Twilight’s Doppelgänger

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Interlude - Luna

Chapter 1

Her hooves were cracked, and her coat and mane covered with a layer of dirt and dust, her eyes now a dull purple instead of the vibrant violet. Wearing a tattered cloak blowing in the sandstorm winds, she soldiered on. Twilight had been on this journey from the other side of the world for years, now. She saw creatures she could only imagine, some who wanted nothing more to skin and eat her for dinner, or sell her as a slave to the highest bidder, or far worse that she refused to think about. These were lands that did not know friendship, only power and survival of the fittest.

She had almost lost her life more times than she could count, simply from being naive or thinking every creature could have the kind or gentle nature of the ponies she had known. Her kind wasn’t welcome here, so she donned a tattered cloak to hide her nature. Through these long years, all she could think about was what she did wrong, or why nobody (pony, she slipped again) bothered to search for her. For all she knew, she was cast out of equestria for ruining Starswirl’s spell or angered Celestia somehow. This would not be a problem had she made some friends, but all these creatures wanted from her were to harm her or steal what little she had. She tried, she really did. All her lessons in friendship were as good as useless outside of Equestria.

Growing tired for the moment, she decided she needed a drink. Finding a tavern, she tossed over a few gold coins she stole via teleport from an unsuspecting shopkeeper to the bartender. “Something refreshing if you don’t mind.”
Cupping the drink in her hooves, she sighed. Even after all these years, it never got any easier to steal from others. Due to the unicorns being unheard of in these parts, she risked her life trying to make money honestly. When she did, she almost got conned into selling herself as someone’s plaything. Stealing is the only way to survive here and being honest never got her anywhere. If Applejack were here...

“So I heard them ponies are gonna open trade wit’ us soon.”
Twilight turned her attention to two fish people conversing at a table nearby.
“Aye. They destroyed the Storm King and now they want to be friends.”
“Haha who cares o’ bout dat?”
Lucky for her it seemed Equestria made contact with Klugetown a few months ago. Meaning she was close to home. She could hardly believe it. She almost wanted to break down and cry right there, but held her tongue. She could see her friends again! Her family! Celestia and Luna! They were just across the desert and a few miles more past that was a train station. Compared to almost five years of dodging angry centaurs, slavers, and braving the elements that was nothing. She galloped out and right through the desert that separated Klugetown and Equestria. It would be a few days trek but nothing she couldn’t handle.
——————

Twilight adjusted her regalia and triple, no, QUADRUPLE checked she had everything ready for the her first official day as ruler. First impressions are everything, and she knew this would be what historians would write about in books about her in the future.
“Are you ready Spike?”
“Huh. You really have the ‘I’m totally not going to freak out for real’ thing down now.”
“Har har, character development, I know,” she giggled.
“Ahem, anyway... shall I bring the first pony in for court your highness?”
“Still going to need to get used to you speaking like that. And yes, let’s begin.”
Putting on her most stoic yet kind and friendly face, she opened her first day court.
—————

Once she arrived at the station and boarded, she began to see some ponies... oh how she missed them! And many other creatures too. Those fish people were right about trade opening up. But that wasn’t the end. The view from this route was something else. It went through hippogriff lands and had rather scenic views of the ocean. Twilight was nearly glued to the window taking it all in, how just a few years could change everything. It’s good that Equestria was still staying true to harmony and friendship, they at least found some creatures of a similar mindset.

“First thing I need to do is see them again. I could use a good party with some cake. Sheesh, when WAS the last time I didn’t eat rotten food or meat?” She sighed as she stared out the window. Twilight somehow survived off the disgusting diet but her body wasn’t holding up too well in the looks department with the scars and dullness of her coat. On the bright side, her hardened lifestyle made her able to survive long stints without food or water and she had amazing endurance.

The train chugged through fields of dandelions and sunflowers (she could really go for some of those right now) before arriving at the long awaited Ponyville stop. Twilight gasped.
“Sweet Celestia...”
Ponyville had grown so much, many more ponies and even other creatures now roamed the streets. But what took her breath away was the crystalline castle standing above it all, with a school building next to it, or at least what she thought looked like a school. Twilight slowly uncovered her hood as she stood away from the train station, her matted hair swaying in the wind. She did it! She was really back! She couldn’t hold it back anymore. Twilight let out the most sorrowful yet happy cry of her life. Tears streaming, she screamed, “It’s finally over... it’s finally over!” Many ponies looked at her strangely and some very concerned.
“Miss... are you okay?” A unicorn stallion stared at her.
“Y-yes... I’m fine.”

Twilight pulled the hood back over her and walked to town. First thing was to see Spike again. He would have been so distraught that she absolutely had to reassure him first. The town luckily still had a familiar layout to her so she navigated it with relative ease. But as she got closer to the crystal tree, she realized something had changed quite a lot. Her treebrary was gone. Somehow this tree replaced it, but she had no idea what kind of magic could do something like this. She didn’t want to dwell on it now, though. And the building next to it was definitely a school on closer inspection, with a variety of creatures moving in and out of it.

“Hmm... I wonder if it’s a magic school? But creatures like griffons can’t use magic. Odd.”
She looked back to the tree and she wondered if Spike still lived in Ponyville. Wouldn’t hurt to try, she could just ask the current librarian if she knew his whereabouts. She knocked on the crystal doors.
“Hello! It’s Twilight Sparkle! Is Spike there?”
She heard clip clopping of hooves and what sounded like... feet? The doors opened to a green earth pony with a sea turtle cutie mark and an orange dragonness.
“Uh... Twilight? Aren’t you supposed to be at the castle?” The dragonness tilted her head quizzically.
Twilight glanced towards Canterlot.
“I lived in Ponyville, I don’t live with Celestia even though I am her student. And you’ve heard of me?”
The two looked at each other, completely baffled. The dragonness snorted and quipped,
“Okay, I’m gonna assume you hit your head or something because that makes NO SENSE.”
Twilight didn’t have time for this dragon’s sass, she just wanted to see Spike and her friends.
“Listen, I just need to see my friends. Do you know of them?” She answered, her teeth pushing together in frustration.
“If you mean the other elements of harmony, yeah. Just go look for Applejack or Pinkie Pie selling food in town. I couldn’t tell you about the others.”
Groaning, Twilight turned away and ran straight to the central marketplace.
“Sheesh, what’s her problem? Did she like skip out on being a princess or something?”
“Wow, you think she did that, Smolder?”
Smolder rolled eyes. “If it’s like having tea parties and wearing fru fru dresses I would too.”

Applejack felt odd not saying her daily greeting to Twilight. It has become part of her routine, just like apple bucking and selling apples. It felt like a part of her was missing now, and it just felt wrong. But she knew Twilight was meant to rule, it was her destiny and her personal feelings weren’t all that important on something as big as ruling a country. She adjusted her hat and put on her best, and still honest smile for the customers regardless.
“Applejack! Applejack!”
Speaking of her, AJ spotted a cloaked figure that sounded a lot like her good friend.
“Twilight? What’re you doin’ here sugar cube? Ain’t ya supposed to be up in Canterlot?”
“Applejack!”
Twilight squeezed AJ tightly with tears in her eyes, her body shaking with anxiety yet joy at seeing the first pony she met all those years ago when Celestia told her to make friends.
“Are you alright Twilight? You’re shakin’ something fierce. And why are you wearing a cloak?”
Wiping her tears, the unicorn uncloaked herself, revealing her face to someone for the first time in awhile. Her mane was an oily mess, while her face was missing fur in some areas, and a thick scar across her muzzle and eye. She looked like she hadn’t bathed in months.
“Sweet Celestia have mercy, what happened to you, Twilight?”
“I’m so sorry it took me this long to get back to you all. You’re still my friends and I would never forget you. It’s a long story, but I’ll tell you later, I need food for sugarcube corner first. That’s still a thing, right?”
“I don’t understand what ya mean, but we should get you fixed up. Ya look like... well I can’t even say.” Applejack winced just looking at her condition.
“Food first, AJ. I’m starving.”
Applejack tossed a big and bright apple over.
“Help yourself. Let’s get you some more grub at Pinkie’s and then a hospital, Twi. I mean it.”
Twilight devoured the Apple in a single bite and it only made her hungrier. She hasn’t eaten that good in so long she would need several more meals before she would feel satisfied again. Maybe even more than that.

Applejack soon made her way to Sugarcube corner with a cloaked Twilight following behind.
“Oh, hey AJ! GASP! Twilight what happened?” Pinkie whiplashed her mood so quickly, Twilight sure missed that quirk of hers.
“Pinkie, I’m going to need several cakes, cookies, donuts and various other confectionaries stat. It’s an emergency.”
“Say no more, Twi. Coming right up!” Pinkie immediately bolted to the kitchen and whipped up the order in a few mere seconds. Good old Pinkie defying physics and logic, Twilight mused.
Her plate was filled nearly to the ceiling with pastries and it STILL looked lacking. The hunger was truly something. Twilight immediately went to gorging herself and finished in a record time that Pinkie would have respected and maybe even feared a little.
“Wow Twilight! Even I’ve never eaten them that fast! You totally have to challenge me to an eating contest sometime!”
“All in good time, Pinkie. Now that I’m fed I need you and AJ to get the girls together. I have a lot to talk about.”
It sounded serious, and if Twilight was away from ruling it could mean the fate of Equestria.
“No problemo! I’ll round up Fluttershy and see if she can get Dash!”
“Twi I think you should come with me to see Rarity and get cleaned up. She’s mighty busy these days but I think she might be in Ponyville today.”
Twilight couldn’t disagree with that.
“Right. Let’s meet at carousel boutique then.”

Rarity shrieked in such a high pitched one of her windows cracked.
“Twilight we simply must get you to the spa and the hospital! Ahem, maybe not necessarily in that order...” she blushed.
“Im fine, Rarity. I just need to get cleaned up is all. The scars are pretty much healed. Mind if I use your shower?”
Rarity sighed, “that’s fine, but I WILL be taking you to the spa as soon as possible after this.”
Twilight waved her hoof lazily, “yeah yeah, I’ll be fine. Just need some good soap and water and I’ll be good as new.” She trotted off.
“Uh Rarity did Twi seem off to ya?”
“If you mean besides smelling like... eugh.... I know. She seems, different. I can’t put my hoof on it...”
—————
“Aaand that’s recess!”
Twilight groaned.
“I’m SO done. I don’t even know how Celestia put up with this everyday, let alone for 1000 years.”
“Celestia put a lot of faith in you for a reason. She knows you’re just as capable as her of doing this.”
“Ugh, yeah I know but ponies can be just...”
“
“Check all of the above.”
—————

Everyone gathered at Rarity’s and conversed amongst each other about Twilight’s condition.
“You think the trio are back for round two?” Rainbow Dash looked ready for a battle and scowled.
“Oh goodness, I hope not. At least we do have Discord and the bell this time I suppose...” Fluttershy pondered.
“Whatever it is, Twi was looking more haggard than Big Mac during an applebuckin’ all-nighter.”
“That bad huh?”
“Bad? Rainbow she looked positively dreadful! No, WORSE! I’ve never seen her look like that in all the time I’ve known her.”
“Oh, maybe she had a super duper epic fight with twenty manticores and five hydras!” Pinkie chirped as the others shook their heads.
Twilight stepped into the main room without her cloak.
“Sorry that took so long, that was more dirt than I expected heh...” she stretched her legs while rotating her ears happily and had a lazy, lopsided smile.
Fluttershy fainted, Rarity pulled out the couch and began crying into it, Pinkie’s mane deflated and RD and AJ simply looked at her in sheer horror.
“Girls...? What’s wrong?” Twilight finally showed some worry on her face to them.
“Twi what in tarnation happened to your wings?!”
“Okay where are they? They’re gonna pay for doing that to you! Not even Cozy Glow was that bad!” Rainbow Dash looked like she was out for blood. Twilight was concerned by their reactions, for so many reasons and some she couldn’t fathom. She needed to catch them up to speed and figure out what had happened in her abscence.
“I’ll explain everything. I know it’s been awhile since I’ve seen you all, and it’s a long story.”

“So wait, how have you been away this whole time when we just saw you like, a few days ago? Time travel?”
“No, Dash. I really have been traveling from across the world to come back here. I don’t even remember any of the stuff about becoming a princess or ruling Equestria. It’s like you’ve known a different pony this whole time...”
“Oh yeah, so how do we know YOU aren’t a fake Twilight then?” Rainbow pointed at her accusingly.
“Can it, Dash she’s tellin’ the truth. I can tell.”
Having recovered from her fainting spell, Fluttershy stepped forward.
“Do you think Twilight used a spell to make a copy of herself? Is that possible?” Fluttershy looked at Rarity, who shrugged at this. Twilight looked away in thought at the question, for it may just be close to the answer.
“Hmmm like the mirror pool?” Pinkie suggested.
“Definitely not that. The last time I was with you all, I had fixed your destinies back to what they should be. Then I completed Starswirl’s spell. Perhaps that somehow caused two versions of myself to manifest... I just don’t know how. The spell had to do with destiny... destiny...” Her eyes widened in realization. If she were right, it would turn everyone’s lives upside down, and perhaps all of Equestria! She grimaced at the thought, let alone saying it out loud.

—————

“Oh sweet Celestia it’s finally over!” Twilight had bags in her eyes and many hairs in her mane out of place from sheer stress of dealing with so many ponies all day. The fact that Celestia kept her regal look all the time despite this meant she had a way to go before reaching that level of composure.
“Hey look on the bright side, pretty soon people will be saying YOUR name when they get that tired!”
“Oh that’ll be something, alright.” Twilight smiled warmly.
Suddenly, her throne room doors burst open to reveal guards.
“Your highness, we have received word from the elements of something requiring your attention immediately.”
And just as quick, her smile turned into a frown.

—————

Twilight wanted to throw up. She saw another version of HERSELF standing in the throne, with patches of skin visible, scars on both body and face, cracked and worn hooves, and a tail that looked almost like a lion’s due to missing hair. She was so thin her ribs were showing, and had almost no fat at all on her. She would have assumed her mirror self if not for the fact that she had no glasses and had a different air about her that showed through without her even needing to speak. One that said she had a hard life. But if that weren’t all, she had no wings either. It was like looking at herself before she became an alicorn. She wanted to throw up because a part of her felt guilty for doing nothing to help doppelgänger, and that she had never seen a creature in such a sorry state as this in her whole life.
“We messed up, Twilight.” The shadow of her spoke tensely.
“What do you mean? Who are you?”
“I am you, if one such destiny was fulfilled.”
They were both silent for a moment, letting those words hang in the air to punctuate their meaning. She continued.
“Our destiny was split in two when we completed Starswirl’s spell. One of us successfully fulfilled theirs. The other, with nowhere to go, was displaced and unchanged.”
“You mean... this wasn’t supposed to be my destiny?” Confusion grew on the mare’s face as she wondered how this could even occur.
“Oh, it is. You are fulfilling your destiny.” She replied matter of factly.
“But if we’re the same, how are they so different? That would be like changing your cutie mark! And we have the same one.” Alicorn Twilight looked down at her mark and frowned.
“Starswirl’s spell was just a way of fulfilling my destiny, but cutie marks can have more than one way of doing this. Celestia would have always given me that task but I could have simply fulfilled it in a different way, it’s not set in stone or we would have no free will in our destinies when it comes to a cutie mark. This spell fulfilled it by creating a copy of my soul to fulfill it in that particular way that Celestia wished. This soul gained a body somehow but I’m not sure how becoming an alicorn works since I didn’t experience what you did.”
The alicorn replied back in confidence,
“It’s a place Celestia called Caellum, a realm full of heavenly bodies. She showed me memories of my life and told me my destiny was to be fulfilled. Then... I gained these,” she pointed to her wings.
Unicorn Twilight’s gears in her mind started turning after learning this, and a horrific idea popped into her mind. She gritted her teeth.
“She knew.”
Alicorn Twi looked frightened at how aggressive her other self was becoming, her eyes taking on a non-pony predatory glare.
“She knew the whole time and did NOTHING. She didn’t stop there, but toyed with another me just to add to her amusement. I would laugh at how ridiculous it sounds if it all didn’t make so much sens—.”
“Um, excuse me for interrupting, but you’re saying Celestia caused this? Why would she do that? She’s not evil or at least I can’t remember her doing anything like that. It could just be a flaw in the spell?” Alicorn Twilight paced a bit, trying to figure it all out in a calm manner.
“Celestia was always playing the long game, Twilight. I put the pieces together after hearing of her retirement, your ascension, and how she groomed me my entire life. Add in Discord and all the pieces are right there, in plain sight.” Unicorn Twilight wasn’t joking in the least bit, she looked deadly serious.
“That still doesn’t explain how she would know you exist somewhere or that I’m a copy of you. She may have made a mistake.” Alicorn Twilight shook her head.
“I would have thought the same, if not for the detail you said about going over your memories and about the meaning of Caellum itself.” Unicorn Twilight calmed down a little.
“How so?”
“I’ll ask you a question first. When Celestia went through your memories how thorough were they?”
“Ah, not super thorough or anything... there were windows of my life that went through every important event but they all started from when I got my cutie mark, leading up to my ascension.”
Unicorn Twilight nodded. “That’s about what I thought. Now I’ll explain why Caellum is important to this. I’ve read many incredibly old tomes that mentioned that realm as a place where stars are born and even going as far to say where the souls of ponies are created in the oldest texts.”
“Souls...”
“Now think about this. The spell Starswirl made used the entirety of the elements of harmony as a power source, and I was the blueprint, with the beam aimed at myself. Caelum doesn’t just mean heavenly bodies, it also means “the engraver’s chisel” in old Ponish. This spell was sent to me for a reason, to create you. You were chiseled out of my memories, soul, and the emotions and memories of the elements themselves. You are quite literally a copy of me up to that point in time, but the experiences you remember aren’t real. They were implanted. It works well enough I suppose, but true experiences trump memories in some cases. Either way, Celestia knew you would be created from me. You can’t create a new soul from nothing, after all. Perhaps she didn’t realize my old body would still exist elsewhere instead of being destroyed, but make no mistake she knew what she was doing when she met you in that realm.”
The alicorn copy could say nothing, her jaw simply hung open in shock. But it made sense. So much sense! A bombshell was just dropped on her world.
“So what should we do? Maybe she was just a little misguided...”
“No, Twilight. Luna was misguided. I should know, as I personally interacted with her and saw a side of her most didn’t know. That event would only exist as memories for you, but I experienced it first hoof. She lashed out in jealousy and rage, and was consumed by it. But she was truly in pain deep down inside. Celestia never saw that, somehow.” She let out a ragged, sad sigh, her throat tightening hard. ‘Now she never will’, she thought to herself, knowing that Luna also retired and never saw more than a few short years on the throne compared to her sister. She just wanted to be her equal.
“Celestia planned much of this out. Not all of it, of course. She’s not omniscient. That’s not misguided, that’s premeditated.” She stared straight into the eyes of the alicorn, bearing the weight of her next words deep into her core, “in order to fulfill my destiny, she had to let me die.”

Author's Note

Had this idea after seeing that one European cover on a pony DVD that had two Twilights in it. This isn’t going to be an epic or anything, but I do kind of want to write a prequel as well about unicorn Twilight’s trip around the world.

Chapter 2

“Oh my, that’s another point for me, Tia!” The lunar alicorn grinned.
“I have a few tricks up my sleeve, sister. You haven’t bested me yet.” The solar alicorn replied back with a smile.
They were playing a particularly riveting game, neither side winning over the other.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
Celestia and Luna both looked up, surprised. They usually didn’t get visits this late at night.
“I’ll get it. Maybe a neighbor.”
Luna went to open the door, but Celestia somehow knew this wasn’t going to be good.
“Twilight? I’m surprised to see you here at this hour.” Luna paused for a moment and looked beside Twilight.
“And who is that in the cloak beside you? A new friend?”
Now Celestia was curious. She came up behind her sister and took in Twilight and the stranger.
Twilight looked nervous and irritated, as she glanced back at the two alicorns. Like she had a particularly difficult math problem to solve.

“Celestia, Luna, there’s a lot that needs to be explained tonight. Do you mind if we come in?”
Celestia beamed, “Of course, Twilight. You are always welcome here.” Her mane almost rippled back more fervently as she replied.
Luna nodded her approval and shut the door behind them.
“Would you like some tea?” Celestia chirped.
“No thank you. Just want to talk. It’s important.”
Luna and Celestia both gave concerned looks.
“Trouble in court? I know the feeling.” Luna remembered her day of switching roles with Celestia after Starlight Glimmer’s spell.
“No, nothing like that. I just have a few questions.”
Celestia looked at the stranger to Twilight’s right. She thought it may have something to do with them, her instincts were rarely wrong.
“Take a seat. And your friend…?” Celestia looked curiously at the cloaked figure.
“She is a bit shy and doesn’t want to reveal herself at the moment. Give her time.”

Both Celestia and Luna looked perplexed and wondered who this pony or perhaps even creature could be, but they decided not to comment further on it.
“My first question is this, did you plan for me to ascend the throne? I mean, before you wanted to retire?”
Celestia sighed. She had a good feeling she knew where this was going to lead. She was hoping she wouldn’t have to ever explain any of this to Twilight. Not so soon.
“Yes, Twilight. I did plan it. But I knew you would be ready to take over for me by then.”
The stranger in the cloak moved a few inches, but said nothing.
“Alright. I somewhat expected that reply. Now comes my next question: do you think there may have been something about your plan that may have gone wrong? Perhaps something you knew about but didn’t share with me?” Twilight’s brow furrowed as she looked directly in Celestia’s eyes, no longer the student but speaking on equal terms with her former teacher.
“Oh, Twilight.” Celestia’s words caught in her throat and she slowly closed her eyes and tried to find the words to say. She almost wanted to sob right there.
Luna looked at her sister and frowned. What had she kept from her? What could get her sister so shaken up?
“I didn’t think… I mean, I should have known a pony as brilliant as you may have noticed something. I can explain everything.”
Celestia let out a long withering breath and looked to the cloaked figure briefly. She didn’t even have to ask who it was.
“The day you received your cutie mark, I had a vision or a dream. I sometimes receive them, it’s a lesser known gift that I possess. In my vision, I saw several events that indicated a future of suffering and hardship. Ponies no longer trusted one another, enemies took over Equestria, and windigos snuffed out the last of ponykind. I could not let this future happen. Then I saw another future, one where all ponies and even other creatures live in harmony. You were there on the throne, no longer a filly but a fully grown alicorn princess. You ruled with friendship extended to all beings. Something I could never accomplish in over a thousand years of rule. After I awoke, I formed a plan. I could not tell you, or it would put that future in jeopardy. I began preparing you for this future, and I found Starswirl’s spell the key to this future. Once you were ready, I knew you would figure out how to solve it and become an alicorn. Unfortunately, I knew this spell may come at a cost.”
Luna’s interest piqued. Why had Celestia not told her about this? Of course, she knew about the plan with Starswirl’s spell, but not that it had a cost.
“What cost?” Twilight asked, knowing the answer will change her opinion of Celestia forever.
The cloaked figure leaned in, still concealing herself.
“Your cutie mark signals a great magic user, maybe even greater than Starswirl, but that alone doesn’t create an alicorn. Many don’t know about my past nor Luna’s, but we had to create entirely new magic to become alicorns. It was always our destiny. But your destiny was to be a great mage. If we were to go down the right path for Equestria you had to become an alicorn. If your destiny is not to be one, it is very difficult to ascend. But with Starswirl’s spell, it is possible. And the cost… which I’m sure you have figured out, is that you must make one with becoming an alicorn and creating new magic as their destiny. What Starswirl thought he did was create new magic to allow himself to become an alicorn. What the spell actually does is create a copy that redefines your destiny, and while you cannot change a cutie mark, you can create a new one. And… I’m so, so sorry Twilight.” Celestia bowed her head.
The cloaked figure walked toward Celestia and pulled down her hood. Tears falling, throat in a knot, all she could say was, “how could you do this to me?”
Luna was shocked. Celestia had even kept this from her, and she was now wondering what other secrets she kept in the thousand years she’s been ruling.
“Twilight, I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t make up for what I’ve done, but it was for the good of Equestria.”
“Forget the good of Equestria!” Scarred Twilight yelled. “I roamed the other side of the world for FIVE YEARS. I thought I would never see my friends again. I’d never see YOU again. Or Luna. Yet you threw me away, the filly you taught for years, just to be tossed aside.”
Celestia knew it would be hard. But this…
Robed Twilight continued,
“You never once talked to me about ANY of this! We could have found another way to save Equestria… all you had to do was trust me. As a friend.”
Alicorn Twilight spoke up, “What you did, Celestia, may have been right for Equestria, but as someone who knows friendship, you betrayed our trust.”
With that, both Twilights turned around and walked out the door, neither even saying a word of goodbye.
Celestia lowered herself to her belly and began sobbing.
Luna simply stared at her. She didn’t know her sister.

Chapter 3

“So I’ve got some books from Canterlot that are on their way to Ponyville, that should make the crystal castle much cozier. It is your home now, just as it was mine.” Alicorn Twilight smiled at herself, putting a hoof on the scarred Twilight’s shoulder.
“Thank you for doing this. I just feel bad that you have to shoulder ruling Equestria while I… well, get to be with our friends.” Scarred Twilight frowned as she looked into her own eyes.

“It’s not a problem! I am slowly getting used to being a princess and Spike is helping me adjust. Plus we are planning monthly friendship meetings. I just wish I could do more to help you, after you’ve been through so much.” The alicorn couldn’t help looking at the scar across the unicorn’s face as she said this, wondering the true extent to which her counterpart had suffered, while she was living a mostly lavish life, surrounded by her friends.

“Speaking of Spike, I hope I get to see him soon.”
“And you will! But I think you should spend some time with Ponyville friends for now.”
“Right.” The unicorn nodded.

Suddenly, the front door to the castle creaked open, and both Twilights looked ahead at the same time.
“Twilight I received your message and—woah.” A light pink unicorn with a mint green streaked mane held a hoof to her gaped mouth.
“You didn’t say there’d be two of you. Why are there TWO of you?”
“I’d like to introduce you to my friend Starlight Glimmer. Former student of mine, now principal at the friendship school.” The alicorn pointed a hoof out as she looked towards the puzzled pink unicorn.
“Let me guess, time travel? Do I have to use Starswirl’s spell again?” Starlight lingered her gaze at the wingless Twilight’s scars.
“Nothing like that. Long story short, she’s the original and I’m a copy, from when I, or rather, she completed Starswirl’s spell. She got flung across the world and came back after I was made.”

Starlight pondered on the new information and said slowly, “okaaaay… didn’t expect that.”
“I can’t believe you took up a student! That’s so exciting. Think of all the friendship lessons you could teach!”
Starlight rolled her eyes playfully, “yeah definitely a Twilight.”
“Starlight, please help her get acquainted at the castle and settled in. Unfortunately, I have to be back in Canterlot for my duties.”
Starlight nodded, “Of course. Although…. Could one of you please take up another name. It’s confusing to refer to both of you as Twilight.” She looked back and forth between them.
The scarred unicorn had an idea and spoke up, “Oh, how about you just name me Twily. It was my nickname growing up.”
The alicorn next to her wrinkled her brow, “That’s fine, although shouldn’t you be Twilight since you’re the original? That seems more fair.”
The marred Twilight shook her head, “you’re the princess. You should keep the name Twilight for formalities’ sake.”
“Works for me I suppose. Alright, well I must be going. Goodbye Starlight, Twily.”
Twilight waved to them both as she walked out the front door of the crystal castle.

“Soooo…. You’re apparently the original Twilight? That must be awkward, seeing yourself. Like looking in a mirror.” Starlight rubbed her shoulder, not really knowing how to talk with this other version of Twilight. She didn’t want to bring up her curiosity of her scars, though. She could at least easily separate this Twilight from the one she already knew just by physical appearance, but beneath the surface she wondered how much she was like her alicorn counterpart.
“Yes, it is a bit weird. But I thought about it a little, and I feel like Twilight is a twin sister, in a way. At this point we have lived very different experiences, so I hope you will see us as different ponies. Still a Twilight, but her own mare.” Twily smiled and felt a warmth she hadn’t felt in so many years. Twilight was a friend, she felt she could count on her. Starlight smiled back, gaining some confidence back and said, “there’s probably a lot you need to catch up on. You were gone for how long?”
“Five years. Longer than it ever should have been.”
“Okay, A LOT to catch up on then.”

——————-

“That’s the friendship school. I work there and so do your friends. We teach classes on friendship basically. We get creatures from all over wanting to attend, it’s great.”
Starlight and Twily stood before the steps of the school, as gryphons, dragons, ponies, and even kirin walked through the doors.
“I never thought to open a friendship school! That’s amazing! Seeing all these creatures wanting to learn more about friendship, it’s something I never dreamed of!” Twily stared in awe at the students and the beautiful school architecture, she was glad things had progressed far enough in her studies that her counterpart was teaching others the value of friendship.

“Wow, is that princess Twilight? She looks… different.” A light blue insect-like creature glanced at Twily and Starlight, head tilted to the side.
“Wow, you’re right Ocellus. She’s totally missing her wings. And she’s got battle scars. That’s so wicked.” A blue gryphon replied with a smirk.
“Ooh! Ooh! Maybe she got into an epic fight to protect Equestria! Wam! POW! Like that!” A light pink hippogriff gushed.
Starlight and Twily noticed the trio and approached them.
“Twily, these are some of my students.” Starlight swept a hoof between the three.
“Principal Starlight, uh… doesn’t she know that?” The gryphon asked, one eyebrow perked. He was wondering if his principal was going loco in the coco a bit early in her life.
“I’m not the Twilight you know. Long story. Just call me Twily.” She smiled.
“Okay… weird, but seen weirder… well, I’m Gallus.” He replied back, a clawed thumb pointed at his chest.
“Ocellus…” The blue insect creature sheepishly answered.
“And Silverstream!” The hippogriff jumped up in the air happily.
“Nice to meet you all. I have seen gryphons before and I know of hippogriffs from stories. But… I can’t say I’ve seen a creature like you before.” Twily pointed a hoof at Ocellus.
“I’m a changeling. We have changed for the better and I’m glad for it.”
Well, Twily didn’t expect this. Last she knew, changelings tried to take over Equestria. And looked a lot less… colorful. But to think, if even changelings can learn friendship…
“I know about changelings. But if you can change for the better, then I accept your hoof in friendship.” Twily held out a hoof, and shook Ocellus’s.

Starlight was glad this version of Twilight wasn’t violent, she knew she shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but her scars made her look ferocious to her. In pony society, things like scars were seen as violent and made ponies unapproachable. Tempest Shadow was a good example of this attitude.
“So, I’ve heard a bit about the school from princess Twilight, but I was hoping to learn more. Anyone want to show me around?” Twily looked to the trio.
“Sure we can show you around, “Gallus answered.
Twily, Starlight, and the trio went to the school and took a tour of some of the classrooms. Twily saw some of her friends teaching various lessons on friendship and values of their element. She only knew of schools teaching magic, history, science, math… it was odd finding out you could even this much on friendship. But that wasn’t the oddest thing, no, it was…

“OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH” Twily was jumping up in down in pure joy, with a large smile plastered on her face.
A grey unicorn with a starry cloak and belled hat looked at her with a frown. He had a feeling something like this would happen, but he wasn’t sure when he wrote the spell. If Celestia knew about it…
“I can’t believe I get to meet THE Starswirl the bearded! The greatest pony mage to ever live! Princess Twilight must have been over the moon with meeting you in person!” Twily’s earnest smile across her face made her look far less menacing to the group.
“She was, but we can talk about that later. A more pressing issue is that my spell has been used to create an alicorn, of which I was only slightly aware. I now realize I was foolish to create that spell, thinking I could change my own destiny to be an alicorn. Now I realize it was never possible for me to become one.” Starswirl sighed.

Twily’s smile turned to a downcast look, and she was reminded of the pure Tartarus it took getting back home and finding out she had a counterpart living all this time as a princess. At first, she was a bit jealous. Those feelings quickly went away when she saw how kind and understanding the alicorn princess was to her, and really, she couldn’t be mad at herself for long.

“It was a hard conversation to have, but princess Twilight and I worked through it. Celestia should have never sent me that spell.”
Starswirl rubbed his beard a bit and thought. He really had thought the spell could make himself an alicorn. But to just make an alicorn copy? And then abandon the original? Perhaps changing destiny is truly impossible, just as a cutie mark is set in stone, so is one’s destiny. Sometimes though, a cutie mark isn’t that obvious and there could be an interpretation that was missing. Perhaps Twilight still hasn’t realized her destiny after all?
“I believe you should make a visit to the cutie mark crusaders.” Starswirl replied a few moments later, with a twinkle in his eye.
Twily almost forgot about those little rascals.
“Why do you say that?” Twily asked.
“You may want to find out more about why there are two Twilights, and no one knows better than they do about cutie marks and destiny. Not even I.”

Interlude - Luna

The moon shimmered in the night, bathing the lake in a white glow. Sitting on the grass looking out onto the lake, the moon princess was quiet.

Celestia sent her to the moon for a thousand years, and she had spent those thousand years on the moon in a slumber, unaware of the passing of time. All her advisors and guards had passed on when she had awoken again as Nightmare Moon. She was in an unfamiliar world, alone. Even as the Nightmare, she just wanted somepony else to appreciate the night as she did. When she became Luna once again, she thought her sister had known what she wanted. She has been very accommodating to her, but she still hasn’t been as open with her as she’d like.

When Celestia announced that she would retire, she was not as thrilled. She wanted to rule beside her, as an equal. However, she had to admit that Twilight was by far the better option in terms of diplomacy of non-ponies than she or her sister. Celestia always abided by whatever is the most harmonic option, even if it’s not an easy decision to make. So, for the good of Equestria, she retired with her.

But now knowing Twilight on the throne was all a machination by her sister, and she knew of its implications, she had trouble forgiving her. Celestia had kept the entire thing a secret from her, probably thinking she would tell Twilight and jeopardize everything. And knowing herself, she would have done just that. Celestia probably saw it as more harmonious to sacrifice one pony to save a world. Still, Luna thought there could have been another way, Celestia didn’t have to become a villain.

The night both Twilights left their home, Luna had told her sister she needed to be alone. She didn’t mean in the short term. The next day she talked a real estate agent and found a small home a few miles away, and moved her belongings to that new home the very same day. She needed to be away from Celestia for awhile, maybe indulge in some hobbies or meet new ponies. The retirement home they both had lived in was fine, but the ponies there treated them like royalty rather than normal ponies. Luna sometimes liked being treated as royalty, but not when she had retired. Nowadays she appreciated things more pedestrian like the post office and other new inventions that had been created that Celestia took for granted.

This would be a new beginning for her, and she hoped Celestia could use the time away from her and Twilight to reflect. Twilight, despite now having higher authority than Celestia, decided not to charge her with any crimes despite the premeditated nature of what she had done. It was out of kindness, but Twilight has not spoken to Celestia since that night. The original Twilight was asked if she wanted to press charges, but she had the same opinion on the matter as her counterpart. Personally, Luna would have punished her if her sister attempted to murder her, but she wasn’t going to argue with Twilight over it. Perhaps that’s the last grace Twilight will grant to Celestia before shutting her out completely.

Luna looked up and gazed at the moon, she no longer had to move it, but she still felt a connection to it. She didn’t perform that duty anymore, but she wished she did sometimes. She didn’t even interact with ponies’ dreams as much either, which she enjoyed, but ultimately it was a duty she performed as a princess.

She was no longer a princess, and it felt like a part of her vanished as a result. Ponies often say once one retires, there may be a loss of purpose. Luna somewhat feels that way now. She knows her sister doesn’t, she may have left Equestria in Twilight’s hooves, but she had probably had enough ruling after over a thousand years of it. Anypony would. Her sister was an adrenaline junkie and wanted to do things all the time since retiring.

“Sigh…”

Really, she wanted to forget thinking about her sister for now. She can lie in her bed that she made. Luna wanted to live life that wasn’t on her sister’s terms. Ever since they were both fillies, Celestia took on the role of deciding everything they would do together. She probably thought she was being a good big sister by doing that, but to Luna it felt like she wasn’t living her own life. And thinking on it now… who says she has to retire?

“I’ve got it!” Luna stood up and stomped a hoof on the ground.

“I’ll get a job! Delivering mail! It could even be… fun.” Slowly, a smile made its way onto her muzzle.