//------------------------------// // Duplicates // Story: Universe 63 // by CarmenColor //------------------------------// After a quick nap, Twilight felt very refreshed and very determined. She approached the colts, who were talking in the middle of the room and hadn't noticed her yet. "Hey guys," she said, and they all turned to her, "I have an idea." "What kind of idea, dear?" Elusive asked. Twilight smiled. "I think that you all should go through the bridge with me. I know that Elusive talked to Rarity once during my mind links, but none of you, save Dusk of course, have actually gotten to see what the other you is like." "I doubt than any mare could be as cool as I am," Blitz murmured, and Twilight raised an eyebrow, "but, uh, we should totally go meet them or whatever." Twilight smiled. "So, what'd you say guys? Are we all going?" Twilight asked. "Of course," Elusive said. "If you want me to," Butterscotch mumbled. "I guess so," both Blitz and Applejack sighed. "Sounds great. I could see your library for a change," Dusk said, nodding slightly. "Ohmygosh! This is going to be so fun! I'm going to be able to meet myself and she's going to be sure excited too and we're going to have to throw a "Welcome Genderbent Ponies" party and...." Bubble Berry jabbered relentlessly. Twilight giggled lightly at the pink pony. "So I think we're all in agreement. Lets go!" Twilight said excitedly. _________________________________________________________________________ Seven ponies stood in front of the beautiful shimmering stone that separated Twilight's universe from the one they were in. Thy had decided that they all were going to go at the same time, and so had circled around the stone. Twilight raised a foreleg to the device, waiting for the others to do the same. When they had, she turned to Dusk and nodded. Both of the purple ponies had wanted to do the countdown, and so they had decided to do it together. "Three...Two...One!" All seven ponies managed at touch the rock at exactly the same time, causing a huge silvery white sphere to engulf the group. For Twilight, this was the normal routine, and Dusk wasn't concerned, but the others were slightly scared by the thick, magical barrier, and Twilight could see Butterscotch cringe, whimpering slightly. Before she could say anything to comfort the colt, however, the popping sound had announced their arrival. "Twilight!" A chorus of voices exclaimed, and Twilight looked up to see her friends entering the room. "We was just about to come see you," Applejack said, "Didn't know y'all would be comin' back so soon." "Well, I did spend three months there, Applejack. I missed you guys, and I brought some ponies for you all to meet." The colts smiled, and Twilight introduced them. "You all know Dusk Shine already, but this is Elusive, Rainbow Blitz, Butterscotch, Bubble Berry, and, well, Applejack." She turned to the colts. "And just in case you've forgotten, this is Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and...Applejack again." She smiled faintly. The colts and mares began to talk amongst themselves, and Twilight felt a small surge of pride. She was bringing together her friends, and they would finally get to meet each other. For awhile, Twilight just listened as the others talked, and after some time, she noticed that Dusk Shine was no longer engaging in conversation either. As she studied his expression, he noticed that he looked...dazed was perhaps the right word, and she followed his line of sight to see what he was looking at. Scratch that, who he was looking at. Rarity had not yet noticed that her every movement was being watched by Dusk Shine. Twilight looked from her double, to Elusive, then Rarity, and back to Dusk again. It seemed that both herself and...well, they were technically the same pony, weren't they? Anyway, it seemed that they had near identical tastes, which is something that she realized could've been and probably should have been anticipated. This was turning out to be a very interesting visit, and they hadn't even been there for an hour yet. Twilight sidled over to Dusk and gave him a cheeky smile, to which he simply began to blush. To save him from the awkwardness, Twilight walked into the middle of her friends. "Ahem," she said, and they all turned to look at her, "Perhaps we should head to Ponyville? We've all been sleeping in the castle for far too long. You boys don't mind, do you?" "No, of course not," Dusk said, "Prince Solaris agreed to let us stay for a whole week if we wanted to. Sorry, Twi, you were still asleep when we asked, and when you mentioned it after you woke up, we just let you go with it." Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Oh, okay then. Now, everypony is going to be staying with their double. Remember, you are not to consider yourselves the same pony when you talk to others. I don't care how you do it, be it cousins, sibling, or twins maybe, but let us know which you choose so we can act accordingly." Twilight stepped over next to Dusk and the others paired off as well. "Come on gang, lets get our 'relatives' home." Six pairs of near identical ponies trotted side by side out of Canterlot Castle. It was hard for both groups of Element bearers to go unnoticed, but everyone seemed to just go with it, considering who the ponies were. They were used to oddities popping up around those specific six mares, after all, they had done some pretty crazy things, from saving princesses to battling a changeling army. They simply didn't know that the others had done the exact same thing. So, the walk to the train station was pretty uneventful. Twelve ponies got onto the Friendship Express and headed towards their home, Ponyville.