"Portal working? Check. Frozen Time? Check. Random dimension set and ready? Check. All right, it looks like I'm all good to go!" Twilight rolled up the checklist she was reading off of and placed it on a nearby table. She smiled, excited yet nervous to start her journey into different worlds far beyond hers or the human world.
She had just finished sending out letters to all her friends, even though it wasn't really necessary, since time would be frozen anyways; not that anypony would notice. She had asked Spike to come along, but he had explained that he had a day with Rarity planned out ahead of him and she didn't want to take that away from the young dragon.
She closed her eyes, taking a hesitant step forward, then another. Her hoof went into the liquid-like gold spiral that was the portal itself. It sucked her inwards, drowning out her scream and any other noise with a very loud, static-ie like sounds , almost like a very strong wind. She opened her eyes, immediately noticing she was in a tornado, with ponies flying and seemingly freezing in front of her so she could get a good look at them.
Celestia, Luna, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and other ponies that she hardly had time to recognize flew in front of her, each one having their appearance change before they moved on. Before Twilight could make sense of what they changed to, or, more importantly, why, she crashed roughly onto squishy ground. A collective gasp sounded soon after.
"You...killed her..." A familiar voice said, sounding quite stunned.
"I wha...?" Twilight asked, still dazed fro the sudden ending of the tornado. Hopefully that wouldn't happen in the next dimension she visited. Shaking her head to clear the fog that stuck to her mind, she looked down to see exactly what she landed on. To her horror, she saw she landed on a dark blue alicorn with a crescent cutie mark.
Luna.
"Oh, my gosh, I am so sorry! I had no idea Luna was there, I swear I didn't mean to kill her! I am so sorry!!" Twilight freaked, not paying attention to the scene around her and instead trying to figure out how to bring Luna back to life.
"Don't be sorry, stranger!" A cheerful, familiar voice said from behind her. "If anythin', be grateful!" Wait, what? Twilight turned to face to voice, confusion clearly written across her face. She saw that the voice's owner looked exactly like Applebloom. But...that couldn't be...could it? "That Nightmare Moon was about ta kill us all, then you came an appeared out of the sky an smushed her under yer weight!"
"I---I--" Twilight paused, realizing what the filly had just said. "What? Are you suggesting I'm fat?"
"Not at all, stranger." Apple Bloom smiled up at her, giving Twilight a strange sense of satisfaction. "Not at all..."
A Scootaloo-look-alike flew over to them, giving Twilight a quick smile before giving her attention to Apple Bloom. "Fruit Blossom, Cadence the Good draws near. Assume you position at once, lead this helpful stranger to the center, for all to see."
Fruit Blossom nodded happily, taking one of Twilight's fore-hooves in her smaller ones and dragging the alicorn towards the center. "Can do, Scootaloo!" She called over her shoulder.
"I told you not to call me that in front of unknown ponies!" Scootaloo said, a bit aggravated. "What if she's a spy for the Tyrant Sisters?! What if they come and kill me?!"
Fruit Blossom rolled her eyes, muttering something under her breath that only Twilight could hear. It wasn't a nice word, and certainly something Fruit Blossom shouldn't know yet. "Ah'm puttin mah complete trust in this stranger--I'm sorry, what's yer name?"
Twilight looked down at the filly, realizing she was talking to her now. "Oh, uh...Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. Could you please tell me--"
Fruit Blossom faced Scootaloo once more, unintentionally cutting off Twilight's question. "Ah'm puttin mah complete and utter trust inta Ms. Twilight Sparkle here, 'Scooter'. If y'all don't want ta do that, that's fine by me, but don't go an get mad at me if ah have an accidental slip uh the tongue."
Scootaloo gave her a look that could turn a pony into stone. "Fine." She growled, "Have it your way." She left with a flick of her tail and her head raised high.
Twilight watched her go towards a flower patch and disappear before following Fruit Blossom towards the center of the strange flower field. "What was that all about?" She asked, "you looked like you were friends then--"
"Friends? Ha! I don't even know the meanin of that word." Fruit Blossom said coldly. "We don't have friends 'round here. Not after the Tyrants decided ta take over this world."
Twilight gently pulled her hoof back from the filly's grip, shaking it to get the circulation flowing again. "And...what world is this, exactly?"
Blossom stopped immediately, face hoofing herself out of frustration. "Apple Fritt'r! I fergot ta welcome ya to our world!" She cried, "What type a hostess am ah?" She turned to face the alicorn with a cheesy yet hopeful smile on her face. There was a sparkle in her eyes that showed her excitement. "Welcome ta the Magical World a Ooze! Ah'm Apple Bloom, but y'all can call me Fruit Blossom, if yer already used to it. Mah fellow ponies are 'Sugar Flute', 'The Princesses', an you've already met 'Scooter'." Twilight nodded with a sense of uncertainty. Was it too late to go back home and forget this world existed? "Y'all can come out, fellers." Apple Bloom said to the surrounding flowers. "Ms. Sparkle's nice. She won't kill nopony."
One by one, fillies emerged from the floral bed, more than the five that Apple Bloom had told her. There was probably at least 200 surrounding her, all wearing an adorable floral disguise. Four walked up to her, three that she didn't recognize, and one very annoyed Scooter. The three looked like Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon from her dimension. As Apple Bloom made quick introductions (Sweetie being Sugar, Diamond and Silver being Princesses), Twilight learned with joy that her assumptions were right.
"Love!" Scootaloo called, pointing towards the sky. As if by a machine, all 200 fillies turned and pointed towards the sky, chanting "Love" over and over again.
"Love?" Twilight asked, cocking her head.
"Yes, ma'am." Apple Bloom responded with a pleasant smile. "That's the code word fer "Cadence is comin'"
Sure enough, seconds later, a heart-shaped bubble floated to the ground, popping on impact, revealing a tired-looking Cadence the Good. "Fillies!" She called with great joy and enthusiasm, despite how she looked. "I have returned!" A deafening cheer rose from the crowd, making both alicorns cringe a little, but tried not to show it.
"Cadence the Good?" Apple Bloom called above the crowd. Cadence looked in their direction, somehow hearing the filly's voice. "Cadence, ah have a visitor that would like ta see ya." A collective 'ooo' ran through the crowd, making Twilight sigh. It was like they were watching some strange sitcom about her.
"Bring her here!" Cadence called again, "I must first see if she is a good witch or a bad witch." Apple Bloom began to drag Twilight forward, towards the ruler, but Twilight shook her hoof free.
"Thank you, Apple Bloom," she whispered, "but I think I can get up there by myself." She then unfurled her wings and flew up to the small stage where Candence was. Al the fillies gasped, and some even coward in fear. Cadence didn't seem to have any reaction beyond staring suspiciously at Twilight Sparkle.
"Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" She asked her quietly. She looked a lot more exhausted up close than far away.
"Witch?" Twilight asked, wrinkling her nose. "I'm not a witch. Why do you think I am?"
"Nonsense! No other pony can have a horn and wings without being called a witch!" She fluffed her wings, as if to prove a point. "I'm sure Fruit Blossom has told you I'm a good witch, right?"
"Well, yeah, but--"
"God witch or bad witch?" Cadence asked again, louder this time so every fillie could hear.
"Uh..I'm the witch of friendship?" Twilight tried.
Cadence, along with every fillie, stared at the nervous princess. "What's friendship?" Cadence finally asked, trying the word on her tongue for the first time. She decided that she didn't like the taste.
"What's with you ponies and not knowing what friendship is!?" Twilight asked, rather annoyed. "Friendship is being kind to others. It's protecting those who you care about that's not your own family. It's being honest to them, telling them secrets, making them laugh." As she spoke, all the fillies looked at whomever they were standing next to and smiled, making Twilight think her speech was working. "It's being generous and sharing almost everything with them, it's who you trust the most. Friendship, put simply, is magic that we all have inside ourselves. We just have to stop caging it up and let it free." She began to glow lavender and float in the air without using her wings. Friendship. Is. Magic!" As she finished, white light burst throughout the field, forcing everypony to close their eyes. It faded quickly, leaving an exhausted Twilight lying on the stage, trying to catch her breath, wondering what had just happened.
Cadence the Good came and helped the alicorn to her feet, uncertainty written across her face. "I'm sorry, but still don't trust it." She said, making Twilight's hopes sink through the floor. Looking around, she noticed that all the fillies were gone, except for th four Apple Bloom introduced to her, and Apple Bloom herself. She figured they all went back to flower mode, considering the flowers were back again.
"If you don't mind me asking," Twilight breathed, "why don't you trust friendship?"
Cadence shrugged innocently, walking away from Twilight. "I'm not sure, honestly. I think it had something to do with the Tyrant Sisters. I caught wind that the Tyrant Sisters were planning to wipe my mind, along with the fillies after they waged war against Ooze, so we could not warn travelers such as yourself. Unfortunately, they won and our minds were gone, except for five fillies who barely got affected. They were Fruit Blossom, Scooter, The Princesses, and Sugar Flute. They went to us all and helped gain our memories back. The part of their mind that did get erased must have been the association part, because they didn't explain it to us like you did now. They rarely act kind towards one another, unless I'm about to come. They lost the one thing that mattered most to them, and that is--what you call--friendship."
Twilight stared, slack-jawed at Cadence the Good. That must be why Scootaloo and Apple Bloom couldn't get along. They lost apart of themselves, thanks to The Tyrant Sisters, whoever in the hay they are. "Is there anyway I can help?" Twilight asked, "I mean, if the Tyrants are as bad as you say they are--"
"Worse, actually." Cadence interrupted.
Twilight tried to hide her annoyed look as best she could. She'd just have to get used to being interrupted around here. "There must be somepony who can change everything back to before the Tyrants, right? Maybe I can go and find that somepony."
Cadence smied, turning to face Twilight. "That's very kind of you, but I woulden't wish that upon a mortal such as yourself."
"Mortal?" Twilight chuckled, cocking her head. "Your joking, right?"
"I assure you, if I was joking, you'd know." Cadence frowned, "only witches are immortal, and since you insist your not a witch, I can only assume your a mortal with fake wings."
Twilight coulden't help but roll her eyes at the ridiculous assumption. She figured it was better to go along with it to help faster than stay here and argue for the next decade. "I'm a good witch." She said with a sigh, "Happy now?" Cadence gave her an odd look, making the prncess feel guilty immediantly. "I'm sorry, I just want to help this world but I can't without information from you, and you seem reluctant to give me that info."
Cadence gave a nod of understanding, walking towards a small map in the center of the stage. The five fillies and Twilight joined her there seconds later. "You really wanna help this strange world of ours?" She asked. Twilight nodded enthusiastically; Sugar Flute gave her a stange look that she quickly ignored. "You must go to The Wizard of Centuries in Hay City." Cadence continued, "he'll tell you how to make it so the Tyrants never became evil."
"How do I get there?" Twilight asked, "do I teleport, or fly, or...what?"
"You have to follow the yellow sandy path. Hay City will be at the very end of it. But be careful, young witch, you'll face many perils on your journey." Cadence finished, stompinh her left fore hoof twice.
"Such as...?" Twilght asked, watching as the faint outline of a heart formed around the Good Witch.
Cadence started to speak again, but her words were cut off as the bubble formed more and she started to float away. "All in time," her voice echoed throught the small valley, "all in time."
Apple Bloom looked eagerly at Twilight, happy that she was the first one to be kind to the gentle stranger. "Do ya need anymore help gettin ta where yer goin'?" She asked. Twilight politley shook her head 'no'. "Ya sure?" Apple Bloom continued, "cause...we made a song fer when travlers came, an it took us a long time to reherse an everythin...it'd be a shame ta see it go ta waste..."
The alicorn let out a gentle sigh, smiling despite herself. "Okay," she said, "let me hear this song you composed."
Apple Bloom's face light up with glee. She turned to her acquaintances and thumped a rythm on the ground with her hoof, the other four followed.
"Take the sandy path!
Take the sandy path!
Take the, take the, take the, take the, take the sandy path!
Your off to see the Wizard...
The Wizard of Centuries!
He is intelligent, brave, and smart,
and acts so pleasently.
If ever a wonderful wiz there was,
The Wizard of centuries is one because
because, because, because, because, because~
because of the wonderful things he does!
Your off to see the Wizard!
The Wizard of Centuries!"
All five finished by striking poses, each one gasping for air. Twilight sat back on her haunches and gave them a round of applause. "I'm glad I agreed to see that!" She said with a smile, "it's obvious you worked hard on it. That was a lie, throughout the whole song, almost every fillie was off-key, except for Sweetie Belle, and they were all tripping over each other. It was adorable, but also wasn't something she'd like to see again.
"Oh, we did." Sweetie Belle said happily, "now, if you'll excuse us, were going back to flower form. Good luck on your journey, Twilight!" Apple Bloom stared at Sweetie with a look of shock for a split second before saying goodbye as well.
Twilight smiled and waved good-bye, starting her journey on the yellow, sandy path. It wasn't until half way out of there that she realized she never told 'Sugar Flute' her name.
