My Purpose

"And finally, this is the main library," Twilight said, waving her hoof in the air to emphasize the amount of books that stood on each shelves in a tidy and orderly manner. Twilight seemed really proud of the sight. She had been giving a newly reformed Starlight Glimmer a tour of the castle as it only felt necessary since she would be expecting visits from her every now and then after her reformation earlier that same day.

Starlight looked around the library to be caught by a particularly interesting sight. She walked towards what seemed to be a mirror connected to a large amount of mechanics. Something you wouldn't find in your average library.

Twilight smiled and trotted towards the mirror. An idea came to mind, although Twilight could supervise Starlight and monitor her growth on friendship, another mare might be a good fit to teach her the ropes, or perhaps, she may be able to teach many others the value of friendship.

"You may be wondering what this is-"

Before Twilight could finish however, she finally noticed that the portal was not functioning but in it's normal solid state. Twilight gasped in shock. She ran forward and placed her front hoof on the mirror to confirm the obvious. The familiar humming sound and glowing aura of the portal we're also not present.

"Oh no! What happened? Did the connection between the two worlds shut off? How? Why?!" Twilight asked herself as she quickly became panicked.

"Two worlds?" Starlight asked for confirmation, tilting the side of her head in a confused manner.

Then, all of a sudden, the magical journal that stood atop the portal shook violently. In a manner that looked like messages we're being spontaneously received all at once. Twilight and Starlight stood looking at the glowing journal.

"What's that?" Starlight questioned. Observing the book as Twilight quickly detached it. A rather worried look upon her face, she quickly began flipping the contents of the journal with her magic to find numerous unread messages. Relieved somewhat knowing that the connection was still active.

"This is a magical journal which connects to another world, a world where a close friend of mine lives in and by the amount of messages she's been sending me, something must be wrong," Twilight said looking concerned.

Starlight on the other hand, stood there amazed. Although she's learnt countless high level spells and has come in contact with ancient magical artifacts she has never witnessed anything of the sorts before. Flipping numerous pages, Twilight quickly scanned the entries and proceeded to levitate the book back onto it's stand.

"But, why are all these messages being sent now?" Twilight asked herself.

Starlight began thinking to herself before the obvious hit her, if the incident only happened recently then the numerous time travel incidents may have caused a magical imbalance between the two worlds or perhaps, the portal didn't operate like it did here in the other timelines. "It's because of me isn't it?" Starlight asked, although she knew the answer was written all over Twilight's face by then. Starlight was saddened by what her actions might cause in a long term if something bad we're to come of this situation.

Twilight looked nervous to say the least and Starlight noticed the expression on her face. "Don't worry Starlight, i'm more then certain that my friend can take care of herself, it's just..."

"You're worried?" Starlight questioned.

Twilight nodded in agreement. She refocused her attention to the portal which fortunately began re-operating, initiating it's start up process. Purple aura coursed around the many mechanics which eventually struck the mirror with a lightning bolt of magical energy. A loud irritating sound and a blinding white flash later, the portal was functioning as normal.

"Phew, I guess it just needed to boot up," Twilight smiled, relieved once more. Looking back at Starlight she began speaking once more. "I know you may have a lot of questions and i'll tell you everything about this once I return but right now-"

"It's okay, Twilight. However, are you sure you're alright to go right now? I know myself that numerous time travel spells and casting magical blasts at each other isn't exactly energy reserving," Starlight suggested. Small hints of fatigue showed across her face.

Twilight knew herself that she didn't feel at her best but the last thing she wanted was for something to happen to Sunset or any one of her Canterlot High friends. Rest could wait, her friends might need her. "I'm afraid I can't take the risk, Starlight. Just in case something has happened on the other side of the mirror, I need to leave now. It may be best if you get some rest yourself," Twilight suggested.

"I understand, good luck Twilight," Starlight said smiling. Some rest would do her good as adrenaline from her earlier adventures had toned down and she began feeling the effects of exhaustion take over her. The Sun would be setting in a couple of hours anyway, it wouldn't hurt getting to bed early.

Twilight nodded and entered the portal in a hurry. The process of transformation began and ended within a second, a bright flash of multi colored lights filled her sight as she swirled through the portal and before she knew it, she was on the school grounds of Canterlot High. She immediately noticed all her friends sitting on what seemed to be a traditional looking picnic blanket right in front of her.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner! I didn't get your messages until just now because I was caught in this time travel loop and, honestly, it was the strangest thing that's ever happened to me!" Twilight blurted out rather rapidly. She finally focused her uncontrollable gaze forward to see... herself? Twilight was familiar with the possibility of a doppelganger that resembled herself being present in this world, yet, other then her first encounter with human Pinkie Pie, she never gave it any thought. The living reflection of Twilight slowly waved to her. "Make that the second strangest." The pony turned human said as she was then met with a passionate hug from her left side. She turned to see no other than Sunset.

"You really took your time getting here, didn't you?" Sunset whispered, only being half serious. She was eager to see Twilight again, not only did she have various questions that only felt necessary to ask in person but she was glad to know that her best friend was alright. Concern grew each time she didn't receive a response. Twilight was then met with hugs from all her other 5 friends excluding her doppelganger who was still semi-shocked by the situation, sure she had turned into a she-demon earlier that day and almost destroyed the world she lived in to explore another dimension to do so but seeing a living reflection of herself still felt on another level.

“So what’s the problem?” Twilight asked as they all separated from the hug, Sunset holding on to her a little longer then the others. Twilight didn't protest, in fact, she liked the feeling of Sunset's arms around her, it felt comforting. “I didn’t get a chance to read the messages Sunset sent. Has another ancient villain from Equestria risen again and targeted Canterlot High for world domination?” Twilight asked again, but by the way things we're looking the answer felt more obvious.

“Huh… no. They we're more... personal problems,” Sunset said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head all the while blushing. She felt embarrassed as she literally spammed the princess with messages throughout the day, asking for help on how to maintain the once uncontrollable magic.

“Oh, then what’s the problem, Sunset?” Twilight asked, shifting her gaze to match Sunset’s.

“It’s been resolved, but you’re more then welcomed to stay and join us,” Sunset suggested. With that out of the way, the other girls we’re resuming their picnic outside of Canterlot High by the newly destroyed Wondercolt statue.

Twilight sighed heavily with relief, she was glad that whatever problems we're resolved. She had her fair share of adventures for a while now. “Thanks, I think after all that’s happened in the past couple of hours I would love to just relax,” Twilight stated as she sat herself down next to Sunset. It's then that she noticed her surroundings, or at least, what was missing. As she looked up she noticed a missing Wondercolt statue that usually occupied the top of the portal, from what Twilight could tell it wasn't stolen or removed but possibly blasted off it's usual spot as little as ten percent of the original statue still occupied the base and tiny remnants could be found across the floor near it's structure.

“So what happened? You make it sound like you just saved the world or something,” Rainbow Dash asked. Shooing away Rarity with a half annoyed look as she tried to continue assaulting Rainbow's hair, or at least, that's what Rainbow Dash would describe it as.

"I'd love to tell you all but... what happened here?" Twilight asked in return, turning her back and pointing to where the statue usually stood.

All of her friends shifted their heads to Twilight's doppelganger, who nervously tried to hide behind her folded legs. They proceeded to all look at each other, none of them knowing how to tackle the situation. As the silence grew, so did Twilight's curiosity. After some time Applejack was the one to finally break the growing silence.

"It's a might complicated, sugar cube."

Twilight was about to speak up again until an elevated Pinkie Pie who was dangling upside-down from the base of the once called Wondercolt statue poked her head into Twilight's view.

"Oh! Oh! Pick me! Pick me!" Pinkie asked enthusiastically, arms swinging in the air, defying the laws of physics.

"Um... Okay," Twilight said, wondering how Pinkie hadn't fallen over yet. Until she did. Crashing to the ground as if it we're nothing and quickly getting back up in inhuman speed. She took in a deep breath and no one, not even the author of this story, would have been able to make out the lightning fast words that would have escaped the pink haired menace's mouth. Everyone knew where this was going again after experiencing multiple incidents which resolved over Pinkie's interesting antics. Luckily, Rainbow Dash but her hand over Pinkie's mouth in an attempt to stop her from blurting out her usual shenanigans.

"We're not doing this again, Pinkie." An annoyed looking Rainbow Dash said.

"Aw! But Dashie!" Pinkie whined behind Rainbow Dash's hand.

"No, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash countered.

Pinkie didn't respond, she only exasperated, not pleased, she made her way back to her usual spot on top of the base of the long lost statue that Twilight still didn't get an answer for it's disappearance.

Sunset slid closer to Twilight and whispered, "I'll tell you later, it's sort of a delicate topic at the moment."

Twilight nodded and with that, it seemed that it was her turn to explain her adventures of the day. Before doing so, she felt an emptiness inside her stomach grow which was followed by a embarrassingly loud growl, it was easily described as hunger. After all, she did only have a small breakfast. She was so caught up preparing her morning class and practicing to perfect her speech that she didn't prioritize eating a full meal, and after the events of today, she only had time to herself now.

She felt someone poking her right shoulder and looked to see Fluttershy offering her a plate with a sandwich which she extracted from the group's picnic basket. From what Twilight could tell, It consisted of; cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and cheese.

"Thanks, Fluttershy," Twilight said as she happily accepted it's contents and took a fast, aggressive, large, first bite, which filled her with delight. Upon realizing what just happened and seeing the mixed expressions of her friends, from shock to giggles, her face turned to the color of the tomato that stuck out of her mouth, a bright red. She then tried to cover her face with the sandwich to hide her embarrassment. Sunset couldn't help but giggle herself at the sight and felt her own face start to burn up at the sight of an awkward yet adorable looking Twilight.

Twilight let out a small embarrassed giggle, "S-Sorry, I didn't eat all that much today."

"So... you we're about to tell us what happened back in Equestria," Fluttershy said in her usual delicate and quite tone. Trying to break the awkward situation.

Twilight finished her bite and adjusted her posture, still semi-embarrassed by her actions. "To cut it short, a while ago my Ponyville friends and I met this mare named Starlight Glimmer. She had this ideology to revoke everyone's special talent to ensure everyone was truly equal. It may not sound as bad as it may have been but she forced everyone to believe this way. No one could have embraced their true talents, they weren't themselves. Let alone she forced everybody to be friends. She ultimately fled after everyone decided what they wanted themselves was to be unique like they formerly we're."

Twilight looked around to see that she had everyone of her friends attention, more importantly, a specific lookalike seemed to express great interest in her story. It's then that she noticed Spike's counterpart as well, laying on her lap. "Uncanny," Twilight thought. After reviewing her thoughts once more, Twilight began retelling her story.

"She returned recently with the sole intention to go back in time to reverse a single event which connected all of my friends." Twilight explained.

"I thought only Star Swirl the Bearded was powerful enough to travel back in time." Sunset said. Everyone but the two pony turned humans looked confused from Sunset's statement.

Twilight smiled, it's not everyday somepony or someone expressed the same knowledge in magic and history as herself. "I thought so to and he only achieved to go back 1 week, but by using the magic of the Elements of Harmony stored in my castle she was able to achieve full time travel."

Twilight's doppelganger was amazed by what her ears we're picking up. Who would have guessed a whole other world of vast knowledge, magic and time-traveling ponies was something other then fiction a few hours ago.

The pony turned human continued with her story. "After multiple attempts to stop Starlight Glimmer and a numerous amount of timelines I visited, each one of them looking more dreadful then the last, I was finally able to reason with her. She was too powerful of a unicorn to be sent away so we came to an agreement that I will be supervising and teaching her about the magic of friendship from now on."

Sunset flinched at those last few words.

"Well that sounds wonderful, darling. It's marvelous to hear everything worked out in the end for both of you," Rarity stated. All of their friends started to resume their own conversations after that, some discussing Twilight's story.

Sunset frowned. She felt uncertain about the situation. Twilight already wasn't responding to her messages as often as she would usually. Would this be the decline of their friendship? She always looked up to Twilight as a mentor, a role-model, someone of great importance. Would she only pay attention to this Starlight Glimmer now? "No, of course not. Stop being silly Sunset, Twilight isn't going to forget about you, but... why i'm I so scared?" Sunset asked herself. She looked over to her left to match Twilight's eyes already looking back at her, she had noticed Sunset's change in expression and had a concerned look upon her face.

"You okay, Sunset?" Twilight asked almost whispering.

"Yeah... it's nothing," Sunset said.

But it wasn't and Sunset knew it herself. She debated whether telling Twilight how she felt about the situation but she didn't wan't to come off as jealous or make it out like she's upset either.

"You sure?" Twilight asked again.

Was she jealous? She knew herself that she threw angry tantrums whenever she felt confused or out of place, but jealousy wasn't something Sunset resorted to, even the old Sunset. Twilight would definitely see Sunset differently after that, at least, that's the way Sunset thought about it. She had to make a good impression for Princess Twilight whenever came the opportunity to write to her or the luxury to see her once more. Luxury? Yes, that's what it started to feel like to Sunset. Before she could respond however, she was interrupted by Rainbow Dash announcing something to the group.

"C'mon you guys, let's show Princess Twilight what we've been up to," Rainbow Dash declared in an excited tone. Everyone got up from their spots and started to head towards the school doors. Sunset was relieved for a distraction, but knowing Twilight, she knew that the question would be brought up again. At least this would buy her some time.

As Sunset got up to catch up with her friends, Twilight gave a confused look. Sunset looked back at her fellow Equestrian still sitting down and extended her hand to help her get up.

"You remember our little group called the Rainbooms, right?" Sunset asked while Twilight took her hand.

"Oh yeah, is that what this is about?" Twilight asked in return.

Sunset nodded.

When being helped up by Sunset, a strange feeling of dé·jà vu occurred in Twilight. She gave a dumbfounded expression as she got up on her two legs. Sunset noticed the sudden change.

"What's up?" Sunset asked confused.

"I-It just feels like I've been in this situation before," Twilight said smiling, both of their eyes locked as the lavender skinned girl hands we're still being held by Sunset's own.

"You know, you helping me get up," Twilight said sheepishly. Her cheeks heating up for reasons she didn't know herself.

As Sunset evaluated the situation she found her self giggling in realization, "It seems some things don't change."

Twilight frowned at this, for awhile now Twilight had been thinking just of that and nothing more. Change. Things we're looking great back in Equestria. Twilight couldn't ask for more, but... there was this feeling that she could never get a chance to adjust and it seemed that it recently started to become problematic. Recent events showed her that now, more then ever, things back in Equestria we're going to be different whether she was ready for it or not. It may have started all the way back from her ascension to Alicornhood, to her recent teaching's at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.

Sunset noticed the sudden change in expression after her last statement and wondered if she had said anything wrong. Had she gotten Twilight upset over something she'd done? "Oh no, not even ten minutes since she's arrived and you've already upset her, great job Sunset," Mid-argument with herself she was snapped back into reality as Twilight called her name.

"Sunset, do you ever feel like-"

"Hey! You guys coming or what?" Rainbow Dash asked as she poked her head out of Canterlot High's front doors.

It's then that both, Twilight and Sunset realized that their friends we're expecting them to be in the music room. It's also when they finally realized that they still we're holding each other's hands.