The Twin Dilemma
EQG Rarity will now be called Rare
Shy began to stir. She realized she was lying in a bed and had a blindfold on. “Uhhhh,” she muttered.
“Fluttershy, how are you feeling?” RD said to her.
“Who turned out the lights?” Shy asked in a tired tone to anyone in the room.
“You’re in the hospital, you bumped your head. The blindfold is to help in case your light sensitive right now, at least that’s what the doctor said,” Rare replied.
“Once again, how are you feeling?” RD asked.
“Oh,” Shy began, “Dazed and confused, but otherwise fine.”
“Anything else?” Rare responded.
“Well, it feels like I’m missing my fingers, and then I had a strange dream where-,” Shy stopped herself. “I’m still a pony, aren’t I?”
“Ehyup,” RD replied.
“We met our doubles?” Shy asked with a deadpan tone.
“Ehyup,” RD said again.
“Are they here with us?” Shy asked.
“Well only two of them,” Rare replied.
“The universe didn’t explode?” Shy said.
“Nope,” RD replied.
“Oh thank God.” Shy sat up in the bed and removed her blindfold. In the room she noticed the four other ponies in the room.
Soon, another pony entered the room, with a stethoscope around his neck, clearly a medical examiner.
“Ah, I see you’re awake now,” he said looking over Shy.
“Uh,” Shy said looking awkwardly at the other ponies in the room.
“Oh I know all about you,” he said.
“You do!?” Shy responded.
“I must say that is an impressive costume you have there. Must have magically altered your coat, can’t seem to get the stuff off.” The doctor said.
“Oh, right,” Shy said, “So, what’s up doc? How am I?”
“You’ll make a full recovery,” the doctor said, “Just a minor bump to the head. I’d take it easy for a while, but you’re free to go. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a rather annoying patient in the next room. The other examiner claims that he has two hearts.” The doctor rolled his eyes and left the room.
“How long was I out?” Shy said turning towards the others.
“Only an hour, Dear,” Rare replied.
“Where are the others?” Shy asked.
“Twilight and the rest decided to go check out the mirror,” Applejack said.
“Yeah, that way we don’t have anyone asking unnecessary questions.” RD said.
“And how is everyone getting along?” Shy said uneasily.
“Everypony’s getting along like fava beans and chianti,” Pinkie Pie said smiling.
“And you’re not freaked out by the appearance of trans-dimensional versions of yourselves?” Shy asked Applejack and Pinkie Pie.
“Not really, sugarcube,” Applejack replied, “Twilight told us all about you when she returned from your world.”
“Kind of wish she told us that,” RD mumbled to no one.
Not hearing the comment, Pinkie Pie began to speak, “Yeah, you guys are nothing compared to the time there were hundreds of me, I mean I didn’t even know which me was me.”
“And what happened to them?” Shy asked inquisitively.
“Complete genocide,” Pinkie Pie said smiling without a tone of remorse or regret.
“WHAT!?” Rare, RD and Shy all yelled.
“Pinkie,” Applejack facehoofed and turned her attention to the others, “Listen, it wasn’t like that. Pinkie used a magic cloning pond to create doubles of herself, all magic based, so they were livin’ to begin with.”
“And besides they were all crazy,” Pinkie Pie said, “So you know they were crazy if I couldn’t bear them.”
“Don’t ever mention that again,” Rare said, now facing Shy, “Fluttershy, do you think you can walk?”
“Yes, I think so,” Fluttershy got out of bed. “Where to?” She questioned Applejack and Pinkie Pie.
“Come on y’all, this way,” Applejack said leading them out of the infirmary and down the hall.
“All this equipment is useless,” Twilight said, tossing aside a gyroscope. “It’s all a thousand years out of date.”
The group of ponies surrounding her looked on. “Pinkie, you said that you hit the portal open on the other side, right?”
“Yes siry,” Pink replied.
“And it was still open when you came through, correct?” Twilight said.
“Ah reckon so,” AJ replied.
“So then it’s only a matter of opening the portal on this side,” Twilight mused to herself.
Rainbow Dash approached Twilight and began to whisper to her, “How are you feeling Twi?”
“Oh, just great,” Twilight responded, twitching slightly, “Actually, I feel kind of odd. I think my emotions are canceling one another and I’m left with this calm that I’m kind of just running with.
“What emotions?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Well, I’m really glad to see my friends from that other world,” Twilight replied, “And then I’m terrified by what Princess Celestia said about multiple ponies- people- whatever’s crossing through the portal.”
“You don’t think they were right about the whole destruction of the universe thing?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“No, I don’t think anything major could happen,” Twilight said twitching again. “But you know, flood, fire, plague, cosmic wars, minor stuff like that.”
“Any progress,” Applejack asked as the group from the hospital entered the room.
“Only bits and pieces,” Twilight responded, “If I only had my lab equipment, I could run a full diagnostic on this mirror.”
“Well what do you know so far, princess?” RD said in a slightly annoyed tone.
“That kind of tone is going to get us anywhere Rainbow,” Rare replied.
“Whatever,” RD said grumpily.
“Well, from what I’ve been able to piece together from both Pinkie Pies,” Twilight pointed at the mirror. “And from my own experience through it, I think I have a way to send you guys back.”
“That’s awesome,” RD said excitedly,” So what’s the plan?”
“Since it appears that the moon opens this portal, we’re going to wait for the full Moon, pump this mirror with electricity and send you back to your world,” Twilight concluded.
“We’re just going to wait for a full Moon?” RD asked. “And just how long will that be?” She asked annoyed.
“Well, once we get back to Ponyville,” The name seemed to get a short laugh out of the inter-dimensional travelers, but Twilight continued on, “We’ll get Spike to send a letter to have Princess Luna bring forth a full Moon as soon as possible.”
“Princess Luna?” Talk about a promotion,” Rare whispered to RD.
“Hold on a minute,” AJ replied, “There’s a princess here who can control the Moon?”
“Why, yes, doesn’t someone do that in your world?” Twilight asked.
“No, not really.” RD replied.
“Well at least you have someone to control the Sun, right?” Twilight said.
“No, we don’t have one of those either, silly,” Pink replied.
“Really, then how does the sun rise and set?” Twilight was now curious.
“Gravity and the Earth’s rotation,” Shy responded.
“And just what is gravity?” Rainbow Dash injected.
“Well, it’s a fundamental force in which objects with mass will be attached to one another, and it gives us weight.” Shy hid behind her hair after saying this.
“As fascinating as a discussion on other worldly physics may be,” Rarity said, with a hint of sarcasm, “I do believe you said something about Ponyville Twilight.”
“Yes,” Twilight responded. “Spike is there right now and we need him to send a message to the princess. We also need my lab equipment to set up the electrical circuits that will activate the mirror.”
“And just how are we going to smuggle a giant mirror out of the castle?” Rare asked.
“Let’s just say being a princess has its perks,” Twilight said coyly.
“And just what does that mean,” Applejack asked suspiciously.
“I asked some the guards to help me move it to the train station,” Twilight said sheepishly.
“Well then we better get out of here,” AJ said, “Unless we want to explain why there are two of us here.”
“The train doesn’t leave for another three hours, so we’ve got some time,” Twilight replied. “We probably should get something to eat before we leave.”
Noticing their guts for the first time, the group of inter-dimensional travelers realized they hadn’t eaten for some time.
“Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” RD said. “I could really go for some bacon right about now.”
“Bacon?” Fluttershy asked.
RD realized what Fluttershy had just asked. “Please tell me you guys have bacon!”
“Uh, probably not,” Shy replied, “They’re horses, remember.”
“Yeah their diets are completely vegetarian,” Pink said, and then thought to herself for a moment. “I should use that in a song one of these days.”
“But… but bacon is awesome!” RD began to pout.
“Aw quit your cryin’,” AJ said “Free food is free food.”
“Yes, I do believe you are being quite rude to our hosts, Rainbow,” Rare inputted.
“Fine,” RD said. “Let’s eat,” She said with a defeatist tone. The group left the closet.
In the main dining room.
“This is definitely one of the perks about being a princess,” Twilight said, leading the others into the room.
The dining room was similar in style to the throne room; expect instead of a rug and throne, there was a large table and chairs surrounding it. The table looked like it could seat a hundred or so. The first third of the table was covered in fruits, breads, vegetables, and flowers, more than enough food for the eleven ponies.
“Will Shining Armor or Princess Cadence be joining us?” Rarity asked.
“No. Cadence is still presiding over the games and Shining got called up north to the ice border,” Twilight replied.
“Don’t you think we may not want too many people knowing about us?” RD said.
“I think we can trust my brother and foal sitter slash sister-in-law,” Twilight said, “And besides, this part of the castle is closed off for the time being.”
“And if you look to your right, you’ll see the rather impressive neo-gothic architecture this castle is well known for,” A tour guide said, walking down the hall next to the dining room.
Twilight instantly closed the doors. “Oops!” she said, facing the others with a guilty smile. The others rolled their eyes and sat down.
The main universe group had taken their seats. However, the group of travelers were having a much more difficult time.
“Ok, just where do Ah put this?” AJ said, trying to maneuver her tail though the chair.
“Just throw it around, like this,” Applejack said, motioning her tail to her side. AJ mimicked her movements, however her motions were less controlled than her counterpart's.
“Ah reckon you never dealt with a tail before?” Applejack asked.
“Didn’t have one until a few hours ago,” AJ replied.
“Ah can’t imagine myself without one,” Applejack said.
“It’s different biology, okay. Now can we just eat?” RD interjected.
The group soon started to pass around the food and fill their plates. However, the group of inter-dimensional travelers noticed something was missing, except for Pink. She and her opposite had discovered several gallons of chocolate milk and were having a drinking contest between the two of them.
“How are we supposed to eat this?” AJ said, noticing the lack of silverware.
“Like this,” Rainbow Dash said, tearing wildly at her plate, similar to how a polar bear clubs a seal before eating it.
“Really?” Applejack replied before gently grazing at her plate.
“I agree, that’s barbaric,” Rarity chimed, lifting a small apple wedge in a blue magical field, taking a bite of it.
“How are you doing that?” Rare asked.
“Oh it’s just a simple levitation spell,” Rarity replied. “Why don’t you try?”
“How am I supposed to do that?” Rare responded.
“Just uses your horn dear,” Rarity said.
“Oh, right,” Rare uneasily, “And how do I do that?”
“Just use your magic,” Rarity replied.
“Magic?” Rare said. “And just how do I use magic?”
“They don’t have magic where she’s from, Rarity,” Twilight responded as both looked up at her. “Well except maybe for those bright, bigger on the inside encyclopedias.”
“Well then, we must teach you,” Rarity said to Rare. “First, you must feel the magic between you and the apple.”
“So it’s basically the Force,” RD commented.
“The Force? I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Rarity replied.
“You know, the Force. From Star Wars.” RD said.
“Star Wars? Never heard of it.” Rarity said.
“WHAT?” Shy said, “You’ve never seen Star Wars?” Rarity nodded. “And the rest of you?” Shy said to the other ponies, who agreed with Rarity. “But it’s one of the greatest movie sagas EVER! It’s one of the best things in existence.”
“Even the prequels?” RD said, trying to irritate Shy.
It worked all too well. Shy shot a look at RD that would make The Stare look like a mercy, “We don’t talk about the prequels.” She soon returned to her normal posture, while RD was curled on the floor. “If only I had the video with me, I could show you how awesome it is.” Shy said saddened.
“Ah’d like to see their reaction to Empire,” AJ whispered to Rare.
“Here you go Shy,” Pink said, handing over three movie wheel film canisters to Shy.
“Uh, Pinkie, where did you get these?” Shy replied.
“Inter-dimensional pocket, remember?” Pink said.
“I mean how did you get them?” Shy asked.
“Oh, I just found them lying around,” Pink said walking over to a window. She opened the window and chucked what looked like a pair of goggles and a map labeled Skywalker Ranch out of it.
“Would y’all just sit down and eat,” AJ said, “We can watch the movie later, but first we got to catch a train.”
“Yeah, and no movie can be as awesome as I am,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Now with that out of the way, someone help me with this,” AJ said holding an unpeeled orange.
After helping AJ with the orange, and giving both AJ and Applejack some teasing about it, the group ate relatively quickly. Making sure the coast was clear the group made their way to the train station. They had decided to head out in two groups so as not to draw attention to themselves, each group only having one version of each pony. They were soon on the train and had found an empty sleeper car and soon were on their way back to Ponyville.
Next Time: The Vistiation
You're
This is just a nitpick but I feel she's a bit assertive and casual for her character...
Physiology or physique or body type, and the sentence ends with a question.
And a few other things I'm too tired to point out, sorry
wait... shy is a star wars fan?
Lol luving this.
I said it a while back and I said it again:
Stop it with the bloated overuse of sci-fi references. Really, it's lost it's charm. It's only funny for a small amount of the viewers, and even then it gets tiring. I've managed to get away with maybe a handful of video game references in my story, but those were few and far between and they served more as background noise.
Ok, two things. One, even if they don't have a good understanding of it, rainbow should atleast KNOW WHAT GRAVITY IS! She's a bloody Pegasus, she flies! How can she not know what gravity is! Secondly, why ponyville? I cant imagine ponyville being so comparatively closer to the crystal empire than canter lot to warrant an additional step in the plan to contact the princesses. Furthermore, canter lot must have better equipment and resources than twilights library
Funny I'd peg Shy as a Hayao Miyazaki fan.
Well, this was certainly enjoyable. Certainly feels like what I expect would happen.
Only disappointment is I expected EQG native-Twilight to be involved based on the cover art. Any chance of that?
3131819
Given that she's only half conscious, I think that can be excused.
Pony reactions to the trilogy would be priceless, I personally would watch them and not the movies.
The prequels are the best part of "Star Wars"!
Doctor who reference yay also I wonder what happens when Lyra finds out if she will at all
I'm a little surprised there wasn't any reaction to the mention of Spike, especially since Twilight said they'd get him to send the letter. Be kinda weird imagining a dog sending a letter.
Hehehhehee
There's just too much to quote, this is getting so great.
Rhetorical or not, I propose that hooved creatures of Equestria use silverware by means of something that can be applied to both universes: cartoon physics. No Pinkie Pie required.
You'd think these characters would demonstrate a great deal more interest and enthusiasm in meeting a dragon, especially one raised by ponies. Do they even remember that Spike shared their first big adventure together? Are they even remotely interested in seeing him again?
If you go for that bonus chapter, they had damn well better NOT watch the Star Wars movies without him. It won't be fun, it'll just be another experience he misses out on without any of his friends caring.
3131882
About the gravity thing, Man didn't know why objects fell to Earth until the 1660's when Newton (or Hooke if you want to get technical) first discovered the law.
You can't assume a different planet would advance all of the sciences at the same rate Earth does, even more so when so much attention is on magic.
Best... Scene... EVER!!!
I agree with Fluttershy. "First rule about the prequels: We dont speak about the prequels"
Let me get this straight.
Shy is a sci-fi geek?
3132110
Basically, got it from this story.
:
And yet my biggest thought are on where the tattoo came from and where did it go?
You forgot "the" in front of Empire when discussing Star Wars.
I guess the Pinkie's are Silence of the Lambs fans
MOAR!!!!
I love shy as a total geek. It works surprisingly well.
3132043 As I always say:
Cartoon physics for the win!!
EQG Fluttershy a science fiction geek?
New Head-canon...
A great idea that would benefit heavily with some decent proof reading.
Of the Mane 5, I can imagine Pinkie, Rarity & Rainbow Dash having the greatest interest in their counterparts.
Pinkie & Pinks are probably already planning a double Pinkie Party (be afraid), Rarity would be very interested in a model with her exact appearance eager to wear clothes again (much better than a mirror!) & Rainbow Dash will want to see just how good a flyer RD is.
The other 2 However... unless AJ is a farmer I can't really see her having much in common with Applejack & Shy appears to be a more assertive character than Fluttershy, or maybe that's just her talking about a subject she's interested in (Science Fiction) like Fluttershy does with Animals.
I know the EG group are supposed to have slightly different personalities than their Pony counterparts, but I would like to see the ways in which they are the same as well as the ways they're different.
the only bad thing is the "Inter-dimensional pocket". that is hurting this story a lot more the it is helping it,
3131938
Well he talks and he DID mention he was a dragon back home in the movie.
Though I imagine the EGQ ponies might think of a BIG dragon
So... complete genocide after all?
And then, EQG Twilight is sent in after them by Principal Celestia and found by Princess Cadence... that won't end well.
Am I the only one who thinks that it's extremely awesome that Fluttershy likes Star Wars?
Hold the liver.
Nice to see the whole meeting-your-interdimensional-twin thing is going over smoothly. I can't wait for the Ponyville visitation.
Gah, I feel ashamed as a whovian that it took me until now to notice that story and chapter titles are all based on Doctor Who stories.
Doctor Who reference FTW!! And Fluttershy is a Star Wars fan?! The scandal!
Alright, I've had my laugh. Great chapter as always, a few errors I caught but others found them already so it's a moot point for me to do it as well.
Shy is Dangerous...
Shy is Bugs Bunny.
I'm still waiting for Lyra to bump into them.
"Pinkie, what happened to your clones."
"Complete... annihilation."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXvi4zWKT84
3131901 I suppose so, but that kinda sounds like an excuse...
3132620 Oh no, I think it's awesome.
Astronomy is a thing in Equestria. Either all space bodies are controlled via magic (kind of implied by Luna also bringing out the stars??) or their universe is otherwise distinct from ours, or they'd surely have figured out Gravity. Outside of planetary bodies the tides are I think the other big evidence of Gravity. I'm personally of the opinion that Equestria makes the most sense as a flat world (possibly carried on the back of a space turtle...)
Personally, since many can open doors or pick things up with hooves, every race has access to a type of levitation spell with a strength equivelant to their physical strength, and focuses on their forehooves. It basically casts without an aura when their hoof makes contact with said object
3132057
That would make sense, except that's completely wrong. If you're going to talk about different societal evolution, at least think it through. Man didn't explore gravity until Newton, but that's because beyond not floating away into space, it didn't effect them. Ponies have an entire race THAT CAN FLY. You're telling me that at no point in the entire history of pony kind did a Pegasus go 'hey guys, that thing that kinda makes it hard to fly, reckon we should give it a name?'. That's why I singled out RD, she's a stunt flier. She needs to have at least a basic understanding of aerodynamics, lift, thrust, weight drag, etc. to do what she does.
Ponies in the show have been known to curve their hoofs to the point where they can grip stuff.
... Pinkie Pie. *sighs, breaks out the fourth-wall spackle, starts applying spackle to cracks* :|
I love Shy in this one and she's right less about the prequels the better but still just you wait until they see the LOTR movies.
Yea Star Wars!!
Star wars! Yay! Good chapter, looking forward tot he next one.
small editing error:
to quote:
“Yes, I think so,” Fluttershy got out of bed. “Where to?” She questioned Applejack and Pinkie Pie.
end quote.
this was actually supposed to be Fluttershy's EQG counter part known simply as Shy, not Fluttershy when written outside of speech and quotation marks
I even did a double check to make sure, only 2 of the original equestrian counterparts were supposed to be in the room at the time. both spaces being taken up by applejack and pinkie pie. leaving no room for the native Fluttershy to be present.
ponified star wars movies.... i have no clue how to take this idea.
static3.fjcdn.com/comments/favorite+human+pony+pic+ever.+even+if+pinkie+clone+is+_ee00c840b33490696e91a9737840052f.jpg
3133118
I completely agree, the idea that Rainbow Dash doesn't even have a common understanding of the force that pulls her to Earth is silly. A more believable statement from her would be:
"So, the sun and moon are controlled by GRAVITY?! That's nuts! Why don't they just fall down?"
As a stunt flier, Rainbow would have an understanding of gravity as a downward force, but probably not the mechanics of orbit, because Equestria doesn't have a publicly visible space program. Twilight would probably know, however, and cue facehoof .
GRAVITY 1.0 is still in beta. We're not ready to ship it just yet, but look for it soon in a dimension near you!
NOOOO! Go back to the physics! Bronies need HARD FACTS in our entertainment!
3132399 Yeah, but do you really think they'd believe him? Or that they were actually paying attention to anything besides the fact that there's a mothering talking dog?
3133118
Canonically ponies are fully aware of gravity. Twilight cast an anti-gravity spell to fall up the tower to get the crystal heart and even used the word gravity. So RD not knowing is a mistake by this fic's author.
However
If we're going by this fic alone, your hypothetical questions are moot because man probably asked themselves the very same question until Newton except it would be worded as: why can't we fly?
Man knew there was something keeping him on the ground but probably chalked it up to the will of god or "just how things are".
This way of thinking is true about a lot of things. Medieval/ Renaissance Europeans didn't know why river water was unhealthy to drink because of microbes but beer was fine. That's why at lot of colonists to America wouldn't touch the river water(even though it was perfectly clean) until it was made into beer.
The point is, just because its obvious to us with our modern scientific knowledge doesn't mean everything we know is going to be known to a different culture, let alone a different world.
But yea, good going Sidral Mundet for making the ponies forget entirely about gravity.
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