Twilight Sparkle's head felt like it was just hit by a freight train. Twilight lay there in the cold dew coated grass. The low temperature helped numb her pain slightly.
After what could have been anywhere from thirty minutes to half of the day, Twilight slowly opened her eyes. Her eyelids felt like lead. They were almost too heavy for her to life. Opening her eyes hardly made any difference. The entire area around her was still completely dark, as if she had never opened her eyes. If her hoof was even half a centimeter in front of her eyes, she wouldn't be able to see it. Even though she couldn't see anything at all, she knew exactly where she was. The cold, wet grass and extreme dark was all she needed to know that she was deep inside the Everfree Forest.
If Twilight was in any other position, she would be running as fast as she could. The pain in her head that was far worse than any other headache she'd ever had before prevented her from even standing up, much less running.
She continued to lie in the grass for what felt to her like hours. There was no way for her to tell the time. The shadows never once moved. Not even the temperature seemed to change. The thought of being in an area that was stuck in time crept into her mind, though she knew it was impossible.
Over time, the cold temperature of the ground numbed the pain in Twilight's skull enough so she could stand up. Once she did, a fuzzy image entered her mind. The silhouettes of three ponies, each of different sizes, standing inside a gray room. One of the ponies was clearly an elder alicorn; either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna. The other two were average sized, though the middle was slightly taller than the other. Both were of an unidentifiable race. The middle pony hunched down, almost like she was in a fight or preparing a difficult spell. The area above her head slowly lit up until the room was brighter than the sun. After the flash of light disappeared, only the silhouette of the alicorn remained.
Was this a memory? Was it a dream? Twilight couldn't tell exactly what it was. Perhaps it was merely a figment of her imagination. Perhaps it meant something. Perhaps she was one of the ponies in the vision. Perhaps she had teleported herself to the Everfree Forest by accident. How else could she have arrived on the cold, dark ground of the forest? She'd never come this deep into the Everfree Forest without any company. Even then, she would know to avoid the darkest areas.
Another thought invaded her mind. Who was the third pony? Twilight couldn't think of who they could possibly be. The only other pony she thought it could have been was Starlight Glimmer, though there was no conceivable way she would have been with both Princess Celestia and Twilight.
She shrugged that last thought off. The third pony's identity would surely come to her mind later. Twilight attempted to light up the forest with a simple illumination spell. What she could describe as easily the worst headache of her life cut into her skull like a knife. Being struck with a sledgehammer would hurt less. She fell to her knees and cried out in pain. Her headache from just a few hours before didn't even remotely compare to this one. If that was a headache, this was easily a migraine.
Just as fast as this new headache arrive, it left. Twilight remained on her knees. She could feel tears coming from her eyes. Her inner scientist wondered if it would happen again if she tried the spell again, or a different spell. She hesitated to risk this. Though the pain was brief, it was terribly immense.
She huffed out a breath. Twilight knew the Everfree enough to know that there were monsters that would kill and eat her, and go out of their ways to find seconds. Light would keep them at bay. She preferred to have a terrible headache than be eaten alive.
Twilight attempted to cast an illumination spell again. The area around her was suddenly cast in nearly blinding violet light. A new headache dug into her head. Fortunately, this was far less severe than the previous. Twilight closed her eyes, but kept her spell going. With an annoyed sigh, she opened her eyes. The light nearly burned her retinas. She kept her eyes open despite the pain.
Her eyes slowly adjusted to the bright light. She smiled and began to walk. She didn't have even the slightest clue as to where she was headed. Anywhere was better than the dew coated forest filled with monsters that thrived in the dark.
Over time, Twilight's headache slowly disappeared. After it finally left, she let out a sigh of relief. She felt that she'd already had enough headaches in one lifetime.
Suddenly, a faint sound echoed off the trees. The sound surprised Twilight, causing her to jump. Whatever it was, it almost sounded like a Sonic Rainboom. Twilight looked up to the sky, expecting to see one. The sky was simply overcast with small openings, revealing a comforting blue.
She drooped her head down and continued to walk. The thought of what the loud sound was stuck in her mind. Perhaps a spell gone awry? Maybe a group of ponies were using explosives to change the landscape so they could live there?
She looked forwards. Up ahead, Twilight saw an opening in the forest. She saw light coming from it. A smile came to her face. She ran as fast as she could to the opening. Finally, she would be back home!
She skidded to a halt after escaping the forest. What was ahead wasn't home. A massive city was on the horizon. Skyscrapers easily covered a large majority of the city. Twilight had never seen any building that massive.
Fear dug into her and froze her there. It left just as quickly as it had entered. She had never seen this city before. The city resembled Manehattan, with some elements of Canterlot thrown in.
Having never seen this city before, Twilight was now certain that she was farther from home than she thought. The Everfree Forest was merely walking distance from her home. How far from home was she?
Twilight's heart was beating rapidly at the sudden news. In an attempt to alleviate the feeling, she breathed in and exhaled deeply. This succeeded, but not nearly on the scale Twilight hoped for.
She observed the architecture of the buildings. They appeared Equestrian for the most part, although they had a few noticeable differences. These were much larger, both in terms of height and width. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but the only way she could find out where she was would be to go to the city. She didn't want to speak to anypony, though. She decided to fly above and look at it from the sky.
Twilight extended her wings. Doing so felt strange, like it was the first time she'd used them all over again. A sense of panic entered her. She felt like trying to fly would also feel like her first time. She feared that she would crash into the ground the second she took off. Once again, she breathed deeply. It could be the only thing to calm her down.
She jumped into the air and flapped her wings as hard as she could. Somewhat surprisingly, she remained in the air. With a smile, she flew towards the city.
As she approached, Twilight observed the city. Calling it massive would be an understatement. This was easily over ten times the size of Canterlot and Ponyville combined. It dwarfed any settlement she had ever been in, even Manehattan.
Once she was above the city, Twilight looked down into the streets. A strange sense of vertigo entered her. It left just as quickly as it came. Her eyes drifted to a small alley in between two massive buildings. She noticed two seemingly bipedal creatures facing each other.
One of the creatures held a black box-like item in its hand. The creature pointed it at the other, who held their arms above their head. After several seconds, a bright light and an explosion came from the box. The creature that held their arms up fell to the ground.
The creatures were standing on their hind legs. It was truly an unusual sight. Twilight waited for the creatures to return to all fours. They continued to stand upright for several minutes. Twilight blinked. She'd never seen such a crea--
Wait. Yes, she had seen creatures like this. Nowhere near her home, however. She'd seen creatures like this in the alternate dimension. The one in the mirror.
The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Twilight didn't send herself to the Everfree Forest. She wasn't even in Equestria.
Twilight had sent herself to a completely different planet.
Her heart nearly stopped at the realization. Her wings almost locked up. The sudden loss of altitude brought her back to reality.
A loud explosion immediately followed the realization. Twilight looked down to see the source, which was the two creatures with the small black box. The one with empty hands fell to the ground.
A wave of energy seemed to surge through her body, though the projectile was far from her. She just witnessed one of the creatures kill another. No. That wasn't just a killing. That was a murder.
She looked to the side and landed on the roof of a nearby building. Some sort of disgusting bile rose from her stomach to the base of her throat. Twilight barely held it back.
Why would any creature kill another of it's species? Twilight had never encountered any other pony that had actually wished to kill another pony. The only other pony that she could name that was like that was Nightmare Moon. During the time she was in Nightmare Moon's alternate future, the other ponies didn't seem to mind too much. That timeline's Rarity had mentioned there were visitors to the castle.
So... Why did this creature kill the other creature? The thought plagued Twilight's mind. She knew that it would for the rest of her long life, even if she didn't want to admit it to herself.
The thought was so deeply ingrained in her mind that she hadn't noticed the portal that appeared in front of her for quite some time. Twilight, at first, merely looked at it. She hadn't cast a spell since the forest, and she would have known if she cast a spell for a portal. The creatures she was now with didn't have any easy way of casting magic. Her time in the alternate dimension in the mirror was enough for her to know that.
Twilight seemed to know that this portal led back to Equestria. She wanted to step inside to escape this new hellish world, but she didn't seem to have the physical capability. Her body felt weak, like back in the forest.
Time passed by. Twilight could only look at the portal. She watched it slowly rotate. The portal suddenly brightened, signifying that somepony was using it. Twilight watched as Princess Celestia walked through the portal. Princess Celestia's eyes seemed to have aged hundreds of years since Twilight had last seen them. Perhaps it was Twilight's eyes that had aged.
Princess Celestia didn't need to use any words for Twilight to know what she wanted. Twilight forced herself to stand up. The two walked back into the portal and back home where her heart belonged. Twilight hadn't even spent a day in this new world and she already knew she didn't belong there.
