Twilight and Luna were walking in the streets of Ponyville. They haven't been
able to come up with a good plan. They were hoping they would think of
something as they walked around aimlessly. Twilight was frustrated at
her lack of knowledge. She had studied a lot, but all that knowledge was
useless when nothing made sense. Twilight firmly believed that
everything happened for a reason, so she was sure that there was an
explanation for the events. However, figuring it out was difficult
without any solid clues.

The village was silent. It was odd to see nopony around in the evening. At
first glance, it was like the village had been deserted. The silhouettes
in the windows showed that they were all hiding inside. Nopony would
open their doors, fearing the demons would come inside their homes. The
normally sociable residents of Ponyville had become too paranoid to go
outside. They were surprised to see Applejack sneaking from behind a
corner. She had her usual bag on her back. She was slowly going from one
building to another, trying to act stealthy. Her orange body stood out
in the bleak alleyway. Twilight and Luna easily caught up with her.

“Hi Applejack. Glad to see you're still reasonable enough to go outside.” Twilight said.

“Shh! Those demons will appear if you ain't quiet. I read that in the newspaper.” Applejack said quietly.

“Not you too! Don't you realize how exaggerated it is?” Twilight asked.

“Granny Smith believes in all that. We respect the elderly in the Apple family,
so I'm just going along with what she says.” Applejack said.

“Suit yourself, but you'll soon see how wrong you are.” Twilight said, shaking her head in disappointment.

“We'll see. I wouldn't normally go outside, but we ran outta milk. I drew the
shortest stick and had to go to the store. Oh yeah, did ya find that
friend you were looking for?” Applejack asked.

“No, I didn't. I don't understand where he could've gone, he was just here
two days ago.” Twilight said. Being reminded of Spike made her worried.
If she didn’t come up with something soon, she would never see him
again.

“Was he visiting you? You should've told me, I wanted to meet him.” Applejack said.

“No, he was living with me. You really should know that, he's been here since I moved in.” Twilight said.

“That's not what you told me before. I remembered the guy later that day. He's that baby dragon, right?” Applejack said.

“So you do know him?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Not in person. You mentioned him a few times, said he was was your friend
back in Canterlot. He's gotta live there, I've never seen him here. Hope
ya find him soon. I gotta go get that milk before the demons are here.”
Applejack said and peeked past the corner. She carefully looked around
before sneaking to the next building. Twilight and Luna were left alone
in the alleyway. Twilight looked at Luna with a curious expression.

“What Applejack just said was very interesting. It would explain his
disappearance if he had been my friend back in Canterlot. He never
would've come to Ponyville with me, he would've stayed in his current
home.” Twilight said.

“How is that possible? I saw him two days ago.” Luna said.

“What could've happened to him after that? This might be the clue we were
looking for. Give me a moment, I need to think this over.” Twilight
said. The two sat down at a nearby bench. Luna patiently waited as
Twilight thought of the events.

Two days ago, Spike was Twilight's assistant. He sent her letters to
Princess Celestia. As a result of those letters, Luna came to Ponyville.
It would've been impossible to send those letters in one day without
Spike. This is proof that Spike was in Ponyville back then. The last
time Twilight saw Spike was near midnight two days ago. Twilight and
Luna spent the entire night at the balcony, so Spike must have
disappeared during that time. According to Applejack, Spike is
Twilight's friend, not her assistant. This would've been impossible two
days ago. That means Applejack must've began to believe in that fact
only after that. Considering Spike also disappeared recently, it's
likely the two events happened at the same time. At night two days ago,
the fact that Spike was Twilight's assistant was overwritten by the fact
that Spike was her friend. As a result, he moved into the location he
should've been in according to his new personal history. It made sense,
but why would it happen? How was it possible to change history like that
to begin with?

Twilight shifted her thoughts to Ponyville. There was something wrong with the
village. On first sight, it resembled the one in her memories. However,
there was something surreal about everything. The brave squad leader
Rainbow Dash, the cheerful pegasus Pinkie Pie and all the other
residents had slight differences in them. It was like they were the same
ponies, but their lives had been subtly altered. The atmosphere in the
village was different than the one Twilight was used to. It was as if
she was in a nightmare she never woke up from. Dreams often take place
in scenarios similar to the current one. Everything is normal at first,
but minor differences make them surreal. They're like alternative
dimensions with slight differences to the real world.

“Alternative dimensions...” Twilight muttered.

“What's that?” Luna asked.

“THAT'S IT! We're in an alternative dimension! I finally figured it out!”
Twilight said excitedly. She leaped from the bench and bounced around in
joy. She hadn't been this happy in ages. Luna smiled as she watched
Twilight jumping around in a circle. Twilight sat back down after her
euphoria ended. For the first time since the events began, she felt like
she could solve them.

“Glad to see you're so sure about it. How did you come to that conclusion?” Luna asked.

“It's the only reasonable explanation. There's no way all of this could
happen on a worldwide scale, so we must be in a small dimension that
only resembles our own. It would also explain the wall around the
village. It's not actually a wall, it's the end of this dimension! It's
impossible to get past it because nothing exists beyond that! The view
outside is nothing more than a wallpaper!” Twilight proudly explained.

“Alternative dimensions exist, so that is possible. We've got limited understanding
of them, as we're still researching them. It makes a lot more sense than
any of the other theories I've heard. Let's go with that. I'm proud of
you for figuring that out!” Luna said and patted Twilight's head.

“Thanks, I'm so relieved we advanced at least a bit. I came up with an
explanation for Spike's disappearance too, he should be alright. Solving
this mystery doesn't feel impossible now that we've gotten started.”
Twilight said.

“We should talk to more ponies. Who knows what we'll learn next.” Luna
said. The two got up and looked around for somepony to talk to. It
wasn't as easy as it sounded, as there was nopony in sight. They were
all laying low inside their homes. After a while, they found Lily calmly
writing into her notebook next to a tree. A cutesy bag was lying next
to her.

“How about we ask her for a copy of that tabloid? I'm curious to see what exactly they write in it.” Luna suggested.

“Good idea. I don't like giving them more business, but I have to admit I'm
interested too.” Twilight said. They walked towards the tree. Lily was
so focused on her writing that she didn’t notice them until Twilight
greeted them. Her pen stopped as she looked up from her notebook.

“Hi! You're like the only ponies I've met today. I'm risking my life to get
the news to everypony! I'm like the heroine in that comic book Ninja
Reporter. I always dreamed of being like her and now I really am! Isn't
that like so awesome?” Lily said.

“Sure, whatever. We'd like to get a copy of today's The Flower. Do you have any left?” Twilight asked.

“What, you're not subscribed? That's like, so lame. We don't sell single
copies, you'd have to subscribe in our office. Visit us sometime, okay?
You can have one of my extra ones today.” Lily said. She dug into her
bag and took one of the tabloids inside into her mouth. She gave it to
Twilight, who spread it onto the ground.

“Thanks, let's see...” Twilight said as she flipped it to see the front cover.
Luna curiously looked at the paper from next to her. Today's headline
was Ponyville is a Hellhole. Twilight turned the page to read the
article on the other side. It was about Twilight's outburst the other
day. However, over half of it was made up. It had quotes from Twilight
that she never said. Her insult on Ponyville had been stretched to make
it seem like she was talking about literal hellholes. According to the
article, she had given a long, crazy speech about her theory on how
demons from hell were appearing from hellholes. In reality, it had only
been a quick comment before she leaped from the bench. Twilight's good
mood melted away as she read all the lies the article wrote about her.
It put words into Twilight's mouth, something she really hated. After
finishing the article, she glared at Lily.

“What the hay is this?! Almost none of this actually happened! Who wrote this
terrible article?!” Twilight said in an intimidating tone.

“W-well, I did. I saw your outburst and wrote that on it. We thought it would be
more fun if we changed your theory. Yours just wasn't mainstream
enough. No hard feelings, okay?” Lily said nervously. She grabbed her
bag and backed away. Twilight slowly followed her.

“Fun?! News isn't about fun, it's about facts! It's filth like you who ruin
journalism! You made me look bad on purpose, didn't you?! You must be
behind this mess! I've got you now, you'd better confess!” Twilight said
with a scary grin on her face.

“I don't know what you're talking about! I didn't mean any harm, I just
wanted everypony to read my articles! I'll tell Rose on you!” Lily said
and ran away in fear. Twilight was about to follow her, but Luna quickly
bit her tail to stop her.

“Calm down! Let's not bully her until we've got proof. It could've been a
coincidence. We shouldn't fall down to her level and accuse others
without any evidence!” Luna said.

“Ugh, you're right. I lost my temper.” Twilight said. Luna let go of her tail
and Twilight turned around to face her. “Still, The Flower is
definitively suspicious. We need to research it further.”

“How about checking the previous issues? Do you know where we could get them?” Luna asked.

“Unfortunately, we don't get any newspapers in our library. I would've noticed how
strange that tabloid is earlier if we did. We need to loan somepony
else's copy. Out of all my close friends, I’d say Rarity is most likely
to be a subscriber. Let's go ask her.” Twilight said. Luna nodded and
the two went to Carousel Boutique.

Twilight knocked on the door to the boutique. Rarity peeked out of the nearby
window. She looked around, then went to open the door. She had a
surprised expression on her face.

“Good evening, Twilight. I haven't seen you in a while, where have you been? I
see you've made a new friend too. You've got a wonderful physique, I've
got dresses that would be perfect for you.” Rarity said as she admired
Luna.

“Sorry, but we really don't have time for that. I'll get to the point, do you
subscribe to The Flower? We're looking for past issues of it.” Twilight
asked.

“I certainly do. I've been a loyal supporter ever since I went to school
with them. I must say, they've improved significantly since then.
They've been dreadfully accurate lately. I put them in the paper
recycling over there, feel free to take them.” Rarity said as she nodded
towards the bins near the entrance. Twilight thanked her as she went
back inside. Twilight opened the bin and looked inside. The last few
issues were right at the top. Twilight took them into her mouth and
spread them on the ground. The latest headlines from oldest to newest
were:

Pinkie Pie's Parents are Pegasi
Fluttershy is Actually a Tree
Twilight Sparkle is “Just Friends” with Spike
Special Edition: Foreign Actress Refuses Interview
Ponyville is a Hellhole

There was a clear pattern in the headlines. They all described changes in
this dimension that didn't match up with reality. They paper was printed
the day before it was delivered. The one about Spike had to be written
before his disappearance. The article matched up with Twilight's theory
about him being removed from Ponyville. It mentioned him being only a
friend to Twilight, which would mean that he was living in Canterlot
instead. The timing was too close for it to have been a coincidence. It
must have happened because of the headline, along with all the other
changes.

“Do you realize what this means? Whatever they write as the headline
becomes true! The history of this dimension is rewritten according to
what the headline articles describe! It sounds crazy, but all evidence
points into that direction!” Twilight said.

“I have no idea how that's possible, but it really seems to be true. The
Flower's office has to be the center of these events. Let's go visit it,
I'm sure we'll find some answers there!” Luna said.