A gentle breeze flowed through the peaceful town of Ponyville. The sun was starting to rise above the horizon, while the moon moved below the other corner of the horizon, completely in-sync with its celestial neighbor to make way for yet another beautiful summer morning. The birds began to chirp in the distant trees, and the doors to several houses began to open up, while the multicolored equine inhabitants of those houses stepped outside to either start their days, to water their plants, to get the newspaper from their yards, or to check their mailboxes for any new messages delivered by their local gray-coated pegasus mailmare with a yellow mane and a pair of yellow eyes that were always shifted in opposite directions.

There was one building, however, that stood out from the rest of the houses and shops. While the houses and shops were mostly built with wooden walls and straw roofs, this building was a castle made entirely out of crystals. Despite being a castle, however, it was shaped up to look more like a tree house with purple stone walls tangled inside a leafless blue tree made of crystals. The entrance was an arched pair of golden doors in the center of a road. Directly off of both sides of the entrance, a pair of purple windows with white starry patterns in the pattern of a river of waves were engraved into the tree with a similar arch-like shape as the door on the upper halves, while the lower halves of the windows were flat like the surface, but elevated. In the center of the roofs of the purple stone walls on top of the tree, a blue six-sided star erected over a long steeple that rose over the walls by twice their height.

From inside the majestic structure, several guards dressed in purple and golden armor roamed to and fro, while keeping their eyes and ears peeled for any and all conversations within the castle walls. There were two guards posted for each and every corner of the halls of the building to ensure maximum security for their newest princess, as well as her dragon assistant.

All the way up at the top of the castle, within the starry steeple itself, a circular shaped room was carved inside it that was only able to be entered by teleportation magic. Within this room, several scrolls and papers were posted on the walls with a multitude of sketches, words, and symbols written on each one. Some of the sketches appeared to be drawings of coordinates that connected together with other sketches, while others were words that described the sketches. A select few of them, however, were lines that were taken from one certain drawing in particular; a six-sided star resting in the center of a circle. The star in the circle was the drawing that held the attention of one particular figure in the room, out of two.

The first figure in the room was a lavender coated pony with a neatly combed, bluish purple colored mane and tail that were each adorned with a single pink stripe on one side of both. Like every other alicorn, she had a horn that grew from her forehead and a pair of feathery wings on her back that were the same color as her coat. She also had purple eyes, though they were closed, and her horn was glowing a pinkish color.

About a few meters behind her and to her right, the second figure stood there, watching the alicorn cast her spell with an uncertain expression on his face. He stood up at about half of her height, and had purple scales, with a smooth green stomach and lower jaw. He also had dull green spikes that grew in a neat line at the center of his head that traced down his back, and ended at his arrow-tipped tail. His eyes were emerald green, and his tongue was slit at the tip similar to a snake's in shape, while a pair of small sharp fangs stuck out of his mouth, and hovered over the corners of his lower lip. His lower legs, unlike the ponies' hind legs, ended with a pair of small feet, while his forearms, unlike the ponies' forelegs, ended with four claws. He was also bipedal, meaning he only stood on two legs, while the ponies were quadrupedal, meaning they stood on all fours.

He twiddled his claws uneasily while the alicorn continued to let the spell commence. He then cleared his throat before addressing the alicorn with his concerns. "I've got a bad feeling about this, Twilight..."

Twilight, despite having her eyes closed, replied to the little drake, "It'll be fine, Spike! I'm just summoning a small 'wormhole', as Doctor Hooves mentioned, so that I could study it and see what kinds of worms come out of it!"

Spike sighed before shaking his head. "I understand that, Twilight, but what if there was a reason why he didn't tell you? And you know how... strange... his ramblings can be! What if there aren't even any worms in them? What if it's something different?"

Twilight scoffed at his excuses. "Oh please, Spike! If there weren't any worms in it, then why would he have called it a worm hole, if there isn't even any worms in there to begin with?"

Spike stood there silently for a moment before sighing. Twilight smiled triumphantly before continuing on her spell silently.

When thirty more seconds have passed, Twilight's head started to ache as the spell started nearing completion. For safety protocols, however, she decided she would only summon the "wormhole" for a measly ten seconds, in case the spell drew the worm from that hole to the hotspot, instead of the hole itself.

When Spike asked what the point would be to summon a hole, Twilight simply replied with the excuse, "It would be slightly like a portal, but in the form of a hole that leads to where that worm's hole originally was." He didn't understand any of it, but decided just to go with it as Twilight being her "extra special" self today.

Ten more seconds have passed by when the spell was finally completed. Twilight's horn stopped glowing, and she began to pant and sweat heavily. She looked towards the hotspot where the wormhole was supposed to appear... then frowned when she saw nothing there.

"Strange... I could've sworn everything was in order!" she complained out loud.

Spike shrugged his shoulders before walking up to the circle in the center of the room. "I don't know, Twilight... something tells me Doctor Hooves was just babbling a bunch of nonsense!"

Twilight sighed before following Spike towards the circle to examine it for any flaws. "What could've possibly gone wrong, though?! I know I did the spell correctly!"

Spike stopped at the tip of the circle before stretching his claws behind his back and kicking the white chalk that the circle was made out of. At the sudden contact, however, the inside of the circle began to glow a bright white color, and an unseen force caused Spike's leg to sink into the circle. He gasped loudly before gripping onto the ground with his claws and screaming out of sheer terror. "TWILIGHT! HELP ME!"

Twilight's expression was quickly changed from great confusion to high alert. She galloped up to her assistant before wrapping her forehooves around his back to attempt to pull him back up. "SPIKE! HOLD ON! DON'T LET GO!" she screamed, shortly before feeling the same unseen force drag her into the circle as well.

The last sounds that were never heard from the sound-proof room was the two of their screams, which abruptly ended after ten seconds.

Slowly, Twilight's eyes started to open again... but all she could see was the darkness of the night, along with the moon looming over the sky. She groaned and rubbed her aching forehead, before her eyes shot back open. Worriedly, she stood back up on all four of her hooves before spinning around to find her number one assistant.

"Spike?! Spike, where are you?!" She stopped her spinning when she heard a not-too-distant groan coming from the shadows behind a nearby tree. Slowly she tip-hoofed towards the source of the groans before sighing in relief when she saw a familiar figure stand up.

"Twilight? What... what happened?!" Spike asked while rubbing his eyes. He slowly stepped out of the shadows before opening his eyes again. As he did, both he and Twilight gasped the moment they saw each other.

"SWEET CELESTIA! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" both of them blurted out in unison.

Twilight was the first to check herself out. She felt her face and found nothing out of the ordinary at first... but when she looked at her own hooves, it was then that she realized that something was off. Her fur appeared to have more textures in it, and her feathers, after she stretched them forward to get a good look at them, appeared to be more detailed than some of the greatest paintings she ever saw in a museum. Her mane and tail were also different in shape up close... none of her locks were thick and chunky. Her entire mane was, quite literally, so detailed in each strand of hair, it almost seemed impossibly real in her eyes. Also her coat was slightly darker, and the shadows of the trees, stones, and distant buildings, were darker than even Equestria's darkness could get; she wouldn't even see her own hoof in front of her face if she were standing in the shadows! Everything else, though, was the same. Her snout was still short, her eyes were still ordinarily large, and her body was still slightly taller than the average mare, though only because of her alicorn status.

Spike, however, almost looked exactly the same, except for his scales actually being visible even from a distance. His stomach also appeared to shine in the moonlight to show off how smooth it was. Despite it being a few minor changes, it was still a noticeable change to Twilight.

"T-Twilight?! Where... where are we?!" Spike weakly asked before the two quickly turned around to check their surroundings.

Directly behind them, a massive white stone structure rose high in the sky with a pyramid-shaped roof at the tip. Circling the giant tower, several flags waved in the air, but the darkness of the night caused most of them to be unnoticeable. The ones that were touched in the light, however, appeared to be shaped with fifty white stars in a blue square, with thirteen red and white stripes moving horizontally from top to bottom.

Twilight squinted at the flags before scratching her snout in thought. "If I remember correctly from the Mirror World's geography lessons... we must be in America!" Then she tilted her head sideways before checking the distant brick buildings across a metal wired fence. "But... this doesn't look like the Mirror World, though! It's almost like... like we're in a different universe altogether!"

Spike tilted his head in confusion. "I don't get it, though. Wouldn't the Mirror World be a parallel universe, also?!"

Twilight shook her head before replying, "No, Spike. That world was more of an alternate form of Equestria, where humans ruled! In a way, though, it was still Equestria, because we still looked a little like ourselves in color! In other words... we were in a Parallel World there! This, though? I... I don't even think there's anything parallel about this place!"

"Well... parallel universe or not, we've got to get back to our own!" Spike told her in a distraught voice.

Twilight nodded her head before turning towards him with an understanding expression on her face. "You're right, Spike... hop onto my back, and I'll try to call that 'wormhole' thing back!"

Spike did as requested. Then Twilight turned towards the tower wall and focused her horn towards it. For a few seconds, the glow from her horn started to flicker and a few sparks started to fall from the tip. She grunted a few times as the strain of the spell began to take its toll. Finally, after exhaling from exhaustion, she collapsed onto her stomach with her legs outstretched on all four corners of her body.

"It's no good... my magic energy is way too used up! I... I need to rest for a little bit!" Twilight mumbled before weakly standing back up. Then she looked back towards the distant buildings and sighed.

It was then that her stomach started to grumble. She groaned before turning towards the tower again. "My magic energy can't restore itself on an empty stomach, though... m-maybe I should check those buildings for anything?"

Spike, on the other hoof, shook his head before retorting, "Absolutely not! Twilight, we're in an alien planet! What if the food that these creatures eat happens to be toxic for us?!"

Twilight groaned in frustration before shaking her head. "Spike! I can't cast powerful magic, otherwise! I need to eat... or at least find something to drink! Now, come on! It shouldn't take us long, and we'll be back to Equestria in no time!"

She lifted her annoyed and worried assistant onto her back before trotting towards the gate of the fenced-in area. When she reached the gate, however, she found it to be locked by a chain with a keyring in the center that attached both sides of the chain together. "What the- why would somepony lock us in here? Or, why would somepony lock everyone else out?"

Spike shrugged his shoulders before replying, "I don't know, Twilight. Maybe they have security issues?"

Twilight shifted uneasily at the thought. "I hope that isn't the case. What if somepony dangerous is in here, then? We have to get out of here, hold on!"

Spike nodded his head before tightening his grip around Twilight's neck, though not too tight so as to avoid choking her. Then Twilight stretched her wings out and, with a quick leap, flew over the gate, and landed on the other side of it while stumbling a little to regain her balance.

"Darn it! Even the gravity here feels different! I have to put more energy in my wings than I did in Equestria... and even that was a challenge!" Twilight complained before exhaling deeply once more. "This is going to be more difficult that I thought!"

Spike gently patted the back of her neck before replying, "It's okay, Twilight! At least we can get you that water now, huh?"

Twilight lightly smirked at her assistant's sudden burst of enthusiasm, then continued on the path towards the not-too-distant buildings. "Oh? And here I thought you were against me going to those brick buildings!"

With a dismissive scoff, Spike replied, "Eh, just listening to you complain has gotten me thirsty! And a little hungry, too! Hey, do you think this world might have some jewels that I could eat? I wouldn't mind eating an alien ruby or two!" He licked his lips in a circular motion while slurping loudly. As he did, he also rubbed his stomach with both claws while staring up at the foreign night sky, completely lost in thought.

Twilight chuckled before rolling her eyes. "Oh, Spike. You always think with your stomach! But I'll keep my eyes open for you to-"

The sudden appearance of a pair of headlights caused her to let out an audible yelp and jump back to reality. Then a loud screeching noise coming from her right caught her attention.

Her jaw dropped open, as she stared like a deer in the headlights at the incoming screeching vehicle. Then she closed her eyes and flinched as the vehicle slowly dragged, until the bumper was just inches away from her face. The vehicle let out a hissing noise... but came to a complete stop.

Twilight quickly opened her eyes and looked up at the driver of the box-like truck in shock. From the way how it looked, it must've been a human... and a male, as the ragged beard nonverbally told her. Even so, this human was far more different than the ones that she saw in the Mirror World.

This human was also stunningly detailed in comparison to the ones that she saw. He was an overweight man with tanned pinkish skin, a long brown beard, and brown eyes. He wore a tan button-up shirt and a blue cap that was angled above his eyebrows. His button-up shirt had a red shield logo on it with a blue paw print in the center of the shield.

The minute he lifted his head out of the window, he began to yell complaints... but neither Twilight nor Spike could understand a word that he was saying. His truck also appeared to have the same logo as the man's shirt, but with strange symbols below it that said "ANIMAL CONTROL"... though to Twilight, it also looked like a bunch of foreign symbols, and was entirely unreadable to her.

Philip Johnson was having a bad day at work in the office. He was recently called by a few passengers about a strange dog and a lizard lost in the Washington Monument, and was the first on the list of employees to be sent there, since he was the closest.

He sighed before replying on the radio, "Alright, Maurice! I'm almost there... but you owe me for this one, if it has rabies!"

The man on the radio replied in a Jamaican accent, "Thanks, mon! Don't worry, I'll be there shortly if it gives ya any trouble!"

He nodded his head before looking back at the road. The second he did, however, he noticed a lavender quadrupedal creature walking right in front of his truck.

"SHIT!" he cursed before slamming his right foot on the brakes, and turning his steering wheel to avoid hitting the creature. The skidding of the tires, however, alerted the creature and caused it to back up and look directly at him. When it backed up, however, it was in a collision course yet again.

Thankfully, though, the truck's emergency brakes kicked in, and decreased the speed the truck was skidding in immensely. Philip held his breath as the truck inched closer to the "dog" in the road... and sighed in relief when the truck ceased its movement without hitting the creature.

He then stuck his head out the window to make double sure, however. "Hey! You alright there, little guy?" After seeing the shadow of the dog move slightly from the light that protruded out of his left light, he reached his right hand into the passenger seat and gripped onto a long pole with a pair of clamps on the tip of it.

After taking a deep breath, he opened the driver seat door and slowly stepped out of it with his control pole firmly gripped in each hand.

Slowly he moved towards the front of his truck to avoid catching the dog's attention. Then, after taking a deep breath, he bolted in front of the truck and clamped the tip of the control pole onto the neck of the... dog with a horn and wings.

"What the hell are you?!" Philip asked himself more than anything.

The creature almost looked like a pony, but on all four of its hooves, it stood up to about half of his height, if not a little less... and he was about five foot six. It also appeared to have a six inch-long horn on its forehead, and a pair of eagle-sized wings that were folded on its sides.

It yelped in a surprisingly feminine voice before making strange noises that, if Philip didn't know any better, sounded a little like a female speaking in a foreign language. It then started kicking its hooves around and jumping in circles, while the strange lizard-thing on its back gripped tightly onto the creature's back.

Philip tightened his grip on the control pole before speaking into his radio. "Maurice! I... I need assistance, now! This one is a fighter... and a strange one, too!"

Maurice's voice replied on the radio, "On my way, mon! Keep it restrained, and I'll bring a stun baton up there!"

Philip nodded his head in agreement. "Well, hurry up! This thing is stronger than it looks!"

As soon as he finished his sentence, however, another skidding noise filled the streets. Philip sighed in relief when he saw the familiar logo on the car that parked next to his truck. From inside the driver seat of that car, a Jamaican man with short dark dreadlocks stepped out while carrying a thin metal pole with a brown handle and a white pole. He pressed the red button on the handle with his thumb, which made an ominous blue spark trace the white pole, as it let out a creepy, fast paced, high-pitched tapping noise.

"Good timing, man! Were you stalking me or something?!" Philip teased before looking back at the creature that stopped struggling, and was now staring at Maurice with its ungodly huge purple eyes.

Maurice's head shot back once he saw the creature that Philip was restraining. "Mon, what the hell happened to this thing?! Is... is that a horn on its head?! And what about those wings?!" He pointed at the wings of the creature, while the creature in turn looked at its wings and gasped.

It then muttered something towards the lizard, but the animal patrol officers were having trouble understanding what it was that the creature said. The lizard, however, understood and nodded its head before gripping onto its neck once more. Then the horned creature looked at Philip with, what looked like, a challenging smile on its face... something that caused him to jerk his head back in shock, before glaring at it.

"What the- i-is this thing actually... challenging me at something?!" Philip asked before turning towards Maurice.

Maurice shook his head before readying his stun baton. "Nah, mon. It's just an animal! Animals don't do that kind of-" Before he could even finish his sentence, however, the creature stretched its wings out and ran towards Philip, causing him to loosen his grip out of shock, and let go of the control pole.

"DUDE, CATCH IT!" Philip shouted. Maurice nodded his head and swung the stun baton at the creature... but due to the speed that it was running, he missed the shot and could only watch as it jumped onto the front of Philips car, the boxed area in the back, then... the air.

It flapped its wings up high, until it wasn't anything more than a dot in the sky. Philip and Maurice only stood there in shock, as the "dog" thing not only outsmarted them, but also flew away.

"What... just happened?" Philip asked his partner.

Maurice didn't say anything. All he did was lean back, and pass out on the asphalt.

Twilight breathed heavily as she continued to flap her wings higher and higher. Carrying Spike was one thing... but carrying him along with the pole thing hanging around her neck proved to be quite a challenge... and the increased gravity didn't make it any easier!

Spike nervously looked around, until an ominous sight caught his attention. He pointed at their right and shouted, "TWILIGHT! WATCH OUT!"

Twilight gasped at his sudden statement before turning towards where Spike's claw was aiming at... and screamed out of fear, as a huge white machine was in a collision course for the two of them.

Without hesitation, Twilight closed her eyes and focused what little magic energy she could muster up on both herself and Spike. Then the two of them vanished in a quick bolt of light. The only thing left in the sky was the control pole that was around Twilight's neck... but it was falling down fast enough to completely miss the oncoming airplane.

Philip breathed heavily while Maurice sat there in his passenger seat. He shakily gripped onto his radio before speaking in a wavy tone. "M-Mr. J-Johnson? T-t-this is P-P-P-Philip! I... I t-think I m-m-might need a... a new... a new control pole."

An aged man's voice replied in the radio with a sigh. "Philip... did you lose it again?! That's the third one this month, you know!"

Philip gulped before replying, "N-n-no, sir! T-the thing is-" Suddenly, there was a loud thump in the front of the truck. The sudden thump, however, was enough to make Philip scream high-pitched, and at the top of his lungs. His scream caused Maurice to wake up and scream also.

Mr. Johnson, however, spoke again through the radio. "Philip?! What's going on, are you alright?!"

When Philip and Maurice finished their panic-attack, Philip shakily raised the radio up again. "N-n-no... no need for the... the control pole, sir. W-we... we found it."

As soon as Twilight and Spike opened their eyes, they noticed two things...

One, they were no longer outside.

Two, they were trapped inside a pitch-black box with a bunch of clothing materials inside it, as well as a few bags of strange devices.

Twilight used a small amount of her magic to create a small light from her horn so that she and Spike could see. When they could, however, they both sighed when they realized that they were in a box.

Spike's eyes began to water, as he curled up in his knees. "Twilight... I'm scared!"

Twilight sighed before wrapping her forehooves around his shoulders in a hug. "I am too, Spike... b-but don't worry! We'll... we'll find a way back home! I... I promise!"

They both yawned before rubbing their eyelids in unison. Then the two of them weakly smirked at the other. "Looks like we could both use a nap, huh Spike?"

Spike nodded his head before replying, "Yeah... I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides... it's not like this box is moving anywhere far, right?"

Twilight nodded her head before closing her eyes and curling up around her assistant to keep him warm. He smiled and gently patted her coat before falling asleep. Not long after him, Twilight did as well.

From inside the white airplane, a long line of passengers sat patiently, as their flight was beginning to take off. Several passengers were playing on a video game or watching a movie, while others were either eating, sleeping, or talking to the person next to them.

One pair of the passengers that were talking, however, appeared to be smiling widely, and having a conversation; a Caucasian man with medium-sized brown hair, a thin brown beard, and a pair of green eyes; and an Asian-American man with side-spiked black hair, a pair of aqua blue eyes, and large square eyeglasses with thick black rims. Both of them were slim, despite a majority of the other passengers being medium-sized, or overweight.

The Caucasian man was wearing a striped red t-shirt, blue denim jeans, a pair of brown hiking boots, and a black cap that hovered over his eyebrows.

The Asian-American man wore a light green t-shirt with a logo of a red skull with a pair of green needles crossed below it, black denim jeans, and a pair of brown tennis shoes.

"I told you, Justin! That Game-Con was the best this year!" the Asian-American man said to the Caucasian man next to him.

Justin chuckled before looking back at his friend. "Well, Carlos, it would've been more interesting if you weren't staring at all the women!"

Carlos stretched his arms out in a "so-what?" kind of manner. "Hey, bro! We're still in our twenties, man! Aren't we supposed to be partying while we're still young, though?"

Justin smirked at his comment before shaking his head. "Dude, I'm twenty seven and you're twenty five! If there's anyone who has a greater chance at women, it's you! And besides... don't you already have your eyes on someone?"

Suddenly Carlos's eyes shot open. Then he covered Justin's mouth before whispering, "Dude, shut up! She'll hear you!" He nervously turned towards the blonde Caucasian girl sitting across and three rows in front of them.

Her blonde hair ran straight down from in front of both of her shoulders, and lowered halfway below her shoulders in the back, parting only at her sides by her ears. She had pale skin, a pair of emerald green eyes, and was wearing a pair of earphones attached to a laptop that rested on a lap desk in front of her. She was wearing a hot pink sleeveless shirt that almost exposed her belly button, a pair of knee-length shorts, and a pair of bright blue sneakers with a pair of short socks below them.

She had her eyes peeled onto her laptop, which made Carlos sigh in relief before turning back to Justin and removing his hand from his mouth. "Dude, Ashley has her eyes on you, though! There's no way I can talk her out of asking you out!"

Justin chuckled before shaking his head. "Seriously? You think I'd take the one you have a thing for? Listen, she's twenty three! In other words, she's closer to your age, anyways! Plus, I don't want to start a love triangle... and you know it'll happen if I did!"

Carlos sighed before straightening his glasses over his eyes once more. "But, dude! You're gonna miss out on the golden opportunity!"

Justin shook his head again and patted Carlos on the shoulders. "Look, Carlos. There's plenty of fish out there on the sea for me! You, though?" He pointed at Ashley to get Carlos to follow his trail. "You've got a beauty in your stream right there! All you've gotta do... is cast that line in, and I promise you, she'll bite!"

Carlos covered his mouth and failed to stop laughing. His choked laughter caused several heads to turn towards him... including Ashley. When she did, Carlos quickly punched his own chest and started to fake a cough.

Justin, as a cover-up, started patting his back while asking, "You alright, man?"

Carlos nodded his head and raised his right hand dismissively. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just... just had something in my throat, but I got it."

A blonde lady wearing dark purple eyeliner, red lipstick, and a blue uniform, walked up to him with a plastic cup of water, and offered it to Carlos. "Here you go, sir... are you sure you're alright?"

Carlos smiled and nodded his head while accepting the cup. "Yes, ma'am... thank you!" With that, he slowly started to sip on his drink while nervously eying the people who were staring at him. Shortly after that, though, everyone went back to their own business, while Ashley slipped out her pink touch-screen cellphone and began swiping on the screen.

"Do you think she noticed?" Carlos asked Justin.

Justin opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by his own phone buzzing in his pocket. When he lifted it up and swiped the "Messages" screen, he silently read the text he just received.

Sender: Ashley Sanderson

Message: Are you both talking about me behind my back again?

"Crap." Justin whispered to himself, hoping that Carlos didn't hear him. Unfortunately, though, he did.

"What is it, man?" Carlos whispered in a worried tone.

Justin turned his phone back into sleep mode before turning towards his friend. "She noticed."