Friendship is Romance?!

by Dragon_Sayer

Rating: everyone
Tags: Romance, Twilight Sparkle, Zecora, Alternate Universe, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 4914

Twilight finds herself in another world. Everyone in that world is the same as her own but now their sexes have switched! Twilight has to find her way out of this world and back into her own, but does she still want to go back to her world?

Twilight finds herself in another world. Everyone in that world is the same as her own but now their sexes have switched! Twilight has to find her way out of this world and back into her own, but does she still want to go back to her world?

[Note: This is taking place sometime before Twilight becomes a princess. It is not a complete crossover. Also, I may change the rating on this depending on which direction the story is going to go (Sorry, I'm bad at descriptions.)

Published 2014-07-04 22:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-12-28 11:05:09 UTC

Chapter 1

‘Oh no! Where in Equestria am I?!’ Twilight though as she was frantically looking around the forest she was now in. ’Okay calm down Twilight,’ she thought trying to calm herself down, ’now try to remember what happened before this all happened.’

*****

Earlier

“Twilight are you sure this spell is safe?” Rainbow Dash questioned.

“Yes, I’m positive it’s safe.” Twilight replied.

“And tell us again why we y’all have to wear our elements for this, Twi?” Applejack said.

“Well, you see according to some old books, that I found in Luna’s personal library, apparently we have just barely scratch the surface of the Elements’ powers.” Responded the purple unicorn. “Being able to unlock their hidden powers means that we will be more prepared in case another disaster happens.” Twilight reminded them while thinking back to the times the Elements saved Equestria and themselves.

“But is it really fine and safe for us to be doing this, darling?” Worried Rarity.

“Yeah, and will it take a long time, because I have a party to get ready for tonight?” Piped in Pinkie.

“I also, have to take care of my animals.” Whispered Fluttershy.

“Yes, yes, yes. I’m sure, I’m sure.” Twilight said becoming a bit annoyed by her friends anxiousness. “Now, everypony get into your positions.”

Everyone, reluctantly, got into their positions. With everything in place and everyone in their places, Twilight walked into the center of the circle (that her friends were making) and started to cast the spell. It was all smooth sailing, but then something started happening. The spell was taking a completely different course than it originally was. Twilight tried in vain to stop the spell or at least drive it in another direction, but to no avail. In an instant Twilight was gone in a burst of light, leaving only her friends confused, scared, and worried about what had happened to their friend.

*****

Present

Twilight shook herself physically and mentally. She knew that staying out here would do her no good. So, cautiously, she started to walk around the forest. Eventually, she realized that she was somewhere in the Everfree forest.

‘If only I could find somewhere that I have been before like near the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.’ Twilight thought. She sighed and kept on walking. She doesn’t know how long she has been walking, since it was night when she arrived and it is still night now. She would check the position of the moon but the forest was too thick. The trees only let a bit of light shine through their leaves, making Twilight light up her horn for her to see. Suddenly, Twilight heard a sound of something walking in the forest. It got louder and louder, and Twilight could tell it was heading in her direction.

“Who’s there?!” She called, just before the being showed itself. To Twilight’s relief it was Zecora. “Thank Celestia it’s you! You wouldn’t believe how happy I am to se-” Twilight said before she was cut off.

“Yes, that is my name,
But I need to explain.
Follow and be quite like a mouse,
I will show you into my house.” Zecora said, and started walking back into the forest.

The slightly confused Twilight, followed Zecora deeper into the forest. It didn’t take long for them to arrive at Zecora’s house, that was decorated in zebra tribe things. Once there, Zecora opened the door for Twilight to come in. Twilight came in and was a little overwhelmed by the smell of all of the potions Zecora had. Zecora got Twilight’s attention to sit down at the table and wait while she got something for them to drink. The zebra gave Twilight a cup of tea that would relax the still confused and nervous unicorn.

“So, what do you need to explain to me Zecora?” Twilight inquired.

“Are you ready?
Explaining, there’ll be plenty.” The zebra inquired back.

Twilight thought for a moment. She needed to know what was going on and why was she here. “Yes, I am ready.” Twilight firmly said.

“Good. Then, let us begin.”

Author's Note

This is my first story that I'm doing by myself.
I do want to say is that Zecora's parts won't be really elaborate. I'll probably fix them at a later point but not right now.

Chapter 2

Zecora took a sip of the tea, cleared her throat, and took another sip. Twilight knew from experience that this meant Zecora would stop talking in her riddles and rhymes.* That made Twilight very uneasy, since the zebra only did this when there was a lot to say, explain, and answer. Zecora put down her cup and looked straight at the purple unicorn.

“I should explain one thing first,” Zecora began, ”I am not the Zecora you know. I am another Zecora from a different world which we both currently are in.”

“But how is that possible?” Twilight questioned. The zebra only held her hoof up to signal that she would get to that part soon.

“If you remember, you were casting a spell and something went wrong with it. The reason why the spell teleported you here was because your counterpart here did the same spell at the exact same time. This caused both of your spells to collide with one another sending each of you to the other’s world.” Zecora explained.

This made sense in a way. The Elements have mysterious powers so, it was definitely a possibility that they could have sent her to this world. But there was something still bugging Twilight. “How come this hasn’t happened before?”

“Well,” Zecora started, “that’s because most of the time the worlds aren’t in sync. They are usually a couple seconds ahead or behind one another, but for some unknown reason they were both in sync during that short amount of time.”

“So, is there any way for me to go back home?” Twilight inquired.

“That even I do not know. Only time will tell. Since, you are going to be staying here for some time I should explain some of the changes in this world from your own. Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, Spike, all of the foes that you have faced, and myself have not changed for the most part, but there is one huge change that has occurred.”

“What would that be?” Twilight asked. She was concerned that her friends were not mentioned in the list of names.

“Everyone else’s genders have been switched, other than the ponies that I named before.” The zebra said.

Twilight was shocked and she was starting to hyperventilate. Her mind was racing to absorb this piece of vital information. Zecora put her hooves on top of Twilight’s to help her calm down. After a while, Twilight calmed down and regulated her breathing. The zebra looked into the unicorn’s eyes to see if she was ready for the zebra to continue. Twilight looked back at Zecora and nodded at her to keep going. Zecora gave the unicorn a small, short smile before continuing.

“You probably are wondering about your friends. They are more or less the same as the ones that you knew from your world, but most of them have different names. Rainbow Dash is Rainbow Blitz, Applejack is still the same, Pinkie Pie is Bubble Berry, Fluttershy is Butterscotch, and Rarity is Elusive. You should be able to get along with them as easily as you do with your friends from your world.” Zecora explained.

“Okay, that sounds simple enough for me… Wait a minute, you want me to actually meet them? Why?” Twilight didn’t really mind meeting them but she thought it would be better for them not to meet.

“Like I said before we do not know how long you are going to be here for. It would be best to make, or should I say remake, some friends here just in case something would happen.”

‘Zecora does have a good point there. If something like Discord would happen again, then she should still be able to use the Elements with her friends’ counterparts.” Twilight thought. “Okay, if you think it a good idea then I will meet with them.” Twilight agreed.

“Good then I shall send a letter to the Princesses and Spike about what has happened.” The zebra said while giving the purple unicorn a small smile. “But let us both retire for the night. I’ll show you where you can sleep for tonight.”

Zecora got up and motioned for Twilight to follow her. Twilight got up and followed her. Zecora stop in front of a curtain and pull it back. Behind the curtain was a bed, that looked more like a lot of pillows put together to form a bed, and a couple blankets. Twilight half walked, half crawled onto the bed, which was surprisingly warm and comfortable. Twilight snuggled into the bed and levitated a blanket onto herself.

“Sorry, I don’t want to impose on you.” Apologized Twilight.

“It is fine, if it’s you. You can impose anytime.” Zecora said while slipping back into her usual language.

“Thank you and good night Zecora.” Twilight yawned, already falling asleep.

“Good night to you, too, Twilight Sparkle.” Zecora smiled and closed the curtains.

‘Tomorrow is going to be really interesting. I hope my friends and my counterpart are okay.” Twilight thought before finally falling into a deep sleep.

Author's Note

*Plus, it would take forever and I don't want to die while only writing the second chapter.

Hope you like this chapter. I might go and revise Zecora's lines in the future or have someone else do it (props for the people that can turn the explanation into the way Zecora speaks).

Chapter 3

Twilight woke up the next day. It was late in the morning from what she could tell. It took her a moment or two to remember where she was and what had happened last night. She got out of the bed and pulled back the curtain. She saw the Zecora was cooking something for them to eat.

“Good morning Twilight Sparkle.” Zecora said.

“Good morning to you, too.” Twilight answered back. She noticed that Zecora was slipping back into her usually speaking patterns, but it would still be a while until it fully came back. “Sooo, umm, any news from those letters that you sent?” Twilight nervously asked.

“The princesses said that it would be best if they met you first before your friends of this world do.” The zebra said with a bit of a chuckle.

“Okay, but is it really okay for me to go there looking like this? Ponies might be confused if they see me since I probably look a lot like my conpart.” Twilight pointed out.

“Do not worry. You will wear this.” Zecora said while holding up a dark gray robe. “Now, must quickly eat. The princess has sent us a carriage to get there. We only have an hour and a half to get there.”

The zebra and the purple unicorn quickly ate their breakfast. Twilight put the robe on, and galloped after Zecora who was already out the door.

***

They made it just in time to see their ride fly into view. After a bit of conversation between Zecora and one of the guards, they walked into the carriage and they guards took off towards Canterlot.

Twilight and Zecora caught their breath after a while. ‘From my calculations we should arrive in Canterlot sometime in the evening.’ Twilight thought.Then, something occurred to Twilight, she never asked that question yet. In hindsight, she should have asked that last night. ‘Oh well,’ Twilight sighed, ‘I might as well ask her now.’

“Hey, Zecora.” Twilight whispered.

“Yes? What is it?” Zecora asked under her breath.

“How do you know about other worlds, like mine?” The unicorn asked.

“My people have always believed there are things beyond this world,

And things that are beyond our grasp, too.”

“So, does that mean you know how to send me back home?”

“No, like I said last night only time will tell. But I will look at some old books in the royal library and look at some that my people have written. If I can not find anything I might ask some of my people for help. Plus, I’m sure the princesses will help with this as well. So do not worry, too much.”

“Okay, and thank you Zecora. You have helped me since I got here even though we don’t actually know each other.”

“Think nothing of it. I know you would have done the same for me.” Zecora said with a smile.

Twilight smiled back at her new friend. She was thankful that Zecora found her before anyone else, but she was still worried. Though the zebra’s words had calmed her down a bit about how to get back home, she was still nervous about meeting this world’s princesses. ‘Well, at least they are still mares like they are in my world.’ Twilight thought.

***

The rest of the ride consisted of Zecora telling Twilight what would happen when they got to Canterlot and not much else. When they landed, they were in the royal garden. Just like Zecora said, the guards then escorted them to Celestia’s personal chambers. The guard said that the princesses will be here soon, said good-bye, and left.

Twilight looked around the room, it was more or less the same since she last saw it. There was only one thing that caught her eye. She walked over to it and looked at it. In the picture was Celestia with a young colt who, other than a couple of differences looked a lot like Twilight, standing beside her. She realized that this was the picture was one that she took with Celestia a long time ago, not too long after she was accepted in the school.

“Hey Zecora, would this be my counterpart?” Twilight asked.

The zebra walked to where Twilight was, and said, “Yes, that is your other self, Dusk Shine.”

“I guess it wouldn’t be too hard to confuse us in the dark, would it?”

“No, it would not.” Zecora said with a chuckle.

“I don’t want to sound, too impatient, but… How long will it be before the princesses get here?” Twilight inquired.

Before Zecora could answer, there was the sound of hooves outside, and the door opened.

Author's Note

Sorry for this taking so long to write. I will try to upload future chapters faster.

Chapter 4

Two alicorns stepped through the door. Twilight was a bit relieved to see that the two princesses in front of her still looked like the same two from back home, but at the same time surprised to see Luna since she should be patrolling the night skies. The door closed behind them. Twilight saw Luna’s horn glow a little. She realized that it was probably a spell that made sure no one was able to get in and/or hear what they are saying. Luna and Celestia went over to where four cushions where on the floor. Celestia and Luna sat on two of them that were close together.

“You may sit as well.” Celestia said.

Zecora went and sat down on one of the other cushions with Twilight sitting on the last one. There was a bit of an awkward silence. Twilight was glad that she still had the robe on. It wouldn’t make a good first time impression on this world’s princesses.

“Zecora, this Dusk Shine’s counterpart?” she asked the zebra.

“Yes, this is Twilight Sparkle.” Zecora confirmed while gesturing to Twilight.

“It is nice to meet you Twilight Sparkle. Why don’t you remove your robe so we can see what you look like.” Celestia said.

Twilight looked over at Zecora. Zecora nodded her head once as a bit of a comforting gesture. Twilight stood up and used her magic to take her robe off.

“Thee really do look like Dusk Shine, Twilight Sparkle, well if he was a mare.” Luna said with a bit of a chuckle.

“I agree with you Luna.” Celestia added also with a bit of a giggle.

Twilight sat back down more than relieved to see that the princesses were about the same as the ones she knows.

“Twilight, why don’t you explain to us what happened and Zecora you add anything if need be.” Celestia said while glancing at the two mares.

Twilight swallowed hard and took a deep breathe. She closed her mind for a moment and started to tell the princesses what happened to her with Zecora also adding or explaining some things here and there. The princesses were listening to them intently and asking questions from time to time. When they had finished Twilight waited to hear what they had to say, she was actually holding her breathe a bit. The princesses looked at each other for a while like they were talking in each others minds, which they might actually be doing. After a while they turned their attention back to Twilight and Zecora.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia said.

“Yes?” Twilight said a bit nervous.

“We have decided that until Zecora or us are able to send you back to your dimension that you will stay in the Ponyville library.” Celestia said in her teacher voice.

“Wouldn’t it be better to stay here hidden away?” Twilight asked a bit confused.

“In a way it would be easier but what if something happened and we needed to use the Elements? It would be easier for you to be near your friends.” Celestia explained.

Twilight understood what she meant, but there was one other problem. “What are we going to tell everypony?” she asked already knowing that her and her counterpart are very similar in appearance and personality from what Zecora told her.

“No pony will know who thee is except for us, Zecora, the other Element bearers, and Spike.” Luna explained further.

Twilight nodded in understanding. Celestia and Luna further explained the plan. Twilight would go to Ponyville with the story that she was Dusk’s cousin from far away, and that she was there to take care of the library while Dusk was away. She would go over there tomorrow and arrive there in the evening. She would first meet Spike so she would have at least comfort of someone before she met the counterparts of her friends, plus she would be living with Spike day in and day out. The day after she would meet her friends in the afternoon. They would already know a little about what’s going on based on a letter that they got the day before.

“And that’s about it.” Luna said.

“Do you understand Twilight?” Celestia added.

“Yes.” she said with a nod to confirm.

“Alright, then let’s all have a good night’s rest. Especially you, Twilight, you do have a big day tomorrow let alone the day after.” Celestia said while stifling a small yawn.

“I will take you to your room since I still need to do my night patrol.” Luna said getting up.

Twilight and Zecora got up, too. All of them said their ‘Goodnights’, and then they left Celestia’s room. Luna motioned for them to follow her. They followed Luna for a bit until they she stopped in front of a door that Twilight recognized. She realized that this was the door to the room that she used to use when she lived in the castle when she younger. The door opened to reveal that room, though somethings moved, was about the same except for there being two beds instead of her old one. Zecora said ‘Goodnight’ to Luna before heading inside of the room. Twilight was about to follow her in but Luna touched her side.

“Wait, Twilight Sparkle. I have something to give to you.” Luna said.

Twilight nodded at her and stood still. Luna’s horn began to grow and she pointed her horn at Twilight’s neck. A silver necklace with a medium small dark blue moon and silver star both being around the same size as each other. Twilight looked at the necklace, she thought it was beautiful. She looked back at Luna slightly confused about the sudden gift.

“This necklace is special. If you ever need someone to talk to or need help with anything, put the moon and the star together and slide them across one another with a bit of extra magic and I will appear. Also, if you don’t know if you’re doing it right you should hear a sound like this.” Luna explained and then made a sound that sounded kind of beautiful even though it was quick.

“Okay, and Luna thank you so much for this.” Twilight said extremely grateful to Luna.

“Thee are welcome, Twilight Sparkle.” Lune said back to Twilight with a nod.

Twilight and Luna said ‘Goodnight” to each other. Twilight watched Luna walk back down the hallway to where tower is located. Twilight smiled and closed the door. She saw that while she and Luna were talking Zecora had already laid down and fallen asleep. She giggled a bit. She got into the other bed.

“Good night Zecora.” she said quietly.

She turned off the light with her magic.She laid down in bed. She began thinking of what could happen tomorrow but she pushed that to the back of her mind. It was best that she didn’t think about it for now. She yawned and she began to slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Author's Note

I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update another chapter. I've been so busy lately. I hopefully will be able to update this story again as well as my other 2 stories. I may start another story that I have had on my mind for a while since I seem to have a case of writer's block that wants to be a pain. I apologize again that it took me so long to make another chapter.

Chapter 5

Twilight woke up the next morning with something smelling delicious. She slowly rose and wiped her eyes, still a bit sleepy. She looked in the direction of the smell and saw Zecora sitting down at a small table eating a breakfast made out of high quality ingredients and what seemed to be where the delicious smell was coming from. The bed creaked as the purple unicorn then got out of bed and walked towards Zecora and the food. Zecora looked in the direction of Twilight after she heard the bed creak.

“Good morning, Twilight Sparkle.” Zecora greeted.

“Good morning to you too, Zecora.” Twilight greeted back as she sat down to eat. She looked at the spread of food and began to eat. After a while Zecora pushed a piece of paper across the small table to Twilight. She looked at the paper and picked it up with her magic. She swallowed the food that was in her mouth and examined the piece of paper that was folded in half.

“That note is from the princess of the sun,

She left it here before her work begun.” the zebra said before she continued to eat.

Twilight nodded and unfolded the piece of paper. She knew that Celestia had written it in a hurried manner, meaning that she was running a bit late when she was writing it. She began to read the note:

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I’m sorry that I can not see you off before you go today, but I assure you that everything will be fine. The letters to your friends have already been sent. Do not worry about them barging in, I have put up a special magic barrier that only you, Spike, Zecora, my sister, and I will not be affected by, though it’s only temporary it will dissolve at a certain time but until that time it will remain in effect. I have also sent a letter to Spike before hand as well, just for good measure. Before I forget, Luna wishes you the best of luck too. I hope you have a pleasant and safe trip to Ponyville.

The best of wishes,
Princess Celestia

Twilight re-read the letter again to make sure that she didn’t miss anything. She was relieved that there wouldn’t be any unexpected surprise by somepony. ‘Especially, this world’s Pinkie Pie. I don’t think I’m quite ready for that yet.’ she thought.

She continued to eat in silence with Zecora. He eyes started to wander around the room. It was almost exactly the same to what her old room was like back in the castle in her world except for the clothes in the closet. Even though she normally didn’t need to wear clothes there were some occasions that she had to wear such things since she was the princess’s student. The only real difference was that instead of old dresses there were tuxes or vests hanging in the same basic designs or colors. Even though Twilight was pretty sure that this wasn’t going to be a dream that she would wake up from that really did it for her. She stared at the closet and its contents for quite a long long time until the sound of Zecora sliding more food her direction broke her concentration. She looked at the food and then at Zecora. She gave her a little ‘thank you’ smile. Zecora returned the smile and went back to eating the rest of the food with Twilight’s help too.

After a while they had finally finished eating.Zecora and Twilight relaxed for a bit after consuming such a big meal early in the morning. Zecora got up and made her way to Twilight’s bookcase reading through the titles of the books. Twilight, on the other hand, used her magic to put the dishes in an orderly fashion, and moved them and the table to another spot in the room. After she was done her eyes wandered around the room again until the landed on a clock. She saw the time and realized that it was definitely later than either of them originally thought.

“Hey, Zecora?” Twilight called. “When are we supposed to leave?”

Zecora gave her the time they’re supposed to leave. Twilight looked back at the clock and realized that they had almost no time.Twilight quickly fixed her hair and put her robe on. Zecora took the hint and started to get ready as well. Soon there was a knock at the door. Zecora calmly went to answer the door, Twilight on the other hand was slightly freaking out and hurriedly put the hood over her head so that the guard that came to get them wouldn’t see her. Zecora motioned for Twilight that it was time to go and the purple unicorn hurried behind them.

They were escorted onto their ride. The guard asked if they were ready. They nodded to the guard, and the guard gave the all clear to the fliers. They quickly took off and were in the sky heading towards Ponyville.

As they were flying, Twilight decided that it would be best to ask Zecora more about the counterparts of her friends of this world a bit more to make sure that they were more or less the same as the ones that she knows.

“Zecora?” Twilight whispered to make sure they would not be heard.

“Hmm?” Zecora responded.

“Can you tell me a little about the friends I/Dusk have in this world?” Twilight asked.

Zecora nodded her head ‘yes’ and began to tell about Twilight’s friends more in depth. As far as she could tell from what Zecora was telling her they were more or less the same as the ones from her world. For a moment Twilight looked past Zecora into the sky and thought, ‘I hope everything goes fine. Oh, what if I screw up and do something to make them hate me?’ Twilight mentally shook herself. ‘Calm down, these are my friends whether it’s this world or my my own. I’m sure things will work themselves out in one way or another.’ Twilight thought trying to keep a positive outlook on this situation. The fear of something going horribly wrong nagged her, but she just pushed that to the back of her mind for now.

She turned her attention back to Zecora who had stopped talking at some point after noticing that Twilight was no longer listening. Twilight gave the zebra an apologetic smile. The zebra smiled back and continued with the talk with Twilight asking questions every now and then. The conversation continued for a long time without the mares noticing that the sun had set and that they were steadily approaching Ponyville where everything could change for better or for worse.

Author's Note

Finally done with this chapter. Sorry if it seems kind of sloppy I originally was going to do this a bit differently but things didn't go in that direction. If you see any mistakes (like spelling or grammar) tell me and I'll fix them. I might be changing the age rating on this at some point for reasons, you'll see why a bit later. Also, please check out my blog post if you haven't (there's only one) it will tell you what's going to happening. If you need something clarified just ask me. Either way, thank you for reading.