Plebeian

Chapters

A Special Case
Mirror, Mirror
Away Without Leave
Kindred Spirit
Good Samaritan
Till Proven Innocent
Wild Blue Yonder
Fair Weather Friends
No Way Out
Game Over
Broken
Fresh Start
The Loneliest Number

A Special Case

I couldn’t believe it. I hadn’t been here a day and I was going to meet the dean! If only my parents knew about this right now. I’d have to tell them as soon as possible. “Hey, Stardust. This is the dean’s office.”

I’d have to stop getting lost in my thoughts. One of these days, I’m going to make a real fool of myself. For now though, I just look I’m just lost. I felt a moment of hesitation before entering the dean’s office, even though I was supposed to go in. Everything was moving so fast for, even if my head was spinning, it wouldn’t be able to keep up.

I finally worked up the courage to push the door open, but not walk in. Sol must’ve noticed. “Don’t worry, kid. He doesn’t bite.” Now i’ll never the image out of my head. Thanks Sol Ray.

I did manage to push myself into his office, and it made me feel less anxious once I was inside. I took one look around, and from what I saw, you I never would’ve guessed this was the office of the dean. The floor was so cluttered with stacks of folders and paper, I almost needed a map to navigate to his desk.

I made my way up to the massive wooden table, trying desperately not to disturb any of his piles. They could’ve been organized for all I know, utilizing some system not yet known to ponykind. Once I finally reached the desk, I noticed the chair was empty. For a pony who was supposed to run the most prestigious magic school in Equestria, it didn’t seem like he could run one room.

“Oh, hello. You must be that crazy levitation girl.” I whipped around, expecting to see a wise old pony, but instead, it appeared to be a stack of papers with legs.

“Sorry about my office. I’ve been trying to organize more, but the papers just keep coming in. It’s criminal!” He didn’t sound that old. Was this a TA?

Once he put the stack down, I was actually more confused. He was, in fact, quite young, like he just graduated from the academy. He must’ve been a TA. “I’m Doctor Chi Chi, Dean of the Canterlot Magic Academy.” He wasn’t a TA.

I couldn’t believe it. This was the dean of the academy? He couldn’t have been 5 years my senior, and he was already the most prominent unicorn in Equestria! “You’re the dean? But you’re...You’re only...I’m sorry.”

He seemed to take my stuttering rather well. The entire time, he never lost a smile. “Don’t be. I get that a lot. Though I have to say, we don’t get unicorns like you very often. A plebe levitating three ponies in addition to herself? That was some quick thinking. I’m not sure I could do that.”

I think I began to blush. It was beyond flattering to be complimented by a pony I had never even dreamed of meeting. I couldn’t think of what to follow up with. “Thank you, Doctor Chi Chi.”

“You can loosen up. We’re going to be around each other a lot. You can just Call me Chi Chi.” It took a few runs through my brain, but I eventually understood what he said. I still couldn’t believe he said it, though.

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“Oh wow. I got way ahead of myself. Sorry to confuse you. I’d like to test you, just real quick.”

He pulled me out of a class to take a test? I could only imagine what kind of test.

Before I could even ask, though, I felt as if I was hit by lightning, but it was painless. The dean’s office had turned into a dark room; no windows, no doors. I couldn’t even see my hoof in front of my face. I vain, I tried to look around, but then I realized, “I’ve been teleported?”

I heard Doctor Chi Chi’s voice, but not with my ears. It was if he was in my mind. “Just find your way out. I’ll be waiting.”

So this was his test. At first, I was quite scared. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t hear anything, save for my own breathing, and I couldn’t move in case anything else was in the room.

I had to collect myself. I needed to think through this. It was just a test, and every problem has an answer. I just needed to analyze what I know and work with it.

I had to find out where I was and how to leave. That was obvious. The how was easy. I knew how to teleport, so I’d just do that.

The where was going to be harder. Since Teleporting involves knowing exactly where you’re going, and I didn’t have any reference points, I might as well have been in a maze.

Then I remembered my ambiance spell. When I played hide and seek as a filly, I found that if I closed my eyes and felt with my mind, I could get a sense of where everything was, even through walls. Since I didn’t know how thick these walls were, I’d have to push out harder than usual.

I closed my eyes, and focused magic in my horn. I could feel a pulse go out, and I began to understand where I was. The first thing I noticed was the room. It was small, around the size of my dorm. That was good to know.

What startled me was how soon I sensed other objects. As soon as my pulse left the room, I began to sense other rooms. But these were normal, with ponies busily working inside. It seemed familiar, and I began to suspect I wasn’t teleported very far.

I sensed more rooms, which were roughly the same as before. Not long after, I was approaching the limit of my range, but just before I did, I found Doctor Chi Chi, in his Office! He hadn’t sent me far at all!

I got a fix on the office, and let loose a teleportation. Quick as a flash, I placed myself back in his office, much to his surprise. I began to sway a little. Those two spells together were quite taxing.

“You’re back!?” He was, in fact, quite shocked. “How did you get back here so quickly?”

I panted for a few moments before answering. “I used an ambiance spell to find somewhere to teleport to, then I did it. Piece of cake.”

“Ambiance spell? What is that?”

I almost couldn’t believe he’d asked. did I really know something he didn’t? I held back my own shock, and did the best I could to keep from bumbling. “Well, it’s like seeing, but with magic. I just close my eyes, focus on my horn, and pulse it out. That way I can sense what’s around me. It works through walls too.”

He’d been jotting notes down as I spoke. He showed great interest in what I said. A first for me.

He got up from behind his desk, and tried to navigate back through the paper piles. “I have a proposition for you. Think of it as a permanent assignment.”

I managed to keep my voice down, but I couldn’t control my grin. “What kind of assignment?”

“How’d you like to be my research assistant.”

“Research? But this is my first year! I’m supposed to be learning!” I should’ve been able to control myself, but it was quite a shock. I never imagined I’d be teaching them about magic.

“It seems we have something to learn from you. A pony of your talent doesn’t come along very often. How could I not give you this opportunity?” I could tell it was a rhetorical question, but I wanted to give him an answer anyway. I didn’t belong in research. I needed to tell him that.

Still, mom and dad would be overflowing with pride if they knew their daughter was a researcher after one day. When I looked at it that way, How could I say no. “It would be an honor. When do I start?”

He looked at me with a sense of energy and enthusiasm. “That’s the spirit! You won’t regret this; you’ll help make discoveries we can’t even think of right now!”

He was psyched. Either he would always be this way, or he was telling the truth, and this really doesn’t happen very often, or ever

“Oh, and to answer your question, you’ll begin immediately. Follow me.”

This was the best first day of school ever!

Doctor Chi Chi showed me out of his office, and after that conversation, the school seemed to have a different atmosphere. I wasn’t a lost plebe anymore; I was a researcher!

As we walked along, I couldn’t stop thinking about how strange this felt. I wasn’t complaining, it was just an observation. But still, this was something out of a story. I wondered what I would be researching. Would it be time manipulation? Materialization? My head was filled with possibilities.

Eventually, I noticed that had been walking for quite some time, and that I was actually getting tired. I turned around, and saw a spiral staircase heading down. I had no idea how long we had been on them.

“Doctor?”

“Please, call me Chi Chi.”

“Where are we exactly?” We kept heading down the stairs, and soon came upon a massive library. I had never seen so many books in one place. Given enough time, I could’ve learned everything known to ponies.

“This is your new classroom.” He explained. “For now, I’d like you to familiarize yourself with the research we’ve already done. Maybe you’ll even find some holes to fill in.”

I don’t know what exactly I was expecting, but I guess I had to start somewhere. Besides, this could get interesting. I’d get to see what the spells the greatest minds had come up with.

“Research topics are in sections G and H. Knock yourself out.”

With that, he left me on my own, surrounded by knowledge. I didn’t want to be a disappointment. I headed over to section G. To my surprise, it wasn’t that large, just 3 shelves that didn’t even extend to the end of the row. Section H filled up the rest, so it was just an entire row of magic knowledge, all from this school.

There was so much choice, I didn’t know where to begin. I browsed the top shelf, and eventually settled on ‘Weather Manipulation: The End of a Pegasi Monopoly’. It sure seemed interesting, though I knew a few ponies who could argue with the title.

I picked up a few more, and started looking for a comfortable reading place. As I was walking, I noticed on old wooden door, standing all on it’s own against the wall. There was a sign hanging above it, reading one word.

‘RESTRICTED’

Restricted to who, I wonder? Oh well. I’d find out later. For now, it was time to hit the books.

Hours flew by in seconds, and I’d only scratched the surface of the schools knowledge. I had no idea that Canterlot Academy was responsible for Winter Wrap up spells. Or that ponies from the academy discovered the first Ursa Minor. I could only imagine what my contribution would be. My thoughts were broken by the sound of hoof steps from the entrance. It was Chi Chi.

“How are you holding up down here. I know it can get kind of lonely.”

“I haven’t noticed.” I was already on casual terms with him. “I’ve been completely engrossed in the papers.”

He chuckled a bit, but it wasn’t at my expense. “Well don’t get obsessed with just the past. you’ll be contributing to this library, too.”

Only then did I start to feel drowsy. Chi Chi noticed. “Why don’t you go hit the hay. You’ve had an exhausting day.”

“You can say that again.”

As we were walking out, I looked back to the restricted the door. “Oh, Chi Chi, I almost forgot.”

He turned his head to face me. “What is it, Stardust?”

“What’s behind that ‘restricted’ door? Am I allowed to check those papers.”

Chi Chi took on a more serious tone. I suddenly got a better idea of what restricted meant. “Those papers are on dark magic. Spells no pony should perform. You mustn’t read them, for your own sake. Do you understand.”

I hadn’t known him for very long, but I could tell this was not ordinary behavior for him. I gave him a nod, and he continued up the stairs. I respected him as the dean, but I had to wonder, what are they hiding behind that door?

Mirror, Mirror

Another morning, another solitary walk to the library. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought I was the only pony who went here. That feeling wouldn’t last, not after today.

I decided to skip breakfast. This project was just too important. When I came to the library, I was the only pony there. I guess Chi Chi was still at breakfast, which would give me time to set up the spell. Once he saw what I was about to do, I’d be set in academia for the rest of my life.

I wasn’t bothered by the solitude of my walk this morning. Even the echo of my hoof steps descending the steps didn’t phase me. It’s not like it would last much longer anyway.

Once downstairs, I wasted no time in opening the book. I’d bookmarked the page the night before, though I’d neglected to actually read it thoroughly. I remembered the runes from yesterday, though apparently there was an incantation necessary for it to work. It seemed a little suspicious; incantations are usually used in cruses and dark magic. I didn’t care. What consequences could there be to wanting a friend?

I grabbed a piece of chalk from a nearby board, and began to sketch the runes on the wall. They wrapped around a six point star, in as close to a circle as I could manage. I didn’t recognize the symbols, but they were probably just a copy of the incantation. I didn’t pay them any attention.

Once I’d finished with the set up, I began to study the chant. I figured it would help to read it aloud.

Hex reflect, glyphs connect,
Find in you my mirror image.
Matters of matter, be as you are,
Matters of mind, reflect ‘bout my heart.

It didn’t make much sense, but those were indeed the magic words. Once I’d finished, The runes and star began to glow in a bright white light. It was magic, though it wasn’t coming from me. Could this be real?

As I stood staring at the glowing markings, I began to wonder if this was all I could do. Had I done something wrong? Was there more to this spell? It didn’t continue on the other page, so I’d done everything. I tried the touch the wall, to get some sort of reaction.

Once I did touch it, I couldn’t get my hoof off of the wall. I tugged and pulled, but it wouldn’t budge, I tried to push off with my other hoof, but that one got stuck as well. I began to panic. What if this was a curse? What was going to happen to me? I looked around to think of something, anything, that would me get out and stop the spell.

It was then I noticed the markings converge on the spot I touched. My heart began to race. I didn’t know what would happen to me, but I thought it couldn’t have been anything good. I wanted to scream, cry out for help. But something was holding it back, something from me. Maybe part of me was keeping faith, and wanted a companion that badly.

As the runes converged, they began to meld into a single, elliptical spot, still glowing bright white. I kept struggling to break free, and as I did so, I realized my hooves were actually grabbing something. I didn’t understand it, but if felt like I was holding onto something, or somepony.

I pulled away from the wall, and as I did, another set of hooves came out from the glowing disc. I almost let go, but then I noticed that they were the same color as mine. Could this be my duplicate?

I pulled farther, and slowly, the duplicate revealed herself fully. It was uncanny; an exact copy of myself, right down to my cutie mark. Once she was clear of the wall, the disc collapsed into a singularity, and was just gone, leaving no trace of the runes. You never would have guessed I’d drawn anything at all.

The duplicate and I starred at each other for a few seconds. She seemed just as surprised as I was to be here. We both looked each other down, examined each others manes, and both came, at the same time, to the same realization. “You’re me!”

“No, you’re me!” She seemed indignant at my response. To be fair, I felt the same way. I was the one who performed the spell, after all.

“No, no, no. You see, I did this ritual to copy myself and...” Just that instant, I realized exactly the situation I was in. “...and it worked! It worked!” All of the feelings of sorrow I had felt before that moment were swept away by a flood of gleeful emotions. Nothing could have brought me down from that.

My double seemed lost in thought. It looked as if her world had been turned upside down. “But I remember setting up the spell. I was the one who tried to summon you.” She seemed genuinely confused, as was I. I know for a fact that I drew the runes and pulled her from the light. “I guess you have my memories, being an exact copy of me and all.”

“So then, I’m just the product of a spell?”

I could see immediately where this was going. I needed to make her feel like a real pony, not just a thing. My mind worked for a solution. “No, you’re Stardust. A smart, industrious pony who has a passion for magic.”

“I guess you’re right. I’m a talented, capable unicorn, who always strives to be the best I can be!” She was starting to get used being here, which was what I was hoping for. “So what are you...I...we up to?”

“Well, right now I’m...”

She cut me off before I could say any more.

“Looking for materialization spells, but you got really lonely when you realized that you couldn’t interact with anypony. So you found a conjuring spell that would creating a perfect copy of yourself, and you’d never have to worry about feeling isolated ever again.”

I was nodding to every single thing she said, but then I we began diverge in thought.

“And now that the duplication was successful, you were going to show it off to Doctor Chi Chi, and he’d be so impressed that you were able to find and perform such old magic that he would have to give you a permanent position at the university!”

I could not believe that those had come out of my mouth. “Are you out of your flapping mind!? Chi Chi can’t find out about this! He was the one who told explicitly not to go into the restricted room. If he knows I was in there, I could get dis-enrolled!”

The whole time I was panicking about Chi Chi, my other self simply stared with a smug smile on her face, eventually, her condescending expression got to me. “Why are you smiling?!”

She actually began to chuckle. This wasn’t deciding who I wanted write recommendation letters for me. I was deathly afraid for my future. “Oh, come on. He was the one who told you to find something, and this is by far the greatest spell either of us, or anypony else at this school, has ever performed. He’ll have to reward us.”

This was really frightening. I had to convince her that this was a terrible idea, but she seemed too proud to even consider the possibility. I couldn’t even form a sentence, I could only express myself in half words and sounds. I knew how hard-headed I could be sometimes, but this was downright reckless.

I heard myself laughing, though I failed to see any humor in this situation. “Lighten up. I’ll prove it to you. We’ll go and see Chi Chi right now.”

I must’ve grown wings for a few seconds, because it took me no time at all to rush to the main door and lock it. The expressions of pride were wiped from the the duplicate’s face. She seemed shocked at my behavior, but that expression soon morphed into frustration. “Are you that much of a coward? Don’t you want to be the best?”

I was frantic. I had to find a way to make her understand. “This won’t work, don’t you get it? Chi Chi will kick me out if he finds out I read one of those books. Don’t you see.”

She didn’t even think about it. All I got was an intense, intimidating glare. “I see exactly what’s going on. I see that that spell book was right, and now, instead of another dedicated pony to split the work load with me, I’m stuck with some timid, yellow, weak-kneed coward who is fine with having her nose in a book for the rest of her life.” This wasn’t the Stardust I knew. I was beginning to get frightened.

“What are you saying?” I was barely able to squeak out a sentence.

She didn’t even bother to answer. Before I could ask anymore, she teleported out in a flash. Celestia only knows where she went.

This was now officially a crisis. There was a crazy version of myself on the loose. If she was really as ambitious as she claimed to be, there was no telling what she’d set her sights on next. I had to get out there and find her.

Before I could get to the door though, I remembered something she’d said, about the book being right. What could she have meant by that. Maybe it would help me find out what she wanted.

I flipped the book open to the duplication page, and began reading through it, every single word. To my horror, I’d found what she was talking about. It was a small footnote, so faded you would notice it at a glance. Now that I knew it was there, I could make out what it said.

It is strictly forbidden for anypony, even alacorns, to perform the above conjuring. Produced dopplegangers have exhibited extreme emotional imbalances, which become more severe with the passing of time. To reiterate, NOPONY SHOULD PERFORM THIS SPELL.

There were not enough words in Equestria to describe how stupid I felt. I was so desperate for a companion, I never even considered that there could be consequences. My anxiety only worsened when I heard rapping at the door.

“Stardust, if you’re there, would you mind unlocking the door?”

I couldn’t think of a plan. What if he already found my duplicate? How would I explain it? What if she did something? Eventually, I steeled myself, and put on my best poker face. I’ll deal with the situation as it comes.

I unlocked the door for Chi Chi, though it took me several attempts to grab it correctly. I had to get a hold of myself, or he’d know I was hiding something. When I finally got the door open for him, he looked as approachable as ever, but I still wanted to leave as soon as I could.

“How’re you holding up down here. I know it must get lonely at times, having only yourself to keep you company.”

I let out as innocent a chuckle as I could. “You don’t know how right you are.” At least I hadn’t had to lie yet. I wondered how long I could keep that streak.

“I thought I heard you talking to yourself. I hope you’re not that desperate.” Just then, his tone changed, and so did the atmosphere in the room. “We don’t want last year to happen again.”

I may have been raised in nowhereville Trottsdam, but I kept up with Canterlot news. Still, I had no idea what he could have been referring to. There hadn’t any major scandals. Was it something that happened to him, I wonder. “What happened last year?”

Chi Chi took a deep sigh, and in an instant, he was back to his normal self. “It’s nothing to worry about. It won’t happen to you. Anyway, I was just checking up on you. Keep working hard.”

I needed a reason to leave and look for my duplicate. “I think I made go grab some lunch. I’m famished.”

“Good plan. I’d join you, but I’ve been snacking all day.” Thank Celestia for small miracles.

“That’s alright. I’ll get back here as soon as I can.” He gave me a nod, and was out the door. I meanwhile, was cramming the summoning book into my saddle bag. I’d need it on case the other me knew something else I didn’t know. As I bolted up the steps, passing a startled Chi Chi. He called out to me, but I just kept running. I had to find my duplicate, before her ‘emotional imbalance’ could do something really terrible.

Away Without Leave

I made my way up to ground level, and I was winded. I’d sprinted all the way up the stairs, and I was carrying my saddlebags. Even though it was only the one book, by now it felt like I was carrying a stones.

I had to push through it. I had to find the duplicate and undo this nightmare. I made my way to the front door of the building, but once I got there and threw the door open, I realized I had no idea where to go. I been so obsessed with stopping her, I’d never stopped to think how. I felt foolish, but there was no time to reflect on that.

I tried to think of what she could possibly want to do. I didn’t know any spells, even mythical ones, that would be that attractive and possible for one pony to perform.

Then again, I didn’t have to know it. I glanced at the summoning book in my bag, and had a sudden moment of clarity. Maybe she wasn’t a perfect clone of myself. She knew about that footnote I didn’t even see. What else could she have read about in that room?

I didn’t even bother with running this time. I focused on where I thought the library was, and simply teleported back down. Once there, I dashed into the restricted room and lock the door behind me. With the help of an illumination spell, I began to pour through the forbidden knowledge.

One thing I can say for sure about the authors of these books was that they were thorough. They theorized about spells I’d never even thought of in my wildest dreams. I found instruction from basic self levitation to the possibility of altering Equestria’s environment. It was magic to a degree beyond even alacorns.

After what felt like hours of digging, I found what was probably the most audacious, gut wrenching spell in the whole library.

Alacornication
WARNING: THIS SPELL IS NEVER TO BE PERFORMED BY ANYPONY, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
This spell results in one pony being transformed into an alacorn, by process of addition. It requires a minimum of two ponies; One to give, and one to receive the necessary features. This also requires the following materials.
1 Leaf from the Heart’s Desire
1 Claw of a Timber wolf
1 Link to the Donor’s Past
The casting pony, upon completion, will receive the donors horn/wings. The fate of the donor, due to Royal law, has not been experimentally determined. It is the authors belief that the donor will not survive the spell.
Described below is the theoretical process for performing the spell.

I couldn’t read anymore. I simply stood shaking, while I dropped the text onto the floor. That was it, that was what she would go for. She wanted to prove to everypony that she could master any spell, even if it cost another pony their life. I couldn’t let that happen.

Fortunately, I would at least be able to know generally where she was going. She’d need to first get the leaf and claw, and for those items, she’d need to go to the Everfree forrest. That was easy.

The one thing I wasn’t sure of was the last item, the ‘Link to the Donor’s Past’. It seemed so cryptic, I doubt even my double knew what it meant. Still, I had to assume she did, and that she already had a donor in mind. Whoever it was, I wasn’t going to let them die just so a crazy version of me could prove a point.

Academy policy regarding absences is very strict. Anypony who was found to have left Academy Grounds without express permission was punished at the discretion of the dean. If it happened again after that, you were expelled. I didn’t think of those repercussions for an instant. I was trying to save a pony’s life. That was way more important than my academic record.

I at least decided to leave a note for Chi Chi, though I didn’t tell him why I was leaving. All I told him in my letter was ‘personal business’, and that I would be away indefinitely. He couldn’t know what I had done. I was responsible for creating this problem, so I was responsible for correcting it.

I packed only what I could fit in my saddle bags; the two books, a canteen, some snacks, a map of Equestria, and a blanket. My double had already gotten a good lead on me, and she knew where she needed to go. I needed to travel light if I was going to have any hope of catching her.

I also decided to pack White Lightening’s letter. It would remind me why this needed to be done, and that I still had real friends, even if they were miles away. With that, I set off to put a stop to my own madness.

Leaving the campus was easy, but ponies would soon notice I wasn’t there, or maybe they wouldn’t. Chi Chi is really the only one who sees me on any given day. I guess maybe nopony would notice after all.

It wouldn’t take me long to reach the forrest. The trains run right to Ponyville, and from there, I’d be able to hoof it into the forrest. The whole trip would take less than a day. Still, my double had a couple hours head start on me. Catching up wouldn’t be easy, but I had to try.

On the train ride to Ponyville, I took some time to reflect on my decisions. Not just to perform the duplication, but every decision I’d made. I left home to go to Canterlot Academy, because I wanted to learn as much magic as I possibly could. As it turned out though, that meant I had to leave my friends behind in Trottsdam. Those that didn’t stay went off to their own adventures, making new friends and learning more about the world.

I didn’t feel the same way. Sure I was admitted into the most prestigious magic school in all of Equestria. That was nothing to sneeze at. However, when I got here, I became so engrossed in learning, I completely abandoned any chance of building friendships. Now I’d made the choice to create a deranged clone, who was now bent on performing a dangerous spell.

I can’t say I was angry at myself, the time for that was long past. I felt more sadness than anything. A proper adjective would be disappointment. I’d let so many ponies down; Chi Chi, my parents, even White Lightning. They’d all expected me to be successful, to go out into the world and discover a world I couldn’t see from the comfort of home.

But I couldn’t feel sorry for myself. What happened in the past couldn’t be changed. I had to deal with the situation as it stands now, and that meant there was no time to cry over a past mistake. I could still fix this mess before somepony gets hurt.

Sitting in my seat, I looked out at the landscape as it rolled by. I’d grown up surrounded by hills such as these, and yet after only a couple of days in the city, they couldn’t have seemed more foreign. I used to think that my long walks to school were monotonous and time consuming, so I never really took time to take in the scenery. I guess it wasn’t as important to me at the time as my GPA.

I took a different approach now. The rolling hills, dotted with small woods and peaks, seemed to have a calming effect on me. It seemed as if for that brief train ride, I hadn’t cast ancient magic, and I hadn’t lost my friends. The world melted away, and all that mattered was what a beautiful landscape I saw. I noticed myself drifting off into a sleep. Normally, I would have caught myself, maybe gotten some tea. But this time, I wanted to fall asleep. I figured I would take the chance to rest. I hadn’t gotten much opportunity as of late. This was the perfect time for a nap.

Unfortunately, my appointment with the sandpony was cut short when I was suddenly thrown from my seat. I ended up getting hit by my saddlebags as they fell from the overhead bin. I was furious at the fact that my nap had been disturbed, but I was more curious as to why the conductor had slammed on the brakes.

“Sorry to startle you folks,” the conductor announced over the speakers. “But we’ve encountered a technical problem on the tracks. We’ll need to wait here until it’s cleared. In the mean time, let a stewardess know if there’s anything we can do to make you all more comfortable.”

An obstruction? in the middle of the hills, what could have possible blocked the tracks? I stuck my head out the window, and realized that the conductor had made the understatement of the century.

The tracks didn’t just have something wrong with them, they had been obliterated. The timbers were thrown several yards away, and the rails were peeled back like a banana.

It couldn’t just be an inconvenience. I knew immediately that my double had pulled it off somehow. She may be insane, but she still had my smarts. She knew I would be coming after her, so she was trying to slow me down.

I wasn’t about to let myself beat me. If the train wasn’t going to take me to the forrest, I’d have to rely on my own four hooves. I threw my saddlebags on, and made my way out the nearest exit.

It was getting to be sunset, and I had no idea how far it was to Ponyville. My best bet was probably to follow the tracks, I’d have to book it, though. The sun was getting ready to set.

I’d had long walks to school before, but this was a whole new level of trekking for me. I didn’t have a watch, so I had no idea how long I’d been walking. Eventually I got to the point where I wasn’t even keeping track of where I was. All was focused on was following the tracks.

At some point, I caught myself dozing off as I walked. That snapped me out of the highway hypnosis, and made me aware that it was night time. I began to panic. I had no idea where I was, and I didn’t have any idea where I’d be able to rest. I started hyperventilating, as the sounds of nocturnal creatures filled the air. Then, as I was whipping my head around to get my bearing, I noticed what was immediately to my left; it was the Everfree Forrest.

I should have been terrified. This was, after all, one of the most mysterious and least understood places in Equestria. Instead, I was reminded of why I had traveled these many miles. I summoned up the courage, and I marched myself headlong into the forrest.

Ever since I was a filly, I was told to never, ever travel to certain places. The Everfree Forrest was at the top of the no-go list. Ponies say that the animals get their own food and shelter, and that plants grow anywhere, and anyway, they please. It would have deterred a more faint-hearted pony, but it wasn’t going to stop me. Mine was simply too important a task.

Even walking seemed strange, as there were no beaten paths to follow. It was as if I had travelled back millennia, before ponies even knew this land existed. I had to weave over and under logs and branches, and be sure not to fall off of a hidden cliff. Navigating was taxing, mentally as well as physically. Still, I soldiered through it.

All the while, I was using my ambiance spell to find my double. I had no idea where I was going, but neither did she. I could only hope I’d run into her by random chance, and I’d be able to find a way to pacify her long enough I could undo the spell.

Despite my best efforts, I was beginning to fade. The walking, hiking, and spell casting were all beginning to take their toll. I tried to will myself to stay awake, but my strength was fading fast.

I would have past out right there, but I detected something. I sensed another pony, not too far away from me. I felt a rush of energy from inside. My perseverance had payed off.

However, after galloping a short distance towards her, she began to fly away. I was stunned. Either this wasn’t my double, or I was already too late. I prayed to Celestia it was the former.

I ran as fast I could to keep up with her, which was only possible thanks to a massive surge of adrenaline. I called upon a second wind, and began to close the distance. Soon though, She darted off to the right, beyond my range. I tried to follow her, but I figured I would have a better chance of finding her if I focused on expanding my radius.

As I tried to focus, I could hear her call out to me. “I can’t go back! You hear me! You can’t make me go!”

That seemed like an odd thing to say. Who in their right mind would want to stay in this wilderness? “I’m not here to hurt you! I just lost something!”

“That’s what the last pony said! She tried to trap me! But I showed her!” She sounded quite proud of herself. I needed to calm her down.

“As Celestia as my witness, I’m just a lost traveller. I’m looking for somepony.” I never stopped expanding my circle. Soon, I would find her, and be able to teleport her to me, as long as she was still.

“Liar! You just want to bring me back to the academy!”

Back to the academy? Could she have been a student? Just as she shouted that out, I found her, and was able to lock onto her fairly quickly. Before I could bring her to me, she called out something I could not have expected. “Chi Chi can’t know what I did!”

I almost broke my concentration, but I was able to bring her in front of me, much to her astonishment. I used my levitation to keep her in place. “How do you know Chi Chi? What did you...” As she hovered in front of me, I noticed what she was talking about; cat eyes, leathery wings, and fangs. She was a Thestral. “...what did you do to yourself?”

Kindred Spirit

I’d been through a lot up until this point. I’d left home, performed forbidden magic, run away from school, and entered the Everfree Forrest, all within a couple of days. Still, I think it’s safe to say that this was unbelievable.

She simple stood in front of me, her defiant facade had crumbled once I used my magic. She didn’t even try to run anymore. Even while I was paralyzed with disbelief, she became completely submissive, like she was a runaway pet. I shook my head to regain my focus.

“I don’t understand, you’re a Thestral? How is that even possible? Your kind hasn’t been seen since the banishment of Nightmare Moon. And you went to the academy?” My barrage of questions actually seemed to put her at ease. She began to stand up taller, and actually looked my in the eye. She still didn’t seem comfortable speaking.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t get over this. I should asked for your name first. I’m Stardust.” She still appeared nervous, but eventually, she worked up enough courage to respond.

“I’m Gemini. You really aren’t here to bring me back?”

“No, I was actually trying to find somepony else. But I have to know, how do you know about the academy? I thought Thestrals guarded Princess Luna’s palace.”

She heaved a deep sigh, which could only mean that a long explanation was inbound. “I used to be a student at the Canterlot Academy. It seemed like a dream come true, until I was picked up by Doctor Chi Chi for a research position.” This was starting to sound awfully familiar. “He had me reading in that dungeon of a library day after day. Eventually I got curious enough to look into the restricted room. I thought it might contain more interesting material than what was normally in the library.”

“What did you find in there?” I had to ask.

“It seemed harmless. I didn’t think it would actually work.”

The suspense was killing me. “But what was it?”

Gemini recoiled slightly, I guess I’d gotten a little excited. “It was labeled ‘Alacorns Only: Spells for Rulers and Royalty’. I found a transracial spell under ‘Transformations’.

“So then, you used to be a unicorn?”

She nodded her head, and a tear began to roll down her cheek. “I was so terrified of what would happened to me, I took the book and ran off here. I tried to find a way to reverse the spell, but eventually I gave up. I’ll be like this until I the end of my days.”

Saying this pony’s life was tragic would be an understatement. I had only created another one of myself, whereas she had changed herself, beyond what normal magic could reverse.

Despite our different conditions, I felt I’d found a kindred spirit in Gemini. It isn’t too often you find another pony in the same situation as you, especially when that situation causes you to run off to the Everfree Forrest.

“It’s not hopeless. We can find a way to help you.”

Gemini looked up, as she wiped more tears from her face. “What are you talking about? I’ve tried everything.”

“Well, you said only alacorns could reverse it, and I’m sure once she knows what happened, Princess Celestia be willing to help you.”

As I said the Princess’s names, Gemini recoiled again. “No! No, I can’t!” She tried to fly away, but I was tired of running, so I grabbed her tail with magic to keep her from running off.

“Nothing bad will happen I promise. Before we can go back though, I need your help.” She stopped struggling and faced me to see what I had to say. “I went into the restricted room too, and I made a duplicate of myself. Now she’s in the forrest, gathering ingredients for an alacornication spell, which could kill somepony! If you help me find her, I swear in Celestia’s name I will find a way to reverse your spell.”

She scoffed at my story, and stared at me with even more spite than before. “That’s your story, huh? Well I don’t buy it. I’m insulted you would even try and relate to me with a story like that. You’re really unbelievable.”

At this point, I got mad. I didn’t feel sorry for this pony anymore. She’d spent so long pitying herself, she’d forgotten how to empathize. I slammed her down on the ground, and stood over her, hoping to change her mood. “Your’s is not the only sob story in the world! I’ve abandoned my future because I’m trying to save a pony’s life. You just chickened out at the thought of facing punishment. So either you help me stop my duplicate, or let a pony get murdered by a deranged clone, am I clear!”

She was frozen. She began to mutter, but it was nonsense. Her cowardice was making my blood boil. I decided she wasn’t worth my time, so I released her, and began forging a new path through the woods.

“Stardust, wait!” I turned around to see Gemini fly towards me from where I’d left her. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I just could believe something like this could happen to somepony else. I’ll help you with whatever you need.”

It raised my spirits to hear her say that. I would have been elated had I not been so tired. “I could use a place to rest.”

“That’s easy enough, follow me.”

It wasn’t a long walk until we arrived at Gemini’s shelter, a treehouse that, while hoof-made, seemed to have withstood the elements quite well. “This is my home. I made it when I finally gave up on reversing the transformation. It’s the best I could do without magic.”

“It’s all I need.” I replied. “Thank you so much.”
I had enough strength to levitate myself to the top, but just barely. It was lucky for me that the bed was only a few steps away from the door. It felt as if it was made out of clouds, which turned out to be entirely accurate. Winged ponies are so lucky.

I immediately collapsed onto it, and felt all of the pain from the past few days leave my body. I hadn’t forgotten why I was there though. For now though, it was time to rest. I’d earned that much, at least.

I was walking. No where in particular, just taking a stroll. All of the pain was gone, so I could’ve kept walking on to infinity. But something made me stop. I realized I was nowhere, just in a void. All was black, and yet I could hold out a hoof and see it clear as day. It seemed so surreal. “I must be in a dream.”

“You’re right, though you could’ve been a bit more imaginative.”

That voice came from nowhere, and yet when I spun my head, I was looking at a mirror image of myself. I was startled, but only for an instant. After that I realized exactly what was going on. It wasn’t really me I was looking at. Since this was my world, I felt more confident, and tried standing up to her. “How did you get into my dreams?”

She didn’t seem intimidated in the slightest. “You really need to may more attention to what you read. Dreamwalking was in that book you took. It’s super easy too. I don’t know why it was reserved for the Princess of the Night.”

I didn’t have time to get into that argument. “Why are you here, then? You don’t need me. You said so yourself.”

“I’m just coming to tell you that I’ve gotten everything I’ve needed. You don’t need to kill yourself chasing me through the forrest anymore.”

I felt relieved, and at the same time, horrified. If she had all that she needed, why was she invading my dreamscape? I tried not to let my despair show. “So you’re just gloating now, is that it?”

“Not at all. You see, the Timberwolf I killed didn’t have just one claw, and Hearts desires do grow on bushes.”

She was leading me on, though I wasn’t sure where to.

“I have enough supplies to perform the spell twice. I’m offering you a chance to join me in immortality.”

I was disgusted at the very thought. Being responsible for a pony’s death by proxy was already unthinkable. How could she even think of doing it twice? “You’re sick! What made you think I would even consider that! If any of this were real, I’d send you up to Nightmare Moon!”

“I don’t have time for idle threats, so think about this more carefully.” She suddenly dropped the mockery, and became very serious. “You’re me, and I’m you, so I’m already inside your head, and I know that you want to know all there is to know about magic.” She was right. That’s why I applied to the academy. “Well, Starswirl the Bearded never learned anything learning what everypony else already knew. He experimented. That’s what I’m doing. I’m just working out the flaws in magic, and trying to find a way to fix them.”

Now she on a different path. “You can’t go and kill ponies just to learn more magic! That’s just evil!”

“Everypony has to make sacrifices. The greater the price, the better the reward. I have to go now. Consider my offer, and think about what I’ve told you.” She turned around and began to walk away, but before she disappeared, she stopped. “Oh, and by the way, I’m outside your window right now. You didn’t do a very good job of hiding.”

That shock was enough to snap me awake. If she knew where I was, then she couldn’t have been very far away. I wasn’t about to let her get away. Not when I had a chance like this.

“Gemini! Wake up! She’s here!”

I could hear her fall out of her bed. For a supposed pony of the night, she wasn’t very active at those hours. Her eyes were barely open when she emerged from her room, while I was frantically stuffing my saddlebags. “Who are you talking about? There’s nopony around here for miles.”

“My duplicate! She I saw her in a dream walk. She know’s I’m here, so she can’t be far away. Now hurry!” Despite the urgency in my voice, all she could manage was to list herself lazily out of bed, like she was getting up for school. She was really a credit to her race.

I decided it wasn't worth waiting for Gemini, and bolted out after my double. She'd already gotten a head start, but I could see the path she'd made through the brush. It was aggravating that she would go out of her way to taunt me, but it would have been infuriating if she had gotten away.

Over logs and under branches, I did my best to keep up. She would only be as athletic as I was, which is to say not very. I could only hope that she would trip and let me catch her, and that I didn’t trip along the way.

Soon though, I was the one feeling winded. I was still aching from trekking yesterday, and I hadn’t exactly had a restful night. I somehow found the strength to push through, and to my astonishment, found myself outside the forrest. It was still dark out, but the moonlight helped me make out duplicate Stardust on the railroad tracks.

She appeared as exhausted as I was, but I wanted to catch her more than she wanted to get away. She turned to face me, still panting from the chase. We couldn’t have been more than 50 feet apart. “Why are you chasing me? What I’m doing has nothing to do with you.”

Even though I was tired, I still had energy to rage. “What you’re doing has everything to do with me!” I had to pause every couple of words. I was beginning to get dizzy. “I made you, and if you kill some pony, then it will be my fault! I won’t let that happen!”

A train’s whistle blew in the distance. Soon, we could hear the engine chugging towards us. My double was somehow still able to levitate herself. “I’m sure White Lightning will appreciate what a responsible mare you are.”

As she finished speaking the trained roared beneath her, at such speed it was merely a blur to me. She dropped onto one of the cars, and was whisked far, far away. Now I knew. She was after Lightning.

I tried to do as she did with the train, but my body had given all there was to give. I had no strength at all. I began to feel a tingle, first in my hooves, then my face, and soon my entire body felt like it was shutting down. She was going to kill my best friend, and all I could do was lay on the ground and cry.

My vision was narrowing to a point, and all of the night sounds were drowned out by an incessant drone. I gave up then. I was content to go to sleep right there and never wake up. It was the punishment I deserved at that point. That was my final thought as I closed my eyes, for what I hoped was the last time.

Good Samaritan

To my astonishment, I opened my eyes. I had thought, and honestly hoped, that my journey was over. I gazed around, but it was too dark to see anything. I could feel myself in a bed, tucked tightly under the sheets, but that was all I could tell. I had no idea where I was or who had put me there. I tried to sit up, but my whole body ached, and I simply collapsed back onto the bed. I couldn't move without everyone of my muscles crying out in pain. I remembered running to the railroad tracks, and I remember collapsing my duplicate got away, but I know for a fact I didn’t put myself to bed. Who could have, would have, taken me in.

I soon got my answer. The door swung open, and in walked a midnight blue unicorn, levitating a vase full of flowers. She was very well kept, with her jet black mane braided in a neat ponytail to her left. She saw me looking at her, and her face lit up.’

“You’re awake! Thank Celestia! We were worried you’d be asleep forever.”

Her voice was very expressive, and she spoke so fast, I had to think before I could register what she said. Now that some pony was here, I could get some answers. “Who are you?”

“Oh, where are my manners. My name is Polaris.I’ve been taking care of you while you rested.”

At least now I knew who had found me, but I was still curious. “How did find me? I was in the middle of nowhere.”

She chuckled, like this was all very funny. “Well, so was I. I was riding in my balloon from here to Ponyville, and I saw my sister trying to help you by the railroad tracks. What else was I to do but help. I hadn’t seen my sister in ages either. The fact that you’re now both okay is such a relief.”

I tried again to sit up, but my body was having none of it. Polaris rushed over to the bedside. “I can imagine you’re pretty sore, but that’s normal. From what my sis has told me, you’ve been through quite the ordeal.”

Sister, sister, she said that as if I knew her. “I don’t think I know your sister.”

“Well she sure knows you. She’s been helping me run things here these past few days. I can’t begin to describe how overjoyed I was to see her again.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

As I did so, Gemini walked in with a plate of pie, but she immediately dropped it once she saw I was awake.

“Stardust! You’re awake!” She shouted, but I was still speechless.

“Gemini, you have such excellent timing. We were just talking about you.”

I had to shake my head to shake off my disbelief. I thought Gemini was terrified of ever being discovered. It didn’t take me long to put two and two together, though. “Gemini is your sister?”

“Yes. I was sad when she went off to Canterlot Academy, but I was devastated when I learned she was missing. She was the only family I had left. I didn’t recognize her, but I never forget a voice. That hadn’t changed a bit.” Polaris began to tear up. I was afraid she would start crying, but she managed to keep her composure. “I wanted to try and find her, help her get home, but after a while I gave up hope of ever seeing her again.”

“And I’d given up hope of eve being helped.” Gemini interjected. “I was terrified when Polaris spotted me. I was tempted to run back into the forrest. But she was more concerned about you than she was of my condition. And actually, so was I.”

“We got you back here as fast as we could. It seems you over exerted yourself. What on earth were you doing out in the Everfree forrest, anyway?”

Gemini already knew my story, so there was no point in trying to keep it a secret.I told her everything that had happened. I told her how I was from the Canterlot Academy, how I’d inadvertently summoned a maniacally ambitious version of myself, and that I’d been chasing her all the way from Canterlot. I even told her that my isolation and loneliness was why I’d done it.

I don’t know why I trusted her so much. I’d only known the pony for a few minutes, and I was telling her my deepest feelings. I hadn’t been so open with anyone since I was at home in Trottsdam. The entire time I was talking to her, I never got the sense that she was judging me. She just listened to what I had to say.

After I finished my story, she let out a deep sigh. “This is certainly a lot to take in. Not only did I find my missing sister, but now your telling me that there’s a maniacal pony on the loose that’s trying to steal pegasus wings.” When she put it that way, it did all seem rather hard to believe. “Don’t worry though. Gemini and I will get you back on your hooves so we can stop her.”

I was a bit surprised at her enthusiasm. “Really? I haven’t even proven that what I told you was true.”

“Stardust, a couple days ago, I thought I’d never see my sister again. Now I’ve discovered that she turned herself into a race no pony has seen in ages. I’m willing to believe anything at this point.”

I of all ponies should have known that.

I’d been bed ridden for a second day, and the angst was beginning to get to me. My double was making progress, and yet I was stuck here, barely able to lift my legs. At least I had ponies to tend to me while I rested. Maybe they could even help make it go along faster. It was my only hope, and White Lightning’s, too.

Polaris came in, as she had the previous day, but this time brought me a hot meal, the first one I’d seen in days. “Good morning, Stardust. Feeling any better today?”

I tried to move, but the stiffness was still pervasive. “Only a little. I’ve never felt so helpless before.”

“I know what you mean. The first time I had to anything physical, I could barely walk up the stares the next day.”

“Not like that. I mean, that’s part of it.”

She placed the tray with the food gingerly on the bed stand, and took a seat next to me. “You’re still worried about your friend, aren’t you?”

I gave her a nod. “I know I’m responsible for anything bad that’ll happen to her, but I feel right now like there’s nothing I can do. It’s the worst feeling.”

I don’t think she had a story to relate with me then. Instead, she opened up the curtains, revealing a large dogwood tree. It must’ve been the size of the house, because I could see it from every angle I looked.

“We don’t really appreciate the world we live in. This tree is older than anyone I know, and yet no pony has ever asked me a thing about it.”

I was beginning to wonder where she was going, but I let her carry on. “Look at the branches, the littlest ones. They had no choice of where or in what direction they grew. They just happened. But they’re hardy little guys. Every single one of them pushed out, weathering storms and wildlife to grow in a strong tree limb. Eventually, they push out new tree limbs, and the cycle begins anew.”

“Should I be taking a lesson from this?”

“Indeed. It doesn’t matter what’s happened in your past. Just like this tree, future branches don’t care whether you you caused a minor hiccup, like growing at a funny angle, or even dividing into two branches. If you push on, helping more branches grow, you create a beautiful tree."

I’d never thought I’d get life lessons from a tree, but Polaris was a true philosopher. Sh was right. I could still fix this. I just needed to push through, and not give up. Still, I couldn’t help but have my doubts. “I’m still so far behind her. White Lightning is all the way in Cloudsdale. How am I going to reach her in time to help her?”

Polaris’s face lit up, though I hadn’t the faintest idea why it would. “I almost forgot to tell you! I never thought in my life that this would be good news, but the pegasi have scheduled a massive storm for the next few days, so all travel to clouds dale has been suspended. Unless your other self grows the strongest wings in equestrian, she’s grounded too!”

"That's perfect! Finally, some good luck!"

"Now will you get some rest? Not much else to do anyways." She was right. I could finally rest without worry, at least for the time being. I tucked myself back under the quilt as the storm clouds rolled in.

“Just show me once. I want to know if it’s true!” Polaris stared at Gemini with childish glee. Despite her sisters cheery demeanor, she remained stoic, and took and sip of her chocoa.

“I told, I think I would’ve noticed if something like that happened.”

“Did you ever check?”

“No.”

“Well then You don’t know for sure. Please?”

Gemini sighed, finally giving in to Polaris’s begging. “Fine.”

With a squee, Polaris clopped her hooves, and proceed to eliminate every source of light in the room, dousing the lamps, drawing the curtains, and turning off the stove where our dinner was cooking. I didn’t object. I kind of wanted to see this too.

Sure enough, Gemini’s eyes glowed a fluorescent yellow, so brightly that we could make out each other’s silhouettes. Polaris sat, giggling in delight. I was tempted to do the same, but I restrained myself, seeing as Gemini obviously didn’t approve of being used as a glow stick.

“OK, you’ve seen it. Are you happy?”

Polaris regained her composure just long enough to answer. “Yes. I am. Now let’s get the stove going again before our dinner goes cold.”

As Polaris got up to check the food, I leaned towards Gemini. She looked like she needed cheering up. “Well at least she didn’t ask if you drink blood. Sorry if that made you feel bad.”

“Trust me, I’ve pulled my share of dirty tricks on my sister. Being a lantern is probably just the beginning of my karma.”

“What do mean?”

“Well, one time, I found some poison joke in the woods, and I slipped it into her bath one night. When she woke up, she could only talk backwards!”

It was only as she finished that I noticed Polaris standing behind her, carrying the pot of stew. “And you can count your lucky stars Apple Blossom visited when she did, or I may have found some of that poison joke to use on you.”

“Yeah right. It probably would’ve played another joke on you instead!”

Polaris shot a glare over at Gemini. “You know, I’m not all that hungry. If Stardust wasn’t our guest, this would be on your head right now.”

Gemini jus kept giggling as she turned away. Since I’d met her, I’d never seen her be happy in anyway. It seemed like just being with her sister was enough to lighten her spirits. If she was in the same position as me at the academy, this was probably the first time she’d laughed in a long time. I would’ve been jealous if I wasn’t laughing myself.

Polaris may have been her sister, but I don’t think Gemini saw her that way. She told me more of her practical jokes over dinner, from come-to-life spells on her writing desk to moving her onto a cloud while she was sleeping. Polaris just laughed them off, even though she was hopping mad at the time. They behaved more like friends than siblings. It reminded me of White Lightning and myself, except we only felt like family. That was all that mattered though.

After dinner, Gemini helped me back up to bed, but something kept nagging me the entire time. Before she left, I spoke up. “Gemini, I gotta ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

“Why did you pull all those pranks on Polaris?”

She smirked, and in the darkness, I could see her eyes faintly glowing again. “Because she loves me. No matter what I did, she would always be my sister.”

With that, she departed, leaving my to ponder her words. With her pranks and Polaris’s tree, I began to realize that, being together for so long, they had learned something that I couldn’t have learned in any school; that friendship is forever.

Till Proven Innocent

For the first time it what seemed like an eternity, I woke up refreshed. There was no pain, no stiffness, and absolutely no struggle to walk. I was finally feeling like my old self, although now I had some appreciation for the things White Lightning could do. She was always the star athlete, and I was the braniac. I had always wondered how we became friends, but I could never figure it out. But I didn’t care. I’m not one to question my blessings.

I headed downstairs to the kitchen, expecting to see Gemini and Polaris, and I would help prepare breakfast. Instead, Gemini was absent, and Polaris was furiously packing. Food, canteens, and bits were all being thrown haphazardly into the same sack. Of course I was concerned, but I had no idea what could have had her doing this. I began moving over to her, but my hoof steps must’ve startled her, because she nearly hit the ceiling until she saw it was me.

“Polaris, what’s wrong? You’re acting like you’re guilty of something.” My little jab of humor apparently wasn’t very appropriate. She glared at me. I was starting to get annoyed as to why she wasn’t explaining anything to me.

“It’s not me who’s guilty of something.” She directed me over to center table, where I noticed there was a newspaper, a copy of the Ponyville Express. It didn’t take me long to find what she was taking about. My legs may not have been sore, but they just about gave out after reading the front page.

“Two dead by magic. ERI called in to investigate.” Polaris began reading the headline. She’d memorized it by now. “It’s get’s better. Did you see the composite?” I skipped the article, and went straight top the page with the composite sketch. It was a mare unicorn, with a white coat and pewter mane, combed forward into spiked bangs.

It was me.

Or rather, it was my duplicate. She really was going mad, and it was happening faster than I ever thought it would. The article said that she was provoked by a couple who simply bumped into her. If that’s all it took to set her off, it wasn’t just White Lightning’s safety I had to worry about.

One thing that was certain now was that she was more unpredictable now. I thought she would lie low until the storm was over, just like I was doing. I never imagined she would do anything so brash, and on a whim no less.

“I can’t believe this. You’d told me she was dangerous, but this is simply horrifying. What if she comes looking for you? We won’t be able to stop her!”

“Calm down!” I felt like such a hypocrite. I was frantic on the inside. “She’s going after White Lightning. We don’t have anything she wants.”

“Neither did that poor couple in Ponyville!” She exclaimed. I’d never heard her speak that way. She became so stern, almost irate. It was in stark contrast to her soft demeanor from the past couple days. “Gemini is out getting the balloon ready. We need to get to Cloudsdale.”

I was about to agree with her, until I realized exactly what she had said. “We?”

“Of course. You, Gemini, and myself. Hopefully we’ll be able to get your friend and go somewhere safe.”

“No! I need to stop her myself. I can’t let her hurt any pony else.”

I would have gone on, but I felt the sharp blow of a hoof on my face. It wasn’t brutal, but it did hurt, and it only hurt more to see that it was Polaris who had hit me. “Stop feeling guilty for what she could do! We’re trying to help you before this get’s even more out of hoof. If you won’t accept any pony else’s help, then you might as well be signing Lightning’s death warrant right now!”

I wanted to shout. I wanted to scream. But all I could eke out were a few unintelligible grunts. How dare she lecture me! She had no idea what it was like to be responsible for another pony’s death. After all she’d done for me, her’s was the last one whose blood I wanted on my hooves.

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. Everything was spinning out of control, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t know how to solve a problem. I wanted to hide, somewhere I’d never hear another word from another pony. At least then I wouldn’t know if anything bad happened.

Polaris placed her hoof on my shoulder, dabbing my eyes with the handkerchief in the other. “I know this is scary, but you have to know that you don’t have to do this on your own. It won’t make you any less responsible to get help.”

She’d returned to her calm demeanor, the one that greeted me when I woke up in her house for the first time. Once I could see again, I looked her in the eye, which immediately put me at ease. I almost got upset again for getting mad at her, but I knew that would only make me feel awful again. I breathed in, and expelled my negativity with a long breathe.

“There you go. Deep breathes. Better?”

I could speak again. It was good to at least be in control of myself. “Yeah. I’m so sorry I snapped. I just…”

She cut me off. “Not another word on it. You’ll only work yourself up again. You should focus on the task at hand. Go grab your things and meet me outside.”

As always, she was right. I just nodded in agreement before rushing up to the guest room for my saddlebags. They were still packed, so I was back outside with Polaris in no time at all.

As soon as I set hoof outside, I barely took two steps before narrowly avoiding getting slammed by a flying tree limb. If I had been any faster getting outside, I would've been knocked senseless. I suddenly began to question whether it would be possible, let alone sane, to try and leave during the storm.

I glanced around, but I struggled to see through the rain. It came down like a curtain, and the lack of sunlight only added made seeing more difficult. I was able to make out a silhouette in the distance, that of a dirigible, being tended to by two ponies. They were Gemini and Polaris.

As I made my way over, the driving winds and torrential rain forced me to cover my eyes. Using my hoof as a visor, I eventually made my away over to the balloon, where I could finally hear the two sisters. Gemini was at the helm.

“She’s as ready as she’ll ever be. We need to take off, now!”

Polaris saw me struggling against the storm, and ran over to my side. I could feel her pushing me forward. “C’mon, Stardust! Almost there!”

She said more, but that was all I heard over the sound of the wind. The winds picked up, forcing me to cover my eyes completely. I couldn’t see at all, having only Polaris’s eyes to guide. me. It wasn’t the first time my life had been in her hooves. I had faith she would see me ok.

With a yelp, I no longer felt Polaris ushering me towards the balloon. I called out to her, but was meant only by the howl of the wind. I didn’t know if we’d made it to the balloon, but I knew that even if I had, Polaris hadn’t. She’d must’ve been hit by something, so she could have been hurt.

In a panic, I tried to feel around with my hooves, but was only met by the force of the wind. I couldn’t believe that after all she’d done to help me, I was powerless to help her when she needed it most.

Or was I? I remembered then my ambience spell. It was exactly what I needed. Without hesitation, I fired up my horn, and began to scan the area. The first thing I noticed was the sheer amount of debris whirling around me. Providence was all that kept me from being hit.

The next thing I found was the balloon, with Gemini still frantically trying to keep it intact. It seemed far away, but I could definitely make it. Still no Polaris, though. I pushed out further, but I couldn’t find her. I couldn’t give up though, not on her.

Once my radius reached back to the house, I hit my limit. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t search any farther. But I hadn’t found Polaris, and the storm felt like it was gaining strength. I couldn’t give up, not until she was safe too.

I began walking. Not towards the blimp, but towards where I felt her fall. If both of us couldn’t live, I didn’t deserve too. I only took a few steps, but against the storm, it felt like a mile. I would’ve walked a thousand.

When I finally found her, she wasn’t moving. I forced myself the remaining distance, until I was by her side. I couldn’t check her then. I needed to get us both to the dirigible. I hoisted her back onto my back, and began to work my way back to the balloon. I couldn’t sustain the ambiance much longer, so I simply faced the balloon, quit the spell and walked straight as I could.

I could feel Polaris breathing against my back, but it was shallow. I began to walk faster, but as I did so, I felt something sweep my legs out from under me. It must’ve been fast whatever it was. I tried to stand up, but when I put weight on my right front leg, I screamed out in pain. It must’ve been broken by whatever hit me.

But it was nothing compared to the disappointment I felt in myself. Ever since I started school, I’ve done nothing but let ponies down; Chi Chi, White Lightning, now Polaris. It was too much to bare. Even in the pouring rain. I could feel tears stream down my face.

Suddenly, I was being grabbed by something. It was cold and hard, like metal. It wrapped itself around my body, and began to hoist me upwards. I honestly thought that I had died.

To my surprise, to wind had stopped, as did the rain. I felt myself lying on a hard surface. I opened my eyes to see if I could, and was amazed to see a ceiling. I rolled my head to my right, and saw Polaris, finally beginning to stir. I tried to reach over to her, but the pain came back to remind me that my leg was broken. I cried out, which startled Polaris awake.

“Stardust! Oh Celestia, what happened!? Gemini! What happened!?”

She was hysterical, like I’d never seen her before. I guess I would’ve behaved the same way, only speechless.

“I don’t know! You two never made it to the balloon, so I took off, and used the crane to hoist you up. I don’t know how her leg got messed up like that!” Gemini was obviously more focused on piloting the airship than conversing with her sister, which Polaris recognized, and proceeded to turn her attention back to me.

“Stardust, can you use your rear legs to walk?” I’d never had to think about walking before, but I tested my hindquarters, which seemed to be normal. I gave her a nod, and she lifted me on my bad side with her shoulder. “Come on then. We need to get that leg wrapped up.”

She had no idea that I’d almost gotten her killed.

Polaris had wrapped my leg, but I still felt awful. The pain wasn’t from the cast, but rather from the fact that she had been nothing but kind to me and I’d been nothing but trouble for her. Because of me, she had to abandon her home and nearly been killed.

“How are you felling, Dusty?”

Polaris was standing next to the cot, levitating a fresh set of bandages and a splint. I couldn’t bring myself to look at her. I buried my face in the pillow, struggling in vain not to make my cries audible.

“Stardust, please tell me why you’re so upset.”

I at least owed her an honest answer, after everything. “All I’ve done since meeting you is be a burden and a danger, and been nothing but kind. I feel so guilty.”

“It makes me feel worse to see you so upset. Is that what you want?” I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t take any more sadness.

“Do you know why I was in Ponyville the night I found you and Gemini?” I finally worked up the courage to look her in the eye, but I could only give a choked up no.

“I was writing my will. I had planned to kill myself that night.”

I did a double take when she said that. “Kill yourself?”

“Yes. I hadn’t seen my sister in over a year, and I had no pony to comfort me. I felt so lonely.” This was beginning to sound familiar. “I figured since Gemini was gone, I had nothing left to live for. I planned to take a stroll through the Everfree Forrest until some monster decided to get me.

“That changed when I saw you and Gemini. I heard her voice, and all of a sudden I had a reason to live. That fact that you were with her made that two reasons.”

I couldn’t believe it. “So then..”

“In a way, Stardust, you saved my life.”

I began to cry again, but this time I wanted to. I tried to wrap my legs around her, but winced as my right leg cried out again. I forget these things fast, apparently.

“Don’t hurt yourself again. If you did it on purpose I really would be mad.”

I laughed. I hadn’t done that since I was at home. It was good to have friends.

Wild Blue Yonder

It may sound silly to hear from a grown mare, but I'd never flown anywhere, ever. I traveled sure, but very rarely, and always on the ground. White Lightning would always tell me about what wonderful flying sessions she'd had on any given day, but I couldn't actually atone what she was talking about, until I looked out from Polaris's balloon.

We were above the clouds then, and I have to admit, I didn't know what to feel. It was so surreal to see something so pristine. All that was visible was the cloud layer below us, with an occasional break through which we could see more clouds. They lay almost perfectly flat, in the sort of white you can only see with the sun above them. I never would have been able to see it from the ground. I said before that I had wanted to run away to a place where nothing existed and all was peaceful, while the rest of the world was embroiled in a storm below. For a little while during that balloon ride, I though I'd found that place.

I was leaning over the railing of the blimp, just staring into the ever expansive white sea in the sky. I had had to bundle up a bit due to the altitude, but the sun was keeping me warm. The air was thin, but pure. For once, I didn't feel stressed, even though I still remembered what had brought me there.

“You OK?" I turned to see that Gemini was standing next to me, also staring at the clouds. "I thought I'd take a break from piloting for a bit, check up on you. That was pretty crazy last night."

"You can say that again." I replied. "I have to admit this is a new experience for me. I've never been above the clouds before."

"Me neither. We usually only took the balloon to and from Ponyville. I don't think we ever had a reason to go to Cloudsdale."

"Have you ever tried flying up on your own?"

She seemed a bit puzzled by my question. "No," she responded semi-inquisitively. "we only ever went into town."

"I meant with your wings."

She looked over her shoulder to the leathery appendages on her back, then realized what I had originally meant. "Oh, um, no actually. I never tried. I just stayed in the forrest.”

I guess I should have expected an answer like that. She hadn't exactly had a lifetime to learn to fly. “Sorry. I should have known.”

“It’s alright. I’m just glad I have some pony else to talk to now. If I’d been stuck in the Everfree any longer, I probably would’ve tone crazy.”

“Would you say you would’ve gone batty?” I didn’t even think about what I was saying, it just sort of happened. I could’ve offended the pony that had helped me, but to my surprise, she busted out laughing. I guess she still had a sense of humor, even after a year of solitude.

It went on like that for quite a while, and during our conversation, I had no concept of time. We didn’t talk about anything in particular, although our schooling eventually piped up. We kept it to primary school though. Apparently, she was on the duel team too, although I’d never heard of her team. Out of politeness, I didn’t let her know her team was a dark horse.

The entire time it felt great, but at the same time, so strange. I never really had long conversations with ponies. The only one who I ever sat down and talked to was White Lightning, and I hadn’t done that since we both started working over the summer. I hadn’t realized it for a while, but being here, talking with Gemini, I realized that I had missed it.

It felt like only a few minutes, but then Polaris decided to join us. “You must be feeling better, Dusty. I’ve heard you two chatting for the past hour.” The number came as a shock to me. I must’ve been having a really good time.

Gemini spoke up when she noticed her sister. “Just chilling. Turns out, Stardust and I have a lot more in common than we realized.”

“Well you two may actually get chilly if you stay out here much longer. Why don’t you come back in the cabin? We still have another half hour or so until we reach Cloudsdale.” Gemini followed her back into the Cabin, but I stayed outside for a little while longer. The scenery still called out to me, and I wanted to listen.

When we were fillies in school, White Lightning and I would discuss almost anything, but the one thing Lightning wanted to talk about the most was Cloudsdale. She was born there, but her parents moved to Trottsdam when she was very young, so she never actually got to grow up there. Despite this, she always said she felt connected to the city in the sky, and wanted desperately to attend the Wonderbolt Academy. At the time, it just seemed like another item on the long list of things young ponies wanted, but would never get.

Years later, and neither of us had dreamed that we would actually get to live out our dreams. She was accepted to Wonderbolt Academy, and I to Canterlot Academy. We thought that this was the start of the rest of our lives. She would probably graduate into the Wonderbolts, and I would become a renowned scholar, but we would still keep in touch. That dream was just too good to come true for me.

As we approached Cloudsdale, I could understand why Lightning wanted to return as badly as she did. The city looked like no other I had ever been to, though admittedly that’s not a long list. Everything was made of brilliant white clouds, and in architecture not physically possible with materials available on the ground. Canopies hovered as pier-less pavilions, and archways held structures that seemed to stretch beyond the sky.

But we weren’t there as tourists; we had a mission. We needed to get to Wonderbolt Academy and warn White Lightning before my duplicate could get there first, and steal her wings. The storm still raged below us, so news of my duplicate’s ‘incident’ hadn’t reached Cloudsdale yet, so I ought to be able to show my face without worry, but only for a while.

Gemini piloted the blimp into a public dock, while Polaris and I gathered a few bits and a map. It was all we would need, and we needed to travel light to move fast. Seconds counted now.

As we were docking, I was waiting by the exit door, eager to get moving as soon as possible, but all of a sudden, Polaris pulled me away, quite violently. “What are you doing?” She didn’t say a word, and just continued leading me inside, until we came to a stingy old hoof locker.

“Get in, and don’t make a sound. Trust me.”

I had no reason to doubt her. She hadn’t steered me wrong before. I stuffed myself inside, and Polaris laid a heavy quilt over top of me. Once she shut the case, It was completely black, darker than when Chi Chi teleported me to that underground room. I had no idea what Polaris could’ve been so frightened of, but at least she was worried for me.

I could only hear lower sounds, but I could kind of get a sense of what was happening outside. I could make out Polaris’s voice, but not what she was saying. I heard another voice too, a male one. I didn’t know who he could have been, but judging by Polaris’s reaction, she wasn’t expecting him, whoever he was.

Eventually, I could hear their hoof steps on the floor, moving closer to the hoof locker. I could make out their voices then.

“Oh yes, it was quite an ordeal. If I hadn’t lived with her my entire life, I don’t think I could’ve flown her through.”

I heard the stallion then. His was low and gravely, but kindly. “The Princess must’ve been watching over you then. The weather team really whipped up a doozie this time.”

“It was nice until I went outside, but business is business. I’d weather any storm for my clients, if you’ll pardon the pun.” They shared a chuckle, but I was so confused as to what was going on. Who was this stallion? Polaris didn’t mention meeting any pony.

I felt the hoof locker rising, almost eliciting a yelp from me. But I held it back, remembering Polaris’s instructions.

“Are you sure you have it miss? Seems like quite a hefty thing.”

“Oh it’s no trouble,” she grunted out. “although I would appreciate any suggestions you may have about where to stay. This trip came at such short notice, I didn’t have time to make a reservation.”

“Let me think. There’s a the Crown Inn not far from here. It ought to be perfect for you.”

“Splendid. Thank you so much.”

“Not a problem. You have a good stay!” I could hear his voice get farther away, but I wasn’t sure if Polaris was alone yet, so I kept quiet.

“I am so sorry, Startdust.” I heard her whisper to me. I could barely hear her through the case. “I’ll fill you in when we get to the hotel. Taxi!”

Within a few seconds, I felt the hoof locker get set down, presumably in the taxi she had just hailed. I’d been in taxis before, but never in one that flew. I could feel my stomach churn, and I struggled to keep my lunch. Hopefully, this ride would be a short one.

The entire time I was in the hoof locker, I was anxious. It wasn’t like taking a test. Failure here must’ve meant something awful, judging by the way Polaris was acting. My heart was pounding, but there was nothing I could do to alleviate it. All I had to accompany me was the sound of my own breathing, which became progressively quicker and more shallow as my anxiety escalated.

I tried to think about what I would do once I could get out, but the more I thought, the more I ran into a fundamental problem; I may have to hide like this for the duration of our trip. Gemini probably already ran off to avoid being seen, for obvious reasons. But why was I hiding? As far as anypony else knew, I was just a unicorn traveling with a friend. What did I have to be scared of?

After being jostled and jolted, I finally felt the hoof locker get placed on something solid, I guess whatever the cloud equivalent of a floor is. With the closing of a door, I heard hoof steps approaching the chest. I could only hope they were Polaris’s. When she opened the lid and I saw her face, I felt a wave of relief wash over me, greater than any I’d felt before.

“I am so, so sorry dear. I had to think on my hooves. I didn’t know where else to put you.” She was extremely apologetic, for which I was grateful, but it didn’t answer the one question I wanted answered most.

“I’m alright, but why did I have to hide anyway? Who was that stallion you were talking to on the balloon?”

Polaris didn’t seem to quite know what to say. She kept pulling at her mane, put she couldn’t get words out. It wasn’t like her to be so scared. She almost jumped out of her skin when Gemini landed on the outside balcony.

“Yeah, don’t expect your own sister to stay with you or anything. It ain’t exactly easy being a freak.”

“Gemini, what’s going on? Why did I have to…” Before I could even finish my sentence, she pulled out a piece of paper from her saddlebag, and tossed it over to me, unfurling as it landed. What I saw made my heart sink.

WANTED
Mare Unicorn
Coat: White
Mane: Silver
May be traveling with another unicorn, headed for Cloudsdale. The Equestria Royal Investigators encourage you to be vigilant for this pony. If you have any leads as to this pony’s whereabouts, alert the proper authorities immediately.

“Guess the bat’s not the only one who needs to be careful now, huh?”

Fair Weather Friends

I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t want to believe it. But you don’t get to choose your reality, so this had happened. I was a wanted mare. I knew then how Polaris had felt moments before. I had so many thought whirling around inside my head, none of them could get out in any coherent way. Eventually, I was able to collect myself enough to speak actual words.

“How…who…when…I don’t understand! How could they possible have gotten news up here about the murders?”

“I don’t know, but when I was flying over the city, I could see police everywhere. They’ve really got it out for you.” Gemini was right. This definitely complicated things. But we just had to play with the cards we were dealt.

“Polaris, are you alright?” She looked over to Polaris, who was still stammering behind me, but regained her composure when Gemini called out to her. “Oh, yes. Yes I’m fine. Just a little flustered. I never thought things could get this serious.”

The quivering in her voice indicated that she still wasn’t entirely over our situation, and I didn’t blame her. Although, I could guarantee that I was more worried than she was. I was the one the ERI was looking for, after all. If I was responsible for getting these two involved, I should at least make an effort to see my plan through.

“I’m sorry it’s come to this, but we still need to get into Wonderbolt Academy, and find White Lightning.”

“That’d be a lot easier if the entire police force wasn’t looking for you.” Gemini interjected.

“That’s true, but my duplicate looks just like me, so they’ll be looking for her too. But we can work together. She’s all on her own.”

I had hoped that fact would get their spirits back up, but Gemini still gave me a skeptical look. “So what? Being on her own, she’s got two less ponies to worry about. We needed a whole blimp, who knows what she could use to get up here if she wanted to.”

Her response caught me completely off guard. From the moment I met the two sisters, they’d been nothing but supportive and helpful. Even when their own safety was in jeopardy, they never thought twice to help me. I could understand why Gemini was concerned, but not why she was becoming confrontational.

“Gemini, please. We can’t give up on Lightning now.”

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t justify doing this anymore, not when you’re putting me and my sister in danger. Do you know what they do to ponies who harbor murders?”  I didn’t even think. She had just compared me a being of pure evil, who I was trying to stop! “Have you forgotten everything?! That was my duplicate, not me!”

“Do you think that the ERI are going to believe that for a second? We don’t have a chance at stopping her.”

I had to stop this, maybe her sister could get some sense into her. “Polaris, you’re still with me, right?”

The entire time I’d known Polaris, she always seemed knowledgeable and caring, like the perfect mother. Now, she was a fidgeting wreck. The thousand yard stare she had when I spoke to her indicated that she wasn’t entirely with us.

Her mind came back, but I wish it hadn’t. “I don’t know. Gemini does have a point.”

“But Lightning…the spell…my duplicate’s trying to become a god!” I shouted out, in an almost childish way. I couldn’t help it. Nothing else seemed to be working, and I couldn’t let them abandon me now.

“I’m sorry, but we just can’t help you anymore.” With that, the two of them departed; Gemini out he window, and Polaris out the door. They took everything with them, the luggage, the money, and my hope.

What was I to do? Not only was I wanted for murders that I didn’t commit, but I didn’t have a penny to my tarnished name. I thought I knew despair before, when I thought my duplicate had gotten away. This was infinitely worse. Not only was I powerless to do anything, but now there were forces actively trying to stop me anyway. At least my duplicate hadn’t made it up here.

“Poor Stardust. All alone in this big, bad world.”

My hopelessness turned to fear. I didn’t know where that voice had come from, it seemed like it was in my head. But it was a voice I couldn’t forget.

It was her.

“You know, you’re not alone in being alone. And yet, you are alone. So very alone.”

“How did you get here? There’s still a storm down there!”

“That didn’t stop you, did it?”

She was crazy before, but now I felt like she was just being cruel. Taunting me while at my most vulnerable? What kind of pony does that? “Well, good job at sabotaging your own plan! The whole ERI is after you for murder!”

“Like I give a buck. They’re after you, remember? Why else would I have told all of Cloudsdale about it?”

I almost felt the shock physically knock me off my feet. My ears must have been tricking me. “You told them!?”

“Of course.”

“That’s stupid! Why would you do that!?”

“No real reason, just for fun. It’ll make it that much more sweet when I finally get to use that spell. This almost feels like a game now, don’t you think? And the best part is, we’re neck and neck!”

I couldn’t even speak. Anger and sorrow were competing for my attention, but I eventually fell back on sadness, and just collapsing on the floor, bathed in a puddle of my own tears. I couldn’t believe that I had created something so evil. Polaris wasn’t even there to comfort me this time.

“Now now, don’t cry Dusty. Look out the window. I guarantee you’ll feel better.”

Why not? It’s not like I had anything more to lose. I did as she said, but then thought my eyes were playing tricks.

There she was, leaning against the railing, staring back at me with the most disgustingly smug look I’d ever seen in my life. I decided this was it. I could get her, and take us both over the railing, at least then, neither of us could do anymore harm.

I welled up magic in my horn, which in a rage took no time at all, and teleported over to her, and as I came out of the spell, I charged at her with all the speed my legs could muster. I hadn’t gotten over the fact that I would die yet. There would be plenty of time for that during the fall to the ground.

But instead of feeling an impact, I simply phased through her, and sailed off over the railing. It was a trick.

“I win.”

There wasn’t any point in feeling sad then. It wouldn't do any good. I was going to plummet miles to my death, and there was nothing anypony could do about about it.

Falling seemed to slow time. I’d heard that your life flashes before your eyes right before you die, but that’s bunk. All could see was the back to my first day at the academy, and how my life had simply degraded into chaos. At least now, my duplicate would get what she wanted, and I wouldn’t have to wait long to see White Lightning again. Everypony wins.

However, I felt something slam into my body, knocking what breath I had left clean out of me. I thought I’d been hit by a passing bird, but when I finally opened my eyes, I thought my duplicate was playing tricks on me again.

“Gotcha!”

I saw a pony with a brilliant white mane on a sky blue coat, wrapped up elegantly in a Wonderbolt uniform. Her magenta eyes focused intently ahead, only paying attention to what was immediately in front of her. I wasn’t hallucinating; it was White Lightning.

We touched down on another cloud, but I wasn’t sure how to feel just then. I was so certain of my own death, I was almost mad that it didn’t happen. Thankfully, happiness washed it away as I embraced White Lightning with all might, something I had never done before.

“Thank Celestia you’re still OK! Thank you so much!”

At first she seemed a little freaked out. I guess she hadn’t immediately realized that it was me. When she did, she actually seemed frightened.

“Dusty? Wh-What are you doing here! Don’t you know the police are looking for you?!” She shouted, but in a whisper. I was thankful she didn’t immediately want to turn me in, but I was also worried about explaining the situation to her.

“Lightning, please, hear me out. That wasn’t actually me. you have to believe me.”

“I want to, but they have a drawing of the pony who did it, and it’s you!”

With a sigh, I braced myself for the inevitable reaction that would follow my explanation. “I know, that’ s because I made a copy of myself.”

Lightning didn’t disappoint. She actually tried to clean out her ears, to make sure I had actually said ‘my duplicate did it’. “Come again? You made a copy of yourself?”

“Yes. I wasn’t supposed to, but I got so lonely at the academy, I just wanted a friend.”

“Didn’t you get my letter? I’m still your friend, aren’t I?”

“Yes, but you weren’t there with me. I got into research, so I didn’t have any pony else to be around.”

Lightning seemed more calm now, but I could tell she was still very much confused. “I’m so sorry. But how how did you make a copy of your self? That doesn’t even sound possible.”

“Do you really want me to explain it?”

She chuckled then. I guessed I’d accidentally been funny. “Knowing you, probably not. I guess I have to take your word for it, just like always.”

It did my heart good to hear her say those words. I shouldn't have been so pessimistic, but I’d honestly thought that Lightning would try and turn me in since I was a wanted mare. It’s good to know I still have some true friends.

“C’mon. We need to find a place for you to stay. I think I might know somepony who can help. Follow me.” She began to fly away, and I was about to follow her on hoof, but then I realized where I was. Walking literally would not have gotten me anywhere.

“Ahem.”

She looked back over her shoulder, blushing as she realized that, in any meaningful sense, I was immobile. Apparently being in Cloudsdale had made her forget that are three types of ponies in Equestria. “Oh, heh heh. Sorry.”

She lifted me up from under my shoulders, which was as comfortable as I could get, and flew off into the pure white architecture of the city.

“You know, you were the one about to fall to your death, and yet you were glad to see that I was ok. Why was that?”

It was a small thing, but I realized I hadn’t told Lightning exactly why I was there, or why I was concerned for her safety. Even after these many months, she could still read me like a book. “Well, it’s complicated.”

“Tell me everything. For once I want to actually hear you explain something to me.”

That time, I chuckled. We knew each other too well.

No Way Out

“So that’s the story.” I finished my explanation. It must’ve been a lot for her to take in in the span of ten minutes. I could only hope she was being honest when she said she believed me.

“Wow. That sure is, uh, crazy.”

“I know. Saying it all out loud, I can’t believe I was stupid enough to do all of it.”

She chuckled again. She always was able to find humor, even when I was really down and out. Another reason she was my friend. “I never would’ve thought you’d use the word stupid to describe yourself. I guess college does that to you, huh?”

“You don’t seem to have changed much at all. You obviously found your niche.”

“My what?”

I’d forgotten that our vocabularies weren’t exactly on par with each other. Not that I’m bragging, or anything. “I mean you must fit in pretty well at Wonderbolt Academy.”

I guess I’d assumed to much, because she took in a deep breath before continuing our conversation. “Well, I actually hit some bumps, too.”

She hadn’t mentioned this in her letter. “What do you mean?”

Before we got any farther on the subject, we arrived at our destination. It was a cloud building, like most of the others, but it’s architecture seemed more robust than elegant, unlike the surrounding city. It must’ve been built quite sometime ago. “What is this place?”

“Just a little hang out I go to every once in a while. You know, to get away for a bit.”

Once we stepped inside, I understood what exactly she meant by ‘get away for a bit’.

“This is a cider bar.” It wasn’t hard for me to reach that conclusion. The counter, taps, and mountains of barrels lining the walls kind of gave it away.

“Yup, and because I go to the academy, I get discount drinks! It’s bucking awesome!” I guess it was. I was never much for cider, but I guess being under academy type stress drives you to drink. I just didn't stick around long enough to experience it myself.

I began to get a closer look at the bar, and I could begin to see why Lightning had brought me here, sort of. The inside wasn’t as pristine as the outside clouds, having a slight, dingy gray hue. Most of the barstools seemed to have broken legs, sometimes missing them entirely. The bartender had simply affixed them to the counter with random pieces of cloud. The pool table, or what was left of it, didn't even have pockets. The entire interior was in a terrible state of disrepair. Maybe because it was so ratty, no pony ever came here. It made me wonder what exactly brought Lightning here the first time.

While I was examining the bar, the door from the back room swung open, revealing a mare, carrying a large barrel of what I assumed was cider. “Gimme a second!” She swayed as she struggled to lift it onto one of the racks behind the counter. Once she was finished, she wiped the sweat from her brow, and turned to face us.

She had a beige coat, with a short, deep purple mane, which seemed to hang from her head in any manner it pleased. She was a pegasus, but she obviously wasn’t a very accomplished flyer. One of her wings was kept in a bandage, with scores of signatures scribbled all over it. She either had lots of friends, or that had been there for a while. “Lightning! Good to see you girl!”

“Wassup, Mai Tai! You get another load of White Tail Wood?”

“Not this time. I got a, ‘special delivery’.” She left a pause in between that specific phrase. Working a place like this, I could only wonder what that was a euphemism for.

“Well, spit it out. What is it?” Lightning was obviously good friends with this pony, and I trusted her fully. But I wasn’t taken in just yet.

“This here is what’s going to save this place. A barrel of vintage Palomino Red!”

My Parents loved wine, so I’d had plenty of education on which brands to know. Palomino Red was extremely hard to come by, even in big cities. How had this street pony managed to get a whole barrel? Lightning obviously knew what that meant.

“So you stole it.”

“Borrowed, Wi-Li. Borrowed.” She seemed so nonchalant about being a petty thief. I almost couldn’t believe Lightning had consorted with the likes of her. I bit my tongue, however. I wasn’t exactly in any position to discuss being outside the law.

“So who’s this you’ve got here? I feel like I’ve seen her before.” She had only just noticed I was there, and I was afraid she’d recognize me on the spot. She didn't exactly seem like the type of pony to read the newspaper.

“This here’s a good friend from Trottsdam, Stardust.” Lightning just blurted it out as if we were at a party, but Mai Tai didn’t find that fact fun at all.

“Wait a minute, you’re that mare wanted for murder in Ponyville!”

Lightning immediately recognized her error. “Hold up Mai Tai. She’s innocent. She did some whack magic that made an evil copy, and that’s what killed those ponies.” I was glad that I was still her priority.

“Do you know what you just said!? If they don’t banish her to the north, then she’ll just get thrown in the looney bin!”

I stepped in to defend myself. I couldn’t stand by while the friend I was supposed to be protecting did all the work for me. “That’s the truth. If you don’t like it, I don’t particularly care. I wouldn’t have come all the way from Canterlot if I didn’t have a good reason.”

She became even more aggressive when I stepped in. I guess I wasn’t as intimidating as Lightning was in that uniform. She lept over the counter and began a steady advance towards me, ending just inches from my muzzle. “Listen toots, If you think I’m gonna buy your bull for one second, you’ve got another thing coming!”

I shoved my muzzle back up against hers. “Back off! I’ve got more important things to worry about than what you think of me. Lightning’s life is in danger because of this thing, and I’m not gonna let you or any pony else get in my way!” I didn’t know where that rage came from, but I’d had enough of ponies not helping me. I would’ve thrown her through the wall had Lightning not intervened.

“Stop! Mai Tai, I swear on Celestia she’s telling the truth.”

“Lightning, I know she’s your friend, but that’s just crazy! You can’t just create ponies out of thin air! I’ve run into her type before. She’s just trying to cover her tracks.” I wanted to lose my temper then, and make good on my wish throw her throughout the clouds, but my sensible mind prevailed, and I tried to come up with a plan. Short of actually presenting the duplicate to her, how could I convince her I wasn’t lying?

Before I could come up with anything, I suddenly felt my head being crushed, as if somepony had placed a mountain on top of my head. I felt my mouth move to cry out in pain, but I heard no sound. All I could make out was the faint whine that pierced deep into my brain, intensifying the already unbearable pain.

“Where are you Dusty!? I want my wings!”

I didn’t know how she’d done it, but unless she was right outside the window, she was using a torture hex over a distance. I somehow found the ability to speak. “Stop! I’m not gonna let you have her!” After that outburst, the pain intensified, working it’s way down from my head to the rest of my body. It felt as though all of my muscles were being torn off my bones with a hot, dull knife. I almost wished I’d been allowed to plummet to my death. I writhed in agony on the floor, feeling nothing but the sharp, constant pain from the hex.

“I don’t have all night, Dusty! Tell me!”

She wasn’t playing anymore, she wanted me to suffer and Lightning to die. “Go away!” I felt a burst of magic erupt from my horn, and a wave of warmth wash through my body, dispelling the pain as it went. I don’t know how, but I’d broken the hex, and I could finally get my bearings again.

When I could see around me, I noticed Lightning and Mai Tai holding me down on the floor, so tightly that I thought they were trying to capture me. “What happened?”

Lightning was the first to respond. “You started screaming and thrashing around on the floor. are you OK?”

“Yes, I am now. I think it was…”

“A torture hex.” Mai Tai completed my sentence for me.

I did a double take as she spoke. How could this bar pegasus know anything about magic? “How did you…?”

“I’ve dealt with some shady ponies, I’ve had it used on me more than once. I just don’t know how any pony could’ve cast it without being here.” Her demeanor was more serious now, completely with out the aggression I’d seen in her moments before. “Was that the duplicate you were screaming at?”

I only had enough strength to nod. That hex had really done a number on me, even though the pain was over. My mind would never forget that for as long as I’d live.

“Then we need to get you someplace safe. Lightning, help me lift her.” Lightning took me under my shoulders, and Mai Tai under my haunches. I closed my eyes, since I didn’t particularly care where they were taking me. After a couple minutes, I felt myself being wrapped in the embrace of a wool blanket. It itched, but everything felt good compared to that hex. “Where am I?”

“You’re in the wine cellar. No pony ever comes down here. Heck, I only come down here when I have something special to store.” I detected the subtle reference to me in that sentence. “You oughta be safe here. Let me know when you get your strength back, and we’ll come up with a plan.”

No argument from me. I simply closed my eyes and began to drift into a slumber. The cellar was cool, but having that blanket on top, I could easily imagine myself at home, in Trottsdam. It may have been a fantasy, but when your desperate for consolation, that hardly matters.

Again with the darkness. It was the same as before; ever expansive, yet nonthreatening. I wasn’t perplexed this time, for I knew what to expect. “What do you want?”

“So hostile. What have ever done to you?”

“Should I make you a list?”

“Ooh, getting feisty, are we? You’re starting to sound like me.”

I was insulted at the very insinuation. “You and I are nothing alike!”

“I beg to differ. You’ve been through an awful lot to achieve your goal, as have I. That sort of determination isn’t something most ponies have, wouldn’t you agree.?”

“I do it for my friends. What are you doing it for?” I should have known better than to converse with the devil.

“I’m doing it for my friends, too. Me, myself and I!” She let out a cackle, but I just rolled my eyes. Her antics weren’t helping me control my anger.

“Shut up and tell me what you want! I’d like to go back to my real dreams.”

She didn’t seem to back down from my aggressive tone. She enjoyed taunting me. “First, I want to show you something.” Oh great. More illusions.

“What could it be, I wonder. What you’d look like with wings? what your vision for Equestria is? What your…” What she showed me was none of those things. Instead, it was something I couldn’t have foreseen. It was two ponies, bound and gagged, laying in a dark room, shivering from the cold. I recognized the two of them instantly. “Gemini! Polaris!”

“No point in shouting, Dusty. They can’t here you. But I assure you, this is real.”

“They never did anything to anypony! Let them go!”

“You think I kidnapped them out of spite? You always assume the worst of me.”

“Should I not? If I know them, they’ll enjoy that hex about as much as I did.”

“Oh neigh neigh. I don’t want to torture them. I’m planning on releasing them as a matter of fact.”

She planned on no such thing. She wouldn’t go through all the trouble of capturing them and then releasing them for no reason at all. Then again, as unhinged as she was, maybe she would. “What’s the catch then? I know you’re not doing this for fun.”

“No my dear, this is business. I want something from you before I’ll let them go.”

I didn’t want to ask, but I had to know. “And that is?” I didn’t show it, but I was deathly afraid. Not for me, though.

“I want White Lightning.”

My blood boiled in a flash. She was trying to barter my friends!? “Buck no! Why would I do that to her!”

“But Dusty, I thought you were doing this for your friends.”

“Don’t call me Dusty!” I lost control, and fired off a magic missile somewhere. I didn’t know where. I was just trying to hit her voice.

“You don’t seem to be in the best of moods. I’ll come back when you’re more level headed.”

“Get back here!” I shot bolt upright. I wasn’t in the void anymore, but in the cellar. The voice was gone, replaced instead by the clopping of hoof steps upstairs. It wasn’t loud, but I guessed that Mai Tai had the bar open. The door opened, and I prayed that it wasn’t a stranger. thankfully it was just Lightning.

“Dusty, are you alright? I heard you shouting.”

I couldn’t tell her what I’d seen, not yet anyway. “Just some night terrors. I’ve been through a lot these past few days. It’s all so scary.”

She rubbed her hoof on my back, which only slightly alleviated my fears. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through to get here. But I’ll help however I can. I guess I’ll have to if I want to stay alive, huh?” It was black humor, but it still made my chuckle a little. “You want some cider? I’ll get you a mug from upstairs.” I gave her a nod, and she departed for the taps, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

What in the name of Celestia was I supposed to do? It was bad enough that I had put my friends lives at risk, but now it seemed that at least one pony was going to die, no matter what I did. I felt like I’d failed, in every way imaginable; as a student, a daughter, and as a friend. This was the hardest test I’d ever had, and there seemed like no right answer.

Game Over

Two days. Forty eight hours. Two thousand eight hundred and eighty minutes. I’d been staying with Mai Tai and White Lightning for two days, and I dreaded every day, hour, and minute of it. My duplicate held total control of my friends lives, but I held responsibility for whoever she killed. The way it tortured me inside, that hex seemed like heaven.

I shut myself in the wine cellar, making it my own little world. Nopony except Lightning and Mai Tai came down, and only the sound of the now bustling pub above reminded me that there were other ponies in the world. The memory was fleeting however, for as soon as they left, there was an erie silence, broken only by the sounds of the pumps leading from the barrels of booze to the taps above.

Despite all of that time to my thoughts, I hadn’t made a decision. Every time I tried to think about it, I thought about the outcome, and being the one to tell White Lightning or the sisters that they had been allowed to live because the other was dead. What kind of pony would I be to let that happen? I’d just as soon let myself be killed and spare both their lives. At least then, I wouldn’t be a danger to either of them ever again.

Towards the end of the day, Lightning came down to check up on me. She’d decided to stay at the tavern, even though I knew she would be throwing away her dreams with the Wonderbolts. I couldn’t ask for a more loyal companion. She brought a stout of cider, which I took without so much as a word. I’d developed a taste for the hard drink, not so much for the flavor, which I actually found revolting. But instead for the sensation of serenity it gave me it through these turbulent times. I’d told Lightning before we parted paths over the summer that I’d probably become an alcoholic when I went to college. In a way, I was right.

“You should probably lay off the cider for a while. I’ll bring you tea from now on.” I was about to be disappointed that my escape from reality was being taken away, but I knew that she was right. I didn’t want to become one of those ponies.

“I appreciate you looking out for me.” I hadn’t said that since we first met on the play ground.

“What are friends for?”

“I have a question, before you go back up.”

“What?”

“You’ve never seen the duplicate for yourself, so all you have to go on that this is all true is my word and a hex that I may or may not have been faking.”

She gave me a quizzical look. “So, what’s your question?”

“Why do you believe me?”

She chuckled, like I should have known the answer myself. “You’ve never steered me wrong before. I always trust you.”

“But you’re throwing away your dreams, and for something that for all you know is a lie.”

“But it’s not a lie.”

Now I was the one giving a quizzical look. “How do you know?”

“Because you told me. How many times do I have to say it?” Her voice contained a dash of humor, which made me feel slightly better about the situation. I have to say though, for having effectively dropped out of school, I was getting lectured a lot.

Though this time, I’d learned something that really was worth figuring out. Lightning was always there for me, and always had been. She never doubted me, or even asked if I was crazy. I guess you could say she was the perfect friend, unlike two other ponies I knew.

The void wasn’t alien anymore. It seemed as though I’d always gone there, like a child going on vacation. Only, I didn’t particularly enjoy my company. I wasn’t intimidated by her this time though. I knew exactly how to deal with her.

“Dusty, Dusty, so good to hear from you again. I wish you could learn this little trick. It’s so handy for getting in touch with you.”

“Come visit me sometime. I’m eager to learn.” Standing up to her felt good, even though I had no real power over her, not yet.

“I wish I could, but that wouldn’t be good business practice on my part. Speaking of, have you considered my offer? The girls and I are very eager to know.” She still seemed so smug, but I didn’t let it get to me. I’d wipe that smile clean off her face.

“I have, actually.”

I could hear the excitement building in her voice. “Wonderful! And so…?”

“You can go ahead and kill them. It doesn’t matter to me.”

That was obviously not the answer she wanted to hear. “What!?”

Now I was the one holding all the chips. Lightning was obviously the one she wanted, and I wasn’t about to give her up. “You heard me right. I don’t care what you do with Gemini and Polaris. You can cook them up and eat them for all I care.”

“They’re your friends, Dusty! You’re condemning both of them to death! Is that what you want?!”

“No, Lightning is my friend. Those two abandoned me when I needed them most. I’m ashamed to admit I even know them.”

She began to stutter. I liked getting under her skin for once, even if I could actually see her. I really meant what I said though. Those two had left me alone in a strange city, after I’d been falsely accused of murder. Lightning would’ve helped me. Lightning would’ve done anything to help. I’d already sacrificed so much, but the unicorn and her freak of a sister decided that saving a pony’s life wasn’t worth the work. I should’ve realized that sooner, and saved myself the headache.

“NO!”

All of a sudden, the void exploded in a bright white light, and I was jolted awake, with my duplicate standing directly over me. She wasn’t smug, or even happy in the slightest. Ever feature of her expression spoke intense rage, all directed towards me. I wasn’t feeling so confident at that moment.

“Stupid kid! Now I have to make this unpleasant for both of us!”

I tried to buck her off, but before I could even flinch, I realized that she was restraining me with her magic. I was at her mercy. “What are you taking about?!”

Lightning picked then, of all times, to check up on me. “Stardust, whats the matter?”

She was pinned and the door locked before she could speak another word. “Lightning!”

“I wanted you two to come quietly, but now I have to make this messy.” The duplicate unsheathed a knife from one of her bags. I knew the spell was lethal, but I had know idea it required actually butchery. She also took out a small vile, which I could only assume was the rest of the ingredients from the book.

I could only watch, as she began to prepare Lightning for the ritual. She kicked and struggled to get free, but the magic was stronger than any physical restraint. My duplicate had her on the ground, and began to pour the contents of the vile in the shape of a six-point star. I wanted to close my eyes, for I knew what she would do next.

Next thing I knew, I was levitated over to the star on the floor, and the knife hovering over my stomach. I braced myself for the inevitable pain, but I thought since death would follow, it would at least be over soon. Instead she cut a slit along my leg, collecting the blood that flowed out in the same vile she had used before. I was genuinely puzzled as to what that was for. “What are you doing? You don’t need my blood.”

“You didn’t pay very close attention to that book did you?” She had returned to her usual, deranged self. “What were the supplies for this ritual?”

I had in fact, remembered the supplies. “A leaf from Heart’s Desire and a Timberwolf claw, I assume mixed in the potion.”

“And?”

“And What?” That was really all I could remember.

“There was a third item, a link to the donor’s past.” I remembered that that was on the list, but I disregarded it since I couldn’t figure out what it meant, and I assumed she hadn’t either. “That item, Stardust, would be you.”

Shocked would be putting it mildly. “What!?”

“Why do you think I dropped you all those hints about where I was going? I needed you and Lightning to be together. When I saw her flying by the hotel, I couldn’t pass up a chance to have her save you. I couldn’t have planned it any more perfectly.

It took me a while to find you again, and I thought I’d try cracking you, but you’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”

“Thanks for the compliment.” I tried to sound as sarcastic as possible.

“I mean it. Not that I was bluffing or anything. I just didn’t realize you be so crazy to sacrifice two lives rather than one.”

“Oh, I’m the crazy one?”

“Now don’t go and hurt my feelings,” She shifted her tone. Now she sounded like a some child who had their feelings hurt. “I have to admire you. You’ve come such a long way since we first met. I thought you would always be a scared mouse, too afraid to take risks. I’m proud of you, Dusty.

“But enough about our past. I have a spell to perform.” As if it was water, she swilled the entirety of my blood down her gullet, wiping her lips with a satisfied sigh. I could only watch helplessly as she flipped Lightning onto her back, and forcefully spread her wings.

“What are you doing you creep!?” Lightning shouted out as loud as she could, but the duplicate was unfazed.

“Shhh. Just try not to focus on the pain too much.”

She placed the knife up to her joint, right where the wing met her body. Lightning couldn’t even crane her neck to see, which was probably for the better. I could see just fine, and from then on, I wished that I was blind.

She sawed the knife back and forth, inching slowly through muscles and nerves. I could only look on, as my closest friend was being taken apart. I began to cry, but I held in my cries of anguish. Lightning’s screams of agony were already more than my ears could take. I wanted to look away, away from the river of blood that now trickled along the cloud floor. But Lightning looked back at me the entire time. She couldn’t speak, but I could see in her eyes that she needed me to at least look back at her, make her feel as if she wasn’t alone. I could only do that when she wasn’t screaming from the knife.

With a gruesome snap, she finished. She had successfully removed one wing. “Ha ha! One down, one to go!” Despite the blood loss, Lightning still struggled to break free of the restrains. She was strong, but she wasn’t invincible. If she didn’t get helped soon, she would most certainly bleed out. But what could I do? I was just as helpless as her. I had to accept that I had failed. The game was over.

“What are you two doing down here!? I hear some pony screaming bloody murder and…” Suddenly, Mai Tai was in the room with us. My duplicate had forgotten that there were three ponies living here, and one had a key to the cellar.

“What the hey!” My duplicate seemed just as surprised as I was. She was distracted enough that I could feel my restraints were weakened. I couldn’t miss this opportunity. I fired up a teleportation spell, and zapped over to where Lightning lay on the floor.

“Mai Tai, help Lightning!” I didn’t have time to properly say goodbye. I could only focus on fixing what I had made wrong. I tackled my duplicate and enveloped us both in another teleportation. As we both faded to our destination, I could see the look of rage on her face.

“What are doing!”

“What I should have done from the start!” I don’t know exactly where I took us, but I knew that it was below the clouds, where we both fall to our deaths. I figured I’d rid the world of two problems at once.

She struggled to get free, but I held on tight. I didn’t know where she could escape to, but I wasn’t going to take any chances now. The air rushing over my skin was numbing my entire body, but I gradually felt the air warm as we approached the ground. Opening my eyes stung, so I kept them shut, and waited for a sudden stop. Finally, after all this time on the lamb, I was one hundred percent sure that my ordeal was over.

“No! You can’t end it like this! I was so close!” She managed to teleport her self farther away, leaving me grasping thin air. I managed to peel my eyes open just long enough to see her fly off into the distance, laughing like she had some glorious triumph. She was a good deal below me now, and I could see that her escape would be short lived, for she crashed straight into the hard earth below.

Oh well, I thought to myself. At least it will be quick. I shut my eyes once more, and waited for the endless sleep to come to me.

With a great crack, I was slowed, and eventually came to a halt. But I was not dead. In pain, yes, but not dead. I tried breath in, just to make sure I was actually still alive, but instead of air, I got a mouth full of water. It was agony, but I managed to pull myself to the surface of whatever body of what I had managed to land in. With a gasp, I took in a lung full of breathable air, and felt the sun warm my frigid body. I had survived.

As strange as it sounds, I was a little frustrated by that. Just like before, when Lightning saved me, I had readied myself so well for death, on some level I actually wanted to die. My instincts began to kick in, and I tried to swim in any direction, but I didn’t respond. I simply floated on the surface, fading in and out of consciousness.

I had a realization then. She was dead. My duplicate was actually dead. I had stopped her from killing Lightning! Or had I? I left in such a hurry, I had no idea if Mai Tai was able to help her. Alacornication or not, had I failed to save my friend?

The questioned went back and forth in my mind for what seemed like an eternity before I finally began to succumb to my pain. Finally, I can rest in peace.

Broken

So this is what it’s like to be dead. Not much to it. I always thought I’d be enveloped in some white light, and have to walk towards some cottage where I’d spend the rest of eternity. Instead, all I saw was black, like my eyes were completely shut. Turns out, they actually were. I felt a little dumb, but what did I care. Nopony else was around to see it. I might as well open them, and see what the afterlife is actually like.

Not quite what I was expecting, to honest. Everything was white, for sure, but it wasn’t the blinding beam I thought it would be. Once I actually got used to being able to see again, I realized it was a few lights, an what seemed to be a drop tile ceiling. Seemed awful institutional for an afterlife. Maybe that was my punishment.

I started to feel the rest of my body, from horn to hoof. It tingled at first, but eventually I began to feel through them, and I found I could get some articulation. I seemed to be wrapped up in something. Something soft. I wondered what could be enveloping me, but since my eyes now worked, I could see plainly that it was a blanket, and I was in a bed.

Well that’s nice. I thought I could finally get comfortable after days of nonstop worry. I cast my gaze on my surroundings, but all I could see was a turquoise curtain enveloping my entire field of view. It seemed very familiar, but I couldn’t remember exactly where I’d seen this environment before.

As my mind was whirring furiously to make figure this out, the curtain was drawn open by a soft blue pony wearing scrubs. At that moment, you could almost hear all the pieces clicking together in my brain; The drop tile ceiling, curtains around my bed, and now this pony in scrubs. I was in a hospital.

“You’re still with us! The doctor seemed to think you’d become a vegetable.” She had an extremely chipper demeanor, which caught me a little off guard. I think she could tell, since from then on she toned her enthusiasm down to a more reasonable level. Still, I could tell she was holding back.

“What happened?” My voice was quite weak. I didn’t realize how winded I was until I tried to talk. My words were quite and a little slurred, but the nurse still managed to decipher what I was trying to say.

“You’re in Ponyville General Hospital. You came here a little worse for wear, I have to say.” I was hoping for a little more detail than that. I wanted to press her for more information, but the door to my room swung open at that time, and told me all that I needed to know.

Everyone I’d met on my journey was standing in the doorway. Lightning were there, and at first I felt elated. I knew for sure that they were OK. But my heart sank when I saw Gemini and Polaris.

I couldn’t tell what they were thinking, but I could probably guess. I turned my head away from them as much as I could, trying desperately to avoid eye contact. Hw could I face them after all I’d put them through, and even tried to throw their lives away? I could feel tears welling in my eyes, each one rolling down my face and leaving a bitter salty taste in my mouth. I wished I could have punished myself more. The sisters probably thought I deserved suffering.

“Stardust dear! We were all so afraid for you!” I could understand what the words meant, but I couldn’t understand why they were coming from Polaris. I turned back to face them, and I could see he four of them all standing by my bedside, each with a compassionate smile on their faces.

“What? Why?” It wasn’t what they were expecting to hear, but it was the only thought on my mind.

Gemini was the first to answer. “Why do you think? We wouldn’t abandon a friend like you, especially since we owed you so much for ditching you.”

“When the police in Cloudsdale found us, we told them, after the freaked out about finding a thestral, to find you, and they told us you were checked in here, which had us worried sick! ‘What happened to her?’, we thought. We got here as fast as our four hooves allowed.” Polaris hadn’t lost her unbearably motherly demeanor. I was glad they were both OK.

“Wait, they were okay with finding a bat?” I have to admit, that bit caught me off guard.

“They were a bit puzzled, but they managed to contact the Princess and she agreed to help her! Isn’t that amazing!?”

I was about to well up with glee, but then my eye gazed over to Lightning, and I noticed the bandage wrapped around her midsection. I assumed that they stitched up the gapping wound left by the amateur amputation. “Lightning, I’m so sorry.”

She gazed back at her bandage, and gave me a curious smirk. As she did so, I noticed something wiggling beneath the gauze. “You better be. My wing is kinda sore.”

Sore? Just sore? What the buck? “You lost a wing!” That sudden outburst prompted a bolt of pain to radiate along my spine and up my neck.

“Almost. The docs said they reattached it. Not perfectly, yet. But with a bit of PT, I oughta be able to fly again.” This seemed like a fairy tail ending. Everyone was alright, including me, and all the bad events had been undone. It was perfect.

“So,” I squirmed into a somewhat more upright position in bed. “how did I get here? I thought I fell from Cloudsdale?”

Polaris let out a chuckle. “You did, but you fell into the Ponyville reservoir. The water wasn’t a pillow, for sure, but it at least slowed you down enough to save your life. One of the weather ponies saw you fall in, and brought you here.”

Gemini spoke up after her sister. “It messed you up pretty bad though. They said one of your legs was really broken, so it might never heal back to what it was.”

That’s where the pain was coming from. At least now most of the blanks were filled in. “Guess I’ll need a brace for this, huh? How is it, Lightning, that you played all those rough and tumble sports in school, and I’m the one with the debilitating injury?” She appreciated the irony, as did every pony else. A little humor help lighten the mood. I needed it, we all did.

“Okay ponies,” the nurse interrupted our bonding. “Miss Stardust needs to rest now.”

“Don’t worry Dusty,” Lightning gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder. “We’ll be by again tomorrow. You oughta be good to check out then.” I gave her a nod. Once all this business with the duplicate and Gemini was sorted out, I could finally get back to a normal life. You’d never think a mare like myself would enjoy normalcy, but after all I’ve been through, I couldn’t ask for anything more.

As the four ponies filed out, Polaris turned back, “Stardust, I just want to say, thanks for not giving up on us. Your duplicate said you wanted us to die, but we didn’t believe her. We knew you would pull through for us.”

Now I wished the pain from my leg was all I felt. what was I to say, the truth. No, not now. “What are friends for?” With that, she departed, and I was left to simmer in my own lies.

The library at the academy seemed much less welcoming than it had when I was first taken down there. I couldn’t quite put my hoof on what one specific thing, but the everything about my surroundings said ‘neglected’. The walls had obviously not been cleaned in a long while, coated in a blanket of dust and cobwebs. The air was stale as week old break, making the journey down there especially taxing with only three good legs. No one had seen Chi Chi for a while, so he couldn’t help me. I’d only been gone for about a month, and this place more closely resembled the castle of the two sisters than a prestigious school library.

When I reach the door to the main chamber, it opened with a distinct creak, revealing nothing but the blackness inside. There weren’t even any candles lit inside. With a luminous spell, I was able to see the state of the library, or what was left of it. The entire floor was littered with torn out pages and broken covers. Sometimes, the shelves themselves were toppled over. Had a dragon been through here?

Whoever it was that tore through here, they didn’t care about the knowledge kept here. I tried to get in the mind of some pony who could have done this, but I couldn’t come to a conclusion. Petty thieves couldn’t have known about this place, let alone gotten in here. No one at the university could have possible done this. There was too much valuable information here. They would destroy it in such a way. Even if they were suddenly to become deranged, this wouldn’t be the place a scholar would choose to ransack.

Nothing made sense, and yet it was real. I could see that this had happened, but I couldn’t imagine how. I looked around the room for a clue, a hint, anything to point me in some sort of direction as to what had happened.

Then it caught my eye, the door with the forbidden sign. It wasn’t where it used to be. Rather, it wasn’t here at all. The spot on the wall where I remembered it being was just stone and mortar. But it had to be there. Doors don’t just disappear.

The room should still be there, so I tried to use an ambience spell to figure out exactly what had happened. Sure enough. I found the room, and with a teleportation, I popped into my favorite tomb of forbidden knowledge.

I cast my light across the tiny room. It was the polar opposite of the rest of the library. All of the bookshelves were still in their upright positions, completely intact. However, they held no books. Every single tome had been taken. There was not a single written word left in the room.

Or so I thought. There was a small scrap of paper left on one of the shelves. My eye was drawn to that spot, being where I found the duplication spell. Having taken every other volume out of this room, why had the thief left this behind? I decided to read the note, and to my complete surprise, it was addressed to me.

Hello Stardust,

Sorry about the mess. I was in a little bit of a hurry looking for that book which I only now realize you must have taken with you. I feel a little foolish to be honest. You’re much more capable than I ever gave you credit for. A duplication spell! I never thought you’d dig that deep.

But that’s in the past, and I look to the future. Always have, always will. Which is why I have departed, never to return. I had hoped that the academy would be a more controlled environment for experimentation than everfree, with much more resources to draw upon. however, I now realize that, after two attempts, any slip ups by the subjects are far more noticeable in this setting. Two disappearances in as many years? Far too conspicuous. As such, I’ve moved on to a place where I will hopefully have more luck, and do more for ponykind.

By the way, good job on finding this note. Ambience is a handy spell.

I should have felt defeated. I should have felt despair at the thought that the pony who was really responsible for my suffering, and had been conspiring to do so for a long time, had escaped judgement. Chi Chi had caused all of this.

Instead, I was numb. I wasn’t upset, I wasn’t anxious, I wasn’t even angry. But I was certain. I knew with all of my being that Chi Chi would pay.

The cabin stood alone on the hill, it’s black outline contrasting against the grey winter sky. I tipped the cabbie a 6 bits, and sent him on his way. It had been a long trip, so he deserved the compensation. It was the least I could do, considering where he’d taken me. The White tail woods were way out of the way of most roads, so this was a true road trip. This was my destination, the place I had looked for for 3 years.

Anypony else would’ve thought that this was some old frontier homestead, long abandoned once the southern frontier began to become the go to wild land. Indeed, I could hardly believe that any pony would even bother to build the thing, let alone live in it. Even from a distance, I could see the state of disrepair the cabin was in. The chimney was partially collapsed, and the tiles on the roof were occasionally blown off by the wind. The only component of the place that was remotely intact were the windows, which had been shuttered.

This was Chi Chi’s hideout.

Trotting up to the door, I was alone with only the sound of my rusted leg brace to accompany me. I stared intently at the door the entire walk up, not once looking away, in case the mad doctor tried to make a move. The wind was howling, stinging my eyes while I stared unblinking at the home of my nemesis. I didn’t care. It would all be worth it.

I didn’t bother to knock. Chi Chi didn’t deserve the courtesy. The door was unlocked anyway, making my job of breaking in that much easier. The inside was as dilapidated as the outside. In this single room dwelling, all of the furniture seemed to be rotting away, with only a small food store in the corner to show that any pony lived here at all. The rest of the cabin was filled with books, which I could only assume he’d cleaned out of the forbidden room.

“It’s rude to intrude on some pony else's privacy. Have you no manners girl?” I didn’t want to hear that voice again.

“After what you’ve done, I would call you a pony.”

“It is you! I was wondering when you’d come to resume your studies. I’ve been busy working out the kinks in your duplication, but I’ve yet to test it out for sure.” He was clueless. Had he really forgotten what he’d done to me? It was enough to make me laugh.

“You’re funny, doc. For a second, I thought You’d actually forgotten about all of the suffering that caused me. But you’re not that stupid, are you?”

“I’m hurt, Dusty. You think I would have forgotten about the most talented subject I’ve ever had? Why, Gemini could only hope to hold a candle to what you can do. I can see us discovering some amazing magic together. How about it?” He was that dumb.

I moved towards him, slowly, to get him excited for what I might say. He was getting giddy, which would make this all the better. “Here’s my counter proposal.” From my bag, I drew the same knife that the duplicate used to butcher Lightning, and slid it into Chi Chi’s chest.

All the blood drained from his face, and began to flow onto the rotting floorboards, where it belonged. He was speechless, staring directly into my eyes, while I just smirked back at him, savoring the moment. There was no point in calling for help, and he knew it. This was his end.

And that was it. Equestria was safe, though no pony else knew it. That’s okay. I wasn’t after any reward or prestige for saving lives. I was about revenge. I didn’t know any pony else he’d tested on, and I didn’t care. All that mattered was that he had paid for what he did to me. I had nothing else to do.

I was about to begin my trek home, but when I opened the door once more, There was a fierce snow storm raging outside. Figures the pegasi would schedule a storm about now. Oh well, it’s not like I had anywhere else to go. Might as well hunker down until it passes.

Luckily, Chi Chi had plenty of food stored here. I guess he knew the storm was coming, and stocked up. I would be comfortable here for the time being. I took some of the logs he had laying in the corner, and started a fire while I munched on some hey. It was simple, but it was all I wanted.

After a while, I actually started to get bored. I wasn’t sleepy, and the sound of the wind would’ve kept me awake anyway. What was I to do? Of course, I couldn’t help but notice the vast quantities of books the doctor had hoarded in his shed. I had been forbidden to read any of them at the academy, but now, all by my lonesome, I might as well take a peak. I levitated one at random, dusting it off to more clearly see the title.

‘Races and Transformations’. I wonder how Gemini did it.

Fresh Start

“All right class, hand in your assignments.”

Assignment? What assignment? I don’t remember having any projects. I’ve never missed a deadline in my life. What will this do to my GPA? I’ll never get into Canterlot Magic Academy now!

Wait a minute, I already applied. I sent in my application months ago. Why am I worried? Now that I think about it, I remember having all my finals too, and graduating. What am I even doing here?

It was that question that woke me up. I had to rub my eyes just to make sure it was a dream. But I was right; I was still lying in my bed in my own house. It was very strange. I’d finished Unicorn Primary school months ago, and I still have nightmares about homework.

I rolled myself out of bed and onto the floor, which felt as if it were ice. I don’t know why I woke up so early that day. It was summer after all.

It didn’t seem worth doing up my mane, but I decided to just get it to where I was presentable. A pewter mane on white coat was easy enough to work with, thank goodness. With no knots, I just had to brush the bangs together and I was ready for the day. It turned out a bit different today, but I think it turned out rather well. My mane tapered to various points, as opposed to the curls I normally did. I decided to give it a shot. I mean If everything else was changing, why not keep my mane in step?

I should’ve been less concerned with my mane, and more worried about my acceptance letters. I’d sent out five, and one had already come back denied. All of my friends had gotten accepted to theirs, and I didn’t want to be the odd mare out. My mother had always said it was because I aimed high, and she could’ve been right, but I began to wonder if I’d overestimated myself. I was biting my hooves when the mailmare arrived.

I was down at the mailbox before she could shut it.

“You expecting some acceptance letters today?”

It was like she was psychic. “How could you tell?”

“It’s all over your face. You have the exact same look as the last six ponies who waited at the mailbox. They all got letters from their schools. Hope you get in.” With that, she took off to her next delivery. Hope you get in? Did I need to hope?

My excitement soon gave way to dread. What if they rejected me too? I began to go through the envelopes. It felt like an eternity, going through all the bills, subscriptions, and everything else that had nothing to do with me.

Finally, I found one with my name on it. It was a letter from Canterlot Magic Academy, my number one pick. If I didn’t get accepted, there was no way I could get a good education. I’d have to go to the local school here in Trottsdam.

“Stardust! Time for Breakfast!” Mother was calling. I was so worried about the letter, I’d forgotten about the rest of the world. It wasn’t a long walk back to the cottage, but carrying that letter, it felt like a mile.

Once inside, I set the letter down in my father’s brass bowl and was immediately hit by the smell of my mother’s cooking, which as always, smelled like paradise. “That smells delicious mother. What are we having?”

Mother was busy as a bee working whatever was in the pot. “I knew you would be stressing a bit today, so I made your favorite, biscuits with daisy gravy.”

It was just what I needed to alleviate some stress. A warm, full belly would make any rejection easier to swallow, though I barely remember eating at all. That letter was on my mind the entire time, which was a shame. I do love that stew.

“Slow down, dear. It looks like you’re trying to breathe that stew.” I hadn’t even noticed, but I was on my second bowl. “If you eat like that at school, your food bill will be more than the tuition!” I guess nervousness makes you hungry.

“What if I’m not accepted anywhere? What will I do?”

I didn’t want to be so pessimistic, but it’s hard not to think about failure with stakes this high.

I thought about getting another bowl, but that was just going to prolong my anxiety. I decided that I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to know if I’d been accepted. This was news that would guide the rest of my life. It was too important to put off any longer. I dashed over to the bowl where I had placed the letter, but mother called out to me. “Hold on, Dusty. Don’t you want to wait for your father?”

I did feel a little guilty. After all, my dad was the one who helped me with school work when I needed it, it was only fair that he be here.

My father, as if by fate, chose then walk in the door. “Howdy. How’s everybody doing?”

I hadn’t done it in years, but I ran right up to him and gave a hug that nearly squeezed the life of him. He could barely talk until I released my grip. “Hello Stardust. I take it you had a good day?”

“I don’t know yet. I just got the letter from Canterlot Magic Academy and..”

He cut me off mid-sentence. He was always about getting to the point of the matter. “Well what are you waiting for? Let’s see that letter!”

He was obviously more confident than I was. Nonetheless, I slit the envelope as neatly as I could. For some reason, I thought it would increase my chances of getting accepted. Eventually I decided enough was enough, I whipped the letter out and folded it out fast as a wonderbolt. I could feel a bead of sweat roll down my forehead. At that point I decided to be like father, and cut to the chase; was I or was I not accepted?

The first paragraph was all about the mission of the school, why they research magic and other such things, but nothing about admitting a pony named Stardust.

Finally, halfway through that stupid letter, I found what I was looking for, and it was exactly what I was hoping for.

“Wake up Dusty, we’re almost there.” Normally when I hear mother say that, we’re almost to Grandma and Grandpa Shine’s house. Now though, I was going to a whole new world.

Trottsdam wasn’t that big of a town. It had its own University, but it was only for educating local ponies. No research was done there, and nopony came from out of town. In other words, I would have been stuck there for the rest of my life.

But my hard work had paid off. All of my work as captain of our Magic Duel and Magic Performance teams had allowed me to be accepted to the Canterlot Magic Academy.

Everypony knew about the Academy, but very few had actually been there. It was where all of the most advanced magic was researched and archived. Any spell from apperating to raising the sun could be found in their library.

When we finally arrived, it was like I’d stepped into another world. Trottsdam was a very small town, and although everypony knew each other, nopony lived very close to their neighbors. My nearest friend was a twenty minute walk. Once I set hoof onto the main campus, I was overwhelmed by the amount of ponies in one place. It did scare me, but at the same time, I was in awe of the sheer size and exoticism.

Father snapped me out of the trance.
“You okay, punkin? You look like you’ve seen the princess herself.” I only then realized how much of a fool I looked. “C’mon. Let’s go check out your room.”

It was a bit of a haul up the steps, but it was only the fourth floor. I’d get used to that walk. “12...13...14. Here we are.” I unlocked the room, and to my surprise, it was rather bare. The walls were plain white, and the only furnishings were the wooden bunk bed, a wooden desk, and a floor to ceiling bookshelf. There was also a closet that was barely big enough for my bags. Luckily, it was empty save for the hanger rack.

“It’s a lot less than I expected.” I couldn’t help but look disappointed in the accommodations.

“Oh Dusty, it’ll be what you make of it, and you’ll have plenty of time to work it up to something homey.” Mother, as always, saw the glass half full.

“If I’m not studying my plot off all the time.” A little joke went a long way to cheer me up. Of course I’d be able to work on this, I’m used to high workloads. How hard could it be?

“Well, this is it.” Mother began to tear up. “My little filly is going off into the world.”

“Mom, I’m not a filly anymore. I can handle this.” I said what we both were thinking, but I wasn’t entirely sure I believed it. I gave both of my parents a great big hug and watched as they walked out of my room. It felt like they were walking out of my life, but it was a good thing. Classes started next Monday, and I was going to start strong. Time to get down to business.

First day at the Academy, and was rearing to go. I felt like I could do anything. It was that feeling of having no idea what lay ahead, but you just don’t care because you are invincible.

My first class of the day was Transportation. The Academy didn’t bother with intro classes. If you needed to review, you didn’t belong in this school. The classroom was massive. It seemed like you could fit another building inside, but there were only a handful of ponies there. It seemed rather strange. As I walked over, they all noticed my staring at the huge interior.

“Hey there,” a blue maned unicorn called out to me. “You here for transport?”

I had to think about my situation for a second. I wasn’t used to strangers calling out to me. “Oh, uh, yeah. This is the right room, right?”

“Yup. Say, you look awful young to be in this course.” She then perked up, like she’d had an epiphany. “Are you a plebe?”

I didn’t have any idea what she was talking about. Must’ve been academy lingo. “A what?”

“That’s a yes. For the future, plebe is a term we use for newbies. From there it goes youngsters, juniors, and firsties.” This was something I’d have to remember. “So, if you’re a plebe, how’d you get into this class? It’s supposed to be for youngsters.”

“Well, the admission person said I could sign up for it, so I did.” From their expressions, you’d have thought I told them I owned the school.

“Wow, nopony gets to skip classes. I can’t wait to see what you can do here. Name’s Sol Ray.” She extended a hoof, and I gave her a shake back.

“Stardust. So, where’s the professor?”

She was about to laugh, but then realized who I was. “Oh yeah, that’s not really how things work around here. You see, I’m the JI, Junior instructor, and I’m in charge of making sure you follow the course. Basically, I’ve been taking this class ahead of you, but only slightly, so we’re encouraged to learn the material together. Make sense?” This was new; I’d never heard of students teaching a class.

It was confusing, but I gave her a nod. I wanted to get in and see how this works out. “OK then, first exercise will be partner levitation. Each of you will buddy up, and keep each other aloft as long as possible. Go!”

I looked around, but before I could even call out to anyone, I was already in the air. I noticed a unicorn standing a few feet below me. “Well, c’mon. Lift!”

Levitation was easy. Just imagine where you want an object to be, and it’s like a set of phantom limbs is at your disposal. I could have done it in my sleep.

I focused on the pony, and lifted her even with my height. Neither of us said a word. We were both concentrating on maintaining the spell. Eventually, my mind settled into a lull, and I could focus on other things. I began to wonder if all of my classes would be like this. Would I always be the plebe in a class of youngs, or youngsters, whatever they’re called. This was going to be a long year.

I must’ve been in my thoughts for a while. When I became aware of my surroundings again, all the others were focusing very intensely on their spells. I check the clock on the wall, and it had already been thirty minutes! From the looks of everypony else though, you’d have thought we’d been here since dawn.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed another pair going higher, way past the rest of the group. They climbed up until they touched the ceiling. They were ambitious for sure, but I knew how difficult it is to lift anything, let alone another pony that high. I started to worry about them.

“Hey, focus now. I don’t feel like falling.”

I looked back to my partner, and she was visually struggling to keep me aloft. I couldn’t understand why. I’m sure she’s lifted heavier things in her time here.

I couldn’t help but look back up, but I’m glad that I did. I could see the two ponies near the ceiling were beginning to waver. They were obviously struggling to maintain their height. Suddenly, they both started to drop.

I had to do something. If they hit the ground from that height, they’d probably never walk again, or worse. “Hey, let go.”

The other unicorn couldn’t even talk. She simply let go. I grabbed myself in my own levitation, and dashed over to where the others were falling. It was hard to catch them, moving targets always are, but I had to.

I managed to focus in on them both, and once I grabbed them, they gradually came to a stop just inches above my head.

“Whoa, who caught us.” The two looked down, and saw me.

“Holy cow, kid. How’d you do that?”

By this point, I was starting to feel the burn. I can levitate a lot at once, but it was still hard. “I’d rather just set you down.”

I lowered the two ponies, my partner, and myself onto the floor, just as Sol Ray arrived. “Stardust, what happened?”

I had to breathe for a few seconds. Even in Magic duels, I’d never been as worried as I had just been. “I saw these two falling, so I got over as fast as I could and caught them.”

Sol looked over and noticed my partner in a heap on the ground. “Who was holding you up?”

“I was. I needed to get over here fast, so I just told her to let go.”

Sol looked astonished. “Are you telling me you levitated your partner, yourself, and caught these two, all within a few seconds of each other, and after a half hour of partner levitation?”

I didn’t think of it, but the way Sol phrased it, it did sound kind of incredible. I simply nodded. She looked away to ponder, then beckoned me to follow her.
“Come with me. We need to get you somewhere better suited to your abilities.”

“Where’s that?” I had to ask.

“We’ll let the dean decide that.”

The Loneliest Number

Waking up on the second day felt different from other days. I wasn’t sure how to describe it immediately, but the more I thought about it, I realized that I felt great. I wasn’t groggy, I wasn’t grumpy, even my mane was still roughly the same as yesterday. It felt, for lack of a better word, natural.

It must’ve been too good to be true. My school instincts kicked in, and I thought must’ve been late for something. I scrambled around the room, frantically for a timepiece of any kind. What kind of researcher was I if I slept in all the time? How could I possibly explain this to Chi Chi? I guess I’d just have to take it on the chin, and not let it happen again.

I finally found my clock, but my eyes had crusted over from m panic. I rubbed it away, so I could see how much time I had to make up. To my immense relief, it was only 6:00.

No point in going back to bed, I thought. Might as well get a head start.

Usually, during the school year, I skip breakfast in the morning because classes start so early. Now though, since I my work doesn’t start until 9:00, I had all the time in the world. It was like I had two days in one.

I made my way to the main cafeteria, and headed on inside. The sign said breakfast started at 6, so I was well within the time frame. However, there was nopony else there. I could hear the kitchen staff working in the back, but the ambient chatter of ponies was absent. It felt so eerie, almost out of place.

When I walked up to the counter, there weren’t any servers to take my order. Either they were lazy, or this lack of business was business as usual. “Hello!” I called out to see if I could get a response from the back. Instead, a pony leapt up to her hooves right in front of me. This was one becoming one strange morning.

“Oh, uh, hello! What can get for you!” I could tell the enthusiasm was forced, but at least they weren’t openly hostile.

“I’d like a stack of pancakes with hash hay.” The pony scribbled the order down. then tore it off and threw it behind the counter.

“Turkey in the Straw!” A breakfast diner where the waitresses use slang for the orders? This place had a little bit of home after all.

I sat patiently at the counter, drumming my hoof to break the silence. If this was a rural diner, the waitress would give me a nickname and start a conversation. I was not disappointed. “So Hon, what brings you in so early? We don’t usually get anypony here before 9.”

“Well, I woke up for no apparent reason at around 6, so I figured I’d start the day early and grab some breakfast.”

“Well that's a first. Usually students get as much sleep as the can. Most of them only wake up a few minutes before their next class. Up all night doing homework, I guess. You must’ve had a pretty easy load to go to bed when you did.” She turned around to wash some glasses. She seemed quite authentic, like somepony I would know from home.

“Actually, I’m doing research now. I don’t have homework.” She stopped washing, and looked back over her shoulder. I’d obviously piqued her interest.

“Are you that mare the Doctor was going on about?” It seemed out of the blue that she would know Chi Chi.

“You know Doctor Chi Chi?”

“Oh yes. He comes in here even earlier than you do. Gets the same food though; pancakes and hash hay. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you two were related.” I could believe anything after yesterday.

A stallion came up to the counter separating us from the kitchen, and placed a pushed my order. “Order up!”

“Here you are. I’ve got to go inventory the freezer. If you need anything, just holler.”

I began to eat, and though it was delicious, I couldn’t help but notice the meal, not the food, was missing something. As I looked around the empty dining hall, I realized that what I needed some company.

The walk to Chi Chi’s office was just as lonely as breakfast. It was around a five minute walk, and there wasn’t a soul outside. Was I really this different? Was this going to be my whole four years?

Inside, the feeling of loneliness was ailed by the faces of the secretaries, who were diligently filing away various papers. So diligently, in fact, none of them looked up once. I guess that answered my question.

When I got to Chi Chi’s office, he too was sitting at his desk, though he was kind enough to greet me. “Good morning, Stardust. You’re up bright and early. I hope you slept well.”

“A full eight hours.” I replied. “What’s lined up for me today?”

“Well, you’ve gone through our past research, right?”

I simply responded with a nod.

“Well then, you can either continue that, or you can narrow down to your field of study.” I liked the latter option much more, and eagerly accepted.

“Excellent. You can head back to the library and get an idea of what you want to do. I’ll be in my office if you need anything else.”

Just what I needed; solitude.

Down in the library, the same silence that filled the dining hall welcomed me, only this time, there was no kitchen to feed me. I steeled myself for hours alone, and dove right into my work.

I thought about what would make a good research topic. Transformation? No, that’s well known, already. Time manipulation? Way too advanced. Materialization? I didn’t know that much about it, and I don’t remember seeing anything in the archive about it. It was perfect. I set off to look for whatever the academy already knew.

Three hours and 45 volumes of text later, I hadn’t found anything about materialization or conjuring in the whole archive. Had I missed something? I’d checked everywhere, in every way this place could’ve been organized, but still nothing.

Then I realized, I hadn’t checked everywhere.

My eye glanced over to the Restricted door, and my hoof began to move over towards it. No, Chi Chi said it was restricted, and I wouldn’t betray his trust. Still, it probably had some useful stuff in there. It couldn’t be that harmful.

The door opened with an eerie creak, but I wasn’t deterred. Inside, it seemed more accurate to describe it as the forgotten room. It looked as if nopony had been there in years, decades maybe. Every step I took sent up a puff, like the floor was drowned in dust.

I turned my attention away from the room itself, and towards what I had come for; the books. The titles were stuff I’d only heard about in stories. Emotion spells, mind control, Chaos magic, and so much more was here, at my hoofs. It seemed so surreal.

Running along the shelves, I found what I had been looking for, sort of. The title simply read ‘Summoning’, which I guess was close enough to materialization. I took a quick peak over my shoulder, to make sure the doctor hadn’t come in, then pulled the book off the shelf.

The book itself seemed to be the oldest one there. It’s cover was barely attached, and the spine was on it’s last legs. When I cracked it open, a cloud of dust was thrown into my face, confirming it’s age.

The pages themselves were largely intact. Of all the pages I flipped through, none seemed too faded to read, and none of them were missing or torn. Whoever the author was must’ve cast a protective spell on them. Although, I couldn’t say the same for the rest of the book.

Once I began to read, I was fascinated by the language inside. It was readable, but in a dialect that probably hadn’t been spoken in ages. It took some work, but eventually I got used to the different phrasings and terminology.

I decided to find one spell I would research and practice. As I scrolled through the index, I found one that read, ‘Duplicate’. This was perfect, I’d find a simple object, like an apple, and make a perfect copy of it. I’ll bet nopony has seen it done in ages!

On the description page, there was little information as to what the spell actually did, but there were plenty of details on how to perform it. It seemed a little strange that runes were needed, but then again, this was very old magic. I decided to give it a go.

Before I could begin, I heard hoof steps coming down the stairs. My heart sank. It was probably Chi Chi. What if he saw me in here, after I’d promised him I wouldn’t? I’d be expelled from the academy! I ran out, slid the book into my bag, and did my best to act natural.

“Good evening, Stardust”

“Evening? Is it that late already?” I gave as innocent a smile as I could, without over doing it.

“It sure is. The school will be closing down for the night. You probably want to get out to the real world again, anyway.” Really, I just wanted to be away from here. “Did you find something worth researching?”

My mouth was about to spill the beans, but my brain caught it. I couldn’t tell him about the summoning book, I’d have to make something up. “Not yet. I’m still digging through the ancient folk tale volumes. I thought I might find some inspiration there.”

“Good idea. With all of those fantastical tales, it might not all be make believe.” It wasn’t a complete lie, though I still felt bad about it. “Why don’t you head on up now. some rest would be good for both of us.”

I followed him out up the staircase. Tomorrow, I’d get the see what this book can do.

When we finally came outside, I was surprised to see it so dark. I’d been down in the library since 8:00. Had it really been this long? I had only seen the sun once today, and only half of it, at sunrise. Was everyday going to be this way?

Well, nothing I can do about it now. I figured I’d go back to my room, seeing as nopony else was out and about.

I walked past the same buildings as this morning, and aside from the janitors cleaning inside, they looked exactly the same. Everypony else I graduated with was probably off making friends somehow. Study groups, parties, or however else one socializes in higher ed. And here I was, stuck underground reading books all day. This isn’t what I expected at all.

When I arrived back at my room, I noticed an envelope had been placed in my mail slot. I assumed it was my parents, since I hadn’t really met anypony else since I got here. To my surprise, it was from White Lightning, an old friend of mine from Trottsdam. She’d gone off to Wonderbolt Academy, being the best athlete in our class, and probably the whole town. It was good to get correspondence from old friends. Maybe this would help me forget we were separated.

Dusty,

It only seems like yesterday I was warding off bullies for you on the playground, and now we’re off to pursue our dreams. I never really got a chance to say it to you pony to pony, but I never would gotten into Wonderbolt Academy without you. Your smarts got me through more classes than I’d care to count, and all that time you were never mean to me, even though I couldn’t understand half of what you said.

Now that I’m at the academy, things are great! I’ve gotten off to a great start with my squad mates, and even made lead pony! It’s hard work, but with all the support I’m getting, I’ll get through it.

Don’t forget to write back. I want to here about all the connections you’re making too! It must be hard being around ponies as smart as you all the time.

From,
White Lightning

I dropped to letter to floor, by now, some of the ink had been smeared by my tears. I was right. Not only was I alone, I was alone in being alone. It may have been frustration, jealousy, or just grief, but then, I made that fateful decision. That duplication spell would be put to good use, and I wouldn’t be alone ever again.