Spike opened his eyes with a groan. He stretched as he sat up in his basket and yawned loudly. “Man…I’m beat…” he muttered, hopping out of his basket. He eyed the broom next to his bed and sighed, “I don’t think I managed to clean the library before I fell asleep…” he said to himself. He looked over at Twilight’s empty bed and mumbled, “I hope she won’t be too mad at me for leaving all that mess for her…” With a sigh, Spike turned and walked down the stairs, apologies and excuses running through his head.

“Twilight!” called Spike as he reached the bottom floor. “I’m so…so…” He trailed off as he observed the scene in front of him. “What happened down here?”

A massive pile of books lied in the center of the room, blocking the other half of the room from view. Only a few books were left on the shelves and they were in a completely different order than they were the previous day.

“I didn’t think I left this big of a mess down here…” mumbled Spike as he stepped away from the stairs. He watched as a book levitated up to the shelf, a purple glow around it. “Twilight? Is that you?”

Twilight’s head popped out from behind the pile, her body hidden from view. “Oh, you’re up. Good morning, Spike.”

“Uh…morning...” said Spike uncertainly. He shuffled his feet awkwardly and said, “I’m really sorry about the mess from yesterday. I didn’t mean to fall asleep…I just meant to rest my eyes for a second and-”

“Spike,” interrupted Twilight, a small smile on her face, “It’s alright. I shouldn’t have left you alone for as long as I did, so the blame lies with me. Besides, I was able to clean up the mess late last night.”

Spike let out a sigh of relief and wiped his forehead. “Man…” he chuckled, “I thought for sure you’d be furious with me.”

“What’s in the past is in the past,” said Twilight, turning her head back to the shelf. She set the book against the others and continued, “You made a mistake and I fixed it. What would be the point in getting upset now that everything’s taken care of?”

“Uh…ok?” said Spike, unsure if he was getting scolded or not. He looked around the room and said, “So…if you cleaned up the mess last night, then what’s all this?”

Twilight frowned as she looked back at Spike. She nodded her head to the other side of the pile and said, “You can thank her for that. Right as I finished cleaning up and decided to go to bed, she decided that the books weren’t organized correctly. Apparently, they weren’t set up in a ‘fun’ enough way.”

Someone giggled from the other side of the pile.

“Oh!” said Spike. He chuckled as he realized what Twilight was trying to say. “I get it,” he said as he walked over to the other side of the pile. “You should have told me that Pinkie was here.”

“…Pinkie?” repeated Twilight, sounding confused.

“Good morning, Pinkie!” said Spike as he reached the other end of the pile. “I didn’t know you and Twilight were having a sleepover last night. If I had, I would’ve made sure to clean up the library and-”

“Pinkie?!” said an excited voice. All of a sudden, Twilight’s head popped out of the pile of books. She looked around excitedly. “Where?! Is she here? This is going to be so much fun!”

“Twilight?” asked Spike. He pointed to the other side of the pile. “I thought you were organizing books over there?”

“I am organizing books over there!” said Twilight, raising a hoof out of the book pile to rub Spike’s head affectionately.

Spike raised an eyebrow. He slowly backed away from Twilight and walked to the other side of the book pile.

Twilight paused as she levitated another book on the shelf and turned to look at Spike. “Insufferable, isn’t she?” she asked.

Spike blinked and quickly walked over to the other side of the pile.

Twilight beamed at him as he came back into view. “That old stick-in-the-mud is so obsessed with her rules,” she stage-whispered to Spike. “She needs to live a little! She wanted to organize books based on the level of factual knowledge they contained, and I wanted to organize the books based on how much fun they are to read! I think I’ve made some great progress here!”

“You’re making no progress!” yelled Twilight’s voice from the other side of the pile. “You haven’t put a single book back on the shelves!”

“That’s because they’re all fun to read!” said the Twilight in front of Spike. “I haven’t found the book I like the most!”

Spike blinked and cleared his throat awkwardly. “Ok…so…will Twilight Sparkle please come out from behind or underneath the pile of books and stand in front of me?”

Twilight walked out from behind the pile of books, a book levitating near her head. At the same time, Twilight got up from the pile of books and stepped forwards so she was in front of Spike.

“What do you need, Spike?” asked both Twilights.

Spike stared at the two of them for a long while. He noticed that, instead of Twilight’s normal Cutie Mark, the number 1 was on the flanks of the Twilight levitating the book, while the Twilight in front of Spike had the number 2 on hers.

“…One moment, please,” said Spike. With that, he quickly turned around and ran out of the library, leaving the two Twilights alone.

“…He took that better than I thought he would,” said the Twilight with 2s on her flanks.

A few minutes later:

“Alright, Sugarcube,” said Applejack as she and the other girls stood in front of Spike, “Ah need you to explain it again. What’s goin’ on with Twilight?”

Spike sighed and said, “There are two Twilight Sparkles in the library and I don’t know why.”

“There’s only one Twilight Sparkle, silly!” said Pinkie, giggling.

“Look, I know it sounds crazy,” said Spike, “But there were two Twilights reorganizing books.”

“Well…” began Rarity hesitantly, “I don’t mean to doubt you, Spike…but…”

“Are you sure you weren’t just dreaming?” asked Fluttershy. “I know you wouldn’t lie about something like this, but you might have just been confused.”

“Maybe Twilight’s pranking you,” suggested Rainbow Dash, who was flying slightly above the group. “She could be using her magic to make you think there were two of her.”

“I know what I saw, alright?” said Spike. “You guys have to believe me!”

“Ah think we should go back with you to see what’s goin’ on,” said Applejack. “If there is more than one Twilight, we need to know why.”

“Maybe she fell into the Mirror Pool!” said Pinkie. “Or maybe she got replaced by a Changeling!”

“Why would she want to go to the Mirror Pool?” asked Rainbow Dash. “She sealed it up with that boulder after the trouble all those Pinkies caused.”

“And if it was one of those nasty Changelings, why would there be two?” asked Rarity.

“We’re not gonna get any answers sittin’ around,” said Applejack. She nodded her head at Spike and said, “Let’s head back to the library, Sugarcube.”

Spike nodded back and led the girls back to the library. Along the way, they discussed more theories on why there would be two Twilights.

“You’re positive Twilight doesn’t a long-lost twin?” asked Pinkie.

“Yes!” yelled Spike. “Don’t you think she would have told you if she did or not?”

“To be fair, we didn’t know she had a brother until he sent her a wedding invitation,” pointed out Rainbow.

The group finally stopped at the front door to the library. Spike ran forward and tried to open the door, but found that it was locked.

“Why’d they lock the door?” asked Spike as he let go of the knob.

“Well, we gotta get in somehow,” said Applejack. She strode forward and knocked on the door. “Twilight? Are you in there, Sugarcube? We want to talk to you!”

The door opened and the Twilight with 1s on her flanks stood in front of them. “Good morning, girls,” she said with a smile. “Sorry, but I can’t hang out with you all today. I need to stay here and clean up the mess.”

“That’s fine, Twilight,” said Applejack. “We actually just wanted to come over to check on you.”

“On me?” asked Twilight. “Why?”

“Because Spike thinks there are two of you in there,” said Rainbow Dash. “But you were just playing a trick on him, right?”

Before Twilight could answer, the other Twilight’s voice could be heard from within the library. “Who’s at the door?”

“No one!” called the Twilight in front of them. “Just stay in the corner!”

“I don’t want to stay in the corner!” called the other Twilight. “I want to help put the books back on the shelves!”

“You can 'help' by staying out of my way!” yelled the Twilight in front of them.

“Ok Sugarcube,” said Applejack, “We’re comin' inside.”

Twilight backed up and let everyone enter the library. Everyone’s jaw dropped at the pile of books in the center of the room. “What happened in here?” asked Rarity.

“She did,” said Twilight, pointing to the corner of the room.

Everyone’s head turned to where Twilight was pointing. In the corner was the Twilight with 2s on her flanks, facing the wall like a child during time-out. The Twilight in the corner turned her head to look at everyone else. She smiled and waved enthusiastically.

“Twilight,” said Rarity, as Pinkie waved back to the unicorn in the corner, “What…why are there two of you?”

“Two ponies can get twice as much done compared to one pony,” explained the Twilight in front of them. She shot a glare at the Twilight in the corner. “In theory, anyway.”

“Hey!” yelled the Twilight in the corner.

“But…” began Spike. “How are there two of you?”

“Ah, that’s what you meant,” said Twilight. She pointed at the mountain of books on the floor. “Somewhere in that mess is a book that contains a spell. That spell allows a pony to split themselves into two separate body. One body,” she gestured to herself, “Retains the pony’s logic and practicality. The other,” she jerked her head towards the Twilight in the corner, “Retains the pony’s creative side and emotional nature.”

“Ok…” said Rainbow Dash slowly. “But why would you want to split yourself into two ponies?”

“Because I felt bad about yesterday!” said the Twilight by the corner. She walked forward and pulled Spike into a tight hug. “I couldn’t help any of you with your problems and I made Spike work all day!” She sniffed and pressed Spike against her chest. “I am just the worst…” she muttered morosely.

“Wait…that’s what this is about?” asked Spike, trying to get out of Twilight’s grasp. “I was just a little tired after working yesterday. I really don’t mind that-”

“Hold on one sec, Spike,” said Rainbow Dash, causing everyone to look at her. “This might actually be a good thing.”

“How?” asked Applejack, looking confused. “Don’t we want Twilight to undo the spell?”

“Eventually,” said Rainbow. “Think about it. Each of us had problems that we wanted Twilight’s help with, right?”

“Well…yes…” said Rarity slowly. “But how does this help any of us?”

“Because we have two Twilights now!” said Rainbow. “That means they can both focus on each side of our problems!” She turned to Fluttershy and said, “One of them can help me with my stunt while the other helps you keep your animals safe!”

“I suppose that might work…but…” began Fluttershy.

Rainbow turned to Rarity and said, “You had two dresses, right? Why not let the Twilights design their own dresses in both styles? You could see which one you like better.”

“Perhaps…” said Rarity, thinking about it.

“And Twilight can help me and Applejack decide what dessert to make!” said Pinkie excitedly. “Good idea!”

“Ah don’t know, darlin’,” said Applejack. “Seems silly to think we need a second Twilight just to make a decision. She can just put herself back together and-”

“No!” cried the Twilight with 2s on her flanks. “This is exactly why I split myself into two ponies! I want to help you guys with your problems!”

“It’s not like it hurts us to be apart from each other,” said the Twilight with 1s on her flanks. “In fact, I think it’s beneficial for the two of us to think for ourselves for once.”

“Well…if ya really want to help, Ah won’t say no,” said Applejack.

“But what about the library?” asked Fluttershy, pointing at the pile of books. “Who’s going to take care of it?”

Spike sighed and pulled away from the Twilight with 2s on her flanks. “I guess I’ll take care of it. You girls go have fun.”

“Are you sure, darling?” asked Rarity, looking at the pile guiltily. “It seems like an awful amount of work for you to clean all by yourself.”

“It’s fine,” said Spike. “I’ll just tell ponies that the library is closed today while we reorganize the shelves.” He walked over to the pile and started grabbing books to put away.

“Well,” said Rainbow Dash, grabbing one of the Twilights and pushing them towards the door, “Since it was my idea, I think me and Fluttershy should get help from the Twilights first.” She squealed and said, “With their help, my stunt is gonna be so awesome!”

Fluttershy smiled at the Twilight next to her. “I’m sure you’ll help us find a way to keep my animals safe, Twilight.”

“I’ll try,” said both Twilights.

Rainbow paused in her attempts to push one of the Twilight’s out of the door. “Wait…” she said, looking back and forth between the two. “How are we supposed to tell you apart? If we say ‘Twilight’, you both answer.”

“I’ve got it!” said Pinkie. She pointed at the Twilight by Fluttershy, who had the 1s on her flanks. “You’ll be Twi-One…” She pointed at the other Twilight, who had 2s on her flank, “And we’ll call you Twi-Two!”

“How come she gets to be number one?” asked Twi-Two, pointing at Twi-One.

“Because of my Cutie Mark, remember?” replied Twi-One. She smirked and said, “Of course, it could just be that I’m better than you.”

“What?!” shouted Twi-Two. “You are not! I’ll prove it!” She grabbed Rainbow Dash with her magic and flew out the door with her.

“Fool,” muttered Twi-One. She turned to Fluttershy and said, “Let’s go fix your problem so she’ll see I’m the better Twilight.”

“Oh…uh…ok?” said Fluttershy. She quietly followed Twi-One out the door.

“Well,” said Rarity, “I suppose we better get things ready for the Twilights to help each of us.”

“Right!” said Pinkie. She ran for the door, saying, “I’ll get things ready for my cake!”

“And Ah’ll get things ready to bake mah pie!” said Applejack, running after Pinkie.

Rarity turned back to Spike, who was still putting the books back on the shelves. “Will you be alright by yourself, Spike?”

“I-I’ll be fine, Rarity,” said Spike, a little alarmed to see that he was alone with his crush. He cleared his throat and said, “I just have to reorganize the shelves…again. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Well…if you’re sure…” said Rarity, uncertainly.

“I am,” said Spike. He laughed and said, “Two Twilights, huh? How crazy is that?”

“It is a bit odd,” said Rarity. “At least it doesn’t seem to be like when there were dozens of Pinkie Pies running amok all over town.”

“Yeah,” agreed Spike, “Those two just seem to want to argue with each other.”

“I’m sure they’ll put their differences aside while they help us,” said Rarity. “They’re both Twilight, after all. Now,” she said, moving to the door, “I’m going to go get my designs ready for them.”

“Good luck!” called Spike.

Rarity laughed. “Oh, darling. What could possibly go wrong?”