“Excuse me,” Twilight Sparkle said, to her opposite number. “I don’t think I heard you quite right. Could you repeat that please?” Over Twilight’s back, Derpy and Trixie both exchanged worried looks. Trixie very carefully made sure she was making no threatening moves toward her sword. Derpy just gulped and tried to look inoffensive. She had a pair of hidden knives, but she could tell she would be spitted on a sword in an instant if she went for them.

“Twiiiilight,” Trixie said, sotto voce to her princess. “Why are you antagonizing the nice mare who doesn’t intend to kill us outright?”

“So, the reports were right,” the unicorn said, a growl in her tone. “You are using my name. Typical of Sombra to try to go straight for a member of Equestrian counter-intelligence without an ounce of subtlety. I’m flattered by your audacity, so I’ll repeat myself once more before I order every soldier here to attack and do their level best to kill you, stone cold dead. Put your bellies on the platform and stretch out your hooves. NOW!”

All eyes shifted to Twilight Sparkle and the silent tension between the two mares was a living thing, stalking the platform, raking at calm thought with its claws. Every civilian pony had run clear at the first sign of trouble, and as Twilight Sparkle looked around she could see that she, Derpy and Trixie were surrounded by a loose ring of roughly fifty or so armed soldiers. Among them, this world’s Rainbow Dash, as well as Pinkie and Maud Pie who had pulled blades from somewhere, and looked ready to slice Twilight and her friends into bloody ribbons.

“Girls, do you trust me?” Twilight asked her companions, in a quiet voice. The mares on either side of her grunted an affirmative. “Then get ready to follow my lead.”

“Soldiers—” Unicorn Twilight began, before being cut off by Twilight Sparkle.

“You should know exactly who we are,” Twilight said, interrupting the unicorn as she undid the clasp of her cloak with her magic and flaring out her wings to send it flying away. Every pony gasped as they realized they were actually dealing with an actual alicorn. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and former bearer of the Element of Magic. On my left is Trixie Lulamoon, my Knight and bearer of one of the Zodiac Swords. To my right is Derpy Hooves, heroine several times over, as well as my friend and boon companion. We came here from a different Equestria, one without war, and we are neither spies nor criminals.”

“I think you are trying to trick us into lowering our guard,” the other Twilight said. “You are either spies for Sombra or traitors to Equestria, changed by Sombra somehow to look as you do. Surrender, now.”

“I am a crowned Princess of Equestria,” Twilight Sparkle said right back, and she could hear the heads of the soldiers moving back and forth between the two of them. “I and my companions have committed no crimes in your Equestria, and even if we had, as a princess, I claim diplomatic immunity.”

“I have no way I can verify such a fantastic tale,” the unicorn said, as another pony ran up and whispered something to her. “Also, even if what you say is true, you have no embassy nor are you an accredited diplomat. You have no legal leg to stand on, 'Princess.' What’s more, I’m told that the wards preventing magic use are in place now, and as everypony knows, teleportation within Canterlot has been blocked for a year now.”

Twilight reached her magical senses out, and ran into a wall. Magic was there, her ability to wield that primal force undamaged, but it was on the other side of a wall she could only just touch. She looked around, again considering their options. Without teleportation, their only option was to fight, and out-numbered as they were the fight would not be long or go in their favour.

“I am willing to surrender ourselves to your custody,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Providing that you will honor the Articles under the Geneighva Conventions regarding prisoners.” The other Twilight blinked at that, then smiled.

“So you admit to being Sombrans,” the unicorn said, a hungry feral gleam coming to her eyes.

“We do not serve Sombra,” Twilight Sparkle said, a little crossly, “but you obviously think we do. So, all that I ask is that you deal with us, as laid out in the Conventions until my bona fides can be confirmed.” The other Twilight did not look pleased by that at all, and the hunger in her eyes changed to an angry squint.

“Fine, you have my word you will be treated as enemy combatants and not spies,” the unicorn said, gritting her teeth. “Until your status as a princess can be confirmed. Now, assume the position or die.”

“As you wish,” Twilight Sparkle said, with a gracious nod of her head. “We surrender ourselves to your custody.”

As the last word left her mouth Twilight furled her wings and lay down on the cold wood of the platform, stretching her legs out as the other Twilight had ordered. Derpy and Trixie, after a moment’s hesitation, followed suit on either side of her. Pride in her companions swelled in Twilight’s breast. Twilight knew that both Derpy and Trixie’s instincts must be screaming at both of them to run, to fly, to escape, but instead they were following her command to surrender.

“Well,” Unicorn Twilight said, taken aback for a moment by both Twilight Sparkle’s dramatic pronouncement and her quarry’s sudden capitulation. “I didn’t think you would actually do it. Okay soldiers, standard captured Sombran protocol. Secure them, but take no risks.”

“Thank you for surrendering girls,” Twilight Sparkle whispered, as the soldiers moved in. “If we had tried to resist somepony would have gotten hurt, possibly killed, and I want to avoid that at all costs.” Trixie was about to reply when she felt the cold steel of a sword point touch the back of her neck, right where her skull joined it.

“Don’t move,” Rainbow Dash said, wingblade as sharp as her voice. “Don’t speak, don’t even begin to use magic. You do anything that I even think is a threat and you’ll be dead before you know what happened.” Twilight gave a small grunt, as somepony stood across her back, pressing what felt like a knife to a similar spot on the back of her head.

“Bow your heads,” Maud Pie said from behind Twilight, “and look only at the ground. At least until we hood you.” Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, but as she thought on what she knew of Sombra and his dark magic hooding a captive made sense, as the eyes could be used to mesmerize a target, forcing them to obey the will of another.

“You’re really being calm about this,” Pinkie Pie said, from her position astride Derpy. “It almost makes me wonder if you aren’t really crystal meanie ponies at all.” Derpy began to say something, which cut off in a squeak as Pinkie leaned in a bit with her blade on Derpy. “It doesn’t mean that you can talk though, because I could be wrong and you’re just really good at hiding what you are.”

The rest of the soldiers, emboldened by their three heroes who had Twilight, Trixie and Derpy pinned, rushed forward and swarmed over the three travelers with an array of restraints. Ten minutes later Twilight and the others were raised to their hooves in a clatter of chains. Each of Twilight’s hooves had a steel chain running to each of her others, severely hobbling her. A hood had been placed over her head and over it a bridle had been strapped on, its muzzle clamping down on a rubber plate in her mouth, preventing speech on any level. Instead of a ring to block her magic, the bridle had an entire sheath that fit over her horn, and Twilight was very certain it could block even alicorn level magic. Almost as an afterthought, Twilight’s wings had been strapped tightly to her sides to prevent flight.

It was a very different sort of bondage from what she had been subjected to by the evil versions of Flim and Flam. That had been fairly cold and impersonal. To them, she had been nothing more than a cog in a machine, a commodity to be used. This time, the bondage was directed at her, personally. She was the sole focus of the attentions of her counterpart, and Twilight found herself having to remember some of Shaushka’s counter-training to fight back against the generated frisson of pleasure that kept trying to weaken her knees.

“You may think this is harsh,” the unicorn said, softly into Princess Twilight’s ear. “But over the years, we’ve learned through terrible experiences that this is the only way for us to safely hold one of Sombra’s troops until we have a chance to reverse their conditioning.” Twilight made a questioning grunt as she was led along, trusting that she wasn’t being led off of a cliff.

“I’m willing to entertain the possibility that you may be an alicorn version of me, but that still doesn’t mean you aren't one of Sombra’s creations,” Twilight said, her breath close enough to warm Princess Twilight’s ear. “I will determine that during your interrogation, and since you are an alicorn your questioning will have to be particularly rigorous. Oh, I’ll keep to the Conventions, but trust me when I say that if you are lying to me, I’ll visit on you horrors your Sombra-led mind can’t begin to fathom.”

After thirty minutes of walking through progressively quieter and quieter streets, Twilight heard the sound of her hoof falls change as they entered a building. She and her jailer passed through several doors and went through several twists and turns, before Twilight Sparkle felt herself being tethered in place.

“What we are going to do to you next will be painful and invasive, “ her opposite said to her, in a slightly tinny voice, “but it is necessary to make sure that you are not a danger to yourself or anyone here. I will tell you right now that you are in a sealed, explosion proof room. So, if you are planning on detonating any of the suicide devices you likely have on you, I can assure you that they won’t hurt anypony other than you.”

What followed was a deep and at times painful exploration of Twilight’s body. Her mouth was wedged open first with rubber blocks and a dentist examined each and every one of her teeth. Then, she felt a greased length of something push into her ass and felt the gush of fluid into her as an enema filled her. Twilight Sparkle found herself having to retreat more and more into the sheltered corner of her mind that her and Shaushka, her therapist, had built up in her mind to keep it free, even if her body was helpless.

“Like that, do you?” her captor said, as a low moan was drawn unwillingly out of Twilight Sparkle. “You’ve had enemas like this before, and enjoyed them. It’s a sign you might be carrying an explosive or worse within your tract.” The fluid being poured in changed from luke-warm to freezing cold, and Twilight couldn’t help but clench down as she reacted to the invasion.

“What you are feeling is a magic neutralizing solution,” the unicorn Twilight said. “We’ve had Sombran soldiers with runes or other devices inside of them that they routinely swallowed for later use.” With her mouth cleared by the dentist, Twilight Sparkle was again able to speak.

“I... uh, I understand,” she said to the other Twilight. “Has it really been that bad?”

“Sombra has been using every weapon his twisted mind can come up with,” Twilight said to the alicorn that was so like, and yet so unlike her. “So far, so good. Okay, you can expel the fluid now.”

“You mean—” Twilight Sparkle asked, embarrassed.

“There’s a catch basin,” the unicorn Twilight said. “Once that’s done, we’ll examine your eyes for any tricks and then see about your overall body.”

Twilight Sparkle nodded and let fly, almost orgasming at the the relief of the pressure on her strained colon and ass. Once she had emptied herself, bright lights were shone in her eyes that left spots in her vision and then, still in chains, she was finally led onto a large brass plate. For a few seconds nothing seemed to happen, and Twilight Sparkle looked around in surprise. Then she noticed her mane and tail had begun to stand straight up, as the individual hairs started separating from each other.

They’re electrifying my body, Twilight Sparkle thought to herself. Electrostatically separating my hair to see if I’m hiding anything on my body, mane or tail. Clever. After ten minutes of more and more crackling tension she heard her unicorn doppelganger speak again.

“Okay, brace yourself Sombran,” Twilight heard from the unicorn. “This is the most painful part of the procedure, and the one most likely to set off anything you have on you. Celestia have mercy on your soul if it does.” Twilight Sparkle was a top notch researcher and student, and it took her only moments to realize there was only one thing the unicorn could be thinking of doing. Twilight was taking in a deep breath when a switch somewhere was thrown, and a flow of current hit the plate with the opposite polarity of what was already there, releasing the pent up charge over Twilight Sparkle’s body in a single crackling thunderbolt.

When it was over, and the ozone in the air began to fade, a door opened and in walked Twilight Sparkle’s dark clad twin, her braided tail bobbing back and forth. The Princess of Friendship had been hammered to the floor by the pain and power of the electricity leaving her body and she looked up to the pony walking toward her. She opened her mouth to say something, only to have what looked like the business end of a foal’s bottle jammed in her mouth.

“This is the last thing,” Twilight said to the alicorn at her hooves. “Drink down the contents of that bottle, and we’ll know for sure that you aren’t going to explode, or dissolve into acid, or turn into an ooze creature like some of your predecessors.” Princess Twilight’s eyebrows went up at that. If those were indeed some of the things captured soldiers from Sombra’s side had done, no wonder ponies were so paranoid here. She gave a nod, and sucked down the fluid from the bottle, which tasted like a chocolate malt, of all things. When she finished, the bottle was pulled from her mouth and the unicorn levitated a bucket over.

“What’s that fo—” Twilight Sparkle started to ask, only to be cut off as a wave of irresistible nausea swept over her, and for the next twenty minutes she was thoroughly and messily sick, emptying the contents of her stomach into the bucket. When it was over, she simply lay on her side, panting, too drained by what she had just been through to even consider moving.

“It’s okay,” Twilight said, lifting a small glass to Twilight Sparkles mouth. “Have a drink of water. I know how bad this whole process can be, seeing as I put myself through it at least once a month.”

“Why?” Twilight Sparkle croaked, her throat feeling raw and abused by the stomach acids that had recently passed through it.

“I’m an Inquisitor with Equestrian Internal Security,” the purple maned unicorn said, as if it was common knowledge. “Sombra would love to compromise me or otherwise use me as a weapon against the princesses. Regular vigilance is the only defence against a master of mind control, magic and mental manipulation.

“So you believe me now when I say that I’m a princess from another Equestria,” Twilight Sparkle said, rolling herself to her belly in a clatter of chains. “You can take these off of me then, I give you my word that I mean no harm to you or your Equestria.”

“Not so fast,” Twilight said, with a small chuckle. “All you’ve done is proven you aren’t going to kill ponies just by being around them. I’m willing to entertain the possibility that you are what you say you are, but to be sure of that you and your friends need to answer a lot of questions.” She lifted Twilight Sparkle to her hooves and untangled the chains of the captive pony’s hobbles.

“Lead on then, Inquisitor,” Twilight Sparkle said, drawing in a breath and feeling herself come back into balance. “I’m ready to respond to your questions, so long as you are ready to hear the answers.”

The pair left the room, and a pair of armed guards fell in behind Twilight Sparkle, whose progress was greatly impeded by the chains she wore, but everypony seemed used to her slow rate of travel. At one point however, she tripped as the chains tangled, and she fell to the floor. No pony helped her back up, but when she did Twilight Sparkle saw that the Inquisitor had a hoof stretched out toward the guards, who had their weapons about six inches from Twilight’s hide.

“Heh, everypony seems kind of jumpy,” Twilight Sparkle said, pushing at the bridle that still held the magic cancelling sheath on her horn. “I thought there were peace talks going on?” Stony silence greeted her for several seconds.

“We’ll talk about that in a minute,” Inquisitor Twilight said, finally. “Let’s move along, and I want to offer you a deal.”

“Okay,” Twilight Sparkle said, brightening. “What’s the deal?”

“As I said, I’m willing to entertain the possibility that you are who and what you say you are,” the inquisitor said, “but I refuse to do it without proof on some level.”

“What?” Twilight Sparkle asked, shooting the inquisitor a sarcastic look. “My being an alicorn isn’t enough?”

“Honestly, no,” Inquisitor Twilight said, sending a sarcastic look of her own right back. “Sombra is a master of dark magic and he’s sent more twisted abominations at us than even Discord could have dreamed of. It’s very possible for him to create what looks like an alicorn.”

“I see,” Twilight Sparkle said as the procession came to a halt at an intersection of corridors.

“Here is the deal,” the dark clad unicorn said to Twilight, turning to face her. “I can take you to your cell where you will be kept in safety and security for all concerned. Eventually, when the war is over, you will be repatriated to your homeland. Wherever that is.”

“I’m presuming you are about to offer me an alternative?” Twilight Sparkle asked, one sardonic eyebrow raised.

“Indeed I am,” Inquisitor Twilight said, and the hungry, almost feral look on the unicorn’s face nearly made Twilight Sparkle back up a step. “You can waive the protections under the Conventions, allowing me to use enhanced interrogation procedures. Procedures which will prove your true allegiance beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

“I see,” Twilight said. “May I have a moment to think?” The unicorn nodded and took a step back and Twilight raised a chain clattering hoof to her chin to rub it in thought. On the one hoof she could clear this all up quickly by accepting the unicorn’s offer. The one constant in any universe was that Twilight Sparkle wanted to learn things, but on the other hoof the hungry look Twilight could see on the other mare told her of somepony who no longer had knowledge as her ultimate goal. Something beyond the quest for truth drove her opposite number and several very scary possibilities came to her.

“I’ll waive the protections in the Conventions,” Twilight Sparkle said, needing to know what was driving her opposite and homing in on the most likely possibility. “If you will answer me one question. What is the condition of Shining Armor?”

“YOU!” the unicorn exploded out, lunging forward and seizing Twilight Sparkle by her bridle. “How dare you!?”

“On my Equestria, Shining Armor is my deeply loved brother,” Twilight Sparkle said, as calmly as she could into the enraged face before her. “He has a loving wife and a foal whom he adores. I’d like to know what has happened to him on this world.” Twilight’s refusal to fight back and calm response to being marehandled seemed to shake the unicorn holding her bridle. For several heartbeats the two stood there, until the inquisitor slowly took her hooves off of Twilight’s bridle and very deliberately, took a step back.

“Shining Armor, my brother,” the unicorn began, the light seeming to go out of her eyes. “Went to the Crystal Empire with his new bride, so that they could claim her ancient birthright together. They walked into a trap. Sombra, newly risen, had already retaken his Empire and viewed the arrival of my brother and his wife as nothing more than gifts from Equestria for his amusement.”

“Something similar happened in my world,” Twilight Sparkle began. “But my friends and I were—”

“Shut. Up,” Inquisitor Twilight said, in a voice devoid of emotion that stopped the alicorn princess’ words. “My Shining... my Shiny... is dead. Or at least the next best thing to it. Sombra ripped anything resembling sentience or self-determination from his mind and now he uses the husk of my brother to pull his personal chariot. THAT is the condition of Shining Armor. Reduced to nothing more than an empty shell, a walking dead pony.” Twilight Sparkle just stared at her opposite number, her eyes wide in horror.

“I.. I’m sorry for your loss,” Twilight Sparkle said, and she could see the anger, the fury, the implacable hatred, Inquisitor Twilight had for Sombra and all his works give her energy and purpose again and fueling her limbs with strength. “You want to hurt me don’t you?”

“No, I don’t actually,” the unicorn said, to a surprised Twilight. “I want to hurt Sombra, I want to make him pay for what he did to my brother, and the best way to do that is to stop him. To undo all his schemes, and to stop any of his minions from hurting any more Equestrians. To do that, I cannot allow myself the luxury of killing anypony I happen to believe are his, because I’m still honest enough to admit I could be wrong about a suspect, and it is very hard to unkill a pony. However, I can be ruthless, I can be cruel and I can be heartless, so long as none of that blinds me to the truth.”

“Fine,” Twilight Sparkle said, “I will renounce the protections in the Conventions and allow you to use your enhanced interrogation on me, on one condition. Swear to me, on the soul of Shining Armor, that you will look at the evidence presented without prejudice and admit the truth, if the evidence points to me and my companions not being Sombrans.” The unicorn looked at Twilight Sparkle in shock, surprised at her condition. A shock that slowly changed to anger.

“Fine,” Inquisitor Twilight said, clenching her jaw fit to shatter it into a million pieces. “I swear, on the soul of Shining Armor, to look at the evidence in a fair and balanced manner, and to admit the truth if the evidence points toward your exoneration. However, if it points the other way, it will be my very great pleasure to take you apart piece by piece to see what makes you tick.”

“Deal,” Twilight Sparkle said, and the two mares clopped hooves.

“Guards, go get the linking potions and meet me in Simulacra A,” Inquisitor Twilight said to the guards, who nodded and went off to fetch whatever it was their commander had asked for. The unicorn then led Twilight down a corridor and into a massive chamber. The room was large and nearly barren, easily a hundred paces in every dimension. The walls, floor and ceiling were all painted a flat black, which was marked by ruler straight yellow lines that crossed over each other so that every surface was covered in a massive grid pattern.

“Wow, this is quite the place,” Twilight Sparkle said, as her eyes threatened to cross from the optical illusions the room was trying to generate for her. “You called this place a ‘simulacra’?”

“Indeed,” the unicorn said, as she led her charge to the only furnishings in the room. A simple folding table and a pair of folding chairs that sat in the exact center of the floor. “Have a seat.”

Twilight Sparkle sat down, and the guards came in a couple of minutes later with a pair of frothing beakers. As they left they closed the door behind them, and Twilight realized with some trepidation that the interior of the door blended into the walls seamlessly. Other than memory, there was no way to tell where the exit to the room was. Twilight’s attention was drawn away from trying to spot where the door was, when the unicorn got up from her chair and started undoing Twilight’s shackles.

“First off, fair warning,” Inquisitor Sparkle said, as she unlocked the last of the four shackles and began working on the bridle. “You are being watched by hidden marksponies. If you try to attack me, or attempt to escape you will be shot down in seconds.” The inquisitor pulled the bridle free and set it down by the chains and shackles. Twilight reached for her magic, only to find herself still unable to touch it.

“No, you can’t do magic,” the unicorn said, noting Twilight’s efforts. “Your insides are still coated with the neutralizing agent and will be for some time yet.” The beakers fizzed and popped ominously on the table, one in front of each mare.

“So what happens now?” Twilight Sparkle asked, sniffing at the potion in front of her. “I assume this is some sort of super truth potion?”

“Not quite,” Inquisitor Sparkle said, and Twilight could see a well-hidden glee in her opposites eyes, like somepony about to spring a trap in chess. “This room is called a simulacra because in here, with the help of these potions, we can simulate any environment and situation we choose to have someone experience.”

“Of course,” Twilight Sparkle said, putting things together. “The potions must contain hallucinogens which, combined with the inherent optical deceptions of the paint scheme of the room lead to the creation of a virtual, mental landscape.”

“There’s more to it than that,” Inquisitor Sparkle said, frowning a bit that her opposite number had figured things out as much as she had. “The potions will also link us so that I can see what you experience and guide those experiences. We do this to put you in scenarios where your true loyalties can be made manifest.” The unicorn then proceeded to pluck a hair from each of their manes and drop it into their respective beakers. As the hairs touched the liquid it frothed up with even greater vigor before turning a deep purple.

“So that’s it?” Twilight Sparkle asked, one eyebrow going up. “We drink and you lead me through a drugged hallucination to try to see if I’ll betray Equestria. Interesting technique, and I can see how it would help by blocking out the conscious mind’s attempt to lie or otherwise conceal the truth.”

“Exactly,” the other Twilight said, lifting her beaker. “Now, drink up before I have to force it down your throat.”

“No need to get cranky,” Twilight said, lifting her own beaker high before guzzling it down and making a face. “Gyah! That stuff tastes terrible.”

“I never get used to it,” Inquisitor Twilight said, as she set her own drained beaker down. “Don’t try to get up, the stuff starts taking effect pretty quick. Pretty soon you’ll be seeing some neat colours.” About a minute later Twilight realized the unicorn was right, and that she could see colours as she waved her hoof back and forth. Fascinating colours.

“Tree Hugger would love this stuff,” Twilight Sparkle said aloud, to no one in particular, as the drug began to take hold. So it was with bemusement rather than shock when she heard someone call out.

“Inquisitor,” a male voice said, from somewhere distant. “One of the other prisoners, the blue unicorn mare. She’s escaped.”

“Well, don’t just... ugh,” Inquisitor Twilight said, the drugs hitting her system as well. “Go... ugh, go after her.”

“Hah!” Twilight Sparkle cackled, no longer caring what she sounded like. “The Great and Powerful Trixie, in a seraglio, with a wagon wheel!” Then sanity and consciousness were washed away in a riot of colour and a roar of sound.

No big afterword here, other than the usual thanks to my editing team who mightily strive to keep my stuff making sense. In at least some strange way.

All the best to you and yours this Holiday Season.