Altered Perspectives: Adapting to Change

by CapNTilfy


A Most Unusual Encounter

Abacus Cinch opened her eyes slowly. Her vision was blurred as she stood up, and she stumbled around in a daze for a moment before shaking her head rapidly. Upon regaining her balance, she realized that she was on all fours. She struggled to stand up, then looked down. Horror almost immediately dawned on her as she saw that she didn’t have legs… but hooves!

Abacus screamed, unable to take her eyes off of her new appendages. A sudden flash of light caught her attention, and she looked up to see a purple winged unicorn. Startled, she screamed again… then everything went dark.


Abacus came to, finding herself lying in a canopy bed. She raised her hands slowly then stared in disbelief at her hooves. She stumbled out of the bed and onto the cold, blue-tiled floor with a yelp.

A door opened, and out came that winged unicorn from before! “Oh, good,” she said in a voice that was all too familiar to Abacus. “You’re awake!”

Abacus’ eyes widened. It… it couldn’t be. The hair. The eyes. The Power Symbol on her posterior. Her voice. This creature could only be… “Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes.”

Abacus slowly got up as her anger rose. “You ingrate!

Twilight blinked in surprise and confusion. “I’m sorry?”

“Don’t you play dumb with me,” Abacus roared. “You know what you did! You betrayed me and cost Crystal Prep the Friendship Games!”

“Crystal Prep… oh!” Twilight’s eyes widened. “You seem to have mistaken me for my counterpart.”

Abacus opened her mouth to retort, then stopped as realization dawned on her. That would explain why everyone at that accursed Canterlot High knew Twilight! They weren’t trying to get into her head… they already knew her doppelgänger!

Abacus put her hoof to her chin in thought. She did find it rather odd that Canterlot High had improved themselves so suddenly just before the Friendship Games. She had remembered that prior to its renaissance, that misguided school was simply a mess! Could the Twilight Sparkle standing before her have had something to do with it?

“You must be Abacus Cinch, Headmistress of Crystal Prep.”

“What?” Abacus was dumbfounded.

“Your world’s Twilight told me all about you,” Twilight said with a frown. “How you blackmailed her into competing against her will and pressured her into unleashing magic that not only endangered your world, but this one as well!” She sighed. “Don’t you think there could have been a better way to handle that?”

“You mean through the ‘magic of friendship’,” Abacus spat, remembering that student’s speech before her transformation into an angelic being.

“The magic of friendship is what brought Canterlot High back together,” Twilight said. “It’s a powerful force-”

“Spare me,” Abacus said as she rolled her eyes. “How could ‘friendship-’” she stopped mid-sentence. ‘Brought Canterlot High back together’? This Twilight was responsible for the school’s improvement?! All the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place.

Abacus narrowed her eyes as she felt rage build. “You… you’re why my charges have turned against me! You infected those miscreants at Canterlot High, who in turn infected my students!”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to narrow her eyes. “Those ‘miscreants’ are my friends,” she said pointedly. “And I don’t take kindly to insults directed at them.”

Abacus scoffed. “Friendship is a weakness. I didn't get to where I am today by socializing with the lower classes of Canterlot City!"

"How can you say that about friendship after seeing what it did for my friends?"

"It helped them cheat, that's what it did!"

"Is winning all that you care about," Twilight asked with a growl. "Even at the expense of others?"

"I don't expect the likes of you to understand, just as you don't understand the powers of influence and reputation!"

"What does influence and reputation have to do with any of this?"

"Influence and reputation are everything, Twilight Sparkle! My father taught me that, and I will take to the grave!"

Twilight's temper calmed slightly. "What kind of a warped man was your father?"

"My father was a good man, and I will not have you sully and slander his name! The name of Sombra should not be used in vain!"

“What?!” Twilight reared in shock as her wings unfolded.

Before Abacus could speak, she found herself in a different room, facing a visibly angry Twilight.

“You are not welcome here,” Twilight snarled, then put up a magical barrier in front of herself. “Leave. Now.”

“I will do no such thing,” Abacus said with a stamp of her hoof. “There is a whole other world out there, and I intend to explore it! Doing so will immortalize me in the annals of history!”

Twilight hung her head and heaved a sigh as she slowly shook it. “You care only about yourself... your heart is full of hate,” she said softly as her horn began to glow. "And your father is likely even more twisted and depraved than you are!"

Abacus gasped as the barrier shrunk around her, then became a bubble. "How dare you speak of him in that manner and tone!"

Twilight lifted her head, revealing a grim expression. “I pity you, Abacus Cinch. Your life must be sad and so very lonely.” She sighed again. “Goodbye. May we never meet again.”

Before Abacus could respond, she was launched back through the mirror.

Twilight immediately took the book out of the top of the mirror, deactivating the portal. She opened the book as she levitated a quill to herself. As she began to write to her friend, there was a scream of impotent rage in a parallel world as fists pounded on a plinth.