“Thank you sir, and have a good day!” Pinkie said cheerfully to the room service stallion, paying him a tip and then closing the door.
She turned back to Twilight, who was still nestled in bed, trying to recoup. Though it was now early afternoon, namely lunchtime, it was taking quite a bit to convince her to even move from the bed.
“Pinkie,” Twilight called over to the pink earth pony weakly.
“Coming, Twi-Twi! I’ve got your lunch! It’s okay, you don’t have to worry! Dashie’s gone to the weather... thingy, and Flutters is taking a nap!” Pinkie indicated to their little lunch, placing it all on the nearby table. “Now come and eat!”
Twilight sat up slowly, still holding her head, and looked about the room for the table. Getting up, Twilight felt sickly as she moved over to the table, almost cursing under her breath.
“Pinkie, please promise to never let me drink again. Ever.”
The pink earth pony smiled brightly, “I promise not to let you drink again! I Pinkie Promise! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”
“The odd thing is, you did fly here. Not by yourself or with wings, but... yeah, you flew.” Twilight tried to rationalize, but fell short of a real meaning in her words.
“Mm?” Pinkie tilted her head. “Whatever do you mean, silly pants?”
Twilight shook her head, groaning. “Never mind, I don’t even know.”
“Okay!” Said Pinkie, beginning to eat her lunch. “By the way! Dashie and Flutters are married now!”
Twilight stopped in mid thought, then resumed to groan... “We did something stupid last night, didn’t we?”
“Nope! Not really! Dashie and Fluttershy got married, which was sooooo cute! You and I just kind of hung around and were all snuggly before you fell asleep!”
“Yeah, that sounds about how I figured things went...” Twilight muttered, still feeling sick from her hangover.
Pinkie nodded, giggling as she ate her food. She paused, thinking of what else to say about it all. Especially since Twilight seemed to still be a little bit affected by her hangover. She hummed, fidgeted, whistled, anything to keep the mood light.
“Well then, Twi-Twi, what do you suggest we do in... assessing this matter?”
Twilight looked up, still appearing a bit dazed. “To be honest, I have no idea. This entire situation is completely out of hoof. I doubt if Discord himself could have created a more problematic situation even if he tried.”
An exaggerated, elongated gasp escaped from Pinkie, to which her eyes went wide. “Twilight! Twilight, that’s it!”
Twilight flinched from the screaming, exhaling deeply. “What do you mean, Pinkie? Something about Discord?”
“Uh-huh! Maybe he can help us out! He’s got all kinds of crazy super duper magic!” Pinkie clapped excitedly. “If anyone can warp realities and make it work, he can! We gotta ask him to help us!”
“You... You may actually be right.” Twilight looked up at her friend with mild shock. “Since Discord is the Spirit of Chaos, he should be able to assist, even more so if we explain what happened to Fluttershy to him. Gah... why didn’t I think of that sooner! It’s just getting in contact with him from here will be a problem.”
“Let’s call his name! Ohhhhh, Discoooooord!” Pinkie called in the room.
No response.
Twilight looked about the room, then set her gaze onto Pinkie. “Did you really think that would work?” She could not help but to giggle a small bit.
“Of course!” Pinkie pouted. “Discord! Here, boy! Come on, Discord! Come on!”
“Pinkie, I know you mean well, but didn’t you say Fluttershy was still sleeping?” Twilight gave a gentle smile as she placed a hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder.
Snickering, the earth pony winked jovially, “Dashie says she can sleep through a tornado!”
That was when the room door opened, with Rainbow Dash walking in. She placed her key card into her saddlebags, waving at the two.
“Hey, girls,” she said, sounding a bit tired.
“Hi, Dashie! Did you have fun?” Pinkie grinned.
The cyan pegasus gave a little shrug, nodding, “Yeah, it was fine. So, uh... is Fluttershy all right?”
Twilight shrugged, getting up from the table. “I can’t really say, I got up just a few minutes ago myself. We just assumed she’s still sleeping.”
Rainbow Dash nodded, then slipped out into the other room, closing the door behind her. Pinkie and Twilight stared after her for a few moments, uncertain what to make of it all. There seemed to be such a lack of drive and passion in Dash’s demeanour, like she just didn’t care about much anymore. It worried them, to which Pinkie hoped they would manage to fix things soon.
“Poor Dashie... I think she’s too worried about Flutters,” Pinkie remarked, pouting sympathetically.
“I know Pinkie, but there’s nothing we can really do at the moment.” Twilight sighed. She wished there was more to say, something they could do, but as it stood, the best anypony could do was hope.
In the other room, Rainbow Dash quietly dropped her saddlebags onto the floor. She looked over toward her wife, surprised to see that she actually wasn’t sleeping. Fluttershy was lying awake, on her side, facing the window. Very slowly, she approached the bed, as if afraid she would hurt the other pony if she went too fast or too loud. Tension ripped through her, as did worry, which pitted within her stomach.
“Hey, Fluttershy... You all right?” She asked in a soft voice.
Fluttershy did not look back, her eyes focused on the window. Or perhaps it was what was outside the window. Maybe not even that, as her eyes held no expression of any kind to speak of, much unlike herself. The pillow beneath her was stained with tears, but that was hard to believe considering who she was. Even to herself.
“Hey Dash... Y-Yeah, I’m okay.” Fluttershy responded with weak tone, still not looking at Rainbow Dash.
“...No you’re not,” Dash murmured, getting up onto the bed. She crawled over to her, laying back against Fluttershy, spooning her. “Is everything from before still bothering you?”
Fluttershy closed her eyes, feeling herself about to cry, but fought it off. “I don’t know. Whenever I think I do, I’m wrong... I don’t know how I feel anymore.”
All the more, Dash’s heart broke. This was not the same Fluttershy who had come into this world. She was beginning to resemble the original Fluttershy more and more. While she truly missed Fluttershy so much, it was not going to help the case by having the more daring and brash Fluttershy acting so... sad.
“I’m sorry...” Was all Dash could muster, gently kissing the back of her neck. “Anything I can do to help you?”
Fluttershy could not find the words she wanted to say, even though she wanted to speak. Her mind felt hazed, lost and confused while her body was so numb. In truth, she wanted somepony to help her, but knew there was no such help to be given. This was nothing anypony could do anything about, because this was about herself. All those years being strong, confident, of always knowing herself and who she was, meant nothing now, for she realized she never knew the truth in the first place.
“I’m so fake...” Fluttershy muttered, “It took me losing everything, including myself, just to figure that out... I really am a faker.”
“A... faker, huh...” Rainbow Dash repeated, and held her closer, “You always felt like being vulnerable meant you were weak, because you couldn’t express yourself really well. Then you just made this... image of yourself that you wanted to be. The perfect, winning, awesome, heroic, and fast ponysona. The side of you that didn’t have to answer to anything, the side of you that was... perfect. To hide your real self, your real feelings, and not admit to your failures. This awesometastic version of you became better than your real self, and you strived hard to be that ponysona. You were convinced it was you. But then... you realize that it’s all one big fake spectacle. That the real you is vulnerable, struggling, doesn’t win all the time, and has trouble expressing your feelings.”
Fluttershy trembled, feeling the tears on her face once more. “Yeah, you’re right... I never wanted to be me, I wanted to be perfect. I wanted to show that I was able to take care of myself... and everypony else. Truth is, I can’t even stand on my own four hooves without help. I can’t do anything by myself. I’m weak... pathetic.”
Dash kissed her neck, then over to her cheek. “You’re not pathetic, Fluttershy. Just because you’re not like that ponysona you made up doesn’t mean you’re not awesome. I-I don’t win all the time, I’m not always right, and I’m not always in top form. But then I remember that I did make it this far. I’m steps closer to being a Wonderbolt, I have awesome friends, I have a great job, I live in a nice place... Y’know, it makes me realize that the real Rainbow Dash isn’t all that bad. I don’t think the real Fluttershy is bad or pathetic. I think you’ve got a nice heart in there, and you do have a lot to offer. You just gotta let yourself do it.”
“You don’t even know the real me, Dash...” Fluttershy sniffled, curling up. “I’ve been... this for so long, I don’t remember who the real me is... and I doubt it matters anyway. I’m sure no pony misses me. I’m not worth missing...”
“Hey, you’ve had your moments. Maybe I don’t know, but you sure seem real now,” said the cyan pegasus, shaking her head. “I’m sure your friends back home miss you. I bet even your Rainbow Dash misses you.”
At the sound of that name, her emotions overflowed. She violently sat up, turning to face Dash with a look of convection on her face.
“Just shut up!” Fluttershy shouted, her face red, tears streaming down. “You don’t know anything about me prior to coming here! You even thought I was your Fluttershy at first, remember? The only reason any of this happened was because of that! If you had known that from the beginning, do you think you would have still wanted all of this? Do you think you even would have given me a chance? No! No pony would want me and I'm sick of you saying you do! You just don’t see it yet! The only reason you care is... is because of your Fluttershy... and I...” She stopped. Her mind reeled at her own words, forcing her to hear them. “I know I’m not her and yet... a part of me wishes I was more like her. Maybe then, I wouldn’t hate this... Maybe then, somepony would miss me. But I’m not! I’m... I’m just...”
Completely defeated by her own words, her own truth, Fluttershy gave in to her sadness. She cried openly, loudly, collapsing back onto the bed.
Although surprised, Rainbow Dash felt a strangely unfazed as she saw Fluttershy break down. It only made sense that it came to this point, what with everything that happened at this point. At the same time, she was unwilling to give up. Her heart sank to her stomach, the sadness within her spreading all over as she felt utmost empathy for her.
Bringing her back into her hooves, Dash cuddled her close and kissed her forehead. For a while she simply lay there, letting her cry, and stroked her mane. She didn’t say anything, not that she could have, and simply remained quiet as Fluttershy sobbed. Then again, she felt sure that it was all she needed right now. Just to be held, to be allowed to cry. It was probably ages (aside from a few days earlier) since she’d had a good cry, especially about something so deep and personal.
Eventually, Fluttershy’s sobbing lessened and she managed to relax, just crying silently and making occasional sniffles.
Courage broke through her as Rainbow Dash spoke again.
“Y’know, it’s true. I do care about my Fluttershy, and I know I mistook you for her at first. But give me a break, I didn’t exactly expect any of this to happen. To be fair, I’m sorry...” Dash murmured, looking away a bit. “Maybe I don’t know the real you, but you gotta show me who that real you is if you want me to love you. And, hey, maybe I don’t know how the others back home feel. But neither do you. Even you couldn’t tell me how they’re feeling about your absence. But I think if they were your real friends, they’d miss you. Same for your Rainbow Dash! I’m no good at this mushy stuff, and I know you’re not doing that well, but you gotta keep going. Don’t give up!”
With swiftness, Dash lay Fluttershy onto her back, then climbed over her, straddling her. This earned a wide-eyed, shocked look, but no further protest was made. But it wasn’t just that. A whole other method of helping her was executed, to which Fluttershy trembled from.
“So don’t get down on yourself! We’ve still gotta find a way to get you home and make things better for yourself and your friends! And if you give up now, then all you’re doing is letting yourself fail before you even tried! You know what it takes to master a new trick, right? To keep trying! Even if you fail! You get right back up and try again! Sometimes you’re gonna fail, sometimes you’re gonna fall, but you can get up and try!” Dash said, furiously stroking her hoof along her. “You can do it, Fluttershy! You can! I know you can! We all do! You just gotta let yourself fly! Let yourself be who you want to be! It can happen, it will happen, and you can make things better! You just have to do it!
“I’m not giving up on you, neither is Twilight, Pinks, Rarity, or Applejack! You’re still my wife, and I’m still gonna see this through to the end no matter what happens! Now you can either cower under the covers like a mouse or you can be a mare and try again! Because you want to, because you want to try hard to overcome your obstacles! Do it, Flutters... You can do it. Do it for your friends, for your Rainbow Dash, do it for yourself!”
Fluttershy laid there, trembling, the words sinking in, replaying in her mind. She exhaled deeply, allowing herself to truly think. Closing her eyes, a single tear fell as a faint smile played on her lips.
“You’re right... You really are right...” Fluttershy muttered. Before Dash could respond, Fluttershy pushed up against her, pushing Dash onto her side. “You really suck at saying mushy stuff...” She reached over, placing a hoof on Dash’s chest. “But I understand what you mean, I really do. I guess... I just needed to let that out. Twelve years of being somepony you’re not kinda has that effect on you. I’m sorry I put you through that... But thank you, Dashie.”
This made Dash grin, looking relieved. “Hey, no sweat, Flutters. I did promise I’d be there for you. I’m not about to go back on that! Besides, you may not be my Fluttershy... But come on, you’re still Fluttershy, you’re still real, doesn’t that count?”
An odd thought occurred to Fluttershy, making her laugh. “Yeah, it counts. It does in more ways than you realize, too.”
“How do you mean?”
“Eh, you’ll figure it out later,” Fluttershy teased.
Dash pouted a bit, “Not fair! I want to know! Quit being so cryptic!”
“Cryptic my flank, even you said it,” Fluttershy waved it off, “I am Fluttershy, I am real, and this so counts.”
“Ha,” Dash blew a raspberry, “You’re hilarious, Flutters.”
“Oh, you have no idea.” Fluttershy giggled, resting her eyes.
Giggling, Rainbow Dash licked her cheek. “So you finally believe I’m being serious about this?”
Fluttershy nodded, chuckling to herself. “Maybe.”
“And what’s it gonna take to prove it?”
“Us meeting Luna here, who is secretly dating somepony.” Fluttershy looked over at Dash, grinning.
Rolling her eyes playfully, Rainbow Dash tackled Fluttershy on the bed and rolled around with her. The two laughed jovially, wrestling about as they attempted to dominate each other. All of the tension from earlier lifted, the mood was more lighthearted, filling them with fun. Giggles and squeals of glee sounded from both ponies, just enjoying their silliness. Eventually it was Dash who pinned down Fluttershy, smirking at her.
“Or I could just find other ways to prove it to you, Flutters,” she said sultrily.
“Oh, like what?” Fluttershy smiled wildly, despite knowing exactly what Rainbow Dash meant.
Rather than answer, the cyan pegasus closed the gap between them and kissed her passionately.
Fluttershy fully expected this to happen, but did not fight against it in the least. She wanted this, needed to feel the closeness of somepony else. Wrapping her forelegs around Dash’s waist, she pulled her closer, bring her into a gentle embrace. A slight moan escaped between their kiss as Fluttershy found herself feeling almost submissive under Rainbow Dash, and stranger still, enjoying it.
As the two were slowly getting into their heated activity, it was cut short by a loud squeal coming from-the closet.
“Oooohh! Sorry, girls! Didn’t mean to interrupt, but we have to go!” Pinkie yelled, poking her head out of the closet.
Almost too fast for Dash to react, Fluttershy pulled away, looking completely bewildered. “What?! How did you- how are you in our closet?!” She gently pushed Dash off and over to the side of the bed as she ran over the closet. “You know what? I don’t care how! Go back in there and just use the door like every other pony without magic!” She closed the closet door and rested against it.
“But.... we have to go!” Pinkie said from the other side of the door.
Dash groaned, sitting up. “Go where?! We were kind of busy, you know!”
“If you wanna talk, Pinkie, you better use the door, ‘cause I’m not opening this closet. So you either do that, or just wait until we have finish our private time!” Fluttershy stated bluntly.
Pinkie giggled, “Okay! You two finish up your hot pegasus sex! When you’re ready, we have to go back to Canterlot!”
“... Why?” Dash said, confused.
“We just got word from Discord himself! He said he’s got something that can help us!” Pinkie replied, now in the doorway of the room.
Shocked, Fluttershy went wide-eyed. “Discord? He can help us? Like, he knows how to- wait... How in the name of the sun and moon did you get out of the closet?!”
The pink earth pony giggled, ignoring her last question, “He does! So we’ll go to Canterlot when you’re ready! Toodles!” She winked, then closed the door.
Fluttershy was tempted to open to closet to see if Pinkie was there, but decided against it. “Okay, setting aside that fact I think this Pinkie is a unicorn and-slash-or a demon, this is great news! Maybe your Discord isn’t as much of a lazy good for nothing and can seriously help.”
“Ohhh yeah, he’ll be able to help!” Rainbow Dash said eagerly. “Too bad Fluttershy isn’t here to talk him into it... but we’ll have to go see what he’s gonna do to help us out!”
“I certainly hope so.” Fluttershy smiled brightly. “So, let’s get our stuff and get moving!”
Not needing to be told twice, both pegasi hurriedly packed up their belongings. The excitement and utter curiosity of the entire possibility was overwhelming them, making it hard to sit still. It even brought back the shred of hope that maybe, just maybe, this could all be resolved in some way. They looked at one another, grinning widely, before going into the other room to join up with Pinkie and Twilight.
Pinkie was already set to go, as she was waiting by the door. The alicorn, however, was frantically checking her bags and looking over her list to make sure she had everything. By Pinkie’s look, it was likely the second or third time she was overlooking the list.
“You two can go wait in the lobby if you want,” Pinkie said evenly, “She’s... going to be a while.”
“You sure about that? She looks like she might need a little help or something.” Fluttershy asked Pinkie, a bit confused. “Or at least somepony to take away that list...”
With a smirk, Rainbow Dash did just that, yanking the list right out of the magical hold. “Yoink!”
Twilight froze for a moment, then completely panicked. “Rainbow Dash, give that back! I need to make sure we have our belongings!”
“And you checked how many times?” Dash wanted to know.
“I’ve only checked over it three times! Princess Celestia suggests five re-checks to assure that nothing is lost!” Twilight shouted a bit, wishing to look over it once more.
Fluttershy rolled her eyes, “I think I liked her better drunk... Hey, Dash! Throw it out the window!”
“I’ve got a better idea,” Dash cleared her throat and looked over the list. “I’ll read off the items and you tell me if they’re put away in your bag or not. Go! Toothbrush.”
Twilight froze yet again, realizing what this meant. “No! Please don’t read that out loud!”
“I didn’t bring one!” Fluttershy shouted.
“What? Is there something private on this list?” Dash quirked an eyebrow, confused.
“N-No! I just... would rather do this myself!” Twilight shot back, a faint blush starting to form.
Now Fluttershy and Pinkie were peeking over Dash’s shoulders to see what was on the list. Their eyes scanned it, trying to find whatever could possibly have embarrassed Twilight to have reveal. At least until the pony in question quickly grabbed the list away in her magic, which prevented them from doing so.
“Awww, but I wanted to know too, Twi-Twi!” Pinkie pouted.
“No!” Twilight said, becoming even more flustered. “I-I read over the list myself, the rest of you can wait in the lobby.”
Rolling her eyes, Dash opened the door, “Fine. But if you take more than ten minutes, we’re coming up here, taking that list away from you, reading it out loud, and then burning it!”
“Uh... isn’t burning a bit extreme?” Pinkie said.
“Whatever, just don’t take too long, Twi! We have more important things to worry about!” Dash stated, leaving the room.
Fluttershy giggled a bit following after her, “Aww, you look cute when you’re angry, Dash!”
Pinkie, however, looked dead serious. “Twilight, I’m afraid you’re going to have to hurry. We have to get back to Canterlot, and we really can’t waste time now. Either do a search of the room with your magic, or just leave it at three times checked.”
Defeated, Twilight sighed looking over to her friend. “All right, Pinkie. Could you just... wait outside with Dash and Fluttershy for a minute?”
“Sure, but please don’t be long,” said the earth pony, leaving the room as well.
Twilight sighed as she watched her friend walk out the door. Looking at the list, she tossed it aside and dug into her bag. She checked it three times now, and it was still not there, which made her feel a bit worried. She knew she had brought it with her, but it was missing. Considering for a moment where she could have placed it, with the hangover from before, that would make sense to herself if she was drunk.
Then, she realized where it would be. Trotting over to the bed, Twilight used her magic to toss aside the large pillow to reveal just what she was looking for. A small hoof-sized plush doll. One made by Rarity as to Twilight’s request. One that bore a striking similarity to certain pink party pony.
Picking it up for a brief hug, Twilight carried it over to her bag and placed it inside, and picked it up. “Now I have everything...”
It was a hasty departure from Las Pegasus, but the quartet did so nonetheless. A prompt arrival in Ponyville had them dropping off their bags, before catching the next train to Canterlot. While it was already late afternoon, approaching the evening hours, they pressed on to make it to the city and see what this entire situation was about. As it were, Discord’s message was very vague, though comedic and entertainingly written, and was simply to tell them to come and see him and the Princesses.
Finally, it was close to dinnertime when they arrived in the city and the palace. The entire trek was quick, almost a blur, but before they knew it, they were entering the throne room. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were awaiting them, but Discord was nowhere to be seen.
“Twilight, my dear faithful student,” Celestia greeted, more out of habit than anything. She managed a warm smile, “I’m glad you four have made it.”
With a quick bow, Twilight answered. “Thank you, Princess. We came as soon as we received word of our summons.”
“So, where’s Discord?!” Dash wanted to know, bouncing on the spot. “If he’s got something that can help us, we’d sure like to know it!”
“In time, Rainbow Dash... Even I don’t know where he’s gotten off to,” Celestia admitted, shaking her head. “However, I do also have good news. Luna has located the book in question, Twilight.”
Twilight beamed to hear this. “That’s wonderful news! I assure you, I never meant to destroy the original manuscript. The spell simply got out of hoof and-”
“Sent Flutters away and brought over this Fluttershy right here!” Pinkie said, pointing to Fluttershy.
Celestia nodded, “As I can see. Fluttershy, I can see we were not formally introduced, were we? Despite that, I hope you are feeling all right.”
Fluttershy looked over Celestia before nodding. “Yeah, I guess I’m okay. Been zapped to another reality, learnt a bit about myself, got married while drunk, and my mind is probably broken in a way that leaves scars for the rest of my natural life, but yeah, I’m pretty good.” She giggled a bit. “Also, you’re a lot shorter in my reality.”
Not the least bit offended, Celestia giggled, “I see. Well then, I suppose we-”
“Hellooooooooooooo!” Discord, coming out of nowhere, drawled out in a cheerful greeting. “Terribly sorry to be late, my little ponies! I had been quite delayed!”
“It’s about time!” Rainbow Dash said, tensing again. “So what can you do to help us? We gotta know!”
This made him laugh, floating in midair as he produced an apple into his lion paw, “Patience, patience, Rainbow Dash. Let me just show you a little something.”
Twilight stepped forward a bit. “What are you getting at Discord?”
“Wait a minute...” Fluttershy spoke up. “That apple looks kinda familiar...”
Winking, Discord tossed the apple a few feet away from him, to which it floated in midair for a few seconds. Then it spun crazily, out of control, before it then formed into... another Discord. An identical clone. Only this one was wearing a cyan scarf around his neck, to which the original Discord had a light yellow scarf.
“Well, everypony, I suppose it’s only fair that I introduce you... to me!” Discord grinned, making a dramatic gesture to the other Discord.
“Not this guy...” Fluttershy sighed.
“Hello, everypony!” The blue scarfed Discord shouted. “I am Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and- well, actually, in a way, you all know who I am, but not really. So, I’ll skip the dramatics of entrance and allow you all to react now... Go on, I’ve been dying know how this reality’s Elements of Harmony act, the Princesses are just a bonus!”
Everypony stared with wide eyes, completely unsure how to react. Most especially Celestia and Luna, who looked as if he’d grown two heads. Which almost wasn’t far off from the truth, in fact.
Pinkie, however, was quick to recover. “Wow! This is soooooo cool! Two Discords in the same reality! What a whacky fun time that is! Oooh, ooh, oooh! Other Discord! With the blue scarfie! What’s it like? Do you still make cotton candy clouds raining chocolate milk? Do you at least make sure to include whipped cream? What’s it all like?! I want to know!”
“Pinks, not now!” Dash snarled, stepping forward. “If you came here all the way from the other reality, then you can go back?! How’d you do it?! Can you really help us here?!”
The ‘other’ Discord playfully jabbed this reality’s Discord in his side a bit. “She’s not really getting the whole Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony thing, is she?”
“Not in the slightest! She can be quite daft!” Said the yellow-scarfed Discord, chuckling.
“Is Fluttershy okay?! Is she all right?!” Dash demanded, ignoring their remarks.
“Is Fluttershy all right, you ask?” the blue scarfed Discord repeated. “Why, yes and no. Yes, as she is physically okay, but no, as she is not okay in the mental department. I assume you’re not doing too well there either, eh, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes at him, showing a bit of annoyance. “You’re still a jerk...” She paused for a moment, then regained a bit of composure. “Just what do you mean by that, huh?”
“Ah, and there’s your answer!” Discord declared, toying with his blue scarf. “Think, girl... If we were back in our reality, you would have torn into my like your friend here! But instead, you were quiet for the most part. Even now, your voice is considerably low. Or, have you not noticed?”
Fluttershy was about to respond, but realized, he was right. She would have been shouting, fighting against his words, arguing, or at least speaking more. Yet, even now, she found her voice unable to speak. She felt weaker, more reclusive, and small. She was seeing what he meant fully at last and this frightened her.
“Oh, dear Luna... You can’t be serious...” Fluttershy muttered.
“Oh, but sadly, I am.” Discord interjected. “The rules of reality are a tricky thing, as they have to play into rules of time. The universe knows you’re not this reality’s Fluttershy, however, for the events to occur on track with course of this reality, there must be a Fluttershy that is this one. If not, the flow of events can’t happen the right way! So, in short, you will end up, in a sense, becoming this reality's Fluttershy and... oh, I didn’t have the heart to tell the others but, eventually you’ll lose all your memories of who you once were and of your real home. You’ll be exact copy of her... and her, you.”
The yellow-scarfed Discord gave a solemn nod, “It seems he proved my theory correct! Such a shame, isn’t it?”
“What?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, her heart sinking. “This can’t be happening! They’ll forget who they are, and become... like replacements for the originals? No, no, no! Discord, can you take us to the other reality, and I mean now?! I gotta get Fluttershy out of there!”
The blue scarfed Discord sighed, “Sadly, what you’re asking is a little impossible. I can traverse all of known reality as I am the Spirit of Chaos, meaning, I don’t have to play by the rules. But you all? You’re not me. So, you have to do things the long way around. With the spell. And we kinda gotta do this, like, before the next three days, or else I think they might completely forget who they were and are stuck where they are... so we do have a bit of a deadline. No pressure, though.”
“Ooh, but I may have a way of getting you there!” Yellow-scarfed Discord announced. “But getting back... not so much.”
Rainbow Dash stepped forward, her body trembling as the very dreaded thoughts ran through her head. “W-We’ll do anything! Anything! I’m going over there whether anypony likes it or not! I’m gonna help Fluttershy! I gotta get her-”
“Oooh, but what if she won’t leave?” Pinkie asked, wide-eyed.
“...Oh...” Dash realized that possibility, and looked downward. “Then I’d at least get to say goodbye, and that I’m sorry.”
“But she won’t remember...” Pinkie pouted. “But I wanna go, too! I gotta see the other me!”
Twilight exhaled, worry covering her face. “This does create a serious problem. Discord, what you were talking about, on how to take us there? Even if it’s just one of us, it would be enough.”
Grinning, yellow-scarfed Discord winked at his counterpart, before picking up Twilight and bouncing her in his lion paw, “It’s simple! I can transport all of you to that reality, of course! But you’ll have to use that nifty spell to bring yourselves back!”
“But with the way it happened last time, Fluttershy was linked to another of herself. If we all go, what is there for us to link to? And how do we keep it from switching again?” Twilight asked before using her magic to levitate in the air. “And please stop doing that.”
Both Discords looked at each other, giving twin shrugs. Yellow-scarfed Discord then snapped his eagle claw, to which a pile of papers, about two feet high, appeared on the floor.
“I think this is the only way to explain all of it!” He said dismissively.
Twilight, landing in the papers, looked at him confused. “And just what is all this?”
Fluttershy, who was most likely the most emotional broken of all the ponies, actually spoke up, albeit weakly. “This is... paperwork. He’s toying with you. He’s saying to explain it the way you want to hear it will take forever.”
Now Rainbow Dash felt worried, seeing just how serious this was. Tension ran through her limbs, practically gluing her to the floor. “Look, it doesn’t matter! We’ll take it! We’ll go and find our way back before the three day time limit! Just take us there already! We gotta stop this!”
The blue scarfed Discord chuckle a bit. “Oh, but you didn’t hear the best part! As Spirit of Chaos, I can exist within a reality with myself,” he pointed over at his copy, “but you all... can’t. So, to be frank, when you get to my reality, this Fluttershy here with us, will be in deadlock, as she’s in the right place... but the rest of you, well, I’ll say it like this. You can’t exist for very long with yourself, so the universe is gonna kill you. So, keep that in mind while you’re there, and do what you gotta do. But do take that time to enjoy the sights and the food. My reality’s Twilight is quite the cook!”
“Okay, so we got three days before Fluttershy and Fluttershy’s memories erase completely, three days before they become each other, three days before existing in the same universe kills us, and three days... just because!” Rainbow Dash clarified, trying to sound confident. “Fine! We’ll take it!”
The blue scarfed Discord leaned over to his counterpart, “She’s not very smart, is she? Brave, but not smart.”
Laughing, the yellow-scarfed Discord nudged him, “She’s just in love and worried. Figures!”
“Can we please move this along, Discord?” Fluttershy cut the two off, her tone both annoyed and saddened. “I... I want to fix this as soon as we can.”
“She’s right, the sooner we can act, the better.” Twilight spoke up, after actually reading several pages of the documents on the floor.
“Brilliant!” Said yellow-scarfed Discord, clapping with delight. “Celestia, I do hope you won’t mind if we... borrow these ponies for a while!”
Pursing her lips lightly, Celestia gave a curt nod, “I cannot make the decision for them. I only wish that they return safely.”
“No promises on that, Celly.” Blue scarfed Discord remarked. “You know the dangers as well as they do. So, what’s it gonna be?”
Fluttershy nodded, “I would rather die than lose my memories... and since that’s the case, I can live with it. Besides, I gotta make things right with my Rainbow Dash... I just have to...”
“As the only one who knows the spell here, I don’t have a choice in the matter. That, and I would be lying if I didn’t say I was a bit curious about this other reality.” Twilight spoke calmly, knowing that she would go.
“I will go along for moral support!” Pinkie stated, smiling brightly. “And I have to meet the other us!”
Trembling a bit, Rainbow didn’t look at either of them as she spoke as well, “I’m going because I want to make sure Fluttershy’s okay, and tell her I’m sorry.”
The blue scarfed Discord chuckled, “This feels like the start of one of those old, fantasy stories about the group of heroes going off into the unknown. Somepony should write a story about this, I swear... Oh well!” He gave dismissive shrug. “Now, when we get there, I’ll be tagging along with you and this handsome devil here will be, well, here so you do have something to link to! Since he’ll be ready for you, it’ll work. Or it should as it has at least a ninety-eight percent chance of working.”
“What’s the other two percent?” Twilight asked out of curiosity.
“Eh, you don’t wanna know. Trust me.” Discord turned to his yellow scarfed copy. “I’m gonna miss me when I’m gone... be sure to write, me. Now, let’s do this before I get all teary eyed.”
“Will do, me!” Laughed the yellow-scarf Discord. “Now then, all of you stand together, that’s it! Just like in school! Front row sitting, back row standing!” He made a frame with his paws as the ponies and his counterpart gathered. “Ah, a little to the left, Twilight... Oh, Rainbow Dash, take one little hair to the right! Pinkie, you’re too high, lower yourself a bit! Fluttershy, turn towards me... Perfect! You all look fabulous!”
Fluttershy frowned as she locked eyes with Discord. “If you don’t hurry up... I’m gonna kill you. Both of you.” She looked back at the Discord sitting behind her. “Just do whatever it is you're going to do and let’s go...”
“Tut tut, have patience, my dear,” yellow-scarfed Discord then produced a fortune cookie.
With a grin, he snapped it open, sending a plume of dust right at the gathered group. In moments, the dust engulfed them all and they disappeared, as if never having been there in the first place.
Pinkamena paced across the throne room, her mane swaying from side to side. She had asked all the others, beside herself and Twilight, to wait outside the room. She knew that Discord would return soon, but she did not fully trust him, she never did. It took all her reasoning to allow him to do this with Twilights mystic aid and even then, every moment, she expected him to return and destroy the castle with needlessly large explosion of an entrance.
With a sigh, she trotted over to Twilight, who was drawing something on a piece of paper with crayons. Looking back at the throne, Pinkamena wondered if she made the right choice. After hearing Discord fully explain the situation only added to her unnerved state. She only hoped that things would go as planned.
“Twilight,” Pinkamena looked down, her face hid her emotions well, “do you believe that everything is all right within the other reality? Discord has been gone for longer than four hours. He claimed it would only take one.”
Twilight grinned, nodding, “Of course I do, silly! Maybe there’s some timey-wimey stuff involved! And look!” She held up her drawing. “I drew you!”
Pinkamena giggled a bit. “I can see that. You’re getting better. However, it’s missing something rather important...”
“What’s it missing?” Twilight tilted her head cutely.
“You, of course.” Pinkamena teased her, chuckling as she placed a foreleg over Twilight’s shoulder. “You know I don’t like to be in your pictures alone.”
Giggling with glee, Twilight snuggled against her, smothering her cheek with kisses. “Hee hee! You’re right! I’ll add me in there! Being all alone in a piccy isn’t fun! It’s better to be right with somepony you love!”
“Of course it is.” Pinkamena smiled warmly, giving her a gentle kiss. “I suppose I was just overreacting again... One day, you really must teach me how to relax properly.”
“But you do know, Pinkie! You just have to think of happy things and lie down! Get all nice and comfy, you’ll love it!”
“Twilight, that sounds like something else to me,” Pinkamena chuckled.
In response, the lavender alicorn blew a raspberry, giggling.
A few feet away, along the carpet, there was a strange, pulsating glimmer of light that formulated. It remained there, getting brighter at each second, before it seemed to burst! As the room cleared and became normal once more, there was the surprising sight of Discord- accompanied by four ponies, right where the light had once been.
The ponies, as it were, consisted of a widly curly-haired Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle with her mane a bit shorter and left down, Rainbow Dash with a shorter and scruffier set of bangs while her cooler colours seemed to simply lay there...
And Fluttershy. Their Fluttershy. There was no mistaking the shorter mane/tail and earrings.
“Fluttershy! Fluttershy, you’re back!!” Twilight exclaimed with glee, hugging the yellow pegasus. “We missed you soooooo much! You’re okay!”
Twilight quickly jumped back in shock, staring wide eyed at the sight. “Oh, dear Celestia... there really are counterparts of each of us.”
“Duh,” Discord spoke blandly, “And you’re supposed to be the smart one? Well, not as smart as this reality’s Pinkie, but smart nonetheless.”
“Hiiiiiii!” Pinkie said brightly, getting up in Pinkamena’s face, grinning. “Wow! You wear your hair like I used to, but don’t anymore!”
Pinkamena took a step back, “By the word of the divine, you really are the other me. Positively astounding, and yet, frightening.”
“Yeah, she’s some kind of freak magic earth pony or something.” Fluttershy said with bored look.
“Wait, is this true?” Pinkamena shot back, suddenly inspecting the other her. “In your reality, earth pony’s can perform magic without focal points?! Do explain.”
“Never mind that! Where’s my Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash wanted to know. “I have to see her, now! Please, tell me where she is!”
“Oh, she’s at the library, with our Dashie!” Hyper Twilight giggled.
Fluttershy sighed deeply, giving her an annoyed look, “You left them alone and didn’t bring them here? Not to question you, but why?!”
Hyper Twilight blinked, tilting her head. “Um... But I thought we asked them to look after the library while we came out here to Canterlot when Princess Luna said she had news for us... Is that. ..bad?” She looked at Pinkamena for an answer.
Pinkamena shook her head, “Well, according to what Discord explained to us, they now have three days to return before this universe tries to erase them from existence, and the trip to Ponyville takes about half a day, even by the fastest means, so it could create a small problem.”
“Then teleport us there, or something! Somepony use freaky magic here!” Rainbow Dash half-yelled, though more out of passion than anger. She pawed at the floor, anxiety coursing through her and quickening her heartbeat. “Please, I can’t take this anymore! I have to see Fluttershy!”
Twilight was a bit overtaken by this reality’s Pinkamena and her demeanor. “A minor problem? While I hate to agree with Rainbow Dash on this, we need to get this done and fast. I can just teleport us there.”
“No, you can’t.” Fluttershy deadpanned, “From what I remember, teleporting doesn’t really work the same way here as it does where you’re from, right, Pinkamena?”
“Indeed, not only that but I believe Discord might have forgotten to mention the effect of bringing you all here. Since he mostly told us, I’ll tell you in simple terms. The spell has most likely drained you both physically and mentally, meaning, I doubt that this other Twilight has the magic necessary to perform a class A teleportation spell. That, and you all will most likely begin to feel the exhaustion once the adrenaline wears off.” Pinkamena explained, now facing the entire group.
Crestfallen, Rainbow Dash looked out toward a nearby window, then the doorway, contemplating. She could see what they meant, that this wouldn’t be easy, but she was not ready to give up. Already she was finally this close to seeing Fluttershy again, the very excitement of that coursed through her madly.
“No! No! I’m not gonna just park myself here and wait! I’ll fly there myself!” She said, spreading her wings. “I’m the fastest flyer out of Cloudsdale and I’ve gone from Canterlot to Ponyville a few times in a matter of a few minutes!”
“Only in this reality, you’re not!” This reality’s Fluttershy said back. “Here, I’m the fastest flyer out of Cloudsdale, and there’s no way you’re going without me, got it?”
“...Oh...” Dash gave a sheepish smile. “I didn’t mean that, Fluttershy... I wasn’t gonna go without you anyway. Besides, your Rainbow Dash is there too. Perfect coincidence that they’d be in the same place, eh?”
“Well of course they would be!” Said Hyper Twilight, giggling. “They live together!”
Fluttershy turned back to face her. “They what?”
“This will not end well...” Pinkamena sighed. “Go on, my dear, explain it to them.”
“Ohhh...” Hyper Twilight said, and cleared her throat. “Our Dashie and your Flutters are in love! They started living together since a couple days ago now! You haven’t seen them, but they are soooooo sweet together! It’s so cute! So we asked them to look after our library and they agreed to do it together!”
“Wooooow!” Pinkie said, wide-eyed. “No wonder!”
“What?!” Dash cried, feeling dread stab at her stomach. “....We were right... they... they actually did...”
Fluttershy looked emotionally unstable, almost on the verge of tears, but something stopped her. “I’m not changing my mind... I’m still going. The only difference is now I’m going to explain the situation, apologize, and do my best not to kill the other me. So, Dash,” she looked over to her companion, “You better get there before me, got it? Besides, who are we to talk? We got married while drunk... I think we’re more at fault than them.”
“I-I know that, Fluttershy...” Dash said, exhaling. “I guess I just felt surprised, that’s all. C’mon, let’s go there and... I don’t know, fix all this, I guess. Let’s go!”
“Good luck, Dashie and Flutters!” Said Pinkie, waving her hoof.
“Bye bye! Go and win back your loveys!” Twi giggled, waving as well.
“Au revoir!” Discord shouted, “Bonne chance, or in other words, good luck you nutcases!”
Twilight just shook her head, feeling as though this would be a rather painful experience. “This will not end well, I already now.”
“Ah, but seldom is anything worth doing easy,” Pinkamena chimed in, startling Twilight.
Readying her wings, Fluttershy looked over at Dash with a grin, “Last one there has to confess first!”
Dash smirked, nodding. “You’re on! Let’s do this!”
Casually walking over to the window, Pinkamena pushed it open and exhaled with a look of mild annoyance. “Please do not destroy anything while breaking the sound barrier, thank you.”
“Speaking of which, I’m not gonna go easy on you this time, Dash!” Fluttershy mocked. “We’ll see just who’s the fastest and, oh, by the way, it’s me.”
“Nuh-uh! I’m the fastest and you know it, Fluttershy!” Dash blew a raspberry.
Continuing to banter, the two pegasi flew out the window and out into the night. The other ponies and Discord watched them go for a few moments, before regaining themselves.
“Sooooo! Who’s up for a party?!” Pinkie said, grinning.
Twi beamed! “Oooooh! A party?! Yes yes yes yes! I am SO there! I’ll even help you set it up!”
Pinkie gasped, wide-eyed. “...Other Twi-Twi, this is gonna be an AWESOME friendship!”
Twilight felt a bit unnerved by the site of Pinkie and her other self speaking to one another so friendly, even hugging a bit. She could not place the emotion, but it made her feel sick, angry, and even sad. A faint blush came over her as she continued to watch.
Pinkamena chuckled, startling Twilight a bit as she approached her. “No need to feel the sting of jealousy, I assure you. This reality’s Twilight is already in a commitment. Engaged, actually.”
“I-I’m not jealous! Wait, huh? She is? Really? With who?” Twilight looked at her in confusion.
“Me, of course.” Pinkamena stated bluntly, smiling.
“...What?”