Tip the Balance

Starrk stared blankly at the walls of the library, noting each individual spine and skimming the visible covers and titles. His head cocked to one side as he saw how the books were arranged. He frowned and pulled a book off the shelf with his hoof. Thermoarcane and the Mysteries of Heat. It sat next to a book on phoenix biology and several biographies of somepony named Princess Celestia. That seemed... odd, if anything else. The biographies of Princess Luna, for example, were in the sciences section, near a book on astronomy. All the organization seemed to be classified wrong, done almost arbitrarily. Like somepony had shoved all the books onto the shelves accounting for nothing other than the color of the spines... And so, he turned to Lilynette. “This place needs to be reorganized.”

Lilynette nodded in approval. “So... what goes where?” Starrk told her and she began moving about the room, removing the books from their shelves and placing them all in a large pile in the center of the room. They began reorganizing the room, reading each book quickly if Starrk didn't know what the subject of the more oddly named tomes were. Lilynette busied herself with reorganizing, and started humming a happy tune. They worked steadily for a few hours, and had every book shelved in their proper places. Starrk pulled out a stack of cards and began the arduous task of compiling the card catalog. Idly, he thought about why he was reorganizing, but an answer to that came to him almost instantly. Of course he needed to reorganize. The place was a mess. And how was anypony supposed to find the books now if he didn't redo the card catalog completely?

At about six thirty in the evening, Lilynette stepped upstairs. “I'm going to bed.” She cracked a yawn. “I... I don't feel good. I think I nee-” she broke into another yawn “... need to sleep now. By the way, Starrk?”

Starrk looked up from his card cataloging. “Huh?”

“What do we do with that?” She pointed with a hoof at the gibbering, curled-up blue lump of fur lying in the corner.

Starrk snorted. “Leave her be. I'll put her in the recliner.” He turned back to his cards.

“Okay then.” Lilynette finished her trek up the stairs, and curled up on the bed, slowly drifting off to a comfortable sleep. Starrk spent the night cataloging the library, with Rainbow Dash snoring softly on a chair. And the sun set, casting purple light across the windows. And the moon rose, shining pale light on the tree.

– – – – –

Good night, you adorable little ponies. I hope you like your housewarming present.

– – – – –

The next morning, Rainbow Dash woke up in one of the larger chairs of the library.  She couldn't see Lilynette as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, but Starrk was slowly blinking awake with his head on a desk, opposite from her. He looked down at one of the cards he was holding, the page splashed with ink and saliva. He harrumphed, and tossed the card into a wastebasket, resuming his card catalog.. “Huh?” She looked around from her position on the chair. Starrk was bent over and scouring over his cards, and Lilynette had coffee and several mugs in her grip. Rainbow Dash shook herself awake. “What're you doing?”

Starrk looked up from the desk. “Reorganizing and recreating a card catalog. Maybe I took a nap somewhere in there.”

“Oh.” The pegasus nodded. Lilynette offered her a mug of coffee. She sipped contentedly for a few moments, until she looked around again. “Wait... what?” She sputtered, setting down her coffee. “What the hay is going on here? You're not Twilight!” Rainbow began looking over what she could see of Starrk. An earth pony of exceptional height, he was thin and dignified, almost scholarly in his presence. His mane was long and wavy, colored a beautiful chocolate brown. If not for the thin ripple of muscle under his coat, Rainbow was sure that she should have been able to see ribs.

Lilynette was... different. Her mane drooped limply on her head, the pale green looking odd and washed out compared to her bright white coat. She seemed small and oddly proportioned for a filly, almost like a shrunken adult mare. She was thin and lanky, her limbs and barrel almost half the thickness of a normal filly, but still the correct lengths. The magic holding the book was the same poisonous color as her hair.

“Huh?” Starrk looked up. “Who's Twilight?”

“She's the librarian who lives here. Why are you doing her job?”

Starrk looked up at the ceiling. “It was a mess in here, I suppose. I didn't like the categorizing of the books.”

Lilynette brought another coffee to Starrk and poured one for herself as she listened in on the conversation, still only two-thirds awake.

Starrk looked over at Rainbow Dash. “I am almost done with the catalog. Could you please not disturb me for an hour or so?”

Rainbow waved her hoof. “Yeah, yeah, egghead. I got it.” She walked out the front library door...

And came blasting back in almost thirty seconds later. “Nice try, bucko.” She said. “If you thought you could trick me, you got anoth-” She was cut off by an insistent shushing sound from Lilynette, now curled up in a chair with a novel.

“We're in a library. Keep your voice down, baka.”

The blue pegasus found herself instinctively lowering her voice down to a whisper.

“Something's wrong here,” she pointed at Starrk. “and you're definitely involved.”

Starrk leaned back in his chair, rolling his eyes at her. “I could have told you that. I may not remember much, but I'm sure that I have never run a library. And yet,” he gestured to his catalog, “I've spent several hours I could have been using to nap cataloging the entirety of the library from the ground up.”

“It's almost like... you've replaced her...”

Rainbow turned to the door, putting down her half-finished coffee. She slowly walked out of the library, rubbing her head with a hoof.

“I need to tell the girls about this...”

– – – – –

The first building she spotted in her flight out of the tree was the Carousel Boutique. The bells on the door jingled.

“Yes?” Rarity poked her head out from behind a design. “Oh, hello, there, Rainbow darling. Is there something the matter? You don't look well.”

“Something's wrong, Rarity.”

“Hmm?” Rarity stepped out from behind the ponnequinn.

“Twilight's gone!”

Rarity tilted her head. “Twilight?”

Rarity nodded. “Yeah! Some stallion and a filly are in the library instead. It's like they were replaced!” Rainbow looked into Rarity's confused eyes. Rarity took a small step and talked slowly, as if Rainbow was a foal.

“Let's assume that I know what you're talking about, and who 'Twilight' is.” Rainbow blinked, confused. That was... huh? “Why would Stark Power and Lily Net be replacing her at the library? They've lived there for as long as we've known them, remember? The Summer Sun Celebration? Nightmare Moon?”

Rainbow Dash recoiled. “Buh.. wha..?” She backpedaled. “Are you listening to yourself? It's almost like you've forgotten Twilight!”

Rarity had a concerned look in her eyes. “I don't think I have ever known a Twilight, darling.”

Rainbow was scared about what she might hear coming out of Rarity's mouth next. “What about Spike?” She glanced nervously.

The unicorn cocked her head to the side, now even more confused. “Spike?”

“...” Rainbow Dash shuddered a bit.

Rarity tapped her chin, staring at the ceiling. “Oh, right!” She perked up. Rainbow, dear, could you...”

The pegasus was already halfway across town, the door still swinging.

– – – – –

It was the same everywhere! All of her friends had forgotten who Twilight was! Stark and Lily worked at the library, Stark was the element of Magic, Lily was a grade above the Crusaders, Stark came to buy apples last week, Cheerilee apparently had concerns about the young filly and her schooling, the pair had just come back from an assignment from the Princess... Pinkie had thrown them a party. Rainbow found remnants of that same party in the rubbish bins in Sugarcube Corner. There was a banner with “Welcome Back From Your Super-Duper-Secret Mission, Stark Power and Lily Net” on the front. That had gotten her hyperventilating a little bit. Pinkie could maybe just been Pinkie, right? Planted the trash there for some sort of stupid prank with the entirety of Ponyville? She shook her head in order to clear it. That wasn't possible. Most of the ponies she had asked were genuinely confused at her question, some even angry that she questioned her intelligence or something. She wasn't Applejack, but she knew when someone was being sincere. Not to mention the fact that even Applejack had no clue who Twilight was. She blasted her way to Canterlot in record time.

Princess Celestia claimed she had no clue why Rainbow Dash was so worried, that Stark and Lily were already back from their assignment and were probably resting from their travels and the party that Pinkie Pie undoubtedly gave them on their return. Luna was the same. Shining Armor stopped her on the way down one of the halls and asked how his little sister Lily was doing with Stark.

Rainbow sputtered for a few seconds as her brain derped at that. “Isn't that kind of unsafe for her? I mean, leaving your kid sister with an adult stallion all alone?”

The unicorn chuckled a bit. “Stark was with Lily since she was born, almost like they were drawn to each other. He babysat her for the family more nights than not, and he helped her in her studies. Mine, too.” He rubbed at his neck.  “For an earth pony, Stark has a better grasp of magic and magic theory than anypony I've ever met outside of the Princesses, unicorns and professors included. A real genius. An earth pony, the Element of Magic? I didn't think it possible myself, and to tell you the truth, apparently neither did Celestia. She expected him to get Kindness or Honesty. Stark being the 'missing Element' was a complete surprise.” He cracked his neck a bit before continuing. “Lily was sick when she was young, and Stark looked after her until she could move on her own. She still is a bit sickly, needs more sleep than most ponies. Stark is there to make sure she doesn't exert herself. She's always been stubborn, so she needs looking after.” He looked at her with a bit of confusion. “Haven't I told you about all this?”

She shook her head quickly. “This is all completely new info, thanks. Why is she in Ponyville at all if she's so sick?”

Shining shook his head in return. “We couldn't stop her. When she found out Stark was to be sent to Ponyville on assignment, she insisted on coming with him. Claimed she needed him close or she might get sick again. She grew up with Stark the real authority figure. He has this... presence about him, you know? Like he's more 'here' than the rest of us. Solid as a rock. For somepony like Lily, he was an example of a perfect pony. Would have made a good guard, too.” Shining looked up at one of the clocks on the wall. “Oh, we've been talking for a bit, I've gotta go. See you around, Rainbow Dash.”

She stood in the hallway after Shining had left for exactly four minutes before Cadence pulled her aside and asked what had happened to the pegasus' little crush. Apparently, it was completely gone.

Rainbow flew out of the hallway blushing, before she slapped the princess in the face out of instinct.

Her last stop, Discord, told her he had no hand in what had happened to her memories or anypony else's. Granted, he was the only one who took Rainbow's story seriously, due to the fact that he could feel the Chaos leaking from of Ponyville.

“It's definitely Chaos Magic,”he claimed, “but I don't know how it happened. That's how Chaos Magic works, duh.” He also told her the story of how he was defeated by the same/wrong Elements of Harmony, with Stark becoming un-Discorded not from the Princess sending the letters, but Lilynette reminding him about her childhood. In every instance of Twilight and Spike that Rainbow Dash Could remember to ask other ponies about, Stark Power and Lily Net took their place. They had a full backstory that held together even under rigorous testing, evidence that they were supposed to be there, that Twilight and Spike weren't gone.

They were never there in the first place.

– – – – –

Starrk looked at Lilynette. “What do you remember about before we got here?”

Lilynette furrowed her brow, frowning. “I... I'm not sure. My memories are all... scrambled? Something? I don't know. We weren't ponies before, were we?”

“Probably.” Starrk snorted. “Not like I care, particularly.” Internally, Starrk was worried. Why couldn't they remember anything of importance? Just names... Aizen, Grimjoww Jeagerjaques, Tosen, and others. The names didn't mean much to him, just fragmented bits in his hazy lump of colors and emotions.  It made him feel small. He was fine with that. The only clear memories he had was with Lilynette, and even then, only snippets of conversation, voices, feelings. For whatever reason, that fact was much less fine in Starrk's esteem. Lilynette was important.

“I don't like this, Starrk. My head hurts a little.” Lilynette had a worried frown on her face.

   Starrk instinctively was concerned, and made his way to the chair the smaller pony was sitting in. He rubbed a hoof affectionately over her head.  “You're fine, Lily. I know you're strong enough to handle this.”

Lilynette nodded, curling up a little more. “I feel different.”

Starrk watched her expression carefully. “I do as well.”

“It might be the air, you know? It smells nice in here. Like paper and trees and ink and chocolate.”

“If that is the case, I have no objections.” Starrk stretched a lazy smile, trotting back to the desk. “Just roll with the punches, right?”

“What do you mean?” Lily cocked her head to the side.

“I'm not sure what happened to us, really.” Starrk tapped the side of his head. “But don't we have a role to play here? If we have any friends who are worried about us enough to come find us, then it's best to stay in the same spot and find something productive to do in the meantime. If not, we just live our lives like this, no skin off our muzzle. Minimal work required to achieve a favorable result.” He turned back to the cards on the table once again. “If I want to do the job of librarian, and you want to help, then why not?”

Lilynette nodded. “I guess. When did you get so... philosophical?”

Starrk grinned wider at her. He tapped his chin with a hoof like he was thinking deeply.  “Who knows? Might be the air. Maybe chocolate is good for the brain.”

– – – – –

Twilight Sparkle was practicing her magic. Well, not magic. It was more like... projections of her spirit? It didn't matter. What mattered was she was sloppy. That was simply unacceptable. And so, she was practicing, sword in hand, firing ever-thinning Doom Blasts until they weren't really blasts anymore, but more like laser shots, barely an arm's width in diameter, and just as accurate. Every beam blasted forward, drilling clean holes into the rocks in front of her, burning the insides to glass. After all, practice makes perfect. Fwooom. Hehe.  Another shot pierced the rock and dispersed, leaving a tunnel bored into the face of it. She breathed deeply, lowering her sword. The Doom Blasts were not tiring in themselves, but Twilight had been holding her arm out for close to ten minutes, and her shoulder was aching. She sheathed her zanpakutō and rubbed her shoulder carefully, moving her shoulder blade around.

Rukia watched, perched upon a rock in the other direction of the blasts. Having heard the explanation from Kisuke, she sat and attempted to judge the true capacity of the Arrancar. The purple-haired girl had been firing Doom Blasts at a rate of about twenty to thirty per minute for almost ten minutes straight, and it looked like the only reason she stopped was because her shoulder was getting sore from keeping her arms up. The girl was ridiculously powerful, Rukia decided, in both raw power and skill with her blade. According to Ichigo, her hierro was harder than any others they had encountered so far, and she was fast. Very, very fast. As far as Arrancars go, though, she didn't see how Twilight came to be the Primera Espada. Rukia could tell that her overall spiritual pressure easily matched that of a captain, but not at the level of the strongest that the top Espada surely should have been. Of course, she had never seen Twilight release her blade, so she couldn't come to any sort of decision concerning the maximum power she wielded.

She noted as Twilight began writing on the ground and muttering to herself, and Rukia became curious. She leaped to the ground and walked over to the drawings. She looked down to see that Twilight was writing what looked like physics calculations. It was all gibberish to Rukia, so she was forced to ask, “What're you trying to do?”

Twilight looked up and smiled, drawing her zanpakutō. “A technique that I just came up with. In principle, it could be very effective against most things that need to be... dealt with from a distance.” She grimaced slightly at her own words. Twilight closed her eyes, focusing, and a small blue ball grew to the size of one of Rukia's fists at the tip of the blade. It was clearly an unfired Doom Blast, but it stayed there, humming deeply. Twilight swung her blade, and the area in front flashed an overwhelmingly bright blue.

A rock that reached almost twenty meters high was cut in half along a diagonal path, slowly sliding until it tipped off the top and fell over. As the dust cleared, a huge gash was seen on the other side of the training room, ten meters long and almost half a meter deep. The gouge was rounded and pitted, like someone firing a laser or an arc welder. The low hum of the Doom Blast still emanated from the tip if Twilight's sword. Twilight looked a little overwhelmed as well.

“That was... much more effective than I thought.” She looked at the tip of her blade. “To note: energy efficiency is very high, look to maximize in the near future.” She looked to Rukia. “Please stand back.” Twilight swung her sword repeatedly and several bright flashes burst from her sword. Rukia could see the faint outline of the beam inside the flashing lights. The end result was interesting, to say the least.

Over ten meters of rock had been carved out of the wall opposite from them. The carved out gashes in the wall had glassed over, and were glowing a bright orange.

Scratch any other theories for now. She is stupidly powerful. Note, do NOT piss off the Arrancar.

Twilight wasn't even remotely tired, it seemed. Her breathing was the same, and no sweat or sense of sickness or unease. But still, just like everything else concerning her, something was off. Rukia couldn't read Twilight very well, but she could tell one very important thing.

The girl was scared out of her mind.