After all her friends left her cottage to go about the rest of their day, Fluttershy noticed something odd out of the corner of her eye. When she shut the door, she noticed something about her tall mirror. She was shocked at what she found. “Goodness, no!” She looked again. “No, no, no–o–o!” she softly screamed while sobbing. “Angel, you can see me can’t you?” she asked her bunny friend.

He nodded.

“Oh, good, but I don’t know why I can’t see myself. Do you think I’m…you know…gone?”

Angel shrugged.

She rubbed her mouth with her hoof, “Twilight’s spell! It didn’t work! Well, kind of, I mean, I’m still my normal self.” She poked her hoof, “Ouch! Except for these fangs.”

Fluttershy quickly galloped out the door for Twilight’s, hoping to get some answers.

When she got to the tree of knowledge known as the Golden Oak Library, she softly tapped on the door repeatedly. “Twilight! Twilight! Are you home? I really ne–”

A small, chubby purple dragon answered the door, “Hey Fluttershy, looking for Twilight?” asked the dragon.

“Oh hi Spike. Um, yes. Where is–”

“I’m down here!” Twilight called from the basement.

“She’s been down there ever since we got home,” said Spike.

“What’s she doing down there?”

“She wouldn’t say. She’s been acting strange since we left your place, but I–” he cut himself off after noticing Fluttershy’s wings. “Fl–Fluttershy, your wings!”

She looked at her thin, leather-like wings. “Ah! Not again!” she screamed. Fluttershy bolted down the stairs.

A little ways before she reached the bottom of the stairs, she found Twilight working amongst one of her many scientific set-ups. Levitating a quill with her magic horn, she was furiously scribbling down notes, zipping from beaker to beaker to scale checking their measurements, and quickly punching numbers into a calculator; she barely noticed Fluttershy come down. When she noticed her, she quickly hid her face pretending to be buried in her work.

“Um, Twilight, I can see that you’re busy but I really need your help. You see I don’t thin–”

Twilight zipped up to her, silencing her with her hoof.

Fluttershy’s eyes got big with fear and she started to panic, “Tw–Twilight! N–Not you–”

“I know Fluttershy, I know.” Twilight looked at the ground disappointed. Similarly to Fluttershy’s state, she too had fangs and leather wings, thought her ears had wider openings and fuzzy tips at the ends. Her normally bold, purple coat was starting to grey out as well. “I don’t know how this happened to us, and I’m determined to not rest until I figure this out. I’m so sorry I did this to you Fluttershy,” she said, tearing up a little.

“Twilight, it’s alright. On my way here, I noticed I didn’t have that incurable craving for apples like before. I feel fine, really.”

“But I’ve somehow turned into a vampony too. Once I noticed these fangs growing in when we were at your cottage, I knew something went wrong again. I should’ve seen this coming. I never should’ve tried this stupid idea in the first place. I KNOW I’m better than this!”

“Twilight, I know you can figure this out. I know it’s frustrating and–”

“And what? Mess up a simple spell like this? I’ve used one similar during that parasprite infestation a couple years ago! Why is this so different?” Frustrated, Twilight slammed her front hooves on the beaker table, knocking over a few of the empty ones. “I can’t see myself in a mirror either. Do you know what that means?”

Fluttershy nodded, “I...noticed that too after you girls left...do you know if we...um...don’t exist?”

Twilight buried her face in her hooves on the table, sobbing with frustration.

“I mean, even if we technically don’t exist, our friends can still see us. That’s not a bad thing, right?”

Twilight looked up, tears running down her face. She sadly smiled, nodding. “Right, but I hate the knowledge of it. I just don’t know what to do at this point. I’ve looked in all my books for some kind of cure or counter-spell to permanently change us back. I would’ve asked Zecora, but she wasn’t home. So I figured I’d do my own research…but I’ve gotten nowhere.” Twilight started sobbing harder this time.

“You know, I don’t mind being like this,” said Fluttershy.

Twilight looked up.

“Sure we may look like this for the rest of our lives and we don’t technically exist; but my animal friends don’t mind, and I’m sure our PFF’s and Princess Celestia won’t mind either.”

Twilight wiped her face with her hoof. “Thanks Fluttershy,” she said hugging her.

“Besides, I feel like I’m more connected with my animal friends than I was before. It’s like I’m one of them.” Fluttershy grinned.

“I’m glad you feel this way Fluttershy. I just wonder…why? Why didn’t this work like it should?” She unknowingly slowly ascended. “What if we outlive our friends? What if we suddenly start having an incurable craving for apples and put the whole town in a famine? What if–”

Fluttershy grabbed her, gently guiding her back down. “Twilight, I told you I’m fine the way I am. I don’t mind it,” she said, tightly embracing her, “I know you can figure this out.”

She giggled, “Sorry for freaking out for a minute there, I think the stale air down here is getting to me.” They both trotted up the stairs when her stomach started rumbling, “Not to mention I haven’t eaten anything since this morning.”

“I have a bushel of apples Applejack brought over. Would you care to have some?”

Twilight started to space out, drooling a little. “That…sounds…delicousssss…” she said licking her lips. She quickly shook her head, “I mean, yes, yes I would.”

When they finished what they had at Fluttershy’s, they asked Applejack for another bushel, then another, then another. They both eventually turned to petty theft and snuck into the Apple’s orchard during the night to sneak out even more. Twilight had her magic to gently levitate them off the trees; Fluttershy had her natural, graceful movements to quickly and quietly pick as many apples as she could carry. They were never spotted, they were always cautious, and they were too afraid to show themselves to anypony in their current state.