Twilight couldn’t believe she was actually considering this! Last time they had used the mirror pool it was a catastrophe! She shivered at the memory of all the Pinkies. She shook her head to show that she disagreed with her thoughts.
“I took precautions! Besides, I’m responsible while Pinkie is…Pinkie.”
She stopped at the large rock that covered the hole. She sighed and lifted it. She half expected several Pinkies to come galloping out. She sighed in relief when she saw nothing but stairs.
“Okay…Let’s get this over with.”
///
Twilight stepped up to the pool of clear water, staring at her reflection. She smiled softly but stepped back in surprise when a ripple ran through it. She sneaked a look at her reflection and gasped. There was a stallion’s face instead of hers. She desperately grabbed random parts of her body to confirm her gender and soon let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding, it was only the spell. The stallion soon stuck his head out from under the water with a confused expression. He saw Twilight and smiled.
“Hello.” He said once he was sitting upright in the pool. His mane was much shorter than Twilight’s and almost looked like dreadlocks. His build was more muscular, but nowhere near as big as Macintosh. He had a lavender coat, violet eyes, and a horn about the same length as Twilight’s. What she noticed first were his outstretched wings.
The only thing she could muster was a meager “…hi…” His shagginess was rather charming Twilight thought. She shook her head and adopted a more not-Fluttershy attitude.
“So…what exactly am I doing here?”
///
“So let me get this straight.” Dusk Shine, the newly named stallion, walked along side Twilight as they headed for the castle. They were followed by confused and curious stares, but anypony who had been there long enough knew that Twilight did some pretty weird spells. “I’m sort of a clone, but the opposite gender?”
“Yes, that’s correct.” Twilight looked to the ground shyly. “It was just a random idea I came up with.”
“I understand the clone part, though I don’t see why you would want one of the opposite gender.” Twilight blushed a little harder.
“It…was also just a random thought.” Dusk nodded in understanding.
“So am I a secret, or are you going to introduce me to your friends? Though, I’m sure you have far too many to introduce me to all at once.” Twilight blushed at that. She found herself blushing a lot at his words.
“No, I actually only have five.” She looked to the side with a smile. “Well, not including Spike, though he is more family than friend.” She thought about her word choice before blushing. “Sorry, don’t tell him I said that. I should have ended that a sentence earlier!” Dusk smiled at her shyness.
“Of course, my lips are sealed.” His companion smiled in thanks.
Twilight almost felt sad when they reached their destination but happily remembered what was inside.
She opened the door to reveal five ponies and a small dragon. “Dusk Shine, I would like to introduce you to my friends.” They looked like they were waiting for her arrival.
“Uh…okay.” Twilight squealed with excitement. Her test was going better than smoothly!
“My, my Twilight! I thought we were here for some sort of quest,” a white mare said dreamily looking over the stallion. “But you brought us a stallion instead!” Dusk couldn’t help the blush on his face as five mares were suddenly paying very close attention to him.
“Doesn’t he look kind of like Twilight?” A cyan pegasus asked suspiciously, lifting his wings in inspection.
“He’s an alicorn too! What a sight!” An orange mare enthused, rubbing her chin as she too inspected him-save from afar.
“I’ve never seen you before! Do you want me to throw a party? Silly me, of course you do!” A pink mare chirped, teleporting impossibly from one spot to another around him.
“Um…he looks…nice, Twilight.” A pale yellow pegasus commented from behind her pink mane, standing next to a very annoyed Twilight.
“Will you just leave him alone?” She shouted, stretching out her wings in frustration.
“Yeah, he’s obviously some sort of guinea pig for one of Twilight’s tests.” The small purple dragon stated, crossing his arms matter-of-factly.
“Spike!” He shrank away at the scolding tone of Twilight’s voice.
“Alright, alright! Don’t get your feathers in a ruffle!” The cyan pegasus said, landing next to her friend. “We’re just curious why this guy is here!” She said with a roll of her eyes. Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself before answering.
“Well wonder no more, Spike was half right.”
The small dragon held his claw triumphantly in the air. “I knew it!” His proud expression soon faltered. “Wait, only half?” Twilight gave him a harsh glare, making him slink away.
“He’s not a guinea pig, but he is an experiment.”
“The OUTCOME of an experiment.” Dusk Shine corrected her.
“Yes, thank you.” Twilight nodded. “I got the idea to create a spell so that I could control a duplicate while sitting in the lounge, and soon wondered if I could make it the opposite gender.”
“Awesome! I knew you would eventually let your mane down!” The cyan pegasus shouted in achievement, slicking back her rainbow mane.
“Anyway…” Twilight continued. “I would like to introduce the male me, Dusk Shine.” The lavender stallion lifted a hoof in greeting.
“Hello.” Twilight then whispered their names into his ear.
“The pink one is Pinkie Pie, the white one is Rarity, the orange one is Applejack, the yellow one is Fluttershy, and the rainbow haired doofus is Rainbow Dash.” Dusk chuckled at that.
“I’ll try to remember.” He joked. “Though it’s rather hard to forget a name like Rainbow Dash,” The cyan mare gave a proud grin to her friend Rarity. “Even if she isn’t the brightest.” That’s when her grin dropped and Rarity gave her a revengeful smirk.
