Neither Of Them Mind

Sight flicked up a hoof and kicked Twinlinked in the stomach. His armour took most of the hit, but it still hurt as he stood back to his shaky feet. Sight was nowhere to be seen. He stumbled back to Twilight.

“You okay?” she asked, genuinely concerned. She put a supporting hoof over his back to support him.

“Yeah,” he broke off coughing, “But my stomach says otherwise.”

“Why has Sight left? Probably to let us to stew for a bit.”

Twinlinked asked, “Why does she need to defeat us to get our memories? Why not just take them?”

“It seems like Sight needs to take over our minds by force, like I was going to with yours.”

There was a deep pause. The silence, broken only by the sound of coughing, was deafening. Twilight spoke just to break the wall of quiet.

“Twinlinked? I’m scared,” she said, and once Twilight had started, she couldn’t stop, “I mean, I reformed Nightmare Moon, Discord and defeated King Sombra and Tirek, but Sight is different. How do you defeat someone who is part of you?”

Twinlinked said darkly, “Sight isn’t part of us. It violated that right by trying to kill us.”

Twilight laughed, and Twinlinked joined in. For Twilight, it was like having Pinkie Pie back again, albeit a Pinkie Pie with a darker sense of humour. But she would take that over no pony. For Twinlinked, it was a good way to relieve tension, plus, it was true.

They eventually ran out of breath, which gave them enough time to see the wall in the distance.

Calling it a wall is an inaccurate description. It was more like a wave, a wave made of tumbling grey rocks. Rocks large enough to stopper the bottle of the universe. More like mountains than boulders, and all tumbling in a stone tsunami. In between the towering stones, was a bordering of red lava, boiling and spitting as the wave drew closer. Twilight turned to sprint, but Twinlinked grabbed her shoulder. He was still staring headlong at the wave.

“We’re staying,” he said with finality.

“My alicorn magic doesn’t work here,” Twilight said, “We can’t hurt Sight, we don’t even have the Elements of Harmony!”

Twinlinked looked at her.

“Twilight, this is our minds. We will be fine.”

Twilight took deep breaths, extending a hoof slowly with each one.

“Your right,” she finally said, “I was just worried that I might have let Celestia down.”

She trotted closer to the incoming tower of stone.

I DON’T BELIEVE IN YOU! she mind-yelled.

No Twilight! Will Sight to be gone! Twinlinked answered.

I told you earlier, she said in reply, I have to believe in something! Something outside my own power!

Then believe in me!

The wall reached them, and collapsed. Mountains of rock fell all around them, cutting off Twinlinked and Twilight. He heard her scream, and galloped towards the noise. A grey boulder crunched to his left, and another was falling in front of him. Just before the stone hit the ground, Twinlinked jumped. As he leapt over the massive rock, he yelled to anyone who was listening.

“I won’t let her –

• stay in this coma forever,” said Celestia, “She is my prized student.”

She had come straight from Canterlot once she had heard the news. The first thing she did was go back to the library. She searched the place from top to bottom, and found the jar with beetles in it. Of course, she knew what Hive Cockroaches were, but she had little idea what they were doing there.

“It seems Twilight and Twinlinked have both fallen to some sort of spell,” she told the worried friends.

“Is there anything you can do to help her?” asked Fluttershy politely.

“All I can do is tell you who the caster was. My magic only extends so far, even in Equestria.”

“So who was the horrid pony that did this to our friend, your Highness?” asked Rarity, reverentially speaking. Rarity was honoured to speak with Equestria’s ruler, so she wasn’t going back on ceremony now.

“Twinlinked,” Celestia said, then added quickly, “And Twilight. There are traces of both their magic.”

Celestia was, for one time in her life, at a loss. She had consulted star charts, spell books, and even tea leaves, but nothing. She had even resorted to speaking to ponies who had dabbled with time, letting them see the future, but also driving them frothing insane. They had only replied by laughing, or frowning deeply. Either way, it was bad.

“What is it, sister?” asked Luna, always a guiding light on dark nights like this one.

“I’m concerned for Twilight,” Celestia said, “What if… What if it wasn’t true? Just a lie.”

“A lie which has been true up until now?” the Princess of Night said critically, “A lie which came from truthful lips?”

“Your right, of course. But Twilight, wherever she is now, is on her own.”

Luna took her sister’s hoof, and said comfortingly, “Let’s go.”

Suddenly a gasp and yells came from the hospital room. Celestia ran back to see Twilight’s friends embracing her lovingly. Twilight was sitting up in her bed, holding onto a smile for a moment, then slipping back into a face of concern. She got up, despite the protests of Mentally Sound, and trotted over to Twinlinked’s bed.

“He’s still unconscious,” she said. Celestia came over to her and, in her most soothing voice said, “When you’re ready, could you tell us what happened before you went in the coma.”

“She will be ready later!” said Mentally Sound, trying to regain control over his own patients. And his patience.

“She has just woken up! The last thing she would remember would be before the accident!”

“No,” said Twilight, thinking drowsily, “That’s not right. None of it. Accident?”

Then she giggled, as if remembering a funny joke. That did not make anyone any less worried.

“Why am I awake? What happened to Twinlinked?”

“Twilight,” spoke Celestia, “I think you need a -