Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, liked to believe that she was a very good friend.

Since that fateful day, when she went to Ponyville to supervise preparations for Summer Sun Celebration, and when Nightmare Moon was supposed to return - which she did! - she had come very far in studying friendship.

She also turned out to be a bearer of Element of Magic, which made her especially close to other bearers of Elements of Harmony; she accomplished a lot with help of her friends. She even managed to finish the spell Star Swirl the Bearded himself could not.

And that was not something to sneeze at.

But not all her friends were present in Equestria. No, there were others who did not live there, but in an alternate dimension.

And they were not ponies. They were humans.

Twilight still marveled at what forms intelligent life could take. Bipeds were not unfamiliar to ponies - minotaurs were a perfect example, for instance - but to become a biped herself? And see alternate versions of her friends in the same form?

"Mind-boggling" did not do it justice. (In fact, Twilight looked through many dictionaries trying to find an adequate description, and still could not find one that was perfect. Pinkie Pie could have found one, but there was no dictionary of pink pony's lexicon.)

Aside from human versions of her friends, she also had another one, who was originally a pony, but chose to stay in human world.

Sunset Shimmer.

Purple alicorn remembered vividly how they were enemies once. How Sunset stole her crown with Element of Magic embedded within and did everything she could to prevent Twilight from getting it, going as far as to throw a fireball of dark magic at her.

But unicorn-turned-human changed her ways after her defeat, and was instrumental in battle against the Dazzlings. That act earned her a sincere acceptance as a friend from everyone, Twilight included.

Later, Princess of Friendship helped Sunset when Anon-a-Miss debacle nearly destroyed all bonds between her and human versions of Elements of Harmony. Twilight was not there in person, but her advice helped to uncover the truth and repair Sunset's relationships (Twilight was shocked to discover that the culprits were the Cutie Mark Crusaders - their human counterparts, to be exact).

Magic book that they used to exchange messages between each other was a gift from the skies, indeed. Even when separated by dimensions, they could be in contact.

But no magic book could replace seeing someone in person.

Alas, this was outside the realm of possibility for the moment.

Twilight used her magic to levitate the magic book and flip the pages to the latest correspondence she had with Sunset Shimmer.

After spending a few seconds to find the message she wanted to begin with, she started to read:

Dear Princess Twilight,

We sure miss you a lot. Wish you could see the concert we recently had at Canterlot High School! Rainbooms rocked!!! (Even if "the Great and Powerful" Trixie disagrees. Is her pony counterpart as obnoxious as our Trixie is?)

We have almost finished our studies - our final year has begun. Pinkie Pie is already bouncier than usual, planning to throw an epic "graduation from CHS party". I think she is getting waaaay ahead, but it's Pinkie we're talking about.

Say, we haven't seen you for a long time. Do you have free time to come and see us? We will guard the portal so that no one else accidentally stumbles, as we did before.

Your friend,
Sunset Shimmer

Twilight smiled bitterly; much as she wanted to, she did not have the possibility, and she said as much in her reply:

Dear Sunset Shimmer,

It's great to hear that Rainbooms are doing so well! (And yes, pony-Trixie used to be a lot like human-Trixie, but after a couple of encounters, I managed to teach her some humility; she still has quite an ego, though).

Yeah, I've also learned long ago - don't argue with Pinkie. You'll only get a headache.

Sadly, much as I want to visit, I am not able to, at least in foreseeable future. My duties as Princess of Friendship now involve diplomatic missions into neighbouring lands, and those take a lot of time and strength from me. There are times when I can only crawl to my bed and sleep like a foal, until there's another function to attend.

Ugh.

But I am keeping this book with me, so we can still exchange messages. You mentioned that this is your final year at CHS? Do you or any of our friends need help with preparations? Or revision plans?

Tell everyone I said "hi", and also tell them to take their exams seriously!!! I am willing to bet you fifty bits that Rainbow Dash hasn't even thought of it yet.

Oh, Rarity wanted me to ask: is there anything interesting going on in your world?

Your friend,
Twilight Sparkle

P. S. Please don't address me as "Princess". It's bad enough that I am addressed like this here in Equestria.

Twilight interrupted her reading to get herself a glass of water and drink it. Having sated her thirst, she went on reading:

Dear Princess Twilight (hee-hee),

Wow. Diplomacy, huh? Now I am glad that I never became an alicorn Princess.

Ribbing aside, that's a great shame. But I guess that "I am sorry, but I need to see my friends in an alternate dimension" is not exactly an excuse to miss a function and offend some "hoity-toity" (as Applejack would say) diplomat.

About the bet: no dice, Twilight. First, I don't accept bets I would definitely lose, as your predicions on our Rainbow Dash are spot on, and second, I don't even have fifty bits on me.

I don't know any juicy gossip, to be honest. (Yes, I am pretty certain that pony-Rarity asked for gossip, even if you worded it otherwise.) They keep blabbering on television about some revolution in a faraway land, though, but none of us pay that much attention to it. I am certain that's not what Rarity wants.

I already told everyone about your stance on exams. Predictably, Rainbow Dash called you an "egghead". Want me to cuff her head for you? Because that's what I want to do when she calls me an egghead.

Your friend,
Sunset Shimmer

P. S. Riiight, and you stopped addressing Princesses Celestia, Luna and Mi Amore Cadenza by their titles? I'll believe it when I see it. You earned that title, and I respect that. Deal with it.

Twilight remembered how she wanted to hit Sunset with a tickling spell until she begged for mercy for that cheeky postscriptum. She even stated so in her next message (along with insistence that violence against Rainbow Dash was not necessary), eliciting amusement from fiery-haired pony-turned-human.

This banter was the last good-spirited message she had from Sunset Shimmer.

Following weeks have been very taxing on her, and writing to another world has been outside of her abilities. But she never hesitated to send a reply back once she got the following message:

Dear Twilight,

Things are not looking good here. There's tension between the countries in this world. Apparently, some types of resources present in this world are almost gone, and no one wants to share.

I know, this sounds stupid, but that won't change even if you have Pinkie Pie sing that "You've got to share, you've got to care" song you told me about to all of them. Humans tend to be stupid this way.

Despite that, we hope that diplomats will figure something out. Talks are in progress, although everything is hush-hush and almost nothing hits the news.

Everyone says "hi". Our studies go on well, and aside from that nervousness, we are all doing fine. Rarity is sewing our graduation outfits, Applejack does her best to store enough apple cider, and Pinkie is preparing "the ultimate super-duper graduation party to end all super-duper graduation parties in the world", as she puts it.

Gotta go now, it's deep in the night here.

Your friend,
Sunset Shimmer

As soon as possible, Twilight wrote this:

Dear Sunset,

This is bad! I do hope your world's leaders come to a compromise. We have our hard times, too, but so far nothing required... excessive force, so to speak.

And having Pinkie Pie sing that song may not lead to anything good, trust me. It didn't help when buffalos were arguing with settlers in Appleloosa; in fact, both sides called it the worst performance they've ever seen.

I am glad that you yourselves are doing well. Tell everyone "hi" from me!

Your friend,
Twilight Sparkle

After that exchange, everything went as usual. Twilight finally was able to catch a break and write about her experiences to Sunset.

However, the reply did not come within usual time constraints.

That was surprising... and worrying.

Twilight wrote once again, but still hadn't received a reply.

She was getting really worried when one day, she received the answer.

Suffice to say, it was not the answer she hoped for. It was also the last message she got from Sunset.

It said:

Dear Twilight,

I am so sorry for not replying. Were you worried? I bet you were.

I am afraid the news is worse. A lot worse.

War has begun!

The country we're living in is under attack by an alliance of other countries. As such, the government has declared martial law.

I don't know how it came to this, but diplomacy failed us. And when diplomacy fails, guns talk. ("Guns" are a human invention made specifically for war, it's what human soldiers use instead of spears and magic, and they are quite advanced.) Fortunately, none of us are on frontlines ourselves. However, Rainbow Dash left to join the army. Said "I can't sit around when I can protect my country, protect you!" and left. She still writes to us, though, and asked to pass her well-wishing to you.

We didn't really want her to go, but she can be quite a numbskull.

It's not just her who went to war. Applejack's parents also joined the army, and she is left with Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith to watch over their farm. And some of our classmates volunteered to join, too. Do you have a pony named Bulk Biceps? He is one of my classmates, a hulking mass of muscles. He was the first to join.

I really hope everyone's okay. The news say that fighting on frontlines is intense.

With all that, it seems it was so long ago when we had that graduation party (sorry we started it without you). Everyone of us passed exams with flying colours, not that it matters now.

Twilight, I hate to ask you this, but I am afraid it would not be good for you to come now, or even write. Thanks to martial law, police checks our passports regularly (passport is basically a document with your name, photo, date of birth and other data that proves that you are who you claim you are), and since you don't come here with one, you may get into great trouble if you are caught without one. They are searching for spies everywhere. I am also spending virtually all my time at job, and can't get my magic book there, so it remains at home. And if someone finds it, Equestria may be in danger - the authorities have gotten very paranoid.

When it is safe to write again, I'll tell you, but for now, we have to cease communicating.

I am so sorry.

Your friend forever,
Sunset Shimmer

And that was it.

Days passed, weeks, months... and no message came.

Twilight was getting increasingly worried. Her friend did ask her not to try and initiate contact, but she couldn't just abandon Sunset, for pony's sake!

At first, she sent a message via magic book.

No reply, not even admonishment for breaking silence.

For days. For weeks. For months.

Finally, Twilight had had enough. She was the Princess of Friendship, and she'd be damned to Tartarus if she just left her friend in trouble!

One day, she grabbed her book and set it into the magical device that could let her open the Crystal Mirror whenever she wished.

Against her expectations, the device failed.

After checking and rechecking her notes for dozens of times, Twilight concluded that she would have to wait until the portal opened on its own.

However, calculations showed that the purple alicorn would have to wait for twenty-nine moons to do so.

When Twilight came to this conclusion, she exploded into a rage no pony has ever witnessed. Spike swore that three weeks after that he could still smell smoke in her mane.

Twilight closed the now-useless magic book. Those twenty-nine moons surely felt like the longest in her life. While she still had her friends, and they made their best to make their purple friend less worried, the alicorn still could not help but feel fear for her human friends. (So did Spike, but... to be honest? He was most worried about human-Rarity. No surprise here.)

Finally, when the day came, she assembled everypony in her castle...

"Now ya be careful, ya hear me, Twilight?" said Applejack, while nervously trying to make her Stetson hat sit correctly atop her mane.

"Of course, Applejack," Twilight promised for bazillionth time.

"Chill out, AJ, it's not like Twilight and our doubles hadn't whooped butts of the evil guys!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash with her usual bravado.

"But... but Sunset said there was war!" Fluttershy exclaimed silently (when it comes to the butter-coloured pegasus, that's not an oxymoron). "What if it still goes on! Or what if they lost! Or... or... or DIED!" Fluttershy finished with an expression that clearly meant she would lose it very soon.

"Now, Fluttershy, darling," Rarity interrupted her friend, "no need to panic! I am sure the noble soldiers of the country where Sunset Shimmer lives will defeat the scoundrels and ruffians that attacked them!"

"But still," Pinkie Pie appeared, as usual, out of nowhere, "maybe Twilight will need to defend herself with a cannon! Do you need my party cannon, Twilight?" she asked, taking the aforementioned doomsday ("Not doomsday, silly, party-day!" Pinkie corrected) device out of nowhere - as usual - and rolling it to the alicorn.

"Er... no, Pinkie, this place has no magic, I don't think it will work there as intended," Twilight explained. "Plus, it's heavy."

"Are you sure about this, Twilight?" Princess Celestia asked her prized student, worry evident in her voice.

"Yes, Princess. I can't just leave them there! And what if someone discovers the portal? We can't leave it unattended and hope for the best! And I'll have Spike to protect me, right, Spike?" Twilight addressed the small dragon beside her.

"Sure will!" replied her Number 1 Assistant.

"Then may Sun and Moon watch over you and keep you safe," said Princess Celestia.

"And you as well. Owlowiscious? Be a good owl and listen to Fluttershy!"

"Hoot!" said the owl.

"Now, come on Spike! We have no time to lose!" the Princess of Friendship exclaimed, galloping into the portal.

"Right behind you, Twilight!" Spike replied, hot on her hooves...

Something is wrong! Something is terribly, terribly wrong!

The ride was extremely... well, if the word "bumpy" can be applied to inter-dimensional travelling, then it would be the best word to use.

Unlike the usual spiral-wike vortex that Twilight and Spike came through, they were twisted and turned into all directions and sent along the pathways that would make Discord, the Master of Chaos, happy.

Alas, what made Discord happy generally did not make ponies (or dragons) happy.

As such, the unfortunate travellers were wishing for this nightmarish ride to end, until...

Hot and dry.

Why is everything hot and dry?

And is it... sand?

"Argh... Twilight?"

"Spike? You okay?"

"Sort of... Nothing is broken... And you?"

"Same here, but... where are we?!"

The last words were spoken with an undertone of panic within.

Once Twilight stood on her legs (whoa, haven't done that in a while, I am out of practice) and looked around, her jaw dropped and would have fallen off to hit the ground, had nature not designed the body parts to prevent that.

First, there was no Canterlot High School in sight.

Second, there was devastation in sight.

Third, there was no portal in sight!

Twilight's breathing became erratic. Panic flooded her. She wanted to scream, but could not. She tried to inhale the air (this air is so dry!) to no avail, until...

"SNAP OUT OF IT!"

Spike, recognizing the signs of Twilight's incoming patented panic attack, decided to prevent a louder-than-hundred-decibel scream with an equally loud scream of his own.

Fighting fire with fire appeared to work.

Twilight did not look like she would scream soon anymore, at least.

Both unfortunate travellers looked around. The sight was grim.

There was barely any flora in sight, and whatever of it was present did not have a healthy green color, but a sickly-yellowish one. Wooden buildings stood here and there, all in a state of worse-than-disrepair (Rarity would faint at that sight, Twilight mused) and some looking as if one inaccurate motion would cause their collapse. The air was hot and dry, and the wind was blowing small streams of sand around.

And while during her previous visits this world was bursting with activity, this time there was...

...no one in sight.

It looked as if they came across a ghost town from the scary late-time stories little colts and fillies told each other.

After several moments of silence, Spike muttered:

"Well... it appears the portal was broken and it sent us somewhere else, because I don't see Canterlot High School or that horse statue around. What do you think, Twilight?"

He heard no answer.

"Twilight?"

Uh-oh. This does not look good.

He turned around...

Only to see that his first friend ever was gearing herself for another panic attack and he was too late to prevent it!

Spike only could drop to the ground and cover his ears with his paws to the best of his abilities (which is not as easy when you don't have normal fingers and are a quadraped instead of biped, mind you), as Twilight unleashed her patented higher-than-hundred-decibel sonic attack:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Author's Notes:

And there you go, Chapter 1! I hope you enjoyed it

Twilight has found herself in quite a predicament (and that's her face upon realizing that --> ), but that is only the beginning... KEKEKE!

I will be travelling for a few days since August 1st, which will prevent me from accessing the Internet, so I apologize in advance for not being able to reply to you, if someone leaves a comment.

Stay tuned!