Switched

Luna panted in shock and looked upwards towards the celling. The hopper window, which she had accidently opened, fell back in its place. She could see the figures of a few cult members, which passed it. Apparantley the Alicorn was safe.

She slowly turned around. The mare was in a nice, comfortable place. A chimney enlightened it with its orange fire. The flickering shine fell on shelves full of books. They were everywhere. On the walls and the celling. There were only a few chairs here.

"Who goes there?“, a voice asked all of a sudden. It did not sounded unfriendly and harsh, but patient, nice and friendly. The talker was sitting on a chair with its back to Luna. It was a pale pink unicorn with a curley, violet mane.

"Luna“, the mare said and approached the chair, "The name is Luna.“

"Friend or foe?“, asked the mare.

The Alicorn smiled. "Friend“, she stated, "A friend forever.“

The mare turned around. The unicorn had a nice mane, which reminded Luna a bit of Twilight's. She was wearing it in a ponytail. Blue strands shimmered in the violet. Her eyes had the colour of a plum. A deep, mysterious violet. Her Cutiemark resembled a blinking star and a small swirl around it, also blue.

"A friend, who has fallen from the sky“, the mare said and jumped down from her chair.

Luna chuckled and admitted: "Well, I actually fell down a roof. I was running away from a sect, which worshipped a so-called Starswirl the Wicked. They had spotted me overseeing one of their cult meetings.“

The pink mare slowly trotted towards the chimney. "You've got lucky“, she only said, "They are not really nice. Although they are not here for a very long time.“

Luna's eyes flashed in surprise. Maybe fate is on my side! She walked to the unicorn. "You know about this cult, eh…?“

Her friendly host smiled. "Starlight Glimmer“, she introduced herself.

"Ah, Starlight.“ The name sounded familiar to her. Twilight Sparkle in her world had told her that this unicorn had been obsessed with the idea of equallizing the ponies by stripping of their Cutiemarks. But this Starlight was the complete opposite.

Luna looked around. She spotted a weird looking, wooden stick, which leaned against the wall. "What is this?“, the Alicorn asked curiously, "And where are we?“

Starlight levitated the stick and smiled. "This is the staff“, she explained and laughed, "It is nothing special. It helps me, doing my work. I am Ponyville's liberian. See?“

Starlight casted her magic into the staff. It glowed in a soft green, before it pulled a book close towards the staff. Starlight eyed the cover. "The Virtues of Good Character Traits. A Guide Book“, she stated, "That goes under V.“ With a flick of the staff she placed the book into the right shelf.

Luna blinked in awe and thought: How weird. In her world Twilight Sparkle had been the librerian. And in this world it was Starlight Glimmer. She moved more books with the help of her staff into the right shelves.

"Why isn't Twilight Sparkle the librerian?“, asked Luna.

Starlight responded: "Please, Luna. That mad scientist could never fullfill such an important job.“ There was contempt in her voice. No real hate, but it was a healthy mistrust for Twilight Sparkle.

Starlight leaned her stuff back against the wall. "Do you ever go outside?“, asked Luna. The purple unicorn shook her head. She crossed the librery and sat down on a window sims. Through the shimmering glass Luna could see the greyish grass and the dieing trees. Sickish green clouds floated over the sky, blocking out the sun.

Luna climbed on the sims as well and sat by Starlight's side. The purple mare spoke: "I used to, when Princess Lunar ruled over Equestria by the side of King Sombra. This world has not always been such a dessert, Luna.“

The Alicorn realized that she was pronouncing her name correctly. She asked belivered: "You know, I am not from your world? I mean, I look like Lunar.“

Starlight smiled and pointed at her. "Yes, but you do not act like Lunar“, she said softly, "You do not speak like her. You move in another way.“ Her ears twitched sadly. „Many Ponyville citizens have not seen that. Due to the years of tyranny and destitution many have developed a tunnel view. They only see what they want to see. That is also a reason, I no longer go outside. This town does no longer feel like Ponyville to me.“

She dropped her head. Luna laid a wing on her shoulder. "I am sorry“, she whispered, "I wish, they could change.“

Starlight responded: "We will see. Besides there are worse things in life, Luna, then ignorant neighbours.“ Her sentence caused both mares to laugh.

But then Luna got serious again. She said: "You mentioned, that you know things about the cult. Do you mind telling me?“

Starlight shook her head. "I do not know much“, she responded, "But what I know, I am willing to share with you.“

Starlight explained: "The cult is rather new. It only exists since a few months. The members are worshipping a wizard unicorn called Starswirl the Wicked and wish to reach another side. I am not sure, if it is just meant symbolic or if there is more about it. Because I do not believe that this special unicorn ever existed.“

Luna responded: "In my world there was an unicorn, who was called Starswirl the Bearded. I have seen many counterparts of my world in yours. So why shouldn't this Starswirl the Wicked exist as well?“

Starlight explained: "Because I witnessed a conversation of Mayor Mare with a hooded figure. I could not really understand, what the stranger said, but his voice sounded so heavy with meaning. It was as if he tried to persuade Mayor Mare of something.“

Luna asked: "And what happened after that?“

"Nothing“, Starlight said, "But in the next night I could hear the first death cries.“

Luna blinked confused. That is strange. Why is this cult holding its meetings in the castle? Does Celestiar know about it? Why is nopony stopping it? And who was this mysterious mare? The strange discovery in this night had given Luna more questions then answers.

There was a clicking of the window, through which Luna had fallen. Alicorn and unicorn looked up. Fluttershy was peeking her head through the slit. "Hey“, she called, "Why did you ran off? We only wanted to talk with you.“

Luna stood up and responded coldly: "After you tried to tear out my guts, I persume.“

She looked back at Starlight Glimmer. "I will come back, I promise“, Luna said. Her tail twitched as she turned her attention towards Fluttershy and added angrily: "But first I would like to have a small chat with that one.“ Bashing her wings she flew through the gap and landed on the roof.

Fluttershy was waiting there. The pegasus blinked in surprise as Luna laid her angry glare on her. "What?“, she demanded to know, "What did I do now?“

The Alicorn explained: "You and your friends told me to help me. So why did you keep something so important secret from me?“

Fluttershy grumbled: "That is not important. Thrill and a bit action, nothing more.“ She rubbed her nose. „I would not take it so serious, if I were you.“

Luna responded: "Are you insane? We talk about willing murder here! This is sadistic, what the Starswirl cult is doing.“ Fluttershy flitched her ears and spread her wings partly.

While cleaning them, she explained carelessly: "This Starswirl sauce is in any case inscrutable. Nopony actually knows who this Starswirl the Wicked is supposed to be. Blimey, it could even be that he does not exist at all. Mayor Mare started the cult a few moons ago and the ponies are flying to her like bees to honey. The idea of a paradise must have something compared to this hell, we are in now.“

Luna asked: "Do your friends know, that you are a member of this cult?“

Fluttershy yawned and stretched herself. "Yes“, she snarled, "They know. And they are okay with it. They know, I am not a dumb bigot like Mayor Mare. I am just doing it for amusement.“

Fluttershy made her way into the direction of her cottage. "Why do you even bother about this?“, she asked and turned her head back to Luna.

The Alicorn shrugged. "I do not know“, she admitted, "I just feel like this cult is the preparation for something big.“

Fluttershy huffed and stared upwards. "Dream on, Princess Bitch“, she grumbled and flew off into the darkness of the night.