//------------------------------//
// Reflecting 
// Story: Perfect for Me 
// by The Equestrian Gentlecolt 
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	They sat across the library from each other, neither meeting the other's eyes. Their friends were all there. Fluttershy sat near one, carefully cleaning a rather nasty scrape. Rarity fussed over the other, who would almost certainly be ending up with a black eye. Both were appropriately embarrassed about the situation, and now that the heat of the moment had died down, any enmity that might have been building had been replaced by a nervous worry.

"We're not exactly the same anymore, are we?" Twilight asked rhetorically, breaking the silence.

"On th' contrary," Applejack said. "I'd say ya'll were both actin' like foals back there."

"But we were disagreeing," Twilight disagreed, and the other nodded her agreement.

"Over wantin' the same things," Applejack pointed out.

"Well, yes, I guess that's true. But we've almost disagreed about other things too. Like how we should handle this roc situation."

"Rock situation?" Pinkie asked, perking up. The other Twilight smirked a bit to herself.

"Not rock, roc. R-O-C. The gigantic birds that were chasing us around the Everfree. But that's not important right now."

"Oh." Pinkie looked a bit disappointed. "Then what is important?"

"Well," Twilight said, glad to see that even Pinkie was taking her problem as seriously as could be expected. "Us diverging is what's important. If we're not careful, we could become two separate ponies."

"What's so bad about that? I'm two separate ponies sometimes, and I came out okay!"

Twilight reflexively filed that away on her "do not think about" shelf and moved on. It was a skill you developed around Pinkie Pie. "Well," she said, taking a deep breath, "it's kind of complicated. See, when we're two of me, then what I've effectively done is just split my consciousness, sort of an extreme form of multitasking. I'm still really only one pony, and when the spell ends, it's just like refocusing back on a single task again. The worst thing I could be accused of doing is using myself as a test subject for experimental new magic, and I'm well within my rights to do that."

"But," her twin said, picking up immediately as she paused for breath, "as we stay apart longer, different experiences will lead to different perspectives. Sooner or later, we're not going to be the same pony anymore, and that's where the trouble starts. The ethical implications alone are staggering; I'm effectively playing goddess at that point, bypassing nature entirely to create new life to my exact specifications."

She stopped to breathe in, and Twilight picked back up immediately. "Which most ponies would agree is a bad thing, although I've never been clear on where exactly the line between 'powerful unicorn' and 'legitimate goddess' gets drawn. But even setting that aside for the moment, canceling the spell also becomes an issue. Even though neither of us technically dies, since both halves reform into the whole, I'm pretty sure any process that starts with two separate ponies and ends with only one is some kind of murder. I'm not a murderer!"

"Of course I'm not," the other her agreed. "It's a concern, though. We've also got the issue of shared history. Right now we're both friends with all of you, for example, since there isn't a good way to tell us apart yet. But as more time passed, one of us might become closer to some of you, and one might drift farther away. One of us could make a new friend that the other didn't have. And I haven't even started to consider the effect that might have on the Elements of Harmony."

"We might both have to be present to use the Element of Magic, but even worse, it might only require one of us! What happens if only one of us saves the world, and we’re different ponies? We can't both get credit, and that leaves one of us standing in the audience watching while Celestia is giving the other one a medal." They both shivered at the memory.

"And what would our parents think?” her twin went on. “I can just hear my mother now: 'Twilight Sparkle, you stop that this instant. I did not raise my daughter to be two daughters!' I can talk my way out of it if it's just a mirror spell, but not if we're different ponies."

"There'll be a few legal issues too. Would both have to pay taxes? Could I file jointly with myself? List myself as a dependent? It's like... well..."

"It's not like anything, and that's what makes it so complicated. As far as any history I've read, which is basically all of it ever, nopony's done this before."

"There's no precedent to work from! This is completely untrodden ground in a legal, ethical, and practical sense."

"And I just can't deal with that right now. I'm a librarian, not a lawyer or a philosopher!" They both threw their hooves up in exasperation as her twin said it, and looked around expectantly at their friends.

As their uninterrupted tirade finally abated, their friends could do nothing but stare, frozen in place by an awed mix of bafflement and wonder.

"That," Rainbow Dash finally said, "was a lot of words, Twi."

"Well, yeah, words are kinda my thing. But you see my point, right?"

Dash pondered the question, then shook her head. "Not really. If it's so bad, why don't you just go back to being one pony?"

The two Twilights exchanged glances. "Because, well... because I love me," she admitted.

"I know it's weird," the other her said quickly, "and I know it's awkward, but it's hard to deny that I'm my own perfect match. Yes, we're bending the rules of magic and morality in ways they were never meant to bend, and yes, we're having a little trouble splitting things between us—I'm still not sure whether using my own toothbrush is gross or not—but the fact is, we haven't had any problems that I wouldn't have just as many or more of with a separate pony."

"And we already know each other, how to cheer myself up if I'm down, or calm myself down if I start worrying too much. We like all the same things..."

"Which I admit might get kinda boring after a while. But we can solve twice as many problems..."

"Although if we work on the same problem, we always end up at the same answer. It's not even about loving myself, really. I've just... gotten used to having two of me around, y'know? I think I'd get lonely if I didn't have somepony to hang out with. Even if it was only as..."

"As, uh..."

In the ensuing silence, both Twilights had the decency to look guilty.

"A friend?" Fluttershy suggested quietly.

Twilight sighed. "Yeah. A friend. Which I already have five of, and I should probably come out of my library and hang out with them when I'm lonely, huh?"

"Well, I won't tell you what to do, Twilight," Rarity said. "But you have been being terribly reclusive lately."

"Yeah," Pinkie Pie added, "and you didn't even stick around for your own 'Welcome to Ponyville Again' party. You ran out of there like you had a herd of ponies after you!"

"Pinkie, I did have a herd of ponies after me."

"Oh yeah."

"Anyway, I guess you're all right. This whole thing is way too complicated, I’m in over my head, and it’s making me neglect you all. I should just go back to being one pony." She and her twin gave each other a longing glance across the room. "I really am gonna miss having another of me around, though."

They stood, and got to setting up the spell that would put them back together again. Her friends looked on sympathetically. Three of them did, anyway. Pinkie was already trying to decide whether to write 'Congratulations, You're One!' or 'Happy Rebirthday!' on the banners. Rainbow Dash was either thinking hard about something, or she'd swallowed a bug. As Twilight was dragging the first mirror into position, Dash spoke up.

"Wait a sec," she said. "Nopony said you had to stop being two of you."

Twilight paused. "Yeah, but..." No, she shouldn't be so dismissive of her friends. That's what the other her had been trying to tell her before. "Okay, Dash, tell me what you're thinking."

"Well. You’re not two different ponies now, right?”

“No, no yet. Barring major life events, I’d give me at least a few more weeks apart before there’s any really meaningful divergence.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s a yes. So the way I heard it, all we ever said was that you should hang out with us more. And all you ever said was that you couldn't be two different ponies. Nopony ever said you couldn't be two of the same pony."

"I can't really avoid it if I stay split like this, though. And merging and recasting it all the time..." Twilight trailed off, a sudden thought coming to her.

"...isn't the only way to resynchronize myself, is it?" the other Twilight finished.

"I dunno," Dash said. "I'm not a magical genius like you. But when Discord made us forget how we were friends, you had a spell that made us remember, didn't you?"

"The memory spell!" Twilight's eyes widened in realization. "But that’s for making ponies remember things they’ve forgotten. Could we really adapt it to add new memories?”

"Well, why not? If we're the same pony, it's not really creating memories out of thin air."

"It's just making me remember something I experienced as my other self."

"Rainbow Dash, that idea is so crazy—"

"—that it just might work."

They turned together to their friends, and Twilight spoke for the both of them when she said, "Thank you all. I realize I've been neglecting you. You could've gotten mad at me, or given up on me and let me hide out with myself in the library for the rest of my life, but you didn't. You stuck with me, and put me back on the right path. And I'm especially glad you did it now, because I've got another problem I could use all of your help solving."

"Right now, though," her twin continued, "don't take this the wrong way, but I'm going to need some peace and quiet to work on the new spell, and… No, actually, you know what?"

"Why don't you all stick around awhile?" Twilight finished, smiling. "Having friends around is worth a few distractions..."

"...and I wouldn't mind some company I don't have to share my toothbrush with."





Dear Princess Celestia,

I am writing to you from the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, where my friends and I are at this very moment completing the archaeological survey you requested. I do apologize for the delay, but we had a bit of trouble with the local wildlife. It turns out a pair of rocs had taken up residence since our last visit, and when Rainbow Dash scouted out their nest, she found that they'd been protecting an egg! It's no wonder they were being territorial.

Luckily, I had all my friends there to help me. With Rarity's talent at making birds' nests, and Pinkie Pie's knowledge of rocs (who knew?), we were able to quickly build them a suitable home a safe distance away, where they won't interrupt the expedition. Then, after Fluttershy reassured them repeatedly that we would be careful with it, they finally allowed Applejack and me to carry the egg to its new home. It was a group effort, but the area is now completely clear of belligerent fauna.

That isn't the only reason I'm writing to you, though. Today, I'd like to share with you an important lesson I learned about friendship.

I learned that self-sufficiency is a two-sided coin. Learning to love yourself is a wonderful thing, and it's important to be able to get yourself out of trouble when you’ve got nopony else to turn to. Knowing that you always have yourself to rely on can give you confidence even in the most difficult of times. Self-love is a bond that nopony can take away from you. In a way, you can be your own best friend.

But on the other hoof, you can't be your only friend. No matter how smart you are, or how talented, no matter how much raw magical power you have at your command, there are other ponies out there with different ideas than you, with different perspectives, who can look at the same problem as you and come up with a solution you never would have thought of on your own. Their strengths can complement yours in a way that makes the whole much greater than the sum of its parts (no matter what math says). And that, too, is something you should treasure.

In short, today I learned that self-sufficiency is no substitute for friendship. Because, while our similarities might bring us closer together, it's our differences that make friendship worthwhile.

Your faithful students,
Twilight Sparkle