Starlight sat in a reading chair in the Immortal Dream's library, all alone. Thoughts of her strange duplicate ran over and over through her head, but the most important question held no answers: was Glimmer a part of her, or something else?
She could be insane. After all the things she had been through, many ponies could easily have cracked, turning to delusions as a mental safeguard against the realities of their lives. And she was just a filly. Living a normal life might have been something she gave up on long, long ago, but she knew what normal looked like. Normal foals had parents who looked out for them and protected them from the unfairness of the world. She didn't blame Maple even a little, but the fact was she had taken and dealt with and stayed standing through more than enough to break an adult, all while she should have been nurtured and growing. It wasn't fair. Quietly, she sighed, wondering if her old family in Equestria deserved any blame instead.
Or, Glimmer could be a magical entity from somewhere else. Where else didn't matter, and there were far too many possibilities to even narrow things down. The important part was whether she was only talking to the thoughts in her own head, or whether Glimmer could know things she didn't and have an agenda of her own. Was she Starlight's conscience, advising her by her own understanding of her situation for better or for worse? Or did she want something?
Having spent her life trekking or being dragged across continents by the consequences of others' whims, Starlight wouldn't have been surprised by anything.
"I'm home!" Jamjars' voice interrupted behind her, and she spun in the chair to see a sodden, triumphant filly draining rivulets onto the floor.
Starlight raised an eyebrow. "You need a towel."
Jamjars closed her eyes, stuck out her neck, and shook like a dog, spraying the walls with satisfaction. "Nah, I'm good. So, how did things go with Chauncey? As insane as I predicted?"
Speaking of insanity... Starlight nodded and sighed. "He made no sense and had no point to everything he was doing. He showed us he's under the effects of moon glass, and was very stubborn about not fighting or hurting us while we were down there. But he also took responsibility for all the evil things like making Stanza and creating those foals, and didn't even seem to understand it was wrong. I think it's all just the moon glass. It's making him very lonely, but without a conscience at all."
"Wow, good for him." Jamjars curled her lip. "So we're completely free? Not in any trouble from Izvaldi whatsoever?"
"I don't think so," Starlight muttered. "We also didn't stop them from doing anything bad, though we did get Valey's sister's body back. But Chauncey refused to fight us even when Valey tried to punch him. I think we're actually safe, for once."
Jamjars gave her a look, then huffed. "Well, boo. Guess I did all that digging for nothing." She pouted for a moment, then brought back her sharkish grin. "But I did find things. Percival having an affair? That's old-school. I got us the best blackmail ever."
Starlight raised an eyebrow.
"Izvaldi's sphinx?" Jamjars wandered closer, whispering with her muzzle right against Starlight's ear. "The one who's been dying of old age and is on life support deep in their hospital? He actually died a long time ago, and they haven't told anyone. That means Izvaldi doesn't have a sphinx, so Percival shouldn't get to rule any more. They should be taken over by that Gazelle. So if we ever need a threat, we just tell Percival we can spill this secret..."
Starlight actually stiffened. "Then he'll have to keep us quiet so he doesn't lose his province." She gave Jamjars a wary look. "Are you sure he won't try to keep us quiet some other way? Him loving a mare is one thing, but this feels big enough he'd try to retaliate with an even bigger threat."
"Mutually-assured destruction." Jamjars grinned. "All we have to do is set up someone else who's trustworthy and not in Izvaldi, and tell them if anything happens to us here, spill it to Meltdown. Get her to raid this hospital and have a look for herself. Ooh, that'll go so badly for Chauncey..."
"But it will also go badly for us!" Starlight protested. "Just... please try not to antagonize anyone for now? I think we're actually safe for once, and..." She looked away. "Now that we've found a conspiracy without being drawn in, we don't have to do anything hasty. I think everything's stable right now. It's not like Ironridge with the dam, so we can take our time and be careful..."
"Oh, that's perfectly fine," Jamjars assured her. "I'm not playing a card like this until I really need to, and we do still know about the affair anyway. Although..." She stepped back, putting a hoof on her chin. "Now that I think about it, I've got a contact with that Kero from trying to bail Valey out in the tournament, and I also really hate him for what he did with the foals in Ironridge, even if Chauncey was paying him to do it. I wonder if I could plant this secret in a way that makes him take the fall..." She started giggling to herself as she planned, grin growing wider.
"Jamjars, don't be evil," Starlight sighed. "Can we please just leave things alone right now? I don't think Chauncey will retaliate if we talk to him or ask him things, but let's not touch anything else? Please?"
Jamjars drooped. "Yeah, fine. Whatever. Look, I need to go dry off and warm up, okay? Drop by my room if you want to come hang out, or something."
Starlight watched as she left, studying the way Jamjars moved. Even soaked, with her coat matted against her skin, her step was confident... Was she satisfied in a job well-done? Did she walk like that normally? Or did she know Starlight was watching, and felt she had an image to keep up? Perhaps she even just hoped anyone was watching.
A small spike pricked at Starlight's heart. Here she was thinking about Chauncey, considering him a pitiful creature who couldn't understand how his foul deeds pushed away the ponies he tried to care about and made him alone. Melia, Sirena... She vaguely remembered hearing about a relative he had working in Percival's mansion he was on bad terms with, too. And she was thinking about herself, left to find her way through continent after continent to the point where she wondered if she was going insane... and then there was Jamjars, a weird, uncomfortable little filly with no upbringing whatsoever who was rude, intense, and always talked about things that made her feel awkward. Starlight had her friends; she had spent the night in a cuddly pile with Maple, Amber and Valey. Jamjars had... her posters.
It would hurt to be a hypocrite. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more it hurt already. Feeling vaguely like her body was moving on its own, Starlight got up, lit her horn, floated a book out from the shelves... that book, since Glimmer had basically told her it was important... and trotted off down the hallway after her fellow filly.
When she got there, the door was closed, so she knocked. "Huh?" echoed from within.
"It's me," Starlight said as the door floated open in Jamjars' telekinetic glow. Inside, Jamjars was on the floor toweling herself off, and a look of surprise at Starlight's presence lasted just long enough for Starlight to see before it was gone, replaced by the usual smug self-satisfaction.
"You invited me over." Starlight shrugged, stepping inside and getting the door behind her, already feeling awkward in Jamjars' room. "So... hi."
"Ha. Wasn't sure you'd actually come." Jamjars grinned, rolling around with a mess of towels. "So hi yourself."
Starlight waited for a suggestion of what to actually do, eventually realizing Jamjars either had nothing to offer or was smart enough not to talk about her posters. "I brought a book, if you want to read something?" She tilted her head, floating up Sosa the Explorer's journal. "In Equestria, my best friend and I used to hang out by reading together all the time."
"What's that?" Jamjars squinted at the text. "It looks ancient."
"It is. I found it in the mountains." Starlight shrugged again, moving to sit on Jamjars' bed. She might have been willing to spend time with the filly, but she wasn't feeling altruistic enough to warn her that this was the most boring book in the world. "I think it's mostly poetry, but I haven't read it for a while."
Jamjars hopped up next to her, damp coat pressing probably-deliberately into Starlight's. "Ancient poetry? Sounds weird. Is that really where your tastes are?" She frowned. "Well, to each their own. But look, if I read this, you get to read some of my favorites with me."
Starlight winced internally, but she wasn't about to admit she was offering Jamjars a terrible book to read. "It's not for fun. I heard somewhere that there's something important in it I need to figure out. I think. Maybe."
At that, Jamjars seemed a lot more understanding. "Ohhh! I read textbooks too. It's how I learned my friction spell. Speaking of which, I need to decide what to focus on next..." She tapped her hooves. "I'm still showing you some of my favorites. I have them in a drawer in that cabinet."
"You have books?" Starlight frowned. "More than just the ones in Shinespark's library?"
"Well, of course!" Jamjars shrugged. "Camouflage spell, remember? And I'm good at styling my mane? Easy as pie to go to the public libraries in Stormhoof or Izvaldi, look like a different filly every time, and open a million accounts to keep all the books I like without getting fined."
Starlight frowned. "That's technically stealing..."
"Oh, you'd steal them too if you saw how good these books were," Jamjars said with a grin. "And come on, you should be interested by my magic! I bet you don't have a spell that can do that."
"Wait a minute..." Starlight's eyes slowly focused. "Your color change lets you look like normal ponies, too? Not just background objects?"
"Yeah. Why?" Jamjars momentarily concentrated, turning her raspberry mane blue. "It's pretty useful when you're creative."
Starlight hesitated. "...Can you look like me?"
Jamjars hauled herself back to her hooves. "Give me a moment with my mane," she requested, walking over to her vanity. "Yours is a little longer than mine, and way too scruffy even with that ponytail. It would be easier if you got a manecut. Have you ever thought about how you'd look with a proper bang?" She shifted the colors in her mane as she worked, straightening and messing and continuing to dry it. "Ugh, it's just a little too short...!"
Eventually, she sighed, giving herself one last flicker of magic and turning to face Starlight. "What do you think?"
Starlight blinked. Jamjars was still wet, and the manestyle was a little different, and her eyes were orange and her horn slightly shorter, but... "Wow. That's interesting."
"How am I?" Jamjars turned back and forth, regarding herself. "Our body proportions are pretty much identical, right? Yeah, I think I measured us before. You're a sound sleeper sometimes. Hah. This is actually a good idea! You like it?"
Starlight just watched her for a moment. "Except for the horn and eyes, but yes... Huh."
Jamjars frowned. "Eyes are easy enough to fix with contacts. They even sell a ton of those in Izvaldi already. Firefly Sisters merch, remember?" She kicked open a drawer and pulled out a box. "I'd have to get some to make sure they match your shade, if... Wait, are you thinking of doing anything with this?"
"Maybe? I was just curious." Starlight shrugged.
"Well, now I'm curious," Jamjars informed her, walking up and putting her hooves on Starlight's shoulders. "Hmmmmm... Eyes we can fix, mane, you're getting a manecut. You need one anyway. We can cut ours identically and then style them differently so they're easy to interchange. And I have been having my horn growth spurt over the last few months, so maybe they'll eventually be closer. In the meantime, we could get a cone, as long as I don't have to actively cast while I'm disguised? Hmmm..."
Starlight's eyes widened slightly. "Are you actually planning to do something with this?"
"Nope!" Jamjars chirped. "It's just for fun. And maybe I'll plan something later. But you gotta admit, it's cool, right?"
Starlight wasn't sure. All she could think about was getting yet another duplicate. Useful, annoying or insanity? It would take some thinking to figure out how she felt about this for sure...