Equestria
Ponyville

Midnight

Princess Twilight Sparkle normally didn't stay up as late as midnight on most evenings. This evening, however, was special. The Faust Mark, named for Equestria's Bearer of Life, was appearing, and whenever it did, a miracle would happen somewhere in Equestria.

Or so it was said.

Twilight adjusted her telescope slightly, and there it was. Glowing red and white, brighter than any other star, the Faust Mark shimmered in the blackened horizon.

"And...done." Twilight said, writing the coordinates of the star for future reference. "And now, to chart its path along the Celestial Axis…"

Then, Twilight stopped. She turned her telescope towards two brighter lights that appeared beside Faust's Mark. From what Twilight could tell, these stars were close. After writing a note of the other stars' coordinates, Twilight decided to retire for the night, knowing some miraculous news would be heard tomorrow.

Or so she thought…

====

White. That was all there was. And a human figure, wearing a worn red cloak and travelling gear. His blue hair was flecked with gray, and he lay prostrate. Then, a white light covered his form, and he became smaller and younger. The form of Simone, Hero of the Spiral, groaned and stood up.

"Where am I?" he wondered. As he came to his senses, a familiar figure appeared in his vision. His eyes, upon recognizing it, filled with tears.

"...Nia?" he asked. Nia Teppelin gasped and threw herself into his waiting arms.

"Simone?" she asked quietly. "Are we dead?"

Simone didn't know how to reply. But someone else did.

"Not exactly." said a calm, kind voice. "You're in the void."

They looked to see a strange creature come forward. It was a quadruped, with red hair, wings, and a horn. It stepped forward, and smiled.

"I mean you no harm. I am Faust, Alicorn and Bearer of Life. And I know who you are, Simone and Nia, heroes of the Spiral."

The two humans flinched.

"Bearer of Life?" Simone asked.

"Yes." the Alicorn replied. "And I come to you with an offer. You may die here, together, and move on...or, live once more in the world that I call my own."

"What do you mean?" Simone asked.

"I can give you back your lives." she said. "However, the friends and allies you once knew will never see you again. You will be in a new world, you will not look the same, and must start over from the beginning."

"But, I don't think sending you to my world without the proper preparations would be very...sporting. So I shall give you three things to help you." Faust smiled.

"First…" Faust said. A Spiral Key appeared in front of Simone.

"Your Gurren Lagann." she said. "Second…"

Next, an exact copy of Kamina's blade also manifested.

"Third…"

Two simple, silver rings appeared.

"For when the time is right." Faust said. Simone took the katana and Spiral Key, and brought Nia close to him.

"When you are ready, enter." Faust said, summoning a portal to what seemed to be a moonlit village. "If that is your decision."

Nia looked at Simone, who nodded.

"We accept." they said simultaneously.

"My blessings upon you." Faust said. "Equis welcomes you to your new life."
The two humans walked into the portal, side by side, and all went black.

====

Simone opened his eyes, and he immediately flinched and gasped. He was no longer human, but a being similar to Faust, but with the wings and without the horn. His coat was a pale tan, with blue and red hair. Nia, or what he assumed was Nia in her new body, was unconscious, lying in his arms. She had a horn and wings just like Faust, with a pale white coat. Her hair color was just as he remembered, a mix of blue, pale yellow, and silver. Simone gently pulled her up and onto his back, his sword and Spiral Key rustling with his movement.

Simone grunted from the effort, and as he looked up, he saw what he assumed was a hospital, and it was brightly lit. He slowly strode towards it, making sure not to drop Nia, even though he was groaning from the effort.

====

Nurse Redheart wasn't a fan of the Night Shift at Ponyville General. It could be said that nothing exciting happened or any patients showed up this late at night.

That changed when a visibly strained pegasus carrying an alicorn struggled into the door and collapsed without a word. Redheart was ready to dismiss it as a hallucination, until she heard a groan.

"Mind..giving me a hand here?" said the pegasus. "I can't keep this up…"

Redheart hastily grabbed a stretcher and used her magic to lift the alicorn onto it.

"Thanks." the strange pegasus said. "Didn't think it'd be that tough to carry her. Eh, sorry to barge in like that."

"It's alright." Redheart said, unsure. "May I get your names?"

"Simone." he said. "That's Nia."

"Well, Mr. Simone…" Redheart said, as they carried Nia's stretcher to a vacant room. "Your arrival certainly was...shocking."

"Yeah, yeah…" Simone replied. "Can I stay with her?"

"I don't see why not." Redheart replied. "I'll need to keep you under observation, however. We're not exactly an inn, you see. We're a hospital."

"I figured. You were the only place whose lights were on." Simone groaned as they entered, and Nia was levitated onto the bed.

"It's quite alright." Redheart said. "Might I ask why you're in the company of an alicorn, Mr. Simone?"

"Is that a problem?" Simone asked. "We're not exactly from here."

"Oh, you're travelers?" Redheart asked, raising an eyebrow. "Foreigners?"

"More or less."

"I see. I'll have to inform Princess Twilight of your arrival in the morning, then. I would advise getting some sleep. I'll be at the front desk if you need anything."

"Thanks." Simone said. Redheart slowly closed the door and composed herself. She walked back to the front desk, and resumed her paperwork. From then on out, Nurse Redheart's opinion of the night shift got slightly better.

====

The next morning, Simone opened his eyes, slowly getting up from the chairs he was using as a makeshift bed. He sat down next to Nia, and poked her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled.

"Morning." she said quietly.

"Morning, Nia." he replied.

"Where are we?" she asked, slowly getting up.

"A hospital, in some place called Ponyville." Simone said. "The nurse who let us in said she'd inform some "Princess Twilight" that we were here. Not really sure why, though."

"I see." Nia replied, placing her head in his chest. "I don't think it matters, though. As long as I'm with you, it'll be okay."

"Right." Simone replied, softly kissing her forehead. Then, Simone heard footsteps in the hallway.

"...They're in here, right?" said a feminine, intelligent voice. "The alicorn and pegasus from last night?"

"Yes, your highness." said Nurse Redheart as she opened the door, revealing another alicorn. This one had lavender fur, with a purple and pink mane. As she entered, a small lizard-like being walked in after it, biting into what was probably a very expensive ruby. The alicorn looked at the two of them, and raised her eyebrows.

"Were we interrupting anything?" she asked.

"Not really." Nia said. "Hi."

"Hi. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle. You're Simone and Nia?" she asked.

"That's us." Simone said. "So...what's the big deal about Nia being an alicorn? Is that special?"

"It means she's royalty." Twilight said, the lizard nodding. Nia gave off a quiet "Oh", and looked at Simone, who wrapped his arms around her chest.

"So…" Twilight said. "Where do we begin?

"I'm not sure." Simone said. "Where are we?"

"Ponyville, in Equestria, in the realm of Equis." Twilight said. "So, where are you from?"

Simone and Nia sighed together.

"It's...complicated." Simone said. "Do you know a "Faust"?"

Twilight's eyes widened, causing Spike and the two ponies to look at her curiously.

"She's the Alicorn of Life." she said. "What does she have to do with this?"

"She brought us here." Nia said. "From another world where both of us had died."

Twilight eyebrows shot upwards.

"Spike?" she finally said.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Get Celestia." she said. "I have a feeling she'll want to know about this."

"I'm on it."

Spike left quickly, and Twilight sat down, breathing heavily.
"Are you alright?" Simone asked.

"Well, it's just you're the first extraterrestrial ponies in Equestria, one of which is royal." Twilight said. "This is history in the making, and you're asking if I'm alright? Does that seem even fathomable to you two?"

To her surprise, Simone and Nia started chuckling, then flat-out laughing.

"Honestly, yes." Simone said. "You'd be surprised at what the two of us have been through."

"Like what?" Twilight asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Simone said. "You'd call me insane, a liar, whatever have you. It's completely unbelievable."

"We'll see." Twilight said. "Let's discuss this is more...proper setting, like my Castle, shall we?"

Before the two of them could react, they had teleported to Twilight's study, in her new Castle. Twilight landed gracefully, using her wings. Simone and Nia landed flat on the floor.

"Hey!" Simone said. "What was that...for…what'd you just do?"

He swerved around, taking in the new surroundings.

"I teleported us to my study." Twilight said, helping them up. "Think of it as jumping from point A to B in a really quick period of time."

"That's neat." Nia said. "How'd you do that?"

"Magic." Twilight said. Before they could speak further, there was a bright flash, and a second alicorn appeared. This one was tall, with an alabaster coat and a shimmering mane.

"Ah, are these the ponies Spike told me about, Twilight?" she asked.

"Yep." Spike said, coming out and collapsing from nausea. "I hate it when that happens."

Simone and Nia laughed, and the second alicorn smiled at them.

"You're Simone and Nia?" she asked.

"Yeah." Simone replied.

"I am Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria, Alicorn of the Sun." she said. "Twilight and Spike informed me of your arrival here. I must say, it wasn't what I was expecting."

"Wasn't what we expected, either." Simone replied.

Celestia chuckled before speaking. "So,I want to know who you are, how you met Faust, how you came to my lands, and what you plan to do. And take as much time as you need. I have a feeling we'll need it."

"You're right." Simone said. "Thing is…"

"We're not actually ponies."

Celestia raised her eyebrows.

"We're human." Simone said. "At least, we used to be."

Celestia's jaw dropped.

"Then why are you here?" she asked. Simone and Nia looked at each other, before sighing.

"We'll tell you." Simone said. "Brace yourself, this may take a while…We'll start from the beginning...In Jiha Village, where I grew up…"

Author's Note

Update! And the rewrite has begun!

So, do you like this one or the original better?