‘I am you.’ Those words echoed inside Lauren’s mind for a while. There it was, standing right in front of her, her own character. Same mane, same coat color, same cutie mark, the only difference was the body size. One was as big as Celestia, if not bigger, while the other was more Twilight's size.

“You!” Celestia exclaimed from the floor. She was still unable to move. Her eyes would only twitch as she stared at the alicorn in front of her. “M-mother!?”

“Who else, Celestia?” the big Lauren chortled. She looked around and noticed Luna, who was staring at her with her mouth agape. “Wow, Luna! Look at you! You’ve grown into a beautiful mare!” she giggled.

Luna wasn’t sure how to react. From everything she had heard so far, the pony that just flattered her was her mother. The mother she never remembered to have. She took a few steps towards the second Lauren, ignoring everything that had happened so far. “Are you really… my mother?” she asked.

“Of course I am, Luna,” the second Lauren responded. She took a few steps forward, standing right in front of Luna. They both stared at each other for a few seconds before swiftly hugging each other tightly.

“M-mother!” Luna exclaimed, leaning her head against her mother’s neck and tightening the hug. She felt the same warm sensation she had felt just before receiving the unexpected boost of energy that managed to stop Celestia. Her eyes began to itch, indicating that tears would soon shed from them.

“Luna! Don’t hug that monster! She did horrible things to us!” Celestia exclaimed from the floor. “She will only harm you!”

The ‘real’ Lauren was still shell-shocked from the recent events. Who is that second Lauren inside my character design? Is she really… Celestia and Luna’s mother? If she is me… then am I really their mother?

“Silence, Celestia! You don’t know what you’re talking about!” the second Lauren exclaimed, releasing Luna from the hug and looking at her. “I know it’s a bit confusing, but I’ll explain everything now,” she whispered.

“W-what’s wrong with Celestia?” Luna asked. “Why is she acting like this? Is this my fault from when I corrupted into Nightmare Moon?”

“It’s our mother’s fault!” Celestia exclaimed once again, unable to do anything in her current state. Her magic could easily be countered and her body was asleep.

“I said, silence!” the second Lauren replied. Her horn glowed and quickly shot a beam at Celestia’s face. She grunted for a few seconds, before closing her eyes and falling unconscious once again.

“W-what did you do?” Twilight cried. Even after all the recent events, she was still worried about the well-being of the Princess that was once the kind ruler of Equestria.

“Fear not, it’s only a knockout spell,” the second Lauren replied. “Now that she cannot interrupt us, I’d like to properly introduce myself.” She walked a few steps towards Lauren, sitting right in front of her and extending her hoof. “Hi! I’m Lauren Faust, also known as you,” she chirped.

W-what is this pony talking about? Me? There can be only ONE Lauren Faust, and that’s me! Lauren forced a smile and extended her hoof to shake ‘her own’ hoof. “Hi, I’m Lauren Faust too, nice to meet me.”

“Ah ha ha, we do have a great sense of humor, don’t we?” the second Lauren claimed, covering her mouth with a hoof to hide her chuckles.

“Excuse me, I don’t want to be the party-pooper for this marvelous self-encounter but… we’ve got a motionless Princess right in front of us, a confused Princess of the night over there and a big-sized Lauren right here, and my little unicorn brain feels like bursting,” Twilight said, in the most serious tone possible. She tried to relax and examine the situation to avoid going insane just like certain Princess. “Could you please tell us what’s going on before I end up like my… ex-mentor?”

The second Lauren chuckled. “Heh, sorry, Twilight. I should’ve known better.” She turned her head and looked at Luna. “Come here, I think you’d like to hear this as well.” She waved her hoof, inviting her daughter to join.

Luna slowly nodded and walked towards them. My… mother. Finally… I’m meeting my mother… She was exploding in joy and happiness in the inside. She was still too surprised to express her feelings, though. For now, it would be the best if she just sat down and listen to what her mother was about to say.

“So, Lauren,” Lauren said. “What’s the deal with Celestia? Why are you here? How—”

“Patience, my little me. I’ll explain everything. But first, I think it would be a bit confusing if we’re both called Lauren.” She tapped her chin with her hoof, thinking about a possible solution. Twilight and Luna were bound to ask something, so she didn’t want any misunderstandings. “Ah, I know, you’ll still be called Lauren. I will be known just as Faust, okay?” she suggested.

“Eh, sure, no problem,” Lauren replied. Wow, what a solution. Is that really me?

“Yes, well, anyway.” Faust’s cheerful face shifted to a serious one. “I know exactly why Celestia is acting like this.” She closed her eyes and her horn glowed. “But, rather than telling you, I will show you.”

“Wait, wha—” Before Lauren could finish that sentence, her entire world went black. She couldn’t move or do anything. She only felt the ground shake, as if it were a common earthquake. She tried to talk, to move, but she couldn’t. All of a sudden, she felt a familiar sensation below her hooves. It was grass. Slowly, she tried to open her eyes, succeeding to do so. The scene before her made her gasp in surprise.

“Now, Celestia, don’t rush it. Take your time. Remember, the sun has to be raised carefully,” a familiar voice said.

Lauren could not move her legs. She could only stare at the scene before her. Three mares were standing a few meters in front of her. She quickly noticed Luna and Twilight at her sides. Both looked at each other with confusion. They looked like ghosts, emitting a faint aura from their bodies. Apparently, their bodies were some sort of presence in that place. W-what’s going on?

“Gee, I know, mom, I’m ready,” another familiar voice said.

Suddenly, Faust appeared in front of the three confused mares. She looked at the observers, quickly shifting her gaze upon the other three mares. “What you see here, are my slumbers,” she said. “This is the dream I’ve had every night since it happened.”

Dream? Are we inside her head or something? Lauren noticed the view was getting cleared as she looked at the three mares. She soon realized who they were. One of them was Faust, exactly as she appeared in front of her moments ago. Another was a small, midnight blue filly, who was looking at the other two mares. The last one was a white mare with a sparkly, pink mane and tail. They were on a grassy meadow, with no trees to be seen. Don’t tell me they’re…

“Yes. They are Celestia and Luna, back when they were young,” Faust commented, looking at Lauren with a smirk. “And yes, I know what you will say. I can read your mind. You’re me after all,” she chuckled, immediately reapplying her serious face.

What!? But that’s impossible, I mean...

“We can discuss about that later, for now, look.” Faust pointed her hoof at the scene.

The young Celestia spread her wings and soared to the sky. Her young sister looked at her, amazed by what she was observing. “Like this, mom?” she exclaimed. A few beams of sunlight began to rise from the horizon as Celestia flew higher in the air.

“Me and Tia? But… I don’t remember this!” the older Luna claimed. She looked at her younger self, trying to remember any event like that happening. However, her mind was entirely blank.

“This is the reason why you lost your memory, and thus, making Celestia go mad,” Faust claimed, as she stared at her own self. “I knew Celestia was not ready…” she whispered to herself.

Lost her memory? Luna lost her memory? Lauren gave Luna a quick glance before looking back at the scene before her.

In a matter of seconds, the sun rose from the horizon and took its place on the sky. The young Celestia’s flank flashed and a sun cutie mark appeared. “Yes! I did it! Mom, Luna, did you see that!?” she yelled, descending to the floor. Just when her hooves touched the floor, her body shook. She lowered her head and looked at the ground.

“Celestia! I’m so proud of you! You’ve earned your cutie—” the other Faust paused, looking at Celestia with concern. “Celestia? What is going on?”

The young Celestia’s pink mane and tail began to lose its color. The vivid pink that colored them was slowly turning into a gray color. She spread her wings and raised her head to look at her mother. She had a wicked smirk on her face and one of her eyes began to twitch.

“Tia? W-what’s going on? Why are you…” Luna muttered, looking at her sister with surprise. What just happened to her? Was that part of the Sun Rise celebration?

The old Faust gasped, taking a few steps back from her daughter. Celestia was directly facing Luna, but she was some meters away from her. “L-Luna! Watch out!” she cried, unable to stop what was going to happen next.

A beam of golden light emanated from Celestia’s horn. It flew across the field and in less than a second, it struck Luna right on her horn. Everypony in the audience let out a faint gasp as they could do nothing but witness what just had happened.

“Eek!”