Reflecting
They sat across the library from each other, neither meeting the other's eyes. Their friends were all there. Fluttershy sat near one, carefully cleaning a rather nasty scrape. Rarity fussed over the other, who would almost certainly be ending up with a black eye. Both were appropriately embarrassed about the situation, and now that the heat of the moment had died down, any enmity that might have been building had been replaced by a nervous worry.
"We're not exactly the same anymore, are we?" Twilight asked rhetorically, breaking the silence.
"On th' contrary," Applejack said. "I'd say ya'll were both actin' like foals back there."
"But we were disagreeing," Twilight disagreed, and the other nodded her agreement.
"Over wantin' the same things," Applejack pointed out.
"Well, yes, I guess that's true. But we've almost disagreed about other things too. Like how we should handle this roc situation."
"Rock situation?" Pinkie asked, perking up. The other Twilight smirked a bit to herself.
"Not rock, roc. R-O-C. The gigantic birds that were chasing us around the Everfree. But that's not important right now."
"Oh." Pinkie looked a bit disappointed. "Then what is important?"
"Well," Twilight said, glad to see that even Pinkie was taking her problem as seriously as could be expected. "Us diverging is what's important. If we're not careful, we could become two separate ponies."
"What's so bad about that? I'm two separate ponies sometimes, and I came out okay!"
Twilight reflexively filed that away on her "do not think about" shelf and moved on. It was a skill you developed around Pinkie Pie. "Well," she said, taking a deep breath, "it's kind of complicated. See, when we're two of me, then what I've effectively done is just split my consciousness, sort of an extreme form of multitasking. I'm still really only one pony, and when the spell ends, it's just like refocusing back on a single task again. The worst thing I could be accused of doing is using myself as a test subject for experimental new magic, and I'm well within my rights to do that."
"But," her twin said, picking up immediately as she paused for breath, "as we stay apart longer, different experiences will lead to different perspectives. Sooner or later, we're not going to be the same pony anymore, and that's where the trouble starts. The ethical implications alone are staggering; I'm effectively playing goddess at that point, bypassing nature entirely to create new life to my exact specifications."
She stopped to breathe in, and Twilight picked back up immediately. "Which most ponies would agree is a bad thing, although I've never been clear on where exactly the line between 'powerful unicorn' and 'legitimate goddess' gets drawn. But even setting that aside for the moment, canceling the spell also becomes an issue. Even though neither of us technically dies, since both halves reform into the whole, I'm pretty sure any process that starts with two separate ponies and ends with only one is some kind of murder. I'm not a murderer!"
"Of course I'm not," the other her agreed. "It's a concern, though. We've also got the issue of shared history. Right now we're both friends with all of you, for example, since there isn't a good way to tell us apart yet. But as more time passed, one of us might become closer to some of you, and one might drift farther away. One of us could make a new friend that the other didn't have. And I haven't even started to consider the effect that might have on the Elements of Harmony."
"We might both have to be present to use the Element of Magic, but even worse, it might only require one of us! What happens if only one of us saves the world, and we’re different ponies? We can't both get credit, and that leaves one of us standing in the audience watching while Celestia is giving the other one a medal." They both shivered at the memory.
"And what would our parents think?” her twin went on. “I can just hear my mother now: 'Twilight Sparkle, you stop that this instant. I did not raise my daughter to be two daughters!' I can talk my way out of it if it's just a mirror spell, but not if we're different ponies."
"There'll be a few legal issues too. Would both have to pay taxes? Could I file jointly with myself? List myself as a dependent? It's like... well..."
"It's not like anything, and that's what makes it so complicated. As far as any history I've read, which is basically all of it ever, nopony's done this before."
"There's no precedent to work from! This is completely untrodden ground in a legal, ethical, and practical sense."
"And I just can't deal with that right now. I'm a librarian, not a lawyer or a philosopher!" They both threw their hooves up in exasperation as her twin said it, and looked around expectantly at their friends.
As their uninterrupted tirade finally abated, their friends could do nothing but stare, frozen in place by an awed mix of bafflement and wonder.
"That," Rainbow Dash finally said, "was a lot of words, Twi."
"Well, yeah, words are kinda my thing. But you see my point, right?"
Dash pondered the question, then shook her head. "Not really. If it's so bad, why don't you just go back to being one pony?"
The two Twilights exchanged glances. "Because, well... because I love me," she admitted.
"I know it's weird," the other her said quickly, "and I know it's awkward, but it's hard to deny that I'm my own perfect match. Yes, we're bending the rules of magic and morality in ways they were never meant to bend, and yes, we're having a little trouble splitting things between us—I'm still not sure whether using my own toothbrush is gross or not—but the fact is, we haven't had any problems that I wouldn't have just as many or more of with a separate pony."
"And we already know each other, how to cheer myself up if I'm down, or calm myself down if I start worrying too much. We like all the same things..."
"Which I admit might get kinda boring after a while. But we can solve twice as many problems..."
"Although if we work on the same problem, we always end up at the same answer. It's not even about loving myself, really. I've just... gotten used to having two of me around, y'know? I think I'd get lonely if I didn't have somepony to hang out with. Even if it was only as..."
"As, uh..."
In the ensuing silence, both Twilights had the decency to look guilty.
"A friend?" Fluttershy suggested quietly.
Twilight sighed. "Yeah. A friend. Which I already have five of, and I should probably come out of my library and hang out with them when I'm lonely, huh?"
"Well, I won't tell you what to do, Twilight," Rarity said. "But you have been being terribly reclusive lately."
"Yeah," Pinkie Pie added, "and you didn't even stick around for your own 'Welcome to Ponyville Again' party. You ran out of there like you had a herd of ponies after you!"
"Pinkie, I did have a herd of ponies after me."
"Oh yeah."
"Anyway, I guess you're all right. This whole thing is way too complicated, I’m in over my head, and it’s making me neglect you all. I should just go back to being one pony." She and her twin gave each other a longing glance across the room. "I really am gonna miss having another of me around, though."
They stood, and got to setting up the spell that would put them back together again. Her friends looked on sympathetically. Three of them did, anyway. Pinkie was already trying to decide whether to write 'Congratulations, You're One!' or 'Happy Rebirthday!' on the banners. Rainbow Dash was either thinking hard about something, or she'd swallowed a bug. As Twilight was dragging the first mirror into position, Dash spoke up.
"Wait a sec," she said. "Nopony said you had to stop being two of you."
Twilight paused. "Yeah, but..." No, she shouldn't be so dismissive of her friends. That's what the other her had been trying to tell her before. "Okay, Dash, tell me what you're thinking."
"Well. You’re not two different ponies now, right?”
“No, no yet. Barring major life events, I’d give me at least a few more weeks apart before there’s any really meaningful divergence.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s a yes. So the way I heard it, all we ever said was that you should hang out with us more. And all you ever said was that you couldn't be two different ponies. Nopony ever said you couldn't be two of the same pony."
"I can't really avoid it if I stay split like this, though. And merging and recasting it all the time..." Twilight trailed off, a sudden thought coming to her.
"...isn't the only way to resynchronize myself, is it?" the other Twilight finished.
"I dunno," Dash said. "I'm not a magical genius like you. But when Discord made us forget how we were friends, you had a spell that made us remember, didn't you?"
"The memory spell!" Twilight's eyes widened in realization. "But that’s for making ponies remember things they’ve forgotten. Could we really adapt it to add new memories?”
"Well, why not? If we're the same pony, it's not really creating memories out of thin air."
"It's just making me remember something I experienced as my other self."
"Rainbow Dash, that idea is so crazy—"
"—that it just might work."
They turned together to their friends, and Twilight spoke for the both of them when she said, "Thank you all. I realize I've been neglecting you. You could've gotten mad at me, or given up on me and let me hide out with myself in the library for the rest of my life, but you didn't. You stuck with me, and put me back on the right path. And I'm especially glad you did it now, because I've got another problem I could use all of your help solving."
"Right now, though," her twin continued, "don't take this the wrong way, but I'm going to need some peace and quiet to work on the new spell, and… No, actually, you know what?"
"Why don't you all stick around awhile?" Twilight finished, smiling. "Having friends around is worth a few distractions..."
"...and I wouldn't mind some company I don't have to share my toothbrush with."
Dear Princess Celestia,
I am writing to you from the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, where my friends and I are at this very moment completing the archaeological survey you requested. I do apologize for the delay, but we had a bit of trouble with the local wildlife. It turns out a pair of rocs had taken up residence since our last visit, and when Rainbow Dash scouted out their nest, she found that they'd been protecting an egg! It's no wonder they were being territorial.
Luckily, I had all my friends there to help me. With Rarity's talent at making birds' nests, and Pinkie Pie's knowledge of rocs (who knew?), we were able to quickly build them a suitable home a safe distance away, where they won't interrupt the expedition. Then, after Fluttershy reassured them repeatedly that we would be careful with it, they finally allowed Applejack and me to carry the egg to its new home. It was a group effort, but the area is now completely clear of belligerent fauna.
That isn't the only reason I'm writing to you, though. Today, I'd like to share with you an important lesson I learned about friendship.
I learned that self-sufficiency is a two-sided coin. Learning to love yourself is a wonderful thing, and it's important to be able to get yourself out of trouble when you’ve got nopony else to turn to. Knowing that you always have yourself to rely on can give you confidence even in the most difficult of times. Self-love is a bond that nopony can take away from you. In a way, you can be your own best friend.
But on the other hoof, you can't be your only friend. No matter how smart you are, or how talented, no matter how much raw magical power you have at your command, there are other ponies out there with different ideas than you, with different perspectives, who can look at the same problem as you and come up with a solution you never would have thought of on your own. Their strengths can complement yours in a way that makes the whole much greater than the sum of its parts (no matter what math says). And that, too, is something you should treasure.
In short, today I learned that self-sufficiency is no substitute for friendship. Because, while our similarities might bring us closer together, it's our differences that make friendship worthwhile.
Your faithful students,
Twilight Sparkle
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Yes please?
3674258 Ah yes that is the important question isnt it?
3674352 Do you not know the answer?
Wonderful story, I'm glad you finished it. You have a really good take on Twilight's character here. I will definitely be hoping and waiting for the sequel.
3674258 Magic.
I've enjoyed this journey.
That's all.
3674258
This is an old story from when the character tags were less finicky and you could do weird stuff like that.
So glad to see this update and finish, and definitely looking forward to any potential sequel.
Why do I love double Twilight stories so much?!
Also, great job on this story, I enjoyed it thoroughly and it was well worth the wait for this conclusion.
Thank you for sticking with the story and finishing it! This was one of the first fanfics that caught my interest, it was fun and witty. I love a humor fic that's written with care. The cheap jokes were spaced in all the right places, and the interspersed drama was just enough to keep things interesting without causing mood wiplash.
There are probably places you could have improved but I'm not knowlegable enough about literature to tell you where they are, so I'm just going to stick with telling you what I liked.
That was probably the best line that was ever written in anything, ever.
Also, you may receive bonus points for all the roc puns.
Moon rocs. Heh.
Why not two different ponies? I don't really understand why they're so adamant about it. Would be fun. Screw legal side, they're personal students of the Goddess of the Sun. They can bend a few rules :3
On a side note, welcome back. And thank you, for bringing this out of oblivion. Well done :3
Aww, it's over. Are you going to do anything else with this concept?
I thought you'd forgotten about this story. I'm glad to see that's not the case!
Ah, a creative solution! Nicely resolved, friend.
Been almost a year since the last update, but now it's OVER? But my Twolight shipping? ;-;
Selfcest is best cest!
Great journey, sad it's over!
3674258
Still technically possible, which I was happy to see, because it "fixes" itself whenever you change the story's settings (which I had to do to mark it as completed). It just involves making a slight alteration to the settings page in-browser before you submit it.
3674348
A mistake? Inconceivable!
Thanks for catching that. I managed to slip it past proofreading because I changed it at the last second.
3675054
I really hope so. I've started a draft for Perfect For Me Too and love how it's going so far, but like I mentioned on the blog post, I can't commit to it until that first draft is done. In some way that I still don't entirely understand, promising things apparently kills them for me.
3675245
Are they heads-to-haunches and sweating? No? Then it's still PG. Ish.
The sex tag is over here.
3675546
I'm afraid that's about it as far as narcissistic romance goes. The original idea was a quick joke story of about three chapters, so I already brought it well beyond that. I do want a sequel, though, and two Twilights in love with somepony else is almost as good, right?
Twilight Sparkle: Genius. Magical Prodigy. Creatively narcissist. Enemy of grammar.
I'd forgotten this story. And it's fun to rediscover it. Also, the prospect of a sequel sounds highly intriguing.
As glad as I am to see this story update (and finish!), I'm even more glad to see you back.
All in all, a satisfying end to the story, and if a sequel happens, then I'll read the heck out of that as well. Though, I don't think Twilight (either of them) have really thought this through. What are they going to do if they want foals?
And now, there's 1666 likes.
3676023
This is only acceptable if the Twolights ALSO stay in some form of emotional/physical love with themselves. Though, there is much merit to this idea...
We wouldn't have to choose between Twilestia or Twiluna...
I will meditate on this. By all means, shackle thyself to your keyboard and write, man! WRITE! The world cannot turn without more Twolight in the future. You are obviously our only hope.
That friendship report was starting to get hilariously depressing for a second.
Haha dat Master of Disguise reference
This was a complete enemy of personal pronouns. Have a wonderful christmas!
Well, this story was completely awesome.
A couple of things about the ending left me vaguely dissatisfied, though. The use of a memory spell is certainly a neat solution, but a solution to what problem exactly? I mean, my natural thought would have been to periodically end and re-cast the mirror spell. Twilight Sparkle seems to find that idea repugnant, but it's not clear why. Then she seems perfectly happy with the memory spell, even though it would have the same effective result. What am I missing?
It occurred to me that the memory spell probably requires much less effort, or energy, to cast and maintain. However... That opens another can of worms. If it makes things so easy, then there's nothing standing in the way of duplicating any one of Twilight's friends too. Hmm... Sequel opportunity?
I got that Twilight's magic power was divided, which was OK because she had so much to start with. A pair of Applejacks with half the strength might not be able to buck apples. A pair of Rainbow Dashes with half the speed presumably wouldn't be doing any sonic rainbooms. On the other hoof, a pair of Pinkie Pies with half the energy -- and presumably calmer -- might actually be easier to live with than a single hyperkinetic one!
This has been one of the wierder and unique ships I have ever read. It also does its part for the grammar restrictions.
3676896
I'm glad you liked it. I noticed the same thing about most dream sequences, so I put a fair bit of thought into making it disjointed enough to actually feel like a dream, without being entirely random and meaningless.
For better or for worse, I strive to be the exception to every rule.
3677731
And your guess is right on; Twilunestia is one of my favorite not-entirely-serious ships, so that's one of two possible storylines for the sequel.
Well, I didn't hear her promise to stop loving herself, so I think we're safe on that front. She just realizes that narcissism doesn't have to be an exclusive relationship!
3680373
The reason the memory charm is a much better solution, and I probably didn't make that part clear enough, is what you thought. Casting the mirror spell on herself, she's paying two high costs: one to convert enough magic into matter to make an extra body, and one when her remaining energy is split between two ponies. Her exhaustion in the earlier parts of the story was much more because of that than just that she'd missed sleep. (I figure pulling all-nighters is pretty much par for the course for her, so she'd hardly even notice that fatigue.)
What makes the spell truly dangerous to the balance of power in Equestria is that it's not permanent; given a week or two to fully recharge, both Twilights will be as strong as she was when she went in. The only thing stopping her from cloning herself again at that point is that the spell "borrows" her reflection, which puts a very firm one-at-a-time restriction on it. (That's the one aspect of the it I wish I had a more technical-sounding explanation for than "Well, it's magic." Like she uses it to hold her form as she goes through the mirrors or something. There's some kind of little pocket dimension that she was in for a second between going in and stepping out, so I'm sure it has something to do with that.)
Creating copies of her friends could make for an excellent set of side stories. I've given some thought to a "Double Dash" one. The races would be spectacular, but the collateral damage would be devastating!
Okay. Wow. This is undoubtedly my new favorite ship. That being said, if you don't make a sequel, I will trace your IP address, hunt you down, and hold you at potato-gun-point until you write it.
But seriously, this is a totally new idea to me, and it does bring up questions of whether it's moral, logical, masturbation, incest, or sex. In other words, this was entrancing. You have a new follower. Depending on your other stories, I may even grace you with Obama pictures, which I've only given to one other writer, which is BronyWriter (The guy who wrote THIS series [TD-verse]). I only give them to my favorite writers, so get a warm fuzzy feeling inside that some random person on the internet likes your writing!
Well this story sure is fun/complicated, it was great fun. Thank you for a most interesting read.
Nice to see this update. Sad to see its finished, it was fun to read.
Woah, how did you get the twilight tag thingey in their twice? (I mean obviously normally you could by using the alicorn one but neither of them is so...)
That was a rather interesting read.
Wow it's finally complete. I remember starting this fic when I first became interested in F/F shipping. Whole thing ended up as if Twilight had just cancelled the spell in the first place but I suppose a lesson was learned. Well thanks for the read!
Well, that's that, fun little story, but the time between chapters made me forget lots of stuff, so the ending didn't have the same force it should have.
Still, it was a fun ride, and best of all it was ended, instead of living in a limbo of incompetition like many stories I still follow
I don't quite get the ending. So two Twi exists but Twi doesn't tell Celly or her parents of it? I dunno, I might have liked it more if the two Twi's became one again instead of the weird memory spell experiment idea thingie. And then the castle... I might need to reread this because I didn't got anything of the end, expect that Twi felt bad for ignoring her friends all the time and believing it will cause trouble if two Twis exists and become two different ponies and how she can be a full pony anyway if she is a "clone" of Twi and argh! I really need to reread this... or just shake my head and forget about this all.^^
Awesome. I love a story that introduces a radical new spell and *doesn't* have it turn out to have horrible side effects, horrible social implications, or whatever by the end. So many works of fiction do this and have the character conclude that the status quo was better and throw it away.
Also love that the status quo was definitely not returned to at the end. This is the sort of story that cries out for sequels/sidequels/etcquels. Maybe some ponies wouldn't get along with themselves quite as well as Twilight did. And I'm curious to hear some of the unresolved issues Twilight herself brought up - what happens with the Element of Magic, what's Celestia or Twilight's parent's going to say, etc.
What happens if one of them goes alicorn and the other doesn't?
This was a really, really great story, not only because of its concept. "You may kiss, er, yourself now" « Best line right there.
But that actually brings me to a question: what's the epilogue? Will Twilight marry herself eventually and will she live happily ever after with herself? I really want to know...
3782280 3787949
Two questions about the future right next to each other, so I'll answer them together. The epilogue is that there's a sequel (probably). I can't promise anything for sure until I've got a draft down, but the outlook is good. It looks like I'm going with the plot where she takes herself and heads out to Canterlot, so we'll get to see exactly what her parents and Celestia will think.
3788416 I kept this story on my watch list despite the year of inactivity, I'm certainly willing to wait for a sequel until you're ready to write it. Just knowing it's your eventual intention is happy times enough for now. :)
3788416
Oh fuck yeah, sequel! :D
All I'm asking for is not having to wait another year for it. If you can manage I'd love you twice. Pun totally not intended.
3788416
That would be amazing.
If I may be so bold, however, I would request longer chapters. I loved this story so much, but I felt that it was over too quickly. Any chance you can swing that?
3847030 Not sure yet. The first draft is looking like it'll be about the same length, but plenty could still change between now and when it's finished.
3887161
Happy Valentine's Day!
fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/079/5/f/singles_awareness_day_by_elslowmo-d4tejt1.png
Needs a sequal
i want this to end with
ps. There are two of me now.
4060534 Didn't it, in a way? One out-of-place plural can communicate so much when your faithful student is capable of bending the fabric of reality itself.
4065560 i was just thinking that it would be funny if she said exactly that. but ya, would love to see more.