//------------------------------//
// Le Premier Cauchemar 
// Story: Magical Curiosity 
// by Comma Typer 
//------------------------------//

“Euagh!”
And Sci-Twi shot up out of bed, seeing a bedroom with a strange lack of features. She looked around her and saw the rest of her friends slumbering and snoozing in their sleeping bags.
“Wh-What?” Twi asked. “W-Was it all just a bad dream?”
Then, she raised a hoof to her glasses.
“Alright...I’m still in the bedroom, so I didn’t sleep inside the library. Hope I didn’t drool on any—”
Felt a strong wind with its gust, sucking her away.
“Wait, no!” reaching a hoof out to her ignorant friends. “Everypo—“



Thud!
“Ugh….”
Silence, eyes closed, seeing noth—
“Twilight.”
“Agh!”
And shot up.
Before her, the statue of a rearing horse.
“Wh-What?”
Looked around her, saw the trimmed grass, the flowers by the paths, the houses across the street.
Saw Canterlot High.
Twi gulped, biting her lip, then looked at her hooves. “H-How come I didn’t change back? Th-This can’t be—“
The statue’s base glowed.
Revealing a humanoid creature stepping out of the portal. With dark wings, ethereal hair, glowing horn and a pair of glasses that looked like a huge menacing mask around her glowing eyes—
“Midnight Sparkle?!” Twi screamed, cowering under her mane. “I-I thought we vanquished you for g-good!”
“Well, you’re wrong!” Midnight yelled, holding a fist to the air as the wind swirled around her, kicking up dust and lightning with zap!’s. “Haven’t I told you I’ll be back?”
“...and that y-you won’t stop until you have all the m-magic?” Twi said, remembering.
Midnight launched into an evil laugh, more lightning and thunder, creating a storm around her.
Twi glowed her horn and pawed the ground. “I don’t fully understand magic yet, but I won’t stop until you’re—“
“Ah-ah!” Midnight said, wagging a finger. Looking down on her, “I’ve noticed you’re a little pony.”
Twi growled. “I’m not little!”
Midnight chuckled. “Little to me, but not for long.”
Snapped her fingers.
And in an instant glow, she became a pony, too, retaining her dark appearance as an alicorn still a little taller than her.
Each step Midnight took forward made Twi’s knees buckle as she tried to back away but finding herself closer and closer to the school’s locked doors.
“That’s the thing about being a part of you, Twilight,” Midnight said, resisting the urge to laugh again. “Every single little thing can be used against you, but the best of it all was your magical curiosity!” She glanced to the side, giving in to a chuckle. “Think about it. Sunset piqued that curiosity of yours a few days ago. That led to some photos from that oh-so magical land of Equestria, and you grew insatiable! It was a happy coincidence that Starlight Glimmer then decided to come by and pay a nice visit—and with her being a native of Equestria, you were able to get more answers about her world, but we all know that just led to more questions.”
Twi gulped, guessing where she was headed next. Sweat dripped to the floor.
“That quest for knowledge, Twilight,” Midnight continued, thunder and wind ravaging the air. “Because of that quest, you wouldn’t leave these questions unanswered.” Then, after stopping to laugh a bit, “I was actually surprised myself when you threw yourself into the portal against Sunset’s will—but the magic I felt!” She gave her a mad glare, the grin teetering on insanity. “Oh, it was within my grasp, but you just had to ruin the fun and leave on the princess’s orders!”
Twi was walking backwards up the stairs, awfully close to the doors now.
“But, I knew that if you went to Equestria once, you’ll do it again.” Midnight glanced to the ground, thinking. “I bided my time...then, I was a lot more surprised when you woke up in Equestria.” Growing that evil grin wide, “However, I’m a patient mare. I left you alone, making sure you were comfortable enough to study magic—but what you’ve read and done isn’t enough for me.”
Twi finally backed up to the doors. She griped at the doors, pawing against it, even pounding her horn but to no avail.
She looked back and saw Midnight’s horn glowing brighter.
“It is time to seize control!” she shouted. “I’ve had enough of waiting, especially when all the magic is right in front of me!” With that, she fired her horn at her.
Then, Twi was glowing.
“Wh-What?!”
Dark wings popped from her torso.
“What?!” as she looked behind her. “Midnight! You can’t do this! You’ll destroy—“
“I. Don’t. Care.”
And then, Twi’s horn cracked then glowed, becoming a horn made of magical light.
Twi closed her eyes, trying to ward her away. “Please! Think about what y-you’re doing!”
“I’ve thought about it,” Midnight said calmly. “It has not changed my mind a single bit.”
And Twi wrested her eyes open, feeling them strange.
She looked at the glass doors to see her reflection.
And saw her cyan, evil eyes.
Turned around to face Midnight. Her frightened face steeling up to one of courage, she declared, “You are not me!”
Midnight chuckled, horn still glowing. “And what makes you think that’ll work the second time?”
“We do!” Sunset’s voice cried out.
Midnight growled.
She whirled around and saw, at the base of the statue, Sunset Shimmer and the rest of her friend—all fifteen of them, with Starlight, Sparkle, and the pairs of the rest of her friends, even the Spikes.
Midnight smiled. “You and what army? What are you going to do? Blast those geodes on me?”
“We got something more than geodes!” Sunset yelled. Then, she looked at Sparkle.
The princess nodded, glowed her horn.
And Twi popped at her side, back to normal. “Wh-Wha—“
A magical necklace materialized around her neck, and then Sparkle’s neck, and the necks of her friends save for Sunset, Starlight, and the Spikes.
Midnight gasped, now backing away and up to the glass doors. “The Elements of Harmony!”
“And we got two of each!” Sparkle shouted back assuredly. “Thanks to the nature of the geodes, they—“
Were zapped.
Fell off their owners.
Broke into pieces.
“Huh?!”
They all looked at Midnight who smirked, lightning rolling around her again. “It was all a fraud, wasn’t it? As if you can bring those shiny things inside a dream, Twi.”
Then, the portal glowed and out came Princess Luna—
Luna screamed as she was pushed back inside as Midnight laughed. Then, glaring at Twi and only Twi: “See you later in your world!” before the ground and reality cracked all the way to the statue, destroying it and forming a floating portal that smelled like rejuvenating coffee—



“Euagh!”
And Twi shot out of bed.
Which was a blanket and a pillow on a table.
First thing she saw was Sunset and Sparkle looking at her worried.
“Th-That was a dr-dream?!” Twi yelled, gasping for that coffee-scented air.
Sunset nodded, ears drooped in horror. “Sounds more like a nightmare to me. What happened?”
Twi bit her hoof. Then: “I...I saw M-Midnight Sparkle...a-and sh-she a-almost t-turned me i-into her! I a-almost turned back into a power-crazed magical...thing!”
Broke into tears, flooding her face wet.
Sparkle and then Starlight, too, trotted to her and embraced her, letting her tears flow.
Meanwhile, Sunset levitated a cup of coffee and put it down on a chair, also floating an encyclopedia from the library’s bookshelf to its side. “Don’t worry, Twi. The important thing is, you defeated her again. Just remember that you’re not her.”
“Y-Yeah,” Twi repeated. “I’m Tw-Twilight Sparkle….”
Sunset sighed and smiled. “See?”
“...but what i-if that w-won’t work forever?!” Twi argued, holding her forehooves up in agony.
“It will work forever!” Starlight insisted. “If all our solutions stopped working after the first time, then we’d have no solutions at all!”
Then, Sparkle saw her other self’s eyes as they reddened, wanting to comfort her other self with some inspiring words, too.
And those eyes briefly glowed blue.
Sparkle took a step back. “Uh, Sunset?”
Sunset took a step back as well. “Yup. I saw that.”
“Saw what?!” Twi yelled, looking behind her.
Sunset gulped. “Your eyes glowing for a second.”
Twi’s irises shrunk. “Why did you remind me of that?!”
And her eyes glowed again for a second.
“OK, stay calm!” Sunset yelled, lowering a hoof down. “All we need you to do is keep remembering that you’re not Midnight Sparkle.” After a deep breath: “You. Are. Twilight. Sparkle. Is that clear?”
Twi nodded, tears still flowing but now only a little more than grunting.
Sparkle took a step forward. “You’re also above Midnight. While she doesn’t care about destroying her world to know what she wants to know, you’re not willing to stoop that low.”
“And you’re emotionally smarter than her,” Starlight added. “I mean, I wasn’t there myself, but she was willing to hurt pretty much everyone that exists in your universe without a single thought to their lives or how they would feel. You, on the other hoof, have that compassion and care for them.” Walking up to her, “She doesn’t have a heart.” Then, placed a hoof on her chest. “You do.”
Twi smiled, then sniffed. “Th-Thank you!”
Sunset then levitated the cup of coffee close to her face. “Now, what about we jog you through before we enter day two of trying to get back?”



After a quick dining hall breakfast that consisted of biscuits, coffee, and pizza, almost everypony was back inside the library, with the Pinkies absent as usual as they hopped around in the castle, serving as jolly guards. The Fluttershies and the Applejacks were back near the door, the Rarities were brushing up on their magic skills, the Spikes stood by their Twilights as they waited for anything to happen, and the unicorns plus the princess were studying intensely by the portal, tearing through volume upon volume. The Rainbow Dashes, now that the library was clean for the time being, hung out by the door with the others.
“So, how are they doing?” Sunset asked, noticing the glowing letters on Sparkle’s journal.
“Wait, hold on.” Sparkle held a hoof up as she read. Then: “The principals were able to lower the moon and raise the sun to bring on today.”
Starlight clapped her hooves. “That’s good news, right?”
“Not really,” Sparkle said, facing her with a solemn attitude. “The more they use their magic, the faster their world will break apart.”
“Then I’ll take that back!” and Starlight returned to studying a book about multiverses and ten dimensions.
Then, more letters glowed on to the page.
“What does it say?” Twi asked, leaning over the table to see for herself.
Sparkle read through, then her eyes widened. “Wait, wait...the Canterlot School Board says that they’ll continue classes today?!”
“What?!” cried out Sparkle and Sunset together.
And their same-dimension friends, too.
Sparkle held the book close to her eyes. “According to them, the strange cold is no cause for concern, and that, if there are any absences, they would most likely be at the minimum—it is only a milder case of the flu, they said.”
Starlight’s gave her friend an odd look. “Suddenly going vegan is no cause for concern? I’m not buying that.”
“They’ve always been kinda’ lenient,” Sunset explained, then with her ears folding back behind her hair, “though I didn’t expect them to be this lenient.”
Twi gasped, floating her glasses out of the way. “But, how would they start classes in Canterlot High? The principals are in no capacity to facilitate the opening ceremonies!”
“We’ve got Cheerilee,” Sunset mentioned. “They probably sent a note to her.”
“But they’ll see that the principals are nowhere to be found!” and Twi flailed her hooves about. “They’ll start asking questions, and—”
“She’ll say they’re sick,” Sunset continued. “If anything else, she can think of that excuse in five minutes.”
Sparkle levitated a book down to the table. “The question is, how long can she keep the excuse plausible? There’s got to be more ponies out there than just the two of them!”
Then, more letters glowed into appearance.
Sparkle glowed it back up to her eyes, almost planting the pages on her eyes. “And just when I was talking about them!”
And everyone looked at her, ready to hear the names there as the letters popped in.
“Alright,” she began before clearing her throat. “Celestia somehow texted everyone in the know. She’s already gotten a list of people-turned-ponies”
“What if someone intercepts the text?!” Twi screamed and yanked Sparkle off of her book, pushing and pulling her in and out.
“Can you keep it down?!” Rainbow hollered from her table, hanging with a raised hindleg on the surface.
“How can I keep it down?!” Twi shouted back, hyperventilating again. “I can’t keep it down ‘cause our friends are turning into ponies and magic’s acting up like never before, and I wanted to go here just to relax and to study magic, but no! It turns out I can’t even get a break in the vacation of a lifetime because we have to fix this!” and breathed slowly through her teeth, failing absolutely in her little adventure to calm down.
“Uh, sugarcube?” AJ asked from afar, about to get up from her chair. She put her hat down. “I don’t think yer’ OK.”
Sparkle trotted up to her other self and pat her on the head, putting the glasses back on her. “Just sit back, Twi.” She levitated the journal to where they could both read it. “What’s the worst that could ha—what?!”
And almost fell off her chair before Starlight surrounded her with a glow right before the floor. Lifted back up, she did not say thanks to Starlight, focused as the princess was on the list.
“OK, Twilight Sparkle,” she said to herself—not her other self, but herself. “Take your own advice and sit back. This isn’t the worst that can happen...it could’ve been far worse, Twilight, it could’ve been far—”
“But it’s bad, huh?” Starlight quipped, raising a brow.
Twi took a glimpse of the list, then frowned in despair. “It’s very bad.” Nudging Sunset and making her look, “We’ve got: Lyra, Vinyl Scratch, Sunny Flare, Sour Sweet—”
“Crystal Prep?” Sunset blurted out loud, glancing at the portal and half-wishing that it was back online. “Hope they’re taking this in stride.” Then, looking at Twi: “Does Principal Cadance know?”
And another word glowed into the list.
Both unicorns gasped together at this new word. “Cadance, too?!”
“Which completes the alicorn group in your world,” Sparkle said with a sigh. “Don’t know how she’s faring there, but if she can’t get a hold of her magic...” and furrowed her brows, “one possibility is subjecting half the city under a love poison!”
And Sunset jumped out of the chair and lunged straight to the portal.
Only to hit herself on the head and give herself another bruise.
Rarity and both Fluttershies propped up their fallen friend, bringing her back to the table with a careful amble. Starlight stepped forward to help her, too, but she refrained.
“Can you ask if the statue’s fixed already?!” Twi yelled at her other self, more tense than angry.
“Wait!” Sparkle yelled back, her head throbbing under the stress and the pressure. “She’s not done with the list and—”
More words appeared. That’s all.
Sunset, Starlight, Sparkle, and Twi looked at those words and breathed a collective sigh of relief.
...as far as I know of, continued the words.
The Twilights then hyperventilated together, breathing fast and with panic in their dilated eyes. 
Starlight could not help but chuckle at the amusing sight. Sunset could help by giving her a glare intimidating enough to make Starlight stop.
“Sorry!” Starlight whispered before reverting to a nervous expression.
Then, Sunset looked at the two Twilights still wheezing quick. “Uh...look on the bright side?”
“What bright side?!” both Twilights yelled side by side.
“Um—”
“What if there are more ponies out there but in hiding?” Sparkle asked, pointing a careless hoof at the busted portal.
“Trixie was showing off real magic in our world!” Twi yelled, also pointing there. “I’m not surprised if she’s a pony, too! She’s probably going to school without knowing that the situation could blow up any minute because of her!”
“And what if those ponies can’t use phones?!” Sparkle added, speech tottering on the jittery. “I can see how hooves can slide screens, but how can they press the tiny little buttons on the keypad? They’ll be helpless with no way to communicate to Celestia!”
“And what if they start turning into ponies in the middle of class?!” Twi yelled. “If they can’t control that, it’ll be pure chaos!”
Sunset raised her brow and pointed a hoof. “But is Floral Week a go?”
“That’s what she wrote seven minutes ago!” Sparkle said, though turning a page back to make doubly sure.
“Which means,” Twi began, slightly cooling off, “on one hand, they’ll start in the afternoon so that’s more time for us before everyone starts noticing the discrepancies. On the other hand...it’s Floral Week!” With one final wheeze: “Flowers are everywhere!”
Sunset left her mouth hanging open. “OK, I can see why that’s gonna be a problem.”
“Then you’re thinking about how they’ll eat the flowers,” Sparkle said. Then, checking the clock hidden underneath the table, “We have until...what time, Sunset?”
“Three,” she replied as calmly as possible.
Twi stared down at the floor in troubled thought. She whispered, “That’s when we’re supposed to be h-home.”
“Can you slow down?!” Starlight said, raising a hoof and unable to hear the whisper. She got more attention by slamming her book closed as the glow dissolved. “Even I can’t keep track of all this!”
“Our world is at stake!” Twi yelled, nerves bulging. “I can’t keep track of myself!”
And her friends looked at her.
Silence. Only silence in those looks.
Then, they slowly drifted to her.
“Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, hovering over to her and then closing her wings. “Are you really sure you’re OK?”
“How could I be OK?!” Twi shouted, her friends gathering around her now.
Rarity placed a hoof on her shoulder. “We’ve always saved the world, darling, even when it seems too late. No reason to start doubting now.”
“An’ if our other selves can stop huge monsters or turn ‘em into friends like seven times a year,” AJ said, “then you can count on us stoppin’ this thing, too,” and flourished it with a hoof swing.
Twi smiled, her eyes becoming wet with tears again.
Dash floated down to her level. “You got us, Twilight! We won’t turn tail on ‘ya!”
“And we mean it!” Spike said, running to her side.
They all embraced each other, Sci-Twi the center of that warm hug. Memories rushed in, of the dream, of that final stand before the statue in that nightm—
The journal glowed. More letters were written on it.
Everyone directed their attention there, even the other ponies and the other Spike, as Sparkle read the update.
And shouted, “Cheerilee?!”



In the other world, Cheerilee stopped, shocked at what she saw in the library.
Two alicorns, the blue one sleeping and the white one floating a journal above the table.
Celestia looked at the teacher with a quiet gasp, glittering under the sunshine.
Cheerilee stepped back, hands raised. “I-I must be dreaming!”
“Dear Cheerilee,” Celestia began, slowly trotting to the startled woman, “you must understand—”
“Celestia, is that you?!” Cheerilee yelled, pointing at her.
And then, Luna roused from her sleep. She hopped up to her four hooves, and then: “What have I missed?”
“Luna?!” and the teacher made one step back, looking left and right in the hallway with only the lockers behind her.
“Cheerilee,” Celestia called, moving forward, “there is a perfect explanation for this.”
“Yes, there should be!” Cheerilee screamed. She looked at her hands, then came her final conclusion: “I’m seeing things!”
Celestia tilted her head. “Let’s roll with that.” Smirking, “Did you drink lots of caffeine lately?”
The teacher nodded, eyes mad at not comprehending the figure before her. “Why, yes, Miss Unicorn Celestia! Shall I take leave now while I go cook the papers for dinner?”
Luna blinked. “What do you say?”
“Oranges have pulp and so do paper!” Cheerilee slurred, stumbling in a tired stagger.
Then, Luna noticed her horn glowing. “Wait, wha—”
And Cheerilee fell, hitting her head with a bang! against the lockers.
Unconscious.
Celestia looked at Luna and then her glowing horn. “Sister, did you just knock her into sleep?”
Luna said nothing, seeing the snoring Cheerilee. Then, speaking up, “If that proveth truth then that means I have recklessly handled a pony’s life!”
“Wait, ‘a pony’s—’”
And Cheerilee glowed.
The alicorns galloped, moving out of the library and into the hall to get closer.
With the glow gone, there lay Cheerilee, a purple Earth pony. She was still sleeping, still snoring.
Celestia and Luna looked at each other, taking a long pause.
“Permission to move the body, sister?” Luna asked, breaking the silence.
“You may have such permission,” Celestia answered.
Luna levitated the sleeping body up and brought her inside the library.



“What’s the context?!” Starlight blabbed, flipping through the pages with her horn yet unable to find anything past the word Cheerilee.
“Nothing,” Sparkle said, grabbing the book back with her own magic. “The only thing there is that it’s the last word and nothing more.”
Twi gasped yet another time. “What if it’s just another addition to the list? Cheerilee’s a pony now, isn’t she?!”
“But Celestia would’ve added it to the list here,” Sunset said, putting her hoof on the people-turned-ponies list on the correct page. “She could’ve been interrupted; maybe trying to tell us that Cheerilee would cover for them.”
“...or maybe it’s a warning!” Twi yelled, hooves stretching her mane
Starlight cleared her throat. “Twilight, I know this is getting ugly—”
“But Cheerilee’s there!” Twi interrupted. “She’s gonna...she’s gonna—”
Her eyes snapped open.
Twi blinked. “She’s smart. She knows what’s going on without even knowing it.” Then, turning to Sunset: “Cheerilee was there when you showed us the pictures, wasn’t she?”
Sunset scratched her chin, looking up. “Now that you said it, Cheerilee was present but she was working at the other side.”
“—secretly eavesdropping on us!” Twi proclaimed, putting a forehoof on the table. “And to think about her next move...notify the school board? Talk to the county commission? Call the president?!” Then, rubbing her head, “Not even international organizations are gonna stop this—they’ll figure out the sun’s going around the Earth thanks to our principal and they’ll bow down to her, and it’s gonna be my—”
Was hugged by Sunset, Sparkle, Starlight, and Spike, panic attack suppressed only to be replaced by her tears at another display of friendship.
While everyone walked up to her to comfort the broken mare, they did not notice her eyes flashing blue and a short-lived shadow escaping from them and into the mirror.