As Short as your Self-Esteem
From One to Another
¨Are you sure about this, Twilight?¨ Spike asked.
Twilight rechecked her hastily scribbled notes. She could barely read them, but it was intelligible enough for her.
¨Of course everything's going to be just fine, Spike,¨ the purple alicorn replied. ¨I've checked and rechecked everything.¨
Spike twiddled his thumbs around. ¨I know, but I just want to make sure you don't mess up the whole world with your crazy experiments. Again.¨
Twilight paced around the room. ¨Do you think I should bring my friends along for the test ride, Spike?¨ she asked the purple dragon.
Spike uneasily said, ¨I don't know, Twilight. You know that if it goes wrong, you'll be jeopardizing them as well as yourself.¨
Twilight's eyes widened, and replied, ¨You're right, Spike. I don't want to jeopardize them or their lives. I should just go alone, unless they want to come.¨
Just as Twilight said this, the door slammed open against the wall, and a familiar high-pitched voice echoed around the room.
¨Hey, Twilight! Why is the castle lab so messy?¨ Pinkie said.
Pinkie was indeed right, as the lab's floor was littered with papers with notes, papers, and zigzaggy lines on long lines of parchment.
Following Pinkie were the other former elements of harmony-Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. ¨Oh my, Twilight, this room is simply drab,¨ said a white unicorn. ¨When are you going to clean this mess up?¨
Twilight glared at Rarity. ¨I'm developing a new teleporting spell. I need somepony to test it. Obviously I'm going to be one, but I was wondering...¨
¨What, dear?¨ Rarity asked.
¨Uh...well, I need somepony to test my teleporting spell with me.¨ Twilight uneasily replied.
Rainbow Dash flew up and put her hooves together. ¨Sure! But I need to know where we're going first. Can we go to Las Pegasus? Or maybe Manehatten? Or even-¨ Applejack stopped Rainbow with a hoof in her mouth. ¨Ah think we should let Twilight tell us, sugar cube.¨
Twilight rolled her eyes and said, ¨We're only going to teleport to the other side of town. We're not going to Manehatten, or Las Pegasus, or any of those places!¨
¨Ughhhhhh, but that's so boring!"Rainbow complained.
¨You get what you get and you don't throw a fit,¨ said Twilight firmly. ¨Now, let's start the spell.¨
Twilight checked over her notes one last time, yes, she had it right and started it up.
Okay, I need to focus on where I want to go, Twilight thought.
Twilight focused on the meadow right beside the old oak tree that marked the border of Ponyville. She focused on the flowers, the smell of roses in the air, and the crisp air. She focused on-
¨Twilight, hurry up and do the spell! I need to go to the bathroom right NOW!!¨ yelled Pinkie.
Twilight's concentration broke, and she opened her eyes and stopped the spell right in the middle of it. ¨Pinkie!¨ she yelled, frustrated. Now she had to start it all over again!
Unfortunately, the spell apparently wasn't done yet. The glow from Twilight's horn didn't stop. It grew brighter and brighter until it filled the whole lab room, so blinding that Twilight could barely see. A huge hum filled everypony's ears. Unknown to the others, Spike found his way out of the room and he ran down the huge castle hallway, sprinting for his favorite comic book. Twilight yelled to the others, but they couldn't hear her over the hum or see her because of the blinding light. Suddenly all the light vanished. And the hum dissipated.
And a certain six ponies were gone too.
* * *
¨Twiiiiiilllighhhhhtt...¨
Twilight felt horrible. She felt like she had just applebucked twenty trees with a heavy stone tied to her back.
¨Twiliiighhttt...¨
Twilight became aware of the voice calling her name, but she stubbornly refused to answer it. She needed more sleep.
¨Twiilliiiiiiiighhhhht....¨
Twilight refused to open her eyes. Just a bit longer... she thought.
¨Twiiiiiliiiiiiiighhhhhttt...¨
Twilight squirmed around and sat up. She opened her eyes, and for a second all she saw was a bright light. The light solidified into six shapes, all different colors. Twilight's vision cleared some more, and she recognized them as her friends.
Twilight yawned out loud and smacked her lips a few times to make sure they were in working order. Her vision cleared all the way, and she realized they were sitting in a huge forest, bigger than the Everfree.
¨Girls, where are we?¨
Twilight jumped to her hooves. She looked around and spotted a squirrel jumping up the tree. It looked around for a second before bounding up the tree.
¨I think we're in the White Tail Woods, girls,¨ Fluttershy said. ¨This place seems similar to there...¨
¨No, there aren't any birch trees here,¨ Applejack replied. ¨So it can't be the White Tail Woods.¨
Twilight looked closely at the trees. They were red, huge, and everywhere. She recognized them as a rare tree that not many ponies knew about.
¨Girls, these are redwood trees,¨ Twilight said. ¨They're a variant of redhoof trees, and they only exist on the west coast of Equestria. Which means that we're on the west coast of Equestria.¨
Rainbow Dash smiled with relief and said, ¨Well if that's true, then we know exactly where we are, so we can get out of here! Right, Twilight?¨ She looked at Twilight eagerly. Twilight fumbled around in her memory and replied, ¨Actually, girls, I don't really know much more than that. I've only studied the woods and read about their history, not the layout!¨
¨Oh...dear.¨ said Fluttershy.
Twilight smiled and said, ¨But these woods usually aren't very big, so we really can just walk until we reach the edge. Twilight continued, ¨So, let's start walking!¨
Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all groaned.
Pinkie Pie just smiled.
¨Let's go!¨ she exclaimed.
