The Small of Life

by Jack Lindqvist

Twilight's Solution

It falls down. Everything falls down, on the page. Every little detail must be right, on the page. I feel that I should concentrate, only on the page, and nothing else, none else. No. Nothing else. What should we find on the page but all the details, when everything is done? I don't want to think about this anymore, when everything is done, everything is over. I'm already done.

11-12. Pinkie wakes up. She meets with Rainbow Dash, Zecora, Fluttershy, Applejack, I, and Apple Bloom, in that order.

Applejack always wakes when the sun comes up. That's five to six hours earlier.

Then, of course, there's the issue with the many changelings, who all turned out to be one changeling. What to do with that?

Many details must be remembered, and also, we must take this thing seriously. We must focus.

Finally, we need to revisit Fluttershy's and Rarity's stories and do them justice, but not now. Later.

The most important thing of all is to focus.

---

Another thing. Let's get something straight. I did not know that this changeling would turn out to be such a strange character, and that he would do all these things, unbeknownst to me, and all the others around me, and I just want to say that I'm sorry for the hassle, any and all this might've caused, but we move on then, I guess. There's still much to say, and I don't know where to begin.

Here's for one thing. One changeling has pretended to be the other, but I think this thing might be more complicated, or strange, than we first thought. The one changeling might only have been pretending to be the other one, Anteforn pretending to be Esceforn, or better yet, maybe Anteforn is pretending to be Esceforn right now. Okay, okay. I know. Yes, this is becoming too much. I know. I know. Okay then, but I have a few more thoughts.

Maybe the time-travelling is something only one of them can do, and in which case, that's the one that must be causing most of the trouble, and, hm. The more I think about it, the more something just doesn't make sense.

---

At around ten, I woke up. I know because my sleeping patterns are adjusted to that time, so that's when I will wake up. So much is clear to me. Then, of course, I went to talk to Spike, and I was off to friendship school, but this has been a strange day. I remember that I was supposed to meet Rarity there, but clearly, as I got there, she hadn't arrived yet. This is before anything strange began happening.

Then, I met Applejack. I don't want to rush past any details now. I was sure that the person I met was Applejack, and I had several conversations with her about everything that had happened. She told me all about Apple-land, and then, the second Applejack, which I assume is the real one, arrived. I thought about what to do and what to say. Pinkie knocked on my door. She was worried about spiders. I was about to tell her that this really wasn't the best time, but then I saw the look in her eye. She was afraid, so I let her come in, and we talked for a bit, just about our emotions, and what it means, really means, to be afraid of something.

Then we parted ways. Oh, yes. Pinkie went over all this rather well, and of course, she really does have a good memory, an impeccable one. We parted ways, and another Applejack came running in the door. This might not be as confusing or strange as we first thought.

---

"No, shoot her. I'm the real Applejack." One Applejack pointed to the other. We were in the corridor of my castle, near the front entrance of the building. "She's a stinking imposter."

"I'm not really shooting you. It's just a spell."

"I still think you should shoot that other one." She pointed to the Applejack next to her.

"Don't say shooting. I'm not shooting anyone," I said, rather surprised.

"Why?"

"Because." I sighed, frowning at her, and I got a little angry. "Because it's ridiculous." I then fired my beam at her, shooting yes, nothing but magic, not a bullet and not a death laser.

It wasn't surprising that I then saw a changeling in front of me, and I knew that not all of them could be the real Applejack. I tried the next one, but nothing happened. "Strange."

I went over to the third and final one, and nothing happened either. "Okay, something might be wrong with my magic."

The second one ran out the door. Pinkie was standing there now. She had come back. Hooray for that, but now, I didn't really know what to make of any of it, and it was all getting really strange and confusing in a way it hadn't been before. I figured whether I should run after, or sort things out with the Applejack that was left.

Really though, what happened here is rather obvious, in hindsight. To begin with, nothing was wrong with my magic, so let's just put that out of the question immediately. The way in which this screwup happened is that the Applejacks switched places when I wasn't looking. When wasn't I looking? I wasn't looking when Pinkie came in the door. When I talked to the third Applejack, it was really the second, and real Applejack.

In evidence is the fact that, if you remember Pinkie's story, the location of the Applejacks wasn't really consistent, and at one point, the second Applejack, the middle one, became the third one, and when I shot my beam at her, she really was the second one. Let me take you back a bit.

---

"I guess it must be me. Then again." The other Applejack pointed to the real Applejack. "She's getting away."

Twilight turned to her. "Yeah, but it still has to be you." She shot her beam, but nothing happened. "What the heck?" Twilight said. "What's going on here?" The other Applejack, who was also real, because the beam didn't turn her into a changeling, ran out the door, after the first Applejack. I walked closer to them. The green guy-changeling was still standing around there in the room next to Twilight.

---

Upon closer thought, it's kind of obvious. To Pinkie, the real Applejack was the third one, not the second, and I thought the real one was the second. The second is the one I hit with my beam, and the second one became the third one, because the third one switched places with the second one, right as I hit Applejack with my beam, and I know this because Pinkie almost noticed it. She pointed it out when this happened.

---

"Not for long," Twilight said. She fired the beam at another Applejack, but she remained as apple-y as she had ever been, meaning, I thought, that she was the real Applejack.

---

The room went quiet.

"I don't get it," Pinkie said.

"Maybe," Rainbow said.

"I haven't gotten the chance to talk about what happened yet," Rarity said. "I should get the chance."

I nodded. "I'm not saying you shouldn't, but this whole thing is really getting on my case."

Spike jotted some things down. "This whole thing is getting side-tracked."

"We'll get the tracks back," I said, nodding, and agreeing with him. "It's not over yet, not by a long shot."

"Okay," Pinkie said. "Can I see the book?" Pinkie grabbed the book out of Spike's hand, and he willingly relinquished it. Then, she laughed. "No, that isn't right," she said.

I nodded. "Can I guess?"

"Yes," Pinkie said.

"You meant an other Applejack, not another Applejack."

Rainbow gasped. "Oooh, okay." Then she shook her head. "That's stupid."

"Okay," I said. "It's still what happened."

"Yes," Pinkie said. "I really didn't mean it like that at all."

"Then?" Rainbow said. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Pinkie said. "That the other Applejack and the real Applejack are two different Applejacks, and the other Applejack, not being the real one, is the one that was hit with the beam, not the real one, who I thought was the fake one."

"Not only," Rainbow said, "does that make no sense, like at all. It also flies in the face of what happened. The point is that the one that got hit with the beam escaped."

"Yes," I said.

"Am I missing something?" Rainbow said.

"No," I said.

"Then what the heck is going on?"

I looked at Pinkie.

"I get it," Pinkie said. "That's actually clever."

Rainbow looked between us. "What the heck is going on?"

---

Pinkie stood in front of us, looking at me. I turned Esceforn, who is apparently Anteforn's brother. Don't ask me what's going on or why we are even still on this. I turned Esceforn into a normal changeling. Then, Pinkie looked the other direction. Why? Because someone was running out the room. Then, I did it again, and nothing happened. That had to have been the real Applejack. At least, we can say it was, to preserve our sanity.

---

"Who ran out the door?" Rainbow said.

"Applejack," I said.

"Explain."

---

It's that simple. One of the Applejack's, the one I didn't turn into a changeling, because it was the real Applejack, ran out the door. Sadly, I thought the changeling was still in the room, but he left, and then, the third and final Applejack, the one I didn't shoot with the beam, took his place, turning into Esceforn.

---

Rainbow stared at me. "What?"

"It's that simple," I said, excited that I had solved it, maybe. Had I?

"Oh," Pinkie said. "It's all because I looked the other way. I didn't see that the changeling left the room."

"No," Rainbow said. "Applejack left the room."

"This whole thing," I said, "has been a colossal waste of time."

Pinkie got up in the face of Rainbow Dash. "Don't you get it? We've been duped. Boondoggled. Swindled, Rainbow Dash. Swindled."

"We've been swindled?"

"Yes," Pinkie said. "Swindled out of our boots."

"We, um, have boots?" she said.

"Yes, out of our boots."

I took a deep breath, steadying myself. "This is just a theory, but really, we don't have a lot to go on."

"No," Rainbow said. "This is stupid and confusing. Stop trying to answer questions that you don't have any answers for. It's a waste of time, and effort. It doesn't lead anywhere."

"Maybe," Twilight said, holding up Anteforn's book. "We could use this to help us."

"How?"

---

Twilight stood next to the three Applejacks, and Pinkie was across from her, in the other side of the room. Then, Pinkie turned around. She must've heard something. Actually, not knowing it, the thing she heard was the changeling leaving the room. So imagine this for a moment. Pinkie saw Twilight. Then, Twilight turned the one Applejack into a changeling. Then, that changeling ran out the door, and Twilight shot her beam at him. The changeling turned into Pinkie Pie, and then, ran out the door. Twilight hit Pinkie with the beam, rather than the changeling.

---

"So my stupid-meter is going off," Rainbow said. "That doesn't even make sense with what happened."

"How so?" Twilight said.

"Pinkie ran away? You never said anything about that, and if she ran away, and there were one Applejack and one changeling left, then that doesn't explain anything, and how did said changeling get back into the room?"

"Because," I said, "he was there when we left? Yes, you're right. It's not as if I have all the answers, exactly, but instead of being negative, maybe you could, I don't know, help? Be of help? I'd like that."

"Whatever," Rainbow said. "What else does it say in that book?"

"Nope," I said. "That's it."

"That's stupid."

"Whatever. Maybe it is."

"It's extremely stupid."

I looked at Rainbow, and then to Pinkie, and then to the rest. "We're stuck in some kind of weird web of confusion that's been created between us."

"Yes," Pinkie said. "And it's getting worse. This guy is trying to confuse us."

I nodded, again. "That's what he said."

"We still haven't solved anything," Rainbow said.

"Hm," I said. "Hm."

---

"What happened then?"

"Then," I told Pinkie, "you came running in the door."

We were now walking to Sweet Apple Acres, and before anything else happened, I was trying to get my story straight with Pinkie, and see if she agreed with me that all this indeed is what happened, and that I'm not wrong about any of it.

"I only did it," Pinkie said, "because someone else came running in the door. It was a mare. I didn't even know her. I don't think she even lives in Ponyville."

"Of course," I said, "we've already come to the conclusion that there's more than one changeling, so there's nothing surprising about that."

"But when I got inside, there was only you and three Applejacks."

"Wait a minute," I said. "That doesn't make any sense."

---

I looked at Rainbow Dash, waiting for Spike to write the last part down. "The more I think about it." I paused. "No, that can't be right."

"What can't be right?" Rainbow said, crossing her arms, and flying way up in the air, looking down on me. Of course, she wanted to look down on me, so she could take the social high-ground, in the conversation. "What can't be right?"

"The third Applejack entered the room when there were already three Applejacks in there?"

"You have to be honest," Rainbow said. "You're clinging to details. Another and an other? A third Applejack? A fourth one? A second Pinkie?"

"I admit. It's a stretch, but it's all we have to go on, so far."

"It's nothing to go on," Rainbow said.

"Now, now." Rarity entered into the conversation. "Let's not let that changeling get in-between us again."

"I just think we're talking about a whole bunch of nothing," Rainbow said. "Living in Ponyville and being around you guys has never been this confusing."

Rarity just got quiet.

Rainbow looked away from her, and stared blankly. "I just shoved my own foot in my mouth, didn't I?"

"No," Twilight said. "You're right. There's something off. It's like a curse."

"A curse?" Rainbow said. "Yes, a curse."

"We'll figure it out though," I said. "I know we will.

---

Spike was writing down the last of the conversation that Twilight had with the others.

"Still," she said. "Maybe I don't need to reverse-engineer everything that happened before. I mean, he got arrested, didn't he?"

"Yes," Spike said. "Several times. What if another one is out there somewhere?"

"One can only wonder," Twilight said. "One can only wonder."

"By the second, this whole thing is confusing me more and more," Spike said. "What if there's another one out there?"

"Yes," she said. "Yes."

"I don't know what to do about any of this," he said. "Should we just continue on like this? Should we keep making a big deal of this whole thing?"

"Something is not right," Twilight said. "I can feel it. I can just feel it."

"What do you mean?"

"One changeling couldn't have exited the room with three Applejacks, because then, there wouldn't have been one changeling left."

"Honestly," Spike said. "None of that made any sense. You just went in a giant circle."

"I know," Twilight said. "I know."

"I think you're right though," he said. "There's one more thing that we need to solve, and I can't put my claw on it."

"Maybe," she said, "he didn't leave at all. Maybe he was still there in the room, as the other changeling, the fourth Applejack entered."

"There never was a fourth Applejack," he said.

"No," she said. "No, there sure never was a fourth one, but there's something more. There's something I'm missing here, and I think I'm starting to figure it out, maybe, just maybe."

"What?" he said.

"I got it," Twilight said. "I think I got it, but if, and, all of that. It's still crazy, if it's true, but I can test my hypothesis."

---

"Ahoy," Twilight said, walking aboard Captain Spider's ship once more. "I want an audience."

"With whom would you like an audience?" Captain Spider said, greeting Twilight.

All the others were there too. Matey Jelly came up and hugged Twilight.

"With our prisoner?"

"Yes," Captain Spider said. "I figured you would say that."

"I didn't know what to do with you," Twilight said. "You're not crazy like the other guy. You were just confused, or were you?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Esceforn said, still tied around the mast. "This whole thing is not what I wanted to be seen. Everything that happened has been really, you know, mean."

"I thought about what happened in my castle."

"Oh, did you?" he then said.

Twilight just looked at him. Then she continued. "How could there be two real Applejacks?"

"Maybe you're just confused," he said.

Twilight noticed that he had stopped rhyming. "And then, I realized something."

"What?"

Twilight stared at him, waiting for him to say something. "I think it's rather obvious, don't you?"

"What's obvious?"

Twilight looked at him, shaking her head. "Really, it would be much better for you, and for me, if you just fessed up."

Esceforn shook his head at that. "Fess up? Why would I need to fess up? Why? Why?"

"There were two real Applejacks in there, and there were two changelings in there."

Esceforn shook his head. "No."

"Yes, and the proof is of course that the both of them were fakes. Didn't you paint the real Applejack black? When in her story did she clean off?"

"You're right," he said. "I made it too obvious."

Twilight then shot her beam at him, and he turned into the black changeling with the scar. "Whoops. Ho-ho-ho-hoops!"

"Yes," she said. "As I thought."

"Tch, you ruined the fun," he said. "This could've been a lot more fun if you hadn't taken the whole thing so seriously, h- h- hun."

"The show ends," Twilight said.

"Okay," he said. "So what? Hey! I'm the real guy, caught! What's the big fuss? Don't be such a, um, wuss?"

"I'm beginning to suspect something much worse," she said. "I think you're all the real guy, and I don't know how many more there are of you out there."

"I see," he said. "How me?"

"Because we never actually got any real confirmation that was your brother, and that person, in all actuality, was you, so you see? Where is your brother, if you really have one? And who are you exactly? Enough with the games."

"You don't even know," he said. "I'm just here because I'm in love with the show."

"What's the show?"

"Oh, I love messing with ponies, like you."

Twilight was beyond herself. "Messing with ponies?"

"I love messing with ponies, like you, and I happen to be powerful enough to do it- ooonies," he said, shrieking the last word out. "You know why, my little firefly?"

"Why?"

"Because all's well that–"

Twilight grabbed his mouth in a hue of magic and pushed it together. "You've ruined our day. You're ruined the perfect structure of our lives."

"Whatever do you mean?" he said.

Twilight was aghast. "None of this was supposed to happen the way it happened. Everything is chaos now. I remember what Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack said. Their days had been the weirdest ever, and it's because none of this was supposed to happen. It's all been a sham, and a lie."

"Can you prove it, my butterbean?"

"Stop making such comments," she said. "It's absolutely pointless, and absurd, and stupid."

He was just quiet, quietly looking at her.

"Also, there's something else," she said. "What is your real name?"

He shook his head. "Maybe I just don't have a name, b- because I think names are lame, and stupid. Putrid."

"Is your real name Esceforn?"

He was only quiet, not even looking at her now.

"What is the road out of all this?" Twilight said. "What is the solution?"

---

Twilight's Solution

I'm writing this letter to you, Thorax, because I'm in a bit of a tussle, and I don't know what to do. I seek your guidance and help. For one thing, there's something seriously strange with this changeling, and I still can't figure out what it is. You may know by now what it is I'm talking about. He can travel in time, and he has strange ways, and somehow, he has taken over our lives in a way that makes it impossible for us to focus, and live in peace. We constantly have arguments, really, about nothing -- who did what and why. Who is a changeling? Who isn't one? Is no one a changeling? Is everyone a changeling? I've come to realize that there is no fast and easy solution to this problem, but as I've thought more and more about it, I've realized some things, some important things.

First of all, you never came here, did you? I figured that out, since you said things that I would never hear you say. You said things like, "Believe it or not, we've had worse cases than this before," which I'm sure is not true, based on our history together, and everything that has happened, and there are many details that seem off. You barely said a word to us. I might be wrong about this. It's possible that I'm just being paranoid, but I don't think so, and just to be safe, I'm sending this letter in a way that can't be intercepted, using Spike. I hope you will come here soon, if you haven't already.

Another interesting tidbit is that this changeling has multiplied in the last few days, and there has become more and more of him. Of course, I've made sure to check that it isn't one of my friends, which has actually happened, once or twice, which is disturbing, and slightly worrying, but also, I know that I can do something about it, so that's good too, and I'm happy. I think there's a way to solve this, but it won't be easy. Imagine this for a moment. Each time he goes back in time, he has to go forward in time again, so he can travel back and forth, and not get stuck there. If he was only acting at a single point in time, then that wouldn't be a problem. The issue is that it's all spread out, and that's what makes the whole problem so, well, problematic.

It's important to note that there actually aren't several of him, there is just one, but he's travelled back in time several times and so, it seems like there are several of him. There aren't. There's only one, and that one has to be located somewhere, in the present, or in the future. If someone travels back in time for five minutes, then he can't be in the present for five minutes. For every second of time you steal, you have to give it back, but then, that also means that the present has to come somewhere. Somewhere is the one that has travelled back in time, being in the present, and continuing to do so, and then, travelling forward in time again, so he can get back, and do it again. Does that make sense? I hope it is. I'm still not completely sure of it myself.

As always, take care. I'll hear from you later.

Signed, Twilight Sparkle.

---

"Hey, Spike. Send the letter." He did. Then everything seemed fine. Nothing new had happened after the last day, so the dust may have settled a bit.

A single book in Twilight's bookshelf moved and out from behind it came a bug. It grew into a full-grown changeling.

"Yes, I'm still here."

Twilight looked at him. "Why though? This thing has gone from ridiculous to absurdly strange. Why even? What do you want? Apple-land?"

"Dear," he said. "I just want anything that is a show, Apple-land included, because I love pretending, but I'm not deluded. I know you guys don't like me. Big deal. In the end you will all see. Then, your fate is sealed, already."

"What?" Twilight said.

"I'll keep this going forever, and I'll have your names on a sheet. I am clever. I want you all to sign my paper, and greet me at the door, when I leave, and soon, Rainbow-topia will be a thing too, because it's true. I'm cleverer than you."

"What?" Twilight said again.

He whispered something. Twilight looked at him. Then he disappeared.

---

I looked at Applejack's house.

---

"I know you did," Spike said.

"I think it's also important to note," Twilight said, that travelling back and forth in time like that can be extremely dangerous.

---

"Hey!" I looked at the book. "Hey, you guys." The book was getting filled up with new stuff.

"What is it, Spike?"

"Hey, look at the book," he said. "It's changing."

"How is it changing?"

"It's- it's saying what's happening right now."

"Oh," Twilight said. "It's incredibly annoying, obnoxious, and creepy too, but it's good that you mentioned it anyway. It can be useful to know when it happens, and in what context."

Spike looked at Twilight. "Doesn't that mean he's right here in the room with us?"

"Maybe," she said. "Where could it be then?" She did the spell, shooting a waterfall of magic across a wall that floated down. "I don't see anything over here." She tried all four walls of the room. "No, nothing." Then she sat down. "I don't know, Spike. I really don't know, but if there's a solution to this thing, it's certainly passed right under my nose."

"Something seems impossible about all this," Spike said. "Like a trick is being played. Pure chaos. Everything has gotten more and more chaotic."

"Yeah," she said. Then, she blinked. "Yes, wait." She stood up. "I got it."

"Got what?"

"Let's go see the spirit of chaos."

"Oh," Spike said. "Yes, let's."

---

Discord laughed. He cackled. "I don't see what the problem is. Do you, Spike?" Spike didn't say anything. "It's hilarious."

"Okay," Twilight said. "Can you fix it?"

That just made Discord laugh even louder. "What do you want me to do?" He flicked a tear out of his eye that fell down, grew, and landed on Twilight, soaking her.

"It says here in the book. Ehum. He is the noticer of things, and he is the one that has been observing these ponies as they tell their stories, and he is here. He is real. He is actual. He exists."

"So what?" Discord said, smiling.

"Also," Twilight said. "He, in his own mind, was only an actor, among actors, observing himself and others. He liked doing so, and what you're currently reading are his thoughts."

Discord grinned, and coughed. "Okay, okay. Give me a second." He grabbed a brown paper bag out of nowhere and laughed into it. It grew larger than Twilight, and then, it exploded, its pieces slapping against Twilight's face, as they bounced off in all directions. "Okay, I'm good," he said.

"Yes," Twilight said. "So something is going on. This person is clearly spying on us."

"Oh, what do you know?" Discord said.

"He isn't?"

Discord landed in front of Twilight. "I didn't say he wasn't." He flew up, and landed behind her. "What do you think, Spike my friend?"

"You don't anything seriously," Spike said.

"What do you expect?" Discord said, extending his arms, and shrugging. "This whole thing is ridiculous. You could defeat me, but you can't defeat a person who's not even trying to harm you?"

"In the one case, we knew what you were doing, but we don't even know what motivates this person," Twilight said. "Where is he? He could be anywhere, and if we knew what he wanted, then we could locate him, the same way we have with other villains."

"Have you considered this, Twilight?" Discord said.

"What? Have I considered what?"

Discord laughed. "Maybe that's exactly what he wants."

"What?"

"Exactly."

"What?"

Discord pinched Twilight's cheek. "Oh, you look so cute when you're confused."

"Okay," Twilight said, cheek pinched. "I still don't get it." Discord let go.

"Listen," he said. "Back when I was, um, evil? Is that the word? Back before I met Fluttershy, I think is more accurate. I used to do this kind of thing all the time. I tried to make ponies think I was everywhere at once, to confuse them. Why?"

"Why?" Twilight said.

"I don't know," Discord said, shrugging. "I thought it was fun. Dare I say it? It was like a show."

"Have you read the book?" Twilight said, looking suspicious.

"Look inside the book," Discord said, rolling his eyes.

Twilight scrolled through the pages, and in there was an eye. The page was covered in slime. The eye fell out.

"But you already have two eyes," Twilight said, looking up at his face.

"Oh, posh," Discord said, peeling off an eye-shaped sticker that was in place of where an eye would be. "Come here, you," he said. His eye slowly bounced toward him.

"Discord!" Twilight said.

The eye rolled off. "No," Discord said, chasing after it. "You scared it."

"Discord," Twilight said, more quietly. "Please, my friend."

Discord turned around, only one eye in his face. Then he walked up to Twilight. His other eye rematerialized into the socket, out of nowhere.

"What is it?" he said. "What do you want?"

"Can you bring them all here?"

"No," Discord said.

Twilight cocked her head, slightly. "Is it that you can't, or that you don't want?"

Discord shrugged. "I just can't. I don't know."

"What do you mean?" Twilight said, now calm, and much more serene than before.

"There are several possibilities," Discord said. "It's possible that there aren't several of them, and that he's just been playing some kind of trick on you."

"I know that can't be true," Twilight said.

"Or," Discord said. "He has some type of way of blocking my magic. Look." He snapped his fingers, and a single changeling with a scar appeared out of thin air, suspended, and landed on the ground. "There's only one," Discord said, lifting him up. "What do we do?" he said, pretending to faint, falling apart on the ground.

"Discord," Twilight said, touching his body. "I know you're still awake." He didn't move. "Discord, please. Discord. Discord." Twilight sighed.

"You need some help?" the changeling with the scar said.

"I don't know what's going on," Twilight said. "There can't only be one of you."

"You need some–" Discord rose up and picked him up, making him pipe down.

"Now," Discord said. "What are you exactly?" He held up the changeling in one hand.

"Yelp," the changeling said, not really saying anything after that, and then, his body started melting, turning into a mass of colors. The thick gunky fluid melted out of Discord's hand.

"Hm," Discord said, and snapped his fingers, but the changeling just melted into the ground, until there was nothing but a puddle. Discord snapped his fingers again. "Curious."

"What's curious?" Twilight said.

"Oh," Discord said. "I don't know."

"What's curious?" Twilight said, again.

Discord pointed at the puddle. "He seems to have melted. Is that your judgement too, or do you have a different opinion, Twi?" He leaned toward Twilight, staring earnestly into her eyes, and indeed, locking eyes with her.

"You don't know what it is?" she said.

"No," he said.

Spike walked up and touched the puddle. Some of it got on his hand, and then, it ran up his body, and jumped off, running back toward the place where it originated.

Spike touched his head. "I'm not even wet."

"Go figure," Discord said, as if it was obvious. "He's not really a liquid. He's a person."

"Okay," Twilight said. "So what have we figured out here exactly?"

"Nothing," Discord said, smiling, grinning. "But it was still fun. Thank you for that, Twilight."

"Okay," she said, feeling dizzy. "You're welcome."

"You can call me, or whatever, when something new happens," Discord said. "Now I," he said, chortling. "I- I..." He burst out laughing. "Need to go. Hahaha. Ridiculous. Stupi–" he said, and he was gone.

"Okay," Twilight said, again. "Okay then."

---

"Hey, Spike," Twilight said. "You are Spike, aren't you?"

Spike frowned. "Twilight, I've been with you the whole time."

"Right," she said. "Right. I just feel paranoid. Can I just?" And then, she shot the beam at Spike, not even really finishing her question. Nothing happened.

"Twilight," he said, angrily. "Cut it out."

"Right," she said. "Right. I'm sorry."

"Twilight, you know me," he said.

"Yes," she said. "I do."

---

"What to make of it? What to make of it?" Twilight said. "I will solve this mystery, but I can't do it alone."

Rainbow glared a bit, looking unsure. "Aren't you just being kind of obsessive, Twi? I mean, it's over now, right?"

Twilight, rather than saying anything, handed the book to Rainbow.

"But why?" Rainbow said. "Why would a person even do this?"

"We don't know," Twilight said. "We truly don't know."

---

I was in the farm, and I met with a bunch of ponies, including you, Rainbow Dash, though I venture to guess that wasn't really you. Making sense of all this has become difficult, but at least, I think we're making progress. I was talking to Pinkie, but we got separated, and then, I found her at the barn, and Applejack was there too. Why? How? I don't know, but I want to find out. I spoke to Pinkie, and she said that she was happy to see me, and then, something happened. Something weird happened. I got hit with one of those arrows. Um, no, darts.

---

"Wait a minute," Rainbow said. "What did you just call it? Why, I'd never." She laughed.

"Yes," Twilight said.

Rainbow laughed. "You sure you're the real Twilight?"

Applejack bit Rainbow's tail and pulled her closer. "Rainbow," she said.

"I'm just joking, Applejack," Rainbow said. "Hey, Twilight. Those are some funny memories, aren't they?"

"Okay," Twilight said, trying to focus. "Okay then."

Rainbow Dash glanced toward Applejack. "I hope she really is Twilight."

Applejack just groaned, and drew her hat down so it covered her face. She said nothing, just groaning.

"Okay then," Rainbow said. "Continue please, will you?"

"Yes," Twilight said.

---

This has all been a strange affair, a complicated one, but we'll make sense of it, eventually. I was in the barn, and then, another Twilight came running, and she hit me with the dart, and when I woke up, the barn was empty. Figure that, you guys.

---

"No," Pinkie said. "That's not what happened. It's Applejack that got hit with the dart."

Twilight shrugged. "I'm just telling the story as I remember it."

"No, you're not," Pinkie said.

"I'm not?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" Twilight said, carefully.

"Yes," Pinkie said. Pinkie then called out into the corridor, outside the map-room, that they were currently in, "Starlight."

Twilight just stood there, not saying anything. Then Starlight Glimmer came running.

"It's Twilight," Pinkie said. Starlight did the anti-changeling spell on Twilight, and her appearance reversed into that of a changeling.

"I made it a bit too obvious there," he said. "Didn't I?"

"Where's Twilight?" Starlight said, more confused than angry, and not threatened by this stranger in the slightest.

Twilight came walking in the door. "Oh my gosh," she said.

Starlight did the spell on her but nothing happened.

"Thank you," Twilight said.

"I don't want you to leer," he said. "I don't want you to sigh. I want you all to be happy, happy as pie."

Pinkie instinctively looked toward him. "What are you even doing?"

"I don't know," he said, "but I do know one thing."

"What?" Pinkie said. "What is it?"

"No," Twilight said, plugging his mouth. He slurred through the hue of magic that was plugged into his mouth. "No, he will disappear again."

"Not that it matters," Starlight said. "Even if you keep him here, you can't keep him here. He'll show up someplace else anyway."

"How did you do it?" Twilight said, letting go of his mouth.

"I can't say, oh no," he said. "You have to figure it out for your of sake, th- thing, ding. Bing. K–"

"No," Twilight said, plugging his mouth again. "Please, tell us."

"Twi," Pinkie said. "He can't very well talk with his mouth plugged up, can he?"

Twilight let go of him. "Rainbow Dash is right. This thing is stupid."

Rainbow frowned. "She just said I was right. Do the beam again."

"I already did," Starlight said, shaking her head.

"No," Rainbow said, decisively. "Do it again."

She did. Twilight turned into a changeling.

"What the heck?" Rainbow said. "Is the spell deficient?" Rainbow looked to where the other changeling had been, but he appeared to be gone.

He laughed. "It's still funny to me that you haven't figured it out yet. It's not even that hard, I'll bet."

"What?" Rainbow said. "What?"

"Hm," Pinkie said, putting on her detective hat. "Hm."

"What?" Rainbow said, again.

Twilight came walking down the corridor, and into the room, the same way she had last time.

"Now, this presents a problem," Starlight said, looking to the opening from the corridor, and back at her friends, and the chortling changeling. "How do we know you're the real Twilight?"

"Just do the spell on me," she said.

Pinkie started laughing.

"Really," Twilight said. "Not now, Pinkie."

"All's well that ends well," Pinkie said.

The changeling walked up to Pinkie. He had thus far stood behind her, and now, he locked eyes with her, blocking off her view of Twilight.

"Really?" he said. "You're the one to figure it out. Seriously- ly? Serious? S- seri- oh forget it," he said, sitting down on the ground, and pouting.

"I can't tell if you're just acting silly," Pinkie said. "Where did you learn how to do that?"

"But you're stupid," he said. "You can't be the one to figure it out, Pinkie the- Pinkie the ID."

"No, I'm not," Pinkie said.

"Yes, you are."

"No."

"So far," he said, standing up.

"Hey, Starlight," Pinkie said. "Can't you do a spell on him that stops him from doing magic?"

"O- okay," Starlight said. She did.

"Now, let's talk," Pinkie said, smiling.

He smiled back. "All's well th–"

"Twilight," Pinkie said. "Let him do it."

Twilight just let go, without saying anything.

"All's well that ends well," he said. Nothing happened. "All's well- hell," he said, taking a breath. "All's well that ends well." Nothing happened, again.

"Well, I did do that spell on him," Starlight said.

"Exactly," Pinkie said. "Now, do it so that he can do magic, again." Starlight did. Pinkie smiled at him. The room was quiet.

He didn't say anything.

"All's well that ends well," Pinkie said.

He just jumped up into the air, looking around.

"All's well that ends well," she said, again.

He sighed. "All's well that ends well," he said. Nothing happened. "Pray tell," he said. "Could you tell me the way out of the castle?"

Starlight just stared. "Something stupid is going on," she said.

"He could never travel in time," Pinkie said. "Isn't that kind of obvious by now?"

Twilight walked in the room. "It's simple, really," she said. "To be in several places at once, oh, I don't want to ruin it for Pinkie."

Starlight shot her magic beam at Twilight, but nothing happened, and then, Twilight rubbed her hoof against her own fur. It left a mark, though it was faint. Twilight took a few deep breaths. Then, she grabbed her own hair in a green hue and pulled it off, putting it on the floor. Twilight took a few more deep breaths, and her skin seemed to loosen a bit. She stretched out her legs, and then, she walked out of the skin, leaving it on the floor.

"Really," the now black creature said, transforming back into Twilight, through a green fire that surrounded him. "There are more ways of disguising yourself than one."

"What?" Starlight said. She looked to where the changeling had been a second ago, as there should now be two in the room, but the other was gone. "Huh?"

"There was only ever one of me," the fake-Twilight then said. "Gosh, you're all so boring. Can't you just let loose for a minute and look at how fun this all is?"

"But the other guy," Starlight said.

"Yeah." Rainbow landed beside her. "What about the other guy?"

He laughed, that being the fake-Twilight, not the real one. Then, Twilight came walking down the corridor.

Pinkie stood back. She looked at the changeling, and then at Twilight, who was in the other end of the room. Then, she took another step back, and another one. The changeling disappeared, and then, there was only Twilight, standing in the corridor. Pinkie took a step closer, and he reappeared, and Twilight disappeared, and then, Pinkie touched him.

"All's well that ends well," the one that Pinkie was next to said. "Right, Twilight?" It was empty at the door now, but everyone was still confused, except for Pinkie.

"Silly," Pinkie said. Pinkie ran to the shelf, picked out a small book, and threw it toward the door of the room, and the corridor outside shattered, and fell to pieces. "This is too easy," Pinkie then said, bringing a pipe out her pocket, and blowing bubbles out of it.

"But how could you be everywhere at once?" Rainbow said.

The fake-Twilight laughed. "All I had to do was plant a seed of doubt. Nothing more. You did the rest on your own. I wasn't everywhere at all."

"Where were you then?" Rainbow said.

"Okay," Twilight said. "I'll tell the story. It's funny, really funny."

---

Applejack arrived at the train station very early in the morning. I knew she would, since I sent her the invitation myself. Heheheh! And then, of course, I pretended to receive her baggage, which was prime-time to steal her invitation, just to mess with her, and then, as I entered the train, I brought her baggage into the front-car on the train, you know. I brought it into the place where you hew coal and stuff. I threw the baggage into the coal-fire-pit-thingy, and then, and then, when the driver came in the door, I pretended to be him, and scared him away. It was easy-peasy. When Applejack arrived, all I had to do was act a little crazy, and none of that was a hassle. It was simple, and fun. I messed with her a little bit, and then, I had to leave the train, to make sure I got to Apple-land before she did. I made sure to empty out the oven that has coal in it, just a little bit, so I could be faster than the train, and get there in time.

This is funny. I pretended to be the manager of Apple-land, when in all actuality, it has its own manager. Applejack met with him. Of course, in my brilliance, I tried making her out to be the bad guy, using cues in the crowd, but Applejack is smart, and she outsmarted me in all that, and then, I hit her with my dart and brought her to a room, and I made her look like a changeling, just to give you guys a clue. She ran out, after I released her, and next is the part where I pretended to be the manager, and then, I followed Applejack to Ponyville, saying that I wanted to meet with Zecora. I did, but first, I had to lose Applejack, so I ran around the train a few laps, until she had left, and she of course must've thought everyone was a changeling. Pinkie thought that Applejack wasn't Applejack probably, and rather, that she was just a black pony, when they met up before going to Zecora.

---

Pinkie nodded. "That's when you asked me to tell you something only I would know," she said to Applejack.

Applejack looked like she had been hit with a truck, or something. She just stood there in the map-room, gaping.

---

Anyway, I tied up Zecora, and tried scaring her a little bit. Then, I got out into town to have some fun. I made Pinkie think I was Zecora, and then, one thing led to the next. I had to be a bit resourceful to trick Twilight, but I finally got the idea to dress up as Applejack, and make sure to walk in the room right before she got there. Then, there would be three Applejacks. Why? Oh, no reason. Can you guess?

---

"Was it a mirror?" Starlight said.

"No," he said. "That wouldn't have worked." He was still pretending to be Twilight. "Think again."

"Where is Twilight by the way?"

"Oh," he said. "I led her off on a wild goose chase."

"Where?"

The fake-Twilight shook her head. "She's with Spike, parading around Ponyville, trying to look for clues still. Silly Twilight."

---

You almost had it before, but of course, walking around the other Applejacks could've just led to me getting caught, and switching the order wouldn't have worked, because the room was full of eyes, and ponies looking, so I had another idea. I came in the room. Twilight said hello to me, and then, I left. Then, I came into the room again, dressed up as Applejack, and then, I left. Now, I bet Twilight was getting confused. Then, I dressed myself up as Applejack, and I used the element of surprise. When Twilight wasn't looking, I teleported out of my suit, and left it standing there.

---

"A suit?" Pinkie said. She grabbed the creepy Halloween Twilight skin and held it up. It sank down into the ground. "It doesn't stand on its own. Your story doesn't fit."

"Give me your pipe," Twilight said in response, grabbing it and pulling it out of Pinkie's grip, but she didn't see any magic.

"How?" Pinkie said.

Fake Twilight handed it back. Pinkie looked inside it. The magic field was shining, but it was inside the pipe.

"Oh, really?" Pinkie said.

---

It was perfect. Then, I just had to make the real Applejack come there, and come to think of it, make her body-paint go away. I located her outside Zecora's house not all that long before I got to Ponyville, and I thought that when Applejack came into the castle, or close to it, I would pounce, but she didn't, so I shot some random pony with a dart and dressed her up as Applejack. It was simple, really, and then, when Twilight tried to be all clever and do her spell on me, all I had to do was act cool, and make it seem as if the spell made my suit come off, and then, I turned into a green changeling, and it's all really simple when you think about it. It all goes back to this trick, and this assumption, that you all had about changelings and how they always must be using magic to turn into other ponies.

For the rest of the day, I mostly just lured in the bushes and shot ponies with darts. I made a trap, no, two traps, one in Sweet Apple Acres, and one at Zecora's house, and then, the traps were sprung. That was funny. I turned into a bug, and a snake, and all sorts of things, and watched it from a distance, like Discord would, before he became lame.

---

"How did you get around?" Pinkie said. "I demand an explanation."

She shot a bubble that exploded in Twilight's face.

"Changelings have magic too," Twilight said, teleporting to the door, and then back. "So you see how I'm the smartest guy in the universe, right?" she said, smiling. "Wasn't that fun? You want to do it again?"

"Somehow," Pinkie said, "I feel like you hijacked something else that was going on. Is that just me, you guys?"

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, we were having fun. You just want to make everything about you." She pointed at Twilight. "That's lame. That's the real lame thing here."

"All's well that ends well," she said, teleporting back to the door. "Good luck catching me."

Then, she was hovered up, and the glass on the floor was moved to the sides, and Twilight and Spike walked in.

"Hey, guys. I solved it. It turns out he was dressing out in a suit, and getting around the effects of the counter-spell that way. I'll tell you all about it right now, but first, let's trap this guy so he doesn't escape, and don't worry. There's only one of him. It was all a trick all along. I realized that because–"

"We know," everyone said in unison.

"But don't you want to hear my explan–"

"No!"

"Okay," Twilight said, quieting down. "What happened when I was gone?"

"It's all documented in my book," fake-Twilight said. "For posterity."

"Okay," Twilight said.

"By the way," fake-Twilight said. "I was already trapped. They were about to catch me, Twilight. You did nothing to help them. If anything, you were just in their way."

"Wow," Twilight said, looking to the others. "Can you believe this guy?"

He teleported out of Twilight's grip and into another room. Twilight teleported and was gone for a few seconds. Then, she came back, with her arm around him.

"I think this will be useful," she said, putting a small ring around his horn.

"Yes, anti-magic artifacts. Yay. I haven't seen that one before," he said, still looking like Twilight. Then, he turned back into a changeling.

"Tomorrow, Thorax will arrive here," Twilight said.

"Whatever," he said. "You think you're so clever. I'll make it harder next time. I'll make the challenge impossible to climb."

"There won't be a next time," Twilight said.

"Oh, well see about that. Big cat."

Pinkie stepped to Twilight, smiling at her, still wearing the hat, and holding the pipe. "How did you figure it out?"

Another pony came walking in the room, holding something. It was a suit, that looked like the skin and fur of Applejack. The pony in question was none other than Lyra Heartstrings.

"Hello there," he said to her, smiling. She just walked up to him and kicked him in the face. He collapsed on the ground. "Oh, dear." Then, he was unconscious.

---

"There are more things to do," I said, writing down my own thoughts into the little diary we had created, Twilight and the others.

"What?" Twilight said.

"Let's finish what we started. It was fun, wasn't it? Before the whole thing with the thing happened, that is. Wasn't it?"

"You know what, Spike?" Pinkie said, hugging me. "I think that's a splendid idea."

"Then," Spike said, "who wants to tell the story of Captain Spider?"

Rainbow said, "I vote for Pinkie, honestly. I think she was best narrator, a dark-horse talent."

"Okay," Pinkie said.

"Yeah," Applejack said, and the others quietly agreed, and so it was.

I still had a weird feeling that this whole thing wasn't over yet, and what in the world was this changeling's problem? There were still many unanswered questions, but that's for another time, I think. Now, it's time for fun, and who doesn't like that?