A Similar Shine

by Cyndaquil

3 Meet Twilly

After Cadence left, something descended through the window.

She moved quietly, not wanting to alarm any pony. Spikes head was turned, so he didn’t see or hear her coming.

When she said, “Hi Spike,” in her unavoidably high pitched voice, it alarmed the dragon quite a bit.

Spike sneezed a little fire. Lucky the tea table was made of dragon glass. Spike didn’t know how he felt about the way ponies prepare for him.

He turned to face the obnoxious squeal of a voice. “Hi, how are you doing Flurry Heart.”

“Very well Cousin, I’ll be on the train with you tonight. I’m going to Canterlot, tonight. Me and Auntie Twilight are going dancing together.”

“Uh huh.” Spike was not looking forward to spending a time on a train with her.

“Anyway, I overheard some of what mom was telling you.”

“Her confession, which only I’m supposed to hear.”

“Yes, that confession, I just heard some of it though. I thought the story might have a little more perspective if I filled in a few details.”

“That’s alright, I was there.”

Of course, Flurry heart decided to talk anyway. The original reason she was named Flurry is long forgotten. Now every pony assumes it’s because of the Flurry of words that will inevitably ramble out of her mouth.

---

So, it was Shiny’s fourteenth year. I don’t remember what the actual year was, but he was fourteen. I should probably start a little sooner, but this time makes a good framing device to tell the story, and the details will be filled in somewhere in the character dialogue. We we’re taking a break from the book fair and playing hoof ball together. You can’t hoof ball with just two ponies, so it was more like passing the ball back and forth, y’know.

We hear these bells, and saw an ice cream pony. Shiny offered to get me ice cream, and you know I love ice cream, so he went off, and I was alone for a minute. The ball started rolling off on its own. I knew something was up, because it was rolling uphill. Still, I followed that ball uphill, and into some tree cover, and that’s where I saw Auntie Twilight.

I don’t think she meant to tower over me, that is something that can’t always be helped on account of how tall she is.

“Care to explain young one.”

I hate when she calls me ‘young one.’ I even got my mom to stop doing that. So what if she was already an adult when I was just a baby, relative to how long we’ve both lived, we’re practically the same age.

I asked how she knew it was me, and she said she’d been watching Shiny. She saw him before, and wanted to know what the story was, cause he even has Dad’s cutie mark y’know. She was worried the Changellings had turned bad again, like that’d ever happen.

I was a bit nervous. I’d been afraid she’d catch me for a while, though I’d done this so many times that maybe that day I wasn’t afraid, so it caught me by surprise, y’know.

“Why do you look like a young version of me? And why does that colt look like my brother?”

So I told her the whole story. I had to make it quick cause Shiny would come back any moment with my ice cream.

One night, when Shiny would have been a toddler, my mom fell asleep in her study. It was a cold night, so I went to put a blanket over her. That’s when I saw the report. It was one of those yearly reports, the ones Shiny’s parents sent my mom to document his ‘progress.’

That’s how I figured out that mom created a duplicate of Dad.

Apparently mom didn’t want to meet him until he was grown up, maybe cause she knew it would be weird, grooming a colt to grow up and be your husband.

I was mad at first, but I kinda got how she was feeling, I’d have probably been open to the idea if she’d let me in on it. I still miss Dad too, y’know.

Anyway, I just got impatient, I wanted to spend time with him, y’know. At the time he was still just a colt, and I thought it’d be too weird for him if I just showed up and said, you’re a duplicate of my dad.

I have this magic necklace that Auntie Celestia gave me. It can only make me look like real ponies who existed at some time. If I turned into a younger version of myself, then I’d still be an Alicorn and trying to hang out with my Dad would still be, y’know, complicated.

I’ve read a bunch of stories where, family members who’ve never met felt an instant connection with one another, and I was wondering if that would actually work. Also, I saw some pictures of Dad and Auntie Twilight together when they where little, and they were just cute together, y’know. It kinda makes me jealous, that I never had a brother.

Anyway, I told all this to Twilight, I told it to her really quick, cause Shiny was just off getting ice cream. Auntie had questions, she really wanted to know how I transformed, y’know. I promised I would explain later, but begged her to keep my secret. I made my best baby doll expression, and told her I just wanted to spend time with daddy.

“Oh, young one,” she called me that again, “Shining Armour, he could have had a twin brother when he was alive, or maybe Cadance could have made ten of these biological duplicates. You’d still only have one father.”

“Point taken but…” I nervously looked back. “He’s on his way, he’s looking for me, and he’ll see you. We’ll talk more later but can you please….” My hands were pressed together, as though I were praying to her.

“That part about feeling an instant connection, with family members, you have never met. Does that work in real life?”

“It totally did. Shiny’s so nice, and eager to spend time with me, he must think of me just like a sister. It’s neat y’know, cause Dad was always the adult, and I could never get to know him as just a buddy.”

“Alright, I’ll trust you, and keep your secret, Pinkie swear. Just remember, secrets mustn’t go on too long.”

She kissed me on the forehead and flew off. I breathed a sigh of relief as Shiny appeared with my choco cherry.

So that’s what happened.

---

“I knew all that.”

“What do you mean you knew all that? Auntie Twi promised she would never ever tell. She even Pinkie sweared.”

“I was there. How do you not remember I was there, you even remember what ice cream he bought you! I pinkie sweared just like Twilight.”

“Hold on, I think I hear my mom coming back.”

“One more thing, you said you only overheard part of the confession?”

“Yes. Do you think I was eavesdropping?”

“Probably. Did you overhear the part about...” Spike came in closer and whispered something in her ear.

Flurry turned beat red. Without answering the question, she jumped out the window and flew off.

“Troublemaking Dingbat,” Spike grumbled.

In a moment, Cadence was back.

---

Now where was I? Oh yes, if what came before didn’t seem needing of a confession, and I’m sure it did, then what comes next is worth my shame.

Confronting Twilight was embarrassing and unproductive. However, I thought I might get the upper hand if instead I confronted Twilly.

Author's Note:

Comments

[Neece]

Oh gods this just keeps getting better and better

[AleaJactaEst]

Nevermind, this is exactly my taste

[Cross Lament]

My hands were pressed together,

She's a weird pony!

I wonder how convoluted this is going to get...