Twilight: Puppet or Pony

Twilight: Puppet or Pony
A tribute to: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic
Healing Pony POV Series by alexwarlorn

In darkness, a voice called.

(So the outside is done. And it is a perfect match. Now it is time to add knowledge about Chaos.)

There was so much Chaos. Who are you?

(Me? I am Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Dis… just call me Discord. I never tried this one before. The next step is to add what I know about Twilight, well most of it.)

Twilight?

(Get ready; now it will be your time to shine.)

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I was standing on grass before a giant blackboard. I knew that my student would arrive within seconds. I was happy to teach her something about Chaos.

There she was: A Draconequus/Pegasus hybrid, one of her kind, Fluttercruel.

I walked forward with a smile. She looked like she wants to say something. I waited for her question.

Instead she asked Discord.

"What is the difference between me and her?"

The difference? That was easy, she was the daughter of Discord, while I…

Who am I?

I remembered reading books, making schedules, learning as much as possible and some ponies that meant a lot to me: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity. But something seemed to miss. I looked at Fluttercruel.

Now she watched me with such a strange expression and her eyes have turned grey. What did she see? Then she looked at herself like she just saw herself for the very first time.

"This flow… was that Chaos?"

Yes, Chaos, what I wanted to talk about. Why did she take so long to be ready to listen to my lecture?

"Oh, I think we should leave the long-winded explanation to the world champion of exposition."

Finally it was my turn. Discord looked very interested while Fluttercruel just chuckled. It was her first lesson, so she didn't know better. It was time to share what I know about Chaos. I could feel a nearly endless flow of information about it.

"May I have your attention class? Today we learn about Chaos. It is usually known as the force between Light and Darkness but what does this actually mean? Neutrality? No, instead most scholars like to describe it as change or conflict. The bigger the differences between two forces the more Chaos can be found between them. This ranges from physical opposites like fire and water to the emotional spectrum like calmness and agitation."

But mere talk was cheap; I would show her what I mean. I created two transparent illusions of Celestia and Luna and showed the very power that they embody.

"Here we have the incarnation of Light – Princess Celestia - and in the other corner the personification of Darkness – Princess Luna. Both represent two forces different than each other in nearly every way. Both are two cornerstones of reality. And both govern their element and control it but there will always be frictions between these powers and this energy is known as Chaos."

I let the two powers clash and at this point they became grey and an image of Discord appeared.

I guess that was enough for the first lesson. More would follow later.

I bowed politely before my student and teleported to another part of the world.

Very little was here, just grass, floating rivers and big bubbles.

I stared blankly around the world.

I felt strange, like I was without directions.

What did a teacher do when she is not teaching?

Who am I?

I was Fluttercruel's teacher and I remember many names. My own name must be somewhere in that collection. I remembered. I am Twilight Sparkle.

I heard noises.

I walked towards the source and saw a volleyball field with many ponies standing around it. I recognised them, especially Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. They were all cheering for a game between Discord and Fluttercruel.

Then the young chimera won. I was surprised. I saw Pinkie Pie hopping happily towards the field. I remembered how often she was happy.  

Suddenly the ball exploded before her and left her injured. She looked so hurt and sad. Why did this hurt? I was not injured but it was painful to watch. It didn't make any sense. Why? Why? Why?

I didn't want her to be hurt. I wanted her to smile. What could I do? There was no direction.

I felt the need to do something for her.

I teleported next to Pinkie Pie and put my hoof gently on her shoulder. She shuddered at first but eventually the pink pony seemed to calm down. Thankfully she stopped to cry. I felt just so relieved. How could Fluttercruel hurt her like this? But as I saw the young chimera, she seemed hurt as well. Even Discord seemed to be sad about this.

I thought it would be the best to gain some distance for now, so I teleported the pink pony and myself to another part of this world.

Pinkie Pie looked at me like a lost puppy, now I almost had to chuckle.

"Twilight?"

"Yes, Pinkie Pie?"

"Thank you, that was really nice."

"What are friends for?"

Finally she smiled again. This was well worth the effort. Suddenly somepony crashed into me.

"Ups, sorry."

As I looked around in disorientation, I could see a blue Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane hovering above me.

"Rainbow Dash!"

"The one and only!" did the self-assure Pegasus reply.

I hadn't expected anything else from her. Now I just wondered where Rarity and Applejack could be.

Despite the moon shining above me it was getting darker around here. That wouldn't make the search easier.

I illuminated the place around me with my horn and we three started to search for the missing two ponies. We could see Discord floating further away carrying his daughter and creating a giant flying house and two mountains.

After the Draconequus was gone, Pinkie Pie was immediately at the controls of one of the mountains and set it to create popcorn. Soon a lot of the stuff rained down from above and the pink pony and Rainbow Dash both kept eating it before it could fall to the ground.

It looked like they have a lot of fun.

I wished I could get some of it as well but there was hardly anything left that reached the ground. Suddenly Rainbow Dash started to catch the popcorn on her wings and hovered down to me.

"How about you try some as well?"

"Thank you, Dash."

Suddenly I felt a powerful surge of Chaos on this world. Discord was creating something special, I could feel it.

Rainbow and Pinkie reacted like they felt it was well. We were one with Chaos.

But I could also see that both were really exhausted. I could understand that, I also felt sleepy. We would continue our search tomorrow.

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I could see the distorted image of six ponies from behind. I think there were Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity. I didn't recognise the yellow pegasus. But she reminded me at Fluttercruel. Maybe she was a relative?

Then there was another purple unicorn. She looked so familiar. Was she me?

There was a dark Alicorn standing before them. Her name was… Nightmare Moon.

As energy glowed around them, the image moved back further. It was like whoever saw this instinctively took a step back when this happened.

What kind of energy was that? It just seemed so familiar.

The Nightmare hesitated for one moment and as the energy became stronger, the watcher fled the room. The last thing I could see was a rainbow.

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The sunlight awoke me and Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were still next to me. And they were snoring so loud that I wondered if they did wake me up with it. Seriously, how can they even continue sleeping with this noise?

Several rings floated above us and I could see Fluttercruel racing through them. I thought that might interest Rainbow as well.

"Rainbow. Rainbow! RAINBOW DASH!"

Somehow she was still snoring. She should have gotten a bed as her cutie mark. This called for a different tactic.

"The Wonderbolts are terrible flyers."

Now she finally was awake and flew up into the air.

"AH! Who said that?"

"Sorry but that seemed to be the only way to get you awake before it is night again."

Then Dash noticed Fluttercruel flying above them.

"Now just look at her smug face, so satisfied with herself. She will never learn to move her lazy flank faster if she keeps this up."

"Sounds strangely familiar, Dashie." Pinkie Pie adds with an arch smile.

"Hah. Just wait. I will show everypony that I am Chaos's fastest flyer!"

After Discord's first flying lesson was over I approached the Draconequus. I had searched everywhere on this world and by now I was worried where Rarity and Applejack could be. I saw many other ponies but there was no trace of the two.

"May I talk to you?"

"Hm? What? How? I didn't… What do you want to talk about?"

"We have been searching all this time for Applejack and Rarity but we couldn't find them. Do you know where they are?"

"Now this is new. But just give me a second."

I could feel Discord using more Chaos and as I turned around I saw the white unicorn and the farmer standing behind me.

"Girls! I was so worried."

Instantly I hugged them and they seemed a bit startled. But it felt just so right.

"Twilight? Your mane looks messy. Give me a moment to fix that."

"Ya ruin the moment."

Eventually the group hug ended and I noticed Discord floating near to us with a strangely serious expression.

"Thank you for bringing them here."

The eyes of the Draconequus were grey for a moment before they return to normal.

"You… You are welcome."

The next days seemed to fly past so fast. Rainbow Dash began to develop a rivalry with Fluttercruel and raced her whenever possible. I knew that she baited the young chimera into most of these races and that did work.

It was weird. While she was hard to wake up once she fell asleep, I actually remembered Dash being much lazier before. But maybe Rainbow just became more reliable after Fluttercruel kept dumping buckets of water on her when she overslept. However when the young chimera missed a lesson or a race because she slept longer, Dash was there to return the favor. Both took it very well and started to chase each other immediately.

Thanks to the experience Fluttercruel got much faster over time.

After the young incarnation of Chaos complained that all meals, she didn't know the flavours of, tasted like nothing Applejack began to cook dishes for her.

"Ah show ya how it is done and then ya could give out a round of chocolate milk for everypony."

So the farmer started to make meals for her. Surely Discord provided the ingredients for them.

Since she had enough free time and the chaotic plants could take care of themselves, she began to experiment more with her cooking. With all the ingredients and cooking utensils she could ever wish for, there was almost nothing she couldn't create. Some things were pretty normal like her pancakes but other dishes were so outlandish that they immediately got Discord's attention.

One looked like a giant cake but was entirely made out of fruits, vegetables, crops and fruit custard. Fluttercruel eyed it carefully.

"This does look way too healthy…"

"Trust mah Flutter. That's good eatin'!"

Suddenly Discord teleported himself right next to the culinary creation and looked really hungry.

"I think it is my turn to sacrifice myself and be the food tester."

After his painfully fake acting the incarnation of Chaos summoned a sword and cut off a small piece of cake.

Cheerfully he ate it within seconds, before flying a small circle in the air. For a second Discord looked almost envious.

"That is amazing. You really got me Applejack. Twenty-two stars out of ten! You should have been a cook instead of a farmer."

Carefully Fluttercruel summoned a knife and got a piece of this cake for herself. She knew how strange her father's taste could be.

But soon she smiled as well.

"Wow! This is… I mean… it is not too bad."

Saying something nice is still very hard to the young chimera. I guess that in a few months there wouldn't be any flavour left that Fluttercruel wouldn't know.

"Applejack, how did you come up with this?" Discord asked the cowpony, he looked a little...confused.

"Just somethin' I thought up."

"I see...Well, it was excellent," Discord said smiling almost proudly at the pony.

One day I saw Rarity talking with the Draconequus. He was holding a long list in his eagle claw.

"Mister Discord, I need these materials and a sewing machine. Inspiration has struck and I need to create something for Lady Fluttershy. I know it will look wonderful on her."

"Sounds good, here you get everything you need."

With one snap of his eagle claw all things Rarity wished for appeared before her. Her beaming smile was wonderful and within seconds she started to sew a dress for the young chimera.

Later at the same day I saw Fluttercruel approaching Pinkie Pie and looking strangely nervous. I reacted naturally and hid in the bushes nearby and pulled out a spyglass to see where this was going.

She better not hurt the pink pony.

The young chimera didn't do anything like this. I noticed the cotton candy cloud on a dog leash she was carrying with her. Was it a present for Pinkie Pie?

They talked silently and it was weird to see the normally so smug and exited incarnation of Chaos so calm. Eventually the pink pony hugged her and both enjoyed some chocolate milk together. I had to smile.

Over the next few days we all started to play chess with her. I think she really enjoyed it. Rarity and I were pretty good and sometimes we won, sometimes the young chimera was victorious. But despite me trying my best to train Applejack and Rainbow Dash both weren't that good with this game. Maybe they just needed more experience?

Pinkie Pie however was completely unbeatable; nopony ever won a game against her. I think she was using her Pinkie Pie Sense to win. This ability made perfect sense to me.

Then Rarity's first dress was finally ready. On this small world it was hard to miss any event that happened. The white unicorn hid the surprise within a big present box.

"Lady Fluttercruel, I have something special for you."

"Is it the biggest hamburger ever created?"

"No, this is much better. Behold this masterpiece!"

The box was opened with Rarity's telekinesis and a mismatched jester-like outfit with vibrant colors and strange patterns such as polka dots and stripes emerged from it.

Fluttercruel's mouth hit the ground.

"What do you think, Lady Fluttercruel?"

"I…"

Suddenly Rarity looked very worried.

"You don't like it? I can make a new one if…"

"NO! Don't dare to change anything. I love it!"

The young chimera practically dove into the dress and in one spinning motion she slipped inside.

"Fits like a glove. And you made this just for me?"

"It is a special present."

"Well, it is not that a great outfit for races but when I will wear this the next time when I will obliterate you in a game of chess."

"Just try it. I will not go down without a fight."

"I won't have it any other way."

More and more life appeared over time on this world: Poison Joke, singing piranha plants, bees, bears with wings, juggling octopi and timber wolves. Discord created houses for us to live in. Pinkie Pie obviously chose the house made out of chocolate.

Applejack started to take care of the chaotic plants and Rainbow made sure that the cotton candy and sour candy clouds changed places often enough.

Rainbow made a bet that it would take the hungry pink pony less than one month to be homeless again. I think that was her way of warning Pinkie from eating her own house. The weather patrol pony herself took a floating house.

Rarity lived in an upside-down house and claimed that it gave her more inspiration for dresses. Applejack chose a house made out of cards and put her cooking equipment inside. She said it didn't matter much to her in what kind of house she lived as long as it was close to ours.

I chose the really strange house that was bound to the ground, seemed to be made out of wood and had no chaotic extras to be close to my friends.

In the next day Discord and Fluttercruel created their own house to be placed in the very center of this world. Pinkie Pie said that Picasso would be proud. I just wondered who this Picasso pony was supposed to be.

The next few days were mostly calm. Sometimes I had to stop Pinkie Pie from trying to drink the entire chocolate milk pool. I don't think she was serious about it. Once Fluttercruel had to chase Rainbow Dash over half of this world to get the pancakes Applejack had made for her back. Overall Pinkie Pie and Fluttercruel got along very well. Sometimes it was like watching two sisters but it was hard to tell who had the role of the older sister.

Pinkie Pie once walked up to me and seemed strangely serious.

"Twilight, I would like to know something."

"Sure what is it?"

"How do you take care of somepony who is hurt? I was hurt once and it felt really good when you were there for me. I… I wish I could return the favour for others but I don't know how."

"Well that is not easy. I read once in a book that if you can see that somepony is suffering, you need to stay strong for this pony. You need to be the one who appears confident and reliable, even if you are also hurting inside. You don't need to hide your pain forever but in this critical moment you can give somepony else strength with it."

Afterwards I explained a few first aid techniques to her. She really took this lesson to heart. I felt like the best teacher on this world afterwards.

Somehow I remember Pinkie Pie being different, more carefree. And I faintly recalled her living with two adult earth ponies. But I never saw any pony resembling them on this world. Was there an error in my memories?

But we all tried to stay further away from Fluttercruel when she practised her Chaos. It exploded much too often to be safe. I didn't want anypony to get hurt. Despite that she was a good student and learned everything I taught her about Chaos in a very fast rate. Sometimes one of my friends sat next to her and listened to my lessons. I think they found them boring but did it to spend some time with me and Fluttercruel.

I began to work on a few spells based on Chaos and some other spells I knew. It was impressive how many spells I could remember. Somehow it felt like I had spent a lifetime learning them.

There was a shield spell I faintly remember casting while Discord sat on a throne before me and I was floating next to a few other ponies. It was strange. There was no throne here. But regardless I began to create a chaotic counterpart of that spell. It felt good to take the individual components apart and create something new by using Chaos instead of mana. This new spell shaped concentrated Chaos into a powerful barrier. I had to admit that I was very proud on the result. I would teach Fluttercruel that one later.

One day Discord appeared behind me and said that Fluttercruel needed a lesson in chaotic transformation. That was actually much further back on the curriculum I had created but I thought she was ready for that. I rushed over to Applejack to ask her if she would want to help me with the lesson. The cowpony agreed almost instantly.

Again I remember her being much more stubborn. I am not sure why my some of my memories seem to contradict what I see and experience here. For now I need to concentrate on the lecture.

Soon both Pinkie Pie and Fluttercruel sat before me, ready to listen to another lesson about Chaos.

"Attention students. Today we learn about the magic of transformation. For an average unicorn this is vey difficult and requires a huge amount of magic but for a being of Chaos the ability to change forms is almost second nature. It works very similar to how you shape Chaos into objects and magic. But in this case you work with the outer layer of Chaos surrounding yourself and shape it into a different form. Just try it."

The young chimera seemed unsure but concentrated and her mane began to change. I would recognise that ballooned pink hairstyle everywhere. As Fluttercruel opened her eyes she noticed the mirror I had summoned next to me.

Her reaction was priceless. She really seemed to enjoy it and Pinkie Pie also had her fun. Then the incarnation of Chaos became a copy of Rainbow Dash. I guess the pegasus would not like it to see another version of herself running around.

"As you see as long as you understand the basics of Chaos, shapeshifting is quite easy. But unlike the disguises used by skilled unicorns or changelings, a being of Chaos can shift the entire body in nearly every way imaginable, creating tools, joke articles and weapons whenever they are needed. Try to immobilise this target."

And right on clue Applejack appeared next to me. I didn't even need to call for her. It was like we were all connected over Chaos.

"Ah don't like where this is going…"

I just knew that Fluttercruel would not hurt her and she didn't disappoint me. I noticed the hair growing out of her tail and sneaking up on the farmer. AJ didn't see it coming and soon she was trapped by the young chimera when the hair turned into a rope and lifted her from the ground.

But after a few seconds she was carefully placed back to where she had stood before. I hadn't expected anything else. Both Applejack and Pinkie Pie went back to the plants afterwards. I think the pink pony just wanted to sing along with some of the piranha plants.

Discord and Fluttercruel raced towards their house and I teleported myself there for the photo finish. I guess technically that would make me the one of won the race. Soon both almost crashed into their home/house/construct/whatever and wanted to know who won.

"Let's see… and the winner is… dramatic pause… for the first time ever Discord actually won a race."

It was not easy to say that with a straight face. He really seemed to enjoy his first win. Discord created a small golden trophy with the inscription "Fastest chaotic personification of Chaos since breakfast" and prepared to give a speech. This might take some time.

"I want to thank Fluttercruel, for being the first being since the dawn of existence that managed to actually teach me something."

Now that was a nice change of pace. I have to admit that I was speechless that he didn't take this chance to talk about himself. Fluttercruel had a similar reaction.

Some of my memories of Discord showed him acting very different: arrogant and dismissive. I am not sure what to think about that. He had always treated us with respect and could be so nice from time to time. Why would someone like him act so mean-spirited?

Soon it was almost Nightmare Night and Discord had created costumes for everypony. Only Rarity absolutely insisted to make her own costume and said she wanted to try something really eccentric. Considering what her usual designs looked like, I had no idea what to expect.

It was the night before Nightmare Night when I took the time and looked up to the stars above me. There was Ursa Minor, the thin dragon, the great water bucket, the wet Draconequus and me. Me? Why was there a constellation of me in the sky?

The strange dream I had once came to my mind. I remembered the other version of me. Something didn't add up.

I remembered reading books in a library that didn't exist on this world.

I had noticed that all of us, besides Discord and Fluttercruel, could talk telepathically. Why did I only notice that now?

Many of my memories showed me and my friends from the outside, instead of my own perspective.

I knew so much about Chaos I never remembered learning or reading about.

Why do so many of my memories not match this world? I remember ponies, houses and entire cities that seem to be missing.

Why do I have faint memories of ponies with wings and horns turning sun and moon?

Why do I remember living with a small purple and green dragon if there isn't a single dragon on this world?

Why does my house feel too big for a single pony?

What had happened to this world?

Or was something wrong with me?

Confused I walked towards Discord's home and saw him sitting on top of it watching the stars as well. Soon he noticed me and floated down to the ground.

"Excited for the big next day?" Discord asked curiously.

"I just can't sleep but why are you still awake?"

"… My dreams were very… unpleasant. So I decided to stop sleeping for a while."

"Can you tell me who the unicorn constellation represents?"

He looked at me like he had seen a ghost. But eventually the Draconequus recovered from his shock. He teleported us to the edge of the world and nopony else was there with us.

"You have really grown. I bet you don't even notice how much."

"I don't understand…"

"You will. But first let me answer your question. Her name was Twilight Sparkle but then she began calling herself Twilight Tragedy."

"But that is my name. Is she another version of me? Was she the pony I saw in my dream?"

"What dream? Tell me about it."

And soon I described to him what I saw in this strange dream. Back then I hardly thought about it but now it seemed much more important.

"I guess I own you an explanation. What you saw was my perspective of these events just before Nightmare Moon was defeated. I often watched the other world when I was bored and the future Element of Magic quickly got my attention. I had my suspicions that she was going to be the one wielding this power."

"Stop changing topics! Who is she? Who am I?"

For a moment Discord looked sad.

"Sorry, it is just much easier for me to confuse others than to make things clearer. You saw the moment where Twilight Sparkle became the Element of Magic and defeated Nightmare Moon."

"But that doesn't make any sense. I am Twilight Sparkle and I never did that."

"... I created you from Chaos. I had done that very often before but never in all these years had I ever seen Chaos so alive."

"Then I am just a construct, a fake?"

Was everything I remembered wrong? Were all my friends just puppets? Copies of real ponies?! Was I a puppet?

Was the mean-spirited Discord I remember the real one and this was just an act, just a mask and any moment he will start to laugh that I was foolish enough to believe him?

Nothing of what I did here mattered, right? I was just a puppet to entertain his daughter and now that I have realized that, he will just throw me away and replace me with another happy version of Twilight.

Surely my development was just a mistake, a glitch and the next Twilight will be a constantly happy teacher of Chaos... Maybe I just think I've developed and I've just been doing exactly what he wanted me too...

... Are these tears? No, I am just a puppet. Puppets don't cry. I-I'm just seeing things...I'm not real...

"Twilight! Do a back flip!"

"Wha… Why? Why should I do that?"

Discord smiled at me and wiped my face off with a tissue.

"If you were just a puppet, you would have followed that order without second thought. If you were just a puppet, you wouldn't cry about that idea." He showed me the tissue...it had tear stains in it.

What? Then...I really did cry? I made my own decision?

"And would a puppet ever realize she was a puppet?"

I look into his face, expecting a cruel smirk but his smile seems genuine. I guess thinking about it...I have done a lot of things that wouldn't make any sense for a puppet to do... Like realizing she might be a puppet and thinking about it. But they would make perfect sense if…

"Then… I am alive?"

"You were born from Chaos but that doesn't make you less real than others. But I saw many worlds in Truth. I saw many, many ways that life could be born. I saw machines developing a life and an identity of their own. In that world, I had a sister named Strife, she went to the top gods and petitioned them to be considered real life, and the gods agreed. There is a Twilight that calls herself Twilight Tragedy and I have also seen one that calls herself Twilight Sparkle. They are both equally real and just because you were born in a different way doesn't make you less real than them. There are other versions of me as well."

The memories he had given me showed me Twilight and her friends acting similar but also very different. Neither I nor any of my friends were perfect copies of them.

We had our own characters and I think, the longer we exist, the more different we will become.

And that makes sense. If there would be two versions of Twilight Sparkle growing up under different circumstances, it would only be normal that they would become more different over time. Anything else would be really strange. I may have been created as a clone of her, but if anything, I'd be more like her twin sister than a copy; we look alike, have some things in common... but we're not the same.

There was nothing wrong with me.

I had to smile; I guess this was exactly what I needed to hear. Discord really helped me to overcome this confusion. I believe him. I chose to believe him.

"I see. But Fluttercruel is different. Does she have a mother?"

"… Yes, her name is Fluttershy and you saw her in this dream. She is the Element of Kindness."

So she was the pony I can faintly remember and who I saw in my dream.

"Will she ever be able to meet her?"

"Why are you so worried about her? Shouldn't you be more interested in yourself?"

"I think somehow I always knew it but never put the pieces together. I just want to know about the difference between us and them. What is the other world like?"

"I will tell you what I know…"

Then Discord took the time and explained me how Equestria was like. How the ponies lived under Celestia's and Luna's rule. How the Elements of Harmony were like and how they overcame Nightmare Moon and Discord.

It was amazing to hear this. It was a world so completely different, so strange and yet so familiar at the same time. I just knew that it was true. Had they not defeated Discord and started his journey, I wouldn't even exist. And he'd still be the same person he was before, not the person I've known all my life. I own them so much.

"I'm so proud of you all...I've never been able to create something like you...my previous creations were really puppets doing what I programmed them...But this entire world...It's changed so much since I made it...and I think it, you all, and Fluttercruel are some of the only things I'm honestly proud I made."

"Discord...You've changed a lot too...I can hardly tell you're the same Discord from my dreams...I guess you aren't anymore."

He gave me a smile and I smiled back.

I learned so much in these few hours, about the world and about myself. I understood how we reflect what was happening there but also and what we did by ourselves. There was no reason to be afraid of this existence. Yet my house still felt too big for one pony.  

"Somehow I wish I had a companion, somebody like Spike, somebody who would live with me and keep me company. But I don't want to simply copy her…"

Discord looked thoughtful for a moment before a light bulb appeared over his head. Then the light bulb grew wings and fluttered away.

"How about you get a special companion as a Nightmare Night present? It could be a chimera with parts of a phoenix, an alligator and a rabbit."

"...Could the chimera also be part skunk and part snake?" My memories of the original Twilight had some bad encounters with those animals...but I thought they were interesting beings.

"Hmm...Ok, but only because of Nightmare Night. Doesn't that sound like a lovely combination?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I love it."

Only then did I notice that I was hopping around in circles.

"Ahem. But you can take your time, you can wait until Nightmare Night is over and Fluttercruel is asleep."

I was looking forward to Nightmare Night. Sooner or later I would have to talk with my friends about this. Maybe they have already found this out on their own? Who knows? Who cares if there is somepony else who shares my name and my face? They have their own life, I have mine. I am not a puppet. I am just me.