//------------------------------// // Understanding with exact time // Story: Sparkle Is An Imposter // by Swish //------------------------------// The past two hours had been nothing but dull small talk with Luna, and despite learning all sorts of things, she had started to get bored. Like, really bored. Plus, Luna's harsh voice was REALLY hard to listen to for such a long period of time, and she would sometimes speak in the 'Royal Tongue', causing even Twilight's head to hurt. This obviously caused sort of a chain reaction; She was bored so it was hard to concentrate, Luna's speaking made concentrating even harder, therefore she became tired, and since she was tired, she took a nap. And one other thing. The bed she was laying on, (presumably Princess Celestia's) was extremely soft. Twilight had never really had that many dreams, or nightmares really. In fact, the last dream she had was probably the time when she had first seen Zecora coming to Ponyville. Unfortunately, this small nap decided it was time to break the chain, and it was officially the worst dream this studious little pony had ever had. ... Alright, it wasn't that bad, but it sure was weird. Twilight woke up in a room with bright yellow walls, and black and yellow tiled floors. The ceiling had a large picture of the sun in it, and it was really beautifully decorated. There was a sort of buzzing in her ears, as if somepony had decided to mow their lawn right next to her head. She could faintly hear rustling behind her, and upon turning around she saw a terrible sight. It was her body, as in Twilight Sparkle's, but the mane was styled to be exactly like Princess Celestia's. Her irises had become smaller, giving her a terrifying expression. Smeared on her face were remains of squashed banana pancakes, and Twilight screamed as the other Sparkle opened her mouth and posed a question. "Would you like a lick?" Twilight Sparkle woke up screaming. Naturally, it was only seconds before Luna burst into the room. "Si- I mean Twilight?" she began, and then she seemed to get even more worried as Twilight yelped again, so continued with "ART THOU ALRIGHT?" "Yes, yes I uh, um, think so?" Twilight responded. She was happy she wasn't dreaming, but the experience seemed to remind her of the urgency of the situation. Meanwhile, Princess Luna stared at the ceiling as if she was trying to remember something, and then her face suddenly brightened. "I have a letter for you! It's from 'Twilight Sparkle', so it must be from my sister." Twilight leaped out of Princess Celestia's bed only to get tangled up in a mess of pillows and blankets. "A LETTER? How long did you wait to tell me this?" she yelled. What are you doing Luna? Do you know how important this situation is for me? I don't want to be banished to kindergarten on the moon! "Well...." Luna began, looking disdainfully at the tangled up Twilight. "I was down in the swimming pool when it was delivered, but I flew up as fast as I could when I heard you scream. I must thank you, fast flying is a great way to dry yourself off." "The... swimming pool." "Why yes! How else did you think we got our excercise?" Princess Luna asked. "Well, I dunno," responded Twilight sarcastically. "Maybe you know, since you're an alicorn you could have excersized by like... MAGIC AND FLYING?" Princess Luna didn't seem at all fazed by Twilight's sudden outburst. "Well, after you've lived a thousand years, it can get boring to do the same few tricks over and over again. Do you understand Twilight?" Twilight grunted her agreement, and then looked surprised. She had absolutely no idea what noise had just come out of her mouth, but it certainly wasn't a 'grunt'. Princess Luna looked just as stunned. Exactly twenty-five minutes and 40 seconds later, (the time was easy to figure out, just count how many times Fluttershy had closed her eyes and counted to ten) Princess Celestia's train had arrived at Canterlot. The Princess and Rarity stepped out of the train in a perfectly synchronized fashion, looking very dignified indeed. Now, the best way to be dignified is to close your eyes lightly, so that you look more relaxed. Princess Celestia accomplished this perfectly, but she might not have looked that relaxed when she opened her eyes, as she was staring right in the face of two stone-faced guards. "Uh, umm... we come in peace?" she asked, completely forgetting whatever brilliant plan she had for getting in, but the guards both talked over her. "Oh! You're Shining Armor's little sister! Don't worry, you're always welcome in Canterlot. We won't forget what you've done here." Princess Celestia was about to yell something about not being Shining's sister at all, but then she realized whose body she was in. Smiling politely, she resumed her 'dignified walking' and made her way into Canterlot. "SO!" Pinkie Pie yelled from behind. "The first part of our plan went smoothly! Now what, now what? Do we get to be spies? Do we get to wear.... NIGHTVISION GOGGLES?" As usual everyone ignored Pinkie Pie. Looking behind her, Princess Celestia checked to make sure she was far away from the guards. "The next step is to get to Canterlot Castle as fast as possible. Twilight get's paranoid when she makes mistakes, and she might be trying to stop us. The faster, the better." As soon as she finished talking, she broke into full gallop towards Canterlot Castle, without waiting for anypony to agree with her. "Waaaiiiit!" yelled Rarity. "I can't keep uuuuuup! Auugh! I tripped! Oh no, I think I chipped my hoof!" "Is that even possible sugarcube?" asked Applejack. "Well, evidently it is! Now shut up you rodeo pony and get running!" As they galloped forward, Princess Celestia could almost swear that their was some sort of epic music following them. In fact she was certain that... oh. The cause of the music appeared to be Pinkie Pie, as she was running on... well, two hooves somehow, and was playing the harmonica. Ignoring her, Princess Celestia turned her attention to the goal placed for her, and changed her expression into one of pure, cold determination. I haven't been on an adventure in forever! It feels as if I'm looking down on myself, from way atop those puffy clou- Her dreaming was suddenly interruped by a cry from above. "TWILY!" yelled Shining armor. Princess Celestia looked up to see the captain of the Royal Guard looking down at her. Oh no. Preparing her best 'little sister voice', she looked up at him and hollered. "Not now Shining! I'm busy!" she yelled as sweetly as possible. Shining Armor grinned. "Really? So am I! How about you come and talk to me for a second! And don't you dare tell me it's urgent, because if it was I would have heard about it by now." Princess Celestia winced. Of all things that could happen... Exactly twelve minutes and 15 seconds later, she was eating lunch with Shining Armor. The time could be told by the amount of times Princess Celestia held her breath and counted to ten. Luna had been staring at the window for quite some time now. She was extremely surprised to see a very determined Twilight Sparkle come running towards her, and was now quite amused that she had been stopped by Shining Antlers. Or whatever his name was. "Hey Twilight! I think she's having lunch with your brother!" Twilight poked her head out of Princess Celestia's bedroom. She had been desperately fussing with the Princess's hair, trying to put it in the same style she normally used, but it didn't work at all. "What!? My brother? Luna, we must go at once!" Luna began absently twirling her hoof on the floor. "About that 'we' thing..." "Okay, fine, I'll go!" And with that, Twilight Sparkle ran out of the room, but not before checking the time. Exactly two minutes and thirty-two seconds later, Twilight Sparkle, looking like Princess Celestia, arrived outside a normal restaurant in Canterlot. She knew how long it had been because she had checked the clock before she left, and as soon as she arrived. Naturally, the arrival of the Princess caused most ponies to stare, and a lot of them were kind enough to politely leave the restaurant. After everypony had adjusted to her sudden presence. Twilight walked in a quite casual fashion over to Princess Celestia. A casual fashion is achieved by walking normally. "Excuse me Shining, I would like it if I could have a word with my pupil in private." Exactly 3 minutes and 46 seconds later, they were back in Princess Celestia's room. "I presume you understand the situation, Princess?" Twilight Sparkle was more than a little bit nervous. She had absolutely no idea what was going to happen to her. "Of course, Twilight. Am I correct in assuming that you have a spell to reverse this?" Twilight nodded, happy that she hadn't mentioned this until they were close together with little distractions. The spell she was about to perform was very difficult. "Then, if you don't mind, I wouldn't like to stay like this much longer." "Of course, Princess." Twilight's horn began to glow with an eerie sort of power, that wasn't really that different than normal. And the spell took precisely 8 seconds to cast, with no interruptions. Opening her eyes, Twilight discovered that she was much shorter, and was pleasantly happy to find herself staring into her teacher's face. "What am I going to do with you Twilight?" Princess Celestia shook her head, but despite everything her voice still had a kind tone. Turning to Luna, she asked "Have you told Twilight a lot about what goes on around here?" Twilight suddenly had an idea about what to do. "Luna has told me absolutely nothing! Isn't that right, Luna?" Princess Luna looked from Celestia back to Twilight, and the back to Celestia. "I, uh...." "Yes?" asked Celestia. "I um..." Luna shifted her gaze back to Twilight. "I didn't tell her anything, really." Princess Celestia smiled. Exactly six hours, thirty minutes and twenty-five seconds later, Twilight was seated in front of a book at her library in Ponyville, studying the prospect of royalty.