Why Don't I Have Wings Like You?

by ThePinkedWonder

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Comedy, Starlight Glimmer, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Twilight Sparkle (EqG)
Length: 5075

Two adorkable pseudo-mad scientists tried to learn why one of them had no wings. Chaos ensued.

Sunset Shimmer and the human Twilight Sparkle decided to come to Equestria to visit Princess Twilight Sparkle, Equestrian Spike, and Starlight Glimmer. While there, the human Twilight asked about something her pony form doesn't have, but Princess Twilight does: alicorn wings.

The two Twilights then went on to solve the mystery of the strangely absent wings. It didn't go well, especially for one of them.

My entry to the "Most Delightful Ponidox" contest. I'd place my bets on it placing in the bottom three if I were you. Easy money people.

Published 2020-10-11 17:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-10-11 17:30:01 UTC

For Magic Twience!

Author's Note

When the Twilight Sparkles are addressed in the narration, Princess Twilight's name will usually be spelled "P-Twilight" & the human Twilight's name will be spelled "H-Twilight".

In dialogue, their names will be spelled normally, but it will be clear which Twilight a character is referring to or addressing.

With that out of the way, on to the story. Let's hope the Twilights don't blow up Equestria or something trying to learn why the human Twi is wingless. You know how stubborn they can be.

Ta-ta!

For Magic Twience!

“You know, why you don’t have wings is a good question,” P-Twilight Sparkle said with a hoof pushed against her cheek. She was sitting on her throne beside the Cutie Map. “It was something I wondered about myself.”

An hour ago, Sunset Shimmer and the Princess of Friendship's human counterpart, H-Twilight Sparkle, had chosen to come to Equestria for a visit. The two visitors each sat in one of the other thrones in the Castle of Friendship’s Cutie Map room; the Twilights sat opposite each other. Spike rested on his smaller throne – right beside P-Twilight – and Starlight Glimmer remained standing.

“Yeah.” H-Twilight glanced at her sides, which mysteriously hadn’t bloomed wings. “I didn’t ask the first two times I was in Equestria, but when I ‘pony up’, I sprout wings that even resemble yours. Shouldn’t I be a winged unic-I mean, alicorn here, like you?”

“Hmm. I was born a unicorn, but if you grow wings when you, uh, pony up, it is strange that you’re not an alicorn right now.”

“I wonder what it means.” Starlight stared intently at H-Twilight. “You seem fine, but could you be altered by magic?”

“I doubt it,” Sunset answered. “It could have happened when she, the Rainbow Dash from my world, and I fell through that second portal connecting our worlds. However, it makes no sense for only Twilight to have been affected.”

H-Twilight sighed dejectedly. “Maybe whatever laws magic obeys here deems me unworthy of alicorn wings here. Alicorns in Equestria are princesses, and it’s not like I’m princess material.”

P-Twilight’s lips weaned into a sympathetic frown. The doubt-filled words of somepony/someone, let alone a version of herself, believing she was inferior made the alicorn’s heart ache. “You shouldn't talk about yourself like that. I’m not some grand pony you can’t measure up to.”

“Yep, even with her Princess of Friendship title, Twi isn’t perfect.” Spike snickered and lay back further in his throne. “I’ll never forget when she disturbed a beehive and fled from the swarm of angry bees. One even stung her right in her–”

P-Twilight glared down at Spike. “Didn’t we agree to never talk about that again? That…*shudder*...wasn’t a pleasant experience.”

Spike’s playful smirk faded, a remorseful frown taking its place. “Sorry. I was only trying to prove your point.”

With an encouraged smile, H-Twilight stared directly at her counterpart. “At any rate, I’ll try not to put myself down again. Let’s just get back to my lack of wings.”

“Let’s see.” Starlight tilted her head down in deep thought. “Magic works differently in Equestria, right? Could that be a reason she’s a unicorn?”

P-Twilight rolled her pupils upward for a second. “I don’t think so. If that was the case, there would have been similar effects on the others when they came, not just her. I have no clue what’s wrong, so I guess this means...” She grinned.

H-Twilight matched the grin.

With a bewildered frown, Spike rubbed his head. “Uh, why are–”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” the Princess asked her alternate self.

“I think so.”

“You want to say it together?”

“Hehe, why not?”

Starlight stared back and forth between the two beaming nerds. “What? What’s go–”

“I guess this means it’s time to perform research!” both Twilights yelled simultaneously.

H-Twilight squealed gleefully. “Not only am I good at solving mysteries, I’ve been dying to learn more about Equestria! There’s still so much I don’t know!”

“Well, now’s your chance! Follow me to my castle’s library, and let’s solve the mystery of your missing wings!”

The two Twilights hopped off their thrones and dashed out of the Map room, both wearing huge smiles, with P-Twilight leading the way.

Starlight, Sunset, and Spike all stared at each other.

“Oh my Celestia, now there are two of them,” Starlight said in a deadpan voice.

Spike chuckled. “Well, there were already two of them, so it was only a matter of time.”

Sunset tittered. “I know how they get when they are excited about something, so let’s just let the Twilights enjoy themselves. It’s not like they’ll release some great beast or something by mistake.”

Two hours later…

In the castle’s library, both Twilights sat on a pink couch near one of its long, tall bookshelves lining the walls. The pair each sped through books, flipping through pages with their magic. Stacks of more books rested beside them and on the floor on both sides of the couch.

P-Twilight closed the book and set it beside her. “Are you having any luck? I still can’t find a thing about why your wings didn’t grow.”

H-Twilight gasped and her pupils shrunk. “Uh…”

“You didn’t find anything either?”

“It’s not that, but…” H-Twilight lowered her book and wore an anxious, if not fearful, frown.

“What’s wrong?”

“Please don’t be mad, but I got absorbed into these fascinating facts about Equestria so much, I...miiiiight have forgotten what I was supposed to be doing. Oops?” Her lips curled into a sheepish smile. Her glasses slightly tilted to the side, as if they felt the nerves of their owner.

P-Twilight giggled. She couldn’t have felt angry, even if she wanted to: curiosity and thirst for knowledge is a classic Twilight Sparkle trait. “Don’t worry, I’m not mad. I would have probably done the same thing if I were you, which I kinda am.”

H-Twilight matched P-Twilight's previous giggle and straightened her glasses with her hooves. “Still, I’m sorry. This time, I won’t forget that I’m searching for why I’m missing wings.”

The Twilights resumed their reading. After ten minutes, P-Twilight gasped with a smile. “Wait, I think I found something!”

“You did?!” H-Twilight asked with a matching smile. “What is it?!”

“According to this, latent magic is believed to sometimes interfere with transformations that should occur. This theory is currently unproven, but it would explain why it’s only you with an altered Equestrian form.”

H-Twilight rubbed the back of her neck. “But in that case, shouldn’t this latent magic have prevented me from turning into a pony at all?”

“I know, and that’s what hurts my theory.” P-Twilight set the book with the valuable information beside her. “However, if I’m correct, I should be able to reverse what happened to you, so your wings would appear.”

“You can?”

“Yes.” In a more excited voice, P-Twilight added, “It would also mark the first time latent magic acting in this manner is demonstrated, making this a groundbreaking discovery for Equestria!” Her smile faded, guilt building in her eyes. “Unfortunately, it would require casting spells on you to verify, so I will understand if you wouldn’t feel comf–”

“Let’s do it,” H-Twilight interrupted with a confident smirk.

“Really? You don’t mind?”

H-Twilight raised her head in certainty. With her eyes closed, she laid a hoof on her chest and answered, “When it comes to progressing science, even magic science, I’ll do anything...that wouldn’t destroy our worlds, of course.” She opened her eyes, grinned nervously, and fidgeted her forehooves.

From both joy and from pride of her younger counterpart, P-Twilight smiled. “Great! If you are sure and trust me, we can begin right away, and I already know what spell to attempt first.” She pointed toward the other side of the library. “But first, can you stand over there and stay still?”

After a nod, H-Twilight hopped off the couch and trotted to the side of the library she was directed to go. She stopped two ponies’ length away from one of the bookshelves.

“Are you ready for the first spell?”

“Beam me up, Princess Twilight!” H-Twilight yelled playfully and snorted.

“Huh?” P-Twilight confusingly cocked her head to the side. “Does that mean you’re ready?”

H-Twilight’s bright, playful smile dimmed into a sheepish one. At least she embarrassed herself to the one least likely to judge her: herself, literally. “Just...do your thing. I’m ready.”

With a glow of her horn, P-Twilight launched a magenta magical blast. The beam struck H-Twilight, but she neither flinched nor yelped from the impact,

Excitement building in her heart, H-Twilight glanced at her sides for wings. Alas, she remained wingless, making her frown from disappointment.

P-Twilight in turn groaned. “I guess Starswirl the Bearded’s old reverse transmutation spell wasn’t enough to–”

H-Twilight’s eyes widened. “Wait, ow!” She sat down and scratched her back fiercely with a hoof, grunting more and more. “Come on hooves, scratch!”

“What’s the matter?!”

“My back won’t stop itching, and I can’t even scratch it with hooves!” H-Twilight swiveled her head back and forth, then she darted to the crystals growing around the library’s nearest green double-door. She stood on her hind legs and started to vigorously rub her back against the crystal’s edges, but wobbled and fell on her rear. While still sitting down, H-Twilight again struggled to scratch herself with hooves, moaning increasingly in frustration and desperation. “Ugh, stupid hooves! Princess Twilight, help me!”

P-Twilight fired a second magenta beam. After its magic made contact with her, H-Twilight let out a deep sigh, a big smile of relief on her lips.

“Oh, that’s much better. Thanks.” She stood up. “How do ponies relieve their itches with hooves, or do you ever itch?”

With a puzzled frown, P-Twilight lifted one of her forehooves and stared at it. “They work fine for me and other ponies, but perhaps you’re just not accustomed to scratching without, uh, fingernails. They are more effective than the edges of hooves.”

“I asked her the same question once about how ponies scratch themselves,” Spike said, walking through a library door opposite the one H-Twilight was still near. Starlight and Sunset followed Spike inside.

“I take it you still haven’t found out why...one of you is missing wings?” Sunset asked.

P-Twilight turned her head toward Sunset. “No, but I did discover a spell that causes incurable itching if cast on ponies.” P-Twilight looked toward H-Twilight, her face wearing a repentant frown. “Twilight, I’m really sorry about that, but at least I know what type of spells won't work. Do you still trust me enough to try again?”

H-Twilight nodded affirmatively. “Of course I do. It will take much more than a bout of an itchy back to discourage me. This is for science, or in our case, ‘twience’! Get it...*snort*...because of ‘science’ and our names are ‘Twilight’?”

“‘Twience’. That’s a good one,” Spike muttered with a chuckle.

Starlight and Sunset tittered with a hoof over their mouths.

H-Twilight giggled at the reactions to her joke. “I’m glad you like my plays on words. Most don’t find them funny, but I think I’m good at clever word plays and puns.”

“Uh, not that I mind the jokes and puns, but if you’re still willing, Twilight, let’s try another spell for our…*giggle*...twience.” P-Twilight gazed at the open book she found the previous spell in. “Now, I’ll cast ‘Neutralizo Spictia’. This spell I’m sure won’t make your back an itchy mess.”

P-Twilight's horn glowed again. Another magenta beam fired.

Even after the magic hit its mark, the library still only housed one alicorn.

“I thought Neutralizo Spictia would have revealed your wings.” P-Twilight blew a disheartened sigh. “But at least–”

H-Twilight’s eyes reddened to become bloodshot. A burst of fire roared from her mouth. She zipped across the library as she yelled, “AH! Sweet mercy, that’s hot! Water, I need water!”

“Uh, h-hold on, Twilight! I’ll be right back with water!” Sunset galloped out of the library.

Spike asked, “Uh, can’t Sunset teleport?”

“Ugh, I can’t take it anymore!” H-Twilight stopped running, spun her head to P-Twilight with red, yet pleading eyes, and hopped frantically in place. “Princess Twilight, do something! Please!”

A beam flew from P-Twilight’s horn and to H-Twilight’s body. The panicking mare smiled and again sighed from relief.

“Oh, thank you so much for cooling my mouth. I’m never eating spicy foods again.”

“And again, I’m so sorry.” P-Twilight rubbed the couch with a hoof, her ears drooping. “I didn’t expect Neutralizo Spictia would make your mouth think you ate all of Equestria’s peppers at once.”

Sunset bolted back in the library, carrying a cup of water in her magic. “Okay, I got...huh?”

“Twi already cooled down Twilight’s mouth.” Spike let out a light gasp. He had never used both Twilights’ names in the same sentence before. “Oh, that sounded weird.”

“Are you two ready to stop?” Starlight asked. “Messing around with spells too much never ends well. Trust me.”

“Not a chance!” H-Twilight shouted with a shake of her head. “I want to keep going!”

“You sure?” Sunset asked with a concerned frown. “We can trust Princess Twilight, but still–”

“As I already told her, I will do almost anything for science, even magic science. She hasn’t injured me with her spells.”

Despite fighting some hesitation, P-Twilight nevertheless smiled. Her plan was much rougher on H-Twilight, but if the teen was still raring to continue, so was the Princess. “Okay, and I’m glad you still have faith in me. We just have to solve this conundrum and prove one of Equestria’s oldest theories!” She gazed in her book, muttering the words she read. She came across a different spell and said, “This spell I believe will work: Kramaits Warpia. A property of it is even designed to set things right.”

Sunset laid the cup of water she held in her magical levitation onto the library’s table. She forced herself to remember that it was Princess Twilight Sparkle, one of the most skilled mages in Equestria and bearer of the Element of Magic, casting the spell.

Another magic beam from P-Twilight's horn fired. It hit and transformed H-Twilight into a lavender ball a fourth the size of her pony body. She oddly still bore a mouth and eyes, but her glasses fell to the floor. She immediately bounced all over the library, knocking down a few books each time she bumped into a bookshelf.

P-Twilight kept her eyes on the ball. However, Sunset, Starlight, and Spike dropped on their stomachs and covered the top of their heads.

“Ow, watch out! I don’t know what happened or even what I am, but my body’s moving on its own! Ow!”

P-Twilight leapt off her couch and unleashed more beams from her horn, each landing right behind H-Twilight.

“Princess Twilight, aren’t you gonna do something?! Ow! This hurts!”

“I’m trying, but you’re bouncing around so quickly, my cancel spells keep missing! I’ll get you sooner or later!”

“Ow! I hope it’s ‘sooner’ rather than ‘later’!”

Spike warned, “Twi, she’s getting too close to you! Watch out–”

P-Twilight spun her head to Spike, but was smashed into by H-Twilight, head-on, a second later. The impact sent P-Twilight flying into a bookshelf with a painful grunt, and the screaming sphere ricocheted in the opposite direction and continued her uncontrollable bouncing. Books from the shelf rained on top of the downed alicorn, only leaving her head uncovered.

Still lying on the floor, Starlight, Sunset, and Spike grimaced from the previous Twilight-to-Twilight collision.

“Ow! I’m so sorry! That wasn’t on purpose! I promise!”

P-Twilight stayed still, her eyes spinning. Imaginary lavender balls, all wearing glasses, circled her head.

“Oof. That gives new meaning to ‘bouncing off each other’,” Starlight said.

Sunset commented, “At least the spherical Twilight’s glasses fell off, or they would be ruined now.”

“Starlight, Sunset, can’t one of you do something to help them?!”

P-Twilight rattled her head to snap out of her stunned state. She shook off the books blanketing her, jumped to her hooves, and unleashed another beam. This one connected, converting H-Twilight back into her unicorn body.

Back to normal, H-Twilight wobbled and collapsed to the floor. “Whew! I’m…*pant*...me again. Are…*pant*...you okay, Princess Twilight? I REALLY didn’t mean to…*pant*...hit you.”

“I’ve had worse, and it wasn't your fault.” P-Twilight moaned and rubbed her neck. “Thanks to Kramaits Warpia working differently than I anticipated, you couldn’t control yourself.”

Spike crossed his arms, but remained lying on his stomach. “If that spell ‘set things right’ by getting you clobbered for what you’re doing to her, Twi, I'd say the kram-something spell did its job.”

P-Twilight bit her lip, looked away, and tapped the floor in shame.

Spike, Starlight, and Sunset all stood up and gazed at the books spread out on the floor. Starlight’s horn glowed turquoise, and she zipped across the library in a blur. In a mere two seconds, all the misplaced books were returned to the bookshelves.

“Wow, Starlight! What spell was that?” Sunset asked with an amazed smile.

“Oh, it’s a hard spell to master, but I cast an Accelero spell to raise my speed,” Starlight answered, smugly pressing her hoof against her mane.

“Yeah, Starlight’s unbelievable in magic,” Spike commented. “She can even give Twilight a run for her bits...the alicorn one, that is.”

“An Accelero spell? That is a hard spell to master, but you made it look so easy! How you didn’t go to Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns is beyond me!”

Once her panting ceased, H-Twilight pushed herself to her hooves. At the same time, P-Twilight forced herself to stand and stumbled back to her couch.

Sunset’s smile soured into an annoyed frown. “Okay, you two mad scientists really should knock it off before one or both of you get hurt.”

“I agree with Sunset. This is getting out of hand,” Spike echoed.

H-Twilight shook her head defiantly and even stomped a hoof. “No way! I didn’t go through all that for nothing! Besides, mistakes and drawbacks are an unfortunate part of experiments. But, maybe I should keep my glasses off.” H-Twilight levitated her glasses, still lying on the floor, onto a table.

“If she’s not ready to give up, I’m not either.” P-Twilight peeked in one of her books of spells again. After ten seconds, she smiled. “I feel lucky with this one! It’s called ‘Polariza Embracits’.”

Spike, Starlight, and Sunset groaned. All they could do was hope that their adamant friends wouldn’t feel too much pain if things went wrong again.

Once again, a beam from P-Twilight’s horn fired. This time, H-Twilight warped into an orange pegasus. Her feminine eyelashes vanished and her body was larger and stockier. She stared down at herself and her wings with a bewildered frown.

“Uh, am I–wait, what’s wrong with my voice?!” H-Twilight asked in a male voice, her pupils shrinking by half. “I sound like a guy!”

Starlight’s jaw dropped. “Okay, I did NOT see that coming, but at least we’re getting warmer. She, uh, he, has wings now.”

Sunset muffled a laugh. “I didn’t expect to see Flash today, but especially not THIS way!”

“Never before in my life have I felt so awkward. Change me back, Princess Twilight, before my guy-brain starts thinking about muscles or the butts of girls!”

P-Twilight stared at the now-male H-Twilight. Both her cheeks glowed red.

Spike ran to Twilight, hopped on her couch, and poked her in her ribs. “Focus, Twi! That’s you, not Flash Sentry.”

“Of course, sorry.” Her cheeks cooling to their normal lavender color. “I didn’t mean to cast that spell.”

After yet another beam of magic was released, H-Twilight reverted into a unicorn mare.

“Well, that happened.” H-Twilight sighed, despite being herself again. “0 for 4.”

In a firm yet understanding voice, Sunset said, “Look, I know how much science means to you two. But, as your friend, seriously, you should give this up before we end up with a giant squid in here.”

With a groan, H-Twilight stared toward the floor. Her fiery researcher spirit was far from quenched, but even the gutsiest of scientists knew when enough is enough. She lifted her head and said, “I hate to admit it, but maybe you’re right, Sunset. How about we try just one more time?”

P-Twilight nodded in agreement. “That’s a good idea. As much as I want to discover the secret of your absent wings, you’re my friend, not my test subject. I’ll cast the Polariza Embracits spell for real, and if it fails, we’ll stop.”

One more beam fired from P-Twilight’s horn.

Wings materialized on H-Twilight sides. Her horn lengthened marginally longer and her neck also slightly curved, matching P-Twilight’s horn and neck. She spread out one of her new wings, staring at it with a huge grin. “You did it, Princess Twilight! I have wings now and I’m still...female!”

P-Twilight, grinning mightily, jumped off the couch and hopped in circles while H-Twilight hopped in place. Both cheered in pure joy.

“Way to go, Twilights! You‘re both alicorns now!” Sunset cheered with a smile of both pride and of amusement of the Twilights’ cheering.

H-Twilight stopped hopping, frowned, and again stared at one of her wings. The act forced the Princess to cease hopping as well.

“What’s wrong?” Spike asked. “Is something wrong with your wings?”

“My wings are fine, but I felt a peculiar feeling that I made someone, somewhere, furious. Yet, I don’t know what I did wrong.”

P-Twilight laid a hoof on her cheek, recalling the day when she ascended to alicornhood. “You too, huh? I experienced the same sensation when I first gained my wings, but it also felt like many were happy for me too. Maybe the rush of those feelings is a side effect of growing alicorn wings.”

“Weird feelings aside, what did you do to make her wings pop up?” Spike asked.

“The spell I cast has a seal-breaking effect, so what was sealing her wings was broken. Now I can finally–”

*CRASH!*

“What was that?!” Starlight asked with a frightened frown, swinging her head back and forth.

“No idea, but it came from outside. We should check it out,” P-Twilight suggested, her voice in a leadership tone.

The five friends hurried out of the Map room, down the castle's hallways, and soon out of the front door.

Once the friends were outside, they gasped deeply. A mysterious portal had opened from the sky but was shrinking in size. On the ground was a massive, nauseatingly slimy, green, bear-shaped creature with sharp claws and bloody-red eyes. It stood half the height of the castle and was menacingly creeping toward the castle. Luckily, it was a safe distance away, for the moment.

“What the *bleep* is that thing?!” H-Twilight shouted, pointed toward the beast right after the portal fully closed. She despised swearing, but when surprised enough, she can let profanity slip out on rare occasions. Luckily for her dignity, Equestrian swear words are different from human ones. “I wanted to learn more about Equestria, but not this bad!”

“I have no idea what–“ P-Twilight’s mouth and eyes widened, horror screaming from them. “Oh, no! How in Celestia’s name could I have forgotten?! That’s why you didn’t become an alicorn!”

“What?! You know what’s going on?!” Starlight asked, eyes still on the huge creature.

“Yes! If two or more similar-enough alicorns exist at the same time, the alicorns’ presence can draw interdimensional beasts to Equestria. In the distant past, Starswirl the Bearded even cast a spell to prevent this from ever happening, and the Polariza Embracits spell must have broken it!" She facehoofed. "What have I done?”

I was only joking about them releasing some great beast! Sunset thought to herself. What compelled her to make jokes about it earlier?

“Wow, Twi. First, the Pony of Shadows, now this. What abomination will you free next? The legendary Cthulhu?”

“Not the time to pick on her, Spike,” Starlight said. “What are we going to do about our ‘visitor’?”

“Uh, Twilight growing wings caused this, right? So let’s get rid of them!” Spike reached for and yanked repeatedly on P-Twilight’s wings.

“Ow! Spike, it’s not like her wings are props, and you’re pulling on the wrong Twilight’s wings anyway! Ow!”

Spike released the wings, wearing a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Twi. Without her wearing glasses and now with wings, it’s easy to mix you two up.”

H-Twilight wrapped her wings around each other to securely hold them.

“It’s okay. At least it’s more understandable this time, unlike when Ember couldn’t tell Starlight and me apart.” P-Twilight rubbed the wing Spike pulled on. “As for that monstrosity, if I read right about that type of interdimensional creature, unless it’s stopped soon, it will become stronger, more aggressive, and eventually become unstoppable. Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie just had to pick this week to go on vacation.” P-Twilight sighed. She didn’t want to ask, but she needed all the help she could get. “I hate to admit it, but I might need all of you with me to defeat it. For Ponyville’s, no, Equestria’s sake, can you help me?”

Starlight, Spike, and Sunset nodded as they answered, “Yes!”

H-Twilight relaxed her wings and shook her head, hard, a fearful frown on her face. “No! I want to help, but I'm not used to this form! There’s not even enough time for me to read a ‘bookworm’s guide to using an alicorn’s body’ book or something! I...I...” H-Twilight started panting hard and fast.

With a reassuring smile, P-Twilight gently laid her hooves on her hysterical counterpart’s cheeks, quickly relaxing her. “Wait, calm down, listen to me, Twilight. You possess the power of an alicorn right now, making you one of the strongest ponies in Equestria.”

“But I can’t even scratch my nose like this! I’ll just get in your way if I try to fight!”

“You won’t need to...scratch yourself to fight with magic, and you already know how to tap into your full power.”

“I do?”

“She does?” Spike, Starlight, and Sunset asked in unison.

“Of course she does! She’s me, and my true power comes from something I’m sure she understands: the magic of friendship!”

“But will even friendship be enough? I’m you, but I’m not you!”

The veteran alicorn’s smile deepened. “You’re close enough. I would never ask you to fight something like that monster if I had doubts.”

The newest alicorn’s frown softened into a reassured smile. ”You really think I can?”

P-Twilight nodded, her eyes oozing trust. “I KNOW you can. Just tru–”

“Uh, Twilight squared?” Sunset nervously pointed at the approaching monster. “I know you two are in a heartwarming Twilight x Twilight moment, but big, green, and ugly’s getting closer!”

“Oh, right.” P-Twilight moved her hooves off her counterpart’s cheeks. “But, Twilight, don’t attempt to fly. Leave any air attacks to Starlight and me.”

“And I’ll show you how I can fly when we fight, so don’t ask what she meant.”

P-Twilight motioned towards the behemoth. “Now, let’s go, and as Rainbow Dash and – according to Sunset – even Fluttershy says, whoop that thing’s butt!”

With war cries, the five fighters galloped from the castle, ready for intense combat.

Thirty minutes and one narrowing five-on-one battle later…

Covered in bruises, the five friends returned to the castle and limped into its library. H-Twilight didn’t have her wings, and her horn and neck had returned to their unicorn states.

“Oh, that was a close one,” Spike muttered wearily.

“Yeah.” Starlight briefly massaged her back. “Even with two alicorns and the five of us fighting together, that thing was tough.”

“But we still won, and I’m so proud of you all, especially you, Twilight. I knew you had all the power you needed.”

H-Twilight smiled bashfully. “Thanks, Princess Twilight. I still can't believe that my magic blasts were so powerful, the last one canceled that polariza embracits spell you cast on me.”

“And with you a unicorn again, we won’t have to fight something like that monster again,” Spike pointed out with a chuckle. “You saved Twi the trouble of turning you back without meaning to.”

“At least we caught some kind of break today." Sunset levitated to her the cup of water she had brought in the library earlier. She gulped down the water and set the cup back down. "I needed that. Now, if it’s okay with you all, I’m going back through the portal and go home. I need to lie down and rest.” She grimaced from the pain of her bruises. “Ouch. Unless I magically heal when I reach the other side, I’m going to be feeling that tomorrow. And that...and that...and that one for sure!”

“I will go with you too, Sunset. I’ve learned enough about Equestria for now,” H-Twilight said with a giggle at the end, despite the soreness of her body.

“I can use a quick nap myself,” Spike said.

“Same here. I’m so glad Trixie won’t need my help with her shows today.”

“I guess I’ll join the club and go rest too.” P-Twilight rubbed her back with a moan. “Sunset, Twilight, come back and visit me anytime. My castle will always be open and hopefully, your next visit will be less...eventful. Oh, and Twilight?”

”Yes?”

“I know you wanted to call me ‘Princess Twilight’ out of respect, but you can just call me ‘Twilight’ from now on.” P-Twilight rubbed the floor as she admitted, “It’s feeling a little weird hearing myself use titles for me.”

“Hehe, I will if you really want me to, Twilight.” H-Twilight weakly turned her head to Sunset. “Well, Sunset, let’s go back.”

Spike gasped and stared at the lone alicorn of the group. “Wait, before I go to bed, there’s something I want to ask you, Twi.”

“What is it?”

“When you cast the spell that turned the other you into Flash Sentry, you said you didn’t mean to cast it. If that’s true, does that mea–”

P-Twilight’s pupils shrunk. With a flash of magenta light, she teleported from the library without uttering a word.

The four left in the library turned their heads back and forth.

“Where did she go?” Starlight asked. “What was that about?”

Sunset “answered” with a giggle. H-Twilight merely cocked her head in confusion.

The dragon snickered to himself. “Well, at least she didn’t forget she can teleport like she sometimes does when she panics.”