bing...
bing...
bing...
bing...
bing... bing... bing...
Raising from the fog of unconsciousness, she tried to open her eyes. Attempt 1: too hard. Attempt 2: too blurry. On the third attempt she managed to keep them open long enough to discern some shapes.
Medical equipment.... that would explain the beeping. And a bed. Oh... what happened...
One of the shapes started to rise. With a few blinks, it resolved itself into a nurse; a happy expression appeared on the pony’s face, though it seemed strained somehow. She struggled to hear the words that the nurse was emitting.
“...glad you’re finally... ...out for three... ...get the prin...”
With a smile and a friendly pat, the nurse walked out... door, yes, that was the word. The world of sound once again became the constant sounds of medical equipment. She glanced down, trying to see what was wrong... but, no, her vision was still hazy. Instead she turned to a screen, noting how it matched with the pings. Her ears began to flicker as her hearing returned; experimentally she tried stretching, finding all her legs and wings reacting as expected. So she hadn’t been critically injured...
Something was off. She didn’t know why, but the stretches felt weird.
The door opened once again, the nurse leading in two... alicorns, yes, she remembered the word much easier this time. Her gaze flicked over them, dark and light; they had an expression halfway between relief and sadness on their faces.
“It’s good to see you are awake.” The light one. Celestia? Yes, that fit.
She smiled at them, more memories falling back. “Well, not entirely. I still feel... fuzzy.” She brought a hoof to her throat. “And my voice is weird...?”
Celestia and Luna shared a glance. She didn’t even need to think that time, the name just came.
“...That might be because of your condition,” Luna hazarded.
Speaking of names, what was her name? She tried to search her cascading memory. “Well, that makes sense, I’m still remembering everything. Um. This might seem like an odd question, but... who am I again?”
The nurse flinched, backing away. Celestia and Luna were no less apprehensive, but they managed to retain some dignity.
“...You don’t know, do you?” For some reason that hurt her.
“No, we do know, it’s just...” Celestia paused. Then with sudden revelation she began again. “Well, you know how... Twilight Sparkle was planning to teleport herself and her friends to Canterlot for the first Winter Solstice celebration in a thousand years?”
“Yes, I--” She did remember, except the memory was extremely off. Like she’d been an outside observer, but not exactly...
“Well, Twilight... Twlight made a mistake.” Luna sighed, rubbing her forehead as she took up where her sister had left off. “She...” the moon princess fished for the right word. “...she overexerted herself, as it were.”
“Okay...” she could tell that they were building up to something. “And... what happened?”
Luna shuffled her hooves nervously. Celestia glanced up at the ceiling and coughed.
“...What happened?”
Celestia sighed, then locked eyes with her. “Tell me, what’s the last thing you remember?”
The last thing... she remembered Twilight casting the spell and standing in anticipation--except she also remembered casting the spell--and being afraid it wouldn’t work--worrying about her mane--glancing at Dash, rolling her eyes--earflop necktwitch pinchyknee stomachlurch--
Her eyes widened. “Wait. I remember it all!” She shot up with a flap-- “How can I--?!”
Luna stepped forward-- “--do not panic, stay calm--”
“What’s going on who am I--?”
trawfrapilpipulnlitaibtenogekhirerwt dipjisapsatasherhckylkey
--she clutched at her head, the names competing for her attention--her hooves brushed her aching horn--
A warm hoof.
She looked up at Celestia’s comforting face.
“I... I...” A deep breath. “Okay...”
Very slowly, she descended to the ground.
Celestia smiled gently. “This must be very confusing for you.” She sighed. “All of you.”
All of...
She looked down at her forehooves. She could... She could see the orange fading into white past the elbows.
“...I need... I need a mirror.”
“Um, in your condition--” the nurse began hesitantly.
“I NEED A MIRROR.”
The nurse backed off, flinching at the sudden hostility. She glanced at Luna, who nodded once, before sighing and walking out the door.
She turned back to Celestia. “I... We hope this can be fixed. It can be fixed, right?”
Celestia breathed in deeply. “...I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this. Unless you count Discord, but I don’t think this is like that.”
“I believe I could help,” Luna offered. “Transformative magics come easily to me, and this mishap might not be pure teleportation.”
She smiled. “Thanks, I--We’ll need all the help we can get.” She shook her head, trying to separate the voices and organize her thoughts into... something. “We think we’re... becoming us again, now that we’re waking up. In the mind, I mean--we, I meant we!”
This was just too confusing. Just so confusing...
The nurse returned with a mirror. “You’re able to stand, you know, aside from... what happened you were just exhausted.” She edged away, trying to avoid any more outbursts.
Celestia backed off as she shook her head, testing the ground with her hooves. She breathed in, walking toward the mirror, and looked at herself.
Orange forelegs, pink rear legs. Her wings that started out blue but tapered into a soft yellow. Her face violet, with a single horn, her body pearly white. A wild, curly tail of rainbow, opposing a long mane that seemed both neat and glamorous, dark purple with pink streaks resting under a brown stetson. She examined her cutie mark: a diamond, an apple, and a butterfly, all with balloon strings floating over a triple lightning strike causing a magical explosion. Then, with trepidation, she looked at her reflection’s eyes.
The left one was deep sapphire, fading through moss to green. The right, purple, fading through rose to blue.
“...Fluttershy’s very hidden,” she managed. “But she’s in there...” The smile she wore wasn’t quite real, was laughter hiding pain.
“Do you need some time alone?”
She nodded at Luna’s question. “Yeah. I... We... The mind needs, needs sorting.”
The princesses glanced at each other as they left the room. After a moment, the nurse walked out as well. “If you need anything, I’ll be right outside.”
“Sure.”
Was she an alicorn now...? That would be super extra duper fun fun fun! And being royal would be quite glamorous... No. she wasn’t really, she was still just a normal pony with normal habits.
Besides, she... might not be able to handle the attention.
She twisted around, looking at herself from all angles and flashed a cocky grin at the mirror as she flicked her wings. Out of curiosity she picked up a clipboard with her magic; the glow was white.
Okay.
She sat down and stared at the mirror.
“Okay. Just... calm. We need to separate all our minds. That’s... that’s step one. Let’s meditate...”
After a few seconds, reality delivered all the worries and fears it had been holding back in one massive blow. She briefly glanced up, the sheer weight of it all making her think a grey pegasus was at fault, before her knees collapsed.
“Oh for the love of cumulus,” she muttered as she passed out.
The princesses had been kind enough to arrange her a room in the palace.
She shook her head as she rolled out of bed, breathing deeply. Yesterday’s fainting spell was a one time thing, she decided. Walking toward the cabinet, she pulled a brush out of the drawer and... looked at the mirror.
Well there was no avoiding it. Heterochromia, and the bizarre mix of features on her face... she had freckles, she suddenly realized. Freckles. With a shake of her head, she brought the brush up to her face.
And then she paused.
...Okay girls, what’s it going to be today? Everypony chime in.
She held the brush in anticipation.
...Please? We’ve got to start thinking individually again...
And then, blessedly, the other voices faded into her thoughts.
Well, we have to make sure we can maintain it the whole day. Something practical. Maybe, you know, a hime cut?
Ah think that’s a good idea. Maybe braid our mane, keep it out of our eyes.
Um, well, I kind of like... like hiding my eyes.
We can certainly work out a compromise, dear, crimping our mane should let us look elegant without attracting attention.
I don’t care what we do with our mane. Just keep our tail straight, you hear? Don’t want to wreck my flightpath.
Has anypony else noticed our mane doesn’t match our tail? That’s just really neat! I mean I’ve never seen anything like that!
She arranged her mane, in the end, with a pair of wavy bangs in the front and an elegant braid in the back. Straightening her tail proved to be a nightmare, though, and eventually she just slammed the brush back into the drawer in frustration. Grabbing her hat, she flicked it on her head and gave the mirror a final glance. “Looking good, looking real good.”
Her stomach rumbled. Breakfast? Yes. Tightening up her wings, she walked toward the door and prepared herself for a new day.
Breakfast was a quiet affair.
Well, to be honest, it was more of a lonely affair then a quiet one. After heading out, she’d gotten more than a few odd looks from the ponies around her. Old habits took her to Pony Joe’s place, and the lack of recognition that the proprietor displayed struck her even harder then she thought it would. A brief explanation elicited sympathy, but...
She consumed her donuts without really tasting them.
They were all looking at her. Watching her. And she couldn’t really blame them, what with her being a patchwork of ponies. No, bad thoughts, she was a bunch of ponies who happened to share a body at the moment. They weren’t even whispering to each other.
Were they afraid?
She finished her meal and stood. Eyes followed her out the door, down the road... She shook her head. Part of her, probably the Fluttershy part, wanted to take to wing and hide from the inquisitive stares. But that wouldn’t solve anything. So she just kept walking forward, considering what to do next.
Checklist: She needed to get back to Ponyville. Even missing the celebration, she had obligations. Six ponies’ worth of them. Oh, and she should make sure her family knew she was all right--Twilight’s family. How would they react to this? How would she react to their reactions? What would Spike think?
Would they even recognize her?
Hey, no matter what happens we can take it!
She smiled to herself. Right. With new-found resolve she trotted toward Cadance’s mansion.
Steeling herself, she rapped on the massive doors before her. The doubts she had before were rising again, and her confidence was beginning to fade. Still, Shining Armor was quick enough to answer, looking at her with mild confusion.
“...Twily? Is that you?”
She sighed in relief. “Well, sort of. Can I come in?”
“Um-- Aha, well, just wait, okay?” The captain of the guard gave an embarrassed smile and shut the door a bit too quickly. She could hear a whispered conversation, shuffling sounds, opening and closing of cabinets, squirtbottles... suddenly she felt very guilty.
“If this is a bad time I can come back later!”
“No, no, it’s fine!” Cadance’s voice this time. “We, ah, well, lost track of the time, don’t worry!”
Very graphic images rose to the forefront of her mind. She winced. All right, who was that? Who even thought about that?!
Certainly not me.
I’m his SISTER!
Ah ain’t that kind of mare.
Oh, so THAT’S how foals are made! This explains so much!
I prefer action to imagination.
...aha... sorry...
Well. Live and learn.
The door opened again, showing a much cleaner yet somehow still disheveled Shining Armor. “Sorry about that. So! Twilight! How are you, um... doing?”
He backed up, allowing her to step inside the quite noticeably pristine room that served as a general living area and foyer to his wife’s home. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was resting on a couch whose cushions had been almost perfectly replaced within the last few minutes; her eyes widened at the sight of the guest, but moments later recognition formed on her face.
“I am... well, we are doing mostly well. Aside from the teleportation accident.” She gestured to herself. “We... I... Twilight wanted you to know that she was going to head back to ponyville, but that she wasn’t really hurt. Majorly confused, but not hurt.” She laughed a bit awkwardly at her own joke.
“Oh.” Shining Armor nodded. “That’s understandable, I suppose...” He trailed off, unsure of where to take the conversation.
There was an awkward moment where the two ponies and one strange entity that might vaguely be referred to as a pony tried to find something to say.
“...So, how’s the married life treating you two?”
Cadance perked up. “It’s actually been quite nice. Shining Armor and I are extremely happy with each other. Did you know he makes the most excellent pancakes?”
“Yeah, he used to do them for me--for Twilight all the time when... she was studying.” She shook her head. “Sorry, still getting used to this. But it’s good to hear he’s treating you the right way!”
“Oh yes. He’s very good at...” The pink alicorn blushed a bit. “Well, he’s a good husband. Quite the catch.”
“I’m standing right here,” Shining Armor reminded them.
“Well it is true,” Cadance pointed out.
She coughed, mildly embarrassed. “Yes! Well. Anyway, we plan on catching the train back to Ponyville later today, so... We just wanted to check in.”
“Hey, why don’t you stay a while?” Shining Armor smiled and waved toward the kitchen. “I could make us something to eat, we could catch up on what’s going on. How’s your research been doing?”
“You are taking this remarkably calmly.”
He rolled his eyes. “I was the stallion who organized the guard escort that took you to the hospital.”
She blinked in surprise. “Guard escort?”
Cadance sighed, rising from the couch. “Well... the fact is, you look like an alicorn. And alicorns popping into the air from nowhere tend to be big events... we had to reassure half the press you weren’t some ancient deity out to destroy the world.”
Oh. That... that would explain the stares...
The princess put a gentle hoof on her shoulder. “I know how it is. After the wedding, I got accused left and right of being a changeling. If Shining armor hadn’t been there I might have broken down. Just remember, their fear will pass eventually.” She smiled gently. “Besides, you are the smartest unicorn I know. Amongst other things. You’ll figure out a way to undo this, I’m sure of it.”
“Thanks.” She nodded. “I guess you’re right... No, you are right, I can fix--we, got to remember that. WE can fix this.”
“That’s the spirit!” Shining Armor grinned at her, before walking into the kitchen. “So come on! Next train doesn’t leave for another 45 minutes, and you can take the flightways down so we’ve got half an hour before you need to go.”
She chuckled, turning toward her... well, Twlight’s brother. “Somehow I don’t think you’ll take no for an answer. Are you sure, though, I mean...” She coughed, gesturing between Cadance and Shining Armor. “I didn’t mean to, um, interrupt... things that were happening.”
“Oh, no need to worry about that.” Shining Armor waved a casual hoof. “We can stand to be apart for half an hour.”
Cadance giggled. “Yes, I can wait a bit...” Her grin widened suspiciously. “All we were doing was playing a game of chess.”
“Wha--Chess? Oh! Okay. I thought--er, that is--”
“We keep the sex limited to the night hours,” the princess added, completely innocent.
“...You did that on purpose.”
“I did that on purpose. You’re such a cute little filly when you blush.”
Shining Armor’s food was a good as she remembered, and the conversation they had was certainly very comforting. Through it all, thought, she couldn’t help but notice she slipped into singular pronouns far too easily; Twilight’s former foal-sitter and BBBFF would share glances when she mentioned something that wasn’t, well, exactly Twillight.
Somehow she didn’t think that was fair. It wasn’t their fault, but she wasn’t just one unicorn.
Eventually she’d excused herself and walked out the door, taking to the skies. This was the first time she’d flown, really flown, since the accident; she found that the wind in her mane was a good distraction for the stares that she received from the other pegasi. Soon enough though, it was gone; she had landed to purchase her ticket. And encountered another problem.
“Sorry, but this ID is invalid.”
“What?” She glanced down at the card, realizing the problem immediately. “Oh. See, there was a teleportation accident. I’m actually an amalgam of six ponies--”
“Yeah, sure princess.” The teller slid the card back. “I’m sorry, but without proper ID I can’t get you a ticket, and quite frankly I’m not one to believe in these wild ‘I’m Nightmare Moon as a filly’ claims I get all the time. So either break out your real ID or let the line move up.”
She raised a hoof to protest... then sighed, lowering it. “I see your point. My apologies for taking up your time.” She walked away, dejected. Yes, she could have just produced the six ID cards, but the pony had a point. So she left the train station, walking down the road to Canterlot’s main gates. It’d be a bit of a journey on hoof, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t done before. Heh, at least these weren’t Rarity’s hooves, she wouldn’t have to worry about ruining a hooficure....
A little blue unicorn bounced up to her as she turned a corner. “Hey miss! You want to buy some candy WHOA you’re an alicorn are you a princess?”
She blinked. “Um, no, I’m not a princess... or an alicorn, really.” Then she looked at the small box on the filly’s back. “But I would like some candy. What do you have?”
“Oh, um, I’ve got colorbits, chocobars, suckers, and some gummy spiders!” She put the box down, brushing her green mane back. “Anything’s a bit, except the gummy spiders. They’re three haybits. Oh, and the suckers come in packs of six each! I’m going to raise the most money in my class and get the big dolly for a prize!”
She chuckled at the filly’s enthusiasm. “That’s a noble ambition. Well, let’s see, I think I’ll take... two colorbit packs, four chocobars, aaaaand some gummy spiders. That’s, what, eight bits?” She tilted her head in mock confusion.
“No, silly, that’s six bits and three haybits!” The filly telekinetically gathered all the selected candies in a group, giving her an odd look. “If you’re not an alicorn, why do you have wings?”
“Well...” She shrugged. “Teleportation accident. I’m, let’s say, borrowing them.” She counted out the money, deciding to round up to a full seven bits. “Here, keep the change. Actually, I’m an amalgam.” She caught the filly’s confused expression. “Er, six ponies smashed up into one.”
“Oooooh, so that’s why you look so colorful!”
“Yeah... It’s kind of weird, though, I mean, six voices in my head?” She glanced at the unicorn. “Well, it’s nothing you need to worry about. It was nice meeting you, miss...?”
The filly giggled. “I’m not a miss! I’m Sea Foam! What’s your name?”
She sighed. “Yeah, see, six ponies, so six names.... I’m Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.”
Sea Foam was counting on her hooves. “Wow, that is confusing. Maybe you should just combine the names... no. Ooo! You could call yourself Combo Breaker!”
“Combo Breaker?” She had to admit it had a nice ring to it, but... “No, it doesn’t feel right. I am a combination, not something that breaks a combination.”
“Well then, what about that big word you used? Amalgam. That could be your name!”
She blinked. Amalgam...
“Oh no, I got to get going or mom’s going to worry! Nice meeting you Amalgam!” Sea Foam packed up the bits and her candy box, running off.
“Nice meeting you too!” Amalgam waved at the filly, smiling to herself. Amalgam...
Well, nice name, but it wasn’t like she was going to stay like this.
