Rarity tapped her hoof impatiently. She was pursing her lips so hard she could have used them to die-press steel. The glare she was giving the castle's front door could cut through titanium.
"Rares, give it a rest," Applejack said. "She's only twenty minutes late."
"She was twenty minutes late half an hour ago," Rarity said. "Don't think I've forgotten how tardy you were!"
Applejack backed away. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all elected to remain silent on the matter, although by the look on her face, Twilight was definitely siding with Rarity. Punctuality was very important, especially in the Castle of Friendship.
The large double-doors creaked open. A small rainbow maned head peered inside.
Tragically for Rainbow Dash, Rarity was just slightly out of sight.
"Psst? AJ? Is Rarity around?"
Applejack made quick cutting motions across her neck. Rainbow blanched.
"You're late," Rarity snapped with a voice that could freeze solar systems.
"I was, uh, busy with..."
"Busy with what?"
"We did have a meeting scheduled..." Twilight pointed out, visibly not very impressed with Rainbow's timekeeping abilities.
Rainbow's eyebrow twitched.
"Like you needed me to be here to start talking and stuff," she muttered, trotting into the throne room.
"Excuse me, darling?"
Rainbow groaned. "Ugh!" In an instant, her mane changed shape, flowing into a neat, curly style that would have, for a normal pony, taken at least twenty minutes worth of brushing. "Oh, I'm Rarity," she said, her voice patterns matching the fashionista's speaking habits perfectly. "I find it positively dreadful when ponies are even the slightest bit late, even when I don't have anything better to do!"
Rarity spluttered. "Was that supposed to be me?!" she exploded. "It's absolutely..."
"Dreadful! I don't sound anywhere near as stuck up," Rainbow went on.
"Ooh, that's really good!" Pinkie exclaimed. "How'd you make your eyelashes grow longer?"
"It is not 'really good'!" Rarity continued.
"Well, it's not bad," Twilight pointed out, curiosity overriding her annoyance at Rainbow's lack of punctuality.
Rainbow ruffled her mane, getting it back to its normal, unkempt shape.
"Sorry, that just kinda came out," she said.
"I didn't know you were good at imitatin' ponies," Applejack said.
"I saw her do it once!" Pinkie said. "She did Twilight really well!"
"Can you do all of us?" Twilight asked.
Rainbow scratched the back of her neck. "Well, I mean, I prefer some over others..."
"Oh yeah?" Applejack asked. "Do me."
Rainbow coughed.
"I mean, imitate me. Is what I meant."
"Right," Rainbow said. She shook her head, her mane becoming more rounded and soft. It even glistened more golden than usual. She rolled her neck, easing out the cracks, and that's when Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy all felt very, distinctly uncomfortable.
"What's the deal?" Applejack asked. Or rather, one of them asked.
"That's... a really good imitation," Rarity said, her anger subsiding completely in the wake of utter amazement.
"What? She don't look nothin' like me!" Applejack pointed out.
"Well, neither do you," said the other Applejack.
"We're as different as..."
"...Apples 'n oranges!"
"That's my line!"
"Then how come I said it, sugarcube?"
The feeling the other four ponies felt was an odd one. It was the sum of a thousand tiny things that their minds couldn't properly reconcile, like their eyes telling them that there were two Applejacks whilst their brains said that there was only one. It was the small gestures that Rainbow had to have been imitating that were practically twisting their arms to make them think that she was Applejack.
What was truly eerie, however, was their voices. There was no denying they were identical. A perfect, complete match.
Twilight grunted. With focus, she could make out the differences Rainbow was subtly compelling her to ignore. Things like the cutie mark, the wings, and coat colour.
"You're the real Rainbow," she said, sweat beading on her forehead. "How'd you do that?"
"Misdirection," Applejack said. "Y'all can't see the forest for the trees." She ran her hoof across her mane, ruffling it back to normal. Applejack became Rainbow once more. "Pretty good, huh?"
"Well, I weren't impressed," Applejack said.
"Of course you can't tell," Rainbow said. "You spend all day not looking at yourself."
Applejack coughed.
"I mean, not that I spend all day looking at yourself either. I just, like, do it more. Because my eyes are outside your head."
"Right."
"Right."
"Seriously, though," Twilight interjected, "How?"
"Well, I just, like, watch. You pick up a lot of things when you watch ponies whilst flying," Rainbow said. "Like how ponies walk, how they flick their mane, how they lean to the side, how they kinda tilt their head when they're not quite sure if somepony is..."
"Spyin'?" Applejack asked.
"Passing by unannounced," Rainbow finished. "AJ just happens to be outside a lot."
"And you just happen to fly above my farm a lot."
"R-right."
"Right."
"Ooh! Do Rainbow!" Pinkie said.
Applejack and Rainbow both coughed.
"I mean, imitate Rainbow."
"Sure," Applejack said, and cleared her throat. "Ahem. Uh... I can't do the mane change thing she does, okay?"
"That's fine," Rainbow said. "It's a trick."
Applejack tried loosening her shoulders. "Um, 'kay. Here goes."
Pinkie bounced up and down, excited.
"Uh... hey guys! I'm Rainbow Dash! I'm the fastest pony in Equestria to spend all day watching AJ work. I sure love keeping an eye on her every day, because I'm the most awesome pony ever! I'm totally not lonely."
"I'm not..."
"All I'd have to do is fly down and say hi, but underneath my tough, super-cool exterior, I'm kinda shy, so instead I just keep quiet and hope AJ notices my subtle hints."
"I don't..."
Applejack cleared her throat again. "Sure you don't, sugarcube."
"Well, the voice was spot on..." Twilight pointed out. "Come to think of it, you do have rather similar voices..."
"Sugar, instead of spendin' all day watchin' me, feel free to say hi from time to time," Applejack said.
Rainbow had evidently decided to role-play as Twilight at this point, as her blush turned her a bright shade of purple.
"Okay..."