A Better World

As soon as she jumped into the portal, Twilight immediately remembered how uncomfortable cross dimensional travel could be. Red light flashed in her eyes, as magical and physical forces twisted and turned Twilight's body like a piece of taffy. She shut her eyes tight, waiting for it to end.

THUNK! Twilight felt herself land on a smooth surface. She blinked open her eyes and took in the scene around her. The portal had deposited her in a spacious crystalline room, with several lamps and paintings decorating the walls. Antique statuettes and ornate vases were displayed in glass cases, complimented by expensive looking chairs and furniture.

"Ugh I hate portals..." Rainbow groaned as she stretched her forehooves.

"Anypony else think this place looks familiar?" Applejack asked getting to her hooves.

Twilight realized she was right. She had been to this place once before, during her first princess summit. "This was the room where Princess Cadence stored the crystal mirror that I used to travel to the human world. Why would the mirror send us here?"

Pinkie sniffed loudly, as if smelling the air. "My Pinkie Sense is telling me this definitely isn't our universe. I'm getting an itch on my left back hoof. That means I'm in another dimension." Pinkie explained, as she kept trying to lick the hoof in question.

"And look at the mirror. I remember that our crystal mirror had a beautiful purple rim. This mirror has a red one... rather a poor color choice." Rarity added, eyeing the mirror distastefully.

"So we're in the Crystal Empire, in an alternate universe. Why though? Shouldn't the mirror have sent us to Ponyville?" Twilight wondered aloud.

"Unless there isn't another mirror in this world's Ponyville." Applejack suggested.

Twilight nodded. "Maybe the map and our mirror sent us to the next most convenient gateway they could find then."

"Um, but what do we do now?" Fluttershy asked. "Go find our friendship problem?"

"Silly Fluttershy. Just like I told Rarity, you don't find a friendship problem, it kinda hits you between the eyes, like KABLAM!" Pinkie hoofed herself between the eyes and fell over. Fluttershy looked slightly mortified at the idea of a friendship problem crashing into her.

"Shhh!" Twilight hissed, but it was too late.

"Who's there?!" an authoritative voice yelled from beyond the door. Twilight barely had time cast an invisibility spell over her friends before the doors to the room slammed open. Two royal guards in glinting gold armor held their spears at the ready. Both were white unicorns with harsh faces that looked like they never smiled.

Twilight muttered a small 'oops' as she realized she hadn't cast an invisibility spell over herself. Her friends were hidden, but she was completely exposed. "Um hello... how are you?" she asked weakly.

The guards looked at each other. One of them lit their horn with a light blue aura and shot a small bolt of magic at her. Twilight reflexively tried to dodge it, but wasn't fast enough. The bolt hit her in the chest, leaving a warm tingling sensation.

Immediately the guards' expressions changed, and they both prostrated themselves on the ground. "We apologize profusely Princess Twilight, we had to make sure you weren't a changeling infiltrator. The guards weren't made aware you were visiting today."

Surprised at this turn of events, Twilight let out a small sigh of relief. At least the guards recognized her as a princess. That was good sign that this universe wasn't ruled by somepony like evil King Sombra. "Oh uh it's fine really-" she began.

A familiar voice cut her off. "Twily!" Shining Armor galloped into the room and hugged her tightly.

"BBBFF?" Twilight asked in surprise.

Shining Armor rolled his eyes. "The one and only. Why didn't you tell you were visiting today sis? You're always so busy up in Canterlot that we barely see each other, and the one day you come to visit you don't tell anypony!"

"Ah well I um-" Twilight stuttered

"You probably didn't want to bore me while you looked at all these artifacts." Shining waved his hoof around the room. "Even though you're all grown up now, you're still that little foal with her head buried halfway in a book twice her size." he teased, smiling broadly. Twilight couldn't help chuckling. He ruffled her mane. "Come on, lets grab some lunch with Cadence and we can catch up. The chefs are making those gourmet hayburgers you love." The guards held the doors open and Shining beckoned Twilight forward.

Twilight glanced back at her friends, who watched quietly under the shimmering invisibility spell. Applejack waved a hoof, urging Twilight to go on without them.

"Uh Twilight, you okay?" Shining asked. "What're you gawking at?"

Turning away from her gesturing friends and tried her best at a smile. "Oh er nothing." Twilight followed her pseudo-brother out of the room and into the brightly lit crystal hallways. "I was just looking at this really cool vase from the paleopony period. It's an ancient relic that-" Shining cleared his throat. "Oh sorry."

"Twi if I let you, I bet you could talk about that vase for three hours." Shining grinned.

Twilight decided to stop pretending and come clean. This Shining behaved exactly like the one she knew back in her universe. If there was anyone she should trust in this place, it was her brother. "Uh listen Shining I actually need to tell you some-"

"So what's your count?" Shining asked before she could finish.

The question puzzled Twilight. "My... count?"

Shining waved a hoof and made a tsk tsk sound. "Oh you've been slacking haven't you?" he smiled teasingly. "Mine's at 256 after that skirmish with the changelings at the north border. They must be getting desperate if they're trying to flee into the mountains." he mused.

That was the second time Twilight heard about changelings after travelling here, so they were obviously still a threat in this world. And this 'count' had something to do with fighting them. An uneasy feeling settled in Twilight's stomach. Maybe she shouldn't out herself just yet, she decided.

They arrived at a set of large golden doors, which led into the Crystal Castle grand dining hall. It was as beautiful as the one Twilight remembered from her world. A large hand crafted banquet table sat in the middle of the room, lined with a variety of aromatic delicacies that made Twilight's mouth water. Paintings of Cadence's friends and family hung on the walls framed in gold. From her vantage point Twilight saw portraits of Flurry Heart and her brother smiling down at her. A glittering crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling lit up the entire hall in rainbow colors.

"Look who decided to drop by." Shining exclaimed happily. Twilight turned her attention away from the decor, and saw Princess Cadence beaming at her from the head chair of the table.

"Twilight!" Cadence ran up and hugged her, shirking her usual calm royal demeanor. "Why would you come by without even telling us?" she asked in a slightly concerned tone.

"Oh I... didn't want to disturb you?" Twilight replied hastily.

"As if I didn't have time for my favorite sister-in-law!" Cadence laughed. She crouched down in a familiar position, and Twilight immediately knew the routine.

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" Twilight and Cadence sang, smiling broadly.

After they finished, Shining gestured to the table. Twilight's stomach growled just looking at the delicious food, and she found herself digging in without hesitation. As she ate, Twilight guiltily thought of her friends, and hoped that the stealth spell was still holding up. Twilight showing up out of the blue was suspicious enough, but if all her friends were found as well, it could lead to trouble. Why were they here anyway? This world seemed to be exactly like hers. The only difference she'd even heard of so far was that the changelings were still a threat. Maybe there were some friendship problems in this world, but that wouldn't make the map send them here...

"So how are things up in Canterlot?" Cadence asked, interrupting Twilight's train of thought. "I hear some of the protests are actually starting become a problem."

"The protests?" Twilight asked, unsure of what to say. She'd never heard about any protests in Canterlot... well other than the protests of stuffy nobles who wanted a tax break because of their "higher stature".

"Oh Twily doesn't deal with that stuff." Shining said as he levitated a bite of sandwich into his mouth. "Those are Rainbow Dash and Applejack's sort of thing. One look at them and those ponies clear out faster than lightning!" he chuckled.

Twilight felt that uneasy feeling return to her stomach. Ponies scared of Rainbow and Applejack? They could be pretty scary when they got competitive, but since when did they scare away protesters? What were those ponies even protesting? As questions whirled around Twilight's mind, her gaze drifted upward to the paintings. Her eyes settled on the painting of Princess Celestia, who smiled her kind, wise and knowing smile down at her. A small glint on the frame caught her eye.

"In memory of Princess Celestia, beloved leader of her people, and raiser of the life-giving sun."

Rereading the words over and over in horror, Twilight felt her insides freeze. In memory. In this world Princess Celestia was... dead.

"Uh Twilight are you okay?" Shining asked worriedly, tapping her on the shoulder.

Cadence saw where she was looking and bowed her head sadly. "We miss her too Twilight. It's been two years but... every time I raise the sun I think of her." With a small sigh of regret, Cadence smiled. "But at least she'd be proud of us today. We managed to finally achieve Harmony."

Shining coughed uncomfortably and seemed to want to change the subject. "We put up that new painting you sent us. Cadence and I think it looks wonderful." he pointed a hoof to the wall behind Twilight. Still shaking from the shock of what she'd learned, Twilight turned around and looked where her brother pointed.

On the wall was a painting of her and her five friends. Twilight immediately noticed two, stark differences between her friends and the ones depicted in the painting. The six ponies each wore a small, golden crown with their element of Harmony embedded into it. The other difference was even greater.

Her friends' counterparts... were Alicorns.