//------------------------------// // Meeting the Double // Story: Royal Blue // by iDeltaVelocity //------------------------------// Royal Blue Chapter 2 Meeting the Double “This place is wonderful! There are so many ponies here! Are they all your friends, Diamond Tiara? How many friends do you have? It’d be really nice to meet some of them. Ya know, maybe we should--” She would not stop talking, and Diamond Tiara was getting sick of it. She and Silver tried to tune her out, but that came with little success. How long could one pony keep going before they ran out of things to say? “Hey, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, do you think--?” “Will you pay attention?” Diamond snapped, interrupting the filly. It was the first time she was quiet since they left the park. It gave Diamond a brief time to think. She dropped her cute-ceañera dress off at home, not wanting to have the risk of it getting messed up along the way. Now she could continue to the search with little interruptions. So far they had asked Time Turner, Bon Bon, Lightning Bolt, and several other ponies who might have known her new “guest,” with no success. “There has to be at least one pony in this town who might recognise you. If you really do have amnesia, it’s best not to sit around and get distracted.” They found themselves approaching Daisy’s kiosk, just as she was about to close shop. “Miss Daisy?” Silver Spoon grabbed her attention. “Do you, by any chance, recognise her?” She turned the mare’s attention towards the filly. “Sorry, girls,” replied Daisy, shaking her head, “I have no idea. In fact, I’ve never even seen her around town before. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was your sister.” She pointed at Diamond Tiara. “You two look a lot alike.” “Well she’s not my sister,” said Diamond. To her, having a sister would have to involve sharing all the attention, something she had no desire for. “I honestly don’t know what to say, then.” Daisy flipped her flower shop’s sign to ‘CLOSED’. “Try asking Cloudkicker. She might have an answer.” With that, she left the three fillies to themselves. They watched as she trotted away and disappeared into the crowd of ponies. Silver Spoon sat on her haunches, slightly exhausted from traveling so much over town. “We already asked Cloudkicker.” “Anypony else we can look for?” asked Diamond. Silver Spoon shook her head. “Not that I can think of. Maybe she’s not even from Ponyville. Maybe she’s from Manehattan, or Fillydelphia.” Diamond glanced back at the filly who was waiting patiently for them to finish their conversation. It was a very likely possibility, though. “That’s just stupid. What parent would forget their own child?” Silver Spoon looked back at pony. “Is there anything you remember before you met us? Like, anything?” The filly shook her head. “Not really. It was ‘poof’, and then here I was with you girls. There’s no way I could’ve teleported, unless I was secretly some kind of magician.” She seemed certain that this idea was true, no matter how ridiculous it was. Diamond gave her a deadpanned look. “I highly doubt that.” Another sound of hooves trotting against the ground reached their ears. The fillies looked up to see Twilight Sparkle standing in front of them. She was carrying two saddle bags full of books. “Hello, girls,” she greeted them, asking how they were doing. “We’re trying to figure out wherever she-” Silver Spoon pointed to the filly behind her, “-came from. No pony in town seems to know who she is, and we think she might have amnesia.” “Can I have a look?” Twilight approached the filly and kneeled down, meeting her at eye-level. It was sort of strange that she looked exactly like Diamond Tiara aside from the colours, but then again, she figured that it could’ve been just a coincidence. “What’s your name, little pony?” “I really don’t know,” the filly responded, shaking her head, though for some reason or another, it didn’t seem as normal as Twilight thought. She could not figure out why it seemed that way at first. She began to notice a faint hint of magic resonating around her. It was almost unusual, not like anything she encountered lately. Before long, she had found an answer. “She’s a Double!” Diamond Tiara gave her a quizzical look. “A what?” “Doubles are ponies created through magical means. I remember doing an essay on them when I was younger.” Twilight levitated a scroll from her bag and held it in front of them. It revealed all relevant information on what she was talking about, way more than Diamond Tiara sought to know. “Basically, they’re alternate versions of a pony, harboring a personality complex almost completely opposite to--” Diamond interrupted her. “Could you keep it simple, please?” “She’s basically an alternate version of you.” Twilight put a hoof to her chin and looked over at the double. “But the answer I wanna know is how did she get here? I’m sure not just any unicorn knows how to create one.” The filly being a Double had answered a hundred questions that were running across everypony’s heads. She wasn’t from out of town, but now the question of how she appeared had them stumped. Like Twilight said, not just any magic user could simply pull off a successful technique like this. “Smoke!” They heard the filly say. Twilight tilted her head. “…Smoke?” The Double nodded. “Yes! Green smoke. I remember that I first ran into them after coming out a cloud of green smoke.” “That was right after when Sweetie Belle hit you with that spell,” Silver said to Diamond. “Sweetie Belle knows how to cast that type of magic at her age?” Twilight looked genuinely amazed at this. Perhaps the unicorn filly knew much more than she let on. “She may have been just a tiny bit angry before she did it,” said Diamond. It was her ridiculing of Sweetie Belle that caused her full powers to emerge for that brief second. “Well I guess that explains it,” said Twilight. “Emotions do tend to make untamed magic run wild, mostly out of fear or anger.” Diamond Tiara looked back over at the pony, giving her a questioning look. “So I guess I’m stuck with you, then.” Twilight chuckled. “Don’t worry. It isn’t so bad. It’s like having a twin sister if you look at it that way. I’m sure you’ll be fine.” She departed from the fillies, leaving them once again to themselves. There was a brief silence between the three of them. The Double circled her hoof in the dirt and gave a smile when Diamond looked in her direction. “All right, then.” Diamond circled her, as if she was running an examination. “If you’re going to be hanging around with me and Silver Spoon, we at least need to know what your name is.” “I don’t have one, remember?” “We could give her one,” said Silver Spoon. Diamond Tiara shifted through all the possible names in her mind, wanting to pick out a good one. If this filly was going to be her Double, then the last thing she was going to do was give her a boring, dull name. She needed a name that would stick; one that would be spectacular, dazzling, amazing--like hers. “Got it! From now on, your name will be Royal Blue.” “I like it!” Royal Blue smiled. She said her name again, wanting to hear how it sounded herself. It was satisfying to know that she now had an identity to call her own. “Now that we got your name out of the way, what should we do next?” Silver Spoon’s question was met with a low growl. She and Diamond Tiara looked at Royal Blue, who was gazing down at her stomach. The Double gave a nervous laugh. “Could getting food be an option?” Diamond shrugged. “What do you have in mind?” I figure she’s gonna ask for ice cream or cake, she thought to herself. “Do you think maybe we could get some ice cream? Or some cake?” Royal Blue looked back and forth between Diamond and Silver. “I’m in the mood for any sort of food that screams ‘party’.” Party? That word repeated itself in Diamond Tiara’s mind, repeating itself over and over until she remembered something important. “My cute-ceañera party!” She glanced at the town’s clock tower. “We’re almost late, and we don’t even have our dresses on!” Silver Spoon realised how much time they’d lost dealing with Blue. “We need to head home! FAST!” She and Diamond galloped out of the area, quickly heading back towards their homes. “Royal Blue,” Silver called back, “we’ll meet you at Sugarcube Corner.” “Wait, girls!” Blue galloped after them, trying to catch up. “I don’t even know where--” by then it was too late. They had already gotten far out of earshot, “-Sugarcube Corner is.” Royal Blue looked around her. A lot of ponies were heading home; they looked nice enough, and they had been living here longer than she has. Hopefully one would help her in her search. She approached a stallion and asked him where Sugarcube Corner was. “Sorry, kid,” was his reply, before turning away. “I just moved here. I have no idea where anything is at the moment.” Sighing, Blue continued on with her search, making her way through town on the lookout for Sugarcube Corner. None of the stores and houses she passed seemed like ideal places to hold parties, especially one as big as Diamond Tiara said she was hosting. “If I was Sugarcube Corner, where would I be?” “How much time do we have left before your party starts?” Silver asked. Diamond glanced down at her watch. “It started ten minutes ago, so we’re not too too late.” She breathed a sigh of relief. They arrived at Sugarcube Corner, finding themselves facing dozens of ponies inside, eating food, playing games; basically enjoying themselves. Diamond Tiara had invited a lot more than she expected. “Silver! Diamond!” They looked behind to see Royal Blue galloping towards them. She looked out of breath when she finally stopped. “I finally caught up with you two.” She looked over at the interior of the confectionary, her eyes lighting up with glee at seeing the games, food, and various ponies inside. “So this is where your party’s being held.” “Where were you at?” asked Diamond. “I tried to tell you that I didn’t know where Sugarcube Corner was. But when I saw you girls, I decided to follow and let you lead me right to it. And it was all worth it.” Royal Blue rushed past them and galloped inside, almost completely vanishing into the large crowd. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara trotted inside, wanting to get on with the celebration. They were sure that Apple Bloom, or maybe Sweetie Belle, were here somewhere. They’d make themselves known one way or another. In the meantime, they stood watching as Blue tried to socialize with the guests. She looked like she was having fun, laughing with a couple of fillies from school. “What do you think of her so far?” Silver asked. “Annoying…” Diamond Tiara replied, watching as her Double scurried eagerly among the large crowd. “But there’s no way I can just get rid of her, especially since she is technically another me. We’ll have to teach her a few things along the way.” So far the cute-ceañera was going well for Royal Blue. Every pony she met so far was friendly, especially the curly-maned filly she was trotting alongside. The filly said her name was Twist. She told Blue about how she had gotten her cutie mark after baking a fresh batch of candy canes, which she also promised to bring some in for her to try. Oh, wow! My first friend! This is so exciting! Royal Blue thought to herself, barely able to contain her joy. “So where’re you from?” asked Twist, “I’ve never seen you around Ponyville before.” Royal Blue responded, “I’m from Diamond Tiara.” Twist tilted her head in confusion, not entirely understanding her answer. “Are you two like sisters or something?” “You could say that. I’m her Double.” “A twin, then?” Blue nodded. “Sure, that works.” “Huh…” Twist mused over it. “I never realised Diamond Tiara had a sister. Here I thought she was an only child. So that must mean Filthy Rich is your dad.” “If that’s how it works! Hey, why don’t we go find Diamond? I bet she’ll be really happy to see that I’ve made a friend here.” Twist’s demeanor changed, uncertain about Royal Blue’s decision as the filly was about to head out on a search. From her multiple bad experiences with her, another encounter was the last thing she wanted. “I don’t think that’s such a—” “F-Forget it. I didn’t want to see it, anyway.” They looked to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon talking to another filly. This one was another earth pony, like her, but with a yellow coat and red mane and tail. Her bow is pretty, Blue noted, but why is she wearing a tablecloth? “There she is! And who’s that with her? Is that one of Diamond’s friends? Aside from Silver Spoon, that is.” Twist shook her head. “Not exactly.” A sudden scratch came from the record player, catching the attention of every pony in the building. They saw that Apple Bloom’d tripped over the tablecloth that she had been wearing around her waist. Diamond and Silver approached her, both laughing. “Nice try,” said Diamond Tiara, before both she and Silver Spoon added, “Blank-Flank!” Pretty soon, Blue noticed every other colt and filly in the room giggling amongst themselves as Applebloom stood to her hooves. “What’s a blank-flank?” she asked herself aloud. Having been in this world for no more than a few hours, she was not familiar with the word, nor has she ever actually heard Diamond Tiara say it. She was not sure why, but it left a bad taste in her mouth. “You got a problem with blank-flanks?” one voice said through the laughter. Everyone looked around, trying to find a source, until an orange pegasus filly--Scootaloo--emerged from underneath a nearby table, and alongside her was a unicorn filly. Royal Blue recognised the unicorn as Sweetie Belle, the same pony she first met at the park when she was created. She watched as the three of them confronted both Silver and Diamond. “And she’s not stuck being stuck-up like you two,” Scootaloo snapped, pointing a hoof at them. “Oh my…” That statement had caught Royal Blue off-guard. She cringed, her ears pulling back to her head. This was not how she expected Diamond Tiara’s cute-ceañera to end up. Looks like they’re not friends. Even though the cute-ceañera was still going, Royal Blue could no longer find any real enjoyment out of it, ever since the huge argument that took place just a few minutes prior. She noticed Diamond Tiara on the staircase with Silver Spoon; both fillies were just watching the party go by. Blue couldn’t help but feel for them, Diamond Tiara in particular. “Hey, Blue!” Twist called over. “Wanna come over and dance?” It was a tempting offer, but she could not go through with it, not after seeing the state her twin was in. “Maybe later, Twist. I’d rather see how Diamond Tiara’s doing. She seemed really upset earlier.” Royal Blue made her way through the sea of dancing ponies in the middle of Sugarcube Corner, making her way to the staircase. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon looked over at Blue as she approached. “Are you okay, Diamond?” “What do you think?” Diamond spat, crossing her hooves and looking away. One could tell she was frustrating, even though she tried hard not to show it. “It wasn’t that bad, was it?” Blue’s question was met with a glare from the pink filly. “Okay, maybe it was that bad. The party’s still going, though. And everypony’s having a blast!” “This was supposed to be my perfect day,” said Diamond. “Everypony was supposed to be paying attention to me, and those blank-flanks ruined it.” There’s that phrase again, Blue thought as Diamond Tiara looked on dejectedly at everypony dancing, at Apple Bloom and her new friends. “Whatever…” She descended the stairs, making her way towards the door in a huff. “I’m going home. I didn’t want to be here, anyway.” Blue watched as Diamond left the party. She didn’t like seeing her twin this sad. There had to be something she could do to cheer her up, she thought. “I guess I’m heading out with her, then. I’ll see you around, Silver Spoon.” She followed her twin outside, but not before grabbing a chocolate chip cookie off one of the tables.