//------------------------------// // Mirror, Mirror // Story: Too Many Twilights // by Octavia_Melody //------------------------------// Spike the baby dragon looked around nervously, his reptilian eyes darted around the forest, scouring the trees for signs of life. He rode atop the back of his mentor of sorts, Twilight Sparkle the unicorn. “Twilight...” Spike confided, “I have a bad feeling about this.” “Relax, Spike.” Twilight replied, “We won’t go too far out. Besides, how often do we get to stroll around the Everfree Forest without having to look for something, solve a problem, or run from some creature?” “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Spike commented, “Anytime we go into Everfree, something’s bound to-“ Spike didn’t finish his sentence before the ground collapsed beneath Twilight’s hoof and the both of them fell screaming into an underground cavern. They both landed on their stomachs, groaning in pain and confusion. “Anything broken, Spike?” Twilight asked in concern. “It doesn’t feel like it.” Spike said, standing up and brushing himself off, “How about you?” “No, I’m okay.” Twilight answered, propping up on four legs, “Where are we, anyway?” They both examined their surroundings, finding themselves in a subterranean cave with stalactites dangling above them. A small body of water shimmered in front of them. “I think it’s just an underground pond.” Twilight observed, “The moisture in here must have built up and made the ground unsteady.” “See? This is exactly what I’m talking about.” Spike answered, “We take two steps into Everfree and then this happens. How are we supposed to get back to the surface?” “The fall wasn’t that steep.” Twilight said, “I’ll just prop you up back to ground level and then you help pull me out.” “I suppose that’ll work.” Spike admitted, “But like I was saying, this is a perfect example...hey Twilight, where are you going?” “Is this it? Could it be?” Twilight said to herself, looking down into the pond, “The legendary Mirror Pool? The one spoken of in nursery rhymes to fillies?” “The mirror what?” Spike asked. “The Mirror Pool.” Twilight replied, “Legend has it that there’s a magical chant that one says to make one’s own reflection come alive.” “Why would anyone want to do that?” Spike wondered. “I don’t know, but it couldn’t hurt to try.” Twilight pondered. Twilight placed one hoof in the water and yelped as Spike yanked on her tail. “Spike!” she complained, “What is your problem?!” “You’re not actually gonna try it, are you?” Spike fretted, “What if your reflection turns out to be evil?” “What are you trying to say, Spike? That you secretly think I’m evil?” Twilight scoffed, “I’m insulted. I thought we knew each other better than that.” “I just don’t think we should be tampering with dark magic.” Spike advised. “It’s not ‘dark magic’ Spike, it’s just plain old nursery rhyme magic. For little fillies.” Twilight answered, “Where’s your sense of adventure? Now how did that rhyme go? I think Pinkie Pie told me. Let’s see... ‘And into her own reflection she stared, uh, yearning for one whose reflection she shared …’.” “Twilight, don’t!” Spike shouted, again tugging on the unicorn’s tail. “…and solemnly sweared not to be scared…” Twilight continued, “Spike, would you cut it out!” Twilight nudged the baby dragon away with her hind leg, knocking out a loose scale on Spike’s stomach. The dragon scale fell into the pool, floating on top of the water. “ …at the prospect of being doubly mared!” Twilight said, finishing the spell. The Mirror Pool glowed with an ethereal force and then petered out with a whiff of smoke. “Was that it?” Spike asked, “Did it work?” “I don’t think so.” Twilight replied, “I can still see my reflection, but it’s not moving.” Twilight stared at her own reflection for a few more moments, sticking her tongue out and making funny faces. Spike soon joined her and they burst into a fit of giggles. “I guess it was just a myth after all.” Twilight surmised, “I’m sorry for kicking you earlier. You’re probably right. It’s best that nothing happened. Let’s go home, Spike.” The two of them walked over to the cavern wall and Spike climbed on the unicorn’s back. Twilight struggled and strained to lift the baby dragon up with her head as she stood up on her hind legs. Spike dug into the rock with his claws and quickly climbed up to the surface. He then grabbed Twilight’s front hooves and started to pull her up when something jerked her back down. “Twilight!” Spike called out as Twilight was dragged back toward the pool. Twilight reflexively bucked against whatever had a hold on her and the creature splashed back into the water. Twilight looked on in horror as the creature re-emerged from the pond, looking very much like Twilight, but not exactly. This version of Twilight had a frazzled and unkempt main, wide eyes with narrow pupils, a frenzied smile, and an uncontrollable giggle. “What have you done?!” the other Twilight shouted in a frantic and nervous voice, “I’m a clone!” The real Twilight was somewhat happy that the spell had worked, but less than happy that her reflection turned out to be the kind of pony that Twilight became when she was extremely anxious or worried. “Oh no! I’m a clone! This can’t be happening!” Crazy Twilight panicked, “What did you do?! Why did you summon me?! You have to send me back right now!” “I don’t know the spell to send you back.” Twilight admitted, “I only remembered the rhyme from what Pinkie Pie told me. I thought she was just joking.” “Do you realize what you’ve done?!” Crazy Twilight said, “You’ve doomed all of Equestria! That dragon’s scale you threw in there is going to keep making clones of us forever!” “Dragon’s scale?” Twilight wondered, “Uh-oh...” Crazy Twilight broke into manic laughter and scurried up the cavern wall back to the surface, breaking the laws of physics in ways in which only Pinkie was capable. “I’ve got to warn everypony! Equestria is doomed!” Crazy Twilight shouted, “And it’s all your fault!” “I’m not gonna say I told you so.” Spike called down to Twilight, “But I told you so.” “Just help me back up.” Twilight requested, “We’ve got to stop her.” Twilight climbed back up the cavern wall and Spike grabbed her hooves, pulling her back up to the surface. “How much damage do you think she could do anyway?” Spike wondered. “Do you even have to ask?” Twilight bemoaned. The first place that Crazy Twilight reached on her way back to Ponyville was the hut of Zecora the zebra. Crazy Twilight frantically pounded on the door with her hoof until a certain zebra enchantress peeked her head out of the doorway. “Hello, dear Twilight. How was your walk?” Zecora announced, “Why don’t you come inside so we can sit down and talk?” Zecora let Crazy Twilight inside, not yet noticing her frantic gestures. The zebra had barely sat down when Crazy Twilight grabbed her by the collar. “Zebra mare, you’ve got to listen to me!” Crazy Twilight shouted, “The real Twilight found the Mirror Pool and said the magical chant to make clones and I was the first clone to appear but she dropped a dragon scale in the water and now the pool is reacting and is going to make endless variations of Twilight!” Zecora smacked her own forehead with her hoof and gave a long heavy sigh. “I knew that fool unicorn would cause some distress.” she lamented, “But this time she’ll have to clean up her own mess.” “If you’re not gonna help me, then who will?!” Crazy Twilight asked. “I don’t know. Why don’t you figure it out?” Zecora advised, “I’m sure there’s someone in Ponyville to whom you can pout.” “Okay. Thanks. See ya later.” Crazy Twilight said as she practically galloped out of Zecora’s hut in the direction of Ponyville. It wasn’t long before Zecora noticed a familiar lavender unicorn with a baby dragon on her back sheepishly trotting toward her. “Not one word. Your clone has been under my roof.” Zecora said, raising her hoof, “This time you’ll just have to talk to the hoof.”