Chapters The House on the End of the Street
(A.N. Edited by Camlio)
Spike giggled as his pony friends laughed with him. His friends included Pinkie Pie, a party-crazy earth pony, Rainbow Dash, who was the fastest pegasus from Cloudsdale, AppleJack, a hard working farmer, Rarity, who had a knack for style, Fluttershy, a shy pegasus with a love for animals, and his best friend Twilight Sparkle, a bookish pony who was the personal student of Princess Celestia.
1 week later:
Princess Celestia sat in her throne, reading Twilight's latest update on what she learned on friendship. Suddenly a royal guard named ClockWork trotted into the throne room. He took off his helmet and bowed. He had royal blue eyes and an Hourglass Cutie Mark. He was a curiostity due to the way he was known to disapper from time to time.
The princess got a look of shock and worry on her face. She followed the guard to a map room, where a scale model of Ponyville laid out in front of her. Since it was magic, the model changed when something happened. Her eyes scanned the board until she came across the building she was looking for.
"What do you mean? What kind of spell is it"?
The princess sighed. "We don't know, but, recently a scout has reported that the spell has not been weakening. It has instead been gaining strength. I apologize once again for passing this burden onto you." The Solar Monarch said as she hung her head.
"Spike," called Twilight, "Round up the others. We have a mission from the princess"!
Later that day, Twilight, Spike, Rainbow, AppleJack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy stood in front of the building Princess Celestia was talking about. When Twilight told the other ponies that the princess gave them a mission involving Discord, they were all on board. "How do you know this is it?" asked Rainbow.
"I can just tell." replied Twilight.
"Riiight..." Rainbow Dash said with a roll of her eyes.
Indeed the building was a bit out of the ordinary. It was a hall of mirrors not exactly out of place at the old abandoned carnival site. But since nopony had stepped foot near it since Discord attacked, it looked rundown. Giving it an eerie look. The six ponies and dragon crept into the hall of mirrors. The room was soon decorated with their reflections.
"We're supposed to be figuring out what the spell on this place is and why it won't go away." replied an annoyed Twilight. Suddenly they came across a door
Nopony spoke. Twilight used her magic to open the door. Inside was a mirror. A mirror that showed six confused ponies and one dragon.
But something seemed different. Twilight could feel it. She slowly approached the mirror. Then a small green fire came out of the mirror. The group gasped. The fire then surrounded them all, and dragged them toward the mirror. They were then sucked into it.
Twilight and her friends were sent flying through a strange portal. None of them could move. They all saw each other and mirrors. Mirrors were everywhere. All the ponies screamed in terror as they rocketed through the strange place. "Twilight!" called Spike, "What's going on, where are we"?
"I don't know," she replied, "just hold on"! As she fell into the swirl of colors caused by the portal, Twilight heard Discord's evil laugh, and then she blacked out.
Twilight began to come to. A splitting headache surged through her skull.
"W-Who are you?" Both unicorns said in tandem.
Through the Looking Glass
AN: Edited by Camlio
Twilight slowly got on her hooves. She locked eyes with the colt in front of her. He looked exactly like her, say for the gender and for some reason mane style. They both slowly walked around each other, like when dogs sniffed each other. Except they weren't sniffing, they were studying.
"Who are you?" Twilight said in a stern voice.
"My name's Dusk Shine." replied the colt, "And who are you"?
Twilight then stood up proudly. A confident look grew on her face.
"Why, I'm Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia".
Dusk Shine had a strange look on his face.
"Who's Princess Celestia?" he asked.
"What?!" snapped Twilight, "Out of all the questions that are to be asked in this situation, you ask the one that has the most obvious answer to"?
"It's not obvious!" he snapped back, "I don't know where you come from, but here, our ruler is Prince Solaris".
"There you are Twilight!" came a muffled, yet familiar voice. Twilight turned her head and saw Spike with a mouthful of cookies.
"Spike!" Twilight yelled. She ran up to the baby dragon and gave him a hug.
"Have you met Dusk Shine and Barbara yet?" he asked.
"I have met Dusk Shine," she pointed a hoof at the purple colt, "But who is this Barbara"?
Twilight then saw a little dragon come out of the room Spike came from. Just like Dusk Shine, she looked exactly like Spike. Except, of course, for the gender.
"What the hay is going on here?" she deadpanned.
Rarity's eyes fluttered open. She sat up and found herself in her own home. A fashion building named Carousel Boutique.
"Well it's good to know that I'm in familiar surroundings."
she said to herself, as she trotted towards the kitchen. Being sent through a strange portal makes a pony hungry. She stepped into the kitchen. Rarity then gasped. Standing in the kitchen was a unicorn that looked exactly like her. Although he seemed to be a stallion.
"Um, excuse me," she said with grace, "But what are you doing in my home"?
The white pony looked at her.
"Well it's good to see you're up," he said, "But I'm afraid this is my home".
The two unicorns looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Then Rarity spoke up.
"Well, my name is Rarity. Who might you be, good sir"?
"My name is Elusive." replied the stallion, "I must say, I love your mane. It's simply marvelous"!
"Oh why thank you," Rarity said as she bounced her mane in her hoofs, "You know it takes forever to style it"!
"Don't I know it"! Elusive smiled.
Rainbow Dash rubbed her head. She felt like The Wonderbolts had just slammed into her. Slowly she lifted her head.
"What the hay?" she said, "I'm back in my house! But then what was with the-ah, never mind. At least I'm back home". Rainbow started to fly towards her room when she heard an angry voice.
"Who the buck are you?!" it yelled.
Rainbow turned her head and saw, her! Except she was a colt, and his mane and tail seemed more radical. He also appeared to have lightning bolt shaped eyebrows.
"Who am I?" she quipped, "Who the buck are you?! And why are you in my house"?!
"Your house?!" he snorted, "I'm Rainbow Blitz, and this is MY house"!
The two locked eyes with each other. They were trying to study each others minds. Finally Rainbow Dash said
"Well I'm Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in all of Equestria"!
RB just laughed.
"Sorry girly, but that title's mine"!
"Oh yeah, well than how 'bout a race? First one to town square wins"!
"You're on!" and they took off.
Pinkie Pie opened her eyes. The split second her eyes opened, she heard the familiar sound of her party canon being fired. But Pinkie wasn't ready. She yelped and shot up to the ceiling.
"Don't be scared," giggled a pink pony on the floor, "It's just my party canon"!
Pinkie touched the ground.
"Wait, YOU have a party canon too?" she gasped.
"Of course"!
"So do I! My name's Pinkie Pie, what's yours"?
The colt across from her stretched out his hoof.
"My name's Bubble Berry! I love meeting new ponies"!
Pinkie gasped again.
"So do I"!
The two ponies cheered and talked about everything. Bubble Berry even prepared a party for when Pinkie woke up. Not wanting to waste a second, they instantly started the party.
Fluttershy opened her eyes to find herself in her own cottage.
"What? How did I get back here? And what happened to the girls? Oh I hope they're alright".
Fluttershy then heard a soft whisper.
"H-hello?" it called.
"Is somepony there?" she asked, nervously.
"Hello, umm my n-name is B-Butterscotch." he replied, "W-who are you"?
"Oh, umm, my name's Fluttershy. May I ask why you're in my house?" she said, hiding her face in her mane.
"I'm sorry but this is my house. You appeared in a flash of light and I, well, hid".
"Guardian, no! You should know better!" scolded Butterscotch as he flew towards the bunny.
"Hey, I have a bunny just like her." smiled Fluttershy, "His name's Angel, I just LOVE little animals".
"Really?! Me too"!
The two started chatting while Butterscotch got some tea.
"Ow, mah head. What happened"?
Applejack lifted her head to find herself at Sweet Apple Acres. She looked around. Everything seemed just as it always did.
"Huh, Ah wonder of Ah got here. Last Ah remember Ah was flyin' through that portal with mah friends".
She started to trot towards the barn, when she heard a voice call her.
"Excuse me ma'am," said a deep voice, "but who are, if ya don't mind me askin'".
Applejack turned and saw a stallion that looked exactly like her. He had the build of her brother Big Macintosh, and even wore his yoke around his neck.
"Name's Applejack! Who might you be?"
The Earth Pony bucked a tree as hard as he could.
"That's funny," he replied, "Mah name's also Apple Jack"!
Applejack realized that this wasn't her farm.
"Oh horse apples. I gotta get to Twilight, maybe she'll know what's going on".
Twilight Sparkle and Dusk Shine walked out of the library, and walked into town. Twilight was amazed. Every mare she knew and was friends with was now a colt, and vice versa.
"I don't believe it," Twilight said in a whisper, "How is every stallion now a mare?"
Dusk Shine gave her an strange look.
"I'm guessing where you come from, it's in reverse."
"No, really?" she replied sarcastically.
Dusk Shine just sighed and continued his walk with Twilight. They soon came to a cafe where they met Applejack and Apple Jack.
"Applejack!" cried Twilight.
"Howdy Twilight. Meet my new friend, Apple Jack."
Twilight stared at the big stallion in front of her. She just sighed and pulled up a chair at the table. Dusk Shine repeated the action.
"How do ya think we got here?" asked Applejack.
"It was probably that mirror." replied Twilight.
"What mirror?" asked Dusk.
"Well back where I come, Princess Celestia sent me and my friends to investigate a mysterious house in Ponyville. We all ended up getting sucked into this mysterious mirror. That's when I woke up here."
"Sounds like that mirror can cross realities."
Before Twilight could respond, she saw Rarity and a unicorn that looked just like her. They both seemed to be using their magic to levitate a dozen shopping bags.
"Twilight! Applejack! It's so great to see you! How have you two been?"
The white unicorn spoke up.
"Rarity, you have to introduce me to your friends. I just love the purple one's mane!"
"Elusive, these are my friends Twilight Sparkle and Applejack. Girls, this is Elusive."
Twilight and Applejack shook hooves with the new unicorn. Suddenly two streaks of rainbow flashed above them. Rainbow Dash then landed next to them.
"Hey guys. Huh, I guess I'm not the only one who noticed she had a double."
Rainbow Blitz to the ground right next to Dash.
"HA! I told you, I'm the best flyer around!"
"You wish!"
The two started arguing when Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Bubble Berry, and Butterscotch walked up to them. The six started to sit down and talk about what was going on.
The image of the ponies slowly faded to green. Green fire slowly circled the orb. Viperia sat on her throne. She was a disgusting creature. Sure her top half looked almost like a pony. Except for the scales, snake eyes, and fangs holding back a slithering forked tongue.
But her lower half was a snake tail. Her creature was known as a gorgon. A half pony half snake monster. Viperia was the queen of the gorgons. One of her minions stood by the glowing orb.
"It appearssssss we have more poniessss your majessssssty."
"I can ssssssse that sssssscalesssss! Thesssse poniesssss ssssseem to resssssemble the ssssix I have been keeping an eye on. It lookssss like I can no longer wait to put my plan into action."
“Ah can’t wait to see a mare version of Big Mac.” Applejack said giddily. She and her colt counterpart, Apple Jack, were strolling down the dusty road to Sweet Apple Acres.
“Oh you don’t wanna call Macareina ‘big’, it will maker think yer callin’ her fat”.
“Ah, gotcha, but I feel bad up and ditchin’ the rest of the group.”
“Yeah but, we know they can handle themselves. We handled foes like Eris and Night Terror Nebula. Now come on, we’re almost there”.
The two ponies finally reached their destination, a giant red barn with a large acre of apple trees. The smell of fresh-baked apple pie was lingering in the air. Applejack felt like she was back at home, because technically, she was back at home. Everything she knew about the old farm was still right there; even the empty spot where Bloomburg was pulled to be taken to Appaloosa.
“Look, there’s Grandpa Smith.” Apple Jack’s voice broke her train of thought. Applejack turned her attention to an older green pony in front of them. He definitely showed his age, with liver spots decorated on his forehead, a faded fedora sat atop his old dome, and a long Santa-like beard rolling down his chin.
“Hmm, mah eyes must be failing me,” the elder spoke, “I’m seein’ double.”
“No Grandpa Smith, this is mah mare counterpart from another zone who came here from a magic mirror.”
The pony shook his head, “Oh you kids and yer alternate realities.”
Applejack looked around the endless fields, “Hey where’s little, um…uh,” she leaned over to her colt double, “What would Applebloom’s name be here?”
“Oh you must you mean Applebud, well he’s, um, he’s….Ah don’t know where he is. Grandpa, where’s Applebud?”
“Applebud? I think the little rascal went off to go play with his friends”.
The little colt in question was indeed playing with his friends, a unicorn named Squeaky Bell and a pegasus Scooteroll. The three ponies were some of the only few in town who had not received their Cutie Marks yet, hence they dubbed themselves, The Cutie Mark Cavaliers. Today’s expedition found them in the heart of the Everfree Forest.
“CUTIE MARK CAVALIER ANIMAL HEALERS!” they all shouted at the top of their little lungs. It seemed like they had yet another scheme to earn their Cutie Marks.
“Listen guys,” Squeaky Belle started to say, “I’m excited to earn my Cutie Mark and all but I feel kinda scared out here.”
“Oh stallion up, Squeaks,” Scooteroll sarcastically replied, “It’s just tress and squirrels and stuff.”
“Scoots is right,” complemented Applebud, “Besides, Butterscotch lives around here and he heals animals all the time.”
“I still say it would’ve made more sense to just ask the guy about healing animals when we slept over his house.” Squeaky Belle muttered under his breath.
“Well we didn’t think of it then!” argued Applebud, “Now let’s keep moving”.
The trio wandered through the twisted tress known as the Everfree. The only resident who was known to live here and was not rumored to want to steal your soul (At least not anymore) was a zebra hermit named Zicoro. But he wouldn’t be much use on this expedition.
“If only we could find a wounded animal.” Applebud said to himself.
“Wow,” snorted Scootaroll, “That’s heartless.”
“Oh you know what I mean.” Applebud retaliated.
Soon there ears were greeted with a small hissing sound, a very snake like hiss. The colts craned their necks over towards a dark bush near a tree.
“Oh boy,” Applebud smiled, “Maybe it’s a snake we can help!”
“Snakes,” Squeaky Belle sighed, “Why did it have to be snakes?”
The trio trotted in the direction of the bush, their hooves stomping in the dry grass. But as soon as they reached the shrub, they all stopped. The young CMC members admitted that none of them actually wanted to lift the bush. After some ‘I told you so’s and plenty of arguing, Scootaroll volunteered to open the bush.
“Aw man,” Scootaroll groaned, “There’s nothing here!”
“Maybe we scared it away,” Squeaky Belle sighed, “Now come on let’s keep moving.”
“Ah guess so, come on Scootaroll let’s go”.
But he didn’t get a reply, Squeaky Belle and Applebud looked for their pegasus friend, but to no avail. It was as if Scootaroll had disappeared off the face of Equestria.
“Oh ha ha, very funny, Scoots,” Applebud belched, “But joke’s over so come on out!”
“Maybe he ran off, I always said he was a chicken.”
“Ah don’t know, maybe he-“
But to Applebud’s surprise, Squeaky Belle disappeared as well. Now Applebud was getting scared, both of his friends were gone and he was alone in the middle of the scariest place in Equestria. He began to trot aimlessly through the Everfree.
“Scoots, Squeaky, are ya’ll there? If you guys are hidin’ it’s not funny! Come on I-AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH”!
The last thing Applebud saw before he blacked out was an open mouth with a pair of fangs dashing towards him.
“Okay Ah’m startin’ to git worried,” Applejack spoke, “We haven’t seen Applebud in hours.”
“Yeah,” her colt double agreed, “Where did Applebud head off to, Grandpa?”
The elder scratched his beard, “Last Ah recall, he said he was headin’ for the Everfree Forest
The two ponies couldn’t believe their ears. Their own grandpa let their little brother (Or sister in Applejack’s case) into one of the most dangerous places in Equestria! After a little scolding, the young farmers took off for the Everfree
Applejack’s orange hooves skid against the mossy ground of the dank forest. She and Apple Jack were determined to find little Applebud.
“Applebud,” Apple Jack called out, “You out here little bro?!”
“Oh your brother isssss sssssafe and sssssound.” A voice slithered in response.
The twin ponies spun around. Pouring out of the bushes was one of the strangest things they have ever seen. The top half of the mysterious figure was pony, with a sickly green fur color, and a long, messy brown mane running down her back. Her ruby red eyes appeared to be staring into the pony’s soul.
But the bottom half was an entirely different story. It was long and bulky snake tail. The same sickly green as her fur with a stripe running down the middle. The middle carried the colors of black, brown, and white. Her slinky tail was topped off with a rattle, like a star on top of a Hearth’s Warming Eve tree.
“Who are you and what have you done with those ponies?!” Applejack demanded.
“My name isss Viperia, Queen of the Ssssnakesss, and I realized that your brother and hisss friendssss were in danger being in thissss foressst,” her raspy voice whispered, “Sssso I ressscued them. No need to thank me.”
“GIVE ME BACK MAH BROTHER”! Apple Jack charged at the snake enchantress, but before his hoof could connect with her face, Viperia shot her body to the right. Moving like liquid, she spun around the tall stallion and socked him in the face.
“That issss no way to treat royalty,” Viperia calmed herself, “If you want to resssscue your brother, then you’re out of luck! But don’t worry, you’ll be sssseeing him again real ssssoon”.
A purple mist started to surround Viperia. Before the ponies could react, she disappeared altogether.
“Who was that?” Applejack asked as she helped Apple Jack to his hooves.
“Ah don’t know, but something tells me we need to see Prince Solaris”.
