You Call That A Costume?

by Eddy13

Cinderella Didn't Have This Kind Of Problem

In a flash of purple light, Sunset, Twilight, and Spike appeared in Sunset's house.

"How'd we get here?" Spike asked.

"I cast a teleport spell and this was the first thing that came to my mind" Twilight explained before getting panicky "But never mind that now. Sunset, did you see what just happened?!"

"Yeah, I was there" Sunset nodded.

"First Fluttershy, then Rarity and Applejack, then Rainbow Dash and finally Pinkie Pie! Their costumes didn't just become more realistic. They've become the actual manifestations of them!" Twilight began to go into a hysteria "Oh, this is all my fault! I should've listened to you! But, no! I foolishly thought I knew what I was doing! Now thanks to me, our friends aren't themselves anymore!"

"Calm down, Twilight" Sunset advised.

"How can I calm down after what I've done?!" Twilight shrieked as she paced the floor "I may as well be Midnight Sparkle again! Oh, I just know my counterpart's never done anything like this to her friends!"

"Twilight, get a grip!" Sunset shouted firmly, stopping Twilight's tizzy "Now look, I'm upset too, but getting worked up about it won't help us get our friends back to normal".

Breathing deeply, Twilight spoke. "You're right. You're right. Running around like a chicken with its head cut off won't solve anything. We just need to think and figure out how to fix this mess".

"Uh, girls?" Spike spoke up.

"How about contacting my counterpart?" Twilight asked.

"There's no telling when she'd get back to me" Sunset shook her head "We don't have the time to wait for her to reply".

"Excuse me, girls?" Spike said a little louder.

"Then what do we do?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know yet. Just give a moment to think" Sunset said as she put her hand under her chin.

"Well, please think fast, because the longer we're in here is more time that our friends could be getting into trouble!" Twilight pleaded "Oh, I just hope that Rarity and Applejack manage to keep away from Rainbow Dash and her new appetite".

"GIRLS!" Spike finally shouted at the top of his voice.

"What?!" the duo asked sharply.

"Uh, not to add more trouble to your plate," Spike said slowly "but I just have to ask..."

"...how come you two haven't been affected by that spell?"

The dog's words caused Twilight and Sunset to stop short as their eyes widened before they turned to look at each other like deer in a headlight.

Before either of them could speak, they were both enveloped in a purple glow, causing them to collapse to the floor as the transformation hit them while Spike ducked behind Sunset's couch and covered his face in fright. The duo of girls screamed in pain and fright as they felt themselves changing.

Just as quickly as it came, the light faded away, leaving two figures on the floor.

Grasping the arm of a chair, Twilight stood back up as she regained her bearings.

"Oh, that wasn't pleasant" she moaned before she caught sight of Spike staring at her with a shocked look. "Spike? What's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing" the dog said quickly while averting his eyes from her.

Suspicious and worried, Twilight looked into a nearby mirror.

"Uh, Twilight" Spike spoke nervously "I wouldn't do that if I were..."

"AAAAAHHHHH!" came the horrified shriek.

"...you" Spike finished lamely.

"No. This can't be happening!" Twilight was screeching before looking to Spike "Please tell me this isn't happening!"

"I'm afraid not" Spike shook his head.

"No. No! NO!" Twilight raged "Please, anything but this! I know what I said, but I didn't mean for it to be taken seriously!" She quickly looked over to the other girl who was still getting her bearings "SUNSET!"

"Huh, what?" Sunset said disoriented before she looked over to her friend, and her eyes widened as she realized she was seeing a familiar form.

"I've become Midnight Sparkle!" Twilight cried, her body having indeed transformed into the form she had taken during the Friendship Games. "What am I going to do?!"

Sunset made ready to calm Twilight when she finally took notice of herself. Her robes had become more grandeur, like a genuine wizard's cloak. Taking the top hat off her head, she saw that it seemed to have a majestic blue glow about it. A feeling of dread building up in her, she nervously took hold of the beard that was hanging from her chin and gave it a good tug, only to flinch with great discomfort.

"Aaahh!" she screamed "I've got a beard!" she covered her mouth in shock as she found that she was speaking in a sagely voice.

"Uh, in case you haven't noticed, I've got an even bigger problem!" Twilight was wailing like a banshee "I'm a horrific she-demon again! I'm gonna be tearing the entire world apart in my zealous lust for power!"

"Uh," Spike said tentatively "If that's the case, how come you haven't started doing it yet?"

This question brought Twilight up short. Indeed, she was still acting like her regular self instead of cackling madly and firing magic blasts everywhere to tear apart the universal membrane to reach Equestria like she thought she would if she ever took on this form again.

"I-I don't know" she said in honest confusion "You'd think immediately changing into this form would cause me to go on a rampage".

"Cause you're not the same person as when you first became Midnight Sparkle" Sunset imputed, ignoring her new accent "You've changed, and your development has given you clarity, thus allowing you to resist the urges you succumbed to when you were initially overwhelmed by all that power" she elaborated in a wizardly manner...before her eyes widened in surprise "Why did I say it like that?" she shook her head "Anyway, you're not going to go crazy with power this time".

"Okay" Twilight said uneasily "But I'll still be relieved when I change back to normal".

"Likewise" Sunset said as she held up her new facial feature "This beard is not working for me".

"Just who are you supposed to be, anyway?" Spike felt the need to ask.

"Starswirl the Bearded" Sunset explained halfheartedly "The greatest unicorn wizard to ev...er...live" she trailed off as her eyes widened in realization "Wait, that's it! The spell made us what we were dressed as! Since I was dressed as Starswirl, the spell is causing me to channel him! I'm a manifestation of the greatest unicorn in Equestrian history!"

"Okay, good for you" Twilight said dryly "You get to be your idol while I've turned into my worst nightmare, but can we focus on undoing it?"

"You don't understand" Sunset shook her head "I have Starswirl's intellect coursing through me! My head is filled with magical knowledge I've never known before in my whole life!"

"Are you trying to rub it in deliberately?" Twilight asked bitterly.

"Twilight, I'm saying that I can use Starswirl's knowledge to figure out how your spell messed up and how we can fix it!"

"Oh," Twilight said sheepishly "You could've just said that" she shook her head "But nevermind. What do we do? Come on, I want to get out of this body as soon as possible!"

"Hang on" Sunset said as she held up a hand "I need to think over how your spell went wrong".

Twilight huffed. "Well, you were there. You saw what happened. I tried to make our costumes more real-looking, my spell began to falter but I foolish kept going, it exploded and now we all are our costumes!"

"Hmm" Sunset thought out loud "The spell you were going for was obviously a glamour spell, but you ended up performing a transmutation spell instead. But those two spells are on completely different spectrums. I don't see how such an error could be made".

"Well, would it help if I mentioned I was thinking about the costumes being as life-like as possible?" Twilight offered.

"Anything else?" Sunset asked.

"Well, I figured the stronger the spell, the better the look, so I tried to put as much magic as possible into it" Twilight said.

"That would explain why the spell exploded" Sunset surmised "Too much power in it caused an overload. But I still don't know how the spell went wrong" Her eyes widened in consideration "Unless..." She snapped her fingers with realization "That's it!" she turned to Twilight "I know how your spell messed up!'

"Well, that's great" Twilight said "But how did it?"

"Like I said, you put too much power into it for a glamour spell, which is what caused it to spark and glitch. While glitching, it lost track of its original purpose, but focused on your command of making our costumes as real looking as possible. With all the power you were channeling, it thought you meant literally, so it burst and spread over us. The transformations occurred in the order of complexity. It was simple for Fluttershy to instantly become a vampire, but for the two of us, it took a little more time for our transformations to be processed".

"So, wait" Twilight said stuttering "You mean I really did make a transmutation spell by mistake?"

"No" Sunset shook her head "If it was a mere transmutation spell, everyone would've remained themselves after changing. Instead, they're acting just like the characters they dressed as. You and I aren't like that because you've got your alter ego in check while Starswirl's intellect lets me stay the same. This wasn't a simple transformation spell..."

"This was a manifestation summoning".

"A what?" Twilight said in confusion.

"An ancient spell from Starswirl's time" Sunset explained "It was originally conceived to allow ponies to transform into other beings so that they may learn from them. Unfortunately, the spell was too thorough. It made the person it was cast on into the being they wanted to be down to the last detail, with no memory of their regular life. Once again, you and I are the same because Midnight Sparkle's your alter ego and I only got Starswirl's intellect".

"Oy" Twilight groaned with a hand to her face "Just my luck to bring a lost, ancient spell into the modern age by complete accident".

"Yeah, that sounds about right" Spike had to say with a shake of his head.

"Not to worry" Sunset said reassuringly "Starswirl knew how to undo the spell, and that means I know how, too".

"Well, quick!" Twilight shouted as she got in Sunset's face "Tell me how to reverse it so I can change us back and then we can look for the others!"

"It's not that simple" Sunset shook her head "In order to reverse the spell, the conditions need to be repeated exactly: everyone who the spell was cast on must be in the same place where the spell was cast".

"Wait, you mean we have to find everyone and return to the place where Twilight cast the spell in order for anyone to return to normal?" Spike asked in disbelief "That's crazy!"

Sunset shrugged. "Hey, it's a complicated spell that Twilight did".

Twilight groaned. "Alright, then let's find the others and get back to that street so we can undo this mess".

With that, Twilight and Spike headed for the front door.

"Wait," Sunset said slowly, getting the pair's attention "There's more".

"Why do I feel I'm not going to like this?" Spike asked.

With a reluctant sigh, Sunset continued. "The spell must be reversed by midnight. If not, it'll become...permanent".

Twilight and Spike stared at Sunset with wide eyes.

"So wait" Spike was saying "You're saying that if we don't find the others and get them all back to that street by midnight..."

"Then we'll be stuck this way...forever" Sunset reluctantly finished.

Twilight stuttered "Th-That's crazy!"

Sunset sighed. "Like I said, it's a complicated spell".

"Oy" Twilight groaned "There are times when I wish I never discovered magic".

"Well, from the looks of it" Spike said as he looked at a nearby clock "It's 9:30".

"Okay, so that means that we've got two and a half hours to find the others" Sunset said "Let's not waste a second of it! Come on!" With that she ran past Twilight to the door.

"Come on, Twilight!" Spike cried as he followed after Sunset "We've got to move!"

Twilight began to walk after the two when...

"Just less than three hours and you'll be stuck with me for life".

Twilight stopped and looked around the room, but couldn't find any source of the mysterious voice. That was strange. Where did that whisper come from? And didn't it sound like...

"Twilight? Twilight!" Sunset cried out, getting the girl's attention "What's wrong?"

"Oh, uh, it's nothing" Twilight said.

"Well, come on, then!" Spike called out "We're on a tight schedule, remember!"

Deciding to ignore the experience, Twilight walked out the door so that they could locate their friends. At the same time, however, she felt a feeling of dark dread.

She just knew that it was Midnight Sparkle she heard whispering in her ear.

Author's Note:

I wanted to make the chapter longer, but I felt that it would be better if I left it off here, and turn the next scene into a chapter of it's own. Anyway, that's two chapters down, and four to go. I do hope I can get this done by the end of the month, for more reasons than one, but you'll find out what I mean eventually. In any case, be on the look out for the next chapter hopefully this week!

Comments

[OmniFox]

Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie should be easy for them but Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are a different cause.

[Eddy13]

8494411
Uh, Pinkie might be more of a problem than you think. Remember who she was dressed as?

[OmniFox]

8494511
Even crazy has a kink side.

[Xanderfox]

When Twilight first hears Midnight my only thought was "she stuck with you even if the spell is reversed", not that as OCD as Twilight is she wouldn't imagine it different.

[Super Ponyman]

Midnight, now don't you go take over Twilight again, it didn't end well last time, and this is NO time to mount a coup on Twilight's consciousness!