“So... can we come in or not?” Twilight asked Maud. The entire group was still awkwardly standing outside Pinkie Pie’s front lawn.
“We’ve been expecting guests,” Maud said in the most boring voice imaginable. She stepped aside. “You can come in.”
One by one, each person squeezed through the doorway until all ten people--and the dog--had come in and were standing in the thin hallway leading in.
“I’ll be upstairs in my bedroom,” Maud said with absolutely no emotion. “Making no noise and pretending I don't exist.” She pulled a rock out of her sweater pocket and held it in her palm for everyone to see. “He gets scared when people are over.”
She stared with no interest at everyone, crowded together in the front hallway in one large mass. Then she turned to the left and went upstairs one step at a time, caressing her rock.
“Sweet Celestia,” Noble whispered as she disappeared. “Is that Pinkie’s-”
“Yep.” Rarity folded her arms. “She’s not what you would expect.”
“I’m…” Noble ran a hand through his vivid blue hair and looked at the ground. “Speechless.”
“Yoo-hoo! Twilight! We've been expecting you, Darling!” Rarity’s voice carried from the room down the hall.
“Hold on, Rarity. I’m coming!” Twilight pushed her way to the front of the hall and turned around a bend, disappearing from the sight of the others. When she did, the music coming from around the bend scratched to a halt.
“Hey, guys! I’m... back!”
There came the sound of an unzipping backpack. “So am I!” Spike said grandly.
“Twilight!” came a familiar scratchy voice, and there came the sound of an impact as a body ran into Twilight. “You’re finally here! What took ya so long?”
“Is that really how I sound like?” Rainbow Dash asked Firestorm.
“Hey, Twilight.” The voice sounded unfamiliar to the rest of them. “How’s life been in Equestria?”
“Y-yeah. It’s been fine, Sunset. Just needed to drop by.”
“What can I do for you?” came what was apparently Sunset Shimmer’s voice.
“I’ll get to that later.” Her tone seemed to shift as she addressed the next person of importance. “Nice to see you, um... other me.”
“It’s fine,” came a voice that sounded like Twilight but obviously wasn’t. “I just haven’t seen you since we ran into each other after the Friendship Games. It’s... been weird! This is weird.”
“Um, Twilight?” came Spike’s voice. “Who’s the dog in the backpack?”
“Oh, that’s Spike, Spike,” came what was apparently the other Twilight. “Say hello to a Spike from Equestria, Spike.”
“Uh…” came the blank reply. “Hi, Spike.”
“Hey there, Spike,” came the Equestrian Spike. “Got any dog treats?”
“I thought that only Freedom Fighter spoke to himself,” Pinkie Pie whispered in the hallway.
Freedom Fighter made a series of protested, overexaggerated gestures, which was tough in the cramped space.
“Are there any dog treats?” Firestorm curiously asked, pushing his path clear by sticking his head over Starlight Glimmer’s shoulder.
“Hey…” came the voice of the other Rainbow. “I heard something! From in the hallway!”
“You know, Firestorm,” Rarity whispered. “There is merit in learning when to stop talking.”
“There is?” he asked in surprise, rearing his head back.
“Yeah, this might be a good time to say I brought a few friends,” Twilight admitted sheepishly from the room around the corner. “And they might be friends you actually know.” She poked her head around the corner. “Come on, you guys! Show yourself!”
And as one collective, crowded mass, the people in the hallway moved around the corner and into the big room.
There were sleeping bags and bowls of popcorn all over the ground, and a TV in the corner was blaring with a racing video game. Makeup bottles were in another corner and used brushes were dipped in them. Comic books were in a stack on a nearby table, along with a bowl of punch and bags of pretzels and popcorn.
Sitting on the sleeping bags, squishing down the couches, and standing up near the windows were seven brightly colored girls, along with a boy sitting near the TV who had orange skin and blue hair. Each of them was staring in absolute shock as their doppelgangers, the girls from Equestria, packed their way in.
“Well,” Twilight said as the last of them managed to squeeze in. “Say hello, everypony!”
“Howdy,” Applejack said with a tip of her hat.
“Hi!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
“Hello there,” Rarity said eloquently
“How ya doing?” Rainbow asked.
“Hi,” Fluttershy meeped.
“Pleased to meet you,” Starlight Glimmer said unequivocally. "I'm Starlight Glimmer."
“Salutations,” Noble Blade said in the grandest voice he could muster.
“Wassup?” Firestorm asked, trying to lean casually on the table but failing due to the height.
Freedom Fighter gave a small wave hello, then retreated.
“So…” Twilight said when they were done. “Any questions?”
The other Pinkie Pie raised her hand. “Who spiked the punch?”
“Twilight…” Flash whispered, flinching when he saw the powerful men in armor regarding him with curious glances. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing more!” He was grasping the top of his head. “And guys with really, um... really big... weapons.” He seemed to shrink on his beanbag.
“This is a lot for me to handle right now,” the other Fluttershy whispered, twiddling her thumbs while staring at Noble Blade’s feet. “Um… I just want to step out for a little bit. I hope nobody minds.” She got to her feet and shuffled out, glancing at Noble Blade’s face once before going out the other end.
“This...is...incredible!” the other Twilight giddily said, holding her Spike to her chest. “This anomaly shouldn’t be possible! Why, the odds of me experiencing this for myself are astronomical already, but seeing all of my friends from another dimension is... off the graph!”
“I never actually thought I would get the chance to see myself from a universe where I’m a pony!” the other Rarity wondered, stretching out her fingers to dry out the red nail polish on them. “What is it like over there?”
“Well, um... we’re all ponies,” Rarity awkwardly explained. “And there’s dragons and griffons and monsters and princesses and powerful stones that protect our land.”
“What a fantastic land! Do they have dresses over there?”
“What kind of civilized race doesn’t have fashion?” Rarity fervently declared. “It would be like a cream pie without the cream!”
“You can't have a pie without cool whip,” Pinkie Pie readily agreed.
“Wait, wait, wait,” the other Pinkie Pie interjected. “Why’d you pronounce it like that?”
“Oh, you mean cool whip?” Pinkie asked casually.
“Why put so much emphasis on the h?”
“That’s how ponies in Canterlot say it.”
“Say whip.”
“Whip.”
“Now say cool whip.”
“Cool whip.”
“Cool whip!”
“Cool whip!”
“Ah can't believe Ah’m seein’ this,” the other Applejack breathed, sitting up on the couch. “Twilight, you brought us outta Equestria... to say hello?”
“Not entirely,” Twilight admitted.
“That was a mistake,” came Sunset Shimmer. She was sitting on a sofa with her arms folded. “Twilight, unless you have a very good reason, you shouldn’t have given us face-to-face glimpses of our other selves.”
“Look at that, Rainbow,” Firestorm whispered to his girlfriend. “Another lady with the same color scheme as me!” He folded his arms. “I’m not impressed, but I feel like I should be.”
“Sunset,” Twilight said patiently. “You know me. I wouldn't have done this if I didn't have a good enough reason.”
“What kind of reason could bring all of your friends with you to our world?”
“Our world?” Twilight asked in surprise. “Sunset, this isn't your world either.”
“Don't change the issue, Twilight. What you did was very risky.”
“It’s a very risky situation over in Equestria.”
Now the fascination the other girls had wasn’t directed at their pony counterparts, but rather at what Twilight was saying.
“What kind of situation?” Sunset shrewdly asked.
Before Twilight could explain, Firestorm parted through the lineup of ponies-turned-human and put his arms behind his back gravely. “It involves the Elements of Harmony,” he said in a deeper voice than he usually used. “A complication has arisen, and we need your help. An invading army is poised to strike Equestria and spread its poison through its entire body. Eventually, its armies will infect the heart, and after Equestria vomits uncontrollably, goes mad with delirium, and dehydrates itself through intense diarrhea, it will perish.”
“Oookaaay,” the other Rainbow Dash said slowly. “I don’t have a clue what’s going on.”
“Our nation is going to vomit itself to death,” Firestorm clarified in his normal voice. He waved a hand. “Moving aside the metaphor, there’s an army that wants to invade Equestria, and it’s commanded by the king of Tartarus.”
“Tartar-” the other Twilight started in shock, but Sunset Shimmer shut her up with a finger to her lips. Sunset continued to look quizzically at the pony in front of her who was also orange and had fiery hair.
“Who... are you?” she finally asked.
“Who am I?” Firestorm put his hands to his chest and looked like somepony had offended him. “Who am I? I think the real question here is-” He sniffed hard to mimic arrogance, then sniffed again in curiosity. “What kinda salt did you use for the popcorn?”
“His name’s Firestorm,” Noble Blade supplied with a wave of his armored hand. He pointed at himself, then behind him. “I am Noble Blade. And this is Freedom Fighter.”
Sunset Shimmer pointed at Firestorm while looking at Twilight. “Is he always like this?”
“You would not believe how many other ponies have asked that question,” Twilight responded, twitching her mouth with a snicker.
“How come you’ve never mentioned ‘em before?” the other Applejack asked Twilight suspiciously.
“She didn't know about us before,” Noble replied before Twilight could say anything. “While ponies have lived their lives in peace, we have been the ones keeping their peace. We are secret protectors of Equestria.”
“I’d expect nothing less from a literal knight in shining armor,” the other Rarity said, smiling and twiddling her hair with a finger.
Freedom Fighter did a few gestures with his palms and face.
“And we’re the hottest stallions in Equestria?” Noble Blade asked him in surprise. “Where’d you get that notion?”
Freedom Fighter pointed at Firestorm.
“I won’t say he’s wrong,” Noble said after a calculated silence, casting a wink at Fluttershy, who smiled and began to twirl her hair, “but it isn't in our job description.”
“Right. We’re just bearers of the Elements of Harmony,” Firestorm pointed out. “No biggie.”
“There are only six,” Sunset protested, looking confused. “Twilight and the others bear them.”
“Not anymore!” Firestorm sang. “There are actually ten Elements. Four of them are just lost.” He gestured at the punch. “Is it okay if I pour a cup? I find I can think better if I have a drink in my hoof. Hand. I mean hand.”
“Help yerself,” the other Applejack said dismissively.
Firestorm poured himself a cup of punch and swirled it like he held a glass of expensive brandy. “But nopony knows where the missing Elements are except Star Swirl the Bearded, who is living in this dimension. We’re looking for Swirly so he can tell us where the Elements are, go back to our own dimension, find ‘em, use ‘em to destroy this enemy army, and save the universe from bowing to the king of Tartarus--who’s also the divorced husband of a goddess who’s the mom of literally everyone. Now!” He drained the cup of punch, then tossed the cup behind him onto the table and clasped his hands together so loud they echoed. “Any questions?”
“Yeah,” came the other Rainbow Dash. “Could you repeat that?”
Firestorm took a deep inhale, and his head inflated to ridiculous proportions like a balloon.
“What was it you said about Star Swirl the Bearded?” Sunset Shimmer asked in disbelief before he could repeat it.
Firestorm let out the air he was holding disappointedly, and his head shrunk back to normal size.
“You know something about him?” Starlight Glimmer asked hopefully.
“Well, what is it you’d like to know? There’s only so much I can tell you, but whatever it is-”
“How do you know who he is?” Twilight excitedly asked, interrupting her.
“Everybody knows who he is,” Sunset Shimmer said, shrugging a hand. “He’s the head of the school board.”
Twilight's eyes shrunk so small they became almost indiscernible. “Hold on,” she weakly said, putting a shaking finger in the air. “Is that true?"
“Yeah,” Sunset said, a little anxious about the ridiculous expression on Twilight’s face. “He has been, for the longest time. You really didn't know?”
“I never... asked…” Twilight mumbled in shock, looking down at her boots.
“Star Swirl the Bearded is the head of the school board,” Applejack said matter-of-factly. “Yunnow, Twi, why is it that everything important in this world relates ta school?”
“Hold on,” Rarity said, putting a hand on Twilight to steady her. “Is he the Star Swirl from this dimension, or the Star Swirl that exiled himself from Equestria?”
“He has to be the one from Equestria,” Rainbow said. “What else are we gonna do?”
“How long has he been head of the school board?” Noble Blade asked.
“Since before I came to this dimension,” Sunset recanted, a finger to her chin in thought. “Counting now, I’ve been at Canterlot High for over five years. He may have been here longer than that, though. I may have to check the school records online.”
“What else do people know about him?” Twilight asked.
“That’s pretty much it,” Sunset said simply. “I don’t know where he lives, or what he does in his spare time, or even what he looks like in person. The only people I know for a fact who have are the other members of the board.”
“Looks like we have some research to do!” Pinkie Pie said determinedly, pumping a fist.
“Research!” Twilight let out a giddy squee of glee and shook in place. “Oh, my gosh, more research on Star Swirl the Bearded that even I don’t know about! This is so exciting!”
“Forgive us if the rest of us don’t feel as strongly about it as you do,” the other Rainbow Dash boredly said.
“How about…” the other Pinkie Pie slowly said, sitting up, “the rest of you hang out here for the night? Some of you can party with us here while the rest of you can research information on Star Swirl the Bearded! It’s going to be a giant, two-versions-of-ourselves-party!” With a burst of her hands, confetti and sprinkles appeared out of nowhere.
“That’s... why we’re here,” Starlight said matter-of-factly. “Why not we get started now?”
Sunset, both Twilights, Starlight, Flash, the other Pinkie Pie, and Freedom Fighter were situated around the computer in Pinkie’s room upstairs. As the other Pinkie Pie logged on, Sunset Shimmer was whispering to Twilight.
“You never told me that Star Swirl the Bearded was here,” she was saying.
“I didn't know before,” Twilight hissed.
“Why didn't anypony tell you?”
“Because nopony else knew except Celestia.”
“Why didn't Celestia tell you?”
“Because it related to the Ten Elements.”
“Celestia didn't even tell you about the Elements?”
“It was under the command of Faust Herself that nopony knew! The more ponies knew, the harder the King of Tartarus would attempt to overthrow us!”
“But if more ponies knew the truth, they would surely stand up to the influences of Tartarus stronger, right?”
“Well…” Twilight said under her breath.
“And who’s to say that Faust commanded it?” Sunset asked. “It may all be a ruse in the first place.”
“Are you telling me Celestia made up that exquisitely detailed story she told us under pressure?”
“I'm not saying Celestia’s a liar,” Sunset said quickly as the computer sang to life. “But what if she’s being deceived herself?”
“Celestia’s better than that,” Twilight defended.
“Because Celestia’s never been overpowered or deceived before,” Sunset pointed out sarcastically.
“I-” Twilight started, then stopped. The memory of the Changelings at her brother’s wedding came to her with full force. “You have a point. But right now, I’m inclined to believe what Celestia has to say about this. Who else are we going to trust?”
“The computer’s all yours, Twilight!” the other Pinkie Pie sang, moving out of the way for the rest of the girls. “Both of you, I mean,”
Twilight and Sunset broke off the conversation and crowded around the computer, next to the other Twilight, Flash, and Freedom Fighter. They opened a web browser, went to the school website, and started their research.
In the kitchen, where it was least crowded, were the two Fluttershys and the two Rainbow Dashes.
“Hi,” the other Fluttershy meekly said with a raised hand close to her chest. “I’m Fluttershy.”
“Nice to meet you,” Fluttershy whispered back. “My name’s Fluttershy too.”
“I’ve never seen myself say that to me,” the other Fluttershy whispered, twiddling her thumbs.
“I’ve never talked to an alternate version of myself either,” Fluttershy admitted as well. “This is new for me.”
There was a bit of silence between them.
“What do you want to talk about?” the other Fluttershy asked.
“I’m not sure. What can we talk to each other about?”
“I like animals,” the other Fluttershy said. Then she cringed.
“Yeah,” Fluttershy admitted. “Animals are great. But it’s not my, um, favoritest thing. There’s somepony, um...better than that.”
“Who is it?”
Fluttershy sighed and hugged herself around her exposed midriff, imagining Noble Blade hugging her. “It’s my boyfriend.”
“You have a boyfriend?” the other Fluttershy asked in shock and worry. “That sounds scary. I would be so nervous if I met a cute guy and he said hi to me.” She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, then stopped and looked at her counterpart. “Um... who is he, by the way?”
Fluttershy twisted another lock of her long hair absently as she remembered the details of her knight protector. “It’s Noble Blade.”
“The knight?” she asked in surprise. “The blue guy that looked really, really…” She stopped and widened her eyes as she realized who she was talking to. She put her hair in front of her face ashamedly. “Cute?” she finished with a meep.
“You think he’s cute?” Fluttershy asked in surprise.
“I’m sorry!” the other Fluttershy whispered, quivering in fright. “I’m so, so sorry for already thinking your boyfriend’s cute!” She slumped to the ground and leaned her back against the fridge, ready to sob.
Fluttershy squatted down until she was face to face once again. Her shirt had moved up to the bottom of her ribs. “You think I'm mad?”
The other Fluttershy drew up her red face. “You’re not?”
“I don't think I am,” Fluttershy admitted in thought. “It’s only natural that you would think he’s cute. He’s really good at doing it.”
“So, wait…” The other Fluttershy stared into her knees. “Are you trying to say something?”
“You can’t have him because he belongs to me, but your luck hasn’t run out yet. There may be a Noble Blade in this world,” Fluttershy pointed out. “And if he’s here, you find him and snag him. Trust me on this.”
The other Fluttershy looked into her counterpart’s eyes of teal, and saw understanding and compassion there. It was strange for the other Fluttershy, because it wasn't possible to look into your own eyes and see the emotions there. It seemed almost surreal and unbelievable.
“So you’re not going to scream at me?”
“This is the loudest I can talk.” She patted the other Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Would you expect me to?”
“I just naturally assume everybody gets mad at me for saying something insensitive.”
“Don’t be. Having a boyfriend helps in that area. He tells you you don’t have to feel shame.”
“Could you tell me more about him?” The other Fluttershy tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m dying to know.”
So Fluttershy began to tell her alternate self all about him.
At the other end of the kitchen, a more casual conversation was taking place between the two Rainbow Dashes.
“So in Equestria,” the other Rainbow Dash was saying. “I’m a pegasus?”
“The fastest and the coolest pegasus ever,” Rainbow maintained. “I’m the only one that can do a Sonic Rainboom.”
“A Sonic Rainboom?” the other Rainbow asked. “Wait, wait. Like in the band, the Rainbooms?”
“That’s a thing?”
“Of course it’s a thing! I’m the lead guitarist.”
“Oh. My. Gosh. You play guitar?!”
“You betcha!” She did little air-guitar motions with wiggling fingers, and little electric sounds could inexplicably be heard. “Everypony else helps out, of course, but it’s because of me we’re as cool as we are.”
“We are cool, aren’t we?” Rainbow asked smugly.
“So,” the other Rainbow Dash said, leaning on the counter in the kitchen. “What can you tell me about the new guys, Me?”
“What can I tell ya?” Rainbow Dash asked, slumping against the microwave. “They’re only the most awesome guys in Equestria.”
“They seem... a little weird.”
“They’re better than most other ponies I’ve met.”
“Even that Firestorm guy?”
“Ohohoho,” Rainbow chuckled and pointed at her counterpart. “Stormy's better than both of them combined!”
“Stormy?” The other Rainbow Dash looked jolted. “What do you mean, Stormy?”
“He loves it when I call him that,” Rainbow explained, and took a sip of punch. “He’s my boyfriend!”
“Your what now?” the other Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “That guy?”
“Who say my name?” Firestorm burst out, appearing in the doorway of the kitchen. He pointed at Rainbow. “You say my name?”
“You bet, Stormy,” she smirked.
“She say my name!” he said excitedly and did a leap into the kitchen like a ballerina. He grasped Rainbow Dash by the shoulders and smiled. “And for that you get a kiss.”
And he did it.
When he pulled away, Rainbow had a bigger smile on her face than before, while the other Rainbow watched with an uncomfortable expression of anxiety.
Firestorm saw this and widened his eyes. “...I’ll see my way out.”
He did.
When he disappeared, the other Rainbow Dash sighed and looked her counterpart in the face. “Does he do that often?”
“I’ve only been his boyfriend for, like, a day,” Rainbow admitted, and leaned back contentedly and closed her eyes. “But oh, man, I wish he’d do that in the future.”
“Does having a boyfriend make you more awesome?” the other Rainbow Dash asked shrewdly.
“Doesn’t hurt.”
The other Rainbow Dash looked at the ground in thought.
“Did you mind?”
“Hmm?”
“That we kissed in front of... well, you know…”
“Oh, no! Not at all! I’m already awesome enough without some guy.” She folded her arms defiantly.
“All right then.” Rainbow shrugged and returned to sip her punch. “Suit yourself.”
The other Rainbow Dash remained folding her arms, though her expression had softened and her posture had relaxed.
“It says here that he’s been head of the school board for the last…” The other Twilight squinted at the computer screen in shock. “Twenty years?!”
“Why didn’t anypony else run for the position?” Flash Sentry wondered.
“Maybe they did,” Sunset answered him. “But maybe Star Swirl used magic to control the outcome of each election.”
“Why would he do that?” Flash asked back. “To keep the position for himself?”
“I don’t think it has to stem from greed,” Twilight said to Flash assuredly. “Maybe... he assumed the position to preside over the student body... so that it could feel like he was teaching pupils again.” She rubbed her scalp to try to think more. “And maybe this is how he feels he could do more good in the world. Maybe this is how he feels he could contribute, is make kids turn out the best he can make them.”
“But you said he did to make it feel like he was teaching pupils of his own,” the other Twilight pointed out. “So maybe he is being selfish.”
“Oh, come on. Star Swirl is better than that.”
“If what we’re talking about is true, Twilight,” the other Twilight said, “then he uses magic to control the outcomes of the student elections.”
“I thought Equestrian magic didn't work outside Equestria,” Twilight wondered. “The only exception to that rule’s my Element, right?”
“Oooh,” the other Pinkie hissed. “Twilight, we’ve got a bit of a story for you.”
And between Flash, Sunset, the other Pinkie, and the other Twilight, the four of them proceeded to tell Twilight about the tumultuous events at Camp Everfree.
When they were finished, Twilight was looking down at the ground pensively, a finger to her chin and her legs crossed as she hunched forward in her chair.
“So…” Sunset Shimmer wrung her hands. “Are you going to say anything?”
“I don’t like this,” Twilight darkly said. “This is really, really serious.” She stood up and crossed the room in a stride to Sunset Shimmer. “You said you got special necklaces from the camp?”
Sunset nodded and drew out her necklace. “We’ve all been curious about these things. We don’t know what to do about these powers that we’ve gotten.”
“What’s your power?”
“I can touch a person and experience what’s going on in their mind,” Sunset explained, and came next to Freedom Fighter. “It’s empathy of sorts. For example, I can-” She reached out and touched Freedom Fighter’s left arm. Rather than experiencing a flood of emotion, however, all she could feel was the tough texture of his bodysuit and the hard arm underneath.
Freedom Fighter yanked his left arm away and looked down at her.
“What?” she whispered in surprise. She reached out to touch him again. “This usually works. What’s happening to the mag-”
“It’s not the magic,” Twilight hurriedly assured her. “He just has this... thing about him.”
“Thing?” She still had her hand on his arm. “Is he resistant to magic, or-”
Freedom Fighter jerked his arm away from her once again and pushed her away.
“Hey!” Sunset protested. “Don’t push-”
Freedom Fighter gave a hard shake of his head, holding up a hand. After a brief stare, he pointed at her hand, then to himself, and shook his head no.
“What’s he saying?” Flash asked Twilight.
“I think he’s saying... if you try to read his thoughts again, he won’t like it.”
“He won’t like it?” the other Pinkie wondered. “What kind of problem would a big, silent, muscular, mysterious man in a black bodysuit have with somebody reading his mind?”
Freedom Fighter’s gaze traveled to the other Pinkie Pie. Keeping his air of menace, he shook his head no, and the other Pinkie gulped, reading the message he was giving her.
“Is he a mute?” Flash asked. “He hasn't said a word.”
“He doesn’t, um... have a tongue,” Twilight admitted. “He lost it.”
Freedom Fighter folded his arms and leaned back against the sparkly pink dresser behind him. He looked affronted, but decided not to do anything.
“That’s not good,” Flash whispered in shock.
Freedom Fighter snorted and rolled his eyes. Standing out against the black of his suit, it was easy to detect.
“So, you said your magic came from the crystal necklace?” Twilight asked, trying to get the attention off Freedom Fighter.
“Yeah,” Sunset answered.
“What would happen if it were taken away?”
“I suppose I’d go back to being normal.”
“So Equestrian magic does have an effect on you,” Twilight theorized. “Despite none of our doppelgangers having any actual connection to Equestria.”
“But we already know that Equestrian magic works on us,” the other Pinkie protested. “It’s how we pony up!”
Freedom Fighter widened his eyes in intrigue, but kept his arms folded in distaste.
“But that still doesn't explain how you have magic,” Twilight maintained. “Regardless if you’re our double or not, nobody except Sunset has ties to Equestria, and therefore no logical way to use magic. But ever since I first came here, your potential for magic has increased greatly. First, it was stopping Sunset. We used the powers of our respective Elements even though there were no Elements to use. Then it was us 'Ponying up' whenever we played music really well. Then, according to the journal entries Sunset sent me, you Ponied up even without playing music. And now, just recently, you got magical necklaces that give you superpowers. Why this is all working for only you and not anyone else in this dimension is yet to be decided. Equestrian magic is extremely fragile and temperamental here, and the laws of magic are getting more and more convoluted. It’s as if somebody’s picking and choosing when magic works and when it doesn’t.”
“...so what’s your point?” the other Pinkie Pie asked.
“I don’t know!” Twilight snapped, and sat down violently. “What makes sense here anymore? Magic is fracturing and people are obtaining Equestrian magic for whatever reason!”
“But we do know why we got this magic,” Sunset replied, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’re the Elements of Harmony, remember?”
“But the Elements of Harmony don’t exist over here,” Twilight weakly pointed out. “There aren't any copies. No working magical relics. This world was supposed to be free of magic, but over the past several years we’ve managed to ruin it!”
“This magic was meant for us,” Sunset affirmed.
“Are you sure it’s meant for you?”
“If it wasn’t meant for me to get, I wouldn’t have gotten it.”
“But if the magic was meant for us to get,” the other Pinkie asked, “then why did our magic come in waves of special powers instead of all at once?”
“I don’t know!” Twilight burst. She threw her arms up in exasperation. “Maybe somepony who had Equestrian magic decided the time was right! Maybe somepony was observing your progress and when you reached a certain point he would say, 'Okay then, these kids can have a taste of magic because they proved themselves. They know the power of friendship!' And he’d give you Equestrian magic, but only in levels at a time so you wouldn’t notice until…”
Twilight realized all too late what she was saying, and clamped a hand over her mouth in shock. Everypony else was watching the spectacle with amusement.
“Star Swirl, you dirty dog, you,” Twilight finally whispered.
“Wherever did you get such a fine plate armor? Supple and light, but as hard as iron!” The other Rarity was circling about the still and slightly-awkward Noble Blade with a keen eye. “The scratches, the minuscule rust patches, the darkened color, the tattered cape-” She lifted the cape behind him between two tight fingertips, keeping her face away from it. “It looks well on you, darling, but... must it have those imperfections?”
“Must armor be speckly clean at every interval of time?” Noble asked. “To keep it serviceable. To erase scratches from cherished events is another entirely.”
“Cherished events?” the other Rarity wondered. She made a little motion with her hands. “Move your arms over your head, Dahling. I must inspect the undersides.”
Noble obeyed, trying not to spill his punch or crush the frail plastic cup in his armored fingers. The living room was tall, but so was Noble, and he had to bend his elbows to fit them.
The other Rarity put her face under his arms. “How are battles cherished events?”
“The battles themselves aren’t,” Noble admitted, his arms straining under his armor. “But the experience you have is one that lasts a lifetime.”
“You describe them like a roller coaster.”
“The battles can go up and down when you least expect it. And more often than not, you have to go to the bathroom really bad before it.” He shrugged, and a few drops of punch flung themselves out of his high cup. “But be it good or bad, I welcome the battle so long as I know what I should do about it.”
“Don’t like surprise events, eh?” She began to study his facial features.
“Not if I’m the one doing the surprising.” Noble lowered his arms. “I only wish to say that I’ve grown in capability. No matter how well you are, you can always do a better job.” He took a swig of punch. “My father was insistent about that.”
“Who was your dad?” the other Applejack asked, overhearing and interjecting into the conversation.
“The former captain of the Royal Guard,” Noble answered. “Strong Heart. He gave me my sword and armor, but his greatest gift was his wisdom.”
“He sounds like somepony ma family’d git along with well,” the other Applejack observed. “Ah appreciate anypony with an ethic like that.”
“Your words mean much to me, Applejack.” Noble smiled warmly.
The other Rarity cleared her throat. “Uh, I appreciate anypony with a work ethic like that as well, heh heh... You know how running a clothing store is. Hectic and busy.” With a grunt in the back of her throat she straightened her skirt. “Anyway, um, I’d best be going. I should introduce myself to Starlight Glimmer. Ta ta!”
And she sprang off.
“Well, well, well,” came a devilish yet recognizable voice. Pinkie Pie’s head swiveled to rest over Noble Blade’s, and he had to turn his head to keep her in his peripheral vision. “Seems like somepony likes the new guy already.”
“Don’t you think I don’t know that?” Noble asked the girl behind his back with a sigh. “Now what, tell her I’m taken?”
“Better safe than sorry!” she sang.
“Right now? I think not.”
“Oh, okay, fine. But remember this.” She contorted herself around him until she was somehow in front of Noble Blade, and she grabbed both sides of his face. “She’s gonna freak out either way. Tell her now and you at least get to choose when it happens.”
And her upper body contorted back until it was once again behind him. “I gotta pick out some more cupcakes from the fridge.”
As she skipped away, the other Applejack gave him a sideways glance. “Who is it?”
“Hm?”
“That yer taken with.”
Noble Blade smiled. “It’s Fluttershy, Applejack. Dear, sweet Fluttershy.”
The other Applejack’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “Why, Ah’ll be. Huh.” She leaned back against a wall and took off her hat. “How is she?”
Noble leaned on the wall next to the other Applejack, and his amor made a tremendous rattle as it did. “She’s the most perfect pony I could conceive of,” he praised. “With all the tender love I have to give, I love her.”
“When dija meet?”
“Two weeks ago. I had come to Ponyville to escort Twilight back home, and when she introduced us to her friends, I was astounded to find she had befriended an angel.”
“That's kinda corny.” The other Applejack was smiling.
“If Fluttershy likes it, I’ll continue to do so. Now that I am hers, all to herself, I can love her in all the tender ways she deserves. Angels deserve the best from a mere mortal like myself.”
“Yer talkin’ weird,” the other Applejack observed wryly. “Is that normal?”
“I was taught to respect mares, Applejack.”
“Ah agree ta show respect, but there reaches a point where yer enthusiasm sounds stupid. Ah’m a country girl who knows how people haggle, an’ Ah know when a guy’s hammin’ his speech.”
Noble said nothing more, but decided instead to flex his armored fingers. His face was soft in contemplation.
“Look, Ah’m sorry if Ah said anything offensive-”
“You’re the Element of Honesty,” Noble cut off before she said anything more. “Honesty often has a slap in the face.”
Now the other Applejack fell silent.
When that happened, Noble’s face softened immensely. “If I said anything offensive-”
“Ah just think we reached full circle.”
“I think we did too.” He smiled sheepishly and put his hands behind his head. “I don’t know how to admit this, but... it’s easy to talk with you, Applejack. Almost unnatural, even.”
“Ah’m not known fer bein’ formal.”
“I should take lessons from you.”
“Lesson number one: develop the southern accent.”
“I’m fine, thank you.” He bowed his head mysteriously and dropped his voice until it got ridiculously deep. “Unless it’s absolutely necessary, ‘course.”
“Where’d that come from?” the other Applejack spat out in laughter.
“Firestorm,” he said in his normal voice. “Playfulness isn’t unwarranted.”
“Hearin’ that kinda voice from a full-on knight. Hoowee!” She shook her head at the exclamation. “The kinda things ya see in the world taday.”
“Not from this world,” Noble corrected. “Half the people in this house are from another dimension. Being like this...as a human, it’s... it’s strange.”
“Ah’m sorry if us humans ain’t normal to ya. How terrible we must be ta be in the shape of a human.”
“I said it was strange. Not awful.” Noble squeezed his hand into an armored fist. “The fingers are a plus, I must say.”
“Excuse me? Noble?” Fluttershy’s feeble voice cut across the room. Noble turned to the source, and saw Fluttershy coming out of the kitchen. “Not to be rude, but, um... Would you mind staying with me? This place is really loud, and it’s making me nervous.”
“My duty calls,” he muttered to Applejack. He leaned away from the wall and came over to his beaming girlfriend. “Do you want to go somewhere quiet?”
“If you don’t mind, that is,” she meeped. “If you’ve got anywhere else to be, that’s-”
He abruptly swept her up and pressed his lips against hers, startling her at first. When she realized she was kissing him, however, she closed her startled eyes and pressed back into the kiss.
After some time he pulled back and smiled at her while pushing some of her hair away. “When I’m with you,” he said, low enough for only her to hear, “there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“I... believe you,” she breathed, collecting herself from the surprise kiss.
“Would you like a ride?”
“What do you mean?” she wondered, absently caressing his cheek. “There’s only an empty room down the hall. What do you mean, a ride-”
He had put an arm under her knees and lifted, and all of a sudden she was in his arms bridal-style. The surprised Fluttershy meeped and wrapped her arms around his head, then realized what he had meant and looked him in the face.
“Want a ride?” he asked again.
She nodded while beaming at him with sparkling eyes.
And he went off into another room, carrying his girlfriend in his arms.
“So if Star Swirl the Bearded had magic all this time,” the other Twilight was theorizing, “then how did he contain it for him to use?”
“Or why didn’t he interfere when those threats popped up? Demons, Sirens, portals all over the place, and mystical powers at camp all seem like good excuses to get involved,” Sunset added.
“He did get involved,” Twilight said to Sunset. “He gave magic to you.”
A moment of contemplation followed, broken only by the scrolling of the mouse by the other Pinkie. Then she said, “Um, guys? You might want to take a look at this.”
Several heads bonked together as they crowded around the computer. On the school website was contact information for school counselors and administrators. At the beginning of a long list was the name Star Swirl the Bearded, but it had no phone number link.
“Huh. He doesn’t have a link?”
“People assume school board members are busy enough already. To give their phone number out would be like inviting a flood of useless complaints.”
“So we can’t contact him.”
“Of course we can.”
“What do you mean?”
“We can look it up in the phone book.” Twilight turned her head to look at Sunset Shimmer. “There is a phone book here, right?”
“Who uses phone books anymore?” Flash asked incredulously.
“I just threw it out,” Sunset reported. “Maybe Pinkie has one hidden in her attic somewhere-”
“You mean this phone book?” The other Pinkie Pie had reached into her hair and lifted out a yellow book thicker than both her arms.
Flash Sentry recoiled a bit. “You just had that hanging in your hair the whole time?”
“Doesn’t everybody?” The other Pinkie Pie looked legitimately confused. She planted the book down with a tremendous thud and flipped through the pages. “Now, let’s see. Would he be under Star, or Swirl, or Bearded?”
“Let’s look in all three places,” the other Twilight suggested. She took a section of pages and began to flip through them.
For the next minute and a half, the girls pored over the thick yellow book. Finally, Sunset planted a finger on a page. “Found it!”
“Where was it?” Twilight asked.
“The Bearded, Star Swirl,” she replied. She squinted at the page. “240...435...7878.”
The other Pinkie Pie jotted it down on a nearby sheet of paper.
“So now what?” Sunset asked. “I haven’t had experience with finding houses before.”
“Now we look online to find the address in the white pages,” the other Twilight responded instantly. Her fingers were already flying over the keyboard.
Before long, she had pulled up the appropriate pages, typed in the phone number, and scrolled to find the homes in the area. The result she finally clicked on was reflected in her square glasses.
Sunset was staring at the computer screen. “No... no, that’s got to be false.”
The rough bark was chewing into his skin. From this vantage point, he could see clearly into the home, and what he saw made his insides flurry with excitement.
His communicator buzzed, and he brought it up to his mouth and held down a button. “Isla’an reporting.”
“The artillery is in place,” Captain Slath said over the radio to Isla’an. “Engage.”
Isla’an smiled wickedly and unslung a crossbow from his back. He looked down the sights and focused on the head of the fiery-haired girl through the window glass. “Engaging now.”