Author's Note
Consider this also as a prologue.
1-Short Basis - Helena
Twilight.
Helena Tess Ryder was dreaming.
Twilight, I'm very much sorry.
Helena didn't know who the voice was, why she was being called Twilight, and why she was sorry.
I should've listened...
"No... come back..." she muttered while asleep.
I'm sorry, my faithful student. We'll meet again...
"STOP!" Helena shouted, instantly waking herself from the nightmare.
She looked around, released a breath of relief, and took a glass of water as she took one notebook and turned a lamp on and began to write.
Dear Diary,
It's been a month since I turned 18 and began receiving dreams about someone who seemed familiar leaving me, or the other way around. However, today, I also felt like being pulled around by some unknown force, which I might resort to magic if all of my experiments fail to explain why this is happening to me.
Before Helena got to sign, the lights came on which momentarily blinded her, and saw her drowsy brother peeking from the bedroom door, causing her to instinctively hide her diary. She faked a smile, then went to him.
"It's okay," Helena replied to the question he was about to ask. "It's just that dream again. Or, nightmare."
"Are you sure?" Her brother asked, and Helena nodded in confirmation. "Alright then, good night sis."
Helena chuckled as she gently pushed him off he doorway, turning off the lights. "Good night to you, my big best brother friend forever."
"You might want to make an acronym for that," Helena's brother joked as he went to her room which was just across the hallway.
As Helena closed the door and went to her diary, she noticed something outside from the window which was beside her study space, and saw a tall pony staring at her. Ignoring it, she rubbed her eyes and went to bed and floated off into her dream world. A world of friendship and colorfulness. A world where she was a Princess ruling aside elder Princesses. A world where she had five friends.
A world of ponies.
Helena woke up and headed to the dining area, half-awake. When she smelled the pancakes however, it quickly woke her up and her stomach grumbled.
"So," her mother said, flipping a pancake in the frying pan, "how was the night? We all woke up after that scream, and well... you know next."
"Well..." Helena began to nom in one of the pancakes in her plate. "Just the dream, only this time I think it was more of a nightmare now."
Her father, a telepath, looked at Helena.
"Still, the voice sounded clearer this time, and who is Twilight Sparkle? Those dreams keep calling me that." Helena added.
The whole household, including the house dog, stopped and looked at Helena, who winced. Her mother told to finish her breakfast, and she'll talk to Helena later after she ate. 'Must be something I said. Huh.' So she continued eating, and flashes of a memory slowly striked her mind, memory of five ponies with her... Helena shrugged the thought and finished the pancake with style.
After she washed her dishes, Helena went to her mother's room, finding that her mother was watching cartoons, and invited Helena to sit beside her. Her mother then switched CDs, moving past Helena's former favorite one, into a pony show.
"You asked about who is Twilight Sparkle," her mother asked, "right?"
Helena nodded.
"Watch the show. If you feel a headache or feel like it has happened before, call me." Her mother then played it from the very first episode, which involved a certain violet unicorn which matched almost all of her traits and favorites immediately. She began to take notes while the show rolled.
"So, Twilight Sparkle is a pony living in a place called Equestria..." Write, snap, swoosh, write. "Cutie mark similar to my signature logo. No, entirely the same signature logo I chose..." At the part where Applejack was introduced, the world seemed to froze.
Helena screamed.
Her mother, Velvet Ryder, ran inside to her room where Helena was.
Her brother ran from his room.
Her father ran from the yard, where he was about to enter his car to his work.
They ran to Helena who was screaming, hands on her head, the CD player broken due to a mysterious force. Her father, also a government agent, knew what he had to do. He holstered his tranquilizer pistol.
"I hope you can forgive me, Helena Twilight Sparkle Ryder."
*BANG!
Twilight Sparkle woke up on the floor of a room, with three humans looking at her. The taller man, glanced at her.
'Why are they looking at me? Where am I?'
"Helena," the female called, "are you alright?"
"Y-yes...?" 'Why is my name Helena Twilight Sparkle Ryder!? What's going on!?
The father's telepathic ability helped Twilight calm down, and sat on the couch to explain.
"You see dear, you were reincarnated, much like your brother here." Velvet pulled out a book. "Here, this might familiarize yourself to the world. I... uh... Helena?"
'Her name's Velvet Ryder. Reminds me of my mom... first mother. Thanks dad.'
Her father, the tall man, winked in reply. Twilight then opened the book, only to find that it was a diary, and she began to read it from the beginning until the last entry in 10 minutes. 'I guess brains are better than any weapon, but me writing a diary? I don't... remember...'
"I don't know if I should do the 10 seconds flat joke," her 'brother' joked, "but she finished the book in 10 minutes flat."
"So... what does this mean...?" Twilight was then engulfed by a ball of light.
Helena. Are you alright?
Helena was sleeping again. Might as well answer. "I don't exactly know, but I dreamed I was this Twilight Sparkle again."
She is you, and you are her.
"How? I'll need proof for that."
You have few of my telepathic abilities, use it.
"I... I have... what?"
Wake up.
Helena woke up at her bed, besides her father who was sitting near her. She looked around, refamiliarizing herself at home, which was odd. She had to ask this. "Why do I feel like this isn't my room at all?"
"Of course darling," her father replied, "last two days, you became your old self for a few hours before falling to the floor."
"Did I say anything at that time?" Helena asked.
"Only mass confusion in your head which triggered the transformation." Helena was relieved.
"So, how can I 'transform' back?" She was answered by silence as she noticed her father's gone. "I guess I'll have to find a way."
"Shining Armour's going to be pissed."
Helena flinched as an alicorn pony appeared right in front of her.
"Who the!?" Helena swallowed the lump in her throat. "Who are you?"
"Nice hands by the way, and I am you."
"You are me...? You're..." Helena gulped as her everything connected and fell into place, those good-bye dreams more or less comeback dreams. She was confused, and was about to hyperventilate when she used deep breaths. Twilight couldn't been anymore happier.
"I guess... I'll have to take over my body when we come home..." she mused.
"Home?" Helena asked, "this is... my home, while yours is at..."
"At Equestria, I know... Just when I was about to prepare myself to introduce normally to our parents..." Twilight replied.
"Why don't you... use your own body?" Helena suggested.
Twilight shook her head. "Nope, I won't risk myself being seen."
"Oh. What do you lastly remember?"
"Disaster. Me sacrificing for Equestria. Something like that..." Helena noticed Twilight frowning. "A happy death of old age with my friends..."
"Would you want to go to Equestria?" Helena offered, instantly turning Twilight's frown upside down.
A few days later, Helena had actually just discovered a crystal mirror to Equestria, and much to Twilight Sparkle's enthusiasm, she jumped only to come out as the familiar alicorn with a phoenix facing the left instead of the starburst cutie mark. Helena also noticed Twilight merging with her, a gentle voice of consciousness who once bore the Element of Magic. And, much to her surprise, Helena saw Twilight's friends, no, her friends waiting and was surprised.
"Twilight? Is that you?" Fluttershy asked. "Why is your cutie mark different?"
Helena looked at her flank, and was surprised. Using her best imitation of Twilight's accent, she said, "I don't know." She looked around and pulled everyone to a group hug. "I missed all of you."
Princess Celestia was watching, and when Helena had let go, she called her for a private talk in her room. Helena was surprised by the looks of the room. She guessed her design wasn't that bad... if Helena did try to draw Celestia's room a long time ago.
"So, Helena," Celestia said, the lavender mare flinching, "it took you long enough to respond."
"Uh... why?" asked Helena, "I'm no longer the pony they expected, you expected, your... majesty."
You didn't have to do that, Twilight whispered.
"Please, call me Celestia and," Celestia took a diary from a drawer, "this must be yours."
Helena took it using her magic which felt natural, and flipped it to the last page.
One, two, buckle my shoe.
Three, four, shut the door.
Five, six, pick up sticks.
Seven, eight, lay them straight.
Nine, ten, begin again.
"Well..." Celestia smiled.
Helena looked up and hummed a tune which Celestia didn't recognize and responded, "It's... really Twilight's stuff... right? Or... she knew about this... uh... she foresaw the future and wrote this to mock me... or something."
"It is also a spell to modify the crystal mirror's destination point, so it seems," Celestia commented.
So it was on purpose! Helena thought.
Hey, I just came to investigate new worlds, not be reincarnated as you! Twilight excused, You should've asked your mother.
Celestia watched at Helena's expressions changed like somepony was talking to her and decided to interrupt. "Let me talk to my former student."
Helena flinched and muttered a few words neither the ponies understood and fainted.
Twilight woke up on four hooves, and stared at an eye-widened Celestia. Twilight tapped around and stretched, re-adjusting to the muscles. She then wondered how being on fours was natural for Helena, and swiftly looked at her flank and had her eyes widen.
"Helena Ryder," she said, "the phoenix in the cutie mark shifted."
I was expecting a purple-orange yin yang mark. Celestia stared and investigated Helena/Twilight's cutie mark closely. The cutie mark was a phoenix facing right instead of left. It was also in a slightly different color, being more lighter than before.
Twilight visibly snapped as she glomped Celestia, causing Princess Luna, who just passed by, to be startled by the action. She was about to check on them after all, but the events were as fast as lightning.
Remind me to add this to my diary, which you might already know. Helena mentally chuckled. This is going to be epic along with my show, which is, don't be surprised, about you.
Shut up for a second, please?
"Twilight," Celestia said, "will you stay?" Twilight stepped back to let Celestia stand again.
"I..." Help. This is your body... "Helena might..."
"Disallow?" Celestia raised a brow. "Would you if you were her?"
Helena didn't respond, but rather has been busy planning causing Twilight to worry.
Twilight then fainted as Luna bursted into the room. Good job, Luna.
"And then... uh... oh. Oh!" Helena immediately hopped into an attack stance. "Five and Six! That makes absolutely perfect sense!"
"Uh... what?" Rainbow Dash.
Helena blinked and looked around before she summoned a frying pan and began to hit herself with it until her head bleed then she counted the drops before firing a healing spell to herself. Luna smiled as she solved what she meant.
"By doing so," Luna said, "thou cast a curse by yourself with blood magic?"
"By Freddy's Hat, yes!" Helena manically chuckled. "Nevermore, I'll have to use it against who I was. The curse... of death"
You're serious, right?
Relax, I saw the moon. We can perfectly escape this event by stopping you from even touching home. By that, I'll never be you, and you're still you, alive. Helena mentally shuddered. Unless you tell me that there was a woman with MPD who tried to stop.
I guess? I'm... feeling like fading away.
Oh. See you then, if we're successful. Only a glance of a hand will make you remember this.
Helena lit her horn and vanished in a smoke of purple which dissipated.
My name is Helena Ryder.
You’re name is Twilight Sparkle.
This is all just a dream.
This isn’t a dream.
“Who are you?” I asked to the dreamscape.
Somepony who knew you once.
“I am not Twilight Sparkle!” I shouted.
Are you? Try to remember.
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked again. “Just, who are you really!?”
You’ll know, my faithful student…
“Wait!” I shouted as I woke up on my bed.
I looked around checked the time at my alarm clock. It was just three in the morning. I sighed in relief and went back to sleep. I hoped that dream wouldn’t show itself again.
As morning came, I quickly refreshed myself and came towards the family dining room. I looked around and smiled as my family sat around the table. My father, who was at my right, smiled at us as he read the morning newspaper like every morning. My mother, who was at my left, prepared food while my big brother, who was in front of me, played finger gun with the air. As breakfast was being served, I took the moment to pull out a fiction pocketbook from my pocket and secretly read. However, my mother caught me.
“You know,” she told me. “If you read the books about healthcare, you should already know that breakfast is healthy for you. And you—” My mother faced my brother— “stop playing like you’re in a battlefield! This is the dining area, and you know what you should do.” She sat on her chair and sighed. “Let’s eat. And don’t apologize, both of you. I know you are going to, but you are already forgiven.”
The current generation of Ryder family, a military wannabe and an egghead. Being a Ryder meant I would be special and would shape the history of mankind. That was, if I could get myself out of my desire of hitting the books figuratively and literally. I hid the pocketbook and began to eat as well. I sighed on the inside, telling myself that this is going to be another boring—
“Oh, and advance happy birthday Helena dearie,” my dad chimed in as he ate. “Are you going to tell your friends?”
I smiled. “I already told them last week,” I answered.
—er… It seemed like this day will be slightly busy with me shopping my birthday items, apparently. It’s the Ryder’s instinct to prepare the day before an occasion. I continued eating my breakfast until it was empty then headed outside. I walked, ignoring an hallucination of a purple pony staring right at me. I headed towards downtown afterwards. It’s all just a walk away.
Dear Diary,
It’s a tough day trying to ignore an hallucination which just came up ever since I was ten while going for shopping. It’s also getting hard trying to ignore voices in my head while you’re trying to talk to somebody else. The family doctor just came up with nothing after I checked up. Dad tried to tell me to wait for tomorrow and decided to force me into watching a stupid horse show. I only saw a few similarities, but I still couldn’t understand what it meant. Me as a little horse character? Not a chance!
As things might go, there were some intimidating glares I picked up as I did my usual morning summer job being…
“Hey Helena,” someone called. “You’re up already?”
I looked around and saw a bookstore owner waving his hands.
“Oh, hey Jen,” I greet as I walked towards the bookstore he was in. “I’m ready for the day, you know, as always.”
Jen chuckled. “As always.” We both enter the store and flip the closed sign open. “What you planning for the afternoon?”
“Oh, buy for some party supplies,” I lazily explained. “Birthday’s tomorrow, you know. Gotta get ready, stuff and stuff, Ryder’s instincts.”
I look at Jen who just stared at me silly. “Are you okay, sir? You look silly.”
“It’s your birthday tomorrow, right?” Jen affirmed. “Oh, sorry about my behavior… but I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really—” I blinked. “—would really like to help on those supplies!”
“Okay,” I answer. “Sure, you can help.”
Jen walked over the card aisle and threw a pack towards my direction. I caught the pack and took notice of the title.
“My Little Pony-themed invitation cards?” I rose my eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yeah, really.” Jen walked back at the cashier as he whistled something which made me stop at my tracks. “I once liked those ponies, you know that?”
“What?” I asked. “You? You like a little girl’s show about ponies and friendship?”
“Yeah,” Jen answered. “It were the best days. Until it took a little turn and I lost interest of it. It was season two when that happened.”
The picture of Jen wearing pony merch made me giggle while he blushed, knowing what I was thinking. I finished giggling as soon as a customer entered the bookstore and waved towards the both of us. I then headed towards the employee’s area and picked up a sign and then headed outside and began my summer job.
...a sign spinner/advertiser to my favorite bookstore that my friend Jen owns. After a long thinking as I do my 3-hour job, apparently the glares seemed to be from my father’s workmates who walked around the city pretending to be regular people. When I told my dad that he’s secret is out and I knew it, I still remember his face being upset and them forcing me to tell everything I know about them. My answer was just simple as it was obvious from their methods.
Anyways, that wasn’t one of the most weird things I had today. I had found myself on a dark alley where I always found that hallucination always looking at me. Sometimes I try to talk to it but today my legs didn’t respond to my thoughts and I went toward the white pony thing which my parents told me was just some trick to my eye.
“Uh… Why am I doing this…?” I asked to myself as I tried to walk back. I managed to stop myself after willing so. “Okay. Where am I again?”
I looked back and faced the open road only to feel a gut feeling that I should’ve continue deeper into the alley. I stared as I took out a pocket book from my pocket. I had to choose where to go. I could believe my parents when they said that the hallucinations are just hallucinations or I could let my mind take for itself and let the hallucinations get worse. That, and I remembered something and I made a run outside.
I ran away instead of checking it out, since I have to buy more materials than ever. Being a Ryder is really hard if you actually want to since I heard there were Ryder families going around the world doing some of their own items. I just got into the plan of sending this and extra diary entries to Joanna Scales, who is actually my cousin named Lissia Ryder. Best publisher of stories.
Noon came afterwards and I have already enough materials for the party and enough money to be myself another book until…
“HELENA!!” my mother shouted.
I jumped, causing my materials to scatter around my bedroom for the second time. I groaned as I went towards the living room and was shocked to see who was at the door. She was my third cousin named Amy Ryder Loveheart.
“Amy?” I squeak. “You’re here?”
“Why?” Amy asked as she hugged me. “Can’t watch my favorite cousin turn eighteen, hmm?”
“Words…spread…fast,” I reply as I try to catch my breath after she released grip. “So, what’s up besides doing Ryder instincts and fighting that mental thing of yours since you were ten?”
“Trying to sort my party materials until mom shouted,” I replied.
“Boring,” Amy countered back as she pulled me outside. “Look what I got for you!”
I look around and find a small blue box with a red button. “Is that it…?”
“Just my latest invention,” Amy explained. “The Party Box! It scans the area, creates a scenario if there was a party, and uses all nearby party materials. That way I wouldn’t pay for extra materials and with permission people could just pop one up! Of course it’s reusable since when the party’s over all it needs is another click of the button and microbots will fix everything else.”
“Wow. That’s…wow,” I comment. “That’s sick. You actually made something fictional into a thing. Were you inspired?”
“Apparently they based the movie character Flint Lockwood to my family branch so yeah,” Amy finished. “Inspired.”
As I take the box and checked it out my mother calls us in and for supper. I take a few loaves of bread and ate them as I redirected towards my bedroom as I check Amy’s little Party Box and connect it to my personal computer. I connect its OS to my AI which then duplicates its capabilities and sort it into my fusion hard disk which can support over 256 TB of space. I then go back down and give Amy her box back as I came headed back and watch as my AI try to improve her algorithm.
“So,” I say out loud. “Let’s see where I was… Oh, right. Sorting out my party materials. I wish I had some kind of magic so that I could just place the My Little Pony-themed out of the non-Pony themed. Then everything would be so easy.”
…my mad scientist cousin arrived. There isn’t nothing much I can say except for my AI named Spike which now has the capabilities of a human being. I didn’t noticed that at first until I saw her sort her own code. I didn’t really regret it since I also managed to shape it into the G4 character of the same name. You know, as I write about this, the similarities are increasing as I thought about it. Jen reminds me of that pink party pony. Amy reminds me of that brown pony with an affinity of science. My brother reminds me of the main character’s brother. And thousands more.
Anyways, it’s about time to head to bed. I still can’t think of something when I went towards that alley though. A part of me, probably my soul, wants to get back there. I’ll probably head there myself with my dad after he arrives. I am a father’s daughter after all.
Your owner,
Helena Tess Ryder
PS: I nearly wrote Twilight Sparkle as my name. What’s wrong with me?
I looked around and decided to call it a night after writing at my diary. As I flopped myself to my bed, I stared at my ceiling full of glow-in-the-dark stickers. Most of them were ponies I once liked. As I closed my eyes, I failed to recognize the sounds of hoofsteps. I instantly opened my eyes and looked towards the door. There were nothing to be seen, or so I thought. I quickly rested my head and slept.