It was a calm and peaceful evening in Ponyville. The sun was slowly setting in the sky, shining warm shades of red and orange across the town. Meanwhile, the moon was just peeking over the horizon, ready to take its place in the night sky that was to follow. Some ponies were still out and about, trotting down the streets of Ponyville or talking to somepony about the latest gossip, while others had already returned to their homes in order to rest. However, inside a tall, crystal castle situated near the edge of town, a certain young alicorn had her head buried deep in a book.
Princess Twilight Sparkle sat in the middle of a large study room that was lined with dozens of bookshelves, each stuffed with hundreds of books. A few books, however, weren't on their proper shelves, but instead, piled up on top of the table Twilight was sitting at. To her right, a large mirror hooked up to an assortment of scientific instruments and doohickeys stood proudly, taking up a good portion of the room.
Twilight scribbled a few notes with her quill on a nearby sheet of parchment. Then, she sighed happily as she set the quill down, used her magic to return the books to the shelves, and rolled up her parchment.
"Whew, what an intense study session!" said Twilight as she stretched her legs. "But I'm all done! Finally! Now it's time for dinner. I wonder what Spike cooked tonight..." However, before she could get up and leave the room, she suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the mirror.
"Huh?" Twilight looked towards the mirror, which in reality was a mystical portal that led to another world. Sure enough, as the gadgets connected to the mirror whirred and dinged, the surface of the mirror began to turn magenta, then twist and distort.
"Sunset?" asked Twilight nervously. "I-Is that you?" Suddenly, a purple blur shot out of the portal, crashing directly into Twilight's face. She was sent flying backwards, then collided with a bookshelf behind her. Dozens of books fell off of their shelves and buried Twilight, though many of them smacked her squarely on the head.
"Owww..." groaned Twilight, rubbing her head with her hoof. After regaining her bearings, she slowly began levitating the books off of her and placing them back on the bookshelves. As she did so, she noticed another pony was buried underneath the books as well. Twilight dug out the newcomer, expecting it to be a yellow unicorn with a red-and-yellow mane. However, she was surprised to see that it was a purple unicorn instead. In fact, this pony had the same mane style as Twilight, and even had the same cutie mark on her flank. Could she be...
"Ugh, what happened?" muttered Sci-Twi. Her vision was blurry, meaning her glasses must've fallen off. Still lying on the ground, she slowly felt the area around her with her two hands in an attempt to retrieve her visual aid. She was a little puzzled at first when she felt nothing but books around her, but eventually she touched something that resembled her glasses. She attempted to grasp them, but found that she was having difficulty doing so.
"What the- what's wrong with my hands?" wondered Sci-Twi. Then, her glasses slowly lifted up from the ground by themselves and rested gently on her face. As her vision returned to normal, she noticed an odd creature standing in front of her with a quizzical look. It looked like a pony, except it had a horn on its forehead and wings on its back. It had purple skin and hair colors that were oddly similar to Sci-Twi's. Her eyes were also the same deep shade of purple. Could she be...
Sci-Twi attempted to stand up, but found it near-impossible to stand on two feet. She crashed back down onto the floor, wincing in pain. The pony also winced. After shaking her head a bit, Sci-Twi decided to sit on the ground for the time being. She and the purple pony awkwardly stared at each other for a few seconds. Both Twilights forced a smile at the other. Finally, the human Twilight decided to speak up.
"Umm... are you-?"
"Yes," interrupted the pony in front of her. "It's me, Twilight. Well, the other one."
Sci-Twi had met her pony counterpart from the other world once before, except that time, it was the alternate Twilight who had visited her in the human world. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to stay very long, as she had important royal duties in Equestria to attend to, so Sci-Twi still didn't know much about her.
"S-so," stuttered Sci-Twi. She looked down upon her body, which was now that of an equine, then back up at Twilight. "This is what you, I mean, we look like in this world?"
"Hehe yes, that's correct," giggled the alicorn. "I know it takes some getting used to, but you'll adjust soon enough. Although..." Her voice took on a more serious tone. "You don't seem to have wings like I do."
The human-turned-pony looked behind her, noting her smooth and wingless backside.
"Hmm, well, during your visit to my world, didn't you mention that you were born a unicorn, but later got your wings after completing some sort of magic spell?" recalled Sci-Twi.
"Ah, yes, that's right!" exclaimed the princess. "That could explain it."
Sci-Twi's heart sunk. The fact that this Twilight had earned her wings meant that she had accomplished feats far greater than Sci-Twi could've ever imagined. Meanwhile, the only things she had done recently were stealing her friends' powers, turning into a raging she-demon, and almost ripping apart the very fabric of time and space. Oh, and she had just yelled at all her friends and lost every single one of them. Oblivious to Sci-Twi's sadness, Princess Twilight continued.
"You also seem to be wearing glasses," noted the princess.
Great, this Twilight is better than me AND has better eyesight.
"W-well, I wish I didn't have to wear them," stammered Sci-Twi, crestfallen. "They make me look so... nerdy."
"Nonsense!" insisted Twilight. "In fact, I think they look kinda cute on you." Both Twilights blushed. Sci-Twi was, of course, embarrassed by the compliment, while Twilight was embarrassed by the realization she was essentially complimenting herself.
"Ahem, anyways!" laughed the princess nervously. "What brings you to Equestria?"
"Actually, it was by accident," admitted Sci-Twi. "I tripped and then fell through the portal..." Her voice trailed off, blushing again. Her counterpart let out a giggle.
"It's okay, it's always nice to see a friend again," smiled the alicorn.
"Friend..." contemplated Sci-Twi. She wondered how this pony, whom she had only met once before, could call her a friend. It ticked her off that Twilight casually called her a friend in the same way her human friends forgave her without much thought.
Doesn't anyone take things seriously at all? Sci-Twi fumed.
"So how are things?" asked Princess Twilight. "Are you hanging out with your friends more? What sorts of activities do you do together? Do you all still play music? What sorts of food do you all eat? Oh, and how about-" As Twilight spoke in an increasingly faster and more excited tone, Sci-Twi interrupted her by putting her hoof over the alicorn's muzzle. Considering the fact that she didn't have any friends anymore, each question made Sci-Twi cringe on the inside.
"They're, umm, great!" lied Sci-Twi while faking a smile. Of course, things definitely weren't "great". They were far from "great", but Sci-Twi didn't really want to tell Twilight about her problems.
She'll probably just try to brush off my frustrations and regrets like my friends did, thought Sci-Twi.
Then again... she reconsidered, I am face-to-face with myself right now. Even though I don't know her very well, she is still me. Maybe I should tell Twilight, I mean, myself about all this. After all, if I can't trust myself, who can I trust? Sci-Twi took a deep breath in, then slowly let it out.
"Actually, things are not great. The truth is..."
Sci-Twi explained everything to the alicorn princess. She talked about her nightmares, the frustration she felt due to her friends not taking her seriously, and the regret she now carried after yelling at them. As she explained her situation, the other Twilight sat down next to her. She nodded silently while looking at Sci-Twi with a serious, yet gentle gaze. When Sci-Twi was done, her counterpart thought quietly to herself for a few seconds before answering her.
"Well firstly, I agree that your friends shouldn't have glossed over your problems without carefully considering what you needed from them," began Twilight. "Just telling somepony 'I forgive you' doesn't magically solve anything, and it isn't fair for them to assume that that's what's best for you." Sci-Twi nodded silently.
"However, it's often difficult to know what somepony needs if you're not close enough to them," continued Twilight. "I know it's been a few weeks since you all started hanging out together, but have you really given them the chance to get to you know you better?"
Sci-Twi thought about this for a minute or so. Twilight had a point. Although they had all gone out for ice cream, movies, and sleepovers many times, Twilight had never truly opened up to her friends. All this time, she had been so worried about her past mistakes and how people viewed her that she constantly kept her true thoughts a secret. Sci-Twi shook her head in response.
"In that case, it's also not fair for you to expect your friends to know exactly how to address your problems," reasoned Twilight. Sci-Twi buried her head in her ha- hooves, sighing.
"You're right," conceded Sci-Twi, looking back up at her alicorn counterpart. "But... how can I get close to them? They all probably hate me now."
"Well, it's going to take time," admitted Twilight. "First, you'll need to talk to them about your recent argument before friendship-building can continue. Then, you'll have to slowly get closer to them and open up to them. Of course, don't try to force it. Only do it at a pace you feel comfortable with. Finally, when you think you're ready, tell them about your problems, and hopefully, they will know how to help you out."
"What if they don't want to talk to me anymore?" worried Sci-Twi. "Then I won't even be able to get past step one."
"If they really do see you as a friend, and trust me, I know they do, they will definitely want to patch things up."
Sci-Twi sat next to, well, herself as her mind absorbed everything Twilight had said. It wasn't going to be easy, going through all those steps, but Sci-Twi knew Twilight was right. After silently thinking to herself, she turned towards Twilight.
"Thanks, Twilight," smiled Sci-Twi. "I'm glad you took the time to really consider my thoughts and think about what I was going through."
"Anytime, Twilight," assured the princess. She returned Sci-Twi's smile. However, Sci-Twi's expression turned into one of concern.
"But what about my nightmares?" asked Sci-Twi. "How do I stop them? I know we said friendship and forgiveness take time, but I feel like I'm going to die of sleep deprivation before I have a chance to get closer to any of my friends. Is there a way for me to stop them right now?"
"Hmm..." thought Twilight. "Well, I do have an idea. Here in Equestria, we have a princess who, amongst other things, enters ponies' dreams and helps them overcome their nightmares. In addition, she knows what it's like to be tormented by endless nightmares." Twilight decided to leave out the part about Luna creating her own nightmares in the first place.
"Perhaps she would be able to give you some advice on how to stop your nightmares," finished Twilight. Sci-Twi's eyes glowed with excitement.
"Y-yes! That sounds like a great idea!" exclaimed Sci-Twi. "So when can we go visit her?"
"We can go right now!"
"We don't need a royal invitation or something?"
"Psshhh, nah. Since I'm also a princess, I can see her whenever I want. And I'm sure she'd be more than willing to help you!"
Suddenly, two loud grumbles sounded and echoed throughout the room. Both Twilights looked down at their own stomachs simultaneously, then blushed and smiled sheepishly at each other.
"Dinner first?"