"I am not a changeling." The other Twilight's wings were limp, flopping about as she sat properly, a feat I wasn't even aware she could do. "I am Twilight Sparkle."

"No, I am Twilight Sparkle." The larger Twilight pointed at herself. "Where did you come from?"

"I've been here." Little Twilight pointed up at the shelf she had been pulled from. "He doesn't do much with me, until now. What changed?" She turned back to me. "Is it her?" She pointed to Large Twilight.

That put me on the spot. It also meant I had two Twilights. That was... good, right? "Hello, Twilight... So, are you from another world too?"

"No." That Twilight shook her head and rolled her fabric eyes. "I'm from here. I suppose, technically, that makes her more valid."

Large Twilight looked so very pleased. "Good! You are... some sort of magical... thing? David, you just said your world has no magic." She pointed at Little Twilight accusingly. "Explain this."

But I had no explanation. So I tried to make one up. "Well, you've been trying to get yourself back to living, right?"

"Yes?" Large Twilight glanced up at her horn. "Are you saying I did this?!"

I held up my hands placatingly as Big Twilight glared accusingly down at her miniature doppelganger. Having two Twilights at odds put me distinctly on the spot.

"Now now, let's not jump to conclusions," I said gently. "I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation here besides tossing blame around."

Little Twilight peered up at me with those familiar embroidered eyes. "David's right. I honestly have no idea why I can talk all of a sudden...I didn't before."

Big Twilight continued scrutinizing her smaller self warily. "Well, how long have you supposedly been...conscious then? Do you have thoughts? Memories?"

The micro pony shrugged. "I remember David finding me in a box with such a smile when he first saw me. But everything between then and now is...fuzzy." She rubbed her head. "Kinda empty really..."

I frowned, suddenly feeling rather guilty looking at the barren, forgotten toy I'd gotten and then mostly forgotten. Had my recent renewed attention somehow catalyzed deeper magic?

Big Twilight also seemed to soften as Little Twilight related her patchy existence. The latter scuffed a hoof, almost bashful. "Sorry...I know I'm probably weirding you out, suddenly coming to life and looking just like you. Believe me, it's weird for me too!"

With a sigh, Big Twilight relaxed her wings and gave a small smile. "No apologies needed...In the realm of strangeness, you talking isn't actually that odd given present company." She extended a hoof. "Any fellow Twilight is a friend. Let's figure this oddity out together, shall we?"

Pleased with how things were turning, I reached for the little Twilight. Would she be as alright with it? I dared patting her. "Let's. If it helps, I'm not upset you're moving."

"You really should be." Little Twi stands up. "All of this should be quite upsetting."

"She has a point." Large Twilight nodded slowly. "This is quite beyond the bounds of what I know of your world. You're taking this too easily."

"Explain." Little Twi frowned at me. "Now, kindly."

"Kindly," echoed the larger.

They had met in argument, but were completely unified in grilling me. I wanted to laugh more than anything else. Being interrogated by them was just so... Seriously, laughing felt like the best option, but I kept it straight. "Alright, look. I prefer to see life as a nest of solutions. If I can fix something, fix it. If I can't, why worry about it? Move on to something that can be fixed."

"That's quite a mature outlook," Big Twi mused. "Though I suppose as an adult dealing with health troubles, you've gained that perspective from experience."

Little Twi fluttered up with a flap of wings to perch on my shoulder. "Still, isn't all this..." she waved a hoof around, "bothering you even a teeny tiny bit?"

I chuckled, giving the micro pony a gentle scritch. "Oh it's bizarre for sure. But like I told your big sister here earlier - talking to cute ponies isn't the worst problem I could have."

That made both mares blush, eliciting another laugh from me. "But in all seriousness - whatever freaky magic is at play, it gifted me friends, so I say bring on more of this kind of magic." I gave Big Twi a meaningful smile.

"So, strange or not, I'm just glad to have you two around. We'll sort out the weirdness in time." I gently booped Little Twi's nose "And if we can't, such is life!"

The two ponies shared another look, though they seemed convinced of my sincerity if still bemused by my nonchalance. Finally Big Twi cracked a smile of her own.

"Well, I'm very glad my unintentional magical malfunction led me to such an open-minded new friend." She floated Little Twi down into my hands. "And I suppose if I somehow brought you to life, I'm happy to have another friend too."

Little Twi beamed eagerly. "Friends then!" She extended a tiny hoof. Big Twi completed the shake with her own hoof, giving it a firm but gentle pump.

That left a question for me. "How did you fly?" I reached the free hand up over Little Twilight, feeling the limp little fabric flaps of her wings.

"Like this?" Little Twilight flapped those wings that had no right to enable any amount of flight. She launched into the air and came down on my computer. "I'm an alicorn."

Large Twilight directed an ear at her smaller self. "You may not know this, but are you a princess?"

"I am." Little Twilight curled a hoof to her chin. "That you're asking implies you may not be?"

"I am not, hm." Large Twilight suddenly smiled. "Little Twilight, can you do magic?"

Little Twilight turned her eyes up to her horn, which glowed dimly. She pointed to a bottle of Vitamin D pills on my desk and willed it up into the air, hovering it around slowly.

My breath caught. As wonderful at the two dolls were, that was... That was literal magic. It wasn't being decribed to me, it was happening, for real, in front of me. I reached out and put my hand in the bottle's way.

It bumped into my hand and I smiled even wider. I had just felt magic. That bottle had no other reason to be moving, and only I stopped it. I had interacted with magic. Real magic. I did it...

Little Twilight set the bottle down. "You're looking very happy. That was just some basic telekinesis."

I hastily wiped the dopey grin off my face, though sheer elation continued bubbling up inside me. I shook out my hand, still tingling from where the magically levitating bottle had nudged against it. Real magic - not some fabricated fiction but the genuine article!

"Sorry, yeah, just your basic telekinesis - no big deal!" I babbled, failing to suppress another delighted chuckle. The two ponies regarded me with amusement as I tried and failed to play it cool.

"It's rather endearing to see you so enchanted over a trifle cantrip," Big Twi remarked kindly. Little Twi nodded, kissing the air with a tiny fwap of her wings.

"I'll say! But I guess magic really doesn't exist here." Her horn glow intensified, bathing us all in its violet aura. "In that case, as royalty of Equestria, I hereby dub thee Sir David, Friend to Ponies!"

"Um..." When had I earned such a fancy title?

She beamed proudly at her impromptu knighting.

Big Twi raised an eyebrow but smiled. "The title suits him methinks," she praised while I rubbed my neck self-consciously. "Sorry to overwhelm you Sir David, but I must admit it's rather touching to see someone appreciate magic so keenly, however small."

The sincere sentiment behind her words helped settle my giddiness. I felt my neutral face returning. It was the face I wore most of my life. Cool, casual, nothing to see there. "You're being a bit too kind. I do love the magic, really, but that isn't worth a title. Besides, having the two of you kind of outranks that anyway."

And strangely, I meant every word - thaumaturgical trickery paled next to having real heart-to-heart talks with living, er, plush? heroes. Even plush, they were the real magical gift.

"Little Twi?" She perked at me. "Since you seem to be... mine, for lack of better word, do--"

She landed in my lap and nuzzled a hand. "I am yours."

Oh, well, that was...

Big Twilight frowned a little. "That is certainly not me. I am happy to call you a friend, but you don't 'own' me. I would hope nocreature would own any pony."

I held up a hand at Big Twilight. "I didn't mean it like that. Besides, she was a doll this morning."

"True... Little me, come here." She waved until Little Twilight landed in front of her. "You are, asked for or not, a reflection of me." She grabbed the little Twilight with her hooves. "Which means you have to act with some amount of decency. If he abuses your kindness, you must speak up, and you must not accept it, no matter if he did own you as an inanimate object."

I winced as Big Twilight laid down the law, feeling duly chastised by her firm tone. But I wore a silly smile. The whole thing was a bit absurd.

I held up my hands deferentially. "Little Twi is very much her own mare regardless of origins. So, sorry if I implied anything indecent - got a bit overeager with neat magic and all." I offered the tiny alicorn an earnest nod. "You're free to do and say as you please."

Little Twi beamed back gratefully before giving Big Twi a tiny salute. "Don't worry, I'll uphold Sparkle dignity wherever I go! We unicorns know our rights." Her face scrunched suddenly. "At least, I think I do...still fuzzy on the personal history bits."

"So... any ideas how to fix Big Twilight?" I gestured at the larger of the two dolls. "And, just asking here, but are my other dolls going to come to life?"

"Probably not." Little Twi considered her larger copy. "Unless she continues the experiments that resulted in my animation." She lifted and descended onto large Twilight's back. "Used again, I imagine she could animate all your toys. Do you feel any drain from continuing my animation?"

Big Twilight frowned at the idea. "My horn isn't glowing. I feel no drain... I don't think this is a persistent spell."

"That's bad."

Big Twi tilted her head. "Why is that bad, Little Me?"

"It means you could animate as many things as you cared to." She pointed to other dolls I had tried to hide. "Things could become very crowded if you continue the same avenue of exploration."

I glanced around my already cluttered room, imagining multiples of anthropomorphic creatures suddenly bursting to life. As awesome as that might sound, tighter living quarters plus potential magical chaos did not seem a wise combo.

"She makes a good point, eh Twi?" I said. "Maybe best to figure out what woke sleeping beauty here before we - "

"So, hypothesis time!" I stood and faced the Twilights. "Let's puzzle out what magic, or other action, brought Lil Twi online before more we make things worse." I swept an arm inviting their brainstorming. If anyone could reverse engineer an unplanned enchantment outcome, it would be two famed wizards of Equestria.

Big Twi's eyes lit up as she began scrutinizing her mini-me more closely, magical senses clearly tingling away in analyzation mode. Little Twi practically quivered under the attention. Me, I just tried to wrap my brain around a doll downloading consciousness and searched for initial patterns. Hectic mysteries scarcely left time for my lingering chronic pain now!

"By the way." Little Twilight pointed at me. "He's been restraining himself."

"Pardon?" Big Twilight raised a brow at me. "What have you been restraining?"

Author's Note

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