//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Twilight's Twinlight // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter 6 ___________________________________________________________ I catch up to Twilight and Spike just as they’re leaving out the castle doors. I fall in step alongside Twilight as Spike leads us towards the spa Rarity talked about. I think I remember her mentioning something about a spa yesterday when we were having tea. The ponies running it are named Aloe and Lotus. It had taken a lot not to face-hoof at the irony in their naming and the fact they run a spa. I’m honestly thinking this world works in this annoyingly ironic way, that a pony’s name matches them or their job in such a way it would make any human groan. Rarity also had asked if I’d go there for a treatment myself one day, which I denied... and I have to stop myself from face-hoofing as I walk now that I realize she has just coned me into doing just that. As we walk into town, it doesn’t escape my notice that a lot of the ponies keep looking our way. “Twilight, is there something wrong with the... other you?” I blink, before pausing as I look to my right. a white Pegasus with a pink and green mane and tail, both in a style I think looks very similar to Twilight’s, and a single pink flower with its stem for a Cutie Mark. It takes me a moment to realize she’s looking at me, not Twilight. I blink, before it clicks and I shake my head, smiling. “Sorry,” I wave a hoof, “I’m not Twilight. I’m the one who looks like her.” She blinks, before glancing to the very ragged looking Alicorn next to me. “What happened to her?” I shake my head again. “Long story. But, short answer, she needs to relax, so we’re going to the spa with Spike.” This seems to satisfy the mare and she trots off to continue with whatever she’d been doing before stopping to speak to whom she understandably mistake for Twilight. I return to following Twilight and Spike, the former clearly still a bit too out of it to notice the little confusion, and the latter too busy munching of the massive mouthful of pancakes. We arrive at a building that I have to admit, has an odd design compared to everything else I’ve seen. The roofing is comprised of blueish tiles, with small curving bits around the edges of the roof looking a bit like either a mustache or drapes; it’s hard to pick which, the tip being topped with something that looks like a crown. Just a above a red door with a pink heart on the top and bottom is a golden sign in the shape of a love heart with another image of an Earth Pony mare with long flowing mane and tail. “So, this is the spa?” I ask, glancing at Twilight, who nods. “Come on. Let’s have some time to relax.” Well, considering I’ve kinda been a bit stressed with the whole being killed, taken to another dimension, turned into a whole other species and gender, while finding out I’m in a world that breaks the known laws of physics, I could use some relaxation time. Spike stuffs one of the two remaining pancakes he has in his mouth, then opens the door and we head inside. “Welcome, Princesses!” two voice cheer, before I find myself staring at two Earth Pony mares with pulled back manes wearing some kind of collar thing, like those on a shirt, around their necks with a pendant in the centre of the collar and something like a white headband in their hair. The one on the right had a blue coat and a pink mane and blue eyes. Her Cutie Mark was a lotus bloom and, given the way irony works in Equestria from what I’ve seen, I can assume she is Lotus while the other pony is Aloe. Aloe looks a lot like Lotus, only with a colour swap when it comes to her coat and her mane and tail. Her Cutie Mark, unlike her counterpart is not what she’s called, an aloe. Aloe are usually green, but the one on her flank is white, like Lotus’ lotus Cutie Mark. The pendants in their neck collar things are the colour of the other’s coat. “Good morning, Aloe and Lotus,” Twilight smiles, while I inwardly grumble as I realize the fact that the two said “Princesses” to include both of us, reminding me yet again about my loss of my manhood. “We’d like a simple relaxation. Maybe get our manes done, that sort of thing.” “Why of course, princess,” Lotus smiles. “We’re happy to help.” My mouth just hangs open after hearing her speak. What the fuck accent is that? It’s like every Asian comedians’ impression of their mother all rolled into one! How the hell does that even happen?! “Come this way, Princess... um...” the Aloe, who thankfully sounds like a regular American accent, like what I’ve heard from most ponies since first arriving in Equestria. I sigh, before looking at her. “Just call me Ken, please. No princess stuff. One, Princess Ken sounds really dumb and... I’d rather not be called princess, to be honest.” I need to at least someway more my lost manliness, right? She nods, before returning to smiling gently. “Very well. Right this way, pr— um, Ken.” Nodding, I follow her, quickly looking around as I do. The spa seems like a nice place. The walls are a sort of lightish-purple, somewhere between purple and white. There are columns dotting the place here and there that seem to support the structure, that also have swirl-like patterns along them. Looking around, I’m honestly feeling like I’m in one of those spas based on Greece open bathing houses. Aloe leads the two of us ponies towards a wide bathtub thing, before letting us setting down in it. I can’t help sighing as the water flows over my skin and fur. I only now realize, with everything that’s happened in the last few days, this is the first time I’ve properly been in a pool of water... it feels nice. I’m taken aback when I feel a pair of hooves in my mane and glance up to see Lotus rubbing her hooves into my mane and causing bubbles. It takes a second before I remember: this is a spa. Ponies comes her for relaxing treatments and having somepony else wash your hair would fit into that. It feels... odd to me, something I haven’t had happen since I was little, but I decide to try and let it go and just let Lotus do her thing. After a few minutes of rubbing shampoo into our manes, the two ponies get us to rinse out mane out over a bucket. Once that’s done, we’re led over to a pair of cushions under what look like hair driers. Taking the hint, I sit down on one whilst Twilight sits on the other, before the driers are placed on our heads, before both ponies move off to the few other ponies and dragon currently here too. “So... how long do with have to sit here til our manes are dry?” I decide to ask in order to start some conversation. “A couple minutes,” she replies, glancing to me. I notice she’s got a sheepish look in her smile. “What happened?” I sigh. She fiddles with her hooves. How a pony can really do that, I have no clue. “Well, you said you wanted to try a new mane style, so Spike said he’d order the Super Deluxe Mane Blowout, before Lotus started on your mane.” My bored expression turns into a smile. “Oh. Thanks, I’ll have to thank him when he’s done. It’ll be nice to finally have a way to discern the two of us apart without some hair clip.” She seems to relax a bit (I hadn’t even noticed she’d tensed up), before smiling. “I’m glad you’ll be happy. He said I should also try a new mane style. I wonder why mine will be like.” “As long as they don’t give us the same styles, that fine with me,” I grin, closing my eyes. I can put up with having to sit under this thing that make my head feel warm if it means I’ll finally be able to have a way of the two of us being told apart. “So, what did he tell them exactly?” I ask, feeling a bit more chipper. “What kind of styles did he ask them to give us?” Twilight frowns, before I hear her aura and a small book floats over, opening to a page, which she points to. “That one.” I can’t help laughing as I see the Super Deluxe Mane Blowout. The mane style looks similar to the hairdo Yugi Moto has in YU-GI-OH!. I can’t help thinking I’d have preferred that look myself, but if Twilight’s going with it, that’s okay with me, so long as I don’t end up with something like Rarity’s hairdo. “What’s so funny?” the alicorn asks, looking at me with worry. “Do you think it’ll look bad on me?” I move to shake my head, before remembering it’s stuck for a few minutes and just wave a hoof. “No, Twilight. I’m sure it’ll look fine on you. I was just laughing because it reminds me of a hairdo I saw back in my world.” I don’t have to say it was from a cartoon, do I? This seems to reassure her and she sighs, closing her eyes. However, something occurs to me. “Wait. Spike ordered for both of us?” She nods. “Yep.” I remain silent, inwardly shaking my head at Twilight’s response. I’ll dismiss it this time since she has been a bit out of it, so Spike was probably just in a hurry, but, seeing as Twilight and I look the same and he just told Lotus to give the Super Deluxe Mane Blowout, with clearly no other mane style mention, I’m pretty sure the spa ponies just took that as meaning we both get that same mane style. I still feel cheated though, despite trying to forgive him for a simple mistake. I’m no doubt still going to look the same as Twilight after this. Feeling annoyed, my mind trails back to this morning to think about the conversations I overhead, see if anything was worth my currently knowing. The one I had with that Rainbow Dash pony comes to mind. I frown, going over what she’d said to me. Something about it had sounded familiar, but I can’t... I face-hoof, which is missed by Twilight as she has her eyes closed at the time. Now I know why what Dash said sounded familiar. It was the same thing Captain Jack Harkness said in the Doctor Who Season 4 finale after it was revealed that, thanks to Donna Noble, there were technically three Doctors, one of whom was female. While I hadn’t gotten the joke at the time I saw the episode, I’d understood it later on, so now I have a pretty good idea what Dash had been implying when she said that in regards to Twilight and myself. So, a rainbow-maned mare I’ve only just met today has pretty much asked if I wanna get in on a three-way with her and Twilight. Just peachy. “So, Spike took you on a tour of the town yesterday, like I asked?” Twilight’s voice interrupts my train of thought and I have to go over her question several times before I actually realize what she’s asking. “Oh. Uh, yeah, he did,” I say, still trying to erase the image of myself, Twilight and Dash in a pony pile like that out of my head. “He showed me the school and... a few other places. Oh, and we stopped for tea at Rarity’s. Speaking of which,” I gave her a sly smile, “I’d be dead right in saying Spike’s got the most obvious crush on that unicorn, am I right?” Twilight just smirks back. “Yep. He’s been head over hooves for her since we first came to Ponyville.” “You mean he was head over heels,” I say, a bit smugly. “I do believe that, unlike ourselves, Spike has heels, not hooves, hence he could not be head over hooves, as he has no hooves to be over to begin with.” We both give light chuckles. “Oh, I have a feeling we’re going to get along just fine, Ken,” Twilight says cheerily, before that sly look returns. “So, meet anypony you liked yesterday.” I shrug. “Yeah. I met ponies named Lyra and Octavia in the park. Technically I met them when we returned to the park after leaving the school, just as they were wrapping up their performance. They seem nice. And it was amusing hearing a British accent from a pony.” Twilight gives me a raised eyebrow look. “A what accent?” I return the look. “British. You know, the accent one has if they’ve lived long enough in Brittan. Don’t you have that in this world?” Wait. Dumb question. It’s a whole other world, of course they wouldn’t. Then again, they do have cities that sound like ones from my world, only they’ve been pony punned. But what kind of a pun could Brittan have? There’s no way you could ponify that name as far as I can guess. “Well, no,” Twilight says simply. “Octavia’s never mentioned some place by that name. Though she was born it Bitain. They sound similar, right?” I face-hoof. Seriously? Night Glider told me about how the currency of money in Equestria is bits and that’s the pun this world’s Britain is given. That’s just sad. Oh. Wait. Another face-hoof. A bit is something you put in a horse’s mouth when you ride it so you can steer with the reins. So Bitain is a pony pun. Doesn’t make it any less sad a pun though. “So, are you saying that, in the world you came from, the place where Octavia was born was called Brittan. What was the r for?” I shrug. In all honesty, I don’t know how I could understand the reasons for the difference myself other than a pony pun, let alone explain it to her. Twilight frowns, I guess at the fact she wasn’t going to learn anymore about Brittan and this world’s counterpart to it, before her sly smile returns. “Well, we got off the subject. Did you meet anypony you liked? Any stallions for example?” I frown, thinking it over. “Well, yeah, I met a few stallions, sure. While Spike and I were having lunch some Earth Pony called The Doctor—” for a second, I make a connection between that stallion and The Doctor from Doctor Who, before discarding it (crazy as some things in this world have proven themselves, the idea that stallion is the Timelord is just dumb) “who was with a grey Pegasus Spike told me is named Derpy. And we met up with a pony who I learned is Applejack’s big brother, Big Macintosh.” “And what did you think of him?” she asks, still with that sly smile for some reason. I think for a moment. “He’s definitely not much of a talker. Most he said was “Eeyep” or “Ennope”. For somepony so big I’m surprised he doesn’t talk as much as other stallions. He seemed a nice guy though.” Somehow that smile is slyer. “Well, I don’t blame you, Ken. He would certainly be a great stallion to start a herd with.” I blink, cutting myself off at the odd choice of wording. What did she mean by start a herd? The only reason horses, well, I guess ponies too, would start a herd is to start a family— My eyes bug out and I looked at Twilight in shock and anger. “Whoa! Hold it right there, princess!” I glare at her. “I used to be a male. I don’t care that I’m female now, the chances of me going for a stallion, not matter what he’s like, is zero, ya got that? Zilch. Zip. Nada. Not gonna happen in a million years!” Her smile becomes normal again. “So, you’re a fillyfooler then?” My anger takes a backseat for a moment as confusion makes a return. “Fillyfooler? What’re you...?” Wait. Filly means female, though is usually used for the female foals, and I doubt that’s what Twilight would be implying, so it must be the pony term for lesbian. However, I return to my glare. “I don’t intend to fillyfool, either, Twilight. Oh, and what’s the stallion version of fillyfooling?” May as well poke her for info, right? Twilight returns to that annoying sly “Okay, Ken. Whatever you say. And they’re coltcuddlers.” She levitates over a magazine and starts reading, ignoring the heated glare aimed at her head. Why that—! Oh! She would not get away with that! I frown down at my hooves, trying to think of something. Come on, brain. Surely there’s something you can give me. I’ve become an exact copy of Twilight physically, haven’t I? Surely I can think.... of... I blink, before an evil smile plays over my lips. Oh, this will do for a nice little bit of comeback. “So, Twilight?” “Yes?” she asks, her voice filled with innocence that is still laced with slyness. I give her a coy, side-ways smile of my own. “So, what would it be called if we did it?” She blinks, before looking had me with confusion. “Did what?” Wow. Poor girl mustn’t get out as much as her little slyness suggested. Then again, I wasn’t one to talk, even if I knew the ways of it. “I mean,” I say, struggling to keep a straight face, “since we’re the same, if you and I had sex, would that be fillyfooling or just masturbation?” Twilight somehow manages to choke on thin air, her eyes bugging out wide as she stares at me. “Wh-wha? Wh-why would you—? What do you—?” Her face is completely scarlet. Interesting to know ponies can really do that. “What in Equestria makes you ask something like that?!” I smirk. “Don’t go into battle if you don’t anticipate enemy retaliation,” I reply, drinking in her embarrassment. It becomes quiet between us after that, Twilight’s face very slowly loosing it’s new colouring. Meanwhile, I’m wearing the cheekiest grin ever. “Truce, princess?” She gives a very small nod. Oh, that was fun. Wonder what other tricks I can...? The evil grin returns. Rainbow Dash, you will learn to be wary of what you suggest to others. ___________________________________________________________ “I’m glad you like your new mane style, Ken,” Twilight says as we walk out of the spa. “Thanks,” I say, flicking my head up a bit. I have to say, I do like the YU-GI-OH! do, even if Spike doesn’t think it looks good. Twilight had decided she preferred her old look, so, with keeping mine, we could now be told apart quite easily simply from our manes. He might have fooled Twilight when she asked as we should him our, at the time, matching hairdos, but I knew he was lying and he didn’t think they were that good. Why else would he have worn a strained grin when asked a simple question from a friend? Twilight takes a deep breath, before letting it out. “Great suggestion, Spike,” she says calmly, before glancing back at the little dragon trailing behind us. “I feel totally relaxed.” I have to agree. While some of the more girly things I hadn’t enjoyed that much, the soak in the tub and the massage was wonderful. I felt like parts of me were unwound I hadn’t even known were wound, or that I even had. Poor Spike, on the other hand (hoof?) didn’t seem so eased after his Extra Strength, Hot-Stone, Deep-Tissue massage as he stumbled behind us, saying “ow” with each movement. Even I had raised an eyebrow alongside Twilight when he’d said he wanted it, especially now when it seems to have done less relaxing than it apparently should have. “You wanna hop on?” she asks, stopping, myself following suit. “Maybe I can get us to the castle faster.” For some reason Spike looks up at the sky, before jumping, a cracking sound coming from his back, followed by him saying “Ow!” he then glances at us. “I mean, how...” suddenly he pulls a Pinkie Pie and zips from behind us to in front of us at a speed I wouldn’t have thought the little reptile possible of, “nice is this day? I was... hoping we could take the scenic root back.” I glance at Twilight, before she answers, “I don’ know...” “Aw, come on,” Spike says in a somewhat encouraging manner, before rubbing his back. “Walking is good for post-massage circulation.” “Really?” Twilight asks, giving him a sideways look as we turn in another direction. “I’ve never heard that theory.” Me neither, though with Twilight it surprises me. When he first said that, I thought maybe it was something only ponies knew, but if Twilight didn’t know about it... As we walk, we come across some burnt looking tree thing. I learn shortly after this was Twilight and Spike’s former home, the Golden Oak Library. Both of them got really sad at seeing the place, Spike even tried to hide his wiping away a tear. I guess I can understand how they feel. While I’ve never had my home destroyed, I have had it taken away from, with no chance of ever getting it back, just like them and the Golden Oak Library. The three of us come together in a hug, friends who know how it feels to suddenly lose your home and all it held dear to you. It’s during our hug that Twilight gets an idea. We could get some things for myself and Spike to make the castle feel more like home for us too. I’m all for the idea. Anything I can do to add my own touch to the room she’d given me would make it much better. Spike is the same... at first. But when Twilight starts to fly off (obviously forgetting I cannot fly myself), Spike grabs her wings, pulling her down. I want to believe he did that because he at least remembers my current inability to fly, but when Twilight demands to know why he did it, his answer is different from what I expect. I just thought of what I want,” he says, in a voice that sounds a little hesitant for some reason. Then again, he did just intentionally cause Twilight to flop on the ground, so he could be worried about her feelings. “Oh, okay,” she says, seeming to forget her annoyance. “What is it?” “It’s a... well I wanted...” he says, seeming to have trouble saying whatever it is he wants. “It’s... I kinda need a...” then his expression becomes sheepish and he shrugs. “A bed.” I frown along with Twilight at that. “I thought you said you sleep like a baby in the castle?” Spike just scoffs at my words. “Everypony knows babies are terrible sleepers.” Huh. He does have me there, kinda. “Let’s go!” he calls, hurrying off in the direction of another area of town. Twilight just rolls her eyes and I shake my head. Kids are the same in every world, I guess. Looking to each other and chuckling, we follow after Spike. ___________________________________________________________ “Why did that have to take so long?” I grumble under my breath as we return to the castle near sunset. Spike had taken forever to decide what he wanted. For myself, it wasn’t that hard. I found a few posters that looked kinda cool and got some new covers for my bed, not really much. But Spike had taken forever to simply choose a bed, let alone all the other things we ended up getting. Each bed was either too soft, too hard, too lumpy, etc. At one point, it seemed he’d finally chosen one, but then he said it was too squeaky (though I can swear he was just making those squeaking noises himself) and insisted we keep looking. Twilight and I were both in sync with being very tired of it by the time he did, a long, long last, chose a bed and we were able to move to the other things to buy. Even Twilight got a few things for herself, like a microscope, some books, stuff I knew she’d like, even with having only known her for a few days, today being the longest spent with her. When we arrive inside... I’m with Twilight in being disappointed. Nothing had been done as far as I can tell as we walk down the halls. Then, Spike says something that makes me frown. The little lizard had apparently been purposefully changing his mind, just to keep as from coming back. He reason why, and why I will forget about the stress he caused the two of us with his constant change of mind, is when we get to the Map Room Spike had told me about yesterday, whilst the girls explain about how home is about the memories you make while living there and that they'd made something to celebrate those past memories and I see something the girls have changed. Now there was a beautifully designed chandelier above the table, made of some kind of wood, with diamond-shapes ornaments hanging from threads, that Fluttershy says apparently holds all the memories Twilight and her friends had made before the library was destroyed. “And the best part is, it’s made from the roots of the Golden Oak Library,” Applejack says as Twilight moved forward, myself staying where I am as I look up at the chandelier in awe, “so you’ll never forget where you came from.” Wait. They made it from the roots of Twilight’s old home? Wow. That’s... that’s really a wonderful thing for them to have done for their friend. I look to Twilight and notice tears in her eyes, but she smiling. She turns back to look at the others. “It’s exactly what the castle needed.” She runs forwards and we’re all suddenly in a huge, though I’m honestly a little surprised I’ve been pulled into it. “And I am ready to make new memories here,” Twilight says, looking at each of us. “Then let’s start right now with a New Memory Cake!” Pinkie cries, before zipping off, myself and Twilight expressing the same not amused look at her response. She hurries in with a cake from... you know, after today, I don’t think I’ll question it. It has several layer, all coloured like Rainbow’s mane, with red at the top. “Seven layer, What’s that Flavour, Mystery Surprise!” she cheers, pointing to the cake. “These might be chocolate chips, or they might be super spicy black beans.” I shake my head as Twilight leads us to the dining room, before she and I stare open-mouthed. The room had been pretty sparse before, but now there’s strips of cloth along the walls, along with flowers in beautiful designs, two tapestry banners on one of the walls, making it look very elegant, two pedestals with more flowers lovingly arranged atop them and the table has several trays, along with a sculpture of a radiant (if the position is correct in my guessing) unicorn, standing forward, one hoof lifted, her mane billowing behind her. Rarity admits to adding the personal touch, as do the others with certain areas of the castle. I honestly can’t help smiling. They’ve clearly done their best to make the castle an inviting place to live. However, as I open my mouth to voice my thoughts, a loud, odd sound happens, along with a wind blowing at us all and somehow confetti being everywhere. “What was that?” Twilight asks, voice my new thoughts. Applejack sighs, before looking to Pinkie, smiling. “One of Pinkie’s Confetti Cannons.” Looking to the pink mare, I can now see a purple cannon-like thing sticking out of her mane, along with the cake having been blown to smithereens. “What?” Pinkie says, smiling sheepishly. “It’s not my fault I hid them so well.” Technically it is, since she hid would’ve hidden them in the first place, but I’ll let it slide and just smile like the others. Besides, those cupcakes on the table look damn tasty and I’m hungry We all move over to the table and sit down. “By the way, darling,” Rarity says, looking to me. “I do approve of the new mane. Very distinctive.” “Thanks, Rarity,” I smile, before grinning in Spike’s direction. “Spike thought it wasn’t good at all.” “Huh?” Rarity and Twilight ask in unison. “Hey, that’s not true!” Spike glares at me for calling him out in front of his obvious crush. “Then what was with the strained grin you give us when Twilight asked you how you thought it looked?” I ask, giving him a smug smile. The little drake rolls his eyes. “I was trying to think of ways to keep you two at the spa. In truth, I think the new style is cool.” “Oh,” I blink, my face going blank. “Well... thank you, Spike.” With that we all tuck into the foot on the table, ready to help Twilight start making her new memories.