//------------------------------// // Things start slow... // Story: Conscious Life // by CrossRedstone //------------------------------// Neither Twilight Velvet, nor Nightlight planned on having any other children. They thought two children were more than enough. Heck, Velvet was expecting to have grandchildren sometime around the next year, since Shining Armor and Cadance, the dean from Crystal Prep were dating. For about a month and a half by the way. Shining armor knew about this, of course. He also knew that he didn't have a second sister or at least he had been sure of that fact. His parents never mentioned anything. They never argued about a daughter they left at an orphanage for some reason or other. He also didn't remember Twilight building a cloning device, though that was not out of the realm of possibility. Why else would there be a second Twilight standing in Twilight's bedroom, right next to Twilight? Ignoring the wings, the good looking outfit, and the hairdo, it was the spitting image. Oh wait! Shining Armor's brain chimed in. Maybe it's just one of Twilight's friends dressing up. She has now like...five, six? Hey, wait a minute! What's one of Twilight's friends doing here at eight in the morning?! The two Twilight's or as Shining Armor's mind translated it as Twily and the friend of Twily looking, looked at him. The winged one had an eyebrow raised, while the one who was fidgeting with her fingers was definitely his little Twily. "Er..." was all he got out. He wracked his brain on how to approach the situation, but couldn't come up with anything. Instead, the winged Twilight decided to act. She pointed a finger at Shining, which sparkled in a lavender light. Before Shining could question how the girl installed a lightbulb in her finger, he blacked out. "What did you do?!" Twilight shouted at Midnight. Before her counterpart answered, Shining's body was levitated up and put inside Twilight's closet. All the doors and windows were closed, as well as the curtains. "I figured we'd need some peace and quiet." Midnight finally answered, smiling at Twilight. A growl near their feet caught the girls attention. Looking down they found Spike quite adorable fletching his teeth at Midnight Sparkle, his growls not stopping. The winged girl smiled, levitating the dog up, causing him to yelp in surprise. Midnight took the purple dog into her arms and cradled him like a baby. "Aw, you're quite adorable, even when you're angry." She snuggled the dog with her face. Spike felt a little lost at the moment, looking over to Twilight and then back to Midnight, who actually acted like Twilight when he and the girl first met. "Now you'll be a good boy" she pushed the dog's snout with her index finger, "and I'll treat you those chicken legs you love so much." "Chicken legs?!" Spike exclaimed, his tiny tail wiggling between Midnight's fingers. Twilight decided then and there to snatch Spike from Midnight and held him away. "Stop this!" Twilight shouted. "Killjoy." Midnight crossed her arms and pouted for a second before her expression turned serious. "But I guess this is not the time." "Er, Twilight?" Spike spoke up. "Shouldn't we...you know...run for our lives?" Twilight looked down at her dog, unsure how to respond to that. “It’s….complicated.” The girl bit her lip. Midnight for her own part sighed, as her other self-said those words. Didn’t Twilight just overcome the fear of talking to her friends about what, a couple of days ago? But at the same time, her counterpart had a point. “Confusing is one way of putting.” the angel said, looking down at her gloved hands. “Although, you have to admit this is fascinating. I mean, think about it. Most of my life I have been nothing more, than pent up emotions hiding inside your subconsciousness. And unless you have a mental condition we are not aware of, the magic you possess somehow not only gave me life, but also a body of my own. This alone goes against the law of conservation of mass and the law of conservation of energy.” Midnight pointed out. “Wow, she even thinks the same way as you,” Spike commented of handly. Twilight blinked for a second. Just one second. Then she let out an ear-piercing squeal, pressing the air out of Spike at the same time. “You’re right!” Twilight exclaimed, jumping into the air. “This is scientifically not possible, yet here you’re in flesh and blood.” The girl stopped herself all of the sudden, her grip slightly loosening on Spike. The dog used the opportunity to wriggle himself free and drop to the ground. And though the impact hurt, the dog was more than happy to be able to breathe again. “You are here, right? And not just some kind of holo-projection.” Midnight shrugged. “It feels real, at least.” “Hmm.” Twilight stepped up and grabbed Midnight’s arm, her fingers slowly trailing over the smooth skin. The angel for her part just waited patiently, letting Twilight do her thing. The girl even took the liberty of checking pulse and heartbeat. “80 beats per minute,” Twilight muttered. “Not unusual. Hmm, those wings…” “They don’t look like they should be able to lift me off the ground, right?” Midnight spoke before Twilight could vocal her thoughts. “Exactly.” “Okay, that’s it,” Spike announced. “This gotta be a dream.” The dog walked over to his basket and made it himself comfortable inside, before going back to sleep. Twilight was too focused on staring at the wings, than paying attention to her dog. Midnight’s wings involuntarily twitched, as her other self-touched those. “Careful.” Midnight giggled. “They’re sensitive.” “Fascinating. I wonder what purpose they have if they don’t let you- GAH! What am I doing here?!” the normal human shouted all of the sudden, ready to rip her hair of her head. Spike let out a low grumble from the sudden noise and put his head between two cushions. “This is not the time for this! I need to figure out what to do with you!” “To do with me?” Midnight echoed. “Could you at least not make it sound like I’m some animal you sneaked into the house?” “This is not good.” Twilight ignored Midnight, walking up and down. “What do I tell my parents? What do I tell Shining Armor?! Oh my gosh, he has already seen you! Oh no…” her voice turned into nothing more than a whisper. “Wh-what will my friends think? They’ll-” “Alright, time out!” Midnight shouted. She put her hands on both of Twilight’s cheeks and forced the girl to face her other self. “Listen to yourself! You’re freaking out about the same thing you did back before the camp trip! You think those girls will abandon you after all, that happened?!” she shouted.Twilight just stared at Midnight, surprise and fear evident in her eyes. “I may not show it, but I’m just as confused as you are. What do we do in this situation? What can we do is the question. Shining already saw me. I can use my magic to wipe his memory, but that wouldn’t do much, as I have no idea how to turn myself invisible or change my appearance.” “B-but-” Twilight managed to shake her head free of Midnight’s grasp. “But why not? You...you have so much power. And back then...at the Friendship Games...you...I...we knew how to do what. We understood!” Midnight shook her head and crossed her arms once again. “I’m afraid none of us understand how magic works, beyond how to channel it. So far all everything you or I did, be it the Friendship Games or back at Camp Everfree was purely instinctual. Even when I knocked Shining Armor out cold, I just thought about what I wanted to happen. I highly doubt this will work every time, given that Sunset studied magic for most of her life.” The dark angel performed the breathing exercise Cadance showed Twilight when she was a kid, before continuing. “I can try and use the magic, there’s a high chance I might even succeed. However, what then? Am I forced to stay hidden from the world for the rest of my life or until I accidentally bump into someone?” “I...I…” Twilight trailed off. “I guess you have a point,” she admitted, letting her head hung. “But what are we going to do?” Midnight lets out another sigh. She had a feeling she would do this much more often today. “Honestly? The only solution I see is to introduce me to the rest of the family.” “But what are we going to tell them?” Twilight asked, sounding desperate. “That you’re an evil me, which I created over the course of several years of negative experiences and finally came to life with magic that a unicorn from another dimension brought to our dimension?” “We may want to leave out the unicorn part.” Midnight joked. “But honestly, at this point? I was going with the clone story and yes, I know, I know” the angel held up her arms before Twilight could say anything “the only way to make a clone has been proven inefficient, as the cloned sheep died, due to half of its genetic code missing.” “Right…sorry. I tend to-” “-rant, when you get nervous.” Midnight finished. “I am basically you, remember? I just have a different outlook on life.” “...” “...” None of them knew what to say next. Time was running out of them and with the suddenness of the situation, it was a surprise that none of them had gone into a complete state of panic. Both suspected it was due to the supernatural experiences of the past weeks. Eventually, Midnight had enough and came up with a proposition. “Look, maybe we should tell the girls first before anyone else.” “B-but they...they might...do something…” Twilight said lamely. “Wow, you’re worried about me?” Midnight asked genuinely surprised, a smile creeping up her face. “I guess things will go south pretty fast, but that’s the cards we’ve been dealt with.” The angel stepped up and wrapped her arms around Twilight. “But thanks for worrying. My friend.” Midnight chuckled. “You’re...welcome?” Twilight replied with a nervous giggle. … “This is awkward isn’t it?” “Yesss?” “But it kind of feels nice too.” “Yessss?” “Mind if we stay like this a little longer?” “Nooooo?” “Great! Thank you, my friend!” Just then the door opened a second time today and none other than Dean Cadance of Crystal Prep Academy walked inside, yet stopped only two steps in, upon seeing two Twilight’s hugging each other. Midnight quickly turned her head around. “Has anyone in this household ever heard of knocking?!” she asked irritated. “We’re having a moment here!”