Alacrity Minifics

Lovey groaned and wrapped her forelegs around Dovey's middle.  "I'm so sorry!"  She tried to smile at the couple sharing the train car with them.  "She's just, um, really excited by your relationship!"

Dovey squealed and squirmed.  "They're super duper lovey dovey and I just want to bask in how much they love each other!"

The couple glanced at each other, politely excused themselves, and fled into the next car.

"Aww..."  Dovey went limp in Lovey's hold.  "You scared them off!"

"I scared them off?!"  Lovey let go of her.  The feathers on her wings started to ruffle and she felt her hackles raising.  "You bothered every occupant until now we're all alone!  That was all your doing!"

Dovey slumped down into a seat, turning away from Lovey with a huff.  "Your lack of love-itude drove them away, not me!"

"My lack of..."  Lovey gawked.  One hoof stomped, one ear flicked, and one eye twitched.  "I'm the most love-ituded pony I know!"

Dovey glared at her.  "Well I would beg to differ!"

Lovey stormed to the opposite side of the car to sit in a different booth.  The two pink mares faced away from one another until Dovey squealed over something she saw outside.  Lovey didn't have the energy or capacity of thought to pay her much mind.  She had too much on her mind to sell it to the crazy mare!

What was wrong with her?  Why wasn't she excited over the love lives of other ponies?  She sighed and looked over her shoulder at Dovey.  Dovey was a much better Lovey Dovey than she was.  Perhaps she wasn't Lovey at all, but she was actually Dovey?

Oh, she wished the train would move faster.  Magnate would make sense of all of it.  She just hoped he could.

By the time Lovey and Dovey reached Eminence Tower, Dovey had made thirty-seven matches.  Of course, they were all ponies who were about to meet on their own and had very strong love lines, but Lovey was impressed nonetheless.  Dovey was dedicated to her craft.  Lovey had to wonder, why wasn't she?

The building was mostly empty at that hour of the night, which meant Dovey only wandered away from Lovey's side a few times before they finally reached Magnate's office.  As always whenever she was away—or, in this case, supposed to be away—his light was on and he was hunkered over his desk.

"Magnate!" Dovey squealed as she nearly shattered the glass door when she shoved it open.  "Magnate, I missed you so much!"

Magnate jolted upright and stared at the double vision of pink in front of him with wide eyes.  While Dovey snuggled up to him, Lovey lingered in the doorway.  He turned his head to look at Dovey, then over at Lovey.  "What's going on?"

Lovey pawed at the ground with a hoof.  "I, or, well, one of us cloned ourselves and now there's two of us."  Her ears drooped.  "I'm sorry, Magny."

Magnate remained still while Dovey giggled and purred against him.  Slowly, he put his hooves on her forelegs, carefully extracted himself from her embrace, and set her on the floor.  "I see."  He steepled his hooves.  "And I suppose you both think you're Lovey Dovey."

"Yes!" Dovey chirped and Lovey just nodded.

"I see."  He slipped his glasses off, folded them neatly, and set them down on his desk before he stood.  "All right, then, Lovey."  When both mares looked at him, he raised a hoof to block Dovey from his vision.  "My Lovey."

Dovey blinked a few times.  "Huh?  But I—"

"She must be Lovey," Lovey interrupted, taking a step back.  "I'm the clone.  I must be!"

"I see."  His brow raised, but a small smile started to pull at his lips.  "And why do you think that?"

Dovey's wings fluttered and she circled the desk to land beside Lovey.  "Because I'm Lovey Dovey!"

Magnate continued to stare at Lovey, so she mumbled, "Because I'm not Lovey Dovey.  I can't be!  Dovey—I mean Lovey—I mean she has been running around making matches and all I've done is tried to stop her!"  She dropped on to her hind legs to free her forehooves, into which she buried her face.  "I'm a terrible Lovey Dovey!"

Dovey nodded.  "Exactly!"

"I see."

Lovey jerked her head up and glared.  "Is that all you have to say, Magny?  'I see' over and over?"  She rose to her hooves, her wings fluttering just enough to lift her off the ground a few inches.  "Well, what are you going to do about me?"

Magnate stood and walked around the desk to approach her, a serious look on his face.  "Lovey."

Lovey flinched when her ears twitched at the sound of her name, if it was even her name at all.  "Yes?"

"Do you trust me?"  He stopped just in front of her.

Dovey glanced between them and, slowly, her ears started to droop.  "Oh."

Lovey didn't notice, nodding instead.  "Of course, Magny!"

A full, sincere smile lit up Magnate's face.  "You're Lovey Dovey."

Dovey sighed.  "About that—"

"But I have a terrible love-itude!"  Lovey shook her head with frantic fervor.  "I can't be the real Lovey Dovey!"

"If you'd just—" Dovey started, but Magnate talked over her.

"I think I can tell my Lovey from..." He trailed off, his gaze briefly flickering to Dovey.  "From Dovey."

Lovey puffed out her cheeks.  "But—"

"Hey!  Listen!" Dovey yelled and stomped both front hooves.

Both Magnate and Lovey turned their heads to look at the mare, noting her sad eyes.

"Lovey, you have a love line," Dovey whispered, a small hitch in her voice.

Lovey blinked a few times.  Her brow furrowed, then raised as realization set in.  "And you don't..."

Silence settled on them for a while until Magnate cleared his throat.  "So, then, why don't you explain to me how this happened and we'll figure it out from there?"

"Well, you see, there was this lake that looked like a mirror and was at the bottom of a cave in the dark forest near the town of Ponyville..."

The train ride back to Ponyville was much less eventful than the one to Manehattan.  Dovey seemed completely void of the exuberant cheer she had exuded before the discovery.  Lovey's own joy at realizing she was, in fact, not a clone was stripped away at the fear of what would happen to Dovey.

Magnate looped a foreleg around Lovey's shoulder and pulled her closer, placing a soft kiss on her temple.  "Don't worry.  I think I have a plan."

Lovey glanced between him and Dovey.  "But what's going to happen to her?" she whispered.

Magnate shrugged.  "I don't know, but I'm sure you're not the first pony who's wandered into lakes in caves in dark forests."  One brow raised.  "And perhaps in the future you'll be more careful?"

Lovey gave a quick nod of her head.  "I will, Magny, I promise!  I'm sorry."

Magnate raised his voice as he said, "Dovey, what do you remember?"

"Huh?"  Dovey looked up from her twiddling hooves.  "Oh, Magny, I remember you, I think."  Her brow furrowed.  "My memory's all fuzzy-wuzzy."

"Do you love me?"

Lovey's ears shot up and Dovey replied with total conviction, "Absolutely!"

Magnate clicked his tongue, his gaze shifting to look out the window.  "I see."

Lovey pursed her lips but tried to relax against him.  She just had to trust that he had a plan, because she certainly didn't have one.

"So," Magnate started, staring at himself perfectly reflected in the serene, placid waters, "you recited a poem and stepped through?"

Lovey giggled.  "No, not a poem!  A lullaby!  But yes."

Magnate glanced over his shoulder at her.  "What was the lullaby?"

"Well, the important part is, I think, the last part."  Lovey tapped her chin.  "So close your eyes in Everfree Forest.  Step on through and you will appear.  And watch yourself in Everfree Forest.  Sail far away into the Mirror."  She blinked when she heard the sound of water moving and looked over to see Magnate's hind hooves slipping beneath the surface.

"Magnate?!" she and Dovey cried at the same time, rushing over to the lake's edge.

A brown hoof shot out of the water, prompting the mares to squeak in surprise.  They backed away to watch Magnate climb out of the water, blink at them, then turn and reach down to help a second Magnate onto land.

"Magnate, you," Lovey started.

"Cloned yourself?" Dovey finished.

One of the Magnates shrugged.  "It seemed logical."  His muscles tensed as he made eye contact with Dovey.  "Are she and I... ?"

Dovey tilted her head, her gaze lowering to his chest.  Slowly, she followed what she saw and smiled, though the sadness returned to her eyes.  "Yup, you're the real Magny, and she's the real Lovey!"

Lovey looked at the second Magnate, who was busy straightening his glasses and mane.  A gasp escaped her and she squealed, "He has a love line!"  Her gaze darted to Dovey.  "And it leads to you!  I mean, it's faint, and it needs work, but—but—"

Magnate smiled and nosed Lovey's cheek, then looked at his doppelganger.  "We'll need to find you a job, perhaps in Baltimare.  I don't think we can work in the same city together."

The second Magnate raised one brow.  "Excuse me?  You want me to give up my job?"

Dovey pawed at the air toward him.  "Oh, no, that's Magnate's job!"

"I see."  Magnate the Second sighed and looked between them all.  "Fine.  But I don't want to delay.  Baltimare, you said?"  He started walking toward the exit.  "I'll start looking for a job now."

"I'll come with you!" Dovey chirped and jumped into the air to follow after him.

Lovey and Magnate remained where they were, standing side-by-side in tentative silence, watching their doppelgangers leave.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" Lovey asked and nuzzled her face against Magnate's neck.  "They aren't normal, after all!"

Magnate chuckled, raised a hoof, and gently booped her nose.  "You're not normal, Lovey, and we're just fine."

Lovey gasped in mock offense.  She pulled away from him, her eyes wide and lips parted in exaggerated surprise.  "I'm the one that's not normal?  Oh, perhaps I would be better off with your clone!"

"Then go after him."  He shrugged.  "But that would be disobeying your love line, and you wouldn't want to violate your ethics as a matchmaker, now, would you?"  He looked down his snout at her, but a small grin betrayed his playful intent.

"That is a good point."  Her wings fluttered and she hopped up to kiss his cheek.  "Can we just go home now and pretend this never happened?"

Magnate smiled.  "Of course, dear."