CHAPTER 1: RUNNING FROM REALITY

So, I'm not in the past? Twilight looked towards the skies, feeling lost, adrift in a vast endless ocean.

Did that mean she was no more than a double, that everything she strove for, that all her hard work was for nothing? She knew that escape should've been her main priority, but she couldn't help but feel consumed in her own shame, her own sense of dismay. If such theories were true, then she'd failed her world, herself, and ultimately her mentor. So what was she supposed to do now? There was no way she could duplicate such a spell twice. It was only the circumstances of the situation that allowed her to barely pull it off the first time. In a world such as this, there was no way she'd be able to do it again. Everything was so unfamiliar, her resources were uncertain, and there was nopony she felt could compel her to recreate the same scenario. She lowered her hind legs, sighing heavily as she contemplated what to do.

As she did so, her disappointment, her anger, in herself only continued to grow. The mare gritted her teeth as she sat atop the roof of one of the numerous buildings. A look of rage overcoming her as she slammed a hoof atop the concrete surface, practically snarling as she did. She bit her lower lip, attempting to stop herself from breaking down and revealing any form of weakness, even though she was alone. "I'm such an idiot!" She was a fool to not ensure the spell would go exactly as planned. She could've succeeded, if only she'd been more patient, if only she'd been less paranoid and spent more time making sure everything was setup correctly.

Twilight's eyes saddened as she stood to all fours once again, lowering her head and closing her eyes. There was nothing left for her anymore, she was no more than a husk who'd failed at her purpose at life. Since she'd been stripped of her cloak, it allowed her to glance back at her cutie mark, one which she didn't even understand. She'd truly failed in every aspect of the word. She might as well go look for a quiet place to live out the rest of her life, wallowing in her own regret, it's all she felt she wanted to do at this point. She began trotting sluggishly, towards the edge of the building before looking off towards the distant lands of Equestria, outside of Canterlot. She glanced around observantly, looking for a suitable destination in particular. A faint smile formed on her lips as she took notice of a small looking town not far from here. "A town huh? Looks peaceful enough, I guess it'll a good place to run off to for now." She raised a hoof, muttering yet another spell beneath her breath. Suddenly a fairly large blue portal appeared before the mare as she trotted, approaching it.

"Twilight, stop!"

Twilight's eyes widened, before she glanced back. Oh yea, she'd have to deal with these two again. Perhaps attacking alicorns in their own city wasn't a very good idea. Especially when they're not even the ones you were after. "Oh boy, here we go..."

Suddenly landing on the far end of the building Twilight was upon would be Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, accompanied by members of their individual guards of course. They were pegasi in particular, and acted as if they were a private escort squad.

The guards snarled at Twilight, unsheathing their weapons as they kept them fastened on the familiar purple mare.

Princess Celestia cautiously took a few trots forward, in a similar manner to before. "We can help you Twilight. If you let us."

Twilight squinted at the alicorn in suspicion, whose mane was still unfamiliar. She was obviously in league with Nightmare Moon. But by the looks of it, she even appeared to be of higher rank than her. Not much different from Solar Flare. "Who're you?"

Although Celestia knew this Twilight wasn't the Twilight they knew, she still felt quite struck by the mare's words. The Princess felt hurt to the point where she'd even flinched in slight reaction to them. She sighed, closing her eyes and bringing back to memory the fact she was practically meeting Twilight for the first time once again. Although she'd never imagined such an occurrence would happen, she definitely would've expected it to be a lot more heartfelt than this. Princess Celestia raised a hoof, placing it upon her chest in an introductory manner, before speaking out almost pleadingly to the mare. "I, am Princess Celestia, Twilight. I am the embodiment of the sun, ruler and protector of these lands, and I can assure you, we, are not, here to hurt you. Please, just trust us, we can sort this entire situation if you cooperate."

Twilight never lost that look of caution she had for the two alicorns, although she was starting to feel a bit more lenient with them as well. Could these two really help her? But her gaze drifted back to Nightmare Moon, in which she was immediately overcome with a look of disgust, cocking her head back. "What's your relationship to Nightmare Moon? Depending on your answer I might trust you."

At that point, Princess Luna, unable to hold herself back any longer, trotted forward. Much like Celestia, she raised a hoof, placing it upon her chest in an explanatory manner. "I am not, the mare you believe me to be. I am known as Princess Luna, guardian of the night, and I admit, there was once a time I was referred to as, Nightmare Moon." She said those two words with a pause and a scowl, but then continued. "But things are different now, I am no longer that twisted deity of nightmares. I wish to earn the forgiveness of my subjects, and be the protector of their dreams, not the result of their night terrors. Please, you must understand me Twi-erhm, new Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight looked at Luna questioningly, before sighing once again. Well, this alicorn certainly didn't act like the Nightmare Moon she knew, but she'd certainly just admitted to once being her, which was enough for Twilight. The longer this drew on the more conflicted she became. So this mare used to be Nightmare Moon but changed? Then there was this other alicorn she'd never seen before, but if this 'Luna' were the counterpart of Nightmare Moon then did that mean this 'Celestia' was the counterpart of her other most dreaded enemy? Although she herself certainly made a horrible first impression, all Twilight felt she wanted at this point was to be left alone. "I see. Well, if you two truly want to help me, then just let me be." She turned away, making her way into the portal, "I'm a bit annoyed, and you guys aren't helping."

Princess Celestia's horn started to glow as she glared at the departing mare, "Do you think we can truly just let you trot away like this?"

Twilight glanced back at the alicorn in slight amusement, "Hmph. Then catch me." Her eyes widened a bit with a bit of playful curiosity, "Well, if you can that is." She slowly started to fade, like very dust in the wind as her actual physical being broke down into a mythical form, flowing into the portal afterwords. As not long afterwords, her portal and any previous sign of it, disappeared along with her.

The color in Celestia's horn died down before she just continued to glare at the spot where this alternate Twilight had once stood. Her demeanor easily reflected her own feelings of frustration, seeing as this Twilight wanted nothing to do with her, whereas she obviously wanted the opposite. This new Twilight was judging them before even giving them a chance, and it wasn't often the Princess felt so lost about what to do in a situation. If this Twilight truly was so different from the original, she didn't have time to gain her trust and just play tea and meetings in order to get to know her on a personal level. Anything could happen. "Let us go find our little double Luna, she couldn't have gone far." Princess Celestia was impatient, wanting nothing more than to hurry and resolve this issue.

Princess Luna on the other hoof was already growing quite weary of this whole scenario. She scoffed, "Hah! I don't know about you sister but if she requests us to leave her alone, I say fine! If she doesn't want to trust us, then let her be. She'll soon come to realize running around as a fake Twilight Sparkle certainly won't bring her any less attention." She looked to Celestia in obvious annoyance. "She chooses to judge us, to attack us before even getting to know us? Then she might as well learn for herself how far she'll get without our us."

Princess Celestia frowned softly, then shaking her head at Luna. "I understand your frustration Luna, but don't let this Twilight's ignorance of our world deter you. She is young, obviously regretful of how her actions played out, and we to are ignorant of her past experiences with us. Obviously we have caused this Twilight much trouble in her life, and it is for that reason she refuses to believe in us."

Princess Luna turned away from Celestia, still contemplating, remaining silent.

Celestia made her way to her sister's side. "Luna please, I understand she has already caused you much trouble even though she's been here for less than a day. I am angry with her to, for she attempted to take my dearest sister away from me permanently, but she is still Twilight. She may not be the same student I taught and mentored, but it pains me to think about what we may have done to cause her to sway off her destined path so much. To think I might've been a cause of great burden to her pains me to say the least." Celestia paused, "She's desperate, and she needs help. And I would love your help in proving to her just how wrong she is about us."

There was a brief moment of silence between the two rulers, as the only noise that could be heard would be the ambiance from the wind.

Princess Luna looked back at Celestia with a scowl, before easing up into a look of understanding. "Fine...."

On the outside of Ponyville, suddenly a fairly large portal had appeared, like a floating whirlpool into a separate universe. Taking shape outside this portal would be gathering specks of purple dust, hardening and actually forming into a physical being.

Twilight had arrived in the small town just as planned, although at the outskirts, towards the edge of a forest. She looked to one of the signs which she assumed referred to the name of the place, saying it to herself softly, "Ponyville?" For the first time since she'd arrived, she actually looked fairly pleased, chuckling even. "Hmhm, good to know they're really straightforward. Least it's a town I know I'll be welcomed in." So without a worry, Twilight made her way into the peaceful rural town of Ponyville. Maybe she could get some supplies.

Although it was late at night, it appeared there were still a few places open in the small town. But there was one in particular Twilight couldn't resist heading towards, it was a colorful little place, one that looked to have an assortment of interesting delicacies attached to it. As she'd made her way inside, she wasn't surprised to glance around only to see an empty shop. Actually, it was absolutely perfect, she preferred it that way. She sighed with relief, before looking to the counter where behind it, stood a cheerful looking pink pony with a very erratic mane. Twilight put on a soft smile, "Hello there fair pony. I was curious if your resources were generous."

The pink pony looked to Twilight with a wide smile, before bouncing on all four hooves. "Heya Twilight!"

Twilight suddenly looked quite baffled. "What? How do you-" she paused, before coming to an immediate realization, appearing fairly annoyed afterwords. "Oh, r-right" These ponies to? Apparently I'm a pretty big deal in this world, must be nice. But I've gotta keep a lower profile somehow. She continued on her way to the front counter. "Well um, anyway. Do you have anything to eat? Maybe some veggie shards? Or perhaps a coco sliver?" She blinked a bit with an almost expectant smile, as if such information were common.

The pink pony just looked at Twilight with a clueless expression, unable to process anything the mare just said in her mind. She chuckled nervously as she bent over, rummaging beneath the counter. "U-Um, well I-, no we don't have those Twilight, but as usual we've got," then the pink pony placed out a full plate of cupcakes in front of the mare. "Cupcakes! In all sorts of different flavors! I'm sure you'll like them!"

Twilight eyed the sugary sweets in amazement, disbelief as she grabbed one of these so called, cupcakes, observing it intently. "W-Wha? These look absolutely gorgeous, and delicious! What did you call them? Cupcakes?!" Twilight then lowered her hind legs, holding the cupcake close as if it were a precious object. "Ugh, if only that alicorn didn't take my cloak, this would've been perfect for my notes. A cupcake, this looks even better than a licorice fraction. I bet hot-head had all sorts of food like this hidden away in the palace."

The pink pony just looked down at Twilight with wide eyes, she then went back behind the counter. She began tapping her muzzle in a paranoid manner, before speaking softly to herself. "J-Jeez! Twilight sure is acting funny, and where did she get that scar? And where are her wings? Is it possible this isn't the Twilight we've come to know and love but in actuality a Twilight from a completely alternate universe only to have mistakenly teleported herself here due to the outcome of a very powerful time spell?" She looked up, before chuckling. "Pshhhhh! No way, now that's just crazy talk silly!" The pink pony then leaned back over the counter, taking notice of the fact Twilight was still observing the cupcakes. "Hey, um, Twilight! Where did you get that scar, and where are your wings? You look funny all of a sudden!"

Twilight's eyes widened as she glanced back at the mare questioningly, "What? Why's it matter?" Her expression died down as she sighed once again. Right, she'd have to get used to the fact she bore the appearance of a very well known Twilight Sparkle, which would definitely pose to be a problem most likely in the future. Maybe it was time she adopted a new name for the time being, she looked up inquisitively, thinking about it. "Uhm, just call me Violet." Violet, a very simple and generic name with a very straightforward meaning, perfect.

Violet continued observing the cupcake, picking up each one and poking at the icing, responding absently. "And I got my scar from a very dangerous dragon, an infamous beast in our homeland, and one of the most cherished guardians of my two most hated enemies. He's one of the main reasons I'm stuck here, if it weren't for him I wouldn't have felt the need to rush the spell, but circumstances forced me into such a predicament, he might've killed me otherwise." She'd dwell on the pink pony's second question for a moment before continuing on, quite confused, "And wings? Why would I have wings, do I look like a pegasus to you?" Or maybe she was a pegasus here, she wasn't sure.

The pink pony looked horribly flustered, as if she were actually taking a test. It certainly felt like Twilight was testing her, why was she acting so weird!? But her face lit up as she to came to a realization, but of course, this must've been some sort of game! A prank to get back at her for all the funny jokes she played on them. Oh goodie, that sounded fun! Still didn't explain how Twilight managed to hide her wings though, the pink pony shrugged, must've been some sort of new spell. She giggled, if Twilight wanted to act like this then she might as well play along. "Oh, okay Vioooolet, I get it hehe!" She leaned atop the counter with one hoof and a confident smirk.

Twilight glanced back at the pink pony once again, a little thrown off by her words, "Wait, you do?" She shook her head, "Oh I-I mean, um, that's good! Anyway," she went back to observing the cupcakes before standing back to all four hooves, and using her telekinetic magic to levitate the plate at her side. "What'll it cost me to take these 'cupcakes' off your hooves?"

The pink pony giggled again as she popped on a fake moustache and a apron, speaking in an unfamiliar accent. "Only a couple of ze finest bits you have my dear girl." She began brushing through her fake brown mustache with a hoof, leaning the other atop the counter.

Twilight cocked a brow at the pony, a little surprised. "Bits?" She thought about it, bits, a form of currency she'd read about, good thing she studied on this. Apparently even in the past of her world they used this strange form of currency known as bits. She then raised her hoof as she cast another spell, and suddenly falling down atop the counter would be a pile of glistening transparent gold coins.

The pink pony's eyes widened with disbelief as she slammed her hooves on the countertop, picking up one of the bits and then observing them contently. "C-CHOCOLATE PONIES! THESE, THESE ARE SOME OF ZE MOST AMAZING BITS I HAVE EVER SEEN!" She picked up another, inspecting it with one eye. "Well I must say it was quite a pleasure doing business with you young lady."

Twilight backed away with a pleased smile, "Thanks haha." Then hurriedly ran for the door, and outside the shop.

The pink pony ripped away her apron and fake mustache, giggling heartily. "Wow! That was so fun hehe! I love roleplaying, and I love this game! I wonder what Twilight's planning to do next, I better go find out! Oh oh oh, but I don't want to spoil it for later, what happens if the others are playing to? Mmmmmmm." The mare began bouncing up and down on her hooves impatiently, "Oooooh but I want to know so so bad!" She crossed her hooves grumpily, before smiling contently and just remaining behind the counter. "Nope! I'm gonna stay patient! Then it'll make the surprise even better, hehe, maybe I'll get to see that dangerous dragon she was talking about!" She eyed the bits, "Wow, but these coins Twilight left are so realistic and new looking, she must be really dedicated to making this convincing!"

That, was one weird pony. Well, at least she was nice, and she gave her these amazing treats.

Twilight sat some lengths away from Sugarcube Corner, sitting on the curb, munching on the cupcakes contently. But as she was chewing, the mare's eyes slowly started to form tears, as a look of guilt overcame her while she raised another cupcake before her. Were their worlds really so different? To the point where delicacies such as these were unfamiliar to her? Twilight closed her eyes, before taking a bite out of another cupcake. Apparently the Twilight here was also very well known, famous even, having become friends with Nightmare Moon?

She was even known even in some small secluded town such as this? Could she have done it as well, could she have befriended Nightmare Moon and Solar Flare, convinced them to turn to the side of good if she'd tried hard enough? Had she made all the wrong decisions? She felt lost, uncertain, even now, sitting here in the dead of night in an alternate universe, stripped and without guidance. At this point, her whole life felt like one big mistake, one after another, one horrible revelation at a time. Twilight sulked, lowering her head.