//------------------------------// // One on One // Story: PONYVERSE // by TopWanted //------------------------------// One on One <___|=o Applejack felt a cold dampness engulf her forehead and she awoke with a start. She shot up in bed and let the damp rag adorning her fall to the sheets. The movement sent a wave of pain from her chest into her arms and she let out a cry of pain. “What in the world? Where… am Ah?” Through one squinted eye of pain she checked her surroundings. She was sitting in a bed in a large rustic room. Through a large window she could see a starry night sky illuminating a line of bright red apple trees. Then the smell hit her. A comforting scent that made the pain in her sides and arms fade with every breath. “Apples?” The room was dark, barely lit by the moonlight but she could still see in front of herself. Whoever had put her in bed had also wrapped bandages around her chest. To the side, on the nightstand her sword, Stetson, and hakama rested. It took her a moment to remember how she got here but then she remembered the immense pain she was in. She had probably passed out before they got back. Back to where… Applejack was taking her. That’s right. The gray alicorn took them here. To another world. And she was here again. In Sweet Apple Acres. A voice murmured from downstairs and she caught a glimpse of light through the door. With an intense amount of focus and energy she rose from bed and hobbled out into the corridor. She made her way downstairs, trailing her hoof across the old walls and pictures of family. The light was emanating from the kitchen area where she could hear the sound of pots and pans clanging together softly. Each time they did she would hear a small curse in familiar western slang. She rounded the corner into the kitchen and caught sight of the source just as she poked her head out of a cabinet. She jumped as Applejack approached and let the pan she’d been holding clatter to the floor. She scrunched her face in pain until the noise stopped then sighed rubbing her eyes. “Thank Faust, that didn’t wake up half the neighborhood.” A moment passed and they both looked at each other, like staring into a mirror. Applejack in the doorway and the other Applejack by the sink. Her host was not wearing her Stetson, probably set it aside when she got home, so they really did look exactly alike. Applejack cleared her throat as she pulled her gaze away from her counterpart. “Um, this is pretty awkward.” The other Applejack chuckled. “You’re tellin’ me. Ah gotta admit. Ah wasn’t expectin’ mah Saturday night to go like this. All that stuff about other worlds the alicorn talks about, Ah always imagined they were foals’ tales. Imagine mah surprise to see somepony exactly like me down to the hair right in front of me.” Applejack smiled at her and she smiled back. “Sorry, Ah was tryin’ to make some late night cider. You were pretty banged up so Ah imagined you wanted something to take the edge off.” Her eyes widened as she looked at her. “That’s right! You should still be in bed. You’re in no state to be walkin’ around right now.” Applejack waved a dismissive hoof in front of her and laughed. “Really, Ah’m fine.” Her laugh quickly turned into a cough though and the other Applejack ran around to set her in a seat at the dinner table. “Ah guess Ah shouldn’t expect anypony like me to listen to any kind of worldly advice. We’re both a little bit bullheaded that way, huh?” “Ah suppose,” Applejack muttered, catching her breath. The other Applejack walked back to her pans and began to set them on the table with some apples. “And mah friends?” Applejack looked at her over her shoulder and gave her a wink as she peeled some apples. “They’re fine. The others got them right now. Just decompressin’ after whatever fight or somesuch you got into.” She stopped peeling for a moment to look at her with concern. “You wanna talk about it?” “Not really. Ah’m just glad we all got out okay.” The other Applejack nodded and went back to peeling. “I should really thank you for lending me your room.” She gave her host a slight bow and the other Applejack snorted in laughter. “Think nothin’ of it, far as Ah see it’s technically your room too. But what’s with the bowin’?” Applejack blushed slightly. “Sorry. Livin’ in another country so long, you kind of pick up habits.” “Another country?” The other Applejack put the apples in a big pot she had prepared and took a masher to them. “Ah guess that explains the duds you had on. Can’t say Ah’d ever be caught in a bathrobe in a fight.” “It’s not…” She paused and saw her double smile playfully. Applejack laughed again, this time holding in her pain. “Never mind.” “…And that sword?” Applejack’s smile faded and she put her hooves on the table rubbing them together. “It’s… somethin’ special. Like the Stetson it’s somethin’ that connects me to a special somepony.” The other Applejack smiled at this and set the pot onto the stove. “So that’s just as important to you as it is for me, huh?” There was a question nagging in the back of her mind and Applejack just had to ask it. “How many siblings do you-” A creak from the stairs interrupted her and a young tired voice mumbled with sleep. “Applejack, what are you doing up so late?” Applejack’s heart stopped and she felt her body go numb. The source of the voice was walking slowly up behind her and yet she was too scared to turn around. Instead the other Applejack moved quickly enough to get in her way before the filly could come closer. “A-Apple Bloom! Sorry for wakin’ you. Just got a friendship problem. We’re dealin’ with it.” “This late at night?” the filly replied tiredly. “Problems can happen any hour of the day. Now scoot your rear back to bed.” She mumbled but did as her sister said and trudged back up the stairs. “Few, that was a close one. Don’t know how Ah was gonna explain somethin’ like this to her, eh?” She turned to face her but Applejack had hidden her face in her arms on the table. “Not much of a hidin’ spot… You okay?” Applejack’s hooves trembled as the she tried to hold back emotions she had bottled up. But those few words. That voice. It was enough to let the dam break. Her back arched spasmodically as she began to cry. “Hey, i-it’s alright,” the other Applejack assured her, though she didn’t look so sure. She put her hoof on her back and Applejack spun to grab her, pulling her into a hug. The other Applejack was too stunned for words as she laid her head on her shoulder and cried as silently but as forcefully as she could. She wanted all these feelings gone. Every heartache and thought of despair erased. She was just so tired of holding it in. “Ah… Ah just don’t know what to do. Ah look like Ah’m the strong one but there’s only so much Ah can take. Why am Ah here? Why was it me? Ah know you don’t have the answer but…” She began to cry again, her tears falling to the floor making tiny noises on the wood. Then to her surprise, the other Applejack pulled her into her embrace. She hugged her tighter and began to caress her mane in a certain way. “This is how mom used to do it, right?” Applejack continued to cry as she nodded into her shoulder. “You’re right. Ah don’t have any answers for you. Hell, Ah can’t even relate to what Ah’m sure you’ve been through. But when Ah talk to you, maybe you can hear it in mah voice and know its true. Everythin’ will be okay.” Applejack’s tears began to subside and she tried to pull away from the other. But the other Applejack held her firm and pressed her to her shoulder, continuing to caress her mane in a most motherly way. “Just don’t try to hold it in.” Applejack’s tears began again and she cried some more. Deep into the night, she let all of her emotions be known. And they talked until morning. ~`(\/)’~ Rarity sat on a stool in the center of a very familiar studio. Every bit of it she saw filled her with a joy she thought she’d never have again. And to see herself run about to every station gathering fabrics and measuring tools made her even more happy. “I never thought I’d have the opportunity to make measurements like these,” the other Rarity mused happily as she flittered about her boutique. “I mean you have the proportions of a princess!” Rarity smiled faintly awkwardly at her. “Um, thank you?” Bit of a busybody, isn’t she? Rarity frowned at the voice but paid it no heed. “And your mane is absolutely flawless! I love the color mix and the way it brings out your eyes!” “That’s very nice but-” “And I never thought I’d like black but it is a very slimming color and purely beautiful on you!” “Stop!” Rarity shouted and the other Rarity froze as a corona of magic seized her, her mouth frozen and unable to speak. Rarity shook her head vigorously to stop the magic and freed her. “I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to… I just… Maybe I should just leave.” Yes, please. If I have to listen to one more compliment I’m going to- “Hold on! I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s fine. I’m perfectly fine. Please, I’d really love it if you would stay.” Rarity gave her a weary look. “Do you… know what I am?” The other Rarity sat and tapped her chin. “Well, the Alicorn of Everfree vouches for you so that should be good enough for me.” Rarity looked a little bit unnerved by that answer. “I’m the next Nightmare Moon.” She paused to let the revelation sink in. “Doesn’t that make you the least bit concerned?” The other Rarity blinked. “Well, you still have friends, right? Those others you arrived with? If you’re so dangerous why would they be with you?” Rarity blinked back. “But I… they just…” She shook her head slowly and let out a small laugh. This mare is even more of an airhead than you were. “I don’t know why I’m even bothering.” She got up and began to walk to the door once more. “Excuse me? And just what does that mean?” She turned back to face her. “It means you’re still a pampered little filly with all this innocence getting in the way of seeing the world as it truly is.” The other Rarity stared at her open mouthed and shocked so Rarity turned to take her leave again. “And… And what’s so bad about that?!” She paused again. The other Rarity set herself and was yelling at her. “I may act a little aloof sometimes but that doesn’t mean I’m unaware of what goes on around me. I see ponies acting happy all the time but not a lot of them actually seem to try to be happy. Well, that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m somepony who wants to be happy. You… you sound like somepony who gave up a long time ago!” Rarity didn’t move for a long time, simply staring at the door not making a move for it. She could see her reflection in the glass window and it was staring back at her with angry eyes silently telling her to leave. Then she unfurrowed her brow and realized that the reflection was truly her own. She lowered herself to the floor and ran a hoof through her mane. “Do you… really think I can be happy again?” The other Rarity smiled at her and walked around to look her in the face. She took her chin and lifted it so they were eye level. “That only comes with help. Nopony is an island.” Rarity felt tears well up in her eyes and the other quickly wiped them away. “Tears don’t suit you. You’ll ruin your mascara.” Rarity let out a choked laugh and the other joined in. They sat there on the floor of the boutique laughing and talking well into the night. ===E8DB “No. WAY! You’re a Wonderbolt!?” “Got that right!” The other Rainbow flew excitedly around her squeeing in delight as she checked over every inch of her uniform. “The stripes! The goggles! The…” Her eyes widened as she saw the medal pinned to Rainbow’s chest. “Oh my gosh! Are you… a captain?” Rainbow smirked and rubbed the back of her head bashfully. “Yeah.” “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” The other Rainbow cried in joy and slumped to a comfy cloud chair, throwing her hooves over her head. “That is just too cool! I mean, I’m gonna be one one day anyway, but its nice to know all the me’s out there are just as cool as I am.” Rainbow laughed in response and checked out the house the other Rainbow had brought her to. It was very nice and much more spacious than she was expecting. “You wanna snack?” the other Rainbow asked. “I’ve got some haycakes in the kitchen.” Rainbow shook her hoof dismissively. “Nah, I’m cool. Just a little… overwhelmed.” The other Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I can imagine after the state you guys were in. But we’re just fine. Am I right, my Rainamigo?” Rainbow was barely listening. “Hm? Oh, yeah, sure.” The other Rainbow finally gave her a concerned look. “Everything okay?” Rainbow stopped looking around and decided to sit down in a comfy chair across from her. “This is a weird question but… do you live alone?” The other Rainbow raised an eyebrow but shrugged. “Yeah. Ever since I moved to Ponyville.” “Why?” The other Rainbow blinked then bit her lip. “Well, the truth is I wanted to live in Canterlot. You know, to be closer to the Wonderbolts. But you would not believe how much it costs to live there.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I got a feeling.” “If you don’t mind me asking, why did you bring it up?” Rainbow blinked and bit her lip just like the other. “Well, I was actually recruited to the Wonderbolts really young. All I really ever knew was tight spaces and ponies living back to back. I guess I just had a hard time imagining myself living some place so big.” The other Rainbow chuckled. “It’s not so big… is it?” Rainbow looked at the high vaulted ceiling and the staircase leading upstairs. “It’s pretty big to me.” She steepled her hooves and tussled with them nervously. “You’re not lonely are you?” “Why would I be? I have so many friends! Don’t you?” Rainbow smiled weakly. “Yeah, I have a really good friend and…” she sighed as she finally decided to ask the question she’d been dreading. “Have you ever disappointed your friends?” The other Rainbow smiled like it was a joke but then saw she was serious. She set her face and scratched her head. “Um, yeah. It’s something that happens every now and again. Look, if something’s on your mind you can just come out and say it.” Rainbow paled and tried to hide her head from the embarrassment. The other Rainbow simply stared at her until she relented. “I had this friend who I wasn’t good enough to. Who I didn’t pay enough attention to or help when she needed it. A while ago that friend came back and blamed me for a lot of things. But I feel like I had no choice due to the duty I have as a Wonderbolt. I’ve been trying to deal with it in my own way but I guess its still in the back of my mind.” The other Rainbow looked at her with a confused expression. “I’m bringing this up because you’re the first genuinely nice Rainbow I’ve come across in this wacked out journey. So… what would you do?” The other Rainbow frowned as she thought hard. “Well, Twilight would say ‘try to make things right’. And Applejack would say ‘be honest about your feelings’. Pinkie would just say ‘throw her a party’.” “What would you do?” The other Rainbow hummed as she continued to think and think. Finally, she slammed her hooves together as an idea occurred. “I’d just find a way to please everypony.” Rainbow gave her a deadpan stare. “Okay, that’s fine and all to say but that’s not a real answer.” “Then I’ll make it a real answer!” Rainbow frowned at her and leaned in to talk seriously. “Real life doesn’t work like that. You can’t just make everypony happy. Somepony is going to be hurt!” “Says who?” The other Rainbow flew out of her chair and hovered over to her. “If you’re Rainbow Dash and you’ve got a problem, we don’t just fix it, we knock it out of the park! Everything we do, we do awesome, am I right?” Rainbow flew out of her chair and got in her face. “Argh! You’re such a child!” “Well, you’re a sourpuss!” “Dreamer!” “Doubter!” They locked eyes for a moment then the other Rainbow broke out in laughter. “What’s so funny?” “I just never expected to give myself a pep talk, let alone get in an argument with myself.” Rainbow pouted but found herself laughing as well. They both shared a laugh and fell back into their seats. “I know you’re right,” the other Rainbow muttered. Rainbow was quiet as she spoke. “The real world can be pretty hard. But I guess that’s the difference between me and you. I grew up always looking forward toward that real world, you were born into it. Maybe you’ve just been looking back from past all those limits that you took for granted that limits can be broken. If there’s a rule to how many ponies can be happy around you then I say you break that rule.” Rainbow sat there in silence for a moment then slowly smiled. “You’re not a professional speaker.” “Whatever! You get the gist!” Rainbow giggled. “Yeah.” They stayed there talking all night, about dreams, about duty, and about the future and what it held. /^(*vv*)^\ Every animal in Fluttershy’s cottage was huddled in a corner. Flutterbat sat idly on the couch as she swung her legs back and forth in wait for Fluttershy to return from the kitchen. “Do you take sugar in your tea?” she called. “Sugar?” Fluttershy stuck her head out of the kitchen and flushed. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even ask. Do you even want tea?” Flutterbat cocked her head and thought about it. “Fruit, please.” Fluttershy smiled and chuckled. “Okay.” She returned a moment later with a tray with a tea cup and basket of oranges. She saw all her animals huddled together in the corner when she set the tray down. “You all are being silly. She’s perfectly safe… I assume.” She leaned in to whisper to Flutterbat privately. “You don’t eat small animals do you?” Flutterbat shook her head. “That’s good.” She picked up an orange and sunk her teeth into it, sucking it dry in under a minute. “Good!” she exclaimed. Fluttershy beamed. “I’m glad you like it. Applejack has cousins all over Equestria that send her fruit and she just doesn’t know what to do with it all. I’m glad somepony likes those oranges. I’m not too partial to them myself.” Flutterbat stopped sucking and cocked her head at her. “Why accept then?” Fluttershy waved her hoof. “I didn’t want to be a bother. Besides, it’s always good to help a friend.” Flutterbat lowered her next orange and sighed. “Oh, is it not a good one?” “No. Flutterbat just… having trouble.” Fluttershy set her tea cup down and listened closely. “About what?” “Helping friends. Flutterbat feels… conflict. Live whole life alone with nothing but bat friends. So Flutterbat gets excited to make new ones on adventure. See pretty scary stuff but we fight and we win. Gotten kind of used to it. So much that Flutterbat almost… doesn’t want to go home.” Fluttershy quietly listened as she continued. “So lonely back home. Memories everywhere Flutterbat look. It hurts here.” She held her hooves in front of her heart and crossed them. “But with others, Flutterbat not feel so hurt here. Flutterbat want to help her friends. Still, they all say how they go away at some point. Will Flutterbat have to go too?” Fluttershy looked at her coffee table for a moment as she seemed to ponder her response. “I really can’t say I’ve ever had that problem. Sure, I always felt uncomfortable up in Cloudsdale but when I found a new home here in Ponyville I simply fell in love with it. I found the place I wanted to be a long time ago. So I can’t imagine what it must be like to find that place and have to give it up.” Flutterbat’s head sunk. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t have a choice.” Flutterbat looked up at her with a curious expression. “What I mean is that if those others are your friends then they’ll feel the same way. I can’t say for certain if or how you would stay together but if you’re all like us then I know you can think of a way.” Flutterbat smiled at her and Fluttershy smiled back in kind. Just then one of Fluttershy’s bats that had been hunting all night finally flew through the window and found a perch on Flutterbat’s arm. She raised it level and let the little creature hang upside down as it yawned and folded its wings. Fluttershy giggled. “I think he likes you.” Flutterbat giggled as well and smiled fondly at the bat. “Maybe Flutterbat just a little homesick. But that okay, right?” “Right.” They stayed up all night talking as the animals slowly came out of hiding and got used to the house guest. They talked and Flutterbat told stories. Stories that frightened. Stories that made them laugh. Stories that made them cry. /|/|/PP/|/|/ A cannon fired into the air and the other Pinkie Pie jumped into the rain of confetti. “Welcome to PONYVILLE!! You are gonna love it here! What am I saying? You’re me, of course you’d love it!” Pinkie smiled at her as her host bounced happily around the small room. At first she wanted to bake a cake for her but the kitchen was closed since it was so late and the other Pinkie didn’t want to wake the twins sleeping in their room. So both Pinkies had retired to her own room upstairs. “I think you might still be a little loud,” Pinkie whispered. The other Pinkie froze in midair and zipped up her mouth before lightly falling on the bed. “Sorry,” she whispered. Pinkie giggled as she felt something ticklish on her hoof. She lifted it to find a small green toothless alligator clinging to her. “Gummy! That’s no way to say hello to guests.” “It’s fine,” Pinkie laughed as she tickled under Gummy’s chin. “He’s kind of cute.” “You don’t have a Gummy of you’re own?” Pinkie shook her head sadly. “Not a lot of time for a pet when you’re a superhero.” She paused as the other Pinkie seemed to have stopped moving. She was staring at her with stars in her eyes. “You’re a superhero?” “That’s right.” The other Pinkie trotted in place excitedly biting her tongue. “Do something cool! Do something cool!” Pinkie frowned but rolled her eyes. “Okay. Why don’t you blink?” The other Pinkie obliged and when she opened them a moment later Pinkie was in her hero outfit. A white bodysuit with purple lightning stripes and balloons. The other Pinkie’s jaw dropped to the floor. “That’s amazing!!” She clamped her mouth as she realized how loud she was being. “I mean… wooooooooooooowww. I mean, I’m pretty fast, but not as much as Rainbow Dash. And Twilight can even teleport. Oh! What are your friends like?” “My friends?” Pinkie asked back. “Um, they’re all heroes too.” The other Pinkie grinned wildly. “That is so cool! Fighting bad guys and being a team. Going on adventures! It all sounds super duper amazing!” “Yeah, it… was.” Pinkie drifted off as her mind seemed to drift somewhere else. “But I think I might have messed it all up.” The other Pinkie finally calmed down and cocked her head at her. “What do you mean?” Pinkie hung her head and rubbed her shoulder mournfully. “I got so caught up in trying to help a friend that I kind of shut out a lot of others. Don’t get me wrong, I love the ponies I’m with but my friends back home are almost family and now… now…” She bit her lip as a horrible thought ached inside her. Was Twilight even alright? They left so fast that she didn’t know. She raised her head and saw that the other Pinkie was looking at her with concern now. “I really shouldn’t be throwing all this on you. I’m sorry.” “No, don’t be,” the other Pinkie replied cheerfully. “If you can’t talk to yourself about these things, who can you talk to?” Pinkie snickered and they both shared a laugh. “I know about family and friends. I’m so close to all of them its hard to distinguish the two sometimes. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Everypony is only as close as they want to be, and I want to be close to everypony!” Pinkie smiled wearily at that. “I used to try to be like that. I hope I still can be.” “Well, what’s stopping you?” Pinkie raised an eyebrow at her. “It may be hard to make friends but you just have to keep on failing and succeeding. I know it can be tough to handle friends and family, but if you’re anything like me then I know you can handle it.” She gave her a playful wink. Pinkie smirked at her. “That’s pretty wise for me.” “Years of experience.” “…we are the same age, right?” The other Pinkie blinked then darted her eyes back and forth. “Of course… right?” “…each of us say our ages on three?” “Okay.” “One… two… THREE!” ---<^^>--- “It’s just so fascinating!” Mare Do-Well watched from the floor as Twilight tucked Suntrix into her bed on the level above. The unicorn had brought them both to her home in the library tree, the smell of books reminding Mare Do-Well of home. Suntrix had immediately lost consciousness when they arrived and both mares carried her over. Now it was almost morning. Spike the dragon slept soundly in a small bed by the foot of Twilight’s. Mare Do-Well was glad since she really didn’t feel like dealing with any more questions than the ones she would get from this Twilight. “I mean alternate dimensions! Parallel realities! The scientific leaps this could have in the field of magic is just unprecedented.” She turned from the bed and looked down at Mare Do-Well. “And to have another me here as well! I have so many questions!” “Um, sure.” Mare Do-Well rubbed her arm uncomfortably. The room felt so different and yet the same. The same feeling of an academic living here. The neatness of the books stacked on the shelves. It made her feel uneasy for everything to be so close to what she knew and yet so different. But she had been travelling the multiverse for months. Why would she begin to feel like this now? Twilight walked down the steps gazing at her with wide wondrous eyes full of curiosity. “Okay, first question. How exactly do you travel between dimensions?” Mare Do-Well didn’t respond as she seemed to daze off looking at her. Twilight was about to ask again when she shook her head. “Sorry, i-it’s mostly Fili-Sec- I mean Pinkie that takes us places. Something to do with her speed and vibrations, I guess.” Twilight’s eyes widened even further and she gasped. “Why didn’t I see that?! Eweclid’s theory of transmagical properties theorizes that the world operates on a harmonic frequency! If that’s true for every world then adding just a little bit of vibrational occurence should shift a pony to another plane!” She got up in her face and Mare Do-Well could feel her cheeks heat up beneath her mask. Excited, the mare ran to her desk to check her notes. “I’ve been studying this for a while since the alicorn arrived.” Mare Do-Well raised an eyebrow. “So who is this alicorn?” And why did she look so familiar? Twilight continued to pull out papers from her desk as she talked. “She just arrived one day. She’s been around since I came to town so everypony in town knows her. Princess Celestia vouches for her. She says she can feel the warm thoughts emanating from her.” Mare Do-Well twitched slightly at the mention of Celestia but shrugged it off. This one was probably good. “But other than that, she’s kind of a mystery. She keeps to herself at the altar site.” “Altar site?” Twilight found what she was looking for and pulled out a very long scroll, turning back to her. “Yeah. The Altar of Harmony. A giant white altar carved from a giant white tree trunk. She lets the fillies and colts come every day to see it and tell them stories but other than that keeps it pretty safe. My friends and I hardly have to do anything anymore.” She unfurled the scroll and it rolled out across the floor of the library. Mare Do-Well stepped back as the end reached her hooves and she studied the old parchment. It was a diagram showing many circles stacked on top of each other with a line that intersected all of them. Equations and symbols were scrawled in the corners and margins with notes and ideas thrown in. “Is this that theory you were talking about?” Twilight rolled her eyes and laughed. “No, this is what I came up with by combining hundreds of theories. The alicorn likes to describe the multiverse like a string of pearls but I think it’s more complicated than that.” “How so?” “Well, a string indicates a circle and a circle can’t be infinite. It’s logically impossible. A circle has to have a starting point and an ending point.” “What makes you think it’s infinite?” Twilight seemed to think for a moment. “Well, why wouldn’t it be?” Mare Do-Well sighed and turned from the scroll. “Sorry, just thinking about all that hurts my head.” And string of pearls, why did that sound familiar? “Oh,” Twilight sounded slightly dejected. “No, I guess you would be pretty tired of talking about all this stuff. I’m betting you’ve been talking about it for a while.” “Why would you think that?” “Well, because you’re me, right?” Twilight gave her a pleasant smile. “Speaking of which, you can take off that mask.” “I’d rather not.” Twilight frowned and stepped a little closer. “Why? Do you have hat mane?” Mare Do-Well took a step back in return. “It’s… not that. It, um, just takes a while to get the mask and wrap back on. I’d rather not have to deal with the hassle.” Twilight narrowed her eyes as she studied her, walking closer and making her back up until she bumped the shelves behind her. “A mask. A dark outfit. A cape. Are you some kind of superhero?” Mare Do-Well stood there stiff as Twilight’s face was close to hers. She was looking right into her eyes. So that was why she felt so uncomfortable. Those eyes. The other Twilights she’d met all had a hint of madness to them. Some kind of anger or obsession obscuring it. But these eyes were pure. No resentment. No frustration. Just simple curiosity. Mare Do-Well hung her head. “No… I’m no hero.” Twilight raised an eyebrow but then shrugged. “Well, then I guess everypony dresses like that in your world?” Mare Do-Well couldn’t help but laugh at that. “More than you know.” Twilight didn’t seem to understand and just went back to her scroll. She rolled it up and walked it over to the desk once more, Mare Do-Well watching her the entire time. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “What?” Twilight turned as if she’d heard. “Did you say something?” Mare Do-Well shook her head slowly. “No.” Twilight was about to put the scroll away when she reached out a hoof. “Wait!” Twilight stopped. “I wouldn’t mind looking at it a little bit more. There are some theories I wouldn’t mind bouncing off you.” Twilight smiled again and unfurled the scroll. The two sat down and began to talk. About the theories of this world. About the multiverse. About life. !@#$%^&*&^%$#@! Ditzy stood vigilant over the altar. She stood perfectly still as to remain concentrated. Not only was she protecting this place but all of Ponyville, just in case he made an early appearance. Her eyelids drifted as weariness was beginning to set in. Transporting eight ponies through worlds had done a great deal to her and she needed to rest, but Noteworthy could come at any moment. She needed to be ready. She was so lost in thought she didn’t even notice the sudden appearance of a blue face in front of her. “You don’t look so good.” She gasped and threw up a magical golden barrier between herself and him but the stallion simply rolled his eyes and walked through. “Noteworthy, don’t come any closer.” “I’m not even really here,” Mr. 4 waved his ethereal hoof through a tree to show her. “Yet.” She looked into his eyes and saw how red they were. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks and his demeanor had certainly changed since the last time they’d seen each other. He was more stooped, his voice more callous. “I found that mare that felt like you. She had the same magic but she wasn’t hiding it. I brought her and her friends here so-” “You found who?” He frowned as if caught dazing then his ears twitched. “Oh, right. Those ponies. This is better. I don’t have to deliver them, their just being served on a silver platter.” She looked at him with concern. “I can help you, really I can. We may not be able to go home but-” “Home?” His gaze drifted off like he was having trouble thinking, his ears twitching as if listening to something she couldn’t hear again. “Right, home. I want to go home. That’s what I want. I just want to…” He blinked and noticed her once more. “Ditzy, just listen to reason. We break down the seal he made and we can all go home!” “That’s not what he would have wanted.” Her voice was shaky as Noteworthy slowly came closer to her, his disheveled appearance unsettling her. His face contorted in anger. “It’s always about him, isn’t it? You know he probably doesn’t even know we’re alive anymore? You’re schoolfilly crush is never going to pan out!” Ditzy stopped moving and stared at him wide eyed. Tears began to form in her eyes and she glared back at him. “It wasn’t his fault we ended up here.” Noteworthy’s ears twitched again and he sneered at her angrily. “NO! It’s your fault, isn’t it? You slipped, you fell into the crack and when I tried to help you pulled me in too!” Ditzy was shouting at him now. “I didn’t mean to! I searched everywhere for you!” “But I was nowhere, was I? Because you put me there!” There were tears in his eyes too. “Damn it, I loved you so much but all you cared about was him. But who’s here with you now? Not the Doctor, that’s for sure!” He got closer and Ditzy flinched but his body couldn’t react to her so she allowed his hoof to come close to her cheek. “Even when you were flawed I thought you were beautiful. I only came along to be with you. I didn’t care about the adventures. …Come home with me.” Ditzy shut her eyes tight, tears running down her cheeks as she clenched her teeth. “I can’t.” He pulled back from her and looked her in the eyes. “Then wait for me here. Because I’m coming.” Mr. 4 opened his eyes and he was back in the ice cave. To his surprise, he found a bright pink face in front of his, the smile stretched impossibly wide. “So what’s the situation, big blue? Are we moving out or what?” He got up and looked at the six around him. “We’re going.” The next moment the cave was empty and an enormous gust of icy wind rushed in.