A Socially Awkward Trip To The Zoo
A Whole New World... A Whole New Twilight
As Twilight phased through the mirror to the other side, she felt a tingling sensation that she could never quite get used to. Logically, it should have hurt; she was transmuting her body into a completely new form AND engaging in inter-dimensional travel in the blink of an eye. Her molecular structure was being scrambled, and yet... tickles.
She was still in the midst of having this thought as she concluded her journey through the portal and into this strangely familiar world. She brushed herself off, having just fallen through the portal and onto the ground, and glanced around at her surroundings.
"Where are they?" Twilight muttered to herself. "They were supposed to be here by now."
"Boo!"
"Ahh!" Twilight jumped backward and almost fell through the portal again, but regained her balance at the last second. "Pinkie, how many times have I told you-"
Twilight glanced up at her attacker, expecting to see the human Pinkie Pie, but instead saw herself. Or rather, a stranger version of herself.
This Twilight had puffy hair and a nose ring. She was dressed in all black. Her dorky glasses? Gone. This was not her. It couldn't be!
But it was. While she looked completely different from the last time Twilight had seen her, this girl had her same color schemes and basic features. And a lot of black makeup.
"Twilight?" The princess squinted at her counterpart; despite her ingenious deduction, she still couldn't quite believe her eyes.
"Surprised? Hey, at least you didn't react the way my parents did. They, like, totally flipped! Oh, and by the way, I got a name change. My name's Midnight now. No need to apologize, there's, like, zero way you could have known." Human Twi- er, Midnight, beamed at her pony doppelgänger, revealing her tongue piercing.
"Midnight?" Twilight stuttered. She was still gaping at the other girl's hair. She was starting to look like Adagio!
Suddenly, there was the pounding of feet against the pavement.
"We came as fast as we could!" Rainbow shouted.
"Oh, no! She beat us here!" Pinkie moaned.
"So much for having the chance to explain things," Applejack lamented.
The six girls, including Fluttershy, Rarity, and Sunset Shimmer, raced towards the two Twilights.
Rainbow was the first one to the portal. She looked out of breath. "Midnight, could you, er, excuse us for a minute?"
Midnight rolled her eyes. "Fine, but I'm timing it. Every minute after the first minute is a dollar that you owe me."
After the other girl strode off while counting seconds under her breath, Rainbow immediately started talking. "We... are so sorry."
By this time, the others had already caught up. They all formed a 7-person huddle next to the statue.
"We didn't mean for this to happen, Twi. Honest," Applejack whispered.
"We really did do our best," Fluttershy whimpered.
"It really isn't our fault, anyway," Rainbow commented.
"I'm sure we can fix this," Sunset stated.
"Enough," Twilight hissed. "Stop apologizing. I just want to know what's going on!"
"Oh. You haven't pieced it together by now? I thought you were supposed to be a genius," Pinkie stated, surprise ringing through her voice.
"Pinkie!" Sunset elbowed her. "What she meant to say is that Midnight is going through a goth phase. She dresses in all black, complains all the time about how horrible her life is, gets piercings for thrills... you know, like being a teenager, but amplified by about fifty times."
"How did this happen?" Twilight groaned.
"Well, as part of her friendship lessons, we all started encouraging her to step outside of her comfort zones, to try new things. Well, it turns out that we took it too far when we let Pinkie take her on a girls' night out." Sunset glanced at Pinkie with intense hatred. "You should just be glad that you missed her hipster phase while you were out of town. It was even worse, if you ask me."
"Worse than this?" Twilight gestured to Midnight, who was looking sullen and depressed on the stairs.
"Imagine Pinkie Pie, but on a coffee rush," Sunset murmered.
"Oh..." Twilight said. "We need a plan."
A Socially Awkward Trip To The Zoo
"Do you really think this will work, Twi?" Applejack inquired.
"I think all other me needs is to see some family fun to get her out of this goth phase," Twilight reasoned. "An amusement park should do the trick."
"But this town doesn't have an amusement park. The nearest one is 50 miles from the outskirts!" Rainbow threw her hands up into the air.
"Really? Well, where do you get family fun around here? The mall?"
Fluttershy suddenly lit up. "The zoo!"
The others buzzed in agreement.
Twilight glanced at Fluttershy in confusion. "What's a zoo?"
Fluttershy gasped. "You mean you don't have zoos in Equestria?" Her eyes began welling up with tears. "You poor thing!"
Pinkie leaned in to comfort Fluttershy. Meanwhile, Sunset said, "The zoo would be perfect. It's a kid-friendly place where people go to learn about animals and their behavior. A day at the zoo is sure to fix Midnight." She leaned in to Twilight and whispered in her ear. "It's really a place where people go to gawk at malnourished animals who have spent their whole lives in captivity. Don't tell Fluttershy, or she'll kill someone."
Twilight gaped at Sunset. "How is that kid-friendly?"
Everyone except Fluttershy hushed her, their eyes wide out of fear that their animal loving friend would hear them.
"What is there at the zoo aside from malnourished animals, if anything?" Twilight wasn't sure if this would be the best place to try to cure Midnight after all.
"There's overly priced food," Pinkie Pie chimed in. "And face paint!"
"Animals fighting over territory!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"Lots of hungry people means lots of apple sales," Applejack reasoned. "I could bring my apple cart!"
"There are some very fashionable koala hats in the gift shop," Rarity beamed.
"Don't forget the adorable animals," Fluttershy reminded everyone.
Everyone glanced knowingly at one another upon hearing Fluttershy's statement. "What?" She looked around innocently.
Twilight sighed. "The zoo it is." She relinquished to her friend's authority. She didn't necessarily think that it was the best way to get Midnight out of this goth phase, but it was worth a shot. And besides, she loved learning new things. Going to a zoo would be a great opportunity.
Her friends all started saying things at once. "I'll drive," Rainbow shouted.
"No way, Dash! You're too much of a speed demon, we'll all die!" Sunset said. "I'm the only one with my own car and a license. I'll be driving." Sunset frowned at her colorful friend. "Shame on you, Rainbow, for trying to make me forget that you failed your driver's test!"
"Hey, that baby came out of nowhere. So did the dog."
"What dog? I like dogs," Fluttershy inquired.
Everyone ignored her as they all piled into Sunset's Jeep. Pinkie, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rarity all piled into the back.
"Ohhh, my hair's going to be a mess!" Rarity whined. "First thing when we get there, I'm buying a koala hat!"
Midnight came waltzing up to the van. She turned to Sunset as she climbed into the backseat.
"That'll be 20 bucks, lady-dude," Midnight hissed.
Sunset handed Midnight a 20 dollar bill. "Lady-dude?" She contemplated.
Author's Note
Hey, guys! Hope you all like this chapter. After this chapter things will start getting a little crazy, so I highly encourage referring back to previous chapters if you feel lost. I'm actually pretty surprised that so many people have favorited this so far, and I hope you guys continue to like it. If you think this was any good, though, head down to my profile and check out the one other popular story I've written here, Sunset Shimmer Goes to ALDI. It's pretty good, according to the ratings its gotten.
A Socially Awkward Trip To The Zoo
"And scarves! You mustn't forget your scarves, Twilight!"
"Rarity, it's only a couple of days! And in the other world, it's the middle of summer. I honestly don't think I'll need a scarf!"
"It never hurt anypony to pack a little extra luggage just in case," Rarity replied. Her thick British accent rang out clearly in the fashionista's insistent voice. Twilight knew now that if she ever wanted to leave, she should just pack the dozens of scarves that her friend was pawning off to her anyway.
"Fine, fine," Twilight grumbled. She neatly folded the scarves and color-coordinated them with her magic before placing them in her suitcase.
"Now, how long will you be gone again?"
"Only a couple of days, Rarity. I need to make sure that the other me is taking her friendship lessons seriously, and I need to check on the other you to ensure that they're teaching her properly to begin with." Twilight lifted a notepad up to her eager face. "This is my studies notebook. I'm going to take it with me whenever I go over there to record other me's progress!" She laughed with joy. "I can't wait to go study animal behavior!"
"She isn't an animal, dear, she's you!" Rarity gave Twilight a knowing look that said, "Yeah, remember that?"
"You know what I mean. Observing someone or something within a certain environment to test their reactions to certain things and environments..." She beamed at Rarity with even more contempt than before.
"Save it for your friends, dear." Rarity gingerly placed her saddlebag upon her friend's back. "You're all ready! See you in a few days!"
Twilight hugged her friend goodbye, thanked her for helping her to pack, and strode through the portal to another land.
