The day was fine and bright, with but one or two fluffy white clouds drifting in the blue sky. The midday sun overhead bore down on the town below continuously—not overly hot and uncomfortable, rather it was a pleasant temperature—and the students of Canterlot High, as many of the residents of the community did that day, were outside soaking up the warmth during the lunch hour. The younger years ran about excitedly, playing tag and bulldog and whatever other energetic activity took their fancy, while the older (and arguably more sensible) pupils lounged about quietly, sunbathing or talking in calm tone with one another.
Of these, seven students in particular—the athlete, Rainbow Dash; the fashionista, Rarity; the farm girl, Applejack; the party animal, Pinkie Pie; the animal-lover, Fluttershy; and the studious duo, Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer— were sat on a picnic blanket together, munching away on snacks, sipping lemonade and generally relaxing, their lessons finally over for a short period of time. The school day had certainly dragged, every pupil so eager to just get outside to soak up those ever appreciated rays, and they were not foolish enough to waste the time they were gifted now.
Indeed, Rarity was being her usual self and fiddling with Rainbow's bold and eye-catching hair, something which made the latter cringe—being dolled up was hardly a good way to spend an afternoon, in her eyes—and Fluttershy was distracted by Twilight's small dog, Spike, tickling his belly with an experienced touch and taking pleasure in watching him roll over in pleasure, his tail wagging so fast that he would surely ruin the picnic blanket soon. His owner simply sat and smiled shyly, happy to see her pet getting such attention. Pinkie was lounging atop the destroyed Canterlot High School statue, her fingers tracing the hoof of the horse—the only surviving part of the magnificent creation which was destroyed by Midnight Sparkle, the corrupted form of Twilight—and her legs lazily kicking back and forth, her free hand hanging over the edge of the marble which also served as the portal between Equestria and the human world. An empty carton of juice lay at her head, though she continued to suck at the straw anyway. Applejack and Sunset Shimmer were both sat at the base of the statue, the former sipping at her glass of cool lemonade and the latter taking pleasure in a tomato, cucumber and cheese sandwich.
Two butterflies, also thankful for the the extremely pleasant weather, floated past on the still air, drawing the attention of a few of the high-schoolers who glanced up only half-interested, though Fluttershy did note the eerie similarity between the smaller creature and the ones sewn onto her skirt. Twilight Sparkle looked up slowly too before returning her attention to her new... Well, it was probably too soon to call her 'friend', but then again 'acquaintance' seemed too vague a term. In the end, she settled on 'good classmate' and left it at that.
"Uh... It's a nice day." Twilight said, fiddling with her glasses a little; she didn't have much experience in making small talk. Certainly, Applejack laughed at her as she slouched a little, placing her glass down.
"Ya know, sugarcube, you've said tha' more times than ah can count."
"Oh, sorry!" Twilight's cheeks blushed a delicate pink as she looked down at her lap, fiddling with her fingers now instead. "I'm not very good at talking to people. No one at Crystal Prep would ever talk to me."
"Oh, darling!" Rarity exclaimed, momentarily looking away from her previous engagement. "You poor thing! But don't you worry, we here at CHS are a much more pleasant crowd!"
"Oh, no, the students at Crystal Prep were... They weren't mean. Not... Not all of them. I just didn't fit in."
Sunset laughed as she placed her sandwich down on her lap, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "You think you didn't fit in? Trust me, I had it much harder."
"How so?"
"Let's just say I was a whole other species to everyone else."
Twilight frowned as the girls around her giggled quietly, obviously picking up on something she hadn't. Of course, it was to be expected that this group of friends would have their own little inside jokes, and it would surely be a while before she picked up on them; the end of the friendship games had been only yesterday and she was only just starting to get to know these girls. But, just perhaps, she'd become a part of the tight-knit group at some point and then maybe she'd understand.
Silence fell once more in the small group, only disturbed by the sounds of the overly-excitable youngsters as they wen't about their playing. Each person resumed their previous tasks, having been interrupted by Twilight's poor attempt at conversation—in the end, it did last longer than a few seconds, so that was something to be celebrated—though it wasn't long before the girl began to wonder just what secrets these girls had. For instance the magic they possessed... She would have loved to learn more, maybe even see if she could harness it without turning into an evil she-demon.
A strange sound, not wholly unlike the kind that one would hear in some tacky television show in which the characters could teleport using magic, sounded a few minutes later, making Twilight yelp a little in shock, though she quickly recovered enough to open her arms to allow Spike to cuddle up to her. The poor thing was quivering, something which wasn't helped when the statue's panel began to glow and something large and lilac fell out. A bright white light flashed momentarily just a second later, causing the girl to close her eyes shut immediately in preparation for some sort of explosion, but rather than a colossal boom the only thing that could be heard was a quiet moan. When Twilight opened her eyes after a second, fully ready to see a ravaged world before her, she could only jump up in surprise and stare at the being before her, Spike left on the ground with his mouth wide open and his tail wagging excitedly.
The creature, which had landed on it's muzzle with it's flank high in the air, quickly jumped up and shook itself off, somehow not losing the gold crown resting atop its head. It looked vaguely like a pony, about the same height as a thirteen hands high horse, but it's features were rather out of proportion. It's ears were much too large, it's eyes too big also and with a much too intelligent shine, and its muzzle was pointed and not nearly as curved as was usual in horses. Its body, too, was peculiar; the back was far too short, its legs as well, and it freakishly had no apparent hooves. But that wasn't the worst; what really got Twilight was the long horn growing from the creature's multicoloured mane and the large wings protruding from her side, as well as the mark on it's flank which was exactly the same as her hair clip.
"I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner," the creature—no, it was definitely a pony—began, speaking at such a rapid speed that Twilight had trouble to understand. She realised only a second later how freaky it was that she actually could understand; first her dog, and now this? It was almost too much. "I didn't get your messages until just now because I was caught in this time travel loop and honestly-" The pony paused speaking for a minute and raised a hoof to its forehead before quickly pushing it outward as it continued, trying to emphasise what it was saying. "-it was the strangest thing that's ever happened to me!"
The pony stopped its frantic speaking and stilled its ever ruffling feathers, glancing towards the group before going still, its mouth dropping open a second later in shock as it laid its eyes upon the person in front of it. Glancing down at its own body, the pony's expression only grew more perplexed and it raised its hoof quickly in alarm just as the portal flashed once again, a second creature falling from it; this time, a small green and purple dragon who landed atop the mare's back, sitting there quite comfortably until he, too, noticed the new members and promptly fainted, resting atop the equine princess' back.
The lilac mare watched with the same shocked expression, only capable of blinking in surprise now and then, as the human counterpart before her waved with a half awkward, half scared smile. She backed up a few steps, her tail disappearing into the portal, just as Sunset Shimmer, who had promptly disappeared as she arrived, came around the corner. But she was no longer a human, but rather a yellow unicorn mare with a fiery mane and an equally fiery sun cutie mark.
The human Twilight just continued to stare as she saw the pony—who was clearly the same person who'd saved her from becoming a tyrannical monster for eternity the night before—step forwards, looking over her own body and then glancing at Twilight, giving a little shrug as she sat down. An aura of magic surrounded her horn as she levitated her sandwich to her mouth, taking a small bite before dropping it as Fluttershy rushed over, amazed.
"Oh my gosh, you two are so adorable!" she squealed, almost gasping for air at the excitement before turning to Spike, amazed at seeing a real baby dragon. "Gosh, he's really a baby dragon! Wow, I must visit Equestria some time!"
Pony Twilight gasped as she felt her human friend wrap her arms around her neck tightly, squeezing as hard as she could; the mare raised a hood and wrapped it around the woman somewhat nervously, giving a small smile. "Make that... the second strangest." she muttered, blushing a little before backing away from her friend and glancing around quickly. "I... I suppose you're all sorted then? I can go back to Equestria? I don't know about you, but honestly, I'm starving! And, uh, I suppose Sunset wants to be changed back. Can't have ponies wandering around in your world, I guess. Not when we're, you know, pets over here..." The mare's stomach grumbled at that precise moment and she laughed, looking at the small picnic basket and removing the towel covering it with her mouth, spying a small burger and beaming. "Oh, yum! I'll just be taking this, if that's alright..." Levitating the burger, she began to walk back to the portal, glancing towards Sunset. "I guess you'll probably change back if I go home. If you don't, just write to me!"
Sunset shrugged again as she took another mouthful of her sandwich, nodding. "Eh, I'm fine whatever. It's nice to have four hooves again. And magic... Wow, you forget how much you miss it!"
"I'll bet!" Twilight chirped, before waving quickly, her burger just hovering into Sunset's view as she walked into the portal and left.
"Twilight, wai-" she began, but it was too late; the mare was gone, only her shellshocked human counterpart remaining. As the princess vanished completely, Sunset felt herself shift back into her human form and sighed, looking a little disheartened. "Oh, horsefeathers."
"Horsefeathers..." human Twilight murmured, rubbing her head as she sat back down. It was a lot to take in. "I... I suppose that explains the 'different species' thing and the magic, anyway..."
"You'll get used ta it, sugarcube." Applejack commented, lounging back a little. "It didn't take us too long ta wrap our heads 'round it."
"I guessed!" Pinkie blurted as she returned her attention to the juice carton, sucking at the straw intently.
"Wow..." Twilight said, appreciating Spike's presence as he curled up in her lap. Trying to distract herself, she continued instead, "What did you want to tell... Whoever that was?"
"Oh, she's your pony counterpart," Rainbow butted in, taking the opportunity to get away from Rarity's obsessing. "And you're her human one. So, she's the pony Twilight Sparkle."
"Yep. And I was born in Equestria, I was born a pony. But I came over here because I couldn't get my own way and basically turned into a wicked she-demon. Sort of like you did, but Twilight—she's a pony princess, you know, the princess of friendship—helped reform me. " Sunset added, before grinning a little evilly, folding her legs in a casual manner. "Oh and one more thing... I was born equine, hence why I'm a veggie. They don't eat meat over there."
"Oh, good heavens. That was beef, not vegetables, wasn't it?" Rarity asked, sparing a glance towards the portal which began to glow a second later, two pieces of bread and a burger falling out, a large bite mark taken out of each bit. Sunset laughed and stuffed the rest of her veggie sandwich back into her mouth, grinning. It surely wouldn't hurt Princess Twilight, there was no need to worry.
"Yep."
