It was a beautiful day in Equestria: the sun was shining, the sky was clear blue, and a light summer breeze blew over the place, keeping the air fresh and clean.
Minuette took in a deep breath of the morning air as she stepped onto the concrete of the platform - having been warmed up by the morning sun, it greeted her hooves with a comfy warmth.
Ponyville – she hadn’t been here for a while. Well, not as long as Twilight hadn’t visited her in Canterlot until a couple of weeks ago, but now they had met each other again and their friendship had been revived, so everything was good!
In fact, it was so good that Minuette had soon begun to miss her friend after she had returned to her home in Ponyville – surely, the days they had spent together had been great fun, and she wouldn’t forget about them anytime soon, but now that she had recalled Twilight as a friend, she felt like they should spend some more time together – there was, after all, more than enough to make up for.
And so she had curtly decided to buy a train ticket to Ponyville and pay her old, new friend a surprise visit. Who didn’t like surprises after all?
Feeling how the train behind her departed the station and ruffled up her light blue fur, Minuette stepped away from the platform and walked towards the exit of Ponyville’s train station, the anticipation about spending time with Twilight again so overwhelming that she couldn’t help but to give a spontaneous jump of joy as she cantered forward with a beaming smile on her face.
While heading for the small metal gate at the other end of the station, Minuette noticed some ponies giving her strange looks as she passed them, but she could not have cared less at this point. In fact, she decided to do what her good friend Pinkie Pie would have done and promptly greeted each of the ponies she passed with a genuinely happy “Hey there, how you doing?”
The seconds seemed to fly by, and it didn’t take long until Minuette had arrived at the exit and stepped outside, the dozy atmosphere of a town as small as Ponyville seeming so much more calming than the hasty bustle she had gotten used to in Canterlot.
Even though she hadn’t been to Ponyville for a while –not even to visit her friend Pinkie Pie, which she regretted full-heartedly- Minuette had no problems finding the way to Twilight Sparkle’s house – after all, there weren’t too many colorful tree-shaped crystal castles in her immediate surroundings.
Noticing a light spring in her step, Minuette trotted forward, closing her eyes as she hummed a happy song to herself.
She thought about all the fun things Twilight and her would do, and Twilight’s face when she would suddenly turn up at her doorstep. Would she be surprised? Happy? Maybe both? Could you be surprised and happy at the same time?
Minuette couldn’t hold back a squeal of joy as she imagined meeting her friend again. Would she give her a private tour of her castle? That would be so-
Minuette’s joyful canter came to an abrupt end as she felt herself bump into somepony else, her momentum vanishing in an instant as she fell back like a sack of spuds.
With a more surprised than pained ‘oof’ Minuette landed on her behind. Her eyes shot open, looking at her own hooves, then at the dirt road she was sitting on, before finally wandering up to … up to … Minuette couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Sitting on the dusty ground right in front of her was … her.
Indeed, that pony sitting on her haunches no two feet away from her seemed like an exact copy of her – her light blue fur, her dark blue and white mane, her deep blue eyes, even her hourglass-cutie mark; everything was in the right place.
It took a few seconds –longer than she would be willing to admit- of blankly staring at the pony in front of her until it occurred to Minuette: she had bumped into a mirror!
“Hehe,” Minuette said to herself, rubbing a hoof against her slightly aching head, “I really should be more careful where I’m walking.”
“You can say that again.” Her own voice came to Minuette’s ears, even though she could have sworn that she hadn’t said a word.
Her look shot up, back to the mirror: to her very surprise, her reflection wasn’t rubbing its head like she was. Instead, it was gently caressing its left shoulder, its face a light frown, its look focused on the ground between them.
“Hmm,” Minuette put a hoof to her chin, “That’s … kind of a weird mirror.”
“What are you even talking about?“ Minuette’s reflection replied, but silenced abruptly as her look went up and spotted her involuntary crash-partner; her blue eyes widened.
The following moments seemed to pass in slow motion, being accompanied by nothing but dead silence, safe for the distant sound of birds’ twittering – the two blue unicorns stared at each other, wide-eyed, without exchanging a single word.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, it was mirror-Minuette who first spoke up again. “You … you look exactly like me.” She noticed unbelievingly.
“And you…” Minuette replied with newfound joy, a new smile forming on her face now that she was beginning to understand what was going on; she pointed a hoof at her opponent, “look exactly like me!” a short moment of silence passed, “Oh my gosh, that’s amazing!” Minuette squealed and jumped to her hooves, almost instantly offering her doppelganger a hoof to help her up.
The other blue unicorn declined kindly and got to her hooves by herself, looking a little more awkward and less bubbly than Minuette while doing so.
Given the circumstances, Minuette felt like the two should introduce each other, and seeing how her opponent seemed busy beating the dust out of her fur, she decided that it was her turn to take action yet again. Once again reaching out a hoof, she giggled and said, “My name is Minuette! Nice to meet you, good-looking!” she wiggled her eyebrows jokingly.
Being done with her makeshift grooming, the other unicorn hesitantly reciprocated the hoof shake. She seemed taken aback, possibly bewildered by meeting a pony that shared not only her exact appearance, but also her voice and just about any other physical trait. However, she did her best to not let it show and finally brought herself to say, “Hello … Minuette, I’m, uh, Colgate. Pleased to meet you too.”
Minuette couldn’t hold back a giggle which she tried to muffle with a hoof in front of her mouth. “’Colgate’? That’s a funny name! What are you, a toothpaste-manufacturer?”
“No.” again, Colgate politely shook her head, a slightly amused smile on her face, “I’m a dentist, actually.”
“Oooh I could tell!” Minuette noted with a smirk and leaned forward, looking at Colgate’s smiling mouth, “these sure are some pearly white toothypegs you got there!”
“Yeah…” Colgate muttered and took a step back, looking to the side with a light blush on her face. “I-if you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing here? I’ve never seen you in Ponyville before … and I guess I would have noticed someone who looks exactly like me…”
“I’m from Canterlot!” Minuette answered cheerfully, “I’ve just come to Ponyville to visit an old friend of mine – Twilight Sparkle if you know her.”
“Twilight Sparkle?” Colgate asked with new interest; her ears perked up, “Yes. Yes, I know her. She’s … kind of a local hero around here!”
“Oh yeah, I could tell.” Minuette replied with a cheeky grin. Her eyes widened abruptly as something else crossed her mind, “Did you know she’s a princess now!?” Before Colgate could reply, she added, “And did you know she has wings!? I mean … how awesome is that!?”
“Yes, it … it sure is.” Colgate’s body seemed to deflate ever so slightly, the smile on her face slowly vanishing.
“And did you know she has her own castle!? Right in the middle of Ponyville?” Minuette continued, excited like a little filly.
“Yeah…” The last remaints of the smile on Colgate’s face vanished entirely, making way for a look of disillusionment as she broke eye contact with Minuette and looked to the ground, “it’s … hard to miss.”
“W-what’s wrong?” Minuette asked insecurely, tilting her head to the side in confusion, “Aren’t you happy for her?”
“Yes, of course!” Colgate almost shouted back, her head shooting back up, “It’s just that…” she sighed, looking to the side, “We’ve been living in the same town for more than five years by now, yes we’re practically neighbors, and still … it’s like I don’t even know her.”
Minuette said nothing, only looking at her opponent with a slightly confused face, allowing her to continue.
“I-I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Colgate added hastily, “We’ve seen each other at least a dozen times, but I don’t think she’d recognize me if we were standing face to face.” Colgate’s shoulders sank as she let out another sigh and looked back to the ground, “And now she’s a princess. … I’m literally living next door to a princess and I’ve never met her other than from seeing her save Equestria over and over again.”
She quickly shook her head, “But I’m digressing; sorry for stealing your time.” She wanted to turn around and walk away, but stopped as she felt a comforting hoof on her shoulder.
Minuette felt her legs wobbling, tears welling up in her eyes as she laid her hoof on Colgate’s shoulder. “That … that’s so sad! I-I mean, I’ve known her since we were little fillies, and I know that she normally isn’t one to just ignore those around her!”
“You’ve known her since you were small?” Colgate interrupted her with new excitement, her melancholy forgotten for the moment.
“Yes!” Minuette replied joyfully, nodding her head, “I’ve been one of her best friends when she was still living in Canterlot! That is…” the happy tone in her voice seemed to turn to sadness for just a moment, “until she moved to Ponyville to fight Nightmare Moon and become a princess and … stuff.” Her face brightened up to a happy smile again, “But now we’re friends again and I was just on my way to pay her a visit!” She gasped loudly as a seemingly genius idea came to her mind; the smile on her face widened noticeably. “Hey, you wanna come with me?” she asked Colgate with shining eyes, “I’m sure we could have lots of fun together, and you would finally get to know her like the great friend she is!”
Colgate seemed taken aback for a moment. “I … I don’t really … I don’t know what to say.” She stammered, her mouth hanging open, “I mean … all this is coming so sudden, and I really don’t think I can … YES!” she suddenly broke out of her shell, fiercely nodding her head, the bright smile on her face beaming with excitement, “Yes, I’d love to!”
“Great!” Minuette shouted with at least equal excitement and made a spontaneous jump of joy into the air, “Let’s not waste any time then!”
She hadn’t even finished speaking when she spun around on the spot, apparently willing to lead the way to her old friend’s house, and motioned Colgate to follow her. The dentist obeyed, albeit hesitating for just a second – she still seemed slightly taken aback by the fact that she had just met an exact duplicate of herself.
Said duplicate, however, didn’t seem to mind as much as her.
Only a few moments later, the two ponies trotted through the streets of Ponyville alongside each other – Minuette a few inches ahead of Colgate and with a delighted spring in her step, Colgate slightly behind her doppelganger and with a rather insecure face.
Nevertheless, from the distance, one could easily mistake the two for one and the same pony.
“So it’s true?” Minuette asked excitedly, “The ponies here really know each other by name? Every single one of them?”
Colgate nodded, “Yes. … Well, nopony can remember all the names, but everypony knows these of their friends and ponies they see on a daily basis.”
“That’s amazing!” Minuette said with widened eyes, “How can you do this?”
“It’s really easy, actually.” Colgate replied, “After all, there’s only so many ponies you can meet in a town like Ponyville.” She narrowed her eyes, seeming to search for something in the distance. With a grin on her face, she then looked back to Minuette and said, “Look.”
The two ponies slowed down to a gentle trot as they passed a small house where a somewhat drowsy-looking light purple mare had just stepped through the front door and now walked into the direction of the two approaching mares with slightly shaking legs.
“Good Morning, Berry Punch!” Colgate shouted out to her while passing by, making the mare turn her head and look at them with a happy, yet somewhat muddled smile.
“Hey Colgate!” she greeted her friend back; her look shifted over to the mare by her side, “And Colgate! Have a great day, you two!”
“Thanks, you too!” Colgate replied over her shoulder as they moved away from the purple mare, continuing their way to Princess Twilight’s castle at a casual walking pace.
“Wow…” Minuette said, genuinely amazed, “You don’t see that happening in Canterlot too often.”
“You don’t?” Colgate asked, raising an eyebrow, “That’s … kind of sad, actually. I mean, there’s nothing as nice as knowing those around you if you ask me.”
“I know right?” Minuette replied with a happy smile, “It’s a shame, but aside from my three closest friends, I know next to nopony in Canterlot by name.”
“That’s … sad, really.” Colgate said, looking gloomy for just a moment, “But you know, you could always move to Ponyville if you like it here.” With a wink, she added, “I’m still looking for a new receptionist for my office, so you wouldn’t have to worry about a job.”
Minuette reflected for a moment. “Hmm … don’t you think that would cause a little too much confusion? Having us two in the same place all the time?”
“Nah,” Colgate put her off with a casual wave of her hoof, “the ponies in Ponyville have seen so many things throughout the years, I doubt that you would cause that much chaos.”
Minuette tilted her head to the side. “I’ll think about it. I mean, it sure is nice to know everypony around by name. … Look at her!” she suddenly lifted a hoof and pointed it up ahead, looking at an intersection ahead of them where an earth pony mare with a cream colored coat and red mane had just passed a corner and now was walking into their direction, “I bet you know her name too!”
“Yes, I do, actually.” Colgate replied, not holding back the proud smirk on her face, “That’s Roseluck, a good friend of mine and-“
Before she could finish her sentence, Minuette sped up and shot ahead, running towards the mare and greeting her with a gushing, “Gooood Moooorning Roseluck! How are you doing on this wonderful day?”
Roseluck lifted her head as Minuette slid to a halt right in front of her, a smile forming on her face as she recognized her friend. “Good Morning Colgate! I’m doing great, what about you?”
“Oh you could say I’m feeling…” Minuette giggled to herself, “minty fresh!”
“O-okay…” Roseluck tilted her head to the side in confusion, “Y-you’re not just Pinkie Pie in a Colgate-costume, are you? I’ve never seen you this … bubbly, and-“
Roseluck was cut short as the crackling of magic cut through the air and all of a sudden, after a flash of blue magic, there were two instead of just one pony standing in front of her.
“Good Morning Roseluck.” Colgate greeted her friend, “How are you doing today?”
Roseluck replied nothing. The poor mare looked like if she had just seen a ghost – jaw almost hitting the floor, she stared, wide-eyed, at Minuette, then at Colgate, then back at Minuette, and back at Colgate, then rubbed her eyes as if she had just woken up from a terribly deviant dream.
Then, just as she heard Colgate draw a breath to speak up and resolve the situation, Minuette got an idea. An awful idea. Minuette got a wonderful, awful idea!
“Oh yeah, there’s, like, two of me now!” she said before Colgate could bring out a word and casually flung a foreleg around her neck as if the two of them were best friends, “Isn’t that awesome!?”
That had been too much. With a weak sigh, Roseluck did what she could do best – she laid a hoof on her forehead, closed her eyes, and fainted on the spot.
“Sweet Celestia, what have we done!?” Minuette shouted out in horror, stepping back from Colgate as Roseluck’s limp body hit the dusty road in front of their hooves, “This was supposed to be a harmless joke, I didn’t mean to hurt her!”
With a light chuckle, Colgate looked at the unconscious Roseluck, then at her doppelganger. “Don’t worry.” She comforted her, sounding a little too casual in Minuette’s opinion, “She and her two best friends are easy to trigger – it’s like at least one of them faints every week for the most ridiculous reasons.” She giggled to herself, “Just last week some clumsy mare crashed into their flower bed and broke the stalk of a tulip – all three of them fainted on the spot; each of them three whole times.”
“S-so she’ll … she’ll be fine?” Minuette asked with wobbling legs.
Colgate nodded lightly, “Sure.”
“A-and she … won’t be mad at us, right?” Minuette’s voice was legitimately quavering, “I-I mean, it was just a joke … right?”
Again, Colgate nodded calmly, “Of course. Ponies here aren’t as narrow-minded as they may be in other cities – they’ll forgive you just about anything as long as you haven’t caused any permanent damage.”
“Really?” Minuette asked unbelieving, raising an eyebrow.
“And even then,” Colgate continued with a light smirk, “as long as you’ve saved Equestria or averted a friendship crisis, nopony’s going to care about one or two destroyed houses.”
Minuette stared at Colgate with a look somewhere between ‘Are you kidding me?’ and ‘Seriously, are you kidding me!?’ as she blankly opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, before finally getting a hold of herself, shaking her head and saying, “That … that hopefully doesn’t happen too often!”
Colgate replied with a weak shrug. “It happens occasionally. Mostly when you see Twilight running around with her friends in tow – that always means incoming trouble.”
A moment of silence passed. Before Minuette could clear her thoughts enough to give a proper reply, Colgate spoke up again. “Speaking of which…” her ears perked up again, “Shall we go and see her?”
Minuette slowly nodded her head, “Uhh, sure, but…” she pointed a hoof at the unconscious Roseluck still lying in front of their hooves, “What about our…” she couldn’t contain a smirk, “Sleeping Beauty here? We can’t leave her lying around in the middle of the road like that! She’ll experience the shock of her life when she wakes up!”
“Don’t worry, she should come around in a few moments.” Colgate said, looking at Roseluck, then back at Minuette, “But I suggest that we move out of her line of sight while she’s still unconscious … wouldn’t want her to faint again right away.”
“Hmm … you’re right.” Minuette agreed after a moment of contemplation, and the two quickly trotted behind the corner where Roseluck had entered their line of sight a few minutes ago, watching as the cream-colored mare’s eyes slowly fluttered open, and she awoke with a weak gasp.
Roseluck sat up, then looked around, checking her immediate surroundings for anypony familiar. As she couldn’t spot anypony around, she shook her head and closed her eyes, resting a hoof on her forehead. “Two Colgates…” she sighed, speaking to herself, “I really shouldn’t have eaten that expired cupcake yesterday night…” she slowly got to her hooves, continuing on her way to wherever she was heading.
“Phew…” Minuette said with a relieved sigh, “I’m glad to see she’s alright.”
“Yeah…” Colgate replied with a sheepish grin on her face, “She must be getting used to it.” She chuckled lightly, “Her face was priceless, though.”
“Yes!” Minuette agreed, giggling joyfully, “Especially when you popped up right next to me and she went completely silent - I really had to control myself to not laugh out loud in that moment!”
The two ponies shared a short-lived laugh, which faded away shortly after and ended with both of them looking at each other with expectant eyes.
“So…” Minuette spoke up hesitantly, apparently not quite sure what to say, “Do you think we might meet any … more ponies on our way to Twilight?”
“Maaaybe?” Colgate replied with a smug grin, “I mean, you never know these things in advance, right?”
The two remained silent for another moment, exchanging meaningful looks.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Minuette asked slyly.
“Maybe … Twilight can wait a little longer?” Colgate answered with a cheeky wink.
“I’m sure she won’t mind if her surprise visit were delayed a little!” Minuette grinned, sticking out her tongue.
With that, the two ponies turned around and trotted away, roaming the streets of Ponyville alongside each other in nearly perfect harmony on their search for a new victim.
It was a beautiful day in Equestria: the sun was shining, the sky was clear blue, and a light summer breeze blew over the place, keeping the air fresh and clean.
Cloudchaser was walking through the still mostly empty streets of Ponyville. She had just finished her morning routine and was now heading for the marketplace, knowing that just like the early bird would catch the worm, those who would come to the market stands early would be more likely to get the better, fresher products.
With a light grunt, the light purple pegasus stretched out her tired wings. It had been way too long since she had last pushed herself to her very limit – maybe it was time for another one of her endurance marathons –or death runs, as her friends tended to call them. She would have to ask Flitter about joining her for this one once she was back home.
“Hey Cloudchaser!” the familiar, high-pitched voice interrupted Cloudchaser’s thoughts and made her look up. Standing up ahead, a good 40 feet away from her was Colgate, Ponyville’s local dentist and good friend of her.
“Hey Colgate!” Cloudchaser shouted over to her, surprised to see her on the street and not in her dentistry at this time of the day. “How you doi-“
“Wanna see something cool?” Colgate cut her off mid-sentence, an excited grin on her face, “Look, now I’m here…”
“And now I’m over here!” Colgate’s voice came from right behind Cloudchaser. The pegasus spun around, spotting the blue pony standing behind her in a fair distance, that same grin still on her face as she slowly trotted into Cloudchaser’s direction.
Cloudchaser rolled her eyes, looking at her excited friend with a slightly amused grin. “Wow, Colgate. Teleportation Magic – never seen that one before.” She said teasingly. She knew that teleportation magic had always been something her friend had been ambitious about, and casting spells at this scale sure must have been something she was proud of.
However, Cloudchaser also knew that teasing each other, especially when it came to their skills in magic or flying, respectively, had become a noticeable part of their friendship throughout the years, and she could remember all too well the sounds Colgate had made last week as she had literally almost choked on her own breath from laughing after watching Cloudchaser attempt to perform the legendary Sonic Rainboom and fail rather spectacularly.
So now, Cloudchaser was sure, it was her turn to tease her friend.
However, she couldn’t help but to feel just a little disappointed as Colgate, seeming completely oblivious to Cloudchaser’s taunting, only giggled lightly while slowly approaching her. “I’m not teleporting, silly.”
“Yeah, I’m right here!” Again, Colgate’s voice came from behind Cloudchaser – much to her confusion, given that the blue unicorn was still right in front of her, focusing her with a happy smile.
Cloudchaser turned around again, and indeed, Colgate was right there – that same joyful grin still on her face, she was trotting into the direction of the pegasus, seemingly without a single care in the world.
“What in Equestria is … ?” Cloudchaser muttered to herself and turned her head yet again, looking at where she had seen Colgate mere seconds ago, but the unicorn was gone.
She looked behind herself, but now it seemed Colgate had vanished entirely, only a set of hoofsteps in the dusty road indicating that she had been there at all.
“What the heck?” Cloudchaser now asked out aloud, legitimately confused about her friend’s unusual behavior – surely, Colgate would fool around with her every now and then, but she normally was a rather straightforward and serious pony.
“Okay, now I teleported!” the sudden outburst almost made Cloudchaser jump with surprise. She span around, her eyes searching for the origin of the voice. There she was: peeking out from behind a corner no twenty feet away from Cloudchaser with only her head visible, Colgate grinned at her friend sheepishly, “But now I’ll stay right here.”
“Colgate, what’s going on?” Cloudchaser asked her friend rather sternly, “Why are you acting so strange?”
“I’m not acting strange!” the blue unicorn affirmed happily.
“Yeah, I’m acting completely normal!”
Cloudchaser could feel the blood freeze in her veins. That voice, that was … that was Colgate’s voice, but … it wasn’t Colgate who had spoken! There, right above Colgate’s head was … was Colgate.
A second head had appeared from behind the corner, floating a good foot above Colgate’s. It was a perfect copy of the blue unicorn – everything, from the blue eyes to the blue and white mane … it was as if her friend had mysteriously cloned herself.
The pegasus could literally hear her jaw hit the floor – wings spreading out not in excitement, but in sheer disbelief, she stared at the two heads, unable to bring out a single word.
The lower head raised an eyebrow. “Cloudchaser, is there something wrong? You’re looking like if you’ve seen a ghost!”
“I … I … I can’t … what!?” was all Cloudchaser could muster in that moment
The upper head looked down, focusing the lower head, “Hmm, you should go and see if she’s alright. She seems a little unsettled.”
The lower head nodded approvingly. “Yeah, I should do that. She really looks kind of scared.”
The two heads’ horns lit up simultaneously, one with a dark blue, one with a light yellow aura, then the heads disappeared and one single Colgate popped up right in front of the confused Cloudchaser who took a hasty step back with a surprised shriek.
“Is everything alright?” Colgate asked her friend slightly worried.
Cloudchaser took a moment to order her thoughts, then shook her head and said,” H-hehe! Good one, Colgate! Almost got me with that one. What was that, a new holograph-spell?”
The unicorn tilted her head to the side, a confused look on her face. “What are you talking about?”
“T-that trick you just pulled.” Cloudchaser said, still feeling her heart pound inside her chest, “With the two heads and everything.”
“Two heads?” Colgate asked confused, “What do you mean? I was just hiding behind that corner.”
“You’re not getting me this time!” Cloudchaser chuckled, shaking her head, “There was a second head floating right above yours, and it was talking! Did Twilight teach you that spell?”
“…w-what?” Colgate seemed legitimately puzzled, taking a step back from the pegasus, “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I don’t know any holograph-spells, and as far as I know only the most powerful unicorns can cast them … and only Starswirl the Bearded himself has ever managed to create a speaking holograph!”
Again, Cloudchaser shook her head, an amused smile on her face. “Not buying it, Colgate. Sure, that was a nice spell, but it takes more than that to scare a pony like me!”
“I wasn’t casting a spell!” Colgate affirmed, stomping her hoof to prove her point, “I just teleported myself behind that corner, and I have no idea what you mean with that ‘second head’-thing!”
“You know, we could go on like this for hours.” Cloudchaser replied, still shaking her head, “Why don’t you just admit that-“
“If I would have been casting a spell, my horn would have lit up.” Colgate interrupted her dryly, sounding slightly annoyed, “Did you see it light up?”
Cloudchaser drew a breath to reply something, then cut herself off, realizing that Colgate had a point – neither of the two heads’ horns had lit up while they were speaking.
“B-but…” Cloudchaser stuttered, her poise slowly fading away, “T-there was a second head! I’m sure about it!”
“Well,” Colgate replied, shrugging with an excusing smile on her face, “I’m afraid there’s only me here, and as far as I know there’s only one me in town, so…” She cut herself off, hesitating for a moment. Then her eyes widened abruptly; her body seemed to stiffen as she drew in a sharp breath. “… oh no.” she whispered after a moment of ominous silence.
“What!?” Cloudchaser asked slightly agitated.
“Y-you said you’ve seen a second me … somepony who looks exactly like me.” Colgate said with quavering voice, her face a horrified grimace.
“Yeah?” Cloudchaser asked, raising an eyebrow.
“D-don’t you know what that means?” Colgate asked, her legs beginning to shake, “I-it means there’s a ch- ch- changeling in town!”
The pegasus could feel her pulse speed up at the sheer mention of the name. “I … I…” she needed to order her own thoughts for a moment, “That’s nonsense!” she finally declared, “There haven’t been any changelings in Equestria for what, three years now? Why should one suddenly pop up out of nowhere?”
Colgate didn’t seem convinced. “B-but you said it for yourself!” her voice had a noticeably higher pitch to it now, fueled by her apparent terror, “You saw a pony that looked, sounded and acted exactly like me - there can be no other explanation than an incoming changeling attack!” she turned to the side, pointing a hoof to where Twilight Sparkle’s home was visible in the distance, “W-we need to warn Twilight! We need to warn the mayor! We need to-“
She was cut short by a light blue hoof placed firmly on her mouth. “Calm down!” Cloudchaser hissed through her clenched teeth, having a hard time to not let her own agitation show, “There’s no need for panic, okay!?”
“But you said-“
“Look, maybe my mind was playing a trick on me!” Cloudchaser said, trying to calm both, Colgate and herself, “I didn’t sleep too well last night, and you were kinda far away, so maybe I just saw you twice and thought I was seeing two ponies.”
Colgate replied nothing – Cloudchaser’s hoof still covering her mouth, she just stared at her friend with big eyes.
“So there’s no need to lose your head, okay?” Cloudchaser assured her, removing her hoof from Colgate’s mouth with newfound self-confidence, “There are no changelings in Ponyville and there will never be, so don’t worry.”
The unicorn continued to silently stare at Cloudchaser for another moment, then let out a relieved sigh, a joyful smile finding its way back onto her face.
“Thank you, Cloudchaser.” She said gratefully, “For a moment I really thought there was a changeling here with us.”
“No problem, that’s what friends are for.” Cloudchaser replied, tapping Colgate’s shoulder with a hoof, “And don’t worry about changelings – if there really were one around, I would’ve sensed it long ago.” She proudly tapped her chest, “I’ve got some kind of sixth sense for these beasts, you know?”
Colgate replied with a grateful nod of her head, “Thank you, really. I’m glad we could-“ Suddenly, Colgate gasped loudly, her eyes widening as every inch of her body seemed to go rigid with shock. With utter and pure terror in her voice, she squealed, “Watch out behind you!”
In less than a split second, Cloudchaser spun on the spot – and froze almost instantly. In front of her was standing Colgate – that very same ‘Colgate’ she had seen hiding behind the corner mere moments ago.
She wanted to do something; to fight this filthy intruder; to stand up for her friends and be a hero, but she was frozen stiff – petrified by this sheerly unbelievable sight. A million questions were running through her mind - how could this have happened? How could a changeling have come this far without being noticed? And most importantly, were there more of them!?
However, all the questions in her mind seemed to vanish in an instant as the changeling-Colgate began moving, and Cloudchaser could feel every single muscle in her body tense to the maximum.
Fake-Colgate arose to her hind legs, raised both of her front legs up into the air, widened her dark blue eyes and said, “Boo!”
Cloudchaser had never known her voice could become this high-pitched – with a long, drawn-out, and utterly terrified scream, she forgot about everything else as her survival-instinct kicked in, making the pegasus spin on the spot, spread out her wings, and take to the sky with a speed that would have made even Rainbow Dash jealous.
By the time Cloudchaser had re-gained full control of her body, she already was way outside of Ponyville, thus too far away to hear the distant sound of two mares commenting on her heroic escape on top of their lungs with loud, resounding laughter.
It was a beautiful day in Equestria: the sun was shining, the sky was clear blue, and a light summer breeze blew over the place, keeping the air fresh and clean.
“Twilight! Twilight! We need your help! This is an emergency!”
Well, it used to be a beautiful day.
Princess Twilight Sparkle was lying on the grass in front of her home in Ponyville. After a long and exhausting day of negotiations with representatives of Equestria’s most important neighboring nations, Princess Celestia herself had granted her student a day off – a day to be used entirely for her own relaxation and recreation.
That is, until now.
Suppressing a resigned sigh, Twilight opened her eyes, lifting her head and looking up to see who it was that had disturbed her morning rest.
A light yellow earth pony mare with a light orange mane came running into her direction, sliding to a halt right in front of the young princess. Panting heavily, she looked at Twilight with eyes wide in horror. “Twilight! You need to come to the market place right away! There’s … there’s something wrong!”
Twilight rubbed her tired eyes – especially since she had become a princess, local ponies coming to her and asking for help had become a rather ordinary sight. She didn’t mind since she whole-heartedly enjoyed helping other ponies out, but since most of these so-called ‘problems’ were rarely more than not getting the pickle-glass open or having to decide between the ‘cobalt blue’ and the ‘night blue’ dress, her enthusiasm about helping her fellow citizens had slowly began to fade.
“What is it this time?” Twilight asked, yawning as she got to her hooves.
“There’s Colgate, but … there’s also another Colgate!” the mare gasped breathlessly, “There’s … there’s two of them!”
“Colgate?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow, “… never heard that name before…”
“Ponyville’s dentist!” the mare stomped her hoof impatiently, “You know, light blue unicorn, blue and white mane, cutie mark of an hourglass!”
Twilight put a hoof to her chin, reflecting, “Blue and white … ah, you mean Minuette!”
“Call her what you want, but now there’s two of her!” the mare cut her off nervously, “And they look and sound and … and act exactly the same!”
“Wait!” Twilight’s ears perked up as she started to comprehend the seriousness of the situation, “Two ponies? Looking exactly the same!?”
“Yes!” the mare nodded her head furiously, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all along!”
Twilight’s ears folded back. “…oh no. Oh no!” her hooves nervously tapped the ground, “Changelings … changelings! That’s not good! That is not good!” her head shot around, eyes focusing the yellow mare, “You … you said they were on the market place?”
Again, the mare nodded, “Yes, but-“
“I need to go there right away!” Twilight shouted and shot forward, leaving the mare at top speed and only focusing her over her shoulder to shout, “Thank you for the warning, Golden Harvest!”
She turned her head back, thus didn’t see the mare stomping a hoof in anger, yet she could hear a faint shout coming from behind her as she made a run for Ponyville’s marketplace.
“My name is Carrot Top!”
The run for the marketplace didn’t take Twilight longer than a few minutes. Noticing how the lack of sleep during the past couple of days affected her stamina significantly, she let out a weak pant as she left a small side street and stepped into the open of Ponyville’s still rather deserted-looking marketplace.
Her alerted gaze shot to and fro, searching the place for the two ponies. Most of the market stands were still closed down, and only a small number of ponies were on their legs at this time – a single, fragile-looking senior stallion, a mother with her foal in tow and … there she was!
Standing near a corner in a fair distance from everypony else was, indeed, Twilight’s old, new friend Minuette. Twilight would have wondered what she was doing here in Ponyville, had it not been for the fact that a second Minuette was standing right next to her. The two of them appeared to be … Twilight actually had to look twice in order to believe it – the two ponies, each one looking like a perfect imitation of the other, were talking to each other; chatting happily like best friends, even sharing an occasional laugh.
Twilight’s mouth hung open – of all the things she had expected, she had not seen this coming. Was Minuette out of her mind to just stand there and not save herself? Was she a secret ally of the changelings? Or had the changeling cast a spell on her, keeping her in place in order to slowly consume her love without having to worry about her running away?
Yes, that had to be it. There was no other reasonable explanation! Her friend obviously was in danger, and now it was up to Twilight to save her from this threat! And she surely wouldn’t disappoint her old friend!
With a power she never knew she had, Twilight took off, sprinting towards the two similar-looking ponies with what must have been jet fuel running through her veins. It was for less than a second that the thought of why she hadn’t asked her friends for help first crossed her mind, but she quickly put that thought off – this was an emergency, and it required immediate action!
Besides, what kind of princess would she be if she couldn’t even handle a single changeling by herself?
"Minuette!” she shouted over to the two ponies, only now noticing the one major flaw her plan had.
The two ponies’ heads turned towards her simultaneously, their expressions turning from happiness to confusion in almost perfect harmony - just like she had dreaded.
“Minuette!” Twilight shouted again, her horn already lighting up with a spell, “Step back from the changeling!”
Twilight knew how risky her plan was – she wouldn’t be able to tell the changeling from the real Minuette without further investigations, but she also knew that if she would hesitate now the changeling might escape – or even worse, it might harm one of her oldest friends!
Twilight needed to think, but there was no time to think! Her spell was fully charged, her horn ready to unleash its focused power! She needed to act, and she needed to act now!
Colgate stared at the approaching pony with wide eyes – could it really be? Princess Twilight Sparkle? What was she doing here? And more importantly, why was she charging right at Minuette?
“Step back from the changeling!” Colgate heard the young princess shout at her. Her head shot around, looking at Minuette who was standing right next to her and focusing her with an equally clueless look in her eyes.
A short moment of silence passed, then Colgate could hear the crackling of magic coming from Twilight’s direction – she turned her head back to see the princess running towards them, her horn lit up in a bright purple, her desperate look jumping from Colgate to Minuette and back with each passing second.
“Twilight?” she could hear Minuette speak up and turned her head back to see her lookalike turn towards the approaching alicorn and take a step into her direction, a more than puzzled expression on her face, “What are you-“
Then the world got consumed by a flash of bright purple.
When Colgate opened her eyes again, she was prepared for the worst – broken bones, missing limbs, being turned into a frog … however, what she had not expected was to find herself standing, in one piece and completely unharmed.
She was just about to let out a sigh of relief when she heard a dull thud come from a good twenty feet behind her – her head shot around, and her heart almost stopped.
Lying on the ground behind her, hopefully merely unconscious, was her.
It took her a moment to remember the pony she had met earlier this day – Minuette, the unicorn mare from Canterlot who could easily go for her identical twin. But Colgate’s horror didn’t cease as she realized that it wasn’t her who had been hit by Twilight Sparkle’s spell.
“Minuette!” she shouted with horror and was just about to run over to her stricken friend when she felt her legs being held in place by a soft cloud of purple magic.
“M-Minuette? Is it you?” she could hear the insecure voice asking from behind her, and –given that she couldn’t move a single limb- merely rolled her eyes to look at her captor. Twilight sparkle was standing right next to her, watching her with worried eyes.
“W-what?” Colgate finally managed to bring out after a moment of unbelieving silence, “No! No, I’m not Minuette, I’m-“
The air was squeezed right out of her lungs as the magical grip around her body tightened abruptly, bringing her down to her knees – what used to be a gentle pressure was now a relentless, almost painful force, making her wince and pinch her eyes close.
“I knew it!” Twilight Sparkle hissed through clenched teeth, “You better have a damn good reason for me not to throw you into the Canterlot high-security prison right away!”
“What!?” Colgate squealed, tears welling up in her eyes out of sheer horror, “W-what’s going on!? I don’t-“
She was cut off again as the magical grip around her limbs tightened even more, only by biting her tongue could she hold back a high-pitched squeak.
“Don’t even try to play the innocent!” Twilight barked at her, “Who are you and what did you do to my friend!?”
“I-I…” Colgate stuttered helplessly, “M-my name is Colgate and I’m-“
“Can’t fool me, monster!” Twilight interrupted her sharply, “I know your name isn’t ‘Colgate’! What kind of a name is that anyway?” she shook her head, “I know you’re a changeling who has taken on the form of my friend and put some kind of spell on her to bend her to her will!”
Colgate actually needed to pause for a moment to understand just what Princess Twilight Sparkle herself had accused her of. Then, with a single, powerful outburst, she shouted out the only question that seemed appropriate in this very moment. “What in Celestia’s name are you talking about!?” she yelled at the princess, her horror making her forget about any manners she might have adhered to had she met Twilight in a less sticky situation, “I-I’m not a changeling!”
“That’s exactly what a changeling would say!” the superior-sounding response wasn’t long in coming, “Now prepare to be banned to the Everfree Forest, and may Celestia have mercy on your pathetic little-“
“Twilight stop!” the sudden shout made both ponies hesitate for just a second, silently exchanging confused looks, “She’s not a changeling, she’s my friend!”
The two mare’s heads turned simultaneously, the magic aura that held Colgate down faded away as Twilight’s concentration ceased, gaining a relieved sigh from the unicorn. An almost simultaneous-sounding sigh followed as she saw who had become her unexpected savior.
Minuette had re-awoken from whatever spell Twilight had casted on her in the heat of the moment. Still on wobbly legs, she ran over to her old and her new friend, breathing heavily, eyes still wide in shock.
“W-what are you talking about?” Twilight was the first to answer her, noticing only now that she had released Colgate from her magical grip. Muscles tensing, she looked at the unicorn next to her and hissed, “She’s clearly a changeling! She’s … she’s trying to imitate you! She’s dangerous! She’s-”
“She’s not a changeling!” Minuette replied sharply, stomping her hoof assertively, “Her name is Colgate and she’s Ponyville’s dentist! She’s been living in Ponyville for longer than you and always just wanted to be your friend!” she pointed an accusing hoof at Twilight who couldn’t remember seeing her old friend this angry before, “And now you come here and say she’s a changeling trying to copy me!? You’re acting like if you’d never seen her before!” she paused for a moment, biting her lip, then shook her head. “I’m sorry to say this, Twilight, but you should be ashamed of yourself!”
With that, she stomped her hoof again, then lowered her head, looking down at Colgate who was still sitting on the ground between them, looking just as baffled about Minuette’s sudden outburst as Twilight herself. “Are you okay, Colgate?” Minuette made sure to put special emphasis on her friend’s name as she leaned down and offered a hoof to help her up.
This time, Colgate accepted the help with a grateful nod of her head. “I … I’m fine, thanks.” She replied meekly, legs still shaking ever so slightly as she looked at her friend, then turned around to look at the purple alicorn still standing beside them.
The two looked in each other’s eyes for a second, then spoke up almost simultaneously.
“I’m sorry.” Said Twilight Sparkle.
“I guess I should apologize.” Said Colgate.
A short moment of silence passed in which the two simply stared at each other with unbelieving eyes.
Again, Twilight was the first to speak up. “A-apologize for what?” she asked Colgate, genuinely surprised, “I was the one who attacked you!”
“I … we had it coming, didn’t we?” Colgate asked, casting a look over her shoulder to look at Minuette who couldn’t hide a touch of guilt on her face either, “Running around, playing tricks on ponies like that … it was only a matter of time until somepony would call up the … big guns.” she finished, unable to hide the slightest form of a smirk on her face.
Twilight blankly stared at Colgate. “I … I … I honestly don’t know what to … I mean…” Twilight shook her head, clearing her thoughts, “I’m sorry for attacking you two. That was very imprudent of me and I’m sorry.”
Colgate lightly nodded her head with a forgiving smile. “Apology accepted - at least from my side. And I’m sorry for-“
“Can we all just agree that we made mistakes and that we’re sorry?” Minuette interrupted her, stepping between the two ponies appealingly, “We shouldn’t have given Ponyville’s residents the shock of their lives, and you shouldn’t have charged at us like a crazed Ursa Major. No hard feelings?”
“No hard feelings.” Colgate said conciliatorily.
“No hard feelings.” Twilight agreed, still looking slightly embarrassed about attacking one of her best friends this ruthlessly.
“Great!” Minuette said, a cheeky smile finding its way back onto her face, “I mean, when you think about it, that whole thing did have one good thing to it, didn’t it?” she said, looking at Colgate who just raised a confused eyebrow.
“It did get you a private audience with Princess Twilight, right?” Minuette continued, throwing an amused wink at her doppelganger.
“What!?” Twilight asked rather surprised, looking at Colgate, then at Minuette, “What do you mean?”
“Well,” Minuette grinned, tapping Colgate with a hoof, “this friendly and –if I may add- extraordinarily good-looking mare has been meaning to get to know you for quite a while now.” She threw Twilight a wink, “Don’t worry though, she’s not looking to become the next Misses Twilight Sparkle, but she’s had a certain purple unicorn on her ‘friends to make’-list ever since you first set hoof into Ponyville.” She paused, giggling lightly, “Even though I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if that unicorn would suddenly grow a pair of wings and become a princess!”
Twilight turned, looking at Colgate with unbelieving eyes, “I-is that true? You’ve … you’ve wanted to meet me since I first came to Ponyville?”
“W-well…” Colgate shrugged, doing her best to look casual, but failing rather admirably thanks to the clearly visible blush on her face, “You looked like an interesting pony … coming from Canterlot at all. Besides…” the blush on her face intensified, “I was hoping that … maybe … I wouldn’t be the only … bookworm in town anymore.”
Her ears folded back, head retreating as if she would fear an incoming attack from Twilight for calling her a bookworm.
However, all that came from the princess was loud, happy laughter. “A-are you serious?” she burst out as her first laughing fit slowly faded, “I-I mean, really?”
Colgate nodded hesitantly, a light blush on her face. “Y-yes. I … I wanted to talk to you ever since I first saw you, but then there was Pinkie Pie and the party and Nightmare Moon and…” she cut herself off, shaking her head, “I … never really got the chance to get to know you.”
Twilight looked at the blue unicorn – she seemed sad for a moment, but then her face brightened up noticeably as a new idea came to her mind. With determination in her eyes, she said, “Well, you got it now.” She looked over to Minuette, new happiness in her voice, “How about we spend the day together? Just the three of us?”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking!” Minuette agreed joyfully, happily nodding her head.
“Yes!” Colgate agreed for her part, “Yes, that would be great!”
“Wonderful!” Twilight said, but hesitated, apparently not quite sure what to do next, “Wanna, uh … go to my house?”
“Yes!” the two unicorns said in a chorus of one and the same voice and both nodded their heads – a sight that might have looked a little unsettling to a stranger.
“Okay then! Let’s … let’s go!” Twilight said, still a little hesitantly, and turned around, leading the two lookalike ponies to her home, past the bewildered-looking civilization of Ponyville.
Minuette trotted next to Colgate, the dentist -who didn’t manage to hide her excitement about being this close to Twilight Sparkle, at least based on the beaming smile on her face- walking between the two of them. Once again, Minuette noticed a joyful spring in her step – knowing that she would see Twilight again, she had expected this day to become a great day, but now that she had not only met her old friend, but also made a new one and was about to spend a whole day with her new, old friends … the overwhelming joy she felt in this very moment just wanted to made her jump up and give her love to the world around her.
However, since she felt like the residents of Ponyville had seen enough memorable things for one day and didn’t need a ‘crazed blue unicorn mare who runs around and wildly hugs anypony at sight’, she contained herself, instead silently humming a happy song to herself as she trotted next to her two friends into the direction of Twilight’s home.
“So, Colgate,” the young princess spoke up after a longer period of silence, a light tingle of excitement in her voice, “do you like … books?”
