Me Again

Chapters

Apparitions
Questions
Bad Answers
Not a Good Place to be
Simple Desires

Apparitions

Rarity first saw one of them on shopping trip to market.

She was in Ponyville at the time, out to buy some groceries for what was supposed to be a delicious soup. She had three bags of ingredients floating behind her, and was wearing a lovely yellow scarf for the cold weather, and a hoof-knit sweater that she thought would become all the rage this season. The scarves were made one at a time, and not one of them was supposed to be exactly the same as any other. Hers had a lovely paisley design with horizontal stripes that she was concerned made her look bigger, but she was out to discover public opinion on them to decide if they were too offensive.

Cue her surprise then, when she thought she glimpsed her supposed ‘one-of-a-kind’ scarf and sweater on another pony in the crowded marketplace. Intent on discovering if she had been lied to, she pushed through the crowd to follow the scarf. It remained just on the edge of her vision, slipping in and out of the crowd as she shoved ponies aside, but every glimpse of the sweater looked like it was the same as her own. This pony must have the same taste as her in clothes, and have spoken to the same tailor!

When Rarity finally caught up to them enough to see, she stopped in shock. She would recognize that fabulous mane and tail anywhere: that was her! Same mane, same tail, same sweater, scarf, and three bags of groceries.

Rarity backed away in alarm, worried about a changeling, but that version of “herself” was doing nothing and interacting with nopony. She was just walking. Ponies that brushed past Rarity herself and then went on to see the other Rarity didn’t react to seeing her twice. They didn’t comment on it, and nopony seemed alarmed by two Rarity’s in the same place at the same time, so she didn’t know what to make of it. Many of them were customers of hers, and they said hello to her, but not to her other self.

It was when somepony walked through the other her that she realized it was an illusion. It wasn’t actually a pony. She didn’t know what it was, but it wasn’t real. It was probably somepony playing a prank, but nothing was wrong at all.

Or so she thought.

Rarity saw it again. Months passed since the first instance, but she saw another one some time later at Twilight’s castle.

Rarity had arrived wearing a magnificent new hat with an authentic griffin feather in it, created by an up and coming fashion griffin from the newly reformed Griffinstone. Rarity was nothing if not generous, and thought showcasing the creative (if crude) design around Ponyville might help encourage the griffin to continue his work. Cue Rarity’s concern when she saw herself wearing the self-same hat (of which there couldn’t possibly be two) wandering around Twilight’s castle.

“Twilight... do you, also see what I see?” Rarity pointed at the other version of herself down the hall, who was turning in a circle and admiring the walls. The fake even primped her own mane!

Twilight turned to look where Rarity was pointing, but shook her head. “What am I supposed to be seeing?”

“There’s another one of me standing in the hall, wearing this exact hat, and looking at the walls with intense interest.”

“I don’t see anything. Certainly not another pony, and definitely not another you. You’re one of a kind.”

“That’s what I thought, darling, but she’s wearing this hat. This was made special by Horatio in Griffinstone for me specifically. There couldn’t possibly be another one like it.”

Twilight lit her horn and a green light spun about the area, notably covering the hallway Rarity had pointed out. When it was done she shook her head. “I’m not detecting anything there at all. No invisibility, no changelings, no illusions, nothing. Is this the first time you’ve had this happen?”

Rarity tapped her chin. “Come to think of it, no. Several months ago I spotted myself while out shopping. She was wearing the same sweater and scarf I had picked out then, as well. She was even carrying the same number of bags for groceries I had.”

“That’s curious, but I don’t know what it might mean. This is only the second time you’ve seen her?”

“Yes, of course. I’d be much more concerned if it were a regular occurrence.”

“Let me know if she does anything strange, or if she tries to communicate, okay?”

“Of course, Twilight.”

Nothing strange happened for the rest of their visit. The other Rarity did not look directly at either of them, but followed them about the castle. She seemed interested in the walls, bookshelves, Cutie Map and chairs, and other decorations, but she never interacted with any of them unless Rarity did.

They had tea, and the other Rarity was sipping tea that had come from nowhere some small distance away. They looked at some books, and the other Rarity also looked at some books from the shelves. Rarity tried to get a glimpse of the title of the book her doppelganger picked out, but she couldn’t quite catch it. When she tried to move closer, her clone moved away, maintaining a convenient distance.

“What’s wrong, Rarity, what are you looking at?”

“She’s still there, Twilight. She moves when I move, and she picks up the same things I pick up. She doesn’t actually touch it, but the thing I’m holding appears in her magic. I can’t tell if the title is the same, but she’s holding a book just like this one.” Rarity shook the book she was holding in her magic.

“Is she doing the same thing you are?”

“No, she’s reading it.”

“This is alarming. She’s not mimicking you as fully as one would expect. She’s creating things from nothing, which would indicate an illusion, but I detect nothing. Not to mention she’s inside my castle! I want to know what she’s doing here and why.”

“I want to know what she is!”

“That too, of course, but she’s clearly following you. I think I need to find out what kind of illusion she is. She’s not a creature, because there are no life signs from her, but somepony is creating this illusion for a reason, and if they can do it inside my castle, they’re very powerful.” Twilight pulled a few books off the shelves and stacked them up. “I have books on illusions and clones and the like. Can you come back tomorrow so we can talk further about this?”

Rarity looked at her double again, then nodded to Twilight. “Yes… yes I should want to. I’ll let you know where else I see it, though I hope I don’t see it many places.”

“It seems harmless enough, but it must have a purpose, and we need to determine what that purpose is.”

Rarity nodded. “I think I will head home for now, but please let me know what you find out about this. I want to know as soon as you learn anything. Being inside your castle with this thing makes me uncomfortable.”

“I understand. Be safe, Rarity.”

Rarity left the castle and went back to her boutique. It didn’t follow her out, disappearing the moment she stepped outside. As far as she could tell, she was alone, and did not see the copy of herself anywhere about town, nor at home.

Questions

Twilight found spells for illusions, but despite her efforts, she was unable to pinpoint a specific one that might have been the one used for the clone Rarity had seen. Illusions usually were visible to everypony within visual distance, and this one had only been seen by Rarity herself. It was a puzzle, and Twilight could find nothing on it. They both stopped worrying about it eventually, only talking about it as a strange and unusual occurrence, and moved on with their lives. Things were normal for another month, until Rarity was awakened one night by a sound.

*CRASH!*

Rarity bolted awake. The sound of glass shattering somewhere downstairs jolted her upright. She hastily swept her night mask off and clambered to her hooves. “Opalescence? Sweetie Belle? Is that you?”

A chill went through her as she opened her door to the hall and heard another crash. “Sweetie Belle?”

There was suddenly the sound of hoofsteps pounding up the stairs, and in the light of Rarity’s horn, she saw… herself.

She was looking at a wide-eyed and excited version of herself at the far end of the hall. Her horn light cast ghastly shadows across the other her’s face, but there was no denying it. That was Rarity. The other her was grinning wide, and she was staring at Rarity, looking pleased as could be. She stood there, looking Rarity up and down, then spoke.

“.era uoy ereht ,hA .uoy dnif ot gnol oot raf nekat sah tI ?uoy nac em dnatsrednu t’nac uoy tub ,hO” Her voice was a mumbled blur, but was unmistakably her own, if warped. The other Rarity stared at her, blinking, then shook her head. “.rettam oN .klat ot ereh emoc t’ndid I” She lifted a hoof and took a step closer to Rarity, then tried to lift her other hoof. She looked to be struggling, and her hoof wouldn’t come off the ground.

Rarity stepped backward, and then the other Rarity took a second step forward. She smiled, but frowned again when she tried to take another step and couldn’t. The other Rarity looked at Rarity and scowled.

“.hguone ton s’ti ees nac I .siht dnatsrednu I nehw ,emit rehtona siht od ot evah ll’eW” She stopped trying to move closer, and just stared, as if waiting for something.

Rarity wanted to shut the door, but was worried about losing sight of her doppelganger. If she lost sight of her, where would she go? She had actually spoken this time, when the last time she had seen her, in Twilight’s castle, her doppelganger had been silent, and just followed her.

Rarity kept a hoof on the door, but didn’t shut it. She stayed inside her room and waited, watching. It was frightening, staring at herself, but losing sight of it would have been more terrifying.

Despite her fear, Rarity took stock of her clone. She had hoped the strange occurrences were over, but now that she knew it wasn’t, she wanted to be able to tell Twilight as much as possible about her when she had the opportunity again.

She was her. It was clearly another Rarity. Her perfect eyelashes and beautiful white coat matched exactly the image Rarity saw in the mirror every morning. Her mane was smooth and curled beautifully, and her eyes were the gorgeous blue Rarity knew oh, so well.

But the longer Rarity looked, the more out of place some of it seemed. The other Rarity was back to being excited, the secrets behind her existence keeping her just below the level of a delighted laugh. She flipped her mane at the same time Rarity did out of nervous habit, and that’s when Rarity saw it; She was backward.

Her mane parted the wrong direction, her tail curled the same incorrect way, and she favored the wrong hoof. She was literally a mirror-image of Rarity herself! Was that why she couldn’t come closer?

Rarity stepped forward, and the other Rarity took a step back. Rarity took a step backward and the other Rarity stepped forward. She turned and the other Rarity turned as well, mirroring her every move.

The other Rarity’s excited smile was gone now. She was scowling.

“.tuo ti derugif uoy ees I” said the copy of Rarity.

“I don’t know what you want, but I don’t appreciate your presence here.” Rarity responded. “Who sent you? Why have they sent you?” Rarity rubbed her eyes with a hoof, trying to clear the sleep and confusion, but then heard the clopping of hooves.

She looked quickly back up to see the other Rarity much closer to her, the excited grin and bright blue eyes of her own face now halfway down the hall!

As soon as she looked at her, the other Rarity stopped. Her grin faltered, but she was still staring wide-eyed at Rarity like a cat looks at a bird. Her pupils were dilated and her teeth were shining in the light cast from Rarity’s horn. She looked pleased with herself.

“Rarity? What’s going on?” Sweetie Belle’s voice broke the tense silence, and her bedroom door opened. The other Rarity hissed, and her smile faded, then she turned away from Rarity, jumped sideways, and shattered into shards which quickly faded like a cold breath.

Sweetie Belle stepped out of her room to see Rarity staring down the long and empty hallway. Rarity dared not look away from the hall for a moment, until Sweetie Belle waved a hooved in front of her eyes. “Equestria to Rarity! Are you okay? What were you doing stomping about upstairs, it’s the middle of the night. Are you okay?”

Rarity shook her head and looked down at her little sister. The white of her fur set Rarity on edge, but the soft violet of her mane was enough of a difference to cement that it was not a smaller version of herself she was looking at. She took a deep breath, let it out, then fell gracefully to the floor.

A few minutes later, Rarity felt something cold and wet slap her in the face. She reached up and felt a damp cloth, still dripping with water, covering her eyes.

Sweetie Belle’s voice floated to her from somewhere in the room. “I cleaned up the broken glasses in the kitchen. I don’t know what you were trying to do down there. If it was a midnight snack, you didn’t touch any of the food. Do you remember anything? Do you need me to call the doctor?”

Rarity pressed the cold cloth to her forehead and waved a hoof in Sweetie Belle’s direction. “I’m quite alright, but I don’t know if you would believe what happened. I’m not sure I quite believe it myself.”

“So, you’re not sick?”

“No, I’m fine. Whatever that thing was didn’t touch me or cast any spells at me.”

“Something was in the boutique?”

“Somepony. It looked just like me.”

“A changeling got in?!” Sweetie Belle suddenly looked much more concerned.

“No, it wasn’t a changeling. A changeling would have been much more subtle. This was something else entirely, but I don’t know what.” Rarity pulled the cloth off her forehead and quickly stood up. “I need to go see Twilight immediately!”

“Twilight? Why?”

“Some wicked magic is happening here.”

Rarity tried to follow her morning routine to prepare herself to go out, but when she went to her bedroom vanity and saw herself in the mirror, she flinched and pulled away. The Rarity she saw in the mirror wasn’t grinning at her, or staring at her with wide eyes, but the experience was too fresh to clear from her mind. Despite herself, she just gave her mane a once-over with the brush, and dashed out the door. She raced through Ponyville toward the castle and pounded on the castle door until Twilight opened them, her eyes just as tired as Rarity’s own.

“Rarity? It’s four in the morning. What’s going on?”

“I saw it again!”

“Saw wha—oh!” Twilight immediately perked up. “The other you?”

“Yes! This was much different than your castle.”

“Let me get some parchment, then you can explain!”

Rarity entered the castle and Twilight made some tea while she explained what happened. She included all the details she could remember, including the end of her encounter where she noticed it was a mirror-image of herself, and it shattered before Sweetie Belle could see.

“It’s frightening, Twilight. I don’t know what it wants. It’s speaking some language I don’t know and couldn’t even begin to describe. It wants something from me, but I can’t imagine what. I only know it’s definitely bad!”

“No, it seems to want you specifically. But why not appear in your room? Why go to the kitchen and wake you up? It could have just done whatever it wanted while you were sleeping.”

“Twilight, really?”

Twilight held her hooves up in defense. “To understand your enemy, you must think like your enemy. I’m just trying to understand why it did what it did instead of attacking you directly. Its motives are a mystery at present.”

“Do you know what it is?”

Twilight shook her head. “It’s not a changeling. Changelings don’t behave like that, and they wouldn’t have stopped when they got close. I’m sorry, Rarity. I still don’t know what this is. It’s sounding more and more like somepony is attacking you magically.”

Rarity sighed and lowered her head to the table, resting her chin on the cool crystal. “Why me, of all ponies?”

“That’s another question we don’t have the answer to. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing more I can do or answer for you. It disappeared when Sweetie Belle was coming, so all I can say is that you should try not to be alone until I get more answers. I’ll send a letter to Celestia and we’ll see what she says.”

“Thank you, Twilight.”

“Would you care to stay here tonight?”

Rarity shook her head. “Mirrors put me on edge at the moment and your castle is one giant mirror. No offense, Twilight.”

“No, I understand. I’ll walk you home, though.”

“Thank you again.”

Twilight walked with Rarity back to the boutique. The morning was just beginning, and the early-risers were out and about, running errands and opening up shop to prepare for the rush. Sugar Cube Corner wafted out sweet smells of morning muffins and hot coffee. It smelled delightful, but all Rarity could focus on was the sleep she had missed.

When they arrived, Twilight followed her inside and up the stairs until they found Sweetie Belle lying in bed reading a book. The smaller unicorn looked up in surprise at the two ponies standing in her door. “Oh, good morning, Twilight. Rarity said she needed to see you urgently, but I didn’t think you’d both come back. What’s going on?”

“Sweetie Belle, I need you to do something for me. It’s very important that you understand and listen, okay?” said Twilight.

Sweetie Belle shut her book and sat up, nodding vigorously. “Mm-hmm! I can do it!” Any request from the princess was important, and she didn’t want to fail.

“Good. So, your sister Rarity has been—”

“I’ve been seeing things recently, Sweetie Darling. Another one of myself, to be precise,” Rarity interrupted with a sigh.

“She needs you to watch her. She can’t be alone, because we don’t yet know what damage these visions may cause, or if they’re even capable of causing harm to her. But we can’t take that chance with something we don’t fully understand.”

Sweetie Belle looked confused. “Another one of yourself? Is that the one who broke the dishes?”

Rarity nodded. “It was just following me at first, but now that it’s actually started interacting with objects and talking to me, things have become more dire.”

Twilight pulls out a scroll and floats it over to Sweetie Belle. “The last one she saw this morning disappeared when you arrived, so I need you to stay close to her. Now, it’s not that I don’t trust Rarity, but here is a set of instructions for you in case Rarity can’t communicate with you because of the ‘other’. Stay within viewing distance of your sister at all times, and don’t hesitate to call for help, okay?”

“Okay! You can count on me!” Sweetie Belle grabbed the list out of the air with her magic and began reading it over, furrowing her brow in concentration.

“Alright. I’ll leave you two alone, but I’ll repeat the important thing one last time: Don’t let Rarity be alone in a room. You two must stay in sight of each other at all times. Rarity, that means you have to be able to see your sister and she has to see you.”

“I understand, Twilight. Thank you for your help, and your concern,” Rarity said.

Twilight nodded and slowly walked away down the hall. She disappeared down the stairs and there was the sound of a door shutting, then Rarity and Sweetie Belle were alone.

Sweetie Belle bounded out of bed, holding the scroll Twilight had given her. She pressed herself to Rarity’s side and smiled up at her sister. “Now we have to spend the day together! Princess’s orders!”

Rarity nodded, exhaustion plain on her face. “I will eventually need to catch up on the rest I missed, which I fear will be terribly dull, but let us have breakfast first.” Sweetie Belle bounced happily, and the two wandered down to the kitchen.

The day passed normally for the most part. Rarity worked while Sweetie Belle read up on things the crusaders needed done. Ponies they needed to visit and questions they were trying to get answered about cutie marks. Rarity eventually took a nap while Sweetie Belle read nearby, but all throughout the day nothing untoward seemed to happen. Rarity didn’t see the other version of herself at all, and spending the day with Sweetie Belle wasn’t as bad as she had thought it might be. The trouble came when night fell, and Twilight dropped by to deliver the news she had received from the other princesses.

“Celestia and Luna don’t know what it might be, either. They’re conducting their own research, but there’s no concrete answers yet. We’ll just have to play this by ear and take as many precautions as we can.”

“So, I have a question,” Sweetie Belle asked. “What happens when I fall asleep? If I’m in the same room as Rarity, does that still count as ‘watching’ her?”

Twilight and Rarity looked at each other.

“That is an excellent thought, Sweetie Belle. I hadn’t considered it,” Twilight said.

“Either had I. I don’t relish the thought of that thing catching me while I sleep. I napped earlier, but Sweetie Belle was awake the entire time. If she goes to bed, then I’m not technically alone, but she’s no longer watching me. What do we do, Twilight?”

Twilight thought carefully, staring around the room idly while she pondered. “I can cast a spell of protection against magic, but that’s all I can do. I still don’t know what we’re dealing with, and until I do I can’t protect against it properly. A general spell will have to do.”

“Alright. We will have to trust that. Nopony can stay awake forever,” Rarity said.

“Will you be alright, Rarity?” Twilight asked.

“As alright as I can be, Twilight. Thank you for your help.”

Twilight’s horn lit up and she cast a spell on Rarity, then turned to Sweetie Belle and cast it on her as well. “Just in case. If something happens, come straight to me when you can, okay?”

“Okay, Twilight!” Sweetie Belle nodded.

“Goodnight, you two!”

They shut the door, and as the sky darkened, they prepared their supper and ate quietly. Rarity worked on some of her designs while Sweetie Belle read some more of the books on cutie marks she had borrowed from Twilight. When it came time for bed, they both retired to Rarity’s room and crawled under the covers.

“I’ll stay awake as long as I can, okay, Rarity?”

“Thank you, Sweetie, but there’s really no need. You’ll fall asleep eventually, so we will have to trust Twilight’s spell.”

“Okay… Sleep well, sis.”

“You too, Sweetie.”

The sisters slept.

As they slept the night deepened, and the darkness became thick and oppressive. The moon’s light was weak and was not enough to penetrate the curtains against the window. There was just a square of weak illumination on one side of the room, which only served to increase the darkness of the shadows around the bed.

Through these shadows, something moved.

Starting from Rarity’s vanity, the thing in the room padded around the room, seemingly unaffected by the darkness. It picked something up off the vanity with a hoof and skirted around the edges of the room in bursts of activity. The quick tapping of its hooves against the floor a staccato rhythm accompanying the slow tempo of the sister’s breathing.

When it reached the far side of the room, it dropped whatever it had picked up from the vanity, then breached the closet and began flipping through the clothes inside. It pushed them left, then right, then left again, then right. It swung them back and forth almost joyfully, but stopped when it heard Sweetie Belle snort.

It waited a moment for Sweetie Belle’s breathing to even out, then continued on its way after pulling something out of the closet. It dragged the article of clothing some distance around the room, then dropped it arbitrarily before picking up something off the dresser. It carried that item with it to Rarity’s bedside table, then placed it carefully on top. It shuffled it around, trying to find some equilibrium only it was aware it needed, then stopped.

The shadowy figure stared down at Rarity. It looked at her and tilted its head back and forth. Rarity’s night mask was over her eyes, and her breathing whistled quietly out of her cute white nose. The figure looked at the object it had carried over to the table. It tapped it one more time, setting it to rocking, then reached out and placed a hoof on Rarity’s forehead.

Bad Answers

Rarity jolted awake.

She lifted the mask off her face and threw it to the side, then shivered. Her room felt colder than normal. She turned to see if Sweetie Belle was having the same trouble, only to find that Sweetie wasn’t there! Rarity was alone!

“Sweetie? You know Twilight told us to stay together.” Rarity’s voice felt quiet, almost muffled. She wasn’t sure if it was her voice or her hearing that was causing it.

Rarity slipped out of bed and looked around the room. Her closet was open, and the dresses were shifted in a haphazard manner. One of them was on the floor, even. She lifted it back into the closet and hung it properly. Sweetie was probably in the bathroom looking at herself wearing some of Rarity’s clothes.

Rarity walked around her bed and toward the bedroom door. When she passed in front of the vanity, she heard a noise. She turned to look, and saw that wide-eyed grinning face of the other Rarity staring at her from the other side of the mirror!

“!era uoy erehT” The other Rarity pressed her face up against the glass of the mirror, and it bent outward toward her. “.won ni kcab gnitteg elbuort gnivah m’I tpecxE .llits dloH”

Rarity screamed and bolted out of her bedroom. She slammed the door behind her, then heard the sound of breaking glass and a heavy body hitting the floor. She didn’t wait, but raced through the boutique, looking for her sister.

“Sweetie Belle! Where are you? I need you!”

Rarity slammed open the bathroom door, but Sweetie Belle wasn’t there. She looked back down the hall at her bedroom door, which opened and the other Rarity came galloping out down the hall, eyes wide and crazy, with that insane grin plastered on her face. She chased Rarity downstairs, where Rarity stopped, interposing one of her ponnequins between herself and the other Rarity.

“What do you want!” Rarity screamed. “What is wrong with you!” She looked around the room for something she could use as a weapon, keeping the ponnequin between herself and this… ‘thing’ until she found something.

“.uoy be annaw I” the other Rarity said.

“I don’t understand! What are you! What are you doing here! How are you here? What purpose does this serve?”

“.ereh uoy gnirb ot dah I os ,edis rehto eht no em lortnoc uoY” other Rarity said.

Rarity just growled in frustration. She wasn’t going to get any useful information from this creature by talking to it, because they couldn’t communicate, but it had the upper hoof, because it understood what she was saying.

Rarity and the other Rarity circled the ponnequin, until Rarity spied a pair of scissors. She glanced away from the other Rarity for a moment, nabbed the scissors with her magic, and turned back to see it leaping at her.

She screeched and the scissors flew at the other Rarity. They pierced into its neck, spilling blood over her pristine white coat. It landed on top of her, choking, then shattered into tiny pieces. The pieces dissipated into air, and the body was gone.

Rarity was shaking. She had no idea what had happened, or if the thing was dead, but she didn’t want to make any assumptions. She had seen other versions of it that weren’t backward, and were seemingly ephemeral, so there were probably a lot. She didn’t know if it had done anything with Sweetie Belle or if it had only targeted her, but it seemed like it was simple at the very least. It was brutish, and didn’t even use magic like Rarity did, that made it easy to outwit, but it knew what was going on.

To solve a problem as strange as this, Rarity needed to talk to Twilight. Sweetie Belle should be okay, wherever she was, but Twilight needed to be informed of what was happening. Rarity went to the front of the boutique, unlocked, and opened the door.

When it swung open, Rarity was expecting to see a somewhat busy town judging by the lights, but instead it was a barren and empty set of streets. The sunlight outside was muted, a pale and sickly lemon color instead of the bright and vibrant yellow of a Celestial day. Rarity blinked, trying to clear her sight, but the colors stayed, and Ponyville remained unsaturated.

Rarity looked everywhere she could, peering out of her door, not yet willing to step outside, as though stepping out of her front door would trigger some dangerous trap and she would then be running for her life from more copies of herself. Or the same copy of herself. She wasn’t sure if the one she had stabbed was dead or just temporarily indisposed. She couldn’t stay here forever, though. Something was wrong, and she needed help to figure it out. That meant getting to Twilight’s castle.

Rarity leaned back inside and grabbed the scissors again. She wanted some form of defense, no matter how small, then looked outside one last time and stepped out. The moment she did, color infused everything outside.

Vibrant and life-like color washed through everything in a sweeping current. Rarity wasn’t sure where it began, but in the blink of an eye everything looked lively, the sun shone in that warm yellow glow, and the houses all around looked as though they would begin dancing in happiness.

Rarity was alarmed. She turned back to her house and looked inside. The interior of her house was dim and bland. The bolts of cloth on her shelves and draped over everything were now dulled, as though they had the life sucked out of them. They sat forlorn in the dark interior of her boutique, cheerlessly awaiting her return. Rarity put a hoof back inside, and the colors spilled from outside to the interior, washing over everything once again. She removed it, and the color disappeared.

“Curious, but important somehow,” Rarity remarked.

Rarity stepped away from the boutique, shutting the door behind her. She began to walk toward the castle, but stayed away from any alleys or side streets. Any corner that would allow somepony to hide around them were avoided. She didn’t need that ‘thing’ catching her unawares. She needed to be on the defensive, especially since she was alone.

That brought her thoughts back to Sweetie Belle. Had the thing taken her? Had it harmed her? The possibility seemed slim, because it had only expressed an interest in Rarity herself, and had taken on her appearance. Whatever it wanted, it seemed to only want it from Rarity and nopony else, or else why not attack Twilight? She was a princess, and much more powerful magically than Rarity or Sweetie Belle. It could also have just been arbitrary. The thing didn’t seem very smart or powerful.

Rarity’s thoughts were interrupted when she spied something moving up ahead. She checked the building she was near for hiding places, then dove into a bush to peer out from and spy on the moving creature.

It was another Rarity. This one was also carrying a pair of scissors in her magic, and was walking idly down the street. Rarity watched it carefully as it wandered past. It was walking casually, not interested in any of the corners or other places Rarity had paid so much attention to. It was also slightly see-through, unlike the one that had attacked her.

That brought Rarity back to the first appearance of the creatures, and the times it had been just an apparition. At that point in time, it had just been copying her, mimicking her actions and not doing anything. It was only seen by Rarity and nopony else, and was essentially a silent and unobtrusive copycat.

“Curious, but important somehow,” the see-through Rarity remarked.

Rarity’s ears jolted up. Had it just spoken?

“Curious, but important somehow,” it said again.

It had! And she had understood it! But it was just saying the same thing she had said when she left the boutique. Was it actually speaking, or was it just a mimic?

“Curious, but important somehow,” it said a third time. Then it jumped into a bush across the street.

Rarity could see the scissors it was holding floating above the bush, then checked herself. Sure enough, the scissors she had been carrying along were floating outside her hiding spot. Cursing herself and her mistake, Rarity extracted herself from the bush and walked a short distance closer to the hiding spot of the other Rarity.

“Curious, but important somehow,” it said while hiding in the bush.

Rarity watched it for a moment, but it didn’t seem interested in her. It was copying her, but this one, being see-through, didn’t seem able to interact with her. It wasn’t staring at her with wild eyes and a predatory grin. It was just mimicking her actions and her appearance. Come to think of it, this one hadn’t had her hair parted the wrong way. This was an actual Rarity. A clone, if a stupid one. But why? And where were they coming from?

Rarity turned away from the bush and started off toward the castle again. She checked behind her to see if the other Rarity was following her or creeping up behind her, but it seemed content to stay in the bush, scissors floating foolishly above its hiding place.

Rarity approached the castle, huge and honestly a little imposing, at the edge of Ponyville. She approached it, then suddenly found it to be some distance away on the other side of Ponyville.

Rarity turned and looked behind her, and could see the castle close behind her. She turned to look the other way, and saw the castle far away on the other side as well. She turned around and tried to walk to the closer castle, only for it to disappear and show her the castle far away on the other side again.

“What in the world?” Rarity exclaimed.

“What in the world!” another voice exclaimed from down the road.

Rarity spun around. Another Rarity doppelganger appeared, walking down the middle of the street toward her. It was carrying scissors, and was waving its head back and forth, looking behind itself, then ahead.

“What in the world!” it said as it walked.

“Curious, but important somehow,” the Rarity in the bush said.

“Wh—” Rarity stopped herself. They were mimicking what she said, and there were now two; one for each sentence she had said since leaving her home. If speaking was going to create more of these things, she needed to remain silent. They seemed harmless for now, but creating more might make things problematic for her.

Instead, Rarity tried one more time to walk toward the castle that was just behind her. She once again found herself facing back down the pathway into town, with the castle both in front and behind her.

Like a mirror.

Everything here was like a mirror.

The other Rarity that had attacked her had been a mirror image of herself, and these apparitions were holding what she was holding and repeating what she said. These ones weren’t reversed, though, and she could understand what they said. So, there was still something different going on that she was missing. Was it because she was now trapped in some sort of spell?

Rarity ran back through town. If she was going to start figuring this out, she needed to be where it had begun, and that meant she had to go into her boutique. That ‘thing’ had come out of her mirror, so maybe that was some sort of door? If it could use it, she could try to use it.

Not a Good Place to be

The apparitions didn’t follow her back to her boutique, thankfully. When Rarity arrived, it was just her alone. She entered the boutique warily, scissors held high. There was a tiny spot of blood on the floor from where she had stabbed the other Rarity. Her coat was still sticky with the rest of it, but since it had shattered there were no other signs of a body, however, which was unnerving.

Rarity stepped slowly through the rooms, going back up the stairs and down the hallway to her bedroom. She closed all the doors before she got close to them. The last thing she wanted was a Rarity jumping out at her, screaming in that awful language it spoke.

Her bedroom was as she left it. The glass of the mirror on her vanity was intact, despite the shattering noise she had heard earlier. The objects on top were scattered on the floor, but it appeared harmless. The only disturbing part was her reflection.

It stared out of the mirror at her, backward, but unamused. It wasn’t grinning like the one that had been running about and attacking her. She lifted a hoof, and it lifted a hoof. She winked, it winked. She combed her mane, it combed her mane.

“Harmless,” Rarity said, then slapped a hoof over her mouth.

“Harmless,” a voice said from the hallway.

Rarity scrambled to the door and peeked out. There was a Rarity in the hallway, staring down the hall, not at her, but in her direction. Their eyes never seemed to focus on anything in particular. This one wasn’t walking, but it was sitting, holding a comb and a pair of scissors, combing its mane. Rarity stared at it for a moment, to make sure it wasn’t going to do anything, then slowly shut the door, just in case.

She turned back to the vanity, and a hoof walloped her in the side of the head. Rarity stumbled, dazed. Then another hoof hit her in the jaw, pushing her the other direction. Rarity almost fell, but somepony grabbed her by the neck and held her upright.

“.em htiw emoc woN !yllaniF” that strange voice said.

Rarity was still trying to pull herself together to react, but the pony holding her was dragging her toward the mirror on her vanity. Through her punch-drunk vision, she could see that she had no reflection anymore, and her sluggish brain slowly drew the conclusion she had been searching for this whole time: her reflection was attacking her!

Rarity pulled back, hooves scraping on the carpet as she tried to prevent herself from going closer to the mirror. She tried to twist her head to see where her scissors had ended up, but the headlock was preventing her from turning her head. She struggled, and punched the other Rarity in the side, trying to get it to let go, but its grip was strong and unwavering.

Rarity was forced onto the vanity, and wrestled up to the glass. Her face was pressed against the mirror and she felt it bend and flex under the pressure of her face. She had intended to try to go through it when she got here, but now that the other Rarity was trying to force her through, she had to stop herself from going in at all costs!

Rarity’s horn lit up and she just blindly grabbed at everything within reach. She heard bottles shatter, plastic cases bounce, and a few metal objects clink. She tried again, and this time a blanket thumped harmlessly against the other Rarity. Her hooves pressed against the frame of the mirror as the other Rarity tried to force her bodily into it, and she tried again. This time she heard something stick into flesh. Other Rarity flinched but she wasn’t letting go.

The other Rarity managed to get her into a headlock, then struck Rarity in the head with her free hoof. Rarity’s ears rang and she lost her grip on whatever she had grabbed hold of with her magic. Her doppelganger punched her in the temple again, and Rarity lost her hoof grip. Her face pressed against the glass of the mirror, the cold surface stretching out and wrapping her face in its cold embrace. It bent for a short distance, then shattered, and Rarity tumbled through.

She landed after falling a very short distance, and the sound of her body crumpling to the surface of it echoed many times. As Rarity pulled herself together, she heard a cackling laugh.

“.ytiraR ,ti yojnE .emoh ruoy eb noos lliw tI” the other Rarity cackled. Rarity looked up and could see her standing in an open hole in a barren and dark sky. She grinned down at Rarity, turned away, and left Rarity to herself.

Rarity pulled herself to her hooves, shook her head to clear the fuzz of the hits she had suffered, and looked around.

Her doppelganger had dumped her in a bleak and empty landscape. There was darkness all around, and there was no color to distinguish between the ground, any walls, or the sky. Instead, the only thing visible were spots of light, situated all around, glowing in the darkness. They were not all the same color, but she couldn’t tell what the difference was from where she was standing.

Rarity turned to the opening right above her, where she had tumbled in from. It was too high to reach, but she recognized her bedroom from where she was. The surface of the mirror looked cracked, but the cracks were disappearing slowly. The very edges had healed, but the center still looked as though it had been fractured. The fact that she had been tossed inside it meant the creature who looked like her was from this place, wherever it was. That would be useful to tell Twilight.

Rarity jumped at the surface of light, but couldn’t reach it. She tried to grab it with magic, but there didn’t appear to be anything to really ‘grab’ per se. It was just an oblong of light in an otherwise dark area. She looked around for something to stand on, but couldn’t find anything. Everything was black, save for the other shapes of light, which she assumed must be other mirrors. If the creature was able to traverse one, it could likely traverse the others.

“Are they all mirrors, then?” Rarity wondered aloud.

“Are they all mirrors, then?” a voice said from somewhere in the darkness.

“Are they all mirrors, then?” a quieter voice said from somewhere.

“Are they all mirrors, then?” another, yet quieter voice said.

Rarity froze. If the apparitions were in here, they might be more dangerous in their natural habitat than in her world. She waited for something to step out of the darkness, grinning with teeth bared, but she heard nothing else. No Rarity walked out of the darkness, spouting sentences. It remained just her.

Rarity looked back at the mirror above her, and was surprised and pleased to see that as it was repairing itself, it also appeared to be floating back down to her level. Some unspoken mechanic of this strange place she was in. It would eventually be low enough for her to use it once more.

But that gave Rarity pause. If the other Rarity knew how all this worked, then she might be assuming Rarity would try to enter. She wanted something from Rarity, and being predictable might get her killed. If she was going to defeat this thing and protect Sweetie Belle and her friends from it, she would have to be smarter and more clever than it. That meant she might have to take the long way home.

Rarity looked around her at the other spots of light. Some were closer than others, and as she had previously noted, they were all of different shapes. Likely due to ponies owning mirrors of different shapes and sizes. She kept an eye on her vanity mirror, and walked to the next closest one. As she approached, she could see inside it to her own bathroom. She eyeballed the distance between the two mirrors, and found they were not equivalent to the distance between them in her home, but they were still closer to each other than any others. She looked inside the mirror and reached out a hoof to touch it.

“!esirpruS” Her doppelganger leaped up from behind the counter, and Rarity jumped back with a squeal of surprise. The other Rarity laughed. “!ahahahhhhA .elbatciderp oS .ereh yaw ruoy no eb dna tuo ti erugif d’uoy wenk I .ytiraR ,that lla sa ysae sa eb ot gniog ton s’tI …wonk uoy wonk I that won tuB” She pushed a hoof on the surface of the glass, bending it in toward Rarity. It shattered, and the mirror flew upward, the cracks on the glass appeared and it slowly began to repair itself. “!ay ecaR”

Rarity looked around at the other oblongs of light in the darkness. One of the closest ones, which was too small for Rarity to fit through, broke and flew upward. The shattering sound echoed in the darkness.

Rarity knew she had no time then. The other Rarity had a much shorter distance to run, and Rarity didn’t want to wait to see the reason she had been forced in here and kept inside it. She needed to get back into that other world as soon as possible!

She ran, heedless of whether there were any holes or other pitfalls in the darkness surrounding her. She needed to make it to one of the lights before all of them were broken, and whatever the other Rarity had planned came to fruition!

She ran, but the distances between each point of light in the darkness were huge for her. Meanwhile, the other Rarity knew where most of the other mirrors were and was rushing to them one after the other. Rarity could see her stick her head inside for a brief moment, laugh at Rarity, then break the glass, taking the mirror out of reach.

Rarity dashed for one, only to have her shatter it just as she arrived, cackling the whole time. She would then run for another, only to have it destroyed as the other Rarity cut her off. She almost made it in one of them, but when she leaped toward it, the other Rarity leaned in and punched her right on the snout as she approached. Rarity clutched her bleeding nose and curled up on the ground. The other Rarity leaned in and grinned that wide, infuriating grin, reveling in Rarity’s pain. She said nothing, but pulled her grinning face back out of the mirror and smashed the glass.

As the mirror floated up out of her reach, Rarity rubbed her bleeding nose and sniffed. The coppery taste of blood ran over her tongue and she spat. Her eyes narrowed and she looked up at the mirror above her.

Rarity turned away from the mirror that was out of reach, and looked around. There were many more, but the other Rarity was keeping ahead of her, mocking her efforts. She knew how this all worked. She could peek in and see where Rarity was headed, and get there sooner due to the difference in distance. Rarity needed something that could help her outsmart her doppelganger, but finding such a thing was going to be difficult in such a barren landscape.

“Wait,” Rarity said.

“Wait,” somepony echoed in the darkness.

“Wait,” another responded.

There were two mirrors, somewhere off in the distance that Rarity could see. If she had to venture a guess, she would say they were part of Sweet Apple Acres. Probably the bathroom mirrors in the Apple family home.

Rarity stood up and looked around at what was left. There were still quite a few mirrors, but they were all clustered together. All the other Rarity had to do was peek in and see where Rarity was running, and then get there first. Rarity didn’t know what her doppelganger was waiting for, but she couldn’t worry about it right now. She needed out.

“If only I knew which mirror to choose!” Rarity cried out.

“If only I knew which mirror to choose!” an echo responded.

“If only I knew which mirror to choose!” another mimicked.

Rarity stood up and started walking, idly meandering toward the next mirror close to her. “There’s just so many,” she said.

“There’s just so many.”

“I can’t pick just one,” Rarity lamented.

“I can’t pick just one.”

“Nor can I get there fast enough.”

Rarity finally saw one of the mimics. It coalesced dimly in the darkness, a mere shadow of herself, but it was there. It was walking along, blood on its face, repeating the same line time and time again at random intervals. Rarity smiled to herself and kept talking. Saying the first thing that came to mind. She kept narrating her experience as she walked.

She approached one of the mirrors and saw the other Rarity outside smash it. She then turned and went to the next one, talking to herself the whole time, more Raritys appearing out of the darkness, getting more solid with each appearance.

“If only I were faster or more clever.”

More Raritys kept appearing with each sentence, and they were getting more solid, until one appeared that was just shy of Rarity’s white coat. It approached Rarity, and she balked at first, but it walked up beside her and kept pace with her, walking alongside. She double-checked its mane to make sure it wasn’t backward, but it was the same mane style she had, and it was parted in the right direction. It wasn’t the other Rarity.

The next mirror Rarity approached, her doppelganger was no longer grinning. There were too many Raritys to respond to all of them getting close, so she had to smash it early, which was exactly the mistake Rarity was hoping for!

As soon as it flew upward, she took off at a gallop, dashing across the darkness toward what she hoped was Sweet Apple Acres! There were mirrors over there, and that was all she needed. Her clone next to her kept pace, dashing alongside her toward the mirrors, while the others all stayed behind, spewing their single line over and over again, hopefully confusing enough that the other Rarity would have to search through them until she found the one separated from the rest.

She looked at the one keeping pace beside her, and was concerned by her solid appearance. If she was going to attack Rarity, there wasn’t much she could do, but she would just have to hope that it was harmless.

As Rarity left the cluster of mirrors floating in the Ponyville area and left the sound behind, new sounds started to reach her ears in the darkness. Other voices not her own, speaking to each other. She could hear voices she recognized; customers from her shop, and other ponies. She even heard Pinkie Pies shrill welcome to somepony in the darkness. She didn’t know if these sounds were a good sign or a bad one, but she couldn’t spend time thinking about it.

Along with those came the sound of a high wind. She didn’t feel anything, but she heard it. In a dark place like this where Rarity couldn’t see anything other than shapes that had color, wind had a high likelihood to be a bad thing. She just had to hope whatever caused it didn’t catch her before she got out.

Simple Desires

Rarity could see the two mirrors getting closer and closer. They loomed larger and larger in her vision, the only focus of her pell-mell dash. The apparition beside her kept pace as they covered the dark distance from Ponyville to Sweet Apple Acres and the waiting mirrors, not breathing hard nor flagging in speed. As they approached, Rarity risked a look back to see how the other mirrors were doing. She saw that all of them had been raised up to the same level out of reach, which sent Rarity into a panic. If they were all up, that means there were only these two left!

Rarity redoubled her efforts. She galloped toward the mirrors, the apparition at her side. The voices around her in the darkness were much louder, and that wind was sounding more and more fierce. Whatever was coming was coming on fast.

More familiar sounds were incredibly clear, sounding like she was right next to them. She could hear Applejack and her family chattering away about anything and everything. Applejack was in the fields with Big Macintosh. She asked him something and he responded with his trademark “Eeyup!” Granny Smith was muttering about ingredients, and Applebloom was in the clubhouse talking with Scootaloo about Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle! Rarity was reminded that if she didn’t get back, her sweet little sister was in danger! If Rarity couldn’t get back and take care of this impostor, then who knows what she would do to Sweetie Belle! It might not yet be back in the real world with all the other ponies in Ponyville, but it would get there if she didn’t return!

Rarity lowered her head and bulled toward the first mirror. Her hooves made a quiet rhythm on the darkness, and when she approached the mirror she prepared to leap!

The apparition next to her pushed her aside and dove into the mirror first!

Rarity sprawled to the ground and cried out in surprise and pain as her hooves twisted underneath her and she slid to a stop. She scrambled up and turned to look in dismay as the mirror cracked, shattered, and floated into the air. There was now only one left.

Rarity pulled herself up and limped toward the last one. She had twisted something with her fall and it hurt every time she took a step. She hobbled toward the mirror, her last hope for escape from this place. Her grunts of pain sounded loud in her ears as she walked, but the glass hadn’t broken yet! She still had a chance!

She heard something behind her from Ponyville but didn’t spare it a glance. The wind had become even louder, but she had no time to worry about it. It was likely it ws whatever dangerous thing was in here that the other Rarity wanted to catch her, but she dared not turn away from her last chance to escape.

She dragged herself forward, keeping her eyes on the mirror. She saw movement inside it and grimaced, expecting it to shatter at any moment, but there was no sound of breaking glass. Not flight out of reach. Instead, there was more movement.

Rarity saw a flash of white pass in front of it, then another. She continued her painful march and came up to the mirror with it still intact, then jumped inside, not caring about whatever trap the two Raritys had set up for her.

To her surprise, the other Rarity and who she assumed must have been the apparition that was following her were fighting. No words were shouted, and neither one was using magic, but they were going hoof-to-hoof at each other as hard as they could, hooves striking flesh, leaving welts, bruises, and shearing off patches of bloody fur. One of them, who Rarity believed was the apparition that had pushed her, bit the other’s nose and tore out of chunk of flesh. Rarity gasped.

The one on top, who was the backwards one, had the apparition held down and was strangling her, one hoof on her throat. She heard Rarity’s ill=timed gasp and turned to look at the mirror Rarity had climbed out of. She grinned, but her mouth and her eyes were sending different messages. Her eyes were furious, while her mouth was cocky.

“.won ton ,oN .esolc os saw I .regnol tib elttil a tsuJ” The other Rarity stomped her hoof down and Rarity heard something snap. The apparition shattered into pieces which faded into mist, leaving Rarity and her doppelganger staring each other down.

Her doppelganger grinned that sickeningly wide grin. She almost looked like she was going to leap and tackle Rarity, instead, she pointed in Rarity’s direction. “.uoy dniheB”

Rarity flinched and grabbed a brush, ready to defend herself. She moved away from the mirror and circled around her doppelganger, putting some distance between it and herself.

The other Rarity kept pointing at the mirror, only following Rarity with her eyes. “.ti gnissim er’uoy ,kooL .wols oot saw I .degduj eb ot emit s’tI” Still in a defensive posture, Rarity glanced into the mirror where she was pointing and gasped.

Inside, the crowd of Rarities she had created as a distraction had been swept up by some unseen wind. They swirled about the eye of the storm, helpless to resist it. As Rarity watched, it swirled in their direction, headed for the mirror Rarity had passed through.

“It. Will. Choose,” the other Rarity said.

Rarity looked over at her in shock. She had spoken something understandable! “Wh-what do you mean?”

Other Rarity said nothing more, but pointed and sat down. The chunk of flesh missing from her nose dripped blood, staining her white coat. Rarity didn’t want to wait, and tried to push past the other Rarity to leave. Other Rarity pushed back against her, and Rarity stumbled to a half-sitting position, her injured hoof buckling. Other Rarity pointed at the mirror and nodded.

Rarity turned to look, and the swirling white mass was almost upon them. It swept closer, and Rarity could see the frozen faces of her apparitions inside as they blew past. It came close enough to where Rarity could feel the wind, and then it stopped. The mirror showed nothing but grey, then it split open, revealing a giant eye which peered into the room with them.

Rarity held the brush she had grabbed in front of her, frozen as she looked at the giant eye. It was huge and catlike, and switched between the two Rarities as it did whatever it had come to do. It seemed to have done so as a spike of darkness shot through the mirror, speared the other Rarity, then retreated, pulling other Rarity with it. The eye closed, the mirror went dark, then reflected the room, and Rarity was alone.

She released a breath she wasn’t aware she had been holding, and began to sob. She rubbed her injured hoof as tears spilled out of her eyes. So much had happened she didn’t understand, and now that it seemed to be over, she still had no idea what was going on.

She heard hoofsteps out in the hallway, and she pressed a hoof to her mouth to stifle her cries. Her breathing gusted through her nostrils, snot trickling out over her hoof as she tried to keep quiet until the pony had passed by. She heard the handle click and the door swung open. Her heart lurched in her chest and she leaped around the corner of the shower, intent on getting the jump on whoever it was. She swung the brush as hard as her magic could manage, beating on the pony trying to enter.

“Stay away from me! Leave me alone, you monsters!” she screamed.

“Woah, woah, woah! Hold on there, pardner! Give me— stoppit! Rarity, cut that out! Wut in tarnation are you even doin’ in my bathroom?”

Rarity slowed her swings and took the time to look at the pony who had entered. She recognized the orange fur and blonde mane, along with the skewed Stetson. She dropped the brush and fell into Applejack’s hooves, the sobbing beginning once again.

Rarity was in bed at home, Sweetie Belle was close by, and Twilight was standing at the end of the bed with Applejack next to her.

“So, you went into the mirror and found yourself all the way out in Applejack’s house?”

Rarity nodded to her. Her nose was cleaned up, she had been bathed, and had rested. “I don’t understand why it happened, what those things were, or why it chose the other Rarity. I think she intended me to get taken, but I was able to trick her.”

“And what guarantee do we have you aren’t that doppelganger?”

“Applejack and Sweetie Belle say I’m myself. As the element of honesty and my sister, I would say they are best equipped to know. Not to mention I told you, her mane was parted in the wrong direction.”

“That’s a good point, but this seems completely out of nowhere. Why attack you, of all ponies?”

I just wanted to be beautiful.

“I—” Rarity stopped and looked around. Had she heard something? “I don’t know.”

So very beautiful.

“Is it okay if I get some rest? I am exhausted.”

Twilight looked at her a moment, then nodded. “That’s probably for the best. Sweetie Belle, let me know if she acts strangely, or you see anything out of the ordinary, okay?”

“Sure, Twilight! Thank you again!”

The two older ponies left, and Sweetie Belle was all alone with Rarity. Rarity hugged her, then laid herself down and closed her eyes.

“I’m glad you’re back, Rarity.”

“I’m glad to be back, Sweetie. It was all so nonsensical. Why me? Why any of it? For what purpose?” Rarity sighed.

Because if I was going to be real, I would be somepony glamorous. But it was not to be.

Rarity shook her head and flicked her ears. “Wake me in an hour for dinner, okay Sweetie Belle?”

“Sure, Rarity. Sleep well.”

Sweetie pulled the blanket up over her sister, then turned to leave. As she passed the vanity, she put her forehooves up on it and looked at the various bottles, then into the mirror.

Beauty will grow.

Sweetie Belle smiled at her reflection, then dropped down and turned to leave. Her reflection did not, but instead watched as the smaller white mare left the room. It then grinned wide and followed.

The End.