Cardcaptor Twilight

by Yukito

The Mirror

Rainbow Dash stifled a laugh as she watched from her little hiding place on top of a cloud. Watching as her latest prank proceeded. The tripwire was set. The bucket was in place. The confetti and banner had been set up. Now, it was just a matter of time.

A hoof suddenly tapping her shoulder startled her. She yelped and turned around, and was surprised to find Twilight Sparkle standing on the cloud with her. “W-What the?! How are you-” She then remembered. “Oh, right. Cloud walking spell. So, uh… what’s up?” Twilight didn’t say anything, but instead just stared at the confused Pegasus, a grin on her face. “Uh… something wrong?”

Twilight giggled, and her horn lit up. A few moments later, Rainbow Dash was lifted into the air by her magic, and started to flail about. “H-Hey! What gives?! Put me down!” Twilight giggled some more, and then reached forward and grabbed Rainbow Dash’s wing with her hooves. “OW! Hey, watch it! Wings are sensitive, y’know?!”

Ignoring the flailing Pegasus, Twilight pushed the joint of Rainbow Dash’s wing, causing her to scream and retract her wing quickly. After that, Twilight undid her magic, causing Rainbow Dash to fall onto the cloud, her left wing temporarily disabled. “OW! Twilight, what the hay?!” Without answering, Twilight turned around, and jumped off of the cloud. “W-WAIT!” Rainbow Dash peered over the edge of the cloud, but saw no sign of the purple Unicorn anywhere. “What the? What’s going on? … Ah! How am I gonna get down from here?!”

---

“Thank ya kindly! Have a nice day!” Applejack said as she pocketed the bits from her latest sale. “Whoa boy! If ah keep on at this rate, ah’m gonna be sold out in record time!” As she finished counting the profits she had made so far that day, a familiar purple Unicorn entered her field of vision. “Well howdy there, Twilight! You want the usual?”

Twilight didn’t say a word, but instead just stared at the apples with a smile on her face. “Uh, Twilight?” Twilight lifted her forelegs off of the ground, and then stretched them forward, kicking the apple stand in front of her, and causing the apples on it to fall onto the floor. “W-What’re ya doin’?!” a startled Applejack asked, only to be answered by Twilight running away at full gallop. “Hey, wait!”

“Applejack?” Applejack stopped her pursuit before it began, and turned to find Rarity approaching her. “D-Did I just see what I think I saw?”

“Well, if’n ya saw Twilight knockin’ all these freshly-picked apples onto the ground, then yeah.”

“Why in the world would Twilight do such a thing?”

Applejack shook her head. “Ah dunno, but ah intend ta find out!” And with that, the farmer continued her pursuit of Twilight, running off down the streets of Ponyville before her friend could stop her.

Rarity considered following after her at first, but instead stopped to think. ‘Why would Twilight act so out of character like that? Could it be Trixie playing one of her pranks? Would Trixie really go so far? If she pushed Applejack herself, it would be one thing, but Trixie usually has more respect as far as other ponies’ possessions are considered.

‘Wait, could it be…’ Rarity turned the other way, and started to walk quickly towards the library. “It must be. I can think of no other explanation.”

---

Twilight levitated a biscuit up to her mouth as she read through the book opened up in front of her. Behind her, Kero was playing a video game, surrounded by a dome created by Silent so that Twilight could concentrated, and Spike was sweeping the floor with a broom. Trixie had gone out for a jog that morning, and still hadn’t come back yet.

---

Trixie let out a battle cry as she charged forwards, only to receive the same result as the last five times she had tried that. She had been warped back a few feet, and was back in the exact same spot that she was in moments ago.

“Having fun?” the cloaked pony sitting to the side asked in a teasing tone. “Want me to free you yet?”

“Go to hell!” Trixie shouted. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will defeat this thing!” Trixie pulled out her key and her Clow Cards, and looked through them. The gears were turning inside her head as she tried to formulate a plan.

“If only you had Sword,” the cloaked pony said. “Sword can cut through even space, so it is an effective way to defeat Loop.”

“Shut it,” Trixie growled as she levitated a card. “Okay, let’s try this one.”

The cloaked pony leaned back against the tree behind them. “Just let me know when you’re ready. Good luck, my little pony.”

“Just you wait and see! The Great and Powerful Trixie will be out of here very shortly!”

---

A knock at the door startled Spike, but seemed to go completely unnoticed by the other two library occupants. With a sigh, Spike walked over to the door, and opened it to find Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy on the other side.

“Oh, hi guys. You here to see Twilight?”

The two mares exchanged uneasy looks with each other. “Something like that,” Pinkie Pie said, in a tone that sounded just a little too serious for her.

“Is she here?” Fluttershy asked, her tone also serious.

“Uh, yeah.” Spike suddenly remembered Kero, and quickly stretched out his arms to prevent the two mares from entering. “Uh, I’ll go get her real quick! You two just wait right here!” Before they could respond, Spike slammed the door shut, and ran back into the library. “Twilight! You’ve got visitors!”

“Spike, I’m reading!” Twilight scolded as she saw Spike’s claw moving up and down before her eyes.

“It’s Fluttershy and Pinkie. It sounds like something’s up.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Guess I’d better go see what’s bothering them, then.” After rising to her hooves, Twilight made her way to the library’s front door, and opened it to find her two friends on the other side. “Hi guys! What’s up?” she asked in a cheerful voice.

The two mares exchanged uneasy looks once more, and then looked back at Twilight to confront her. “Twilight,” Fluttershy began, “Um, you haven’t… been around town today, have you?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I’ve been here in the library all day. Why do you ask?”

The two mares both breathed relieved sighs in unison, causing Twilight to give the two a puzzled look. “Thank goodness,” Fluttershy said. “It looks like we got the wrong pony after all.”

“I should’ve known!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “There’s no way Twilight would even do anything to make three little fillies cry!”

“Wait, what?” Twilight asked, now more confused than she usually was whenever Pinkie Pie spoke.

“We, uh, saw somepony who looked like you push Sweetie Belle and her friends into mud,” Fluttershy explained.

“I don’t think Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are friends with her,” Pinkie Pie corrected. “But even so, it was totally not nice what that Twilight imposter did! We should find her and teach her a lesson!” Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped, and jumped into the air, her head hitting the roof of the doorway as she did so. “I’ve got it! We should throw the Twilight imposter a party, to lift her spirits up!”

“Uh…” Before Fluttershy could protest, Pinkie Pie took off down the streets of Ponyville, shouting for ‘Twilight imposter’ to show herself. “Oh, dear. I’d better go with her…” She stopped to give Twilight a concerned look.

“Don’t worry,” Twilight said, waving her hoof dismissively. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, and I think you’d better go with Pinkie Pie to make sure she stays out of trouble.”

With a nod, Fluttershy turned to leave, and chased after Pinkie Pie. Once the yellow Pegasus was out of sight, Rarity stepped out from the bushes on the other side of the street. “I heard the whole thing, Twilight!”

“Since when was Rarity a ninja?” Twilight asked jokingly as she stepped aside to let Rarity in. “Let me guess: you’ve seen this ‘Twilight imposter’, too?”

“I have,” Rarity said as she entered the library. Twilight closed the door behind her. “And I just knew that it had to be a Clow Card behind all of this. I was right, wasn’t I?”

“It’s definitely a Clow Card,” Kero said as he suddenly appeared between the two. “I can sense it.”

“AH! D-Don’t sneak up on ponies like that!” Twilight scolded, holing her hoof over her chest to calm her beating heart.

“And? Which card are we dealing with this time?” Rarity asked. However, Kero didn’t answer. “Kero?”

“There are a lot of Clow Cards, okay?!” Kero shouted, startling the two once more. “A card that impersonates you… was there such a card?”

“You mean… you have no idea, right?” Twilight asked, sighing as Kero nodded. “Great. So what now?”

“In any case, with Earthy providing me with half of my powers, I can still pinpoint this card’s location. It seems to be moving towards the mountain, just outside of Ponyville.”

“Then that’s where we’re heading,” Twilight said, grabbing her key and her Clow Cards. “Spike, we’re heading out for a bit!”

“Alright! Take care out there!” Spike called back, waving at the three as they left the library. Once the door was closed, he dropped the broom, and grabbed a nearby mirror, flexing his muscles in front of it. “Hey there! Haven’t seen you in a long time! Been so crowded in here lately!”

---

“Twilight, hold on!” Applejack called out as she chased after her friend. “Ah just wanna talk ta ya! What the hay has gotten into ya?!”

Twilight used her magic to teleport up the steep slope before her, and then looked down at the pursuing Earth Pony. “G-Get away!” she shouted as her horn lit up. Applejack stopped as she felt the ground beginning to shake, and stopped dead in her tracks.

“Whoa nelly! Twilight, have y’all gone an’ lost yer mind?!” Looking up at her friend, Applejack gasped as she saw a large boulder falling down the mountain, making its way towards an unaware Twilight. “Watch out!”

Twilight turned around just in time to see the boulder about to crash into her. The light around her horn faded away, and she screamed as she raised her hooves to protect herself. Suddenly, she was knocked to the side by some unknown force, and she yelped as she felt her body hitting the hard ground beneath her, and something heavy landing on top of her.

Looking up, Twilight saw Applejack lying unconscious on top of her body, blood pouring from a shallow wound on her head. It didn’t take long to piece together what had happened. Applejack must have risked herself to push her friend out of the way…

“… Even though I’m just a-” Twilight stopped and turned around as she heard hoofsteps approaching her. She saw two ponies approaching her. A white mare with a purple mane, and a purple mare with a striped purple and pink mane. Rarity, and the real Twilight Sparkle. And floating beside them was Keroberos, the Guardian Beast of the Sun.

“Applejack!” Twilight shouted as she approached the farmer with her two friends. “… You… What did you do to her?!”

The other Twilight didn’t answer. She merely stared back at the real Twilight with a saddened look on her face.

“Twilight, there’s no mistaking it!” Kero shouted. “That’s a Clow Card! And a powerful one, too! You won’t be capturing it without weakening it first!”

“Right! Then, let’s try… Windy!” Twilight slammed her wand against the card, and a powerful gust of wind shot out… only to pass straight through her doppelganger’s body.

“It didn’t work! Try something else!”

“Then, how about… Shot!” This time, a bright light formed above Twilight’s head, and began to fire beams of light at the fake Twilight. These also passed through it, though. “Nothing’s working!”

“As I thought… this is a special card!” Kero announced.

“A ‘special card’?” Twilight asked.

“Right! Special cards can’t be captured like regular cards. You have ta call out its name, and it’ll lose all its power!”

“But, I don’t know its name…”

“C’mon, think! You’re the egghead here, surely you can deduce what card this is!”

Twilight hesitated for a second, but then nodded, and turned to face her counterpart. She thought for a second, and then grinned as it hit her. “That’s it… I know exactly what card you are… ‘Changeling’!”

A few moments of silence passed, and absolutely nothing happened.

“Uh, I’m guessing not,” Rarity said, trying not to let her laughter leave her mouth.

“C’mon, Twilight, stop playin’ around!”

“I was serious!” Twilight shouted, her face red as she glared at Kero. She turned her attention back onto her clone, and put a hoof to her chin in thought. ‘Okay, so that wasn’t it. Come on, Twilight. You can do this. Maybe… ‘Doppelganger’? ‘Clone’?’ “Hm?”

Twilight noticed that the fake hadn’t actually moved much since they had arrived. In fact, it only moved when she did, and only to mimic said movements. ‘Wait a second…’ Twilight lowered her hoof, and the doppelganger did the same. ‘It’s mirroring my movements… Wait, ‘mirroring’? … Could it be?’

“Are you… ‘Mirror’?” Upon saying that last word, the fake Twilight began to glow, and then changed shape. Now, standing before the group, was a white filly with a long green mane, mirrors adorned all over her body. “I did it…” Mirror stared at Twilight, smiling as she closed her eyes, and readied herself for what was to come next. “Return to the guise you were meant to be in! Clow Card!”

Twilight swung her staff forward, and absorbed Mirror into her card, sealing her back into her card form. As she did so, she heard a faint voice calling out to her: “Sorry.”

Once the sealing was complete, Twilight collected the card, and turned to Rarity. “How is she?” she asked, referring to Applejack.

“She’s fine,” Rarity said with a smile. “Well, that certainly was quite the ordeal. I must say, though, that filly looked rather stunning. Who would have thought mirrors could be a form of fashion wear?”

Kero raised his eyebrow at the strange comment. “Really? Man, I’ll never understand you mares…” Kero felt that something was off, and looked around the area. “Hey, I just realised: that brat never showed up.”

“Trixie?” Twilight asked. “You’re right… I wonder where she is?”

---

“Alright,” the cloaked pony said, rising to their hooves and approaching the exhausted showmare. “As amusing as this is, I’d better wrap this up before somepony notices I’m missing.”

“N-Not yet! Trixie is not done yet!”

“Sorry, but I gave you ample time. Now it’s my turn.” The cloaked pony pulled out the same crystal bell from the Maze incident, and rang it. Moments later, the special distortion that Trixie had just spent the last hour fighting began to shake. “There’s your opening. Now seal it.”

“Why you…” Trixie lifted her wand into the air, and then swung it down. “Return to the guise you were meant to be in! Clow Card!”

The special distortion was pulled towards her staff, and reverted to card form. The card then hovered over to the cloaked pony, who grabbed it with their hoof. “The Loop card… I guess this one’s mine, then.”

“Give that back!” Trixie shouted, pulling out her Firey card. “Trixie warns you, she will burn you to a crisp!”

“Sorry, but I have plans today, and being burned to a crisp would hinder them.” The cloaked pony extended their wings, and took off into the air. “Good luck in the future, though, my little Cardcaptor!”

“Get back here!” Trixie ordered, but it was useless. “Damn it!”

“Um, excuse me.”

“What?!” Trixie shouted, turning around to find… “F-Fluttershy?!”

Fluttershy yelped, and took a step back. “Um, s-sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that. It’s just, I saw you yelling at that cloaked pony, and was wondering if everything was okay.”

Trixie saw the worried look on Fluttershy’s face, and mentally cursed herself. “O-Of course everything’s okay!” Trixie shouted, teleporting over to the yellow Pegasus, causing her to yelp in surprise once more. “Why, the Great and Powerful Trixie was just having a spirited conversation with that pony, nothing more!”

“S-So, you weren’t fighting?” Fluttershy asked.

“Of course not! Hey, how about the two of us enjoy a nice lunch together? It’s a lovely day for a picnic, after all.”

Fluttershy smiled, and nodded. “Okay. In that case, let’s go invite the others, too.”

Trixie frowned. She wanted to enjoy a nice picnic with just Fluttershy alone, but… “Oh, very well then.” She knew that Fluttershy would be upset if she insisted on leaving her friends out of it. And so, half-dejectedly, Trixie walked back towards Ponyville alongside Fluttershy.

---

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was tapping her hoof impatiently on the cloud she was sitting on, waiting for her wing to recover, which could take hours, or even days, depending on how much force Twilight had applied to the joint.

“I swear, when I get down from here, there’s gonna be hell to pay, Twilight.”

Comments

[Reisentanith]

Awwwww You didn't do the Divining.

[Mattricole]

Man Trixie, you gotta kick that cloaked ponies butt! Oh, and poor Rainbow Dash...NOT !

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Too bad, so sad Dashie. ;p

[Magatsu Orpheus]

In my headcanon, that first one was Twilight, and she was pulling a "prank for a prank".