“So it wasn’t a dream…” The sound of absolute defeat in those words alone tore Hearts asunder anew.

“How are you feeling?” Fluttershy asked bravely. The fusion grimaced. They didn’t want to feel anything. They just wanted to go back to the oblivion of non-existence. But it was too late for that and the fusion doubted the others would take that answer without smothering them in hugs and words of comfort that weren’t even meant for them to hear.

“I feel like someone decided it would be a good idea to play head surgeon with a crowbar. Tom and Twilight’s memories trying to dictate how I should act at the same time, but with my own thoughts and feelings getting mixed up in there too and it’s hard to even think! I feel like the AM. I have no mouth and I must scream! But I know screaming won’t help anything. I have to get Tom and Twilight back. I’m wasting time here,” The fusion stood up and tried to walk to the door, but was stopped by Discord.

“You aren’t going anywhere before we get a few things straight,” Discord chided. The fusion wanted to yell at him that there was no ‘me’, but held their tongue.

“And pray tell what are these things?” The fusion barely kept an impatient snarl out of their voice.

“Oh, simple things like a name and gender identity,” Discord, if he sensed any of their hostility, chose to ignore it.

“I won’t be here long enough for either of those things,” They resumed marching for the door, only to be stopped again.

“Oh, I think you will. Or do you think you can somehow replicate and reverse a Surge that, by my reckoning, was worth at least ten of me? Not in a single day and not with the power of only a single Alicorn,” This was exactly what the fusion didn’t want to hear. Their temper was nearing a boil.

“Well then I thank you to get out of my way so I can get started,” The fusion once again tried for the door.

“Should we call you Twilight in the meantime?” Celestia asked. The fusion snapped.

“NO!” They broke into the Canterlot Royal Voice, “I can’t- I won’t- that wouldn’t-” Too many thoughts and feelings were clamoring for attention inside the fusion’s head. A sliver of them wanted to be called Twilight, a portion of them not caring at all, but a vast majority was purely repulsed by the idea.

“Deep breaths,” Moon Dancer comforted. The fusion took a few breaths on the edge of hyperventilation, but slowly worked their way down to deep, steady breaths.

“I will not disrespect Twilight’s memory by taking her name along with her Body and Soul. She and Tom died heroes. Until I can bring them back, we should treat them as such,” Truthfully, the fusion was afraid of taking a name. In a reality where Lovecraftian Horrors existed, there was every possibility that Names had Power. They didn’t want to risk taking a name making it harder to bring Tom and Twilight back.

“We have to call you something other than just ‘hey you’ or ‘the fusion’,” Rainbow pointed out. As much as they hated to admit it, the prismatic mare was correct. If they were going to stick around for more than a day or two, which seemed exceedingly likely, they needed to be called something.

“Oh, I know! Midnight Sparkle!” Pinkie suggested.

“Pinkie, I am not taking on the name of Twilight’s Fallen Persona. That’s almost as bad as taking Twilight’s name flat out,” The fusion denied.

“Are there any Human names you might consider?” Rarity asked.

“The only name I’d really consider from that category would be Diane, but that’s already Pinkie’s middle name. I think it be best for the general masses if I pretend to still be Twilight. Somehow I think “Princess Sparkle fuses with previously unknown alien in her head” would do even worse than “unknown alien possesses Princess Sparkle”,” The fusion snarked.

“What about Neapolitan?” Rainbow asked.

“Why on Equuis would Twilight change her name to Neapolitan?” The fusion demanded.

“I thought it was clever,” Rainbow pouted.

“Darling, I might agree with you if we were just going for joke names, but we are trying to take this seriously,” Rarity remarked.

“Alloy Sparkle?” Discord suggested.

“The sad thing is I could see Twilight picking that name,” The fusion observed.

“Synthesis Sparkle has a nice ring to it,” Celestia opined.

“These are all great names for just Twilight, but I’m part Tom too. I don’t want to just kick his memory out in the cold,” The fusion protested.

“Rising Action?” Moon Dancer suggested.

“Too far in the other direction. Same for Kishōtenketsu, which is a word for the structure of Asian narratives back on Earth. Hmm, if I want to make it sound like Twilight picked the name, I might just have to sacrifice some of Tom’s sensibilities,” The fusion wasn’t happy about this, but it had to be done.

“Starlight Glimmer? It thematically sounds close to Twilight Sparkle,” Cadence put her idea forward.

“I think for good or for ill, we should at least keep the Sparkle. It is how most of Equestria is familiar with Twilight,” Luna countered.

“I think maybe the best we can do is Duskfall Sparkle then,” The fusion, Duskfall, decided, “We can just pass it off as Twilight going through an emo phase. It’s similar enough to Twilight that most won’t get suspicious and it’s at least slightly less feminine than Twilight.”

The room turned the name over in their heads. It might not be the most creative name in the world, but no one could think of anything particularly objectionable about it either.

“Speaking of less feminine, now it’s time to decide the ever fun gender pronouns!” Discord cheered. Dusk shot Discord an unimpressed look before bowing their head to look down their barrel.

“I have mare bits. Therefore female pronouns will work just fine. End of discussion.” Dusk announced.

“But-” Several people tried to speak up.

“END. OF. DISCUSSION,” Dusk snarled.

“OK, but don’t come crying to us when this makes your identity crisis worse than it needs to be,” Rainbow warned in a surprising fit of acuity.

“Thanks, Element of Loyalty,” Duskfall grumbled.

“Hey, I am being Loyal. You just aren’t appreciating it yet because it isn’t something you want to hear,” Dash shot back. Duskfall shook her head in frustration.

“We should probably organize a funeral soon. Just because I intend to bring them back doesn’t mean we shouldn’t honor their sacrifice,” That killed any fledgling good feelings in the room. It had been fun losing themselves in the exercise of picking a new name, trying to forget why they were doing so. Duskfall brutally murdered that illusion.

“I will…begin preparations,” Celestia announced, fighting back a fresh bout of tears, “It has been a very long day for all of us. I don’t know about any of you, but I just want it to be over.”

“I’d agree with you, but there’s a slight problem. Tirek blew up Golden Oaks Library. I don’t have anywhere to sleep,” Dusk said sadly.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!” They had returned to Ponyville to pick up a few things for a stay in Canterlot, but it was very hard to miss the giant crystal palace that had sprung up on the edge of Ponyville.

“Normally I wouldn’t condone such language but… WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!” Rarity agreed with Dusk.

“If that damn Tree thinks she can buy my forgiveness with this eyesore, she has another thing coming!” Dusk swore. She didn’t even care about the looks Spike was giving her.

“We might as well take a look around. No sense spittin’ on free room and board,” Applejack, ever the levelheaded one, suggested.

Duskfall thought about getting pedantic and mentioning that if there wasn’t food in the palace then it was just free room, but decided to keep her mouth shut. The group explored room after empty room. The first notable thing they found was the Mirror Portal to Sunset’s World.

“What is that doing here?” Spike asked.

“Luna and I…I mean, Luna and Twilight have been running some experiments on the side for Celestia. Why the Tree stole it from the Canterlot Vaults, well, that’s anyone’s guess,” Duskfall shrugged as she checked over the equipment that Twilight and Luna had been using to try and force the portal open. Technically everything was ready for trial runs, but both Alicorns had wanted to double check their math to make sure no accidental reality rips would occur.

The only other interesting thing they found was a round table surrounded by chairs bearing each of their Cutie Marks, with two extra seats on either side of Twilight’s. One was presumably for Spike and the other for Discord.

“So nice of you to include me, Tree,” Discord’s words was literally dripping with sarcasm.

“Well, I guess the Tree intends for Spike and I to make this our new home. As much as I hate the Tree right now, we do need a place to stay and something about not rejecting gifts. We should probably tell the rest of Ponyville that it’s safe to come back…and what really happened.”

Author's Notes:

Yeah, uh, Duskfall was awake for about five minutes or so before she opened her eyes. Make of that what you will, but remember that one of her originals was Tom, a decent actor.

Why is Twilight's genderbent name Dusk Shine? I don't know about anyone else, but Dusk still sounds like a pretty feminine name. Not as feminine as Twilight, as pointed out in the chapter, but still fairly feminine.

Just because this is a dark drama, doesn't mean I can't still be a super memelord when the need arises. "Starlight Glimmer" *snerk*

Did Duskfall just slipup there at the end? Nah, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about...