for two weeks for the exams we had last week, and then this week we didn't have any exam yet I was still studding. Never mind, I have to, getting a scholarship is the only way I can afford to go to university. So, my parents told me we were moving, and the only friend I had makes me a surprise goodbye party, then guilt trips me into drinking. So here I am, on a Sunday morning, waking up with my head hurting, everything looks like a blur and... This isn't my room! Heck, this isn't even my friend’s room, or her guest room, or the room of anyone I know! I mean is so big, the bedroom I am in huge, and as my friend would say, everything looks so fancy! Basically if you ever seen a luxurious Princess room in an animated movie, this basically looks like that. Since nothing in real life uses this kind of pastel colors unless is Disneyland. I groggily get out of bed. Man, I must be worse than I thought! I have to crawl instead of walking, and I feel kinda funny. I look around once more and notice a big decorated mirror. Then I look at it, and despite my vision being blurry, I see a purple unicorn in the mirror instead of my reflection. Am I dreaming? No, it hurts too much to be a dream. I give the pony a strange look of confusion and the pony does the same. I still can't stand up, but as I raise my hand in front of the mirror, the unicorn raises her hoof. I must be hallucinating, right? It’s not common, but maybe I am one of those people whose head becomes really messed up when they drink a lot. Yes, that's it! I should just return to bed and hope I get out of this hallucination. Then I hear knocking in the door "Twilight Sparkle, may I come in?" "Uh... okay?" I say, I don't know the voice, but if this isn't real, why panic? And if it’s real, panicking can come later. The door opens and what enters the room is... a dark blue unicorn with wings? Okay, a horse with wings is called a pegasus but how do you call a horse with both wings and a horn? Wait, Why I am seeing this? Sure I like unicorns like a lot of girls, but I am a teenager now, I am supposed to reject those childish things! "Twilight Sparkle, what happened to your wings? Did you try a new spell?" asks the unicorn pegasus (or should I call it winged unicorn?) with worry. "Wings? You mean that besides looking like a unicorn out of a kid’s book, I am also supposed to have wings?" Okay, I shouldn't have said that, it was a really bad idea. But try to see things from my point of view, it is not easy waking up with your first hangover ever. Add to that the fact I woke up in a strange place that looks like some kind of vaguely-European castle. Where was I? Ah yes, and to top it all, I can't even stand up and my reflection looks like a unicorn… And then I looked at where my hands where supposed to be and realized that's not the only thing about me that looks like a unicorn. "I don't understand, what are you talking about? Are you saying that you aren't Twilight Sparkle?" The creature looks at me right into the eyes, scary! "Yeah, I guess so.” Then the creature continues to stare, as if this was still rather dubious, looking angry and distrustful. "Uh... if I was bad, wouldn't I be trying to pretend to be Twilight instead of being honest?" The way I am shaking in fear seems to relax the bigger... pony? horse? Somewhat. "I guess I can give you the benefit of the doubt... for now." Well, I am very lucky this creature didn't react in a violent way, but how it knows my name? Does this unicorn I have become also respond to the name 'Twilight Sparkle'? Of course it does! Stupid hangover! "Sorry for causing you trouble, I was never a unicorn before so I am quite confused. You can call me... Tara?" Look, I technically didn't lie, I just told her I'm not her Twilight Sparkle and that she could call me Tara. I never said my name was Tara, did I? And where I got the name? I heard it somewhere and it sounded like a nice name, "Tara, I understand you must be confused and hurt, but may you please come with me to see my sister?" The unicorn pegasus says trying to sound nice, but I bet it must be because she is worried about HER Twilight Sparkle, after all why would she care about a stranger she just meet? And what about me? Why I aren't I screaming in panic? Or crying? This should be freaking me out! I blame booze. "OK." I follow the creature, walking as fast as I can in four legs. My balance is way off and I trip more than once. Soon she loses patience and her horn glows in a white color, so does me body, and she carries me floating around trough the hallway. Hey, I'm flying! Well, floating. I did not just think that, did I? How the hell could I be okay about being in a world of colorful unicorns? Again, I blame the booze. We finally arrive to a big throne room, there are two thrones there, and in one of them is sitting a different unicorn pegasus, She, because it looks like a female, is white with a colorful mane and tail. I did not notice it before, but these two are way bigger than I am now; that makes me feel somewhat scared. "Eh... could you... please put me down, miss?" I say in a squeaky voice. Thankfully she does that, the white glow fading away. The white unicorn pegasus looks at me with curiosity and interest, but I guess that since I look a lot like someone she knows it makes sense. Now, what I wasn't expecting was the white unicorn pressing her face with the side of one of her own hooves and saying "Why me?" Luna looks at her sister with worry, whatever she was about to say forgotten. She is probably confused about Celestia's face-hoof. "Excuse me..." says the unicorn Twilight "I'm Tara ... I woke up like this and... could you help me? I am not really a unicorn and I want to go back home." "I see. Are you hungry?" Celestia asks. 'Tara' was probably about to protest that she has no time to eat and wanted to be back into her own body and home as soon as possible, as she looked like that was just what she wanted to do. But then her stomach starts to grumble. "Uh... yes, I guess I am." Tara says blushing in embarrassment I find myself eating a lot of pastries instead of talking, so the white one does the most talking instead. Eating with just your mouth is difficult, and I am forced to do that because I have no idea how to float things like I had seen the blue pegasus do to me. I am told the two creatures are sisters, princesses who rule together a land called Equestria, and that they call their own species ponies. The blue one is called Luna and the white one Celestia. They tell me Celestia raises the sun while her sister Luna raises the moon, something I do not believe at all, because even if I am in a magical land full of colorful ponies, that's just ridiculous. Apparently I had been found two days ago asleep in front of a magic mirror, and they were so concerned, probably because they thought I was their Twilight, that they first missed the fact I had no wings or cutie mark. Then they assumed it some magical side-effect of using the mirror. A cutie mark is some kind off drawing that appears in a pony flank when they discoverer their special talent, and there is some discrimination to ponies that don't have one. Princess Luna had just arrived today from a diplomatic mission to a foreign country, she didn’t say which one. I can clearly see the distrust in the so called moon princess eyes (‘so-called’ because for all I know they could be lying about being princesses, after all). Her big sister is a lot better hiding it, but I know it’s there. Apparently there had been an invasion of shape-changing insect-like monsters called changelings not too long ago. An invasion Luna had SLEPT through. Yes, I ain't joking about that. She is clearly thinking I might be one of those creatures even after Celestia assures I am not. And how they found out I wasn't one of those changelings? They took a blood sample, it seems a changeling blood is different from the blood of a pony. - I’m not sure how, and my request for more details is politely denied. Oh, by the way, humans don't exist here, so I am stuck as a pony as long as I stay in this world. And where is THEIR Twilight? It seems that while I am stuck with these ponies the other Twilight is stealing MY LIFE, but that isn't the worst news. "Thirty moons? I have to wait thirty moons to go back home?" I say. They’re kidding, right? Assuming this planet had a close enough rotation to Earth that's... almost two and a half years! I can't be stuck here for that long!. "I assure you Tara, we will try to make your stay in Equestria as comfortable as possible." Celestia looks at me with kindness in her eyes, and I start crying. "I want to wake up! Why I am still stuck in this nightmare?" I say, and now even Luna looks at me with pity. I don't want their compassion! These... these MONSTERS are clearly responsible for me being stuck in their world. Author's Note I think human Twilight would be a unicorn in Equestria because she never used a spell and the elements to become a princess. Also how could she have Twi cutie mark if she never used magic before? Thanks to MarkKB and The J.A.M. for beta reading this chapter. 02 The Harsh RealityI cry for what it feels like hours, then finally notice someone is hugging me, it feels warm and nice. To my surprise, it’s Luna who is doing it, not Celestia. The princess of the sun is looking at her younger sister, who is hugging me, with an expression that I would call surprise if she wasn't trying so hard to hide it. Then, as if to make the day complete, my new body decides to give me a nasty surprise. "Uh... Princess Luna?" I say in a soft voice "Yes dear Tara?" Did she just call me “dear Tara?” Just not long ago she was accusing me of being a changeling! Maybe she bipolar or something? "I need to... uh... well... use the toilet?" My voice sounds even lower "Toilet?" Luna asks with confusion, then I blush and try to explain "Well, is the place you use when you need to, um, when you need to get rid of bodily waste." "Oh, you mean an outhouse?" Luna says understanding. Just great, not only I am stuck as an unicorn, I can't even have decent plumbing! "Yes... where is the..." Just then, Luna horn glows a dull white and before I can ask what's going on, a white flash surrounds and find myself inside an outhouse. Yes, there is definitely something wrong with her. "Sister?" Celestia looks at Luna "Wasn't that a bit rude?" Luna laughs nervously "Did you want me leading a pony that looks like Twilight Sparkle but has no wings or cutie mark to one of the castle outhouses myself? Oh that would have looked great, don't you think?" Luna giggles, maybe to annoy her sister a bit. "And what's about when she is done?" Celestia gives her sister a hard look. "Oh I added a spell that will teleport Tara to my personal bathroom after that. Or didn't you want to keep this as a secret for now? If there is a thing that haven't changed during my exile is the servants tendencies to chit-chat about anything odd that catches their notice." Celestia blinks, then blinks again. "How come you went from thinking she was as changeling to hugging her?" "I noticed you weren't going to do it yourself. And I do know a thing or two of being in a situation you don't want to be." Luna expression then becomes serious "As they say nowadays, we are royally screwed, aren't we? I am surprised Discord isn't already on a rampage of chaos with both Twilight Sparkle and the element of magic missing." "I am surprised about that too, I guess that he really values his friendship with Fluttershy or..." "Or what?" Luna didn't like where this conversation was going "Or he is responsible for Tara being here in the first place." Princess Celestia then looked around, kind of expecting Discord to suddenly appear to confirm or deny her accusations. But for better or worse, that didn't happen. After I am done with my 'business', I see white again and find myself in a bathroom, one that of course lacks a toilet. I fall down to the floor, feeling dizzy; I am getting tired of Luna using her magic on me without even asking. What I am, her pet or something? Yes, that's right, I am her pet; I get dragged around from one place to the other without being able to say “no”. I have no choice about what to do, and even if I wanted to escape, where can I go to escape? No, I am NOT her pet! I may be a human in mind and spirit, but I am a pony in body, sure I have some rights they have to respect? "What rights? This is a monarchy ruled by magical pony princesses, who are supposedly able to move the sun and the moon. Do you think they even give any thought about your fate? You are not THEIR Twilight after all." "Who... who is that?" Just great, as if this technicolor world filled with magical hor… er, ponies wasn't insane already, I am now hearing voices; the voice sounds like the typical seductress villain voice used by femme fatales on TV shows and movies. "Not ‘voices’ dear, just one. And about who I am, well, you can call me the little devil over your shoulder, even if that would look weird on a pony; like seriously, can I even sit on a pony’s shoulders, let alone if they even have shoulders." "Then isn't there supposed to be an angel voice somewhere? Please, if there is someone up there listening, I will try to get used to being a pony, just make the evil voice go away.” "There is no angel up there watching for you dear; no one that cares about you but me. Your parents aren't here to protect you, your friends aren’t here to save you, and since they can't pass you as their Twilight, they will probably lock you away." "Know what? I don't bucking care, go away. I am not in the mood for mind games and manipulations." Honestly, I do care but I am trusting an evil voice out of nowhere! "Lets see if you think after a few days in a golden cage." "GO AWAY!" I honestly hope the bathroom is soundproof, I don't want them to think I am going insane. "Fine, you will soon be begging for my help... unicorn." The voice says the word ‘unicorn’ as if it was an insult. I may not be a very sociable person, in all my life I’ve never had more than one or two friends, even when I was little; but I have read enough fiction and watched enough TV to know not to trust an evil voice that talks in my head. I wait a few minutes and thankfully the voice doesn't come back. I finally get a chance to see my surroundings after brawling with my subconscious. The bathroom was a very spacious, it takes about thirty hoofsteps to cross the floor wall-to-wall. The walls are lined with beautiful wall-lights, casting snowflakes of light against the pearly walls. The tiles were a very crystalline pearl, acting as a mirror when I peer at it, except the reflection is slightly warped and blurry. My hair looks like a flock of birds nested in my hair, each strand seemed to interlock and spring outward. Now, since I am in a bathroom, a bath sounds like a wonderful idea; after all, I was at least two days without taking one. I look at the tub, I never seen one so big, you could probably fit the two princesses inside and still have plenty more room for more ponies! First, I open the hot water faucet; next, I open the cold one slightly; using my hoof, I test the temperature of the water. I am not in the mood to touch the drain cover with my mouth, so I just enter inside the tub and do my best to clean myself using the warm water and a sponge. No way I am using soap or shampoo, not if that stuff is gonna touch my mouth. But since my mouth is tasting like dirt, I know I will need to wash my mouth anyway. I try using soap, it seems that for some reason I can hold it in my hooves, it would have been nice to know that before. Despite all the awkwardness of being in a strange pony body, I finally manage to clean myself. Next I close the water faucets and thankfully find some kind of mouthwash. And then use my newfound ability to have things stick to my hooves to finally get rid of the awful taste in my mouth. After that, I dry myself using several towels and exit the bathroom. Then I find that I am in another fancy princess room, seeing the night, moon and stars decoration theme with a few shades of blue, I can guess it must be Princess Luna room. Yes, It seems I am her pet all right, dammit. No, just no. Twilight Sparkle, stop thinking like that! I am not her pet, I am her guest. She is a princess, even if she and her sister want to keep me a secret, she has no reason to let me in her room. From what I read about royalty she must have at least a few servants that she can trust to keep their mouth shut. It would be easy for Luna and Celestia to just keep me locked in a tower or something. Instead I got to drink tea with the two rulers of this country, they were somewhat polite with me, explained me things and Celestia said they will try to make my stay comfortable. Still, I can't help but think those darn words that evil voice said: "Lets see if you think that after a few days in a golden cage." There isn't really a reason to keep me locked up all the time, they could simply just dye my coat and mane in other colors. I saw some of the servants wearing clothes, I could wear a dress to cover my flanks, solving my “lack of cutie mark” problem. Sure they don't trust me, but going out with some guards that will be keeping an eye on me is better than not going out at all. I mean, I didn't see any guards around me, just servants, but every princess has at least a few royal guards, right? I look around the room, looking for something to distract me, then I find a book about half my size. The cover is a deep maroon with golden letters sketched across the upper-half of the front cover, which read "Unicorn magic for beginners." I see where this is going; I might be new to this world, and I may be freaked out and scared, but I am not stupid. Should I play their game? I don't really believe in magic, I would be way more likely to believe their so called “magic” is advanced technology that fakes it. Still, almost every source of fiction I know says that you need to believe in magic to make it work. Lets try to rationalize this; I don't believe in magic, but I think that mental powers are theoretically possible. In order for a rational mind, like mine, to learn to move objects and creatures like Luna did to me, I could think of it as a form of telekinesis. Telekinesis is the ability to move things or otherwise affect the property of things with the power of your mind. With that in mind (lame pun), I sit over the oversized bed and open the book, starting to read it. Is only about ten minutes ‘til dusk, Luna opens the door of her room as quietly as possible and peeks inside. She finds the pony, that she has to remind herself is NOT Twilight Sparkle, asleep while holding a book, it looks adorable. The same book she left in her room when Twi... Tara, when Tara was taking a bath. Tara didn't hear her due to Luna's bathroom and bedroom being soundproofed, something logical if one considered that Luna was usually asleep during daytime. But that didn't mean her sister would stop teasing her for being asleep during the changeling invasion in the near future; Luna is planning her revenge for that, it involves; one cake, a camera, a rubber chicken, and frosting… lots and lots of frosting. Anyway, now that Tara is asleep, she gently picks her up and deposits her in the royal guest’s bedroom. Leaving her with only one minute to raise the moon, she flies outside and uses her powerful, unicorn magic to lift the moon, replacing the once-glorious sun that her sister, Celestia, has lowered; the magnificent sight of the Princess of the Night raising the moon while airborne left the few ponies who witnessed this from the streets of Canterlot wide-eyed with amazement, never before have the princesses ever attempt such a feat during their lifetime. Or at least, no pony that still lives has seen it. Both Princess used to show off a little when they where more than a thousand years younger. Author's Note Thanks to Chewy Card and MarkKB andThe J.A.M. for beta reading this chapter. 03 Teacher's pet"Hi, lovely fans! Oh, and hi to those who hate me, how are you doing? Actually, scratch that, I don't really care!" Discord waved his lion paw in front of the camera. He was floating over a desert-like area with odd chaotic structures. "For those here who haven't got the pleasure to meet me yet, my name is Discord. I am what you could call a Trickster figure. Now, I am sorry to disappoint a lot of you, but if you think that I am responsible for Princess Twilight Sparkle being stuck in the human world, think again." Discord then snapped his right claw and the human Rainbow Dash, clothed with just underwear and a nightgown, appeared floating in front of him. "Uh? Who are you? Where am I?" Rainbow Dash said confused... was she dreaming? Who was this strange Chimera in front of her? "My name is Discord, and I've got a message for Princess Twilight Sparkle." Discord snapped his claws again and changed the human Rainbow Dash into her pony counterpart. The only difference was that since the former human Rainbow Dash had never done the Sonic Rainboom, she didn't have a cutie mark. "Uh? What the hell?" Dash looked herself over, a bit self conscious of being naked, and tried to cover herself the best she could. And then she finally noticed that she was blue... and that she had hooves instead of hands. "What did you do to me?" "Oh no, we aren't doing the 'I just got turned into a pony' routine, bye bye." Discord snapped his claws a third time and Rainbow Dash was gone. "Now, where was I? Ah yes, I did not make the so-called Princess Of Friendship get stuck in the wrong side of the mirror. However, that doesn't mean I can't have some fun with that, can I?" Discord then sat down in a floating throne, got some popcorn out of nowhere and started eating it. "And that's all for today folks, don't worry, you will get more of me soon, even if you don't want to!" Discord snapped the tip of his tail like it was a hand and everything faded to black. My sister raises the sun, while I make the moon go down. This is usually the time I talk to my sister for a while, then go back to sleep, but not this time. This time I sent an apology using my mind, and headed to Tara's room. It’s been over a thousand years, so not many ponies know this, but I don't just control the moon, I am the mare of the night. Besides the moon, the stars obey my command and I am also able to travel the land of dreams. What I saw in Tara's dream troubles me greatly. So much anger and sadness–she is alone and she knows it. I was right: she and I, we are very much alike, even if the circumstances are different. My sister cannot connect with this other Twilight Sparkle–it reminds her too much of, as she calls it, her faithful student. I never was close to the Princess of Magic, so I even if I might get momentarily confused, I can see Tara as her own pony. I entered the room, without making a noise–silence is, after all, one of the abilities of the creatures of my domain. Then I took off my royal regalia, and lay in the bed next to her, nuzzling the scared mare. She seemed to relax and I smiled. Oh, this is gonna be so awkward when she wakes up! What will she think, finding herself sharing a bed with one of the two rulers of Equestria? Then I remembered something important, and cast a spell on Tara. I woke up felling strangely warm and comfortable; at first I thought it was because of my coat and mane, but then I noticed a big blue creature sleeping next to me. Is this... Princess Luna? In my mind I upgraded my category from princess' pet to princess' lover; my face almost gagging at the idea of making love to a bucking horse. I then noticed how my language seems to keep changing. Is this part of my transformation into a unicorn? "This is quite--" My mind blocked the voice of the evil seductress, and my stomach grumbled. I guess I now eat like a horse. (Yes, lame pun, sorry.) I jumped out of bed easily, and then opened the door with my mouth. Stupid metal taste. I hope to learn telekinesis soon. Having to use my mouth like this is degrading. I peeked outside and noticed a pair of pegasus guards, each with a white coat and golden armor. Strange, I didn't see any guards the other day. "Ah miss..." The guard who talked to me seems strangely confused at first, but then he smiled. "Miss Tara, would you like to have breakfast in your room?" Without really thinking about it I answered, "No, I would prefer to go to the royal dining room instead. And please, do not let anypony else enter my room until Princess Luna says is okay to do so." "Very well, please follow me," the guard said, and I followed him. What? What is going on? I felt my body moving on its own. Is this magic? I mentally cursed Luna, blaming her for this. The guards did not react in any way about me looking like their famous lost princess; I guess this must be also part of the spell. So, I am the princess' lover and puppet, how amusing! And by amusing I meant I would be screaming in frustration and try to run away if my hooves weren't moving on their own. Breakfast was, despite the fact I was being used like a living puppet, very good. After breakfast, my hooves literally took me back to my room. And once I closed the door I was free to move and act on my own. Since trying to attack Luna would be quite stupid, I instead cursed out loud. I swore like a sailor both in human insults and pony ones. After fifteen minutes of this, I finally relaxed and noticed that Princess Luna was not only still sleeping, she seemed to have some kind of dark blue aura over her. "Oh, sure, magical protection, huh?" I said. My competitive streak forced me to find a way to magically get back to the bigger mare, even if I logically knew that, even if I was their infamous princess of magic, the idea was really bad. I then trotted back to the book I had started reading the other day, putting it over a desk. I really missed my hands–sticky or not, hooves are not as good as having fingers. "ARG, STUPID PONIES, STUPID MAGIC, STUPID HORN!" I yelled, frustrated, and kicked the table away. I have read that stupid book at least five times, but it seems that for some reason my magic doesn't work at all. My dumb horn doesn't even glow when I try to use magic. Heck, I said "I believe in magic, I can do this," a hundred times, I even believed it, and nothing happened. "You are taking this quite well," Luna said. She sounded amused; when did she wake up? Then I looked at the window and I noticed that it was the afternoon. Just how long have I been with that book? "Why can't I do magic, at all? My horn doesn't even glow!" I stared at the mirror in my room, frustrated. "Did you try to think of yourself as a unicorn?" Luna asked as if that was the evident answer. "Of course not, I am not really a unicorn, I am a human!" "And there lies the problem. You might have read the book, you may have tried the instructions, you may have even convinced yourself that magic exists, but since you are in denial about what you are, the access to your magic is blocked." "No, it can't be that, no matter what I try nothing at all happens. I must just be magicless, that's all." "So, you prefer to not use magic at all than admit to yourself that you are a unicorn." "You know what? Fine, I am a stupid unicorn!" I yelled in frustration. And then I noticed that I was... floating? Of course, just when I noticed that, my magic decided to fail and I fell down hard on the ground. "Ouch!" "Good work, dear student. My, even newborn unicorn foals have more control over their magic than you!" "What... I am your student now? And in case you forgot, I wasn't born a unicorn." I guess I should be honored or something that she was taking time to teach me magic, but... I am not even supposed to be here in the first place! Or be a unicorn, and their Twilight Sparkle is stealing my life! "True, but do you see anypony else teaching you about magic?" "Good point! Wait..." I finally remembered something important. "WHY THE HAY DID YOU PUT THAT CONTROL SPELL OVER ME DURING THE MORNING?" "It was not just a control spell, it also made anypony that saw you forget the fact that you are a wingless Twilight Sparkle that also lacks her cutie mark." Princess Luna seemed quite amused. "You honesty didn't think you would be free to do anything you want around here, did you?" "But, but... YOU USED MIND CONTROL ON ME!" "Would you have been able to deal with the mistrust and rumors? Oh look at that silly mare, who she thinks she is fooling? If she’s gonna copy Twilight Sparkle, she should at least have remembered the cutie mark!" "I... why I am even trying to argue with you? You hold all the cards." I looked down, realizing how stupid I was. I had just yelled at one of the two rulers of this country. "Sorry." "Uh, what?" Did the princess of the Night, just... apologize to me, just like that? "I am sorry; what I did to you was very nasty. But I tend to sleep during the day. In fact I would be sleeping right now if it wasn't because I have taken the responsibility to instruct you. I promise to not do it again." "Let me guess, you won't do it again because the spell is still on me and it activates as soon as I leave this room, right?" I covered my mouth with my hoof, what the hay? "Correct! Oh, teaching you is gonna be so much fun!" I groaned, then sat sit down on the ground. I wanted to say, "Let me guess, you are the weird sister, aren't you?" but instead just looked at her with hate in my eyes. Luna picked me with her magic, laid me on the bed and started to tickle me with her wings. I tried to resist but it seemed that this body was kind of ticklish. "Hey, hey, stop it!" I said laughing. The princess smiled and stopped the ticking. "Are you felling better now, Tara?" "Yes, is this normal around ponies or... you are the strange sister?" "I have lived a long time, so it is hard to keep with the current social norms. However, many ponies would think that it is bad that I have such familiarity with you. But since you are basically stuck inside the castle and you are a secret, I am trying to be your friend." "Friend?" I asked incredulously. "Friends don't put mind controlling spells on each other." "Again, I apologize. But if you let me, I would gladly be your friend and your mentor." "Oh, the mind controlling princess wants to be your friend? Good for you." Since I didn't want Luna to think I was crazy, I didn't dare respond, but I tried my best to block evil Tara. Now, that’s a lame nickname, Tara means Star in some languages so... evil Star? Dark Star? Shadow Star? I like Shadow Star. "Shadow Star is a nice name." 'Ah, just shut up!' "Tara, are you okay? Tara? Equestria to Tara? Hello?" "Uh, what?" I asked, looking confused "You kind of spaced out." "Ah right, just... I guess I am bored? I was inside the castle all day, can't you just put me on a spell to make me look different or something?" "No, you would try to run away." "You could come with me, disguised as well. We could, uh... what do ponies do for fun?" "Tara, trust is something you must earn, this is just your third day here." "Oh, please. I can't use magic at all, and you could just subdue me if I tried anything. Besides, hanging out is what friends do, right?" I stared into the princess' eyes, pouting and looking at her with sadness in my face. "Okay, maybe tomorrow. Now, since it has been so many hours, you are probably hungry again." I tried to protest that I was not hungry again, but then my stomach grumbled. Stupid pony metabolism! Author's Note The idea of of writing the Spin-off "The Wrong Side Of The Mirror" was canceled due to having to work on "ECMC: The Adventures of the Earth Cutie Mark Crusaders" project. So I will just add a bit of what Discord and Princess Twilight are doing sometimes. Thanks to MarkKB and The J.A.M. for beta reading this chapter. 04 Consequences"You did WHAT?" Celestia asked incredulously; the fact that somepony who usually remained calm and cool headed had just raised her tone showed just how angry she was. "I... where did I do wrong?" Luna asked confused, "I mean, you have manipulated Princess Twilight before and..." "Manipulated is the key word. What you did to young Tara was mind control. Oh, Luna, what I am going to do with you?" "But I said I was sorry!" Luna protested, her ears lowering; she had thought she was doing such a great job! "Saying 'sorry' is not enough, I want you to give her a real apology. I also want you to actually explain things to her in detail. She needs to know why she needs to stay a secret besides the short summary we gave her before. Also, I need to think what will be your punishment..." "Punishment? But, but... she is not even a real pony! She is not one of our subjects!" Luna protested again, she even seemed slightly offended. "That might be true, but she is also stuck here against her will, and she is not our enemy – , but she will be if we don't fix the damage you have already done. I know it is hard for you to understand, – things where different before your exile, ponies didn't get along well with other races. But even back then what you did would be considered a criminal act!" "But I am the Princess of the Night, one of the two rulers of Equestria. What about our divine right?" "That's how King Sombra thought, you know, that all he did was right and just because he was a king." "It's not the same!" Luna protested "King Sombra was...” " A master manipulator, a selfish bastard that only cared about himself... so much like Nightma-” Celestia stopped herself from talking, that was still a touchy subject for both of them. However by her sister expresion it seemed like it had helped to get the point across. "Oh, horsefeathers... I... I really messed up, didn't I?" "Yes you did. But it was also my fault, I am still hurt, so I'll let you deal with our problem without thinking that you might not know what was the best to do." Luna stood up, "Well, then, I guess I should go to apologize, shouldn't I?" "Not so fast! You are still not getting out of your punishment my little sister." "Oh, horsefeathers." Tara walked around her neighborhood. Everything was dull and in monochromatic shades from black to white, like in one of those old movies. Or when they try to show the past in a TV show and just don't film in color. At least in the dream, she was human; the bad thing was that she was naked, she always hated dreams where she was naked for some reason. "Hello Dusk Star," said a familiar figure in front of her. It was a statue of her pony form, only it looked tall and had big bat-like wings. Like everything else in the dream, it was in grayscale. "Evil Tara? Or should I say, Shadow Star?" Tara asked, unafraid of the being talking in front of her and ignoring the new name her so-called evil counterpart had for her. "As I said before, 'Shadow Star' sounds nice." "What do you want?" Tara asked, annoyed. As if she didn’t know! "Revenge is a dish best served cold. I realized that I haven't been very helpful. If we want to make those ponies pay, we must work together." "No, just no! And in case you did not see yourself, you are a pony too." "Not by choice! You can't say you are happy with what happened to you. Losing your family, the few friends you had, only to end as a useless blank flank unicorn and a prisoner! While that damn princess fake steals your life!" "Look, no matter how powerful you think you are, try to think things straight: there are two princess who control the sun and the moon, while I can't even use the most basic of magic spells. Any plan of revenge you have is doomed to fail, and that's not counting that you won't have to deal with just Sunbutt and Moonbutt, but also with others. If this is a land of might, magic, monsters and colorful ponies, there must be heroes too." "That's why we must work together! Give in to your rage and hate, and we will have-" The statue was interrupted by Tara's jumping at it and kicking the statue. The statue started to shatter, while Tara screamed since her leg hurt like hell. "No means no, thank you very much!" Tara said after holding back her cries of pain. Then, she noticed the dream had changed and she was in her pony form, she lost her balance and felt down to all fours. her left back leg now the one hurting. This time, everything was in color, but it was like a mix of Equestria's cartoon colors and Earth's more realistic colors. "Uh, now what?" Tara looked around her neighborhood once more, then felt a soft warm wave over her injured leg, and the pain was gone. "Uh, anypony is here?" Then she heard a voice singing. It sounded like herself when she was younger, about five or six years old. Colts and fillies come out to play, The moon does shine as bright as day; Come with a hoop, and come with a call, Come with a good will or not at all. Loose your supper, and loose your sleep, Come to your playfellows in the street; Up the ladder and down the wall, Please be very careful to not fall. But when sleep comes, what will you do? Go trotting back home and say thank you.* When the singing ended, she felt something hugging her from behind. Tara turned around and saw a smaller and younger version of her pony form; it looked really adorable and cute. "Hey, wanna play?" the filly asked. Tara had to apply all her control to not hug her; she was supposed to be over cute childish things, dammit! "Yeah, sure." Tara and the young her played kicking a ball around for what it seemed like hours. Tara woke up feeling calm and relaxed. Then the blank flank unicorn took another bath; after she was done she found a table with breakfast ready for her in the bedroom. The tea was still warm. Must be because of magic! Duh, of course it’s magic, what did I expect? An electrical teapot? But then, they do seem to have electricity, or are the lamps magical? They do look like electric lamps. After breakfast, Tara didn't bother to try leaving the room, fearing the mind controlling spell. Instead, she headed to the study desk and found a big book that wasn't there yesterday. "‘Twilight Sparkle’s friendship reports?’ This must be a joke, right?" Finding a note from Luna telling her to read the book, she frowned but proceeded to do so, after a few pages she frowned even more, accidentally making a scrunchy face. This... these Friendship reports, surely this must have been used when Princess Twilight Sparkle was like five, ten years old, right? Yet the book itself said that the reports were from last year. But it couldn't be that just last year she was still writing these things – even if the Equestrian year did not last the same as an Earth year, it was still ridiculous! 'Mental note: Find out how much a year lasts around here.' And yet, here she was, reading a book that held a copy of every so called Friendship report ever written by Twilight Sparkle, right up until the day she had to face a creature called Discord (basically, an evil trickster and chaotic figure). It was very, very hard to accept, but it seemed that yes, friendship was magic in Equestria. Both Nightmare Moon and this being named Discord where defeated by said friendship magic. Elements of Harmony uh? What did that mean for her? She had no weapons. The only weapon she knew that could take out Sunbutt and Moonbutt was the Elements Of Harmony; she couldn't use it because in the land of Equestria she had no... She had no friends or family. That hurt, hurt more than anything else. Hurt more than when her dog Spike had died, hurt more than the day grandma went to sleep and never woke up again. And with a twisted version of herself who was constantly tempting her, trying to turn her evil. What did she have to stop herself of going to the deep end? Hope, she had hope. She remembered that young playful version of herself in her dream, whom she supposed was her inner child. It was proof that not all was lost, that, no matter what, she still had goodness in her heart, that there was a part of her that... A part of her that wanted to believe. A part of her that wanted to learn magic and live in a land of wonders. But... She was no child, yet she was not adult, she was somewhat in the middle. The child Tara would just have accepted all of this with a smile, hoping, no, KNOWING that no matter that everything would turn well in the end, because the good guys always win. An adult would tell you those were just childish fantasies, that real life was cruel and bitter, that the good guys didn't always win. That there was war, and poverty, and sickness; that those that could help would not, simply because it was not their problem. But she wasn't an adult, just like she wasn't a child. "Tara of Earth, may I come in?" That was the voice of Princess Luna. What was with the "Of Earth" title? "Yes." Tara stopped paying attention to the book, and looked at the door. To her surprise, Princess Luna entered without wearing anything, no jewels, crown or royal regalia of any sort. "Princess? Why aren't you... ya know?" Tara could not help but to imagine how the situation like this would play if they where both human and blushed. "Due to having abused my authority, I been stripped down of my royal rank and title, yet not of my duties. Until the time my sister deems me fit to have it restored. I am no longer a princess, I am just Luna." "WHAT? Why would your sister do that to you?" "Because I controlled your mind, and because I had claimed I would help you and then abused that trust. And she was right, what I did to you... it was horrible. I had not realized how wrong what I did was, that just saying that I was sorry was not enough." Then the demoted princess bowed to Tara. "Tara of Earth, I humbly ask for forgiveness for my traitorous act, and I hope that you have it in your heart to forgive me." "Stand up." Luna did so, and Tara was reminded once again how small she was compared to the horse-sized princess. "Forgiveness should not just be given, it should be earned. It you want me to forgive you for real, from it to come from my heart, then do what you said you would do. Be a friend, a real friend and a mentor, help me understand this crazy world I am stuck on. In Equestria, I have no pony I can trust, but I would like for you to become that pony I can." "Those conditions are acceptable. Tara of Earth." "Just call me Tara, if you are just Luna at least for a while, there is no reason for me to have a title." Then, surprising even herself, the blank flank unicorn hugged the bigger pony. Friendship is complicated. With Gilda I had to accept that when she was rude it didn't really meant much, it was just the way she was. With this crazy pony, who knows? *Colts and fillies come out to play, old nursery rhyme from Equestria, unknown origin. Author's Note I mucked up the tense in these last two chapters, I will try to have it fixed for the FF.net version. Thanks to MarkKB and The J.A.M. for beta reading this chapter. 05 RealizationThe girl woke up with a headache; it was the first time ever she had a headache after drinking and she hated it. Oh my god, how I hate hangovers! Why the hell did I have to drink? I am not even of legal age! Maybe it was because I was tired of being called "Little Miss Bookworm" and of being teased for always studying and having no fun. No, that's not it, to be honest, I just needed a break. After all, the girl had to study for two weeks for the exams she had last week, and then the current week she didn't have any exam, yet she was still studying. Her name was Twilight Sparkle, she was a teenager, and she felt like crap. She remembered a time when studying was not a chore, when she loved books, reading and learning new things; that was until she found out that getting a scholarship was the only way she could afford to go to a University. To make things worse, her parents told her that they were moving to a city named Canterlot, and the only friend she had made gave her a surprise goodbye party, then guilt-tripped here into drinking. 'Dammit Gilda! This is all your fault!' So there she was, on a Sunday morning, waking up with her head hurting, everything looked like a blur and... 'Damn, what a mess! I must have bounced all around the room before going into bed. I don't look forward to fix this up, thankfully I still have two days until we move out. Heck, I did not even start packing, what's wrong with me?' Twilight Sparkle groggily got out of bed. She had to crawl instead of walking, and of course felt awful. She looked around once more and decided to head to her big decorated mirror that was awesome when she was eight but now looked too girly for her current tastes. 'Wait... a decorated mirror? Didn't I get rid of that ages ago?' Twilight looked at the mirror, and despite her vision being blurry, she saw a purple unicorn in the mirror instead of her reflection. 'Am I dreaming? No, it hurts too much to be a dream, but I might be hallucinating, after all seeing pink elephants is not that different from seeing purple unicorns, right?' 'Why is this familiar?' The girl gives the pony a strange look of confusion and the pony did the same. Twilight Sparkle stood up with great difficulty, having to concentrate to not throw up, and the pony stood up on her two hind legs, 'I know real ponies can't do that, but why do I even care? I am just hallucinating.' Twilight Sparkle, the teenage human girl, raised her hand in front of the mirror, and the unicorn mimicked the action raising her hoof. While is it’s not common, maybe Twilight was one of those people whose head becomes really messed up when they drink a lot. "Wait... why does all this seem so familiar?" 'God! My voice, it sounds like scratching nails, I am never, ever drinking again this much!' She turned around the room, expecting to see someone else, or for someone to enter the room, but she was alone. Twilight Sparkle then look back at the mirror, and she saw herself, not the unicorn. Then she lost her balance and landed on her hands. Only that when she looked, they are not hands, but purple hooves. She woke up screaming. 'Stupid nightmare, I have been here for three weeks, brain, stop torturing me already!' Tara grumbled. She took a quick shower after waking up from her nightmare, then ordered the guard at the door to have breakfast brought in. Lately, they had allowed her to wander the castle, but not before Celestia or Luna cast an illusion spell on her. The guards, after giving an oath to not tell about Tara, were the only ones allowed to see her without the illusion. Once breakfast was over, she felt slightly better. Then Luna went to see her, as rare as it was for the moon princess to be awake so early, and had a strange idea. "You want us to go to trot outside?" Tara asked surprised, so far she had been restricted to be inside the castle, so this came as a surprise. "Yes. I can cast illusions to hide our real looks from everypony else, it's a more complicated variant of what we use for you inside the castle. You might not be an Earth pony, but exercise is still a must if you want to stay healthy." "That sounds good." Tara did not try any sarcastic comments, not did she ask what would happen if she tried to run away; she was quite aware they would be watched, and even if they were not, princess Luna outclassed her at everything, being a bigger and more powerful pony with the abilities of all the three pony races. Still, while a bit awkward, Luna had really tried to become her friend these last few days. Trotting was not exactly running, nor walking, it was somewhere in the middle. Tara had not truly realized how much she missed fresh air and the feeling of the sun over her face. For a while, she forgot her worries and just enjoyed being outside since it was such a beautiful day. And when Luna said "outside", she actually meant a forest a few miles outside Canterlot, it made Tara wonder why they even needed the illusion at all, as they were the only ponies there. Not that it would tempt Tara to escape, as an adult mare with no cutie mark and looking like Princess Twilight Sparkle once the illusion faded away, where would she go? "This is a beautiful place." Tara said and sat down; she was tired, even if she had only be trotting for about ten minutes, she had not realized her pony body was that out of shape. But then, it's not as if she was a sports star back home. "Yes, yes it is. It looks even more beautiful at night, but I understand most ponies prefer sunlight," the blue pony said in a sad tone and sat next to the unicorn. Unlike Tara, she did not seem winded at all. "Oh, I do love the night sky, it's just... that its beauty is different from the day," Tara said and nuzzled Luna. "What the hay are you doing? She is the enemy." 'No she is not. She is not the pony responsible for me being here. She is not Princess Twilight Sparkle, she is just a sad and lonely mare that made a few mistakes and is trying her best to fix that. Friendship is a two road street.' "Why are you trying to be kind? She mind controlled you!" 'And what would I win if I was rude? Would that improve my situation? Would lashing out at one of the two rulers of the country get me back home?' As usual, the dark voice responded with silence when she had no clue what to say. "Thank you, Tara of Earth. I know things have changed and ponies nowadays appreciate the night too but... it still hurts." "Okay, you know what? My name is not Tara, it's Twilight Sparkle. I only went by Tara since you guys have a Princess Twilight Sparkle. But is been almost a month and I am sick of being called Tara, please call me Twilight, make it Twilight Twinkle or something so it's less confusing, but I miss hearing my own name." The huge princess surprised Twilight Sparkle by giving her a hug. "Oh, you are letting me give you a nickname? That's wonderful, Twilight, according to a book I read that means we are getting closer." "Yes, I guess we are." Twilight does not mention that she once read a book about making friends too, but it did not work well. Well, she used to have a lot of friends when she was little, then they discovered she was smart and everything went downhill from there. "Well, we'd better eat the food, before the ants get it or something." The human-turned-unicorn said as she felt bad thinking about how much Princess Twilight Sparkle had what she wanted. "Oh, yes, of course." For starters, she was an immortal alicorn princess, with magic! Second, she had at least five friends compared to a single friend that she had. Why the hay did she have to ask Luna about their Twilight Sparkle? She would be happier being ignorant, hating the stupid princess for stealing her life, and not thinking about how much it must suck for the other Twilight. "How much it must suck for her? She stole your life! You did not make her leave her friends and world looking for a stupid magic crown!" 'You know what? I still have more than two years left here, so buck you! Sure I miss my family and my dog, but things could be way worse!' "Twilight, are you well? You look angry for some reason," Luna asked and offered the unicorn a sandwich, Twilight Sparkle took it with her own magic and ate it, then realized what she had just done. "Eh... let's say that I remembered that... uh... Princess Twilight must not be happy being stuck in my world." She had just used telekinesis or levitation, the most basic of unicorn magic, without having to concentrate hard or messing it up. For some reason, Twilight Sparkle was not as happy about it as she should be about that, considering how she still had trouble with magic. "That's quite noble of you. Tell me, Twilight, since your world has no magic, what were your studies about?" "Science, math, biology, a lot of things actually, I was going to what we call High school so I had several subjects to study. Once I graduated from that, I would go to a University to specialize in... something. I was thinking robots, robots are like golems, only we use science, not magic." "Oh, that sounds delightful, do they use robots a lot back in your world?" "Yes, most of them are industrial robots, machines that do work like assembling... fridges and stuff like that inside a factory, barely needing any human supervision." Thankfully there were fridges in Equestria, she was not looking forward to explain things like cars and planes to a princess of a medieval-like magical kingdom that despite that still had things like electricity-powered home appliances and hydroelectric dams. "But does that not leave a lot of po... humans without a job?" Luna asked, curious "Yes, but don't you guys do the same when you use magic-powered machines to replace hoof work?" She had read a friendship report about that, then read the official report with a more detailed explanation somepony had added to it. "Yes, I guess we do. Equestria has changed a lot since before my banishment, and there are many things I am still getting used to." Luna then had a wicked smile. "Say, would you like to fly with me?" "Uh, you know that unlike the other Twilight Sparkle, I am just a unicorn, right?" "Oh, but I can use magic to give you wings. Even better, the spell includes basic knowledge on how to use them!" Princess Luna said, and stood up. "So what do you say, Twilight Twinkle, want to soar through the sky?" 'I get to fly? I GET TO FLY! THIS IS AWESOME!' But outwardly she said "Yes, I would like that." Author's Note This story is getting harder and harder to write, sorry for taking so long -_- Thanks to The J.A.M. for beta reading this chapter. Bonus Chapter: Equestrian SunsetEquestria's date: One day after Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom. She awoke slowly; she felt really comfortable and didn't want to leave the feeling of warmness. As her eyes opened and closed while she tried to stay in bed a moment longer, she noticed it seemed to be the sunset already, wait... the sunset? How long had she been asleep? Panic fully awoke her, but when she tried to stand up, she tripped and fell down. "Ouch!" She looked around and noticed that she was in a forest clearing, and that she had been covered by... pelts? What the heck? Wait a minute! The ground looked much closer that it should be. "Calm, down Sunset Shimmer, this is probably just a dream." Yeah right, only that one could not feel pain in dreams. With a bit of fear, the girl looked herself over, and almost had a panic attack when she noticed that she seemed to be covered in yellow fur and that her hands were gone. Even worse, she now had a horse tail and when she tried to stand up again she ended falling down on four hooves. "Calm down, Sunset, it's not the time for a panic attack, sure, you appear to have become some kind of small, colorful equine, but at least your hair color, or should it be mane color, appears to be the same." "Oh, you are finally awake," said a voice behind her, the small equine turned around and saw... 'Whoa, that is a big dog!' Only it seemed like it had hands and was standing upright, and looked like a husky, one of those dog breeds that looked like wolves. She finally noticed that the air was cold, despite being covered in a yellow coat of fur. That explained why she had been so lazy about leaving the warm covers. "You are a talking dog," Sunset blurted out. "I am a diamond dog, what's your name pony?" he asked, while it didn't seem to be armed, those animal pelts had to have come from somewhere, and he was a big canine with probably sharp teeth while she was a small equine. Better be polite, that was the way life worked, the big eat the small, the strong boss around the weak, she had once tried to become strong herself, but had only ended up in a beat down. "Sunset Shimmer," she said, not noticing that her equine ears went down. "Thanks for... sheltering me?" "You owe me one now, Gruff saved pretty pony, now pony will carry Gruff things, yes?" the so-called Diamond dog point to a cart with a harness. This... this was what her life had been reduced to? From being bullied in the orphanage, to being beaten up, to waking up as some kind of pony only to be a talking dog beast of burden? 'Calm down Sunset, I need information, and he has not hurt me yet', the new pony thought "Okay." To think that just a few months ago, she would have tried to run away in panic in a situation like this, and probably get herself eaten. But now she knew better, after all, if she was some kind of slave, she would have been chained, right? Gruff packed the pelts and other stuff in the cart, then put the harness on her body. And then he picked up a spear he had hidden behind a big rock, maybe because he thought that having a weapon on him would have made him scarier? "Now you follow Gruff, yes?" The dog started to walk away, expecting her to follow, and Sunset Shimmer did just that. She was surprised that the dog was not riding in the cart himself, but then, she was small, and maybe with the dog in it would be too much weight for her. With the weight of the cart balancing her, the new pony had little trouble walking on four hooves. They walked for several minutes, until he signaled her to stop. They were in front of a river, and they turned and walked along the riverside, probably looking for a bridge or a shallow part where they could cross. "Pony must be wondering, why is Gruff a hunter and not a digger, yes?" Sunset Shimmer was actually wondering how and why she ended up as a talking pony in a strange land, but she silently nodded, it was better not to antagonize the only one out of the two of them that was armed and dangerous. "Gruff is not good at digging, he finds it too boring, Gruff loves the hunt and hates it underground. And griffons respect hunters, they like Gruff pelts! Not like pack." Oh, so she was actually right about the big dog easily being able to kill her, good thing that she had not decided to be rude, protest, or try to run away. "So... what do you mean about you having saved me, what happened?" the mare asked. "Pretty pony fell from the sky, she was not hurt, but would not wake up, Gruff protected Sunset, and now Sunset owns Gruff a favor, yes?" "Okay." 'I fell from the sky?' She would have thought that the dog was crazy, but she woke up being smaller, covered in fur and lacking hands, so why not fall from the sky? It made as much sense as everything else so far. They soon found a part were the river was low enough for them to cross over and did so. 'Just great, now I will smell like a wet horse.' ~~*Sunset's Journal in Equestria, Entry Nº 1*~~ For some reason I woke a week ago as a talking unicorn pony. Had I been five instead of ten years old, I would have been jumping from joy. Or maybe not, I could have cried for my mommy... if I had one. Anyway the point is, I woke up as a strange creature in a strange land, full of monsters, talking animals and a lot of stuff that would make up a decent movie or a book or cartoon on Earth. I was somewhat adopted by a talking dog that looks like a husky who is called Gruff. It was that or the orphanage, and since I seem the one of one the few ponies is a land that’s the territory of Griffons, and if I remember that mythology book right, Griffons eat equines, it was a no-brainer why I decided to stay with the dog. The weather around here is cold, and is only the fall reason; I guess I will need to get a few winter clothes because my new coat only protects so much from the cold. I am thankful the speaking language is English and the books I could get or borrow also seem to be in English, it gives me something to do besides pulling the dog cart and helping him around. Supposedly unicorns can do magic but the few ponies I have seen are earth ponies (who have no horn or wings) or pegasi, so that will have to wait. Is my new fate worse or better than the orphanage? Well, on one hoof (pony expression) I am in a land of meat-eating creatures while myself I am a vegetarian (I found out I could eat eggs and cheese without getting sick), while on the other Gruff protects me from harm and I don't have to deal with bullies or insults. Honestly... I don't know, sometimes I fear I will wake up back in the orphanage, while others I see the reflection of my new look in the mirror and I cry for hours. It's also nice to have someone who cares about you, not like the caretakers in the orphanage, or the supposed friends I had who backstabbed me when it was convenient for them. Oh god, how messed up my life as a human was, if I am starting to think that a land full of monsters that could kill or cripple me is better than the orphanage? Heck, if I had been found and adopted by unicorn ponies instead of a dog I might actually prefer it. After all, what human girl doesn't like unicorns and magic? No, I won't run away and to cry to some strange pony for help, Gruff is nice for his species (they are called Diamond Dogs and they love gems) and I am not stupid enough to land myself in a stranger's hooves and end being sold as a slave of worse. After all, I am alive, I eat everyday, no pony bullies or hurts me, and I can even get books to read, why risk all that and end worse than before? Author's Note This is the Bonus chapter I promised for the story, about whatever happened to the human Sunset Shimmer. Thanks to The J.A.M. for beta reading this chapter. 06 Friends"Hi, lovely fans, I am back! I would ask how are you doing but that's the boring thing to do." Discord waved his lion paw in front of the camera. He was floating over a desert-like area with odd chaotic structures only this time there was an angry looking human Twilight Sparkle tied up to a chair and gagged. "Now you might be wondering, what's that human doing tied to a chair? Isn't she the princess of magic Twilight Sparkle? Oh that would be telling, but I am bored so I am telling!" Discord then floated the human girl, chair and all, and removed her gag. "Got anything to say human girl?" "Why did you turn the human Rainbow Dash into a pony? And why no one but me and her friends seem to care?" "Because is fun! And the fact the human Fluttershy hugs her all the time is quite entertaining to watch." Twilight Sparkle the former alicorn counted to ten mentally then said "Okay, are we in Equestria right now?" "No, we are still in the wrong side of the mirror, like a being of my power wouldn't be able to just visit this 'ponies are humans world' without avoiding losing my powers. Who do you think I am Princess, you?" "So... are you stuck in this world too?" Discord opened his mouth then closed it, looking annoyed. "Yes. But I can use my magic while you can't, well save for that whole using the crown thing Oh wait the crown is useless on this side of the mirror! The look on Sunset Shimmer face when she couldn't use magic with it was priceless!" The fact Sunset Shimmer had break down because of that, and had been taken to a mental institution, it had not been something Princess Twilight Sparkle liked to see. Once the doctors allowed it, she was going to visit the former unicorn and try to make peace with her. At least she had made new friends out of this... but Spike was stuck as a non talking dog and basically acted like a real dog and... yeah it had been a terrible experience. More so by the fact she lost her chance to return home due to not going back using the portal as soon as she could; instead of staying for the dance and dinner. "Oh... sorry. Am I making you cry?" Discord seemed strangely upset about that. Since when did he care if others cry? "I miss my home, I miss Spike being a dragon and smart! I miss my friends and family!" Twilight Sparkle actually started to cry, normally she was stronger than this but... this had just been a disaster. How they would defend Equestria if the Element of magic was missing? "Uh... I could turn Spike back into a baby dragon." Discord offered. "Really? Oh thank you thank you thank you!" "But I want something in exchange." Twilight Sparkle glared at the spirit of disharmony then mentally counted to ten again. "Okay, what do you want?" "The rest of your new friends turned into ponies. Yes even Flash Sentry." "He is not my friend, we are no longer talking." It was because of that... that good meaning idiot she had lost her chance to go back home. "Fine, just your girlfriends then." "Why are you even asking?" Discord could do it if he wanted after all. He mumbled something. "What... you miss pony Fluttershy? And you want to be friendly with the local one? That's it?" "...Yes." "I will ask them. But I don't know if they will agree to it." They probably wouldn't, well maybe Pinkie Pie would agree, that girl was weird. Flying was awesome, to soar the sky, to see everything with an eagle like view, to feel the wind ruffing her coat, and the strange yet pleasant sensation of her feathers and wings magic helping her to fly, this species change spell Luna had used was fantastic. Of course the dark voice had nothing to say, it probably loved flying too. Then after two hours Twilight "Tara" Sparkle rested over a cloud. It was so soft and confortable! Princess Luna landed next to her, smiling. "I am glad I decided to use this spell on you instead of a simpler one. How do you feel Twilight?" "Tired, but good, flying is great. Although being Griffon is strange they do have very good eyesight and I can't wait to eat some fish, if that's acceptable." "That can be arranged for another day, I am afraid we have to go back." Twilight Sparkle looked herself over, as a Griffon not only she didn't have a cutie mark, but her colors had switched to those common in lions and eagles. "Why? I don't look like Princess Twilight Sparkle right now." "First of all, the spell is not permanent. You have less than a hour left, second I have responsibilities to attend to and third, you have to continue your magic lessons." "Ahhh... okay, let's go back then." The flight back to the place they had set their picnic before was pleasant anyway. And once Luna's magic changed her back into a unicorn she felt dizzy for a moment. "Ugh, I changed my mind, let's not do this again for a while." The former human sat down and groaned. "Why did changing back hurt more than when you turned me into a Griffon?" "Probably because the Griffon body I have you was in perfect health while your unicorn body isn't used to exercise." The purple unicorn stared at the princess of the night. "You cheater! You caused all this so I did some exercise!" "Yes. But it was fun wasn't it?" Luna smiled and Twilight smiled back, unable to stay angry because flying had been the best thing she had done since she ended in the wrong side of that damn portal. "Yes, thank you for this. For all of this, you are a great friend." Then following a strange impulse the unicorn jumped and hugged Luna. "You know, I always wanted to have a big brother or big sister figure. Someone to admire, someone to set an example to follow. I...I think you are that pony." Luna then looked at her strangerly "You... you don't have a big brother?" I looked at her confused "Why? Does Princess Twilight Sparkle have one?" That bitch had a caring big brother! Why couldn't I have one too? What's next, did she have a nice and kind babysitter instead of Miss "No fun allowed" like I had? Why I had to mention that to Luna? Why I had to open my heart like that? I am not a little kid anymore dammit! Okay, calm the hay down Twilight, you had a nice day, you got to fly, and you are learning magic. While Princess Twilight is stuck in a world with no magic... while probably pretending to be you. But still no magic, she is missing her real family and friends and she is not a princess there! I could get you back home. Yeah, like I am that stupid oh misterious datk voice, why would you want to go to a world without magic? Surely your world is not completely lacking in magic or the portal wouldn't work. Lalala not listening. Time to study magic now, here I go illumination spell! Uh, just making my horn glow brighter than when just using levitation? Easy. Yes, it was easy, I might actually be good at this! The human Princess Twilight Sparkle blinked, unsure of what she had just heard. "Wait... you all want to become ponies like Rainbow Dash did?" "I... I think it would be... interesting" Fluttershy almost wispered. "And Dashie seems to have so much fun flying I wanna do that too." "I wanna try being a pony." Pinkie Pie said."That would make be more popular on the kids parties I organise." "You said the other Rarity was a unicorn right? Well... I always wanted to be a unicorn." Rarity was blushing for some reason. "I am just doing it because the others are too. And because I want to help Spike." Applejack said sounding unsure. "You do know this isn't gonna be for a few hours right? Discord will leave you four like that until he gets bored, that could be years." "Darling, we talked for hours about this and our answer is yes. Stop trying to stop us from helping Spike." "Fine." Other universe or not, her friends were still crazy and she wouldn't have it another way. Author's Note Yes this story is back. I wanted to get back to Lunar Replacement first but whatever.
01 A Purple Unicorn In The MirrorMy head hurts. Oh my god how I hate hangovers! Why the hell I had to drink? I am not even the legal age! Maybe it was because I was tired of being called 'Little Miss Bookworm' and of being teased for always studying and having no fun. No, that's not it, to be honest I just needed a break, I had to study for two weeks for the exams we had last week, and then this week we didn't have any exam yet I was still studding. Never mind, I have to, getting a scholarship is the only way I can afford to go to university. So, my parents told me we were moving, and the only friend I had makes me a surprise goodbye party, then guilt trips me into drinking. So here I am, on a Sunday morning, waking up with my head hurting, everything looks like a blur and... This isn't my room! Heck, this isn't even my friend’s room, or her guest room, or the room of anyone I know! I mean is so big, the bedroom I am in huge, and as my friend would say, everything looks so fancy! Basically if you ever seen a luxurious Princess room in an animated movie, this basically looks like that. Since nothing in real life uses this kind of pastel colors unless is Disneyland. I groggily get out of bed. Man, I must be worse than I thought! I have to crawl instead of walking, and I feel kinda funny. I look around once more and notice a big decorated mirror. Then I look at it, and despite my vision being blurry, I see a purple unicorn in the mirror instead of my reflection. Am I dreaming? No, it hurts too much to be a dream. I give the pony a strange look of confusion and the pony does the same. I still can't stand up, but as I raise my hand in front of the mirror, the unicorn raises her hoof. I must be hallucinating, right? It’s not common, but maybe I am one of those people whose head becomes really messed up when they drink a lot. Yes, that's it! I should just return to bed and hope I get out of this hallucination. Then I hear knocking in the door "Twilight Sparkle, may I come in?" "Uh... okay?" I say, I don't know the voice, but if this isn't real, why panic? And if it’s real, panicking can come later. The door opens and what enters the room is... a dark blue unicorn with wings? Okay, a horse with wings is called a pegasus but how do you call a horse with both wings and a horn? Wait, Why I am seeing this? Sure I like unicorns like a lot of girls, but I am a teenager now, I am supposed to reject those childish things! "Twilight Sparkle, what happened to your wings? Did you try a new spell?" asks the unicorn pegasus (or should I call it winged unicorn?) with worry. "Wings? You mean that besides looking like a unicorn out of a kid’s book, I am also supposed to have wings?" Okay, I shouldn't have said that, it was a really bad idea. But try to see things from my point of view, it is not easy waking up with your first hangover ever. Add to that the fact I woke up in a strange place that looks like some kind of vaguely-European castle. Where was I? Ah yes, and to top it all, I can't even stand up and my reflection looks like a unicorn… And then I looked at where my hands where supposed to be and realized that's not the only thing about me that looks like a unicorn. "I don't understand, what are you talking about? Are you saying that you aren't Twilight Sparkle?" The creature looks at me right into the eyes, scary! "Yeah, I guess so.” Then the creature continues to stare, as if this was still rather dubious, looking angry and distrustful. "Uh... if I was bad, wouldn't I be trying to pretend to be Twilight instead of being honest?" The way I am shaking in fear seems to relax the bigger... pony? horse? Somewhat. "I guess I can give you the benefit of the doubt... for now." Well, I am very lucky this creature didn't react in a violent way, but how it knows my name? Does this unicorn I have become also respond to the name 'Twilight Sparkle'? Of course it does! Stupid hangover! "Sorry for causing you trouble, I was never a unicorn before so I am quite confused. You can call me... Tara?" Look, I technically didn't lie, I just told her I'm not her Twilight Sparkle and that she could call me Tara. I never said my name was Tara, did I? And where I got the name? I heard it somewhere and it sounded like a nice name, "Tara, I understand you must be confused and hurt, but may you please come with me to see my sister?" The unicorn pegasus says trying to sound nice, but I bet it must be because she is worried about HER Twilight Sparkle, after all why would she care about a stranger she just meet? And what about me? Why I aren't I screaming in panic? Or crying? This should be freaking me out! I blame booze. "OK." I follow the creature, walking as fast as I can in four legs. My balance is way off and I trip more than once. Soon she loses patience and her horn glows in a white color, so does me body, and she carries me floating around trough the hallway. Hey, I'm flying! Well, floating. I did not just think that, did I? How the hell could I be okay about being in a world of colorful unicorns? Again, I blame the booze. We finally arrive to a big throne room, there are two thrones there, and in one of them is sitting a different unicorn pegasus, She, because it looks like a female, is white with a colorful mane and tail. I did not notice it before, but these two are way bigger than I am now; that makes me feel somewhat scared. "Eh... could you... please put me down, miss?" I say in a squeaky voice. Thankfully she does that, the white glow fading away. The white unicorn pegasus looks at me with curiosity and interest, but I guess that since I look a lot like someone she knows it makes sense. Now, what I wasn't expecting was the white unicorn pressing her face with the side of one of her own hooves and saying "Why me?" Luna looks at her sister with worry, whatever she was about to say forgotten. She is probably confused about Celestia's face-hoof. "Excuse me..." says the unicorn Twilight "I'm Tara ... I woke up like this and... could you help me? I am not really a unicorn and I want to go back home." "I see. Are you hungry?" Celestia asks. 'Tara' was probably about to protest that she has no time to eat and wanted to be back into her own body and home as soon as possible, as she looked like that was just what she wanted to do. But then her stomach starts to grumble. "Uh... yes, I guess I am." Tara says blushing in embarrassment I find myself eating a lot of pastries instead of talking, so the white one does the most talking instead. Eating with just your mouth is difficult, and I am forced to do that because I have no idea how to float things like I had seen the blue pegasus do to me. I am told the two creatures are sisters, princesses who rule together a land called Equestria, and that they call their own species ponies. The blue one is called Luna and the white one Celestia. They tell me Celestia raises the sun while her sister Luna raises the moon, something I do not believe at all, because even if I am in a magical land full of colorful ponies, that's just ridiculous. Apparently I had been found two days ago asleep in front of a magic mirror, and they were so concerned, probably because they thought I was their Twilight, that they first missed the fact I had no wings or cutie mark. Then they assumed it some magical side-effect of using the mirror. A cutie mark is some kind off drawing that appears in a pony flank when they discoverer their special talent, and there is some discrimination to ponies that don't have one. Princess Luna had just arrived today from a diplomatic mission to a foreign country, she didn’t say which one. I can clearly see the distrust in the so called moon princess eyes (‘so-called’ because for all I know they could be lying about being princesses, after all). Her big sister is a lot better hiding it, but I know it’s there. Apparently there had been an invasion of shape-changing insect-like monsters called changelings not too long ago. An invasion Luna had SLEPT through. Yes, I ain't joking about that. She is clearly thinking I might be one of those creatures even after Celestia assures I am not. And how they found out I wasn't one of those changelings? They took a blood sample, it seems a changeling blood is different from the blood of a pony. - I’m not sure how, and my request for more details is politely denied. Oh, by the way, humans don't exist here, so I am stuck as a pony as long as I stay in this world. And where is THEIR Twilight? It seems that while I am stuck with these ponies the other Twilight is stealing MY LIFE, but that isn't the worst news. "Thirty moons? I have to wait thirty moons to go back home?" I say. They’re kidding, right? Assuming this planet had a close enough rotation to Earth that's... almost two and a half years! I can't be stuck here for that long!. "I assure you Tara, we will try to make your stay in Equestria as comfortable as possible." Celestia looks at me with kindness in her eyes, and I start crying. "I want to wake up! Why I am still stuck in this nightmare?" I say, and now even Luna looks at me with pity. I don't want their compassion! These... these MONSTERS are clearly responsible for me being stuck in their world. Author's Note I think human Twilight would be a unicorn in Equestria because she never used a spell and the elements to become a princess. Also how could she have Twi cutie mark if she never used magic before? Thanks to MarkKB and The J.A.M. for beta reading this chapter.
02 The Harsh RealityI cry for what it feels like hours, then finally notice someone is hugging me, it feels warm and nice. To my surprise, it’s Luna who is doing it, not Celestia. The princess of the sun is looking at her younger sister, who is hugging me, with an expression that I would call surprise if she wasn't trying so hard to hide it. Then, as if to make the day complete, my new body decides to give me a nasty surprise. "Uh... Princess Luna?" I say in a soft voice "Yes dear Tara?" Did she just call me “dear Tara?” Just not long ago she was accusing me of being a changeling! Maybe she bipolar or something? "I need to... uh... well... use the toilet?" My voice sounds even lower "Toilet?" Luna asks with confusion, then I blush and try to explain "Well, is the place you use when you need to, um, when you need to get rid of bodily waste." "Oh, you mean an outhouse?" Luna says understanding. Just great, not only I am stuck as an unicorn, I can't even have decent plumbing! "Yes... where is the..." Just then, Luna horn glows a dull white and before I can ask what's going on, a white flash surrounds and find myself inside an outhouse. Yes, there is definitely something wrong with her. "Sister?" Celestia looks at Luna "Wasn't that a bit rude?" Luna laughs nervously "Did you want me leading a pony that looks like Twilight Sparkle but has no wings or cutie mark to one of the castle outhouses myself? Oh that would have looked great, don't you think?" Luna giggles, maybe to annoy her sister a bit. "And what's about when she is done?" Celestia gives her sister a hard look. "Oh I added a spell that will teleport Tara to my personal bathroom after that. Or didn't you want to keep this as a secret for now? If there is a thing that haven't changed during my exile is the servants tendencies to chit-chat about anything odd that catches their notice." Celestia blinks, then blinks again. "How come you went from thinking she was as changeling to hugging her?" "I noticed you weren't going to do it yourself. And I do know a thing or two of being in a situation you don't want to be." Luna expression then becomes serious "As they say nowadays, we are royally screwed, aren't we? I am surprised Discord isn't already on a rampage of chaos with both Twilight Sparkle and the element of magic missing." "I am surprised about that too, I guess that he really values his friendship with Fluttershy or..." "Or what?" Luna didn't like where this conversation was going "Or he is responsible for Tara being here in the first place." Princess Celestia then looked around, kind of expecting Discord to suddenly appear to confirm or deny her accusations. But for better or worse, that didn't happen. After I am done with my 'business', I see white again and find myself in a bathroom, one that of course lacks a toilet. I fall down to the floor, feeling dizzy; I am getting tired of Luna using her magic on me without even asking. What I am, her pet or something? Yes, that's right, I am her pet; I get dragged around from one place to the other without being able to say “no”. I have no choice about what to do, and even if I wanted to escape, where can I go to escape? No, I am NOT her pet! I may be a human in mind and spirit, but I am a pony in body, sure I have some rights they have to respect? "What rights? This is a monarchy ruled by magical pony princesses, who are supposedly able to move the sun and the moon. Do you think they even give any thought about your fate? You are not THEIR Twilight after all." "Who... who is that?" Just great, as if this technicolor world filled with magical hor… er, ponies wasn't insane already, I am now hearing voices; the voice sounds like the typical seductress villain voice used by femme fatales on TV shows and movies. "Not ‘voices’ dear, just one. And about who I am, well, you can call me the little devil over your shoulder, even if that would look weird on a pony; like seriously, can I even sit on a pony’s shoulders, let alone if they even have shoulders." "Then isn't there supposed to be an angel voice somewhere? Please, if there is someone up there listening, I will try to get used to being a pony, just make the evil voice go away.” "There is no angel up there watching for you dear; no one that cares about you but me. Your parents aren't here to protect you, your friends aren’t here to save you, and since they can't pass you as their Twilight, they will probably lock you away." "Know what? I don't bucking care, go away. I am not in the mood for mind games and manipulations." Honestly, I do care but I am trusting an evil voice out of nowhere! "Lets see if you think after a few days in a golden cage." "GO AWAY!" I honestly hope the bathroom is soundproof, I don't want them to think I am going insane. "Fine, you will soon be begging for my help... unicorn." The voice says the word ‘unicorn’ as if it was an insult. I may not be a very sociable person, in all my life I’ve never had more than one or two friends, even when I was little; but I have read enough fiction and watched enough TV to know not to trust an evil voice that talks in my head. I wait a few minutes and thankfully the voice doesn't come back. I finally get a chance to see my surroundings after brawling with my subconscious. The bathroom was a very spacious, it takes about thirty hoofsteps to cross the floor wall-to-wall. The walls are lined with beautiful wall-lights, casting snowflakes of light against the pearly walls. The tiles were a very crystalline pearl, acting as a mirror when I peer at it, except the reflection is slightly warped and blurry. My hair looks like a flock of birds nested in my hair, each strand seemed to interlock and spring outward. Now, since I am in a bathroom, a bath sounds like a wonderful idea; after all, I was at least two days without taking one. I look at the tub, I never seen one so big, you could probably fit the two princesses inside and still have plenty more room for more ponies! First, I open the hot water faucet; next, I open the cold one slightly; using my hoof, I test the temperature of the water. I am not in the mood to touch the drain cover with my mouth, so I just enter inside the tub and do my best to clean myself using the warm water and a sponge. No way I am using soap or shampoo, not if that stuff is gonna touch my mouth. But since my mouth is tasting like dirt, I know I will need to wash my mouth anyway. I try using soap, it seems that for some reason I can hold it in my hooves, it would have been nice to know that before. Despite all the awkwardness of being in a strange pony body, I finally manage to clean myself. Next I close the water faucets and thankfully find some kind of mouthwash. And then use my newfound ability to have things stick to my hooves to finally get rid of the awful taste in my mouth. After that, I dry myself using several towels and exit the bathroom. Then I find that I am in another fancy princess room, seeing the night, moon and stars decoration theme with a few shades of blue, I can guess it must be Princess Luna room. Yes, It seems I am her pet all right, dammit. No, just no. Twilight Sparkle, stop thinking like that! I am not her pet, I am her guest. She is a princess, even if she and her sister want to keep me a secret, she has no reason to let me in her room. From what I read about royalty she must have at least a few servants that she can trust to keep their mouth shut. It would be easy for Luna and Celestia to just keep me locked in a tower or something. Instead I got to drink tea with the two rulers of this country, they were somewhat polite with me, explained me things and Celestia said they will try to make my stay comfortable. Still, I can't help but think those darn words that evil voice said: "Lets see if you think that after a few days in a golden cage." There isn't really a reason to keep me locked up all the time, they could simply just dye my coat and mane in other colors. I saw some of the servants wearing clothes, I could wear a dress to cover my flanks, solving my “lack of cutie mark” problem. Sure they don't trust me, but going out with some guards that will be keeping an eye on me is better than not going out at all. I mean, I didn't see any guards around me, just servants, but every princess has at least a few royal guards, right? I look around the room, looking for something to distract me, then I find a book about half my size. The cover is a deep maroon with golden letters sketched across the upper-half of the front cover, which read "Unicorn magic for beginners." I see where this is going; I might be new to this world, and I may be freaked out and scared, but I am not stupid. Should I play their game? I don't really believe in magic, I would be way more likely to believe their so called “magic” is advanced technology that fakes it. Still, almost every source of fiction I know says that you need to believe in magic to make it work. Lets try to rationalize this; I don't believe in magic, but I think that mental powers are theoretically possible. In order for a rational mind, like mine, to learn to move objects and creatures like Luna did to me, I could think of it as a form of telekinesis. Telekinesis is the ability to move things or otherwise affect the property of things with the power of your mind. With that in mind (lame pun), I sit over the oversized bed and open the book, starting to read it. Is only about ten minutes ‘til dusk, Luna opens the door of her room as quietly as possible and peeks inside. She finds the pony, that she has to remind herself is NOT Twilight Sparkle, asleep while holding a book, it looks adorable. The same book she left in her room when Twi... Tara, when Tara was taking a bath. Tara didn't hear her due to Luna's bathroom and bedroom being soundproofed, something logical if one considered that Luna was usually asleep during daytime. But that didn't mean her sister would stop teasing her for being asleep during the changeling invasion in the near future; Luna is planning her revenge for that, it involves; one cake, a camera, a rubber chicken, and frosting… lots and lots of frosting. Anyway, now that Tara is asleep, she gently picks her up and deposits her in the royal guest’s bedroom. Leaving her with only one minute to raise the moon, she flies outside and uses her powerful, unicorn magic to lift the moon, replacing the once-glorious sun that her sister, Celestia, has lowered; the magnificent sight of the Princess of the Night raising the moon while airborne left the few ponies who witnessed this from the streets of Canterlot wide-eyed with amazement, never before have the princesses ever attempt such a feat during their lifetime. Or at least, no pony that still lives has seen it. Both Princess used to show off a little when they where more than a thousand years younger. Author's Note Thanks to Chewy Card and MarkKB andThe J.A.M. for beta reading this chapter.
03 Teacher's pet"Hi, lovely fans! Oh, and hi to those who hate me, how are you doing? Actually, scratch that, I don't really care!" Discord waved his lion paw in front of the camera. He was floating over a desert-like area with odd chaotic structures. "For those here who haven't got the pleasure to meet me yet, my name is Discord. I am what you could call a Trickster figure. Now, I am sorry to disappoint a lot of you, but if you think that I am responsible for Princess Twilight Sparkle being stuck in the human world, think again." Discord then snapped his right claw and the human Rainbow Dash, clothed with just underwear and a nightgown, appeared floating in front of him. "Uh? Who are you? Where am I?" Rainbow Dash said confused... was she dreaming? Who was this strange Chimera in front of her? "My name is Discord, and I've got a message for Princess Twilight Sparkle." Discord snapped his claws again and changed the human Rainbow Dash into her pony counterpart. The only difference was that since the former human Rainbow Dash had never done the Sonic Rainboom, she didn't have a cutie mark. "Uh? What the hell?" Dash looked herself over, a bit self conscious of being naked, and tried to cover herself the best she could. And then she finally noticed that she was blue... and that she had hooves instead of hands. "What did you do to me?" "Oh no, we aren't doing the 'I just got turned into a pony' routine, bye bye." Discord snapped his claws a third time and Rainbow Dash was gone. "Now, where was I? Ah yes, I did not make the so-called Princess Of Friendship get stuck in the wrong side of the mirror. However, that doesn't mean I can't have some fun with that, can I?" Discord then sat down in a floating throne, got some popcorn out of nowhere and started eating it. "And that's all for today folks, don't worry, you will get more of me soon, even if you don't want to!" Discord snapped the tip of his tail like it was a hand and everything faded to black. My sister raises the sun, while I make the moon go down. This is usually the time I talk to my sister for a while, then go back to sleep, but not this time. This time I sent an apology using my mind, and headed to Tara's room. It’s been over a thousand years, so not many ponies know this, but I don't just control the moon, I am the mare of the night. Besides the moon, the stars obey my command and I am also able to travel the land of dreams. What I saw in Tara's dream troubles me greatly. So much anger and sadness–she is alone and she knows it. I was right: she and I, we are very much alike, even if the circumstances are different. My sister cannot connect with this other Twilight Sparkle–it reminds her too much of, as she calls it, her faithful student. I never was close to the Princess of Magic, so I even if I might get momentarily confused, I can see Tara as her own pony. I entered the room, without making a noise–silence is, after all, one of the abilities of the creatures of my domain. Then I took off my royal regalia, and lay in the bed next to her, nuzzling the scared mare. She seemed to relax and I smiled. Oh, this is gonna be so awkward when she wakes up! What will she think, finding herself sharing a bed with one of the two rulers of Equestria? Then I remembered something important, and cast a spell on Tara. I woke up felling strangely warm and comfortable; at first I thought it was because of my coat and mane, but then I noticed a big blue creature sleeping next to me. Is this... Princess Luna? In my mind I upgraded my category from princess' pet to princess' lover; my face almost gagging at the idea of making love to a bucking horse. I then noticed how my language seems to keep changing. Is this part of my transformation into a unicorn? "This is quite--" My mind blocked the voice of the evil seductress, and my stomach grumbled. I guess I now eat like a horse. (Yes, lame pun, sorry.) I jumped out of bed easily, and then opened the door with my mouth. Stupid metal taste. I hope to learn telekinesis soon. Having to use my mouth like this is degrading. I peeked outside and noticed a pair of pegasus guards, each with a white coat and golden armor. Strange, I didn't see any guards the other day. "Ah miss..." The guard who talked to me seems strangely confused at first, but then he smiled. "Miss Tara, would you like to have breakfast in your room?" Without really thinking about it I answered, "No, I would prefer to go to the royal dining room instead. And please, do not let anypony else enter my room until Princess Luna says is okay to do so." "Very well, please follow me," the guard said, and I followed him. What? What is going on? I felt my body moving on its own. Is this magic? I mentally cursed Luna, blaming her for this. The guards did not react in any way about me looking like their famous lost princess; I guess this must be also part of the spell. So, I am the princess' lover and puppet, how amusing! And by amusing I meant I would be screaming in frustration and try to run away if my hooves weren't moving on their own. Breakfast was, despite the fact I was being used like a living puppet, very good. After breakfast, my hooves literally took me back to my room. And once I closed the door I was free to move and act on my own. Since trying to attack Luna would be quite stupid, I instead cursed out loud. I swore like a sailor both in human insults and pony ones. After fifteen minutes of this, I finally relaxed and noticed that Princess Luna was not only still sleeping, she seemed to have some kind of dark blue aura over her. "Oh, sure, magical protection, huh?" I said. My competitive streak forced me to find a way to magically get back to the bigger mare, even if I logically knew that, even if I was their infamous princess of magic, the idea was really bad. I then trotted back to the book I had started reading the other day, putting it over a desk. I really missed my hands–sticky or not, hooves are not as good as having fingers. "ARG, STUPID PONIES, STUPID MAGIC, STUPID HORN!" I yelled, frustrated, and kicked the table away. I have read that stupid book at least five times, but it seems that for some reason my magic doesn't work at all. My dumb horn doesn't even glow when I try to use magic. Heck, I said "I believe in magic, I can do this," a hundred times, I even believed it, and nothing happened. "You are taking this quite well," Luna said. She sounded amused; when did she wake up? Then I looked at the window and I noticed that it was the afternoon. Just how long have I been with that book? "Why can't I do magic, at all? My horn doesn't even glow!" I stared at the mirror in my room, frustrated. "Did you try to think of yourself as a unicorn?" Luna asked as if that was the evident answer. "Of course not, I am not really a unicorn, I am a human!" "And there lies the problem. You might have read the book, you may have tried the instructions, you may have even convinced yourself that magic exists, but since you are in denial about what you are, the access to your magic is blocked." "No, it can't be that, no matter what I try nothing at all happens. I must just be magicless, that's all." "So, you prefer to not use magic at all than admit to yourself that you are a unicorn." "You know what? Fine, I am a stupid unicorn!" I yelled in frustration. And then I noticed that I was... floating? Of course, just when I noticed that, my magic decided to fail and I fell down hard on the ground. "Ouch!" "Good work, dear student. My, even newborn unicorn foals have more control over their magic than you!" "What... I am your student now? And in case you forgot, I wasn't born a unicorn." I guess I should be honored or something that she was taking time to teach me magic, but... I am not even supposed to be here in the first place! Or be a unicorn, and their Twilight Sparkle is stealing my life! "True, but do you see anypony else teaching you about magic?" "Good point! Wait..." I finally remembered something important. "WHY THE HAY DID YOU PUT THAT CONTROL SPELL OVER ME DURING THE MORNING?" "It was not just a control spell, it also made anypony that saw you forget the fact that you are a wingless Twilight Sparkle that also lacks her cutie mark." Princess Luna seemed quite amused. "You honesty didn't think you would be free to do anything you want around here, did you?" "But, but... YOU USED MIND CONTROL ON ME!" "Would you have been able to deal with the mistrust and rumors? Oh look at that silly mare, who she thinks she is fooling? If she’s gonna copy Twilight Sparkle, she should at least have remembered the cutie mark!" "I... why I am even trying to argue with you? You hold all the cards." I looked down, realizing how stupid I was. I had just yelled at one of the two rulers of this country. "Sorry." "Uh, what?" Did the princess of the Night, just... apologize to me, just like that? "I am sorry; what I did to you was very nasty. But I tend to sleep during the day. In fact I would be sleeping right now if it wasn't because I have taken the responsibility to instruct you. I promise to not do it again." "Let me guess, you won't do it again because the spell is still on me and it activates as soon as I leave this room, right?" I covered my mouth with my hoof, what the hay? "Correct! Oh, teaching you is gonna be so much fun!" I groaned, then sat sit down on the ground. I wanted to say, "Let me guess, you are the weird sister, aren't you?" but instead just looked at her with hate in my eyes. Luna picked me with her magic, laid me on the bed and started to tickle me with her wings. I tried to resist but it seemed that this body was kind of ticklish. "Hey, hey, stop it!" I said laughing. The princess smiled and stopped the ticking. "Are you felling better now, Tara?" "Yes, is this normal around ponies or... you are the strange sister?" "I have lived a long time, so it is hard to keep with the current social norms. However, many ponies would think that it is bad that I have such familiarity with you. But since you are basically stuck inside the castle and you are a secret, I am trying to be your friend." "Friend?" I asked incredulously. "Friends don't put mind controlling spells on each other." "Again, I apologize. But if you let me, I would gladly be your friend and your mentor." "Oh, the mind controlling princess wants to be your friend? Good for you." Since I didn't want Luna to think I was crazy, I didn't dare respond, but I tried my best to block evil Tara. Now, that’s a lame nickname, Tara means Star in some languages so... evil Star? Dark Star? Shadow Star? I like Shadow Star. "Shadow Star is a nice name." 'Ah, just shut up!' "Tara, are you okay? Tara? Equestria to Tara? Hello?" "Uh, what?" I asked, looking confused "You kind of spaced out." "Ah right, just... I guess I am bored? I was inside the castle all day, can't you just put me on a spell to make me look different or something?" "No, you would try to run away." "You could come with me, disguised as well. We could, uh... what do ponies do for fun?" "Tara, trust is something you must earn, this is just your third day here." "Oh, please. I can't use magic at all, and you could just subdue me if I tried anything. Besides, hanging out is what friends do, right?" I stared into the princess' eyes, pouting and looking at her with sadness in my face. "Okay, maybe tomorrow. Now, since it has been so many hours, you are probably hungry again." I tried to protest that I was not hungry again, but then my stomach grumbled. Stupid pony metabolism! Author's Note The idea of of writing the Spin-off "The Wrong Side Of The Mirror" was canceled due to having to work on "ECMC: The Adventures of the Earth Cutie Mark Crusaders" project. So I will just add a bit of what Discord and Princess Twilight are doing sometimes. Thanks to MarkKB and The J.A.M. for beta reading this chapter.
04 Consequences"You did WHAT?" Celestia asked incredulously; the fact that somepony who usually remained calm and cool headed had just raised her tone showed just how angry she was. "I... where did I do wrong?" Luna asked confused, "I mean, you have manipulated Princess Twilight before and..." "Manipulated is the key word. What you did to young Tara was mind control. Oh, Luna, what I am going to do with you?" "But I said I was sorry!" Luna protested, her ears lowering; she had thought she was doing such a great job! "Saying 'sorry' is not enough, I want you to give her a real apology. I also want you to actually explain things to her in detail. She needs to know why she needs to stay a secret besides the short summary we gave her before. Also, I need to think what will be your punishment..." "Punishment? But, but... she is not even a real pony! She is not one of our subjects!" Luna protested again, she even seemed slightly offended. "That might be true, but she is also stuck here against her will, and she is not our enemy – , but she will be if we don't fix the damage you have already done. I know it is hard for you to understand, – things where different before your exile, ponies didn't get along well with other races. But even back then what you did would be considered a criminal act!" "But I am the Princess of the Night, one of the two rulers of Equestria. What about our divine right?" "That's how King Sombra thought, you know, that all he did was right and just because he was a king." "It's not the same!" Luna protested "King Sombra was...” " A master manipulator, a selfish bastard that only cared about himself... so much like Nightma-” Celestia stopped herself from talking, that was still a touchy subject for both of them. However by her sister expresion it seemed like it had helped to get the point across. "Oh, horsefeathers... I... I really messed up, didn't I?" "Yes you did. But it was also my fault, I am still hurt, so I'll let you deal with our problem without thinking that you might not know what was the best to do." Luna stood up, "Well, then, I guess I should go to apologize, shouldn't I?" "Not so fast! You are still not getting out of your punishment my little sister." "Oh, horsefeathers." Tara walked around her neighborhood. Everything was dull and in monochromatic shades from black to white, like in one of those old movies. Or when they try to show the past in a TV show and just don't film in color. At least in the dream, she was human; the bad thing was that she was naked, she always hated dreams where she was naked for some reason. "Hello Dusk Star," said a familiar figure in front of her. It was a statue of her pony form, only it looked tall and had big bat-like wings. Like everything else in the dream, it was in grayscale. "Evil Tara? Or should I say, Shadow Star?" Tara asked, unafraid of the being talking in front of her and ignoring the new name her so-called evil counterpart had for her. "As I said before, 'Shadow Star' sounds nice." "What do you want?" Tara asked, annoyed. As if she didn’t know! "Revenge is a dish best served cold. I realized that I haven't been very helpful. If we want to make those ponies pay, we must work together." "No, just no! And in case you did not see yourself, you are a pony too." "Not by choice! You can't say you are happy with what happened to you. Losing your family, the few friends you had, only to end as a useless blank flank unicorn and a prisoner! While that damn princess fake steals your life!" "Look, no matter how powerful you think you are, try to think things straight: there are two princess who control the sun and the moon, while I can't even use the most basic of magic spells. Any plan of revenge you have is doomed to fail, and that's not counting that you won't have to deal with just Sunbutt and Moonbutt, but also with others. If this is a land of might, magic, monsters and colorful ponies, there must be heroes too." "That's why we must work together! Give in to your rage and hate, and we will have-" The statue was interrupted by Tara's jumping at it and kicking the statue. The statue started to shatter, while Tara screamed since her leg hurt like hell. "No means no, thank you very much!" Tara said after holding back her cries of pain. Then, she noticed the dream had changed and she was in her pony form, she lost her balance and felt down to all fours. her left back leg now the one hurting. This time, everything was in color, but it was like a mix of Equestria's cartoon colors and Earth's more realistic colors. "Uh, now what?" Tara looked around her neighborhood once more, then felt a soft warm wave over her injured leg, and the pain was gone. "Uh, anypony is here?" Then she heard a voice singing. It sounded like herself when she was younger, about five or six years old. Colts and fillies come out to play, The moon does shine as bright as day; Come with a hoop, and come with a call, Come with a good will or not at all. Loose your supper, and loose your sleep, Come to your playfellows in the street; Up the ladder and down the wall, Please be very careful to not fall. But when sleep comes, what will you do? Go trotting back home and say thank you.* When the singing ended, she felt something hugging her from behind. Tara turned around and saw a smaller and younger version of her pony form; it looked really adorable and cute. "Hey, wanna play?" the filly asked. Tara had to apply all her control to not hug her; she was supposed to be over cute childish things, dammit! "Yeah, sure." Tara and the young her played kicking a ball around for what it seemed like hours. Tara woke up feeling calm and relaxed. Then the blank flank unicorn took another bath; after she was done she found a table with breakfast ready for her in the bedroom. The tea was still warm. Must be because of magic! Duh, of course it’s magic, what did I expect? An electrical teapot? But then, they do seem to have electricity, or are the lamps magical? They do look like electric lamps. After breakfast, Tara didn't bother to try leaving the room, fearing the mind controlling spell. Instead, she headed to the study desk and found a big book that wasn't there yesterday. "‘Twilight Sparkle’s friendship reports?’ This must be a joke, right?" Finding a note from Luna telling her to read the book, she frowned but proceeded to do so, after a few pages she frowned even more, accidentally making a scrunchy face. This... these Friendship reports, surely this must have been used when Princess Twilight Sparkle was like five, ten years old, right? Yet the book itself said that the reports were from last year. But it couldn't be that just last year she was still writing these things – even if the Equestrian year did not last the same as an Earth year, it was still ridiculous! 'Mental note: Find out how much a year lasts around here.' And yet, here she was, reading a book that held a copy of every so called Friendship report ever written by Twilight Sparkle, right up until the day she had to face a creature called Discord (basically, an evil trickster and chaotic figure). It was very, very hard to accept, but it seemed that yes, friendship was magic in Equestria. Both Nightmare Moon and this being named Discord where defeated by said friendship magic. Elements of Harmony uh? What did that mean for her? She had no weapons. The only weapon she knew that could take out Sunbutt and Moonbutt was the Elements Of Harmony; she couldn't use it because in the land of Equestria she had no... She had no friends or family. That hurt, hurt more than anything else. Hurt more than when her dog Spike had died, hurt more than the day grandma went to sleep and never woke up again. And with a twisted version of herself who was constantly tempting her, trying to turn her evil. What did she have to stop herself of going to the deep end? Hope, she had hope. She remembered that young playful version of herself in her dream, whom she supposed was her inner child. It was proof that not all was lost, that, no matter what, she still had goodness in her heart, that there was a part of her that... A part of her that wanted to believe. A part of her that wanted to learn magic and live in a land of wonders. But... She was no child, yet she was not adult, she was somewhat in the middle. The child Tara would just have accepted all of this with a smile, hoping, no, KNOWING that no matter that everything would turn well in the end, because the good guys always win. An adult would tell you those were just childish fantasies, that real life was cruel and bitter, that the good guys didn't always win. That there was war, and poverty, and sickness; that those that could help would not, simply because it was not their problem. But she wasn't an adult, just like she wasn't a child. "Tara of Earth, may I come in?" That was the voice of Princess Luna. What was with the "Of Earth" title? "Yes." Tara stopped paying attention to the book, and looked at the door. To her surprise, Princess Luna entered without wearing anything, no jewels, crown or royal regalia of any sort. "Princess? Why aren't you... ya know?" Tara could not help but to imagine how the situation like this would play if they where both human and blushed. "Due to having abused my authority, I been stripped down of my royal rank and title, yet not of my duties. Until the time my sister deems me fit to have it restored. I am no longer a princess, I am just Luna." "WHAT? Why would your sister do that to you?" "Because I controlled your mind, and because I had claimed I would help you and then abused that trust. And she was right, what I did to you... it was horrible. I had not realized how wrong what I did was, that just saying that I was sorry was not enough." Then the demoted princess bowed to Tara. "Tara of Earth, I humbly ask for forgiveness for my traitorous act, and I hope that you have it in your heart to forgive me." "Stand up." Luna did so, and Tara was reminded once again how small she was compared to the horse-sized princess. "Forgiveness should not just be given, it should be earned. It you want me to forgive you for real, from it to come from my heart, then do what you said you would do. Be a friend, a real friend and a mentor, help me understand this crazy world I am stuck on. In Equestria, I have no pony I can trust, but I would like for you to become that pony I can." "Those conditions are acceptable. Tara of Earth." "Just call me Tara, if you are just Luna at least for a while, there is no reason for me to have a title." Then, surprising even herself, the blank flank unicorn hugged the bigger pony. Friendship is complicated. With Gilda I had to accept that when she was rude it didn't really meant much, it was just the way she was. With this crazy pony, who knows? *Colts and fillies come out to play, old nursery rhyme from Equestria, unknown origin. Author's Note I mucked up the tense in these last two chapters, I will try to have it fixed for the FF.net version. Thanks to MarkKB and The J.A.M. for beta reading this chapter.
05 RealizationThe girl woke up with a headache; it was the first time ever she had a headache after drinking and she hated it. Oh my god, how I hate hangovers! Why the hell did I have to drink? I am not even of legal age! Maybe it was because I was tired of being called "Little Miss Bookworm" and of being teased for always studying and having no fun. No, that's not it, to be honest, I just needed a break. After all, the girl had to study for two weeks for the exams she had last week, and then the current week she didn't have any exam, yet she was still studying. Her name was Twilight Sparkle, she was a teenager, and she felt like crap. She remembered a time when studying was not a chore, when she loved books, reading and learning new things; that was until she found out that getting a scholarship was the only way she could afford to go to a University. To make things worse, her parents told her that they were moving to a city named Canterlot, and the only friend she had made gave her a surprise goodbye party, then guilt-tripped here into drinking. 'Dammit Gilda! This is all your fault!' So there she was, on a Sunday morning, waking up with her head hurting, everything looked like a blur and... 'Damn, what a mess! I must have bounced all around the room before going into bed. I don't look forward to fix this up, thankfully I still have two days until we move out. Heck, I did not even start packing, what's wrong with me?' Twilight Sparkle groggily got out of bed. She had to crawl instead of walking, and of course felt awful. She looked around once more and decided to head to her big decorated mirror that was awesome when she was eight but now looked too girly for her current tastes. 'Wait... a decorated mirror? Didn't I get rid of that ages ago?' Twilight looked at the mirror, and despite her vision being blurry, she saw a purple unicorn in the mirror instead of her reflection. 'Am I dreaming? No, it hurts too much to be a dream, but I might be hallucinating, after all seeing pink elephants is not that different from seeing purple unicorns, right?' 'Why is this familiar?' The girl gives the pony a strange look of confusion and the pony did the same. Twilight Sparkle stood up with great difficulty, having to concentrate to not throw up, and the pony stood up on her two hind legs, 'I know real ponies can't do that, but why do I even care? I am just hallucinating.' Twilight Sparkle, the teenage human girl, raised her hand in front of the mirror, and the unicorn mimicked the action raising her hoof. While is it’s not common, maybe Twilight was one of those people whose head becomes really messed up when they drink a lot. "Wait... why does all this seem so familiar?" 'God! My voice, it sounds like scratching nails, I am never, ever drinking again this much!' She turned around the room, expecting to see someone else, or for someone to enter the room, but she was alone. Twilight Sparkle then look back at the mirror, and she saw herself, not the unicorn. Then she lost her balance and landed on her hands. Only that when she looked, they are not hands, but purple hooves. She woke up screaming. 'Stupid nightmare, I have been here for three weeks, brain, stop torturing me already!' Tara grumbled. She took a quick shower after waking up from her nightmare, then ordered the guard at the door to have breakfast brought in. Lately, they had allowed her to wander the castle, but not before Celestia or Luna cast an illusion spell on her. The guards, after giving an oath to not tell about Tara, were the only ones allowed to see her without the illusion. Once breakfast was over, she felt slightly better. Then Luna went to see her, as rare as it was for the moon princess to be awake so early, and had a strange idea. "You want us to go to trot outside?" Tara asked surprised, so far she had been restricted to be inside the castle, so this came as a surprise. "Yes. I can cast illusions to hide our real looks from everypony else, it's a more complicated variant of what we use for you inside the castle. You might not be an Earth pony, but exercise is still a must if you want to stay healthy." "That sounds good." Tara did not try any sarcastic comments, not did she ask what would happen if she tried to run away; she was quite aware they would be watched, and even if they were not, princess Luna outclassed her at everything, being a bigger and more powerful pony with the abilities of all the three pony races. Still, while a bit awkward, Luna had really tried to become her friend these last few days. Trotting was not exactly running, nor walking, it was somewhere in the middle. Tara had not truly realized how much she missed fresh air and the feeling of the sun over her face. For a while, she forgot her worries and just enjoyed being outside since it was such a beautiful day. And when Luna said "outside", she actually meant a forest a few miles outside Canterlot, it made Tara wonder why they even needed the illusion at all, as they were the only ponies there. Not that it would tempt Tara to escape, as an adult mare with no cutie mark and looking like Princess Twilight Sparkle once the illusion faded away, where would she go? "This is a beautiful place." Tara said and sat down; she was tired, even if she had only be trotting for about ten minutes, she had not realized her pony body was that out of shape. But then, it's not as if she was a sports star back home. "Yes, yes it is. It looks even more beautiful at night, but I understand most ponies prefer sunlight," the blue pony said in a sad tone and sat next to the unicorn. Unlike Tara, she did not seem winded at all. "Oh, I do love the night sky, it's just... that its beauty is different from the day," Tara said and nuzzled Luna. "What the hay are you doing? She is the enemy." 'No she is not. She is not the pony responsible for me being here. She is not Princess Twilight Sparkle, she is just a sad and lonely mare that made a few mistakes and is trying her best to fix that. Friendship is a two road street.' "Why are you trying to be kind? She mind controlled you!" 'And what would I win if I was rude? Would that improve my situation? Would lashing out at one of the two rulers of the country get me back home?' As usual, the dark voice responded with silence when she had no clue what to say. "Thank you, Tara of Earth. I know things have changed and ponies nowadays appreciate the night too but... it still hurts." "Okay, you know what? My name is not Tara, it's Twilight Sparkle. I only went by Tara since you guys have a Princess Twilight Sparkle. But is been almost a month and I am sick of being called Tara, please call me Twilight, make it Twilight Twinkle or something so it's less confusing, but I miss hearing my own name." The huge princess surprised Twilight Sparkle by giving her a hug. "Oh, you are letting me give you a nickname? That's wonderful, Twilight, according to a book I read that means we are getting closer." "Yes, I guess we are." Twilight does not mention that she once read a book about making friends too, but it did not work well. Well, she used to have a lot of friends when she was little, then they discovered she was smart and everything went downhill from there. "Well, we'd better eat the food, before the ants get it or something." The human-turned-unicorn said as she felt bad thinking about how much Princess Twilight Sparkle had what she wanted. "Oh, yes, of course." For starters, she was an immortal alicorn princess, with magic! Second, she had at least five friends compared to a single friend that she had. Why the hay did she have to ask Luna about their Twilight Sparkle? She would be happier being ignorant, hating the stupid princess for stealing her life, and not thinking about how much it must suck for the other Twilight. "How much it must suck for her? She stole your life! You did not make her leave her friends and world looking for a stupid magic crown!" 'You know what? I still have more than two years left here, so buck you! Sure I miss my family and my dog, but things could be way worse!' "Twilight, are you well? You look angry for some reason," Luna asked and offered the unicorn a sandwich, Twilight Sparkle took it with her own magic and ate it, then realized what she had just done. "Eh... let's say that I remembered that... uh... Princess Twilight must not be happy being stuck in my world." She had just used telekinesis or levitation, the most basic of unicorn magic, without having to concentrate hard or messing it up. For some reason, Twilight Sparkle was not as happy about it as she should be about that, considering how she still had trouble with magic. "That's quite noble of you. Tell me, Twilight, since your world has no magic, what were your studies about?" "Science, math, biology, a lot of things actually, I was going to what we call High school so I had several subjects to study. Once I graduated from that, I would go to a University to specialize in... something. I was thinking robots, robots are like golems, only we use science, not magic." "Oh, that sounds delightful, do they use robots a lot back in your world?" "Yes, most of them are industrial robots, machines that do work like assembling... fridges and stuff like that inside a factory, barely needing any human supervision." Thankfully there were fridges in Equestria, she was not looking forward to explain things like cars and planes to a princess of a medieval-like magical kingdom that despite that still had things like electricity-powered home appliances and hydroelectric dams. "But does that not leave a lot of po... humans without a job?" Luna asked, curious "Yes, but don't you guys do the same when you use magic-powered machines to replace hoof work?" She had read a friendship report about that, then read the official report with a more detailed explanation somepony had added to it. "Yes, I guess we do. Equestria has changed a lot since before my banishment, and there are many things I am still getting used to." Luna then had a wicked smile. "Say, would you like to fly with me?" "Uh, you know that unlike the other Twilight Sparkle, I am just a unicorn, right?" "Oh, but I can use magic to give you wings. Even better, the spell includes basic knowledge on how to use them!" Princess Luna said, and stood up. "So what do you say, Twilight Twinkle, want to soar through the sky?" 'I get to fly? I GET TO FLY! THIS IS AWESOME!' But outwardly she said "Yes, I would like that." Author's Note This story is getting harder and harder to write, sorry for taking so long -_- Thanks to The J.A.M. for beta reading this chapter.
Bonus Chapter: Equestrian SunsetEquestria's date: One day after Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom. She awoke slowly; she felt really comfortable and didn't want to leave the feeling of warmness. As her eyes opened and closed while she tried to stay in bed a moment longer, she noticed it seemed to be the sunset already, wait... the sunset? How long had she been asleep? Panic fully awoke her, but when she tried to stand up, she tripped and fell down. "Ouch!" She looked around and noticed that she was in a forest clearing, and that she had been covered by... pelts? What the heck? Wait a minute! The ground looked much closer that it should be. "Calm, down Sunset Shimmer, this is probably just a dream." Yeah right, only that one could not feel pain in dreams. With a bit of fear, the girl looked herself over, and almost had a panic attack when she noticed that she seemed to be covered in yellow fur and that her hands were gone. Even worse, she now had a horse tail and when she tried to stand up again she ended falling down on four hooves. "Calm down, Sunset, it's not the time for a panic attack, sure, you appear to have become some kind of small, colorful equine, but at least your hair color, or should it be mane color, appears to be the same." "Oh, you are finally awake," said a voice behind her, the small equine turned around and saw... 'Whoa, that is a big dog!' Only it seemed like it had hands and was standing upright, and looked like a husky, one of those dog breeds that looked like wolves. She finally noticed that the air was cold, despite being covered in a yellow coat of fur. That explained why she had been so lazy about leaving the warm covers. "You are a talking dog," Sunset blurted out. "I am a diamond dog, what's your name pony?" he asked, while it didn't seem to be armed, those animal pelts had to have come from somewhere, and he was a big canine with probably sharp teeth while she was a small equine. Better be polite, that was the way life worked, the big eat the small, the strong boss around the weak, she had once tried to become strong herself, but had only ended up in a beat down. "Sunset Shimmer," she said, not noticing that her equine ears went down. "Thanks for... sheltering me?" "You owe me one now, Gruff saved pretty pony, now pony will carry Gruff things, yes?" the so-called Diamond dog point to a cart with a harness. This... this was what her life had been reduced to? From being bullied in the orphanage, to being beaten up, to waking up as some kind of pony only to be a talking dog beast of burden? 'Calm down Sunset, I need information, and he has not hurt me yet', the new pony thought "Okay." To think that just a few months ago, she would have tried to run away in panic in a situation like this, and probably get herself eaten. But now she knew better, after all, if she was some kind of slave, she would have been chained, right? Gruff packed the pelts and other stuff in the cart, then put the harness on her body. And then he picked up a spear he had hidden behind a big rock, maybe because he thought that having a weapon on him would have made him scarier? "Now you follow Gruff, yes?" The dog started to walk away, expecting her to follow, and Sunset Shimmer did just that. She was surprised that the dog was not riding in the cart himself, but then, she was small, and maybe with the dog in it would be too much weight for her. With the weight of the cart balancing her, the new pony had little trouble walking on four hooves. They walked for several minutes, until he signaled her to stop. They were in front of a river, and they turned and walked along the riverside, probably looking for a bridge or a shallow part where they could cross. "Pony must be wondering, why is Gruff a hunter and not a digger, yes?" Sunset Shimmer was actually wondering how and why she ended up as a talking pony in a strange land, but she silently nodded, it was better not to antagonize the only one out of the two of them that was armed and dangerous. "Gruff is not good at digging, he finds it too boring, Gruff loves the hunt and hates it underground. And griffons respect hunters, they like Gruff pelts! Not like pack." Oh, so she was actually right about the big dog easily being able to kill her, good thing that she had not decided to be rude, protest, or try to run away. "So... what do you mean about you having saved me, what happened?" the mare asked. "Pretty pony fell from the sky, she was not hurt, but would not wake up, Gruff protected Sunset, and now Sunset owns Gruff a favor, yes?" "Okay." 'I fell from the sky?' She would have thought that the dog was crazy, but she woke up being smaller, covered in fur and lacking hands, so why not fall from the sky? It made as much sense as everything else so far. They soon found a part were the river was low enough for them to cross over and did so. 'Just great, now I will smell like a wet horse.' ~~*Sunset's Journal in Equestria, Entry Nº 1*~~ For some reason I woke a week ago as a talking unicorn pony. Had I been five instead of ten years old, I would have been jumping from joy. Or maybe not, I could have cried for my mommy... if I had one. Anyway the point is, I woke up as a strange creature in a strange land, full of monsters, talking animals and a lot of stuff that would make up a decent movie or a book or cartoon on Earth. I was somewhat adopted by a talking dog that looks like a husky who is called Gruff. It was that or the orphanage, and since I seem the one of one the few ponies is a land that’s the territory of Griffons, and if I remember that mythology book right, Griffons eat equines, it was a no-brainer why I decided to stay with the dog. The weather around here is cold, and is only the fall reason; I guess I will need to get a few winter clothes because my new coat only protects so much from the cold. I am thankful the speaking language is English and the books I could get or borrow also seem to be in English, it gives me something to do besides pulling the dog cart and helping him around. Supposedly unicorns can do magic but the few ponies I have seen are earth ponies (who have no horn or wings) or pegasi, so that will have to wait. Is my new fate worse or better than the orphanage? Well, on one hoof (pony expression) I am in a land of meat-eating creatures while myself I am a vegetarian (I found out I could eat eggs and cheese without getting sick), while on the other Gruff protects me from harm and I don't have to deal with bullies or insults. Honestly... I don't know, sometimes I fear I will wake up back in the orphanage, while others I see the reflection of my new look in the mirror and I cry for hours. It's also nice to have someone who cares about you, not like the caretakers in the orphanage, or the supposed friends I had who backstabbed me when it was convenient for them. Oh god, how messed up my life as a human was, if I am starting to think that a land full of monsters that could kill or cripple me is better than the orphanage? Heck, if I had been found and adopted by unicorn ponies instead of a dog I might actually prefer it. After all, what human girl doesn't like unicorns and magic? No, I won't run away and to cry to some strange pony for help, Gruff is nice for his species (they are called Diamond Dogs and they love gems) and I am not stupid enough to land myself in a stranger's hooves and end being sold as a slave of worse. After all, I am alive, I eat everyday, no pony bullies or hurts me, and I can even get books to read, why risk all that and end worse than before? Author's Note This is the Bonus chapter I promised for the story, about whatever happened to the human Sunset Shimmer. Thanks to The J.A.M. for beta reading this chapter.
06 Friends"Hi, lovely fans, I am back! I would ask how are you doing but that's the boring thing to do." Discord waved his lion paw in front of the camera. He was floating over a desert-like area with odd chaotic structures only this time there was an angry looking human Twilight Sparkle tied up to a chair and gagged. "Now you might be wondering, what's that human doing tied to a chair? Isn't she the princess of magic Twilight Sparkle? Oh that would be telling, but I am bored so I am telling!" Discord then floated the human girl, chair and all, and removed her gag. "Got anything to say human girl?" "Why did you turn the human Rainbow Dash into a pony? And why no one but me and her friends seem to care?" "Because is fun! And the fact the human Fluttershy hugs her all the time is quite entertaining to watch." Twilight Sparkle the former alicorn counted to ten mentally then said "Okay, are we in Equestria right now?" "No, we are still in the wrong side of the mirror, like a being of my power wouldn't be able to just visit this 'ponies are humans world' without avoiding losing my powers. Who do you think I am Princess, you?" "So... are you stuck in this world too?" Discord opened his mouth then closed it, looking annoyed. "Yes. But I can use my magic while you can't, well save for that whole using the crown thing Oh wait the crown is useless on this side of the mirror! The look on Sunset Shimmer face when she couldn't use magic with it was priceless!" The fact Sunset Shimmer had break down because of that, and had been taken to a mental institution, it had not been something Princess Twilight Sparkle liked to see. Once the doctors allowed it, she was going to visit the former unicorn and try to make peace with her. At least she had made new friends out of this... but Spike was stuck as a non talking dog and basically acted like a real dog and... yeah it had been a terrible experience. More so by the fact she lost her chance to return home due to not going back using the portal as soon as she could; instead of staying for the dance and dinner. "Oh... sorry. Am I making you cry?" Discord seemed strangely upset about that. Since when did he care if others cry? "I miss my home, I miss Spike being a dragon and smart! I miss my friends and family!" Twilight Sparkle actually started to cry, normally she was stronger than this but... this had just been a disaster. How they would defend Equestria if the Element of magic was missing? "Uh... I could turn Spike back into a baby dragon." Discord offered. "Really? Oh thank you thank you thank you!" "But I want something in exchange." Twilight Sparkle glared at the spirit of disharmony then mentally counted to ten again. "Okay, what do you want?" "The rest of your new friends turned into ponies. Yes even Flash Sentry." "He is not my friend, we are no longer talking." It was because of that... that good meaning idiot she had lost her chance to go back home. "Fine, just your girlfriends then." "Why are you even asking?" Discord could do it if he wanted after all. He mumbled something. "What... you miss pony Fluttershy? And you want to be friendly with the local one? That's it?" "...Yes." "I will ask them. But I don't know if they will agree to it." They probably wouldn't, well maybe Pinkie Pie would agree, that girl was weird. Flying was awesome, to soar the sky, to see everything with an eagle like view, to feel the wind ruffing her coat, and the strange yet pleasant sensation of her feathers and wings magic helping her to fly, this species change spell Luna had used was fantastic. Of course the dark voice had nothing to say, it probably loved flying too. Then after two hours Twilight "Tara" Sparkle rested over a cloud. It was so soft and confortable! Princess Luna landed next to her, smiling. "I am glad I decided to use this spell on you instead of a simpler one. How do you feel Twilight?" "Tired, but good, flying is great. Although being Griffon is strange they do have very good eyesight and I can't wait to eat some fish, if that's acceptable." "That can be arranged for another day, I am afraid we have to go back." Twilight Sparkle looked herself over, as a Griffon not only she didn't have a cutie mark, but her colors had switched to those common in lions and eagles. "Why? I don't look like Princess Twilight Sparkle right now." "First of all, the spell is not permanent. You have less than a hour left, second I have responsibilities to attend to and third, you have to continue your magic lessons." "Ahhh... okay, let's go back then." The flight back to the place they had set their picnic before was pleasant anyway. And once Luna's magic changed her back into a unicorn she felt dizzy for a moment. "Ugh, I changed my mind, let's not do this again for a while." The former human sat down and groaned. "Why did changing back hurt more than when you turned me into a Griffon?" "Probably because the Griffon body I have you was in perfect health while your unicorn body isn't used to exercise." The purple unicorn stared at the princess of the night. "You cheater! You caused all this so I did some exercise!" "Yes. But it was fun wasn't it?" Luna smiled and Twilight smiled back, unable to stay angry because flying had been the best thing she had done since she ended in the wrong side of that damn portal. "Yes, thank you for this. For all of this, you are a great friend." Then following a strange impulse the unicorn jumped and hugged Luna. "You know, I always wanted to have a big brother or big sister figure. Someone to admire, someone to set an example to follow. I...I think you are that pony." Luna then looked at her strangerly "You... you don't have a big brother?" I looked at her confused "Why? Does Princess Twilight Sparkle have one?" That bitch had a caring big brother! Why couldn't I have one too? What's next, did she have a nice and kind babysitter instead of Miss "No fun allowed" like I had? Why I had to mention that to Luna? Why I had to open my heart like that? I am not a little kid anymore dammit! Okay, calm the hay down Twilight, you had a nice day, you got to fly, and you are learning magic. While Princess Twilight is stuck in a world with no magic... while probably pretending to be you. But still no magic, she is missing her real family and friends and she is not a princess there! I could get you back home. Yeah, like I am that stupid oh misterious datk voice, why would you want to go to a world without magic? Surely your world is not completely lacking in magic or the portal wouldn't work. Lalala not listening. Time to study magic now, here I go illumination spell! Uh, just making my horn glow brighter than when just using levitation? Easy. Yes, it was easy, I might actually be good at this! The human Princess Twilight Sparkle blinked, unsure of what she had just heard. "Wait... you all want to become ponies like Rainbow Dash did?" "I... I think it would be... interesting" Fluttershy almost wispered. "And Dashie seems to have so much fun flying I wanna do that too." "I wanna try being a pony." Pinkie Pie said."That would make be more popular on the kids parties I organise." "You said the other Rarity was a unicorn right? Well... I always wanted to be a unicorn." Rarity was blushing for some reason. "I am just doing it because the others are too. And because I want to help Spike." Applejack said sounding unsure. "You do know this isn't gonna be for a few hours right? Discord will leave you four like that until he gets bored, that could be years." "Darling, we talked for hours about this and our answer is yes. Stop trying to stop us from helping Spike." "Fine." Other universe or not, her friends were still crazy and she wouldn't have it another way. Author's Note Yes this story is back. I wanted to get back to Lunar Replacement first but whatever.
