Paths of Fateby LordLycaonChaptersArrivalSuspicionReintroductionArrivalShe drifted. She wasn't flying. Her wings were closed. She was drifting aimlessly through some kind of… void, for lack of a better word. But it wasn't a void. There was color. Colors she couldn't define. She felt like she had seen this before somewhere, but she didn't know where, exactly. 'This age of dark light,' a voice said. It was weak, barely audible, but it was there. 'Please… save us from her tyranny. Release us from the shattered light… please…' At that, the voice faded out. She tried to ask what it meant, but her voice wouldn't work. Her mouth wouldn't even open. Everything was quiet. Soon, the indescribable colors faded. Darkness enveloped her. -o- Twilight felt dazed, like she had just been spun around non-stop on that spinning machine that she had once seen at the Wonderbolt Academy. She rubbed her temples as she woke, trying to ease away the light migraine that persisted in her skull. After several seconds of this, she rose on all fours and looked around, taking in her surroundings. She was definitely still in the library, but it was dark. A quick look out a window revealed the reason to be nighttime. Normally, she would just assume that she had fallen asleep reading something, but there were a few holes in that theory now. First off, the last thing she remembered doing was going over her checklist with Spike just after breakfast. She couldn't have just fainted, because she wasn't prone to that, and she would've woken up much earlier in the hospital. What happened? "Spike?" she called out. She waited for her dragon assistant to answer, but nothing came. "Spike! Are you here?" Still no answer. Worried, she hurried up the staircase to the room that they shared, but when she arrived, she found nothing but a messy bed that looked like nopony had slept in it in months, maybe even years. "Hello?" Still no answer. Had Spike gone out? Maybe, but that didn't make a whole lot of sense when she thought about it. If he had, he would've been back before nightfall. Something wasn't right. In fact, she could practically feel that something was off, but she couldn't quite point out why she felt that way. Finding nothing in the library, she headed outside. All of Ponyville felt… empty. There should've at least been nighttime weather patrols in the sky. But there wasn't a single pony to be seen. All the houses were dark. She knocked on several doors, trying to get somepony's attention, but the only response she ever received was silence. 'Where is everypony?' she thought. Ponyville was never this quiet, not even on the slowest nights. "Hello?" she called out, louder than before. "Is anypony here? Hello?" Suddenly, she heard a loud crash come from down the street, making her jump, spreading her wings out involuntarily. She could just make out a few ponies – four in total, three of whom were stallions, but beyond that, she couldn't make out many details – galloping out of a nearby alley, looking like they must've been in a hurry. Despite their obvious rush, she couldn't help but break out into a grin. Finally, she'd found other ponies! "Hey!" she called to them, waving a hoof as she approached. "Hold on a second!" The four ponies stopped at her voice and turned to her. The one mare in the group yelped slightly. "We've been spotted!" she cried out. Twilight's eyes widened at that voice. "Get her!" The three stallions immediately complied, rushing at the young alicorn, tackling her to the ground before she had a chance to react. "Ow, get off!" she shouted at the stallions, who forced her back up to her hooves to face the other mare. Twilight glared at her. "Just who do you think you… are…" She lost her nerve upon seeing who was before her. The other mare's coat was darker than usual, and her mane and tail were flat, with her mane draping over her shoulder a little. Her normally cheer-filled eyes were full of suspicion and anger. Twilight's eyes went wide. "Pinkie Pie?" 'Pinkie' raised an eyebrow at that and studied Twilight extensively. Her face contorted with a look of disbelieving recognition. "You look just like…" She trailed off and shook her head. "Knock her out and bring her with us. I've got questions." Before Twilight even had a chance to ask what was going on, one of the stallions slammed his hoof into the back of her head. Her world went black. -o- She had sensed it immediately. That sort of power did not go unnoticed by her. This land belonged to her for good reason. She had eyes and ears everywhere. Nothing escaped the attention of this land's queen. But somehow, her most infamous prisoner - or an outside accomplice, at the very least - had done something thought to be impossible. This was unacceptable. Proper punishment had to be placed, swiftly and efficiently, but not lethally. Not without a crowd, at least. She made her way to her palace's dungeon, black-armored guards saluting her as she passed. A few joined and followed her. The prisoner was dangerous, even in her bound state. Eventually, they arrived to the cell where the inmate was held, her hooves chained to the ground, her wings restrained by an iron belt, and her magic rendered virtually useless by a dampening ring fitted around her horn. "I take it you noticed as well," the prisoner surmised quickly. "Yes," the queen spoke in affirmation. "Who was summoned? How were they summoned? And who did it? Your magic is bound, so you couldn't have done it." "You'll find out soon enough." The queen narrowed her eyes. The prisoner was still as confident as ever, despite having been trapped in this dank place for close to three years now. But she supposed the other mare was right. She would have to wait and see. However… "I'll be back soon enough," the queen said in a calm tone. "I sincerely hope that you feel more cooperative by the time I return." "You will have no such luck." "We'll see." With that, the queen and her cadre of guards left the prison, ascending back up to the throne room, where she immediately took her place at her throne. She dismissed her guards so that she could be alone. She had to be for what she was going to do. Once her guards exited the chamber, she took a few moments to consider everything. She could be facing some new threat. Anyone called by a summoning spell that powerful would be no trivial nuisance. She already had enough problems with the insurgents that refused to accept the gifts that she was so generously sharing. This new development would certainly attract their attention. She would have to inform her mentor about this. Her horn glowed with a dark aura, creating a ring of black clouds that floated just a few feet ahead of her. A pair of eyes opened within it – eyes that still intimidated her immensely. "Why have you summoned me, my pupil?" her mentor spoke in that powerful, authoritative tone that instilled fear in the weak-willed. "Master," she replied quickly and deliberately. "There has been an unexpected development. One that could compromise us." He was silent for a few moments, his eyes virtually unreadable. "What has happened?" -o- This was not good. Not in the least. Twilight had woken up to find herself in some barely lit room that had tiny cot off in the corner and no windows. Her only source of light came from the small barred window in the nearby door, which was locked tighter than the room where Princess Celestia used to keep the Elements of Harmony. She had tried using her magic to open the door, but her power was hindered by some kind of ring on her horn that drastically weakened her magic. Without devices like that, it'd be next to impossible to keep magic using creatures like unicorns and alicorns imprisoned. She was essentially trapped. Desperate for answers, she had tried calling out to the guards whom she had heard conversing just outside, but they mostly ignored her, save for one, who walked off, saying that he was going to "alert the captain." Who was the "captain?" Where was she? Was that really Pinkie Pie she had seen just before she had given the order to knock Twilight unconscious? What the hay was going on? As she asked herself her own questions (like she'd get an answer), she heard voices just beyond the door. There were a few clicks as the locks on the door were opened, and the door itself was pushed out of the way, and in walked Pinkie Pie, accompanied by several armored soldiers who held spears and other weapons at the ready. Pinkie gave Twilight an analytical glare that was far out of character for her. Her eyes gave her a tired look, like she had been through more than she should have. Twilight only now noticed the thin scar running down the left side of other mare's face, all the way down to her neck. "P-Pinkie?" Twilight stammered out, finding herself intimidated by her usually bubbly friend. Pinkie narrowed her eyes at her. "I haven't gone by that name in three years. My name is Pinkamena, and I have a few questions for you." "And I have a few for you." That's what the young alicorn wanted to say, but something about the way Pinkie was looking at her told her not to try the other mare's patience. "Who are you?" Pinkie demanded more than asked. "And why do you look like Twilight Sparkle?" Twilight's face contorted into a look of confusion. What kinds of questions were those? "What are you talking about? I am Twilight!" Pinkie shook her head. "That's impossible." "But I'm right here! How could it be impossible?" The former party pony was silent for several tense moments, her head lowered slightly. All the guards looked to each other, looking like they were… grieving? Pinkie raised her head again. "It's impossible…" – she hesitated – "It's impossible because Twilight Sparkle is dead." SuspicionThis was unbelievable. Inconceivable. Impossible by every definition of the word. But this was real. After her "conversation" with Pinkie – who had continually insisted on being called Pinkamena – the once-party-animal-turned-military-captain had one of the guards strap a metal brace over Twilight's wings to ensure that she wouldn't escape and led the young alicorn out of her cell. She tried to get some information out of Pinkamena, but she wouldn't say much, except: "They caught everypony completely off guard," she had said. When asked what she meant, she said one word that very nearly made Twilight panic: "The changelings." Just the word was enough to make Twilight's mind go into overdrive. What had happened here? What did the changelings do exactly? What were their methods? Pinkie had gone unnaturally silent for a while afterward. She wouldn't say anything again, no matter what Twilight asked about. And she had asked about a lot of things. After a while, the young alicorn gave up and just observed her surroundings as Pinkie led her… somewhere. They were clearly in some kind of bunker, but she had no idea where one would be. Perhaps this place was constructed fairly recently? As they walked through the halls, she saw ponies who looked as though they were starving, exhausted, immensely pained, or all three. All of them, even the foals, looked at her with suspicion and borderline hatred. She saw a small group of foals huddled together in a corner, one of them a young unicorn holding onto a ruined stuffed bear. This was horrible. Heartbreaking. She had never seen anything like this except in illustrated depictions of old wars between the pony races and others, whether it was amongst themselves or against other nations. These ponies were refugees. "We're here," Pinkie suddenly stated, pulling Twilight from her thoughts. They stood in front of a door that bore a battered symbol that Twilight recognized as the emblem on the Equestrian flag, complete with depictions of Celestia and Luna flying in unison around the sun and moon. One of the guards opened the door and ushered the mares inside, where Twilight saw her brother at a table with a worn-looking Rainbow Dash and an earth pony stallion that she didn't recognize. "Commander, I've brought a guest." Shining Armor perked up at that and turned. Twilight only now noticed that half of his horn was gone. What remained was a jagged mess. His eyes went wide when he saw her. "T-Twily?" "There's no way…" Rainbow muttered in disbelief. Her mane and tail looked sloppier than Twilight remembered, and she had a large burn scar on her upper right foreleg that stretched to just below her wing. The earth pony raised an eyebrow at the purple mare, clearly not convinced of anything. His mane and tail were scruffy and red, his coat being a dark shade of blue. His eyes were dark green, with an X-shaped scar just above the left one. His cutie mark was an image of two swords crossing violently. "Shining Armor, Rainbow," Twilight said, her expression contorting to one of shock at their appearances. "Wha-what happened to you? What's going on?" "I could ask you the same thing!" Rainbow suddenly shouted. "Just who the hell are you?" "She says that she's Twilight," Pinkie answered before Twilight had a chance to speak. Shining stared at the mare for several silent moments. Then he shook his head. "Impossible. My sister is dead." Twilight's heart fell. Her own brother believed she was dead. "But… I…" She sighed and shook her head. More questions were flooding her mind as minutes passed. "Can you at least tell me what's going on? The most I got out of Pinkie-" "Pinkamena," said mare stated for the umpteenth time, earning a slight glare from Twilight. "Fine! Look, all she told me is that the changelings were behind all this. What, exactly, happened?" Everypony else was quiet for almost a minute. It was a cold, uncomfortable silence that Twilight just wanted to end. Soon enough, Shining Armor spoke again. "We thought that we'd dealt with them at my wedding with Cadance," he said, turning his back on the younger mare. "Turns out, they'd just been biding their time since then. They infiltrated every major city as thoroughly as possible, tearing everything apart from the inside. Canterlot got the worst of it, and is now Queen Chrysalis' base of operations." "But what about the princesses?" Twilight inquired as they trotted down the halls of some kind of huge bunker that she didn't recognize. "What about Cadance?" Pinkie sighed depressingly. "Princess Cadance and Shining Armor were in the Crystal Empire at the time. They were able to escape and make it back to Equestria. The rest of the city wasn't so lucky. Princess Luna was most likely on her nightly watch at the time, so she might've been able to avoid the changelings' initial assaults with relative ease, but we haven't been able to find her." She was silent again. That unnerved Twilight immensely. Pinkie Pie was supposed to be wild, happy, loud, and almost blindingly optimistic. Seeing her like this was… it was disconcerting, to say the least. "You didn't mention what happened to Princess Celestia," the purple mare pointed out. "And what about me? You said that I'm… d-dead." "Princess Celestia was asleep at the time," Rainbow said quietly. "The changelings went to her first." She ran a hoof across her neck, easily getting her point across. "She didn't even have a chance to defend herself. As for Twilight – the real Twilight…" She closed her eyes, as if trying to fight off tears. "She sacrificed herself to make sure the rest of us got out of Ponyville safely. She died a hero." She then gave Twilight a scathing glare. "And you have the gall to say that you're Twilight Sparkle?" "Because I am!" Twilight affirmed in an admittedly harsh tone. "What do I have to do to prove it to you?" "You can't," Shining Armor said dismissively, returning his focus to the table in the center of the room, which had a map of Equestria marked with several X's laid out on it. "My sister was killed by the changelings. There are eyewitness accounts." Pinkamena then cleared her throat, calling everypony's attention. "Well, she can't be a changeling. I've already had my boys run analysis spells on her, and she came out clean." "She could still be a threat," the red-haired stallion stated in a gruff tone. "She could be some sort of clone. A copy of the original designed by the bugs to infiltrate us." "I'd considered that as well," the pink mare replied. "My team said that she's a legitimate pony in every way, right down to the wings and horn." "Can you please stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Twilight requested, slightly annoyed that she was basically being thrown out of the conversation now. "I don't care who or what she is," Shining announced. "Get her out of my sight." Without hesitation, Pinkamena saluted and grabbed Twilight roughly by her right foreleg, pulling back toward the door. The purple alicorn struggled against Pinkie's surprisingly strong grasp, trying to break free. "Wait!" she shouted. "Please, I am Twilight!" The others ignored her as Pinkie nearly forced her out of the room. "Shining, please! Shiny!" Shining suddenly perked up at that, turning to face Twilight with an incredulous, disbelieving stare. He raised his hoof and said, "Hold on a minute." Pinkie obediently stopped, but didn't release her hold on Twilight. He approached Twilight with a different look in his eyes. What was that? Was it sorrow? Joy? Melancholy? Minutes passed without giving her any sort of answers. Finally, he spoke again: "Only two ponies have ever called me that: my wife and my sister. Nopony else knows about that except my parents, and they're gone." Twilight's eyes widened at that for a number of reasons. Did he finally believe her? What did he mean that their parents were gone? What must've been going on through his head right now? She had too many questions to verbalize. She felt as though she had forgotten how to speak. Shining was silent for a few moments after that before speaking again. "I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Keep in mind that you'll be under heavy watch. Pinkamena will be your guide and warden." He turned to said mare. "Understood?" "Yes, sir," Pinkie said in a neutral tone with a quick salute. Twilight stared at her 'brother' with a mixed look of gratitude and disappointment. She was hoping that he would at least have a little more faith in her, but she couldn't complain, given the circumstances, even if she didn't know for certain what those circumstances were. She wanted to thank him for at least this, but all she could really manage was a grateful nod as she was escorted out of the room by Pinkamena and the guards who had accompanied them. Once she was gone, Shining sighed and returned to the table. "I still say that she's a potential threat," the earth pony stated adamantly. "I'm well aware of that, Cutlass," the former guard captain acknowledged. "I'm not throwing that possibility out the window entirely, but she called me by a nickname that only Twilight and Cadance ever used for me. Rest assured, she'll be monitored closely." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "So… 'Shiny,' eh?" "Shut up." Shining's response only made the mare laugh harder. He honestly couldn't help but give a small grin himself. Any form of humor would be a welcome change after the last three years. He could only hope that everypony would be able to laugh with a lot more vigor someday, but the way things were going, that was likely going to be just a pipe dream. Still, it never hurt to hope. ReintroductionNo matter how much of it she saw, Twilight could barely stand it. Everywhere Pinkamena led her, she saw pain. Everypony's eyes were full of next to nothing but pain. They were all but dead, inside and out. She desperately tried to block it all out, to convince herself that this was just some grisly nightmare. But no matter what she told herself, she couldn't block out the sounds of pain, the smell of anguish, the feeling of perpetual sorrow. The only conclusion she could come up with was that this – as much as she wished to deny it – was all too real. Then, a few more things came to mind. This was Equestria, to be sure, but it was clearly vastly different from the Equestria she knew. This world was bleak, with little apparent hope. A theory gradually came to mind, one that she'd only read about, but had also scoffed at the idea. These ponies recognized her, but said that she was dead. Everything was the same in placement, but vastly different in appearance and tone. There was only one theory that made any kind of sense: String Theory. She was in a parallel universe. Even with that knowledge now in her mind, it brought up more questions than it did answers. How did she get here? Did somepony summon her somehow? If so, who, and why? Summoning spells required a lot of magic and concentration, even to move an apple from Manehattan to Canterlot (she knew this because she had once done it during her years under Princess Celestia's tutelage). To summon a living, sentient being from another universe entirely? She quickly surmised that only an experienced alicorn would have that much power and skill. That at least narrowed it down to… two possible summoners. Either Luna or Cadence, most likely Luna, seeing as how she was the elder alicorn, and therefore had the most magical prowess and far more experience. But if that was the case, why didn't Twilight appear to Luna in the first place? This was rapidly only getting more and more confusing the more she thought about it. And as she thought about this parallel universe theory of hers, another question came to mind, one that she had failed to inquire about earlier: what about her other friends? What happened to Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Spike? Where were they in all this? Had they suffered some horrible fate as well? And what about Cadence, too? Nopony had actually mentioned what she was doing, or where she was at the moment. She looked over at Pinkamena, who was still unnervingly silent. "Pinkie?" she spoke up. The dull pink mare ignored her, only continuing down the hall. The young alicorn sighed in defeat. "Pinkamena?" "What?" the other mare inquired in an annoyed tone. "What happened to the others?" Twilight asked finally. "Our friends, I mean. Where are they?" Pinkamena stopped in her tracks, turning her head very slightly. She was quiet for several moments before turning to fully face Twilight. "You really wanna know?" Twilight nodded, to which Pinkamena gave her an analytical glare. After a few seconds, she relented and said, "Follow me." She turned to her left and headed down another hallway, Twilight following diligently. As they passed several doors, Twilight took notice of a few that bore red crosses on them. This was likely a makeshift hospital of some kind. At least these ponies had that much going for them. It still didn't look like much, though. The few doors that were open revealed old medical equipment that was gradually falling into disrepair, and occasionally were occupied by especially ill-looking ponies who didn't look like they would last for much longer. She had to force herself to keep her eyes ahead, following Pinkamena while silently giving sympathy to the suffering ponies, for whatever good that might've done. Eventually, Pinkamena stopped at one door in particular. This door had the crest of the Royal Pony Sisters emblazoned on it. Pinkamena raised her hoof to knock, but paused to face Twilight briefly. She pointed to the right side of the door. "You'd better wait there for a moment. I'd rather they not see you until I ease them into it first." Twilight was about to argue, but closed her mouth upon receiving a scathing glare from the other mare. The purple alicorn nodded submissively and stood beside the door so that she wouldn't be immediately seen by anyone in the room behind the door. Pinkamena nodded at this and knocked on the door a few times. There was silence for a few moments as nopony responded. Again, Pinkamena knocked, a bit louder this time. "Hang on!" called a mare's voice that bore a familiar southern twang to it. "Ah'm comin'!" A moment passed as the sound of several tumbler locks opened, and the door soon swung open. Twilight knew immediately who it was without seeing her. "Oh, it's you," Applejack said. "Come on in, Pinkamena. Ah got some good cider in today if that's what ya want." The pink earth pony shook her head. "That's not why I'm here. Are Rarity and Fluttershy here? I need to tell you all something. Rainbow Dash already knows." "All right, then. Yeah, they're here. Rarity's helpin' Shy with her readin' again, but Ah guess they cut the lesson a bit short today." 'Fluttershy's having reading lessons?' Twilight thought, furrowing her brow in confusion and resisting the urge to peek past the door. Pinkamena only nodded and entered the room, closing the door behind her, basically forcing Twilight to wait outside. She sighed as she sat down by the door, awaiting the moment it opened again. The seconds dragged on into minutes, and the minutes began to feel like hours. As time shambled on, she quickly began to feel antsy, tapping her hooves against the metal floor impatiently. Though she would often spend hours in one place with nothing but a good book most of the time, even she couldn't just sit idly with nothing to do. There were no clocks around for her to track time with, so she had no idea how long it took for the door to finally open and for Pinkamena to step out a little. The pink mare nodded toward the room. "They're ready to see you," she said flatly, immediately walking back into the room. Twilight instinctively nodded and followed Pinkamena, who closed the door as the alicorn entered. The room was fairly spacious, just enough so that it could comfortably fit five or six ponies at once. There were three bunk beds organized neatly so that they wouldn't overtake the room. At the far end was a small kitchen and a door that led into what Twilight guessed was a bathroom, judging by the toilet-shaped symbol on the door. In the middle of the room was a fair-sized table that had five chairs, three of which were occupied. Both Applejack and Rarity stared with wide, unbelieving eyes at Twilight, who stared back at them with equally wide eyes. They both looked as though they had been through the ringer countless times. Applejack bore several scars on her face and body, the largest of which was a nasty-looking wound that ran along her left side. Rarity's mane was disheveled and unkempt, completely out of character for the fashionista. Her left foreleg had apparently been replaced with a prosthetic limb, which just barely covered visible scars from what was left of the original limb. Fluttershy, however, looked the worst out of all of them. Her mane was just a ragged as Rarity's, and she looked even frailer than she already was, but that wasn't even the most disturbing part. That honor went to the fact that her eyes were covered up by several thick bandages. There were at least nine scars poking out from under those coverings. She was facing down at the table, as if to hide her face from prying eyes. It didn't take long for Twilight to figure out why she needed reading lessons: the pegasus had obviously been permanently and violently blinded somehow, and was now learning brail. Twilight wanted to say something to break the uncomfortable and extremely tense silence that had fallen upon them all, but she couldn't find the words. All that came out of her mouth were wordless mumbles. Seconds passed uncounted until a full minute of silence had persisted. "Ah… Ah can't…" Applejack said, finally breaking the quiet. She closed her eyes and shook her head as if she were seeing things. "Ah don't believe it." "But…" Rarity muttered quietly. "But we saw her…" "Applejack? Rarity?" Fluttershy squeaked, still keeping her face down. "What… what's happening? Was Pinkamena really telling the truth? Is it really her?" Applejack nodded. "It's impossible to believe, but… if she ain't Twilight, then she looks an awful lot like her." That seemed to be enough for Fluttershy to carefully push away from the table and shakily stand on her hooves. "Careful, darling," Rarity said worriedly. Fluttershy ignored the unicorn's warning and approached Twilight slowly, reaching out with her hoof towards Twilight's face. The young alicorn hesitated for a moment, but walked just a step closer to let Fluttershy's hoof brush against her cheek a little. The pink-maned pegasus lowered her hoof again, a very small smile on her face. "If it's really you, Twilight," she said, "then please… say something. Anything." She hesitated once again, her mouth hanging open. Eventually, she spoke again, and said, "Fluttershy… your eyes. What… what happened to you?" Despite the question, Fluttershy's smile only grew, if only slightly. She reached out again and wrapped Twilight in a tight hug. "I never thought I'd hear you again," she said quietly. "We all thought you were gone." Twilight shook her head and gently removed herself from the hug as Rarity came over to guide Fluttershy back to her spot at the table. She looked over to Pinkamena, who only sighed and made her way over to one of the empty seats, motioning for Twilight to take the other right next to her. As she sat down, she studied her friends again. All of them had one thing in common now: beyond looking terrible, they looked tired, almost defeated, even. "Okay," Applejack spoke up, still staring at Twilight with a strange mix of confusion, relief, awe, and suspicion. "Ah've got just one question: how did ya survive? We all saw ya get swarmed by them changeling bastards." Twilight winced at the farm pony's language. She wasn't used to hearing anything like that come out of the orange earth pony's mouth. She hung her head low, thinking on how she should answer. Should she share her theory with them? They'd probably think she was crazy. Then again, at this point, she was already beginning to question her own sanity herself. "I… I don't know," she said sheepishly. "I don't think I- I mean, I don't think she did. I don't think I'm the same Twilight that you all knew." "Whatever do you mean?" Rarity inquired with a raised eyebrow. "I think… I think I might be from a universe parallel to this one." There was a dull silence after that. Twilight doubted that they'd buy it immediately, but she figured it'd be best to be honest rather than make up some story, especially with Applejack around. That mare could pick out a lie with little to no effort. She looked up at the others. They looked to each other, then back to her. "That's probably the craziest story ever," Applejack said finally, her face bearing an expression of obvious discontent. "If that's true, then Ah must be Princess Luna in disguise." Twilight sighed in response to that. "I know it sounds ridiculous," she admitted, "but it's the only explanation I can think of. This feels too real to be a dream, and it's nothing like the vision I had in the Crystal Empire when Spike and I were going to get the…" She trailed off, suddenly looking around frantically. "Wait, where's Spike in all this? What happened to him?" The other mares looked to each other, with Pinkamena looking relatively indifferent. Applejack was the one to answer: "He… he disappeared a while after our Twilight was killed. Nopony's seen 'im since we came to this here bunker." The young alicorn's shoulders visibly slumped as the news hit her. "I… I see." Just then, one more thing came to mind. "What about the Elements of Harmony? Where are they? We could use them to-" "I'll stop you right there," Pinkamena interrupted. "We have the Elements. Most of them, anyway. The changelings have the Element of Magic. Stole it right out from under Twilight's nose. A changeling had disguised itself as her boyfriend and convinced her to give it to him for safe keeping." "Wait, I-" She shook her head. "She had a boyfriend?" "Yes," Rarity confirmed. "Flash Sentry. Nice fellow, really, but… well, we still don't know whether he had been replaced or if he was just a changeling all along." "Oh… I see…" There was a stark silence between the five ponies then for suite a while. Nopony really knew what to say after that. "And… where's Cadance? I was told that she escaped the Crystal Empire with Shining Armor. Isn't she here?" Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm sorry, Twilight, but… she went missing a few weeks ago. Nopony knows where she is anymore." "She insisted that she go off on a reconnaissance mission," Pinkamena clarified, shaking her head, but whether it was in disappointment or sadness, Twilight couldn't tell. "Only one of her unit came back, and he didn't last long. He died while we were trying to save him. For all we know, Cadance is dead, or worse, being held prisoner by the changelings. Being the Princess of Love, she's like a living all-you-can-eat buffet for the bugs." Twilight's shoulders slumped. She had hoped to see Cadance. She could've helped prove that Twilight was who she said she was. Maybe then, ponies would start trusting her again. She'd have to do this the hard way then. Until then, she'd probably be stuck with Pinkamena watching her every move. Applejack yawned, stretching her forelegs over her head. "It's gettin' late, y'all. Ah say we get some shut eye and figure what to do in the mornin'." "Agreed," Rarity said with a nod. She stood from her seat and led Fluttershy from hers, guiding her to one of the beds, where the blinded pegasus easily managed to tuck herself in. Rarity then turned to Twilight and motioned to another bed close by. "That bed there is free. Rest up, darling. We're likely to have a busy day tomorrow." "Why's that?" Twilight asked as she approached the bed. "Rarity is working as one of the nurses in the clinic," Pinkamena explained as she claimed another bed. "To be honest, I was pretty surprised how good she is at the job." "I only do what I'm told," Rarity replied. "Applejack's cider is also very popular. It… helps ponies forget their worries. For a time, at least." "Oh." Twilight didn't know what to make of that. She supposed that meant that Applejack had started putting actual alcohol in her cider. While not something she'd enjoy, she could see why ponies would turn to something like that in this world. She silently sighed and climbed into the bed that Rarity had indicated to her. She laid facing away from the others as they said goodnight to one another. This world was one that needed saving. She knew that, but she doubted that there could be anything she could do to help them. Would they even want her help? 'Probably not.' She shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking such thoughts. She closed her eyes to try and go to sleep. To her surprise, it didn't take long for her do just that.
ArrivalShe drifted. She wasn't flying. Her wings were closed. She was drifting aimlessly through some kind of… void, for lack of a better word. But it wasn't a void. There was color. Colors she couldn't define. She felt like she had seen this before somewhere, but she didn't know where, exactly. 'This age of dark light,' a voice said. It was weak, barely audible, but it was there. 'Please… save us from her tyranny. Release us from the shattered light… please…' At that, the voice faded out. She tried to ask what it meant, but her voice wouldn't work. Her mouth wouldn't even open. Everything was quiet. Soon, the indescribable colors faded. Darkness enveloped her. -o- Twilight felt dazed, like she had just been spun around non-stop on that spinning machine that she had once seen at the Wonderbolt Academy. She rubbed her temples as she woke, trying to ease away the light migraine that persisted in her skull. After several seconds of this, she rose on all fours and looked around, taking in her surroundings. She was definitely still in the library, but it was dark. A quick look out a window revealed the reason to be nighttime. Normally, she would just assume that she had fallen asleep reading something, but there were a few holes in that theory now. First off, the last thing she remembered doing was going over her checklist with Spike just after breakfast. She couldn't have just fainted, because she wasn't prone to that, and she would've woken up much earlier in the hospital. What happened? "Spike?" she called out. She waited for her dragon assistant to answer, but nothing came. "Spike! Are you here?" Still no answer. Worried, she hurried up the staircase to the room that they shared, but when she arrived, she found nothing but a messy bed that looked like nopony had slept in it in months, maybe even years. "Hello?" Still no answer. Had Spike gone out? Maybe, but that didn't make a whole lot of sense when she thought about it. If he had, he would've been back before nightfall. Something wasn't right. In fact, she could practically feel that something was off, but she couldn't quite point out why she felt that way. Finding nothing in the library, she headed outside. All of Ponyville felt… empty. There should've at least been nighttime weather patrols in the sky. But there wasn't a single pony to be seen. All the houses were dark. She knocked on several doors, trying to get somepony's attention, but the only response she ever received was silence. 'Where is everypony?' she thought. Ponyville was never this quiet, not even on the slowest nights. "Hello?" she called out, louder than before. "Is anypony here? Hello?" Suddenly, she heard a loud crash come from down the street, making her jump, spreading her wings out involuntarily. She could just make out a few ponies – four in total, three of whom were stallions, but beyond that, she couldn't make out many details – galloping out of a nearby alley, looking like they must've been in a hurry. Despite their obvious rush, she couldn't help but break out into a grin. Finally, she'd found other ponies! "Hey!" she called to them, waving a hoof as she approached. "Hold on a second!" The four ponies stopped at her voice and turned to her. The one mare in the group yelped slightly. "We've been spotted!" she cried out. Twilight's eyes widened at that voice. "Get her!" The three stallions immediately complied, rushing at the young alicorn, tackling her to the ground before she had a chance to react. "Ow, get off!" she shouted at the stallions, who forced her back up to her hooves to face the other mare. Twilight glared at her. "Just who do you think you… are…" She lost her nerve upon seeing who was before her. The other mare's coat was darker than usual, and her mane and tail were flat, with her mane draping over her shoulder a little. Her normally cheer-filled eyes were full of suspicion and anger. Twilight's eyes went wide. "Pinkie Pie?" 'Pinkie' raised an eyebrow at that and studied Twilight extensively. Her face contorted with a look of disbelieving recognition. "You look just like…" She trailed off and shook her head. "Knock her out and bring her with us. I've got questions." Before Twilight even had a chance to ask what was going on, one of the stallions slammed his hoof into the back of her head. Her world went black. -o- She had sensed it immediately. That sort of power did not go unnoticed by her. This land belonged to her for good reason. She had eyes and ears everywhere. Nothing escaped the attention of this land's queen. But somehow, her most infamous prisoner - or an outside accomplice, at the very least - had done something thought to be impossible. This was unacceptable. Proper punishment had to be placed, swiftly and efficiently, but not lethally. Not without a crowd, at least. She made her way to her palace's dungeon, black-armored guards saluting her as she passed. A few joined and followed her. The prisoner was dangerous, even in her bound state. Eventually, they arrived to the cell where the inmate was held, her hooves chained to the ground, her wings restrained by an iron belt, and her magic rendered virtually useless by a dampening ring fitted around her horn. "I take it you noticed as well," the prisoner surmised quickly. "Yes," the queen spoke in affirmation. "Who was summoned? How were they summoned? And who did it? Your magic is bound, so you couldn't have done it." "You'll find out soon enough." The queen narrowed her eyes. The prisoner was still as confident as ever, despite having been trapped in this dank place for close to three years now. But she supposed the other mare was right. She would have to wait and see. However… "I'll be back soon enough," the queen said in a calm tone. "I sincerely hope that you feel more cooperative by the time I return." "You will have no such luck." "We'll see." With that, the queen and her cadre of guards left the prison, ascending back up to the throne room, where she immediately took her place at her throne. She dismissed her guards so that she could be alone. She had to be for what she was going to do. Once her guards exited the chamber, she took a few moments to consider everything. She could be facing some new threat. Anyone called by a summoning spell that powerful would be no trivial nuisance. She already had enough problems with the insurgents that refused to accept the gifts that she was so generously sharing. This new development would certainly attract their attention. She would have to inform her mentor about this. Her horn glowed with a dark aura, creating a ring of black clouds that floated just a few feet ahead of her. A pair of eyes opened within it – eyes that still intimidated her immensely. "Why have you summoned me, my pupil?" her mentor spoke in that powerful, authoritative tone that instilled fear in the weak-willed. "Master," she replied quickly and deliberately. "There has been an unexpected development. One that could compromise us." He was silent for a few moments, his eyes virtually unreadable. "What has happened?" -o- This was not good. Not in the least. Twilight had woken up to find herself in some barely lit room that had tiny cot off in the corner and no windows. Her only source of light came from the small barred window in the nearby door, which was locked tighter than the room where Princess Celestia used to keep the Elements of Harmony. She had tried using her magic to open the door, but her power was hindered by some kind of ring on her horn that drastically weakened her magic. Without devices like that, it'd be next to impossible to keep magic using creatures like unicorns and alicorns imprisoned. She was essentially trapped. Desperate for answers, she had tried calling out to the guards whom she had heard conversing just outside, but they mostly ignored her, save for one, who walked off, saying that he was going to "alert the captain." Who was the "captain?" Where was she? Was that really Pinkie Pie she had seen just before she had given the order to knock Twilight unconscious? What the hay was going on? As she asked herself her own questions (like she'd get an answer), she heard voices just beyond the door. There were a few clicks as the locks on the door were opened, and the door itself was pushed out of the way, and in walked Pinkie Pie, accompanied by several armored soldiers who held spears and other weapons at the ready. Pinkie gave Twilight an analytical glare that was far out of character for her. Her eyes gave her a tired look, like she had been through more than she should have. Twilight only now noticed the thin scar running down the left side of other mare's face, all the way down to her neck. "P-Pinkie?" Twilight stammered out, finding herself intimidated by her usually bubbly friend. Pinkie narrowed her eyes at her. "I haven't gone by that name in three years. My name is Pinkamena, and I have a few questions for you." "And I have a few for you." That's what the young alicorn wanted to say, but something about the way Pinkie was looking at her told her not to try the other mare's patience. "Who are you?" Pinkie demanded more than asked. "And why do you look like Twilight Sparkle?" Twilight's face contorted into a look of confusion. What kinds of questions were those? "What are you talking about? I am Twilight!" Pinkie shook her head. "That's impossible." "But I'm right here! How could it be impossible?" The former party pony was silent for several tense moments, her head lowered slightly. All the guards looked to each other, looking like they were… grieving? Pinkie raised her head again. "It's impossible…" – she hesitated – "It's impossible because Twilight Sparkle is dead."
SuspicionThis was unbelievable. Inconceivable. Impossible by every definition of the word. But this was real. After her "conversation" with Pinkie – who had continually insisted on being called Pinkamena – the once-party-animal-turned-military-captain had one of the guards strap a metal brace over Twilight's wings to ensure that she wouldn't escape and led the young alicorn out of her cell. She tried to get some information out of Pinkamena, but she wouldn't say much, except: "They caught everypony completely off guard," she had said. When asked what she meant, she said one word that very nearly made Twilight panic: "The changelings." Just the word was enough to make Twilight's mind go into overdrive. What had happened here? What did the changelings do exactly? What were their methods? Pinkie had gone unnaturally silent for a while afterward. She wouldn't say anything again, no matter what Twilight asked about. And she had asked about a lot of things. After a while, the young alicorn gave up and just observed her surroundings as Pinkie led her… somewhere. They were clearly in some kind of bunker, but she had no idea where one would be. Perhaps this place was constructed fairly recently? As they walked through the halls, she saw ponies who looked as though they were starving, exhausted, immensely pained, or all three. All of them, even the foals, looked at her with suspicion and borderline hatred. She saw a small group of foals huddled together in a corner, one of them a young unicorn holding onto a ruined stuffed bear. This was horrible. Heartbreaking. She had never seen anything like this except in illustrated depictions of old wars between the pony races and others, whether it was amongst themselves or against other nations. These ponies were refugees. "We're here," Pinkie suddenly stated, pulling Twilight from her thoughts. They stood in front of a door that bore a battered symbol that Twilight recognized as the emblem on the Equestrian flag, complete with depictions of Celestia and Luna flying in unison around the sun and moon. One of the guards opened the door and ushered the mares inside, where Twilight saw her brother at a table with a worn-looking Rainbow Dash and an earth pony stallion that she didn't recognize. "Commander, I've brought a guest." Shining Armor perked up at that and turned. Twilight only now noticed that half of his horn was gone. What remained was a jagged mess. His eyes went wide when he saw her. "T-Twily?" "There's no way…" Rainbow muttered in disbelief. Her mane and tail looked sloppier than Twilight remembered, and she had a large burn scar on her upper right foreleg that stretched to just below her wing. The earth pony raised an eyebrow at the purple mare, clearly not convinced of anything. His mane and tail were scruffy and red, his coat being a dark shade of blue. His eyes were dark green, with an X-shaped scar just above the left one. His cutie mark was an image of two swords crossing violently. "Shining Armor, Rainbow," Twilight said, her expression contorting to one of shock at their appearances. "Wha-what happened to you? What's going on?" "I could ask you the same thing!" Rainbow suddenly shouted. "Just who the hell are you?" "She says that she's Twilight," Pinkie answered before Twilight had a chance to speak. Shining stared at the mare for several silent moments. Then he shook his head. "Impossible. My sister is dead." Twilight's heart fell. Her own brother believed she was dead. "But… I…" She sighed and shook her head. More questions were flooding her mind as minutes passed. "Can you at least tell me what's going on? The most I got out of Pinkie-" "Pinkamena," said mare stated for the umpteenth time, earning a slight glare from Twilight. "Fine! Look, all she told me is that the changelings were behind all this. What, exactly, happened?" Everypony else was quiet for almost a minute. It was a cold, uncomfortable silence that Twilight just wanted to end. Soon enough, Shining Armor spoke again. "We thought that we'd dealt with them at my wedding with Cadance," he said, turning his back on the younger mare. "Turns out, they'd just been biding their time since then. They infiltrated every major city as thoroughly as possible, tearing everything apart from the inside. Canterlot got the worst of it, and is now Queen Chrysalis' base of operations." "But what about the princesses?" Twilight inquired as they trotted down the halls of some kind of huge bunker that she didn't recognize. "What about Cadance?" Pinkie sighed depressingly. "Princess Cadance and Shining Armor were in the Crystal Empire at the time. They were able to escape and make it back to Equestria. The rest of the city wasn't so lucky. Princess Luna was most likely on her nightly watch at the time, so she might've been able to avoid the changelings' initial assaults with relative ease, but we haven't been able to find her." She was silent again. That unnerved Twilight immensely. Pinkie Pie was supposed to be wild, happy, loud, and almost blindingly optimistic. Seeing her like this was… it was disconcerting, to say the least. "You didn't mention what happened to Princess Celestia," the purple mare pointed out. "And what about me? You said that I'm… d-dead." "Princess Celestia was asleep at the time," Rainbow said quietly. "The changelings went to her first." She ran a hoof across her neck, easily getting her point across. "She didn't even have a chance to defend herself. As for Twilight – the real Twilight…" She closed her eyes, as if trying to fight off tears. "She sacrificed herself to make sure the rest of us got out of Ponyville safely. She died a hero." She then gave Twilight a scathing glare. "And you have the gall to say that you're Twilight Sparkle?" "Because I am!" Twilight affirmed in an admittedly harsh tone. "What do I have to do to prove it to you?" "You can't," Shining Armor said dismissively, returning his focus to the table in the center of the room, which had a map of Equestria marked with several X's laid out on it. "My sister was killed by the changelings. There are eyewitness accounts." Pinkamena then cleared her throat, calling everypony's attention. "Well, she can't be a changeling. I've already had my boys run analysis spells on her, and she came out clean." "She could still be a threat," the red-haired stallion stated in a gruff tone. "She could be some sort of clone. A copy of the original designed by the bugs to infiltrate us." "I'd considered that as well," the pink mare replied. "My team said that she's a legitimate pony in every way, right down to the wings and horn." "Can you please stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Twilight requested, slightly annoyed that she was basically being thrown out of the conversation now. "I don't care who or what she is," Shining announced. "Get her out of my sight." Without hesitation, Pinkamena saluted and grabbed Twilight roughly by her right foreleg, pulling back toward the door. The purple alicorn struggled against Pinkie's surprisingly strong grasp, trying to break free. "Wait!" she shouted. "Please, I am Twilight!" The others ignored her as Pinkie nearly forced her out of the room. "Shining, please! Shiny!" Shining suddenly perked up at that, turning to face Twilight with an incredulous, disbelieving stare. He raised his hoof and said, "Hold on a minute." Pinkie obediently stopped, but didn't release her hold on Twilight. He approached Twilight with a different look in his eyes. What was that? Was it sorrow? Joy? Melancholy? Minutes passed without giving her any sort of answers. Finally, he spoke again: "Only two ponies have ever called me that: my wife and my sister. Nopony else knows about that except my parents, and they're gone." Twilight's eyes widened at that for a number of reasons. Did he finally believe her? What did he mean that their parents were gone? What must've been going on through his head right now? She had too many questions to verbalize. She felt as though she had forgotten how to speak. Shining was silent for a few moments after that before speaking again. "I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Keep in mind that you'll be under heavy watch. Pinkamena will be your guide and warden." He turned to said mare. "Understood?" "Yes, sir," Pinkie said in a neutral tone with a quick salute. Twilight stared at her 'brother' with a mixed look of gratitude and disappointment. She was hoping that he would at least have a little more faith in her, but she couldn't complain, given the circumstances, even if she didn't know for certain what those circumstances were. She wanted to thank him for at least this, but all she could really manage was a grateful nod as she was escorted out of the room by Pinkamena and the guards who had accompanied them. Once she was gone, Shining sighed and returned to the table. "I still say that she's a potential threat," the earth pony stated adamantly. "I'm well aware of that, Cutlass," the former guard captain acknowledged. "I'm not throwing that possibility out the window entirely, but she called me by a nickname that only Twilight and Cadance ever used for me. Rest assured, she'll be monitored closely." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "So… 'Shiny,' eh?" "Shut up." Shining's response only made the mare laugh harder. He honestly couldn't help but give a small grin himself. Any form of humor would be a welcome change after the last three years. He could only hope that everypony would be able to laugh with a lot more vigor someday, but the way things were going, that was likely going to be just a pipe dream. Still, it never hurt to hope.
ReintroductionNo matter how much of it she saw, Twilight could barely stand it. Everywhere Pinkamena led her, she saw pain. Everypony's eyes were full of next to nothing but pain. They were all but dead, inside and out. She desperately tried to block it all out, to convince herself that this was just some grisly nightmare. But no matter what she told herself, she couldn't block out the sounds of pain, the smell of anguish, the feeling of perpetual sorrow. The only conclusion she could come up with was that this – as much as she wished to deny it – was all too real. Then, a few more things came to mind. This was Equestria, to be sure, but it was clearly vastly different from the Equestria she knew. This world was bleak, with little apparent hope. A theory gradually came to mind, one that she'd only read about, but had also scoffed at the idea. These ponies recognized her, but said that she was dead. Everything was the same in placement, but vastly different in appearance and tone. There was only one theory that made any kind of sense: String Theory. She was in a parallel universe. Even with that knowledge now in her mind, it brought up more questions than it did answers. How did she get here? Did somepony summon her somehow? If so, who, and why? Summoning spells required a lot of magic and concentration, even to move an apple from Manehattan to Canterlot (she knew this because she had once done it during her years under Princess Celestia's tutelage). To summon a living, sentient being from another universe entirely? She quickly surmised that only an experienced alicorn would have that much power and skill. That at least narrowed it down to… two possible summoners. Either Luna or Cadence, most likely Luna, seeing as how she was the elder alicorn, and therefore had the most magical prowess and far more experience. But if that was the case, why didn't Twilight appear to Luna in the first place? This was rapidly only getting more and more confusing the more she thought about it. And as she thought about this parallel universe theory of hers, another question came to mind, one that she had failed to inquire about earlier: what about her other friends? What happened to Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Spike? Where were they in all this? Had they suffered some horrible fate as well? And what about Cadence, too? Nopony had actually mentioned what she was doing, or where she was at the moment. She looked over at Pinkamena, who was still unnervingly silent. "Pinkie?" she spoke up. The dull pink mare ignored her, only continuing down the hall. The young alicorn sighed in defeat. "Pinkamena?" "What?" the other mare inquired in an annoyed tone. "What happened to the others?" Twilight asked finally. "Our friends, I mean. Where are they?" Pinkamena stopped in her tracks, turning her head very slightly. She was quiet for several moments before turning to fully face Twilight. "You really wanna know?" Twilight nodded, to which Pinkamena gave her an analytical glare. After a few seconds, she relented and said, "Follow me." She turned to her left and headed down another hallway, Twilight following diligently. As they passed several doors, Twilight took notice of a few that bore red crosses on them. This was likely a makeshift hospital of some kind. At least these ponies had that much going for them. It still didn't look like much, though. The few doors that were open revealed old medical equipment that was gradually falling into disrepair, and occasionally were occupied by especially ill-looking ponies who didn't look like they would last for much longer. She had to force herself to keep her eyes ahead, following Pinkamena while silently giving sympathy to the suffering ponies, for whatever good that might've done. Eventually, Pinkamena stopped at one door in particular. This door had the crest of the Royal Pony Sisters emblazoned on it. Pinkamena raised her hoof to knock, but paused to face Twilight briefly. She pointed to the right side of the door. "You'd better wait there for a moment. I'd rather they not see you until I ease them into it first." Twilight was about to argue, but closed her mouth upon receiving a scathing glare from the other mare. The purple alicorn nodded submissively and stood beside the door so that she wouldn't be immediately seen by anyone in the room behind the door. Pinkamena nodded at this and knocked on the door a few times. There was silence for a few moments as nopony responded. Again, Pinkamena knocked, a bit louder this time. "Hang on!" called a mare's voice that bore a familiar southern twang to it. "Ah'm comin'!" A moment passed as the sound of several tumbler locks opened, and the door soon swung open. Twilight knew immediately who it was without seeing her. "Oh, it's you," Applejack said. "Come on in, Pinkamena. Ah got some good cider in today if that's what ya want." The pink earth pony shook her head. "That's not why I'm here. Are Rarity and Fluttershy here? I need to tell you all something. Rainbow Dash already knows." "All right, then. Yeah, they're here. Rarity's helpin' Shy with her readin' again, but Ah guess they cut the lesson a bit short today." 'Fluttershy's having reading lessons?' Twilight thought, furrowing her brow in confusion and resisting the urge to peek past the door. Pinkamena only nodded and entered the room, closing the door behind her, basically forcing Twilight to wait outside. She sighed as she sat down by the door, awaiting the moment it opened again. The seconds dragged on into minutes, and the minutes began to feel like hours. As time shambled on, she quickly began to feel antsy, tapping her hooves against the metal floor impatiently. Though she would often spend hours in one place with nothing but a good book most of the time, even she couldn't just sit idly with nothing to do. There were no clocks around for her to track time with, so she had no idea how long it took for the door to finally open and for Pinkamena to step out a little. The pink mare nodded toward the room. "They're ready to see you," she said flatly, immediately walking back into the room. Twilight instinctively nodded and followed Pinkamena, who closed the door as the alicorn entered. The room was fairly spacious, just enough so that it could comfortably fit five or six ponies at once. There were three bunk beds organized neatly so that they wouldn't overtake the room. At the far end was a small kitchen and a door that led into what Twilight guessed was a bathroom, judging by the toilet-shaped symbol on the door. In the middle of the room was a fair-sized table that had five chairs, three of which were occupied. Both Applejack and Rarity stared with wide, unbelieving eyes at Twilight, who stared back at them with equally wide eyes. They both looked as though they had been through the ringer countless times. Applejack bore several scars on her face and body, the largest of which was a nasty-looking wound that ran along her left side. Rarity's mane was disheveled and unkempt, completely out of character for the fashionista. Her left foreleg had apparently been replaced with a prosthetic limb, which just barely covered visible scars from what was left of the original limb. Fluttershy, however, looked the worst out of all of them. Her mane was just a ragged as Rarity's, and she looked even frailer than she already was, but that wasn't even the most disturbing part. That honor went to the fact that her eyes were covered up by several thick bandages. There were at least nine scars poking out from under those coverings. She was facing down at the table, as if to hide her face from prying eyes. It didn't take long for Twilight to figure out why she needed reading lessons: the pegasus had obviously been permanently and violently blinded somehow, and was now learning brail. Twilight wanted to say something to break the uncomfortable and extremely tense silence that had fallen upon them all, but she couldn't find the words. All that came out of her mouth were wordless mumbles. Seconds passed uncounted until a full minute of silence had persisted. "Ah… Ah can't…" Applejack said, finally breaking the quiet. She closed her eyes and shook her head as if she were seeing things. "Ah don't believe it." "But…" Rarity muttered quietly. "But we saw her…" "Applejack? Rarity?" Fluttershy squeaked, still keeping her face down. "What… what's happening? Was Pinkamena really telling the truth? Is it really her?" Applejack nodded. "It's impossible to believe, but… if she ain't Twilight, then she looks an awful lot like her." That seemed to be enough for Fluttershy to carefully push away from the table and shakily stand on her hooves. "Careful, darling," Rarity said worriedly. Fluttershy ignored the unicorn's warning and approached Twilight slowly, reaching out with her hoof towards Twilight's face. The young alicorn hesitated for a moment, but walked just a step closer to let Fluttershy's hoof brush against her cheek a little. The pink-maned pegasus lowered her hoof again, a very small smile on her face. "If it's really you, Twilight," she said, "then please… say something. Anything." She hesitated once again, her mouth hanging open. Eventually, she spoke again, and said, "Fluttershy… your eyes. What… what happened to you?" Despite the question, Fluttershy's smile only grew, if only slightly. She reached out again and wrapped Twilight in a tight hug. "I never thought I'd hear you again," she said quietly. "We all thought you were gone." Twilight shook her head and gently removed herself from the hug as Rarity came over to guide Fluttershy back to her spot at the table. She looked over to Pinkamena, who only sighed and made her way over to one of the empty seats, motioning for Twilight to take the other right next to her. As she sat down, she studied her friends again. All of them had one thing in common now: beyond looking terrible, they looked tired, almost defeated, even. "Okay," Applejack spoke up, still staring at Twilight with a strange mix of confusion, relief, awe, and suspicion. "Ah've got just one question: how did ya survive? We all saw ya get swarmed by them changeling bastards." Twilight winced at the farm pony's language. She wasn't used to hearing anything like that come out of the orange earth pony's mouth. She hung her head low, thinking on how she should answer. Should she share her theory with them? They'd probably think she was crazy. Then again, at this point, she was already beginning to question her own sanity herself. "I… I don't know," she said sheepishly. "I don't think I- I mean, I don't think she did. I don't think I'm the same Twilight that you all knew." "Whatever do you mean?" Rarity inquired with a raised eyebrow. "I think… I think I might be from a universe parallel to this one." There was a dull silence after that. Twilight doubted that they'd buy it immediately, but she figured it'd be best to be honest rather than make up some story, especially with Applejack around. That mare could pick out a lie with little to no effort. She looked up at the others. They looked to each other, then back to her. "That's probably the craziest story ever," Applejack said finally, her face bearing an expression of obvious discontent. "If that's true, then Ah must be Princess Luna in disguise." Twilight sighed in response to that. "I know it sounds ridiculous," she admitted, "but it's the only explanation I can think of. This feels too real to be a dream, and it's nothing like the vision I had in the Crystal Empire when Spike and I were going to get the…" She trailed off, suddenly looking around frantically. "Wait, where's Spike in all this? What happened to him?" The other mares looked to each other, with Pinkamena looking relatively indifferent. Applejack was the one to answer: "He… he disappeared a while after our Twilight was killed. Nopony's seen 'im since we came to this here bunker." The young alicorn's shoulders visibly slumped as the news hit her. "I… I see." Just then, one more thing came to mind. "What about the Elements of Harmony? Where are they? We could use them to-" "I'll stop you right there," Pinkamena interrupted. "We have the Elements. Most of them, anyway. The changelings have the Element of Magic. Stole it right out from under Twilight's nose. A changeling had disguised itself as her boyfriend and convinced her to give it to him for safe keeping." "Wait, I-" She shook her head. "She had a boyfriend?" "Yes," Rarity confirmed. "Flash Sentry. Nice fellow, really, but… well, we still don't know whether he had been replaced or if he was just a changeling all along." "Oh… I see…" There was a stark silence between the five ponies then for suite a while. Nopony really knew what to say after that. "And… where's Cadance? I was told that she escaped the Crystal Empire with Shining Armor. Isn't she here?" Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm sorry, Twilight, but… she went missing a few weeks ago. Nopony knows where she is anymore." "She insisted that she go off on a reconnaissance mission," Pinkamena clarified, shaking her head, but whether it was in disappointment or sadness, Twilight couldn't tell. "Only one of her unit came back, and he didn't last long. He died while we were trying to save him. For all we know, Cadance is dead, or worse, being held prisoner by the changelings. Being the Princess of Love, she's like a living all-you-can-eat buffet for the bugs." Twilight's shoulders slumped. She had hoped to see Cadance. She could've helped prove that Twilight was who she said she was. Maybe then, ponies would start trusting her again. She'd have to do this the hard way then. Until then, she'd probably be stuck with Pinkamena watching her every move. Applejack yawned, stretching her forelegs over her head. "It's gettin' late, y'all. Ah say we get some shut eye and figure what to do in the mornin'." "Agreed," Rarity said with a nod. She stood from her seat and led Fluttershy from hers, guiding her to one of the beds, where the blinded pegasus easily managed to tuck herself in. Rarity then turned to Twilight and motioned to another bed close by. "That bed there is free. Rest up, darling. We're likely to have a busy day tomorrow." "Why's that?" Twilight asked as she approached the bed. "Rarity is working as one of the nurses in the clinic," Pinkamena explained as she claimed another bed. "To be honest, I was pretty surprised how good she is at the job." "I only do what I'm told," Rarity replied. "Applejack's cider is also very popular. It… helps ponies forget their worries. For a time, at least." "Oh." Twilight didn't know what to make of that. She supposed that meant that Applejack had started putting actual alcohol in her cider. While not something she'd enjoy, she could see why ponies would turn to something like that in this world. She silently sighed and climbed into the bed that Rarity had indicated to her. She laid facing away from the others as they said goodnight to one another. This world was one that needed saving. She knew that, but she doubted that there could be anything she could do to help them. Would they even want her help? 'Probably not.' She shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking such thoughts. She closed her eyes to try and go to sleep. To her surprise, it didn't take long for her do just that.
