Plebeian

by Sleep Sonata


Away Without Leave

I made my way up to ground level, and I was winded. I’d sprinted all the way up the stairs, and I was carrying my saddlebags. Even though it was only the one book, by now it felt like I was carrying a stones.
I had to push through it. I had to find the duplicate and undo this nightmare. I made my way to the front door of the building, but once I got there and threw the door open, I realized I had no idea where to go. I been so obsessed with stopping her, I’d never stopped to think how. I felt foolish, but there was no time to reflect on that.
I tried to think of what she could possibly want to do. I didn’t know any spells, even mythical ones, that would be that attractive and possible for one pony to perform.
Then again, I didn’t have to know it. I glanced at the summoning book in my bag, and had a sudden moment of clarity. Maybe she wasn’t a perfect clone of myself. She knew about that footnote I didn’t even see. What else could she have read about in that room?
I didn’t even bother with running this time. I focused on where I thought the library was, and simply teleported back down. Once there, I dashed into the restricted room and lock the door behind me. With the help of an illumination spell, I began to pour through the forbidden knowledge.
One thing I can say for sure about the authors of these books was that they were thorough. They theorized about spells I’d never even thought of in my wildest dreams. I found instruction from basic self levitation to the possibility of altering Equestria’s environment. It was magic to a degree beyond even alacorns.
After what felt like hours of digging, I found what was probably the most audacious, gut wrenching spell in the whole library.

Alacornication
WARNING: THIS SPELL IS NEVER TO BE PERFORMED BY ANYPONY, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
This spell results in one pony being transformed into an alacorn, by process of addition. It requires a minimum of two ponies; One to give, and one to receive the necessary features. This also requires the following materials.
1 Leaf from the Heart’s Desire
1 Claw of a Timber wolf
1 Link to the Donor’s Past
The casting pony, upon completion, will receive the donors horn/wings. The fate of the donor, due to Royal law, has not been experimentally determined. It is the authors belief that the donor will not survive the spell.
Described below is the theoretical process for performing the spell.

I couldn’t read anymore. I simply stood shaking, while I dropped the text onto the floor. That was it, that was what she would go for. She wanted to prove to everypony that she could master any spell, even if it cost another pony their life. I couldn’t let that happen.
Fortunately, I would at least be able to know generally where she was going. She’d need to first get the leaf and claw, and for those items, she’d need to go to the Everfree forrest. That was easy.
The one thing I wasn’t sure of was the last item, the ‘Link to the Donor’s Past’. It seemed so cryptic, I doubt even my double knew what it meant. Still, I had to assume she did, and that she already had a donor in mind. Whoever it was, I wasn’t going to let them die just so a crazy version of me could prove a point.

Academy policy regarding absences is very strict. Anypony who was found to have left Academy Grounds without express permission was punished at the discretion of the dean. If it happened again after that, you were expelled. I didn’t think of those repercussions for an instant. I was trying to save a pony’s life. That was way more important than my academic record.
I at least decided to leave a note for Chi Chi, though I didn’t tell him why I was leaving. All I told him in my letter was ‘personal business’, and that I would be away indefinitely. He couldn’t know what I had done. I was responsible for creating this problem, so I was responsible for correcting it.
I packed only what I could fit in my saddle bags; the two books, a canteen, some snacks, a map of Equestria, and a blanket. My double had already gotten a good lead on me, and she knew where she needed to go. I needed to travel light if I was going to have any hope of catching her.
I also decided to pack White Lightening’s letter. It would remind me why this needed to be done, and that I still had real friends, even if they were miles away. With that, I set off to put a stop to my own madness.
Leaving the campus was easy, but ponies would soon notice I wasn’t there, or maybe they wouldn’t. Chi Chi is really the only one who sees me on any given day. I guess maybe nopony would notice after all.
It wouldn’t take me long to reach the forrest. The trains run right to Ponyville, and from there, I’d be able to hoof it into the forrest. The whole trip would take less than a day. Still, my double had a couple hours head start on me. Catching up wouldn’t be easy, but I had to try.

On the train ride to Ponyville, I took some time to reflect on my decisions. Not just to perform the duplication, but every decision I’d made. I left home to go to Canterlot Academy, because I wanted to learn as much magic as I possibly could. As it turned out though, that meant I had to leave my friends behind in Trottsdam. Those that didn’t stay went off to their own adventures, making new friends and learning more about the world.
I didn’t feel the same way. Sure I was admitted into the most prestigious magic school in all of Equestria. That was nothing to sneeze at. However, when I got here, I became so engrossed in learning, I completely abandoned any chance of building friendships. Now I’d made the choice to create a deranged clone, who was now bent on performing a dangerous spell.
I can’t say I was angry at myself, the time for that was long past. I felt more sadness than anything. A proper adjective would be disappointment. I’d let so many ponies down; Chi Chi, my parents, even White Lightning. They’d all expected me to be successful, to go out into the world and discover a world I couldn’t see from the comfort of home.
But I couldn’t feel sorry for myself. What happened in the past couldn’t be changed. I had to deal with the situation as it stands now, and that meant there was no time to cry over a past mistake. I could still fix this mess before somepony gets hurt.
Sitting in my seat, I looked out at the landscape as it rolled by. I’d grown up surrounded by hills such as these, and yet after only a couple of days in the city, they couldn’t have seemed more foreign. I used to think that my long walks to school were monotonous and time consuming, so I never really took time to take in the scenery. I guess it wasn’t as important to me at the time as my GPA.
I took a different approach now. The rolling hills, dotted with small woods and peaks, seemed to have a calming effect on me. It seemed as if for that brief train ride, I hadn’t cast ancient magic, and I hadn’t lost my friends. The world melted away, and all that mattered was what a beautiful landscape I saw. I noticed myself drifting off into a sleep. Normally, I would have caught myself, maybe gotten some tea. But this time, I wanted to fall asleep. I figured I would take the chance to rest. I hadn’t gotten much opportunity as of late. This was the perfect time for a nap.
Unfortunately, my appointment with the sandpony was cut short when I was suddenly thrown from my seat. I ended up getting hit by my saddlebags as they fell from the overhead bin. I was furious at the fact that my nap had been disturbed, but I was more curious as to why the conductor had slammed on the brakes.
“Sorry to startle you folks,” the conductor announced over the speakers. “But we’ve encountered a technical problem on the tracks. We’ll need to wait here until it’s cleared. In the mean time, let a stewardess know if there’s anything we can do to make you all more comfortable.”
An obstruction? in the middle of the hills, what could have possible blocked the tracks? I stuck my head out the window, and realized that the conductor had made the understatement of the century.
The tracks didn’t just have something wrong with them, they had been obliterated. The timbers were thrown several yards away, and the rails were peeled back like a banana.
It couldn’t just be an inconvenience. I knew immediately that my double had pulled it off somehow. She may be insane, but she still had my smarts. She knew I would be coming after her, so she was trying to slow me down.
I wasn’t about to let myself beat me. If the train wasn’t going to take me to the forrest, I’d have to rely on my own four hooves. I threw my saddlebags on, and made my way out the nearest exit.
It was getting to be sunset, and I had no idea how far it was to Ponyville. My best bet was probably to follow the tracks, I’d have to book it, though. The sun was getting ready to set.

I’d had long walks to school before, but this was a whole new level of trekking for me. I didn’t have a watch, so I had no idea how long I’d been walking. Eventually I got to the point where I wasn’t even keeping track of where I was. All was focused on was following the tracks.
At some point, I caught myself dozing off as I walked. That snapped me out of the highway hypnosis, and made me aware that it was night time. I began to panic. I had no idea where I was, and I didn’t have any idea where I’d be able to rest. I started hyperventilating, as the sounds of nocturnal creatures filled the air. Then, as I was whipping my head around to get my bearing, I noticed what was immediately to my left; it was the Everfree Forrest.
I should have been terrified. This was, after all, one of the most mysterious and least understood places in Equestria. Instead, I was reminded of why I had traveled these many miles. I summoned up the courage, and I marched myself headlong into the forrest.

Ever since I was a filly, I was told to never, ever travel to certain places. The Everfree Forrest was at the top of the no-go list. Ponies say that the animals get their own food and shelter, and that plants grow anywhere, and anyway, they please. It would have deterred a more faint-hearted pony, but it wasn’t going to stop me. Mine was simply too important a task.
Even walking seemed strange, as there were no beaten paths to follow. It was as if I had travelled back millennia, before ponies even knew this land existed. I had to weave over and under logs and branches, and be sure not to fall off of a hidden cliff. Navigating was taxing, mentally as well as physically. Still, I soldiered through it.
All the while, I was using my ambiance spell to find my double. I had no idea where I was going, but neither did she. I could only hope I’d run into her by random chance, and I’d be able to find a way to pacify her long enough I could undo the spell.
Despite my best efforts, I was beginning to fade. The walking, hiking, and spell casting were all beginning to take their toll. I tried to will myself to stay awake, but my strength was fading fast.
I would have past out right there, but I detected something. I sensed another pony, not too far away from me. I felt a rush of energy from inside. My perseverance had payed off.
However, after galloping a short distance towards her, she began to fly away. I was stunned. Either this wasn’t my double, or I was already too late. I prayed to Celestia it was the former.
I ran as fast I could to keep up with her, which was only possible thanks to a massive surge of adrenaline. I called upon a second wind, and began to close the distance. Soon though, She darted off to the right, beyond my range. I tried to follow her, but I figured I would have a better chance of finding her if I focused on expanding my radius.
As I tried to focus, I could hear her call out to me. “I can’t go back! You hear me! You can’t make me go!”
That seemed like an odd thing to say. Who in their right mind would want to stay in this wilderness? “I’m not here to hurt you! I just lost something!”
“That’s what the last pony said! She tried to trap me! But I showed her!” She sounded quite proud of herself. I needed to calm her down.
“As Celestia as my witness, I’m just a lost traveller. I’m looking for somepony.” I never stopped expanding my circle. Soon, I would find her, and be able to teleport her to me, as long as she was still.
“Liar! You just want to bring me back to the academy!”
Back to the academy? Could she have been a student? Just as she shouted that out, I found her, and was able to lock onto her fairly quickly. Before I could bring her to me, she called out something I could not have expected. “Chi Chi can’t know what I did!”
I almost broke my concentration, but I was able to bring her in front of me, much to her astonishment. I used my levitation to keep her in place. “How do you know Chi Chi? What did you...” As she hovered in front of me, I noticed what she was talking about; cat eyes, leathery wings, and fangs. She was a Thestral. “...what did you do to yourself?”