Chapters Sept 1, Monday. 01:54 am
1004AN (After Nightmare)
Twilight Sparkle was almost done with reshelving the history section for the second time today. After placing 'Equestrian History: Volume XVII back in its double indexed place on the shelf, she decided to call it an early night. "Spike was right. I sure have worked myself into the ground lately. *yawn* Time to go to sleep." Walking up and down several hallways to her bedroom, she quickly flopped into bed and turned off her magically powered lamp. Eyes heavy, she quickly fell asleep.
Sept 1, Monday. 07:13 am.
1004 AN
Twilight awoke slowly, her body and mind refusing to release their grip from the world of slumber. Still half-asleep, she stumbled to the bathroom, before taking time to brush her mane which had turned into weird shapes only Pinkie would understand. Shortly after brushing her teeth, she walked out to the kitchen, looking forward to a cup of coffee. 'Good thing Pinkie doesn't know where this stuff is, we'd all be doomed otherwise.' She thought to herself. As she reached out for the coffee powder with her magic, she instead unknowingly grabbed a bag of flour. Opening her eyes further to ensure she could work the coffee machine properly, to prevent a repeat of the last time she tried to do so while still asleep, she instead found that her coffee machine had switched places with her sink. Opening several drawers and cabinets to grab a mug and some sugar, this yielded only cans of soup and various unused pans. 'Now something's going on,' she thought, and this apparent reorganisation of her kitchen only served to delay her cup of coffee. As such, she was majorly grumpy that morning.
--
After an unsatisfactory breakfast, due to the fact that once Spike was awake to make breakfast, she found the dining area had every chair and table shifted just 6 inches to the left. "Spike, I'll be helping Apple Jack at her farm today. Can I trust you to not do anything reckless?"
"Twilight, that was one time!" Spike complained loudly.
"I'll be gone for maybe an hour. Bye!"
"Bye Twilight!"
--
Walking to the farm, Twilight thought something was off. Some houses were arranged differently, that house didn't have a garden before, and the streets were ever so slightly narrower. 'Funny,' she wondered, 'When did the Mayor change the plans for Ponyville? Don't building permits usually take a week to get approved?' Trying to make sense of it, she decided it was of no immediate concern and quickly headed to Sweet Apple Acres.
--
Arriving at the farm just minutes after leaving her house, Twilight saw Apple Jack carrying apples to a storehouse in a cart that had a small apple printed on the rims. "Hey Apple Jack. Good morning."
"Mornin' Twi. Are you here to help me finally pull down that old storehouse?"
"Sure am Apple Jack."
"Right. It's this way," Apple Jack told her, the two walking to their destination.
"Say, I thought that cart was broken, and that you would be using your other one." Twilight asked her.
"Twi', what are ya talkin' about? This one is fine. The other one is broken, so I've asked Big Mac to fix it."
"Are you sure, Apple Jack? I remember you told me this one was broke."
"Sure Ah did. Oh, here we are. This one's been lucky to last this long. Could you just bring it down so we can start building a new one?" Nodding in agreement, Twilight began to carefully pull out old, rotting support beams and after a while, the storehouse finally collapsed, and a small dust cloud rose before settling afterwards. "Thanks for that Twi'. Now I gotta go see Big Mac about redesigning the barn. See ya later!"
"Bye Apple Jack!" Twilight replied back. Walking back to town, she took one look around. Deciding to take a visit to one of her other friends before heading home, she settled for Pinkie Pie.
--
Sept 1, Monday. 08:21 am
1004 AN
Walking over to Sugarcube Corner, she noticed the door was now all the way on the left, instead of the center like it always was. 'I thought I was being paranoid, but there definitely something going on!' she thought to herself. Walking in, the layout was definitely different than usual. For one thing, the stairs were on the other side of the room, and the display case was considerably larger than she remembered. Spotting her, Twilight waved to Pinkie. "Oh hello, Twilight! What brings you around?" Pinkie asked her.
Twilight responded, "Oh, not much. I just wanted to stop by and possibly get something to eat before going home."
"Sure! What do you need?"
"Just a dozen cupcakes, Pinkie." While heading to the kitchen to sort out Twilight's order, Pinkie was humming a tune that sounded familiar yet unrecognisable. What was it? Before Twilight could think about it any further, Pinkie apeared with a box of cupcakes.
"Here you go, Twilight! That'll be 4 bits." Twilight paid the amount and left, wishing Pinkie a good day. Pinkie yelled after Twilight, "You do know someone is always watching us, right Twilight?" Twilight turned around to respond, but Pinkie was nowhere to be seen. 'Strange. But then again, this is Pinkie. Best not to think about it.' Walking home, she could see that several stores had changed or ceased to exist. For example, the restaurant she ate lunch at one time was now a grocery. The jewelers she always passed by when walking from Sweet Apple Acres was now that restaurant. As she walked home, she began to spot more and more differences she didn't notice before. Not feeling too good at these sudden changes, she quickened her pace, and hurried home.
--
Once Twilight Sparkle was home, she immediately grabbed a few books with her magic and went to a nearby study to relax. 'Ah. Nothing beats relaxing quite like reading.' she thought. Flipping open the first book, she was soon lost, in a whole other world only books could take ponies to.
--
Sept 1, Monday. 11:58 pm
1004 AN
Closing the last book out of the several dozen she had took halfway through the afternoon, she looked over to the empty box formerly filled with cupcakes. "Alright, I should probably go to sleep." Twilight said to herself. Getting up, she levitated the box to the nearest trash bin. Walking back to bed, she snuggled under her covers, and was soon in the land of slumber.
Sept 2, Tuesday. 06:53 am
1004 AN
Waking up slowly, Twilight opted to stay in bed for just a few minutes longer. Closing her eyes, she expected to be up in 5 minutes.
Sept 2, Tuesday. 07:26 am
1004 AN
Opening her eyes, Twilight found herself in an completely unfamiliar room. It was similar to her bedroom except that now instead of a nice window with a great view outside, there stood a tall bookcase, filled with books about Advanced Math and biology textbooks. A window hung where the door once stood. The small desk she sometimes used to organise her quills (thrice every week) was replaced with the door outside. A strange, yet familiar room. She quickly took some time to familiarise herself with the room, so as usual she walked to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Except this was another set of stairs, where the bathroom usually was. "Why do I feel like this place is constantly changing?" she asked herself. Walking over to several other rooms, they also had apparently changed overnight. The study with a small shelf was now a balcony, the staircase was now a sub-sectioned library on Griffon History, and the kitchen now was replaced with the main hallway that led outside. Walking to the main hallway, she found the door to where the kitchen would be no longer existed. Further to investigation revealed the kitchen was a separate room, a few doors from the stairwell. "What is going on?!" Twilight shouted to nopony in particular, frustrated with all this wandering. Spike came running in, holding a 'Batmare: Issue 17' comic in his left claws.
"What's wrong, Twilight?" he asked her worriedly.
"This place!" she yelled out, exasperated.
"Why is everything always changing?!"
"What do you mean?" Spike asked.
"The layout! Why is the kitchen over there?"
"What are you talking about, Twilight? The kitchen's always been there. Are you okay?"
Taking a moment to try and calm down, she took a few deep breaths. "Y-yeah, I guess so."
"Okay. Well, if you need me, I'm going back to sleep." She was about to try and find the kitchen when she realised that Spike was reading a different comic than what he ususally read. Brushing it off as nothing too important at the moment, she went in to make her ususal cup of coffee, about the only thing she could make without spilling everything everywhere. 'Still remember that incident.' A shiver ran down her back as she remembered THAT time. 'Not important now anyway.', she wondered. As she opened the door to the kitchen, what was once a small humble place for preparing quick meals was now a grandiose, overbearing kitchen, with hundreds of shelves, cabinets and an almost maze of counters. The ceiling stretched several levels, she was sure about that. Slowly taking off and hovering several feet off the ground, the massive kitchen looked like it could stretch across several properties in Ponyville. "Wow. Just how enormous was this kitchen?" Twilight softly mumbled to herself. Finding coffee proved to be quite the scavenger hunt and after opening several cabinets full of produce, she found the coffee powder, and began her morning routine as usual. 'Ugh, finally. About the only thing I can count on today.' she silently complained.
--
Just after she finished her coffee, Twilight walked outside to get some fresh air. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she could feel the crisp, cool morning atmosphere improving her mood already. Feeling much better already, she opened her eyes, ready for whatever changes (if any) Equestria could throw at her.
She wasn't prepared.
The roads were paved with some combination of stone and concrete, she could tell that much. Houses were now neatly constructed, and arranged very neatly, horizontal rows shrinking into infinity. Something she would appreciate, if it wasn't for the next thing. Metal carriages. She apparently owned one too, a fact only known after she walked around her tree-castle place. She stopped and turned around to the strange Ponyville.
Welcome to the now.
Staring out into this strange, new town she called home, she could feel her heart racing. Taking a few deep breaths, she let herself have some time to calm down. "Deep breaths, Twilight. No need to panic. Again." Today was supposed to be the day she headed to Canterlot to meet with her older friends before spending some time with Cadence. Her schedule thrown out of whack, Twilight Sparkle ran back inside her tree castle to find her monthly planner.
--
Sept 2, Tuesday. 07:29 am.
1004 AN
Running inside, she briefly thought about just crawling back into bed and letting this sort itself out. 'No,' she thought. I'm not going to surrender to this. ' Allowing herself some time to go over her plans for today, she walked to her room and took out her monthly planner. Flipping through the pages, she found today's date. Today was a free day apparently, as all that was written was, 'Monthly Allocated Rest Day.'
Perfect, she thought. Time to head out. She closed the book, put it back on the shelf and walked out.
Sept 2, Tuesday. 07:55 am.
1004 AN
Stepping back outside, she was again greeted by the same sight from before. She thought about how to find her friends first. "Wait, which one do I visit first? Let me see. There's Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity..." Twilight slowly thought out her options. Going over her mental list, Twilight decided Rarity was going to be her first choice. "Right, now how to get there. This version Ponyville is going to be different, so how should I- oh. Well, no other choice, I guess." Flying had never been Twilight's strong area. Oh, she had improved, but her landings left something to be desired. Preparing herself for flight, she took off.
--
Sept 2, Tuesday. 08:11 am.
Only up here could Twilight truly see just how Ponyville had changed. The streets looked to be endless, though she knew this was most likely not the case. Every street was as identical as the first. Wishing she had paid attention to her new address, Twilight lowered herself to the ground, stumbling on the paved roads. Looking around, the houses here were slightly different than the houses on her street. Every house had an elevated front porch, and further investigation revealed she was now standing at Street 193. Just as confused as before, Twilight picked one random house and knocked on the door, hoping to get directions.
--
The door opened. A light blue pegasus mare with a dark blue mane was standing there. She asked, "Yes? What do you want?"
Twilight responded by telling her she was lost and if she wouldn't mind, give her directions. 16 minutes and 3 confused looks later, she got the address for all her friends. Thanking her, Twilight took off in search of Rarity.
--
Sept 2, Tuesday. 08:28 pm.
1004 AN
Flying over Ponyville again, she quickly found and located Rarity's house. Bracing herself for a rough landing, Twilight lowered her altitude. Looking around, she was glad that everything about her friend's house seemed normal. Same Carousel Boutique. "14792 Ave. So Rarity, this is where you live, huh?" Mumbling to herself, Twilight knocked on the door and waited.
Rarity opened the door, looking like she didn't sleep in a week, though knowing her, Twilight thought that could be the case. Rarity asked, "Oh hello, Twilight! What can I do for you?"
"Hey Rarity. I was just walking by and decided to visit." Twilight lied, not wanting to share her experience with anypony, at least not yet. "Listen, can you meet me at the restaurant near the-" Hesitating through her words, Twilight suddenly remembered that the restaurant she loved to eat at might not exist here. She decided to just meet at her place. "Nevermind. Can you just meet me at my house after 2pm?"
"I don't know, Twilight. What for? Sweetie Belle and her younger sister are staying the week. I have to get them settled here first. Can I come over after, let's say 2:30?
"Wait. What sister? I thought Sweetie Belle was an only child." Twilight asked, not sure if ahe heard Rarity correctly.
"Why, her younger sister Harmony Note will be staying the week. It's the school holiday this week, so naturally, coming here was their first choice. Don't you remember?" Rarity asked.
"Uh, sure, I remember, Rarity. I gotta go." Twilight thought about which friend she wanted to vist next. Turning around, she was about to walk across the street when Rarity pulled her back. Just as she was about to ask what was she doing, somepony driving one of those vehicles rushed by, honking and screaming
"Watch the road!"
'Sheesh, rude much?' Twilight thought. "Hey Rarity? What was that for?" She turned to ask her.
"Well Twilight, you really need to watch the road. Do you not know this? You need to be more careful." Rarity asked her, a puzzled expression on her face.
"Sure I do! Anyways, I gotta go. See ya!" Twilight waved goodbye to her friend and took off again.
--
Sept 2, Tuesday. 08:37 am.
1004 AN
Scanning the ground, she found Fluttershy's house. Landing on the road her house, there were clear discrepancies between this house and the last time Twilight visited her. She looked around and saw a sign stating this was '222172 Forest Bvld'. She decided to just inspect the place, and not be noticed by Fluttershy. Her house had a flat roof, though still covered in vegetation, that was the obvious. A large building stood next to the main house, it's purpose unclear. She walked over to one of the windows, and saw various animals housed quite comfortably in there. In fact, maybe a little too comfortable. Walking around, she peeked in one of the windows. Fluttershy was there, feeding various birds perched everywhere. The cozy, random arrangement of the tiny little birdhouses were now neat rows of 5, spanning a few levels, like a bird apartment. 'Okay, so far so good,' she thought. Satisfied everything was fine, she took off again.
--
She was in the air again. The cool breeze around her did help to calm her down, and after two friends who were alnost as she remembers them, she was even calmer. Scanning the horizon, she found her next friend and landed. Sugarcube Corner was...off. Like Pinkie Pie the one time she drank all the coffee Mr. Cake hid behind the shelf off. The design of the confectionery building hadn't changed, but instead, the building had changed shape. The basic layout, she had remembered, was something like the letter 'l', in lowercase form. This one was uppercase 'L' shaped, but other than that, she was good. She also noticed a rather large vehicle resting near another door, a much larger one labeled, 'DELIVERIES'. Choosing to question it later, she had things to do here.
Pinkie Pie had spotted her. Waving cheerfully like she always does, it was hard not to miss her. Walking over, Pinkie greeted her. "Hey, Twilight! What's happening?"
"Oh hey Pinkie. What's new? Listen, can you meet me at my castle at 2:30?"
"Oh, of course I can! Hey, do you wanna try out our new breakfast menu? We're serving until 11! Eat Fresh!" Pinkie said, then whispered in her ear, "Don't tell Subway!"
The last bit got her attention. She could somehow hear the capitalisation of the last few words. "Wait, don't tell who?" Twilight questioned.
"Don't tell who what?" Pinkie replied. "You look a little down today. Did you eat breakfast?"
"Now that you mention it, I don't remember eating. What do you have?" Twilight asked her, her stomach feeling quite empty just at the mere possibility of food. Especially since she hadn't eaten yet. Walking in, she noticed that the cozy, small town feel of Sugarcube Corner was replaced by a comfortable atmosphere, similar to that feeling she got whenever she walked into a massive library, the tall shelves stacked with hundreds if not thousands of books, despite the fact that almost nothing had changed about the interior design. She decided now was a good time to ask about the 'DELIVERIES' door and the larger vehicle. "Hey Pinkie, what's with the delivery exit and the vehicle?"
"Oh silly Twilight, you mean the delivery van we have parked out front? That's the Boxville we got last month to help with the deliveries in the further corners of Ponyville. I would normally make the deliveries, but after last week's accident, I doubt I'll be getting behind the wheel again." Pinkie explained.
Satisfied with the explanation, she asked Pinkie what was on the menu. Having heard the list, she made her order.
Sept 2, Tuesday. 09:57 am.
1004 AN
Oh man, she shouldn't have had that last plate of pancakes. How did Pinkie talk me into buying this much food?
After a delicious breakfast, Twilight decided to just rest for a while at the table, try and think things through. 'Okay, so today has been...unorthodox. How else do I explain all this?' she wondered. Pondering over it, she considered asking Celestia.
'Eh, maybe later. Right now I gotta see Apple Jack.' Thanking Pinkie for the lunch, she walked out the door, before taking off again.
Sept 2, Tuesday. 09:45 am.
1004 AN
Finding Apple Jack's farm took a little longer than she expected, though. Halfway through her somewhat wobbly flight, she forgot which street her friend lived on, and had to try and find it. 'This new Ponyville is certainly considerably larger than the previous one,' she thought.
'Ah! There it is!' She spotted the familiar red barn and farmhouse that was quite familiar to her. She took a landing and walked up to find Apple Jack. Approaching the farm, she found that here, the farm did not seem to change much, at least not to her memory. The barn had multiple sheds and unfamiliar vehicles surrounding it, about as much as she could see from here, anyway.
Apple Jack saw Twilight walking up and greeted her amicably. "Why, hey there Twi'! What brings you here today?" She asked.
"Oh, nothing much, Apple Jack. Listen, I'm organising a meeting at my place, can you meet me there at 2:30 pm?"
"Hmm. I don't think I'm busy, so sure, Twi', I'll come. Why? What's the matter now?" Apple Jack inquired.
"Oh, I'll tell everypony once you're all there. Say, when did you get those vehicles near your barn? I don't think I've seen these before." Twilight phrased the question to sound as if she was familiar with them, for she did not want to raise suspicions over what seemed to be common knowledge.
"Oh, those? That's just tractors and plows. We've had them since last year, Twi'. Now, that pickup there, she's a beauty. Got her last week. Lemme tell you, Twi' she handles like a dream on the dirt. Yep, the Vapid Sandking XL sure is a beauty. I don't know 'bout you, but that right there is the best pickup on the market. Oh gosh, I've been talking here since forever! I gotta go, Twi', gotta get ready for cider season."
"Well, okay then Apple Jack. I won't bother you any further. See you at 2:30!" she yelled back.
"See ya Twi!" Apple Jack yelled.
Standing there for just a few moments more, she watched Apple Jack get in her 'pickup truck', as she called it, and drove into the distance. Now that she thought about it, she felt a little tired right about now. Deciding to head home to rest, she took off again.
Sept 2, Tuesday. 10:02 am.
1004 AN
Flying over Ponyville, she spotted several cloud homes over several districts. She tried to look for Rainbow's house, but none of them looked anything like her friend's house. Looking around at the mailboxes, she quickly found her home. It was...lavish. More so than she could ever imagine. She had visited her home a few times, but never did it look like this. The previous house was significantly larger than most houses in Ponyville. Here, it looked to be larger than most districts in Ponyville. Even the western residential districts. This home likely spanned several hundred meters, and was 3 levels tall. 'Wow, when and how did she afford such a house? These are some of the most expensive homes here!' she wondered aloud.
She decided to talk to Rainbow as well, let her know about the meeting. Knocking on the door, she waited.
Sept 2, Tuesday. 10:14 am.
1004 AN
And she was still waiting. Why was Rainbow taking so long? Just as she was about to give up, Rainbow answered her door. "Who is it? Oh it's you Twilight. What's up? What you doing here?"
"Hey Rainbow, listen, I want you to meet me at my place at 2:30 pm. I got something to tell all of you, and I need all of you to be there. Can you make it?" she asked.
"Gee, Twilight, what's so important? I have to plan out Ponyville's weather for the next month. I would normally just slack off until the end of time, but not today. Is 3:00 pm okay?" Rainbow replied.
"Oh sure. Wait, why are you planning the weather? I thought you were the Western District Regional Supervisor? When did you get promoted?" Twilight asked in confusion.
"Umm, last month, Twilight. Have you not been paying attention? Pinkie even threw that party down at Sweet Apple Acres!"
"Oh yeah! I remember! Well, I have got to go now, so I guess I'll see you at 3?" Twilight attempted to disguise the fact that she did not know what Rainbow was talking about.
"Okay then. See you at 3! Bye!" Rainbow waved to her as she travelled back to her house.
'Gotta think about how I'm going to tell them,' Twilight pondered.
Sept 2, Tuesday. 11:50 pm.
1004 AN
She had arrived home some time ago and was now just reading in her room. As she relaxed in the chair, she could hear screams outside her windows. 'Oh what is it?' She did not expect something major to happen again. So she just put her book down and looked outside.
She never expected what she saw next.