Chapter 1: The Swap
“How would you feel if you had to wear a crown all the time, ponies groveling at your hooves like you’re some kind of goddess? You think I like that attention?”
“You have all sorts of connections I’ve only dreamed of, meeting nobles far and wide. Do you understand the kind of clientele I could reach if I had connections like that?”
Twilight and Rarity were bickering inside the Carousel Boutique. Spike was sitting grumpily off to the side, pouting and refusing to take sides.
“Spike, surely you understand where I’m coming from,” Rarity pleaded. “The fame, the esteem, the good business. I could have it if Twilight would simply introduce me to some of these nobles that come to her castle.”
“Don’t call it a castle,” Twilight said. “It’s my home. I wish I could just get my old library back, go back to the way things were.”
“Are you insane? How can you not be loving every second of this?”
“It’s not me, Rarity! It’s just not me.” Twilight hung her head and turned away, looking out the boutique window.
Rarity glared at her back, but Spike gave her a reproving look, so she softened her gaze and went over to Twilight, standing just next to her.
“I’m sorry for being so selfish,” Rarity said. “I’m envious of the fame you have, only thinking about my business and not how difficult it is for my very private friend to hold such a public position.”
“Believe me, Rarity, I would give anything to give you the crown, make you the alicorn princess. You’d be way better at it than I would.”
“Maybe we can do that,” Spike said, walking over to the two mares. They both gazed at him quizzically. “What? I mean, you’ve got so much magic, Twilight. Can’t you use some to swap bodies with Rarity, let her be princess for a day?”
“Do you understand how ridiculously complicated a spell like that would be?” Twilight asked. “You would have to literally extract the souls of both ponies and implant them in the other body, keeping the soul intact and the body’s vital functions operating so neither party dies.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a sec,” Spike said. “Can’t you just change each other’s appearances? Give Rarity a purple coat, flatten out her mane, stuff like that? We already know it’s possible to curl your mane to look like Rarity’s, so would it be so much to ask to do something like that?”
Twilight considered this carefully, while Rarity was trying not to squeal with excitement at the prospect.
“I suppose that could work,” Twilight said, “but I would have to give Rarity wings and find a way to hide mine. That would be quite tricky. I’d also have to alter our voices so Rarity can sound like me and vice versa.”
“Sounds like something you could do,” Spike said. “Don’t you think, Rarity?”
“I think it’s possible,” Rarity said, “but I can’t say I want to be Twilight forever.”
“Oh no, I wasn’t suggesting that at all,” Spike countered. “I mean maybe you could try it for a day or so, see how that makes you feel. Then you can decide whether Twilight’s life is really something you would want, and Twilight can take a break from all her royal duties.”
“What I wouldn’t give for a day off,” Twilight said with a sigh of relief. “I like this idea.”
“Days go by rather quickly,” Rarity said nervously, “so could we make it a week?”
“A week off? Even better!” Twilight cheered.
“Okay, so it’ll be a week,” Spike said. “Let’s go to the libr...cast...Twilight’s house and see if we can find a spell to swap your appearance.”
“Sounds great,” Twilight said.
“Wonderful,” Rarity agreed. “Let’s not dilly-dally any longer.”
Twilight, Rarity, and Spike made their way out of the Carousel Boutique and towards Twilight’s castle, the three of them bubbling with excitement at this experiment. Once the novelty of the idea died down, however, the practicality of the idea began to come into question.
“Twilight, do you have any experience running a business?” Rarity asked. “Because if you’re going to maintain my boutique for a week, you have to know what you’re doing. And what about your stitching? Do you know a hoof stitch from a machine stitch, understand the different parts of a dress?”
“Maybe I could get Fluttershy to help,” Twilight suggested.
“Yes, but how many ponies do we want to know about this?” Rarity asked. “If anypony found out what we were attempting, we’d be considered frauds, and that could prove quite dangerous.”
“Then maybe we announce to Ponyville that we’re trying this,” Twilight said.
“That wouldn’t work at all!” Rarity groaned. “If they know I’m you and you’re me, they won’t treat us the same. I’d just get a slew of questions about why I want to impersonate royalty, and they’d ask you why you want to shirk your responsibilities.”
“Aren’t you two overthinking this a bit?” Spike asked.
“What do you mean?” Rarity asked.
“I mean, just teach each other enough about your lives enough so you can fake your way through the week. Tell each other what to expect, what pitfalls to watch out for, and how to talk like each other. You’re smart ponies, you can figure this out.”
“Okay, we’ll have to do that,” Twilight said. “There’s no way I’m going in cold, and no way I would let you step into my role unprepared.”
“Agreed,” Rarity said. “Now, Twilight, I have absolute confidence in your magical ability, but how do you propose we hide your wings?”
“I can give you my wings,” Twilight said. “I’ve created wings before with some difficulty, but it’s not impossible. As for removing my wings, I did some research into that after I saw Trixie removing appendages with the help of her amulet. I shouldn’t need the amulet’s assistance for that now that I’ve become an alicorn, so I think this is a reasonable task.”
“I see,” Rarity said. “Well, as long as you’re sure.”
They spent the remainder of the short walk talking briefly about their daily lives, with the intention of going into more particular detail before the swap happened.
They arrived at Twilight’s home and made their way to the library, which was filled with spellbooks that Celestia had gifted to Twilight to replace the books she lost in the fight with Tirek.
“Spike, can you look for the book about casting wing spells?” Twilight asked.
“No problem,” Spike said. “Shouldn’t be too hard to find.”
“Thank you,” Twilight said, before turning back to Rarity. “Okay, before we attempt this, I need to know what I should expect. How busy are you around this time of year?”
“Well, there are no major social events, so you won’t be getting that crowd,” Rarity said. “I think most of your work will be hemming and other repair work, which, with Fluttershy’s help, shouldn’t prove too difficult. Also, in the privacy of my workroom, you can use your magic to assist you in any way you wish. I would prefer the work to be more legitimate, but I’ve used a few magical shortcuts during some of the busier times, so it’s not unheard of.”
“Okay,” Twilight said. “I’m still a relatively new princess, so I’m not in charge of too many important roles yet. Mainly you’ll meet nobles wishing to introduce themselves to you in order to try to establish their connections with royalty, but you might have to handle a few local disputes. I serve in a judicial role for Ponyville and the surrounding region, settling land disputes and other trivial quarrels. With your comfort around wealthy ponies and your intimate sense of social etiquette, I don’t think it’ll be too hard to take over my role for a week.”
“What about your flying?” Rarity asked.
“I’m not good at that myself,” Twilight said, “so nopony will be expecting much of you anyway.” Twilight smiled, her eyes sparkling with joy. “I think this is actually feasible.”
“This is really happening?” Rarity asked.
“After I find out how to handle our wing problem,” Twilight said.
“Found it!” Spike called, rushing over with the spell book in hand. Twilight took it from him and flipped through the pages. She had the spell for granting wings bookmarked based on her previous experience granting Rarity wings, so it didn’t take her long to find it.
“I’ll need to make sure the wings are close enough to my own to avert any suspicion,” Twilight said after finding the page, “but I can’t promise they’ll be perfect.”
“I’m sure they’ll be wonderful,” Rarity said.
Twilight examined the book closely, then focused on Rarity as she performed the incantation. The aura in the room became electric as the spell developed, and suddenly there was a blinding flash of light. When the light faded, Rarity had a set of white wings that very closely matched Twilight’s.
“Wonderful work!” Rarity said.
“Why are they white?” Spike asked.
“I’ll change them to purple when I alter Rarity’s coat,” Twilight said, “but first I need to remove my wings.” She flipped through the book towards the back end, in the section with more advanced spells. Twilight found the right page and studied the spell carefully.
“Okay, I think I can do this,” she said. “I need utmost concentration, so I need you two to be quiet and remain still.”
“Okay,” Spike said.
Rarity nodded.
“Here goes nothing,” Twilight said. She began chanting the incantation, and a different aura filled the room, one that seemed to suck the light out of the room instead of blind them with a bright light. There was a sharp tearing sound and a cry from Twilight, but when the light returned to the room there she stood, looking like herself before the coronation. However, she also looked as though she were in a great deal of pain.
“Are you alright?” Rarity asked, rushing over to Twilight and stroking her back.
“Wasn’t quite expecting it to hurt that much,” Twilight said, “but it looks like it worked. The rest of this should be simple.”
A few more books were referenced, a few more incantations cast, and pretty soon Twilight and Rarity were carbon copies of each other.
“I think it worked,” Twilight said, and she was taken aback hearing Rarity’s voice escape her lips.
“Excellent job,” Rarity said, giggling when she heard the voice of Twilight.
“We’ll meet here next Saturday to reverse all of this,” Twilight said, “so I hope this works out.”
“Thank you so much, Twilight,” Rarity said, moving to leave the castle. “Oh, wait,” she said, stopping herself. “You should be the one departing.”
“Oh, right,” Twilight said. “Rarity, I know ponies consider me smart, but I’m not nearly as eloquent as you, so try to speak more technically and more colloquially.”
“Seems a bit contradictory, but alright,” Rarity said. “You’ll have to work to display as much floral vocabulary as you can. You’re familiar with poetry, of course.”
“I’ve studied plenty of it,” Twilight said.
“That’s where I learned my Equestrian, so summon as many fancy words as you can muster when speaking to other ponies, especially clientele.”
“I think I’ll be fine,” Twilight said. “Well, unless we bump into each other, I’ll see you in about a week. Spike, you’ll help Rarity get through the week, right?”
“Of course,” Spike said. “I know all about what you do.”
“Great. I’ll go over to Fluttershy’s and explain the situation so she can help me with the stitching,” Twilight said. “If we don’t see each other again, I’ll see you here next Saturday to reverse the spell.”
“Wonderful. Take care, now,” Rarity said, waving regally as Twilight walked out of her home on her way to Fluttershy’s cottage.
Along the way, she was fraught with worry that this wasn’t going to work, so she tried to calm herself down. I know Rarity so well, I can definitely do this. I promised her a week of royalty, so I will do everything you can to make that possible. I just hope nothing goes wrong...