Lost & Found

Chapters

The Gift
The Other Me
Not Quite Me
Long Way Up
The Next Wonderful Thing
No Good Deed
Only Me
Epilogue

The Gift

“Open your eyes, princess,” grunted a beleaguered Noteworthy as he paced the room with urgent candor.

Princess Twilight deflated in her throne, betraying an aggravated sigh. “Must I address this issue right now and on my birthday of all days?”

“The duties of the throne wait for no one,” he replied.

That was an evergreen adage throughout her tenure but especially of late.

“Duties,” she scoffed. “That's all anything is.”

“We can not afford to cede any more territory to the griffons,” he argued emphatically. “They and most other nations, I fear, now see you as a weak and ineffective leader. We will be inviting more conflict and exploitation from every bad actor on the world stage. I beg of you to take swift and decisive action and send a message-”

“Leave me,” she mumbled callously, eyes on the floor.

“Princess-” pleaded the stallion.

“Tomorrow, advisor. I will attend my party now.”

Noteworthy took a deep breath through his nose, waiting in vain for him to come to her senses and reconsider. “Yes, your highness.” he bowed in defeat and promptly departed from the room in a flash of orange magic.

Despite her ploy about other superseding engagements, the princess tarried in the empty throne room, wallowing in her isolation. Profound hollowness seeped inside her once again, a void that she'd felt trapped in for a hundred, maybe two hundred years. She ruminated without purpose until her old choleric senses finally spurred her to action.

Twilight blinked from out of her chair of authority and returned to her chamber where her nearly panicking beauty entourage was waiting to make her look perfect for her special day. Without a word, she stood before the vanity and allowed them to fuss over her mane and tail, her eyelashes and hooves.

In truth, she cared very little for the party. In truth, having a party at all almost felt obscene. For such a momentous occasion, Morale in Equestria had to be at an all time low. For most, a millennial birthday for the princess was a magnificent, once in a lifetime event but today was darkened under the shadow of crises at home and abroad made worse by Twilight's own growing absenteeism.

A thousand years alive. A thousand years of crawling on this little dirt ball floating in space. Practically just as many ruling Equestria. It was inevitable that Twilight's heart panged with aching reflection on her life, on all she'd seen, all she'd gained and all she'd lost. Only now did she realize just how cold it all felt.

It was so strange. Her life before ascending to the throne seemed so miniscule now within the big picture, a single brush stroke in a painting one might not even notice if it went missing. It was a speck on the horizon behind her, the last flash of light from a setting sun that took with it the memories of a beautiful day that would never come again.

The mare in the mirror was stern and unapproachable; she did not look like the Princess of Friendship. Her narrowed eyes flicked over to the side of the vanity mirror where they began to meander through a constellation of ancient photographs. She collected images of smiling faces she hadn't seen in centuries.

Her brother, her father and the mare who birthed her. It was hard to imagine there used to be a time long ago where they were her entire world. They'd been the most important ponies, responsible for shaping Twilight in her formative years but now they were but an abstract concept, an illegible tombstone.

Spike. His photo was by far the most recent of her original friends and family, the last picture ever taken of him. Though she was dwarfed by his immense size, he was actually quite sick and weak. Still, he managed to hold her in his arms.

Then there were her five friends, the ones she met back when she lived in Ponyville generations ago. Together they’d defeated foes, triumphed over adversity and grown as ponies into champions of Equestria. They were the greatest comrades she’d ever had and yet sometimes she had trouble remembering all their names off of the top of her head.

She looked back on those times with hazy recollection but kept what she still knew on a golden pedestal in her mind. The memories wove a threadbear tapestry, faded and romanticized but priceless nonetheless.

All that said, friendship had long since become slippery for Twilight, a fleeting and futile pursuit altogether. They would always leave. It gave her existential pause. The more disenchanted that she became with the throne, the more she found herself retreating into that bygone era, sifting through photos and reveries, chasing the ghost of those feelings of fulfillment and togetherness. She didn’t remember that time as much as she wished but she was certain that it was where she truly belonged. That was her Shambhala and it had slipped through her hooves.

Out of thin air, Former Princess Celestia appeared at her side with a dour face rivaling her own.

“May I speak with you in the library before the festivities begin?” she questioned tersely.

“As you wish,” droned Twilight, sparingly her only a moment's glance.

She allowed her servants to finish her beauty routine before teleporting to her personal library for an unwanted talk with her longtime mentor.

Former Princess Luna was also present, all but lurking in the corner, seemingly consumed with hopelessness.

“I hope this won't take long,” began Twilight, approaching the reading table which stood between them. “I wouldn't want to be late to my own party.”

Celestia wasted no time launching into her tirade. “Noteworthy tells me you are deferring action on the griffons’ latest brazen encroachment on our border.”

“That is correct,” Twilight replied flatly.

“You have all but turned a blind eye to this and so many other threats we face. Your behavior anymore is tantamount to abdication and not just that, think of the optics.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “The optics,” she parroted mockingly.

“Yes, a grandiose celebration for you while we sit back and watch our very sovereignty dissolve.” Celestia pointed a hoof at her. “You've become a feckless coward.”

“Sister,” Luna tried to interrupt.

“You're throwing away everything we've built, everything I gave you,” spat the white alicorn.

“Everything you gave me?” scoffed Twilight with an incensed hoof on her chest. “This isn't what I wanted; you duped me into this role and then ran off.”

“I did no such thing,” gasped Celestia in shock. “Petulant child!”

“Can we please not do this today?” pleaded Luna.

Twilight slammed a hoof on the table. “How could I have any concept of the years and what they do to you and the pain and the losses that just stack up and stack up?”

“That is life, princess,” she snarled back. “You have to find good things to balance your scale or you fall apart. That’s not just a problem for alicorns and it's not an issue that can be solved by running away and hiding in your little fantasy world of yesteryear while Equestria crumbles.”

Twilight gritted her teeth. “You will never understand. I have given nearly a millennium to this country. If you think Equestria needs saving from me then be my guest and step right up. You know where the throne is… Now, if we're done here, please excuse me, I need to attend my thousandth birthday party which you were so insistent upon throwing.”

“Try to smile,” murmured Luna, pointing to her own tired, fake smile.

It only reminded her that real smiles are in the eyes.

“I hope to see the both of you there,” nodded Twilight curtly. “We wouldn't want to have bad optics.”

The reigning princess of Equestria graced the party with her presence. Despite the sourness of the mare of the hour and the waning shine of the throne, the occasion was no less magnificent in appearance, the grandest event she could remember; it was too bad she wasn't in better spirits.

Things were a bit stodgy and formal but it suited the company. The ponies present were allies and acquaintances but they weren't friends. She had lost understanding of the word. These were distant descendants of friends and family who bore little resemblance to the venerated ancestors she used to love.

A great tower of gifts was under continuous construction upon a multi tier stack of tables rising almost to the ceiling. There were chocolate and confectionary sculptures on every table showcasing milestone events during her rule. They even had little informative placards.

That would have been something Pinkie Pie created probably if she were around, she thought. Or scarfed down… or both. Pinkie’s abundant personality was one of her most vivid memories from the friendship era.

Twilight sat at the high table flanked by a pair of brooding sisters. The three of them were a triad of storm clouds but at least Cadance and Flurry Heart were also there. Cadance was the only true friend she had left, a fellow traveler from the same time period. Twilight shared much more with her than she did with anyone else, even Celestia. Not that she saw herself as being close to her anymore and certainly not on good terms.

Twilight endured all the trials of her own celebration and even smiled a few times for photos. Celestia, though seething, bit her tongue and kept her ireful opinions to herself all throughout. The gathering marked the occasion but it lacked joy. - - -

“Open your eyes, princess,” Pinkie practically screamed.

Twilight moved her hooves out of the way and let her eyes flutter open. Before her was a life sized chocolate shell likeness of herself as a young alicorn at her coronation. Every detail from the feathers on her wings to the socketed gem in her golden circlet was meticulously fashioned with a cornucopia of different colored candies and frostings. It was like an edible parade float.

Twilight gasped with elation. “This is so incredible, Pinkie!”

“Thank you,” she smirked. “I really had to outdo myself if I wanted to do justice to your thousandth birthday.”

Twilight drew her into a hug. “Oh, thank you so much!”

“You haven't even seen the rest of them,” she giggled. Pinkie grabbed the princess’ head in her hooves and turned her away to face a veritable sculpture garden of chocolate Twilights in various poses depicting her many notable accomplishments over her hundreds year reign of peace and prosperity.

“Oh my goodness!” Her eyes soaked in the unbelievable feat of culinary art before falling on Rainbow Dash who was standing there with her tongue provocatively glued to the cheek of one statue as she waited to be noticed.

“Rainbow,” scolded Applejack. “Wait fer the party… Actually, on second thought, just don't do that at all.”

“Alright, that's enough about chocolate,” blurted Rarity impatiently. “I'm dying to show you your new party dress.”

“Alright, alright, let's go,” agreed Twilight excitedly. “You know, it hasn't even started yet and I say this every year but I already feel like this is the best party ever.” - - -

“Celestia's peeking,” shouted Rainbow through her hooves.

“I am not,” gasped a blindfolded Celestia as she swung the stick again with her magic. It connected hard with the piñata crafted to look like Twilight’s magic sparkle cutie mark. The festive vessel burst open, spraying toys over a crowd of delighted partygoers.

Twilight laughed and clapped her hooves with glee at her mentor's success. Then she sighed. “We're a thousand years old. We're still throwing parties that look like pricey cute-ceañeras. Doesn't it all seem a bit silly?”

“Maybe,” shrugged Applejack. “But so what? Yer the princess of Equestria. It's yer thousandth birthday. You’re allowed to get what ya want. An’ besides, Canterlot Castle already sees its share o’ formal events; it's nice ta mix it up sometimes. Everyone's havin’ fun and don't ya think it's a hoot seein’ all these stuffy business ponies an’ foreign dignitaries playin’ party games fer kids?”

“It really is,” she admitted, scanning over the gathering of awkward but optimistically compliant ponies.

Pinkie was still in the bounce castle; she hadn't left it since they did the cake ceremony. Even rarity and her circle of like-minded fancy socialites were making spin art and playing pin the tail on the pony.

Everyone had found these things fun at one point, perhaps at another birthday party long ago. Everyone could enjoy doing them again; it was just a matter of letting go of the adulthood fear of looking foalish.

“Behold the spoils of victory,” boasted Celestia, holding up her hoof in front of Twilight's nose. She had a bouncy ball, a party blower and a little ball maze shaped like a fish. She rattled the maze in the air with her magic and smiled. “They didn't have these when I was a filly. This was such a wonderful idea.”

“Thanks,” nodded Twilight. “But I can't take all the credit. Pinkie and Rarity were the ones who threw it all together like they always do.”

Celestia absently bounced her new ball on the floor with her magic as she thought. “You know, once again I have to express just how proud I am of you. Not everyone can pull off such a long, peaceful and prosperous reign. You're still just as benevolent and well grounded as you ever were.”

Twilight laughed. “That means a lot coming from you… But again, it wasn't all me of course. I honestly don't know if I could have done it without my amazing friends behind me the whole way.” - - -

The fireplace crackled as Twilight milled about her study late that evening. The room was stuffed full of presumably quite extravagant gifts for her to unwrap in her own time. Birthday presents and foreign gifts were different when you were the Princess of Equestria. They were always political gestures of goodwill intended to impress, leaning on their exquisite uniqueness or their outrageous cost. There was never anything personal, never anything that sparked the joy of her inner foal and most of the offerings were technically given to the castle or the state like artifact donations to a museum. She hadn't been excited for gifts in centuries. If anything, the real gift she’d received today was something to take her mind off of life. lf there was one thing she still appreciated, it was distractions, diversions and escapism.

Twilight ripped open the gold leaf paper encapsulating a modest sized parcel. The wooden box beneath opened to reveal an ornately patterned blanket crafted and gifted by the yaks of Yakyakistan, one of the few pony friendly nations left. She unfurled the piece, floating it into the air to admire the time honored artisanry of Yakyakistani loomwork. For most outsiders it was unexpected to see such dainty, careful work from a race known primarily for their rough and tumble culture.

She opened the short and simple accompanying letter addressed to her.

Princess Twilight,

Yaks make best blanket. No hang on wall. Use for warmth. Blanket show fabled Pink Pony ambassador from long ago. First pony from Equestria in Yakyakistan.

Twilight squinted curiously at the series of abstracted shapes and stylized pictograms. In the middle of the blanket was a village of yaks and a pink equine that stood out against the largely earth tone color pallet.

“I remember this,” she murmured. She wasn't there when it happened but the story stirred long sleeping memories from her early life… or were they from history books she'd read? A tear slipped down her cheek.

She glanced around at the mess of photos and historical paintings cluttering the walls. There were artifacts and memorabilia in glass showcases. Her whole study was devoted to a nostalgic romanticism of the olden days. She'd lost more kind moments than she'd ever comprehend. This was her way of trying to reconstruct her ideal world, the world that Celestia and Luna were trying to keep her from.

She wiped her eyes with one hoof, folded the blanket up nicely and placed it back in the box. It would look good on the wall but she would use it as directed. That was… an unexpected present.

Twilight turned her attention to the procession of unopened gifts and her eyes fixed on one particular oddly shaped item. It was tall and flat and shrouded in a silver silken cloak. There was a folded paper affixed to it with a red wax seal. The informal titleless name ‘Twilight’ was scrawled sloppily above it in blotted ink.

The princess furrowed her brow and yanked the note off with her magic. She popped the seal and unfolded the paper. Then muttered to herself as she read the simple note that looked like it had been written by somepony with their eyes closed.

“Just talk to yourself or say switch while touching to switch places.”

That was all there was. What in the world did it even mean? She flipped the paper over in puzzlement. There was no name ascribed to the gift. She tried to reconstruct the shattered wax seal. There was no monogram upon it, only what appeared to be a simple generic star insignia. She thought for a moment, trying to deduce some sort of significance from the scant amount of clues but she was drawing a blank. She had no idea who sent the gift but their letter sounded crazy. Was this cause for alarm? She looked back at the still unidentified object in wonder.

It was reasonable to regard the mysterious gift with suspicion. It could be dangerous. The problem was not only that she wasn't going to find out anything without unwrapping the item and possibly falling prey to it but also her desire for answers outweighed her instinctive caution.

Twilight took a few steps back and summoned a magical barrier in front of her for safety. Carefully from a distance she untied the ribbon cinched around the gift and slipped off the silver shroud. Before her stood what looked like a full length elliptical mirror standing in a wrought iron frame. She let the shroud fall silently in a pile on the floor and waited. The mirror appeared to be nothing special. Not ornately crafted. Not crafted from exquisite materials. Perhaps it was of great sentimental value or perhaps the creature who gifted it was simply insane. Whatever the case, it didn't seem to be a threat.

The princess dispelled the barrier and walked forward cautiously with craned neck. As she came upon the looking glass, something seemed off about it but she wasn't sure what. Then Twilight's mouth dropped open. When she stood before the mirror, it became plain as day what was wrong; she cast no reflection in it. - - -

“Wow, that was so thoughtful,” Twilight marveled to herself, giving her new enchanted globe a spin. “Should I put it in the library or the study?” She'd opened the presents from her five best friends before they went to bed, leaving her to her own devices in the library with a multitude of unopened offerings of friendship and goodwill.

She looked back over the many gifts in waiting and sighed. “This is so much more fun to do with my friends. Maybe just one more tonight. I'll save the rest for later.”

She spun in a circle and the room blurred around her. As she slowed, one particular item came into focus, standing out against a backdrop of mundane looking wooden crates that had arrived through the mail. The strange gift was tall and flat and shrouded in a silver silken cloak. It drew her in with a curious allure. Though unboxed, she couldn't tell what it was; she just had to see.

Twilight walked closer till she noticed the attached parchment with her name on it. She snatched it up and broke the seal in almost one fluid motion. Her forehead creased as she scanned the few sloppy words inside. It wasn't really a happy birthday note as she was expecting, it was almost like… instructions but for what?

Mystified, she looked back at the gift and shrugged. Then she unceremoniously yanked the loose end of the sash with her magic till it came undone. Then she pulled up the silver cloth sack.

The shroud fell away and she blinked in surprise. The gift was a mirror that looked rather ordinary for a princess’ thousandth birthday until, that is, she looked at her own reflection. When she stepped closer and gazed into the looking glass she was taken aback by what it showed. The her in the mirror stood dumbfounded just like her but the room she was in looked completely different. Twilight raised a hoof and waved experimentally but her reflection did not reciprocate, instead shrinking back in wide-eyed shock.

“What- what is this? Who are you?” demanded the mare in the mirror.

“I'm… Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria.” replied Twilight in befuddlement. ”Who are you?”
“I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria,” asserted the reflection.

The Other Me

“What sort of trickery is this?” demanded Twilight, pacing suspiciously around the mirror. “You cannot be Princess Twilight; I'm Princess Twilight.”

“I was about to say that,” she replied.

“Who sent this bizarre mirror?”

“I was wondering the same thing,” added Twilight thoughtfully.

“This is some sort of surveillance device planted by a foreign adversary.”

“Well it's not a very good one. You aren't even trying to mimic my movements and speech. Your cover has already been blown and your campaign hasn't even started.”

“Not me, you, I'm not the surveillance device, you are,” she accused in frustration.

Was that right? Twilight squinted as she looked herself over. The other her looked identical in appearance save for still having a hopeful spark in her eyes. “Aha, I see what this is,” she laughed. “You're a changeling using a scrying technique to cast your imitated likeness of me through this mirror remotely. very clever and amusing but why? For a prank?”

“This isn't a prank, unless it's you who's pranking me.”

The princess rubbed her eyes in aggravation and then looked back at the mirror, hoping that it had become normal, that her reflection was behaving like a reflection but alas, now it was sitting on the floor in deep contemplation.

“This is getting us nowhere. You're driving me crazy. I feel like you're trying to gaslight me.”

She looked back at her from the left side of the mirror and then the right. The image in the glass wasn't flat. It had depth and a dynamic perspective. She could view her other self as if she were looking at her through a door or a window… or a portal. That was a startlingly odd detail but not an unheard of enchantment. Still, she had to tap her hoof on the glass just to be certain there was even a partition between them.

“Perhaps we really are both Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria then,” she proposed.

“I'm not ready to believe that,” she countered skeptically. “If you're me, then what role did you have in the play your first year at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns?

Twilight blinked. “Um… first year? Gosh, that was so long ago.” Her eyes brightened suddenly in recollection. “Oh, I was stage lighting,” she replied emphatically.

“That's right, you big nerd.” she nodded.

“Okay, my turn. Um… What was the title of the book that you lost at the grand reopening of the Manehattan Zoo and never found again?”

Twilight’s face fell. “I don't remember that at all, the book or the event.”

“Interesting,” she mumbled. “Okay, then what personal possession did you put in the School of Friendship’s time capsule?”

This question struck a decisive cord in her brain. “It was a bookmark with my favorite Atom Flask quote on it,” she replied confidently.

Her eyes widened. “You are me.”

“I guess so,” she agreed. “But how? I don't think we're duplicates. We appear to be occupying different spacetime.”

“Maybe you’re the me from the past or even the future,” she suggested excitedly.

She looked behind her counterpart, noting that she stood before a backdrop of parcels and crates that looked familiar in a way. “Hold on, you wouldn't happen to be unwrapping presents from your one-thousandth birthday party, would you?”

“Yes, I am actually.”

“That's exactly what I'm doing. You got this weird mirror as a gift too, right? Any idea who gifted it?”

She shook her head. “Nope… So, wait, if we both turned one thousand years old today, that means we're both the present day Twilight and since we're not duplicates, we must be from parallel dimensions… but if we're from parallel dimensions then our dimensions must diverge in some way to be separate.”

“I see one. It appears you're opening your gifts in what looks like the study while I'm doing it in the library. It's also strange how you didn't remember the zoo when I do. That was only about fifty years ago. Rarity invited us.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Rarity? Rarity from Ponyville, Rarity?”

“Of course. I've never known another,” she shrugged.

“The reason I don't remember that event is because it would have never happened to me because my Rarity died some nine hundred years ago.”

“Died?” she gasped in disbelief. “How did she die?”

“Old age,” she scoffed. “All of my friends died along with my family. I think the better question is why is your Rarity still alive?”

“She’s an alicorn now; all of the Elements of Harmony are alicorns just like us.”

Twilight's mouth dropped open. “But how?”

“Well, I assume you remember that old Starswirl the Bearded spell we found in the Two Sisters ruins?”

“Yes, I remember. I could never get it to work.”

Twilight bit her lip. “Oh, well… Yes, I suppose that makes sense. But anyway, I did get it to work. The spell initiated a set of rigorous trials, one for each element. Upon completing them successfully, each of us was granted stewardship of a new virtue as well as alicornhood. Applejack's new virtue is family. Pinkie Pie is hope. Rarity, beauty. Rainbow Dash is the avatar of freedom. Fluttershy got bravery and I of course got friendship.”

Twilight exhaled in exasperated amazement. “So… they are all alicorns with new virtues but what does that mean exactly what do they do with them?”

“They're rulers now just like us. They have their very own kingdoms across every corner of Equestria.”

“I can't believe it,” she breathed. Hearing all this was so incredible but at the same time so gut wrenching. Twilight felt her heart sink. If only she could have unraveled that spell, she could have saved all of them and altered the course of history in unfathomable ways. Why did it turn out this way? Why was she here in this divergent reality instead of there in that one? What little detail made this world of difference? Was she smarter over there? Or was she just luckier?

“Do you want to know what it was, the missing piece of that spell?”

“No,” she groaned listlessly. “It makes no difference now. Things sound wonderful there. I bet you had an amazing party too. I didn't enjoy mine very much.”

Twilight frowned in pity. “Why is that?”

“Because I hate Celestia and Celestia hates me because I'm letting everything fall apart and I'm letting everything fall apart because I've finally lost my will to govern. Life… Everything… It's so difficult without friends.”

“Why don't you have friends?” she asked, trying to keep the shock out of her voice.

“It’s too hard emotionally,” she sighed. “I just… fell out of practice after I lost the first batch of true friends I ever had. If I get new friends I’ll just end up watching them rot away again along with their offspring and the memories they leave behind.”

“That’s an awful and sad way to look at it. Can you really say that the way things are going for you right now are better than having a trusty band of aging friends and a… functional government with happy citizens?”

“Well, no,” she admitted, eyes falling to the floor. “But you don't understand. I can't help myself back up again, not alone. The only thing I really want and have the power to do at the moment is to curl up in a ball in a dark corner but Celestia keeps tugging my strings like an angry pageant mother. She'll do just about anything to avoid the embarrassment of stepping back into power before I even reach a two thousand year reign.”

That was a side of Celestia that she was fortunate enough to never see. Twilight was utterly aghast at the stark contrast of their two outlooks and the idea that this dysfunctional world could have just as easily been her own reality.

Twilight ran a hoof through her luxurious mane and sighed. Advising her other self to try to step down felt like a personal failure, like she was giving up on a difficult task that she already knew she could do. “I can't believe I'm suggesting this, especially this early in your tenure but have you not considered finding a successor?”

“Of course I have but I don’t know of any good prospects at the moment and grooming Equestria’s next Princess requires a firm grasp on the principles of leadership and friendship. Celestia would not let me steal away into the night if I installed an incompetent layabout. As I said, she already sees my early departure as unacceptable. The irony is that if I could find it in me to train a successor, I wouldn't need one.”

“Then it sounds like the only thing that’s going to snap you out of this is an amazing pep talk; that must be what the mirror is for. It’s like a method of self therapy or something. It helps you gain insight.”

“Yeah… You know, it does bring me some inkling of comfort knowing that my old friends still exist somewhere and are happy. Do you think it would it be okay if I see them? Could you please bring them to the mirror so I can visit with them too?”

Twilight put her hoof to her chin in thought. Her instinctual reaction was to do anything she could to help but what do you even say to introduce your other self to your friend, she wondered. Hey, this is the other me; she's a little down because you're dead in her universe. It sounded weird and creepy. Was it weird to go out of her way to help out another her in another universe that was completely inconsequential to her own? Maybe, but it was ingrained in her character to be of service to those in need especially in matters of friendship. And how could she refuse to help another Equestria? It might not matter to her ponies but it mattered to so many others.

“Hmm…” She continued, struggling on the logistics of getting her friends to comfort this mare who was her but also removed enough to be an uncanny stranger to them. Finally she raised a hoof. “Wait a minute. Maybe we can do even better than that. The note on the mirror. It said something about switching, right? Maybe you can come here as me and just hang out with them for a while.”

“Oh yeah. Say switch while touching to switch places... Are we sure that's what it means?”

Twilight shrugged. “I don't know what else it would mean and there's only one way to find out.” She placed her hoof on the mirror.

The other princess cocked her head hesitantly. “Hold on, you think I should impersonate you?”

“You are me. I just think the experience would be more fun and less awkward for everyone if we didn't explain all this. So let's not tell anyone we're switched unless we really have to. You can come meet our friends in my dimension and in the meantime maybe I can try to help you with some of the issues you're having in your dimension.”

Our friends... Hearing that sounded so nice. It was hard to believe she'd voluntarily help her out like this. It was hard to believe there was a time where she would have done the very same.

“But how will I talk to them?”

“They’re all still in the castle till tomorrow. Just tell them you want to do something with them for your birthday. They won't say no.”

Twilight raised her hoof and placed it on the other her's hoof. The surface between them was flat and smooth but not cold like a regular mirror would be.

“On three. One, two, switch.”

Immediately the mirror glowed with a white light that quickly grew in intensity until they could no longer see. They squinted uncomfortably until it faded away with a soft ringing. Though it felt like they hadn't moved at all, when the two looked around, they found themselves in entirely different rooms of the castle.

“It really worked,” breathed Twilight, glancing back at herself.

“Yeah… Okay, how about we meet up back here at the mirror in one week from now with a tentative plan to switch back.”

“Sounds good but I don't think you can solve all my problems in a week,” she laughed.

“Well, I said I'd try to help some. But at least I could get a start on them and maybe give you some helpful feedback for moving forward. It's my hope that this experience will inspire you to make the best changes for your situation.”

This was all so overwhelming to her, she wanted to cry. “Thanks a lot,” she swallowed.

“Of course. I know you'd do the same for me... Oh, we should probably meet back here at the end of every day to give each other updates and help if we need it.”

Twilight frowned. “Hmm… I don't know if we can both keep a regular schedule like that. I was kind of hoping to do some traveling.”

“Okay then,” she nodded absently. “If you run into problems or have questions, I guess just check in when you can and hope for the best.” She gave a wrinkled smile of uncertainty.

“There you go,” she nodded. “I know fighting my fires might be a little overwhelming so I'll do my best to stay in touch somehow.”

Not Quite Me

Twilight awakened in a room roughly similar to her own. It was in the same location in Canterlot Castle. The bed was in the same place although the sheets were different. Some of the furniture was different but the most notable difference was that every window was eclipsed with thick blackout curtains which choked out nearly every ray of the morning sun. It looked like the bedchamber of a mare in mourning.

The princess got out of bed and stretched in the dark. “First order of business is this room,” she groaned. How can you hope to improve your mood with such a dreary bedroom?”

Her horn lit up and the curtains fluttered open as if in a gale. They tied themselves back, letting in a flood of golden light. She visored her eyes and yawned, waiting for her vision to adjust. Then she turned to the drab upholstery of the furniture with a color changing spell primed in her horn. Twilight paused for a moment then moved on. Maybe she wouldn't go as far as redecorating. Perhaps she just had a different style and she should respect that while staying in her castle and sleeping in her bed.

In the corner stood a dried up husk of a plant that had likely been dead for months. Twilight frowned. She didn't even have a servant take care of it for her. Maybe she didn't even let servants in here. She teleported the plant and its pot out into the hallway. She'd find a new plant for her, perhaps a low maintenance one that her lackadaisical counterpart would be more apt to handle.

She snatched up the itinerary out of her letter box from atop a pile of other unread itineraries. Then she teleported to her little personal dining room near the kitchen downstairs where she always took her morning briefings. Before she could climb into a chair, she noted that the little table was barren. In her dimension, breakfast would be waiting for her on a big shiny tray when she came down.

“Her morning routine must just be a little different from mine,” she laughed weakly. Twilight teleported to the kitchen door and poked her head in to see a couple of chefs chitchatting idly at the stovetop.

“Excuse me, can I get some breakfast please?”

Their eyebrows told her this exchange was rather odd for them.

“Yes, of course, your highness. What would you like?”

“How about hash browns and a bowl of cantaloupe and coffee with cream… in the nook, please. Thank you.”

She went back to her table and began looking over her itinerary, the only thing she'd brought to distract her. The coffee came out promptly and the chef left the pot and the creamer on the table.

Twilight looked up from her mug to see Noteworthy in the doorway, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. By his cuffs and attaché, she recognized him as an aid.

“You're actually here… out of bed before ten… and eating breakfast at the table.”

“Uh, yes. I see the Griffonstone occupation is on the top of the paper this morning.”

“Would you like me to fill you in again?” he asked.

She didn't want to sound out of the loop but at the same time she also got the feeling that the other her was a little out of the loop.

“Um… Actually, do you have a hard copy report of the incident?” she asked briskly.

“I do. Right here in fact.” He floated a binder clipped stack of papers from his satchel to the princess with a reserved sort of giddiness.

Twilight received the document with her magic, quickly flipping over the title page to get to the body. “Excellent. Thank you. I'll just refresh my memory while I eat breakfast and then we can talk about it. And while I get caught up, can you put together a top ten list of the biggest issues, in your opinion, that Equestria is facing right now?”

“Yes. I'll have that ASAP.” - - -

Twilight woke up earlier that morning than she could recall in recent memory but still a little later than a good princess would. With only one thing on her mind, she briefly glanced in the vanity to make sure she didn't have bed head. Then she teleported to her throne room as a wild stab but it was empty. She then teleported to the dining hall where the inviting echoes of animated chatter met her ears and the smell of warm, fruit filled pastries tempted her nose. In a mostly abandoned grand hall was a small group of alicorns all seated and conversing around a breakfast buffet.

Her mouth dropped open as time seemed to stop. It was just like she said. They were all alive and well. They were all alicorns.

“You're all here,” she gasped.

The group stopped talking and looked at her with surprise.

“Of course we are,” laughed Rainbow. “You haven't kicked us out yet.”

“Are you feelin’ okay?” asked Applejack.

Twilight surreptitiously wiped a tear from her eye and took a seat next to Fluttershy. “Yeah, it's just… nice you're still here.” She helped herself to a big fluffy croissant as the conversation picked back up.

“Finish your presents last night?” asked Rainbow.

“Oh, uh, no. Too many. Too tired,” laughed Twilight.

“That's exactly how I was after my thousandth,” added Rarity. “It's about as draining as having two weddings.”

“Yeah but ya think chippin’ a hoof is about as drainin’ as havin’ two weddins,” teased Applejack.

The table chuckled as Rarity dunked her teabag. “Well, it's all relative, darling.”

Twilight was dumbstruck for words; she just nibbled her food, watching and listening and simply enjoying basking in the presence of her long gone friends like a lost puppy curling up in a warm place. She wanted to ask how they'd been doing, what they'd been doing but she was sure the other her had already had those conversations yesterday. She tried to be content with just eavesdropping for as long as she could.

“So. What are your plans for today?” she finally asked. “Is everyone just going back home?”

“Yep,” replied Applejack.

The rest of the alicorns nodded and there was general consensus from the group.

She swallowed. “I know you probably have to get back to work but can I maybe come by and visit you all at your homes this week, really quick? Just for a little bit? For my birthday?”

The alicorns exchanged elated glances at the suggestion.

“Come by Manehattan,” said Rarity, “Maybe we can see a show.”

“Oh, and when you come to Rockville, we can count rocks,” exclaimed Pinkie. “Just kidding. We can go in the chocolate hot tub or have a balloon parade.”

“That sounds great. Why don't I go visit Fluttershy first; since she's closest.” She turned to the mare next to her. “Is that okay, today?”

“Yes, that works for me. But what should we do?” Fluttershy wondered aloud.

“We don't have to plan anything specific. It's just fun to visit too.”

“Of course.”

Twilight was all smiles as they finished their breakfast. When the group broke up, she returned to the enchanted mirror to check if the other her needed assistance with anything yet. She removed the protective silver shroud once again to look but there was no Twilight in the mirror. Instead there was a piece of paper taped to the other side of the glass. Words were scrawled on the side facing her. It was a note.

Good idea, she thought. They didn't have to wait around for a meetup; they could just write each other notes on the mirror like penpals.

She squinted at the paper which had two easy questions written on it.

I like your main advisor. What's his name? Mine is a mare named Stardust. Where do you keep your keys? - - -

“Increase the guard presence at the border,” commanded Twilight from her throne. “I want a show of force but nothing to provoke conflict. Then I want to open a dialogue with Griffonstone immediately.”

“Excellent, your highness,” nodded Noteworthy as he scribbled on his floating pad. “We will draft a letter of parley for your approval and send it out before day's end.”

Twilight scratched her cheek absently as she reviewed the bulleted list of pressing Equestrian issues, most of them domestic, but that wasn't to say that the world around them didn't seem a great deal more tumultuous than the one she was used to seeing.

“May I ask you a frank question,” began Noteworthy, putting away his pen.

“Yes, you may,” she answered, still scanning the document.

“What happened?”

Her eyes flicked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean why do you seem to care so much all of a sudden? You've shown more initiative toward governance in the last ten hours than at any point during my employment as an advisor.”

Twilight screwed up her face. “I always cared, it just hasn't always been easy to show it. Let's just say that my thousandth birthday was a sort of… epiphany.” - - -

The second most shocking thing next to meeting her dead friends as alicorns was seeing Fluttershy soaring like a falcon over the Everfree Forest. She'd always been an infamously weak flyer who preferred to stay close to the ground. In the distance, a set of impressive towers arose over the thick green canopy and Twilight caught a strange feeling of recollection. She understood that Fluttershy had dominion over Ponyville and the Everfree but this castle, her castle, it was most certainly a refurbished Castle of the Two Sisters.

As they flapped closer, she saw little cottages clustered around the base of the grand structure. There were fields of crops with ponies working the land. There were shops and inns on paved roads and there windmills and water towers. Not only had the castle been revived but there was a whole town thriving in a hollow of the forest she'd always known as an inhospitable place only the most intrepid would inhabit.

The two alicorns touched down in the spacious courtyard where birds and animals of all species fluttered and scampered up to seemingly welcome Fluttershy home. They chittered and twittered with excitement as they crowded around her.

Twilight looked in awe but tried to temper her reaction to the old castle’s better than new makeover as they traipsed through the welcome party and up to the open gate. It was reasonable to assume that the other Twilight had probably been here many many times. The structure was quite jaw dropping though. She'd only ever known this place as a decrepit hole in a spooky and dangerous forest.

No sooner did they cross the threshold than a timberwolf came barreling down the hall right at them. Twilight gasped as the massive beast reached attack range and leapt through the air with outstretched paws and gleaming eyes.

“Saber,” cried Fluttershy in alarm. “She caught him in mid air with her magic where he flailed inertly with a sad whine.

“I know you're excited to see me but you have to keep your weight off of that leg. You can't just go running around quite yet”

Twilight looked at the timberwolf’s front right leg to see it wrapped tight in a splint. She let out a breath of relief but her heart was still pounding in her chest.

Fluttershy smiled and let him down where he could lick her face. She giggled and put a wing around the brute. It seemed she was running this castle like a bigger version of her old animal sanctuary back in Ponyville.

“Don’t worry, he’s just a big sweetie. But, you know, when I first found him in the forest, I almost decided to leave him behind. I think he got thrown out of his pack or maybe he even escaped, otherwise he wouldn’t be alive but he could barely walk because of his broken leg. He was so hostile toward me at first. I had to keep reminding myself that he didn't see me as prey; he just felt endangered. He was just as scared of me as I was of him, which is kind of funny when you think about it.”

Satiated, she let him go and he padded past them into the courtyard.

“Of course I always want to help so badly,” she continued, “and he couldn't survive on his own with an injury like that so I ended up staying and talking with him for probably forty minutes before I could get him to voluntarily come to me and accept help.”

She turned to follow Fluttershy into the foyer “Wow,” she breathed. “So many wouldn't be that kind or that brave,”

“Yes. I'll never forget the day I became an alicorn and suddenly understood what true bravery is. Up until then, I always saw myself as a weak scaredy cat but there were so many times I was terrified to do something but I did it anyway because I knew it was right. Bravery isn't not being afraid; it's overcoming your fear. So when you look at it, fear is really just potential bravery.

“Twilight nodded in astonishment. “And now look at you. You live in a castle everypony said was haunted in a spooky forest crawling with predators and monsters.”

Fluttershy bit her lip and then smiled apprehensively. “Yep.”

Long Way Up

The halls of Applejack's Appleloosa Castle were lined with hundreds of family pictures, both paintings and photographs. There were candid snapshots and formal portraits alike. There were brand new babies showcased and celebrated alongside great grandparents. There were earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, cats, dogs and even a yak and a zebra, all of them related somehow to Applejack.

Twilight recognized many of these faces but there were plenty she didn't. As far as she’d gathered, Applejack didn't have any direct descendants, only those of her siblings but could it have been that her alicornhood had altered things in a way that bolstered and expanded her family? Or was it simply that Twilight had lost track of such things over time? There had to be at least four hundred new family members since their days in Ponyville. It was entirely warranted to be unaware of someone's complete lineage spanning a millennium but she knew the Princess of Family remembered each and every one of them.

The little plaques with names and years were exactly what Twilight wanted on everything for her one week stay in the universe.

As if on cue, a yellow unicorn colt came barreling down the hall. “Auntie Twilight,” he exclaimed at the top of his lungs. He slid on the terracotta tile floor, coming to a stop by wrapping onto the, much taller, Princess of Friendship's foreleg.

Twilight smiled awkwardly like a stage actor who'd forgotten their lines.

Didn't I see this kid on the wall, she pondered. What was his name?

“Oh, hey there… you.” She bent down and drew the unidentified colt into a convincing embrace.

“Ain't ya s’pose ta be helpin’ yer ma, Lemondrop?” asked a suspicious Applejack.

“Ah did,” he replied, still holding on. “She let me go. Ya didn't tell me Auntie Twilight was comin’.”

“Ah forgot,” shrugged Applejack. “It's not a big thing; she’s leavin’ tomorrow.”

“Aw,” he groaned.

“We was just on our way ta have an early lunch.”

“Can Ah come too,” he begged, finally releasing Twilight. “Ah'm hungry right now.”

“Only if it's okay with your auntie.”

“Of course,” laughed Twilight. “Why wouldn't it be?”

Applejack's castle was unlike any Twilight had ever seen in Equestria. It was lower and sprawling, almost a ranch style with a desert country motif. Rooms had exposed beams overhead with dark stained rough hewn wood paneling. It felt warm and lived in.

The three took a table at the shady veranda overlooking the river.

“Oh,” squeaked Twilight as Lemondrop helped himself right into her lap.”

“Sugarcube, ya gotta ask first,” sighed Applejack.

“But we always do this,” he argued.

“Ah know but ya still should always ask first.”

“Oh, it's fine,” chuckled Twilight. They must be extremely close, she thought.

Servants had bread and water on the table before the group even raised a hoof. The colt floated himself a slice to nibble on.

“Well, Lemondrop, ya excited ‘bout the big city yet? Gettin’ ta be in Auntie Rarity’s neck o’ the woods?”

“No,” groaned the colt dejectedly. “Ah don't want ma ta remarry.”

“Oh, sugarcube, ya like Wordplay, doncha?”

“Yeah but… Ah want him ta move in here with us instead. Manehattan’s too far away. Ah don't wanna leave the castle and you an’ mah family here.”

Applejack's expression wilted. “Ah know. Ah'm really gonna miss havin’ ya here all the time too. But it's not goodbye ferever. Ya can still visit Appleloosa and the castle and yer cousins will still come visit ya in the city. And in the summer you can come over an’ stay as long as yer parents and school will let ya.”

“He's gonna be the first father Ah remember,” mused Lemondrop, pausing with his bread idle in the air as if the revelation had just hit him. Ah wish Ah didn't have ta leave everyone else Ah know just ta get a dad.”

“You’ll meet the rest ‘o Wordplay’s family at the weddin’,” continued Applejack hopefully. “And they'll all live near ya from now on. You’ll have so many new cousins ta play with. Don't think of it as leavin’ yer family, think of it as growin’ yer family. When they get hitched, it means yer family doubles and ya got twice as many ta love ya.”

It was difficult to see from hovering right above him but Twilight thought she could feel him smile. - - -

Twilight sat at her desk amongst a host of paper stacks, dutifully triaged and sorted by a team of aides. She cycled through them one by one in the air, giving each at least a precursory glance before filing it in order of her own gut sense of urgency. The documents were everything from contracts to formal requests to written court appeals that had reached the highest authority of the land only to bounce off and sit in a box unanswered, some of them for decades. Though it pained her to do so, she threw many of them away with reasonable assumption that they’d been forgotten or otherwise reached their expiration dates. Some of those ponies might not have even been alive anymore.

At some point the other Twilight had decided to reformat much of her audiences and meetings into written correspondence which only allowed her to further disengage from her duties and socializing entirely.

Celestia dropped into the room with a flash and looked around the organized chaos with a delighted smirk.

“Well, things seem to be happening in here. I trust everyone has been on task since the security huddle. How is that issue developing?”

Twilight set her papers aside. “No new activity on the border which is good news. We have an emissary en route. If things go well, maybe we'll be having a top level meeting by the end of next week.”

Celestia nodded in astonishment. “It's only a first step but I think I speak for all Equestrians when I say that hearing you've suddenly decided to take this seriously comes as quite a relief. I dare say I'm cautiously optimistic about our country’s outlook with the… revitalized you at the helm. My heart swells, seeing you embrace your leadership role again.”

“I guess you can say I've finally reconnected with the old me,” agreed Twilight.

Celestia sat herself down in a chair on the opposite side of the gargantuan desk. “Everything ebbs and flows,” sighed the former princess, apparently downplaying the rockyness of the last couple of centuries. “I always thought something would eventually come along and shake you out of it if we just waited long enough. No one feels like ruling all the time but I was worried there for a while that you still hadn't found the bottom of your little episode yet.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the unexpectedly catty remark but brushed it off quickly. “You know, things have been bad for a while, maybe we should go somewhere fun and catch up. Not now obviously, I'm neck deep in it, but some time in the not too distant future.”

She brazenly made plans and promises not knowing if the other her could or would keep them but she had nothing to lose by talking her up and making her go big. So much of everything she was doing here would be ultimately meaningless if her other self didn't find the inspiration to lead again. She hoped things were going well for her. They hadn't met face to face since switching but she supposed that was ultimately a good sign.

Celestia blinked in surprise at the apparent olive branch from her old protegé. “Why yes, that sounds lovely.” - - -

“I don't know why you wanted to come to boring old Cloudsdale for your extended birthday celebration when I could have taken you to glamorous Las Pegasus,” scoffed Rainbow as they walked through Spitfire Hall. “Games… Rollercoasters…”

“Oh, we can do that next time,” argued Twilight. She subtly eyed her friend’s uniform up and down, the crisp white hat, the stars on her shoulders and bars on her chest below a simple tag with her name and the title ‘Marshal of the Air Force.’ Her ethereal rainbow mane was kept short in a bun. The clean cut look and the tidiness clashed with her memories of the former pegasus as a carefree slacker… at least before becoming a senior Wonderbolt. But even then, she never looked like this. She didn't exude military vibes when Twilight saw her at the breakfast table back in Canterlot either.

“I just want to hang out in a laid back, natural way,” Twilight concluded. “I mean, whatever comes naturally.

“Okay,” she shrugged. “It's just going to feel like Bring Your Supreme Princess to Work Day .”

“What's your favorite thing to do in Cloudsdale these days?”

“Same thing it's been forever,” laughed Rainbow. “Watching newbies sweat.”

She magically opened the double doors ahead of them and they headed back outside. The east side doors took them out to the sprawling physical training area.

Twilight squinted as she surveyed the facility with awe. Above them, new cadets zipped through gauntlets of hoop shaped gates. Down at their level, a line of ponies were testing their stamina flying into intense headwinds generated by an array of big turbines, something like the flying equivalent of a treadmill. Other pegasi were bussing hefty weights from the cloud surface and stacking them on platforms high above.

The Cloudsdale Air Force Base was three times the size of the Wonderbolts’ academy. She wanted to ask what role Rainbow played in the Wonderbolts now if any but she thought the question sounded suspiciously entry level. She could ask the other Twilight if she really wanted to know, she supposed.

“These ponies are all in week eight,” grunted Rainbow. “So unfortunately most of the clowns have already washed out. The athleticism is still fun to watch though.”

“Yeah,” Twilight agreed absently, still looking up with visored eyes. Her attention fixed on a white cadet who stood out amongst the rest as she screamed through the uneven rings in a serpentine maneuver.

“Wow, who's that one?” marveled Twilight.

“That must be Shooting Star,” groaned Rainbow. “She's good but she's a real showboat. There's always one.”

They continued to watch as she tore through the hoops at top speed.

“See, she's going too fast. That exercise is supposed to hone control and accuracy, not be a time trial.”

No sooner did Rainbow say this than the cadet clipped the fourth ring hard with her outstretched wing. Twilight gasped as she went spiraling in a barrel roll, legs flailing all the way to the spongy cloud surface where she bounced once before coming to a stop.

Medics and an instructor were on the scene quickly. They checked her first as she laid heaving in pain on the surface. Medics brought a stretcher but the injured pegasus was able to stagger to her feet and gingerly walk away with them toward the infirmary.

Rainbow turned to Twilight and cocked her head at the group. “I should go check on her. C’mon.”

The two alicorns loitered, talking in the infirmary until all the commotion had died down before making an unannounced visit to the injured mare.

Shooting Star laid on her stomach upon the bed. Her left wing was wrapped to her body. She looked up in surprise when Rainbow and Twilight entered.

“Wow, I got two princesses at my bedside,” I'm in even worse trouble than I thought.

“Shooting Star,” nodded Rainbow. “How are you?”

The cadet's eyes fell to the floor. “It's broken,” she murmured forlornly.

“I'm sorry to hear that”

“If the gates had more padding-”

“The gates have padding,” Rainbow quickly retorted. “You crash into anything hard enough there comes a point where even the padding can't save you. If you had been using the equipment properly-”

“I never should have joined. I should have gone to the Wonderbolts or something. They'd appreciate me. I keep trying to achieve excellence here but the instructors are always trying to beat it out of me. How can you lead such a stifling place? I thought you were all about freedom.”

“I am all about freedom,” Rainbow replied evenly. “But I'm also all about loyalty. And the Wonderbolts would be telling you the exact same thing I am; striving for excellence isn't the problem, it's putting that agenda above the words of your instructors and the needs for your team’s success. Strive for excellence in being an asset to your team.”

“But you can't have freedom if you're always held back by everyone else,” argued the young mare.

Rainbow sighed. “Freedom doesn't just mean the ability to do whatever you want whenever you want. That's a foal’s idea of freedom. Freedom’s not something that we can just hope for or steal for ourselves, it's something you have to build and maintain. It’s a responsibility that requires sacrifice by everypony but especially you, cadet. When you're in the Air Force, all of Equestria stands on your shoulders. You're the foundation of freedom.”

Shooting Star grunted in frustration. “That kind of thinking doesn't come naturally to me.”

“I'm gonna be blunt, cadet; ponies who can't grasp that idea don't belong in the military. Does that make you want to give up on being in the Air Force or the Wonderbolts?”

Shooting Star frowned. “Kind of. Yeah.”

“Do you want to give up on flying too?” shrugged Rainbow.

“What? No way. I love flying. I need to fly.”

“But your wing is broken.”

“Yeah, but it'll heal.”

“You're right, it will,” nodded Rainbow. “If you take care of it and let it heal. You know, just being able to fly at all is one of nature's greatest freedoms but like any freedom, you can lose it. I bet you wanna be able to fly right now more than anything but guess what, if you flapped your wings right now, you'd just end up spending more time in a cast. And once you do get back in the air, you can't fly recklessly and expect to keep flying for much longer. That's what responsibility and sacrifice for freedom is all about. You’re a custodian and a patron.”

Shooting star looked at her broken wing but said nothing.

“I'm sorry you're going to miss graduation this time but I hope to see you on the track again some day and I wish you a speedy recovery.”

Rainbow turned to the door but Twilight lingered just long enough to see the tears beginning to stream down Shooting Star’s cheeks.

Twilight followed her friend into the hall and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. “Think she'll come around?” she asked.

“Maybe. She's still processing a lot right now. She'll have a much clearer head tomorrow morning though.”

“Well, I thought it was inspiring anyway,” Twilight remarked.

“Yeah, I have a lot of practice. I end up giving that same pep talk in some form or another to every batch that comes through.”

The Next Wonderful Thing

“Oh, I love this shrug,” crooned Rarity, pivoting playfully in the three panel mirror. “I'm going to wear this right now. I'm so glad all the city’s big box stores carry inclusive sizes in their inventory; that was a good law, Rarity.” She turned to her other reflection. “Why thank you, Rarity,” she giggled.

She spun back around to face the department store clothier and a bewildered Twilight.

“I'll take this one with me. Please send the rest to the castle, good sir.”

“As you wish, princess,” nodded the sharp looking salespony.

She looked back at Twilight who’d just been tailing her patiently after only browsing through a couple of clothing articles.

“I'm sorry, Twilight, I know this isn't really your forte. It's just so difficult to resist when I walk by and see all the new window displays. We should do something we both enjoy.”

“Oh it's fine,” laughed Twilight. “We've already had an amazing day together. I loved the play and everything about the restaurant was wonderful.”

“Well, why don't I pay and then we can go walk around the park before heading back to the castle. They should have an outdoor market happening right now. They always have something for everyone.”

Rarity went to the register and made her purchases. The two alicorns left Bridledale’s and wandered leisurely down the sidewalk just happy to be in the moment and absorb the bustling heartbeat of Manehattan.

The entrance to the park had a big banner stretched overhead for the event. The smooth brick path inside was lined with dozens of pop-up shops of all kinds selling arts and crafts, food, toys and clothes. It was like a fair without the rides.

“No matter how many times I come to these, it always reminds me of the old Ponyville market,” began Rarity. “Do you remember that place?”

“I do,” smiled Twilight, slowly recalling that everyday facet of her old hometown from lifetimes ago.

Rarity quickly became ensnared by a booth selling homemade hats and scarves and soon came away with a woolen hat that complemented her shrug sweater. Twilight bought a fruit smoothie using her other self’s bits. They drifted along, drawing stares with their celebrity. Ponies whispered or greeted them with nervous excitement which only stoked Rarity's vivaciousness.

They came to the park’s centerpiece, a big fountain enclosed by a circular path that split off in three other directions all flanked with even more crowded shops.

“Oh, there's the artist’s row,” Rarity pointed excitedly. “Care to take a look?”

“Sure, that sounds fun.”

“I do love art,” continued Rarity. “But I especially love how out on the street, you see a lot more avantgard mediums than you do in the museums or even the galleries. This is where the risk-takers are.”

Twilight liked art too but not as much as Rarity and she wasn't learned enough on the subject to sound like a dealer or a museum tour guide the way her companion likely could.

They passed hoofmade decorative ceramics and art glass pieces. There were walls of oil paintings and black and white photos.

Twilight paused to look at a panoramic photograph of a misty valley with a single tree that was just tall enough to poke through the top of the fog.

The two came upon a sizable gap in the crowd where an almost abandoned art stall stood. A bored looking stallion sat at a table amongst a little labyrinth of pegboard walls adorned with some quite peculiar looking paintings.

They stopped to see a larger than life rendering of a can of beans, a birthday cake that had been mostly eaten and a pony that looked like he was made entirely of every color of flower.

Twilight squinted, mystified. “I've seen weird abstract and surreal art before but I've never seen someone just straight up paint a can of beans.”

Rarity chortled, pointing at an oil painting portrait of a dignified house cat dressed sharply in business attire.

“Look at this. It reminds me of Sequin. I could never get him to model a three piece suit for me like this.”

The stallion at the counter looked up and gasped in horror at recognizing the two visitors. “Oh, P- Princess Rarity! I am so sorry. He lurched to his hooves in a panic and began taking down paintings. “I- I was just leaving. Nothing to see here.”

Twilight and Rarity exchanged befuddled glances.

“Wait, what are you doing?” asked Rarity.

“I'm just removing this offensive eyesore from your presence.”

“I wasn't offended and even if I was, I'm not going to run anypony out of town simply because I don't like their art.”

He paused to look back at her. “Well, I know, it's just, I'm still embarrassed because you’re so fashionable and classy and my art is… not.”

“Fashionable is a construct and taste in art is subjective. Your paintings might not be conventionally beautiful but I feel something when I look at them and isn't that the whole point?”

The stallion sighed and carefully rehung his paintings before returning to the table. “Uh… I'm Kitschy Craft.” He held out his hoof to shake with both of them, eyes on the ground.

“So I take it you're not moving a lot of paintings then?” asked Rarity.

“Well… no. I never have. Ponies only seem to want beautiful paintings and I don't really do that.”

“There’s so much more to beauty than aesthetics,” she replied thoughtfully. “Everything is beautiful in some way if you stop and think about it for long enough.”

“Well you might understand that but I’m afraid that most don't share that insight. My paintings surprise ponies or even make them laugh. They might enjoy looking but no one wants to buy one and hang it in their house because it looks weird and it's not pretty.”

Rarity put a hoof to her chin. “Hmm… You’re a good artist, technically speaking; why don't you just try painting other subject matter if you can't find buyers for what you're doing now?”

“I have but it just feels so draining and the paintings always come out lackluster because they don't inspire me like what comes to me naturally.”

“I see… Well, even though your work may lack a certain broad appeal, that doesn't mean it isn't beautiful in its own right or that you can't get paid for making it. I think your main issue is that you just haven't connected with your target consumer.”

“I've been doing this professionally for five years,” he moaned. “My target consumer is still my parents.”

“Believe it or not, there is a whole pool of eccentric, affluent ponies out there looking for an offbeat original art trophy, ponies you'd never cross paths with at a street fair.”

“But… you're here,” he pointed out bluntly.

“I am,” she shrugged. “But I go out of my way to make the whole city my playground.”

Kitschy frowned with doubt. “Well, how would I ever get exposure with those ponies? Sounds like they live in a world out of my reach.”

“I have one idea,” she offered boastfully. “I'm going to buy that cat painting. When visitors see your work displayed prominently in the castle of a fabulous, trendsetting influencer like myself, they'll have no choice but to stop and give it the artistic consideration it deserves. In the same way that our mere presence here seems to have increased traffic to your booth.”

Kitschy looked around, noticing more ponies browsing his work at that moment than at any other time he could remember.

“No pony will be able to resist asking me about my new cat painting. There will probably be a rash of decorating articles on it.”

“I can't believe you'd hang that in your castle. It would clash with the whole vibe.”

Rarity Waved a hoof dismissively. “Oh, no, not if you do it right. Anything can look good in the right setting. It will be fun to redecorate a room around it. You are probably right that most probably wouldn't want your art hanging in their domicile but that's because most wouldn't know how to integrate it into a living space. So maybe your paintings would work well at certain venues, restaurants, clubs. A new children's hospital just opened in the city and I bet the foals there would appreciate the bold absurdity of a fish in a tophat or a golden lawn flamingo.”

Rarity gasped. “I just had a brilliant idea. Do you have more paintings elsewhere?”

“Yes?” he answered slowly.

“Fabulous. I can just buy them and donate them to the hospital. Foals would love them.”

His eyes bulged. “You're going to buy all of my paintings?”

“Well, not necessarily. Just the ones that I think would look good in a children's hospital. Do you have a business card?” - - -

“I figured out his name and things still went pretty well considering,” muttered Twilight to herself as she scratched her pen across the parchment. “Can't wait to talk to you again in a couple of days.”

She put a piece of tape on the little paper and opened up her closet where she had moved the enchanted mirror for safety. She pulled off the cover and checked for any new notes. Then she taped her own to the glass and covered it back up.

Twilight teleported from her other self’s bedroom to the meeting room to rejoin Noteworthy.

“Princess,” he greeted amiably. “I noticed you haven't opened up the rest of your birthday presents yet. Would you like help with that?”

Twilight screwed up her face. “Uh, no. I'll get around to it eventually. I'm just wanting to stay focused and productive while I'm still in work mode.”

“Understood,” he nodded, flipping the first page on his floating clipboard. “So that roundtable is coming together. We've already got seven names expressing interest.”

“Excellent,” she celebrated. “I feel like we're on a good path here.” - - -

Twilight scanned down the line of old book spines, noting every title seemed to be on fossils, caves, rocks and minerals. She was expecting this kind of content in the non fiction section but here the trend continues with fictional stories about spelunking, earthquakes, volcanoes and other geological adventures.

“Well? isn't it amazing?” squealed Pinkie Pie. “With the new add-on this place is practically the Canterlot Archives!” She swept a forehoof across the interior of the Rockville Public Library which was now about half the size of Twilight's bedroom.

“It sure is,” smiled Twilight affably. “But do they have anything here not about rocks?”

“They sure do! They have a whole section, something for everyone!” She pointed across the room to a single dusty cubicle with about ten books in it. The sign above read ‘non rock.’

Pinkie shrugged. “They're not very popular around here but we have them.” Then she whispered, “I think they're just the books that outsiders forget on the trains. Anyway, that's the newest new thing since you last visited. Wanna go to Dead Tree Ridge now?”

“Sure,” chimed Twilight, feigning excitement over whatever that was.

“Alright- oh, first I have to get something.” Pinkie frolicked over to the water cooler by the front desk where she popped a cup out of the dispenser and began filling it.

Twilight’s eyes scanned the desk area. On the wall was a birthday calendar on a whiteboard that was crowded enough to be a collection of every Rockville citizen's birthday for the month. Another calendar beside it was a schedule of local events with something significant happening every weekend like a holiday or a contest.

“Alright, let's go,” said Pinkie, floating her full water cup. She vanished in a flash of pink magic.

“Uh…” Twilight glanced around awkwardly, clueless about what to do. Pinkie had teleported outside… somewhere. Before she could decide whether or not it was a good idea to ask the librarian for directions to Dead Tree Ridge, Pinkie reappeared.

“Come on, silly filly. Did you forget what we were doing?”

Thankfully this time Pinkie took her too when she went. They appeared on a barren, rocky crest looking down over the little town and into the valley. Looking this way, the featureless horizon stretched on before them forever, underscoring just how far away they were from anything.

Twilight walked to the edge and sighed. This seemed like a strange and kind of underwhelming way to round out her whirlwind tour of Alternate Equestria. The fact that Rockville had its own princess castle was nothing short of ludicrous in her mind. It might as well have a professional hoofball stadium or a four year college while it’s at it.

Pinkie's home was a more humble structure than Rarity's skyscraper penthouse or Fluttershy's refurbished castle in the forest. It was the equivalent of living in the court house or the town hall of a normal small town. That was perfectly fine because like Rarity had mentioned, it integrated well. It would be a bit obscene to live in a gigantic opulent castle looming over Rockville like the mountains themselves.

The town had grown significantly over a thousand years. It wasn’t by any means large, about the size of old Ponyville now but it was still an impressive change. In the world she came from, Rockville had died centuries ago. There was nothing out here but dust storms and the rotting skeleton of a ghost town. It was well known for being an abandoned wasteland.

Although it seemed silly in concept, it was hard to deny that Pinkie's presence in the middle of nowhere arguably facilitated the single starkest difference between these two realities, small as it was. But something really bothered Twilight. Hundreds of years on end ruling this little dusty and lonely place but Pinkie's attitude was miraculously unflappable. She still possessed boundless energy and the naivety of a foal who'd never been hurt before.

“What's the water for?” murmured Twilight.

“My friend,” smiled Pinkie, prancing along the edge of the ridge.

She watched curiously as the pink alicorn paused to carefully dump the water on the ground.

“Look, Twilight, it's going to Bloom!”

Twilight wandered over to see a little scraggly plant with a pale blue bud, standing in a mud puddle. It was the only other lifeform in sight besides the two ponies gazing upon it.

“I've been giving this little plant a cup of water every day for two months. It was really yellow at first but then new green parts started to grow and now there's a little flower growing on it.” She grinned at her exuberantly.

Twilight smiled weakly and shook her head. “How do you do it, Pinkie?”

“Well, I usually use my own mug but today-”

“No, I mean how do you just… find the will to keep going when you rule over such a bleak, isolated place? How does it not break your spirit?”

“Oh… That… It's just like a game. When things are hard and you feel like curling into a little ball in a dark corner, you gotta find something to keep you going.”

“Like what?”

Pinkie pointed out over the valley. “You gotta look at the horizon and get excited about the next wonderful thing and if you don't see anything out there, then you make something to get excited about and that something can be anything. A new holliday, a board game with friends, finishing a painting, eating a slice of chocolate cake, eating an entire chocolate cake, eating three entire chocolate cakes. If you don't have anything to look forward to, that's when you lose hope.”

Twilight looked down at the little plant again. “Okay… but why keep putting time and energy into this plant that's all the way out here in the middle of the dust where no one's even going to see it?”

Pinkie shrugged. “I saw it. You saw it. Isn't it kind of inspiring to see a flower growing all the way out here? It already struggled to grow this far despite its environment, why not help it along? Maybe it'll make seeds and grow more plants but even if it doesn't and it just withers away in the end, it was still fun while it lasted. It's the little moments like these that make being alive worthwhile, y’know?”

Twilight looked back at the little town and wondered if it was a mistake not to personally intervene in its demise or if she could have saved it at all.

No Good Deed

Twilight sprinkled water on the new little succulent by the bedroom window, wanting to give it a bit of a cushion for the transition. She placed a little note next to the plant with simple care instructions hoping it didn't seem condescending. “Well, good luck, little guy. It's out of my hooves now.”

She glanced at the clock. It was about time to go. What a week. She'd done a lot of work, more serious work than she'd ever done in such a short time but in the end she was only a glorified aide, teeing things up for the rightful ruler. She could only hope things would get better for this version of Equestria. But at least with the mirror, they could talk any time now if they had problems.

Twilight entered her walk-in closet and whipped the cover off of the strange mirror one last time. - - -

It all went by so fast. Twilight meandered through the halls of Canterlot Castle, taking mental notes on everything that was different. Curtain colors, table locations, decor items she'd never even seen before, the flowers in the planters and the artwork on the walls. She'd been so enamored with the big things but it was truly astounding how many little, inconsequential things had changed just by retaining her friends.

Twilight stopped in front of a large princess group portrait and lingered there wistfully as if savoring the melted remains of a long gone ice cream sundae, an all too familiar state of mind.

She had to leave this place and go back to a world where her friends had withered away in rocking chairs instead of becoming princesses and ruling a most beautiful Equestria that they'd all built together. She’d once again be left without their companionship, their support or their insight but she would always have the wisdom of their words in her heart. That would have to be what got her out of bed in the morning, that and the next wonderful thing…

A grandfather clock chimed with grim finality at the end of the hall. In her desperation to squeeze just a little more joy out of her stay, she'd lost track of time.

Twilight closed her eyes and teleported to the library where sat all of the untouched birthday presents. And there stood the shrouded mirror, the doorway that would end her trip and take her home. With her magic she pulled up the cloth like a curtain rising on a stage and there she was, the other her, waiting patiently with a tentative smile.

“Sorry, I think I'm a little late,” she apologized.

“You must have had a lot of fun then,” she posed.

“I did. I don't remember the last time I felt like this.”

“That’s great! I hope it was a healing experience for you.”

“I…” Twilight looked at the floor as her words died in her throat. “They’re all so amazing. Just as incredible as I remembered. I learned… or maybe I relearned a lot of things.”

“Think you’re ready to lead again?”

“I think so,” she breathed.

“That’s great to hear because your citizens need you. Things aren't ideal over here but they're far from unsalvageable. I got a lot of balls rolling for you but don't worry about getting confused when you jump back in. I put everything in a journal and a planner to get you up to speed. I even helped smooth things over with Celestia.”

Twilight’s lips tightened at hearing the name. She shook her head gravely. “I don't want to be friends with Celestia again. She’s only nice for as long as you do what she approves of. You don't know what she's really like inside because you have always kowtowed to her.”

She frowned, almost wincing. The rebuke sounded so viscerally shocking, especially coming out of her own mouth.

“Well, that's not… I think if you reach out to her, you can find a healthy compromise.”

“I don't want a healthy compromise.”

The two of them shared a tense silence, neither wanting to concede on the matter but also knowing they wouldn't be changing the other's mind.

“We can talk about it later if you want, or anything else for that matter now that we have the mirror,” she suggested.

“Yeah,” she nodded absently.

“Well, nothing left to do but switch back and go to bed. You've still got a lot of presents to open in the morning,” she laughed weakly.

Twilight placed a hoof upon the face of the mirror. The other her slowly mimicked her pose until their hooves appeared to be touching.

“On three like last time? One…”

She let her hoof slip listlessly from the glass as a surge of conflicting thoughts stormed her mind.

The other her stopped counting. “Twilight?”

How could she just leave all her friends? Why go back? Everything she wanted was right here. It didn't have to end. It didn't have to end…

She swallowed. “The way things are now, it's kind of a better fit overall, don't you think?”

Twilight’s forehead creased with concern. “What are you talking about?”

She tried to gather her nerves, unable to meet the other her's gaze. “Thank you for everything you did for me… and I'm sorry.”

Before she could protest, Twilight spun around and bucked the looking glass with a crunch, sending it toppling to the ground, flat on its back.

The other her gasped as the image before her spiderwebbed across a view of the library's ceiling. It fizzled in fractured shards for a moment before returning to normal but not the normal she wanted. Twilight's jaw went slack as she noticed the mirror now showed the closet which she stood in and the other her in the mirror was now just her own reflection. - - -

Twilight did not sleep well, the irrevocable nature of her decision weighing heavily on her mind. The other her was all too willing to help her out of a dire situation for nothing in return and what did she do to her? In that moment she'd rejected all the guidance and clarity she'd gained from her visit. What did it all mean now? She'd just have to be the ruler here that she couldn't be at home. It would be better this way, she kept telling herself. The other Equestria needed the other her and she needed her friends.

A knock on her bedroom door jarred her out of a dead sleep.

“Princess, are you in there?” called the mare she thought she recognized as Stardust.

“Uh… yeah,” she groaned, rolling over like a slug.

“You're late for your morning briefing.”

Twilight rubbed her eyes. “Oh, sorry. I had a rough night. I'll be there in a minute.”

She dragged her body to the vanity and gave herself a quick once over with a brush. Then she teleported to the meeting room which she'd only attended once before in this dimension, just to be nice. She should probably make it a habit now.

“Alright,” she yawned. “What do we have?” She floated the prepared steaming coffee mug to her mouth.

Stardust cleared her throat and flipped back to page one of her clipboard. “You have a ribbon cutting in Manehattan tomorrow with Princess Rarity. I have your speech right here for that.” She slid a couple of papers across the table to her. “Uh, initial economic indicators are stable despite the fires in the west. I have that data here,” she added, putting a second paper stack in front of her. “Griffonstone is expressing interest in a new fishing trade deal. Add that to the list of things to bring up and push at the summit… Oh, and Princess Rainbow Dash has extended an invitation to join her in Las Pegasus for the weekend of the eighteenth.”

Twilight smiled with warm optimism. “That all sounds great.” - - -

Twilight yanked out a new book and hopelessly began flipping through the pages. Her eyes were sore and her brain felt like it was just buzzing with useless static and spinning wheels that got her nowhere.

“Oh, here you are, princess,” muttered Noteworthy as he trotted into the library. He glanced warily around the cluttered room as he approached her. Every table on the bottom floor was crowded with stacks of books on enchanting, sprawled open or marked for reasons unknown.

“What are you doing? You're missing your morning briefing.”

“Ugh, just… give it to me in writing today, please,” she replied without looking up from the whiffling pages of her floating tome.

“Okay,” he answered slowly. “Do you need help with… the task you're working on here?”

“Yes!” Her bloodshot eyes bulged. “I need every book you can find on enchanting and wormholes and tesseracts and the multiverse theory so that I can find a way back home through the mirror.” She pointed at the unassuming article that she'd brought back into the library for her research.

Noteworthy frowned. “Alright… I will get on that. Did you sleep last night?” he asked, noticing her disheveled mane and the bags under her eyes.

“No,” she growled. “Because I need to find a way home immediately! Now go round up the books!”

He nodded slowly. “Right away.” The stallion disappeared in a flash of magic, leaving Twilight to her, so far fruitless, search.

Her concentration was shattered just a couple of minutes later by the arrival of Celestia and Luna as they appeared out of thin air. The timing of the visit suggested that her quasi adopted parents had been tipped off by her advisor.

“What's all this business, Twilight?” asked Celestia, eying the room with an edge of annoyance.

Twilight let the worthless book fall to the floor. “Oh, good. I need your help.”

“With what?” she sighed.

Twilight began to pace back and forth. “I’m not supposed to be here. I'm not the real Twilight. I’m- I'm not your Twilight is what I mean. I'm a different Twilight Sparkle from a different dimension. On the night of my birthday I came through the mirror and switched places with your Twilight.”

Totally gobsmacked by the outlandish sounding tale from out of nowhere, the sisters exchanged dubious glances.

Twilight facehooved in frustration. “Listen, I know how this sounds. I'm from a dimension where all my Ponyville friends are still alive.”

“So you’re not the real you, haven’t been for a week, and you’re just telling us this now?” grumbled Celestia.

“Well… yeah but… the- the- reason is-”

“This is the mirror you came through?” asked Luna, looking carefully over the piece. “It looks like an ordinary mirror.”

“Luna, please,” scoffed Celestia, not wanting to entertain the idea and just get back on schedule.

“Because the other me broke it from the other side and now I'm trapped here,” blurted Twilight. “Please, I need to get back.” Twilight let out an aggravated sigh as she flailed for something tangible to lend credence to her story.

“Ugh, look, the instructions,” she floated the folded piece of paper to her predecessor in desperation.

Celestia rolled her eyes before looking over the bizarre note that appeared to have been scribbled by a deranged pony. Then she stared back at Twilight. “Talk to yourself? What kind of nonsense is this?”

Twilight gave an exaggerated shrug. “I don’t know.”

“Very amusing,” muttered Celestia, furrowing her brow. “But can we please-”

“Counsel,” whispered Luna, tapping her sister on the withers. “The meeting room.”

Celestia exhaled. The two ex-princesses teleported to the castle’s empty meeting room.

“Sister, does this story make sense to you?” asked Luna bluntly. “She seems crazed.”

“She's just playing games with us, Luna” Celestia shot back with contempt. “She's been doing it for decades.”

“She's never done anything like this before though.”

“Are you serious,” scoffed Celestia. “The museum opening… Preparing for the most recent ball...”

“Well I suppose what I mean is that she seems unusually convincing this time. Who's to say her thousandth birthday didn't make her snap and… I don't know, create some sort of alternate identity as a coping mechanism for her losses as she holds on even tighter to her fantasy world? Did you see how frazzled she looks?”

Celestia rubbed her face with aggravation. “It's her most concerted effort to date; I'll agree to that much but that's just another thing she does. She has these manic breakdowns but always comes out of it fine eventually.”

She paused for a moment as if thinking back on something. “Ugh! I should have known better. Don't you see now? Everything strange since her birthday has just been an elaborate ruse leading to this moment. She set everything up nicely and now it's time to pull the rug out from under it and go back to being bad Twilight. She's just kicking things off with this stupid little performance. It's all another tactic to spite me and plunge the country into further chaos.”

Luna shook her head in doubt. “Crazy, not crazy, does it matter? We can not have her governing anymore.”

Celestia leaned in close to her. “I swear to you, it's just another game of chicken and I will not lose. We're not talking about throwing in the towel on this until I’ve had a serious talk with her after a good night's rest. Mark my words, I will stabilize this reign. Go tell Noteworthy to clear her schedule and I will see to Twilight.” - - -

Only Me

At next day's dawn, Celestia dropped into Twilight's room unannounced to find her bed tousled but empty and cold. She and Luna had managed to coax her away from the library and into bed, largely due to her losing consciousness and being unable to keep a book open.

It was too early for Twilight to truly be up. She didn't show at her briefing and she wasn't in the breakfast nook. Perhaps she awoke in the middle of the night and left to continue thrashing the library. Celestia frowned to herself. That was a best case scenario, she supposed. Hopefully she wasn't engaging in some other, more destructive, prank.

She teleported back to the library which was still in total disarray. There was Twilight, slumped over an open book on a table, snoring.

Celestia creased her brow in hesitation. Ever since their big falling out, Twilight had been jerking her around. She'd been conditioned to be preemptively mistrustful of everything the princess said and did for many years now. This was the first time in quite a while where she was seriously beginning to second guess herself. Something about this wasn't sitting right.

“Twilight,” she called flatly. When the alicorn did not stir, she called again, louder this time, but she continued to snore. “Twilight?” She shook her by the withers with one hoof.

Twilight started in surprise but lifted her head slowly, the page peeling off of her cheek with an audible sound.

Although she was frustrated with her continued tardiness, Celestia's instincts were telling her the moment called for a softer approach. “And how are we doing this morning?” she asked in a tentatively kindlier tone than she'd used the previous day.

Twilight swallowed, batting her squinting eyelids. “Um… Am I still trapped in the universe where all my friends are dead?”

“Yes.”

“Then… not good.”

“You're missing your briefing again, Twilight.”

She shifted in her seat. “I- I can't go to my briefing. The briefing isn't actually for me.”

“But you've been attending it every day for the past week.”

“I know. I was trying to help out the other me but now she's stranded me here and I have to find a way back home somehow and you don’t even believe me.” She feebly threw up her forehooves in despair.

At that moment Celestia still wasn’t sure about any of this but could it hurt to placate her a little. “I believe you,” she replied.

“You do?” gasped Twilight

“Yes,” she nodded. “But there will be time later. Belong here or not, you are the only reigning princess in this castle and Equestria always comes first, Twilight.”

Twilight buried her face in her hooves. “You're right,” she groaned. “Thank you. I knew I could always count on you.”

Twilight teleported to her room and tackled her frazzled mane with a brush. She even put on a tiny bit of makeup to hide the haggered darkness under her eyes. She aparated to the briefing room where, much to her dismay, she found two generals, two intelligence officers and a security expert all waiting for her for untold minutes.

Her stomach dropped. “Oh, good morning everyone,” she began, promptly taking her seat at the table. “I apologize for keeping you waiting like this.” Her face heated up in embarrassment. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so irresponsible and ill prepared for something important like this but she hadn't planned on being in this dimension at all, much less the meeting. - - -

Celestia returned to her, now room temperature, breakfast at the little table in the cloister. Luna sat across from her, reading a book, her own plates already cleared away. Celestia quietly took a seat but ignored her food, opting instead to just stare down through the table.

After sensing a prolonged and uncanny span of inactivity on the other side of the table, Luna finally looked over the brim of her book to see her sister apparently lost in thought, not eating anything, not saying anything.

“Is something wrong?”

Celestia looked over both shoulders to make sure they were alone. Then she licked her lips. “I went to rouse Twilight and do you know what happened? I found her passed out in the library again with her research books. She still insists she's not supposed to be here but I told her she was missing her briefing and that it was important and she… agreed with me and then just went to her briefing without a fuss despite being exhausted. I believe her attitude is genuinely radically different. I don't think she's crazy or even pretending.”

Luna blinked. “Are you saying she really switched places with herself through that mirror?”

Celestia screwed up her face. “Anything's possible.”

“Well, you're the expert,” she shrugged.

“I suppose… Though admittedly, if I knew precisely what she was talking about regarding this enchanted mirror, I might have already dabbled in trying to replace her with another her by now.”

Luna snapped the book shut and set it on the table. “Then what are we to do about this?”

“Nothing,” Celestia chuckled in euphoria. “This is exactly what we want. She was a better leader over those six days than the other her was at any point during the last two hundred years. She is the Twilight I want ruling. The only real issue I see here is this obsession with going back home. It's just a distraction to her right now. But we need to be helpful and understanding of her situation but get her to accept her role as a sort of interim princess for the moment until we can get this sorted out.”

“Sorted out?” shrugged Luna. “But you just said you wanted her to rule.”

“I do but in order to do that, we need her docile and compliant, unlike the old Twilight. We are only to appear helpful to her cause. Behind the scenes we will do everything in our power to sabotage her efforts and keep her here through the remainder of her reign. The promise of getting back home will simply be a carrot on a string. In time her project will become a quirky side hobby and then eventually she will give up entirely and accept her new life here.”

Luna pursed her lips. “Seems quite cynical. Is that… the right thing to do?”

Celestia picked up her fork with her magic. “It is what is best for this country.” - - -

Twilight attended to her duties as responsibly as she could considering the circumstances. She found time toward the end of the day to hit the books again. The library had been picked up somewhat in her absence which caused her significant agitation. Her organized chaos had been reordered in unfamiliar stacks which she had to go through again to separate the books she'd already skimmed and discarded.

The feelings of betrayal and frustration hit harder this time as she opened the next new book. Was she naive to have trusted herself? She never would have done such a thing to her but trying to predict the other her’s behavior in that way was flawed reasoning. It was clear that though they shared the same DNA, they were very different ponies at heart and it was all because of the contrast of their environments.

She could have come back here and made a big turn around. It wasn't so bad in this Equestria. Celestia wasn't bad. She was simply trying to look after the country while dealing with an obstinate ruler. But if it wasn't so bad here, then why did she want to leave it herself? It was sad and strangely different in too many ways to count but most of all it just wasn't hers. She admitted the idea of life without the other princesses was absolutely soul crushing. It was difficult to conceptualize that besides Cadance, she assumed, there were no other princesses out there. It was just her, alone. It felt so empty. She couldn't blame her for wanting to escape this Equestria but this was the Equestria she’d earned.

There came a zap from over her shoulder as Celestia entered the room.

“Any leads so far?” sighed Celestia, filing idly through one of the stacks.

“No. Not really.”

“Don't despair. There must be a way for you to return.”

Twilight nodded absently. “With as many books and scrolls as there are in my library and the archives, the answer has to be here somewhere.”

“Indeed,” agreed Celestia. “But don't overwork yourself on it. It would be for the best, I think, if you stayed on a regular schedule and saved this sort of thing for your wouldbe free time. Luna and I can devote some of our time to help while you're otherwise indisposed.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.” agreed Twilight. “Thanks.”

“We can answer any questions you have about your life here to hopefully spare you any awkward on the job moments from here on out. We should also keep this whole mirror thing underwraps. It wouldn’t do any good for ponies to question your legitimacy as their ruler.” She laughed weakly. “This would be a conspiracy theorist’s dream come true.”

Twilight nodded compliantly. - - -

Days went by. Twilight began to acclimate to her life in semi limbo but her determination to return home did not waver. She went about her business as a normal princess, though with the added turmoil and weight of the alternate world. Between meetings and events, she always had a hooful of books within reach to review. At nights she returned to the library and another fresh crop of more books gathered for her to sift through. She must have vetted near a thousand books so far but had yet to gain any helpful insight into unraveling the predicament she was in.

She had a trip coming up to Yakyakistan who had agreed to host talks between Equestria and Griffonstone. She would of course attend and embody the same level of professionalism she showed while representing her own Equestria. None of it would be happening if it wasn't for her. That was a small consolation but it also made her stop and wonder how the other her was treating her country. What was she doing right now? She hoped that somehow this horrible act against her was eating away at the other her and that perhaps she was working toward fixing it on her end but she kind of doubted it.

Twilight's schedule was clear the day of her departure so she of course used her free time in the morning researching in the library.

Noteworthy, the only other non princess pony who knew the full story behind the big research dragnet, floated around in her peripherals, gathering up the rejected books to be eventually reshelved.

“Have you taken a look at that grimoire yet?” he asked abruptly.

Twilight looked up at him in confused intrigue. “What grimoire?”

“One of the aides just found a fifth old world magic book, this one was lost and really dusty, fallen down under the shelving unit. It's like one of those things you don't find again until you move,” he laughed.

Her brow furrowed. A fifth old world magic book? She'd only come across two so far and she'd at least glanced over every book procured for her thus far.

“No,” she replied slowly. “I haven't seen it; where is it?”

He shrugged and looked about the room. “Should be here somewhere in the latest batch. Celestia always brings them in from the aides.”

Twilight already knew it wasn't here. She would have easily recognized it and its two unaccounted for predecessors for that matter. They were potential goldmines for detailing unconventional spacetime magic. She nervously tapped her hoof on the table as the pieces clicked together in her head, accompanied by a weird sinking feeling. Celestia would have given her those books immediately, even call attention to them for how valuable they might be to achieving her goal… Wouldn't she?

“Huh, you know what? I never saw it. I should probably go ask her about that.” Without another word, she teleported away, abandoning her current read on the table.

She reappeared right into Celestia's bedroom, her first guess but also a somewhat desperate one. She wouldn't usually just barge in on her like this.

Indeed, she was there, back toward her and seemingly basking in the heat of an unnecessary fire.

Twilight's eyes went to the glowing fireplace where they rested upon the immolated form of a book sitting atop burning logs, a shocking sight she never expected to see in her own castle. Acting on adrenaline, she yanked the smoldering tome from the fire with her magic and summoned an airtight bubble around it to snuff out the flames. The cover was blackened and still smoking but she could see a faint golden, embossed border with ornate old world flourishes. The pages crumbled to ash when she opened it, taking with them whatever knowledge she might have gained.

She looked back at Celestia, mouth agape. “You've been secretly screening my books,” she gasped in horror.

Celestia shook her head fearfully. “Twilight, please let me explain. You must understand this is for the good of Equestria. Your place and your ponies are here now and they need-”

“You don't need to explain,” Twilight’s voice cracked. The other Twilight already explained and I didn't listen. I've been so blind and stupid about everything. She was right about you.”

Before Celestia could utter another syllable, Twilight had vanished in a flash.

Epilogue

The tow chain clattered loudly on the track as the car of princesses slowly ascended the first drop of Las Pegasus’ newest coaster.

“How did I let you talk me into this?” whimpered Fluttershy, covering her eyes.

Rainbow Dash turned her head to look back at her. “C'mon, Fluttershy. Make a brave war face for the ride photo ‘cuz I'm totally buying it.”

“I can't right now,” she quivered.

“It won’t be that scary. It's just like flying.”

“Maybe fer you,” scoffed Applejack. “Ah don't go doin’ suicide dives an’ triple loop-the-loops when Ah fly.”

“And I especially don't do them,” added Fluttershy.

“I don't think the rest of us would be on the ride if it were ‘just like flying,’ darling.”

Rainbow shrugged. “I was trying to be supportive… sort of.

Fluttershy hazarded a glance between her hooves and squealed in terror when she saw the end of the track approaching.

“Forelegs up everypony,” laughed Twilight, raising her hooves in the air.

A wide-eyed Pinkie Pie was the first to let out an ear splitting scream of excitement as the clatter ended and the nose of the coaster dipped over the hill. They picked up speed and soon the rest of the princesses joined her wail just in time for the camera's flashbulb. - - -

A hooful of fluttering magic flames shown their light across the rough hewn stone of the old Two Sister's dungeon, their glow scattered by a multitude of mirrors of every shape and size.

Tattered, worm-eaten pages ruffled in the deafening silence kept by the tomb-like bottom of a castle lost to time. There, a lone alicorn, vanished from the world, hunched over a rotting desk from long before her time. Somewhere in these mountains of forgotten tomes had to be a piece of the puzzle, an answer to a question no one but her could hear. One of these mirrors. One of these books. One of these nights…

She looked with weary, wild eyes to the stone in front of her and ran a hoof delicately across a stolen ancient photo of the other her and the friends she refused to let go of. The next wonderful thing…