Author's Note

5/17/24 edit: I finally finished editing this fic. should more readable

Chapter 1

"What's happening!" screamed Twilah as she fell from the sky and quickly headed into the ground below. She soon saw a rainbow shard and felt some unknown sensation; she grabbed it.

"I don't know," yelled Twilight, who appeared beside her. "But hold on!"
She then grabs Twilah by the waist and teleports them. They reappear further back in the sky.

"This isn't safe," cried out Twilah as the two continued falling.

"I am trying to get us safely on the ground! But something is wrong! We shouldn't be teleported up here!"

Twilight then tried to teleport again, but nothing happened.

"Oh no. Oh no! Teleporting is not working either."

"What does that mean?" asks a worried Twilah as she clings to her pony version.

"I think this place is interfering with magic."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that!" shouted Twilight as she pointed to the massive battle that was taking place around them. Alien ships were fighting black-looking flying beast aliens, while another third group of vessels was caught between the fighting. Below them, ground forces were battling it out at a small entrance to an underground base. Twilight could see human-looking soldiers defending the base while giant, tall, gray, and beast-looking aliens attacked them.

"We need to land!" said Twilight as she tried to teleport the two. It was working this time, but only a few feet, as they teleported in and out until they were just a few feet above the ground and crash-landed.

"Ouch! Are you OK?" asked Twiiah as she helped herself.

"Yes," groaned Twilight as she was getting up.

"What happens? We were in the sky and are now on the ground."

"It was a teleporting fail," answered Twiliah as she got up and looked at the fight, which was getting closer to the two.

"Whoever they are, they are coming this way!"

"We should hide!"

"Agree."

The two ran as fast as they could to a rock nearby.

"Where are we?" asked Twiliah as they hid behind the large rock, seeing the fight around them.

"I don't know; I didn't recognize anything."

"This is so scary!" cried Twilah, as she had never been in a war before. "I don't want to die!"

"I know, but we have to be strong. We will get out of this."

Twilah quickly turned to the pony, grabbed her by the shoulder, and asked her why she was with her and why a portal opened when the rainbow shards were touched by... Soon she froze, as she couldn't remember who touched the shard, but she knew the person.

"You're right," answered Twilight. She didn't know who touched the shard in her world but felt the same way.

"That's weird; why don't we remember their names or faces?"

"I don't know."

Soon, the sounds of the fight were getting closer to the two.

"What are we going to do?" cried Twiliah as the two could hear something being blown up.

"Stay hidden and let the fighting pass us," answered Twilight.

"We have no weapons."

"We have our wits," says Twilight, trying to keep calm.

"But I don't have wings and a horn, and whatever you did back in the air!" cried Twilah. "What will I do?"

"Well, I can't use my teleportation right now, so you have me and my..." cut off Twilight as Twilah replied to her.

"But you're a unicorn; how can you help me? Magic rainbows?"

"I'm an alicorn now," corrects Twilight, showing her wings to her human version, "I can still fight. My wings are still beneficial."

"What are we going to do? We can't just stay here."

"We will have to sneak to the nearest town or city," said Twilight as she was thinking.

"In a freaking war zone!" shouted Twilah as she pointed around them. "We're in some space war or something! I don't see any towns or cities!"

"We need to find somewhere to hide," said Twilight as she started to worry.

"Like what?"

"I don't know!" screamed Twilight as she pushed Twilah off of her. "I don't know, okay!"

Twilah, OKked by the pony's reaction, looked at her worriedly.

"I'm sorry," cried Twilight as she started crying. "I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to yell at you. This is so not me. I'm normally a calm, reasonable pony. Not some scared filly. I shouldn't be crying; I should be leading; I should be the strong one. I'm not supposed to be this weak."

"Hey," whispered Twilah as she sat next to Twilight and hugged her. "It'OKay. You're scared, too. You have been so brave so far. Let me be strong with you. We will be okay. We will find this out."

"Thank you," smiled Twilight, as she hugged Twilah back.
*drip*
"I don't think we're alone," said Twilah as she heard a dripping and growling noise above them.

They both looked up to see a black insect-looking alien dog beast with four black eyes and sharp teeth. It had long claws on its front legs and enormous wings on its back. It sniffed and drooled at them, as it had never seen Twilight before. Twilight looked into its eyes and thought it was changing at first glance.

"Aww," said Twilah as the beast, with saliva falling on the two, growled, its head split open, and black tentacles came out of its opened head.

"THAT'S NOT A CHANGELING!" shouted Twilight as she pushed Twilah away and blasted the beast away with her horn magic. The blast didn't kill the beast; it only pushed it back and knocked it down. It was quickly getting up, ready to attack.

"RUN!" yelled Twilight as the two ran off, and the beast started chasing them. Twilight used her magic, put Twilah on her back, and tried to teleport again but couldn't; something was jamming her magic. She could feel a strong presence; that wasn't her magic, but it felt like alicorn magic, deep underground.

"There's an alicorn here," shouted Twilight as the two kept running, as the beast was behind them now.

"There's no flying unicorn here!" yelled Twilah, as she could see the fighting before them.

"No, I sense one; it's deep underground. I can't explain it, but it's an alicorn like myself, with magic!"

"You can sense that!" cried Twilah. "You're amazing!"

"We have to run for cover!" shouted Twilight as they ran out of the room. The beast was almost on them, and more joined it as they approached the human base they had seen before. They could see the humans fighting before them, but so were the black alien bug beasts and tall grey aliens.

"Look, they are fighting those aliens, and the human soldiers are winning!" shouted Twilah, as she could see the aliens were being pushed back from entering the underground entrance.

"Then let's hope they don't mistake us for the enemy," shouted Twilight as they ran towards the base, as they could see hover tanks and machine guns opening fire.

"Wait! Wait! Don't shoot," cried out Twilah as the base opened fire at them and the horde of beast aliens that was following them.

"HALT!" ordered the commander officer, who saw the two running towards them and the attacking alien beast.

"Don't shoot! We're not the enemy," begged Twilah as they finally got to the base and were surrounded by human soldiers in heavy power armor, hover tanks, and machine gun turrets.

"We're not the enemy," shouted Twilight as the beast approached.

The commanding officer lowered her visor, revealing a slightly bright yellow-skinned woman with short orange brush-back hair and wearing sunglasses, which confused the girls as they saw the sunglasses.

"What are you?" the officer asked, looking at the two, who were looking back at her.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle," answered Twilight.

"And I'm Twilah Finkelstein," answered Twilah as she could see other soldiers removing their visors and being different-colored humans, not the same-colored humans she's well-known for looking like.

Before the officer could say anything else, the tanks started unleashing cannons into the coming hoard of beastly aliens.

"Shit!" cursed the officer as she shut her visor and started shouting commands. "Everyone back to your station! Don't let those ugly fuckers in! Kill them all! Kill them all!"

"We're not the enemy," shouted Twilah, as a human soldier, wearing a different armor from the rest, pulled his large, fatty rifle at them, causing the officer to smack the soldier.

"Not them, you idiot! Soarin, get them inside!"

"Yes, sir," answered the smack soldier as his visor went up, revealing his very light blue skin, short dark blue hair, and green eyes. Like the others, he was wearing light blue bulky armor.

"Get these two into the base!" shouted the officer.

"Come with me!" shouted Soarin as the tanks and soldiers started to kill the hoard.

"What is going on!" screamed Twilah as everything was happening. Soarin didn't say anything as he quickly grabbed both girls and carried them into the underground base. The door shut behind them, and the shooting sounds became muffled.

Outside, the commanding officer was fighting with her troops, using their blasters to shoot at the oncoming beast aliens. With one shot, she took down two beasts.

"Don't let them near the door!" she shouted as she blasted another alien beast and killed it.

"Kill them all!" shouted her men together.

One of the tanks fired at the incoming tall gray aliens, destroying three. Soon, smaller and faster gray aliens came from the smoke and dashed toward the tanks. Their arms created laser blades and sliced the tank hull open, killing the crew inside.

"What the fuck!" shouted the officer as she could see the small gray alien inside the tanks.

"Take them out!" she ordered as the troops started to kill the aliens that entered the tanks. "Damn it, the Greys are coming too!" she said, as she could see more tall and small grey aliens heading their way and also fighting the black beast as well.

"Fire at will," she shouted, taking down another alien beast.

"We're not backing down!" shouted her men.

"Fuck you, aliens!" shouted the officer.

"Sergeant!" said a private as he approached the captain and shot at the oncoming aliens.

"Private?" the officer said back.

"They are almost at the door," said the private as he continued to shoot at the aliens, killing two.

"Hold the line!" she shouted as the tanks continued to fire at the aliens.

"What the hell is going on? Why are they all heading to this fucking underground base for?" cried out the private as the tall gray aliens were heading their way, and the tiny gray aliens were killing the rest of the troops, and the tanks were falling back as the tiny aliens got too close to them.

"Don't know and don't care! Terra and her ghost squad should have removed the Changelings hive and Grey's nexus by now. They should be falling back soon! Where the hell are those Ghost Squad?" cursed the officer.

"We need backup; the tank line is going down," said the private. Seeing the tanks falling back, the tiny grey aliens were too much for the tanks and their crew, as they were being wiped out.

"Ghost Squad should be here anytime now!" shouted the sergeant.

"They need help!" begged the private. "I can see them entering the tanks!"

"I know that, damn it!" shouted the officer as she ordered the much fatter power armor soldiers, whose arms were cannon guns, to fire upon the swarming tanks as it was too late to save the troops inside them.

"What is Terra doing? She should be here," yelled the officer as she was blasting at the tall greys.

"What is that!" cried the private as he pointed to the sky.

"What are you doing?" snapped the officer as she followed the private's gaze.

"Holy fucking shit!" cried out the private.

"Is that..." gasped the officer as she looked up to the sky to see a black-shaped alien bug and its belly opening up, releasing a red beam, burning a hole into the ground.

"What the fuck is that?" shouted the private as the alien flyer flew over them, leaving a trail of red light, burning the ground and anything caught in it as it moved.

"I don't know," snapped the officer, "but we can't worry about it right now! Keep firing!"

"Right!" shouted the private as the officer watched the ship.

"Terra, where the hell are you?" whispered the officer as the ship disappeared behind a smoke cloud, leaving a burning trail in its wake.

"Sergeant Spitfire, what's going on up there?" said a young male voice through the radio system in her helmet.

"Crap, this is Spitfire; we have an unidentified new Changeling flyer, and it's packing a fucking laser and hitting the area. What's your status on Celeste?"Spitfire said, talking into her radio.

"This is Lan; she's almost back online. Can you hold out for a few more minutes?"

"That's a negative, I say again; we will not last over," replied Spitfire as she saw her tiny remaining troops firing on the aliens. "Terra and the ghost squad have not responded to our calls. What's their status, Over?" asked Spitfire.

"No response as well, Over," the young male voice answered.

"What's the status on the flyer, Over? You eggheads can see it through our visors, right?"

"We're checking; give us a moment," answered the young voice.

"I'm waiting," said Spitfire.

"Spitfire, do you copy, Over?" asked the voice.

"I'm here still, over."

"It's indeed a new Changelings flyer," the voice said. We're scanning it and think we found the weak spot. It's the bright, glowing core of the underbelly. Over."

"I hear you," said Spitfire.

"The problem is some kind of armor covers the core; we're guessing it will take a lot of firepower to get through that, and we have no weapons."

"So what you're saying is we don't have the firepower to destroy it," asked Spitfire, "over."

"No, Over."

"Fuck," said Spitfire. "Anything we can use to bring it down then, over."

"Not unless you want to die in the process," answered the young voice. "Over."

"Fuck," repeated Spitfire, as the last remaining tanks were getting swarmed and the troops were starting to fall back to the base.

"How far is Celeste from being back online, Lan, Over?"

"Five minutes," answers Lan.

"You got one minute before we get swarmed by the enemy; we're not going to make it. I need you guys to hurry."

"We're working as fast as we can, I promise," answered Lan. "Over."

Spitfire turned off the radio and waved to her remaining troops to fall back to the base's entrance, as they were falling back because they had lost their line of defense.

"Move, move, move," shouted Spitfire as her troops fell back.

"Where's the flyer?" said the private, finally seeing the new and old flying alien flyers heading their way.

"Incoming!" shouted a soldier as the small gray ship approached them.

"Crap!" shouted Spitfire as she turned her radio back on. "Lan, fuck that minute; the enemy is here."

"We're hurrying," said Lan, "but we can't rush this; Celeste will fry the whole place."

"If we don't hurry, the whole place will fry anyway!"

The call ended, and Spitfire and her troops entered the entrance, closed the metal doors tight, and pointed their weapons at it, waiting for the incoming aliens. But none came as the lights went out and quickly turned back on, as a new female voice spoke to everyone in the entrance.

"Sgt. Spitfire, I'm sorry for being offline. I got the force field up again, stopping the aliens from entering. You all can relax."

"Thanks, Celeste," Spitfire said into her radio, "but the battle is not over yet. The flyer is still out there and packing a laser."

"I'm scanning it, but it's taking me a while," answered Celeste. "I'm detecting a huge energy spike from the alien flyer, and it's firing."

"At what?" asked Spitfire.

"Us," answered Celeste, as everyone could feel the base shake.

"What the fuck?" cried the private.

"How bad is it?" asked Spitfire, feeling the base shaking.

"Very; I suggest everyone gets to their station and wait for orders, just in case the force field goes down, which is impossible since my force fields never go down!" replied Celeste, with a bit of a smug tone, which Spitfire caught.

"Alright, alright," said Spitfire as the lights went off again and quickly turned back on, only to be flipped on and off again, with Celeste making ghost noises and finally leaving.

"I hate when she does that," said the private, standing beside Spitfire, which made her laugh.

"For an AI, that Celeste sure is smug and weird. Anyway, everyone, get to your stations; I will keep in touch."

"Roger, that," said the troops as they headed to their assigned rooms. Spitfire was about to leave when Celeste spoke to her again.

"Sgt. Spitfire, we need to talk."

"I'm listening," said Spitfire, not knowing what to expect.

"As I returned online, I searched for the events that happened while I was gone. You met two life forms and let them inside, correct?"

"Yes," answered Spitfire, "they look harmless, but I think the Greys and the Changelings were after them."

"So...was Pvt. Soarin meant to shoot one?"

"What!" snapped Spitfire, not believing her ears. "He shot one of them?"

"Yes, the medical team is on their way."

Spitfire quickly took off, asking Celeste where Soarin and the two beings were. Celeste led her to a hallway where gunfire could be heard. Spitfire could see the human-looking girl holding her stomach as blood was oozing out. Soarin and other troops were holding their guns at the hurt human girl and could see the purple-looking horse holding her, trying to stop the bleeding but also having a purple barrier around them as it blocked the gunfire.

"Halt!" cried Spitfire as the other troops pointed their guns at her and quickly realized it was Spitfire.

"Hold your fire," said Celeste as she stopped the troops from firing at the purple barrier. "That's not a Changeling or a Grey; my readings show they're not them or any life forms in my data banks."

"What does that mean?" asked Soarin as he and the troops lowered their guns.

"It means the two are not an alien race; we are fighting," answered Celeste.

"Told you!" cried Twilight, tears falling down her cheeks.

"How is that possible?" cried out the female trooper.

"The girl looks like us, though? She even has a horn like the Ghost Squad!"

"That's impossible; her skin color is nothing we've seen before!"

"The Greys are doing experiments; they're the only ones capable of doing that. I say we kill them!" shouted Soarin. Before he could fire, he felt his shoulder being pulled as he was turned around and quickly saw Spitfire punching his helmet so hard that his visor broke, making him fall to the ground.

"All of you shut up! They're not the enemy! Lower your weapons!" shouted Spitfire, as the armor on her fist was damaged.

"But Sergeant, they're not humans," coughed Soarin as he tried to get back up.

"They're not the enemy, and you just shot her," shouted Spitfire as her finger was pointed at Twilah, who was breathing hard as she was losing blood.

"You're the only enemy I see right now, Soarin."

"Soarin, you are in trouble; report to the brig and wait for my judgment," said Celeste.

"But they're not humans."

"I don't care if one is a purple talking pony; I gave an order," said Celeste as she suddenly took the form of a hologram of a young woman. She had long, flowing, different-colored hair, and her skin was white, covered in a high-tech-looking suit.

"You can't be serious!"

"Do it, or I will have you court-martial!" shouted Spitfire, not believing what was happening.

"This is a fucking nightmare," said Soarin. "AIs are taking us over; the enemy is knocking at the door, and now the fucking aliens are walking among us, wearing the faces of our people."

"Soarin, if I could kill, you would be dead by now," replied Celeste as the floor beneath Soarin opened up and swallowed him. "You will spend the remaining time we have in the brig shooting a civilian."

"What!? That's insane!" screamed the private as he disappeared into the darkness.

"Soarin, shut the hell up; you are a disgrace to the unit," shouted Spitfire, not believing that a soldier could do such a thing.
The hole was sealed up, and both turned to Twilight, who could see she was surprised by something.

"Are yoOKOK?" asked CelesOK as she passed through the Twilight Barrier.

"Y-you're real? Or are you unable to look like her?" said Twilight, not believing her eyes, as her former teacher was here but much different-looking.

"Yes, I am real, and I'm an AI designed to help Element Raiders defend this scientific underground base," said Celeste, "if I can guess, the girl you are holding is your friend, correct?"

"Yes, no, we just met, but she..."

"I saw the recordings; she must be a friend because she took a bullet for you."

"She did, but how could she take a bullet for me? She's a stranger."

Spitfire walked up to the barrier, placing her hand on it, with medics arriving behind her as she answered the Twilight question.

"It's what humans do; we fight to protect; it doesn't matter who it is. If a stranger or a friend, we'll jump in to save anyone from danger."

"But that makes no sense; we only just met."

"True," said Celeste, as Twilight turned off her barrier, and the medics could take a look at Twilah.

"You're not a stranger anymore to her," said Spitfire, placing her hand on Twilight's shoulder.

"She's critical and losing blood," answered a medic, "we need to get her into surgery right away."

"Please, save her," pleaded Twilight. "I want her to live; she was shot because of me."

"Don't worry, we will," said the medic. "We will do everything we can."

Everyone watched as the medics took Twilah away, leaving Twilight with Spitfire and others. Celeste ordered a soldier to bring Twilight to a waiting area. She turned to Twilight and told her she'd be okay; she'd be working the soldier. Celeste watched as Twilight followed the soldier.

"Celeste, can you show me what happened?"

"Of course."

Celeste projected a video, and it showed a recording leading up to Soarin shooting Twilah and the others pointing their guns at them.

"Hey, they don't look trusting to me," whispered Twilah to Twilight as they followed the soldiers down a hallway.

"Just give them a chance; I'm sure they'll understand and trust us if we follow their command," said Twilight.

"I hope you're right," whispered Twilah. "So, how long do you think we will be here?"

"I don't know, like, why did a portal appear between us?"

"Well, I was checking out the Rainbow Comet when a small piece fell off," said Twilah before Twilight finished her sentence.

"Landing is not too far from me, and I want to recover it...with..." Twilight's head started to hurt. As you remember, there was a blue pegasus with her, but her name and face escaped her. She couldn't remember what she looked like; it was as if Twilight had forgotten everything about her.

"How do you know that? I was doing the same with... a girl?" Twilah replied, as she was having the same problem remembering the girl she was with.

"Weird, I was about to say the same thing," said Twilight, not understanding how both have the same memory problem. "I feel like we were together, and something happened to her; I can't remember."

"Maybe we can find out together," said Twilah, offering a handshake. "The name is Twilah; friends call me Twi."

"I'm Twilight."

Soarin turned around and asked them what they were talking about, as he had been hearing them for a bit.

"Well, I believe, just by being here, we were teleported to another universe," answered Twilight, while Twilah joined in as she started to act like a scientist.

"Well, in theory, there are an infinite number of universes," said Twilah, using the voice of an intelligent professor.

"Correct, and a tear may have opened up somehow, allowing us to come through," replied Twilight, using an intelligent professor's voice.

"But how did a rip in time and space happen without it destroying the planet or the universe?" said Twilah as she put her hand on her chin.

"Good question, Twilah; the best answer would be magic," replied Twilight, giving Twilah a big smile.

"Magic? But that is unscientific." Twilah said as she laughed at the theory.

"Magic is real! I'm a princess, and I have a horn! You saw it!"
Okay?" said TwilOKa, a bit confused.

"See, in my universe, there is magic! and-" said Twilight before she was cut off.
OKAY! Both of you up!" yelled Soarin. "I can't listen to this bullshit."

"It's the truth; magic is real," replied Twilight. "Here, let me show you!"

Twilight Horn started to glow as she tried to use magic to create an object, but she quickly heard the soldier yelling at her and pointing his weapon at her.

"Psychic!" screamed Soarin as he fired a round at Twilight, only to be pushed out of the way and see Twilah saving her life. As the bullet entered, the young girl's stomach and blood came out as she hit the wall.

"T-Lilah!" cried Twilight, not believing what happened.

"I'OKOK, but it hurts a lot," answered Twilah before feeling more blood coming out.

"What the fuck, Soarin?" yelled a trooper as he was pointing his gun at the scared soldier, as well as the others.

"She was about to attack me; I did nothing wrong. She's a damn psychic! She's a threat to all of us! Open fire!"

Twilight quickly made a force field, protecting herself and Twilah from being shot again.

"You're the enemy! You're with the aliens!" shouted the trooper, not lowering his weapon.

"No! We're not!" yelled Twilight.

"That's what happened, Sgt. Spitfire." Celeste said as the video paused and disappeared.

"I see," said Spitfire, "you were right to place Soarin in the brig, and I can't believe he did that. He's been a good soldier until now; I'm shocked by his behavior."

"He was never trusting the Ghost Squadron. They have reported him before, but higher-ups always write him off; they hope he will be a good team member."

"Did the commander know about this? This doesn't feel like something she will do."

"It does feel unlike her," answered Celeste, "but she trusts others. Maybe she saw something in him and wrote off his reports. We won't know the answer unless we ask her, but the commander isn't here right now; she's on a mission with the other squads. It would take some time before she arrives."

"Damn, that's bad. Soarin has no family; he will be alone in the brig. Maybe I can visit him and ask him questions?"

"I believe he will be willing to talk," answered Celeste.

"I hope he's not too scared since the base will be under attack for a while."

"He's a soldier; he knows how to survive," said Celeste.

"I can't wait for all of this to be over," replied Spitfire, "so we could finally get off this planet and return home. This mission was meant to recover that AI core, not fight off those bastard aliens. Why couldn't they leave us alone?"

"I don't know Sgt. Spitfire; even we, the AIs, don't know why those two alien races are fighting each other. Maybe their leaders or their home planets are at war."

"If they have planets, that's a big if. I doubt they have homes; they keep fighting across what's left of this sector."

"It will end one day."

"I hope so," replied Spitfire as she walked off while Celeste vanished.

It had been a few hours since Twilight was brought to a room; it wasn't a holding cell or anything, just a regular room and a chair. She was pacing back and forth, wondering about her new friend. Where is she, and is she alright? The question was going through her head. After a few minutes, the door opened, and a female trooper with wings and star decal armor entered. I asked her to follow her.

"Please tell me, she's alright!" begged Twilight, as the soldier didn't answer.

"She's okay, is she?" cried Twilight as she started to panic, thinking the worst.

"She's alive; I can't say if it's OK," the female trooper replied, not turning her head.

"Oh, thank goodness, where is she? Can I see her?"

"She's in the infirmary."

Twilight quickly took the lead and ran past the trooper, who told her to slow down.

"Sorry, but I have to make sure she's alright, and I have many questions," replied Twilight. She quickly made her way through the base but quickly realized something: she was lost, as she didn't know the way around here. Soon, the same trooper caught up and started swearing like a cowboy.

"Sorry, I just had to run; I didn't mean to."

"Ya lucky sugar cube, Celeste told me not to shoot you."

"I'm sorry, I won't do it aga-wait...AJ?" whispered Twilight, knowing that voice. "AJ!? You're here!" yelled Twilight as she tackled, hugged the trooper, and kissed her on the helmet.

"Hold up, what do you think you're doing? I'm not your boyfriend, ya darn idiot!" shouted the trooper as she pulled Twilight off and removed her helmet, revealing a human-looking AJ.

making Twilight confused but completely understanding everything.

"How do you know my nickname? I didn't tell you."

"I'm from another universe! Of course, there has to be a version of my friends here!"

"What now?" said AJ, not understanding anything Twilight was saying.

"In my universe, you are an earth pony with an apple farm!"

"Apple farm!? That sounds boring."

"It's not; it's amusing; you're an amazing farmer, AJ, the best."

"That doesn't sound like me."

"And here, you're a soldier." Twilight frowned as she saw that this AJ armor was worn out from parts being replaced, clearly because she had fought in battles before.

"Now, that doesn't sound boring. What's your universe like, talking pony?"

"I'm an alicorn, and I'm a princess of friendship!" answered Twilight before AJ told her to follow again.

"Princess of friendship? What is that?"

"Oh, I protect Equestria and solve friendship problems for creatures across the land. And my friends, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Spike, are my best friends."

"So, where are they now?"

"Well, the girls went on their separate ways after starting their new lives," quietly said Twilight, as she felt sad and lonely again.

"So, I take it you're alone now?"

"No, I met this weird-looking creature, which I'm starting to believe is another version of me from another universe. Her name is Twilah; even her name almost sounds like mine. I hope she is okay."

AJ turneOKr head and sighed. She stopped, put her helmet back on, and opened a door.

"We're here, darling; go see if she is okay. She's a kick, my eyes; she didn't deserve that. I will have a word with that Soarin jerk."

"She's a good person; she took a bullet for me," replied Twilight as she entered the room and saw her friend lying in a hospital bed with an IV hooked up to her arm and a breathing mask covering her mouth and nose.

"I can't believe she risked her life for a stranger; would I have done the same?" quietly asked Twilight to herself as she placed a hoof on her chest and closed her eyes, trying not to cry, as she didn't want anyone to see her like this.

"Twi..." quietly said a voice.

"She's awake! Oh, thank God, Twilah. How are you feeling?" said Twilight as she moved closer and sat next to her in a chair. AJ closed the door and guarded it.

"I'OKay, but my stoOK hurts," answered Twilah.

"You're lucky; if she hadn't gotten the bullet out, it would have killed you," said AJ. "That was a brave thing you did."

"It was the right thing to do," smirked Twilah as she saw the trooper at the door. "I remember someone doing the same for me. She got hurt, I think. I don't remember her still, but she saved my life."

"You were probably in danger," said Twilight.

"Possibly, but she didn't have to; she could have let me fall, but she didn't," sadly said Twilah, as tears started to form in her eyes. "I don't know why, but I hated myself; I hated that I almost lost her. Why is my heart hurting? It's so painful."

"Sounds like you like her a lot; you're in love," replied Twilight. Twilah quickly sat up, coughing and swearing as her face turned red.

"Love? NO! I'm not gay! She's just a friend, my friend, right? The person I care for and the one I hate seeing get hurt; she's just a friend, I think?"

"Are you sure, darling, you were talking a lot of crap a minute ago?"

"I'm not into girls; I like guys, and I will not change my mind!" shouted Twilah to AJ, who just laughed back.

"BI is a thing, darling; I would take a bullet for a teammate on the battlefield but not outside of it unless I loved them to death. "You love her, even if you're unsure about it."

"Maybe I do," quietly said Twilah. "She's the first real friend I ever had, I think? My memories are fuzzy, and she's the closest person to me."

"Eeyup. Sounds like love, darling." laughed AJ again, enjoying this cute show, but she stopped when there was a knock on the door. She checked the door and opened it, revealing a tall doctor with yellow skin and long pink hair. She wore a green suit, and her arms, legs, neck, and wings were robotic. She entered the room with a tablet.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I came to check on her vitals and do a check-up," said the doctor. "The name is Karin, but you may call me Doc."

Twilight and Twilah were in shock as they saw the doctor, even more so for Twilah as AJ removed her helmet again.

"Fluttershy?"

"You sound and maybe almost look like my friends, AJ and Faith."

Both girls turned to each other after saying that and smiled.

"I knew it! You are another version of me!" said Twilight, being all nerdy now.

"I'm talking to a pony version of me!" replied Twilah, as she was needing out.

Karin looked over to AJ, looking for answers. AJ sighed; she said she hardly believed it herself, but a talking pony was in the room. Karin quickly checked the vitals, removed the breathing mask, and unhooked the IV.

"Good news! Your friend can leave; take it easy for a few days. The nanomachines are still healing the wounds in your stomach. It was a good thing that the bullet was of low caliber, so it didn't do a lot of damage to you."

"Nanites!" Twilight and Twilah shouted as Karin nodded. The girls were amazed by that and were asking questions. Karin answered and explained how it worked, which took a few minutes.

"Alright, that's enough science lessons. Twilah, you can leave. Sgt. Spitfire wants to talk to you two," said AJ.
OKOK, let's go," said Twilah as the two got up and were about to follow AJ when Twilah realized she was naked under the sheets. "Where are my clothes?"

"Don't worry. The doctor brought them," replied AJ as the doctor handed Twilah a bag.

"Here you go. It wasn't hard to create a t-shirt in your size."

"Thank you," answered Twilah as the three left the room, allowing her to change in peace. As she was putting on her jeans, she noticed her pocket glowing. She took the rainbow shard and could see that it was glowing.

"This was in my pocket; I forgot I had it. Now that I think about it, wasn't this the reason the portal opened to the Twilight world? Can it maybe send us back home?"

Twilah quickly finished getting dressed and was ready to show Twilight the shard, but AJ told her to hurry and leave the egghead talk later. Unknown to the girls, Celeste was watching them.

"Other universe..."

end of chapter