There is a certain strangeness, when one looks at two different sides of oneself. Yet that was the situation Twilight Sparkle found herself in when looking upon them. Furthermore, when you hear them talk to you, and in turn you find yourself talking to them. There were no words, to adequately describe what one was going through in such a situation.
Now what one must understand, is that Twilight was no stranger to talking to herself. After all she did it quite often, whether it be fretting over something, or working on some experiment she may be running. A strange trait for an introvert to be sure, but even introverts have extroverted tendencies. You are however, alone when you do that, and not face to face with well… yourself, though there was that one time…
“Um… Hello.” Was the only thing Twilight was capable of saying, or thinking of at the moment, her mind was too busy racing through all the possibilities for her to be able to say anything else, besides it was rude not to respond back.
“My… my…” Her darker human counterpart began, with a slight grin on her face. “It seems someone is rather confused.” A slight laugh or chuckle as it were. “Well then, lets fix that shall we? You may call me Daybreak Glimmer, and if you haven’t guessed, I’m your better half.”
“Don’t listen to her your highness, she only wants to distort your image as to what is.” The Alicorn replied.
Daybreak scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Me? It’s you who-”
“Quiet!” Alicorn Twilight replied before she muzzled Daybreaks mouth before she could continue. “It’s really quite simple, all you have to do is choose one of us.”
“So I just have to pick one of you? That’s it?” Twilight asked still trying to make sense of what was going on.
“That is the idea yes.” Alicorn Twilight answered nodding her head.
“Well that’s easy then… all I’d have to do is pick you.” Twilight said as she breathed a relieved sigh.
“Ahahahaha… No I’m afraid it’s not that simple.” Daybreak suddenly spoke up as she broke free from the muzzle.
Twilight frowned at this as she narrowed her eyes. “And just why is it not that simple?”
“Because one of us has what you need, and you can’t just pick one of us, without knowing which one of us holds that which you oh so desperately need.” Daybreak smirked once again.
“Annoying as it must seems, what… she says is true, unfortunately. The answers though lay in the past and what you once were, that is simply all I can tell you.” Twilights Alicorn version replied with a calm cool voice.
“In the past?! Why I should roast you where you stand!” Daybreak nearly shrieked. “Especially with that whole putting a muzzle on my instance.”
The Alicorn huffed. “It shut you up didn’t it?”
Twilight blinked as she watched these two begin to argue. Neither of them were like her… not even her Alicorn form, both acted on things she either wish she could have said, or at points done. Perhaps this wasn’t going to be as easy as Luna mentioned, which only caused Twilight to frown at it all. It also meant she had to make her choice very carefully from this point on. The first step was to stop the two of them who were ready to charge up magical attacks at each other.
“QUIET!” Twilight shouted with a slight twitch.
At that moment the magic died down, and once again in a rather eerie unison. “By your will, your majesty.” It was beginning to creep Twilight out.
Slightly rubbing the temple of her forehead with her finger, Twilight let out a sigh before gently looking at the two versions of herself. “So how do I go about this then? How do I choose?”
“Well it’s simple, if you want power you pick me.” Daybreak said.
“Don’t listen to her, she’ll corrupt your mind.” The Alicorn then stated.
“Me? I will corrupt her mind?! Hardly, though I wonder what one could say about you.” Daybreak retorted towards the Alicorn.
The Alicorn ignored Daybreak as she continued. “I have all your previous knowledge, I am what you need in order to become whole, all you have to do is accept this truth, and that’s how you will choose.”
Twilight blinked as she tilted her head. “I just have to come to acceptance?”
“That is more or less the case yes.” The Alicorn agreed.
“Ah but if you accept her, you won’t have the full truth, just a truth you want to be lulled into.” Daybreak Glimmer then replied.
Letting out a sigh Twilight looked towards Daybreak then. “What truth is this?”
“That you need me, that you want power, you crave power.” Daybreak Glimmer responded while glaring at the Alicorn.
“Why would I want power? I have power.” Twilight replied as if Daybreak was speaking nonsense.
“Do you? Do you really? Have the power to save your friends? Have the power to not go corrupt? To have the power over your emotions and know that Celestia has not always been there for you or trusted you? To have the power to accept that neither have your friends always been there for you? To have the power to deny your very teacher when she makes a flawed decision?” Daybreak then asked looking at Twilight Sparkle with a raised eyebrow.
“That’s… that’s not true…” Twilight said clearly shaken, trying to deny what was told to her.
“Yes that’s right Twilight, those are merely half truths, she’s trying to deceive you, Celestia while she may not be perfect has always been there for you, written to you, supported you, there is nothing she’s ever done wrong, or made you do that you’ve regretted. The same goes for your friends, they’ve always been there for you, supported you, fought with and for you.” The Alicorn replied. “Never once have you ever had to do anything on your own, not when you came to finally have friends after so long.”
Twilight began to slowly nod towards what her Alicorn side was beginning to say. “Yes… that’s… that’s right…”
Daybreak ended up frowning at this, before she spoke up once again as she began naming specific moments off. “Chrysalis, Discord, The Tickets, Your momentary insanity, Sombra, do I need to go on?”
Those were memories Twilight didn’t like dwelling on, sure everything worked out in the end, but at certain parts… she was alone… not believed, abandoned by all she loved and held dear. The moment with Chrysalis particularly stung. To think that her friends, her mentor, all of which knew her very deeply, decided to turn their backs on her. That moment with Celestia, was even worse… it was like something had been ripped out of her, never to be put back in since that time.
It gripped her like the plague, and the other times weren’t sunshine and rainbows either. Sure it had all worked out in the end… once she solved the problem, in some way or another. For a Princess of Magic, or Friendship as it were, there certainly were numerous times she wished she had her friends. How many times had she been broken? Two maybe three? Or was it more? Daybreaks words certainly had bite to them, that was for sure.
“It all worked out in the end thought right?” The Alicorn asked more rhetorically than anything else, snapping Twilight out of her rather depressing thoughts. “This is why you should ignore her, she reminds you of pain and turmoil. Forget all of that, in me is the knowledge you desire, how do I know? Because I am you.”
Was this what this was then? A choice between knowledge and power? That begged the question then what knowledge? A question she wouldn’t have to ask for Daybreak would soon answer it for her. She may be a bit harsh, a little more wounding, not to mention… a little strong in personality, but she seemed to be looking out for her good… right?
“Knowledge?” Daybreak Glimmer scoffed, “What knowledge? All you possess is what happened before this point, not what is or what comes after, I’m what she really needs.”
“And I’m what she wishes she could return to!” The Alicorn countered.
“Why? What point is there in returning to the past? For what reason? Past, Present, and Future as well, I am and will always be what she wishes she could be and have.” Daybreak then said.
In normal circumstances there would be four choices for Twilight, however, due to what Luna had told her, she only had two, choose one, or the other, no acceptions… or at least that’s how she had made it sound. Twilight had to think, just what was it that was holding her back? What was she more afraid of? To not be able to go back into what she once was? Or the power that filled her very own body?
The two sides of her bickering certainly didn’t help, not when Twilight was trying to think… but then was this how she always argued about something? Or with herself? No those were more ramblings right? Was the issue acceptance then? Was there something she wasn’t accepting? If there was, which there most certainly was, the question then was what? What was she not accepting, or able to accept?
That was it then wasn’t it? It was fear, fear of herself. Always scared on making the wrong choice, doing the wrong thing, not being able to control herself. Sure her past mistakes and journeys had helped her grow, but she was always struggling, always feeling that as soon as she did the wrong thing all her friends would leave her… that Celestia would leave her. Just like… Just like she almost did during her brothers wedding.
“I… I understand now.” Twilight said after staying silent for a while.
This caused her alter egos to look at her, then at each other, before looking back at Twilight. “Just what do you understand?” The Alicorn then asked.
“I know who to choose, I was so… unsure, so afraid, but everything is clear to me now, it’s like I was trying to tell myself the entire time.” Twilight Sparkle answered as she looked at the two of them.
Daybreak narrowed her eyes slightly. “You’ve found the answer then?”
“I have.” Twilight nodded confidently.
“And?” The Alicorn asked wanting Twilight to continue.
Looking at one of them, Twilight smiled, it was a gentle smile, an accepting one. “It’s you, it’s always been you, I don’t know why I tried to lie to myself, to tell myself it was all untrue. I’ve just been through so much that I was just afraid, and I didn’t want to face that. I know now that I was just bottling it all up, struggling so much to just… not let go.”
With those words being said, one faded into nothingness, while the other faded into Twilight, who she was meant to be. Everything changed then, as Twilight found herself back in Lunas Dream Garden. Luna of course had been waiting for Twilights return and smiled as Twilight hugged her, with some tears in her eyes.
“So? Were you able to figure it all out?” Princess Luna asked with slight concern as she held Twilight, not that she didn’t believe in her, but she had to make sure after all.
Twilight laughed hearing that question, and gave Luna a tight squeeze. “Yeah I picked the right one, though it was a lot harder than you said it was going to be.”
Luna looking over Twilight for a while as they hugged each other, realized something. “Ah, so I see it wasn’t the normal test then.”
Twilight blinked before withdrawing from Princess Luna looking a little confused. “What.. what do you mean?”
“I mean there was a lot more to all of this than you realize… I wish I could explain it to you Twilight, but what ever happened there, has begun to change you for the better.” Frowning at her own explanation Luna tried to figure out how to give Twilight a more satisfying answer. “It’s gone past just affecting you, but it has also affected your element… does that make more sense?”
Tilting her head to the side as Twilight tried to place it all together. “A… little? Not entirely though…”
“A funny thing happens when you’re able to embrace something that you consider to be a darkness, or fear.” Luna began.
“What’s that?” Twilight asked now curious… also wanting to be back in Lunas arms… they were surprisingly warm… oh there she went blushing.
“You grow stronger, much stronger than you had been before.” Luna said with a smile, not to mention a slight chuckle at Twilights actions. “So, who did you choose?”
Smiling as Twilight Sparkle thought of all that had happened. “I chose…”