//------------------------------//
// 03 - Morning Grogginess 
// Story: Dusk & Twilight Swap Places 
// by Cxcd 
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Twilight slowly fluttered her eyes open.
It had been… a number of days since she had last gotten a good night’s sleep. Sure, even if this one had been slightly magically endued by accidentally draining most if not all of her magic from the intensive dimension-hopping spell, it was still one of the best sleeps she had ever gotten. Most of her nights in recent memory had been spent rolling over like a rotisserie chicken, but this  night- she had been so still that her joints were aching. To say that this bed was over sized would be quite the understatement. As a matter of fact, Twilight was scared she would lose herself in the comforters due to its intensive size.
Unfortunately, Twilight wasn’t exactly able to directly communicate with Dusk. Hopping dimensions was intensive, and it was more akin to two carriage drivers waving at each other, going way too fast to properly take the time to stop and talk. That also meant that she wasn’t able to really get a better look than a kind of purplish violet blur as they jumped the gap between space. But, due to Dusk’s bed size, plus her own experience, evidence pointed towards Dusk being a massive stallion.
Twilight creaked open her right eyelid, forcing her magic exhaustion coma out of her system. She could feel the crust buildup on her eye from how hard she had slept. The sun was blazing through her window violently, almost like Prince Solaris himself was outside her window, demanding her to get up and start her day. Which has happened before. And to be fair, the bright green swaying trees just visible through her position on the bed through the window was a very inviting and compelling reason to get up.
She groaned, rolling over on her side, her back facing the piercing yellow light. In a moment of manic, Twilight let out a girlish giggle at the prospect of actually wanting to sleep longer. This wasn’t like her at all. She usually got up right on time, ready to start the day of lessons with Prince Solaris. But something was telling her to stay firmly planted. It was almost a foreign feeling, actually not wanting to get up.
But unfortunately, nature called. And she had been laying in her own black-soot filth from the previous night. She grunted as she dug her head deeper into the incredibly soft pillow. Perhaps if she ignored it, the pressure would go away?
“Eeegh…” Twilight whined, finally forcing her head inches off the pillow. She blinked, her vision rapidly going in and out of focus. Unfortunately, it looked like she wasn’t going to go home today. Her magic reserves were still low, and that also meant going light on the magic. Only basic levitation spells today. She let out a frustrated groan upon realizing she had also left all of the lanterns on from the night before. She dreaded knowing what the oil bill was going to be this month.
Her bones creaked in protest as her hooves hit the ground, demanding to be rested once more. With a thin-lipped curse barely directed at herself for not relaxing last night, she shook her bed mane, barely catching a glance at herself in the reflection of a photograph. Her mane was an impressive explosion of jungle mess, her eyes hollowed out from the black soot. Her eyes stopped focusing on the reflection, instead focusing on the photograph pinned to the wooden wall.
There was her first real glance at Dusk. A stallion with her exact hair colors, smiling broadly as he gripped an argumentive purple dragon. She let out a sharp laugh as she realized what Spike looked like in this world. She still managed to capture all of Spike’s stubbornness.
She could hardly believe this was happening. She was here, in an alternate universe, just existing. Nothing was rapidly different. It was a universe where every pronoun in every book mentioning everypony who had ever walked Equestria was flipped on its head. And Equestria just… kept moving along like nothing was wrong. There obviously had to be some differences, but from a surface level introspective, everything seemed almost boringly normal.
Twilight let out another laugh. She didn’t know why she was feeling exuberant, even with the little amount of magic in her reserves. All that she knew was that she was feeling happy. Without another thought, she began her descent to the bathroom.
She entered the small hallway that housed the kitchen and bathroom. She stopped just outside the bathroom door. Every photograph was one she recognized, only with a stallion at the front.
She paused, looking at an average than usual picture hung just outside the bathroom.
It was one she knew very well, mainly because every one of her friends had an identical photograph. It was a photo of all five of her friends, plus Spike. She remembered it as the photo that was always oddly proportioned. Rainbow Blitz, Butterscotch, Applejack, Bubble Berry, and Elusive. Then, right in the middle, was Twilight with Spike on her back. Sure, they were all smiling, but Twilight’s looked a little more bashful. All of the other stallions towering over Twilight as she wore it painfully.
Here- well, the photograph seemed to have the exact opposite problem. Instead of being the shortest and most petite by a long margin, he was the largest and most muscular. He was, similarly, in the middle of the photograph, wearing the exact same bashful smile, practically pushing the other mares out of the photo. Twilight couldn’t help but cringe.
Her cringing was instantly replaced by laughing. Gut-wrenching laughing. She actually had to kneel down for a second as the realization hit her.
All of her friends looked ridiculous as mares.
She had already met Elusive’s counterpart from last night, in the form of Rarity. She pulled of the look quite well, despite being absolutely filthy from the explosion. She probably was able to pull it off because of Elusive’s natural feminine energy, being a fashionista. Similarly with Butterscotch, he seemed quite competent as a mare.
And then there was Rainbow Blitz and Applejack.
Twilight looked up, meeting the petrified smile the photograph’d mare gave off. She was smiling so brightly, but she looked ridiculous. It was obvious that Blitz could not pull of the mare look one bit. Same with Applejack. Applejack was the epitome of all sexual energy of stallions into a single body. They could both level fields with a single flex.
And they were both mares in this photo. Ridiculous.
And then there was Bubble Berry. To be honest, despite size-difference being apparent, Bubble Berry was borderline androgynous between worlds. He could be a mare or a stallion, and Twilight would’ve just rolled with it.
She left the photograph behind with a disbelieving shake of her head, entering the bathroom.
She had done her business and was stepping into the shower. She had the pleasure of having an impressive array of soaps to choose from, being the 3-in-1 shampoo and body wash sitting lonely on a shelf. It wasn’t like Twilight used her massive array of soaps anyways. Honestly, she might’ve preferred using a single soap like Dusk. But it was still a little strange how that was the only soap in the entire shower. Honestly-honestly, Twilight hated getting soap as a present. Now, however, as she stared at the 3-in-1, she wondered if her stallion friends gifted her soap because she was a mare and didn’t question whether or not she actually liked them?
Twilight finished her shower and was in the process of washing her hooves when another thought crossed her noggin. She quickly air-dried them, and without using her magic, retched a drawer open. All of the usual suspects were here, of course.
Toothpaste… Brushes… band-aids… But nothing to relieve heat season!
…
Wait. No. Twilight internally cringed. Pills. There aren’t any hormone blockers. It was a medicine she used once a year to stop her estrous cycle temporarily, just long enough for heat season to fly over. And, of course, they were missing here.
Well, that’s annoying. Twilight thought, sliding the drawer shut. I’ll just have to go to the pharmacy and buy some more. It’s not that big of a deal, I guess. Heat season isn’t until next month, anyways. Twilight paused for a moment before exiting the bathroom. But- I’ll be home before then. Surely.
She exited the bathroom. Breakfast did sound good right about now, but… outside of making a bowl of cereal, Twilight probably would, could, and has burnt down the kitchen. In a house made from a tree. Spike had explicitly prohibited her from cooking, and although he wasn’t here right now- or she wasn’t here right now- Twilight still decided to not break her trust. She could probably grab something with Rarity on the way to the spa.
The spa! Twilight grew a smile as she turned away from the kitchen, skipping down the steps and into the public library center. Books lined the ground messily, and a draft of wind blew in from the opened windows. Her smile faded as she realized the mess she had made last night and had yet to clean up. Where was Spike when you needed him? With a sigh, she began levitating every book-
“Gah!” Twilight shouted, all of the books falling again. She rubbed the spot below her horn. That spell had taken more out of her than she realized. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to get an infection. Twilight let out a sigh of frustration, instead opting to manually reorganize the books.
But she couldn’t keep the smile off of her face for long. She was going to go to the spa! Elusi- Rarity was finally taking her to the spa! Finally, after asking for the past year and a half! She was going to experience first-hoof how it felt to have her bones turned to jello!
Metaphorically, of course.
It had taken a good chunk of time to reorganize the shelves without magic. Twilight wiped a thin layer of sweat off of her brow, looking upon her work. She had to give Spike a raise sometime. Not that she paid him in the first place. Perhaps it was finally time for him to earn his own royal stipend. By the time she was done, it was no longer breakfast. She didn’t feel particularly hungry, keeping herself distracted, but the gnawing was definitely beginning to grow within her stomach.
Rarity would be here any minute, and she had just the thing to pass the time. Twilight randomly grabbed a book from the shelf and flipped it over to the front cover. She let out a harsh chuckle as she read the title page. Daring do. Not Derring Do. And- honestly, Derring pulled off the mare look very well. Better than Rainbow or Applejack, that was for sure.
She plopped her flank onto the burnt floor, laying down. She had needed the space yesterday to cast the spell, so the table with the structure of a stallion on it had to be unfortunately moved downstairs for the time being. That meant reading on the floor, which wasn’t a real problem.
“See? Look!” Twilight heard a voice say. She looked up, straightening out as she watched three mares poke their head through a side window and into the library. “I told you that explosion came from here! Look at the glass!”
Twilight blinked. It was the flower brothers, except- well, they weren’t exactly brothers anymore. It was obvious who Rose, Lily, and Daisy were.
“Um- can I help you?” Twilight asked, a little miffed that the three ponies were quite obviously intruding on Twilight’s privacy. Rose, Lily, and Daisy all simultaneously blinked as they stared at Twilight through the window.
“Dusk?” They all said in stereo.
“Twilight.” Twilight corrected. The three mares all shared a look of disbelief.
“Dusk?” They repeated.
“Twilight!” She said louder. “I’m Twilight. That spell I casted made me-”
“Switch sex?” Rose finished.
“Become a mare?” Lily added.
“Live out your fantasy?” Daisy said thoughtfully. Twilight blinked harshly, pulling her head back in shock.
“No! I’m just Dusk from another-”
“You get it, girl!” Rose finished.
“Yeah!” Lily added.
“If we knew you felt like this earlier, Dusk, we would’ve helped you!” Daisy laughed thoughtfully. “I mean- this is pretty big!”
“Uh-oh.” Rose looked up.
“Uh-oh is right.” Lily added.
“Let’s let them fight this out, shall we?” Daisy finished thoughtfully. Without another word, the three flower sisters departed from the window, leaving a particularly flustered Twilight. The most she could do was let out a sigh and look back down at her Daring Do book.
She flattened the book on its spine, beginning the first paragraph. Well- she would’ve finished the first paragraph, if she wasn’t immediately interrupted by the sound of a pony entering the library. Which was strange, considering there was a huge sign on the door that quite clearly read closed that she was pretty sure hadn’t moved from yesterday. Twilight sighed again, looking up and meeting the violet eyes of the pony.
And she was looking back at Twilight.
She was a mare.
She was a Pegasus.
She looked like Rainbow Blitz.
Actually, scratch that. She was Rainbow Blitz.
The mare was paused just after the doorway. One hoof dangled in the air as her eyes were shot wide open, staring at Twilight laying on the ground. If she wasn’t already on the ground, she would’ve dropped from the sky in disbelief. Twilight stared apprehensively, observing the photograph come to life. Compared to the photograph, this mare didn’t look nearly as silly as she did.
Rainbow’s wings poofed open, flying a few loose feathers out.
Then, slowly, in equilibrium, they both started giggling like fillies.
Then laughing like mares.
Then rolling on the ground like foals.
“Ohmygosh! You look so plushy!” Rainbow gasped between breaths, putting her hooves onto her eyes. Twilight kept laughing, not taking offense to her statement. “So- you’re so tiny!”
“Well- you look boxy!” Twilight shouted back. Rainbow let out a few more laughs, rubbing her eyes as she rolled back onto her stomach.
“Boxy, huh?” Rainbow snickered. Twilight stopped laughing, also rolling on her stomach. The two laid on the blackened floor, hooves apart from each other. “Geez, Dusk. What kind of spell did you cast this time?”
“A-ha. I only casted a dimension-hopping spell.” She rolled her hoof. “Surprisingly simple. It just takes a lot of energy. Me and Dusk switched places.” Rainbow’s eyes slowly shot open in surprise.
“Woah-woah, wait!” She said, waving her hooves. “You’re not Dusk? You didn’t cast some sex-switchy spell?”
“Nope!” Twilight said proudly. “I come from a dimension where every gender is flipped!” Rainbow’s eyes went even wider. “The spell took a lot of magic, so I’m not allowed to use magic for the rest of the day.”
“Oh.” Rainbow said, not entirely sure what feeling to be feeling. “Are you- like, okay?”
“Oh, I’m fine.” Twilight waved a hoof. “A little magic exhaustion never hurt anypony!” Rainbow let out a sarcastic laugh, knowing full well that yes, magic exhaustion does hurt ponies. “Why are your wings like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like that.”
“Wh- Huh?” Rainbow cranked her head to the side, looking at both of her wings, which were standing straight up. She quickly turned back to Twilight with a blush spread across her muzzle. “J-Just sore!” She said. Twilight thought for a moment, before nodding her head in satisfaction. Rainbow bit her lip for a second, before scootching forwards on the ground.
“What are you doing?”
“Just-” Rainbow, once close enough, extended a hoof forwards. She planted it firmly on Twilight’s chest, pushing forwards. Twilight raised an eyebrow, looking back up at Rainbow.
“What are you doing?”
“Plushy.” She responded simply. Now, it was Twilight’s turn to blush, her muzzle heating up.
“A-Are you saying I’m fat?” Twilight asked, almost wondering if Rainbow intended for her action to be offensive. Rainbow looked up at Twilight’s eyes with surprise.
“N-No!” She shook her head. “It’s just- I mean, Dusk is like ripped, but doesn’t ever exercise. So I thought- you know- you’re a mare and all, and-” She sucked air between her teeth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“No, it’s okay.” Twilight looked down, still noticing Rainbow’s hoof on her chest. She gently guided it down with her own. “Introductions first, okay?” She smiled. Rainbow smiled back. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. And I assume your name isn’t Rainbow Blitz.”
“Close.” Rainbow kept smiling. “My name is Rainbow Dash. Fastest flyer this side of Equestria!”
“You might be even faster than Blitz.” Twilight complimented. Rainbow raised a confused eyebrow at that. “Your double is Blitz. Since he’s a stallion, he relies more on wing power than anything else. Mares glide through air, a little bit like swimming. So, with that in mind, who’s faster?”
“Obviously me!” Rainbow said. “We have to race sometime!” Rainbow made an ooing sound. “Do you think you could teleport Blitz over here? We have to race!” Twilight offered her brightest sympathetic smile.
“Just hopping by myself took a lot out of me.” Twilight explained. “If I tried to do two ponies at once- I’m scared I won’t make the hop.”
“Woah.” Rainbow said. “That can happen?”
“Yeah.” Twilight shrugged. “It was dangerous enough coming over here. But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
“Twilight!” Rainbow said. “You could’ve died?”
“Not die?” She said slowly. “More like- drift in the space between dimensions for the rest of time?”
“Twilight…” Rainbow sighed, putting her hoof back onto Twilight’s chest. “I don’t wanna see you hurt!” Twilight looked back down at her hoof. Why was Rainbow this sympathetic? She usually wasn’t- or, he usually wasn’t.
Wait a minute… Twilight thought. Isn’t Blitz gay? And if Blitz is gay, then that would mean Dash is too…
Oh buck.
“R-Rainbow?” Twilight asked, snapping her head upwards. “Are you coming on to me?”
“What?” Rainbow yanked her hoof back. Then, as if her suspicions were confirmed, she looked away while blushing harder than before. “Nooo… maybe?”
“R-Rainbow!” Twilight quickly stood up.
“No- I’m sorry!” She waved her hooves, also standing up and watching in pain as Twilight backed up. “I just- I think you're really hot!”
“Hot?” She shrieked. Twilight’s heart began to flutter rapidly as her flank hit the bookshelf behind her. Feelings were brewing in her chest that she hadn’t ever really felt before. Not to sound too cliché, but she felt the butterflies gnawing at her stomach.
“I’m sorry!” Rainbow repeated. “I mean- you’re hot as a stallion, but like- I don’t like stallions! So- it’s like Princess Celestia herself just delivered an angel on my doorstep!” Twilight took a heavy breath, trying to steady her hooves, which were suddenly shaking again.
“An angel?” Twilight said. “Do you mean that?”
“Well…” Rainbow rocked her head. “Not like- literally an angel, but-” She sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m just-”
“I’m baack!” A new voice said. Both Twilight and Rainbow jumped in surprise, turning to the side to look at the now opened door. There, in all her glory, stood Rarity. Unlike yesterday, her coat was a finely groomed pure white that radiated the sun off of it. Her mane, instead of being embedded with dirt and black soot, was the most majestical purple Equestria had ever seen. Twilight’s jaw almost opened in surprise.
“Hi!” Twilight said, pretending as if nothing was amiss.
“Nice to see you again, Twilight.” Rarity greeted, walking further into the library. Twilight put on her best ‘nothing to see here’ smile as she could as Rarity gauged the scene. “Hello, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity greeted. Rainbow just kept her mouth closed, eyes darting from Rarity to Twilight.
“Good to see you weren’t a figment of my imagination, darling.” Rarity said to Twilight. “Are you ready to go to the spa?”
“Oh-” Twilight turned to the Pegasus laying on the floor. “Sorry, Rainbow. I made an appointment with Rarity today…” Then, she let out a small smile. “Unless you would want to go, too?” Rainbow kept working her jaw for a moment longer, before suddenly realizing she was being spoken to.
“Oh- no. No thank you.” She said, shaking her head. “I’m too cool for all that frilly stuff.”
“Of course.” Rarity said wistfully. “Rainbow never wants to go to the spa.” She turned on a dime, trotting towards the door. Twilight looked back with a frown. “Come along, Sparkle!” Rarity said, exiting the premises. Twilight also began trotting towards the door, before stopping on its frame. She looked back at the saddened Pegasus, still laying on the ground.
“Rainbow.” Twilight said. She looked up. “Come back later tonight, okay?” She asked quietly. Rainbow let a goofy smile suddenly spread across her muzzle, nodding quickly. Twilight offered a hopeful smile, before walking out of the library and closing the door behind her.