//------------------------------//
// No Good Deed 
// Story: Lost & Found 
// by False Door 
//------------------------------//

Twilight sprinkled water on the new little succulent by the bedroom window, wanting to give it a bit of a cushion for the transition. She placed a little note next to the plant with simple care instructions hoping it didn't seem condescending. “Well, good luck, little guy. It's out of my hooves now.”
She glanced at the clock. It was about time to go. What a week. She'd done a lot of work, more serious work than she'd ever done in such a short time but in the end she was only a glorified aide, teeing things up for the rightful ruler. She could only hope things would get better for this version of Equestria. But at least with the mirror, they could talk any time now if they had problems.
Twilight entered her walk-in closet and whipped the cover off of the strange mirror one last time. - - -







It all went by so fast. Twilight meandered through the halls of Canterlot Castle, taking mental notes on everything that was different. Curtain colors, table locations, decor items she'd never even seen before, the flowers in the planters and the artwork on the walls. She'd been so enamored with the big things but it was truly astounding how many little, inconsequential things had changed just by retaining her friends.
Twilight stopped in front of a large princess group portrait and lingered there wistfully as if savoring the melted remains of a long gone ice cream sundae, an all too familiar state of mind.
She had to leave this place and go back to a world where her friends had withered away in rocking chairs instead of becoming princesses and ruling a most beautiful Equestria that they'd all built together. She’d once again be left without their companionship, their support or their insight but she would always have the wisdom of their words in her heart. That would have to be what got her out of bed in the morning, that and the next wonderful thing…
A grandfather clock chimed with grim finality at the end of the hall. In her desperation to squeeze just a little more joy out of her stay, she'd lost track of time.
Twilight closed her eyes and teleported to the library where sat all of the untouched birthday presents. And there stood the shrouded mirror, the doorway that would end her trip and take her home. With her magic she pulled up the cloth like a curtain rising on a stage and there she was, the other her, waiting patiently with a tentative smile.
“Sorry, I think I'm a little late,” she apologized.
“You must have had a lot of fun then,” she posed.
“I did. I don't remember the last time I felt like this.”
“That’s great! I hope it was a healing experience for you.”
“I…” Twilight looked at the floor as her words died in her throat. “They’re all so amazing. Just as incredible as I remembered. I learned… or maybe I relearned a lot of things.”
“Think you’re ready to lead again?”
“I think so,” she breathed.
“That’s great to hear because your citizens need you. Things aren't ideal over here but they're far from unsalvageable. I got a lot of balls rolling for you but don't worry about getting confused when you jump back in. I put everything in a journal and a planner to get you up to speed. I even helped smooth things over with Celestia.”
Twilight’s lips tightened at hearing the name. She shook her head gravely. “I don't want to be friends with Celestia again. She’s only nice for as long as you do what she approves of. You don't know what she's really like inside because you have always kowtowed to her.”
She frowned, almost wincing. The rebuke sounded so viscerally shocking, especially coming out of her own mouth.
“Well, that's not… I think if you reach out to her, you can find a healthy compromise.”
“I don't want a healthy compromise.”
The two of them shared a tense silence, neither wanting to concede on the matter but also knowing they wouldn't be changing the other's mind.
“We can talk about it later if you want, or anything else for that matter now that we have the mirror,” she suggested.
“Yeah,” she nodded absently.
“Well, nothing left to do but switch back and go to bed. You've still got a lot of presents to open in the morning,” she laughed weakly.
Twilight placed a hoof upon the face of the mirror. The other her slowly mimicked her pose until their hooves appeared to be touching.
“On three like last time? One…”
She let her hoof slip listlessly from the glass as a surge of conflicting thoughts stormed her mind.
The other her stopped counting. “Twilight?”
How could she just leave all her friends? Why go back? Everything she wanted was right here. It didn't have to end. It didn't have to end…
She swallowed. “The way things are now, it's kind of a better fit overall, don't you think?”
Twilight’s forehead creased with concern. “What are you talking about?”
She tried to gather her nerves, unable to meet the other her's gaze. “Thank you for everything you did for me… and I'm sorry.”
Before she could protest, Twilight spun around and bucked the looking glass with a crunch, sending it toppling to the ground, flat on its back.
The other her gasped as the image before her spiderwebbed across a view of the library's ceiling. It fizzled in fractured shards for a moment before returning to normal but not the normal she wanted. Twilight's jaw went slack as she noticed the mirror now showed the closet which she stood in and the other her in the mirror was now just her own reflection. - - -







Twilight did not sleep well, the irrevocable nature of her decision weighing heavily on her mind. The other her was all too willing to help her out of a dire situation for nothing in return and what did she do to her? In that moment she'd rejected all the guidance and clarity she'd gained from her visit. What did it all mean now? She'd just have to be the ruler here that she couldn't be at home. It would be better this way, she kept telling herself. The other Equestria needed the other her and she needed her friends.
A knock on her bedroom door jarred her out of a dead sleep.
“Princess, are you in there?” called the mare she thought she recognized as Stardust.
“Uh… yeah,” she groaned, rolling over like a slug.
“You're late for your morning briefing.”
Twilight rubbed her eyes. “Oh, sorry. I had a rough night. I'll be there in a minute.”
She dragged her body to the vanity and gave herself a quick once over with a brush. Then she teleported to the meeting room which she'd only attended once before in this dimension, just to be nice. She should probably make it a habit now.
“Alright,” she yawned. “What do we have?” She floated the prepared steaming coffee mug to her mouth.
Stardust cleared her throat and flipped back to page one of her clipboard. “You have a ribbon cutting in Manehattan tomorrow with Princess Rarity. I have your speech right here for that.” She slid a couple of papers across the table to her. “Uh, initial economic indicators are stable despite the fires in the west. I have that data here,” she added, putting a second paper stack in front of her. “Griffonstone is expressing interest in a new fishing trade deal. Add that to the list of things to bring up and push at the summit… Oh, and Princess Rainbow Dash has extended an invitation to join her in Las Pegasus for the weekend of the eighteenth.”
Twilight smiled with warm optimism. “That all sounds great.” - - -







Twilight yanked out a new book and hopelessly began flipping through the pages. Her eyes were sore and her brain felt like it was just buzzing with useless static and spinning wheels that got her nowhere.
“Oh, here you are, princess,” muttered Noteworthy as he trotted into the library. He glanced warily around the cluttered room as he approached her. Every table on the bottom floor was crowded with stacks of books on enchanting, sprawled open or marked for reasons unknown.
“What are you doing? You're missing your morning briefing.”
“Ugh, just… give it to me in writing today, please,” she replied without looking up from the whiffling pages of her floating tome.
“Okay,” he answered slowly. “Do you need help with… the task you're working on here?”
“Yes!” Her bloodshot eyes bulged. “I need every book you can find on enchanting and wormholes and tesseracts and the multiverse theory so that I can find a way back home through the mirror.” She pointed at the unassuming article that she'd brought back into the library for her research.
Noteworthy frowned. “Alright… I will get on that. Did you sleep last night?” he asked, noticing her disheveled mane and the bags under her eyes.
“No,” she growled. “Because I need to find a way home immediately! Now go round up the books!”
He nodded slowly. “Right away.” The stallion disappeared in a flash of magic, leaving Twilight to her, so far fruitless, search.
Her concentration was shattered just a couple of minutes later by the arrival of Celestia and Luna as they appeared out of thin air. The timing of the visit suggested that her quasi adopted parents had been tipped off by her advisor.
“What's all this business, Twilight?” asked Celestia, eying the room with an edge of annoyance.
Twilight let the worthless book fall to the floor. “Oh, good. I need your help.”
“With what?” she sighed.
Twilight began to pace back and forth. “I’m not supposed to be here. I'm not the real Twilight. I’m- I'm not your Twilight is what I mean. I'm a different Twilight Sparkle from a different dimension. On the night of my birthday I came through the mirror and switched places with your Twilight.”
Totally gobsmacked by the outlandish sounding tale from out of nowhere, the sisters exchanged dubious glances.
Twilight facehooved in frustration. “Listen, I know how this sounds. I'm from a dimension where all my Ponyville friends are still alive.”
“So you’re not the real you, haven’t been for a week, and you’re just telling us this now?” grumbled Celestia.
“Well… yeah but… the- the- reason is-”
“This is the mirror you came through?” asked Luna, looking carefully over the piece. “It looks like an ordinary mirror.”
“Luna, please,” scoffed Celestia, not wanting to entertain the idea and just get back on schedule.
“Because the other me broke it from the other side and now I'm trapped here,” blurted Twilight. “Please, I need to get back.” Twilight let out an aggravated sigh as she flailed for something tangible to lend credence to her story.
“Ugh, look, the instructions,” she floated the folded piece of paper to her predecessor in desperation.
Celestia rolled her eyes before looking over the bizarre note that appeared to have been scribbled by a deranged pony. Then she stared back at Twilight. “Talk to yourself? What kind of nonsense is this?”
Twilight gave an exaggerated shrug. “I don’t know.”
“Very amusing,” muttered Celestia, furrowing her brow. “But can we please-”
“Counsel,” whispered Luna, tapping her sister on the withers. “The meeting room.”
Celestia exhaled. The two ex-princesses teleported to the castle’s empty meeting room.
“Sister, does this story make sense to you?” asked Luna bluntly. “She seems crazed.”
“She's just playing games with us, Luna” Celestia shot back with contempt. “She's been doing it for decades.”
“She's never done anything like this before though.”
“Are you serious,” scoffed Celestia. “The museum opening… Preparing for the most recent ball...”
“Well I suppose what I mean is that she seems unusually convincing this time. Who's to say her thousandth birthday didn't make her snap and… I don't know, create some sort of alternate identity as a coping mechanism for her losses as she holds on even tighter to her fantasy world? Did you see how frazzled she looks?”
Celestia rubbed her face with aggravation. “It's her most concerted effort to date; I'll agree to that much but that's just another thing she does. She has these manic breakdowns but always comes out of it fine eventually.”
She paused for a moment as if thinking back on something. “Ugh! I should have known better. Don't you see now? Everything strange since her birthday has just been an elaborate ruse leading to this moment. She set everything up nicely and now it's time to pull the rug out from under it and go back to being bad Twilight. She's just kicking things off with this stupid little performance. It's all another tactic to spite me and plunge the country into further chaos.” 
Luna shook her head in doubt. “Crazy, not crazy, does it matter? We can not have her governing anymore.”
Celestia leaned in close to her. “I swear to you, it's just another game of chicken and I will not lose. We're not talking about throwing in the towel on this until I’ve had a serious talk with her after a good night's rest. Mark my words, I will stabilize this reign. Go tell Noteworthy to clear her schedule and I will see to Twilight.” - - -