“Ah’m sorry Twilight, but I just don’t think I can join you tonight. Just too much to do right now you know…”
“B-b-but we all planned this remember? We all agreed that tonight we’d finally break in that craps table!” Twilight Sparkle replied, trying to fake a casual smile. She was standing at the door to her house staring at the dejected faces of her five friends. Just that look alone told Twilight that her chances at easy money were already slipping away.
“I’m sorry dear, but you know how it is. What with the weather changing and the demand for winter clothes going up.” Rarity said, rationalizing her own excuse.
“I have to help the animals prepare for hibernation,” Fluttershy‘s voice became ever softer as she spoke. “Besides, this is kind of illegal…”
“Yeah, and the weather teams always screw up when I’m not around, so I have to go and whip their flanks into shape.” Rainbow Dash wasn’t even looking at Twilight.
“Oh, oh! I’d love to play Twilight!” Pinkie waved her hoof in the air excitedly. “But the Cakes are on their seventeenth honeymoon this week. Guess who they left in charge of the store!”
“...you?” Twilight asked, rolling her eyes.
“Me!” Pinkie hopped up and down with glee.
“Cheer up, Twi. Game night can be some other time… maybe in the next few weeks… or months... or never.” Rainbow Dash muttered, still not looking at Twilight. Awkward conversations weren’t her thing.
This simply wouldn’t do for Twilight. The latest book on Forest Fungus was coming out in two days and she would not be able to afford it without her friend’s hard earned bits.
Her eyes anxiously moved side to side. She was so close; she couldn’t let her money get away from her that easily. She bit her lip and thought of all the wondrous types of mushrooms discovered over the course of last year.
But then she got an idea, a spell that she had been carefully studying for a desperate occasion such as this.
“Um, Twilight, dear, are you- is everything okay?” Rarity asked, a bit anxious herself.
“Hm? Oh, yeah! I’m fine,” Twilight responded quickly. “I think I know a way we can all be at game night and do what we have to do beforehand. Can you all come in for just a second, girls?”
“Twilight, I’m just wondering… this doesn’t involve potting soil and dental floss again, right? I kind of don’t think those worked last time…” Fluttershy asked, her face completely hidden behind a curtain of pink.
“Not this time, Fluttershy,” Twilight replied uneasily, remembering the catastrophe of her last experiment in magic. “It’s called a cloning spell. Kind of like the magic that duplicated Pinkie, remember?”
“Yeah! Those mes and I had so much fun together. It was like they could read my mind in hide-and-go-seek and checkers!” Pinke rambled off as she remembered every fine detail. “And guess-what-number-I’m-thinking-of, and Pachisi, and Go Fish, and-”
“Ah don’t know, Twilight,” Applejack eyed the door, looking for an excuse for her to escape “Ah just don’t feel comfortable havin’ somepony else do mah chores. I mean with buckin’ apples, walkin’ applebloom tah school, an’ Big Mac’s tap-dancin’ lessons… how do I know mah clone can do all that?”
“Applejack, it’s completely identical to you,” Twilight huffed. “There’s nothing you can do that it can’t do. Don’t you just want at least a few hours of rest with you friends?”
“Alright, alright. Fine, you win,” Applejack ceded with a sigh.
“Like I was saying, the clones will be able to take care of everypony’s jobs tonight while we play,” Twilight continued. “We’ll be able to get rid of them as soon as I’m- I mean, we’re done.”
“Ugh, let me get prepared first, Twi. I always get sick to my stomach whenever I get magic used on me,” Rainbow Dash requested as she tried to suppress memories of her past experiences.
Twilight left the room to go search for her spellbook. She walked across the hall, up the stairs, in the office, right up to that skinny little drawer in the middle of the desk to find the book placed neatly inside. She levitated the book out and started her way back, but bumped into the side of the desk, spilling papers, quills, and the like.
Rolling across the floor, however, was a six-sided die. Rolling numerous times across the wooden floor, it stopped as it hit the wall next to the door frame. Twilight walked over out of curiosity to see what it had landed on.
A solid one.
Twilight sighed. If this was any indication of how her playing would go tonight, she had a long road ahead of her, indeed. She headed back downstairs to her waiting friends.
"Are you girls ready?"
“As I’ll ever be,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
“Ready, Teddy!” Pinkie Pie grinned.
“I think I’m ready, probably…” Fluttershy said quietly.
“Just do it, sugarcube,” Applejack sighed.
“Hm, what?” Rarity turned away from a mirror in the room.
“Alright then,” Twilight said, concentrating her magic on the cloning spell and her friends. Each pony was highlighted in purple magic in an instant and raised a few meters in the air, almost touching the ceiling.
A bright flash filled the room as each mare suddenly disappeared from the room, much to Twilight’s astonishment. When everypony had all vanished, Twilight felt an instant and painful migraine appear.
She felt sleepy for no reason whatsoever. All she wanted to do was curl up and take a nap on the floor. She almost felt herself drift away from her own mind as she fell unconscious in a black abyss.
Rainbow Dash awoke with a start after what seemed to be a short nap. She felt cold wood on her side and a book covering her right forehoof.
Strange. She didn’t remember passing out or having a book. All she remembered from earlier was Twilight’s spell and a flash of light. Was the clone already here?
Rainbow wobbled to her hooves, but fell back down as she accidentally stepped over her own wings. She felt a dull throb of pain as she tried yet again, this time focusing her sight on her hooves and where they were going.
She paused as she stared at her purple hooves. Those weren't supposed to be purple. She glanced at her drooping, purple wings. Those weren’t supposed to be purple either.
A small prick of pain from a newly spawned headache drew a short moan as she brought her hoof to her head. She felt an protrusion as she felt towards the top of her head. She sized it up with both hooves and came to the conclusion that it was a horn.
And it was probably purple.
By now, she had come up with a hypothesis that she wasn’t in her own body anymore. Moreover, she now was in somepony she knew who had both wings, a horn, and purple all over.
“Oh, Celestia…” Rainbow Dash said, the voice of Twilight confirming her fears. “I’m in Twilight’s body!”
Came the unmistakable southern drawl of Applejack.
“Applejack? Are you in here too?” Rainbow asked in Twilight's voice, sending a chill across her body. However, there was no response. “AJ? Anypony there?”
Another minute passed and still there was no response. If Applejack was in there, for whatever reason, then the rest of the gang would have to be there too. But they weren’t talking or giving her any help.
“Guys? Come on, I need you,” Rainbow Dash said desperately. “Wakey, wakey. Time to help ol’ Rainbow Dash get back into her own body.”
Still no response.
Now more confused than before and still not thinking clearly, Rainbow Dash tried to stand up yet again, wobbly but staying planted on the floor. Her headache was getting worse and it was almost impossible to concentrate.
She had to get out of the library and go to her own house. Maybe she could think more clearly there.
Shaky step by shaky step she inched closer to the front door, making sure that her new wings weren’t coming too close to her legs. She reached for the know with her hoof and barely twisted it open.
Slightly nudging the door open with her muzzle, a small gust of brisk air caused her to shiver. She hadn’t been this sensitive to the weather in her own body, she realized sourly. She brushed past the door, making her body tense to keep it from shivering.
As she brought her forehoof down on the first stair, disaster struck. Her left hoof failed as soon as she put pressure on her right hoof, causing her to tip on the one hoof and fall over backwards. She managed to miss the few steps of the stairs, but landed flat on her back in the gravel, causing her to grunt in pain. “Arrgh…”
Inside of her mind, the other mares who had also been caught in the spell began to feel a pressure lift from them, awakening them from their mental sleep. They were all extremely confused, and had no idea where they were, what was happening, or why they couldn’t feel their own hooves anymore.
Rarity, upon awakening, performed the mental equivalent of a after-nap stretch. The lifted pressure felt even better now, so she kept at it, not really caring that her surroundings felt strange and her body felt stranger.
Rainbow Dash felt more sleepy as she continued to lose feeling around her body, eventually shutting her eyes as she was completely pushed away from influence.
Rarity, on the other hand, awoke seconds later with a yawn.
“Good heavens, what in Equestria happen-” Rarity stopped mid-sentence. Something felt off, not just with her voice but with everything. She looked down to her hooves: purple. That could well be chalked up to a night of drunken debauchery.
She checked her horn, and everything seemed fine there. She picked a stone off the ground with her magic to make sure. Purple aura? That’s strange. But it wasn’t anything to be that concerned about, at least not like a splitting headache like the one she was experiencing.
She stretched out all four hooves. Nothing broken. That’s always good. She then stretched out her wings making sure no harm befell them. My wings are okay, so that is also a good sign- no wait, there is definitely something odd about that… There is something very wrong here, but I just can’t put a hoof on it.
“Wings?!” Rarity gasped as it finally clicked. She craned her neck to get a good look at the feathery appendages sticking out of her back. She was positive those were not there when she woke up this morning.
The voice, purple coat, wings, horn, and such unstylish mane. There was only one possible conclusion she could come to: She somehow was in control of her friend’s body. It was the only possible conclusion as she would never be caught dead with scraggly hair like this.
This just wouldn’t do for Rarity. There were so many things to do such as social gatherings, meetings with noble and famous ponies, and exploiting Spike’s love for personal gain. She couldn’t possibly do such things in her current form.
She decided that if she was inhabiting her friend’s body, then Twilight must be using her’s. She poked her head through the door to the treehouse.
“Twilight.” She called into the tree dwelling. It was completely empty and no voice responded to her call. Where had the all the other girls gone? Why did she have a splitting headache all of a sudden?
These were all questions that could be answered over a hot cup of tea and a few pastries. All of which could be found at her own home. The only obstacle presented to her, however, was transportation.
She tried bringing herself to her hooves, pressing them against the gravel. She fell flat on her side in an instant. Strangely, the mysterious scrapes on her legs seemed to indicate that she had already tried this earlier and failed that time as well.
But she didn’t remember doing that.
She touched her head softly as her headache suddenly intensified. She couldn’t think straight, as if she was thinking about many different things at once. She focused herself briefly on trying to get to her house.
An idea popped from seemingly nowhere within the mess of thought: teleporting. It would be easier to use magic than to walk in this case. She lifted her head and all the thoughts and images in her head calmed.
Thinking only of the teleportation spell, she aimed for her home in the middle of ponyville. More specifically, her living room.
In a flash of purple light, she had disappeared and reappeared again. However, it was not at her intended destination. She was on top of the roof of Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie’s workplace. She could tell by the massive cakes situated next to her.
“Why did I go here?” Rarity asked to nopony in particular. She tried standing up on the sloped roof and was met with her previous result.
Tripping over her left hooves, she tumbled down the side of the roof without any hope of stopping. Rarity could feel the bruises forming already.
Luckily, at the bottom of the building, a few sacks of surplus baking ingredients had been left out. In a puff of white powder, Rarity landed flat on her back and wings.
“Ow…” She groaned as she slipped out of consciousness into blissful sleep.
Lord Ershwin Wholewheat
Author's Note
This is a collaboration between me and Lord Ershwin Wholewheat.
Live it, love it. You've already spent/wasted your time here. Give it an upvote so I can feed my heroin addiction. Be an enabler.
Pinkie Pie couldn’t believe how rested she felt. She was in that phase of waking up where she was somewhat awake, but she didn’t want to open her eyes. She tried to get one last dream in before a painful tingle came from the side she was lying down on.
“Owchie-mouchie!” she yelped as the bruises and cuts became all the more real and painful. A large white puff of powder began to settle from where she had just jumped up from. Judging by the taste of some of the powder that had landed in her mouth, it was sweet, sweet sugar.
Ignoring the cuts and bruises entirely, Pinkie Pie looked ecstatically around to see where she was. Definitely not Twilight’s place, but rather in the middle of a street. Near some burlap sacks of sugar. “I wonder what place in town has brown bags of sugar just lying about.”
She touched her hoof to her chin, but something in her peripheral vision caught her attention. There was more sugar on her hoof! Delighted, she began licking away at it like it were a lollipop.
She turned around to see what building was behind her and grinned when she realized she was in front of Sugarcube Corner. “Of course I’m here! I probably passed out from that spell and Twilight put me here to take a nap.”
<Hello, is anypony there? I seem to be stuck...can somepony lend a hoof?>
Pinkie heard voices in her head again but these didn’t sound like the usual ones that drove her to arson.
“Ksssh! Attention all voices talking crazy in my head. Do you remember what happened at Twilight’s house, over?” Pinkie asked, holding an imaginary device to her ear.
Rarity was a bit unsure of where “here” was because she lacked any idea of a description she could use.
Applejack had no trees to buck and was thus unhappy.
“Sorry, crazy voices! I’m not in the mood to play hopscotch today,” Pinkie said, tuning out the bantering of Applejack and Rarity completely. “I need to find the little Cakes! I hope I’m not too late to take care of them.”
Pinkie Pie began running toward the bakery without a hitch, though there was a slight twinge of pain for some unknown reason. Bursting through the front doors boisterously, the few patrons inside looked at Pinkie in confusion and surprise.
For Fluttershy, a severe case of Achluophobia was no excuse for being impolite.
“It’s super hard to solve a problem that isn’t there, silly willy,” Pinkie said, giving a random pony a cupcake that she had pulled out of thin air. She wasn’t really sure where all those cakes came from, but she knew she had an endless supply. “I have fillies to sit! But not sit on. The Cakes were really specific about that.”
“Twilight? What are you doing here?” a voice from behind asked. Pinkie looked around to see where Twilight was but couldn’t find her anywhere in the store.
“Huh? Where’s Twilight?” Pinkie asked, swiveling her head around until she saw Mrs. Cake standing in front of her. “Mrs. Cake! I thought you and the mister were out on your eighteenth honeymoon already.”
“We’re waiting for Pinkie Pie to get here before we leave,” Mrs. Cake answered. “It’s strange she isn’t here yet, she always loves watching the fillies.”
“Um, I’m not trying to be a meanie, but did you hit you head, Mrs. Cake?” Pinkie asked. “I’m right here!”
“Yes, you are, Twilight. But we’re looking for Pinkie Pie.” Mrs. Cake raised an eyebrow.
“But I’m me, not Twilight! Helloooo,” Pinkie said. “You’re not wearing your glasses, Mrs. Cake. I’ll go get them for you.”
Applejack said, bucking Pinkie's inner demons in the figurative nards.
Pinkie twitched a few times and smiled once again.
“Twilight, I think you must have a head injury. Look, you have cuts and bruises all over you,” Mrs Cake said with genuine concern. “Let me take you to the hospital and get you some rest.”
“I feel super, Mrs. Cake! And please stop calling me Twilight,” Pinkie Pie asked, and suddenly lowered her voice. “Some wackos might try to kidnap me for her hidden treasure.”
“I’m taking you to the hospital.”
“Aww, Mrs. Cake, I’m fine. I don’t wanna get a shot,” Pinkie whined. “I’ll be nice to the fillies, I promise.”
“Twilight, march yourself over to the hospital right now,” Mrs. Cake said sternly.
Pinkie’s ears drooped. “Yes, Mrs. Cake.”
“Do you need me to make sure you get there?” Mrs. Cake raised an eyebrow.
“No, Mrs. Cake.” Pinkie replied.
“Goodbye, Twilight. I hope you feel better.” Mrs. Cake smiled as Pinkie walked out of the bakery.
Pinkie didn’t understand why Mrs. Cake had been so confused about her identity. She had known her for years!
Pinkie glanced at a puddle down by her hooves. She stared long and hard at her reflection, contemplating what she had done to make Mrs. Cake forget her. A small thought dawned on her. She blinked her purple eyes once then twice.
She was in Twilight’s body.
“Of course!” Pinkie said with a smile. “I was such a silly. No wonder Mrs. Cake didn’t recognize me.”
A thought dawned on her at that moment. If she was in Twilight’s body, she had wings and a horn to boot. All kinds of things could be accomplished with that combination of appendages. Like writing a book or robbing a bank.
Now equipped with both magic and flight, Pinkie would be an unstable force on her crusade to bring parties or somesuch to the rest of the universe.
Aside from the existential crisis she was dealing with and the constant droning of Pinkie’s humming, Twilight wasn’t exactly having a bad day. All in all, it was a leap in science and psychology to have so many ponies sharing the same body. If she ever managed to get out of the situation, it would make for a great doctoral thesis.
“You doin’ alright there, sugarcube?” Applejack asked Twilight, who was currently laid outstretched on the “floor” of her own psyche.
“I’m fine,” Twilight said, muffled by the mental matter beneath her. “I have no idea what Pinkie is doing with me right now, nor do I know where everypony else is or how to talk with them. But, for the time being, I’m fine.”
“Cheer up, sugarcube. You’ve got me so far. Won't be long now until we all figure out this mess,” Applejack soothed.
A boisterous thud resounded around the abstract walls of Twilight’s mind. Pinkie had probably hit something during her excited adventuring.
“Owie… who puts a house in the middle of a town, anyway?” Pinkie groaned, her voice fading in volume.
“Oh, here we go, Twi!” Applejack said. “Whenever you get hurt, somepony else gets to move around.”
“Let’s see who it is this time,” Twilight said.
It was a long amount of time during the transition. Twilight was beginning to worry if she had just died and didn’t know it yet. After a minute of waiting, the new voice spoke up.
“Oh, dear,” Fluttershy said quietly. “Why in the world am I holding a matchbox?”
