Neither Of Them Mind

Twinlinked looked at Twilight. She looked disappointed at something for a moment, but now that had passed. She handed him the book he was after, so he thanked her and turned to leave. Before he had gone two paces he heard Twilight call after him.

“Is your store open today?”

He turned back around and answered, “No, do you want to come sometime?”

She looked like somepony caught out in a mistake, “It’s not really my thing. Sorry.”

Twinlinked gave her a face, “It’s everypony’s thing. Trust me.”

“That’s not why I asked,” Twilight amended, still looking sheepish, “I wondered if you are free today.”

“That’s pretty forward of you, Twilight Sparkle.”

“No, ohnonono.”

Twinlinked laughed. He put the book on a nearby table and moved around it so he could sit down.

“I was joking. What do you need?”

Twilight sat down opposite him and put a jar with a cloth over it on the table. Twinlinked was intrigued. It was very cloak-and-dagger. Twilight pulled the small black cloth covering off the jar, revealing it to be full of small bugs. They were brown, larger than cockroaches, and had seven segments along their round bodies. He had never seen anything like them in Equestria before.

“What under Celestia’s sun are those?” he asked. They reminded him of those bugs you find under Everfree Oak logs. Except these were much bigger, and they were crawling over each other and around the jar quite quickly.

“They are Hive Cockroaches. Larger than Equestrian ones, and also magical. They have a literal hive mind, each bug has the same mind as the rest, and they think the same thoughts,” Twilight explained.

“So, why are you showing me them?” inquired Twinlinked, still mildly puzzled.

“More as an example than anything else,” Twilight answered, but she looked more sheepish as she continued, “I have been looking through Starswirl the Bearded’s spellbook, and I came across a spell designed to take over a ponies mind for five minutes. He intended it to help him get rid of the Sirens from Equestria, but the effects didn’t last long enough. I started testing it on the bugs.”

“And I suppose that no-pony else really wanted to have their mind taken over,” Twinlinked finished. He was beginning to understand why Twilight wanted him. He was a test subject.

He wasn’t precisely sure how he felt about that. Was he offended that the Princess of Friendship thought of him as nothing more than a guinea pig? He couldn’t say he was, he was more excited about the whole thing than anything else, if he was being fully honest.

“Yeah,” Twilight said, rubbing her head with a hoof nervously. Twinlinked decided that, since he had nothing else planned for the day, he’d give it a shot.

“Sure,” he said, grinning like a mad pony. To her credit, Twilight laughed with a mixture of nervousness and relief.

***

“And there’s nothing in there you want to keep hidden?” asked Twilight, warming up to Twinlinked as she got to know him better.

“Not so far as I know,” Twinlinked coyly replied. His answer reminded Twilight somewhat of Discord, who always seemed to answer in the most roundabout way possible.

According to Starswirl’s notes, the spell required time and no small amount of effort, so they had best be starting.

“We had best be starting then.”

***

Twinlinked stood up from the chair and faced Twilight. He wasn’t sure what she would do next, but assumed that it would be something bright and loud. He was a unicorn, but he didn’t have nearly the amount of experience with magic as Twilight did. He resolved to ask her to teach him teleportation and some of the other spells he had seen her using afterwards.

“According to Starswirl, I have to take over your mind by force, so I want you to put up as much fight as you can. Then I can see how hard the spell is to master,” she told him.

“I’m not sure that this is a good idea. Starswirl didn’t tell anyone the spell, right?”

“Yes, why?”

“Well, some things are secret for a reason.”

Twilight looked thoughtful for a moment, then reached a decision.

“We may as well experiment. I would have brought a notepad and quill, but I don’t think I will be able to use them.”

“Fair enough. Do you need me to help with the spell casting?”

“I shouldn’t think so.” There was a brief pause. “Okay let’s begin,” Twilight affirmed.

Thousand links, becoming two,

Let the minds align anew,

One, who casts, worms inside,

The other cannot run or hide,

Let the spell bind,

Two of one mind!

As Twilight spoke the final words, her eyes opened and revealed solid white light, which poured through the whole room. Twinlinked covered his eyes, but lowered his hoof in time to see a million tiny purple sparks cascade from Twilight’s horns. Some fell towards him, and when they reached him, he felt a tug on his horn, and saw his blue magic flowing like a molten river, flooding their corner of the room. The purple and blue magic fog swirled around them, blowing the winds of magic everywhere. A few books were thrown around, but he didn’t see them. The cyclonic spell contracted in, until it touched them.

Then there was white.

***

A few rows away, Lyra was also looking for a book. Octavia had invited her to form a duet, but she needed a music book, to match the one Octavia already owned. She was politely perusing the shelves under ‘T’ when a bright flash caught her attention. She walked slowly towards it, and it grew brighter. The light looked like a purple sky at sundown. Lyra peered around the corner at the light, protecting her body by hiding behind the shelf. A book was pulled off the shelf and flew towards her. She shut her eyes reflexively, and when she opened them again, Lyra saw Twilight Sparkle lying on the floor, out cold. Around five paces away, a stallion was likewise unconscious. He was a tan-coloured unicorn, and had a book-shaped cutie mark, but Lyra didn’t recognise him. She galloped from the library, and went looking for a doctor.