A Whole New World

"Show ourselves?! You got some nerve!" Scootaloo rounded on the orange Pegasus colt.

"Scoots, no!" Apple Bloom leaped out of the bush, causing Apple Bloom-colt to drop his jaw at the very sight of her.

"Um...what....who are y-whaaaat?" Scootaloo-male stammered.

Sweetie Belle and Babs Seed crawled out of the bush.

"Um..." Sweetie Belle stared her male version.

Scootaloo backed away from her version, and soon both colts and fillies were face-to-face.

"Who are you?" both groups finally asked.

"Why do you look like me?" Scootaloo-male questioned, pointing a hoof at Scootaloo.

"Me? Why do you look like me? We were here first! Why do you look like us? " Scootaloo shot back.

"What are you talking about?" Scootaloo-colt rolled his eyes, "We're in the place we started."

"Uh...no you aren't! You guys appeared out of nowhere!" Scootaloo growled.

"Ah...did we?" Apple Bloom-colt asked.

"Don't believe her, Apple Buck! That filly's telling lies!" the orange Pegasus colt spat.

"You calling Scoots a liar?"  Babs Seed stepped up.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Babs Seed-colt snarled.

"Guys/Girls! This is getting us nowhere!" Sweetie Belle and her colt version said together.

"He's right." Apple Buck looked at his hooves.

"Pfft. Whatever." Scootaloo grumbled.

"Perhaps we should start over." Babs Seed suggested.'

"We should." her male version agreed.

"Um...okay? We'll start." Apple Buck offered.

"I'm Apple Buck, this here is Scootaroll, Silver Bell, and Brad Seed." he said.

"Nice to meet ya." Apple Bloom shook his hoof, "I'm Apple Bloom, this is Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Babs Seed."

"Why do you look like us?" questioned Scootaloo.

"Ah dunno." Apple Buck shrugged.

"Uh, and what do you mean we showed out of nowhere?" Brad Seed asked.

"Well, you just did. There was a huge flash of light and then you appeared." Babs Seed shrugged, "Just as simple as that."

"How do we know you're not lying?" Scootaroll narrowed his eyes.

"Oh for Celestia's sake! Look at us! You obviously are not from around here!" Scootaloo said.

"Maybe...there's something to this." Silver Bell looked up and down at Sweetie Belle, causing a light pink blush to stain her cheeks.

"Yeah. We all look alike." Apple Bloom agreed.

Brad Seed put his hoof on Babs's nose.

"Uh, what are ya doin'?" Babs raised an eyebrow.

"Jus' tryng to see if you're real." he said, still focused on Babs's eyes.

"What are ya, trying to look into my soul?" Babs swiped his hoof away, "I don't like it."

"Why wouldn't we be real?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I was thinkin' it was maybe a prank by Golden Crown and Copper Spoon." Brad Seed growled.

"Who are they?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Jus' two of the biggest bullies in Ponyville." Apple Buck explained.

"Oh, ya mean like Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon?" Apple Bloom said, spitting the names out as if they were poison.

"Well, if they pick on you for being blank flanks, then yep." Silver Bell piped up.

"Sounds exactly like them." Sweetie Belle said.

"So, what now?" Apple Buck rubbed the back of his head.

"To Twilight's!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.

"Twilight?" Scootaroll asked.

"The town librarian. And a princess!" squealed Sweetie Belle.

"Oh. Sounds a lot like Dusk Shine. Except for the princess part. He's a prince." Silver Bell said.

Scootaloo wing's buzzed, "Let's go!"

The eight foals were trotting to Twilight's, and were now at the center of Town Hall.

"Did you forget were Twilight lives already?" Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"No...but I thought this was a shortcut or something." Sweetie Belle stated.

"Hey blanks flanks! Whatcha doin'?"

The CMC turned around to see the worst possible fillies the could see in all their life.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

"Who are these colts?" Silver Spoon pointed at Scootaroll and batted her eyelashes, making the Pegasus colt want to gag.

"Leave us alone." Apple Bloom snapped.

Diamond Tiara circled around Apple Bloom, "Not 'till you answer our question." she teased.

"Why do you wanna know?" Scootaloo challenged.

"Because maybe I just want to see if they're interested in us. Oh, and why they look a lot like you." Diamond Tiara said.

"Why would they be interested in you? Have you looked at yourself lately?" Sweetie Belle muttered. But Diamond Tiara heard it.

"Oh, and what about you? You're a unicorn who can't even control your magic. You think colts would want you, you pathetic slob. Come on, Silver. We're wasting our time." Diamond Tiara fused. She and Silver Spoon walked away.

"She...am I really pathetic?" Sweetie Belle slumped to the ground, tears filling her eyes. Before any foal could have a chance to react, Silver Bell dove forward, sitting next to Sweetie Belle and wiping a tear away.

"Don't listen to her. She's wrong. You aren't pathetic, she is." Silver Bell soothed. He pulled Sweetie Belle into a hug.

Oh. My. Celestia. He's hugging me. What do I do? Should I do something? Sweetie Belle did the best she could to hide her blush, but she remained frozen.

Silver Bell pulled away.

"I-thank you, Silver Bell." was all Sweetie Belle managed to say.

"Happy to help." Silver Bell smiled.

Sweetie Belle got up, sniffing but her tears were gone.

"Let's go find Twilight." Apple Bloom said.

"Um, yeah. Ya know what I noticed?" Scootaroll said.

"What?" Apple Buck asked.

"Every pony I see looks like a gender-swapped version of themselves. Did you see those two snobs? They looked a lot like Golden Crown and Copper Spoon." Scootaroll said.

"Yeah, but I'm sure Twilight will figure it out." Brad Seed said, "Whoever she is."

"Well, we found our way, after all that time..." breathed Babs Seed.

"Babs, it's only been minutes since we-" Apple Bloom started, but was interrupted by Babs putting a hoof to her mouth.

"Don't ruin the moment." Babs dramatically sighed then collapsed to the ground.

Sweetie Belle knocked on the door, and it was opened a few moments later by Twilight, who looked like she was very tired. Her mane and tail were ragged.

But Scootaroll gasped at the sight of her, and not because she was a mess.

But because she looked like a cloned Dusk Shine.