Twilight stirred as the sun peeked through her window. She was back in her own bed and, more importantly, she was back to being only one pony.
Despite how difficult yesterday had been, she had been up late into the night observing what it was like being in multiple bodies at the same time. Aside from a few odd quirks in their personalities, each and every one of herself was... Well... Herself.
Try as she might, she couldn't find any real differences between the three of them except for the obvious difference of each of them being a different tribe.
More than once she found herself discussing with herself who she thought the Shade could be. Theories ranged from a forgotten remnant of an ancient civilization to a disowned love child of Princess Luna. That last thought came out of nowhere and was probably the result of too much time spent listening to Rarity carry on about the latest Canterlot gossip. Still though, there was the way the princess reacted to him last night.
Twilight slowly sat up in bed and looked down at her hoof, "Midnight Sparkle," she said under her breath as she clutched it to her chest. The power had been intoxicating, she had felt like she could do anything. Clearly not though. The Shade had taken her apart so easily. She still dreaded having Princess Celestia find out about what happened. What would her teacher think of her?
"She'd probably be glad you weren't hurt," said a small voice from a nearby shelf.
Twilight was starting to get used to the little fairy showing up out of nowhere. "Good morning, Whisper," she said softly.
"Good morning, Twilight," Whisper greeted her back.
"So... I have to check," Twilight said, Whisper raising an eyebrow at the questioning. "You can't read minds can you?"
Whisper gave her a soft smile and giggled slightly, "hehe, no. No I can't read minds. But I've been watching you since you came to Ponyville. It's pretty obvious that you're wondering and dreading what Celestia would think about you awakening to the nightmare."
Twilight swallowed hard, nodding in the process.
"Be honest with her. She's got a tender heart and you know she loves you dearly. She'll be overjoyed that you're ok," she said. "And while I don't agree with all of his actions, it's a good thing he was there to stop you when he did."
"The Everfree Shade," Twilight said. "You know who he is don't you?" Twilight asked.
Whisper had a distant look on her face, "of course I do. I've known him since he first wandered into the forest." She looked a bit sad, "that stallion has dealt with more than any pony should ever have to deal with."
Twilight's thoughts were racing, she wondered what could happen to make someone turn out like that. Maybe someday she'll find out.
Something was still bothering Twilight. Through everything that happened yesterday, she still hadn't found out what happened to her crown. It had vanished from its case when she and her friends needed it the most. "Say, Whisper," Twilight started to ask. "Do you know what happened to the Element of magic?"
"What? This old thing?" Whisper reached up and pulled the missing element from a high shelf. "I figured you didn't want it anymore since I just found it laying around."
Twilight's eyes grew wide as her missing crown dangled in front of her. "My crown!" She exclaimed as she reached for it. "Where did you find it?!"
The fairy pulled the trinket out of her reach before she could grab it. "I don't think so. It's mine now. Finders keepers," Whisper stuck her tongue out at her before flying out of the room with the crown in tow.
Twilight bolted out of her bed. "Give me back my crown!" She shouted as she chased after her.
Twilight was out of breath by the time she had cornered the troublesome fairy. They had been up and down several flights of steps, tumbled through the kitchen and spilled a bowl of pancake batter all over Spike. Until the chase eventually brought them down into the archive and into Random's study.
Whisper was floating over the desk, still holding the crown as Twilight stalked forward. With one last leap, she dove forward and barely snagged the crown even as Whisper tried and failed to get out of the way.
Twilight breathed hard as she clutched the crown to her chest and flopped to the ground. "I thought I lost you," she giggled as she laid there.
"You do know it can't talk, right?" Whisper snickered as she floated nearby.
"Come here you little troublemaker," Twilight swatted at her only to be rewarded by Whisper dodging around her hooves before flitting out the door.
As Whisper sped out the door, a curtain resting against the wall began to ripple with her passing. As it resettled against the wall, Twilight could just barely make out the dimmest of lights shining out from beneath it.
Twilight took a moment to settle her crown onto her head before approaching the curtain. She had only been in this room once, but she was pretty sure that hadn't been there before.
Twilight knew that she really shouldn't be snooping through other pony's things, especially with how she had been suspecting Random the last few days. However, something about that light called out to her. Like a riddle she just had to solve.
She reached forward and slowly drew back the curtain from whatever it was hiding. When she saw what was there, she forgot to breathe.
Hundreds upon hundreds of glowing runes had been etched into the wood. She delicately rested a hoof against them. They were warm to the touch and almost felt alive with the way she could feel the magic flowing through them.
Twilight made an effort to read some of them. She had made a study on the topic, among many other things. Runic studies were a bit of a niche academic topic, usually reserved for archeology due to it being a dead language. However, this didn't seem to be very old at all. It actually appeared to have been carved recently.
Her eyes drifted up as she continued to marvel at the intricate lines and that's when she saw them. That's when she saw the three multifaceted crystals embedded into the center of the script.
The first one glowed a brilliant blue that was so bright, it was almost painful to look at. There was a red one that was mostly clear and she could make out what appeared to be a pair of crossed writing quills embedded in the center.
The last one was a complete mess to look at. It was dull and brown in color and it looked like someone had taken a hammer to it and broken off several pieces. She inspected it more closely, curious as to what the purpose was of the surrounding inscription or if it was just a simple decoration.
She peered at the words that were inscribed near the broken crystal. "Proferet spiritus vitae in lapidem," Twilight read the text aloud, wondering what they meant.
As the words left her lips, the writing began to glow brighter than it had before. The broken crystal began to shake and small sparks started to fly from its surface.
Twilight looked around in confusion as she hastily backed up from the wall. She felt a surge of panic as waves upon waves of magic began to rush past her due to the spell she had just inadvertently cast.
The magic churned into a maelstrom of energy before the light coalesced into a body right in front of her. Hisses and cracking noises were heard coming from within as the light began to die down.
A translucent green limb staggered forward even as it seemed to struggle to hold its own weight. Long cracks traced their way up the leg and through the body as they made their way up and through the blonde mane.
Smokey now stood in front of her, a bewildered look on his face even as the multitude of cracks on his face traced through one of his eyes, robbing the light from it.
Twilight stared in confusion and apprehension at the pony that had just materialized in front of her. "What is this?" She stared in bewilderment.
The apparition slowly opened its jaw. Cracks started to widen around its face even as light refracted off the dust that fell with the movement. "TwiLigHt SpArKle," its voice said, sounding oddly distorted. "WhAt ArE YoU DoInG hErE?"
Twilight looked past him at the empty hollow in the wall where the broken crystal once rested. The pieces in her head slowly came together on what had just happened. She looked at the other two crystals still embedded in the elaborate diagram on the wall as an epiphany came to her. "There's two more of you?!" She exclaimed at the slowly crumbling earth pony.
"Get away from there!" Commanded a voice from the direction of the door behind her.
Twilight whirled around to find Random Fact standing in the doorway. He was out of breath like he had just finished running through the entire town and he did not look happy.
"Do you make a habit of going through other ponies things?" He stormed forward.
Twilight backed up a few steps, thinking he was about to run her over. When he didn't slow down and instead walked right by her to stand before Smokey, she started coming to her own conclusions.
"Do you have something to do with everything that's been happening?" She demanded. "What is your connection to the Shade?"
Random didn't acknowledge her question. Instead he knelt down beside Smokey and placed a hoof on his forehead. As he did so, the fractured body of the earth pony began to glow the same bright light it had before. It didn't linger as long this time and when it dimmed, Smokey was no longer there.
Twilight looked back to Random as he approached the wall and placed the broken crystal back into its indent on the wall. The amount of familiarity he was showing with the inscription made it clear that he knew what it was or he very likely may have been the one to put it there in the first place.
Random took a couple deep, calming breaths before turning to face her. "I wish you hadn't done that," he said sternly. "He hasn't finished recovering since you made a mess of him and he's still in a lot of pain."
"But wait," Twilight said as she slowly took a few steps backwards. "I thought Smokey belonged to the Shade. I know you can't be the Shade since I saw both of you last night." Her eyes went wide as a new possibility came to mind. "But if you can create another pony out of thin air, then it wouldn't be too much of a stretch that you'd be able to make them look like yourself."
Random letting out another deep sigh and shaking his head was all the confirmation she needed. "An astute observation, Twilight Sparkle. I mean, it's wrong, but I'm just too tired to care anymore."
"What are you saying..." Twilight gave a sharp gasp as the air around Random began to bend and ripple.
In one quick wave, the ripple traveled down his body, the grey fur turning the golden color that she had been growing familiar with. The green mane fading away to make way for rich brown. The place Random stood only a moment ago was now occupied by the Everfree Shade.
"So you were the Everfree Shade after all?" Twilight steadied herself. She was both scared and curious at this revelation. Curious that he chose this moment to reveal himself and scared because if history had proven anything to her, there was little she could do to stop him.
"Yes, Twilight Sparkle. I am," he admitted while keeping his gaze distant. "Although if you don't mind, I'm curious. Who came up with that name? I certainly didn't."
"Applejack's grandmother said that was the name they had for the pony in the forest when they first settled here," Twilight hesitantly offered. "You fit his description so the name just stuck."
"I didn't realize there was anypony still alive from the last time I was here," Random said as he slowly made his way towards her. "I remember seeing a family start a farm on the edge of the forest, I guess it didn't take long for a whole town to pop up around them."
"Wait?!" Twilight eyes widened when she realized what he was implying. "Exactly how old are you?"
"It doesn't matter," he said as he dodged her question. "You girls have suffered enough from my actions. I think it would be for the best if you forgot that I was ever here."
Twilight locked eyes with Random, his eyes started glowing and magic poured off him as he approached her. "Wait. What are you doing?" She backed away from him until she bumped into the closed door. She tried to open it but found traces of Random's magic laced through it, leaving her trapped.
"Go back to your peaceful life, Twilight Sparkle," he said as the magic lancing from his horn to filled the rest of the room. "I'm sorry, and good bye."
"No!!" Twilight cried out as the spell arced towards her. She tried to throw up a shield but his magic smashed through it like it wasn't even there. She screwed her eyes shut as she braced for the spell. When a couple moments passed and she found that nothing had happened, she dared to open her eyes.
Random's spell had collided with another barrier that had erected itself around her. She could see him straining against the shield even as she felt her own hooves leave the ground. It was hard to see much else with how bright the air had become around her. When she tried to trace the source of the light, her confusion mounted even further as she found that it was coming from the Element of Magic she wore on her head.
The light continued to grow brighter and brighter until it obscured everything in the room. A few moments later, Twilight slipped into unconsciousness and knew no more.