Sunset groaned and rolled over, not daring to open her eyes. She could feel that she was on a thin mattress, covered with a scratchy blanket. Probably a dungeon. She deserved it and she knew it. Not for the filly thing - that wasn’t her fault - but definitely for breaking a magical artifact, defying direct orders from Princess Celestia, and circumventing the castle wards.
She was sure at least one of those was a crime. She wasn’t sure which. But she’d just had to shoot for the moon and spread herself out enough that she’d been guaranteed to commit at least one or two crimes worth imprisoning her for.
“I hope I get more than bread and water in the royal dungeon…” Sunset muttered.
“Unfortunately, hospital food is worse,” said a calm, commanding voice that made Sunset’s eyes snap open. Celestia was sitting next to her bed, looking with the deep remorse of an immortal discovering a new depth to which mortals could sink. This gaze was not directed at her student, but at a cup of tea clutched in her magic. “I think these tea leaves have been used before, and I’m a princess. I hate to think of what they serve the normal patients.”
A crowd of excuses and explanations formed in Sunset's mind, leaving her speechless until panic shoved to the forefront and took over Sunset's mouth, grabbing a hoofful of denial and throwing it out there. “Look, I don’t know what the guards said, but I-”
“Calm down, Sunset,” Celestia sighed. “I’m not going to throw you into the dungeons."
Sunset still looked worried.
"Or into the street," Celestia specified. Her student relaxed, and to make sure she didn't relax too much, the alicorn finished with a firm "Yet."
Sunset looked down at her hooves. Or the hospital bed, at least. The scratchy blanket covered her hooves, so she was looking at that, instead.
“I do, however, expect a formal apology for breaking my rules, and as punishment you’re going to spend the next few days determining exactly what you did to the mirror and that filly.”
“Who was she?” Sunset asked. It took a few seconds to remember the other question to ask. “Is she okay?”
“At least you’re worried about her." Though Celestia suspected it was more polite than worried, and only even that because Sunset was in too much trouble to get away with being impolite. “Her name is Twilight Sparkle. Apparently, she is the little sister of one of the Guard recruits being trained in the castle."
“I didn't hurt her, right?” Sunset was pretty sure they wouldn't be having a polite conversation if it was the case, but it didn't hurt to ask.
“A little shaken up but otherwise healthy, by all accounts. Princess Cadance is taking her home. Now, let’s talk about that book you had and the spell you were trying to use…” Celestia’s gaze hardened, and Sunset groaned, lifting the sheet up to hide her face.
The Princess' disappointment was even worse than being yelled at.
Cadance was used to Twilight’s panic attacks and how to deal with them. This was good, because right now the filly was having the biggest, most explosive tantrum and panic attack she’d ever seen.
Literally explosive, in the case of the small fireball the filly had fired off. That had managed to set a guard’s tail on fire. He wasn’t hurt, but he’d have a rather ugly bob cut for a while. The spark had only managed to make Twilight panic even more, like she’d never set something on fire before (it was such a common occurance that the Sparkles had their own direct line to the fire department).
Twilight was currently catatonic with terror, which was something of a blessing since it made carrying her much easier. Even with her telekinesis backed by alicorn magic, the filly was very capable of slipping out of Cadance's grasp when she really wanted to.
“Don’t worry, we’re almost home,” Cadance said, trying to be reassuring.
“I don’t- I don’t wanna go!” Twilight mumbled, putting a surprising amount of force into the barely-spoken words. Foals were good at that. It probably came with the talent at temper tantrums and pouting.
“I know you’re not feeling good, but once we get you back home and you have a nap you’ll be right as rain. That’s a pegasus saying.” Cadance gave her a smile. Twilight’s pout only got bigger in response.
“I don’t wanna go!” Twilight repeated, with the assurance of a foal that saying the same thing over and over again gave it more weight and importance. Then again, some of the politicians in court seemed to have the same idea - though they tended to be much less direct and use more words to say less.
“I know it’s been a tough day,” Cadance said softly. She could see the house now, a stately manor not far from the castle and, thankfully, able to be reached without having to use main roads. Carrying an upset filly that might go off at any time would not be very safe while pushing through a crowd, for almost exactly the same reason one wouldn't wander onto a hoofball field whilst juggling live grenades.
“I wanna stay with the nice pony!” Twilight yelled. Cadance winced as she felt a surge of magic against her own aura. A pink spark lept from the filly to Cadance's horn, nearly collapsing her spell.
Cadance really hoped she wouldn’t end up accidentally being set on fire. Sunset had done that enough on purpose with her own pranks.
“Those bad horses were hurting her! I want her, not you!” Twilight yelled, her voice getting shrill. Cadance looked around to make sure ponies weren’t staring. They were. Cadance had a sudden vision of pictures showing up in the morning paper accusing the Crown of foalnapping.
“Twilight, calm down. We’re going to see your parents. Once you settle down and feel better, we can talk about you seeing Sunset again.” Not that it was a great idea. Sunset had never been good with ponies who knew less than she did, like foals, or other ponies her age, or Cadance, or ponies older than she was… really, Sunset wasn’t very good with anypony at all. She usually got annoyed and yelled at them until they went away. Except for Celestia, of course.
Cadance pushed open the main gate and dragged Twilight inside. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep a grip on her. She was wiggly and strong, if not very well coordinated.
“Almost there…” Cadance grunted, dragging Twilight towards the doors and grabbing the bell pull with her teeth. The chime sounded and it was thankfully only a few moments before the door opened.
“Princess Cadance?” Twilight Velvet asked, tilting her head. “I wasn’t expecting you today- is that Twilight?”
“Yes… it’s a funny story, actually,” Cadance said.
“Where’s Shining Armor?” Velvet frowned.
“I’m not sure?” Cadance matched the older mare's puzzled expression.
“It’s just that he was with Twilight at the library,” Velvet explained. “I expected them to get home together.”
“He’s probably worried, then,” Cadance sighed. “She actually appeared in the palace. Some sort of magical… accident... thing.”
“An accident?” Velvet gasped, grabbing the floating filly with her hooves and lifting her up. “Is she okay? What’s this big bruise on her head?”
“Who are you?!” Twilight demanded. “I wanna go back to the nice pony!”
“What’s going on out here?” Twilight’s father pushed past Velvet.
“There was a little accident with Twilight, Mister Night Light,” Cadance said. “She’s just a little scared and confused-”
“I wanna go back to the castle with the sun pony!”
“Princess Celestia?” Night Light asked.
“I think she means Sunset Shimmer, actually,” Cadance corrected.
“I’ve heard awful stories about her,” Velvet gasped. “What did she do to my poor little Twilight?”
“I’m not really sure. Princess Celestia is looking into it, but I’m sure she’ll be fine once she gets some rest!” She smiled forcefully.
“I don’t wanna go with the strange ponies!” Twilight shouted, finally breaking free of Cadance and backing away from all three of them.
“She doesn’t recognize us!” Velvet whispered, afraid.
“It looks like a concussion with, um, some… minor amnesia,” Cadance said. “The doctors said it’ll probably go away if she gets some sleep. She still knows things, like how to speak…” though looking at her walking, she was strangely clumsy, like she wasn’t used to coordinating on four legs.
“When I get my hooves on the pony who did this-” Velvet snorted, stomping. “Was it that Sunset Shimmer?!”
“We don’t know,” Cadance said. “At this point, it’s just as likely that Twilight miscast a spell, or flared- you know how foals are at her age. With the amount of talent she has, she could have accidentally teleported herself to the castle where we found her.”
“Accidentally teleported herself that whole distance?” Night Light looked skeptical.
“With a flare? It’s possible,” Cadance shrugged. “And magical exhaustion after a flare might be why she’s having problems remembering things.”
“Who’s having problems?” The gate pushed open, Shining Armor looking inside.
“Twilight is-” Cadance started, before she saw the inquisitive purple filly standing next to him. “....Twilight is over there?”
She looked back at the filly she’d brought to the house.
“And right… there.” Cadance blinked. “Huh.”
“Why is there another me?” Twilight asked. More specifically, the Twilight next to Shining asked. Cadance felt her grasp of the situation rapidly slipping away.
“Did Twilight surge, or have any accidents, or read any strange books?” Cadance asked, quickly. “Like, maybe, forbidden tomes of ancient evil?”
“Uh… no?” Shining Armor blinked, looking up from his sister, or at least one of them, to stare at the Princess. “I mean, I was with her the whole time. I was reading her the new Daring Do book.”
“What’s going on?” the Twilight at his hooves asked, stepping closer to her double.
“Well, um, at least this means Twilight is okay?” Cadance said, trying to put a good spin on things. “Or one of them is.”
“Then who is this?” Velvet asked, pointing at the copy.
“That is… a really good question!” Cadance said. “But she really does look like Twilight, doesn’t she? I hope we didn’t just steal a filly that was visiting the palace…”
“She doesn’t just look like Twilight, they’re exactly the same,” Shining Armor said, kneeling down. “Except for that bruise. Where did you find her?”
“Well… the guards found her with Sunset Shimmer, and might have knocked Sunset out before she could tell them anything. I’m starting to think it might have been better to get the whole story before assaulting her.”
“She’s not me,” Twilight said, firmly. “I’m me.”
“We know, Twilight,” Velvet said, stepping over to the filly to nuzzle her. “But this is still a scared, confused filly. If you were scared like her, you’d want help.”
“But I’m not scared,” Twilight said. “She’s just a stranger. Send her away.”
“I don’t like her!” The copy yelled. “I wanna go back to the sun pony!”
Shining Armor looked at Cadance.
“She means Sunset Shimmer,” Cadance said.
“Why would she want to go with that mule?” Shining Armor asked. “There are monsters in Tartarus that are probably more pleasant to be around.”
“Don't use that kind of language around fillies,” Velvet chastised.
“Make her go away!” Twilight yelled. “I’m me and she isn’t!”
“We know-” Velvet started.
“You thought she was me!” Twilight yelled, louder. “But she isn’t! I was with Shining Armor! Why would you think she was me?!”
“Twilight, calm down,” Night Light said. “She’s scared.”
The mysterious filly had backed off, shivering with terror. She was looking at Twilight and the others with open terror.
“I just wanna go home,” she whispered.
“Where is home?” Cadance asked. “Do you remember?” Maybe she was just some other filly, who looked a lot like Twilight. It was distantly possible. Another filly who looked like Twilight and had that same amount of magical power.
Maybe not entirely likely, but a one in a million chance still came up once in a while.
“T-the sun pony! Sunset!” The copy looked around. “I wanna go back to her!”
“That can’t be her real home,” Velvet whispered.
“No,” Cadance agreed. “I think this is more complicated than just a lost foal.”
“Maybe you should take her back to the palace,” Velvet suggested. “Just to help her calm down. I know when Twilight gets into a mood, it’s sometimes better to just go along with what she wants.”
“Make her go away!” Twilight huffed, stomping up to her mother and pressing her head against her mother’s leg.
“Twilight, be polite,” Velvet hissed.
“She wants to go,” Twilight said. “I want her to go. You want her to go, right?”
Velvet knelt down. “Twilight, what I see is a scared little filly who needs help, no matter who she is, or what she looks like.”
“I just…” Twilight looked at the copy. “I don’t like her,” she whispered. “She’s strange. Ponies shouldn’t look like other ponies. And she feels strange!”
“Feels strange?” Velvet asked.
“I can feel it in my horn,” Twilight said, firmly. “She’s strange.”
“I wanna go back to Sunset!” the copy yelled, starting to hyperventilate.
“I’m starting to think that would be best,” Cadance sighed. “I’m very sorry for troubling you, Miss Velvet.” She started towards the scared filly. “We’ll go find Sunset, okay?”
“You promise you won’t take me to any strange places?” the copy asked, shivering where she stood.
“We’re going to go find her together,” Cadance promised. “If you stay close to me, I won’t drag you around with magic like I was before.”
“O-okay,” the copy said. She took a hesitant step, stumbling over herself. “Stupid legs…” she muttered, trying to walk and obviously having trouble with it.
“Don’t come back,” Twilight muttered. The copy froze and huffed, wiping at her eyes before stumbling up to Cadance.
“I’ll… I’ll let you know what happens,” Cadance said, looking back at the family. “I’m really sorry about this.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry about,” Velvet said, standing up and walking over to the copy. “Dear, I don’t know who you are, but I know there are ponies who are worried about you.” She lifted the copy’s chin with her hoof and smiled. “I know you’ll find where you belong.”
“T-thank you,” the copy said, blushing, finally starting to calm down.
“Cadance, could you let us know what happens?” Velvet looked up at the Princess. “I know it’s not exactly our business, but…”
“I understand,” Cadance smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep her safe.”
“Keep her safe,” Cadance mumbled, as she walked with the filly back towards the castle. She was starting to worry about her. If she wasn’t walking correctly, didn’t that mean that more could have been wrong with her than just a bump on the head? The doctor had said it looked like it was just exhaustion and maybe a mild concussion, but maybe a second opinion and some detailed scanning spells were in order.
“Where is Sunset?” the filly asked.
“Well, she had a worse bump on the head than you,” Cadance said. “So they took her to the castle hospital.” Hopefully they hadn’t already relocated her to the dungeon. “I know Princess Celestia wanted to talk to her to find out what happened.”
“I-is Sunset a bad pony?” the filly asked. “The others were… they seemed scared of her.”
“She’s not a bad pony,” Cadance said (even if she didn't entirely believe it). “She’s just, um, she’s very lonely.”
“She was nice to me,” the filly mumbled. “And she got hurt because of me.”
“Nopony is going to blame you,” Cadance smiled. “If anything, she’s the one who put you in danger. Once she’s feeling better we’re going to find out what happened and get you home. With any luck you'll feel better and be able to tell us yourself after you get a good night's rest.”
“Okay,” the filly whispered. “But if we don’t find out, can I stay with her?”
“I don’t know if she’d-” Cadance stopped. She couldn’t just tell a scared foal that she wouldn’t be wanted, because the pony she wanted to comfort her was about two shades from being a monster. “I don’t know if she can. She’s not really old enough to take care of a filly by herself. Why do you like her so much?”
“She was there when I woke up,” the filly said. “The first thing I remember is seeing her, and she looked…” the filly swallowed. “She looked like she needed a hug.”
Cadance smiled. “You have very good instincts. She does need a hug. Maybe more than one. She doesn’t like to admit it to anypony, though.”
“M-maybe she’ll let me hug her?” the filly asked. “Then we’d both feel better…”
Cadance hesitated. The last time she'd tried to hug Sunset it had ended badly. “She’s got a lot of pride. She doesn’t like having to ask other ponies for help.”
“Oh.” The filly looked down, stopping. “Does she… will she even want to see me? She got hurt because of me.”
“Honestly?” Cadance sighed. “I don’t know. But we should still see her. Maybe she has some answers for us.”
“Okay,” the filly whispered.
They walked in silence into the hospital, a small facility located on the castle grounds, usually servicing foreign dignitaries, politicians, and other ponies that wanted privacy as well as medical care. It was modern, with the best facilities available.
Cadance led the filly up towards Sunset’s room. Thankfully, the nurses weren’t keeping that secret from her. Celestia probably hadn't gotten around to telling them to conceal everything important from the younger princess yet.
“You should know better than to experiment with strange magic,” Celestia said, Cadance recognizing her voice from outside of the room. “Hopefully that filly won’t have to pay for your mistake. Injuring another pony is a burden you carry in your heart for as long as you live.”
“I know,” Sunset said, sounding appropriately apologetic.
Cadance knocked on the doorframe, looking in the open room. “Um, I hope I’m not disturbing anything.
“Not at all, Cadance,” Celestia said. “Were you able to bring Twilight Sparkle back home?”
“Well, about that,” Cadance smiled nervously. “Funny story! They, um. They already had one!”
“Sunset!” the filly yelled, running into the room, stumbling over her own hooves and falling on the tile floor. Celestia’s golden aura caught her before she could bang her head again.
“They already had one?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I’d better explain everything that happened…”
An hour later, the filly was curled up next to Sunset and sleeping soundly, the older pony looking uncomfortable with the arrangement.
“So there are… two of them?” Sunset muttered.
“It seems so,” Cadance sighed. “They’re exactly identical! Well, not exactly. This one doesn't seem to remember anything, and she keeps tripping over her own hooves. That might be the concussion, though.”
“The spell I cast was supposed to activate whatever the mirror was supposed to do, I think. Like a backdoor to test the enchantment.” Sunset looked at the filly. "I don't know how this happened, unless you'd like to finally tell me what the mirror actually does?"
“I’ve seen something like this before,” Celestia said, ignoring the question. “During the reign of Discord, before I came to rule Equestria, he created magical pools. Some of them would make imperfect copies of ponies.”
“Well, I did cast the spell on a magical mirror…” Sunset muttered.
“This doesn’t seem exactly the same,” Celestia admitted, her magic gently smoothing the filly’s mane, which had become ragged and tangled by the stress of the day. “This filly certainly isn’t the type of copy Discord would create. He wouldn’t have made a single foal who needed help. He would have created a multitude of bad jokes instead.”
“She seems real,” Cadance said. “She’s not a monster.”
“Which was my other concern,” Celestia said, sounding like she was admitting something she was trying to hide. “I once did battle with a number of monsters that could assume the shape of a pony’s loved ones to steal their affection.”
“How awful!” Cadance gasped.
“They’ve been safely imprisoned for, well, probably forever,” Celestia said. She hesitated and looked to the side. “Maybe I should check some of the binding spells on my ancient foes one of these days. I keep letting it slip…”
“I think we should maybe focus on the filly,” Sunset said. “So she’s… what? A magical copy? A clone created by a miscast spell?”
“That’s going to be part of your responsibility to determine,” Celestia said. “I don’t think she’s dangerous. At least no more dangerous than you were at her age, Sunset.”
“That’s pretty dangerous." Sunset gave the filly the look an experienced animal handler gives an unfamiliar and potentially dangerous predator.
“Indeed. Taking care of her will be a very serious responsibility.”
The filly stirred at the soft speech, looking up. “A-are you gonna take me away from her?” she asked, quietly. “I promise I won’t be dangerous…”
“She’s so cute!” Cadance said. “Maybe I should-”
“I wanna stay with Sunset!” The filly was very firm on this, pounding the bed with a tiny hoof.
“That’s really Sunset’s decision,” Celestia said. “Raising a filly is a lot of work, even for ponies who have spent time planning and arranging things to take that big step in life.” She looked at Sunset, her expression unreadable. “You know better than anypony how much a growing foal needs. It's not like taking care of a pet.”
“I…” Sunset stopped what she was about to say.
Was this one of Celestia’s little tests? Taking care of the filly would mean she wouldn’t have nearly as much time for her own studies. Celestia had spent hours with her every day, and it had still felt like the mare had never been there when Sunset really needed her.
“It’s not to be taken lightly,” Celestia said, more quietly. “You should take time to think about it. Not just about what you want, or about what she wants, but about what’s best for her.” She turned to the window, looking out over Canterlot. “Sometimes that’s very difficult.”
“She can stay,” Sunset said, sharply, quickly. There was an edge to it.
“Sunset, it wasn’t a challenge.”
“No. But whatever happened, she’s my responsibility,” Sunset said. “What else would you do? Put her in an orphanage?" She spat the word with contempt. "We’d still need to find out where she came from.” She huffed and sat back, laying down in the bed. “I’m not going to wake up ten years from now wondering how that filly is doing and if I did the right thing and if she hates me the way I-” she stopped, biting her lip.
“You can’t just take care of her out of spite,” Celestia warned.
“No. I’m doing it because I can fix whatever happened!” Sunset snapped. “If she’s a filly or a mirror clone or a shapeshifter or whatever, it doesn’t matter!”
“Don’t be mad, Miss Sunset…” the filly sniffled. “I’m sorry…”
“I’m not mad,” Sunset said, trying not to growl. “I’m just sore and a little upset that the Royal Guard almost beat me to death today.”
“I see,” Celestia sighed. She stood up. “I’ll make some arrangements. I’m sure another cot can be brought out for our little guest as well. I know the doctors would like to keep Sunset overnight.”
“Can I sleep here?” the filly whispered.
“We can get you your own-” Celestia started.
“It’s fine,” Sunset said, more sharply.
“It’s fine then,” Celestia sighed. “Let the nurses know if you need anything.”
She walked out, shaking her head, Cadance following at her heels. She just hoped this wouldn’t all end in disaster.