I can't say that casting a transmogrification spell to change my appearance was the safest idea I'd ever had. Turning an inanimate object into something else was one thing, but trying to shift the shape or even just the color of a living creature carried with it certain unpleasant risks if done incorrectly or without proper preparation.

It wasn't as perfect as a changeling's transformation, but if done correctly and with enough raw magical energy behind it, transmogrification was far more effective than a standard illusion spell when used to disguise oneself. You also didn't need to worry about constantly maintaining the spell to keep it active and it lasted until you chose to undo the spell. Thankfully, Starlight and I were both capable magic casters, so the transmogrification of myself into an entirely different pony was no issue whatsoever.

After discussing it for a bit, and with a suggestion from Starlight, I chose to completely rework my identity for the duration of my stay in this timeline. With Starlight's help, I'd changed my coat to a pale pink color a bit lighter than Starlight's and had given myself a slightly windswept pale blue mane with violet highlights. The idea was to pass myself off as Starlight's somewhat frumpier looking sister and once everything was said and done, it wasn't too hard to believe. I found it amusing and—if I was being honest—an outright fun idea. While I was able to talk Starlight into playing along, she didn't exactly share my enthusiasm, but that was fine by me.

I realized that there was a chance we might run into the 'me' of this timeline and I would've rather avoided that confrontation if I could help it. Given what I'd seen of this timeline so far, I wasn't expecting things to be as pleasant as the universe I called my home. In other words, it was better to be safe than sorry. The only snag in my plan had been disguising my cutie mark—not necessarily because I couldn't, but moreso because I didn't really want to. It felt wrong and looking at Starlight, I was reminded of just how wrong it felt. Starlight, evidently noticing my hesitation, had no such qualms about the issue and took it upon herself to change my cutie mark for me.

She'd shifted my cutie mark into the image of a bundle of fireworks. All the while she wore a vindictive smirk that I would've smacked right off her face had I been the type of pony to do so. Still, I couldn't really complain too much given the majority of the plan was my idea so I let it go, albeit with some difficulty. After everything was said and done we traveled the rest of the way to the Everfree. On the way, I took the opportunity to bring Starlight up to speed regarding what I'd found out about this timeline.

I told her about what had happened on the day Nightmare Moon had returned as well as what fate would've awaited us if the Pinkie of this timeline and her sister hadn't intervened. I couldn't quite parse Starlight's expression once I was finished explaining the situation, but I got the impression that she was at least as unsettled as I'd been when I first found out about our predicament. Whatever she truly felt, all I got in response was a non-committal grunt of acknowledgment and the rest of the trip was made in relative silence. It was somewhat heavy, but I chose not to break it because I had some thinking of my own I wanted to do.

By the time we reached the forest's edge, the strong thaumic presence we felt had disappeared, much to my concern and Starlight's relief. Dissatisfied, I decided a bit of investigation was in order. To that end, I dragged Starlight with me as I scoured the Everfree for clues as to what could've happened, all the while watching out for any dangerous fauna and flora. On a hunch, I started to make my way to the Old Castle, but we didn't even make it halfway when Starlight and I stumbled upon what I could only assume was the area where the magical anomaly had occurred.

"Well, I think it's safe to we found our first clue," Starlight commented, frowning at the complete and utter destruction of wildlife surrounding us, "sheesh, looks like a tornado hit," she gave a small, humorless chuckle, "a tornado in the Everfree. As if this place needed to be more dangerous than it already is."

"It definitely wasn't a tornado," I absently replied as I wandered the perimeter of the clearing. My eyes were shut in concentration and my horn was alight as I tried to pinpoint the origin of the thaumic energy. After a moment I opened my eyes and looked around in bemusement and frustration, "I can feel the remnants of some powerful magic, but I don't really understand what it is I'm sensing exactly."

"What do you mean?" Starlight asked.

"I mean this isn't like any magic I've ever come across before," I paused and my frown deepened as I thought about it, "no, wait... that's not completely true. Actually, a bit of it feels kind of like what I felt from the other me... back when she first appeared when we were in her timeline."

"So she was here then," Starlight surmised, "well, don't see her now."

"And there's something else," I continued, turning my full attention to Starlight, "it doesn't really make any sense, but I swear I could just make out the remains of Celestia's magic. It's faint, but I'm almost certain it's there."

"I don't know," Starlight replied with a disinterested shrug, "maybe she and that overgrown lightbulb had it out?"

"Maybe," I muttered, giving the area around me one more once-over, "it's possible I guess, but somehow I don't think that's what happened. Call it a hunch, but I think what happened here was a bit more complicated than that."

"Oh?" the other mare raised an eyebrow, "how do you figure?"

"Well, for one thing, there are signs of multiple ponies having been present," I gestured to the faint, but still clearly visible hoofprints scattered about the ground, "and it wasn't just ponies, either. I think Spike might've been here too," I pointed a hoof at a tiny pair of footprints ending in sharp points, "and each of these leads... north I think, most likely back towards Ponyville."

"Okay, so that means we can move on then, right?" Starlight asked hopefully, "you're done playing detective and we can get the hay out of here?"

"There are still some questions that need to be answered," I briefly frowned in Starlight's direction but sighed in resignation a moment later, "but I don't think we're gonna find any more clues here, so yes, I think it's time we moved on to Ponyville. Hopefully, we can find out more from the ponies in town."

Starlight had no arguments whatsoever, and while I was a bit nervous about what I might find waiting for me in the Ponyville of this timeline, I nevertheless forged ahead. I had the nagging feeling that I was missing something, but I also felt we didn't really have the time to spend wandering around the Everfree Forest for too long. With that in mind, Starlight and I made our way north toward Ponyville. I'd been in the Everfree enough times to, at the very least, know my way back and thankfully the route back to Ponyville hadn't changed from what I knew.

Lost in thought as I was, I didn't realize we'd passed the forest's edge until I looked up and saw Fluttershy's cottage in the distance. I knew the path out of the forest so well it seemed, that I had led us out of the forest without thinking. I saw the achingly familiar cottage and, for a brief moment, I was under the impression that I'd somehow made it back home to my own timeline. Reality came crashing back down around me the moment I heard Starlight's irritated voice as she emerged from the forest behind me.

"Ugh, finally," she grumbled, brushing a few stray leaves out of her mane, "if I never have to set hoof in that blasted forest ever again, it'll be too soon. Give me a rocky desert in the middle of nowhere any day..." she stopped beside me and furrowed her brows at the modest abode in the distance, "what's that? Some kind of cottage? All the way out here?"

Before I could respond to the question, a sudden rustling of leaves and a high pitched whimper caught both our attention. We turned just in time to see a furry brown shape dart out of the underbrush we'd left behind and dash directly towards us. Starlight screeched in surprise, lighting up her horn and backing away, but I held out a hoof and stopped her. Being a bit more familiar with the forest's creatures thanks to Fluttershy, I was able to spot what Starlight couldn't right away. The furry shape, startled by Starlight's reaction, froze long enough that we both managed to make out what it was.

"A ferret?" I muttered aloud in bemusement, "did it follow us all the way out here?"

Ignoring Starlight's exaggerated groan of annoyance and more complaints about the forest, I focused my attention on the frantic ferret. As I watched it whimper and chirp and wave its arms around I was reminded of a certain white rabbit, and that's when it hit me.

"Oh, I get it," I said, my eyes widening in realization, "you must be this Fluttershy's pet."

I'd never thought to ask Fluttershy how she met Angel Bunny, but it looked as though things had happened a bit differently here in this timeline. As if to confirm my guess, the ferret chirped in acknowledgment and raced up one of my forelegs before settling on my back. I turned to see it gesturing from the cottage to the forest, then to what I presumed was the direction of the town. I couldn't understand what it was saying, but its body language spoke loudly enough for me to get the gist of what it was trying to convey.

"What's with the racket?" Starlight asked, now looking more confused than annoyed, "why is it freaking out like that?"

"I think something happened to Fluttershy," I replied with a concerned frown, "it might have to do with whatever happened in the forest, but why would Fluttershy be involved?"

"Who knows?" Starlight shrugged, "maybe she went to go investigate?"

That actually made more sense than I would've liked to admit, but if the ferret's motions were anything to go by, the pegasus was no longer in the forest and had made her way back to town. At least, that was my hope.

"Come on, let's head into town and see what we can find out," I called back to Starlight as I began heading the direction of Ponyville, "I'm not sure if Fluttershy was involved or not, but it's worth looking into. Maybe we'll find out more by asking around."

The ferret hopped off my back and hurried ahead as if to lead the way and I wasted no time in following after it. Starlight hesitated a moment, but sighed in resignation and followed after me a moment later. I felt a bit guilty about dragging the mare around with me but then remembered that she could've chosen to abandon me at any point and had decided to stick with me instead. That would've been enough to bring a small smile to my face had it not been for the situation we were currently in. With that situation in mind, I brushed aside all my other miscellaneous thoughts and focused on finding this Equestria's Fluttershy, Spike, and the other me.

I initially wondered and had been worried about what state I would find Ponyville in, but as Starlight and I reached the town, it quickly became apparent that my fears were unfounded... for the most part. Ponyville looked more or less the same as I remembered it with only minor changes to the scenery here and there. The real change, however, came from the ponies wandering the streets; On the surface, the town was bustling, filled with happy townsponies going about their day.

I liked to think that I'd lived in Ponyville long enough to gauge when something was wrong at a glance, even if everything seemed normal. I wasn't sure if that was the case up until now, but as I observed the ponies of Ponyville, I could tell. A closer look revealed that each and every pony I came across had a vaguely melancholic expression about their face. Some hid it better than others, but there was no mistaking the dull look in their eyes. I wasn't sure if Starlight could see it, but it was clear that she could feel the atmosphere was somehow off.

"Why does it suddenly feel like we walked into a morgue?" Starlight asked, looking around the town with a frown, "seriously, with the vibes I'm getting from this place, you'd think somepony just died."

I took a moment to muse on Starlight's words before answering.

"In a sense, I don't think you're too far from the truth, Starlight," I finally replied, "it's possible somepony might've just died, but I think it's more that the ponies are still mourning the death of an era."

"Isn't that a bit melodramatic?" Starlight scoffed, "I mean it's not like everypony's dressed in black and dragging their hooves."

"No, but think about it," I explained, "up until a few years ago this Equestria was just as peaceful and happy a place as our Equestria was, and it would've stayed that way had we not interfered with the timeline."

"Hey, you can't blame me for this one," Starlight argued, "I wasn't even conscious."

"I'm not blaming you, Starlight," I countered, shaking my head impatiently, "I know it wasn't your fault, but that doesn't change the fact that irreversible damage was done to this timeline. Because of that, my friends and the me of this timeline most likely never came together to defeat Nightmare Moon," I let my gaze drop to the ground as I thought about how that day must've played out, "Celestia wound up fighting her own sister and in the end... she killed her, and the pain of having to do that along with the guilt of letting Nightmare Moon commit such a horrible atrocity drove her mad."

Starlight said nothing in response and I continued.

"Celestia became a different pony that day," I turned to look the other mare in the eye, "Equestria lost their kind and benevolent Princess and with her loss came the loss of Equestria's peace and harmony, at least I believe that's how most if not all ponies feel right now."

"Well... when you put things in that kind of perspective I can see that," Starlight replied after a minute. She looked around, watching the many ponies milling or wandering about in the distance, "still, when you put this Equestria next to that other timeline, I still think I prefer this."

"You'll get no argument from me on that front," I chuckled humorlessly as I thought back to that timeline, "out of all the timelines Spike and I saw, that one will always stand out as the worst I've seen."

Another round of heavy silence ensued, marking the end of that somber conversation. Rather than keep this silence going, I busied myself with asking the other ponies we came across if they'd seen any sign of Fluttershy, an eerie lavender unicorn, or a baby dragon wandering around. The first few ponies I asked knew of Fluttershy but hadn't seen her around town, nor had they seen a baby dragon either. Asking about the other Twilight, however, had produced a slightly more interesting result. At my description of the mare, the ponies I asked would grow visibly pale, make some excuse and hurry away without answering my question.

That was concerning, to say the least.

After it happened for the third time, Starlight and I agreed that something was off about the situation. I hadn't given my actual name to be safe, just a description, but that was enough to send everypony in the other direction. What made it strange was the confusion they showed when I mentioned the other Twilight's soulless demeanor, blank white eyes, and lack of a cutie mark. I finally decided to drop the name and that got a more immediate reaction without any of the confusion.

That, more than anything, confirmed my suspicions, and I didn't like what was being implied. I filed my worrying thoughts away to the back of my mind as we continued deeper into town. Thankfully, it didn't take long before we ran into somepony who had actually seen Fluttershy and Spike earlier. I recognized the mare as Bon Bon and knew she ran a small sweets shop in town back in my Equestria, but not really much more than that. This time I chose not to mention my other self and got a much better reception as a result.

"Fluttershy and a baby dragon? Yeah, I did see them earlier. Kind of hard to miss actually," she explained, "a bunch of ponies gathered around Town Hall a few hours ago to see what the Mayor would do about that creepy scream coming from the Everfree and Big Mac suddenly shows up out of nowhere with this tiny purple dragon on his back."

"Big Mac?" I asked, looking over to Starlight who can only shrug and shake her head. I turned back to Bon Bon with a bemused frown, "why was he with Big Mac?"

"Oh? You know him?" the cream-colored earth pony asked in slight surprise before giving a small shrug of her own, "well, in any case, I'm not really sure, to be honest. I was one of the last ponies to show up at Town Hall and I know was that they went in to talk to the Mayor, Fluttershy showed up all panicked and out of breath a few minutes later, and they all came out along with Rainbow Dash a good ten minutes or so after that."

"Rainbow Dash was there?" I blurted without thinking. Wincing, I quickly reined in my surprise before speaking again, "er, and you say they were all there to talk to the Mayor about the sound coming from the Everfree?"

The mare gave us an odd look, which I did my best to respond to with nothing but innocent curiosity. After a second she continued, albeit with a bit more wariness.

"Yeah... they all came out looking like they were on a mission," she said, "I think they were all headed to the Everfree to investigate, find out what the sound was. I'm sorry, but who did you say you were again?"

"Oh, um... well..." I stumbled, caught off guard by the sudden suspicion, "we're kind of from out of town and—"

"There's really no need to worry about the two of us," Starlight interjected, stepping forward and giving Bon Bon a disarming smile, "my name is Starlight Glimmer and this is my sister, Bright Spark. We're from out of town and have a few errands to run involving the ponies in question."

"Oh? What kind of errands?" Bon Bon asked with a friendly smile that didn't reach her eyes, "maybe I can help."

"Oh no, you've helped us plenty," Starlight responded with a smile just as fake as Bon Bon's. She suddenly frowned in thought, "actually, maybe you can. Do you think you could point us in the direction of Town Hall? We need to stop by to see the Mayor for one of our errands anyway and I figure we can ask her for more info while we're there."

"Of course! I'd be happy to lead the way for you," Bon Bon offered, already turning to do just that, "it's only a short trot away so it's no trouble."

"No, that's okay, really," Starlight replied, "we'll be fine with just some directions."

I frowned as I watched the two of them go back and forth like this a few more times. I listened to Bon Bon's kind but oddly persistent requests to help and Starlight's polite yet staunch refusal of said help with a sense that I was missing something. I'd initially been impressed and somewhat put off by Starlight's ability to lie through her teeth without a second thought and with so much ease, but now I was growing more concerned than I already was at Bon Bon's persistence.

I wasn't sure what was going on, but I was certain something definitely wasn't right. When Starlight finally convinced Bon Bon to just give us directions I was all too happy and more than ready to leave. Once we were a good distance away from Bon Bon, I turned to ask Starlight what that had been about, but something made me turn back. I looked over my shoulder to see Bon Bon still standing there in the distance, watching us trot away with an inscrutable expression. I shivered and quickened my pace slightly.

"Starlight," I whispered, "what the hay was all that?"

"I don't know. I don't know what her deal is, but I do know that the mare definitely isn't a friend," she muttered back with a troubled frown, "just keep moving and don't look back."

She didn't need to tell me twice. After that encounter, I suddenly felt like I was a complete stranger in a new town—an outsider who didn't belong here. The feeling faded a bit as we made our way closer to Town Hall and my thoughts began to turn towards the many questions I wanted to ask Mayor Mare, assuming she was still the Mayor in this Ponyville. The ferret that had initially led the way was now resting on my back and I turned to give it an idle glance. It had hidden behind me and hadn't made any noise when Bon Bon arrived, and that brought my thoughts back to the mare.

Thinking about her and about the state of the town along with the reactions I got from mentioning my name, I was beginning to think it might be best if we finished our business here and left sooner rather than later.