April 14, 6:36 AM
Canterlot

“Where are we going?” Tyler asked as she exited the hospital with the others behind her, cringing as she heard her voice she had yet to get used to.

“The Friendship Express. More specifically, the train route from Canterlot to Ponyville,” Celestia answered. Tyler chuckled at the name of the train, getting a strange look from the others as she did.

“What’s so funny, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Nothing, nothing. Just the name of the train,” she answered as she moved some purple hairs out of her eyes.

“I can’t blame you there, dude,” Rainbow said. “It’s really girly,”

Tyler stared at her for a minute then spoke. “You are a girl though,”

“So are you,” Dash spat before realizing what she had just said.

“Don’t remind me,” Tyler muttered with tears starting to form in her eyes.

“Hey, sorry. I keep forgetting how new you are to this,” Rainbow said as she put a hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “I just say things without thinking a lot, but I don’t mean them. Most of the time,”

“You would get along well with Shane, Dash. He does the same thing,” Tyler said.

“Who’s Shane?” AJ asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Shane is that human we saw in the forest before we found Tyler,” said Fluttershy, speaking for the first time in a while.

“Yeah, but he’s also my brother,” Tyler said, finally letting the tears fall at the thought of his brother. He knew he would never see him again, since he was on Earth and she was in Equestria, not to mention that even if they did somehow meet again, he wouldn’t believe it to be his brother.

Fluttershy walked up to the crying mare and gripped her in a tight hug. Soon everyone else was trying to comfort their new friend as well. Tyler was a mess, mentally and physically. Her fur was sticking to her face and her mane was a mess. Pinkie pulled a box of tissues out her mane and handed them to Tyler. She got a weird look from the purple pony, but she took the tissues anyway.

“Thank you, Pinkie. I just can’t get over the thought of never seeing my BBBFF again,”

“Your what?” Rarity asked with a raised brow.

“Big brother best friend forever,” Tyler replied, blushing under her fur. “We came up with it when we were little and have been using that phrase to describe the other one ever since,”

“That’s sweet,” said Fluttershy with a smile that quickly turned into a frown. “You must really miss him,”

“Yeah. I do. Its only been a day, but knowing I won’t see him again is like having a part of me ripped away,” Tyler looked at the ground and sighed. “I just hope he’s doing alright,”

April 14, 6:36 AM
Flarem house

Shane was most certainly not alright. He had gotten no sleep after he got home. He was far too worried about what happened to his missing brother. He tried not to think about it, but it was hard not to. His parents were having a hard time as well, with the cops and detectives everywhere, asking questions about last night. Mostly they talked to Shane about the car crash and the rest of the night.

The police had been everywhere in that forest and called in detective Harold McBlane to investigate the scene of the crash, and after a thorough search of the forest, all they could find was a puddle of blood and some strange footprints, that one officer swore looked like hoof prints.

“I don’t know what to tell you,”McBlane said to the Flarem family. “Its like he just disappeared,”

“What about the drunk? Mrs. Flarem asked. “Did he know anything?”

“Unfortunately, no. He was drunk as a skunk at the time and saw the kid go into the forest, but after that was when Shane here ran into the forest and then we arrived, but other than that, we got nothing from him. But there are still a lot of things that baffle us,”

“What specifically?” Shane asked curiously.

“The, “hoof prints” and the fact that they just disappear and the blood path leads to the same spot. Not to mention why he was bleeding so much in the first place,” McBlane said bluntly.

“Well, he did get launched out of a car and hit few trees before he vanished, so maybe he got cut severely or even impaled by a branch,” Shane said matter-of-factly, even though he didn’t want to think about that as a possibility, because that would mean that Tyler was definitely de-. He stopped himself from thinking about that word.

“That’s certainly a possibility,” the detective said as he wrote that down on his notepad. “Anyway, I have to get back and see if the boys found anything else we missed. If you think of anything that might be helpful, don’t hesitate to call,” He handed them his card.

After the detective had left, Shane went upstairs to Tyler’s bedroom. He knew that he didn’t want to, but he knew his brother would want him to make sure it was left the same as when he last left it. He opened the door to the room, not wanting to enter. But he knew he would have to in order to get over the loss of his little brother best friend forever.

He picked up the book Tyler had left on the desk before they had left for the party. He looked at the title and smiled. Tyler had been reading another sci-fi book, his favorite kind to read for fun. Shane had never liked reading that much and often poked fun at Tyler for being such a bookworm, but he still read a book every now and then. The books that Shane read were usually the sci-fi books Tyler owned, and Shane had a tendency to forget about giving the book back.

As Shane opened the book though, a paper fell out and onto the floor. As Shane bent down to pick it up, he saw it was a picture of him and Tyler about a year ago, when they both started high school. The brothers were standing next to each other with huge grins on their faces and their arms wrapped around the each other. Shane had always hated that Tyler had skipped two years of school since he was smarter than anyone in his class, and ended up in the same grade as Shane. It was embarrassing to have people know that your brother is significantly smarter than you, and also have to keep the bullies away from the little nerd since he was basically walking around with a pinch me sign on his back at all times. Shane finally let the tears flow down his cheeks as he looked at the picture.

“I’m sorry bro. I’m so, so sorry that this happened to you. I just wish I could have done something about it,” Shane sniffled while sitting down on Tyler’s bed. “I don’t care what anyone says. I will find you. Even if I die trying, even if I have to travel the world, hell, even if I have to go to another planet to get you back, I will. I will find you, brother,”

April 14, 6:42 AM
Canterlot Station

The train station was huge. And packed full of ponies. The station itself was a large platform with a large building on it that had glass walls and a purple roof. There were pillars on the corners that looked like something from the medieval era. Tyler then remembered that Equestria didn’t have the technology Earth had. There was a clock above the large glass doors that said the time was 6:42, which meant the train would leave in three minutes.

The six mares talked about the differences between Earth and Equestria while Celestia went to get tickets for the train. There was a small group of pegasi racing around in the sky and some others moving clouds around. Tyler just looked at Rainbow with a look that said, “what are they doing?”.

“They’re setting the weather for the day,” Rainbow said like it was normal, which got a confused look from the purple pony.

“Huh?”

“The pegasi control the weather. It’s their job,” Rainbow explained.

“Wait, so the pegasi control when it rains or snows?” she asked.

“Pretty much,”

“Weird. On Earth it just does whatever it wants,” Tyler replied. That got her a look from Rainbow.

“Yeah, at times I wish it did that so I don’t have to work and can work on getting into the Wonderbolts,” she said with a dreamy look on her face.

“What are the Wonderbolts?” Tyler asked.

“How do you not know who the Wonderbolts are?!” she yelled, getting a group of nearby ponies to glare at her. She then remembered where Tyler was from. “Oh, right. Sorry. Anyway, the Wonderbolts are only the coolest group of ponies out there, They perform flight stunts and compete in flight races. I’ve been trying to get into their ranks for years! I would kill it in the Wonderbolts and become a household name in all of Equestria!”

“Dash here helps with the weather in Ponyville, but she also wants to be a professional athlete,” AJ explained. She then leaned in and whispered to Tyler. “But between you and me, I think her biggest problem is her ego,”

“I heard that!” Dash shouted at them, getting a laugh out of both of them, Tyler cringing as she heard her new laugh.

Celestia came back with the train tickets, taking some golden coins from everyone except Tyler since he didn’t have any.

“I can pay you back sometime,” Tyler spoke while looking at the ground. Celestia raised up Tyler’s chin and looked directly at her purple eyes.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re a guest here, and I have more than enough bits to cover a simple train ticket,” she said.

“Yeah, don’t beat yourself up about it. We get it, this is hard for you, and we’ll do everything we can to help, darling,” said Rarity.

“Thank you, but I don’t think you get it. I just had my whole life ripped away from me, and now I have to adjust to not just a new life, but a new body and culture as well,” Tyler frowned and looked at the ground once again.

“Don’t look so down, Tyler. At least you have us to help you. I mean imagine if you had to go through all of this on your own,” Pinkie said trying to make Tyler happy.

“Yeah, I really don’t want to think about that, just like I don’t want to think about...” Tyler pulled a folded paper out of her pocket.

“Think about what, sugarcube?” AJ asked.

Tyler looked at the picture for a moment, as a single tear ran down her face. She then handed the picture to Applejack. When she saw the picture, she knew what their lavender friend was thinking. It was a picture of Tyler and Shane from about a year ago, from when they had started high school.

“Shane,”

“Attention everypony! The train to Ponyville is leaving in one minute.” said an announcer on the speaker system.

“We can talk on the train. Let’s go!” Pinkie said as she bounced towards the train with the others behind her.

“I just hope this train has decent food, I’m starving,” Tyler said as she boarded the train.

April 14, 6:53 AM
Friendship Express

“This is not what I meant by decent food,” Tyler complained as she read the menu for the small amount of food that she could buy. It was all candy, fruits, vegetables, and other weird stuff. Seriously, what the hell is a hayburger anyway?

The group took up a decent chunk of the train car they shared with some other ponies going to other places around Equestria that the announcer called out every now and then. Tyler would need to ask what these cities were and why some of them sounded like cities on Earth. Las Pegasus, Baltimare, and Manehatten; couldn’t be a coincidence that Earth had cities with similar names. Tyler was sitting with Dash next to her, Fluttershy and AppleJack in the seat across from them and Rarity and Pinke were in the seat behind Tyler and Dash, while Celestia was in the VIP section, since she was royalty.

“Sorry dude, but this the usual around here, so get used to it. Now just eat it, it’s better than you would think,” Dash told Tyler handing her a hayburger as she chomped down on one herself.

Applejack looked right at Dash as if she was challenging her. She then got up and came back with a plate full of hayburgers.

"Whoever fails to eat the most hayburgers in a minute has to give the winner twenty-five bits!"

"Oh, it is on! Dash shouted, getting the attention of other passengers on the train, who walked over to watch the contest. Pinkie was a part of this group, and suddenly had on a whistle and a referee cap.

"Three Two! One! Eat" the crowd yelled as Pinkie blew the whistle.

As the competing mares ate, getting ketchup and other condiments all over the table and themselves, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Tyler stared in disgust. Rarity looked like she was going to hurl. Tyler haded Rarity some napkins as she went to find the restroom. With just Tyler and Fluttershy alone, Tyler started to ask questions, since she felt that Fluttershy, while she was the shy one of the group, was the most openminded.

"Is this normal?" she asked, pointing at the eating contest.

"Sadly, yes. Those two are always competing with each other," Fluttershy said with a sigh. "and sadly I'm the only one who can stop them,"

"Why is that?"

"Rainbow and I were best friends since we were fillies," Fluttershy explained. "We met at summer flight camp in Cloudsdale. I was really shy back then, more than I am now. I got bullied a lot by some of the colts for being a slow flyer. Rainbow Dash was the only one who stood up for me. She took them on in a race and did her first sonic rainboom, which then led to her and I, as well as Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack getting our cutie marks,"

"Ok, now I'm just confused. What's a sonic rainboom? And what's a cutie mark?" Tyler asked with a confused look.

Fluttershy giggled. "A cutie mark is a symbol ponies earn when they find their special talent. Mine for example; three butterflies. It represents my love for animals and my gentle personality,"

"While that's interesting and all, how does that relate to flight race?"

"That's a long story," Fluttershy responded.

"I'm still a little confused about the whole cutie mark thing. If it's a symbol you earn, is there just a building full of stamps or something?"

"Actually, cutie marks are kind of like tattoos. They appear on their bearer's flank after they find their special talent," Fluttershy said as she lowered her jeans a little to show Tyler her thigh area, so she could see. Sure enough, there were three pink butterflies there.

"Fascinating," Tyler whispered.

"You know, you'll get one too eventually," Fluttershy said matter-of-factly as she pulled her jeans back up.

"Yeah, well knowing me, it'll probably be a book or a beaker of some sort, since I love reading and science," Tyler said. she frowned."But then again, that aren't really talents, are they,"

"Not really. But as unlikely as it is, the spell could have given you a cutie mark already," Fluttershy said.

Tyler quickly grabbed her pants and pulled them down a little bit, to find a pink six-pointed star with five smaller white stars around it. she and Fluttershy just stared at it for a moment before they were brought back to reality by a voice.

"Congrats, darling. It would seem you have gotten your cutie mark," Rarity said, getting the attention of the competing mares and Pinkie, who stopped what they were doing to see.

"Nice dude. It's not as cool as my lightning bolt, but still, it looks cool," Rainbow said. Tyler just rolled her eyes at the comment.

"Thanks, but what does it mean?" Tyler asked.

"That's for you to find out," Princess Celestia said as she walked toward the group. She rolled her eyes as the passengers of the train all bowed. "And the bowing is not necessary everypony,"

"Princess, why do I have this thing? I haven't even been here for twenty-four hours yet! How does it-"

"-Say no more Tyler. You'll figure it out in time," the princess interrupted. "But I need to talk to you about something else. Alone,"

"Um...okay?" the mare said as she got up from her seat and walked over to the next car of the train with the princess.

They continued through the train until they were in the very back car. There was a flight of stairs that lead to a small viewing platform above the train, which they went up.

"Princess, what is this about, if I may ask," Tyler said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well... you're not going to like this, but..." the princess trailed off.

"But what?"

"You... you need a new name Tyler. Your current one won't work," she said quietly.

"What," Tyler's face quickly turned to a glare.

"I said you need a new-"

"-I KNOW WHAT YOU SAID!" Tyler yelled, making Celestia flinch. "But first you took my body, then my family, then my home, and now you want to take my name too! What the hell!" Tyler had started crying again.

Celestia wrapped Tyler in her arms and wings. Tyler soon returned the gesture and said a single word that made the princess of the sun shed a tear.

"Why,"

"It's a guy's name, and no name you will find anywhere here I'm afraid. That, and the ponies wouldn't accept your identification files that I put together under the name Tyler since you're a girl." she then handed the sniffling mare a piece of paper. "I-I put together a list of names that are similar to your current one, they're just more...Equestrian and girly,"

Tyler looked at the paper. There were only a few options, all of which started with the letter T.

"I-I figured you'd want to keep your current first letter and last name," Celestia said looking away from Tyler as tears went through her white fur.

"You know, as mad as I am that I have to do this, some of these are pretty similar to Tyler," Tyler mumbled. Then the last name on the list caught her eye. She knew that, of the list of names, this one was by far the coolest and sounded like her, and if she had to change her name, she would pick this one.

"Just so you know princess, I'm not mad at you for what happened. I'm mad at myself for blaming you,"

"Tyler I-"

"Twilight,"

"Huh?"

"Call me Twilight. Twilight Flarem," she said turning to the princess while wiping the last few tears out of her face.

"Attention everypony! We are approaching the Ponyville station!" said the announcer over the intercom.

"That's our stop. We should get going Tyl- Twilight," The princess said with a half smile. "If I may ask though... why did you pick Twilight over the other names?"

"Simple really. All the other names sounded dumb or overly girly. You basically just took the last of my masculinity away, so I'm trying to keep as much as possible. That, and it just sounds cool,"

"Well, you're right. It does sound cool," the princess chuckled as she walked down the stairs and towards the exit. "And Twilight,"

"Yes, princess?"

"You're taking this better than expected. How do you do it?"

"Well, I have you six helping, so that makes things easier. Twilight said. "But also, I try not to think about Sha-" she stopped herself from saying his name.

Celestia wrapped one of her wings around the lavender pony. "I understand how much you miss them. I would know," she had tears in her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I had to banish my own sister to the moon for treason a thousand years ago. She's back now thanks to the others and myself. I had to help Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie defeat her in a battle to convince her to come back to the light," she looked at the floor. "You'll meet Luna eventually, but not now since she raises the moon and spends the day sleeping. She's more of a night pony,"

"With a name like Luna, I'm not surprised," Twilight said with a chuckle.

Celestia shared the laugh with Twilight as they stepped off the train. "Yeah. Anyway, we need to get you to your place. I know you'll like it,"

April 14, 7:26 AM
Ponyville

“Welcome to Ponyville, Tyler!” Pinkie yelled while bouncing around the train station. She suddenly pulled out a canon from somewhere and shot confetti in Twilight's face. Twilight was about to ask where Pinkie had gotten the cannon when Dash put a hand over the lavender pony's mouth.

“Rule number one of being friends with Pinkie: don’t ask questions. Seriously, it just makes it more confusing,”

Twilight nodded in understanding as Dash removed her hand. "Thanks for the warning. Oh, also um... Celestia kind of made me change my name to a girl's name," Twilight said blushing.

"Well, that makes sense darling. Tyler is hardly feminine at all," Rarity commented, but seeing the look on their friend's face made her realize that Twilight wasn't too happy with changing her name.

"So what um... what did you change it to?" Fluttershy asked.

"Twilight. Twilight Flarem," said the lavender pony.

"I like it. I mean, it's cool but not as cool as mine," Dash said while punching the air.

"A'hm not one for long names, so can I just call you Twi?" Aj asked, getting a nod from Twilight. "Sweet. If anything it sounds better than Twilight,"

"Twilight sounds like the kind of name for someone who wants a party!" Pinkie shouted as she pulled out another cannon, shooting more confetti in Twilight's face.

"Sorry Pinkie, but we need to find my house before we can throw a party, alright?" Twilight said.

"Okie Dokie Lokie," Pinkie said with a large grin.

"I gave you everything you'll to get started in this bag," Celestia said while floating a large bag with Twilight's cutie mark on it over to her. "I have other matters to attend to, but you can contact me via your roommate,"

"Roommate?" Twilight said while looking at the others.

"No, it's somepony else. But he's a nice guy. You'll get along fine I'm sure," she said as she spread her wings to fly back to Canterlot.

"Thank you!" Twilight yelled as the princess flew into the distance.

"Who could the roommate be?" Rarity asked with a raised brow.

"No clue. But we should find Twilight's place, give her the tour of Ponyville, get her situated, then go to Sugercube Corner and have a party!" Pinkie yelled as she bounced around.

"Maybe... maybe we should let Twilight decide what we do? Since all of this is for her and all?" Fluttershy whispered.

The five mares all looked towards Twilight.

"I say we go take this stuff to the house, then decide what to do from there," she said.

"Well, what are we waiting for! Let's go!" Dash shouted at them as she flew down the street. She then flew back with an embarrassed look on he face. "Um... which way is Twi's house?"

Applejack just laughed as she took the papers Celestia gave Twilight out of her hand. "Well, let's see. Twi's place is...the one in the center of town with the "sold" sign next to it,"

"Isn't that...oh, I get it now," said Dash with a smirk.

"What? Where am I staying?" Twilight asked.

"You'll see," said a smiling Pinkie.

"Let's get a move on ya'll," Aj said as they walked towards the center of town.

April 14, 10:38 AM
Ponyville

About ten minutes of walking (or flying) later, the group reached the center of town. There were ponies walking around the center of town, talking, eating, running, and pretty much everything else you could name. There was a giant building in the center of it all, which Twilight assumed to be the town hall. There were a lot of houses around, most of which were just buildings with straw roofs. The river that flowed under the bridge the group walked on splashed against the riverbanks.

The group continued walking until they found Twilight's place. It was a tree, but it had been hollowed out. There were small windows along the sides of the tree and a balcony above the main building with a telescope on it. The wooden door looked worn and old as if it needed to be replaced. The whole building looked that way like it was in good shape, even though it looked abandoned. What caught Twilight's eye, however, wasn't the building, it was the sign next to the tree. As she walked closer to read it, she was both grateful that Equestria used the English alphabet and psyched at what the sign said.

The Golden Oak Library.

"Are you serious! I live... in a library!" Twilight shouted as she flung open the wooden door and tried to run inside, tripping over her hooves that she had yet to get used to.

"Pfft, eggheads" Dash muttered under her breath, getting a punch from AJ.

The library had bookshelves built into the sides of the tree, and there were books everywhere! There was also a staircase that led up to what was most likely the living area.

"This place has been out of business for months. The last owner moved to Canterlot and left this place abandoned," Rarity said.

"It's not as abandoned as you might think. I just don't clean it enough," said a voice.

The group looked to see a small purple and green dragon walking down the stairs. He had no wings and was small enough that he was most likely a baby. He burped and a piece of parchment formed at the end of the green trail of flames.

"Woah," Twilight said under her breath. "How did you-"

"I'll explain that later. Are you the human from Earth?" he asked looking at Twilight.

"Uh.. yeah?"

"Great. I'm Spike, the "assistant"," he said making air quotes. He then handed Twilight the piece of parchment "The princess wanted me to give you this and then help you get settled in,"

"Thanks... Spike," the lavender alicorn said as she took the paper and read it.

Dear Twilight,

I see you've found the Golden Oak. I had a feeling you'd like it from the way you acted, and the fact you seen to like science and reading. Spike will deliver messages between the two of us via his flames. He's a baby dragon who has agreed to help you and be the librarian's (you) assistant, at the expense of living with you in the Golden Oak. He'll also show you how to live here along with the girls.

The bag I gave you has enough bits to buy cleaning supplies to clean up the library and buy food and other necessities like furniture and some other things. The bag also has a map of Ponyville, a map of Equestria, the identification papers that you need to take to city hall (I filled them out for you on the train), and a list of books that I'm shipping in from Canterlot for the library.

Also, I gave you some books about our culture, flight, magic, and other things like that. While I recommend reading them, I would also talk to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash about flight and Rarity and myself about magic. It'll help, trust me.

I have given you some of the textbooks from my School for Gifted Unicorns, just as a study tool for magic since after a quick check of your magic levels, which are through the roof, by the way, you'll need to learn about magic more than anything, as it seems to be what you'll be good at.

One more thing. If you've noticed, there are four races of ponies in Equestria: earth ponies (like Pinkie Pie and Applejack), unicorns (like Rarity), pegasi (like Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash), and the rare alicorn, which is what you are. And after a quick double check of my lists, there are only five known alicorns: myself, Luna, Princess Cadence, her daughter Princess Flurry Heart, and you. Alicorns are really rare and are the most powerful race of pony. They have the abilities of the other three races combined, which means you have the strength and endurance of an earth pony, the magic of a unicorn, and the flight of a pegasus. Ponies look toward alicorns as leaders, so be prepared for that.

Anyway, I will come down to Ponyville on Monday to check up on you. See you then!

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia.

P.S. Give the sapphire in the bag to Spike. It's a little something for him since he's going to be helping you.

Twilight opened the bag the princess had given her as she thought about the letter. So she would be living with a baby dragon. Honestly, that was the least strange thing that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. She pulled out a few books from the bag and set them on the table, glancing at the titles Unicorn Magic Volume 1: Beginner, Unicorn Magic Volume 2: Intermediate, and Flight Basics. She would have to look these over later. She had other things to do at the moment.

She pulled a large blue sapphire out of the bag and tossed it to Spike who looked it over.

"Sweet. I haven't had a sapphire in forever. Thanks!" he said as he took a large bite out of it. Twilight just stared open-mouthed at the baby dragon as he chewed the gem.

"Wha-what did he- did he just-," she stuttered

"Dragons eat gems," Applejack said matter-of-factly as Spike continued chewing the rock.

"Uh...," the lavender pony said as she stared at Spike.

"Just open look in the rest of the bag," Spike said as he swallowed another bite of sapphire.

Twilight did just that, finding a long list of books for the library, a pouch full of bits with a list of basic essentials, and her identification papers. A quick look over the papers showed that they had her name, race, sex, age, and a spot for a picture. The things that caught the mare's attention though, was her age. While she was fourteen on Earth, the papers said she was twenty. The transformation spell must have changed her age too. Great. There go six years of my life was all she could think when she read the papers.

However, she still needed to go get her picture taken at city hall, buy basic stuff, clean the library so she could open, learn magic and flight, get to know Spike, figure out her house, and learn the town.

This was going to be fun.

Author's Note

And so the story continues. Tyl- sorry- Twilight is going to have fun with the list of things to do and get, not to mention the party Pinkie wants to have. And then there's Shane, trying to cope with the loss of his brother and trying to find him while everyone else has given up.