Twilight slowly walked through the Everfree with the moon high above her. The forest was bathed in moonlight and allowed her to easily make out a path she had carved out a few days ago. Her heartbeat started to increase as she continued to travel deeper. She knew what she was doing was technically wrong, but her curiosity could be contained no longer.
Thick bushes full of brambles soon came into view and Twilight concentrated. A miscalculation could end up being very-
“Ow!”
While the sparkles from her teleportation faded, a quick glance behind her showed that her wings were caught by the thorns. She sliced through them with her magic and held her breath while listening carefully to the sounds of nature. Owls hooted, mice scampered along the ground, but no hooves made their presence known.
“In hindsight, I probably should be more worried about the creatures.” She shook her head and simply tried to focus on the task at hand. A short journey later brought her to a large boulder in the middle of a clearing. To most it would be something to merely pass by, but she knew its importance, and under other circumstances might not have done anything with it. Tonight though, she moved it out of her way and trotted into the tunnel below.
Twilight’s breath caught at the simple brilliance that lay beneath. A naturally formed underground cavern laid there for all to appreciate its open space, glowing mushrooms, and most importantly, its radiant pool. She walked over to it and dipped a single hoof. You only make one. If it tries to make more, destroy it and abandon the experiment.
“And into her own reflection she stared, yearning for one whose reflection she shared, and solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared.”
Slowly the water enveloped her before she felt a tightening around her hoof and was pulled through. She stared into the deep purple eyes for a moment, lost in the reflection of her own. The other Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but immediately found herself filled with purple lightning and fell to the ground. The real Twilight sighed in relief and pulled out a blue spell book from her bag.
“I was so worried she would be able to predict that. Guess it’s a good thing they lack true intelligence. Well, at least to begin with.”
It was her own journal of spells that held her notes on the Mirror Pool and all of the things she could possibly do to the clone. During the process of picking out spells to try, the clone was knocked out twice more with her taser spell. She wiped the sweat off of her brow. “Okay then, lets start by just trying to make one at least semi-competent.”
The third time the other Twilight woke up she immediately shut her eyes again and flashed herself away. The original looked to her clone and nodded sagely. “Looks like you’re done I guess. It is nice to meet me.”
The clone looked up and furrowed her brows. “We’re at the Mirror Pool, you have a book, I’ve been knocked unconscious three times… Did you experiment on me?”
Twilight rubbed a foreleg. “Yes, but I swear I had a reason.”
The clone cocked her head. “Was it because you needed a pony subject and no one would volunteer? Or was it that what you’re doing could save you from some terminal illness?” Her eyes grew wider as she thought of the possibilities. “Am I going to have the illness? Am I dying?” She suddenly ducked her head between her legs. “I’m going to rule out you being the last pony in Equestria for now I suppose.”
“Nothing that drastic. However, since Pinkie showed the town about this place, I have been admittedly curious what it would take to actually clone myself. Hence why you are here. I have blessed you with more intelligence and less focus than you were born with so your intense focus on whatever my most base trait is can be evened out.” Twilight moved towards the exit. “Now, will you come with me?”
“Hmm.” The clone tapped her muzzle a few times as Twilight watched her. A soft glow came from the original when she looked over to the pond. Okay, so no attempts at me recreating this. Alright me, I’ll follow. Tell me, do we have plenty of books where we’re going?”
Twilight trotted towards the exit. “Yes. In fact, lots of them, more than even I have had a chance to read!”
The shine in Twilight’s eyes filled the clone’s as well and she started to hop about at the thought of sweet, sweet knowledge. With each jump her excitement grew. As her excitement grew, her horn glowed brighter. “Am I going to get to read them all?
The edge of the entrance was just under Twilight’s hooves as she nodded. “Of course!”
“Yes!” The clone jumped into the air and was knocked back to the ground as a large beam of magic escaped her horn. It blasted through a rock, bounced off of the water, and Twilight barely saw it coming her direction.
The purple princess flew from the force of the impact and soon found herself spinning. For a moment she wondered if this is what the fabled Dizzitron at the Wonderbolts Academy felt like, but soon dismissed the idea to focus on recovery. She quickly found herself crashing over the forest and then crashing through tree branches.
Twilight winced at the pain that ran along her entire body and tried moving. Breathing was getting hard and her hooves didn’t want to move. She pushed forward and managed to get out of the tree and land on her face with a groan. “Ow.” One hoof came up and touched her chest. Or, what remained of her chest.
She turned over and looked at the night sky. Her breathing was coming in slower and slower, but she still held her hoof up. “I’m sorry Celestia. I always thought I would die happy in your sun’s light. I didn’t mean for this to be how it went.” Her hoof shook for another moment before descending back down and crashing onto the ground. There she laid until the first hunter discovered her the next day.
Rainbow started to fly down from her house as the rain began. Normally nopony would have requested it, but when the ruler of all of Equestria demanded it, you made it. Not that Rainbow minded. Not today. I’m even wearing this stupid black dress Rarity made for all of us.
She started to trudge along the path to Ponyville and noticed a yellow and pink blur coming her way. She immediately brought a wing up to help her avoid the rain, and Fluttershy ducked underneath. “Thanks. Are you sure you don’t want some-”
“No.” Rainbow winced at the edge in her voice and tried to fix it. “Sorry, but I’d rather feel it. To think she died all by herself, without even me being there for her.” She turned away and shut her eyes tight.
Fluttershy’s wide gown touched Rainbow before her hoof wrapped around her friend. “It wasn’t your fault.”
Rainbow glanced over and through the red in her mane. “Your dress is cutting into my side.”
Fluttershy sighed and took a small step back. She wasn’t about to press the issue, not when it was obvious how much pain Rainbow was in. Instead, she tried to focus on other things. “So… what about this weather?”
“I made it.”
“So you can tell me all about it!”
Applejack smiled at them as her black tie blew slightly in the cold wind. It had been the only thing Rarity could get her to wear. “That sounds like a sensible thing to do for the day of Twilight’s funeral. So, you wanna tell us all about this weather, or at least how awesome you were while making it?”
Rainbow bit into her lip. She wanted to stay respectful to her dear friend and bragging seemed really immature. She glanced back at Applejack and let her under her other wing. ‘Well… um-”
“Oh, how did you screw up the weather this time?”
Rainbow glared at her friend. “I didn’t screw up the weather. Do you not see this perfectly crafted rain? Any less and ponies would barely notice. Any more, and they would all leave Twilight’s funeral. It took me hours to find the right Cirrus clouds and position them just so they wouldn’t cause a problem with today!”
Applejack rolled her eyes and kept up her sad smile. She had lost others before, but this one hurt more. She had known Twilight personally, it wasn’t just a distant relative or someone she’d only met maybe twice. This was one of her best friends. Still, she had to try to make sure everypony else could take the loss, so Rainbow’s bragging was a welcome distraction.
Rarity noticed the group from within her boutique and smiled at them as they approached. She had kept herself too busy to cry until now, but had purposefully left her mascara off that day. The sight of her friends, two looking like they were having an okay time while Rainbow yelled at them still managed to lift her spirits. It didn’t last for long though as she collapsed back onto her fainting couch and wailed, remembering that there should be one more she called friend.
She lifted a chocolate to her face and sighed before popping it into her mouth. She could hear her friends outside. A slight knock on the door came with a muffled voice coming through. “What was that, deary, I missed it?”
Fluttershy took a deeper breath in. “I said, are you coming with us to the funeral, or will we be meeting you there?”
Rarity opened her mouth to reject her. She didn’t want to leave the house, not now that the weight of the whole event had found her. A white hoof quickly came across her face and she glared at one of the many mirrors in the boutique. “Get it together, Rarity. Even if you are riddled by the plague called grief, you know you should go to that funeral. For… for Twilight.”
The three ponies outside were surprised when they saw the horrid state of their normally fabulous friend. Rarity threw her arms around Fluttershy, and Applejack came around to take the crying mare. They continued towards the middle of town with Rarity’s hooves dragging in the dirt while Fluttershy spoke soft words into her ear.
The group made their way into the center of town where the procession was to be had. There, Pinkie was busy in her own fluffy, black dress as she put up decorations. Celestia smiled as the bouncy mare kept up her own smile. Celestia could see something no one else could. The matted fur of a week’s worth of tears that would betray her smile in an instant.
Celestia grabbed Pinkie out of thin air with her magic and levitated her over. A small globe came from her horn and covered the crying mare’s eyes. For a moment Pinkie was able to see the Princess’ own tears that were veiled by magic, but then the seal became complete and they were gone. “You go enjoy time with your friends. You’ve done a very good job at honoring your friend already.” The magic aura faded and she watched as Pinkie jumped over to her friends.
“Does someone need a cupcake?”
Rarity smiled at the pink mare who had gone so far as to possibly be trying to snap her own neck just to look her in the eyes. “I think today I would take you up on that offer. In fact, it’s simply a relief to see you being able to take all of this well.”
The other three nodded and Pinkie gave a small prayer of thanks to Celestia. “So, do you think I gave Twilight the proper respect she deserves? I’ve never really decorated for something like this before.”
Applejack wrapped a hoof around her friend. “It looks terrific, Pinkie. I especially like the streamers.”
Rainbow Dash, for once, kept quiet about something as odd as purple and black party streamers at a funeral, but instead decided to join Applejack with the praise. It sure was a lot better than moping. “I’m just happy you remembered some color. If everything was black, I think we would have all gotten lost.”
Fluttershy nodded and put a hoof against one of the nearby firs. Her and Pinkie had worked hard to dig them up with Big Macintosh, but decorated in their respectful green, purple, and blue ribbons, they added a small speck of life that was desperately needed. Especially when their next destination was the simple wooden pews, only meant for such an occasion. “I think it is all lovely, Pinkie.”
Celestia smiled at the group as they continued to talk. They still had each other, and that had to be comforting. The corner of her eye caught one white stallion who couldn’t quite say the same. She slowly trotted over and tapped her hoof against the cobblestone to get his attention. “And what are you up to today?
Shining turned to the princess and saluted. “Merely checking the ceremony grounds for any intruders, Princess. I don’t want to let the pony who did this to my sister possibly get anymore of us.”
The princess spent a moment looking into her former Captain’s face as the small pit of pain within her dug ever deeper. His eyes were bloodshot and the bags underneath them proved just how little sleep he had gotten over the past week. It was his gaze though that truly hurt. He didn’t see Celestia, but instead stared into what she could only guess was a threat only he could see. A threat he had to destroy like it’s death would somehow bring his little sister back. “Carry on, Shining, and thank you for your service today.”
Walking back to the stage at the back of the town square, a second set of metallic scrapes joined Celestia’s. Cadance soon came into her view and was scowling at her for some reason. Celestia stopped herself from scowling back and just stared on ahead. “Yes? What is it?”
“Don’t encourage him looking for phantoms. I’ve been having a hard enough time trying to get him to calm down enough just to eat and I can’t have him throwing around the excuse that Princess Celestia told him to do it.”
She glanced at the pink alicorn. “Cadance? Is something the matter?” The glare she received from her niece told her where she placed the blame. Celestia knew she should just comfort Cadance, but she would not have it today. “I would suggest chasing phantoms with your husband instead of blaming your superiors.”
For a moment the two merely stared at each other before Cadance couldn’t bear the oppressing feeling that Celestia’s gaze exerted upon her. “Perhaps… perhaps I should.” She turned on her rear hooves and quickly trotted away while hoping she would not regret this later.
Celestia noted to herself where the next mountain of paperwork was to be delegated to and started to scan the assembled ponies. A dark blue head caught her attention. The stallion looked up with his wife at the towering figure that approached them and didn’t bow only because the princess ordered as such.
“I wish it were under better circumstances…” Celestia’s voice trailed away and she shook her head. “I can’t. I won’t. Not with you two. Please… please accept my deepest apologies for the fate that befell your blessed daughter.”
Night Light’s mouth hung open as he stared at the princess. Twilight Velvet instead put a hoof under Celestia’s muzzle and pulled her eyes to hers. The two shared the same, red eyed gaze. “We could only prepare her for what we could think of, right?”
Celestia stayed silent for a moment before straightening herself and nodding. “I do wish to apologize though. I… I can’t give you the answers we want, that we need.”
Both of the parents glanced away and nodded themselves before Velvet broke out into hysterics. Night Light put a hoof around his wife. “I wish I could say that we can’t blame you, that we can live without knowing how, but–”
“You need not explain yourself to me. There is a room missing in the castle that shares your sentiment. If you wish to come up with me to start the ceremony, you may.”
Light looked down at the crying mare in his arms and shook his head. “I think you could do just as well as we could. We trust you with her final words, just as we trusted you with her life all those… those...” Now it was his turn to turn away and cry into Velvet’s shoulder. Celestia decided to begone with her normal formalities and hugged them with her hoof, instead of her magic. The ringing of the school bell to signify it being time broke up the three mourning parents and Celestia trotted back to the stage to begin the ceremonies.
The ponies turned their attention to the raised stage as the bell’s toll fell upon their ears. A simple arch hung over the whole platform and was decorated in a muted rainbow of colors. Apples, gems, butterflies, balloons, and even soft clouds clung to the bearer’s arch. At the center, just above Celestia, hung a large purple star. Just below Celestia stood a crystal casket, carved by her own brother and refined in the Crystal Empire.
An enchantment caused the sole picture painted onto the casket to move. Discord had made it so that the filly that was there would wave, stand, fall, rise again, and float a book. The filly would then transform into a mare where she gained five other ponies around her and a crown atop her head. The final phase of the enchantment showed the wings growing upon her back and would pause, showing a regal, full grown mare for all to behold. None could watch as a halo came over the mare’s head and slowly enveloped her in a white glow to reset the decoration.
Celestia couldn’t tear her eyes away though. She saw Twilight resting peacefully under her sunglazed top. She wore a beautiful blue gown that flowed out from her body and covered the gaping hole that now was her heart. If only my own hole would end me so I could join you. Celestia’s illusion flared for a moment as her emotions raged. The closed, blissful eyes of her dear student only seemed to only cause her more pain. The final chime rung through the air and Celestia tore her eyes away from that sweet smile that simply didn’t fit for the occasion. She had a job to begin. For Twilight.
She swallowed hard as she looked out to the packed town square. It almost made her chuckle at the thought of being nervous, but she couldn’t, not when she knew what caused her butterflies. “Hello, everypony. I am honored to see that so many would come to honor my dear student. To quote her, ‘She is just an ordinary mare.’ I think she truly believed this, but no one else did.”
“Even before her coronation, ponies flocked to her. They knew she would change the world like no one else. Ponies could sense that this ‘ordinary mare’ could change their lives like nopony else.” She glanced back at the casket and almost forgot to project her next words. “I know she did so for me.”
She looked back up, ready to continue on with praising Twilight’s respect to everypony, love of knowledge, and even cover her true feelings for her student when a purple mane caught her attention.
The way it bobs, that stiff bowl cut, the cadence to her trot… With every thought her rage grew until it shattered the illusion over her eyes and all could see the wet, matted fur that showed her true anguish. Most though were far more concerned with the steam coming out of her nose. A dozen ponies suddenly found themselves in the air and being flung to the side.
In the midst of them stood a lone purple alicorn who looked tired, tattered, and on the brink of tears.
Celestia charged and Twilight found herself pinned to the ground while her mentor’s horn glowed inches from her face. “You made a grievous mistake coming here, changeling! Many things have angered me, but this one most definitely tops them all! Any last words?”
Twilight paused for a moment as her brain tried to figure out what was happening. She did the only thing she could think of, something she had not done since she was a small filly. Her muzzle came forward as her mouth opened and then shut around the white horn, stopping the magic. Celestia paused for a moment and stepped away. Memories of a filly Twilight trying to understand how to mix magic filled her mind and the young pupil’s unorthodox way of learning it that had become their greeting for almost a year.
Twilight stood on shaking legs and looked to her mentor. “Ce-Celestia, it’s me. I swear.”
Shining Armor stepped forward, but a golden barrier quickly stopped him and surrounded the imposter. Celestia stepped forward. “If it is you, then give me your magic.”
She paused for a moment and knelt down for her teacher. A purple stream of light slowly unraveled itself from Twilight’s horn and fed into Celestia’s. She shook with each passing moment as the new tears that came down the princess’ face burned into her memory. Please. Please believe me.
Other ponies considered stopping Celestia as she simply stood there, taking long, slow breaths. Though not even Twilight’s parents had the courage to question a ruler who had almost performed a public execution. Finally, after what felt like forever for Twilight, Celestia gave back the magic and rushed forward to hug her student. “I… I don’t know how, but I don’t care. My little Twily is back.”
She blushed intensely at the name and snuggled into Celestia’s shoulder as tears fell from her eyes. All of the mourners simply stared, and it was Applejack who finally came up and asked, “How do you know?”
Celestia didn’t want to have to let go, but she knew that this couldn’t look great and that she still had a role to play. She put Twilight down, but put a protective hoof around her to make sure her student wouldn’t go anywhere. “When I make somepony into an Alicorn, I put a part of my magic into them. Nothing in this world can replicate it, and Twilight—this Twilight—my beautiful Twilight has it.”
A few of the younger colts were stopped from gagging at the sentiment as most found tears of joy coming to their eyes. Twilight soon found herself bombarded by hugs and mourners and what was once a funeral soon turned into a large party within the town square. Ponies didn’t question their monarch and merely counted their blessings as they hugged and danced near Twilight. No one danced with her, as death had not seemed to improve her talent in that regard.
At the edge of the square, Celestia sat next to the coffin. She still didn’t know how Twilight was dead and also not dead, but she shared the other ponies wish to wait for an explanation, just in case. This sentiment did not fix the corpse that still lay in the beautiful casket and that she gazed upon now.
“Out of curiosity, do still plan to tell her your feelings?”
Celestia glanced at Discord and sighed. “Now… now would not be the right time. I’ve lost my nerve.”
“Well, perhaps I can be of assistance in helping you prepare for that day?”
She raised an eyebrow. “How would you do that?”
Discord chuckled for a moment. “A simple necromancer’s spell could bring the corpse back to life with her personality, an illusion so only you and I see her for as she is, and no pony ever needs to worry about this body again.”
Celestia rolled her eyes. “Discord, that is about the most nonsensical thing-”
“Just imagine, a Twilight who will do anything for her master.”
A red tinge quickly appeared on her face. After a few moments of silence, she stood. “I’ll be taking this back to Canterlot for… research purposes. Understood?”
A small chuckle escaped Discord’s lips. “Research purposes? But of course, Princess. In fact, I bet your ‘student’ will be quite excited about the subject matter.” A bright flash of white accompanied her departure while Discord rolled on the ground laughing.
Even without the princess, the party continued on. Ponies gorged themselves on the food meant to comfort them, though some still did that. Most in fact avoided their guest of honor, letting their fears of her possibly being a zombie get in the way of their excitement to see her again. The ones who did though always would try to keep their energy up so as not to worry Twilight. She would then be kind enough to let them go on to celebrate her life with others. She understood that her being there still reminded them of when she was gone.
The one pony who had avoided this was Cadance, who found that a small dance and chant quickly rekindled the thought that Twilight was there. She even got Shining to do it and he admitted under intense interrogation that it had in fact helped. Those two helped many ponies cheer up, but despite this and for what they were celebrating, the festivities still came to a close very early, with most ponies still needing time to process the new developments.
Once most ponies had cleared out, it was finally time for five mares to come collectively greet their friend. Twilight swallowed hard as her friends surrounded her and she backed a step away when Rainbow Dash came forward. The blue mare leaned in close and glared at her. “We are having a sleepover at your place tonight, or else.”
Twilight swallowed hard. “But-but what about my parents? They probably want to spend the time with me and they should come first.”
An orange hoof came around Rainbow’s chest and pulled her out of the way with a crash. Applejack glanced at the dazed mare and brushed it off. “Look, Sugarcube, we already talked to your parents. They need time, or at least that’s what they told us. I think they simply don’t want you to see them as they are tonight. You leaving and then coming back… I know that would have put me in no sort of state I would want to be seen in if it were my own kin. So they need the night, and we get you until the morning when you have to go see them.”
Twilight nodded and nuzzled into Applejack’s chest. “I promise, I will.” She then took a chance to look at all of them as a small, giddy smile spread across her face. “I would also love to throw our first full cast slumber party. I think there’s even a chapter on that in my guide!”
Rarity giggled. “Well, if we didn’t already know, we definitely do now.”
The rest laughed at the small joke and followed Twilight to her castle. Pinkie soon had every piece of furniture and bedding in the castle thrown upon the ground of the main hall. Rarity organized them into a lavish lounge fit for a princess. Four of them began to lay down on the floor of comfort while Applejack and Fluttershy prepared snacks when they heard a weak voice.
“What’s going on everypony?”
All eyes turned to Spike as he walked into the room. His eyes were still completely bloodshot from a week’s worth of tears. Rarity stood and walked over to him and was immediately met with a tight hug. The movements had been reflexive from a week of caring for the gentledrake. This had included a consented upon sleep spell so he didn’t have to see the funeral. So he hadn’t seen the body.
Twilight stepped forward and Spike’s eyes grew wide. “Twi-Twilight?”
She bent down and looked him square in the eyes. “I’m so sorry, Spi–”
The purple mare was taken down by the small, scaled, body tackling her to the floor. He nuzzled into the soft fur on her chest as more tears came down his face. She slowly stroked his head as he cried. Small murmurs could be heard from the young dragon, but nothing could be made out except for the pain.
The two of them stayed curled tightly in their personal ball for long minutes. Rarity eventually joined beside them and gave Spike a small nuzzle to let him know. This in turn prompted each mare to come over and join in the cuddle. By the time Fluttershy had joined, under normal circumstances, Spike would have been proclaimed the luckiest male in Equestria. Tonight though, it was merely seven good friends who needed each other’s comfort.
It eventually had to end, and end it did with one simple question from Spike. “Twilight, how exactly are you back? Is it temporary?”
Pinkie’s pink poof appeared next to them. “Are you a zombie?”
A small giggle escaped most of those assembled. Pinkie could only look at them. “I’m serious.”
Twilight put one hoof around Spike while also patting Pinkie’s head. “Nothing like that, though I can only give my theory as to how it worked.”
“Boring. I’d rather hear how you died, and I don’t even care about that!”
Rainbow was given a quick glare, and Twilight brought a chalkboard from a side room out with her magic. “Well, luckily for you, I have to somewhat bring that up to explain my theory.” She glanced at Spike and nuzzled him again. “Don’t worry, I won’t actually talk about the deed.”
She turned to Pinkie. “I’m sorry, but I reopened the Mirror Pool.” She held a hoof up to stop them. “I know I shouldn’t, but the possibilities were simply too exciting. Besides, the first experiment was to fix the initial problem of the clones being imperfect. Once I had my clone to a functional level of intelligence, I was supposed to bring it back to Ponyville. What happened next is still a little fuzzy. A lot of pain over a short amount of time, and then nothing.”
Everyone grew silent before Applejack spoke up. “What was it like?”
Twilight shook her head. “That is one of the biggest proponents to my theory. There was nothing. No souls for necromantic magic to abuse, no ethereal figures, not even the plane Celestia brought me to. For a moment I was terrified that this was all there was, but then I opened my eyes. In front of me was a book on how to act that I had in my saddlebags for my clone.
“On top of that,” She pushed some of the fur on her cheek away to reveal her skin. “this was missing.”
Fluttershy came in close to look at it. “Um, Twilight, I don’t mean to be rude, but what are we seeing?”
Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “That’s just the thing. I used to have a scar from escorting Cerberus to Tartarus, but I don’t anymore. My thought is that when I died, the first thing my memories and self sought out was a replacement. The clone, being a perfect physical and core replica of me, but needing a real soul to it, was a beacon for it that soon became the vessel.”
Rainbow’s eyes grew wide. “So… if I understand right, you’re saying that if we died while a clone was around, we’d get a new body and keep going like nothing happened?”
“Well, in theory, yes, but it would be far too dangerous to try. Let’s just say this was a lucky fluke and leave it at that, right everypony?”
All of them agreed and soon moved on to party games. Enough tears had been shed, and they needed to make sure that new body or not, Twilight would always be a good friend of theirs. Once in bed, one question still plagued Rainbow Dash. A question many have pondered, but few get to test to the full extreme. Just how awesome could I be if I stopped worrying?
Author's Note
Sequel is out.
