Author's Note
Quick note: This story takes place after Castle Mane-ia but some time before Twilight's Kingdom.
Chapter 1: A Day's Start
A dawn of a new summer morning had started in Equestria. The song of the chirping birds had begun at the start of the sunrise. At the Golden Oaks library, Princess Twilight awoke from her peaceful sleep. She slowly rose with her bed-mane, rubbed her eyes, and got out of bed and yawned in the process. In the order of her morning routine, Twilight trotted over to her dresser and looked into the mirror. The purple princess let her eyes widen, which she had a little struggle with since she was still a little sleepy, and chuckled.
"Wow, now this is just terrible," said the purple alicorn as she started to brush her mane with her magic, "I haven't had a messy mane like that in quite a while." After Twilight was done fixing up for the day, she noticed that Spike was still sleeping in his bed. Hmm, I think it's about time that I let him sleep for a few more minutes. I think I'll go get us some breakfast,
After a quick fly, Princess Twilight returned with eggs and a side of oats for herself, along with one of Spike's favorite breakfasts. She went into her library and placed both of the dishes on the table. As soon as Twilight did, she heard footsteps coming from the stairs. Right at the corner was Spike, looking famished at the sight of his breakfast.
"Is that.... ?"
"Yes, Spike. A plate of sugar-coated emeralds, a specialty from The Haysider! I bought it just for you," said the purple princess as she winked and went back to eating her eggs and oats.
"Oh yeah!" said the baby dragon as he hungrily delved into his food, "Sweet... sugary... goodness. Thanks Twilight!"
"No problem!" She replied back along with a small smile and a light chuckle. That's Spike, alright. Never changes, she thought. A few minutes after Twilight finished her breakfast, she made a checklist appear out of thin air with her magic and reviewed it, seeing what chores or activities Twilight Sparkle had to do for the rest of the day.
Checklist:
[X] Wake up
[X] Eat Breakfast
Seeing the massive blank on her checklist, Princess Twilight became utterly confused. How could this be? I have absolutely nothing to do? she thought. For a moment, she opened the door and flew above Ponyville to get a bird's eye view. She saw that there wasn't a slight hint of disaster and chaos upon her hometown. It also appeared that there wasn't a letter that came from the princesses. If there was, Twilight thought, I should have gotten one by now. A lot of the news I have been receiving comes at noon. Twilight Sparkle contemplated to see what the explanation might be. While doing that, she made a quick glance at her calendar. Of course! It's a Saturday! I guess I can have some me-time! But, what will I do? she asked, I could read, do some magic, or read about ponies doing magic,.
Making a quick decision, Twilight looked under "M" and grabbed one of her old books she had as a filly, back when she just enrolled in magic kindergarten. In her early days, Twilight Sparkle's mother made a photo album of her daughter's days at her new school, recording Twilight learning her first spells and some major events. Learning how to teleport, levitate objects- and even hatching Spike at her entrance exam! Princess Twilight then lay down on her stomach and cracked open the book. She swiftly flipped through all the pages the book had to offer and wondered in awe how she started off as a little filly who couldn't flip pages of a book with magic and then became a powerful alicorn princess of friendship. Wait a minute, Twilight Sparkle thought. She expanded her wings and made a puzzled look. Princess Twilight then looked around her library in search of Spike, who was lying on the floor after eating possibly one of the best gems he ever tasted.
"Uh, Spike?" The baby dragon had no response, since he was daydreaming about the wonders of his breakfast, thus making Twilight shout.
"Spike!" The volume of the purple pony's voice was just enough to make Spike jump and snap out of his daydream. His head spun in many different directions.
"Huh?! Wh-what?! Where?!" Twilight Sparkle put her hoof on Spike's head and made it face it towards her. The nervous dragon let out a few uneasy laughs.
"Oh, Spike," said the purple princess as she pulled Spike towards her side, "How was that emerald? Was it good?"
"Good? Good?! That was beyond good! That was great! No no, better than that. It was awesome!" said the ecstatic dragon as he spread his scaly arms out in excitement.
"I'm glad you like it," Twilight said with a warm smile.
"Speaking of the emerald, I think that I'm going to relax a bit. For a breakfast, that made me really full!"
"Isn't that unhealthy for your stomach?"
"Not if I feel like my stomach is heavier than my head.... "
"Well, you kind of make a point there. I'll let you go, but don't lie down for too long!"
"Alright, Twi. I'll be heading to my bed now."
"Okay. Have a good rest!" Twilight made an assuring smile at Spike while he was climbing up the stairs. For a split second, Twilight Sparkle made a quick glance at her foalhood book. Oh right! she thought. "Spike! Come here for a second!" Twilight shouted. In reply to her response, Spike instantly peeked out from behind the corner of the stairs.
"Yes, Twilight?"
"Well, I have something to ask you,"
"Make it quick, please. My stomach is still heavy."
"Ever since I became a princess, do you think that there is really a difference between regular unicorn magic and alicorn magic?" Spike then began to stroke his chin.
"Hmm, to be honest, couldn't it be more obvious? Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeated a bunch of villains by themselves!'
"But they were always using the Elements of Harmony. Spike, we both don't know if they were using their raw alicorn magic!"
"Oh, you do have a point there," Stroking (or rubbing in this case for Twilight) her chin along with Spike, Princess Twilight made a final statement about this situation.
"How about this, I can go do a little researching while you can relax?"
"But, I can still help you with your problem, if you want!"
"No, it's fine. After all, we were both busy with our second reshelving day yesterday, so I think it's important that you get to relax," Spike nodded reluctantly and went up to bed and followed the princess's order. After he did, Twilight Sparkle went right to work by rummaging through all the books she could find in her library. She picked them all with her magic and quickly scanned through all of them, searching in every page and memorizing every fact kept. Twilight even made a list of facts she reviewed that could've reached Sweet Apple Acres!
Taking up most of the afternoon, Twilight Sparkle didn't find a single book about advanced alicorn magic. She searched high and low all over the library, checking, re-checking, and checking again. On her last check, Princess Twilight started to feel doubt and moaned.
"Oh, what am I going to do?! There has to be an answer in one of my books!" Suddenly, Twilight remembered what Spike had said, "Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeated a bunch of villains by themselves!". "Oh! Of course!" she said out loud to herself. Twilight Sparkle then went out of the door and flew over to the Castle of the Two Sisters. If Spike and I don't have an answer, then maybe they will, she thought to herself. After a few minutes, the princess arrived at the ancient ruins of what was once a castle. She went through the door, found the entrance to the library, and began continuing the search. Twilight Sparkle started to hunt through the shelves and looked for anything that could give her an answer. But, it didn't take quite as long as her seeking did earlier, for Princess Twilight found a particular novel that might just give a response to her questions. She grabbed the book from the dusty shelf. It appeared to have at least three-hundred pages or more. Twilight Sparkle's eyes both glimmered and opened in shock. Hmm, "Journal of the Two Sisters: A Magical Journey. This might be it, she thought as she cracked the book open and started reading the adventures that were held in there.
"This is going to take a while.... "
From the fall, the six ponies were lying on the grass of the fields. Rainbow Dash quickly got up and flew above her friends to see if they were still fine. Pinkie Pie was rubbing her forehead when she rose. Everypony was dazed when they all got up.
"Ugh, what just happened right there?" Princess Twilight asked, more confused than stunned.
"That was certainly.... uh... something," Fluttershy said. She turned her head to face Rainbow Dash, who was still hovering above the others.
"Rainbow, do you you know what's going on?" she asked. Rainbow shook her head.
"No, just seeing if everypony is okay," she replied. Rainbow Dash got struck with realization.
"Guys!" everypony's attention was caught by the shout. "About the incident, I'm really sorry about what happened! I was being careless and forgot an extremely important detail!"
"Don't worry, Rainbow, we forgive you," Applejack said with a warm smile. "Everypony makes mistakes once in a while,"
"Yeah, what Applejack said. Besides, it's not like we're hurt or anything!" Twilight Sparkle said.
"In fact, I actually had a little bit of fun on that tornado ride!" Rarity added.
"Just like everypony says, you forgive and forget, especially with friends," Pinkie Pie continued as Rainbow Dash gave a humble smile to her friends.
"Aw, thanks girls. As always, our friendship stays strong," she said. In the distance, a big clock tower was making six loud 'dings'.
"Wow, six o' clock already?" Rainbow Dash said.
"Time really flys when stuff happens..." Twilight replied.
"Well, I will see you all tomorrow, everypony!" the mane six all said their goodbyes and went to their homes for the rest of the day.
On the next day, Rainbow Dash went about her daily morning routine. She wakes up, eats some fresh oats for breakfast, and clears a few clouds in the sky. When Rainbow was done with her morning chores, she thought to herself as she looks at the pale-blue sky, Hm, today looks like a great day for reading. Rainbow Dash glanced over to her stack of eleven Daring Do books. I could give each of them a fourteenth read. But, I think I should settle in for something else, she thought once again as she flew out of her cloud-house and landed on the path to Ponyville. And I might as well take a morning walk,
While she was trotting along, Rainbow Dash passed by Sweet Apple Acres. She didn't notice until Applejack called.
"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" she said.
"Oh, hello Applejack!" Rainbow replied. "Doing your daily applebucking as well?"
"Yes, certainly! I already bucked a quarter of the farm," Rainbow Dash was about to reply with a "Woah". But, knowing Applejack, she wasn't very surprised.
"I suppose I should leave you alone now. It's hard doing... you know... hard work!"
"You're right, Rainbow Dash. I'll see you later!" Rainbow Dash then began to trot along the farm. But as she was making her first few steps, a brown forest squirrel suddenly appeared beside the barn. Applejack gasped in excitement.
"Why hello, Mr. Squirrel!" she said as Applejack slowly approached the critter. Rainbow became slightly skeptical, but she shrugged it off and continued to walk to Twilight's library anyway.
Many minutes later, Rainbow Dash approached the Carousel Boutique. In the front of the shop, there was a sign. It said, "A sweet new style is coming soon!" Hmm, this is very interesting, Rainbow thought to herself as she entered the Carousel Boutique with the bell giving a ring. Up the stairs, Rainbow Dash heard the distance shouts of Rarity.
[size=0.85em"Yes! A new customer! Hang on there, I'm coming!"] Rarity's hooves clopped every time they hit the steps. When she finally got down, Rarity made a excited gasp.
"Rainbow Dash! It's so good to see you!" she said as she lightly hugged Rainbow.
"It's good to see you as well, Rarity. Also, according to the sign outside, you are making a 'sweet new style'. May I see what that is, exactly?"
"Oh, of course! Follow me to my work station, then you'll see!"
"Hm, alright," Rainbow Dash was getting more curious by the second as she trailed behind Rarity up the stairs and to her work area. In one of the sewing machines, there was a magenta fabric. It had small plastic representations of certain types of candy. Rainbow couldn't really comprehend what sort of "style" this was.
"A 'sweet' new style! Get it? 'Cause it's made out of candy?" Rarity said and giggled afterward.
"Okay then... Well, it's unique, that's for sure," said the dubious Rainbow Dash.
"It's nice seeing your new fashion trend, Rarity. But, I got to go, goodbye!"
"See ya Rainbow!" in a hurry, Rainbow Dash stormed out of the Carousel Boutique. Okay then, she thought.
After trotting a few more miles, Rainbow began to feel really bushed. Her legs and hooves were sore. As a result, Rainbow Dash felt slight pain in each step. Wow! I forgot how far it is from my house to Twilight's! she thought. Nearby, Rainbow saw the gingerbread-like building of Sugarcube Corner. Maybe a muffin and a small coffee will do, thought Rainbow Dash as she entered the sweet shop. She stood by the counter and ringed the bell. Pinkie Pie came out of the kitchen and settled behind the work surface.
"Hello, Rainbow Dash. What can I get you at Sugarcube Corner?" Pinkie said.
"I'll just have a banana muffin,"
"Anything else?"
"Well, do you guys serve coffee? If so, I'll have a small cup,"
"Alright, coming right up!" Something seems strange about Pinkie Pie.... I just can't put my hoof on it, Rainbow thought. As requested, Pinkie came behind the counter once again with Rainbow Dash's order.
"That'll be three bits!" one of Rainbow's wings extended, grabbed the three bits that Pinkie needed, and paid the price.
"Thank you very much!"
"No problem," just as Rainbow Dash was about to leave, she spotted a pink glimmer in the kitchen. Letting curiosity get the best of her, Rainbow asks about it.
"Uh, Pinkie Pie? What's that behind you in the kitchen?" Pinkie Pie looked behind her to see what Rainbow was talking about.
"Oh, that's my newest batch of cupcakes,"
"New recipe? May I take a sneak peek?"
"As you wish, Rainbow Dash," Rainbow nodded and trotted over to the kitchen to see five chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting and containers of sprinkles that contained blue, yellow, and black sprinkles. One cupcake had two balloons that were made of small blue sprinkles. On top of them was an unfinished balloon that was made of yellow sprinkles.
"I'm making cupcakes that are personalized like my cutie mark!"
"I see that, but seriously? You need all these sprinkles just for one cupcake?"
"Details are important, Rainbow,"
"Um, okay. I'll be on my way now,"
"Alright. Ta ta, Rainbow Dash!"
What could be going on with my friends? They seem so... off today. What could this possibly mean? Rainbow was pondering a lot that she didn't notice that she bumped into Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy! What brings you here?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh, it's just nothing. Angel just won't eat his carrots again, and now he's ran away because Angel wants a fancy salad again! Can you believe that?" Well, I cannot say I can't, Rainbow thought to herself. Suddenly, Angel Bunny appeared out of a bush. Fluttershy's face became filled with frustration.
"I have to go. I have do deal with this darn rabbit," she said as she ran towards the bunny.
"Angel! You come back here this instant, mister! The carrots I have aren't that bad! They're juicy and healthy, just for growing bunnies like you! Angel Bunny!"
"Seriously, what is going on around here?" Rainbow Dash muttered. She continued to walk and finally saw her destination: The Golden Oaks Library. Now Rainbow can finally do what she wanted to do all day! Rainbow Dash knocked on the door, and Spike came into view.
"Hello, Spike. Where's Twilight?" Rainbow asked.
"She's apparently napping... on a cloud. I know right, it's weird! I don't usually see her taking naps that often," Spike said.
"Well, may I come in anyways? You know, for a book?" Spike stared at Rainbow Dash blankly.
"Uh, okay, since you are asking," Spike opened the door more widely and gestured Rainbow to come inside the library. Once she entered, Rainbow Dash searched the shelves.
"Do you guys have a book about natural velocity?" Spike gave yet another blank stare.
"Speed or how fast something is,"
"Oh! Try to look under 'V', which is right over..." Spike led Rainbow Dash to one of the shelves, "Here!" Rainbow went through the shelf and found the book she wanted to read.
"Thanks, Spike!"
"Um, no problem, I guess," Rainbow turned around and faced the baby dragon.
"Spike, is something wrong?"
"Well, yes- I mean, maybe. Along with Twilight sleeping on a cloud, you're suddenly reading books, and it's not even Daring Do related!"
"Wait, what are you talkin-" Rainbow Dash gasped and fell on her knees.
"I'm an egghead!"
"Yeah, that's what I'm basically telling you..." Spike said.
"How could this be? Me, Rainbow Danger Dash, reading a book about velocity?!" Wait a minute, Applejack and squirrels, Rarity with candy dresses, Pinkie Pie with details, Twilight sleeping on a cloud, me reading novels, and that weird spell in the tornado.... It all makes sense now! We switched personalities!
"I think you are all wondering why I've gathered you here today," Rainbow Dash said to her friends.
"Yeah, and why you woke me up from that awesome nap..." said the still-sleepy Princess Twilight.
"I'm here to announce that we all switched not minds or bodies or whatever, but personalities!" Fluttershy raised one of her hooves.
"Can you tell us the difference, exactly?" Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Well, if our bodies or minds were swapped, there would be things such as struggling to adapt to new abilities, occupations, relationships, and especially appearances," all bobbed their heads in agreement.
"What's important now is that we all at least try to keep out personality-swapped selves secretive as possible. The only ponies who should know about this are Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadance,"
"I must ask, why just the princesses? And why do we have to keep ourselves unforthcoming from the other ponies?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"If other ponies found ou-"
"Ponies would just go absolutely cray cray!" Rarity interrupted.
"What Rarity said. Basically, townsponies will be frightened! Things that ponies do not fully comprehend will leave them to be afraid, so afraid that they'll be in panic. Townsponies will think that something is going awfully wrong in Ponyville. They might think that Discord is going to plunge Equestria into chaos again or some other weird reason!"
"Alright, we got it, Dash!" Princess Twilight said as she gave a confident smile and a salute.
"Now, meanwhile you guys try to stay intact, I'll be downstairs in Twilight's laboratory-"
"Oh right! I forgot I had that!"
"-trying to find a solution to this situation," Rainbow Dash finally stated as she quickly trotted down the stairs.
