I regret nothing when writing this chapter.
Beginning Arc
Set of Normalcy
Chapter 3: It's Me
Luna strolled through the streets of Canterlot, ignoring everybody's gazes. She guessed it was only natural, though, seeing as that Luna rarely traveled in broad daylight. She preferred the cool, damp air of the night over the harsh, dry light of the sun. There was just something about the reflection of her sister's light that was so calming, truly an element of its own.
Trotting hoofsteps from behind made Luna turn around. Twilight, looking quite happy again, was walking towards her, Flash Sentry a few feet behind.
"Good afternoon, Luna." Twilight said. Her amethyst eyes sparkled with a fierce sort of passion and curiosity. Clearly out of the castle to look for something. "What are you doing out today? Off to the market, I'm guessing?"
"Oh, no, I was just walking." Luna replied. Twilight headed off somewhere, and she followed, keeping up with her pace. "Sometimes I do that when I need to clear my head. By the way, why is Flash Sentry accompanying you?"
"Oh, that." Twilight said, walking a little faster. "Princess Celestia appointed him as my Champion, so he's my personal bodyguard, I guess."
"She feels as if you need extra protection?" Luna asked, grateful for the fact that Twilight was oblivious to the fact that a Champion was also a royal member's personal assassin.
"Yes, though I know the feeling. She just wants me to be safe, after all." Twilight said. She nodded her head in greeting to a few passing ponies. "After what's happened today, I almost didn't want to get out of the castle, but there was just something strange in the aura around everypony, I just needed to back off. So, I went to the library where I found this great potion for Spike I wanted to try out. It's a good dreams potion, I believe. He's been apparently waking up a lot in the middle of the night because of bad dreams. He says that I keep waking him up, but I don't remember anything like that."
"Really?" Luna asked. They were in the middle of the marketplace now, which was almost empty. Twilight probably had known this, as well, which was most likely why it was the first place she wanted to go to.
"Yes. But, lately, it's been happening more and more often." Twilight said. She stopped by a nearby stall. "Three sprigs of lavender and two bunches of rosemary, please." She pulled out a small purse, most likely a gift from Rarity, due to the way it shown and gleamed in the light. As Twilight started counting how many bits she needed to pay for, the owner of the herb stall stopped her.
"Oh, Your Majesty, you don't need to pay." She said. "It's quite fine." She was an older mare, her mane thin and graying.
"Oh, no, I insist." Twilight replied, putting the money down on the counter and grabbing the herbs, putting them into a small bag. She sighed loudly as she walked away, head held low in exasperation. "It happens every single time. Everypony wants to either give me a discount or give something away I should really pay for, with no charge. I don't even wear my crown when I go to the marketplace and this still happens..." She opened her bag, showing Luna the crown, tucked in neatly with a pad of paper, a quill, and a small book. She took out the pad of paper and quill, checking off two items on her list. "I'm glad I don't have to go through that to get wolfsbane. I actually need to go the Everfree Forest for that, since nopony wants to grow it, for some reason." She jumped into the air and began flying, when she realized that Luna was still on the ground, Flash Sentry looking up at her.
"So, is there anything else going on?" Luna asked as Twilight landed a few feet away. "With whatever's happening to you?"
"Well, it feels like I'm out of my body whenever it happens." Twilight said. "Except I can't see or hear anything. It's almost as if I just...passed out, all of a sudden. It's strange, because I couldn't find anything in any of the books on medical problems in the library."
"Yes, that is rather strange." Luna replied.
There was a strange pause between with the three of them.
"Do you not want to go yet?" Twilight asked, walking over. "I mean, if you have to do anything...either of you...I can wait to get the wolfsbane."
"No, it's nothing like that." Luna said. "Why don't we just take the train instead? You staggered a little before landing. Are you feeling alright?"
"I...I thought I saw something." Twilight muttered. "Something written underneath the water in the fountain."
"What did you see?" Flash Sentry spoke up.
"'It's me.' I saw the words 'it's me' written in the fountain." Twilight answered, shaking a little. She jerked her head up as static filled her vision. Somebody stood in front of her. No, it was more like a limp slump more than anything. They had a dull golden coat, and their eyes were hidden from view by their sloppy, dirty mane. From what Twilight could see, there was no discernible Cutie Mark. A faint outline was on their flank, their left back leg bent outwards rather awkwardly, but it might've also been an old scar, as the pony seemed to have several. What looked like to be part of a broken off horn poked through the dingy mess of a mane.
The two stared at each other, until Luna walked over to Twilight and brushed her mane back slightly. The movement made Twilight look up, her eyes wide and shaking with fright.
"You were staring off into space." Luna explained.
"You...you didn't see it...?" Twilight asked. "There was a strange pony there a second ago...not moving, or anything..."
"Are you sure you're feeling alright, Your Highness?" Flash Sentry asked. "Perhaps you should just go back to the castle. We'll have someone else get the wolfsbane for you."
"I'll get it." Luna said. "Twilight, perhaps it'd be better for you to return to the castle for now. You seem...distant and unfocused. You should get some rest and forget what happened earlier this morning."
Twilight nodded, and Luna flew off, leaving her and Flash Sentry alone. They walked through the still silent streets, the sky growing darker from rain clouds.
"You know you don't have to follow me all the way back." Twilight said. They stopped by the fountain to rest for a while. She gazed into the water, focusing on the movement of it spiraling down into the pool.
"Well, Princess Celestia's orders were to keep a close eye on you and guard you in whichever ways possible." Flash Sentry replied. He scanned the area, which was deserted. The clouds in the sky were getting darker every few minutes, and soon, rain fell softly.
"Well, what if I wanted to just be alone?" Twilight asked. "In order to keep you safe from harm...from myself..."
"You think you're a danger?" Flash Sentry asked. Twilight nodded. "To just others, or to yourself, as well?" She didn't respond. "Well, which one is it?"
"Why are you talking to me like this?" She asked. Her mane, now glistening from the now pouring down rain, covered her eyes from view. "We've never talked. Ever. Why are you so talkative now?"
"I just want to get to know the pony I'm protecting." Flash replied. "Is that so wrong to do?"
Twilight looked up, her mane still covering her eyes. "Perhaps. If you knew the real me, you would be too afraid to even look at me. I'm a monster, Flash. A horrible monster...a murderer. I wonder...will she haunt me? The pony I killed? Is she the one I'm always seeing in the static of my vision, always saying 'it's me'? Will she always watch me like this? I wonder..." She paused for a moment, thinking. "But, still, it seems...hazy. Like a dream. I'm not sure if I really did it myself. It seems that my other side has struck again, with the real me, this me, trapped as a witness." She turned to face her Champion. "I have a voice inside my head, you know. Not a voice that's my thoughts, but an actual voice. We talk a lot, especially at night, when I'm watching the moon in the sky. This morning, I was screaming at that voice to stop, to make everything go away, to save her, but the only thing the voice said was 'you can't.' 'Save her,' I called out. 'You can't.' The voice replied. Funny how that works, doesn't it? Whenever it seems you do everything wrong, something right comes out of it, and when you do everything right, something wrong comes out of it in the end."
Flash started to walk back to the castle.
"I thought you were supposed to protect me and keep me safe." Twilgiht called out to him. He stopped. "What are you doing just walking away?"
Flash turned around and saw that she was using her magic to create a shield from the rain, her eyes solemn. "Do...do you remember what you just said? About me knowing the real you?"
"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked. She lowered her shield and walked over, letting the rain fall on her. "I never said anything like that."
Luna walked through the Everfree Forest, looking around. The mud made it hard to walk around, and the rain was coming down in a thick curtain, mist curling around the trees ominously. She wore a thin brown cloak she had gotten before leaving for Ponyville, which blew about her in the wind, the hood staying on. She arrived to a large grove of wolfsbane, where she saw someone standing in the distance.
"Hello, there, Luna, last I saw you, you were quite weak." They said, walking over to her. "Now you are stronger, so you walk in, and for what do you seek?"
"Hello, Zecora." Luna greeted, bowing her head to the zebra. "I could ask you the same thing. I need wolfsbane for Twilight. She's trying out a potion for her friend Spike."
"Ah, yes, I have not seen Twilight in quite a while." Zecora replied, walking with Luna. "How does she fair, since her latest trial?"
"She's doing...alright, I suppose." Luna said, gathering some wolfsbane and putting it into her bag. "I'm troubled by how she's doing, to be honest. She seems to be suffering from strange hallucinations, and goes from one personality to another."
"That doesn't sound familiar to you?" Zecora asked. They walked back to her cottage. "Don't you think she's going through the same thing you went through?"
"Twilight's not being corrupted." Luna said shortly. "She can't be. It's impossible for her to be at this point. If she was, then we'd be seeing the signs earlier, rather than all of them appearing instantaneously. It's something else." She said farewell to Zecora, and walked back through to Ponyville. "Could it be possible...that it's spreading again...?"
She walked around the school statue for what seemed the hundredth time. Nothing out of the ordinary. Finally giving up, she left, leaving the other girl watching her on top of the statue alone. It was raining, moderately hard. The girl pulled her drawstring on her sweater a little tighter. It was unusually cold that night, and she had just had to be out there to watch the other girl with her crazy observations. She just wasn't sure what attracted her to the school, and the stupid statue. There was nothing of interest at all.
A woman stepped out of the statue, wearing a thin brown cloak around her shoulders. Her long, midnight blue hair blew softly in the wind. She collapsed onto the ground, muttering what sounded like 'it's me' over and over again. She looked up to the sky, her eyes vacant and dim. The girl walked around the statue.
"Hey, are you alright?" She asked. The woman turned around and stood up, startled. "Sorry. I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?"
"No, it's just that...I needed to clear my head for a bit." She replied. "I just...need some time alone...and maybe it'll go away..."
"You idiot." The girl muttered. "That only makes it worse. Here, try this." She threw a small bottle to the woman, which she caught. "My sister's got the exact same thing as you. That stuff works miracles on her."
"How do you know that?" The woman asked.
"It's in your scent." The girl answered. She turned away, then added, "Speaking of which, you'd better get out of here before anybody from your dimension's gone."
"How...?" She asked again. "How do you know...?"
"Your scent is just a little different from the Luna here." The girl said, then jumped off the statue and walked off into the night without another word. The woman walked through the statue again, putting the bottle in her bag.
She would need it for Twilight.