As Twilight desperately tried to sneak her way to Canterlot, her tired mind and exhausted body ached, one wing cramping up. In her mind Twilight wanted to try and get things straight about the last two days. Part of her wondered if she would even be alive in the morning. They would be coming after her, and she knew that if she was right they wouldn't want her reaching the princess. She wished she was certain who 'they' were, that was part of the puzzle she hadn't figured out yet. Changelings were the logical explanation, but her anti-disguise and hypnosis-breaking spells weren't working. None of this made sense.
Thinking back she tried to identify the moment she realized things were wrong. It had to be the day she got out of the hospital.
Crawling out of bed with a yawn, Twilight trotted over to her dresser picking up her brush and going through her morning routine, straightening out her mane and preening her feathers. Once she was finished she headed over to Spike's basket to wake him but it was already empty. Confused, Twilight trotted downstairs, looking around only to find Spike already awake and fixing breakfast.
"What are you doing up so early?" She asked, rather shocked. Her faithful assistant absolutely hated mornings.
"I don't know, I guess I got used to it while you were gone." The little dragon stated. True Twilight had been in the hospital for a few days, and at the busiest time of year for all of her friends save Rainbow and Fluttershy. So it made sense he would be handling the library on his own, but something about it just felt... off.
"I should probably send a letter to the princess, let her know I'm alright." Twilight commented absentmindedly as she trotted into the kitchen.
"The others already let her know yesterday. Besides, the new books are coming in today remember?" Spike commented, which was utter nonsense, it was the middle of the month.
"Spike, that's not for two weeks..." She began, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door. Going to see who it was, she was met by the sight of a familiar mailmare, carrying a large box of books. That didn't make sense, book deliveries were always at the end of the month. Bringing the books inside, she went to step back out and ask about the early delivery, but the mailmare was already down the street talking to Applejack about something.
Shrugging her wings, Twilight went back inside and opened the box up, starting to sort and put away the new books, in the process finding that numerous books already shelved were in the wrong order, or even in the wrong sections of the library. Twilight couldn't help but notice how obvious a diversion this was.
Deciding to take a break, she headed outside. No sooner had she left the door than Applejack was there. Her timing oddly convenient, especially since at this hour she should be behind her cart in the marketplace. Even if things tended to be slow on the weekend, she thought she knew better than to think the farm pony would dump her share of market duty onto her brother...
"Howdy there Twi, whatcha up to?" Applejack asked cheerfully. Passing the encounter off as luck, Twilight looked over and smiled.
"Not much, just heading to Sugar Cube Corner for lunch. I thought I'd say hi to Pinkie." Twilight explained, starting off cheerful but loosing that somewhat as she noticed Applejack's change in body language.
"Sorry, sugar cube, no can do. The cakes are... renovatin. The corner's closed." Applejack lied... badly. Twilight was startled a little, Applejack knew better than to try to lie to her. For one, she was so bad at it that even strangers could catch on most of the time, and two, Twilight knew her. The last time she had heard AJ tell a lie this transparent they were... Planning a party, for Pinkie... Twilight smiled. well, I did just get out of the hospital, and the books at least make sense now. They were probably supposed to keep me busy until every pony was ready.
"I appreciate the effort, but you should have sent Rarity or Pinkie if you wanted to keep it a surprise." The studious mare said with a laugh, deciding to head to The Haystack instead. Leaving Applejack confused as she trotted off, humming a cheerful little tune.
As Twilight ate her lunch, the uneasy feeling from this morning returned though. More than a few times she noticed ponies watching her only to look away when she looked back. Others seemed, different. Guarded. Not every pony, but enough that the contrast was noticeable. Twilight tried to put the thoughts out of her mind, sure she had to be imagining it. The rest of the day slipped by in a blur of books sorting and routine tasks.
The party that night... it wasn't Pinkie's usually quality. It seemed rushed, as if she hadn't started preparing until the mid afternoon. More than that the guests felt... wrong. Even Pinkie herself seemed wrong, Twilight half expected her mane to straighten out with how little energy she was putting into her routine. Like the ponies in town had earlier, only more of them now. Hidden behind the din of the party were concealed stares and hushed whispers that vanished whenever she tried to find their source. She even caught Rarity watching her at least twice. Rainbow Dash wasn't present, but that was to be expected. She was away every weekend since the the academy. Right now the Airmare would be staying on base. But knowing Rainbow Dash was safely away from this... whatever this was, was small comfort. As she looked around all Twilight could think about, was that these were not her friends.
Trotting over to Fluttershy's the next morning to pick up an overdue book, more out of a desire to 'test' her suspicions than anything. Twilight ran into Appble Bloom along the way. She struck up a conversation with the crusader to pass the time. Apple Bloom seemed perfectly normal, possibly the first pony she'd met that was. It was reassuring to know there were still some normal ponies left.
Another thing was bothering Twilight besides her friends acting strangely. A nagging feeling in the back of her mind, like a faint hunger but not really hunger, that had only started when her friends had started acting strangely. As if caused by their seeming to no longer care about her... but somehow spending time with the filly made that pass too.
As she said goodbye, and crossed the last few trots to her friend's cabin. She gave the door a quick knock.
"Coming!" Twilight heard from inside, the voice continuing to speak for a moment before the door opened. "You're early Applejack I wasn't expecting you for another hou-EEP!"
Twilight didn't know how to respond, Fluttershy being scared by itself wasn't that odd, but scared of her? That hadn't happened since the day they met. After a moment of awkward silence, Twilight decided to go ahead with her plan.
"Fluttershy, you have a book overdue. A compendium of Saddle-arabian stories I believe? I was just stopping by as a reminder." Twilight explained, using the gentlest tone she could, so as not to further alarm her friend unnecessarily. As Fluttershy nodded and turned to get the book, Twilight stepped inside, casting both of the spells she had prepared that morning in quick succession as stealthily as she could.
Fluttershy remained Fluttershy, and her behavior did not change. Twilight had to force herself not to sigh in relief. Not a changeling, Not under any mind control. She thought to herself, relieved and hopeful the shy pegasus was still herself.
"Do you ever think about the old days? about when we first met Luna?" She asked, just wanting to start out with something simple. Still, a prudent scientist always confirmed her findings.
"Yes, sometimes, it was a rather nice party." Twilight's faltered hearing that. Luna's welcome home party was common knowledge. Her connection to Nightmare Moon wasn't. It was, however, something Fluttershy should have remembered, having been there... If she believed she hadn't met Luna until the party... Maybe it was just a slip of the tongue. She needed to be sure.
She had asked at least a dozen questions under the guise of reminiscing about good times. What she heard were the kind of errors Chrysalis had made, but she already knew Fluttershy was no changeling. Her earlier relief now replaced with dread, Twilight was certain. They were in danger. They were allin danger.
Twilight knew what she had to do. Rushing back to the library she began formulating a plan only for said plan to come crashing down before she even got half way there. Her thought process derailed by one small detail. To contact the princess, she would need Spike to send the letter... The same Spike who had been up early two days in a row, and shrugged it of when she wanted to send a letter yesterday.
She needed some pony else... some pony fast.
As twilight finished explaining, Rainbow nodded, taking the letter.
"Stay in the library, don't talk to Spike, Don't let them know you know. I'll get your message to the princess in a jiffy." Rainbow stated confidently. "Don't worry Twi, We'll get to the bottom of this."
As she thanked her friend and snuck home, Twilight felt better than she had in a long time. She finally had an ally, and she knew Rainbow wouldn't let her down.
As she waited, twilight prepared. Even if Rainbow was successful, they would still need to find Ponyville's real inhabitants. Idly glancing out the window she saw something that she never would have believed possible. Her letter, the one she had given Rainbow, a pegasus dedicated to ideals like trust and loyalty, was being hoofed over to Applejack by that very same pegasus.
Shaking her head in disbelief, trying to deny what she saw. It took a minute for her to clear her head and decide what to do. Her magic couldn't carry her to the capitol in a single jump, she would need to make three or four.
Stopping at a pond, Twilight channeled her magic. In a moment the pond was as smooth as glass, and a familiar face was staring back at her from across it.
"Luna, Something is wrong in Ponyville, I need your help." She pleaded, staring at the image.
"Twilight Sparkle, Return to your library, Immediately." The cold response came back. Twilight couldn't understand... This wasn't like Luna.
"Luna... My friends, the other element bearers, half the town, I believe they're under the influence of-"
"Turn around and go back. Return there and you will not be harmed." the Lunar princess cut her off. Twilight's eyes widened in shock. She could not believe what her senses were telling her. As she disengaged the spell, backing away from the pool and shaking her head, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on. It was unbelievable, had something started to take over all of Equestria? Even the changelings hadn't gotten this far. She needed to get to princess Celestia, praying that she wasn't too late.
If Luna was on their side, she couldn't ender the city by magic. she would be detected. Fortunately, she had her wings. even if her first attempt to use them had landed her with a concussion. Taking to the air twilight moved as quickly as her body would let her. Landing on the outskirts of the capitol, she had to stop and rest. flying was still a new thing to her and an inter-city trip less than a week after getting her wings was straining. Thinking of the last few days as she rested, she heard a familiar voice nearby.
"Fan out. Search every building. Advise the citizens to stay in their homes and not allow any pony in."
"Yes sir!"
"Oh, big brother, not you too..." Twilight whispered mournfully as she hid. She had to get to the castle. She HAD to. It was her fault 'they' had gotten Shining Armor. He was only this far south because of her coronation later this week.
Sneaking from alley to alley, she made her way slowly towards the castle. Dodging the patrols was getting harder the closer she got, A testament to how good an actor her brother's double was she supposed. She was almost there when from behind her she heard "You there! Halt!"
Twilight bolted, as fast as she could, all hope of stealth abandoned. She needed to get inside. Everything depended on it. Her life depended on it.
Slamming through the gates, and bolting down corridor after corridor, she felt a spell strike her, felt the desire for sleep slowly cloud her mind.
No. Have to make it. Have to warn... them... she thought skidding to a stop on her side, her hooves no longer cooperating, as she bashed through the doors of Celestia's private chambers, inside finding all three princesses, her friends, and... herself? Darkness claimed her senses before her weakened mind could figure out how a second Twilight Sparkle could be standing in front of her.
"We're sure this one is the changeling?" Trotting over to the unconscious alicorn, Celestia quietly asked, looking at the double of her student asleep at her hooves. She looked almost peaceful if one didn't count the frazzled mane or grime streaked coat her desperate odyssey had given her.
"It took some time to get the information sent from Ponyville, but the doctor's blood tests from her recent hospital stay confirmed it." The other Twilight stated, rubbing her forearm with a hoof, grumbling as she walked over to her twin. "Though I wish Shining Armor hadn't been so forceful about mine, that needle really hurt."
"You know how my husband is about changelings..." Cadence stated shaking her head. She hated to admit it, but she knew it brought out the worst in him.
"She... She looks just like me." Twilight stated, surprised. She had expected her basic appearance, but given that whatever unknown event had given her wings had also spat her out in a different part of Equestria, well after her apparent capture, she hadn't expected that feature to be copied as well.
"The ascention process changed her." Celestia began, shaking her head at the sight of the unconscious alicorn, Fake or not, the use of force against one of her kind still disturbed her. "It was never meant for a changeling, and somehow made her 'disguise' into her permanent form. Nor apparently did it know what to do with there being two of you, hence your circumstance. She became quite agitated by our attempts to keep her at the library until we could confirm who was who."
Twilight nodded, understanding. She had gotten fed up herself by being held in protective custody and told nothing for a day and a half. Her doppleganger wasn't the only one who had started to believe something was up... In the end only Shining's paranoia had cleared her name.
"Sister..." Luna mumbled, her eyes closed, concentrating on something. "Her dreams... She sees herself as Twilight even there. I do not believe she knows what she is."
"Makes sense. She hit her head pretty hard the first time she tried to fly. She was getting things jumbled up a lot when I went to see her in the hospital." Rainbow dash chimed in, laughing a bit after a moment, "Though her memory of Twi's life pretty good, despite what the others said. When Fluttershy tried to test her on it, it backfired; 'fake' Twi was testing her. She told me so herself."
From a back corner came a mumbled 'oops, I'm sorry'.
"My journal went missing the day before I blacked out and woke up in a cave. I like to keep detailed records..." Twilight grumbled, glancing between Rainbow, and Luna. If they were right, her counterpart had the body of a pony, and a mind based entirely on her own notes. If she were cast out as a changeling her 'own kind' would just feed on her until there was nothing left.
The more she thought about it, the more Twilight knew she couldn't do that. Glancing up at Celestia she recognized from her expression that her mentor felt the same. Twilight couldn't do that. Still there was one other option... She had rewritten memories before, and she was kind of known for screwing up spectacularly on the rare occasions she used a spell incorrectly... Ponyville General's records would be a challenge, and she would need to convince her friends to go along with it...
maybe... just maybe...
"Bye Dusk!" Pinkie Pie waived, as the tired mare trotted back to the library, smiling. That had been one heck of a welcome back party. It still felt a bit strange to her to be called anything but Twilight but being an "accidental teleportation copy" she didn't really feel she deserved it. Keeping that name for herself wouldn't really be fair to her new sister. Especially after the changeling scare being in two places at once had caused.
Oh well, Duskfall would just have to get used to it.
