//------------------------------// // Like I said, complicated. // Story: Somehow, I'm Twilight Sparkle. // by Full Tome //------------------------------// “Feel better?” “I think so.” “Do you really have to say what you’re thinking aloud?” “No... it’s just fun to do so.” “... You just love getting under my skin, don’t you?” “More than you know!” I said, mocking myself. “Asher, you voice your thoughts too.” “She’s right you know, so don’t give me that ‘Do you have to mre mre neh,’ when you do the same thing!” I scolded myself playfully as I lit up the screen for my phone. 13:42. “Okay, so. Oh-four-hundred, to one-forty-two, that’s nine... Nine hours. Nine plus twenty-four is thirty-three... I’ve been Twilight Sparkle for thirty-three hours now...” I rambled off, pausing only to think. I often do this when I’m stressed. Math helps me to relax, unlike with most people I’ve met, who only get aggravated by numbers. Unfortunately, that was the only bit of math I had. “Wait... CRAP! What time-zone am I in?” I asked aloud, having remembered that I’m at sea. I’m fairly certain there aren’t any oceans in the Memphis Tennessee area. “Would you stay focused for more than five seconds?!” I suddenly blew up at myself. “I will if you will, and we both know that won’t happen.” I said, shrugging off my own over-exaggeration. “Just think of something to do that isn’t jumping through fifteen different topics, okay?” I responded irritably from in my head. “Fine, fine, I’ll try and figure out magic... Sheesh, what crawled up your butt and died?” “You, minus the dying part, which makes the problem that much worse.” “ASHER!” Twilight suddenly burst between our conversation. “Will you two stop fighting each other... Yourself... Whatever! I’m sorry, but you two haven’t let off from your fight since I started talking to you about... interests. “I understand you two are at a disagreement, but please, for the love of Celestia, just calm. Down.” She finished with a demanding edge to her feel. Still had to admit that was odd, having sound and pitch replaced by feelings that are only felt when the thoughts are sent between ourselves... ourself. That was going to kick me in the butt, no matter how used to it I was. I set myself to the task of figuring out how to use magic, as my phone was as organized as I needed it, and my hooves navigated the touchscreen on it with less than desirable results. I closed my eyes and started to- “Twilight?” Came Knightly’s voice, startling me. “Oh, uh... Knightly, right?” I asked. I had always sucked with names. He just gave a slight chuckle before simply saying, “Yeah, feel free to call me Vigil though.” “Alright then, Vigil... Are you here to check up on me?” “Yes Ma’am.” “Sir.” I corrected. “Er, sorry, I’ll just be off.” He said, turning to leave the berthing. “Wait! I uh, wanted to ask you... uh...” I said, quickly trying to think of how to phrase my question. “To ask me what?” “Are you familiar with your equine body?” “Woah, what?” He asked, his face a darker shade of red than I purple. “I mean how you move it!” I yelled, my face reddening a bit as well as I caught on to the possible implications of my question. “Oh! Oh... S-sorry... Yeah, I know how to move around.” He replied, his face now a more pink color. “... A few questions then.” I said, trying to get out of the awkward waters. “Uh, fire away.” “First, do you know how to fly?” “Yes.” was his simple response. “How easily did it come to you?” “Most of it was pretty easy, actually. The hard part was learning to get off the ground.” “Right.” I said, nodding my head to show I understood. “How did you learn to move your wings?” “I... woke up knowing.” He said, opening his wings a little. “Wait, repeat.” “I woke up knowing how to move my wings.” “You’re telling me, you just woke up, knowing how to use foreign body parts?” I asked, halfway between agitated and shocked. “Uh, I guess? I never really thought about that.” He noted, looking at one of his now outstretched wings. “How?!” I practically demanded. Jumping at my shout, he said, “W-well, if I had to guess, I think it has something to do with the pony part of my mind. I was a pegasus, so naturally, he’d know how to use our wings.” I stopped to think for a moment, sitting down in the middle of the floor. “So naturally, he’d know how to use our wings.” was the part of what he said that stuck to my mind. “I-I don’t know.” That was Twilight’s response on how to use magic. “But, if she doesn’t know, that means it’s not Twilight. Heck not even a unicorn... No, that’s not possible, all the memories are unmistakably Twilight’s...” “As much as I enjoy the game twenty questions, I need to get back to my post.” Knightly said, turning for the door again. “Yeah, you do that... I have a lot to think about anyways.” I told him. “How is it that Twilight wouldn’t remember how to use magic? I remember her using it first hand... I just can’t think of the process.” I thought to myself, running my entrance exam through my mind again... “How did she do it? Why can’t she remember how she did it?” I thought, looking at the deck of cards on the table. I tried to lift the cards using magic, but I couldn’t feel anything for some reason. “Feel... Feel! FEEL!” I thought excitedly. “I think I figured out why we can’t use magic!” I shouted. “I swear if you’re pulling my leg...”  “No no no! It’s feeling! See, we can’t use magic because we can’t feel it!” “That has to be the most idio-” “Hold on, I think he’s onto something. That sounds really familiar.” Twilight cut into my other’s thoughts. “Wait, there’s actually some merit to that?” “Yes. Magic is powered as much by emotion as it is by raw energy.” “Then the last part has to be focus, the part that actually shapes spell!” “Precisely!” Twilight thought. I would say I was almost able to feel her excitement, but that would be a lie, since I actually could feel the excitement. “Then all we need to do is figure out is how to gather the energy!” “Not quite.” “What do you mean?” I asked, an ear dropping in my confusion. “Unicorn magic has a visual aura. If magic were to be colored by the surrounding energy, magic would change color based on where one is, not based on whose magic it is.” “Oooh, I get it! We need to find out what’s blocking our energy!” “Exactly. The only issue we'll have is trying to find it.” “Leave that one, to me.” I said, before closing my eyes and just letting the world go as I focused on feeling inside myself. It only took a few moments before I was gone, and freely roaming my mind. “Wait, how did you get in here?” Twilight asked, looking startled by my sudden appearance. “Out of myself and I, I’m the one who knows how to utilize the power of our imagination.” I said as I stood up. “What happened to your mane?” I heard myself ask from behind. Quickly I turned around to see myself staring at top of my head... and likewise, I started staring at the top of his. For some strange reason, his mane was styled like Twilight's. Since he and I share a preferred physical form, despite the color difference, I assumed mine was the same way. “I would ask you the same question, but I guess I already did.” I joked. “Very funny.” “I thought it was, so what’s wrong with you?” I asked myself between chuckles. “Asher, focus, do you want to use magic or not?” “Of course I do.” I said simultaneously. “Jinx! You owe me a soda!” I said, knowing I’d eventually treat myself to a soda. “Don’t mind him, he’s just being weird.” Other-me said, stepping forward as he rolled his eyes. “So where’s the magic?” “I don’t know.” Twilight answered. “You don’t know?!” “Magic is unique to the individual Asher, remember?” “So we’re going to need to find out where it is on our own.” “YES!” I hollered, jumping up and running off without the others, completely ignoring the adventure rule of “Don’t split up”. I was picturing my mind in a sci-fi theme. Tunnels with lit floors, and hexagonal corridors, and all that stereotypical tomfoolery. I figure, sometimes the best way to not be bothered by something that annoys you is to enjoy it in a ridiculous manner... Which is exactly why I was breaking all the laws of physics with my ventilation system. I punched a vent into the shaft, and crawled into it like there was nothing there, only to start crawling out of the ‘ceiling’. “Hello, gravity~!” I said, looking at my relative down. “SKYDIVING! PINKIE-PIE STYLE!” I yelled to the nothing around me as I jumped out and assumed the position I’d seen Pinkie use in the Fighting is Magic previews. I’d always loved to take a dip into my mind for these reasons. ------ I’d believed it was a good time for a step back through my relative time. I don’t know why I do so, but I do it a lot when I’m lost in my imagination. Finally thinking straight again, I opened my eyes to see... nothing. I’m not afraid of the dark normally, but then again, I wasn’t exactly in a regular darkness. I was in a dark spot of my mind. “OH DEAR LORD NO LET ME OUT!” I yelled as I spun around and ran to a door that I couldn’t see. I don’t even know what it was that was hiding in the dark, but it was chasing me, and I could feel it. Panicking, I threw the door open when I got to it, and kicked it closed when I got out. Even though I knew it was trapped in the room I had just escaped, I hightailed it out of there. I swear, I went through six corridors before I slowed down. “What do you mean?” I hear emanating from everywhere. “Unicorn magic has a visual aura. If magic were to be colored by the surrounding energy, magic would change color based on where one is, not based on whose magic it is.” I hear Twilight say from down the hall. “Oooh, I get it! We need to find out what’s blocking our energy!” I hear from the walls again. “Exactly. The only issue I’ve been having is trying to find it.” “Leave that one, to me.”  “Wait, how did you get in here?” I heard Twilight ask. “Out of myself and I, I’m the one who knows how to utilize the power of our imagination.” My other-self said as I walked around a corner. “What happened to your mane?” I asked, looking at his now Twilight-styled mane. “I would ask you the same question, but I guess I already did.” He quipped. “Very funny.” “I thought it was, so what’s wrong with you?” He asked me between chuckles. “Asher, focus, do you want to use magic or not?” “Of course I do.” Myself and I said simultaneously. “Jinx! You owe me a soda!” He said, once again proving that he's incapable of being serious for more than ten seconds. “Don’t mind him, he’s just being weird.” I said, rolling my eyes as I took a step forward. “So where’s the magic?” “I don’t know.” Twilight answered. “You don’t know?!” “Magic is unique to the individual Asher, remember?” “So we’re going to need to find out where it is on our own.” “YES!” My other side hollered, jumping up and running off without us. It’s quite likely he wasn’t even thinking about what he was doing. "He's going to get us killed, I swear to you, he is." I said as I watched him turn a corner. "... Aren't you saying that you're going to get us killed by saying that?" Twilight asked as I started leading us down a separate corridor. "As much as I hate to admit it, yes." I told her as I looked at our science fiction surroundings. "Could I have picked a more annoying theme?" "Why don't you like it?" "It's sci-fi." "You don’t like science fiction?” “Not really.” “Why not?” “It’s often overplayed, and the estimates on when we’d have such technology are too soon. It makes it feel like I’m being lied to.” “How do you feel like you’re being lied to?” "Here's an example." I said, readying myself to rant. “Mega-man, a game series in which the protagonist is a robot designed to look and act human, is originally based in two-thousand ten. Here we are, two-thousand twelve, and they’re only just getting around to making robots that can move somewhat like a human can. “Until recently, any attempts at such robotics looked unnatural. I know it’s their guesses, but I’m not exactly thinking about this from an individual standpoint. The majority of humanity, from my experience, is too easily swayed. “Expectations are too easily set high, which means a lot of people are easy to disappoint. Having a set time area, science fiction works can become what some people will believe. I know it’s not something everyone will do, but those that do might be upset by such things... “I guess I just don’t like the idea of people being upset by what’s written or portrayed... I don’t know, I don’t have myself here to talk about it with.” I said, concluding my little rant about sci-fi. “But... aren’t you separate from him?” Twilight asked, sounding rather confused. “Yeah.” “Then how are you not sure why you hate sci-fi settings?” “It’s... complicated.” I admitted, looking away from Twilight. “We are going to be the same pony, so we might as well get the complicated parts out of the way first.” I let out a sigh and look back to the mare in my mind. “Well... as much as we’re separate, we’re the same.” “How does that work?” She asked, looking confused. I take a deep breath and sit down. “That’s something I don’t have the answer for. As much as I’ve looked into psychology, I’m no master of the mind. I’ll be honest, my other part understands more about mental matters than I do.” Twilight had sat down in front of me, listening intently. “So, you mean to say, as much as you know, your other self knows more?” “In terms of matters of mind, yes. Although, in most topics, I know more.” “So, you two have different strengths, even though you’re the same person?” “Like I said, complicated.” I said, standing back up. “That... really doesn’t make any sense.” “Unfortunately, not a whole lot about me does.” I'd told her as I walked past her.