//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Twilight's Twinlight // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter 2 ___________________________________________________________ When the train does arrive, I’m honestly surprised. One, because it actually came and two, because of its design. It was bright pink, with a front window shaped like a love heart. The first compartment after it looks as if it’s made of gingerbread. Normally, I’d say such a thing can’t be, but, being a purple winged unicorn can open your mind to such things. We board the train, Night Glider giving the ticket horse some kind of golden coins and we move to sit down. I notice a few other horses, varying from the regular ones, pegasi and unicorns. One of the younger ones, a little girl Pegasus, I think, is smiling at me. When she sees me looking, she waves. I smile and give a little wave back, before turning my attention back to Night Glider. “Okay. You need to tell me everything you can. I don’t like being in the dark.” So, Night Glider explains to me, even stuff I didn’t expect; apparently I’m in a land called Equestria and I’m what’s called an Alicorn. Meh. Sounds better than Pegacorn or unicus. Aside from Alicorns, there are three typed of ponies (yeah, turns out I’m a pony, not a horse), unicorns, pegasi and Earth Ponies (that last one's what the ones with no horns or wings are called) and there are four Alicorns in total. I do raise my eyebrow rather high when she tells me to the two oldest of the Alicorns move the sun and moon. That just... how does that even work? ___________________________________________________________ Night Glider finished bringing the princess up on what she seemed to have forgotten, which was, alarmingly pretty much everything. Almost everything she'd said seemed to stun the Alicorn, as if the very idea of what she'd been told sounded beyond bizarre. Not only that, but when she told her about just how Twilight and her friends had saved her town, she'd gotten this odd look about her, as if she didn't like being thanked for what she did. "Princes Twilight?!" both mares glanced to see a Pegasus filly, the same filly Night had seen Twilight wave to when they'd boarded the train, standing before them, the biggest grin on her face. "Um... yes?" the Alicorn said, giving an uneasy smile. Night felt bad for the princess. Meeting new ponies, when you have no memories to fall back on, couldn't be easy. She couldn't even imagine how confused and scared the princess was. Being told she could do all the amazing things she'd done in the village, plus what Night and her fellow villagers had gotten out of thanks Twilight and her six friends after they'd saved them all last time, had put worry on the mare's face. I guess being told you can do things that sound impossible, when you have no memory of it and can't be sure whether to believe it or not is pretty hard to take in all at once, she sighed inwardly. Maybe I shouldn't have told her everything at once. "Princess Twilight, you're my favoritest princess ever!" the voice of the little filly pulled Night Glider from her thoughts and she looked to the interaction between the two ponies. "They way you fought all those Changelings in Canterlot on Princess Cadance's wedding was so cool!" The filly then did poses like a fighter, pretending to attack invisible enemies. "I was... was I?" the Alicorn asked with a nervous chuckle. "Yeah!" the filly cried, bouncing up and hovering in the air. "You were so fast, firing all those spells and punching those monsters!" She made several swift punches in the air. "I could see you from the hiding spot my mommy and me were in! You were AWESOME!" "Uh... glad I could help," the older mare replied, giving Night Glider a look she identified as 'Help me!'. "Hey, kid?" she asked, the younger Pegasus turning to her. "Princess Twilight's had a really rough day and is pretty tired." The filly's eyes saddened and she looked to the Alicorn, who wore an expression Night knew a pony wore when they saw something that was so cute they felt their heart clench. She'd seen (and felt) it pretty much any time a new foal was born in the town. "I'm sorry, Princess!" the filly said, Night Glider quickly noticing an almost panicked tone in her voice and tears welling in her eyes. "I didn't mean to upset you!" "No," the Alicorn said quickly in a reassuring tone, though from her expression, Night Glider guessed she was uncertain of her own words as she spoke them, while trying to be comforting at the same time. "No, you didn't upset me. I'm just... I'm just having a bad day is all. I should be the one saying sorry." The filly sniffled. "Promise?" The lavender mare smiled kindly. "Promise. I've just had a really rough day and just need some rest is all." The little filly instantly brighten and leaped up, giving the princess a tight hug, before scampering off towards her mother. Twilight just sat there, her expression stunned after the sudden hug. Night Glider could only giggle. ___________________________________________________________ After a several hours, the train pulls into the station of a small town, but one far bigger than the one I met Night Glider in. I almost shout my thanks to God when we start heading for the exit. While meeting that little girl (filly, I remind myself Night Glider told me) had been... not bad, what had followed throughout the rest of the trip had made me more uncomfortable with each passing minute. Ponies kept coming up to me and either thanking me for things i barely understood, or saying what an honour it was to get to meet me. I replied politely to them as often as I could, though was thankful to Night Glider for keeping a lot of them away. I hated pretending to be this Princess Twilight Sparkle already, and being thanked for all the things I keep hearing she's done makes me feel even worse. But I know trying to explain who I really am will just be confusing when all anypony sees is the princess, so I'm stuck making due. As we walk out of the train station, I can’t help looking around at all the colourful ponies, wondering just what is up with the fur colours in this world. I even spotted a Pegasus flying around in the sky with a very light-blue coat, but a mane and tail that were coloured like the rainbow. How the hell can something have multi spectrum hair?! It has to be dyed. Is has to be! “So, should we go to your castle?” Night Glider asked from next to me. I look toward the giant eyesore in the distance. It’s a giant tree made of crystal that, in all honesty, I can see as being part of a little girl’s toy set. I’m about to respond, when a voice calls the name I now apparently go by. “Twilight?” Night Glider and I turn to see a unicorn trotting towards us. She has a very dark-purple mane and tail, both looking very well groomed and done in a spiral-like fashion. Her coat is the purest of white and, on her flanks are three blue diamonds. Thanks to Night Glider explaining things to me on the ride here, I know who this is. “Oh, hi... Rarity,” I say, trying to give a convincing smile. As she stops in front of us she gives me a curious frown. “Hello, Night Glider. Good to see you again. Why’re you here? And, Twilight, I thought you were heading over to help at Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres, today?” “Oh,” I blink, a little taken aback by that. “I was?” Night Glider indicates for Rarity to come closer and holds a hoof to her mouth. “Twilight’s lost her memory. She came into the village saying she found herself in the caves we lost Starlight Glimmer in and that she ran into Starlight there,” she whispers, though I hear her very clearly. These new ears are pretty damn good when it comes to sound. Rarity gives what I feel is a very overly dramatic gasp. The Pegasus nods. “I think Starlight somehow ponynapped her and wiped her memory. She was probably going to brainwash Twilight into thinking like she did to us, that Cutie Marks are bad, even if she kept her own.” Rarity looks horrified, before she zips over and pulls me into a really tight hug. “Oh, Twilight! You must have been terrified, being stuck in a dank, dirty cave with that horrible pony.” I was more scared by the fact I’d turned into a purple pony, really, but I’ll kept that to myself for now. “Come on!” she declares, pulling me along towards a path leading out of town, where I can see a farm in the distance. “We must speak with Applejack and explain your reason for not going to help her. She’ll understand, darling.” At once, I panic. While I may look like this Princess Twilight Sparkle, there's no guaranty I've become her. For all I know, I've turned into some weird clone version of her. The fact that Rarity seemed so certain I, or rather, Twilight was at this Sweet Apple Acres, proved the latter more likely than the former. Oh, crap! Night Glider, not to mention several dozen other ponies on the train, had talked about Twilight fighting off a changeling invasion, starting with that filly. Night Glider had then explained what changelings were to me; creatures with a pony-like structure, that could shape-shift, literally look like anyone or anything they desired. The little filly had apparently been talking about something that happened during a wedding, where the Changeling Queen had impersonated one of the four (at that time three) princesses, one with a ridiculously long name, and fed off of the groom's (I squirmed when I learned he was apparently my new big brother) love (yeah, apparently I'm now in a world where there is a creature that can literally feed off of emotions, because that's not a disturbing thought in anyway) for the princess. The invasion had caused quite a panic through the kingdom, with everyone suddenly unsure who was a changeling and who wasn't. Things had died down since then, but the knowledge was haunting for me now as I realized a problem. If the real Princess Twilight and I are ever seen in an area together, anypony will easily think I'm a Changeling and then I'm so fucked! I try to move away, but I suddenly feel like something's holding me, seeing Rarity's horn glowing with a blue aura. Night Glider had explained the concept of magic, the thing I’d done to make my horn light up in the caves, as well as defend myself from Starlight Glimmer when she’d used her own magic to try and take my Cutie Mark away, but I don't know how to work my own at will and I'm pretty sure I'd have to use it to escape Rarity's. Next thing I known I'm being dragged, whilst still standing, along a dirt road towards a farm I can see it the far distance, Night Glider doing her last namesake and gliding alongside as Rarity pulls me to what I hope with be a confused Applejack who will think I'm Twilight, because the only other option will pretty much leave me up shit creak! Several minutes later the three of us are walking and dragged through rows of trees in a whole field of apple trees. Well, Night Glider’s hovering, but that’s beside the point. As we walk, I hear a voice coming towards us on the wind. “Thanks for the help, sugarcube,” a female voice with a western twang is saying as we round the corner. “I was in need o’ an extra pair of hooves.” “Not a problem at all, Applejack,” says a voice that makes me trip over my own hooves if I wasn't being held by Rarity's magic, before i flop forward, whilst Rarity and Night Glider both look at each other with open mouths, Rarity having let go of me, probably out of shock. That... that was my voice. Oh, crap. It’s the real Princess Twilight Sparkle. I should’ve known this would backfire in my face sooner or later. I just didn’t think it’d be this soon. However, I don’t have time to think more than that as the two talking turn to us, one looking up from a hole she’d been digging. Our eyes meet and hers go wide. Time seems to freeze as we both just stare for what feels like hours, before Rarity’s voice screams a word I’d never heard until today, that fills me with dread. “Changeling!” Before I know what’s going on, Night Glider has pressed herself down on my body, stopping me from getting back up, whilst Rarity is back peddling away from me as she’s joined back an orange Earth Pony with a blonde mane and tail, both tied back into a bunch, with green eyes and wearing a Stetson hat (she was Applejack) and a pony that looks just like me. I struggle underneath Night Glider, trying to get out. I freeze, however, as my eyes meet the pony I'd been pretending to be. The real Twilight Sparkle looms over me, her face a glare, causing me to whimper. Having been told how much magic she has by Night Glider and the things she’d done with it in the past by both her and all those ponies who kept wanting to talk to me on the train, I'm really scared of what she’d use it to do to me. Her horn shines with the purple glow I’ve seen from my own and I shut my eyes, waiting for whatever she is about to do to me to happen. I feel all tingly for a few moments, but then it stops. Then all give loud gasps, I open my eyes and look up. They are all staring at me as if I’d just grown another head. “That... that’s not possible,” Applejack states, taking a step back. “If’n she ain’t a Changeling, that means... Twi, what does that mean?” The Alicorn is looking at me with both curiosity and confusion. “Tell me,” she says after a few minutes of thinking, “does the name Canterlot mean anything to you, Canterlot High specifically?” I shake my head. “I only know a bit of it from what Night Glider and other ponies told me on the train here.” I wince as I feel a hoof pressing against the point where one of my wings connects to my body. “Now, can I please get up? This is really uncomfortable.” ___________________________________________________________ “So, you’re sayin’ ya got hit by one o’ them self-movin’ carts in your world, then woke up as a double o’ Twi in them caves?” Applejack asks after I finish explaining what I can about what led up to my being as I am now. I nod, lowering my head and sighing, my ears drooping. “That asshole who hit me with his car probably killed me, at the speed he was going. Though... that doesn’t explain why I’d die in my world and wake up as a copy of Twilight in yours.” Apparently the spell Twilight cast on me when Night Glider was holding me down was a spell that could unmask a Changeling and, since I didn’t change into one after the spell was cast, they wanted to help me now. Talk about an attitude one ninety. Twilight is pacing back and forth, clearing thinking hard. Suddenly she stops, frowning. “I have an idea why.” She lights her horn and a piece of paper and a quill dotted with ink glow in the same light and float over to her. She seems to write something on it quickly, before setting the letter alight with lavender fire. I frown at her. What was the point of writing on some paper if you’re just going to burn it—? Before I can finish thinking, there’s a loud pop and I scream as I wheel back. Standing next to Twilight is some freaky creature that has the arm of a lion, what I think is an eagle, along with a bunch of other animals parts. I point at hoof at it. “What the hell is that?” The creature folds its arms and gives me a scolding frown. “I’m Discord and you are rude.” Wait, Discord? Oh. So this is the reformed Master of Chaos. Huh. Since he just appeared out of nowhere, and Night Glider explained how teleportation required a unicorn's horn to teleport, I can only assume it's Discord's Chaos Magic, as Night Glider put it, that allowed him to just appear like that. He looks to Twilight and shrugs. “Can’t help you here, princess. I don’t know how she got here without my sensing the magical disturbance her arrival should’ve caused, but she did.” Twilight hummed, putting a hoof to her mouth. “Maybe those caves have some kind of magnetic or magical field that makes it hard to senses things within?” Discord shrugs. “You’re guess is as good as mine. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d rather not be here when a certain pink pony learns of your new guest.” He clicks his talon fingers and, to my shock, vanishes from sight. I look around, trying to find where he went. Applejack frowns. “So, this here fella gets done in in his own world an’ wakes up lookin’ like you in ours, Twi?” she looked to the other Alicorn, an eyebrow raised. Twilight shakes her head. “She doesn’t simply look like me. She’s physically just like me, a true Alicorn.” She sighs. “I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to the princess.” I know for a fact she’s talking about Princess Celestia, the Alicorn pony who raises the sun. From what Night Glider told me, she’s the main princess, whom the others look up to, Twilight in particular, having even been her student since the purple pony was a filly. “So, where shall she be staying?” Rarity asks, looking from me to Twilight. “A new Alicorn, one that looks exactly like yourself, can’t exactly just go anywhere without being noticed, darling.” Twilight frowns for a moment, before she gives a small smile. “She can stay at the castle with me. We’ve plenty of rooms to spare.” Applejack nods. “That’s a good idea, Twi. Staying with a pony who can help her like you can would probably be best.” “Thanks for talking about me like I’m not even here,” I say, drawing all their attention, causing them to blush. “Thank you, though, Twilight.” I scratch one front leg with the other. “This is all very odd for me. The sooner we figure out how to send me home and back to normal the better.” All four of them look uncertainly at each other. Twilight takes a deep breath. “Ken, there's... there's a problem with that." I look to her, an eyebrow raised. "Really? I'd think magic could break the barrier between dimensions pretty easily. Espeically if I can fingure out how to use mine. Two Alicorns with a talent magic should have no problem." She just shakes her head sadly. " Ken... you remember how I scanned you again after we found out you weren't a changeling? I nod, feeling a little concerned by her expression and tone. Twilight sighs, looking away. "Well, while I was scanning you, I didn't find any traces of transformation or external connection. As far as I can tell, that is your body now.” I gulp. "But... could you send me home? Maybe there, the people of my world could figure out what to do." I give a nervous grin. "I could even bring magic to my world. It would advance as our evolution by centuries." She shakes her head. "Ken, you remember what I told you about the world linking Equestria to that other world?" I nod. At first, I'd been excited, thinking there was an immediate return home plan, with the bonus of turning me back into a human the moment I got there, but, from what she'd told me, it was a world similar to my own, with humans instead of magical ponies... expect it seemed like a human mirror world of this one, with the humans there basically being human versions of the inhabitants of this one. It wasn't my own world. On top of that, even if it had been my world, I wouldn't return to my original human form upon arrival. I'd only become a humanized form of my current body, so still a copy of Twilight Sparkle. Trying to explain that to my family would've been a lot harder than turning into a talking purple pony... somehow. Twilight sighs, her ears flat against her head. "Ken... That mirror has existed since before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna took the throne. It's made with a magic so ancient there are no mentions of how it functions anywhere in Equestrian history." She closed her eyes, her tone depressed. "Besides which, even if I could find a way to replicate the spells on the mirror that allow it to work as a doorway between the dimensions, we have no way of finding your home dimension." I blink, before slumping to my haunches. “You mean... I can’t go home... ever?” She moves forward and pulls me into a hug. “I’m so sorry, Ken. Your connection to your world is gone. It you still had it, I might be able to find your home dimension, but the connection isn't there. There isn't even a trace of it left." Tears well in my eyes and she holds me tighter. "I promise, you’re welcome to stay with me as long as you like. We’ll find a place for you, here in Equestria. I know it can’t replace everything you’ve lost, but...” “You need a party!” “GAH!” we both shriek, leaping into the air, myself flopping onto the floor, whilst Twilight’s wings caught her and she hovered above me. Standing next to us is a bright-pink pony with a slightly darker-pink mane and tail, both of which were bushy like cotton candy, who I know damn well hadn’t been standing there a moment ago. Okay. I know teleportation isn’t impossible and while I just saw Discord do it twice when he doesn't have a unicorn horn, that is because of his Chaos Magic. Aside from that one exception to the rule that a unicorn horn is needed to teleport, this pony has no horn at all and I have heard nothing about any other being aside from Discord having Chaos Magic, so how the hell did she teleport, as there is no other way she couldn’t have been there a moment ago and now is, without teleport. So how did she do it?! “Pinkie?” Applejack asks, looking only a little confused as opposed to my complete lack of understanding. “What’re you doin’ here?” “Well, my ears got all tingly, meaning a new pony had just come to town. Then I got itchy ankle, followed by droopy ears, meaning somepony was going to be sad. So I came over to tell Twilight’s double that I’m going to throw her a Welcome to Ponyville and Don’t Worry, We’ll all Help You Feel at Home Party!” I’ve barely deciphered any of that, before I’m whisked up by the pink mare’s forelegs and held up to her face. “If you're physically like Twilight, that means you probably like the same things she does taste-wise, right? Right. Okay. So that’s a chocolate cake and blueberry muffins... Though, since you look like Twilight, we’ll need to call you something else, calling both of your Twilight'll get really confusing. Hmm. I know! Twinlight! Okay, now I’ve got to go get the party started! See you there!” And she was gone, dropping me on the floor. Once I’ve finally recovered from... whatever the hell just happened was, I look to Twilight with wide eyes. “How?” is all I can manage. Applejack just shakes her head. “She’s Pinkie.” “But... how?” I ask again, standing up and turning to look between the four of them. “Like she said, darling,” Rarity shakes her head. “She’s Pinkie.” “But HOW?!” I cry, my eyes widening. “Surely there’s a better explanation than just She’s Pinkie? I need some logical explanation that makes sense to the world of science before I can accept whatever the hell just happened there!” Twilight sighs. “Unfortunately for historians all through time after the day of her birth... no. I’ve tried myself, but there’s just no better explanation for Pinkie than that she’s Pinkie. I doubt even Starswirl the Bearded could’ve ever figured her out?” “Who?” I regret the word the moment it leaves my lips as Applejack and Rarity both look at me with pity and shake their heads. Twilight, however, gasps, her eyes shining as she zooms up to be face to face with me. “You don’t know about Starswirl the Bearded? Oh. My. Gosh! Oh, you are going to love this!” I sincerely doubt it, since my self-preservation instincts are now screaming at me to run like hell, though I can’t due to the magic that has suddenly gripped me. I have a strong feeling this will not be pleasant.