Once our meeting was concluded, the crusaders, the young ladies, and my bosses returned to whence they came, with the crusaders promising to come over tomorrow, I was once again left alone with my other self.
“Huh, that was quick,” he commented, “I didn't expect for Twilight to find me out so soon.”
“Or maybe Sunset told her,” I shrugged, “Now then,” with a whistle, the improve classroom popped away and gave my studio back, “Do you think that she’ll be coming knocking on my door anytime soon?”
“I would be surprised if she hasn't already, let me check,” with a clap, a television set, the kind that I haven’t seen as a kid where it has rabbit ears and always shown in black-and-white came into existence while I went over to my canvas.
While he was turning on the ancient T.V. and I calling my paints over, I suddenly got an idea for a painting. So snapping my fingers for a pencil, I quickly sketch out my inspiration. Meanwhile, my other self was bending the rabbit ears into a pretzel.
“Come on… Come on…” he complained, “I know the signal is around- got it!”
I turned around, finding on the screen a slightly scorched Princess and a dragon holding an empty bucket with water dripping out of it.
“-etter now?” the little dragon on screen asked. Say what was his name again?
She shook her head around to get her floppy mane dry the same way a dog would after jumping in a mud puddle. “Yeah, sorry about that outburst Spike, it’s just I can’t believe that Discord would do something like this.”
“Hey, you want anything?” my alternative ego asked, holding up a bucket of popcorn.
“No, I’m fine,” I turned back to the canvas but kept my ears tuned in to T.V.
“This is bad Spike! A total catastrophe! Ugh, just when things were starting to look up, Discord would go behind my back and do this. Besides, how did he get past all of those security spells anyway?”
“Well, what do you think we ought to do?” Spike inquired, “Has Sunset said anything that Discord is doing over there?”
“Nothing much, all she told me was that Discord is over there with them and they've discovered that they have magic now.”
There was a pause.
“What?” Spike asked.
“I don’t quite understand it fully myself,” Twilight replied, “From what I could gather, Sunset has told me that she and Rarity can levitate, Rainbow and Scootaloo can fly, and Pinkie… Well, it isn't quite clear on what she’s able to do.”
“So does this mean that we need to make another trip?”
“Actually, before we do so, I think we should inform the other Princesses first; although, with somepony like Celestia finding this out, there’s no telling in how she’ll react.”
“Hey, other me,” I turned around in time to wave a remote out of nowhere and pausing the T.V.
“What?”
“Do you think all the fish heads need to be a Nickelodeon slime green or an artificial orange?”
“What are you doing?” he got up and walked over to where I was.
“My hobby,” I replied, “So what do you think?”
He looked at the canvas of recreating the classroom scene from ten minutes ago, but I replaced everyone’s face with a fish head.
“Go for the orange,” he said, “Also; you might want to add some antlers on Rarity there.”
I shrugged and he returned to the T.V. to press play.
“Huh, what was that?” Spike asked, “Didn't it feel for a moment as if the universe was somehow put on pause?”
“It must be nothing, now Spike, take a letter,” Twilight said.
“Whelp, I’m bored,” my other me said as he changed the channel. I think he was changing to several channels because I heard:
“Hold that thought Brae, uh how's this, before he says anythin’, let’s make a bet, who here like ta bet that Soarin’s really-”
Click.
“MOM! Derpy has crashed in our bathroom aga-”
Click.
“Ah! Right there Lyra! Right-”
Click.
I turned my head around, “What was that?”
“Nothing,” he said quickly, his cheeks had a touch of red. I was going to say something but decided against it. Perhaps it’s best if I didn't know.
Click.
“-and your idea of invasion was any better?”
“Don’t look at me; it was Twilight Sparkle that ruined our plans.”
“If you say so my Quee-”
Click.
“Oh! It’s on!” my other self called out. I turned, looking over to the screen I saw the familiar black-and-white image of the horseified version of my boss, Celestia.
I raised an eyebrow, and he noticed, “What?”
“Nothing, but the way that you sounded so excited back there, I couldn't help but think…” I shook my head and returned to my painting that’s missing one last detail.
“Oh, so you like her too, huh?”
I paused, “What are you implying?”
He smirked, “Come on, you know exactly what I’m implying. So how about it, how far did you get with her?”
I grunted, “We both know that either Celestia’s are out of our reach right?”
“Well, I just thought I ask, I mean, being in a new universe and all… you never know.”
“So I’m guessing that you didn't get far either right?”
“Call it Trotholm Syndrome or mere admiration, because either way, you might be right. I mean, when you've been battling out or arguing with somepony long enough, eventually you start to... kinda admire and envy them at the same time.” I stopped painting when he mentioned that, he continued, “As much fun as I have for causing chaos throughout a very amusing planet, you as well as I understand that we tend to envy those who always keep order because-”
“Because order tends to gain loyalty from others,” I finished his monologue a little too early.
He nodded, “Not to say that gaining friends such as Fluttershy and the Crusaders is quite a shock to the system. After all, chaos tends to push everyone and everything away. As nice as friendship is, do you too wonder what else in life that we might be missing out on?”
I paused for a moment, finishing the painting before turning back to him. “Yes but, why on Celestia?”
“Why not? What’s there not to admire, your Celestia and my share many things. Tall, good looking, she knows when she needs to keep order and when to have some fun. Even though she’s good at managing things, I’ll be the first to admit that I do feel sorry for her.”
Is he going to say what I think he’s going to say?
“She seems too restrictive at times,” he said, “As if she thinks that the greatest joys in life are tea and teaching. It’s like she’d didn't get a chance to live free from never-ending stress, paperwork, and whiny ponies that want to see her twenty-four seven.”
“But still out of reach,” I commented, walking over to the T.V. “Anyway, what are you expecting her to do.”
“Just watch,” he told me, and I did. Horsey Celestia was lying on her stomach reading a book with a piece of cake by her side when on the screen. Suddenly, a scroll popped in front of her. Her horn glowed and opened the piece of paper up.
She took a moment to read its contents. We saw her face changed from calm to concern, at the drop of a paintbrush.
“Of course," she sighed, "Another disaster waiting to happen, why am I not surprised?”