Rainbow Dash sighed as the purple balloon drifted below the cloud cover and out of sight. Twilight would have loved all of the cool stuff in the suburban part of town... she thought. Rainbow looked back at her friends, all standing there chatting and laughing. She smiled at the sight of it. Her mood lifted and Dash felt ready to resume showing them around.
She showed them the large market, which Applejack enjoyed seeing; the dance club, which Pinkie Pie had a fit about; and a multitude of other things. From the park to the neighborhood where Rainbow grew up to even the neighborhood where Fluttershy grew up. Rainbow Dash even showed them the flight camp she had attended when she was younger.
The tour lasted well into the afternoon, and the orange glows of the sun were beginning their descent below the horizon. Night would be coming on, and Twilight still hadn’t returned.
They stopped at a local diner in order to discuss their plan. Rainbow Dash knew that it would end in her and Fluttershy being tasked to carry them down, so she ordered a coffee to help keep her going. It had been a long day, after all.
Because of the oncoming night, they couldn’t stay for long. The conversation was constantly interrupted by having to look out the window to see how much time they had left.
Rainbow gulped down the last of her coffee and chewed the end of her sandwich, then walked over to the counter, where the owner was cleaning a glass. He was a gruff, but nice looking pony with a smooth white coat and a slightly darker mane. He looked very focused on his task.
Rainbow Dash grabbed a few bits out of her saddlebag and placed them on the counter. They shined brightly in the setting sun. It hadn’t gotten his attention. “Hey, thanks for the food,” she said in a slightly raised voice.
The pony looked up from his work with an eyebrow raised. He realized that she had paid him and his features brightened a little. He gave a welcoming smile. “No problem.”
Rainbow Dash looked around the joint, then back at the owner, who had resumed cleaning the glass. “How long has this been around? I used to live here and I don’t remember it.”
The owner looked up again. “Oh, just a couple years. Here, I got a newspaper clipping from the day we opened.” His voice became more excited as he talked about the newspaper. “We got front page! Although some other story got the real headline...” He flew to the top of the cabinets that were above the counter and grabbed a framed newspaper. He brought it back down and placed it facing Dash. Among other stories was the one of the diner opening. It was hidden away in the corner of the paper. The picture of the main article caught her eye, as it was of a flight team. Rainbow read the headline and her eyes widened and stomach dropped. It was about a flight team shutting down.
The same team her mother used to be on.
Rainbow Dash looked the owner right in the eye. “Can I have this newspaper?”
“Heh. That came outta left field,” he replied. “First off, no, but you can look at while you’re here. And two, why do you need it in the first place?”
“No, it’s fine. Maybe some other time. Oh, and I just was interested in that flight team. Anyway, I think we should go now.” Rainbow Dash went and grabbed her friends, then hurried out, much to their protest. Rainbow’s mind had gone right back into searching mode. After so many long nights and early mornings it used to be second nature to her. Now it was just confusing...
Twilight rolled around, stretching and grasping with her hooves to try and find a warm blanket. Upon not finding one, she grabbed the next best thing. A pony that was apparently lying next to her. Twilight felt the pony’s body, and found it to be the roughly the same size as hers. A mare. What had happened the night before? She had imagined it would smell of recent rain, still fresh from the clouds, but when she breathed in deeply, she smelled only a musty, earthy scent, akin to the ground. As she felt around some more, Twilight found the body she was next to was very rough, full of large scars. Confused, she opened her eyes to see who this mysterious pony was.
A rock. She was cuddling with a rock.
Twilight stood bolt up, glancing around quickly as memories came flooding back to her. Trees. She was in a forest. Twilight got her magic at the ready. There was a clearing a short distance away, which she could see through the trees. After glancing around to make sure no one was watching, Twilight began walking towards it, her hoofsteps light and quiet.
Now standing in the middle of the clearing, Twilight slowly looked around. The trees were gangly and the grass grey. A crow cawed in the distance. The clouds covering the sky gave the forest an evil shadow. There was a tall mountain a small ways away.
Twilight didn’t recognize this place, yet it felt familiar. It wasn’t in Equestria, at least nowhere she had been before. “Okay, okay, okay...” Twilight said, looking hurriedly around. “First things first, I need to find out where I am.” After looking in every direction around her, she groaned in frustration. “How am I gonna find out where I am if I can’t see over these stupid trees!” It was at that moment when an idea sparked in her head. “Yeah, that should work!” She ran over to the tallest tree around and teleported to the top.
Nothing. No civilisation anywhere. “Oh no, oh no, oh no. If I can’t see anything anywhere, how can I find my way back? And better yet, what the heck happened with my horn? I need to take more precautions against horn hijacking. I didn’t even know that was a thing... It never came up in my studies.” Twilight teleported back down to the ground and went back to the middle of the clearing. “Okay, the only thing for miles around is that mountain... I suppose that’s my best bet. Maybe there’s something on the other side...” And with that, Twilight set off. She constantly looked over her shoulder, as she always had the feeling she was followed. Or at the very least, watched...
“And plus, maybe whoever took control of my horn is there...”
“Rainbow? Equestria to Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow Dash looked ahead and found there to be nothing but open air. She turned around and saw her friends standing at the edge of the cloud a little ways away, and she quickly flew back to them.
“What happened?” Rainbow asked, coming to a landing in front of them.
“We don’t know, Rainbow,” said Applejack. “We were just walking, and when we came to the edge of the cloud, you kept going.”
“Oh, uh... Sorry about that,” said Rainbow, blushing in embarrassment a little. She hoped it wasn’t too noticeable. “I just kinda got lost in my thoughts is all.”
“Well that’s unlike you, Rainbow Dash. Are you alright? You’ve been acting mighty strange ever since we came to Cloudsdale.”
“Uh... Well, you see—”
“Look, everypony,” interrupted Fluttershy. “I’m sure Rainbow Dash has a good reason for acting like this. I mean, this is her hometown, after all. Maybe she remembered something bad.”
Fluttershy was the only among the group that knew about Rainbow Dash’s past. Even though they had been friends for the longest time, it still surprised Rainbow when Fluttershy stood up for her like that.
“Thanks, Fluttershy,” said Rainbow Dash, smiling.
“Yeah, thanks, Fluttershy,” said Applejack. “I guess I did get a little carried away. Sorry, Rainbow, but tell me if somethin’ is the matter, okay? Anyway, the sun’s fading. Let’s get going.” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy grabbed Applejack under the shoulders and carefully lifted her off the cloud. Applejack peered uneasily at the ground, gulped, and didn’t look down again until Rainbow and Fluttershy had safely deposited her on the ground.
Rainbow Dash’s arms felt much relief after setting Applejack down. And when she looked up at Pinkie Pie, she huffed in despair and flew back up to get her.
As usual, Pinkie was excited to do anything with her friends, and she was positively bouncing at the thought of their current activity. In fact, they almost dropped her in one of her ecstatic outbursts. After that, though, she settled down until they reached the ground.
Finally, it was over, and Rainbow Dash bid everyone adew. Fluttershy went to Rarity’s to check up on her and to find out about Twilight, and the other two went back to their houses. Rainbow didn’t go home though, she still had to go to the library to see where Twilight went.
The bookworm must have slept in, Rainbow thought.
Rainbow’s wings ached and her eyes were heavy, but she pushed onward.
Twilight gratefully sat down under the shade of a large tree. She was panting heavily, and her hooves were on fire and her throat was parched. The sun seemed to have not moved from its place at the top of the sky. Although the late autumn weather wasn’t hot, the exercise had certainly taken its toll on Twilight’s stamina.
When she finally stood up to continue walking, Twilight listened for any sort of water nearby. “Ugh, where am I gonna find water in this place?” she grumbled, setting off again. As if on cue, she heard the welcoming sound of a small creek. Her ears immediately perked up, and Twilight quickly began to follow the sound.
She was soon welcomed by the pleasant sight of a cool stream rolling through the forest. The water gently slid over the rocks, and down the stream it swept around a fallen, moss-covered log. Twilight smiled at it. It was the first truly peaceful thing she had seen since she had been taken there. She stepped up to the edge and stuck her face in, cooling herself off and greedily drinking.
After a few large gulps of water, Twilight came up for air. Her mane dripping into the creek below, she panted lightly. Soon she was satisfied and content. At least, as content as she could be with the situation at hoof.
Twilight’s hooves were still aching, so she went up to the edge and sat on her haunches, and ripples got sent downstream as she dipped her back legs in.
How didn’t I notice this stream before? thought Twilight. It’s quiet enough in this forest, I’m pretty sure I would have heard it from a long way off... Hm, perhaps the trees dampened the noise more than I thought. Maybe I’ll come back here and do more research after this is over.
With her hooves sufficiently soothed, Twilight stood up and continued back into the grim-looking forest, leaving the forest stream behind.
Rainbow Dash was looking in the window of the library when something flew by it. She peered in, and found that Spike was frantically pacing around the library. He would occasionally look behind something or throw something out of the way, then he would groan in frustration and continue his endless pace. Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and tapped on the glass. Spike didn’t notice, so she tapped again, louder this time. That time, Spike pulled his head out of the cupboard he was going through and looked to the window. He noticed Rainbow Dash hovering outside and hurried to open the window.
“Rainbow Dash?” he asked, getting the window open. He noticeably shivered as the cold night air assaulted his senses. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in Cloudsdale today?
“Yeah, I was. Twilight said that she was gonna go home and take a quick nap, but she never came back. Is she here?” Rainbow flew through the opening and got a better look at the library than before. And the sight she saw was not a pretty one. The place was a complete pigsty of books and other things scattered seemingly at random. Spike shut the window and went back to looking everywhere he could think of.
“No!” Spike exclaimed, waving his arms around. “She came back here and started going through some old diaries. She said something about seeing a sonic rainboom before. She didn’t mention taking a nap.”
“Huh, she didn’t mention it to me... Anyway, where is she now?”
“Well, I was getting bored so I got up to get a drink, and when I got back, she was gone! The only thing wrong was that the bedside table got knocked over. The books were still open on her bed and everything!”
“Slow down, slow down.” Rainbow Dash took a moment to parse what he was saying. After a second, her eyes widened. “So you’re saying she’s missing? Come on! Let’s get looking!” Rainbow Dash flew up the stairs to Twilight’s bedroom, with Spike trailing close behind. The upstairs was just as much of a mess as the downstairs. Rainbow began looking around, but Spike stopped her.
“Wait, I already looked through the entire library! She isn’t here.”
Rainbow Dash stared at him in disbelief. “Then what were you doing when I got here?”
Spike rubbed the back of his head and guiltily laughed. “Panicking.”
“Ugh, fine. Well, I don’t know...” Rainbow Dash looked around the room again, noticing things she hadn’t before. The books weren’t a clutter like downstairs. Instead, they were in a neat pile next to the bed, and there was one book sitting open in the center of the bed. Rainbow flew over to that to see what entry Twilight had been reading. In the back of her mind, Dash had expected it, but it still took her by surprise. The entry was from the day of her original sonic rainboom.
Twilight stepped out of the trees and looked up. Above her lay a tall mountain. It was the only noticeable inclination for as far as she had seen, and it was too rocky for trees to grow on it, so it was bare and out of place in the center of a forest. It rose up at a very high angle, and it was easily too steep to walk up. There was a scraggly path leading up at a gentle angle around the mountain, so, seeing no other options, Twilight began to climb it.
As soon as she set a hoof on the path, a deep rumbling began vibrating the path. Twilight looked up to see a large rock barreling down the cliffside. She quickly leapt for safety. It smashed into the path just in front of her and shattered into small pieces, evoking dust into the air, causing her to have a fit of coughing. Twilight sat for a few seconds, until finally the coughing died down enough to allow her to take a few deep breaths. Twilight gulped and peered uneasily up the mountain. She stepped forward cautiously, continuing to look up, while only looking down to leap over the hole in the trail. After a few feet, no more rocks had come down, so Twilight looked ahead and listened harder for falling rocks than before.
The trail was unsteady and full of loose rocks. Some mere pebbles and some head-sized. More than once she had to quickly pull her hoof back as a rock gave way under her and began to tumble.
Eventually, Twilight got up high enough to take a good look over the forest. And what she saw made her stomach drop.
For as far as she could see, the forest continued. No large gaps. No towns. Nothing.
Then Twilight heard something. A voice crying for help, and it came from higher up the mountain.
“Hello?” Twilight called, looking up the cliffside.
“Is someone down there?!” a female voice called back. “Come help me! I’m in a cave up in the mountain!”
“O-okay! I’ll be there soon!” Twilight set off again, with more vigour this time.
Rainbow Dash’s heart pounded against her chest as she read through the journal. She was surprised to find out that that was the day that Twilight had gotten into Princess Celestia’s school. At one point Rainbow laughed.
“Rainbow Dash? What’s so funny?” asked Spike.
“Oh, nothing.” Rainbow continued to smirk. She had just read that her sonic rainboom had made Twilight more powerful. When she got to the end, Dash felt a small warmth creep to her cheeks with the knowledge that her rainboom had caused all of that.
“Rainbow Dash?” asked Spike, looking at her funnily. Rainbow jumped back, quickly shutting the book and trying to hide her blush. “Did you find anything?” continued Spike.
“Oh, uh...” Rainbow Dash’s mind reeled for an answer, and her eyes were looking everywhere except directly at Spike. “I-I, uh... You were born on the same day as my rainboom,” she blurted out.
Spike raised an eyebrow. “Okay then... So, nothing about Twilight?”
Rainbow’s breathing slowly started to calm. She breathed a sigh of relief that Spike didn’t notice anything. “Not exactly, no. So, Spike, did Twilight ever... I don’t know, act suspicious? Anytime recently?”
“W-well, no, not recently.”
“Not recently? Look, Spike, if it can help us find her, you should probably tell me.”
Spike rubbed the back of his head. “Well, uh... This has been bothering me for a while now, and, uh. A f-few years ago, I followed Twilight up the mountain behind Canterlot, because I was worried about her, you see?” Spike began looking around, as if Twilight would pop out and catch him red-handed.
“And?” Rainbow Dash sat down at the edge of the bed, and Spike hopped up next to her.
“Well, uh, she went into a cave and lit some candles. Then she opened a book and started reading it. A few seconds later, she lit her horn and said something I couldn’t hear. She repeated it a few more times, then... uh, she blacked out.”
“She blacked out?! Is that normal with unicorn magic?” Rainbow Dash didn’t believe that Twilight could do such dangerous magic when she was so young.
“But wait, here’s where it gets weird.” How can it get weirder? thought Rainbow Dash. Spike continued. “A few seconds after that, Twilight wakes up. But she’s acting kind of strange. Looking around as if she didn’t recognize where she was. I ran in to see if she was okay, you know? And when she looked at me, she didn’t recognize me. S-she asked who I was! I-I was worried I had lost her... And I completely lost it when she passed out again. I-I ran over to her and started shaking her, begging her to wake up! When she did, she had no idea about anything that happened after she cast the spell. She didn’t remember waking up...” Spike looked up at Rainbow Dash with a pained look.
“So, that’s a good story, Spike. I-I’m sorry, I can’t imagine how that would feel...”
“It’s all right, Rainbow. Anyway, after that incident, Twilight would occasionally—mostly while she was studying—stare into space. She would sometimes respond to something when no one talked. Overall, she was acting pretty strange. It stopped a few months later, though. I-I’ve always had this bad feeling after that... A feeling that something bad would happen. She continued to go up to the cave for a while after that, but I was too scared to follow... I even went to Celestia, but you know how she is. She’d prefer to let Twilight solve it on her own...”
“Spike, do you think you could show me where that cave is?”
The craggy path only got worse as Twilight’s trek continued, forcing her to slow back down from her stride. The incline only became greater as well. One time, a rock Twilight had stepped on with her hindleg came loose and plummeted down, causing her to lose her footing with her other hindleg, leaving her hanging on with only her forelegs.The rock that had given out fell for a few seconds, which felt like minutes to Twilight, before shattering on the ground below. She scrambled back up and breathed deeply for a few moments before setting off again.
Eventually it started to even back out, until the path ended and she came upon a small opening in the mountain.
“Hello?” she called in.
“Yes! I’m in here! Come help! There was a small cave-in, and I’m stuck.”
Twilight gazed uneasily into the cave. It was dark with no torches. With a nervous sigh, she walked in, lighting her horn as she did so. The cave was narrow and not very tall. It was barely tall enough for a pony. And there were times when Twilight had to duck or pull her limbs towards her body as tightly as possible. The ground was full of sharp rocks occasionally jutting up unexpectedly, and the air was full of earthy dust, making it harder to breathe. Although it was even colder inside the cave, Twilight found herself wiping the sweat from her brow even more often.
“Can you hear me?” Twilight called.
“Yes! You sound even closer now!” it replied. Twilight found comfort in the knowledge that her treacherous journey had a solid end point. She dreaded the thought of having to climb back through this and down the mountain, though.
After what felt like ages, the tunnel opened up into a larger room. Twilight continued to stroll forward and ended up with her nose against a large steel door. A weird place for a door... she thought. Bewildered by its appearance, Twilight stood still for a moment, after which she attempted to open it, but found it locked, so she instead tried unlocking it with a spell, which proved unsuccessful. The spell caused the door to clank.
The pony must have heard the door, as she then spoke. “Oh! You’re finally here! I’m right through the door. Quickly, now!” The pony’s voice really did sound close now.
“But it’s locked! I can’t open it.” Twilight sighed in frustration.
“Are you sure? Could you try again?”
“I don’t know what it’ll accomplish, but fine, what the heck.” Twilight turned the knob once more, and, to her surprise, it opened.
Spike blinked in surprise. “Wait, what? Do you think she’s there?”
Rainbow Dash got up and began stretching her muscles. “Well, you’ve already searched here, right? And she’s not the type to just leave without telling anyone.” Rainbow turned to the window, crouched a little, and looked back at Spike. “Hop on, we’re going to Canterlot.”
“Wait, huh? But what if Twilight’s still in Ponyville, then we’ll be too far away to help her!”
“Fine, if she’s not at that cave you talked about, then we’ll just fly back here. I’m fast enough.I just did a sonic rainboom for crying out loud!”
Spike sighed, defeated. “Fine.” He walked over to Rainbow and cautiously crawled on, carefully climbing around her wings, until he was resting uneasily by her neck. “It’s way easier to ride Twilight, you know.”
Rainbow Dash smiled wickedly. “Ha! But I’m more fun.” Without warning, Dash bolted out the window and into the night sky, her hooves stretched out in front of her. Spike screamed, Rainbow laughed, and the wind howled. It was a clear night, the sky devoid of clouds. The moon shone brightly through Equestria.
For a moment, Rainbow Dash’s mind was on nothing but the fun of flying. The cool night air flowing through her mane and the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She swooped and she banked, she pulled up and she dove down, all while moving ever closer to their destination.
Rainbow Dash was brought out of her high by a sharp pain in the small of her neck. She craned her head back and found Spike holding on for dear life, a look of pure terror etched on his face. She slowed her flying to a more reasonable pace and the pain lessened accordingly.
They flew on and on and on, the city lights of Canterlot getting brighter as they neared. Soon they were flying over the last farmers’ fields, where all the farming equipment was packed away for the oncoming winter, and into Canterlot.
Rainbow Dash slowed down to a hover over a small city square, where a festival seemed to be going on. “All right, Spike, where’s the cave?” asked Rainbow, continuing to look down at the festival. A unicorn and a pegasus were sitting at a table outside a small café, and another unicorn was walking to the table holding three drinks. Rainbow Dash’s eyes continued to wander, when suddenly they snapped back. Pink pegasus. Blue mane. No, it can’t be...
Through the door was a large, well-lit room. Twilight stepped inside and glanced around. There was a mirror at the other end, where she saw a reflection of herself, and there was another door leading off from the side. One thing she didn’t see, however, was a cave-in.
“Hello?” Twilight called for what felt like the millionth time that day.
“Hello,” replied her reflection, stepping out of the mirror.
Twilight’s eyes widened. “W-what?! H-how?” she sputtered.
Her reflection merely pursed her lips and walked forward. Twilight heard the door behind her shut and lock. “Really?” the reflection asked, feigning surprise. “I figured you would remember me. That’s why you created me, after all.”
Twilight racked her brain, but came up with nothing. Twilight got into a defensive position, just in case. “What are you talking about? I can’t create a clone of myself. And I’m pretty sure I’d remember it if I did.” By this point, Twilight had the entire cave memorized in case a fight broke out.
“Oh, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight. I thought you would have figured it out by now, but I guess you’re not as smart as they say, now are you?”
“Just who are you?”
“I’m you, Twilight.” Just then, other-Twilight opened the other door. Just a crack. But a crack was all that was needed, for Twilight felt a sharp pain bite at her head, and then she blacked out.
“Twilight, dear, you almost burned down the house. No more dangerous magic until Princess Celestia teaches you how to control it better,” said Twilight’s mother.
“But, Mom!” Twilight groaned. “I can only get better at magic by practicing it more! Besides, I knew what I was doing. I stopped it before anything bad happened!”
“No buts, missy. If Cadence hadn’t been there... Oh Celestia, I don’t want to know what could have happened...” Tears came to her mother’s eyes.
“Mom... I-I’m sorry,” said Twilight, her voice quivering and a guilty sadness coming over her. She too started to sob, and she was grabbed by her mother, and held in a tight embrace. An embrace only a mother and her daughter could have.
After a little while, Twilight’s mother leaned down and kissed her daughter’s forehead. “It’s okay, dear. I just don’t like to think about what would happen if... Look, I just don’t want you to get hurt. Pretty soon you’ll be moving to the palace grounds and I won’t see you as often. I want our last days to be happy, not in a hospital.”
Twilight smiled up at her mother. “Okay, Mom. I won’t practice magic I can’t completely handle.”
“Thank you, dear. Now, how about some ice cream?”
Twilight came to for a moment. She glanced wearily around the room, her head aching. She didn’t recognize any of those visions... No, memories.
Other-Twilight smiled evilly down at her. “Enjoying the show? Now, back to sleep, Twilight.”
“Okay, Mom! I’m gonna go study outside now. I’ll see you later!” said Twilight, running out the door.
“Okay, dear!” called her mother from the doorway. “Remember what you said the other day! Be safe!”
Twilight knew what her mother was talking about, but she had the utmost confidence that she could control it. She just needed to be somewhere that couldn’t burn down. And she knew just the place. Twilight had been out looking for it for a few days at that point, and she had finally found it.
Twilight walked through the streets of Canterlot on that sunny morning, not taking any detours. She was a mare on a mission. Soon she left the main city behind and was climbing the mountain behind the city. Twilight had memorized the route, and she was soon high above Canterlot. Finally, she came to the landing and stopped for a breather. The views from this high up were spectacular. The whole of Equestria spread out before her. Twilight could see everything from Cloudsdale to that town with the huge apple orchard... Ponyville? Yeah, Ponyville, she thought.
With her breath caught, Twilight walked into the large cave behind her. Her hoofsteps echoed off the tall cave walls around her. She lit the torches she had brought and stuck in various cracks in the days before, and now that it was sufficiently lit, she took the spellbook out of her saddlebag. Twilight took a deep breath and opened it to the proper page. It was full of complex incantations and magical theories. But she was there with a specific purpose.
Twilight did a few magical exercises to get her juices flowing. It was going to be a difficult spell. She did what the book said. Focus on her temporal lobes, and bring her magic there, and then repeat the incantation. Simple. Admittedly it was dangerous, but Twilight knew she could do it. She had practiced precision magic on Smartypants before, after all.
Twilight focused all of her magic on her temporal lobes and said the incantation. After a few moments, she repeated it with more vigour. Again, Twilight repeated it. This continued on until, finally, it took effect. The spell was just something to help her remember more things. At least while she was still young. And it had finally worked. Twilight blacked out.
Twilight slowly opened her eyes. other-Twilight was still staring down at her. She hopped up and readied a spell against other-Twilight, but nothing happened. Not even a flicker from her horn.
“I know who you are now. You’re that spell I cast on myself. And I know where we are. We’re inside my head.” Twilight glared at other-Twilight.
“Oh, yes! You finally get it. Of course, I’m not surprised you didn’t remember me. I did steal that memory, after all. Now, come here. I want to have some fun with you.” When Twilight did nothing, other-Twilight snarled angrily at her and she felt a magic aura surround her and force her up.
“How did you steal my memories?” Twilight asked, stalling for time. None of her magic was working. Not even a little.
“Oh, simple. You created me where your memories are stored, so I just took a few. It’s quite boring in here, you know. Nothing to do except go through old and new memories. I took a few useful ones, that’s all.” She smiled innocently.
Twilight continued stalling. This spell seemed to like gloating. “Why did you only start this now? You could have done it anytime.”
“Oh, no I couldn’t have! I didn’t have enough of your magic stored within me to make me powerful enough to take over your horn temporarily. And the reason I’m starting this at all? Well, you see, after only a few short months after you created me, you didn’t need me anymore. I’ve been left inside your mind for years! And now, it’s your turn to be stuck in here.”
Twilight tried to struggle out from her spell’s magical grip, but to no avail.
“Oh, don’t bother with magic. Those memories drained all that you have. Ha! I’ll finally be the one in charge! After all these years! It’s a bad feeling, being stuck in here. All I wanted was to be free. Free to live my own life. But you kept me trapped in here. You acted like I didn’t even exist! Now, it’s my turn.”
“No! You can’t blame me for that! I didn’t even know you had a sentient mind!”
“Well, that doesn’t change the fact that you forgot me and left me to rot!” other-Twilight exclaimed.
“Look, I wouldn’t have done that if I had known. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have even created you.”
“Well you did, and there’s no changing the past...” other-Twilight looked sadly at the ground. Twilight felt the magic grip loosen slightly.
“Now that I know you exist, I can’t just let you be. If we can re-merge our consciousnesses, then we’d both be happy, right?”
other-Twilight looked up again, anger flaring in her eyes. Twilight felt the grip strengthen to an even higher level than it had been. “It’s too late for that now. You made me suffer in here, and now it’s your turn.” Twilight felt a warm glow overcome her body. It felt inviting, like a soft, silky bed... She felt herself falling, and then the light faded from her eyes.
It was at that moment when Spike decided to answer. “Well, uh... I don’t know exactly where the cave is, but we’re pretty close to our old house, so I can probably show you from there.” Rainbow Dash didn’t respond, for she was still staring at the pegasus. “Rainbow Dash?” asked Spike, knocking on her head.
Rainbow blinked a few times, then shook her head. “Oh, uh, yeah, Twilight’s old house... Heh, uh, where is it, exactly?”
“Oh, it’s a couple blocks down that street over there. Twilight and her parents used to love this café down here.”
Rainbow took one last look at the pegasus, then flew down the indicated street. “Okay, and... stop,” said Spike. The house they stopped outside was a moderately-sized, three story building. “Okay, now down this street up here...” Rainbow flew down the street. “Or wait, was it over here?”
Eventually they made it to the outskirts of town, in front of a narrow dirt path leading up the mountainside. “Up here?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Spike’s breathing was shaky. “Uh-huh.” Rainbow Dash started flying up the mountain, parallel to the path. Soon the hustle and bustle of the city was far behind them, and the quiet mountain lay ahead.
The path leveled out onto a landing and a cliff face rose up behind it. “T-the cave was, uh, right over here,” said Spike, hopping off of Rainbow Dash, giving the ground a quick kiss, then scampering over to a giant rock against the wall. “Uh, this wasn’t here before.”
“So, this is the cave?”
“Yep, this is it.”
“And... how are we supposed to get in with this giant rock here?” Rainbow Dash peered at the rock, shaping it up.
“Well, as I said, this wasn’t here before. Maybe we should go now? I doubt she’s in there.”
“Come on! Help me move this rock!” Rainbow Dash flew over and grabbed whatever she could of it, and, after a moments hesitation, as did Spike. They pulled and pulled but it wouldn’t budge. “All right, let’s try digging instead! You have claws, so you go ahead.” Spike began to dig, while Rainbow Dash looked for a weak point on the rock. Spike wasn’t making much progress, on account of how rocky the mountain was, and Rainbow wasn’t succeeding in her aspect either.
Rainbow Dash sighed. “Fine, she isn’t here. Let’s go,”
“Rainbow? Are you sure you want to give up that easily? It’s not like you,” replied Spike, climbing out of his small hole.
“Well, your hole is going nowhere, and this stupid rock won’t budge!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash, kicking the rock in frustration. To their surprise, this caused a purple forcefield to emanate from the point where she kicked. They both stared at it, open mouthed. After a moment of silence, Rainbow Dash said: “Well, maybe she is here...”
“...Yeah, maybe you’re right,” replied Spike, equally as stunned.
Just then, the rock was bathed in a purple light. It lifted from the ground and hovered out of the way of the cave. And out of the new opening, a purple unicorn exited.
“Twilight?”