-Princess Twilight's point of view-
"Make that the second strangest," I say, making everyone around the picnic blanket laugh. This is going to sound weird, but there is another me five feet away. I blink several times and, at the back of my mind, I'm sorting through my array of theories, but none of my theories seem completely correct. One of them where the whole world is being sucked into oblivion if I ever saw myself in this world.
Now I know that theory is scrapped.
I quickly recollect myself.
'Alright Twilight, just be calm and introduce yourself to... Yourself.' I think, calming myself down using the deep breathing technique. I raise my arm, take a deep breath, lower my arm and breath out.
"Hi, my name is Twilight. Y’know, from Equestria," I introduce myself to her. Not my best introduction, but not my worst, either.
The other me... (I'll call her Sparkle instead of my first name to get rid of any confusion.) Sparkle seems to have her mane (er, hair) in a ball, wears glasses and a uniform that signify a different school. I wore glasses too, but only when I was a filly because the eye doctor thought I was losing my sight. Luckily I didn't and had perfect vision.
She walks up to me and shakes my hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Twilight from Crystal Prep. Though, now I've transferred to Canterlot High."
I look to my left to see Sunset smirking and I sigh, "What happened exactly?"
"Well for one, I can talk now," I hear a familiar voice say from below.
I look down to see Spike next to Sparkle’s leg, "Spike? Aren't you suppose to be at Rarity's...?"
I start to trail off as I'm hit with a sudden realization.
"So you do have a dog named Spike in your world." Sparkle says, just as Spike jumps into her open arms.
"I can totally tell the difference between you two," Spike says, sniffing the air, "You smell like hay," He points out.
I hear Sunset chuckling in the background, "This is weird, but pretty funny too."
Applejack speaks next, "It's kind of like that show on TV."
"You mean the Twilight Zone?" Rarity asks, popping a strawberry into her mouth.
"Oh, yeah! Like that one episode where a person meets up with an alien that looks just like him!" Rainbow comments.
"At least, this time, it isn't as scary..." Fluttershy admitted.
I rub my temples with my middle and index fingers, "I'm still lost here."
"How about you two go and discuss things? Then, when you get back, we can have a super-duper fun picnic!" Pinkie suggests, arms flailing.
Sparkle smiles, "Sounds good to me. Twilight?"
I sigh in defeat, it's not like I can really argue with myself. It would practically be impossible because we have the same amount of knowledge from different schools.
Though, this Twilight has more knowledge of this world than magic, which is probably the only difference between us. "Lead the way," I say.
"I'll explain things more when you're finished!" Sunset calls.
'Sunset is literally just having fun with this, isn't she?' I think as we make our way to the open field, where I find things have changed. A dirt road, a wooden track, and an archery way with the targets that are on a machine that lets them move are where the field used to be. I'm kinda confused, but its part of the story that Sparkle is going to explain.
Sparkle sits on the bleachers and I sit next to her. She has her legs closed together like sea nervous and seems a bit down.
"So,” I start, trying to spark the conversation, “What happened here?"
She sighs, "I was in Crystal Prep researching on the frequencies that originated at Canterlot High. I made a device," She hands me a burnt object and continues, "I was going to look at it while students were competing into the Friendship Games, but I got roped into it and the device sucked out the magic of Rainbow, Pinkie, Sunset, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy. There was this little ball of magic, which I didn't know about at the time and it was slowly getting out of control. It opened up portal holes in some areas when it became more powerful," She starts to shiver, "Then the Principle of Crystal Prep told me to use the magic I collected because the other team used it in the last round of the games. I got... Manipulated to use it and it swallowed me whole."
It's now I notice a single tear falling from her eye and trailing down her cheek.I put my hand on her shoulder.
"I became a monster! I destroyed everything! The statue and the entire front campus of Canterlot High! This magic took over me and I couldn't control it, but Sunset saved me with the Magic of Friendship and I turned back to normal... They forgave me for what I did, and I'm grateful for being in this school with my new friends," Sparkle finishes and wipes her tears off her face, "I'm sorry for what I did, I really made a fool of myself."
I sit there silent after she finishes her story. It... It frightens me, because if I didn't go to the School of Gifted Unicorns, I would have ended up like her. It might have been different from this world, but a similar situation. It's a scary thought. What happened if I made the wrong decisions instead of the right? Just like Moondancer, I would be... Alone, friendless, and... Unhappy.
"Are you okay?" Sparkle asks.
I touch my cheek only to realize I'm crying. I feel Sparkle’s handkerchief wiping my face off and I smile once she finishes.
"Thanks."
I take a deep breath and continue, "You remind me of Sunset."
"Really?"
I nod, "Yes, she was in a similar situation as well. She thought that the magic she had from my crown made her powerful, but like your experience, the magic of friendship prevailed.
"It most definitely did," Sparkle says, cheering up a little.
We giggle together and I glance away to see Sunset leaning against the ramp at the start of the track. I wave at her and she waves back.
"I have so much to learn about the magic of friendship,” Sparkle admits, quietly.
I turn my attention to her and smirk, "If you learn enough, you'll become a Princess. Or, at least, what the title is equal to in this world."
Her eyes were as large as dinner plates as she shouts, "Y-You m-mean you're a Princess?!"
I laugh in response, "Yes, but don't get too excited, you still have a long way to go."
She starts worriedly mumbling some things aloud, but most are indecipherable. 'She's definitely like me when I first started.' I think, shaking my head.
I get up and dust off my skirt, "Well, if I don't have anything else left here to do then I'll be on my..." I stop to see Flash Sentry looking particularly surprised.
My brain shuts down and I smile nervously, "H-Hi, Flash...."
He looks at me, then Sparkle, then back to me, then Sparkle again. He shakes his head.
"Why are there two of you?"
I shoot him a nervous smile.
"She's from this world and I'm from a different one." I look at Sparkle and once I see that Flash has calmed down.
"So, what happens now?"
I look at Sparkle, she smiles a bit and I take the message. I sigh internally, 'It wouldn't work anyway, I'm an Alicorn and he's a human.' I think.
"I believe we'll part ways Flash, I'm a pony and it wouldn't work between us, but," I point to her, "I believe she's up for a chance."
He’s taken by surprise, but seems to understand and takes it fine, "I-I understand. So, I'll see you next time?"
I smiled, "Only when there's a trouble that need's two Twilights."
I say goodbye to Sparkle and head over to Sunset, "She explained everything to me, I'll be on my way now."
"Sorry for the constant messages I've written to you," She apologizes.
I shake my head, "It's fine and besides, you have a student to teach about friendship."
She panicks a bit, "What do you mean?!"
I put my hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry. I'll send copies of my friendship letters that me friends and I wrote."
Sunset calms down and smiles, "I guess this is it. Until next time?"
I look behind me to see Flash and Sparkle chatting it up, "I think that won't be necessary, unless there is an evil that needs two Twilight Sparkles."
She giggles at that, "I guess not," Sunset sighs, "See you later, Twilight."
"See you Sunset." I say, heading back to the portal.
"Well it was a short visit, but now it's time to focus on what happened to that time travel loop." I thought out loud as I went into the mirror.