Something isn’t right.

“I have to admit this is kinda weird,” Twilight Sparkle said, readjusting herself on the picnic mat for the umptenth time, offering an awkward smile at… well, herself. It had been several hours already since she’d met her counterpart, but she felt she’d never get used to it. “But it is fascinating, though! Why do you think you need glasses and I don’t?”

Twilight, the human one, laughed timidly, adjusting said glasses. “I don’t know? Maybe it has to do with our… er… natural forms, and as a…” She drifted off, a blush decorating her cheeks. “Magical pony, your own magic corrected your eyesight?”

Twilight frowned. “Hmmm… Maybe. I might have to go back to the castle and do some research on it. I don’t believe Princess Celestia has any books on the matter, but I think it’s worth investigating.”

“You know, Twilight,” Rarity began, “Er, Princess Twilight. You’ve never told us what your castle is like! And honestly, it’s rather rude of you not to invite us!” She giggled and took a sip of her tea. “I certainly wouldn’t mind having a sleepover in one.”

Twilight shook her head. “As much as I’d love for you to come, Princess Celestia had warned me once about the dangers of there being, well, two of us in a single universe. Just because… Twilight and I can co-exist without the space continuum fragmenting doesn’t mean we should take risks.”

“But why nooooot?” Pinkie Pie asked, having spent a large portion of the picnic staring at her hands. “It’ll be super fun, Twilight! I’m sure they’ll love Equestria!”

Twilight was adamant. “I’m sorry, Pinkie, but I just really don’t want to…” She drifted off, only belatedly noticing Pinkie’s wording. They’ll love Equestria? Doesn’t she mean ‘we’? “Er… anyway… I’m sorry, Pinkie, I’m sure you guys would love Equestria, but I can’t risk it.”

“Pffft, what a party pooper, Twi,” Dash said, elbowing SciTwi and adding with a grin, “Bet this Twilight would let us visit her castle, right?”

SciTwi smiled, pushing back her glasses. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to risk a collapse in the space continuum.”

Dash groaned. “Aw, you’re both spoilsports!”

Before Twilight could reply, Pinkie Pie did.

Pinkie waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Aw, Dashie’s right, Twilights! Space continuum collapses aren’t thaaaat bad! I’ve only ever seen one, and Twilight was able to stop it just fine.” Her expression suddenly turned quite serious. “Not the goop, though. There was. so. much. goop. It tasted pretty good, actually! Kinda like cake.”

Pinkie’s remark was met with awkward laughs and ‘oh, Pinkie’s all around, as most of her wild comments were. Except, this time, not everyone was laughing.

Twilight Sparkle remembered the goop incident.

She remembered it crystal clear, even though she had tried so very, very, very hard to forget it. It had just been one experiment. One silly, silly attempt at studying the fabric of space with the help of an admittedly potentially catastrophic machine. Boy, Princess Celestia had really been mad at that.

But it would have turned out fine! It would have turned out just fine if only Pinkie hadn’t wondered if space continuum holes were hungry and… Twilight had tried to stop the cake, really! She’d tried, and she’d nearly gotten it but then it hit the machine and…

The goop. Everywhere. She didn’t know spacial holes even had goop to begin with. By the time she’d closed the machine, the blue icky substance had covered all of the inside and outside of the castle. Months had already passed since the event, but Twilight could swear she could sometimes still feel it in her coat.

And, because she remembered this event, she also came to a very grim realization.

Oh, for Celestia’s sake. She didn’t.

Without a word, Twilight stood up, garnering the attention of her peers.

“Twi? What’s wrong?” Sunset asked, putting down her glass.

“I… I need to go do something really quick,” she said, calm, collected, and in that very same calm and collected way, definitely not glaring at anypony, added, “Pinkie, could you come help me, please?”

Pinkie grabbed her plate of cake. “But my caaaak—”

“Please.”

“Fine…”

Though most students had already left the premises, there were some still wandering the empty hallways of Canterlot High, and if any of those students were to curiously wander into one of the east hallways on the second floor and peek inside the fourth room on the left, they’d find quite the peculiar scene.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, PINKIE?!”

Over and over, Twilight walked around in brisk circles, words shooting out of her mouth faster than Rainbow Dash could fly. She honestly couldn’t believe Pinkie had done that! All the careful calculations, all the locking the mirror in a special room, all the precautions thrown out the window because…

“I just wanted to have fun…” Pinkie replied, hands folded on her lap and hair deflated.

She just wanted to have fun?!

“Pinkie! This isn’t fun, this is serious!” Twilight exclaimed helplessly, coming to a halt and facing her friend. “Didn’t you hear what happened not even a few days ago in this universe?! This isn’t a safe place to be without telling somepony!” She sighed, a very long sigh, and asked, “How long have… When did you switch over?”

Pinkie’s cheeks turned bright pink… pinker. “Since Tuesday…”

“SINCE TUESDAY?!” Twilight gasped. “But that’s when Sunset Shimmer told me that the other me… Pinkie! You can’t just— What if you had gotten hurt?! We don’t know what the magic would have done on Equestrian ponies! What if you being here distorted something, and now—”

“But nothing happened, Twiliiight,” Pinkie whined piteously before waving her hand dismissively. “Why are you always so worried?! Don’t you see how fun this universe is?!” She hopped down from the chair and landed on her legs, stretching out afterwards. “Look! Look at how tall I am! And look at my hooves!” She rushed over to Twilight, and gave her a very good look at her hands by pressing them against Twilight’s face. “They’re so SOFT and PINK and HAIRLESS. Isn’t it super exciting?! And besides, I didn’t want you to be lonely without us…”

Twilight sighed, carefully detangling Pinkie’s hands from her face and intertwining them with hers, trying not to smile too much at Pinkie holding her hands so tightly. “Pinkie.”

Pinkie frowned in a very serious fashion. “Twilight.”

“Promise me you’ll never do this again without telling me, okay?”

“Pinkie promise!”

“Do it again! Do it again!”

Rarity always loved Pinkie Pie’s company.

Days with the pink mare were always enjoyable, if a bit odd. And, as it turned out, sometimes they were especially odd. When the mare had barged into Carousel Boutique, screeching how similar it looked to… the one back home? Rarity had just brushed it off as a ‘Pinkie’ thing to say, but frankly she was starting to worry.

Sitting at her table, the pink mare staring at her with wide eyes, Rarity awkwardly coughed and, for the tenth time, levitated a glass of water into the air.

“Oh. My. GOSH!” Pinkie gasped, her eyes glued to glass. “Now put it back down…” she said in a theatrical whisper, suddenly screeching when Rarity did as told. “THAT IS SO COOL!”

Rarity smiled good-naturedly, quickly levitating the glass far, far away before Pinkie asked again. “I, er, suppose it is, darling.”

“Now do me!” Pinkie exclaimed, jumping up and down in spot like a filly in a candy store. “Pleasepleasepleasepleaaaaaaaaase!”

Rarity blinked. “Pardon…?”

“Levitate me, silly!” Pinkie exclaimed, throwing herself on the table, her eyes going wide and her lip jutting out. “Please?”

Rarity bit down on her lip. “But, Pinkie, I—”

“PLEASEEEEEEE!”

“Oh, alright, fine!” Rarity finally relented, reluctantly lighting her horn up and levitating her squeeing friend into the air.

“Eek! I’m flying! If only the girls could see this!” Pinkie exclaimed with boundless enthusiasm, moving her forelegs as if she were swimming. “Oh my gosh, and—” She wiggled around until she was looking down at Rarity. “And you look and act SO MUCH like Rarity! I can’t believe it!”

Rarity smiled. “Well, I should hope so considering I am Rarity, darling.”

Pinkie let out a delighted giggle, now floating upside down. “Pony Rarity, I just had THE BEST idea! Wanna hear?”

“I… I’m not honestly sure…”

Without caring for Rarity’s reply, Pinkie Pie rubbed her hooves together — taking a brief moment to excitedly point out she had hooves — before whispering, “I’m going to take you to my universe!”

“Please no.”