A Story yet to be told

by Thestoryteller

Chapter three. Mirror Mirror

A little note before you read. When a character is speaking you put quotation marks around the words the character is speaking along with giving the character's speech a paragraph. However though, when two characters are speaking in complete unison, the two speeches become one paragraph instead of two. Just a heads up before you read this chapter.

---

"AH-CHOO!"

A strand of snot dangled from Stardust's nose, his eyes were pink with dark bags under them. Star loved the winter, well he loved the snow to be specific. But as he played, a price had come with his enjoyment. This price was a nasty cold.

Stardust sat in his bed, the bottom half of his body covered in his sheets, his back and head lying against two stacked pillows, a thermometer in his mouth, and a wash cloth on his head. His dad sitting beside him with a metal bucket and other wash cloths. Flash plucked the washcloth from Stardust's head and twisted it over the bucket, causing all of the trapped water to spill out into the bucket. He then picked up a fresh cloth and placed on Star's head.

Flash took the thermometer out of Star's mouth and examined it. "Yep, you have a temperature of one hundred and one point two." Flash said, laying the thermometer on the nightstand beside Stardust's bed. "Guess you can't go to school after all."

"Oh darn." Stardust coughed, "and I was oh so looking forward to this week's quiz. Oh well."

Flash raised a brow in suspicion, "Star." Flash crossed his forelegs. "You wouldn't be faking this would you?"

"Dad...I have a temperature of one hundred and one point two. How could I possibly be faking?" Star asked.

Flash gave Star a long cold stare before sighing, Flash got up from his son's bed and walked towards the door, "alright, I believe you." He said.

Star raised his foreleg and swiftly brought it down, saying a silent "yes."

"However." Flash turned back to Stardust, "because your mother and I have a meeting with the High Council today, and because I can't trust leaving you alone, I've taken the liberty of hiring a babysitter to watch you."

The words 'babysitter' rang inside Stardust's head. "Um..." Stardust nervously twiddled with his hooves. "W-who did you hire?"

Flash opened the door and before leaving flashed his son a coy and evil smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know." He said before closing the door.

Stardust slumped in his bed and stayed there for a couple of minutes before he removed the washcloth on his head and dropped it in the bucket. He removed his sheets, slid his body off of the bed, and stretched his wings, legs, and waist.

He walked into his bathroom and stood in front of the mirror above his sink. He took the washcloth hanging on the side of the wall and ran it through the water flowing from the sinks tap. With the wet cloth in hoof, Stardust rubbed it against his entire face and the black bags washed away, leaving a black stain on the cloth.

In case you're confused allow me to clarify, and if you understand skip this paragraph. You seem Stardust was never sick, he was faking. He was able to fool his parents with three simple steps. Stardust learned that he could fool the thermometer by drinking something hot, letting it sit in your mouth until the thermometer is placed in your mouth. This caused the thermometer to read the high temperature in Stardust's mouth instead of his body temperature. His parents would usually check his forehead, Star also found a way around this. Simply place a towel in the dryer and once done, cover it over your whole head until time to be checked. As for the black bags and pink eyes and the runny snot. All thanks to a makeup kit gifted from Gemstone.

'Remind me to thank Gemstone for the gift later.' Star made a mental note as he took out the pink contacts.

Why would Stardust do all of this? To skip school so he doesn't have to take a test that he forgot to study for. The plan was to fake being sick, that way he'd have plenty of time to study and goof off. There was just one kink in Stardust's plan.

The babysitter.

Star had a contingency plan of course, but he had hoped that there wouldn't be any need for a babysitter. Then again, this was his mom and dad were talking about. So it was probably bound to happen one way or another.

Stardust pulled a hot towel out from underneath the sink and wrapped it around his head.

*knock, knock, knock*

The sudden knocking sent a signal of panic through Stardust's brain. He had thought that it would be a while before the babysitter would arrive. Apparently he was wrong. There was no time to put the makeup back on and put the contacts back in. In a mad dash, Stardust threw off the towel and ran towards the door. He took a deep breath and composed himself before turning the knob and opening the door.

Standing in the doorway was his aunt Starlight glimmer. Under normal circumstances, Stardust would've been more than thrilled to see his aunt. But for now he had to remain in character.

"Oh...hi aunt-*cough*...aunt Starlight...what brings you here?" Stardust asked, trying very hard not to sound suspicious.

Starlight said nothing, instead she used her magic to pick up Star and lie him back in bed. Whatever Star was gonna say was cut off as the thermometer was jammed into his mouth, causing him to gag. Starlight waited a few seconds before taking the thermometer out and observing it way too closely.

"Hmmmm..." Starlight pondered before showing Stardust the thermometer. "Your temperature is one hundred point three."

Stardust mentally sighed in relief, thinking that his cover would've been blown since he forgot to drink something hot. Starlight did a thorough inspection of Stardust, from his head to the tip of his hooves. After seeing no evidence of foul play, Starlight said she was gonna make Stardust some soup and that he wasn't supposed to move.

Once she was gone Stardust relaxed his body and sunk deeper into the sheets. Stardust lifted the sheets and went back to his bathroom. There he hid the towel and ran the faucet with hot water. Stardust scooped up some of the water and slurped it up. His cheeks swelled so that he could carry the large amount of water. As Stardust was about to take another gulp, something caught his eye. Something in his mirror.

Stardust looked at his mirror only to see his reflection. Stardust frowned and so did his reflection. Perhaps his reflection was the only thing he saw. Then ripples from the center of the mirror washed across its surface as though it was a liquid. Stardust spat out the water, rubbed his eyes, and looked back to the mirror.

More ripples came from the center and ran across the mirror's surface.

Then there was a cracking sound. Stardust thought that his mirror had cracked but it was perfectly fine. More ripples came from the center. Then something started to come out of the mirror. A white ooze began to spill out from the center of the mirror. Stardust backed away from the mirror in disgust. The white ooze kept on pouring out from the mirror and began to make a puddle on the floor.

The white ooze stopped pouring out from the mirror and the rest of it fell onto the floor. A large puddle now occupied nearly half of the bathrooms floor. Stardust took a step forward to get a better look at the ooze.

Big mistake.

The ooze came to life. It jumped from the floor and latched itself to Stardust's face. Stardust's yells were muffled as he scraped at the ooze latched to his face. The rest of the ooze began to spread all over Stardust's body. Stardust was helpless as the white ooze, now completely covering his body, made Stardust as still as a statue. Stardust struggled with all of his might but the ooze had a very tight grip on his body.

And just like that, the ooze had leaped off of Stardust's body. Stardust stumbled back a bit in a daze. Once he caught his balance he looked back to the mirror. There he saw his reflection, which mimicked everything he did. Stardust cautiously looked around the room to wherever the ooze had run off to. Stardust's gaze fell on the doorway, assuming that the ooze had somehow left Stardust rushed out of the bathroom and into his room.

He looked all over his room. In the sheets, under the furniture, and in his closet, but the ooze was nowhere to be found. Stardust looked back to the bathroom doorway and he froze.

Standing in the doorway he saw his reflection. Thing is though it wasn't in the mirror, and it was also three dimensional. The two Stardust's stared at each other with the same shocked expression. Stardust blinked and the other Stardust did the same.

"Woah."
"Woah."

Both Stardust's clasped their hooves over their mouth. The two continued to stare.

"Food."
"Food."

Both Stardust's spoke, exactly in perfect unison. Stardust narrowed his eyes and the other Stardust did the same.

"Who are you?"
"Who are you?"

"Why are you copying me?"
"Why are you copying me?"

"Stop copying me!"
"Stop copying me!"

The two Stardust's spoke in perfect unison.

"Star? Who are you talking to?"

Both Stardust's became pale as their gaze shifted to the door then back to each other.

"She'll kill me if she sees you." Stardust said. "I've got to hide you, but where?"
"She'll kill me if she sees you." Stardust said. "I've got to hide you, but where?"

Stardust, with the very small window of opportunity he had, ran towards the bathroom door and slammed it shut. He then quickly dove into bed and wrapped himself in his sheets just as Starlight was walking through the door, levitating a small foldable table with a bowl of steaming soup, a mug of hot chocolate, and a plate with cheese and crackers. Starlight sat the table in front of Star and sat on the edge of his bed.

"You feeling any better?" Starlight asked.

"A bit." Stardust said in a low voice.

Starlight smiled, sitting up. "I'm going to be in the library, holler if you need me." Starlight walked out of Stardust's room.

Once she was gone Stardust took a sip from his hot chocolate and immediately spit it out upon seeing the other Stardust standing on the edge of his bed. Stardust's reflection bent its head down and sniffed the soup.

"Food." Stardust said.

"Don't even think about it." Stardust said, shielding his food.
"Don't even think about it." Stardust said, shielding the invisible air.

"And stop copying me!"
"And stop copying me!"

Stardust growled at Stardust as Stardust growled at the other Stardust. Stardust narrowed his eyes and Stardust did the same. Stardust slowly bent down and took a sip from his soup as Stardust bent down and took a sip of air.

"Weird."
"Weird."

Stardust drank his soup, drank his hot chocolate, and ate his cheese and crackers all while Stardust mimicked Stardust's every move. Stardust folded up the table and sat it beside his bed, Stardust mimicked the same. Stardust rubbed his chin and Stardust did so as well.

"So no matter what I do or say, you'll just copy it huh?" Stardust asked.
"So no matter what I do or say, you'll just copy it huh?" Stardust asked.

"Very well then, I'll play this ridiculous and mediocre activity with you." Stardust said.
"Very well then, I'll play this ridiculous and mediocre activity with you." Stardust said.

Both Stardust's grumbled, Stardust had hoped that he might've had some chance of tripping Stardust up if he had used big words like his brother Dusk did. 'Perhaps gibberish might work?' Stardust thought.

"Egg did fight road to hong for dogs to go from mountain monster in radio that was born from green."
"Egg did fight road to hong for dogs to go from mountain monster in radio that was born from green."

Both Stardust's glared at each other.

"You know what? Forget this, I'm gonna do what I should've done in the first place."
"You know what? Forget this, I'm gonna do what I should've done in the first place."

Stardust got up and walked towards Stardust. Once the two were inches away, Stardust reared back his hoof and Stardust did the same.

"Take this!"
"Take this!"

The two Stardust's swung their forelegs and they did hit their intended target. Stardust's hoof collided with Stardust's cheek and Stardust's hoof collided Stardust's cheek. The two were sent flying back, Stardust hit his back against the back of his bed and Stardust was thrown off the bed and landed on the floor on his back.

"Ow!" Stardust cringed, rubbing his cheek. "Stop copying me!"
"Ow!" Stardust cringed, rubbing his cheek. "Stop copying me!"

Stardust groaned and Stardust did the same.

"Oh this is hopeless. There's no way I can beat you or shut you up. I don't even know what the hay you are!" Stardust groaned. "I don't know what I'm gonna do." Stardust whined, burying his face in his hooves.
"Oh this is hopeless. There's no way I can beat you or shut you up. I don't even know what the hay you are!" Stardust groaned. "I don't know what I'm gonna do." Stardust whined, burying his face in his hooves.

Both Stardust's raised their heads and gasped in enlightenment. Their saddened faces became filled with joy as a crazy smile spread across their faces.

"I know what I'm gonna do-STOP THAT!"
"I know what I'm gonna do-STOP THAT!"

---

There was only one thing that Stardust could use to understand what the mirror thing was. This thing was the book currently in Dusk Shield's possession. The book had all kinds of weird, never before seen, creatures drawn across all of its pages. All Stardust had to do was grab the book, search it for the creature that had taken his appearance, and find out how to defeat it.

There was just one problem. Stardust.

Stardust followed and mimicked Stardust's every move and everything he said. This made it hard for Stardust to move around with Stardust who would stick out like a sore hoof. As Stardust went around the castle, hiding behind whatever cover he could find, the other Stardust did everything Stardust did, but only a distance away.

The reason for Stardust's cautiousness was his aunt Starlight. If she ever found out about the other Stardust she would be furious. And to make things even worse, Dusk's room was on the other side of the castle. Which meant that he'd have to sneak past the library, which is where Starlight currently is.

Stardust's head slightly peeked into the library where he saw his aunt sitting comfortably in a leather chair reading a book which she held up with her magic. Stardust turned to Stardust and said,

"Alright, here's the plan. I'm gonna roll over to the other side, once I'm there you roll. Nod if you understand."
"Alright, here's the plan. I'm gonna roll over to the other side, once I'm there you roll. Nod if you understand."

Both Stardust's face hoofed.

"Just keep quiet."
"Just keep quiet."

Stardust took another peek into the library, his aunt immersed in her book. Stardust readied himself and did a somersault to the other side. Stardust did the same but instead bumped against a stand holding a potted plant. The stand wobbled and so did the plant, causing it to fall. But before it could, Stardust dived after it and caught it between his hooves.

Stardust carefully placed the plant back on the table and glared at Stardust.

"What part about be quiet don't you understand?" Stardust hissed.
"What part about be quiet don't you understand?" Stardust hissed.

Both Stardust's made their way through the castle's halls before coming to Dusk's room. Stardust tried turning the knob but it was locked. Stardust rummaged through his mane before pulling out a key. Stardust slid the key into the keyhole and turned the lock. The door opened with ease.

Stardust entered Dusk's room and scanned the room for the book. But it was clear that it wasn't in plain sight. Both Stardust's tapped their chins and pondered.

"Alright...if I were a ten year old colt wanting to hide a book from his parents and brother, where would I hide it?" Stardust wondered.
"Alright...if I were a ten year old colt wanting to hide a book from his parents and brother, where would I hide it?" Stardust wondered.

Stardust looked to Dusk's neat and tidy bed with a triumphant grin. He approached the bed and wedged his hooves underneath the mattress. Stardust lifted up the mattress, and sure enough, in the center of the bed was the book with the number three. However, Stardust completely ignored the book and instead was more focused on the part of the bed that had been recently sewn.

Stardust unwinded the string, creating a rip in the mattresses side. Stardust plunged his foreleg into the rip and wormed around the cotton before his hoof hit something solid. Stardust grabbed the solid and pulled his hoof out with the number three book. Stardust slightly chuckled to himself as he flipped through the pages.

Page after page he searched. It wasn't until he got far into the book that he found what he was looking for. On the top in the middle of the two pages was the title "THE SILHOUETTE. On the first page was a picture of a white ooze and on the second was a picture of a pony shaped figure without a face. Stardust read the creature's description out-loud.

"Beware these mocking creatures. Although harmless at first, they are anything but. The Silhouette is an creature that latches itself onto your entire body and takes your shape. The Silhouette will then begin to mimic everything you say and do. At first I thought the Silhouette was just an annoying pest. But unfortunately that is far from what it truly is. One day the Silhouette stopped copying everything I did and spoke normally. Then it tried to kill me. The Silhouette is a carnivorous creature that mimics its prey so that it learns its strengths and weaknesses. Once the Silhouette is certain that it no longer needs to learn from you it will try and kill you. Of course the Silhouette is also very clever and crafty. It won't just charge at you head on, it'll think of a kind of strategy to kill you before doing so. As for the Silhouette's weaknesses I learned that, despite its liquid form, it has organs, blood, and bones once it's copied. This means that once the Silhouette has taken form it is as vulnerable as the one it copied."

"What are you doing?"

Stardust jumped into the air and yelped. After landing on his hooves he turned to see that the one who had spoke to him was his brother Dusk, with his saddlebags. At first Stardust was relieved, then he became terrified after realizing he was holding the book and also about the Silhouette. Stardust sheepishly chuckled, "Um...I can explain."

"Great." Dusk said, levitating his bags off of him and sitting down. "Then can you explain to me why I just saw you walking down the hallway a couple of seconds ago?"

Stardust gave his brother a perplexed look before looking behind him where the other Stardust was.

He wasn't there.

Stardust became pale and his irises shrunk. He knew that his life was going to come to an end very soon.

"Hey um Dusk..." Stardust spoke in a frail and scared voice. "You wouldn't happen to know what a Silhouette is, do you?"

For once Dusk looked surprised, "you let a Silhouette copy your body?!"

"It's not my fault!" Stardust shouted in defense. "The thing came out of my mirror. How was I supposed to know it was gonna try and kill me?"

"We have to tell Starlig-"

"NO!" Stardust pinned Dusk. "If she finds out that I faked being sick she'll tell mom, and if mom finds out I was faking she'll kill me."

"And if we don't warn Starlight about the Silhouette, then it might kill her." Dusk pointed out.

"Can't we compromise?" Stardust asked.

Dusk could only give his brother a scowl.

"...fine." He said in defeat, getting off of Dusk.

"Right then," Dusk dusted himself off, "you go warn Starlight, I'll try to come up with a plan to capture the Silhouette."

"Alright." Stardust said, taking off out of the room.

---

Stardust calmly walked into the kitchen and began opening up cupboards. He took out a mug from one of the cabinet's and sat it on the counter. Stardust then walked to the other side of the room and opened up a drawer where the kettle was placed. Stardust poured water into the kettle and sat it on the lit stove. He then searched through more of the cabinet's and soon found a bag of tea. He placed the bag of tea in the cup, and poured the hot water into the mug. Before stirring, Stardust added a special ingredient to the tea.

Stardust picked up the tea with his teeth and carried it out of the kitchen. Stardust walked along the halls and entered the library. The sound of the cracking door caught Starlight's attention, causing her to look to the door.

"Stardust? What are you doing up?" Starlight asked.

Stardust said nothing, he only walked up to Starlight and sat the tea on the armrest of Starlight's chair.

"Oh...why thank you Star." Starlight smiled returning to her book. In the corner of her eye she saw that Stardust hadn't moved. "You should go back to bed now." Starlight said. Stardust continued to stare blankly at Starlight. He eyed the cup for a second before looking back to Starlight. As if he was silently telling her to drink the tea.

Starlight tried to ignore Stardust but her attempts were futile. She sighed and picked up the cup, which caused Stardust to give her a most innocent smile. Starlight blew gently on the tea before she took a full swig of it. The tea tasted wonderful but it sent a burning sensation in her throat. She sat the cup back down on the armrest and lightly coughed. Starlight looked over to Stardust, who still had that innocent smile of his. She smiled back before returning to her book.

Starlight frowned as she found it increasingly difficult to read. The words were becoming blurry and seemed to somehow leap off the page. The book fell, due to Starlight's lack of concentration she could no longer use her magic. A pounding echoed in head, which she tried to cease by holding her head up with her hoof. She knocked over the mug, which didn't break but still spilled out all of the tea onto the floor. Starlight tried to get up but that only caused her to fall on the floor.

Her vision started to fade and become black. She could feel her consciousness slipping in and out with every blink. But before she blacked out, her eyes saw Stardust. Sitting there with that innocent smile of his.

---

Dusk teleported himself in the entrance, a vial of black liquid floating next to him. His horn lit up and a small purple bubble appeared at its tip. The bubble then began to expand, bigger and bigger, passing through objects and the walls like a ghost. The bubble continued to expand till it covered the entire castle.

"Hi brother."

Dusk whipped his head around to see Stardust sitting on the stairs with an innocent smile. Dusk gave Stardust a cautious look before speaking.

"Are you Stardust?" He asked. "Or the Silhouette?"

Stardust tilted his head confusion. "What are you talking about? I am Stardust."

Dusk didn't need to hear any more, he had his answer. "Tell me Silhouette? Do you know what this is?" Dusk asked, showing off the vial with the black liquid.

"Can't say I do." Stardust replied.

Dusk levitated the vile next to him. "Well then I'll tell you. This here is a poison that I created, and while it's harmless to me, it's lethal to you."

"Le-thal?" Stardust pronounced.

"Deadly." Dusk corrected his last statement. 'He not only looks like Star, he has his vocabulary too.' Dusk thought as he began to approach Stardust.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Stardust warned.

Dusk halted his hoof, which was hovering above the first step. He looked up at Stardust, "why?" He asked.

"It would be bad if Starlight got egg." Stardust answered.

Dusk was confused by Stardust's use of the word egg. But it was clear to him that Starlight was in danger. "What did you do to her?" Dusk calmly demanded.

"She's sleeping, but I can assure you that I can keep her like that for a long time if you want." Stardust's smile grew.

Dusk took a step back. "Well it seems that you and I are at an impasse. I can't go near you because you'll kill my aunt, and you can't go near me because I'll kill you with this poison."

"I suppose impasse is the word we'd use to describe this situation." Stardust said.

"Hm...in that case then I have a proposition." Dusk offered. "A game, if you will."

"What's the game?" Stardust asked, his interest peaked.

Using his magic, Dusk summoned a wooden rectangular table with legs on all four corners. Above the table, a white tablecloth appeared in a purple flash and neatly fell onto the table's surface. Then a bottle the shape of one that holds wine appeared on the table, along with with four grey goblets, each had a specific colored gem in its neck. One had an orange gem, one had a purple gem, one had a red gem, and one had a blue gem.

"What kind of game is this?" Stardust asked.

"A game of wits." Dusk answered simply. "There are four cups, in each cup there will be an equal amount of strawberry milk." Dusk spoke as he pour an equal amount of the pink liquid into each goblet. "The only catch is that one of them will contain this." Dusk held up the vile and shook it.

"Well that's no fair." Stardust frowned. "If there's a poison that only egg's me but doesn't egg you, then why would I play?"

"First, the word you're looking for is 'hurt' not 'egg'." Dusk said, tired of Stardust's incorrect grammar. "And second, you'll get to poison one of these cups with a poison of your own. You must have one, seeing as how that's the only way you could've easily defeated my aunt."

Stardust frowned, "what if we both end up poisoning the same cup?"

"Once we've both poisoned a cup, we will both choose a cup to drink. When that happens, one of us will be poisoned or neither of us will, in which case we will simply drink the last remaining two cups."

Stardust was skeptical at first, but in the end he smiled, "alright, I'll play your game brother." Stardust said, spreading his wings and flying down to the other side of the table.

"Could you please turn around?" Dusk asked. "I would prefer it if you didn't see where I put my poison."

Stardust complied with Dusk and turned around. With Stardust's back to Dusk, he opened up the vial and poured the liquid into one of the cups.

"Alright, you can turn around." Dusk said, turning his back to the cups and allowed Stardust to poison one of the cups.

There was a liquid pouring sound. Once it stopped Dusk turned around. Dusk used his magic and the four goblets hovered into the air. Dusk then shuffled up the goblets at a speed so fast that Stardust's eyes couldn't keep up. The goblets began to slow down before Dusk sat them all back on the table.

"Alright, because I poisoned first, I'm going to let you choose the goblet first." Dusk said.

Stardust rubbed his chin, observing the goblets very closely. "Hmmm...so many choices, there's no possible way for me to pick. So how about you pick for me?" Stardust flashed Dusk a coy smile.

Stardust's offer caught Dusk off. "M-me?" He stammered. "You are aware that I know which goblet I poisoned and that by letting me pick for you I'll just choose the one I poisoned."

"I'm aware of that." Stardust said. "I only hope that you're aware that by letting you choose which cup I'll drink, that it would be more than fair that I choose the cup for you."

"That...does sound fair I guess." Dusk admitted.

"Wonderful, I'm glad you understand." Stardust gestured to all of the goblets, "now if you would be so kind?"

Dusk gave Stardust a suspicious look. He was up to something but he didn't know what. What he was asking of sounded both bizarre and crazy. Dusk, not taking his eyes off of Stardust, pointed his hoof at the goblet with orange gem. Once Dusk had retracted his hoof, Stardust pointed to the goblet with red gem. Stardust grabbed the goblet with the orange gem and brought it to him. Dusk, using his magic, levitated the goblet with the red gem and brought it to him.

Stardust swirled around the pink liquid, "now then, I hold your poison and you hold mine. If we were to both drink this poison then we'd both be beaten. However, a key difference between the two is this. My poison will only render you unconscious whereas yours will kill me."

"Your point?" Dusk asked.

"My point, is that we are still at an impasse." Stardust stated.

"How so?" Dusk asked cautiously.

"I don't wish to die, so I will only pretend to drink my cup. But knowing you, you are not dumb so you will pretend to drink the cup as well." Stardust stopped swirling his liquid. "Therefore we will both be at an impasse."

"So it would seem." Dusk narrowed his eyes. "Just what are you getting at?"

"You see, brother, there is a simple and obvious answer to our problem. Only thing is I'll be the only one who wins." Stardust gave Dusk an innocent smile.

And tossed the liquid towards Dusk's face. The liquid landed square over Dusk's face. He coughed and spat, some of the liquid had gotten into his mouth. Most of it got into his eyes, which left him wide open. Stardust closed the gap between him and Dusk, and smashed the goblet against his head. Dusk Shield fell onto his back, a trickle of blood fell down the side of his face from the small cut. Stardust looked at the bloody edge of the cup for a second before tossing it away.

"Your smart brother." Stardust said, still having that innocent smile on his face. "But our too smart. You try to use complex answers to your complex games, when the simplest answers are the ones to use." Stardust turned away, "now then, time to road what I came here to do."

---

"Aunt Starlight." Stardust yelled across the halls. "Where are you? I need to talk to you about something."

Stardust had first went to the library to check on his aunt only to find her no longer there. Stardust had thought that maybe the Silhouette had somehow gotten to her. He tried to suppress these thoughts with thoughts like 'maybe she had to use the little fillies room' or 'maybe she just got up to stretch her legs'. Wherever she was Stardust had to find her before the Silhouette did.

*CRUNCH!*

Stardust froze, looking down he saw that he had stepped on something. Holding up his hoof he saw a crushed skittle beneath his hoof. Stardust licked the skittle, swishing saliva in his mouth. Cherry, his second favorite. Stardust looked ahead to see a trail of skittles leading somewhere.

Despite the obvious trap this was, Stardust followed the trail. Picking up skittle piece after piece and throwing them into his mouth. The trail went through the castle all the way to the training room. Stardust, unknowingly, opened the doors to the room. The training room was mostly used by Stardust and his dad, Flash Sentry. It had racks nailed into the wall with unique blades stacked on them. Training dummies on the far right side of the room, along with barrels filled with all kinds of swords. On the far left of the room were wooden mannequins equipped with armor ranging from golden to crystal. Stardust ate the last skittle of the trail and looked up, now aware of his surroundings.

"Hello Stardust."

Stardust's eyes caught the sight of the other Stardust on the opposite side of him. He pointed to Stardust and proclaimed,

"You." He glared.

"You." The other Stardust pointed.

"No." Stardust took a step forward. "You."

"Me?" Stardust asked, pointing to himself.

"Yes." Stardust answered. "I think."

Stardust chuckled. "Perhaps choosing you as prey was a bad idea. Your vocabulary is awful and you can't even notice a trap, even when it's right in front of you."

"If my vocabulary is so bad, then how do you know all those smart words?" Stardust asked, sounding triumphant.

Stardust held up a book titled "Dictionary" and dangled around.

"Oh." Stardust's ears fell flat and a slight blush spread across his cheeks.

"But there's no need to worry. Words will be useless in our fight. Come, choose your weapon." Stardust gestured to all of the blades scattered across the room.

Stardust rushed over to one of the wooden racks and picked up the gauntlet he received from Nightwing on Hearth's Warming. He slid the gauntlet over his right foreleg, which fitted like a glove. With a flick of the wrist, a golden blade extended from the gauntlet.

Stardust raised a brow at Stardust's choice of weaponry. He looked in the dictionary for a second before speaking. "Interesting choice. But I will choose a weapon that suits me more." Stardust calmly walked over to a wooden rack and picked up a blade with a blade hilt and cross guard that had a wavy and curvy blade. He held the hilt of the sword in his hoof and in an instant the blade caught fire.

"Out of all the blades you could've chosen, you chose the the 'blade of Pyrosious'." Stardust grumbled.

"So this blade has a name huh?" Stardust said, admiring the blade. "Very informative." He smiled at Stardust. "Let us begin."

Stardust spread his wings and booked it out of the room.

"Wha-HEY!" Stardust shouted. "Where do you think your going?!"

"Running away from the guy with the fire sword." Stardust answered.

"You can't just run away!" Stardust shouted.

"Says who?" Stardust asked.

Stardust grinded his teeth, he glared his wings and took to the air. Only to instantly fall flat on his face. He scampered up and groaned, "I'll just run." He said, dashing after Stardust.

---

The castle doors opened up and a smiling Flash Sentry and a weary looking Twilight Sparkle entered their home. Twilight closed the door behind the two adults with her magic. Once the doors were closed, Twilight collapsed onto the floor. Her ear twitched upon hearing something. She turned her head and looked up to her husband, who had a cheeky grin on his face.

"What's so funny?" She asked, failing to see why her husband was laughing.

"Oh nothing. Just thinking about the time last night when I warned you about staying up to late." Flash rocked his body back and forth slightly.

"It couldn't be helped." Twilight protested. "I had to get a lot of the paperwork done."

"And who's fault is it for leaving said paperwork at the last minute?" Flash asked.

"Shut up." Twilight grumbled.

"Stand still!" A voice yelled.

Flash and Twilight turned their attention towards the direction of the voice.

"Was that Stardust?" Flash asked, recognizing the voice.

"If I stand still you'll kill me!" A voice, sounding similar to the fist, yelled.

"It sounds like it." Twilight said.

"Come on Star, if you stop moving I promise not to kill you." The voice said.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" The voice asked.

"Was that rhetorical?" The other voice asked.

The door leading to the stairs burst open and two Stardust's came tumbling down the stairs. The two crashed in a heap on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. The two quickly got up and faced the other, Stardust with the gauntlet and the Stardust wielding the sword.

*ahem*

Both Stardust's turned to the two adults in the room, causing both to become pale. Stardust hid the blade behind his back and Stardust hid his gauntlet. The two put on their most innocent looking smiles and said,

"Hi mom and dad, you're home early."

Flash looked between the two Stardust's. "Alright, Stardust what did you do?"

"Do what?" Stardust asked.
"Do what?" Stardust asked.

"Well, last time I checked I only had one Stardust not two. So I'm going to ask one last time, and this time I want a straight answer. What. Did. You. Do?" Flash asked.

Stardust gulped. "Well you see, I was minding my own business-"
Stardust gulped. "Well you see, I was minding my own business-"

"Bull." Flash said.

"I was!" Stardust yelled in defense. "I was in my bathroom when a white ooze came out of my mirror, latched itself onto me and looked like me. Now he's trying to kill me."
"I was!" Stardust yelled in defense. "I was in my bathroom when a white ooze came out of my mirror, latched itself onto me and looked like me. Now he's trying to kill me."

"Is that so." Flash said. "Suppose I do believe you, then which one of you is the real Stardust?"

"I am!"
"I am!"

"No, I am!"
"No I am!"

"Stop copying me. I'm the real Stardust!"
"Stop copying me. I'm the real Stardust!"

"Enough!" Flash roared. "It doesn't matter who's the real one or who isn't. The real Stardust will be grounded for lying about being sick and the fake will be sent away."

The two shared a look.

"I'm the real Stardust."
"I'm the real Stardust."

"Ugh." Flash face hoofed. "Dear could you give me a hoof?"

Twilight stood up and approached the two Stardust's. "Stardust, tell me when your birthday is." The two were about to speak. "But I want you to write it down on a sheet of paper and I want you to wright down how many days away it is from your brothers as well." Twilight added, summoning two pieces of paper and two pens. Both Stardust's turned their backs to each other and wrote something down. They both turned in their pieces of paper.

"This one's Stardust, that ones the fake." Twilight said after reviewing the two pieces of paper.

With that Flash picked the fake Stardust up. "What should we do with him?" He asked.

"Put him in the dungeon for now. I'm gonna go take a nap." Twilight yawned. "Right after Star gets his punishment." She added, looking towards the real Stardust.

"Um...I can explain." Stardust sheepishly chuckled.

"And I would love to hear it." She gave Stardust a different piece of paper. “Right after you complete this.”

Stardust looked it over and instantly became pale. "This is..."

"The test you tried to dodge." Twilight answered. "On our way back your father and I ran into Blitz. He gave us the test you were supposed to take. He said that you are supposed to take this with adult supervision. I hope you studied. After all," Twilight's voice became deathly serious as the room temperature dropped, "we both know what happens to colt's with failing grades. Don't we Stardust?"

Stardust's irises shrunk. For once, he wished that he wasn't the real Stardust. Because Stardust was about to receive the worst punishment ever invented.

Author's Note:

Ugh my head. I've gotta say that writing this definitely made my head explode. As for Stardust, he's about to experience first hand the affect of karma.

As always. Thank you for your Time.