Jade's Story: A Human in Equestria

Chapters

A Typical Day
The Portal
Tea Party
Flying Lessons
Geek Out
Rainbow Apples and Getting A Golden Ticket
Fashion and Stuff
Buckball
New Friends
Welcome to Ponyville Party
The Gala
Back to the Human World
A Big Discovery
The Decision
A Mysterious New World

A Typical Day

The bright sun shone over the bright, green fields of Equestria, while a calm breeze blew through the grass. The blooming flowers and fluttering butterflies painted the whole land with beautiful arrays of different colors while birdsong filled the air. The light yellow mare let out a soft sigh as she took in all the sights and sounds.

“Fluttershy?” a voice asked.

Fluttershy’s ears pricked and she whipped around to see Twilight, sitting on the picnic blanket beside her.

“Oh sorry Twilight,” Fluttershy whispered, “I was just taking in all the sights.”

“Ah yes, it is lovely out here,” Rarity added.

Fluttershy turned to look at the white unicorn. She wore a pair of giant sunglasses and a flowery hat, both green, to keep the sun out of her face. Rainbow Dash was sitting beside Rarity, reading the latest Daring Do book as she tried to eat a muffin. Applejack sat nearby with a whole basket of muffins, giving them to anypony who asked for one. Rarity glanced down at Spike.

“Spike, can you pass me a chocolate muffin?” Rarity asked.

Spike looked up at Rarity, his cheeks instantly turning a deep shade of red.

“Of course!” he replied, standing up and grabbing a muffin from the nearby basket. He carefully placed the chocolate muffin on Rarity’s plate.

“Thank you, Spikey Wikey,” Rarity replied gratefully before carefully taking a bite of her muffin. Spike only replied with an embarrassed stutter. Starlight Glimmer levitated a random muffin from the basket and took a bite of it. She nearly dropped it as she did.

“Wow Applejack, these apple spice muffins are amazing!” she exclaimed.

“Thanks sugarcube but it was actually Granny Smith who made ‘em,” Applejack replied.

“Mmm, tell her I think they're amazing,” Starlight took another bit of muffin.

“Sure thing.”

Pinkie Pie grabbed three chocolate muffins from the basket and messily gobbled them down. Frosting and crumbs went flying all over the blanket and everypony else. Rarity backed up slightly and tried to avoid the flying food.

“Pinkie Pie! Can’t you be a little less messy?!” Rarity exclaimed, despite her obvious amusement. Twilight looked up from her book at Pinkie Pie with a giggle. She levitated a nearby napkin towards the pink pony and magically wiped all the frosting off Pinkie Pie's face.

“Thanks Twi,” Pinkie Pie replied.

“Wait, I missed a spot!” Twilight exclaimed, dropping her book.

“Where?”

Twilight stood up and tapped Pinkie Pie's nose, “There!” Pinkie Pie and Twilight both abruptly bursted out into a fit of giggles.

“This has been fun, but maybe next time we can invite Starlight AND Discord?” Fluttershy suggested.

“Uh...I don't know Fluttershy…” Twilight replied.

“Oh come on Twilight,” Fluttershy reasoned, “I promise you won't even notice he's there.”

“I agree with Fluttershy,” Starlight agreed, “Discord is our friend, yet we never seem to invite him to anything.”

“You know what?” Rarity butted in, “The more the merrier! Shall we invite Capper next time as well?”

“Ooh ooh! And Skystar?!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“And Celaeno and her crew?” Fluttershy suggested.

“Nah, they’ve been really busy lately,” Rainbow Dash sighed, “Pirate stuff.”

“Well I suppose we can invite Starlight, Discord, Capper, and Skystar,” Twilight still sounded unsure, “I guess I’ll just clone more chairs if there aren’t enough in my dining room.”

“Hey, what about Fizzlepop Berrytwist?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Tempest?” Twilight asked. She still wasn’t used to using the mare’s real name, “Well, I can invite her too but she might not come. It’ll probably be overwhelming for her to be around so many ponies all at once.”

“Especially since she and Capper are...not really the friendliest,” Rarity added.

“Exactly,” Twilight nodded, “But I’ll invite them all to the next get together and we’ll see how it goes and who shows up.”
Suddenly, Pinkie Pie let out a huge gasp.

“That's the late lunch get together at the castle on Friday!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Starlight shot a confused glance at Rarity.

“Why are we having lunch late that day?” Starlight asked.

“It worked better with all of our schedules,” Rarity answered.

“Well, I'll see you girls on Friday at two thirty,” Twilight said, as the ponies began to clean up.

Sitting alone as usual in the cafeteria, Jade plugged in her headphones and turned her music on. She looked around at all the groups of people in the cafeteria, talking, laughing, or looking at their phones together. Jade wondered what that was like: having friends who cared about you and wanted to spend time with you. Unexpected jealousy pricked at Jade like a needle and it was impossible to push away. Why didn’t anyone ever want to be friends with her? Am I not good enough for the people here? Jade looked down at her bag of pretzels with a sigh. Her only friend throughout all of middle school and so far all of high school was music. However, not a lot of the modern songs her peers would listen to, Jade usually found those obnoxious or repetitive, but just whatever jived with her. That could range from broadway music to classical to even some pop or rap. Jade closed her eyes and tried to just focus on her music.

After while, the bell rang, signifying it was time to go to the last class of the day. Jade shut off her music and quickly packed up her stuff. Her last class of the day was chemistry, one of her most difficult classes. She walked through the halls silently, without anyone even acknowledging her presence. Throughout her chemistry class, it was the exact same. She didn’t raise her hand to answer any questions, didn’t talk to anyone and had no one talk to her. Jade felt like nothing more than a shadow, something that has a presence and is seen but never acknowledged as anything more than part of a background. Yet honestly, she didn’t really want it any other way.

“What is the metal that is used to recover copper from a solution of copper sulfate?” the teacher looked around the room before focusing his gaze, “Jade?”

Jade’s eyes widened and she froze on the spot as everyone’s eyes focused on her. Struggling to remember, Jade silently sat shaking in her seat.

“I-i-i-i-iron…” Jade finally answered.

“Yes!” the teacher replied, proudly.

Jade let out a relieved sigh and tried to calm herself down with slow breathing techniques. After what felt like thousands of years of more lecturing, the dismissal bell finally rang. Everyone immediately stood up and rushed towards the door, pushing and shoving each other to try to escape the classroom. Jade backed away from all the chaos, all the way against a wall. Once everyone was gone and the room fell silent, Jade quietly walked out the door and into the chaotic hallway. She allowed the stream of students to lead her out the door and she diverged from the path to walk to her own house. She walked the same path she had every day since her first day of Freshman year at Canterlot High. Nothing had really changed now that she was in her Sophomore year. It was a lot of the same people and the classes weren’t much different just harder. The only things that seemed to have changed were the teachers and classroom numbers but Jade hardly noticed that. Many of the teachers were the same to her, as were her peers. Once she reached her house, Jade unlocked the door and pushed it open.

“I’m home!” she called out, shutting the door behind her.

Her mother emerged from her room upstairs and looked down the balcony at Jade.

“Hey! How was school!” Her mother greeted.

“The same,” Jade answered, “Nothing exciting happened.”

“Do you have homework?” her mom asked.

“No,” Jade responded.

“That’s good,” Jade’s mom walked back in her room and shut the door.

Jade grabbed her laptop out of her backpack and sat down on the couch in the living room. She opened to her writing and began typing away whatever came to mind. Aside from music, writing was her other escape. It was an outlet for her emotions, a way for her to express her creativity and what felt like a gateway to freedom. While Jade wrote, she was in her own world and followed her own rules. It was the only time Jade felt like she could be herself. Jade continued writing for the rest of the day only taking one break to eat a dinner she cooked for herself in the microwave.

Once she noticed it was getting late, Jade plugged in her laptop and went up to her room. Tomorrow was Friday which meant only one more day until the weekend where she could write for as long as she wanted. However, tomorrow would be just the same as every other day. She would go to the same classes, see the same people, learn the same subjects and do the same things. Jade took off her glasses and laid them down on her nightstand with a sigh. Laying down, Jade found herself struggling to fall asleep. She tossed and turned for hours in the darkness of her room for what seemed like hours until finally passing out.

Author's Note

It's finally out! The whole reason I made an account on here was to post this story (and other MLP stories but this one is the first real one I've written.) After about two years of struggling in development, this story was completely rewritten. The original drafts were very different and honestly worse. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this story!

The Portal

“I present, pancakes for late lunch!” Pinkie Pie cheered, hopping into a kitchen with a plate of pancakes. Everypony stared in awe at the pancakes that stacked almost as high as the ceiling. Pinkie Pie carefully placed the pancakes in the middle of the table, hastily grabbing a few for herself.

“Were this many pancakes really necessary?” Capper asked.

“You must not know Pinkie Pie well enough yet,” Twilight chuckled.

“Yeah!” Pinkie pie bounced into her seat next to Twilight, “In fact, this might not be enough considering how many pancakes I usually eat!”

Capper’s eyes widened, “I don’t even wanna know,” he replied. Rarity giggled and levitated some pancakes onto her and her friend’s plates.

“Thanks Rarity” Capper replied.

“Of course, darling,” Rarity responded.

Twilight levitated three pancakes onto everyone’s plate. Everyone she had invited the day prior was here aside from Fizzlepop Berrytwist, or Tempest as most ponies still called her. Starlight Glimmer put some whipped cream and chocolate chips on her stack of pancakes and immediately dove into her food, snarfing it down like a rabid wolf. She looked back up at everyone else, with whipped cream all over her chin and cheeks. Her friends laughed a bit.

“Oh Starlight, you look just like Santa Hooves!” Pinkie said.

“Or a grandfather,” Discord whispered to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy smiled a bit. Starlight scowled at Discord and licked the whipped cream off her face. She looked back down at her now messy plate of pancakes. Starlight hardly bat an eye before she continued snarfing down the pancakes, not caring about being embarrassed. Pinkie Pie and Skystar, the hippogriff princess, were eating way messier than Starlight was. Skystar had put so much whipped cream on her pancakes it looked like just a mountain of white on her plate that eventually made its way towards Skystar’s mane. The hippogriff looked up at Pinkie Pie.

“You did a great job with these Pinkie!” Skystar said excitedly.

“Thanks!” Pinkie Pie replied, “Though Twilight helped me out a lot.”

Twilight blushed and looked at Skystar modestly without saying anything. Twilight went back to eating her pancakes civilly, with a fork and magic, while Skystar and Pinkie Pie continue gobbling theirs up with their faces and hooves buried in their food. Suddenly, Skystar caught something out of the corner of her eye. She glanced up slightly to see a glow emitting from the hallway. What in Equestria could that be?

“I’m gonna go wash my claws,” Skystar fluttered out of her chair just above the ground, “And….my face…”

“I’ll protect your pancakes while you’re gone!” Pinkie Pie offered, already scooting towards Skystar’s stack of pancakes.

“Thank you Pinkie Pie,” Skystar replied thankfully.

Skystar flew into the hallway where the light was coming from. Once she was out of eyeshot, she licked her claws clean and landed on the ground. Letting out a relieved sigh, she began trotting down the hallway.

“Where do you think you’re going princess?” a voice asked, suspiciously. Skystar skidded to a halt, her eyes wide, as she glanced behind her. She let out a loud gasp.

“Discord?!” Skystar demanded. Her voice dropped to a whisper, “Why did you follow me?!”

“I wanted to know where you were ACTUALLY going,” Discord answered, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m going to wash my claws and face,” Skystar insisted, “I don’t know my way around the castle, if I went the wrong way-”

Discord cut her off, “You were going towards the light weren’t you?”

“Yes I was,” Skystar admitted.

“Then I’m going with you!” Discord insisted.

“Okay fine,” Skystar turned around and began trotting through the hallway again. Discord followed her, hovering inches from the ground just because he could. Skystar followed the light, which got brighter and brighter as they continued. Finally, Skystar made a turn into a room and gasped. Before her stood a door-like structure with the rainbow colored light emitting from the center of it with a ton of science stuff behind it. This had Twilight’s hoof prints all over it.

“Woah,” Skystar gasped, “Is that a...portal?”

“I guess so,” Discord replied, equally confused and shocked.

“Why would Twilight have a portal in her castle?” Skystar asked, approaching it cautiously. Discord shrugged. Skystar stopped right in front of the portal and slowly reached her claw out to touch it. Just as she expected, her claw went right through it. Skystar backed away. Her heart was pounding in her ears.

“Wanna see where it leads?” Skystar asked.

“Did you even need to ask me that?” Discord asked, flying towards the portal. Skystar and Discord slowly tried to step into the portal.

“STOP!” A voice yelled.

Skystar’s eyes widened in fear. She and Discord whipped around to see Twilight, standing at the entrance to the room with an enraged look.

“Busted,” Skystar whispered nervously to Discord.

The draconequus nodded and moved his claw out of the portal.

“Do NOT go through the portal!” Twilight snapped. Skystar gulped and moved away from the portal. However, Discord stood his ground, figuratively that is.

“Come on, one look can’t be the end of the world!” Discord insisted.

“NO!” Twilight shouted.

Suddenly, a giant mallet appeared. Twilight levitated the mallet towards the science stuff behind the portal and began smashing it. The swirling rainbow part of the portal flashed on and off a few times. Both Discord and Skystar backed away from the portal in terror but Twilight continued to smash the portal into pieces. Finally, the middle part of the portal disappeared completely and it was just a normal golden doorway.

Jade placed her school stuff down on the ground and leaned against the outer part of the Canterlot Wondercolt statue. She sighed as she watched everyone leave the school. Her parents had promised to pick her up that day but she didn’t see them anywhere. Jade went to lean on the inner part of the statue but she didn’t feel anything. Before Jade could straighten up, she fell backwards into the statue and everything in front of her disappeared and was replaced with rainbows. Jade closed her eyes and let out a scream, completely petrified. She began spinning faster and faster in a circle. Jade felt like she was about to barf from the dizziness of spinning around and being stretched out like a slinky. What was happening?! Suddenly, all the spinning and stretching came to an abrupt stop. Jade opened her eyes, hoping everything would be normal again but she was still in the rainbow area. Instinctively, she began looking around for some sort of exit but there wasn’t one. She was trapped in this insane world. Jade let out another scream, hoping someone would hear her this time. This couldn’t be the end! Jade began to hyperventilate until she abruptly passed out.

Skystar watched in annoyance as Discord and Twilight bickered about the portal.

“You can’t go through that portal!” Twilight snapped back, “That world isn’t ready for someone like you!”

“And WHAT is that supposed to mean?!” Discord shouted.

“You know exactly what I mean!” Twilight yelled, flying up to look at him face to face as they continued to argue. Suddenly, Skystar heard a muffled scream. Skystar pricked her ears and looked around but the scream had seemingly come from nowhere.

“Be quiet you two!” Skystar yelled, “I heard something!” Twilight and Discord stopped to look at Skystar in confusion. Twilight landed in front of the hippogriff princess.

“What did you hear?” Twilight asked.

“A scream,” Skystar answered, “But it was very faint and it seemed to come from nowhere!”

Twilight approached the closed portal and projected an image with her magic. It was some insane rainbow environment. That must be the inside of the portal! Skystar realized. However, it wasn’t all rainbows. There was something green and red inside. Skystar and Discord came closer and peeked at the sight. There was a small pony, with her eyes closed and entire body shaking.

“There’s a pony trapped in there?!” Twilight gasped, turning off the spell, “Oh no! What have I done?!” Twilight desperately ran towards the broken parts of the portal and tried to repair it with her magic but what looked to be the engine that powered it spontaneously exploded.

“There’s no time to fix that!” Skystar gasped. Suddenly, Discord disappeared in a flash. Neither Skystar nor Twilight needed to be told where he went.

“Discord no! It’s too dangerous!” Twilight gasped.

“What’s goin’ on in here?!” an accented voice asked.

Skystar’s head jerked towards the doorway. Applejack charged in first with Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Capper, Starlight, and Spike behind her while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew over them and into the room. Fluttershy looked around wildly.

“Where’s Discord?!” Fluttershy immediately asked.

“What...WAS that thang?” Capper asked, pointing at the destroyed portal. Skystar and Twilight glanced at each other panickedly.

“Discord tried to go through the portal to the other world,” Twilight began.

“So Twilight smashed the portal,” Skystar added.

“Then we realized a pony was trapped there,” Twilight continued.

“So Discord teleported into the portal to save her,” Skystar finished. Everypony gasped in shock.

“Why was there a portal in your castle?!” Capper demanded, “And why’d you keep it a secret from us?!”

“Actually, most of us knew,” Rarity explained, “Only Skystar, Discord and you weren’t told because you don’t come to the castle much.” Rainbow Dash flew up to Capper.

“We’ll explain all of this later once we figure out a way to save that pony,” she promised.

Twilight ran behind the portal desperately trying to fix what she had broken but she had none of the materials to do so and the pieces were badly broken beyond repair. Starlight and Rarity rushed to her side and tried to help her with their magic. Everyone watched her anxiously until suddenly, Discord reappeared holding a pony.

“Discord!” Fluttershy squealed, “You’re okay!” Discord carefully put the unconscious pony down on the ground.

“Of course I’m okay,” Discord replied nonchalantly, pulling Fluttershy in for a hug. Everyone else looked down at the pony in awe and shock. The pony was a green pegasus mare with a red mane and blue glasses. She laid there unmoving with her eyes closed. Twilight placed her hoof on the pony’s chest. Thankfully, she wasn’t dead, just unconscious.

“Twilight, you don’t suppose this mare came from the other world?” Applejack asked.

“No doubt about it,” Twilight answered.

“What other world?” Skystar and Capper asked.

“Yeah, you never explained that to us!” Discord exclaimed. Twilight looked up at the three creatures. Discord looked down at her furiously while Skystar and Capper looked simply confused.

“That portal leads, well led, to a parallel universe,” Twilight answered, “Me, Spike and Starlight have been there before and there are alternate universe versions of everypony here in Equestria over there except they aren’t ponies. They’re weird creatures called humans who walk on two legs.”

“You callin’ me weird?” Capper asked. Twilight’s eyes widened and she tried to search for the right response.

“And when I went over there,” Spike butted in, “I became a dog!”

“So if ponies become humans and dragons become dogs, what would me, Capper and Discord be?” Skystar asked.

“I’m not sure,” Twilight answered, “I haven’t seen the other versions of you over in that world.” Starlight levitated the unconscious pony off the ground.

“Let’s lay her down somewhere until she wakes up,” Starlight suggested.

“Then fix the portal and send her home,” Rainbow added. Everyone nodded and trotted into the main room.

Author's Note

I'll have Tempest actually appear in this story eventually don't worry.

Tea Party

“Why isn't Jade answering her phone?!” Blossom exclaimed.

“Yes, where is she?!” Basil exclaimed, “We've been outside the school for hours now! If she went somewhere, she should've told us!”

“She could be in danger!” Blossom insisted, “We should call the police.” Basil grabbed a phone out of the middle of the seats. He dialed “nine, one, one” into the phone and handed it to Blossom. After the ringing ended, the usual condescending voice spoke:

“Hello this is nine one one, what is your emergency?”

“We have a missing child to report,” Blossom replied.

“Can you describe this child?” they asked.

“Her name is Jade, she is fifteen years of age with short red hair, green skin, glasses, and blue eyes,” Blossom answered.
There was a short pause.

“Where was she last seen?” They asked.

“Walking to school, like she does everyday,” Blossom answered, “We said we'd pick her up today but we haven't seen her since this morning and she would have answered her phone if she was at home.”

“What is she wearing today?”

“Jeans and a T-shirt, like everyday,” Blossom answered.

“How long has she been missing?”

“We're not sure,” Blossom replied, “We don't know if she made it to school or not.”

“Any additional information?”

“No.”

“Then we will start the search right away.” Blossom hung up and placed the phone down. Basil rested his hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, they’ll find her,” Basil insisted. Blossom faked a smile.

Letting out a grunt, Jade opened her eyes and rolled over onto her back. She immediately let out a sharp gasp as something seemed to stab at her back. Rolling over onto her stomach, Jade leaped onto all fours. She glanced down at her hands, only to see hooves instead. Suddenly, all the memories of yesterday flooded back to her. The portal...the ponies…magic…. Jade struggled to sit comfortably on the couch. Her new form felt like wearing a tight dress: her movements were restrained and she had to find new ways to move in a way that wasn't awkward or painful. Not to mention the fact that she was in a completely different dimension surrounded by potentially dangerous animals. To Jade, those ponies honestly seemed way too nice and that dragon could easily hurt someone on accident.

“Good morning Jade!” A voice called. Jade's ears, that were somehow flexible now, pricked. Turning around, she saw the purple pony princess who owned the castle she was in. Oh no...what was her name...

“Uh...hi....Sunset...Shimmer…” Jade struggled, hoping the name was right. To her dismay, the purple pony let out a giggle.

“Twilight Sparkle,” she corrected. Jade smacked her forehead with her hoof, attempting a facepalm.

“Where did Sunset Shimmer come from?! Good Lord what is wrong with me? That wasn't even close!”

“There's no need to beat yourself up over it,” Twilight insisted. Jade’s ears flattened in shame. I said that out loud?!

“I'm sorry,” Jade apologized, scraping the ground with her hoof, “I'm not really used to socializing…it's kind of awkward for me.”

“It's fine,” Twilight replied, “I was actually just like you when I was your age.”

“Yet now you're the princess of friendship?!” Jade exclaimed, “Wow!”

“Yeah.” Twilight blushed. “But when I met more and more friends, I began to come out of my shell more.” Jade nodded, not really knowing what to say. Suddenly, Twilight’s gaze shifted down. Jade looked down as well, to see the journal, her diary, on the ground.

“The journal Pinkie Pie gave me!” Twilight gasped. The journal levitated toward her. “I've been looking everywhere for it.”

“Wait!” Jade exclaimed. Twilight looked up at her in confusion. Jade suddenly felt a wave of shame wash over her. “Oh gosh, I'm so sorry...I didn't realize that was a gift! I started using it as a diary…”

“Oh…” Twilight seemed slightly hurt. “Well you can have it.” The journal was levitated toward her. “Pinkie Pie wouldn't mind.”

“But you mind.” Jade attempted to push the journal back toward Twilight with her hooves.

“It's fine, really.” The journal was placed down on the couch beside Jade. “I have plenty of journals.” Twilight's tone was more upbeat.

“Well...thank you.” Jade replied.

“Anyways, since you're going to be here for a while...I thought you could get to know me and my friends.” Twilight sounded excited. “But I thought it would be overwhelming to spend a day with all of us at once, since you just met us.”

“Yeah.” Jade agreed.

“So I set up a schedule for you to spend time with one or two of us each day.” Twilight explained excitedly. Jade smiled. She must really like schedules.

“Okay...” Jade replied. “So who will I be spending today with?”

“Fluttershy.” Twilight replied. “She's very kind, and was once like you, but has since come out of her shell.” Jade nodded nervously.

“So...uh...what time will she be over?” Jade asked.

“Oh, she's not coming over here.” Jade pricked her ears. “You're going over to her place.”

“Oh...uh sure!” Jade replied, trying to hide her nervousness. “Can you walk me there?”

“Sure!” Twilight replied. Jade leaped off the couch, landing on her hooves. Her wings wobbled around awkwardly. She strained them to pull them back in. It was strange having new appendages. Jade grabbed her journal and laid it under wing. “I know,” Twilight spoke up randomly. “It's hard to get used to having wings.” Jade could only nod in agreement. She followed the purple princess out of the castle and into town. Jade’s eyes widened at the sight. There were actual...houses, and buildings. Jade honestly thought Twilight's castle would be the only human-like building. Jade was quiet the whole walk until they reached Fluttershy’s home. It was a cottage, at the edge of a forest. The cottage was nice and quaint. Twilight knocked on the door with her hoof. After a little while, the light yellow pegasus appeared at the door.

“Hi Jade!” Fluttershy whispered. Jade attempted to wave with one of her front hooves. “Come on in.” Twilight trotted off. Jade walked inside nervously, shutting the door behind her. Jade avoided the pegasus’s gentle gaze. “So...Jade. What would you like to do first?” As if on cue, Jade’s stomach growled. She looked up at

“I could go for something to eat…” Jade replied awkwardly. “Do you have mashed potatoes?”

Fluttershy nodded. “I can make you some of those.”

“Thank you!” Jade replied. She waited on the couch in Fluttershy's living room. Various animals scampered around the living room, including chipmunks, squirrels, birds, and rabbits.

“Mashed potatoes are done!” Fluttershy's whisper voice called from the kitchen. Jade leaped off the couch and trotted into the kitchen. There was a bowl of steaming mashed potatoes topped with gravy on the table. Jade took one sniff, and was immediately enthralled by the smell. Fluttershy sat across from the seat where Jade’s mashed potatoes were. She had a bowl of salad in front of her. Jade tried to sit in the chair, and ended up sitting like a dog. Jade looked down at the mashed potatoes.

“How do I eat this?” Jade asked aloud.

“With your mouth?” Fluttershy seemed confused. “How do you humans normally eat?”

“We grab food with these things called hands.” Jade answered. “They're kind of like claws.”

“So like Spike?” Fluttershy asked.

“The dragon?” Jade asked. “Yeah, kind of like him.” Jade leaned down and licked up some of the mashed potatoes.

“Do humans have wings?” Fluttershy asked. Jade shook her head. “You don't know how to fly then!” Fluttershy realized. Jade looked away. “It's nothing to be ashamed of! I bet Rainbow Dash or Twilight can teach you.” Why can't you? You're a pegasus. Jade bit back the reply.

“Cool...to be honest, I've always wanted to fly.” Jade admitted. “It's one of those unrealistic dreams I've always had.”

“Well, it's not unrealistic anymore.” Fluttershy replied, spreading her wings. Jade strained her wings open.

“Ugh! I need to get used to even having these first. It feels so weird.” Jade replied.

“Just work on moving them around so they won't be too stiff.” Fluttershy advised. Jade flapped her wings as she finished her mashed potatoes. Once she was done, she licked her lips.

“I take it you liked the mashed potatoes?” Fluttershy chided.

“Best ones I've ever tasted!” Jade admitted, oddly enthusiastic.

“Discord gave me the recipe.” Fluttershy replied modestly. Jade's eyes widened.

“Discord...the one who saved me from the portal?” Jade asked.

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh yeah...he left before you could meet him. We thought he might scare you.”

“Why? Is he not a pony?” Jade asked.

“He's a draconequus.”

“A Draco what now?” Jade asked, feeling stupid.

Fluttershy giggled. “Maybe you should just meet him. I'll write him a letter. How does that sound?”

“Well…” What do I have to lose? “Sure.”

“Great!” Fluttershy yipped. “I'll write the letter right now.”

“Okay.” Jade replied. “I'll just...uh...play with your animals in the meantime.” Jade stepped off the chair and made her way into the living room. Jade looked down at all the animals. She cooed, and some of the animals walked toward her. Jade tried her best to pet one of the rabbits with her hoof. The rabbit leaned into her hoof. Jade nuzzled a nearby squirrel with her chin. More animals began to crowd around her.

“Wow.” a voice whispered. “They really seem to like you.” Jade looked up to see Fluttershy.

“Already done writing the letter?” Jade asked.

“Well, all I really needed to say is that I wanted him to come over and meet you.” Fluttershy replied. I probably would've spent longer just proofreading it. Jade shrugged and looked back down at the animals. A bird flew toward her, landing on her new muzzle. Jade looked at the winged creature with a smile.

“Flying.” She sighed in amazement. “It must be amazing.”

“It's okay.” Fluttershy sat down beside her. “Though I'm not really the right pony to ask.” Suddenly, there was a knocking sound. The animals scurried away in various directions.

“Oh! That must be Discord!” Fluttershy gasped. Wow. For snail mail, that was extremely quick. Jade looked up, surprised to see a strange goat-like creature with a deer antler at the window. Fluttershy opened the window, and the creature flew inside. He had the body of what seemed to be a griffin, an eagle talon, a lion paw, a snake tail, and two mismatched wings, one a bird wing and the other a bat wing.

“Hello Fluttershy!” The creature greeted cheerfully.

“Hi Discord!” Fluttershy greeted with a blush.

“That’s Discord?!” Jade gasped. Discord’s gaze shifted toward her, and Jade realized that his yellow and red eyes were mismatched as well.

“Well what did you expect?” Discord asked.

“Don't know.” Jade admitted. “I've never heard of a…” She felt stupid as she tried to say the word Fluttershy and used earlier. “Draco…”

“Draconequus.” Fluttershy corrected.

“Yeah that!” Jade remembered. “Never heard of one before.”

“Really?” Discord disappeared and reappeared, hovering at her side. “Your world must be so boring!” Jade backed away from Discord.

“It's okay…” Jade’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“Huh, Fluttershy was right. You ARE like she was.” Discord replied. Jade didn't really know how to respond to that so she changed the topic.

“So...you're the one who saved me from that freaky portal?”

“Yup, that's me! Your savior.” Jade couldn't help but snort with laughter. Your savior is here! That Thor Ragnarok line rang in her mind like a bell.

“Well...thanks.” Jade replied awkwardly.

“Discord?” Fluttershy flew toward him. “Would you mind if we have our tea party today with Jade?”

Discord shrugged. “Sure.” Fluttershy and Discord looked at Jade expectantly.

“Oh...sure.” Fluttershy and Discord sat next to each other on the couch. Jade leaped clumsily onto the chair.

“Still not used to your pony form I take it?” Discord inquired. He snapped his fingers and a tea set and tea cakes appeared on the table.

“Well I did just become one yesterday.” Jade replied. Discord shrugged and grabbed a tea cake from the table, immediately giving it to Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus giggled and blushed at the gesture. Jade tilted her head to one side in confusion.
“So…” Jade almost never spoke up first. It was really awkward. “Are you two friends? Or something more?” Discord and Fluttershy both blushed.

“Oh, just friends.” Fluttershy giggled.

Discord nodded. “I'm not really into the whole idea of…” He scoffed at the word. “Romance.”

“Uh-huh sure.” Jade replied sarcastically. She grabbed one of the teacakes in her mouth and snarfed it down in one messy bite. Crumbs went everywhere but on the bright side, the teacake tasted good.

“Jade...would you care for a cup of tea?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh I'm not really much of a tea-drinker.” Jade answered.

“What about chocolate milk?” Discord suggested. Jade’s ears pricked.

“Oh heck yes!” she exclaimed. Discord chuckled and snapped his “fingers,” and a glass of chocolate milk appeared on the tip of Jade’s hoof. Jade looked down at the cup in shock.

“How do you do all these things?!” Jade gasped.

“Oh it’s simple.” Discord replied. Fluttershy looked up at him with a smile. “I can do anything I want with a snap of my fingers.” Jade jerked uncomfortably, as if a shiver ran down her spine.

“And, uh...wiping out half the universe isn't high on your to-do list, right?” Jade asked, nervously.

“No?” Discord seemed confused. Jade sighed in relief.

“Where did you get an idea like that?” Fluttershy asked. A depressing movie.

“Something from my world.” Jade answered. “Nothing against Discord, of course.” Jade did her best to grip her glass of chocolate milk without dropping it before taking a drink. It was so sweet her lips automatically turned up in a smile. She licked her lips and took another sip. After a little while, she was able to adjust to using her hoof to hold the cup. It was still strange though, not having fingers. Well...it was even stranger having a casual tea party with a talking pegasus and a strange combination of animals who could do anything with a snap of his fingers. All of this, while Jade was a pegasus herself. Jade spread her wings and flapped them experimentally. They were becoming less stiff as she moved them. She remained quiet as Fluttershy and Discord chatted with each other about something or other. Fluttershy then turned her gaze toward Jade.

“So, Jade. Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?” Fluttershy suggested gently. Jade froze in her spot.

“Well...uh...I like...writing.” Jade admitted.

“That explains your cutie mark.” Fluttershy commented.

“Cutie mark?” Jade asked.

“The mark on your flank.” Fluttershy explained. “It represents your purpose in life.” Jade shot a glance at her flank. There was a symbol of a feather quill with ink dripping off of it.

“My purpose in life is writing.” Jade’s voice was oozing with sarcasm. “What a surprise. It's pretty much all I do with my life anyway.” To her surprise, Fluttershy and Discord began laughing. Jade awkwardly grabbed her cup of chocolate milk and took a sip. After some more socializing, Discord teleported out of the cottage, leaving Jade alone with Fluttershy.

“Are you enjoying your stay, Jade?” Fluttershy asked.

“It's…fine.” Jade replied. “Why do you ask?”

“You seemed a little...well...nervous.” Fluttershy admitted.

“I'm just not the best as socializing.” Jade admitted. “It's nothing against you, you've been really kind to me and Discord…” She paused.

“What about him?” Fluttershy asked.

“He wasn't what I expected.” Jade admitted. “But I'm used to that now.”

“Well...it can be good to step out of your comfort zone every once in awhile.” Fluttershy replied.

“I guess that's true.” Jade looked down at her wings. Fluttershy's gaze turned thoughtful.

“I'm no expert at flying.” She admitted. “But I teach baby birds how to fly all the time. Maybe I can teach you the basics of flying.”

“I'd really like that!” Jade replied, flapping her wings a bit.

Author's Note

Somehow I compared Discord to both Thanos and Loki within the same scene. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that.

Flying Lessons

Jade followed Fluttershy out of the cottage. She moved her wings around, as she walked. She was starting to feel more comfortable with the fact that she had the wings.

“How do we start?” Jade asked.

“Spread your wings.” Fluttershy instructed. Jade spread her wings as far as she could. Her wingspan was actually pretty wide. Experimentally, Jade pressed her wing against her cheek. The feathers were so soft Jade could barely believe these were HER wings!

“Um…” Fluttershy spoke up. “What are you doing?” Jade’s head jerked toward Fluttershy.

“What? They're really soft!” Jade insisted, spreading her wings again. Fluttershy chuckled and spread her wings as well.

“Now, the trick is to flap your wings hard, but not too hard.” Fluttershy flapped her wings, propelling herself off the ground after some flaps. She hovered just above the ground. Jade flapped her wings, but she got nowhere. Frustrated, she flapped harder. She wobbled clumsily before falling on her face. Fluttershy landed in front of her. Jade stood up.

“You have to flap them in rhythm with each other.” Fluttershy explained. Jade nodded. She spread her wings out again. Jade began to flap them in unison but they kept getting out of sync. She began to move forward, but her hooves were dragging on the ground. Jade let out a groan and let her wings droop.

“This is harder than it looks.” Jade commented.

“It will click eventually.” Fluttershy replied.

“Fly again. Maybe I'll learn better by watching you.” Fluttershy nodded and began to hover above the ground. Jade focused on the pony’s wings. They were in such perfect unison, like a mirror image. Jade lifted her wings over her back, matching each feather in a parallel image. She closed her eyes, and began to flap her wings in unison. After a few seconds, the ground disappeared from underneath Jade’s hooves. She looked down. She floating above the ground. Jade flapped her wings more, and she floated even higher into the air. Jade let out a gasp.

“I'm actually flying!” She squealed. Jade flew even higher and faster. “This is amazing!” She looked back at Fluttershy, who had an alarmed look on her face.

“Jade! Look out!” Jade looked in front of her to see a tree in her path. However, Jade was feeling dare-devilish. She spread her wings as far as she could, causing her to glide. Then with one huge flap of the wings, Jade was propelled upward, high above the tree. The wind rushed through her mane and tail, even her short fur was cooled by the breeze. The feeling was one of absolute freedom and well...life. Almost like riding a bike downhill, except she felt more free since she was off the ground! Finally, Jade stopped herself midair with her hooves. She continued to flap her wings as she looked down. She had to be about ten feet off the ground! Jade pointed her hooves inward, aiming toward the ground. Fluttershy trotted toward Jade as she landed clumsily.

“That was amazing!” Jade gasped, struggling to catch her breath. “Even better than how I wrote about it!” Jade straightened out her wings and folded them at her sides.

“Don't fly too much more today.” Fluttershy advised. “You don't wanna overdo it. You should definitely practice more tomorrow though.”

“I will!” Jade squeaked. “I'll continue to...defy gravity.” She winked. Fluttershy's expression turned to a look of confusion.

“Oh...right. You don't get human references…” Jade looked away. “Jeez, a world without broadway and movies?!”

“Oh we have movies.” Fluttershy whispered. “And Bridleway, I'm not really into it though.”

“Hm...well they probably don't have the same movies or shows that they do back home…” Jade thought aloud.

“Well...Twilight did say that your world is a parallel universe to ours.” Fluttershy replied.

“So my favorite movies, broadways, and books could potentially exist here? Just with ponies?”

“Potentially.” Fluttershy replied. “You should ask Twilight. She'll know.”

Jade nodded. “I'll do that the next time I see her.” She looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to go down. “Can you walk me back to Twilight's castle?”

“Sure.” Fluttershy answered. Jade flapped her wings, eventually hovering above the ground. She followed Fluttershy through the town. Suddenly, she grabbed something out from under her wing. “This fell when you were flying.” It was her diary! Jade grabbed the journal.

“Thanks.” Jade replied, through the journal. Once they reached the door of the castle, Jade landed and placed the journal under her wing. Fluttershy knocked on the door with her hoof.

“Twilight! It's Fluttershy and Jade!” Fluttershy called out.

“Coming!” Another voice called. After a few moments, Twilight appeared at the door. Fluttershy flew away. “Hi Jade. How was your visit with Fluttershy?”

“Good.” Jade replied, walking into the castle. Twilight pushed the door closed behind them.

“That's good!” Twilight replied. “By the way, I bought new materials to fix the portal but with my jam packed schedule, it will take a while for me to fix it.”

“It's fine.” Jade replied.

“I just have one question.” Twilight's tone was nervous. “Do you live with your parents?”

“Yeah.” Jade answered. Twilight's eyes widened with horror.

“And...would they have noticed your absence by now?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah,” Jade answered. “They've probably called the police by now.” Twilight's eye twitched. “Don't worry about it, Twilight. I'll come up with some excuse when I get home.” Twilight still looked petrified.

“Maybe I should...work on fixing the portal overnight.” Twilight was shaking.

“Don't do that!” Jade insisted. “You need rest!”

“But you need to get home!” Twilight argued.

“There's no rush.” Jade replied. “The worst that will happen is that I'll miss some school and my parents will be worried for a while. It's not like I'll die if I don't get home. I'm clearly in good…” Jade looked down at her green hooves. “Hooves.”

“That's….true…” Twilight replied hesitantly. “Alright I'll get some rest. If you will sleep in an actual bed instead of the couch.”

“Um...okay.” Jade replied. “Do you have a spare mattress?”

“Starlight does.” Twilight replied. “If you ask her, I'm sure she'll lend you it. I'll show you where her room is.” Jade nodded, and followed the purple princess through the hallway. As she walked, Jade flapped her wings. Eventually, she was able to hover just above the ground. Twilight looked over her shoulder, letting out a gasp.

“You already know how to fly?!” She gasped.

Jade nodded. “Fluttershy taught me the basics.” She replied. “I can't wait to fly more!”

“Well maybe tomorrow, me, you and Spike can go for a flight.” Twilight replied. “And Rainbow Dash will probably want to take you to Cloudsdale.”

“What's Cloudsdale?” Jade asked.

“It's a floating cloud city, the home of the pegasi.” Twilight answered. “Cloudsdale helps with the seasons here in Equestria.”

“Ponies control the seasons.” Jade scoffed. “Let me guess. There's also winged unicorns who raise the sun and moon.”

“Yes actually.” Jade stumbled around clumsily in the air before landing. “Their names are Celestia and Luna. Also, we're called Alicorn Princesses.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Jade sighed. “So there's only three winged-er...Alicorns and they're all princesses?”

“There are actually five alicorns.” Twilight corrected. “Celestia, the princess of the sun, Luna, the princess of the moon-”

“Ooh! Just like Apollo and Artemis!” Jade gasped.

“Who?” Twilight asked.

“Nevermind. Go on.” Jade replied rapidly. Of course ponies don't know Greek Mythology. Oh god, that must mean there's no Percy Jackson! Jade pushed away the awful thought.

“Cadence is the princess of love,” Twilight continues. “I'm the princess of friendship and then there's Flurry Heart.”

“What's she the princess of?” Jade asked.

“Well...nothing yet.” Twilight replied. “She's only a baby, and she's Cadence’s daughter. My niece.”

“Cool.” Jade replied. After a bit more walking, Twilight stopped in front of one door.

“Alright, here's Starlight’s room.” Twilight yawned. “Goodnight Jade.” She walked away, her wings drooping.

“Goodnight Twilight.” Jade replied, knocking on the door. After a few moments, a light purple unicorn with dark purple and light blue hair answered the door.

“Hey Starlight...Shimmer?” Jade guessed.

“Starlight Glimmer.” She corrected.

“Eh I was close.” Jade tried to act nonchalant but she was actually dying inside. She didn't have to guess her last name. She could've just stopped while she was ahead! “Twilight said you had an extra mattress. Can I borrow it?”

“Sure. I can lay it out in here for you.” Starlight replied, pulling the door further open. Jade trotted into Starlight's room, pushing it closed with her back hoof.

“Thanks.” Jade replied. Suddenly, the mattress floated out of the closet and onto the ground. Then a pillow and blanket were levitated onto the bed. “How are you doing that?!”

“Unicorns can do magic with our horns.” Starlight answered.

“Nice.” Jade replied. “What can earth ponies do?”

“They tend the land. You know, farming and stuff.” Starlight explained. Jade jumped onto her mattress and sat down.

“So they're like Demeter children. Man, they both got jipped!”

“Demeter children?” Starlight asked. Jade smacked her face with her hoof.

“What is it with me and Percy Jackson today?!” She whispered. Jade raised her voice. “Just some stuff in my world.” Jade laid down, pulling the blanket over herself. Starlight shrugged and leaped into her own bed. Jade grabbed her diary from under her wing.

Dear Diary,
This is day two of being stuck in Equestria. Twilight, the purple pony princess, set up a schedule for me to spend time with each of her friends on a different day. Today I spent time with Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus pony. She was really nice and she introduced me to Discord. He was a Draco Malfoy (I don't know how to spell the actual species name), a weird combination of animals and he can do anything with a snap of his ‘fingers.’ Thankfully, he's not going to wipe out half the world though. Fluttershy and Discord were really confused when I asked about that. I guess ponies don't know about Marvel. Or they haven't seen Infinity War yet (lucky clods.) After Discord left, Fluttershy taught me how to fly. Once I got used to it, it was amazing!

Once she was done, Jade put the diary aside and laid down with a yawn.

Geek Out

“Jade!” A voice called. Jade twitched and pricked her ears. With a yawn, she looked up to see Twilight, standing in the doorway. “Oh! I'm sorry, did I wake you?”

“Maybe…” Jade replied, blushing in embarrassment. “What time is it?”

“Seven thirty. To be honest, I'm just really excited to spend time with you.” Twilight admitted.

“Me too.” Jade replied. I guess. She jumped out of bed and followed Twilight through the hall. “So...what do you have planned?”

“Well I was planning to take you and Spike to Canterlot to spend some time together since I have to take care of preparations for the Gala on Saturday.” Twilight explained excitedly. Canterlot? Like Canterlot High?! “And now we don't even have to take the train since you can fly now!”

“Yeah...I did pick up flying pretty quick.” Jade blushed.

“Unbelievably quick!” Twilight commented.

“Oh don't be silly.” Jade replied modestly. “I'm still pretty clumsy. The skill doesn't run in my blood like it does for ponies. I wasn't born a pegasus after all.”

“Well technically your pony counterpart was.” Twilight replied.

“Pony counterpart?” Jade asked.

“Oh, I don't think I explained that. Everypony has an exact duplicate in the human world, and vice versa.” Well I guess that explains the Canterlot thing.

“Oh...so where do you think the Jade Leaf of this world is?” Jade asked. Twilight began to walk down the stairs. Jade flapped her wings just enough to hover and flew down to the bottom in the blink of an eye.

“I don't know.” Twilight admitted once she'd caught up. “I've never seen her.”

“Maybe she's dead.” Jade suggested. Twilight's eyes widened. Jade immediately felt a wave of embarrassment smack her in the face. Don't say stuff like that! Twilight is gonna think you're a freak!

“Um...anyways...where's Spike?” Jade asked, trying to change the subject. Twilight pointed her hoof. Jade turned to see Spike, sitting on the couch eating gems out of a bowl. Jade would've been weirded out if she hadn't already seen so much other weird stuff.

“Oh!” Spike looked up from his gems. “Hey Twi. Are we leaving yet? The train to Canterlot leaves in ten minutes.”

“There's been a slight change of plan.” Twilight explained. “Instead of taking the train, we're all going to fly to Canterlot.”

“Great!” Spike replied. “I've been meaning to go for a flight.” He moved his wings around a bit. “My wings are getting a bit stiff.”

“Let's get going then.” Jade replied. The three creatures trotted out the door and into Ponyville. Jade spread her wings and jumped up, flapping her wings rhythmically and was off the ground in an instant. Twilight and Spike followed her lead, flying high over Ponyville. Jade followed their lead, gazing down at the town as it became smaller and smaller. She was never really afraid of heights-probably because her mom, Blossom Leaf, was a pilot and would occasionally take her on flights. Maybe that's why Jade loved flying so much...Jade sped up a bit to catch up to Twilight and Spike. Twilight was right. She had caught on to flying fast. After a few minutes, the suburban Ponyville was replaced with a huge regal castle overlooking a more urban and modern looking city.

“Woah.” Jade gasped.

“Eh.” Spike shrugged. “It's pretty, but the ponies here are are all stuck up and snobby.” Twilight shot him an annoyed glance.

“Need I remind you that both of us are from Canterlot.” Twilight replied. Spike giggled nervously. Jade hoped that Spike was wrong about Canterlot ponies being snobbish. She hated people like that, and well...ponies like that were probably not any better. Jade followed Spike and Twilight as they descended down into the city. They landed in front of the castle. Jade stumbled a bit but still remained on her hooves. Twilight turned to Jade and Spike.

“I'll be in the castle.” Twilight explained. “You two can go wherever you want in the city. I'll come find you when I'm done with my business with Celestia.”

“Okay. Sure.” Jade replied, turning to Spike. “So...where are we going?” She began trotting through the city.

“I thought we could go to the donut store for some breakfast.” Spike replied.

“Didn't you eat a whole bowl of gems earlier?” Jade asked.

“That was first breakfast.” Spike replied nonchalantly. “This will be second breakfast.”

“You're not a hobbit.” Jade chuckled.

“A what?” Spike asked. Jade looked away in embarrassment.

“Nevermind…”

Blossom was sitting on the couch, anxiously messing with her fingers. Her phone was silent. No calls, no messages, no notifications at all.

“Blossom!” Basil called from the other room. Blossom gazed up at her husband. “They found Jade’s backpack.” Blossom ran towards him and it indeed Jade’s Star Wars themed backpack. Even the heart she had drawn between Ben Solo and Rey was there.

“Where was it?” Blossom asked.

Basil’s expression darkened. “By the Wondercolt statue…”

Blossom’s eyes widened. “The portal…” Basil and her didn't talk about the portal. Not since the incident, but this was an emergency. “Do you think she went through the portal?”

“She must've.” Basil sighed. “Let's go check it out.” Blossom nodded and followed him out to the car. Blossom sat in the driver's seat and started up the car. Basil sat next to her, staring out the window. They were both lost in their own thoughts as Blossom drove to the school. She pulled up in the parking lot of the school and got out to look at the statue. Basil followed her lead. Blossom rested her hand on the portal, but nothing happened. The portal was closed.

“Well, that confirms that she isn't in the other world.” Blossom’s tone was optimistic.

“Unless it closed after she entered.” Basil suggested.

“I hope not.” Blossom sighed. “That could mean our little girl is gone forever.” Basil shared the same look of discomfort that Blossom had.

Jade followed Spike through the Canterlot. She looked around, taking in all the sights. The buildings could best be described as fancy and most of the ponies were unicorns dressed in fancy clothes and jewelry. It's exactly what you would describe as “upper-class,” except with ponies.

“Here we are!” Spike announced, pointing to a building with a giant donut decorating the front. “Donut Joe’s donut place!” Jade followed Spike into the shop. When the door opened, a bell rang. The pony behind the counter looked up at the door.

“Hey Spike!” The pony greeted. “Haven't seen you in awhile!”

“Well, I was in the neighborhood and figured I'd show my new friend Jade the best restaurant in all of Canterlot!” Spike replied. Jade gazed at him. Previously, she had been looking around the mostly empty shop.

“Well you've come to the right place!” The Donut guy replied. “What can I get you?” Spike turned to Jade. It took her a second to realize that he was waiting for her to say something.

“Oh! Uh…” She looked down at the ground. “Chocolate I guess…”

“A dozen chocolate glazed donuts!” Spike announced, to the whole store.

“Coming right up!” Donut Joe rushed to the back kitchen area. Jade and Spike fluttered toward a small two-pony table and sat down in the chairs. Jade looked around the shop. There were only two other ponies there. One was a light green unicorn and the other was a cream colored normal pony with a blue and pink mane. They were sitting at the only other two-pony table in the shop. Suddenly, the bell rang and two unicorns walked in. One was a yellow mare with a purple and white mane and the other was a gray stallion with a black mane. The mare rang the bell on the counter but nothing happened.

“Ugh. What lousy service.” The mare scoffed. Jade's ears dropped and her face reformed into a frustrated scowl.

“Indeed.” The stallion replied. “Let's go find a seat, Jet Set.” Jet Set nodded and followed the stallion. Jade was surprised and subsequently scared to see that the two snobbish unicorns were walking toward her and Spike.

“Can you two move out of your spot?” Upper Crust asked. Her condescending tone made Jade clench her teeth in frustration.

“Um, excuse me?!” Jade snapped. “This isn't your seat! Me and Spike got here first. You snobbish rich ponies can't always get everything you want served to you on a silver platter!” The unicorns stared wide-eyed at Jade with their jaws dropped.

“Well I never!” The stallion scoffed.

“Never what?!” Jade challenged. “Never heard someone say the truth about you?! Or is it all too much for your narrow mind to comprehend?” The two ponies gasped.

“Let's get out of here, Upper Crust.” Jet Set pleaded.

“Fine.” Upper Crust scoffed. The two ponies trotted out of the store, their heads pointed directly upward. Jade scowled at them until they had left the store. Only once they were gone did it sink in with Jade. I took that too far...

“Wow Jade!” Spike gasped. “That was awesome! I didn't know you had that in you!”

“Me neither…” Jade sighed. Another unicorn walked by Jade and Spike’s table, levitating a plate of chocolate donuts.

“Here you are.” The pony announced, putting the plate of donuts down on the table. Spike immediately grabbed a donut and snarfed it down messily. Jade took one in her mouth and ended up eating it just as messily. There was chocolate glaze and crumbs all over her muzzle just from one donut. She licked her lips and grabbed another donut with her hoof. Jade snarfed down a few more donuts until the bell rang. Gazing up at the door, Jade saw a pink pony with a wild mane.

“Pinkie?” Jade asked aloud. The pink pony’s gaze shifted toward Jade and she leaped toward her.

“Hi Jade! Hi Spike!” Pinkie Pie greeted with her usual enthusiasm. She turned around and bounced toward the back counter.

“One of every type of donut please!” Pinkie Pie ordered. Donut Joe nodded and rushed toward the back. A while later, Pinkie Pie was given a huge pile of donuts in exchange for quite a few gold coins. She took the plate and bounced toward a table, dropping quite a few donuts on the floor. Spike rushed toward the dropped donuts, stuffing them in his mouth. Jade took the last few donuts from the plate before Spike could return.

“Hey!” Spike gasped. Jade couldn't help but giggle. As she licked her lips, the bell rang again. This time it was Twilight.

“Hey Spike!” Twilight called. “I figured you would be here.”

“You know me so well.” Spike chuckled. Twilight turned to Pinkie Pie.

“Why hello Twi!” Pinkie greeted. “Might I treat you to some donuts?” She pointed to the mountain of donuts on her plate. Twilight blushed and trotted toward Pinkie Pie.

“Sure!” Twilight replied, diving her face into the donut pile. The two mares gobbled down the donuts, getting glaze and sprinkles everywhere. Twilight looked up at Jade, her muzzle was smothered in donut.

“Sorry Jade.” Twilight apologized. “I promise I'll get to work on the portal right after me and Pinkie finish these donuts.”

“What?” Jade was confused for a moment. “Oh! Yeah, it's no big deal.” Twilight went back snarfing down the plate of donuts. Once they were all gone, Pinkie Pie licked her lips. Then licked Twilight's lips. Twilight's cheeks were redder than pomegranate seeds.

“Pinkie!” She gasped. Pinkie Pie looked away, blushing.

“Sorry Twilight!” She exclaimed. Twilight giggled and nuzzled Pinkie’s cheek.

“This has been nice, but I need to head back to the castle and work on fixing the portal.” Twilight replied, jumping off the chair.

“Oki Doki Loki!” Jade's ears pricked and her head jerked toward Pinkie Pie. Loki?! “See ya later, Twi!” Twilight trotted out of the donut place, Spike and Jade trailing after her. They flew through the city, this time back toward Ponyville. It was only her third long flight and yet she noticed that she didn't even have to think about flapping her wings now. It was automatic and instinctive, just like walking. Maybe I could try some tricks...She was about to try something but she didn't want to look stupid or put herself in danger. Jade landed shakily just beside Twilight. She and Jade walked toward the castle while Spike went the opposite direction.

“Spike?” Twilight called. “Where are you going?”

Spike’s cheeks suddenly turned red. “I was gonna go look for Rarity.”

Twilight giggled. “You do that then.” Jade followed Twilight into the castle.

“Hey...Twilight...can...can you uh...show me the portal?”

“I can show you what's left of it.” Twilight replied. “I got materials to fix it yesterday. I just need time.” Jade nodded and followed Twilight through the crystal halls. The princess lead her to an unfamiliar part of the castle. Finally, they walked into a room with a pile of machine wreckage in one section of the room.

“Here it is.” Twilight announced.

“Wow.” Jade replied. “What happened to it?” Twilight's eyes widened. Then she let out a sigh of shame. “I destroyed it.”

“What?!” Jade gasped. Twilight looked down at the floor.

“Discord and Skystar were trying to go through the portal-”

Jade cut her off. “Skystar?” As in Clear Sky from Warriors?!

“The hippogriff princess.” Twilight explained. “She stepped down when I told her not to go through the portal but Discord was stubborn. I had to destroy the portal so he wouldn't be able to get through.” Twilight levitate some tools toward the wreckage of parts and got to work.

“Why?” Jade asked. “Wouldn't he have just turned into a human like how I turned into a pony?”

“Well...Discord isn't a pony, he's a draconequus. And he doesn't exactly obey the laws of physics. Who knows? The portal could have no effect on him.” Jade was now immensely curious about how this portal worked.

“What about Spike?” Jade asked.

“He's a dog in that world.” Twilight answered.

“Wait what?” Jade was perplexed. “Dragons turn into dogs?” Twilight nodded. “But...but what if a really big dragon somehow got into the human world? There aren't dogs that big! Besides, isn't it an alternate universe? Where are these dragons’ duplicates in the human world?!” Jade gasped. “ARE THERE DRAGONS IN THE HUMAN WORLD?! IS HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON REAL?!” Twilight seemed overwhelmed by the amount of questions.

“Slow down!” Twilight exclaimed. “To be honest, I have no clue.”

“Wait...maybe the parallels in the human world are fictional characters!” Jade was just thinking out loud at this point. “Is there a Smaug dragon here? Or a Clifford dragon? Or Toothless?!”

“I'm pretty sure those are all fictional characters here.” If this were a cartoon, there would've been a glass breaking sound effect as Jade's eyes widened.

“You have How to Train Your Dragon here?!” Jade asked.

“Oh yes!” Twilight replied. “But the first movie was made back when ponies were way less knowledgeable on dragons then we are now, so it's pretty inaccurate. Can't imagine why they made two sequels.”

“Are you kidding?!” Jade exclaimed. “Those movies are awesome! Besides, it's a different universe. Of course things don't work the same way.”

“Eh, I guess.” Twilight replied. She had made a bit of progress on the portal. Part of it had some semblance of structure but the rest was still as messy as a child's room.

“So wait...if you have How To Train Your Dragon, that means you COULD have some of the other stuff in my world!” Jade exclaimed.

“You can ask me.” Twilight offered. “Though I may not know all of them-”

“Broadway?!” Jade immediately blurted out. Twilight stared at her for a moment.

“We have Bridleway.” She answered as she returned to working on the portal. That might be the same thing. Jade tried not to get her hopes too high though.

“Broadway is basically…” Jade searched for the right words. “Fancy stage plays.”

“Yeah, that's Bridleway.” Twilight replied.

“PHANTOM OF THE OPERA?!” Jade gasped. Twilight jolted in surprise before nodding. Jade squealed and bounced around the room excitedly.

Twilight giggled. “I take it you're a fan of that musical?” She asked, slightly teasing. Jade stopped, feeling her cheeks redden. Did I really just do that in front of someone? Jade turned to Twilight.

“I guess you could say I'm the tiniest bit...completely obsessed with the story, music, and characters!”

“Wow, if it's that good maybe I should see it.” Twilight replied.

“Why haven't you?” Jade asked.

“Bridleway tickets are pretty costly.” Twilight answered. “And that one in particular is really expensive.”

“There's a movie version of the musical. Go watch that.” Twilight dropped her tools.

“There is?!”

“Well...I hope there is in this world.” Jade replied awkwardly. “We could look for it and maybe some other movies at the store…” Twilight glanced at the broken portal.

“I would...but it's really important that we get you home and-”

“Come on Twilight.” Jade objected. “I mean...uh, we're supposed to be spending the day together and yet I've barely seen you.” Jade was confused over her own words. She DID want to go home. Right? I'm just curious about this world! Of course I wanna go back, the human world is my home. I'm a human, not a pony, but I want to be with these ponies as well. They're kind of...friendly.

“Well...alright.” Twilight replied. “I'll have time during the week to fix the portal. Let's go to Blockbuster and get some movies!” Jade nodded and trotted after her.

Dear Diary,
I spent the day with Spike and Twilight, well mostly Twilight. We all flew to Canterlot (an urban unicorn city) and I shared donuts with Spike but after we got back, it was mostly Twilight. I only really remember one thing that happened in Canterlot: yelling at two ponies. They were being rude yes, but I still feel like I took things too far. I didn't really get a chance to talk about to anyone and it's still bothering me. Aside from that though, it was a good day. Me and Twilight went to Blockbuster (which apparently still exists in Equestria) and bought way more movies then we ended up watching. We watched Phantom of the Opera, which was just the 2004 movie with ponies instead of humans. The sets were the same, the choreography was only slightly different, and the voices were exactly the same! However, it still felt the same as the human movie, which was weird since they were all different species. I didn't even really notice that they were ponies unless the characters did something purely pony-ish. Like, Erik was a unicorn, so he did real magic! That was really cool. Anyways, me and Twilight also watched The Greatest Showman and Beauty and the Beast (the beast was a manticore, which actually kinda made sense.) We had also bought most of the Star Wars and Marvel movies, but Twilight didn't seem particularly interested in those. Besides, three movies in one day was enough for her. Me on the other hoof, Star Wars and Marvel marathons were practically how I spent my weekends other than writing.
Jade closed the diary with a yawn and placed it aside. She laid down, immediately getting comfortable. Jade would've fallen asleep if not for her sudden realization: she was adjusting to all of this really well. Jade able to write in a diary using a pencil in her mouth and she could fly as casually as she could walk on four hooves. Plus, in just a few days, she had spoken more than she had in maybe months in the human world. These ponies were so...unusually friendly. Fluttershy and Twilight had both made her feel comfortable to the point where she was being really...weird, around them. Well okay, Jade had always been weird but she was never so open about it. Something about these ponies brought out pieces of her that she never knew existed. These thoughts kept Jade awake for hours until she finally passed out.

Author's Note

I am obsessed xD

Rainbow Apples and Getting A Golden Ticket

Dear Diary,
I fell asleep yesterday before I could write in this thing so I'm doing it in the morning. Yesterday I spent the day with Starlight. It turns out that she is a guidance counselor at Twilight's School of Friendship and the others are teachers. I'm not entirely sure how different their school is from a normal school, as I haven't seen any classes, but anyways, Starlight also doesn't get much traffic as a guidance counselor. I spent most of the day with her in her office. At one point, I brought up what happened the day before in Canterlot. It went something like this:

“Hey...Starlight…” Jade began nervously scraping the floor with her hoof. “Since you're a guidance counselor and all...do you think you could help me?”

“Of course!” Starlight perked up as she ran to sit in her chair. “What's troubling you?”

Jade sat in one of the chairs in front of Starlight's desk. “Honestly, it's this place.”

“My office?” Starlight asked.

“No!” Jade gasped. “I mean Equestria...I never talked about my feelings or about much at all. Yet here I am, snapping at Canterlot ponies.”

“What happened?” Starlight asked.

“Yesterday in Canterlot, I was with Spike at a donut place. Two Canterlot ponies asked us to move out of THEIR spot.” Jade raised her voice. “But WE had gotten there long before they had! So…” Jade sighed. “I snapped at them, telling them they were snobbish rich ponies.”

“Really? That's awesome!” Starlight exclaimed.

“That's what Spike said too, but I still feel like I was being mean.”

“You were standing up for yourself. That's a good thing!” Starlight insisted. “But...I wasn't there. Maybe you did go too far, I wouldn't know.”

“Pretend I did,” Jade replied. “What should I do next time to ensure that I don't make the same mistake.” It was at that moment that Jade realized that if she spoke like she wrote more often, people/ponies would probably listen to her more.

“Keep standing up for yourself and others for sure.” Starlight answered. “Just don't be rude or hurtful yourself.”

“How will I know where to draw the line?” Jade asked.

“That's your call to make.” Starlight replied. “It will be more clear as time goes on.”

Her advice was pretty helpful. I understand why she was chosen to be a guidance counselor. After school got out, me and Starlight mostly just flew kites. Starlight is really knowledgeable on kites it almost scares me. Though her magical abilities really take the cake in things that scare me about her. She apparently stole and replaced the cutie marks of an entire village and traveled through time and created alternate realities. She has the power to change destiny! Definitely not someone you want to make angry. Starlight is still a good pony though.

“Jade!” A voice called. Jade shut her diary and shoved it under the covers. The door opened, revealing an orange earth pony with light hair, a brown hat, and apples for a cutie mark.

“Hi Apple…” Jade froze before shrugging. “Apple.”

The pony laughed. “It's Applejack.”

“Oh, like the cereal!” Jade realized aloud.

Applejack sighed. “Yes, like that darn cereal. Anyways, today you get to spend the day with me and go figure, today is also the zap apple harvest.”

“What kind of apples now?” Jade asked.

“You’ll see when we get there.” Applejack replied, rushing out the door. Jade jumped up and flew after her down the stairs.
“We have to hurry because the zap apples we don’t harvest today will disappear.” Jade nodded and flew at her side through the town. All she had really gotten was that these were special apples that would disappear if they weren’t harvested. Seemed pretty typical to her. After some walking, Applejack lead Jade to a huge apple farm full of apple trees. However, the apples were rainbow colored.

“I guess that’s what zap apples are.” Jade deadpanned. Applejack smiled. “What’s this place called anyways?”

“Sweet Apple Acres.” Applejack answered. Two other ponies gazed at Jade, flocking toward her.

“Applejack.” The cream colored filly with red hair spoke up. “Who’s this?”

“I’m Jade.” she replied. “I’m...new here.”

“I’m Apple Bloom.” The filly replied. “Where ya from?” Jade’s eyes widened. She guessed that this filly didn’t know about the human world and it probably wouldn’t be wise to blab about it.

“Far away from here.” Jade answered.

“Hey Jade,” Applejack chimed in before Apple Bloom could ask any more questions. “I know it’s not the most ideal way to spend time together, but do you think you could help us harvest the zap apples?”

“Sure,” Jade replied. “How do I do it?”

“It’s pretty easy.” Apple Bloom replied. “Just buck the trees.” Jade had to stop herself from bursting out laughing. She was pretty sure she had simply misheard what Apple Bloom said but it still sounded ridiculous. The red stallion kicked the tree and the rainbow apples fell into the baskets. Jade nodded, showing her understanding. She backed up toward one of the apple trees. Jade raised her back hooves against the tree trunk. Her kick was flimsy and unbalanced. Screeching from the pain in her back legs, Jade assumed no apples had fallen until one hit her in the head.

“It’s hard at first,” Applejack spoke up.

“Yup.” The red stallion agreed. Jade glanced down at her sides, spreading her wings.

“Could I just pick the apples?” Jade asked.

“Well...I suppose if it works better for you and will help things move along.” Applejack replied. Jade flew toward the zap apples, picking or even knocking them off the tree with her hooves and short tail. Jade was tempted to bite into one of the apples but stopped herself. Applejack’s family were probably going to sell these.

“What are y’all gonna do with the zap apples?’ Jade asked curiously.

“Sell em to our business partner.” Applejack answer. “Filthy Rich. It makes us good money.” Jade nodded and went back to picking the apples. She did it as quick as she could. Getting the apples off the trees before they disappeared was more important right now than getting them in baskets. After awhile, Jade had gone through countless trees, not that she was keeping track anyways.

“What is your world like, Jade?” Apple Bloom asked, kicking one of the trees and catching the fallen apples in a basket.

“Boring.” Jade answered. “I mean for starters, there’s no rainbow colored apples.”

“You’ve never tried zap apple jam?!” Apple Bloom interrupted. Her face was one of sheer horror. Jade nodded, prompting a gasp from the filly. “You’ve gotta try it! Trust me, you’ll love it.” Jade nodded and went back to picking apples.

“Jade!” A familiar voice called. Jade turned to see Twilight, levitating something beside her. Jade landed in front of her, folding her wings.

“Hey Twilight.” Jade greeted. “What are you doing here?”

“I came here to give you this.” Twilight showed her what looked to be a golden piece of paper. Looking closer, Jade realized it was a ticket. A golden ticket.

“Is this for a chocolate factory?” Jade joked.

Twilight giggled. “I understood that reference.” Jade perked up excitedly. She watched the Avengers!

“I understood THAT reference!” Jade and Twilight both laughed. “But really, what’s the ticket for?”

“The Grand Galloping Gala.” Twilight answered. “It’s a formal party in Canterlot.” Jade’s excitement faded at the mention of Canterlot.

“Oh…” She sighed. “Must be really boring.”

“It is.” Twilight replied. Her expression suddenly darkened. “Well, it probably won’t be with Discord around.”

“Discord’s going?” Jade asked. Twilight nodded. “Oh thank goodness.” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Come on, he’ll definitely make it more exciting!”

“If you call attempting to send a pony to another dimension ‘exciting.’” Twilight replied, grumpily.

“He really did that?” Jade asked, her eyes wide. Twilight nodded. “I guess you really don’t wanna get on his bad side...Let me guess, another reformed supervillain?”

Twilight nodded, “He turned Ponyville into the chaos capital of the world and ruled Equestria, making ponies miserable.”

“And he was reformed with the power of friendship?” Jade asked. Twilight shrugged. “How many other ponies here were evil but are now reformed? Because that seems to be a common theme!”

“Well let’s see...Luna, Starlight, Discord, Tempest, Trixie, and Stygian.”

“Is that how you deal with threats?” Jade asked, trying desperately not to sound rude as she was simply curious. “Ask them to be your friend?”

“There’s a bit more to it than that,” Twilight replied. “Anyways, I need to get going. I’ve already been away from the school for too long.” Twilight placed the ticket in Jade’s hoof before flying off. Jade dropped the ticket, only to see that there were actually two tickets!

“Wait!” Jade called to Twilight. “You gave me an extra!” However, the alicorn princess was already long gone.

“I think she meant to, sugarcube.” Applejack chimed in. Jade turned to her.

“What do you mean?” Jade asked.

“Princess Celestia sends everypony two tickets.” Jade’s ears pricked. Celestia? That was the same name as her principal!
“One of them is for you, and the other is for anypony else you’d like to take with you.”

“Applejack gave her extra ticket to me!” Apple Bloom added. “And Big Mac gave his to his girlfriend, Sugar Belle.” The red stallion giggled and blushed.

“Yup.” He replied.

“Okay...but I don’t have a date or a sibling. Who should I bring?” Jade asked.

“Anypony who isn’t already goin’. It doesn’t have to be romantic or familial. You can ask a friend.” Applejack replied, kicking a tree. Jade put the tickets down on a nearby table.

“I can figure this out later.” Jade decided. “For now, I’ll keeping helping y’all with the harvest.” Applejack nodded thankfully as Jade continued to pick the apples from their branches.

The sun was beginning to dip when the zap apples disappeared. Jade sighed and landed tiredly on the ground. Her wings were sore from flying so much and she just wanted to go home and lay down in her bed.

“Thank you so much for your help today, sugarcube.” Applejack spoke up.

“Your welcome.” Jade sighed, grabbing her gala tickets off the table. “I’m just gonna...head to the castle now.”

“Bye Jade!” Apple Bloom called. Jade waved as she made her way out of Sweet Apple Acres and back toward Twilight’s castle. She pushed open the castle door with a yawn. In the entry room stood Pinkie Pie and Twilight. Well, so to speak, as Pinkie Pie was literally bouncing around the room. Twilight watched her with a warm smile.

“I’m glad you enjoyed the cupcakes, Pinkie.” Twilight giggled.

“You did a good job making them!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed excitedly. Twilight’s cheeks turned a shade of red. Jade smiled. Twilight was kind of cute when she was embarrassed. Wait, what?! That’s just weird! We’re not the same species!

“I was happy to make the cupcakes…” Twilight replied. “But it’s not why I actually invited you here…” It was then that Jade noticed that Twilight was levitating a gala ticket behind her back. “I uh...wanted to ask you something.”

“Well, go ahead!” Pinkie Pie prompted.

“Will...you uh...be my date to the gala?” Twilight asked quickly. Her cheeks were redder than apples. Pinkie Pie squealed excitedly and threw her hooves around Twilight. Her eyes widened.

“I thought you’d never ask.” Pinkie Pie replied, showering Twilight’s face in kisses. Twilight smiled and wrapped her hooves around Pinkie. Jade smiled at the sight.

“I’ve had feelings for you since like, the beginning of time!” Twilight smiled and pressed her lips against Pinkie’s forehead.

“I love you too, Pinkie.” Twilight replied.

“Sorry to interrupt…” Pinkie and Twilight’s gazes jerked toward Jade. “But I’m home.” Twilight and Pinkie Pie blushed and giggled nervously, backing away from each other.

“W-welcome home.” Twilight replied nervously.

Jade smiled. “Sorry to ruin your moment, I think you and Pinkie will make a great couple.”

“Thanks!” Pinkie Pie replied. “I’m happy she said something! She’s been dropping quite a few hints lately! I didn’t really know what to say though…”

Jade giggled. “Well...I’ll just be getting to bed now…” Jade trotted toward her and Starlight’s room.

“Goodnight Jade!” Twilight and Pinkie Pie called. Once Jade made it to her and Starlight's room, she grabbed her diary and began writing.

Dear diary,
I spent the day harvesting zap apples with Applejack and her family today. It was easier for me to just fly up and pick them. I almost broke my back legs trying to kick the trees! I also got some tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, some party in the snobby city of Canterlot. I got two, so I have to give one to someone else. I'm not sure who yet though.

Author's Note

I've never actually seen or read Willy Wonka but my parents reference it so much that parts of it are ingrained in my memory. Also, Pinkie Pie and Twilight are my OTP for the show so it figures in my first real Pony fanfiction I would put them together.

Fashion and Stuff

The bright afternoon sun shined over Ponyville, warning Jade's fur as she trotted beside Rarity. The soft breeze blew through Jade's short mane. She and Rarity had just left a restaurant for lunch.

“What do you have planned for us now Rarity?” Jade asked.

“Well, with the Grand Galloping Gala coming up, I thought I'd make you a dress for it.” Rarity replied. Jade's eyes widened.

“Oh...well you see…” Jade looked away awkwardly. “Me and dresses don't really mix. Can't I just go without?”

Rarity gasped. “Heavens no! You must wear formal attire.”

“But does it have to be a dress?” Jade groaned. “I hate dresses. They're uncomfortable and hard to move in. As a pegasus, I bet that would be even worse.”

“Well, I could make you something that isn't a dress.” Rarity suggested.

“If you insist.” Jade sighed. “Then I suppose it's fine.” After a bit more walking, the two ponies reached a fancy looking building. Jade assumed it was Rarity’s fashion shop, whatever they called them. Rarity pushed the door open and a little bell rang. There was a startled meow from inside the shop. Jade looked up, expecting to see a cat and she did. However, it wasn't what she expected. The cat was really tall and walked on two legs. He gazed at Rarity, nervously messing with his paws.

“Hi Rarity!” The cat's tone was nervous as well. Rarity raised an eyebrow.

“Alright Capper, what did you do?” She asked.

“Nothin!” Capper exclaimed. “The boutique is exactly how ya left it!” Rarity giggled.

“Oh I'm just teasing.” Rarity replied with a playful wink. “I like seeing you all nervous and flustered. It's cute.” Okay they like each other, Jade thought. Rarity turned to Jade. “I don't believe you two have met.” Rarity realized. “Jade, this is Capper a…” Rarity paused to giggle. “Close friend of mine.” Rarity turned to Capper. “Capper, this is Jade-”

“The pony from the portal.” Capper interrupted.

“Mhm.” Rarity nodded.

“Nice to meet you.” Jade greeted awkwardly. Capper bent down, extending his paw toward her. Jade awkwardly accepted the “handshake.”

“Capper, do you think you can deal with any customers that come in while I work on an outfit for Jade?” Rarity asked.

“Of course.” Capper replied. Rarity trotted away toward the back of the shop. Jade hovered in circles just above the ground. The shop was empty and Capper and Jade were both awkwardly silent. Jade was wondering what she could say.

“Is flying in circles a habit for you pegasi?” Capper randomly asked. Jade skidded to a halt midair and gazed at him.

“It is for me now I guess.” Jade answered. “Not that I can fly as a human.”

“Well you sure got the hang of it pretty quickly.” he commented.

Jade shrugged. “That's what everyone says. I'm just a natural at flying despite never having wings. I don't know why.” An awkward silence followed. “Anyways...what was up with you back there?”

“What was what now?” Capper asked.

“You like Rarity, don't you?” Jade asked.

"What?!” Capper exclaimed. His cheeks were red, just like Twilight's had been when she confessed to Pinkie. “No way! We're just friends.” Jade raised an eyebrow. Capper sighed as his ears drooped. “Alright fine, I do like her. I'm pretty sure she just wants to be friends though.”

“And I'm pretty sure she likes you back!” Jade insisted.

“And how could you possibly know that?” Capper asked.

“She literally called you cute.” Jade replied bluntly. Capper chuckled and blushed once more. “Just ask her to the gala already!”
“I was plannin’ to…” Capper admitted. “I suppose I can when she gets back.”

“Jade!” Rarity's voice called. “I need your input on something!”

“I'd better go see what she wants.” Jade flew toward the source of Rarity's voice. She was in a small room in front of a pony shaped mannequin.

“I've drawn out a design for your outfit.” Rarity explained, levitating a piece of paper toward Jade. “Do you like it?” She looked at the paper. It depicted a pony wearing a sweater studded with glitter or gems or something shiny, Jade wasn't really sure. The pony also wore flats and a hat.

“Yeah, this is nice.” Jade replied.

“What color would you like it to be?” Rarity asked.

“Whatever colors would work for me I guess.” Jade replied. Rarity observed her for a moment.

“I'm thinking you would look good in blue, red, purple, or black.” She suggested.
“How about a black hat with a blue sweater?” Jade suggested.

“Yes!” Rarity exclaimed, levitating some fabrics and junk out of her drawers. “That will do quite nicely!” She immediately began sewing the outfit at her sewing machine. Suddenly, another thought came to Jade.

“Hey Rarity, I just wanted to ask a silly question.”

“Ask away.” Rarity replied, still focused on her sewing.

“Do you like Capper?” Jade asked. Rarity froze in place. She turned around, revealing her blushing face.

“Well darling…” Rarity was giggling nervously. “It depends on what you mean by like. If you mean in a friendly way, then yes I do-”

“I mean in a romantic way.” Jade interrupted. Rarity paused before clearing her throat.

“Well...yes.” Rarity went back to sewing. “But can you really blame me? He is quite the charmer.” Rarity giggled. Jade chuckled in amusement as she flew out of the sewing room and back into the main one where Capper was.

“What did she want?” He asked.

“She just wanted to know what color I wanted my outfit to be.” Jade answered nonchalantly. After a slight pause, the bell door rang and a pony walked inside. Capper raced toward the cashier register.

“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique.” Capper greeted. The pony looked up at Capper, her eyes widening in alarm.

“Um...where’s Rarity?” The pony asked, her expression shifting to one of disgust.

“She’s busy.” Capper replied, leaning against the wall. “I’m running the boutique for now.”

“But why would she leave YOU in charge?” The pony’s condescending tone made Jade angry. “Couldn’t she have left a PONY in charge?”

Jade’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me?!” she exclaimed. The pony gazed up at her in surprise. Jade froze for a moment. Remember what Starlight said. “You’re here to shop for clothes, not to attack Rarity and her friend who willingly took this job!”

“And who are YOU to tell me what I can and can’t do?!” the pony demanded.

“I can’t.” Jade hissed. She flew toward Capper’s side, gazing down at the pony. “But Capper here could easily refuse you service for being a racist bigot.”

“Maybe I don’t own the shop,” Capper added. “But Rarity did leave me in charge, so she must trust my judgement.” He seemed pretty laid-back considering the situation. It was kind of admirable. “Or are you saying YOU don’t trust the element of generosity who helped save your home multiple times?" The pony made baffled noises before walking toward a rack of dresses. The pony carelessly placed the dress and a few bits on the counter, scowling at Capper and Jade. Capper grabbed the bits, placing them in the cash register.

“Thanks.” Jade tried her best not to sound like she was gloating. The pony growled before taking her dress and leaving the shop in a huff. Jade and Capper turned to each other, fist bumping and laughing pridefully.

“Jade!” Another voice called. Jade and Capper turned to see Rarity, dashing out of the hallway levitating some clothes. “I finished your outfit!” It was a glittery blue sweater with a black hat and black flats, just like Jade had asked for. Jade landed in front of Rarity.

“It looks nice.” Jade nodded.

“I’m glad you like it!” Rarity exclaimed. She levitated the outfit into Jade’s hooves. “Go try it on! There’s a dressing room right over there!” Jade nodded and trotted away. She wondered why she needed to go in a dressing room to put on clothes since ponies usually didn’t wear clothes anyways.

“Rarity.” Capper’s voice sounded right as Jade was out of sight. “Can I ask you something?” Jade excitedly gazed around the corner of the hallway. He’s going to ask Rarity! Jade slipped her sweater and shoes on and put her hat on. Her sweater thankfully had two holes in it for her wings, so she could still be able to fly. Rarity looked up at Capper.

“Sure!” Rarity exclaimed. “What is it?” Capper’s gaze suddenly met Jade’s. Shoot! I’ve been spotted. Jade gestured with her hoof for Capper to continue. He looked back at Rarity.

“Well...as you know that gala is coming up.”
“The grand galloping gala.” Rarity corrected.
“Yes, that.” Capper replied. “I got tickets if you wanted to...go with me...as my date.” Rarity squealed and leaped up at Capper, throwing her hooves around him.

“Yes! Of course!” Rarity squeaked. Capper was stunned for a moment before he hugged Rarity back. Jade couldn’t help but smile. Rarity backed out of the hug. “Wait...now I have TWO extra gala tickets!” Rarity realized. Capper looked like he was about to say something but Rarity cut him off. “Sweetie Belle!” she called. After a few moments, a unicorn filly came barreling down the stairs. She had white fur and purple hair like Rarity so Jade knew immediately that they must be related.

“What is it Rarity?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“There's a been a change of plans regarding the gala.” Rarity explained. “Since I'm going with Capper, you get to have both of my gala tickets!” Rarity levitated two golden tickets toward Sweetie Belle. The filly gasped in excitement.

“Yes!” She cheered. “I can go with Button Mash after all!” She bounced out of the boutique excitedly. Rarity looked around.

“Now...where is Jade?” Rarity asked aloud. “She’s been in that dressing room for a while now.” Jade stepped out from behind the wall.

"I’m right here.” Jade announced. Rarity and Capper gazed at her. “How do I look?” Rarity squeaked excitedly and trotted toward Jade.

“You look absolutely stunning!” Rarity replied. Jade backed away a bit, smiling awkwardly.

“Thanks.” Jade replied. “I should uh...probably take it back to the castle and hang it up for later.”

“Sounds good.” Rarity replied with a nod. Jade trotted toward the door. “Ooh! Capper, I should make you something for the gala too!” Jade smiled as she walked out of the shop. They’ll make a cute couple as well. Jade began flying toward the castle. She would have to figure out who she wanted to give her extra gala ticket to eventually. Twilight was going with Pinkie, Rarity was going with Capper, Applejack was going with Apple Bloom, and Fluttershy would most likely go with Discord. Jade pushed open the door of the castle. Starlight was reading a book on the couch in the main room.

“Hi Starlight!” Jade called. “I’m home.” Starlight looked up from her book.

“Hi Jade.” Starlight replied. Jade flew onto the couch, folding her feathery wings. “How was your day with Rarity?” Starlight’s gaze shifted toward Jade’s sweater. “By the looks of it, she’s already made you an outfit.”

Jade nodded. “Yeah, it’s for the Grand Galloping Gala. I didn’t want to wear a dress but Rarity insisted I wear something formal, and this is the result.”

Starlight chuckled. “Yup, that sounds like Rarity.”

“Speaking of the Gala...who are you going with?” Jade asked.

“My friend Trixie.” Starlight answered. “Who are you taking?”

“I don’t know yet.” Jade admitted. “Everyone I know is already going with someone else.”

“Well, maybe you could meet someone new.” Starlight suggested. “Tomorrow you’re spending the day with Rainbow Dash. She’s pretty social, maybe she’ll introduce you to some new ponies.”

“Maybe.” Jade repeated. I guess I can just send the ticket back if I can’t find someone to give it to before the gala. She hovered above the couch. “I’m gonna call it a night.” Jade yawned as she flew upstairs.

“Goodnight!” Starlight called. Jade flew into her room and slipped off her outfit. She folded the sweater and put the outfit next her nightstand before grabbing her journal and pencil.

Dear diary,
Today was my day with Rarity. She is a strange pony but I like her. She is quite different from me, as I don’t really care about fashion and for Rarity it’s practically her whole life, but it seemed to work. We spent most of the day just going around town, as Rarity was enjoying having a day off from school. Then after lunch we went to her boutique and I met one of her friends, Capper. He is a cat...that walks on two legs. Equestria is really weird. I never know what I’m going to get next. Capper was a cool guy though, and he and Rarity make a pretty good couple. Within minutes of seeing them together, I could tell they liked each other. I don’t really know how, I just had a strong feeling that they did. Also, I used Starlight’s advice and it actually really worked. I was able to successfully stand up to some racist (speciesist?) pony, with some help from Capper. It makes me sad that there is such racism in Equestria though with all the different species, I guess it’s bound to happen. Anyways, Rarity made me an outfit for the gala. I insisted that I didn’t want a dress so Rarity instead made me a sweater and a matching hat and shoes, which is fancy enough by her standards I suppose. I don’t know, I’m not the right one to ask. I don’t know anything about fashion.
Jade put her book aside and let out a yawn as she settled down to go to sleep.

Author's Note

Have you noticed the racism in the show? Even before they brought specific attention to it in season 8, it's been shown that Equestria has some racist ponies. Anyways, I decided to bring attention to it.

Buckball

“Jade! Wake up!” A voice shouted. Jade’s eyes snapped open. Her heart was pounding and her breathing was rapid. She shook her head and looked around. A blue pegasus mare with a rugged rainbow colored mane.

“Hi Rainbow Dash.” Jade yawned. “What are you doing here?”

“Don’t you know?!” Rainbow Dash was still shouting at the top of her lungs even though Jade was right next to her. “Today is your day to spend with me!” Jade’s eyes widened.

“Right!” she realized aloud.

“Now come on!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Let’s go!”

“What’s the rush?” Jade asked, rubbing her still tired eyes.

“School starts in ten minutes!” Rainbow Dash shouted. Jade gasped and leaped out of bed.

“Come on!” Rainbow Dash flew toward the window. “We can fly and be there in a few minutes if we hurry.” Jade nodded and zipped out the window, just behind Rainbow Dash. She was flapping her wings harder and faster than she ever had before just to keep up with Rainbow. A beautiful purple building surrounded by waterfalls and a lake began to come into view. It was the school! Jade landed beside Rainbow Dash, struggling to catch her breath. Rainbow Dash however trotted effortlessly into the school. Jade ran after her.

“How are you not tired?” Jade asked.

“I’m used to flying fast.” Rainbow answered nonchalantly. “It’s part of being a Wonderbolt.” Jade followed Rainbow Dash into the school. They passed Starlight’s office before making it to a much bigger room. There were baskets on poles set up on each side of the room. “This is my classroom.” Rainbow Dash explained. Jade looked around in confusion. There were no desks, no paper, not even any places to sit.

“What do you teach?” Jade asked.

“My element.” Rainbow Dash answered. “Loyalty.” Jade tilted her head in confusion.

“How exactly do you teach that?” She asked.

“However I want.” Rainbow shrugged. “Today I’m having the students play Buckball.” Jade had to stifle a laugh. Stop thinking that! “And since you’re spending the day with me, you can be an honorary student of mine.”

“Sure.” Jade shrugged. “How many classes do you teach a day?”

“Five.” Rainbow answered. “You don’t have to participate in every game, but once you play your first game of buckball, you’ll definitely want to!”

“I’m sure it’s fun. How do you play?” Jade asked. Suddenly, the school bell rang and the doors of the classroom opened. A bunch of ponies poured into the room at once.

“I’ll explain it to class.” Rainbow Dash replied. “There’s some students like you who aren’t from around here and’ll need an explanation.” Jade nodded and trotted over to join the students. She sat down beside a purple pegasus filly with pink hair that was pointed at the ends. On her other side, sat a much taller sea-green pony with a rugged light and blue mane. Jade looked up at the pony, only to realize that they weren’t a pony at all. They had a beak and claws and huge feathery wings. Then it clicked in Jade’s mind. This was a hippogriff, like Buckbeak from Harry Potter! Jade looked at the two students sitting beside her. Starlight told me I should make new friends.

“H--hi.” Jade greeted shyly. The hippogriff and purple pegasus looked at her.

“Hey.” The hippogriff replied. “I haven’t seen you here before.”

“I’m visiting Ponyville.” Jade replied. “Rainbow Dash decided to make me her honorary student for the day.”

“That explains it.” The purple pony chimed in. “Don’t worry, you’ll like professor Dash’s class. It’s really fun.” The hippogriff nodded in agreement.

“Name’s Seastorm by the way,” They greeted, extending their claw. “Though my friends call me Gale.” Jade shook the hippogriff’s claw.

“And I’m Lavender.” The purple pegasus greeted. Jade shook her hoof as well.

“I’m Jade.” she greeted.

“Nice to meet you.” Gale and Lavender replied.

“You too.” Jade replied awkwardly. Suddenly, the bell went off again, signaling that class had started.

“Alright class!” Rainbow Dash announced. “Today, we’re gonna play the best game ever!”

“Twister?!” One pony asked. Rainbow Dash shook her head.

“Apples to apples?!” another one asked.

“Charades? Truth or Dare?!”

“No.” Rainbow Dash answered. “It’s Buckball!” The students all exchanged confused glances and murmurs. “It’s okay if you’ve never heard of it. It’s more of an apple family thing, but it’s a fun game so I want to share it with all of you!” Gale raised their claw. “Yes Seastorm?”

“How do we play?” Gale asked.

“Great question!” Rainbow Dash replied. She zipped toward the middle of the room. “The earth ponies, or just anyone without wings or a horn, play in the middle. Your goal is to kick the ball into the goal.” Rainbow Dash flew toward one of the baskets. “The flyers play on defense. You have to defend your team’s basket. And the unicorns levitate the basket to catch the ball.”

“Sounds like a boring game for the unicorns.”

Gale murmured. Jade nodded in agreement.
“The class will be split into two teams for the game.” Rainbow Dash explained. “Seastorm, you’ll be the captain of team one and Gallus, you’ll be the captain of team two. You can pick eight other students to be on your teams and alternate roles on the team.” The students dispersed and began socializing with each other.

“Jade, Lavender, you two can be on my team.” Gale announced. Lavender and Jade nodded. “Wait here, I’ll go round up some more teammates.” Gale zipped away toward a crowd of students, leaving Jade with Lavender. The purple pegasus had her tail wrapped around her hooves and her gaze seemed to be intently focused on the ground.

“So...Lavender,” Jade began awkwardly. “What are you into?”

“I like...gardening.” Lavender replied. “What about you?”

“I like writing.” Jade admitted. “Though I haven’t done any serious writing since I came to Equestria.”

“Why not?” Lavender asked.

"No laptop.” Jade answered. “If ponies have those.”

“I’ve never heard of a laptop.” Lavender replied. “We do have typewriters though. Are those similar?” Jade nodded.

“Jade! Lavender!” Gale called. Jade and Lavender gazed at them. Gale had a group of about five ponies behind them. “I’ve gathered up the rest of our team. Three unicorns, three earth ponies and us, three flyers. Who wants to go first?” Gale raised their claw, along with one earth pony and one unicorn. “Perfect! Now let’s get to some Buckball!” Jade followed Lavender and the rest of the team and sat beside them against the wall. Gale and their two players went to the middle of the classroom to begin the game. The other team joined them shortly after. The two unicorns levitated the baskets to their sides while Gale and another hippogriff hovered into their positions. Rainbow Dash flew toward the teams, holding a red ball.

“Is every creature ready?” Rainbow Dash asked. The students nodded. “Alright! Prepare for the buck-off!” The two earth ponies got into position. Upon dropping the ball, the pony on the opposite team kicked it toward Gale. They bumped the ball away with their head.

“Ooh!” Lavender cheered. “This is so exciting!”

Jade shrugged, “Eh.”

“You don’t like sports?!” One of her teammates gasped.

“I don’t like watching them.” Jade admitted. “They’re all just the same thing over and over again but I do like playing them.”

“I’ve never played any sports.” Lavender admitted. The rest of the team gasped.

“Not even hoofball?!” One of the teammates gasped. Lavender shook her head. “But everypony loves hoofball!” Jade assumed that hoofball was the pony version of football.

“They don’t have sports where I’m from.” Lavender informed.

“Where are you from?” Jade asked curiously. Lavender’s eyes widened. She gazed down at her hooves uncomfortably.

“I-I can’t talk about it.” She admitted. Jade wrapped her hoof around Lavender.

“That’s alright.” Jade comforted. “I can’t talk about my home either.” Lavender looked at Jade. Her eyes were wide with fear.

“No!” Lavender’s voice dropped to a whisper. Her eyes were wide with fear. “I mean I literally can’t! Something bad could happen if I do!”

“Same here.” Jade whispered back. Could Lavender be from the human world too? “I can’t even give away too many details or ponies will get suspicious!” Lavender’s eyes widened.

“Huh, I guess we are really similar.” Lavender replied. “But if it’s okay with you, I’d still rather keep my ‘home’ a secret.”

“Me too.” Jade replied. Suddenly, a whistle sound filled the air. Jade jerked up to see Rainbow Dash, flying over the buckball paying area. However, all the playing had stopped. Gale flew back to the team, the others trailing after them.

“Jade, Blueberry, Cobalt, you’re all up.” Gale announced. Jade nodded and flew toward her team’s basket. Her other two teammates and the ponies on the other team lined up as well. To Jade’s surprise, the flyer on the other team wasn’t a pony or a Hippogriff. He had eagle talons and a beak, blue feathers and fur, and the legs of a lion.

“A griffin?!” Jade gasped aloud.

“What?” The griffin replied. “Never seen a griffin before?” Jade shook her head.

“Oh...well we’re great at sports! So prepare to be taken down!”

“You’re the one who’s goin’ down!” Jade replied fiercely.

“We’ll just see about that!” The griffin snapped back. Jade looked down at the offense players. The one on her team was an earth pony, but the one of the other team was a little brown yak with styled hair. The yak rammed her head into the ball and it went flying toward Jade. Her eyes widened as she angled back to kick the ball away with her back hooves. Jade did a flip mid-air before getting back into position. Laughing from the bliss, Jade kicked the ball again toward Cobalt, the earth pony on her team, Cobalt kicked the ball toward the goal with his back hooves. It was about to make it into the basket but was cut off by the griffin throwing it toward the ground with his claws.

“Take that!” He cheered. The yak bumped the ball upward with her back. Thinking fast, Jade knocked the ball toward the griffin with her head. Jade smiled as her heart thumped in her ears. The ball hit the griffin in the head and began to fall toward the ground.

“Get it!” Jade called. Cobalt nodded and struck the ball with his back hooves. It went barreling right past the griffin and with the help of Blueberry’s magic, the ball landed right in the basket. Jade, Cobalt, and Blueberry cheered pridefully. The griffin gasped from exhaustion and landed on the ground. Jade followed his lead, her wings drooping toward the ground. Her heart was still pounding but rather than feeling tired, she actually felt kind of exhilarated.

“Well played.” The griffin congratulated.

“Thanks.” Jade replied. “I’m Jade by the way.”

"I’m Gallus.” He greeted, extending his clenched claw. Jade tapped his claw with her hoof, in the fashion of a fist-bump. “You may have won this time, but be assured, I’ll get you next time.” Gallus’s tone was playful yet competitive. Jade smirked.

“We’ll just see about that.” Jade replied, trotting away. Blueberry and Cobalt followed Jade back to the the rest of the team.

“Alright.” Gale announced. “Lavender, Onyx, and Pearl, you three are up next.” The three ponies trotted toward the buckball playing ground. Jade sat down next to the much taller Gale.

“Are all hippogriffs as tall as you?” Jade asked curiously.

Gale shrugged. “I’m about the same height as most griffs my age.”

“Where do the hippogriffs live?” Jade asked.
“On Mount Aris.” Gale replied. “You probably wouldn’t know where it is, it’s outside of Equestria, next to Seaquestria.”

“Seaquestria?” Jade asked.

“You don’t know the story behind the hippogriffs and sea ponies?” Gale asked. Jade shook her head. “Wow, you really aren’t from around here. This happened pretty recently.”
“Can you tell me?” Jade begged. “Please?!” She put on her best pleading face.

“Okay.” Gale sighed in exasperation. “Once upon a time, all the hippogriffs lived on Mount Aris. Until one day when a horrible monster called the Storm King invaded our land. The hippogriffs used the power of our magic pearl to change into sea ponies and hide underwater where the Storm King couldn’t get us.” Jade stared at Gale intently.

“What happened next?!” Jade gasped.

“We lived underwater as sea ponies for a while.” Gale continued. “Until Princess Skystar, Twilight, and her friends defeated the storm king. Thanks to them, we didn’t have to hide anymore. Some of us changed back into hippogriffs and returned to Mount Aris but the others were used to living underwater so they stayed in Seaquestria.”

“What did you do?” Jade asked.

“Me and my friend Terramar go back and forth with a tiny piece of the pearl.” Gale pointed at their necklace. Jade noticed that there was a small pink gem on it.

“Can you change into anything with that?” Jade inquired. Gale nodded and grabbed the pink gem in their claw. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared around Gale. Once it disappeared, Gale was shorter, about Jade’s height, and was missing their claws and beak.

“Wow!” Jade gasped. Gale grabbed the pearl again and in a flash of light, was returned to their normal hippogriff form. “Can you turn into a seapony? I want to see what they look like!”

“I kinda need water for that.” Gale responded. “Maybe after school we can both go for a swim in the lake?”

“That sounds nice.” Jade replied. “And maybe we can bring Lavender along?” Gale nodded. Rainbow Dash’s whistle was suddenly blown again. Jade and Gale looked up. The opposite team had scored a point.

“Gallus’s team is the winner!” Rainbow announced. The griffin’s team cheered in excitement.

“Darnit!” Gale groaned.

“Oh well.” Jade shrugged. “It was a fun game.” Gale nodded in agreement as Lavender trotted toward them.

“Hey Lavender.” Gale greeted. “Me and Jade are gonna go swim in the lake after school. You wanna join us?”

“Sure.” Lavender replied. “I’m not really the best swimmer, but I can bring my floaty.”

“Sounds great!” Jade responded.

“Jade.” A familiar voice butted it. Jade let out a gasp as she turned around to see Rainbow Dash.

“Right...I’m supposed to be spending the day with you.” Jade’s voice was laced with guilt.

“Nah, it’s cool.” Rainbow Dash replied calmly.

“I didn’t really have any plans for after school. You can hang out with your new friends.”

“Thanks Rainbow!” Jade responded gratefully.

“Eh, don’t mention it.” Rainbow’s tone was laid back. Suddenly, the bell rang again, signaling that it was time to go to the next class.

“See ya later Jade!” Gale called as they flew out of the classroom with Lavender.

“Bye!” Jade called back.

Author's Note

More OCs. I apologize if you don't like OCs but the main character is an OC so whatever.

New Friends

RING, and there’s the final bell! Jade leaped up, excitedly doing a flip midair. The students stopped their game and pushed their way out of the classroom. Only Rainbow Dash and Jade remained in the room.

“Gale and Lavender said they’d meet me by the lake.” Jade explained. “Do you know where that is?”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “We can fly there in ten seconds flat.” In the blink of an eye, she zipped out of the room. Jade sighed and dashed after her. She struggled to keep up with Rainbow Dash even as she flew after her. Rainbow pushed the school doors open and soared even higher into the air. Jade groaned and chased after her. Rainbow stopped, hovering mid air and gazed back at her.

“You keeping up alright, Jade?” She asked. Jade flew to Rainbow’s side, gasping from exhaustion.

“I wasn’t exactly born with wings.” Jade pointed out. “So I’ve only been flying since Fluttershy taught me too. I can’t go that fast, especially in an enclosed space!”

“Heh heh,” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. “Sorry, I’ll slow down. The lake’s not that far anyways.” She pointed down toward the ground. Jade turned to see a body of water down below. It looked much smaller than it probably was since she was so high. Jade glided through the air, slowly descending closer to the lake. As she got closer, Jade spotted a sea-green shape beside the lake. It was Gale! Wow. They got here quick! Folding her wings, Jade skidded to a halt in front of Gale.

“Hey Jade!” They greeted, extending one of their wings.

“Hey Gale.” Jade replied. She unfolded one of her wings, tapping it against Gale’s much bigger wing. “How’d you get here so fast?”

“My last class got out early.” Gale explained.

“Well, Jade.” Rainbow Dash cut in. “My Wonderbolt training session starts in a while. I’m gonna head there now. See you later.” She zipped off before Jade could even respond.

“Hey guys.” Another voice chimed. Jade and Gale turned to see Lavender. She was strolling toward them, with a basket on her back.

“Hey Lavender.” Jade greeted. “What’s in the basket?”

“Just some food.” Lavender answered. “I figured we could have a picnic after some swimming.” She put the basket down in the sand, propping it open and pulling out a rubber object. It was an uninflated pool floaty. Without warning, Gale jumped into the water, splashing water all over Jade. Then there was a flash around Gale. When it disappeared, Gale had fins, a tail, and a slender body made for swimming.

“Woah!” Jade gasped, rushing into the water. She quickly made her way into a deeper part of the water, where she had to doggy paddle to stay afloat. Meanwhile, Lavender sat nearby, blowing into her floaty. Gale leaped out of the water, doing a flip before landing with a huge splash.

“Hey Gale...can your pearl turn other creatures into sea ponies?” Jade asked.

“Sure.” Gale replied, grabbing Jade’s hoof. In a quick flash, Jade could feel her form stretch and morph. She could feel her back hooves merge into a tail. Her muzzle shrank and her front hooves shriveled into fins. The transformation only lasted a moment. Jade looked down at her fins with a cheer. Diving head first into the water, Jade flipped and soared freely through the water.

“This is amazing!” Jade cheered, flipping around in the water. She splashed back toward the surface with a cheer. Gale swam toward her side.

“Hey Lavender!” They called. “Wanna join us?” The purple pegasus had inflated her floaty and was trying to get it in the water.

“No.” Lavender replied. “I'm good.” She carefully laid down on her floaty and pushed it into the water with her back hooves. Lavender floated peacefully on the surface of the lake.

“Suit yourself.” Jade shrugged. She leaped out of the water, landing with a tame splash. She snaked her way through the water, brushing against the sand at the bottom of the lake. Gale was nearby, gliding through the water on her back. Their fins were tucked behind their head. Jade drifted toward them.

“Hey Gale, wanna race to the other side of the lake?” Jade challenged. Gale flipped over and smirked.

“Oh it's on!” Gale replied. The two sea ponies took off toward the opposite end of the lake. Jade was fast, but she stood no match against their opponent. Gale left Jade in the bubbles, swimming circles around her by the time she made it to the other side.

“Wow!” Jade gasped. “You're fast.”

Gale shrugged. “You're just new to this. Let's race back to the other side.” Jade nodded and raced after Gale. They broke through the waves, resulting in a scream. Jade looked over her shoulder to see Lavender! She was flailing around in the water. Gale looked back as well with a gasp. Jade rushed under Lavender, pushing her toward the surface with her back. Lavender wrapped her hooves around Jade's now unusually long neck.

“Thanks,” Lavender whispered. Jade nodded.

“I'm sorry!” Gale called, swimming closer to them. “I didn't realize where my tail was going I guess.”

“Apology accepted,” Lavender replied frantically. “Now please, take me back to the shore!” Jade nodded and zipped toward the sand. She had made it there in what felt like seconds, stopping as close to land as she could. Lavender let go of Jade and waded through the water a bit to get to land. “Thanks, Jade,” Lavender sighed. Jade nodded before splashing over to join Gale in the middle of the lake. Jade and Gale spent a while more swimming in the lake before Jade caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. Jade stopped and turned to see a house in the distance. Jade gasped and swam closer to the shore. That house looked exactly like her’s! It had brown walls, a blue roof, and two floors. Even the windows were in the same place. Could the pony versions of my parents live there? Suddenly, a figure emerged next to her from the water.

“What’s up Jade?” Gale asked. Jade pointed to the house with her fin.

“That house.” She replied. Gale gazed at the house curiously.

“Pretty sure that place is abandoned.” Lavender chimed in as she walked toward them. “We’ve never gotten a flower order from that place and Roseluck said she hasn’t seen the ponies who lived there in years.”

“The original owners probably moved and no one has bought the house again yet.” Gale suggested.

Jade reached out her fin. “Can you turn me back into a pony?” She asked. Gale nodded and grabbed Jade’s fin. In a flash, Jade and Gale returned to their usual forms. Jade waded out of the water and trotted through the sand.

“Where are you going?” Gale asked.

“To explore the abandoned house,” Jade explained.

“Ooh, maybe it’ll be haunted,” Gale replied grimly.

“I doubt it.” Lavender replied. “Ghosts aren’t real, and if there’s someone living haunting the place, someone would know by now.”

“Like Phantom of the Opera!” Jade exclaimed. Lavender and Gale stared at her bewildered. “Why is that movie not very well seen?! Ugh, nevermind. Let’s just go explore the house.” Lavender and Gale nodded and flew after her toward the house. Jade landed in front of the door, which opened with a creak when Jade tapped it. The three friends glanced through the open door. It was too dark to see anything inside.

“Where’s the lightswitch in here?” Gale asked. Lavender trotted inside, flicking something on the wall with her hoof. Immediately after, the entire house lit up. Jade and Gale trotted after Lavender. Every inch inside the house was covered in a blanket of dust. However, it didn’t seem to be decrepit in anyway. It was clear no one had been in this house for a very long time. Jade looked around. There were toy trains and plushes littering the floor and couch. Just like the ones she played with as a child.

“Jade.” Gale called. “You should come look at this.” Jade gazed at Gale, who was with Lavender by an empty fireplace. Jade fluttered toward them. Lavender pointed at the mantle. Jade turned and let out a gasp. The mantle was adorned with pictures of a family. The mare had yellow fur and a blue mane and the stallion had blue fur, a red mane, and a pair of glasses. The pony versions of my parents! Jade let out another gasp. On some of the pictures, there was a green foal with a red mane and blue eyes.

“Is that you?!” Lavender asked.

“Was this your home?” Gale added.

“Well...not exactly.” Jade took a deep breath before she turned to look at her new friends. She didn’t know what else she could say but the truth. “Remember when I said I’m not from around here?” Lavender and Gale nodded. “What I meant by that was…” Jade gulped nervously. “I’m from another dimension!” She blurted out. Gale and Lavender’s eyes widened.

“Wait...what?” Gale questioned. “Then how are you in this picture?”

“It’s a parallel dimension,” Jade explained, pointing at the picture. “This isn’t me, it’s my parallel in this dimension. I’m from the other one. In fact, I’m not even a pony. I’m a human. This is just how I look after I accidentally went through the portal.” Lavender and Gale stared at her with dazed looks.

“You’re from another dimension?” Gale questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, and I can prove it too!” Jade replied challengingly. “The broken portal is in Twilight’s castle.”

“I didn’t say I don’t believe you.” Gale clarified. “Though I do question the part about you not being a pony.”

“Yeah me too,” Lavender admitted. “You seem really well adjusted to being a pony.” Jade shrugged.

“I guess I’m just really good at adapting to change,” Jade responded. “I got used to being a sea pony pretty fast too.” Gale nodded in agreement.

“We should get out of here,” Lavender suggested. Jade and Gale nodded before following Lavender out of the house and back into town.

“So…” Jade spoke up as they walked. “We're still friends right?”

“Of course,” Lavender replied.

“You-you don't think I'm weird?” Jade asked.

“Oh, of course, you're weird.” Gale teased. “But so are we. I'm two species as well!”

“And I'm not used to Ponyville customs either,” Lavender added.

“Great!” Jade exclaimed. These were the first friends she had made on her own in this world or any world actually. She was grateful they wanted to stay her friends. “So, I was wondering...since the gala is this Saturday and I have an extra ticket, if either of you want to come with me?”

“Ooh sorry Jade.” Lavender replied. “I'm already going with my other friend, Cookie Dough.” Jade turned to Gale, whose expression seemed very conflicted.

“Well...I usually go home on weekends to see Terramar and Silverstream but I suppose I can make an exception for this.” Jade beamed ear to ear. Finally! She threw her hooves around Gale.

“Thanks Gale!” Jade gasped.

“No problem, pal.” Gale replied, backing out of the hug.

“I guess we're pretty lucky,” Lavender chimed in. “Getting to go to two parties in two days.” Gale nodded.

“Wait...what's the other party?” Jade asked.

“Your Welcome to Ponyville Party of course!” Gale replied. Jade was bewildered for a moment before it clicked.

“Pinkie Pie was serious about that?” Jade asked.

“Of course!” Lavender replied. “She's the official party planner in Ponyville. She takes parties very seriously.”

“She even convinced Head Mare Twilight to cancel classes for it!” Gale added.

“And this party is…?”

“Tomorrow.” Lavender chimed. Jade's eyes widened.

“Oh god.” She gasped. “Two parties back to back, how am I gonna survive?”

“You don't like parties?” Gale asked, though her tone was more curious than critical.

“I’ve never been to one,” Jade explained. “Well besides my birthday parties but that was just me and my parents. Anything more than that just sounds...overwhelming to go to alone....Two in a row sounds even worse, good lord..”

“Well, you won't be alone.” Lavender pointed out. “You'll have us.”

“Yeah.” Jade nodded. “That helps.” She pulled them in for another short group hug. Gazing up at the sun, Jade realized it was now sinking into the horizon. “Well, I should get back to the castle. See y'all later.”

“Bye!” Gale and Lavender replied, flying toward the school together. Jade smiled and trotted to Twilight's castle.

Dear Diary,
Today was my day to spend with Rainbow Dash though I really didn't spend much time with her. She made me her honorary student for the day, so I got to see what classes at the school of friendship are like. In short, it’s not like a normal school at all. I mean, I figured they would teach different subjects but Rainbow Dash’s class today was just playing Buckball. It was really fun though. I even made two friends. Gale the hippogriff, and Lavender the Pegasus. They were cool and the first friends I've ever made. I also told them where I'm really from, which was also a first. I wish I could tell my parents about my friends, or just see them. They aren't the best parents; they are overprotective and nagging at times but I still love them. At least I'll see them soon. I don't know if I wanna leave just yet though. I'm adjusting really well to life here and I enjoy it.

Author's Note

Not a very eventful chapter on the surface but I needed to develop my characters more. It will also be more meaningful later on.

Welcome to Ponyville Party

Jade opened her eyes and blinked a few times with a yawn. Starlight was still sound asleep in the other bed. Wow I actually woke up before someone for once?! Jade jumped off her bed and looked around the room. Bored, she flew in circles until she noticed something on the ground. It was a piece of paper. An envelope to be exact. Jade landed and picked it up with her hoof. She tore off the top with her mouth only to be greeted by a blasting sound and an explosion of confetti in her face. Jade jumped backward with a scream, dropping the ripped up envelope in the process.

“What is it?!” Starlight asked, still half asleep. Jade looked up at Starlight guiltily. Starlight jumped off the bed.

“The envelope exploded in my face.” Jade explained, smiling as innocently as she could.

“It was probably one of Pinkie Pie’s invitations,” Starlight yawned. She levitated a small piece of paper out of the envelope.

“You are invited to Pinkie Pie’s first annual ‘Welcome to Ponyville, Jade Leaf’ party at Sugarcube Corner,” Starlight read, “There’s gonna be dancing and games and cake and and ice cream and punch! The party starts at 10 am sharp!” Jade hunched over slightly.

“Right…the party.” Jade yawned back. “What time is it right now?” Suddenly, a clock appeared in front of Starlight.

“Nine thirty.” She answered. Jade jerked up.

“We should get going then!” Jade gasped. Starlight nodded and trotted toward the door. Jade stretched out her wings as she followed. She flew down the balcony to the first floor. Looking up at Starlight, Jade was surprised to see the unicorn floating down to the ground beside her.

“Unicorns can do that?” Jade gasped.

“It’s a complicated spell, but yeah.” Starlight replied, stretching out her hooves. Jade’s eyes were wide with amazement as she followed her. “Twilight!” The alicorn’s head poked out of one of the nearby hallways. Spike was next to her.

“Are you two ready for the party?” Twilight asked.

“Uh...yeah…” Jade answered. She raced toward Twilight. “How chaotic is this party gonna be?”

“It’s Pinkie Pie.” Twilight whispered. “It’s gonna be crazy.” She smiled warmly. “You’ll love it.” Jade shrugged and followed Starlight and Twilight out of the castle. Jade hovered just above the ground as they made their way into the town. “Hey Jade, I have great news.” Jade gazed down at her.

“Yeah?” She asked.

“I finished fixing the portal last night!” Jade’s ears suddenly dropped.

“Oh…” Jade sighed in dismay. “Well...can I at least stay for the gala tomorrow?” Jade asked. “I invited one of my friends and I don’t want to let them down.”

“Of course!” Twilight replied with a nod. Jade’s smile returned as they approached Sugarcube Corner. Starlight opened the door with her magic. The three ponies were greeted by an explosion of confetti from inside. Jade leaped back with a squeak followed by Pinkie Pie barreling out of the door.

“Jade!” She squeaked, turning back toward the open door. “Everypony! The guest of honor has arrived!” Cheering bursted from inside the bakery. Jade hunched over as she trotted inside. She looked around at the ponies inside, quickly realizing they weren’t all ponies. Spike, Capper, Discord, Gallus, and other unnamed creatures were there as well.

“Jade!” A familiar voice called. Jade turned to see Gale and Lavender, waving at her from afar. Beaming, Jade rushed toward them.

“Hey guys!” Jade greeted. “Wow, this is quite a turn out just to welcome me to Ponyville.”

“Some of your friends invited their friends.” Lavender randomly glanced to the side. “Speaking of which.” She turned and waved to someone in the distance. “Hey Cookie Dough!” An orange pony turned and trotted toward Lavender. He had a short red mane and tail, yellow eyes, and a cookie for a cutie mark. Jade’s eyes widened when she noticed that the pony was unicorn, but most of his horn was missing. As a result, the tip of his remaining horn was chipped and pointed like little mountains on his head. He also had a tiny scar on his cheek. It was clear he had gone through something traumatic.

“Hey Lavender.” Cookie Dough greeted. “Hey Gale.” He looked at Jade, suddenly stopping dead. “Uh...hey...you?”

“This is Jade.” Lavender introduced. “I met her yesterday in Rainbow Dash’s class.” Jade extended her hoof.

“Nice to meet you.” Jade greeted. Cookie Dough smiled and accepted the hoof shake. “How do you know Lavender?”

“We both take baking classes here at Sugarcube Corner.” Cookie Dough answered. “And we’re in some of the same classes at the School of Friendship too.”

“Cool.” Jade replied.

“Welcome to Ponyville by the way.” Cookie Dough replied. “You staying or just visiting?” Jade was surprisingly conflicted on how to answer the question.

“Not sure yet.” Jade replied. “But I am going to stay for the gala.”

“Jade!” Another voice called. Jade turned to see Twilight and another much darker purple pony, whose horn was broken in the same fashion as Cookie Dough’s.

“Hi mom!” Cookie Dough rushed toward the dark purple unicorn, wrapping his hooves around her. The unicorn smiled and patted her son’s back affectionately. Cookie DOugh backed out of the hug after a bit.

“I’ll go get everypony some food.” Cookie Dough announced as he trotted toward the food table. Jade looked at Twilight.

“So...who’s this?” Jade asked.

“This is Fizzlepop Berrytwist.” Twilight informed.

“Or Tempest.” The darker unicorn mumurred. “Whichever you prefer.”

“Nice to meet you.” Jade greeted, shaking Tempest’s hoof. “So you’re Cookie Dough’s mother?”

“Adopted.” Tempest clarified. Jade snorted with laughter. Her eyes widened as she noticed Tempest’s confused expression.

“Sorry.” Jade apologized, regaining her composure.

“I got that too.” Twilight whispered in Jade’s ear, making her crack up a little again. Gale was covering her mouth with one of her claws as Lavender gazed at the scene in confusion.

“I always feel the need to clarify that.” Tempest admitted. “Some ponies seem to think that this...” She pointed at her broken horn. “..is a genetic trait. It doesn’t matter though, maybe I didn’t give birth to him, but Cookie Dough is my son.” Jade smiled and nodded in agreement. “Well, it was nice chatting.” Tempest added shyly before walking away. Twilight shrugged and followed her.

“Do you know who else is here that I don’t know?” Jade asked. Lavender shook her head.

“Princess Skystar is a close friend of Pinkie Pie’s.” Gale answered. “So she, Terramar, and his sister are here.”

“And they’re all hippogriffs?” Jade asked. Gale nodded. Just then, Cookie Dough returned to the group, levitating plates of dessert foods beside him. One plate each levitated toward Jade, Gale, and Lavender. Jade’s plate had one slice of cake, one cookie, one donut, one brownie, and some pudding, all of which were chocolate.

“Oh yeah.” Cookie Dough spoke up. “I didn’t really know what you like so I just got one of everything.” Jade shrugged, licking up a dollop of pudding.

“Works for me.” She replied, snarfing down the chocolate treats. Once she was done, Jade licked the crumbs and glaze off her lips. “Mmm...my parents would never let me eat this junk at home!” Jade joked. Gale, Lavender, and Cookie Dough all bursted out laughing.

Lavender nodded as she bit out of a powdered donut. “Roseluck, Daisy, and Lily would freak out.”

“I guess to them we’re all just going through our,” Gale did air quotes with their claws. “‘rebellious phase.’” Gale grunted.

“It’s a party. Of course we’re gonna eat sweets!” Jade and the others gazed at Gale in confusion, who scratched the back of their neck with their talon. “Sorry...I admit, I had some trouble convincing my parents to let me stay for the weekend. They’re really smothering and guilt-tripping at times.”

“My parents are overprotective too.” Jade admitted. “They wouldn’t even let me use a butter knife until I was thirteen.” Lavender and Cookie Dough disoriented looks. It was clear they couldn’t really relate.

“Hey Gale!” A voice called. The four friends’ gazes shifted toward a gang of hippogriffs. The tallest one was yellow with a long, light blue mane, the shorter two had blue manes. The male one had white fur and the female one had pink fur.

“Terramar!” Gale cheered. The two friends shared a quick hug. The pink hippogriff rushed toward Jade, who leaped back in alarm.

“I’ve never seen you before!” The pink hippogriff realized, her tone chipper. “What’s your name stranger?” Jade backed up a little.

“I’m Jade.” she replied nervously.

“Ooh! The guest of honor!” The hippogriff cheered. “Great to meet you new friend! I’m Silverstream!” Jade’s ears pricked.

“Like the warrior cat character?!” Jade gasped. “Awesome!”

“You’re weird.” Silverstream giggled. “I like you!” Jade couldn’t help but smile. Lavender and Cookie Dough trotted toward the larger hippogriff.

“Are you really the princess of the hippogriffs and sea ponies?” Lavender asked.

“Yes.” The tall hippogriff replied. “Princess Skystar at your service.” Gale gave Terramar a light nudge on the shoulder.

“I haven’t seen you in forever.” Gale replied. “How have you been?”

“Pretty good, I suppose.” Terramar responded. “I’m still kind of disappointed that I won’t see you this weekend.”

“Yeah...sorry about that. At least you get to see me today though, and maybe you can visit over the week too.”

“If my parents will let me that is.”

“They let Silverstream stay here for extended periods of time. I think they’ll be okay with you visiting us after school.”

“I could come and stay for a few days maybe. It would be a waste of a long train ride to only stay for one day. I would just need a place to stay.”

“You could stay in one of the extra dorms at the school” Silverstream suggested. “I’m sure headmare Twilight would be okay with it!” Jade stifled a laugh. Headmare Twilight. Why does that work so well?

“Well...okay.” Terramar agreed. “Maybe next week.” Silverstream let out a gasp and zipped through the bakery.

“Ocellus!” She called. “Come meet my brother, Terramar!” Silverstream made her way out of the crowd. There was a blue creature following her. Jade could tell she wasn’t a pony, since she didn’t have a cutie mark and her mane and tail were sparkly and see-through. Ocellus walked toward Terramar, shaking hooves with him. Lavender gazed at Ocellus, seemingly even more bewildered than Jade.

“Wait…” Lavender took a step forward, pointing at Ocellus. “I don’t mean to be rude but...what exactly are you?” Ocellus gazed at Lavender.

“A changeling.” she answered. Lavender’s eyes became wider than basketballs.

“Ch-changeling?” Lavender stepped back, rubbing her front leg. “B-but I thought changelings were scary bug-like creatures that feed on love?” Ocellus now seemed uncomfortable as well.

“Well...we were.” Ocellus admitted. “That is until King Thorax taught us that we could share love among each other. We’ve never been hungry since.” Lavender bit down hard, covering her mouth with her hoof.

“I have to go!” She rushed toward the exit of Sugarcube Corner. Jade stared at the swinging door in confusion. What’s wrong with her. Jade leaped off the ground and flew over the crowd. She pushed open the door and looked around. Lavender was dashing behind the bakery. Jade pursued her until they were out of sight from the rest of the town. Suddenly, a flash of green light appeared around Lavender and she disappeared. In her place, stood a black bug-like creature. They had holes in their legs and purple wings. Jade’s eyes widened.

“Lavender?!” Jade gasped. The bug creature turned around, their pure purple eyes widening. The creature also had a horn and fangs, which should’ve made them intimidating but the creature was backing away in fear. “Is that you?” The creature nodded. “You’re a changeling?!” Lavender nodded again. “You feed on love?” It came out much ruder than Jade intended. Lavender sighed.

“It’s not like that!” Jade was surprised to hear a deep scratchy voice coming from Lavender. “I value our friendship!”

“Then why haven’t you transformed like Ocellus has?” Jade had only known about the existence of changelings for a few minutes yet she already felt like a bit of an expert just from observation.

“I didn’t even know that was something changelings could do until Ocellus brought it up!” Lavender argued. She sighed and sat down on the ground, avoiding Jade’s gaze. “My real name is Mandible.” She confessed. “The changeling hive was a harsh environment when I lived there and I was starving. So I ran away from the changeling hive when I was five. I took the form of a pegasus filly to blend in and maybe feed. When Roseluck, Lily, and Daisy took me in, I changed my name to Lavender and it’s been my name ever since.” Jade eyed Lavender sympathetically but was too stunned to respond. “I know I’m incapable of love but I swear, I mean no one any harm.”

“You’re not incapable of love!” Jade insisted. “Why would you think that?”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Lavender demanded, getting to her hooves. “Changelings take the form of the ponies you love and sap the energy from your body as they feed on your love!” Jade felt a wave of confusion. She didn’t feel her energy drain when she was around Lavender.

“Only the old changelings do!” Jade insisted.

“I AM an old changeling!” Lavender exclaimed.

“Just change then! You’ve clearly already begun to share love!”

“I don’t know how to change!” Lavender snapped. Jade froze, slightly taken aback by her friend’s sudden outburst.
“We could ask Ocellus?” She suggested.

“No!” Lavender cried. The green light appeared and disappeared again, taking Lavender’s changeling form with it. Now Lavender was back to her pony form. “Whatever you do, don’t tell anypony about this. They’ll hate me if I tell them the truth.”

“If you explain to Ocellus you want to change, she might understand.” Jade insisted.

Lavender sighed. “I’m just not ready, okay? Let’s go back to the party.”

“Okay, fine.” Jade reluctantly agreed, following Jade back inside Sugarcube Corner. Jade pushed opened the door. Pinkie Pie
was in front of the crowd of ponies, who were now gathered around her.

“And the winner of pin the tail on the pony is…” Pinkie Pie paused dramatically. “Twilight!” The crowd erupted into cheering.

Jade closed the door behind her and Lavender as they pushed their way toward the back of the room. Twilight blushed and flew next to Pinkie Pie. She dipped her head. “And your prize is...a kiss!” Pinkie Pie pulled Twilight closer, pressing her muzzle against her’s for a quick kiss on the lips. There was a chorus of awes from the gathered crowd, including Jade and Lavender.

“I guess you do genuinely like romance then?” Jade murmured. Lavender nodded. “I think you might like Phantom of the Opera then.”

Dear Diary
So...one of my friends turned out to be a love-sucking changeling. I'd be lying if I said I didn't view her any differently because in truth, I do. However, I don't know if it's something I view her negatively for. I want her to change form so she can be accepted but neither of us know how to do that and maybe I shouldn't be pressuring her in the first place. She seems pretty contented as she is now and none of the ponies she's around seemed to be drained in any way. But what kind of life is it to always mask what you truly are from everyone? No I didn't come up with that comparison between Lavender and Erik/The Phantom, Lavender did while we were watching the film for our sleepover. I was the only one to get what she actually meant by that though because she insists on not telling anyone. That just screams ‘bad idea’ to me. I'm no expert, but I assume that someone finding out something like that would be worse than just telling them. I've decided to leave her alone about it though. It is her life after all. I'm just worried about her.

Author's Note

Surprise! Lavender's a changeling. I don't know how much of a surprise that is, I'm not that good at writing twists.

The Gala

“Ugh!” Gale exclaimed. “Where are those two?!” Jade, who had been walking in circles, glanced at Gale.

“Probably still getting their outfits.” Jade replied, adjusting her sweater and hat. "Lavender did say they were getting theirs done last minute.”

“Besides,” Twilight chimed in. “Rarity and Capper aren't here either.”

“Why don't they just pick outfits that Rarity has already made?” Trixie's tone was the same complaining voice she always seemed to speak in.

“Knowing Rarity she probably thought her existing dresses didn't match their ‘color palettes.” Starlight and Trixie giggled to themselves.

“Hey!” Jade exclaimed. “I'll have you know that color palettes are an incredibly important aspect of design!” Starlight's face was contorted with one of confusion while Trixie remained giggling.

“You know fashion?” Starlight asked.

“Not really.” Jade clarified. “But I do know character design.” Jade returned to walking in circles while the abnormally huge group watched her with a kaleidoscope of facial expressions. Seriously, there were so many ponies and non-ponies there including Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Discord, Applejack, her sister Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Button Mash, Tempest, Spike, Rainbow Dash, her sister Scootaloo, Starlight, Trixie, Gale, and herself. They were all wearing lovely outfits, most made be Rarity herself. Gale's in particular really stood out to Jade. Gale wore what was essentially Garnet's wedding outfit, a combination of a suit and a dress. It looked really good on Gale too. Suddenly, a white figure rushed past Jade.

“Rarity!” Everyone gasped.

“About time you showed up.” Discord scoffed. “I could've gotten us there in an instant you know.” Rarity shot an annoyed gaze at Discord.

“I'm truly sorry.” Rarity gasped. “Making two outfits took longer than I expected even with the help of Capper.” The tom bowed at the mention of his name. Jade couldn't help but giggle. After a few moments, Cookie Dough and Lavender rushed toward the group. Cookie Dough skidded to a halt, panting from exhaustion. Stopping beside him, Lavender tapped his shoulder encouragingly. Lavender's purple mane was adorned with blue and red flowers and she wore a long red dress and black flats. Though you could hardly tell she was even wearing shoes. The dress dragged on the floor, covering her hooves. It made Jade wonder how she hadn't tripped over it. Cookie Dough beside her wore a typical black and white tuxedo, a black hat, and shoes. He also had a single pale rose on his lapel.

“Did we miss the train?” Lavender asked. Before anyone could answer, there was a distant honking sound. Jade and Gale dashed to the edge of the train station. Peeking out, they were graced with a huge colorful train that spewed out gas from it's funnel. Everyone else joined them.

“Nope. You're just in time.” Applejack answered. Jade and the others backed away as the train pulled into the station. As it came to a halt, the doors opened. Ponies filed out of the train.

“All aboard the train to Canterlot!” The conductor called. Pinkie Pie cheered and hopped onto the train. Twilight smiled and trotted after her. The rest of the group began to make their way inside as well. Jade waited until the doorways were less crowded to make her way onto the train. Gale, Lavender, and Cookie Dough filed after her. The train seemed full with just their group. Jade couldn't spot anyone who wasn't traveling with them. She rushed toward one of the few opened seats, Gale following her lead. Lavender and Cookie Dough went the opposite direction, sitting just horizontal to them. Jade sat closest to the window, so she could stare out at the scenery. Glancing over the seat, Jade saw Spike, sitting alone.

“Hey Spike.” Jade called. “Who are you going with to the gala?”

“No one.” Spike sighed. “I'm not going to the gala.”

“Well...why not?” She asked.

“It's just a boring Canterlot party. I'm going to get donuts instead.” There was a hint of misery to his tone that made Jade suspect there was something more to this than Spike was letting onto.

“The gala probably will be dull.” Gale agreed. Jade glanced at her friend.

“Well duh!” Jade replied. “That's why I'm going with friends.” She lowered her voice to add, “Plus is gives me a good excuse to stay in Equestria longer.” Gale's eyes were filled with sadness.

“You're leaving tomorrow?” They asked.

“Yeah.” Jade sighed. “I'll still come to visit but I don't belong here. I was raised in the human world.”

“So what?!” Lavender butted in from the seat behind them. “I was born and raised…” She hesitated for a few seconds. “In a horrible loveless community, but my home is here in Ponyville.” Cookie Dough's interest was now piqued as well. He stood up in the seat of the moving train and gazed at his friends.

“The human world isn't horrible and loveless.” Jade argued. “I do want to go home it's just…” She let out a defeated sigh. “The creatures in this train right now are the only friends I've ever had.” Cookie Dough, Gale, and Lavender looked around the train.

“Well that's a lot of ponies.” Cookie Dough pointed out.

“And non-ponies.” Gale added.

“Surely if you made so many friends here you can make more friends back home.” Lavender suggested.

“I guess.” Jade sighed. She glanced at her spread wings. This world on the surface had so much more to offer than the human world. Here, there was flying, magic, and friendship. After being in Equestria for so long, the human world seemed even more dull than it ever had been. There, Jade had no friends and no one who cared about her aside from her parents. She had found all of that here. Why would she want to leave? Suddenly, the train screeched to a halt. Jade flung forward a bit against the front seat.

“Yay!” Pinkie Pie cheered, leaping out of her seat. “We're here!” When she landed, Pinkie Pie took Twilight's hoof. “Let's go!” Twilight nodded and the two rushed off the train together. The rest of the group followed close behind. Jade watched Spike depart from the group before she and Gale zipped out of the train. The two landed beside Lavender and Cookie Dough, who were towards the back of the group with Sweetie Belle and Button Mash.

“Thanks again for inviting me Sweetie Belle.” Button Mash was blushing. “If you hadn't, it would've been a really boring night for me.”

“It wasn't a big deal.” Sweetie assured the colt. “I really wanted to to with you anyways.” She squeaked in excitement. Jade glanced at Lavender, who was avoiding everyone's gaze. Jade trotted toward her.

“Hey.” She whispered. “Are you gonna be okay tonight?”

“I don't know.” Lavender admitted. “There's so much romance at the Grand Galloping Gala, especially this year…I should be fine. I've kept this charade up for years. I can do it for one night.”

“If you say so.” Jade whispered.

“What’cha guys talking about?” Gale chimed. Jade and Lavender nearly jumped out of their fur.

“Nothing!” Lavender blurted out. Gale eyed them suspiciously but said nothing. Jade gazed up to see a huge Disney-like castle looming over them. Taking a step into the light, Jade had to squint her eyes. She opened them to see a very tall, white pony in front of them with a flowing blue, pink, and green mane. She loomed over them, and gave off a wave of regality and confidence. From the sun on her flank, Jade guessed this was Princess Celestia, one of the princesses Twilight had told her about.

“Twilight!” She greeted excitedly. “It's good to see you!”

“You too, Princess Celestia.” Twilight replied. Suddenly, Celestia's gaze shifted toward Jade and the princess's eyes widened. She pointed at Jade.

“Is that the pony you told me about Twilight?” Celestia asked. Everyone moved aside, so that there was nothing in-between Jade and the princess besides floor space. Jade shrank down to the floor in embarrassment.

“Y-yes.” Jade answered. “I-I'm Jade...Jade Leaf.” Celestia's expression was confused but thoughtful.

“You look awfully familiar.” Celestia admitted.

“Probably just my clone!” Jade blurted out. Before she could embarrass herself further, Jade rushed into the nearest room, which thankfully ended up being the room where the Gala was going. It was huge with a ton of open space to walk around in. Perfect for a party. Even though the space wasn't being used for a party. It was being used by snobbish Canterlot ponies to just talk. That's all that was going on. Ponies talking, some eating from the food table or dancing but for the most part, it was just fancy dressed unicorns standing around and talking.

“Wow.” Jade deadpanned aloud as she looked for a place to sit. “I knew the gala would be boring but I didn't think it would be this dull.”

“Exactly!” A voice squeaked. Jade jumped up and gasped at the sudden sound and sight of Pinkie Pie. “I don't even get why they call it a party. I mean, there's food and dancing, but what's a party without games and well...fun?!” Jade nodded in agreement.

“Well at least you have your girlfriend with you.” She teased.

“Heh heh, yeah.” Pinkie Pie giggled. “She's great.”

“Hey Pinkie.” Another voice chimed. Pinkie Pie whipped around mid air and threw her hooves around Twilight.

“You're great!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Twilight blushed and wrapped her hooves around Pinkie as well.

“You too.” Twilight planted a soft kiss on Pinkie's forehead before they both backed out of the hug. Twilight's gaze then shifted back to Jade.

“Hey Jade, you seemed pretty jumpy back there with Celestia.” Twilight commented. "Are you okay?” Jade's previous anxiety came back like a boomerang.

“I was just freaked out when she put me on the spot.” Jade answered. It was partially a lie though. Yes, Jade hated being put on the spot like that but she mostly freaked out due to the possibility that Celestia had seen her clone, who could be nearby. Jade didn't want to know what would happen if she met her clone but she didn't doubt it would be something awful. Jade sat at the same table with Pinkie Pie and Twilight.

“Hey Jade!” A voice called. Jade looked up to see Gale, Lavender, and Cookie Dough trotting toward her. “Why’d you ditch us back there?”

“Sorry.” Jade apologized. Gale sat next to her while Lavender and Cookie Dough sat across from them. “I freaked out a bit. I’m fine now though. Anyone wanna go raid the food table with me?” Cookie Dough shook his head.

“We’re good.” Lavender replied.

“I’ll go!” Gale volunteered. Jade and Gale hoof-bumped before trotting toward the table adorned with different types of food. Jade noticed it was mostly bite-sized fancy foods that Jade predicted had absolutely no flavor to them. Gale grabbed one of the tiny foods and put the whole thing in their mouth. Immediately, Gale spit it back out.

“What kind of food is this?!” Gale exclaimed. “There’s absolutely no flavor!”

“These are the finest delicacies in all of Canterlot!” A new voice exclaimed. Jade and Gale turned to see an unfamiliar pony glaring at them. “It’s not something I would expect a foreign creature to understand.”

“Foreign creature?!” Gale exclaimed. Their eyes were filled indignation.

“You know,” Jade added. “It’s not wise to pick a fight with one of your nation’s allies.”

“Especially those with the power to change form.” Gale reached for the pearl fragment on their necklace. The pony’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you threatening me?” They challenged. “Because I don’t think the press will take kindly to a foreign creature threatening a pony.”

“They also won’t take kindly to you insulting the friends of a princess.” Jade turned around to see Twilight, glaring at the other pony.

“Oh my celestia!” The pony exclaimed, bowing. “I’m so sorry my princess! It will never happen again!” Then they dashed away.

“I’m sorry.” Twilight sighed. “I shouldn’t have used my status as a weapon like that.. I hated seeing that pony bully you like that though.”

“You’re fine Twilight.” Jade replied. “Besides, it worked. That’s all that really matters.”

“That’s some...interesting logic…” Twilight lowered her voice. “Has Loki been rubbing off on you?” Jade’s eyes widened. Then she smirked and cleared her throat.

“What?” Jade did her best english accent. “Where in the nine realms would you get an idea like that?” Twilight and Gale giggled to themselves.

“Who’s Loki?” Gale asked once they stopped laughing.

“You have much to learn my friend.” Jade replied, tapping their shoulder. “Let’s head back to the table.”

Gale nodded. “There’s nothing worth eating anyways.” They followed Twilight back to the table, where Twilight was greeted with a hug from Pinkie Pie. Suddenly, slow, graceful music filled the room. Ponies began to walk into the center of the room, holding hooves and nuzzling each other.

“Ooh slow dancing!” Twilight squeaked. She turned to Pinkie Pie and extended her hoof. “What do you say Pinkie? You up for a dance?”

“I don’t know…” Pinkie Pie admitted. “It’s kinda...slow.”

“It doesn’t have to be slow.” Twilight winked.

“In that case I’m in!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, grabbing Twilight’s hoof. Twilight walked Pinkie Pie onto the dance floor. Jade gazed at the scene and noticed other familiar couples including Capper and Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Button Mash, and Fluttershy and Discord, all dancing. Lavender stared intently at the dancing, even swaying slightly to the music. However, Jade could also sense some discomfort coming from her friend. Pinkie Pie and Twilight twirled each other around in rapid succession, which didn’t match the music at all. However, they didn’t care, as they giggled and nuzzled each other in between twirls. At the end of the song, Twilight and Pinkie Pie kissed on the lips. The other dancing couples followed their lead. Lavender was twitching and hiding her face awkwardly. Suddenly, she leaped back onto the table and was enveloped in a green light. In Lavender’s palace, stood a hissing and snarling changeling. Everything in the room stopped dead. The silence was followed by horrified screaming and the room was now full of stampeding ponies.

“Changeling!” One shrieked.

“It’s going to kill us all!” Another one screamed. Letting out a cry, Jade leaped off the table and dashed toward an open door. The crowd of screaming ponies ran away from her, giving her a clear pathway out of the castle.

“Lavender’s been impersonated by a changeling!” Cookie Dough gasped.

“No!” Jade exclaimed. “No, she hasn’t.” Cookie Dough and Gale gazed at her suspiciously.

“What have you been keeping from us?!” Gale demanded.

“I didn’t mean to!” Jade insisted. “But Lavender insisted that no one should know!”

“Then tell us what SHE’S been keeping from us!” Cookie Dough’s tone was angry but Lavender could see betrayal in his eyes.

“Lavender isn’t a real pony.” Jade explained. “She’s always been a changeling in disguise.” Cookie Dough and Gale’s eyes widened. Jade leaped out of her chair. “Now come on! We have to go after her!” Cookie Dough and Gale exchanged glances before nodding. Jade zipped over the crowd as fast as her wings could carry her. Gale followed her lead, carrying Cookie Dough with them. Jade landed just outside the door. In front of her, stood a huge garden full of hedges and tall trees. Gale landed beside Jade, gently placing Cookie Dough on the ground beside them. Once they were all on the ground, the three friends immediately began bolting through the garden.

“Lavender!” Jade called. “Where are you?!” Oh please tell me she didn’t leave Equestria entirely! Gale took to the sky, looking around from above while Jade and Cookie Dough searched the plants. Cookie Dough poked his head into one of the bushes. He leaped backward in shock when another head emerged, hissing at him. It was Lavender!

“Oh!” She gasped. “It’s you Cookie Dough!” Jade trotted toward Lavender. The changeling’s ears were so low they practically brushed against the ground.

“Lavender…” Cookie Dough gasped. “You’re a dude?” Gale landed beside Cookie Dough, folding their enormous wings.

“More importantly, you’re a changeling?!” They demanded. Lavender stared at the ground in shame before nodding. Jade backed away from the scene, eying Lavender sympathetically.

“I’m so sorry.” Lavender sobbed. “I didn’t want to tell the truth because I didn’t want you to hate me. I have no intentions to feed on your love!”

“Then why didn’t you transform like all the other changelings did?” Cookie Dough asked.

“I don’t know how!” Lavender exclaimed.

“We don’t hate you.” Gale insisted. “But we do feel betrayed.”

“Yeah!” Cookie Dough butted in. There were tears in his yellow eyes. “I’ve been your friend for three years, Lavender, if that even is your name, and you couldn’t trust me?!”

“And your parents, the flower ponies.” Gale added. “You lied to them too! In fact, why is Jade the only one you ever told?!” Cookie Dough and Gale turned to Jade.

“She didn’t tell me.” Jade clarified. “I found out.”

“And I have too!” Another voice chimed. Jade turned around with a gasp to see Twilight staring at them. Gale and Cookie Dough stared at the princess in shock as she made her way toward Lavender. “Alright, what have you done with Lavender?!” Twilight demanded. Jade backed away. She had never heard Twilight so angry and serious before.

“I am Lavender!” She cried. “I’ve been a changeling my whole life.” Lavender covered her eyes with her hooves. “Don’t hurt me. I never wanted to steal any pony’s love. I didn’t even know I could change my form until I met Ocellus yesterday!”

Twilight’s gaze softened, “Oh sweetie.” Her voice was soft and encouraging, like a parent talking to their children. “You could’ve just said something sooner. We can help you.” Lavender moved her hooves aside.

“Really?” She asked.

“Of course.” Twilight replied. “I can take you to the new changeling hive tomorrow. I’m sure Thorax will want to help you as well.”

“I...I hope so.” Lavender changed back to her pony form. When Twilight raised an eyebrow, Lavender replied, “I don’t want to arouse anymore panic or suspicion.”

“I suppose that’s fine for now.” Twilight replied. She then turned to Jade. “Jade, if you want to stay here an extra day to support your friend, I won’t object.” Jade was confused for a moment until she remembered. Right, this isn’t my home…

“Thank you Twilight.” Jade replied. Twilight nodded and went back inside the castle. Jade turned to her friends.

“Hey Lavender, I’m sorry I got so upset.” Cookie Dough sighed.

“Me too.” Gale added. “We understand why you did it we just…”

“It’s okay.” Lavender sighed. “I know I should’ve said something.” Lavender pulled Cookie Dough, Gale, and Jade all in for a hug. Jade savored the brief moment.

Author's Note

This is kind of late. Fimfiction is a pain to use on mobile. Hope you enjoy.

Back to the Human World

Dear Diary,
I knew it wouldn't end well. I told Lavender that she should just tell her friends and family but she didn’t. They ended up finding out on their own. Last night was the Gross Gruesome Gala (as Discord called it after the fact, which I thought was fitting), which was pretty gross and gruesome. I honestly despise Canterlot. Most of the food has as much taste as cardboard, most of the ponies there are snobbish racists, and the ‘celebrations’ are as boring as tar. There was some slow dancing during the gala, because of course there was. When everypony started kissing, the overdose of love apparently made Lavender revert to her changeling form and everyone saw her. So I had to tell Gale and Cookie Dough everything I could and we went to find Lavender. They were really upset with her for lying and I can’t blame them. I probably should’ve been more upset than I was. Twilight also found us and actually offered to help us so later today, we’re going to see the leader of the changelings so he can help Lavender transform.

“Jade!” Twilight’s voice called. “Roseluck, Daisy, and Lily are here! We can go now!” Jade closed her diary and trotted toward Twilight. She glanced out the castle door. Lavender, Gale, and Cookie Dough were all gathered outside with Twilight. There were also three other mares beside Lavender. One had cream colored fur and a red and pink mane, another one had light purple fur and a swirly green mane, and the last one had pink fur and a lily in her yellow mane. Jade could tell just by their cutie marks which one was which. The three mares were all eying Lavender warily.

“So...what train are we taking?” Jade asked.

“Oh we’re not taking a train.” Twilight explained. Jade tilted her head in confusion. “The changeling hive doesn’t have a train station. We’re going to have to teleport. Everypony grab onto me.” Jade, Roseluck, Lily, Daisy, Lavender, and Cookie Dough all pressed closer to the princess. Jade looked over her shoulder. Gale however stood still.

“Sorry, we’re not ponies.” Gale joked.

“Come on Gale.” Twilight groaned. “You know what I meant.” Gale giggled and rested her claw on Twilight’s shoulder. Suddenly, a beam of light formed around everyone and the area around them disappeared. Once it reappeared, the scenery had changed drastically. There was a cliff beside them and the ground beneath them was gray as stone. Green bushes and flowers grew around them and there were no buildings in sight.

“Where’s the hive?” Cookie Dough asked, panning his head around.

“We have to walk part of the way.” Twilight explained, leaping down a short cliff. Jade, Gale, and Lavender carefully fluttered down to the ground. Cookie Dough bounded after them but Roseluck, Lily, and Daisy remained at the top of the cliff, hugging each other while shaking.

“We can’t jump that far down!” Lily shrieked.

“Yeah! We could hurt ourselves!” Roseluck whimpered.

“Come on!” Cookie Dough groaned. “I jumped it, and I’m fine!”

“It’s fine.” Twilight replied. “I got it.” Suddenly, the three mares were levitated down to the low ground. “Now let’s go.” Lavender trotted toward her parents, offering her hoof to help them up. Lavender’s head hung low as she followed the rest of the group. Jade slowed to a halt to walk beside her sulking friend. Jade pressed against Lavender, trying to lift her spirits. Jade looked up to see a light blue, almost castle-like structure in the distance. It had giants holes and plants growing out of it so it almost looked like part of the landscape.

“Look Lavender!” Jade pointed at the with her wing structure. “That must be the changeling hive.” Lavender glanced up at the hive with a sigh.

“That’ll probably be where I have to live from now on.” Lavender replied miserably.

“What do you mean?” Jade asked. “I thought you lived with Roseluck, Lily, and Daisy.”

“I did, but they’ve been very uncomfortable around me since Twilight told them that I’m an untransformed changeling. They’re probably going to kick me out.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! How long have you lived with them?”

“Like ten years.” Lavender answered.

“They won’t throw you out after you’ve lived with them for so long!” Jade insisted. “Aren’t they basically your parents?”

“They are to me.” Lavender sighed. “Then again, I never really had a family that cared about me like they did.”

“Twilight!” A new voice called, interrupting Jade before she could even respond to Lavender. The group looked up to see a tall yellow figure with huge orange horns and purple eyes and wings you could see through. Beside him stood another figure who wasn’t quite as tall with smaller horns and a color palette of dark blue and red that just screamed “edgelord.”

“Thorax! Pharynx!” Twilight replied. “I’m glad you’re both here. I brought the changeling for you to help.”

“Um…” Pharynx’s head tilted in confusion. “Which one of you is the changeling?” Lavender let out a sigh. She took a few steps forward and a green aura appeared around here. It then disappeared and Lavender reverted to her changeling form.

“Me.” Lavender replied. Roseluck, Daisy, and Lily took a few steps backward. Their gazes were noticeably uncomfortable. “I never intended to steal anyone’s love.” The three flower ponies’ eyes widened. Jade couldn’t figure out if they were shocked about Lavender’s deep, raspy voice or what she was saying. “I didn’t even know there was a way to stop feeding on love. I left the hive years ago.” Thorax and Pharynx exchanged glances.

“To me it seems like he-”

“She.” Lavender corrected.

Thorax was stunned for a moment but quickly corrected himself, “That she wants to transform.”

“I do!” Lavender exclaimed. “Please tell me how!”

“Well,” Pharynx fluttered down toward the group. “This will be even easier than expected.” Thorax joined him.

“You mean easier than it was to get you to transform?” Thorax teased, prodding Pharynx’s side. Oh my gosh they’re Thor and Loki, Jade thought with a giggle.

“Just teach her what to do.” Pharynx groaned. Thorax turned to Lavender.

“It’s pretty simple.” Thorax explained. “All you have to do is share the love inside you with others.” Lavender’s eyes widened.

“But we need love to survive.” She protested. “Won’t that kill me?!”

“Sharing your love won’t decrease the amount of love you recieve.” Thorax explained. “In fact, it will increase it. Letting others in and sharing your love will keep you eternally satisfied.” Lavender gulped and nodded. Suddenly, she was levitated into the air. Jade turned around.

“Twilight?”

“I’m not doing this.” She replied. Jade looked back up at Lavender, her eyes wide. A bright light formed around Lavender and a pink glimmer leaked out of her chest. The light got brighter and brighter until Jade could barely see her. The light erupted, taking over the whole sky. Jade blocked her eyes with her hoof. Once the light was gone, Jade looked back up. Jade descended back onto the ground. However, she looked completely different. Lavender was taller and her fur was a lighter purple. She also had a horn, smaller ears, a darker blue underside, a sparkly blue see-through tail, and sparkly pink see-through wings. However, the biggest difference Jade noticed was that she was physically a female. Lavender gazed at her hooves and her wings with a stunned look on her face.

“Wait…” Twilight’s voice sounded. “Can changelings change their gender like that?”

“She transformed into who she was on the inside when she shared her love.” Thorax replied. “That’s why I became leader after my transformation.”

“And why I retained darker colors and became Thorax’s second in command.” Pharynx added.

“Thank goodness honestly.” Lavender spoke up. Her voice was just like it had been whenever she was in her pony form. As far as Jade was concerned, that was her normal voice and this was now her normal form. “I like my new form. Thank you, Thorax.”

“Of course!” The leader responded. “So now that you’ve transformed, would you like to come live in the hive with the rest of the changelings?” Lavender’s eyes widened. “Don’t worry, it’s a much nicer place than it was when Chrysalis ruled.”

“Well...it’s just that…” Lavender sighed. “I’ve lived in Ponyville with Lily, Daisy, and Roseluck for ten years and...they’re like parents to me.” Roseluck, Daisy, and Lily stared at Lavender. Their eyes were filling with tears. Lavender turned to them. “I’m sorry I kept the truth from you all these years. I didn’t want you to think any differently of me for something I couldn’t control. So...if you’ll have me, I want to come back and live with you.” Roseluck was the first to step up.

“Oh Lavender.” She replied. “We don’t care that you’re a changeling.”

“Yeah!” Lily joined in. “ Even if we didn’t give birth to you, you’re our daughter!”

“And we love you no matter what.” Daisy added. Lavender’s eyes were filled with tears as she smiled. She pulled in her parents for a short but sweet group hug. Jade smiled at the sight. Jade, Cookie Dough, and Gale joined the group hug as well, nuzzling against their friend.

“Alright everyone, I guess it’s time to go home.” Twilight spoke up. Everyone pulled out of the group hug and nodded. In a flash, the changeling hive disappeared and was replaced by the interior crystal walls of Twilight’s castle. “Jade.”

“What?” She asked. Then Jade noticed Twilight’s serious look and it clicked with her. “Right...the portal.”

“You’re going home already?” Lavender asked, her ears dropping.

“I’m afraid so.” Jade sighed.

“You should all go.” Twilight replied. “Nopony else is supposed to know about this.”

“Actually…I told Gale and Lavender about it already.” Jade admitted.

“You did what?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“We won't tell anyone else we promise!” Gale exclaimed.

“We'll go…” Daisy replied awkwardly backing away. Lily and Roseluck followed her lead but Cookie Dough stayed put.

“Well?” Twilight prompted. “You too Cookie Dough.”

“Come on, Jade is my friend too!” He argued. “Can't I at least be here to say goodbye to her?!”

“Ugh fine.” Twilight sighed. “Come on you four.” Jade and her friends followed Twilight through the hall.

“So where exactly are you from, Jade?” Cookie Dough asked.
“Another dimension.” Jade answered. “Twilight recently fixed the portal so I can go home. Sorry I didn't tell you. Nopony other than Twilight and her friends are supposed to know about it.”

“The secret is safe with me.” Cookie Dough replied. Taking one last turn, Twilight lead the group into the portal room. The portal, which had previously been just a pile of scraps, now stood upright in one piece. However, there was nothing about it that really screamed “portal.” It just kinda looked like a doorway.

“Where’s the portal part?” Jade asked.

“Oh, I haven’t turned it on yet.” Twilight explained. “I put in a switch to turn it off so no more humans accidentally stumble into Equestria.”

“Good call.” Jade admitted. “But...I still want to come back to visit Equestria…”

"Oh! Here, I have just the thing for that.” Twilight levitated a journal toward Jade. “This is a magic journal. The words you write in it will appear in a journal I have here in Equestria.” Jade’s eyes widened.

“How in the world did you get a hold of Tom Riddle’s diary?!” Jade exclaimed.

“I traded some magic beans for it.” Twilight joked. The two ponies giggled.

“I didn’t know Voldemort used lima beans as currency.” Jade replied, taking the journal under her wing.

Twilight laghed. “Alright, it’s about time you got home.” Jade sighed and turned to her friends. Their ears were drooped and eyes were filled with sadness.

“We’re going to miss you Jade.” Lavender sobbed.

“Don’t cry.” Jade comforted. “I’ll be back to visit soon.” She wrapped her hooves around Lavender. Jade turned to Gale. They were avoiding Jade’s gaze by staring at the ground. “Gale...you okay?”

“Yeah.” They sighed. “Just sad to see you go. How often do you think you’ll be able to visit?”

“However often I can sneak out.” Jade replied. She was mostly joking. Gale bursted out laughing.

“Wow Jade!” They exclaimed. “You’re quite the rebel. I’d better see you around soon.” Galel lightly nudged Jade’s shoulder. Jade then turned to Cookie Dough. He had his hoof wrapped around Lavender, pressing against her supportively.

“Everypony’s been keeping secrets from me lately.” Cookie Dough sighed.

“I didn’t mean to.” Jade insisted. “I probably shouldn’t have told Gale and Lavender where I’m really from but they would’ve figured it out anyways.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” Cookie Dough sighed. “I’m just going to miss you.”

“You don’t all have to act like I’m leaving forever.” Jade joked, though she was also grieving about it. “I’ll be back to visit.”

“You’d better.” Cookie Dough replied. “Not many ponies can make such an impression on me after just two days.”

“Cookie Dough makes a good point.” Gale pointed out. “Most of us haven’t known each other for that long but we’ve already become such good friends.”

“You brought us all together, Jade.” Lavender added. “It won’t be the same without you.” Jade smiled, trying not to tear up.

“Thank you.” She whispered. “I should go now.” Twilight flipped the switch with her hoof. In an instant, the portal filled with a swirly light. Jade trotted toward the portal. Keeping her back to her friends, she whispered a goodbye and slipped into the portal. Jade closed her eyes as she felt her body stretch and spin in the crazy portal. Once the spinning stopped, Jade cautiously opened her eyes. She looked down at her hooves, only to realize they weren’t hooves. Her hands were clenched into fists. Jade wiggled her fingers and attempted to stand on her feet. Wobbling around, Jade fell against the Wondercolt statue. Thankfully, Twilight had already closed the portal so Jade didn’t fall back in again. Jade struggled to straighten her legs and walk. Picking up her journals off the ground, Jade began to wobble back home. It surprised Jade how awkward it was to be in human form again after just nine days of being a pony. However, she was able to readjust eventually before she got home. Once Jade reached the door of her house, she knocked as hard as she could. After a few seconds, the door opened, revealing Jade’s father, Basil. His face immediately lit up.

“Jade!” Basil threw his arms around Jade. “My baby! You’ve returned!” He quickly let go of her and looked back inside the house. “Blossom! Come down! Jade’s back!” Jade heard a scream as her mother rushed down the stairs.

“Jade!” Blossom cried. “Where in the world have you been?!”

“We’ve been so worried!” Basil added. “We thought you were kidnapped!” They both seemed way more relieved than angry. However, Jade was horrified to realize that she had forgotten to come up with an excuse. Jade sniffed, letting a few tears lose.

“I don’t know.” She sobbed. “I was so scared and lost when I woke up. I have no idea what happened to me. How long was I even gone?”

“Over a week!” Blossom exclaimed.

“A week?!” Jade gasped. “I was unconscious for a week?!”

“Unconscious?!” Basil gasped. “You were unconscious for a week?!”

“I must have been!” Jade sobbed. “I don’t remember the last thing that happened. I don’t even remember falling unconscious! I was so scared and confused when I woke up!” Jade was actually describing how she felt after her wisdom teeth removal. Being unconscious that one time was probably the most traumatizing thing that happened to her and her parents seemed to buy it. Of course it was wrong to lie, but she couldn’t tell her parents what actually happened without taking them to Equestria or else they wouldn’t believe her. Jade really didn’t want to get into all that though.

“Well, we’re glad you’re okay sweetie!” Blossom responded, hugging her daughter once more.

“Yeah.” Jade sniffed. “Me too...but I’m really tired...Can I turn in early tonight?”

“Of course sweetie.” They both replied. Jade faked a yawn and walked on all fours up the stairs to her room.

Author's Note

She's returned! However, the story isn't quite over yet. I have two more chapters after this and they're both huge. Stay tuned!

A Big Discovery

It's boring, boring, really truly boring. Jade could practically hear that song ringing in her mind as she made her way through the crowded hallway. She had constantly been told throughout her life that school was important and she would amount to nothing if she didn't pass. That didn't change the fact that it was boring and some days, Jade would rather chop off one of her fingers than go to school and be treated like a failure. No no Jade, you have to pass so you can get out of this dump. Maybe go back to Equestria. That was another thing. Equestria hadn't left her mind since she left it. She was constantly reminded that she didn't have her wings and instead had her hands back. You would think that would be a dream come true but no. Jade's grip was really awkward now that she hadn't had fingers for a while. Most of all however, Jade missed her friends. She missed referencing random pop culture, she missed talking, and she missed just simply hanging out with her friends. Jade had repeatedly thought about how her friends would act in any given situation. Pinkie Pie would run around exploding potions in her Chemistry class while Twilight tried to stop her. Gale would be just as bored as Jade in math class. Things like that. It made her wonder, Was it really worth coming back? No one had noticed her return aside from her parents and even now that Jade was actually trying to socialize, very few people seemed to notice her.

“Jade.” A voice sounded, snapping Jade out of her thoughts. She looked up. It had been the teacher.

“Yes Mr Williams?” Jade asked.

“I just asked you a question.” He replied sternly. Jade's eyes widened.

She practically sank in her seat as she asked, “What was the question?” A few people chuckled beside her.

“Who was the villain of the book you chose to read for class?” Mr Williams asked. Wow that basic of a question? Barely any time must've passed at all.

“There really wasn't one.” She answered. “Erik was honestly more of a victim than a villain throughout most of Susan Kay's Phantom and anyone else who could be perceived as a villain really aren't in the book long enough to be considered as so.” The teacher's eyes widened. Even a few of Jade's peers stared at her as if she had just become supreme leader.

“Jade brings up a good point.” Mr Williams announced. “Not all stories have a villain.” Jade tuned out again until she heard the bell rang. Grabbing her backpack, Jade pushed her way through the crowded room. The hallway was so crowded that there was no way to move any faster than a turtle. Finally, Jade leaped outside and immediately diverged from the flock of people to walk home. After a while of walking, there were no more people around Jade. Except for one. Jade squinted to see a figure in the distance. They wore a black hood, shielding their skin and hair. Curious, Jade inched closer to the walking figure.

“Hey.” Jade greeted. “I love the hoodie. You look like a sith lord.” Admittedly, it wasn’t the best way to open, saying that someone that looked like a sith lord, but Jade had no time to dread on it. The person turned to Jade, revealing green skin, glasses, and blue eyes.
“You like Star Wars?” She asked. Her gaze was uncomfortable but also somewhat shocked.

Jade tried to push away her insane thought. Come on, a lot of people have green skin and blue eyes. It can’t be what I think it is. “Yeah. Which movie is your favorite?”

“Well...this is kinda controversial but…”

“The Last Jedi?” Jade interrupted.

The girl’s eyes widened. “Yeah, how’d you know?”

“That’s my favorite too.” Jade informed, trying to hide her suspicion and anxiety. “Empire is a really close second though.” The girl nodded along, as if her own thoughts were being spoken aloud. “I also bet you’re favorite characters are Ben and Rey.”

“Ah, you’ve caught me.” The girl admitted with a blush. “I’m honestly kind of hoping they get together in the next movie.”

“Same here.” Jade admitted. The girl suddenly started avoiding Jade’s gaze. “You okay?”

“Yeah...it’s just…” The girl took off her hoodie, and Jade was unable to stifle a gasp. The girl had red hair. True, it was longer and messier than Jade’s but it was the exact same shade of red. “I think it’s kind of absurd that I met one of my seven exact clones after randomly moving here.” Oh this isn’t science, and it’s not a coincidence either.

“Yeah…” Jade nervously laughed along. “Hey uh...what’s your name?”

“Jade.” The girl replied. “Jade Leaf.” Jade couldn’t deny it anymore. She couldn’t find her duplicate in the pony world because this was her clone. But what is my pony duplicate doing in the human world....wait a minute….Jade felt a shiver go up her spine.

“What’s wrong?” Her duplicate asked.

“S-something’s wrong.” Jade’s voice shook. “Seriously wrong. I don’t know what yet but….I need an explanation.”

“I didn’t catch any of that.” Her duplicate admitted.

“Good, no one else is supposed to know.” Jade replied. “Uh...anyways…” Jade and her duplicate chatted with each other until they parted ways. It was only a little walk longer until Jade made it home. She opened the door with a huff.

“Jade!” Her mother cried with joy. “How was school dearie?” Jade remained silent as she shut the door behind her. She glared at her mother.

“You and dad have a lot of explaining to do.” Jade snarled.

“What do you mean darling?” Blossom asked innocently. Jade thought for a moment how she was going to approach this. She didn’t want to give away the fact that she’d been to Equestria. She had to give away just enough information to not make her suspect anything but just enough so she could get information out of them.

“There’s a new girl at my school and she looks and acts exactly like me.” Jade informed her. “She even has my exact name.” Blossom’s eyes were wider than oceans. Jade noticed Blossom nervously fiddling with her hands.

“Oh that doesn’t mean anything.” Blossom argued. “According to science, there are about seven people in the world with your exact appearance.”

“Then how do you explain her name?” Jade challenged.

“Probably just a coincidence. Nothing to overthink.” Jade could see it in her mother’s eyes that she was hiding something from her. However, it was clear she wouldn’t be able to get any information out of her.

“Then it’s not an issue if I go out with her to eat pizza?” Jade asked.

“Of course not.” Blossom replied.

“Alright.” Jade made her way toward the stairs. “I’ll go get some money and be on my way then.”

“Sounds good!” Her mother called after her. Jade rushed to her room and grabbed the journal Twilight had given her. In it, she wrote the words:

I think I've found out something huge. Open the portal, we need to talk.

Jade sat on her bed, anxiously awaiting a reply.

Are you at the portal right now?

No.

Tell me when you are, I’ll open the portal then. I can’t risk anypony-or human falling through the portal.

Jade stuffed the journal in a bag and marched down the stairs. She heard her mother wish her goodbye as she headed out the door. Millions of thoughts raced through her head as she ran to the school. Jade had to stop and catch her breath for a moment before she grabbed the journal out of her bag and wrote down two words:

I’m here.

Jade rested her hand on the portal. After a few moments, Jade’s hand phased through the portal. Grabbing her bag, Jade casually walked on all fours through the portal. She could feel the portal stretch and bend her body back into that of a pony. Jade smiled as she felt her wings reform on her back. After a few seconds, all the twisting ended. Jade opened her eyes to see two purple ones staring back at her.

“Hey Twilight.” Jade greeted. Her tone was blank.

“Hi Jade!” A chorus of voices sounded. Jade gazed up. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike, Starlight, Capper, Gale, Cookie Dough, and Lavender were all standing behind Twilight.

“Did you tell everyone I was coming?” Jade asked with a grin.

“Maybe.” Twilight smiled innocently as she flipped the switch to turn the portal off. Jade giggled. “So what’s going on?”

“I saw my duplicate in the human world.” Twilight’s smile faded as everyone behind her gasped.

“Your pony duplicate is living in the human world?” She asked.

“That’s just it....I don’t know which is which.” Jade admitted.

“Wait...wouldn’t that imbalance the worlds?” Rarity inquired.

“Not by much.” Twilight answered. “But yes, the worlds have apparently been slightly imbalanced.”

“So how do we know which is which?” Jade asked.

“Well...the only pony who would know about these kinds of things is Princess Celestia.” Twilight answered.

“Well.” Jade spread her wings. “Let’s take a quick flight to Canterlot. Who’s with us?”
Lavender took a step back.

“Sorry Jade.” Her voice was meek. “I want to support you but I really don’t have good experiences in Canterlot.” Jade nodded in understanding. Afterwards, Fluttershy and Gale raised their wings.

“Alright, let’s go then.” Jade marched out of the portal room with her wings out. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Gale followed her through the hallway. Immediately upon reaching the exit, Jade took off in an explosion of dust. Jade followed Twilight, who was more familiar with how to get to Canterlot than she was. It was a short easy flight, even for a pegasus who hadn’t even had wings lately. Landing just outside the castle, Twilight pushed open the doors. Celestia sat on her throne, gazing down at the ponies who’d just entered.

“Twilight!” She greeted. “It’s good to see you.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t time to chat.” Twilight replied. “We come here on urgent matters.” Fluttershy stepped forward.

“Jade Leaf here is from the human world, as you know.” Fluttershy informed.

“Yes, why isn’t she back home?” Celestia asked.

“Because there’s two of her in that world.” Gale blurted out. Celestia’s eyes widened. Jade stepped forward.

“We don’t know which is which.” Jade continued. “There wasn’t anything...pony-ish about that Jade Leaf. Even if that was my pony duplicate, why would she be in the human world?”

“I am sorry.” Celestia sighed. “But this is information I cannot give you. I made a promise long ago to keep this a secret.”

“WHAT?!” Jade exclaimed. Her eyes widened. “Sorry, we should...be going now.” Jade rushed out of the castle faster than you could say “potato.” Her friends followed her, eying her in confusion. In a flash, the group were returned to the castle.

“Okay,” Jade sighed, barely phased by the teleportation. “So we got something out of that. Celestia made a promise not to say anything about why there are two of me in the human world.”

“So…” Twilight paused.

“So all we have to do is go back in time to when Celestia made the promise!” Jade realized. It wasn’t that outlandish. Equestria had magic. Surely there was some way they could travel back in time.

“Well we can’t ask Starlight, that’s for sure.” Twilight replied.

“But who else has magic that powerful?” Gale questioned. Everyone stood silent until Fluttershy suddenly jumped up.

“That’s it!” She cheered. “We can ask Discord!” Twilight’s face immediately wrinkled with distaste.

“I don’t see why not.” Jade replied. “So where do we find the bugger?”

“You called?” Jade shrieked at the sound of the new voice. She turned to see Discord, floating in front of her.

“He comes when called.” Fluttershy informed.

“Good to know.” Jade replied with a gulp.

“So what’s this about time travel?” Discord asked.

“We request time travel actually.” Jade replied. “Apparently Celestia made some promise to hide the truth about something.”

“Oh she does that all the time.” Discord replied nonchalantly. Jade snorted with laughter.

“There’s two versions of her in the human world.” Fluttershy informed. “And Celestia refuses to tell us why.”

“So you came to me?” Discord inquired. Fluttershy and Jade nodded. “A horrible decision really.” Jade smirked.

“Why not?” She teased. “Are you saying you can’t do it?”

Discord’s jaw dropped. “What?! Of course I can!”

“Prove it.” Jade challenged. Discord was slightly taken aback by her response. He returned her smirk and snapped his fingers. Looking around, Jade noticed that there were no buildings. Just an open field with a few ponies running around in it. Jade leaped in alarm as one of the ponies fazed right through her.

“Where did you take us?” Jade asked.

Discord smirked. “Actually it’s whe-”

“That joke sucks and you suck for making it.” Jade bluntly cut him off. Discord’s eyes widened. “Take us to the right place in time please.”

“Seriously Discord.” Fluttershy added. “This is very important to her.”

“Oh alright.” Discord rolled his eyes. “Though I really I don’t see what the big deal is, it was pretty obvious from the beginning.” Before Jade could ask what he meant, Discord snapped his fingers and they were teleported elsewhere. Jade looked around. In the distance, she noticed three ponies. One was Celestia and the other two Jade didn’t know. However, they looked vaguely familiar. Stepping closer, she realized that the stallion had a red mane and light green fur and the mother had a blue mane and darker green fur. Jade’s eyes widened. These were her parents as ponies. Stepping even closer, Jade noticed that they were holding something in their hooves: a foal.

“Princess Celestia.” Basil spoke. “We’re sorry to bother you, but this is urgent.”

“You’re not a bother.” Celestia replied. “Now what is the issue?”

“Before the portal closes, me and Blossom wish to take our foal there.”

“Equestria just isn’t a safe place to raise a child.” Blossom added. Jade’s eyes widened as she realized what was going on.

“But that will imbalance the worlds.” Celestia argued.

“We’ve already made a deal with two other humans to switch places with.” Blossom replied. “That won’t be an issue.”

“And your human counterparts?” With those words, Jade finally got the whole picture. What it all meant. That hadn’t been her pony version in the human world. Jade wasn’t a human in Equestria, she was a pony in the human world the entire time. The house she found by the lake...it had been her’s!

“They live far away from the portal.” Basil confirmed.

“Then I suppose I will allow it.” Celestia sighed.

“On one condition.” Blossom spoke up. “Don’t tell anypony else about this.”

“You have my word.” Celestia replied. Jade backed away from the scene as Blossom and Basil made their way through the portal.

“Jade...are you okay?” Fluttershy whispered.

“T-t-take u-us back.” Jade shuddered. For once, Discord didn’t try to make some snappy remark. In a snap, the three of them were back in the castle.

Author's Note

Plot twist. Dun Dun Dun. Okay, it probably wasn't that surprising but I wanted to give this story a bit of an edge. Usually I kill someone or put the characters in a difficult situation. This time I decided to shatter a character's worldview. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it.

The Decision

Twilight and the others gathered around Jade, Fluttershy, and Discord.

“What did you find out?” Gale asked. Everyone’s gazes burned into her as Jade stood there in silence.

“I was born in Equestria…” Jade’s voice was numb. “I’m a pony…” Everypony gasped.

“How do you know what Discord showed you wasn’t a load of hooey?” Twilight challenged.

“Oh come on Twilight. Even I wouldn’t play a prank like that.” Discord argued.

“Besides, we could prove it with a quick blood test.” Starlight suggested. Jade’s eyes widened.

“No! I hate needles!” Jade objected, shaking in fear. Everyone there stared at her in shock and confusion. “What?!”

“Why would we use a needle to look at your blood?!” Rarity gasped. Jade couldn't help but sigh in relief.

“We’re just going to use an X-ray that looks at your blood.” Starlight informed. Discord snapped his fingers and an X-ray for blood appeared in his claw.

“Already got one.” Discord announced, teleporting beside Jade. For a brief moment, Jade’s hopes shot up. Maybe she was a human and this whole thing was a sick joke. She would never talk to Discord again if that were the case but at least that would mean her parents hadn’t lied to her her whole life. Discord lifted Jade’s front right hoof and placed the X-ray on top of it. Everyone gathered around her, staring at the X-ray.

“Let’s see…” Discord was talking mostly to himself. “There’s pegasus, of course, earth pony...a bit of unicorn.”

“No...human?” Discord shook his head. Jade’s hopes plummeted into a dark pit of despair. She jerked away from the X-ray and trotted away, her head bent down in defeat.

“Where are you going?” Twilight asked

“I just need some time alone,” Jade replied. She walked out of the castle, practically slamming the door shut with her back hooves. Looking back on it, Jade realized that it actually had been obvious from the start. Her vegetarianism, the abandoned house by the lake, her adapting so well to being a pony. All of it pointed to her being born a pony. It baffled Jade how she could have possibly missed it. Then again, who wonders if their parents and them are actually another species from another dimension? Jade stopped walking to poke at the ground with her hoof. It was too dark enough to even see the ground. The street lights were all off for some reason, on the night of a new moon nonetheless. The only light was the light of the stars.

“Maybe I should go back…” Jade murmured to herself. Suddenly, a cracking sound pierced the silence. Jade whipped around, her jaw dropping at the sight. She couldn’t quite tell, but she was pretty sure the scaly creature flying in front of her was a dragon! It wasn’t much bigger than Jade but the sight was enough to make her let out a scream and zip into the sky. She flew as fast as she could but Jade could still hear the dragon’s wings beating behind her, getting louder and louder. Starting to panic, Jade thought about what she should do. Dragons breathe fire. It would be stupid to fight it without a weapon. Jade weaved her way through alleyways and other small spaces. However, the dragon was still able to follow her somehow.

“Oh come on!” Jade exclaimed, soaring higher into the sky. Out of the corner of her eye, Jade caught sight of the lake. Perfect! She zipped toward the body of water, allowing herself to skim the surface with a splash. Tripping a bit, Jade landed in the sand. Immediately, Jade dove into the lake. To her amazement, the dragon dove in after her. It can swim?! Come on! Jade looked around wildly. She grabbed something floating in the water, without even stopping to figure out what it was thought she knew it was made of leather. Jade broke through the surface. As the dragon followed her, she flung the object around its neck and yanked hard. The dragon let out a gasp as Jade strangled and shoved them under the water. Trying to avoid the dragon’s flailing claws, Jade flew just above the water. Finally, the flailing slowed. If I keep them under there any longer, I’ll kill them. Jade threw what she now realized was a sweater aside and ascended higher into the air. The dragon’s head broke through the surface with a gasp. Shaking, Jade stared down at the dragon with the most intimidating look she could muster.

“You could’ve just told me to leave you alone you know.” Jade’s eyes widened as the dragon actually spoke to her. “You didn’t have to nearly kill me.”

“You were chasing me!” Jade shouted.

“Sorry.” The dragon replied, slipping the sweater on. “Oh wow, this sweater is nice! Anyways, you know that dragons and ponies are allies right?”

“No...I’m not from….” Jade stopped as she remembered. “I haven’t lived here in years. Look, I’m sorry, but you really scared me.” The dragon sighed and paddled toward the shore.

“It’s fine.” The dragon stood up. They had white scales, green skin, yellow horns, and large wings. “I’m Peridot by the way.”

“Like the gem?” Jade asked. “I’m a gem too, Jade.”

“So we’re both named after green food,” Peridot replied.

“Ponies don’t eat gems,” Jade replied.

Peridot looked away. “Yeah, I knew that. Uh yeah anyways...I…”

“Jade!” A voice cried out. Jade turned to see Twilight skidding to a halt in front of them. “You were gone so long I was worried-” Twilight froze when she noticed Peridot. “Who’s this?”

Jade’s voice deepened significantly to reply, “Someone I just tried to murder.” Twilight and Peridot’s eyes widened. “No really,” Jade’s voice returned to normal. “I did just try to kill them, I thought they were trying to kill me.”

“Which I wasn’t.” Peridot raised their claws innocently.

“Oooookay…” Twilight cleared her throat. “Anyways, Jade I came looking for you. Are you okay? We’re all really concerned about you. You took that news really hard.”

“My parents lied to me my whole life.” Jade sighed. “That’s what I’m upset about...To be honest, Equestria was always on my mind even after I left…” Jade fell silent.

“Um…” Peridot’s tone was nervous. “If I may interject, I was only following Jade because I wanted to ask her if she knew someplace I could stay. So I’ll ask you, do you have a place where I can stay?”

Twilight hesitated before responding. “Well, if you’re interested, there’s my school of friendship. We can give you lessons in friendship AND a dorm to sleep in.” Jade’s ears pricked.

“Well...okay.” Peridot agreed with a nod. “I’m sure a friendship school won’t be so bad.” Peridot and Twilight began to walk away.

“Can I join the school too?” Jade blurted out. Twilight turned around, her eyes wide.

“But you’ve lived in the human world your whole life,” She objected. “Isn’t you home there, with your parents?”

“Yeah I lived there most of my life,” Jade agreed, “But that doesn’t make it my home. I have no place there, I never did. I spent only a little over a week here, and I’ve found a piece of me I never knew was there...literally and figuratively that is…” Jade hesitated, poking the ground with her hoof.

“So what you’re saying is…” Twilight prompted.

“I want to come live in Equestria.” Jade informed. “Not because I was born here, but because I feel a sense of belonging and ease here that I never felt in the human world. I am a pony, and my home is in Equestria.”

“You should tell your parents first.” Twilight advised. “But when you do, yes you can come to the school of friendship.”

“Right...my parents…” Jade sighed. “They’ve probably called the police….again...I’d go home but it wouldn’t be safe to walk that distance in the middle of the night.”

“You can stay the night in my castle.” Twilight offered.

“Thanks Twi.” Jade replied.

“I’m going to walk Peridot to the School of Friendship.” Twilight informed. “Do you know the way to the castle?” Jade nodded.

“Good, I’ll see you when I get back.” Jade would’ve flown but her wings were so sore Jade could barely move them. Once she had trotted to the castle, Jade pushed the door open. Her eyes widened when her path was blocked by basically everyone that had been there earlier.

“Um...hi…” Jade greeted awkwardly.

“Jade,” Fluttershy responded. “Are you okay?”

“You really worried us earlier.” Pinkie Pie added, leaping over Fluttershy.

Rarity gasped. “You seem like you’ve been through a horrible ordeal!”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash agreed. “What happened out there?”

“I’m fine guys, really.” Jade tried to walk away but the mass of ponies blocked her path.

“You weren’t when you left,” Lavender replied.

“My parents lied to me my whole life.” Jade sighed. “Of course I was upset, but I'm fine.”

“What turned that around?” Gale asked.

“I’ve decided to stay in Equestria.” Jade blurted out. Everyone gasped, mostly in delight.

“Awesome!” Gale cheered, hugging Jade. Lavender and Cookie Dough joined them. Jade let out a sigh.

“Oh dang it. Come here everyone, free hugs.” Jade wrapped her hooves around each of her friends, one by one. Everyone had accepted the gesture, except one. Jade couldn’t help but smirk as Discord grumpily avoided her gaze. “Come on Discord, you too.”

“No way.” Discord replied.

“Why? Don’t want to cheat on Fluttershy?” Jade teased.

“WHAT?!” Discord’s cheeks were bright red. “Th-that’s not-it’s not...we’re not-she!” He growled in frustration.

“Then there’s no problem.” Jade replied. “Unless the mighty lord of chaos is scared of hugs.” Discord groaned, reluctantly giving in by wrapping his arms around Jade. She returned the gesture, smirking triumphantly.

“You are pure evil, you know that?” Discord whispered.

“Yup, I do.” Jade answered, cheerfully.

Pushing the door of her house open, Jade was immediately bombarded by her parents.

“Where were you?!” Basil and Blossom cried. “We were about to call the police!”

“I got stranded and had to stay the night at a friend’s house,” Jade answered. “Don’t worry, I was in good hooves.” Her tone was blunt. Her parents’ eyes widened in horror.

“You mean hands right?” They asked.

“No, I meant hooves.” Jade clarified. “I know about Equestria, and that I'm from there.” Basil and Blossom stared at their daughter, completely paralyzed.

“Where did you get that information?” Basil demanded.

Jade let out a sigh. “That week I was missing, I was in Equestria.” She ignored their gasps of horror. “Twilight told me that each pony has an exact duplicate in the human world. My duplicate wasn't in Equestria, she was that new girl I met. So I went back and figured out the truth.”

“How?!” Blossom demanded.

“Time travel and a blood test,” Jade answered. “Anyways, why did you lie?”

“We didn't want you to try and visit that world,” Blossom replied. “It's dangerous.”

“So is the human world!” Jade argued.

“Equestria is worse. It has magic.” Basil argued.

“Magic keeps that land safe from enemies!”

“But it's also what causes enemy attacks in the first place!” Blossom argued.

“Plus there are dragons, manticores, ursas, cockatrices, and hydras,” Basil added.

“Well I'm sorry but I'm going to live there anyway!” Jade blurted out. Basil and Blossom gasped in horror. “Equestria is where I belong, I can feel it.”

“Jade, please,” Basil begged. “That place is full of danger.”

“Again, so is this world,” Jade replied. “And it's not the wild, they have military and those dangers you mentioned don't have magic, ponies do. Maybe it's not the safest place in the world, but it's not the most dangerous, and it is my home.” Blossom and Basil were at a clear loss for words. After a moment of silence, they wrapped their arms around their daughter.

“Please take care.” Blossom sobbed.

“We wouldn't be able to forgive ourselves if something happened to you,” Basil added.

“Don't worry,” Jade comforted. “I'll be alright.” She pulled out of the hug and walked to the door.

“Shouldn't you pack a bag?” Blossom asked.

“Nah,” Jade replied, tossing them the journal. “But you'll be needing that if you want to write to me.” Blossom and Bail observed the journal curiously. Taking the opportunity to leave, Jade slipped out the door. “Goodbye.” She shut the door behind her and made her way to the portal. Once she arrived, Jade placed her hand on the portal and her hand fazed through. Good she left it open. Just like I asked. Jade casually walked through the portal. She felt her body stretch and twist until the spinning stopped. Jade opened her eyes to see numerous pairs staring back at her. Twilight casted a smile at her.

“Welcome home, Jade.” She greeted. Jade smiled and flung her hooves around the purple princess. The rest of her friends joyfully joined the hug.

Dear Diary,
It has now been a month since I moved to Equestria. I've been going to the School of Friendship and living in one of the dorms, just like Peridot, who I've become much closer to since I nearly drowned and strangled them to death. I even showed them Steven Universe, and they have now made it a habit to call everyone a ‘clod.’ Needless to say, it's really funny. Peridot also still wears that blue sweater I strangled them with that one time. I have no idea why. Anyways, my next big step is to find a temporary job until I can figure out a way to profit off of my writing. I've had a few ideas for novels, or at least short stories to enter in contests, but I haven't gotten around to really writing them. I've had a lot of other things to work on lately. Seriously, you'd be amazed at how much homework we get at the School of Friendship (Cookie Dough is still doing his as I write this), mostly from Applejack and Twilight. While I really do enjoy Twilight's class and she is still a good friend of mine, she gives us a ridiculous amount of homework and tests. Applejack's homework is more applied and practical, so it's not as much of a pain. As for the other teachers, they almost never give out homework, they're cool like that.

“I'm done!” Cookie Dough announced. Jade closed her diary, perking up excitedly.

“Great!” Jade cheered.

“We can finally go into town.” Lavender cheered.

“Not sure why it took you clods so long,” Peridot added.

“I don't write as fast.” Cookie Dough admitted with a shrug.

“So where do you guys wanna go?” Gale asked.

“Let's go to the lake,” Jade suggested. “That would be a good place.” She cut herself off before she could add anything else.

“Sounds good to me,” Peridot replied. Everyone else nodded in agreement. The five friends padded out of the school and toward the lake. Once they were there, Jade revealed what she had hidden under her wing.

“What's the camera for?” Cookie Dough asked.

“I wanted to take a picture of us to put on my wall,” Jade admitted. “If that's okay with all of you.”

“Sure,” Gale replied. “We could snap a photo real quick.” Everyone else nodded.

“Alright then,” Jade replied. “Everyone get into some kind of pose while I set up the camera.” Cookie Dough lied down in the sand. Peridot sat beside him, wrapping his arm around Cookie Dough's shoulders. Lavender stood behind Cookie Dough. Gale sat down beside them, leaving a space between Gale and Lavender for Jade. She tapped the camera with her nose and jumped into position as the camera flashed.

Author's Note

Cheesy ending. Cheesy ending. Everyone read this cheesy ending. Overall, I enjoyed writing this although I don't think it's one of my better stories. It's more laid-back and slice of life stuff, which was a bit out of my comfort zone and the twist was too obvious and forced. The twist was honestly my attempt to add a bit more spice to this story. The closest thing to this I've ever written was my Phantom of the Opera fanfiction on Quotev, which had a romance to take up the time. With this story, all I had in mind was Jade's character arc and experiences with Equestria but I wasn't sure if that was enough. Oh well, what's done is done and I still think this turned out pretty decent. Jade was a fun character to write and all of her friends were carefully thought out before I even decided they would be in this story.

A Mysterious New World

Jade strained her eyes open. Her head was thumping, causing a loud sound in her ears, and her vision was blurry. It felt like she had only been out for a second but she was in a completely different place now. There was a soft cushion under her and she could make out many pairs of eyes staring down at her and a blur of colors that the eyes belonged to. Had she finally been rescued or was this the afterlife?

“W-where a-am I?” Jade asked drowsily.

“You’re in Equestria,” a voice from the purple blob answered. Jade blinked heavily and shook her head around, trying to clear her vision. Then she realized the problem.

“Where are my glasses?” Jade asked.

“Right here,” a different voice answered. Suddenly, the glasses were magically levitated onto her face. Jade would’ve questioned it if not for what she saw immediately after her glasses were put on. There were creatures staring down at her but none were human. There were about seven ponies some with wings, horns neither or both, and one small dragon, all staring at her.

“Are you okay?” the light yellow pegasus asked in concern. Jade tensed up and backed up against the couch.

“Have you been talking to me?!” Jade gasped.

“Yeah!” the blue rainbow-haired pegasus answered, “Why is that so shocking?” Jade’s arms and legs started shaking out of control and her heartbeat pounded in her ears. This had to be some kind of dream, or hallucination or maybe a cruel prank.

“But horses can’t talk!” Jade gasped.

“It’s PONY to you!” the blue pegasus replied.

“But you’re talkin’ aren’t ya?” the orange pony with a hat and ponytail asked.

“I’m not a horse!...er pony…” Jade answered shakily. The ponies all exchanged confused glances. Then the white unicorn with the pretty purple hair glanced at Jade.

“Um darling, maybe you should look in the mirror,” she suggested. Suddenly, a small mirror floated in front of Jade. She looked at her reflection only to see that it wasn’t her reflection. Instead, a green mare with red hair, blue glasses, and blue eyes stared back at her. Jade immediately looked down at herself only to see hooves instead of her normal arms and legs. She couldn’t deny what had clearly happened anymore. Hardly able to think straight, Jade let out a scream and leaped over and off the couch. She tried to stand on two legs and run away but she quickly tripped over her own hooves and landed stomach first on the ground. The ponies and other animal approached her with confused looks on their faces.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!” Jade screamed.

“Nothing,” the rainbow mare answered, “That’s how we found you!” Jade’s heartbeat was pounding faster than it ever had in her life and her mind raced with so many thoughts so quickly she couldn't even process them all. Jade struggled to stand on four legs and backed up against a wall. The purple winged unicorn trotted towards her with a concerned look in her purple eyes.

“What is going on?” Jade pleaded, her voice trembling, “Why am I like this?” The winged unicorn had a look of sympathy in her eyes.

“You went through the portal to Equestria,” she began. Jade was immediately confused. The Wondercolt statue was a portal?!

“But then the portal was disconnected and you got trapped inside,” she continued, “And one of our other friends, Discord, he left before you woke up, teleported in and saved you.” Jade moved her hooves around nervously. I guess I should thank that Discord guy for saving my life.

“But...y-you can fix it, right?” Jade asked.

“I’m not sure,” she admitted, “And if I can, it will take time.”

“I, uh...don’t think I ever got your names,” Jade awkwardly changed the topic

“Oh, I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she answered. The other ponies walked towards her.

“I’m Applejack,” the orange pony answered.

“I’m Rainbow Dash,” the blue pegasus replied.

“I’m Rarity,” the white unicorn said.

“I’m Fluttershy,” whispered the yellow pegasus. She must be shy, Jade thought.

“I’m Spike,” said the dragon.

“I’m Starlight Glimmer,” The light purple unicorn answered. Jade sat down and put her hoof on her head. She’d never remember all these names.

“And I’m Pinkie Pie!” yipped the pink pony with the crazy mane, “And I’m your future best friend!” Jade jumped backward in shock. She hadn’t expected so much energy from one pony.

“And I’m never going to remember all that,” Jade deadpanned. Everyone burst out laughing, aside from Jade, who was left to stare at them in confusion.

“What is your name?” Pinkie Pie asked excitedly.

“Jade...” she replied awkwardly.

“Well, Jade we should throw you a Welcome to Ponyville Party!” Pinkie Pie gasped. Jade's eyes widened. No! Not a party!

“We should probably get her settled in first.” Applejack suggested. Jade nodded approvingly at Applejack.

“You can stay in my castle,” Twilight suggested.

“This is a castle? Your castle?!” Jade exclaimed.

“Yes, and Twilight is the Princess of Friendship!” Pinkie Pie replied. Jade felt her heart burst out of her chest. She was in the presence of a princess! Jade gulped nervously and tried her best to bow in her new form, making her feel stupid.

“You don’t need to bow,” Twilight replied awkwardly. Jade immediately stood up.

“Sorry!” she gasped, “So I guess you being a princess is why you have wings and a horn?” Jade asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

Twilight nodded, “I was born a unicorn but I earned my wings by finishing an unfinished spell which made me an alicorn.”

“A spell? Well that explains all the weird magic,” Jade replied, looking down at one of her new hooves.

“Doesn’t your world have magic too?” Fluttershy asked. Jade shook her head and everyone gasped. Jade leaped backward in surprise.

“How do you change the weather then?!” Rainbow Dash demanded.

“We don’t. It changes on it’s own,” Jade answered in confusion. Why is that so hard to fathom for these ponies?

“Pegasi control the weather here,” Rainbow Dash responded.

“In Equestria at least,” Twilight added. Jade instinctively looked down at her sides. To her dismay, she had two feathery wings on her sides.

“Don’t worry, we’ll teach you to fly before you have to worry about that,” Fluttershy whispered, supportively.

“Good,” Jade sighed in relief. Flying, magic, controlling the weather, talking animals, the thoughts whirled around Jade’s head.

“This is a lot to take in,” she sighed, putting her hoof on her forehead.

“I can imagine,” Twilight replied, “It was for me when I first went to the human world.”

“Hey...is it okay if I call it a night?” Jade asked.

“But it's five in the afternoon…” Rainbow Dash protested. Applejack looked at her annoyance.

“Of course! You can stay here, in my castle!” Twilight offered. Sleeping in a princess’s castle? What a huge honor! Starlight took a step forward.

“You can sleep in my room tonight,” Starlight offered.

“Oh no, it's fine,” Jade replied, “I can just sleep on the couch.”

“Alright then…” Starlight replied. Jade trotted towards the couch and laid down on her stomach, trying to make herself comfortable.

“Well goodnight, Jade.” Twilight said.

Jade nodded as the rest of the ponies trotted away. Looking around, Jade noticed a small journal and a pencil on the side table. Jade paused for a moment. Her handwriting was pretty bad. Her hoofwriting...mouthwriting? Maybe wingwriting? Whatever, it would undoubtedly be worse. With a shrug, Jade pushed the journal and pencil onto the couch in front of her. She pushed the journal open to the first page, which was thankfully blank. Jade attempted to hold the pencil in her hoof only for her to drop it on the floor. Finally, she grabbed the pencil in her mouth and began writing.

Dear Diary,
I've never actually kept a diary. Nothing in my own life has been interesting enough to write about. However, today was just so insane that I have to write about it. School was normal. Nothing interesting really happened but after school, things became strange. I was leaning on the Canterlot statue when I suddenly fell through it and ended up in a world of chaotic spinning rainbows! I thought I was going to die for sure and I must've fallen unconscious while I was screaming for help. It felt like I was only out for a second but suddenly, I was on a couch in a castle full of talking ponies! Yeah, I'm not making any of this up. I know it sounds hard to believe but this all really happened. There is a dimension full of magical, talking ponies, and now I'm one of them until the pony Princess of Friendship can fix the portal to send me home. My parents are probably worried sick about me at this point. They've probably called the police. I really wish this was just a dream. Possibly a fever dream...but I don't do drugs...

Jade closed the journal and slid it under her wing with her hoof. She easily passed out on the couch after a while.

Author's Note

I really hope the italics are working. Please comment if something is confusing because I'm writing Jade's thoughts and diary entries in italics so it's kind of important.