“Twilight! Wakey Wakey!” a familiar cute voice called.
Opening one eye she saw Pinkie Pie with a Tuba pressed against one of her ears. The earth pony was holding pockets of air in her cheeks to stave off the musical blast. “Hold on, I’m awake.” she muttered through her waking tongue. She was extremely happy to see one of her friends there, but there was still a lingering issue on her mind. With most of her thoughts still focused on getting up she didn’t realize what came blurting out of her mouth.
“How could you leave me back there!? I missed the train, and you all left without me!”
Somehow Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to notice. She attempted to speak with her mouth still full of air, “Mmmffu Mmmmfuuhhh.” Realizing this wasn’t going well Twilight reached out and pressed the pink pony’s cheeks together, causing a loud farting noise to erupt from her mouth.
“Gee thanks Twilight! It was really hard trying to speak with my mouth full. Now just what do you mean I left you behind? You were up front napping the whole time.”
Twilight looked like she had been struck across the muzzle. “What another me? I couldn’t have split myself by magic could I?” The mere thought of it terrified Her.
“Well you both look alike, except for your crown of course. Also, my twitchy tail was acting up the whole ride here. So I knew something was a hoof.”
“It couldn’t have been the teleporting could it? Pinkie Pie look at me do I look normal?”
“You look whole to me.”
Twilight was winded with a mental overload, which caused sparks of magic to vibrate off her horn in confusion. In the span of a second, she had teleported outside the car onto the pavement, leaving Pinkie Pie behind.
The train behind her whooshed as it released the airbrakes and took off for its next stop. All the excitement was over at the depot for now, with all the familiar faces fading into the woodwork. Even the janitorial staff had left from the platform. Twilight suddenly felt alone and unsure of why there was a doppelganger of her walking around. Overall the effect was shocking to her. There were too many reasons a fake version of her could appear. She had only one definite thought, which was that it had probably followed them from Ponyville before choosing to manifest in a pony shape.
“Twilight! You're doing it again!” Once again she found a tuba horn against her ear. This time, however, Pinkie Pie took the time to empty her own cheeks of air.
“Oh, sorry Pinkie. I was wondering if by chance this double was related to the mare in the mirror.”
“Could be, assuming you a found a haunted mirror and looked in it before noticing an evil reflection staring back at you with its fangs and evil laugh.”
“It’s just I can't figure out why it’s here or how it got here. Worse thought is everyone else is in danger with that thing walking around.”
“She seemed pretty nice.” Pinkie Pie interjected.
“Well she was pretending to be me. So of course she was trying to be nice.”
Her companion shrugged and turned to go, causing Twilight to realize she might want to let her make a canter before stopping her, “Wait Pinkie! You can't tell the other ponies because I think I figured out what ‘she’ is.”
Pinkie Pie’s pantomimes were straight on, but this time she opted for a simple, “Of course, Twilight.”
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Luckily for the truant girl the two stallions knew where Twilight Sparkle lived. The tree looked so sweet and cute it was hard not to be giddy with excitement. An emotion she was failing to hide, “I’m home.”
“It was only a week, Twilight.”
“I know and there’s bound to be cleaning needed since we left it for so long.”
“Oh man. You had to bring it up didn’t you?”
“Of course Spike. If we didn’t keep the place clean, our friends wouldn’t want to come over.”
Opening the finely contoured dark red door revealed a library. Built into the walls of the trunk were rows of shelves, and a sun pattern on the ceiling shone down on everything. It provided a wealth of light to the room. Taking in the sight the most noticeable thing was the thin layer of dust coating the central table and the floors. The alicorn was more than excited for the books, as she was eager to take in the information they could provide.
Twilight was already getting ahead of herself, forgetting about the two stallions who had guided her here. They had set her things down at the base of the stairway leading to her living quarters, and were standing nearby as if they were waiting for something. She suddenly realized they were looking to her for guidance, so she offered a reply,
“Thank you for your help.”
“Was our pleasure Princess.”
With that, the two stallions departed leaving Spike and Twilight alone. With that Spike took his leave of her, going into another room and then returning shortly with broom and a duster. It seemed to her everything here was expected to be resolved by magic. It had been obvious that unicorns were the magic holders, and she was special because she was their princess but so far she'd been afraid to try her magic. Finally, she decided she was going to test it by sweeping the library. A simple task like that would prove how capable she was.
"Go ahead and go take a nap. I’ll start sweeping here.”
“Thanks, Twilight” yawned the dragon. It seemed that he liked his mid afternoon naps.
Before taking care of business Twilight decided to take this as her cue to explore the library. Her eyes wandered taking in each binding they wandered from 'Unicorn Physiology' to 'The Theory of Everything in 214 Steps'. Once again the alicorn was bubbling over with giddy excitement. Yet there was more to see. Tip-hoofing up the stairs she peered into the room watching Spike prepare for bed. His neat little basket looked comfortable with its baby dragon sized blanket and pillow. Next she noticed the bed had a similar comforter styling to her own at home, then it dawned on her that she was referring to where she came from as home. No longer she decided since Princess Twilight Sparkle lived here so would she. Who wanted to return to such a dreadful place anyway?
Slipping back down stairs led her to notice another set of stairs leading downward. She decided ultimately that would be a trip saved for later. More mesmerizing was the horse head table with its smooth surface and the book exposition displaying new arrivals. Twilight suddenly wished she could reach out and touch it with a hand but realized there was nothing but hoof at the end of her arms now. Sadness lingered momentarily as she forgot how to be strong. Realizing what was happening the alicorn bucked up resisting the feelings to be depressed. She had survived this long without them so regardless fingers were just a luxury.
Twilight's mind returned to a forgotten task since menial work blots out all feelings, and she decided the broom work would be perfect to stave off melancholy of homesickness. The first attempt proved to be uninspiring. Swinging her head around to try and force the magic out ended with her becoming very dizzy. Luckily Spike wasn’t witness to her folly, as he had left earlier. Taking the trunk with him, he had dragged it upstairs, letting it bang against the steps as it had followed behind him. Her second attempt involved her focusing on the broom while willing it with her mind to move. All that did was produce sparks. The last attempt caused more ruckus than originally intended as by focusing on her horn instead of the subject, it produced a spray of magic that caused the broom to fly into the nearest wall instead of sweeping up the dirt.
It was at that point Twilight started brooding about the uncooperative broom. Her thoughts were invaded by dark whispers that made her want to snap the broom in half. Other evil things she could do to the inanimate object surfaced, and she tried to wipe them from her mind.
“Stop Changeling!” a voice cried from the door. Standing there looking strong was Princess Twilight Sparkle. The Tiara
styled Element of Harmony was seated on her head in all its glory. The shock on the double’s face was evident as her mouth gaped open. Matching her in almost every way it was uncanny to watch the twin turn to look at her. “What’s a changeling?” She asked
“You aren't fooling me. A changeling is a creature that feeds on the emotions of others, and I know there isn’t a twin of me in this world or I would know!”
“I don't know. Maybe you're the ‘changeling’. I know I’m not.”
“See this element? It chose me, not you. So you can either go or be banished by its power!”
“Seems to me you're putting an awful lot on this crown of yours. Perhaps you have very little merit other than being a
princess. For your information, I have no intention of going back where I came, regardless of what happens to me.”
Sparks emanated from both horses' horns, but it was the original Twilight Sparkle who struck first, nailing the alicorn to the same wall the broom had hit. “You are going to stay here while I find a way to return you to your true form.”
Spike had been watching from above, waiting for a clearing before finally coming down, “Twilight? What’s going on? A changeling? Did she follow us from the crystal empire?”
“She must have Spike otherwise she wouldn’t be playing it up with all my friends and trying to steal my life.”
Steeling herself for the fight books flew off the shelves in a flurry, with the Princess speed reading them as they passed. Spike realized what she was doing and came down to help her look through the books.
“Gee, Twilight what’s goin' on here?” a voice spoke belonging to a familiar straw-maned mare. Looking back and forth at the two Twilight Sparkles evoked mixed feelings in Apple Jack, and none of these emotions were good.
“I’m being held prisoner.” The one against the wall said.
“I’m preparing to send a changeling back to Queen Chrysalis.” Announced the one wearing the crown.
Both spoke in the same voice, making it a confusing matter, “Okay, this is gettin' confusing. Twilight why are stuck against the wall like that and are you really a changeling?”
“No, but psycho seems to think I am. Beside there’s no proof to say what I am. It's, not as if you can scan me to tell that I am a so-called changeling.”
“Don’t bother talking to her; she's just going to lie.” responded Twilight, who was still mass reading books as the flew by, cut off Applejack before she could respond.
“Aren’t you one to talk? Coming in and throwing accusations. You even attacked first.”
“Well you're an evil spawn from a queen who tried to sentence me to die in the caverns of Canterlot. I had to be prepared.”
“If you were captured it’s your own fault. Still, I am not a changeling.”
“Then prove it. What are you?”
“Princess Twilight Sparkle, caretaker of the Golden Oak Library. I live here with Spike.”
“That’s my life! How dare you!? The more aggressive Twilight marched straight up to the face of her doppelganger.
“Quiet you two! Until we know which of you is the real Twilight, you're going to be staying here. Spike, I’m leaving you in charge while I’m gone.” Applejack was firmly in the grip of confusion, but she knew she had to stop the bickering. In her mind it had been quickly decided that she needed to gather the rest of her friends and confront the problem, Elements of Harmony not withstanding.
Clouds had filled the sky, taking over the formerly promising day now looking like it was on the verge of rain Applejack looked up to see if there was a familiar streak of color. When her eyes caught sight of it, she cried out. “Rainbow Dash come down here it’s an emergency!”
In zippy flair, the blue Pegasus came down in a polychromatic streak, “You called?”
Applejack leaned against the door exposing the two Twilight problem.
“Holy Mackerel!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash as Applejack closed the door.
“We need to gather everyone, quickly.”
“Hold on; I need to let my friends know I’ll be leaving early. After that I’ll go get Fluttershy.” With that statement, she had vanished back into the sky.
Applejack ran straight into the Carousel Boutique. The door was open, but she didn’t see Rarity anywhere in the shop. Rain began to fall in sheets outside, and thunder boomed in the distance, signs of a storm growing on the horizon. Inside a sound creaked from the work desk, revealing an ivory coated unicorn that had gotten to its feet.
“Rarity, thank goodness it’s you. We have a problem over at the library.”
“Goodness my, is it large enough that Twilight cannot possibly handle it?”
“Well the problem is Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash is getting Fluttershy currently. We need to help Twilight. Just go over to the library and the problem will become very clear.”
“If you say so, darling. I’ll go over right away.”
Of course, Rarity took forever, spending what felt like ten minutes at each station in the shop. First she picked out her umbrella and clothes, then her scents and finally her makeup. Applejack watched the whole affair with a series of foot tappings and sighs.
Rarity looked good to go, but the prep time was wasted because no one would care. “Alright, I’m off dear. Before I go and forget, take this.” Blue light bubbled out her horn as she strapped up Applejack with a red umbrella and mahogany holder saddle.
The two mares stepped outside together, and Rarity looked up at the sky. Applejack still had her hat but still Rarity was generous with her offer of an umbrella. The rain had gotten worse, as expected and the area seemed even darker than before. In their haste, there hadn’t been any time for parting words. She knew the issue was confusing and that trying to combat it would take more than one. Thinking of the things she could have said just made her feel woozy.
Rarity broke the silence, saying the one thing that mattered, “Is Pinkie Pie already there?”
“No, I haven’t seen her yet.” Apple Jack said.
“Then you better be off. You know what finding her is like.”
The sense of dread started to creep into Applejack. Pinkie could be anywhere in Equestria. Her uniqueness and abilities were beyond any form of explanation, which would make finding her difficult. Either she would find Pinkie at her home or Pinkie would find Applejack by jumping over the wall she was so fond of. Regardless The Search for Pinkie Pie had begun.