With a smile, Dash flew towards the library, eager to pick up the new book by the author of the Silverwing series. She’d be able to read it with Emeris and... and she’d ask him out on a proper date when she did.

She was nervous, Dash was willing to admit it to herself, she was really nervous about this but... AJ had talked her into it.

The farmpony had tracked her down almost immediately after their little wrestling session and had basically cornered her.

“Dash... sugarcube, we need ta talk.”

The blue pegasus froze, hoof raised in mid-step out of Sugarcube Corner, “O-Oh! Hey AJ, wow, um, look at the time, I-” flaring her wings, she made to take off, but AJ grabbed her by her multi-colored tail and dragged the mid-air pegasus off.

Speaking through the mouthful of tail, Applejack’s voice was muffled but perfectly understandable, “Oh no ya don’t sugarcube, we need ta talk.”

“A-About what?” Dash flapped harder, but Applejack just kept dragging her along until she had her well out of the way of the main streets of Ponyville. With some work, she got Dash’s tail pinned beneath a hoof, looking directly at the other mare until she let herself land once again. Nervous and jittery, Dash obviously didn’t want to have this confrontation.

But AJ wasn’t about to allow that, “Why in tarnation’d you run like that?”

“I don’t know–” the weathermare started, but was quickly cut off.

“Dangnabbit sugarcube,” the farmpony scowled at her friend, “Why’d you run from Emmy and me like that?” Dash’s eyes darted about, looking for a way to escape the conversation, her wings trembling in a need to not talk about this, this sappy mushy mess of emotions. AJ couldn’t read every nuance of her friends emotions, but she understood enough, her eyes softened as did her voice, “C’mon sugarube... ya know you can tell me, no matter what it is. What’re friends for?”

Dash slumped, unable to argue with that, “I... I didn’t want to interrupt you two...”

“What?” surprised, the blonde mare tilted her head at her friend in confusion, “Sugarcube, he wanted you there too! Why would you have been interruptin anythin–?”

“It hurt okay?!” Dash snapped, making AJ flinch back.The anger was gone in an instant and Dash’s face fell as she slumped to the ground, looking away from the farmpony, feeling embarrassed and stupid, “Sorry...”

Startled, stunned, confused, Applejack got up and moved to lay down beside the pegasus, gently bumping her cheek against Dash’s, “Sugarcube...” she hesitantly started before barreling ahead, “What’s really the matter?”

Unable to meet the farmpony’s gaze, Dash stared at the ground, withdrawing into herself and mumbling, “It’s stupid mushy stuff...”

Again, Applejack lightly nudged her friend, her voice soft, “It sure ain’t stupid if it’s makin you hurt so much.”

The pegasus was quiet for a long moment before she turned to her friend, quietly asking, “Can-... can you keep a secret?”

“Pinkie Promise,” AJ smiled gently, making the motions.

Biting her lip, Dash glanced about, making sure no one else was around before leaning in, “I... I really like Emeris–”

“Ah hate to break it to ya sugarcube, but that ain’t exactly a secret.”

The normally blue pegasus turned several shades of red at that, “Shut up! I’m not good with this mushy stuff!” she trailed off, looking away as her voice fell to a pained whisper, “I’m really not good at this mushy stuff...”

“Sugarcube...” AJ trailed off for a moment, surprised to see this side of her normally brash and confident friend. Quietly, she asked again, her tone gentle but insistent, “What’s wrong?”

“Look, I–... I’ve never really had a special somepony. Like, ever,” her voice gained strength and steadiness as she spoke in the isolated alley, “Sure I’ve tried to date stallions before but... they usually turned me down... and I know I’m just a scrawny, muscled freak–” AJ made to argue the point, but Dash was far from done, “–but the few that did go out with me were all ‘Oh, it was just pity’ and I- I always got dumped or kicked out of the herd after like, the second date. So when I started to like the big guy I was totally psyched but really scared that he’d turn me down too. Well, I mean, just a teensy bit scared, but yeah, scared. Thing is, every other time I’ve tried to go out with a stallion I was all aggressive and did things right away, so this time I thought, ‘Hey, maybe if I don’t rush things, it’ll work this time’... but... but then when you two were wrestling he... well...” an obvious pain washed over her eyes.

“Dash...”

“I mean... I know I never asked him out or anything, but he just up and started grooming you... right there in front of me! I–...”

“Dash!” the pegasus flinched slightly before flushing and ducking her head, quieting under AJ’s stern gaze.

“Why in the name o’ the Princesses do ya think that ya can’t court him just ‘cause he groomed me a bit? Ah ain’t some silly monogamist that’ll tell ya ya can’t court him just ‘cause I was, and ah’m not courtin’ him!”

“I-... I know...” Dash muttered, staring at the ground as the beginings of tears formed at the corners of her eyes, “Bu’ no stallion’d want me if they could have ponies like you in their herd–” the sudden and sharp tug on Dash’s ear cut that train of thought off rather quickly, making the pegasus wince and cry out slightly before AJ let her ear go. Dash scowled at the farmpony as she rubbed her ear, “Ow! That hurt! What was that for?!”

“Don’t you go tearin’ y’erself down like that sugarcube. You ain’t a bad lookin mare and ya likely have more of a chance with Emmy than ah do.”

There was a flash of anger in those rose-colored eyes, “Oh I call horse apples! There’s no bucking way I have a better chance with that stallion than you! He was bucking grooming you for Celestia’s sake!”

But the farmpony metaphorically stood her ground, “Do ya remember where he’s from sugarcube?”

The sudden change in the line of questioning threw Dash, her anger being replaced by irritated confusion, “Not really, why?”

“He’s not from Equestria at all, he don’t know anythin about courtin a pony, and ah mean anythin’,” a brief look of confusion flashed across her face, “Ah don’t know how ya haven’t noticed to be honest with ya, but ah mean it. He obviously don’t know when he’s flirtin’, he didn’t even realize that bumpin’ Cutie Marks was flirtin’.”

“What?! Wait, he bumped cutie marks with you–?!” AJ covered her friends mouth to cut her off and finish what she’d been meaning to say.

“Sugarcube, don’t pay attention to things like that, ‘cause he obviously don’t know what he’s doin’. But Ah want you to think about this, when he’s got free time, who does he usually schedule time with? Ah’ll give ya a hint, it ain’t me, and it ain’t Rarity or even Fluttershy.”

Slowly, Dash’s eyes widened as that processed, and when AJ’s hoof was removed her mouth was only able to work silently for several moments before she hesitantly squeaked out, “... really? You-... you really think he–?”

Smiling, Applejack nodded, “Eyup. Honest to goodness. Ah’m almost positive that Emmy likes you a lot.” The way the pegasus’ face just lit up at that made the farmpony smile, warmth suffusing AJ’s heart and helping her push even further, poking a hoof to Dash’s chest as she continued, “And that’s why ah think you should ask him out and court him proper.”

Rainbow’s thought processes came to a crashing halt, “What?!”

“Ah think you should ask him ou–”

“I know what you said, but are you crazy?!” Dash scrambled up onto her hooves, backing away from the apparently crazy mare, “Every time I’ve asked a stallion out things have gone bad! I always rush things! Always! I know I do! And there’s no way I’m gonna screw up my friendship with the big guy just because he makes me feel all mushy!”

Sighing, AJ stood up as well, “Sugarcube, ah really think you should court him proper if y’er so aflutter about him.”

The blue pegasus’ entire face lit up red, that word had a special meaning to pegasi, though AJ didn’t know it, “That’s not– I mean, I’ll rush it and mess it up!”

“No, ya won’t. Ah’m sure of it,” Applejack put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder, “Listen sugarcube, Ah know y’er scared, but think about it. All them times you’ve just been readin’ with him? Those times when the two of ya would just wrastle or spar? Those were practically dates without the flower,” the corner of her mouth quirked up at the irony, here Dash was worried about asking Emeris out when she’d already gone on a half dozen ‘dates’ with him, “All ya gotta do is ask him if he wants to go on a right and proper date with ya. It can just be one of them readin’ sessions the two of ya do.”

“I-... you really think that’d work?” at that moment, the blue pegasus seemed far more like their yellow and pink friend than her normal brash self, her voice soft, unsure, and hopeful.

“Ah’m almost positive sugarcube,” a sly thought came to Applejack, “Ah’m sure he’d go out with ya if ya just asked him, though if y’er like this then ah doubt you’ll do it before the weeks out, why, ah’ll even bet ya a barrel of m’ah best cider that ya can’t ask him out within the week.”

A fire lit in the pegasus’ eyes at the thought of a challenge, launching up into the air and pointing a hoof at the earth-bound mare, “Oh you are so on! I know exactly how I’m gonna do it now too! We’ve already got a book-date planned for the new Silverwing side-series and I’m totally gonna ask him out for it! Just you watch!”

The orange mare grinned, “Good, ah’m sure ya can do it Rainbow.”

Dash blinked before flushing, realizing that she’d been had, “I...” she looked away for a moment, hovering in place, “Thanks AJ...”

“It ain’t nothin sugarcube, ya just needed a good kick in the flank is all, and what else are friends for?” she smiled warmly at the embarrassed pegasus.

“Well I guess even awesome ponies like me need to be pointed in the right direction sometimes,” she polished a hoof against her chest before examining it haughtily, making Applejack roll her eyes and shake her head, a small, bemused smile on her face.

Once she had the new book, Dash was going to go to Emeris and ask him if he wanted to make their book reading a proper date. Sure, if she was honest with herself, he’d probably be confused at first and... Dash mentally swallowed down her fear, he might turn her down. But there was a full barrel of the best Apple Family Cider on the line, and... she really wanted to believe AJ when she said that he liked her too.

First things first though, getting the book.

Zipping up to the window, Dash threw it open before flying in, “Hey! Twilight, do you have the boo-ooOOOOK?!” surprised, the pegasus ‘backpedaled’ midair, staring at the strange intruder in the library, public or not, “Whoa! Who the buck are you?!”

“Dash! Oh thank Celestia, this is perfect. I need you to go get the others, we have–”

“Whoa whoa whoa!” the pegasus flew down quickly poking a hoof into the broad chest of the newcomer, her eyes narrowed, “I asked you who the buck you are! And what the hay are you doing in the library?!”

Rainbow Dash stared at the... the alicorn stallion in front of her. A bit bigger than even Big Mac, but not quite as big as the Princesses, he was an impressive sight. Massive wings, a long and thick horn, a lustrous yet familiar lavender coat, his mane and tail were both a dark green with pink hilights, but while the mane was a disheveled, midlength spikey mess, his tail was long and as straight as a ruler.

His mouth worked silently for a moment, “Dash, I...” his eyes closed, and he seemed to calm himself before opening them again. It was then that Dash noticed that his eyes were surprisingly feminine, and crazily, one eye was a bright purple while the other a dull gray-green. Those eyes pleaded with her as the stallions soft and somewhat high-pitched voice begged her, “Dash, please, could you get the others? The girls... the Elements of Harmony... could you get–...” there was a brief moment of confusion on his face, “Could you get our friends? Please? I don’t want to have to explain this more than once.”

“I... what the buck’s going on? Just who the buck are you?”

“Dash... I’m... could you please get the others? I only want to explain this once... I’m... I’m Twilight.”

Her eyes widened before she was off like a rocket, trailing a rainbow behind her.

The Elements of Harmony minus one plus Spike were soon sitting in the main lobby of the library, Spike quietly passing around tea to the gathered mares.

“Darling, are you sure this stallion claimed to be our darling Twilight? I don’t mean to doubt you darling, but it’s quite unbelievable, gender-changing magic is just unheard of! And thank you Spikey-Wikey.”

The dragon opened his mouth, but Dash cut him off, “I told you Rarity! This big ole alicorn stallion was just standing right over there and when I got in his face about what he was doing here he was all ‘Dash, go get the others so I can explain, I’m Twilight’, and I– I dunno, I could just see it! It was in his eyes, one of them looked exactly like Twilight’s, and he even kinda sounded like her!”

“Well I–” Spike started.

“But darling! Gender changing is impossible! And becoming an alicorn? Unheard of! Why, Emeris is the only case I’ve ever even heard of an alicorn becoming less than they were, but our Twilight becoming an alicorn stallion? Absurd!”

“I think–” the dragon attempted to speak once again.

“Well we all know that Twilight can make some really weird things happen with them fancy magics of hers, ah’d be willin to bet there’s a chance she actually did that in some way.”

“Guys, I think–”

“Well, that is true darling, but those things are supposed to be completely impossible for unicorn magic! Even our dear Twilight can’t do things like that!”

“Really, guys, I know–”

“Oooooh, is it appropriate to throw a ‘Congratulations on Being a Stallion’ Party? Or should I keep it to just a ‘Congrats on Becoming an Alicorn’ Party? Because, like, the first one could be mean if she didn’t want to become a stallion. Which is weird, right? Not the not wanting to become a stallion thing, but if she’s still a ‘she’ or if she’s now a ‘he’? Do you know? I don’t know.”

“I know that–”

“I-I think that we should probably wait for Twilight to tell us what happened... if that’s okay with you guys that is...”

“Guys!” the baby dragon slammed the tray he was holding onto the main desk in the library in frustration before spinning back around to the gathered friends, “I know what Twilight did!”

The mare’s all stopped and turned to the little dragon at his outburst, though it was Rainbow Dash that spoke up first, “Well, get on with it! What happened?”

Spike’s face scrunched up for a moment, irritated with himself for his outburst, “Look, Twilight was going to try and get into Gary’s head last night, and I think something went wrong with that spell.”

The mare’s all shared a look before turning back to Spike, “Spike darling... maybe you should start from the beginning...”

Spike played with the bowl of gem-cereal in front of him, worried and glancing at the door to the library every so often. Despite his attempts to keep her from going, Twilight had still snuck out to try and ‘get into Gary’s head’ as she’d put it. At least that’s what he thought she’d done when he hadn’t found her in her bed this morning, but since Spike didn’t actually know where this ‘Gary’s’ house even was, he couldn’t have exactly gone to stop her.

All he could really do was sit and wait for the purple mare to come home and desperately hope that she hadn’t gotten herself into too much trouble... which sadly, Spike doubted. Knowing their luck, things had gone catastrophically wrong.

The door to the library slamming open nearly made the poor hatchling jump out of his scales, and the shout even more so, “Spike! Spike? Spiiiiike?! There you are,” an alicorn stallion swept into the library, the door closing quickly behind him, “Quick, find me that copy of Mental Magics: The Complete Edition as well as a copy of Magical Catastrophes and Conundrums and F.U.B.A.R.: The S.N.A.F.U. of Magic.”

“Wait, what?” Spike shook his head, trying to clear the sudden case of cobwebs, “What’s going–?”

“Spike, please!” the stallion turned towards him, eyes frantic, “We have no time to waste!”

“... Twilight...?” he asked hesitantly.

The stallion froze, “Spike– I...” then he slumped slightly, “Yeah... it’s me... just... could you please help me find those books? We really have no time to waste.”

“So, what was the problem with Twilight?” Applejack prodded.

“Yeah! And what’s this got to do with her trying to read his mind huh?”

Spike opened his mouth, but was interrupted once more, this time by someone entirely different, “It has to do with a magical mistake in reading Emeris’ mind... a magical accident that...” the alicorn stallion had stepped out onto the balcony of the library, starting to walk down the stairs, “That caused the two of us to fuse... mind and body...” the stallion stopped at the foot of the stairs, looking at the assembled mares, “Girls... I’m-... I’m Twilight Sparkle and Emeris Fillson.”

The silence at that proclamation stretched out for almost a minute before Rarity uneasily laughed, “That- that’s a delightfully well done prank darling, but–”

“It’s not a prank!” the alicorn snapped, his wings flaring before he looked down, ashamed of his outburst, “It’s not a prank... I messed up and... and now we’re like this.” The stallion slumped to the ground, “I messed up and now... we’re both paying the price...”

The five mare’s shared a look before as one getting up and moving over towards the alicorn, “Darling... you say that you’re both of them... so... who, ah... who are we talking to?”

“I–...” the stallion hesitated, almost unsure before looking back down, “Twilight. Just Twilight.”

“Then what the buck happened to the big guy?” there was a hint of fear in Dash’s eyes, and when the stallion didn’t answer immediately she pressed harder, “What happened to Emmy?!”

“He’s here! He’s..” the stallion put a hoof to his head, tapping it, “He’s in here with me... just... he kinda...” the stallion searched for the appropriate word, “Emeris is asleep at the moment. He sort of... fainted...” The Elements of Harmony shared a confused glance before turning back to the stallion who rubbed his cheek slowly, in both embarrassment as well as something else, “He... when he realized that... that we had wings, Ga-... Emeris’ brain just... shut down.”

“... wait, what?”

“He-... he panicked,” there was a flash of concern on the stallions face before embarrassment took precedence, “He was rather... irritated with me... wasn’t mean but... really, really irritated...” the stallion flushed, “I don’t blame him... but... when we saw these?” he gestured back at his wings, flexing them slightly, “He... he just panicked... he thought he’d... he thought he’d been turned back into Gary.”

The alicorn withdrew into himself slightly, his voice soft, “He... he was so scared... I only caught a bit of it between our merged minds but... he... Emeris was horrified by it...”

“Is...” Applejack swallowed, almost afraid to ask, “Is Emmy alright?”

The stallion nodded, “Yeah, just... he’s really out of it at the moment... I can’t even hear him, just... I know he’s there okay? It’s hard to describe.”

Relief showed on most of the collected mares’ faces, glad that their friends were alright. Then there was the anger, “Twilight!” the stallion turned to Dash, who jabbed a hoof at the lavender alicorn, “The buck were you thinking?! What the buck made you go and do that?!”

“Dash, I–”

“Ah hate to say it Twi, but Dash’s right,” AJ pushed her hat higher, scowling at the stallion, “Ah don’t really get why you’d go through with that when somethin’ like this might happen.”

“Girls, I–”

“Twilight, deary, I must say that I expected better of you than this! I know you’ve had your moments where you’ve made mistakes, but this one is absolutely dreadful! Violating a pony’s privacy like that! Why, I can’t see what could ever have possessed you to do so!”

“Look, I had–”

“Yeah! Seriously Twi! What the buck were you thinking?!”

The stallion leapt to his hooves, eyes hard as he bellowed over his friends, “I thought he’d raped you!”

The mare’s all flinched back, eyes wide, horrified and shocked. Rarity gaped, her voice weak as she asked, “... w-what?”

Tears were gathering in the corners of the stallion’s eyes, “I thought he’d raped you, maybe all of you,” the two differently colored eyes jerked from one mare to another as he continued, his voice shakey, “I had no way of knowing that he hadn’t even touched a mare, but I–... girls, I thought everypony was as... succesful...” he spat the word out bitterly, “In their... seductions of him...”

Horror began to dawn on Rarity’s face as it processed, the others still too confused and shocked to connect the dots, “Darling... oh Celestia, darling, you hadn’t–...”

“No!” his eyes snapped wide, shaking his head viciously, “No! I hadn’t–... no... I wasn’t actually... I didn’t actually manage to trick him into mounting me... I just...” the alicorn slumped to the floor, his voice barely above a whisper, “I just got really close... and... and if Pinkie Pie hadn’t arrived when she did I... I would have succeeded... and I had no way of knowing that no one else had gotten that close! I thought–... I was terrified that every other mare had gotten that close with him and that Pinkie hadn’t been there for them...”

Confusion was replaced by horror on the faces of the other mare’s, though a certain amount of relief appeared on Rarity’s, thankful that she was wrong, the white mare carefully said, “Darling... maybe you should start from the beginning.”

“I–... yes... you’re right...” the stallion stood unsteadily, taking a moment to breathe, “Spike?” the equally horrified and dumbstruck hatchling nearly jumped at the sound of his name, “I–... could you go get us something to eat? I... I kind of want this conversation to be private...” the stallion looked away in shame, “I shouldn’t have said as much as I did in front of you already... so... please?”

“I...” the stallion’s eyes turned to him, and even though they were the wrong color, the young dragon could see his friend and caretaker in them, begging him to do as they’d asked, “Alright Twilight, I’ll go get something for everyone...”

“Thanks Spike...”

The six ponies lay in a circle, five of them focused on one with a cup of coffee in front of him, tea before all of the others. Taking a slow breath, the alicorn gathered his thoughts before raising his head from the cup in front of him to the mare’s around him, “None of us knew what it was like for Emeris... we had to guess what he was like... I... I had no idea, and what I saw and felt made me think that he was a horrible pony... but... I don’t think any of us really understood, so... I think we should talk about what... what we saw when Emeris was an alicorn and what we thought about him.”

Swallowing down his trepidation, the stallion continued, “I’ll... I’ll start... The... the magic around him made me try to seduce him... by any means possible,” his eyes fell back to the cup in front of him, “I... I had to watch as I put all my knowledge into coercing him into liking me... I used charms, spells, trickery, and even love potions... I... that last time I was able to try, I’d slipped him some powerful aphrodisiacs and love potions and tried to layer a spell on him to make him mount me...”

“I...” he swallowed again, before nodding at the pink pony nearby, “I would have succeeded if Pinkie hadn’t arrived... at... at the time I thought she’d scared him off,” shifting uncomfortably in place, the stallion admitted, his voice soft, “I... when we merged... I found out that she’d startled him out of the daze the drugs had put him in... he ran because he was horrified with what he was doing...”

“I... I didn’t realize nopony else had gotten as close as I had... I thought... I thought that everypony else had... I didn’t think that somepony could always interrupt him...” the stallion trailed off, cradeling the cup of coffee and staring into its depths.

“You thought he’d taken advantage of the magic and mated with everypony... oh darling...”

“I know better now! I... but I wish it hadn’t...” the stallion curled in on himself, his wings pressing tightly against his sides before he took a shuddering breath and let it out slowly, forcing himself to relax, “O-Okay... what about... what about the rest of you...? We’ve never been able to talk about Ga-... Emeris... so let’s do it now, clear up anything that we may be missing. I’ll...” the stallion swallowed, closing his eyes before forcing himself to continue, “I’ll speak for Emeris, since I’m... we’re... I have access to his memory.”

There were more than a few uncomfortable looks at the statement, the stallions mismatched eyes going from one mare to another, pleading with them to start, to not let Twilight be the only one to confess to a misunderstanding. Rarity was the one to speak up, “I-... I thought he was just an alicorn, a celebrity... that he occasionally ah... took advantage of his ‘popularity’ without realizing that the adoration was fake...” the fashionatta’s voice was soft, “I didn’t... I don’t believe that I was affected as badly by the curse that surrounded him as you were darling. But Fluttershy and I have learned a lot about what it was really like for him during our visits to the spa, isn’t that right darling?”

The yellow pegasus squeaked as the spotlight was swung to her, hiding behind her hair for a moment before softly speaking, “I-I-... yes... Emeris has told us how... how hard it was for him... he seemed... oh he seemed so scared when Rarity looked over him that one time,” the look in her eyes softened with concern, “He just... he looked so fragile... I can’t even imagine what it must have been like while he was an alicorn, to be so strong... but... I do know what it’s like to have all those eyes on you... the adoration you didn’t do anything to deserve... to be afraid... I know what that’s like.”

Her pink mane fell like a curtain over her face as she murmured, “But I... um... I didn’t really think too hard about what he was doing while he was an alicorn... I just knew that he was big and scary...”

Applejack and Pinkie both comforted the pegasus between them, gently stroking her sides with their hooves; the party mare was the next to speak up, “I knew Emmy-wemmy wasn’t a bad pony, but sometimes the meany-weany magics on him made me... made me do things he didn’t want me to do... it... I didn’t like it...”

This time it was Fluttershy nuzzling Pinkie Pie, comforting the younger mare as she sniffled slightly, “I didn’t like doing that... I like making ponies smile, not... not be scared...”

After a moment of comforting the pink mare with the others, Applejack spoke up, her voice soft, “Ah thought he was a bad pony as well... thought he might be takin’ advantage of what the magic did with other mare’s... didn’t think too hard about it though... ah just really didn’t like my mouth lyin’ for me like that. Felt like he was makin’ me lie and lie and lie...” she shifted uncomfortably, pulling her hat down lower, “Ah kinda snapped at him for it pretty bad first time we talked.”

There was a silence after that, a silence that dragged before the group, almost as one, turned to Rainbow Dash. The pegasus glanced among them for a moment, blinking, “... what? I knew he was on the level the whole time. I thought it was obvious that he didn’t like the attention,” a more than slightly smug look settled onto her face, “I never treated him badly.”

Together, Applejack and the stallion deadpanned, “Except for the time you beat him up.”

“Hey! I didn’t know if Emmy was the same as Gary or not!”

“So you bucked him in the face?” the farmpony questioned, eyebrow raised.

Dash nodded, “It was the only way to be sure.”

At this, the stallion raised his own eyebrow, “Sure about what?”

“That Emeris was awesome, duh,” the alicorn and farmmare groaned and facehoofed while Rarity rolled her eyes, Fluttershy’s smile was distinctly... polite, and even Pinkie shook her head a bit, “What? He was being confusing!”

“He does that a lot Sugarcube, but that ain’t no reason to buck him in the face.”

“Oh like you don’t want to sometimes.” Applejack, the stallion, and Pinkie Pie collectively coughed and looked away. “Hah! Knew it!”

Coughing, Applejack turned to the stallion, “It’s Twilight right? That’s who we’re talkin to?”

He nodded before shifting a bit uncomfortably, “Yes, I’m–... you’re talking to Twilight right now. I’m the only one of us awake at the moment...”

“Then... then what now Twi? Are...” she hesitated before cautiously continuing, “Are you two stuck together,” she swallowed, “Forever now...?”

“No! No,” Twilight stared down at ‘his’ coffee, whispering softly, “At-... at least I don’t think so... I... I don’t really know what happened... the spell should only have merged our minds not... not everything... and neither of us had wings... it makes no sense...”

“Can... can you reverse it darling?”

“Yes, I’m almost positive. I just need to do some research, there was a strange interaction between the spells... um...” Twilight shifted uncomfortably, wings shifting, “The spells I used to sneak into Emeris’ home and try to read his mind... they all interacted strangely... I just need to figure out exactly how... once I do that I can undo this and split us back apart.”

While Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were unabashedly concerned about their friends, Rarity was also exasperated with Twilight’s antics, but Applejack and Dash were torn between being concerned for and frustrated with their good friend.

Eventually, Rarity spoke up, “So... what now darling?”

Uncertainty, worries, fears all passed over the stallions face before he stood, “First... first I have to test this body out–” both Dash and Applejack’s eyes swept over the large stallion, all tight muscle, powerful flight muscles and mighty wings, they flushed, “Since it’s not Emeris’ or mine. I–” a slightly glazed look came over the stallions differently colored eyes, but it faded after a moment, leaving ‘Twilight’ blinking slightly, “Um... I know some basic exercises that can determine how my–... this body’s physical capabilities compare and contrast to Emeris’ as he was the more... physical... of the two of us.”

Dash couldn’t help herself, “Eeeegggggheeeaaaaad.”

Twilight scowled at the blue mare before continuing, “Once I’ve determined the limits and changes in this body, I’ll have a starting point from which to research the full effects that this botched spell has had on us and determine how best to undo it.”

The gathered friends glanced among themselves, but it was Applejack who spoke up first, “Ah think you should ask the Princess abou–”

“No!” the alicorn shot to his feet, eyes wide, “No! We can’t– No one tell the Princess!”

“Darling, I know–”

“No! You don’t understand, I– I’ve really messed up. Really bad... I– I betrayed her trust...” Twilight slumped, her wings and ears drooping, “I can fix this, I know I can. But... please, don’t tell the Princess. I don’t want– I don’t want her to know how badly I’ve messed up... please don’t tell anyone!”

“But... Sugarcube–”

“Please! I–” Twilight begged, ‘her’ voice falling to a mere whisper, “She might actually banish me for this one... please, don’t tell anyone...” tears began to gather in the corners of the alicorn’s eyes, “Please...”

The girls all glanced amongst one another and the alicorn stallion that their friend(s) had become. Bits of hair were sticking out at odd angles and his tail was twitching spastically. Cautiously, Applejack ventured, “Are ya sure about this sugarcube...? Cuz’ it–”

“YES!” Twilight trailed off, looking down, “… yes, I’m sure.”

Obviously unsure, the mares glanced amongst themselves once again, more silent communication passing between the close friends, one that Twilight herself, in her semi-panicked state, couldn’t properly understand. In collective, if uncertain, agreement, the mare’s nodded and Rarity hesitantly said, “Alright dear, we’ll trust you... just...”

“Split y’erselves apart soon? This is weirder than a flyin’ pig,” Applejack pushed her hat up some, rubbing her head, still somewhat overwhelmed by the thought that two of her friends were in that body.

Twilight sighed in relief, the tension melting out of ‘her’ body, “Thanks girls... this means a lot to me... and don’t worry, I fully intend to separate us post haste, this is... um... pretty awkward,” Twilight glanced back at the body’s flank, specifically at the cutie mark, an open book with her old cutie mark on one page and the lotus design that had been on the cover of Emeris’ book on the other.

“Yeah... I can, uh, imagine,” Rainbow Dash stared at the flank as well, though for decidedly different reasons.

Standing, Twilight took a slow breath, trying to calm herself, “Girls... thanks for hearing me out and for not telling anypony... I’m sorry about this, but I’m going to fix it as soon as I can,” ‘she’ paused for a moment, glancing back at the body’s wings before turning to Dash, “Could you help me test these out once I go through the other tests? I um.... don’t actually know how to fly...”

“... say what.”

“I don’t know how to fly... Emeris does but I can’t seem to... um... well... I can’t really use that knowledge while he’s out of it like he is, so... um... I kind of need a teacher so I can gather data properly...”

After a moment’s consideration, thinking about the mare that she’d be teaching, a certain feeling of dread washed over the pegasus, Dash facehoofed and groaned to herself, “Why do I have a feeling this is gonna be a long day...?”

“Oh Celestia oh Celestia oh Celestia oh Celestia oh Celestia oh Celestia–”

“Twilight! Calm down. Buck, seriously, I’m right here, I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise, just keep your wings spread. Come on, you’ve ridden in your hot air balloon before, you can do this.”

Dash sighed, riding the air currents beside her transformed friend. Twilight was flying in the alicorn body, if barely, it’d been far easier to take off than either of them had anticipated, the body had far more physical strength than Twilight was used to; the fact that she barely had conscious control over ‘her’ wings didn’t help.

“It’s different under your own power!” the unfortunate part was that Twilight was nearly panicky, her wing movements were jerky and she kept overcompensating.

“Come on Twi, you can do this,” she stayed nearby, but not too close, she didn’t want her wake to interfere with Twilight’s. It’d been a few hours since their talk in the library, and Twilight had put her... his... whatever Twilight qualified as right now’s body through its paces. Twilight had been determined to teleport out of Ponyville to avoid being seen and Dash had humored her, meeting her at the predetermined spot outside Sweet Apple Acres.

“Oh Celestia oh Celestia– I’m falling! Dash I’m falling!” Twilight wobbled in the air, making Dash roll her eyes, she was worse than Fluttershy!

“No, you’re not. Flap your wings! Up and down! It’s easy! And don’t worry! I’m right here Twi,” rolling her eyes, Dash glided near the alicorn. There was more wingpower in that body than even hers, sure it was bigger and denser so it had more to lift, but it should’ve been able to do so almost as easily as she could! “And tuck your legs! Stop flailing them like that! You’re making it harder on yourself!”

Twilight vainly tried to do just that, her legs twitched as she jerkily flapped her wings, unfortunately overdoing it and making her gain altitude quickly. Groaning, Dash face-hoofed at the frightened squeal of her friend before moving after her, “Calm down! Buck, seriously Twi, stop panicking! There’s no reason!”

“I’m a unicorn with wings, that has no idea how to use them, over three hundred feet from the ground! There’s a reason to panic!”

Rolling her eyes, Dash flew closer, “Look, just stay there and I’ll grab a cloud for you to stand on so you can calm down–”

The alicorn’s differently colored eyes widened in horror, his legs starting to flail again, wings pumping furiously, “I don’t know how to stop!”

Right, she’d forgotten to tell her that, “Okay, to–”

“I don’t know how to stop!” Twilight was panicking, full on panicking, that was not good.

“Twilight! Just listen to me! Just lock your wing–” focused on trying to calm her friend, Dash hadn’t noticed the air currents until the last moment. One of the alicorn’s large wings caught a powerful updraft, sending the still-climbing alicorn into an uncontrolled fall, “Twilight!” Dash dove after them.

The alicorn screamed, flailing uselessly in the air. Fear surged in Dash’s heart for the briefest of moments before she pushed harder, feeling the air push against her progress as she accelerated, could she get past those damn hooves? One good hit from someone stronger than Emeris...

Twilight’s scream stopped and Dash met her friend’s eyes for just an instant, something in them had changed. To Dash’s surprise, the alicorn tucked his wings with practiced ease, using his legs as counter-weights to roll mid-air into a dive of his own, wings flaring out and angling to catch the wind to bring the alicorn swooping up in a textbook climb. With only a few powerful flaps of his wings, the alicorn was in flight once more rather than a terrifying, fumbling fall.

A grin spread across Dash’s face as she pulled out of her own dive, following after her friend, “Woo! Go Twi!I knew you could do it!” the pegasus flew beside her... rather suddenly competent friend. She blinked in confusion at the very sudden change, there was more to the sudden change than Twilight finally calming down, the look of pained confusion, irritation, and a mess of other indecipherable emotions on the stallion’s face made it even more confusing, “Twi?”

“Just– I–” the stallion cringed, “We– …” the stallion made a face, “One moment Dash.”

Now definitely confused, Dash followed the alicorn until he landed on a cloud, landing beside him and giving him a concerned look. She had the vaguest inkling of what might of happened, but... “You there big guy?”

“Yes I’m– we’re– urgh...” the stallion covered his face with a hoof, breathing slowly for several long moments before pulling the hoof away and taking a deep breath before opening his eyes, “The danger jumpstarted Emeris’ mind, he’s awake right now. Both of us are... awake. And we’re having trouble...” another look of confused concentration before continuing, “We’re having trouble... parsing... figuring out who’s in control.”

“That’s great–” Dash was cut off by a hoof, the stallion scowling at the cloud beneath them, both eyes alternately twitching, “Yeah...?”

“I’d– we’d– … Dash... could you give us some time to work this out? We need to come to an agreement. Emeris knows how to fly, so don’t worry about us getting down,” the stallion lowered his hoof, still glaring at the cloud, “This... this might take a while. We need to come to an agreement and the less... talking we have to do, the easier it will be.”

Dash was quiet for a long moment before she softly asked, “You want me to leave...?”

The stallion flinched slightly, a softer look coming over his face, “We’re sorry, but for now, we’d best be alone.”

“Oh.... okay...” Dash shifted uncomfortably, “Um... so, yeah... see you um, guys later? Good luck figuring this stuff out and everything, I guess...” her wings spread as she readied for takeoff.

“Dash,” the stallion’s voice was different, deeper, softer, “Thank you, you’ve helped, don’t doubt that. And once this is settled, once Twilight and I are separate again, we’ll hang out, I promise.”

She hesitated, she wanted to believe him, she really did, but a part of her was certain that he hadn’t just dismissed her presence. Still she smiled, keeping the hurt and rejection from her face, “No prob big guy, see you then.”

’That... could’ve gone better...’ came Emeris’ thoughts as they watched the blue pegasus fly off. Twilight didn’t respond with a coherent thought, but the emotional pang was more than enough. It hurt to have to send Dash away like that, and it was obvious that doing so had hurt her, but talking was hard. Parsing between their different thoughts, diction, word choice and intended direction for the conversation made their speech halting and confusing at absolute best, and an unintelligible mess at worst.

They needed to figure this out, and the fewer ponies/people around, the better.

They settled down on the cloud, conflicting habits making their body twitch uncomfortably, ’Okay, first things first, division of duties. The body, who’s doing what?

’You’re obviously the more physical of the two of us, and this body seems to be more yours than mine. That and you’re the one that knows how to fly–’

‘–and since you’re the more skilled of us at magic, it makes more sense for you to control our magic. Agreed, that’s about what I was thinking–’

‘–that could be a problem though, the thinking, we need to divide our thoughts, we’re already having bleed-through–’

‘–of thoughts and personality, agreed. First priority is separation of thought. One moment, I have an idea–’

’–I think that could work, but I don’t know if I can define my boundaries as well as you can, and it’s drawing from my knowledge of mental magics to work in the first place. What if we–’

‘–isolated sections of knowledge and skill for both of us to have free access to and then defined boundaries from that core, yes, that would likely work. You should–’

‘–probably do the initial work and then define in opposition to you due to your greater definition of ‘self’, agreed.’

The stallion took a slow, deep breath, eyes closing as the two minds in it focused inward. Emeris noted idly that mental magic on oneself felt strange, but slowly, the definition of mental boundaries appeared, thoughts bled slightly less between them, and after an indeterminable amount of time, the two of them were at least distinct within their mind. Thoughts, flashes of ‘This will only work for a while’, ‘This is a temporary fix’, ‘The division is artificial, one or the other could take control of the body or magic’ and ‘the cake is a lie’ (though that one rather confused Twilight, it also gave her the strange urge to chuckle) went through their mind. The knowledge was far less from anything that resembled communication and more from the conjoined nature of their minds.

It was all giving them a headache.

The stallion rubbed his forehead, pausing before correcting the action to a more efficient pain-relieving position.

When thoughts did not immediately bleed from one to another, a thought transferred between the two, ’Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3, testing, testing, 1, 2, 3?’ The thoughts seemed ‘deeper’ in tone and softer, but at the same time more solid.

’Funny. Our head isn’t a mic or sound system.’ The thought was amused, but exasperated, faster and lighter than the other.

’There’s a better way to check?’ Emeris thought sarcastically at his ‘head-mate’.

’Oh hush, at least we can tell who’s thinking what now.’

’---’ came Emeris’ noncommittal thought, a blend of emotions, acknowledgement and frustration, Twilight’s mind interpreted it as a grunt.

The stallion lay his head down on the cloud, wings tucking against his sides. A flash of irritation escaped Emeris before it was stifled and his thoughts began, ’Alright. I understand the why, and I’m still not happy with what you did. But we’re in this situation now and we need to get out of it.

Guilt and apologies without words surged through the link, ’You’re right, I’m still sorry. I didn’t–’

’I know, I understand. It’s frustrating and a part of me is unbelievably angry that you turned us into a damn alicorn,’ the word was tinged with anger and fear and horror, ’But I intellectually understand exactly why you did it. I don’t blame you and you’re only at fault for an error in judgement–’ flashes of Twilight rushing through the spells she had, an instant of ‘why didn’t you/I just ask?’ ’– but I would’ve done similar in your position. Let’s put that in the past though and–’

‘–focus on getting ourselves separated again. I concur,’ Relief washed through them, and the body nodded in resolution, picking up his head.

’Yes, we need to focus–’ a barrier against the fear, the horror, the terror, a shield and direction to avoid the pitfalls of madness ’–as it will certainly help us stay separate long enough to get out of this.

’You’re right. We need to work out how best to do this. Step by step. I already have a list–’ flashes of thought, organization, numbered and prioritized, ’–which we can work off of.’

The checklist was shared between them, Emeris processing the sudden knowledge for a moment, ’Where’s ‘ask the Princess’ on the list?’

’What?! Panic, fear, and shame flooded through their conjoined minds, the link broadening for the briefest of moments. Questions were posed and answered in flashes too small to be considered coherent thought. Questions of why, the problem, the issue, answers of fear, regret, disappointment, love and potential banishment.

Their link settled, their minds pulling apart once more.

’Oh. Okay. I still think we should ask them.’

’What?! Didn’t you–?’ this time the link was broadened intentionally, flashes of thought and logic and argument passing between them, boiling down to two, emotionally packed and intricate statements:

‘She could banish us!’

‘She loves you.’

The link closed once again as the two minds practically ground against one another for a long moment before a compromise was suggested, ‘We work for a week before we send them a letter asking for their help.’

’Two.’

’One week. I’m terrified that the curse will return.’

There were flashes of terror, barely contained behind purpose and direction and focus, horrors unleashed which only something as strong as a Princess could handle, something they were not.

Shaken by the surge of fear and memory before Emeris clamped down on it, Twilight’s thoughts were weak, ’... alright, one week.’

’... thank you. Unsteadily, the stallion stood, flexing his wings, taking a moment to truly adjust to the slightly different appendages, ’Alright... after that, what was the next task again?’

’Determining the limits of this body. I’ve already gone through magic and the more... ground bound physical tests.’ There was a shudder of fear at her out of control flight.

Warmth, comfort, and sympathy radiated from Emeris across their link, flashes of memory of daring flights, soaring through the skies, the feel of the wind against one’s skin and through one’s feathers, flying high enough that the powerful mana currents of the solar wind played against one’s coat and through one’s mane, comforts and delightful memories to try and soothe her fears.

The body flushed slightly as a strange mess of emotions went through it, being both the comforter and the comforted, their face scrunched up at the sudden conflicting mess that was their head, “Ow...”

’Alright, so we go through the tests, record the data and–’

‘–try to derive some theories from that, yes. They paused, trying to parse the sudden confusion of thoughts.

’Immediately after that, we need to figure out a long-term solution to keeping our minds separate A.S.A.P.’

Author's Notes:

So, new site layout. Cool beans. Gonna take some adjusting to having one dedicated place for Author’s Notes, but eh. Also, if you didn’t see some of the text in Purple and Green, please tell me so (as it was probably a rather confusing chapter otherwise) just so I know how many of my readers are affected by that.

Fun thing I was made aware of as of the site-upgrade: A recommendation on TVTropes in the FanficRecs for MLP:FiM for this story. So stupidly happy about that for some reason...

Not completely happy with this chapter, but it does it’s job and does it nicely. Both Twilight and Emeris are intended to seem slightly OOC in this, Twilight in comparison to canon and not how she’s been in this story so far (as that was based off of a flawed understanding), and Emeris in comparison to what else we’ve seen of him.

Again, immense lurvles for Aburi and Anhero for pre-reading/editing the story, they help make this story a lot better than it would’ve been otherwise

Anyways, Autobots, Roll Out!