"A New World"
Written by
Alex Mann
Chapter I
A Botched Spell
Applejack stretched her limbs and grunted, trying to chase the lingering tendrils of sleep from her body. She opened her eyes, turning so she could look out her window at Sweet Apple Acres. The land was still dark with night, but the sky had been streaked by a muted orange, thrown onto the canvas of stars by some haphazard stroke of a celestial painter.
"Good mornin', Equestria," she whispered with a smile. Shrugging off her quilt, she stood up. She grabbed her Stetson off of one of the bed's posts and tossed it in the air, easily catching it on her head. She grinned up at it and headed out the door.
The house was quiet, as it was every morning. The cowpony usually woke up a few minutes before the rest of her family, allowing her time to organize the chores for each new day.
She tiphoofed down the stairs, careful not to make a sound, and eased her way into the small kitchen. She poured herself a glass of apple juice and went over to the table. The chore list had been spread out last night before she had gone to bed, as she always did, so she wouldn't have to waste any time in the morning.
She muttered to herself as she matched chores with each worker, making sure to compensate for the work they had done yesterday. She knew Caramel had been working in the barn coring the day before, so she posted him in the south orchard so his legs could get some work. It was a method she had employed for as long as she had been in charge of the farm: work the farmhooves for a couple days in the orchards, then give them a day or two in the barn so they could rest. She rarely got complaints from her employees, but when she did she made sure to handle it in an efficient and swift manner.
She heard soft clip-clopping coming from the stairway and looked up to see her brother, Big Macintosh, enter the kitchen. He still looked half-asleep, as he often did, and had not yet adorned his harness.
"Good mornin', AJ," he said, slightly nodding his head. He got himself a glass of apple juice and grabbed a Cameo from a bowl on the counter and trotted over to his sister. "How're the chores comin' along?"
"Easy as always," she replied without looking up. She finished up quickly, the sound of the soft crunching of Macintosh eating the apple and the early morning singing of the birds outside reaching her ears. "You'll be with Summerfree in the north orchard today."
Big Macintosh answered with a nod and continued chomping at the apple. Applejack sat back on her haunches and sighed, still slightly tired. The other workers would arrive in about half an hour, when she would hand out their chores, and work would begin about fifteen minutes after that. Applejack always stayed at the house for the first hour to make sure that Apple Bloom got up and got ready for school on time.
She stepped outside and laid down on the porch. She took some time to think over the day, all while staring out at the rolling land that was Sweet Apple Acres. The sun had begun peeking over the horizon, a halo of bright blue surrounding it. Applejack looked off to the side and squinted, trying to see the capital city of Canterlot in the distance. She saw the telltale glint of the sun's rays bouncing off the tall white towers of the castle. She knew Celestia was on a balcony somewhere, horn glowing, bringing light to yet another day. She sighed again, closing her eyes for just a few more minutes of rest before the work day started.
Fluttershy awoke with the sun, just a few minutes later than her farmer friend. She floated downstairs, making sure not to disturb the numerous animals that were sleeping in the expansive living room. The kitchen was mostly off-limits to the creatures, which allowed the pegasus to land and walk. She made herself a quick breakfast of oats and alfalfa, then set to work making breakfast for the animals.
She heard the soft footfalls of a rabbit behind her and turned. Angel, her friend, assistant, and bodyguard, stood on the table with his arms crossed, his right foot tapping impatiently.
"Oh, good morning, Angel," the soft-spoken pony said, quietly going over to the rabbit and giving him a small nuzzle. The bunny kept a stern look on his face, but wrapped his arms around Fluttershy's snout. Breaking apart, the pegasus flew over to the refrigerator and brought out a carrot for the small rodent. He gnawed on it contentedly, allowing the yellow pony to get back to making breakfast.
She heard the animals begin to stir in the living room, and sped up her meal-making. Quickly finishing, she sat a bowl down in front of Angel and grabbed another in her mouth.
"That's for the mice," she said around the bowl. "Can you take it to them, please?"
Angel looked up from his carrot and frowned. Fluttershy raised her left eyebrow at him expectantly, and, after a short staring contest, the rabbit begrudgingly picked up the bowl and hopped out of the room. The pegasus followed, flying up and setting the food on a small shelf near the ceiling. She went back to the kitchen and grabbed another bowl of food.
Having fed all the animals in her house, Fluttershy trotted outside into the quiet and stillness of the morning. She closed her eyes and tilted her face up into the sunlight, allowing the warmth of the glowing sphere melt the last bit of chill from her body. She raised her wings and took to the sky. She flew around, stretching her feathery limbs. Birds chirped at her merrily, greeting the pegasus. She landed on a high branch of one of the trees dotting her yard and settled down, crossing her front legs. She looked out over the Everfree Forest, listening to the wild sounds of the animals from within. She turned her head towards Ponyville, still quiet in the early hours.
I wonder what today has in store? she thought. I hope nothing scary.
Rarity woke up to a loud crash from downstairs. She sat up in her bed, clutching her chest and breathing hard. She had been rudely awakened from a very pleasant dream, the likes of which she'd never share with anybody, and yearned to return to the muscly arms of...
She shook her head, blushing profusely, allowing a smile to creep over her lips. It's just a dream! she told herself.
Another crash from downstairs snapped her back from her thoughts, and she sighed. She looked over and saw that Sweetie Belle wasn't in her bed. The sounds from the kitchen made sense to her now, and she sighed again.
It's going to be one of those days...
She got up and headed to the bathroom, checking herself over in the mirror and brushing out her bedhead. She waved her tail around, the individual hairs spreading apart and falling back naturally into their distinctive curls. She looked at herself once more and smiled.
"Rarity, you are gorgeous!" she said enthusiastically. Another crash. "Sweetie Belle..."
Downstairs, behind Rarity's workroom, sat the unicorn sisters' kitchen. In it, all over the floor, sat pots and pans of every size. And in the middle of the pots and pans sat a small white filly, her eyes shut tight in anticipation. She felt a hoof on her shoulder and cautiously opened one of her eyes.
"Good morning, sis," she said quietly, giving a nervous smile.
"Good morning, Sweetie Belle," Rarity responded, giving an all-too-happy smile. "What have you been up to in here?"
"I was trying to make breakfast for you," Sweetie Belle said, building confidence. "But it kinda got out-of-hoof..."
"I can see that," the elder unicorn murmured through gritted teeth. "I suppose that you were trying to get your cutie mark?"
The filly nodded happily. "Uh-huh! Did I get it?" She turned around, trying to see her flank. She slumped when she saw that no mark adorned it. "Guess not."
Rarity, her anger gone at the adorable display, ruffled her sister's mane. "Don't worry, Sweetie, you'll get it someday."
"Yeah, yeah..."
"Come on, let's clean up this mess."
"Okay..."
They set to work, finishing in no time. Rarity sent Sweetie Belle upstairs to get ready for school while she made breakfast. The oatmeal cooking, she looked out the window over the sink at the rising sun. She smiled, then sighed when she heard a crash from the bathroom.
Pinkie Pie was jerked awake by a tremendous twitch. Her back was all tingly and her legs were all wiggly. She remembered this twitch from when they had been chased by the hydra, and when Twilight finally gave up trying to analyze her Pinkie Sense.
A doozy.
Pinkie picked herself off the floor and searched the room for Gummy, eventually finding him asleep behind a chair, a rubber cupcake in his mouth. She smiled warmly at the alligator, deciding not to disturb him and silently went downstairs.
The Cakes had not arrived yet, as they lived in their own house not too far from the confectionery, so the kitchen was quiet. Pinkie set to work on making a batch of muffins, blueberry, before heading back upstairs to check her party calendar. Nopony had a birthday today, and there were no anniversaries for a few months. She frowned at the calendar for only a second before her usual smile plastered itself on her face. She didn't need a reason to have a party!
A small ding from downstairs told her the muffins were done. She raced to to the kitchen and pulled the tray from the oven. As she was setting it down on the counter to cool, the twitch overtook her body once again. The muffins flew out of the tray and rained down around the room while Pinkie Pie convulsed in the air. When she finally came back to earth, she sighed at the mess the twitch had made.
"That was very inconvenient," she scolded the twitch. The twitch responded by shrugging her shoulders. She began picking up the muffins, inspecting each for anything inedible, but found none. One thing she was proud of was always keeping the floor of the bakery clean enough to eat off of, just in case this very thing happened.
The muffins all picked up and scrutinized, she heard a knock on the front door. Bouncing out to the bakery, she spied Ditzy Doo hovering outside. She opened the door and allowed the mailmare inside.
"Mail for Pinkie Pie!" Ditzy announced dramatically, pretending not to see the bright pink pony in front of her.
"I'm right here!" she giggled, taking the small stack of envelopes from her friend's outstretched hooves. "Come on back, I've got some muffins for you!"
She led the pegasus into the kitchen, where the muffins had been set to cool. Allowing the mailmare to choose a few, they chatted for a short while, catching up with each other.
After a few minutes, Pinkie waved goodbye to Ditzy as she left to complete her route. She stayed outside for a couple seconds before she twitched again.
Rainbow Dash was having a great dream. She was flying with the Wonderbolts, in a show put on for the princesses. She was leading them, swooping through daring tricks and tight formations. They pulled off Immelmanns and Hammerheads absolutely perfectly before finally touching down on a cloud in front of the royal sisters.
The alicorns applauded and cheered enthusiastically. Dash stood proudly in front of her squad, her chest puffing out and her wings stretched out abover her back. As she stood there before her adoring audience, she felt the cloud beneath her begin to give way. She looked down, but was unable to stop herself from falliing. She began spiralling towards the ground, faster and faster, closer and closer. She tried to get her wings to work, but they had locked up against her sides. She shut her eyes, waiting for the inevitable slam into the ground.
She woke up.
She found she had fallen out of her bed onto the floor, her limbs flailed out to her sides. She picked herself up, rubbing her head with a hoof.
"I hate dreams like that!" she grumbled.
She looked around, making sure she hadn't damaged her house in any way before heading down for breakfast. She passed her Best Young Flyer award and grinned at it. Sure, she hadn't been able to pull off a Sonic Rainboom since then, but she knew she wasn't a one-trick pony.
She heard a knocking downstairs, which snapped her out of her memories. She crossed through the kitchen and living room to the foyer, where she could see the mailmare standing outside the front door. She opened the door and waited.
Ditzy stood on the welcome mat holding out a single envelope. "Delivery for Rainbow Dash," she said quietly, tried to hide a small blush on her cheeks. She had a little crush on the multi-chromatic pegasus, but she'd never be able to tell her. Besides, Rainbow Dash would never go for...for someone like her.
Dash yawned and took the envelope. "Thanks, Ditzy."
The mailmare took off quickly, tearing up a little. Dash went back into the living room and sat down. She ripped open her mail and pulled out a short letter.
"Hmmm, from Twilight..."
She scanned the note and closed her eyes. She shook out her mane and tail, and took off towards Ponyville.
Twilight Sparkle had been awakened by the all-too-familiar sound of Spike belching. She kept her eyes shut, hoping that her assistant would think she was still asleep. Unfortunately, she felt his little hand gently shake her, and she slowly lifted her eyelids. Spike was standing next to her bed, a scroll in his hand.
"It's from the princess," he said.
She took the scroll from his hand with her magic, unfurling it in front of her face. As she read it, her eyes lit up, a goofy smile creeping across her lips. She jumped up suddenly and took off downstairs into the library proper. Spike stood, dumbfounded. He heard books flying off shelves and decided he should make sure that Twilight didn't make too much of a mess.
When he reached the large open room, he was met with the purple unicorn searching frantically for some book, the letter from Princess Celestia on a small work table. He went over and grabbed it.
"My Most Faithful Student," he read quietly. "I have come across a teleportation spell, and thought that you might want to try it out. I found it in a book entitled The Science of Transferring Matter. Perhaps you have it in your library? I do hope you are able to find it and test it. Your Mentor, Princess Celestia." He looked up at the mess Twilight had amassed. "A teleportation spell? Can't you already do that?"
"I thought I could, Spike," she responded hurriedly, "but if Princess Celestia recommends I test it, I think I should at least try. Oh, where is that book?"
The small dragon looked around at the shelves. The book were organized by author first of all, then by genre, then by title. He glanced back at the unicorn, then to a shelf a few feet away from him. He silently grabbed a book and trotted over to Twilight. He tapped her on her withers and she turned, a slightly manic look in her eyes. He jumped back and gasped sharply, holding out the book.
Twilight's eyes grew back to their normal size and she took the book from him. Her expression softened, and she carried the book over to the work table. She threw a sideways look at the letter, hoping that the princess had given her a page number. Alas, she had not.
She heard Spike's stomach grumble behind her and turned to catch him belching up another scroll. She immediately grabbed it and opened it, reading it out loud.
"I'm sorry, Twilight Sparkle. I seem to have forgotten to send the page number that I found the spell on. It is page 126. I hope it serves you well!"
She began to search through the book for the correct page. Once she found it, she quickly read the setup and specs. Her brow furrowed, and swivelled around to face Spike.
"Spike! Please write a note to all my friends. I'll be needing them for this test!"
Rainbow Dash was the first to arrive, noisily crashing through one of the windows. She tumbled head over hooves into a shelf, one that Spike had just gotten back in order. A couple books fell off, hitting her in the head.
"Ow! Hey, Twilight! I got your letter!" she said, rubbing her noggin.
"Oh, good," the unicorn replied. "I hope the rest of the girls get here soon."
Just then, a pink blur bounded into the room, knocking Twilight off her hooves.
"Hi, Twilight! I got here as soon as I could! I mean, yeah, I ate breakfast and all, but it didn't take too long so I came here so that I could help out with your spell, and I hope that nothing goes wrong, I mean, you don't seem to have the best track record in these things, so I hope it's not another cliché 'Twilight messes up a spell, sending her and her friends on a whirlwind adventure!' kinda story because that would be boring, right?"
Twilight's head was spinning, and she pushed her pink friend off before getting to her hooves.. "No, Pinkie, it's just a simple teleportation spell."
"Ooo!"
"Ah'm here, Twilight," came the distinctive drawl of the farmer pony. She trotted into the room, quickly followed by a shy yellow pegasus. They both sat down on the couch and looked around, waiting for Rarity to arrive. Rainbow had taken to fluttering around the ceiling, growing more impatient by every minute. Pinkie Pie had begun rolling around on the rug, humming to herself gleefully.
A few minutes passed, and there was still no sign of their fashionista friend. However, just as Dash was about to leave, the white unicorn trotted in, smiling slightly.
"Good morning, girls!" she greeted the other ponies. "I'm sorry I'm late, but Sweetie was trying for her cutie mark again, and, well, you know how that is."
"Can we just get this over with?" Rainbow Dash said. "I have important business to attend to today."
"Nappin'?" Applejack questioned, a smirk on her face.
"No!" Dash denied. "Well...yeah..."
"Ha!"
"Come on, girls, this won't take very long. Princess Celestia sent me a letter this morning telling of a teleportation spell she found, and she wanted me to get you all together to try it."
Pinkie was bouncing in place, a wide grin on her face. "Woo hoo! Teleportation!"
"Now," Twilight said, "the book says we need to gather around in a circle. The spell will allow me to teleport all of you at the same time, to as far as Canterlot. I'm gonna need to concentrate, so if you could please not make too much noise."
"I'll keep my voice down," Fluttershy squeaked.
The ponies gathered around in the center of the library. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, her horn beginning to glow. The soft purple light surrounded the six friends, who all stood as still as possible. A second layer of light was added to the spell, Twilight charging the spell with more magic. She pictured the gardens of Canterlot Castle, aiming for an open area near the center. Her horn started to hurt, but she kept the spell up.
Something black crossed her mind's eye, startling the unicorn. Her horn gave off a small spark, and enveloped the room in white. Before she knew it, the spell had shot from her horn, and she could feel herself being pulled through space. She thudded to an abrupt stop and everything went black.
As her vision cleared, Twilight found herself sitting up against something hard. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes were buildings. Hundreds of tall buildings lined the horizon, cold yellow lights issuing from many of the windows. She heard loud blaring and high-pitched squealing from everywhere around her. The unicorn looked up and noticed it was night, the crescent moon high in the sky.
She rubbed her eyes with her hands, trying to get the fuzziness out of her head. She felt her horn protruding from her head, but it was much shorter and stubbier than it usually was.
Wait, hands?
Her eyes went wide as she discovered she no longer had hooves. She recognized the appearance of her new appendages: that of humans. She had read of humans in a book back in Canterlot, which told of an ancient race that had long gone extinct.
Twilight stood up, wobbling a bit on two legs, but surprisingly able to keep her balance. It was then that she noticed the five other humans that surrounded her. She could just make out their faces in the darkness and gasped.
She recognized them.
These were her friends.
I am reworking this story in order to fit in with my other MLP:FiM story.
As always, I do not own My Little Pony. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this.
Comments and critiques are always welcome!