Just a Copy

by Crossover Queen

Rating: mature
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death, Sad, Tragedy, Shining Armor
Length: 1085

When Twilight visits the cemetery, one of the names on a gravestone catches her eye, for the name is her own.

Princess of Friendship.

Element of Magic.

Friend.

Little Sister.

Daughter.

Twilight begins to question everything she thought she knew about herself.

It all started with seeing her own name on a gravestone.

Published 2022-04-11 06:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-04-11 06:50:00 UTC

Chapter 1

Twilight knew she was a good friend.

So, when one of her friends asked her to visit the cemetery with them, she didn’t hesitate.

Twilight followed Pinkie through the old, rusted gates of the Ponyville Cemetery.

“Granny Pie was such a good mare. It’s too bad you never got to know her, Twilight. You two would have liked each other.”, Pinkie said sadly, her mane deflated.

Granny Pie had died last month, and Pinkie was still grieving.

Twilight was about to say something to comfort her hurting friend, when something caught her eye.

There was a gravestone that obviously hadn’t been visited for quite some time. There were weeds all around it, and grime caked the stone.

Frowning, Twilight decided to right this wrong. The pony buried there had a right to be remembered, after all.

When Twilight wiped away the grime, her hood fell to her side in shock.

Here lies Twilight Sparkle. Beloved sister and daughter. May she always be remembered., the stone read.

“This can’t be. This has to be a mistake. A coincidence., Twilight thought.

Twilight didn’t know how long she had sat there staring at the stone, but soon enough, the sky was turning dark, and Pinkie trotted up to Twilight.

“Hey Twilight, thanks for coming with me.”, Pinkie said.

Noticing the look on Twilight’s face, Pinkie stopped.

“Is something wrong?”, Pinkie asked.

Quickly, Twilight got up from the ground, and brushed herself off.

“I’m fine, Pinkie. Let’s go home, it’s getting late.”, said Twilight.

Pinkie gave her friend a look of concern, but didn’t push it. She knew Twilight would talk to her when she was ready.

Pinkie and Twilight parted ways, but Twilight didn’t go home immediately.

No, she had a stop to make.

She went to visit her parents.

Surely they could assure her that everything was fine, that the name on the gravestone was a coincidence, and had nothing to do with her.

Twilight stopped in front of her parents house, and knocked on the door.

“Twilight, so good to see you! Come in!”, her dad said as he answered the door.

Her mother was sitting on the couch reading a book.

“Honey, Twilight is here!”, her dad said.

“Hi honey! What brings you here? No offense, but it is kinda late. Shouldn’t you be in bed? After all, I’m sure you will have a busy morning, being a princess and all.”, her mother asked with pride in her voice.

“Actually, I came to ask you a question. When I was visiting the cemetery, I saw something odd. There was a gravestone with my name on it. Was there a relative I was named after or something?”, Twilight asked.

Her parents paled at her words.

Looking at each other, they both nodded.

“It’s time you learned the truth, honey.”, her dad said.

“You see, we once had another daughter. She got super sick, and the doctors said there was nothing they could do for her. Not even the magic she loved so much could cure her. This daughter of ours was so loved by everyone who met her. She loved magic. She even wanted to go to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. But her dreams would never come true. We couldn’t stand the thought of losing her, so we did the only thing we could to keep even a small part of her alive. While Shining Armor was asleep, we took her to a magic pool of water called the Mirror Pool. When we pulled her out, another filly who looked just like her emerged from the pool with her. She was an exact copy of the original, with only one difference. The other filly was healthy. Our daughter didn’t even last the rest of the night, but we now had another. We knew in our hearts that she would never replace the original, but we raised her as our own anyway. We taught her valuable lessons, told her stories, and sang her songs, just like we did for the original. We thought that maybe she would turn out to have a different personality than that of the original, and were prepared to let her be her own pony, but by a miracle, her personality was quite like the original’s was. We kept the same name for our new daughter as our old ones because we didn’t want Shining Armor to know what had happened to his original little sister. We were hoping to tell you two together, but that didn’t work out. Twilight, that clone was you.”, her mother explained.

Twilight’s mind was reeling.

She was just a clone? Just a copy of somepony else? All her memories, her very identity, none of it was real?

Twilight couldn’t handle it.

Without looking back, she galloped out the door.

Hot tears streaked down her cheeks as she ran, but she couldn’t think of anything she could do except run.

She eventually found herself outside of Sugar Cube Corner, but it was closed.

Just as she was about to walk away, Pinkie opened the door.

No words were needed as the pink mare raced over to her friend and enveloped her into a bond crushing hug.

Twilight cried and cried into her friend’s shoulder, until she couldn’t anymore.

Finally, Twilight smiled, as she realized something.

Even if nothing else was, her friendships were real. She had made them herself, not her original.

All of their adventures were something that she, a mere clone had gone on.

All the laughs, all the parties, and even all the tough times they had went together had been real.

And that would never change.

The next morning, Twilight would go to the grave, and thank the filly buried there.

After all, without her, Twilight wouldn’t exist and be where she was today.

Twilight placed a bouquet of daffodils on the grave, and with one last glance, she walked away.

But this wouldn’t be her last visit.

Later that day, she brought her family, including Shining Armor to the cemetery.

Shining Armor would take more time to come to terms with what happened, but after a couple of days, he visited her.

“No matter what, you’ll always be my little sister best friend forever Twily. I love you.”, he said.

The end. Or is it?

Author's Note

Hi, just wondering if y’all want me to continue this with a second part. Also, does the tag fit, or should I change it? Reviews are much appreciated. Thank you.