Messing with Twilight Sparkle was the next best thing to taking revenge on Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer decided as the alicorn once again stopped in the distance and turned towards her. Starlight held her leisurely pace as the trio trotted towards Sweet Apple Acres, seeing no reason to rush even as Twilight kept speeding ahead and then stopping to wait for her. At this point, Starlight was doing it on purpose, having found just the right pace to drive the impatient pony crazy. The closer they got, the more she could tell Twilight longed to gallop ahead to her friend. Starlight was smugly satisfied to delay her, knowing the princess was of no mind to leave her alone.

Finally, they could spot the telltale arch and gates that represented the start of Sweet Apple Acres; the barn and farmhouse stood not too far behind. This was permission for Twilight Sparkle to break out into a full sprint, leaping the gate with a clean jump and yelling out, “Applejack! Applejack, are you here!?”

Starlight was at the gate by the time the farmhouse door popped open and an orange muzzle poked out. The door opened the rest of the way when she saw who it was, but the farmpony didn't leave the doorway. Starlight settled herself by the fence to wait and eavesdrop. She wasn't sure how Applejack might react to seeing her, and she refused to touch any of the memories that might give her a hint.

As for her seeing Applejack, however, a number of the drawers in her mind were flung open. Applejack! The element of honesty! The absolute pinnacle of pony strength, both physical and emotional. The paths in her brain gushed with excitement and incredulity. The Applejack, in the flesh, what a world! Starlight had to force the giddy grin off of her face.

“Now I don't know what you var–” Applejack started, then sucked in a sudden breath and went again, “Now I don't know what you friends are out here for, but I don't appreciate the act. Y'all know I've made every quota you've set, and the next one ain't for a week at least.” Her face was a firm scowl, eyes never leaving Twilight as she made her way to the foot of the porch.

“Applejack, it's me! Don't you recognize me? The castle is there, so I thought–”

“Course I recognize Twilight! I just don't recognize you,” she stuck a hoof at Twilight, “And I don't appreciate it. If you got something to say, drop the act and we'll talk as ponies, er, and changelings ought to. And if this is what y'all consider a prank, I'll politely ask you to leave my property.”

Starlight couldn't see her face, but Twilight's whole posture was crestfallen. “I’m not a changeling,” she pleaded, “Can't you tell me what's going on here? I thought we stopped Chrysalis at the wedding, I don't know how… All of this…” She flung her hooves wide, indicating everything around them and nothing in particular.

Applejack's eyes narrowed, “This is gettin’ strange, even for your kind. Y'all know we stopped Chrysalis at the wedding, how could you not? But then y'all came back.”

“They came back? But that never…” Twilight seemed to be at a loss for words.

“Came back and nabbed the princesses. All the princesses,” Applejack emphasized with a pointed look, “Now if all you're after is a history lesson, I suggest you check a library, if y'all even got those up in that hive of yours. Good day.” The earth pony slid back inside and started to shut the door. In an instant so quick that Spike fell from her back and landed in the dirt, Twilight shot forward and wedged her hoof in the door.

“Please, Applejack, this isn't some changeling prank, I don't know how to prove it's really me!” Her voice had a desperate edge as she stared up at Applejack from the wood floor of the porch, “You can tell something is strange about this! You know it's odd that Starlight Glimmer is back there, that a changeling out for a laugh wouldn't do it like this! Give me a chance, please. Please.” Starlight would swear the alicorn was one word away from bubbling over into tears. It was pathetic. Her heart twinged with pity.

“I don't know who a Starlight Glimmer is, or who that pony back there might be, but you're right these social calls are usually a bit more personal…” The door slid back open a fraction as Applejack considered the situation. Her focus back on Twilight, neither pony noticed Starlight charging forward, scowling. Spike noticed when her hoof sent him out of her way and tumbling through the dirt once again.

“Don't know who I am, huh!?” Starlight shouted, skidding to a halt in front of the porch, “Don't recognize the mare who stole your cutie mark!? Don't recognize the pony whose life you ruined!?”

The door drifted wider as Applejack just stared. She gave the unicorn a look-over, eyes scanning up and down. After a few long moments, Starlight filling the silence with heavy pants of anger and breathlessness, the farmpony shrugged, “Ma’am, I ain't never seen hide nor hair of you in my whole life, and I ain't the element of honesty for nothin’.” She glanced back down at Twilight, “Y'all might as well come inside.”

Never seen her before? Well what the hay did that mean! Having your cutie mark stolen is certain to leave an impression, except–

Except Twilight haddone it. She had changed Starlight's history. A hoof-ful of treacherous memories was one thing, but this was rock solid proof. Applejack had no idea who she was, because she had never stolen Applejack's cutie mark, because she had never made her village, because she had never lost her first and only friend. In this Equestria, she was good?

No, wrong, she berated herself. This new Starlight wasn't good, because the old Starlight, the real Starlight, wasn't evil. She was justified! Righteous! So what if changing the past could fix her when- Tartarus take it- she was not broken. And even if it was true, which it wasn't, Twilight had no right to go and mess with it.

Some sing-song, do-gooder voice deep inside her thought that was a bit ironic.

Spike sidled around her, breaking her from her thoughts as he mean-mugged her the whole way. He disappeared through the doorway where Twilight had stopped, watching Starlight closely. She shot the alicorn a glare as she stomped up the steps and followed her inside. Fine. It was all fine. If they didn't remember her, then she would just help Twilight fix things. Make them remember her, and then she'd give them something really worth remembering.

The trio settled into seats around the kitchen table while Applejack fixed them glasses of water. The farmpony apologized for the lack of hospitality, explaining that ‘the luxuries’ had dried up moons ago. Starlight took advantage of the opportunity to observe the room.

It was spare in all the ways ponies would expect a farmhouse to be. Not barren, but utilitarian, with few concessions to sentiment. Some pictures hung from the wall, but turned inwards, while others sat face-down on shelves. The only food to be seen was hardy and imperishable, the sort of food ponies ate when the need for sustenance won over any regard for taste. Many surfaces looked unused and untouched for moons, and there were no signs of life but the ones Applejack created. It was a big house to live alone in, she thought distantly.

She watched the tension settle into the room as Applejack finally took her own seat at the table.

“So ya talked me inside, but y'all still can't honestly expect me to believe this charade, right? You get credit for originality, but we all saw the way Chrysalis had her, same way she had Shining Armor at the wedding,” Her eyes narrowed at them around a quick sip of water and a clearing of her throat, “I hate to say it, but Twilight ain’t about to come prancing down the lane asking for my help, not unless her new Queen ordered her to.”

“Oh no, she's got me under her control? The other princesses too?”

Applejack nodded sullenly, “She still needs somepony to raise the sun and moon. So she's got you, so you can't be you you, so who the hay are you?”

Starlight listened idly to Twilight trying to navigate the geography of this new timeline. Her eyes met Spike’s across the table and she rolled her eyes, letting her mouth twitch up into a knowing smirk. He only glared back, and her expression soon fell back to a scowl. Somecreature was nursing a grudge, apparently.

“I am Twilight, I promise! I Pinkie Promise, cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. I'm just not your Twilight,” Twilight looked a bit hunted as she tried to gather up her thoughts, “This is all going to sound much too ridiculous for an elaborate changeling prank, and that's why you need to believe it.”

So Twilight launched into a long and winding explanation of the events that brought her here, from her first encounter with Starlight in Our Town, to Starlight's time spell, and finally to her own version of it. All the while, Applejack's face was impassive, only nodding or grunting to show she was paying attention.

At the end, the farmpony’s gaze drifted over to Starlight, who was caught mid-sip with the cup clenched unsteadily between two hooves- magic was too much work right now. “Well clearly something worked or ya wouldn't be here, so why's nothin’ changed with her? She's certainly lookin’ pretty villainous.”

Twilight shook her head, “I have no idea, she came out of the portal minutes after us. Maybe her own version of the spell interfered with mine. She's the only one who would know.”

Both pairs of eyes were on her now. Villain Starlight- yes, let them call her a villain, she knew who was truly right- could have weathered the storm, but her other half began to crack under the combined stares of the Princess of Friendship and her Element of Honesty. What had they ever done to merit such worship from her other half?

The thought provoked more memories, unbidden. Twilight Sparkle stopping Nightmare Moon and saving Princess Luna. Twilight Sparkle putting a stop to Discord's reign of chaos. Twilight Sparkle repelling the first changeling invasion, redeeming Discord, stopping Lord Tirek before he could drain all the magic in Equestria. Her other half replied: what hadn't Twilight Sparkle done?

They weren't real memories, neither Starlight had ever been present for any of those events. These were simple tales repeated as dogma. Starlight scoffed, and then noticed the scoff made those eyes on her look just a fraction meaner. The combined assault was too great, she relented.

“Alright, fine. I was trying to sort it out myself, but fine. It seems like I've maybe picked up a few stray memories from my other self.” That was enough, no more than that. Just memories. Certainly no feelings and definitely no moral prerogatives. Just memories.

“Well what do you remember?” Twilight prompted.

Starlight didn't have an answer for that, and before her brain could catch her mouth, she'd already dumbly stated, “Uh, everything.”

“Everything!?”

She turned away and crossed her hooves to her chest, defensive, “If I wanted to. Which I don't.”

“You could've told us everything we needed to know about this place from the start, and you didn't?” Twilight was incredulous, halfway to standing.

“If I wanted to, I said. It's like picking up a rock to see what's underneath, I don't just know, I need to check. And I don't want to, because despite your best efforts I quite like my mind and I don't need some other pony’s memories cluttering it up!”

“Starlight Glimmer, you're lucky Twilight's givin’ you the benefit of the doubt, or else I'd be bucking you clean out that door right about now.”

“Oh, well at least she's honest with her threats too!”

The room devolved into bickering, Spike being left unnoticed by any of the three. “Hey,” he tried to interject, “Hey!” None of them so much as glanced his way. Fed up, he stomped a foot into the seat of his chair and burped out a long gout of green flame directly between the trio. Expending his magic like that left him looking woozy and unsteady, but he rallied, “Look, she's here because she agreed to help. She's either gonna help on her terms, or not at all, so leave her be, would you?”

Applejack and Twilight simply gaped at the sudden assertiveness from the little dragon. Starlight caught his eye and nodded. Respectfully. She didn't risk any more than that. He nodded back.

Twilight cleared her throat to break the silence, “You make a good point, Spike. We're sorry, Starlight, and we appreciate your help. You've got a lot of good reasons to let me fix my own mess.”

“Yeah yeah, don't remind me of any of them or I might start to see the appeal.” She rolled her eyes and relaxed back into her seat. Technically, she hadn't so much agreed to help as come along for lack of a better option. Still, she let it slide. The argument had busted open a few more of her drawers. Right now she was battling with the pure incredulity that she could talk to the Princess of Friendship that way!

“Twi, it sounded like she started this mess in the first place.”

“So you believe me? Cause I really need you to explain some things to me.”

Starlight was hardly listening enough to object to Applejack. She was too busy trying to recollect the pieces of her mind. She had long prided herself on her surety of purpose, her quick thinking and certainty of what must be done. Twilight had taken that from her! She couldn’t even trust her own mind now. Her silver lining was in thinking how she could make Twilight feel even worse with this information. Maybe the mare deserved to feel some guilt!

“Start with the changelings, Applejack. We stopped them at the wedding, but then what?”

“They hit everywhere at once, Twi, we didn’t stand a chance. They nabbed all six of us in a blink, and that was that. They only let us go cause we’re not worth much without you. Hay, the only reason there’s any ponies left at all is cause they realized we still gotta eat if they still wanna eat.”

Twilight put a hoof to her mouth, “So the quotas you mentioned…”

“Yup, I’m keeping ponies fed, even the ones they’re, uh, holdin’ onto.”

Starlight wasn’t impressed, “Gee Twilight, your friends sure are loyal to the bitter end.”

Applejack shot her a nasty look but didn’t grace her with a reply, “I lost track of the girls after that. Don’t exactly get a lot of free time off the farm, given the state of things. All I can tell you for certain is that Fluttershy was in the Everfree when things got bad out there.”

“I was meaning to ask about that, too. That doesn’t look like Nightmare Moon’s work, but what else could it be?”

Applejack shook her head, “Beats me, Twi, nopony ‘round here knows much ‘cept that it’s some nasty work out there. Didn’t think it was possible for the Everfree to get worse than it was, but here we are. Not many ponies goin’ in and fewer comin’ out, and the ones that do have all sorts of tales about beasties even stranger and deadlier than the ones in there already.”

Twilight looked down, but certainly not out. There was grim resolve on her face. “Well, if that’s where Fluttershy is, I guess we’re just going to have to find out for ourselves.”

Starlight wanted to say something. She was technically supposed to be helping, and this was something she could help with, and wouldn't Princess Twilight be so impressed and– And she didn't need validation from Twilight Sparkle of all ponies! But maybe earning some points in her favor was a strategically sound tactic.

“The Pony of Shadows.”

Both mares looked her way and she felt her skin begin to crawl again.

“If your idea of helpin’ is insulting us and making jokes about old mares tales, I might question Twilight’s judgement on this one.”

Starlight shook her head, exasperated. So that's how it was gonna be. Sure, she'd insulted them, but she'd hardly lied. Much. Maybe just conveniently withheld some truths, but that wasn't the same at all. Twilight still looked interested though.

“Starlight, we'll need a bit more than that. Applejack isn't wrong, I've only heard of the Pony of Shadows as a silly story to scare foals on Nightmare Night.”

“We did a research project about it. At Celestia’s school,” She clarified, “We tracked down an old tome about it. The Pony of Shadows was an ancient hero who was corrupted by jealousy, so some other ancient heroes had to lay down their lives to seal him away. You know how it goes.” She looked sheepishly between the two mares. The joke hadn't landed. “Our best guess is that Star Swirl the Bearded was the one who sealed it away. That's why he disappeared.” She added miserably.

“And… Who is ‘we’ in this case, Starlight?” She hated the look on Twilight’s face. Too hopeful, too pleased with herself.

She couldn't bring herself to say his name. She didn't even want to think about him. “You know who it was.” She spat, and stood from the table. She wound her way through the room and out the door. She didn't go far, just settled onto the lip of the porch and stared out across the apple fields as the sun began to set.

The door opened again, and she braced for the clop of hooves, chasing her down for more answers. Instead came the soft click of claws on wood, Spike suddenly appearing beside her. Better than the alternative, she decided, he had sort of bailed her out back there.

“You doing alright?” He asked, so casually, so simply. It hit her like a ton of bricks. Was she doing alright? Twilight Sparkle was floundering in a mess of her own design, because she tried and failed to one-up Starlight's magnificent plan for revenge. That should be a cherry on top of an already wonderful time for Starlight. Instead, here she was at the epicenter, her mind no longer her own, her sense of control withering. It didn't even make sense! All this for one foalhood friend? What did any of it have to do with her! Twilight is the one who stops changeling invasions and saves the day from freshly awoken nightmares, it has nothing to do with her, so why was she even here? Why did she remember? What was the point of it all!

She didn't say any of that, of course. “What do you think?”

“I think I know what it looks like when a unicorn is trying not to panic,” he shot back, too smug by half, “I've got a looot of experience.”

Ridiculous. They were nothing alike. Starlight sat in silence, fuming at the implication. Spike… Just sat there. She had no clue what he was thinking, or why he'd even come out here. He wasn't prodding the way she suspected Twilight would, trying to worm a hint of friendship out of her.

Thinking about it more, she had no idea how he even felt about her. He wasn't at Our Town, and really he was just along for the ride when she cast Star Swirl’s spell. He'd hardly be neutral, Twilight would have told him everything that happened at Our Town, but something about the distance made the little dragon easier to handle.

“Thanks. I guess,” the words felt a bit sour on her tongue, but he hadn't done anything wrong, “For bailing me out.” An olive branch.

“I didn't want her to do it in the first place, I told her it always ends badly in the comics, but nooo, this is real magic, not comics, Spike! Look who's laughing now. None of us.” He kicked his feet, bouncing them against the wood siding of the porch stairs, “I guess we'd still just be stuck fighting you, though. Or stuck somewhere even worse.”

Starlight shot him a look, but he was just looking out into the distance. She was still trying to decide if it was a snipe worthy of retort when he suddenly continued, “I know you've got your own thing going on- and don't think nopony can tell that you're not telling us everything- but it doesn't seem like you've noticed that things are bad. Really really bad.”

She tilted her head, “Of course I've noticed. Sparkle’s got a real mess on her hooves.”

Spike flung his claws up and finally gave her a glare, “That's just it! You think this is just another step in your grand plan for revenge! I can't believe I'm saying this, but aren't you thinking about yourself at all?”

She leaned back from him, a little bit shocked. What sort of accusation was that? Of course she was thinking about herself, and how good it feels to watch Twilight Sparkle squirm and struggle and fail.

“I mean, if we're all stuck here for good, you're just as stuck. Whatever's going on with your head won't go away either.”

“You don't know that,” she snapped back, immediately regretting it, “... That there's anything going on.”

“The point is, you get your revenge on Twilight, and then what? You're still stuck here on this dead-end world like the rest of us.”

Starlight could only gawk at him as he stood and turned back towards the house. He stopped at the door, but didn't turn back. “If you ever wanna talk about anything, well, I can keep a secret.” He pushed his way through the door and disappeared inside.

So she was left alone, awhirl with confusion. Was he concerned for her? It couldn't be that straightforward. Maybe Twilight sent him out here to win her over, get her aboard the Friendship Express. No thank you! But… She had to admit he had a point. What was her endgame here? She had been so wrapped up in herself that she didn't even know what her actual goal was. Getting back to the proper timeline so she could have her revenge seemed obvious. Then she considered that her own plan for revenge didn't end much differently from this. Twilight had shown her the world she created, but in the moment it seemed so easy to just not care. Consequences were for some other Starlight.

Now she was that other Starlight, and the consequences turned out to be a raw deal. Regardless of what came after, it made more sense to be an active help, rather than drag her hooves. Hay, if she was convincing enough, Twilight might even let her guard down afterwards. Yeah, she could play along for now.

She could feel this world’s Starlight tittering away in her brain. Sure, Starlight, play along, pretend to be friends with the Princess of Friendship! Just don't catch any real feelings, huh? It's not like you weren't already half a breath from accepting her offer before you screwed it all up again.

It seemed unfair that teacher’s pet Starlight could lecture her with her own memories, but the thoughts just sprang into her mind. As much as it was easier to think of them as two separate halves, the truth was they were both her, simultaneously. It was getting harder to see where the line was.

She shook her head and snorted. Getting lost in thought wasn't going to fix anything. She hauled herself to her hooves and marched herself back inside.

“I'm sorry Twi… Got my kin… Just can't risk…”

“I get it, Applejack… Just glad you're still…”

Starlight could hardly hear the half-whispered conversation as she entered the kitchen. Both ponies went silent and sullen on seeing her. In front of her empty spot at the table was a bowl of plain, dry oats. Survival food, or peasant food, depending how you looked at it. The others quickly busied themselves with their own bowls as she rounded the table and took her seat.

“I've decided to help. More than I have been,” she announced to the room at large. A few beats of silence passed and nopony said anything, so she filled the gap, “Spike was right, though, it'll be on my terms, and my term is that I am not going to plumb the depths of my new memories to see what might be useful for you. If anything useful comes to mind, though, I'll… Try to remember to mention it.” That would have to be good enough for them.

She got a smile and a nod from Twilight, whose mouth was full of oats. She didn't look at Applejack. It didn't matter what she thought. Facing down her own bowlful of oats, it finally hit her that she was starving. The raw grains tasted like dirt, and didn't feel much different either once you'd chewed them enough. It didn't matter, she devoured the bowl, and even considered prying to see if there was a chance at seconds. Only her dignity kept her from asking.

“So,” Twilight began after she had finished her bowl, “Fluttershy. We know she was in the woods when the Pony of Shadows did… Whatever it did, and nopony has seen her since.”

“The odds aren't good, Twi.”

“I know, but you don't have any leads on Rarity or Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash is probably in the changeling hive. There aren't any good options.”

Starlight spoke up, “I thought she said Chrysalis let all your friends go?”

Twilight's smile was heart-achingly sad, “Dash wouldn't leave without me.”

Starlight wasn't sure what to say to that, so she bypassed it entirely, “And our plan is to just waltz into the evil woods and ask around for the pony that's afraid of her own shadow?”

“Might as well be,” Spike remarked, earning him a glare from Twilight. Starlight couldn't help but smirk. Maybe the little guy was sharper than he looked.

“We'll leave tomorrow at dawn. Applejack is staying here, to keep up appearances. She's close enough to the map we can come grab her when we're ready.” She sighed and looked at each of them in turn, “I know this is stupid and dangerous, but the only way we can get enough magic for the spell is through the Elements. And if we can't find them, well, let's just hope we can.”

Applejack led them up the stairs and they passed by several doors, knobs untouched and coated in dust, until they came to an open door at the end of the hall. It was the spare bedroom, and all three of them would have to find a way to share.

The bed was plenty big enough for the three of them, but Starlight would not entertain that line of thought for even a moment. Bad enough she kept threatening to bubble over about sharing a bedroom with a real Princess! She took up a spot on a surprisingly comfortable chair, and managed to contort herself into something that looked like laying down. When she looked up, she saw Twilight, eyes on her, hoof to her mouth to hold back giggles- which wasn't working.

“Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't-” Her voice cracked as another laugh broke through.

“Whatever. Laugh as much as you like, Twilight Sparkle, because the last one will be mine.” It was hard not to immediately blanch at making a not-so-subtle threat to royalty. She lowered her head back down, facing away.

“Just, are you sure that's comfortable? There's plenty of room on the-”

“I am not sharing a bed with you like this is some foal’s sleepover!” Not so friendly, maybe, but it was hard to subtly play along when half of her wanted to squeal and throw herself across the room and into the bed.

“... I was gonna say the couch downstairs.”

It stung her a bit when Spike laughed at that. She was just about to snap at him, but… She let it go. Just this once. Her softer side said maybe playing along starts here. After all, what does her scheme gain by yelling at him? She settled for a low warning growl. The pair laughed a little more at that, but mercifully left her alone.

“Do we have a plan for tomorrow? The Everfree had a nasty reputation even in our time, and it doesn't look like it's improved.”

“Weeeell,” Twilight clopped her hooves together awkwardly, “Not as such. There's a few landmarks I want to check up on, Zecora’s house, the Castle of the Two Sisters, of course the Tree of Harmony.”

“Great work, Twilight Sparkle. No information, no plan, no magic. We really are just going door-to-door in the deadliest forest in Equestria.”

“Don't worry, Starlight, Twi is halfway to a meltdown without a plan for this. She's putting on a brave face just for you.”

“Spike!” Twilight was frantic and flustered.

“She'd be tearing the place apart for a scroll and quill if she hadn't already looked.”

She didn't laugh. It took every ounce of her willpower to not laugh, but she didn't. And maybe it was okay that Spike looked real proud when her mouth cracked into a grin.

Twilight loosed a yawn, and Spike and Starlight followed suit. “Alright you two, bedtime,” the princess declared. She turned down the lamps, letting them flicker and fade, and Starlight heard the soft rustling of her settling into the sheets. She suddenly felt very cramped, but she was in too deep now.

After a lot of twisting and turning, she eventually settled into a position comfortable enough to sleep in, and she drifted off.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading chapter 2. With this, our scene is set. Next week, the ball starts rolling and it doesn't stop until it's over.

Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!