AN: Sorry all if you happened to like this story. It's been a heck of a few weeks for me. Anyway, the story just keeps getting longer, wanting to flesh itself out. I expected to be a bit further at this point, actually. Anyway, I love talking to people, so let me know what you think, leave a review, do whatever. ~Iconic Fox

Twilight sat on her haunches in a bush, doing her best to remain inconspicuous. At some point in her wild run, twigs and leaves had embedded themselves in her mane and tail, mussing them, which she was attempting to remove with little success. At least it seemed her pursuit, if they had indeed followed her, had given up.

She had her doubts on that point, considering how her duplicate had manipulated the crowd. If she was as like Trixie as she seemed to be, the mob probably fell apart without her to lead it. This did bring to mind why Twilight was still sitting in a dank bush, of course.

Despite not feeling followed, the lavender unicorn didn't want to be spotted while she sat and thought. Without the refuge of her library, this just happened to be the closest, next best thing. As crazy as that might sound to anyponies mind but her own.

At the moment however, crazy, odd, whatever you might call it, seemed to be the normal thing for Twilight. Her deductions had been confirmed in what might be the most spectacular way possible, which only lead to a larger question: What was she going to do next? Now given a few moments to calm down, the unicorn's wonderful brain started to sort things through.

It was almost certain at this point that see had somehow fallen into another dimension. Twilight had heard rumors of other worlds beyond her own. That had been a long time ago, when she was studying in Canterlot, from the Royal Magical Research branch. Their nature was the subject of much argument, but their existence seemed to be accepted, at the very least. She, and indeed the rest of the magical community, had learned little more on the topic, as a royal decree forbid further research. Apparently, Celestia had known something that the mortal ponies did not about the topic.

It was be difficult to be certain, considering what little information she had, but the unicorn began to piece together what had gone on in this world. It seemed the divergence from her own had been sometime before she was accepted into the School for Gifted Unicorns. Trixie had apparently become Celestia's student somehow. There were a thousand possibilities as to how that could have happened. It appeared that her counterpart here had taken up the same path the Trixie from Twilight's home dimension had. There were another thousand reasons for that one, and several more major hitches, given that the other Twilight still had custody of Spike here.

Twilight had to halt her thoughts, despite her curiosity. It wasn't going to get her anywhere dwelling on the might-have-beens of this world, when she had established the only fact that mattered. That this world was very close to her own, which meant that approaching the Princesses on the matter might get her imprisoned. Or exiled. Or both. No, better to concentrate on getting back home by herself.

This in mind, the lavender mare set to mentally retracing her steps. Despite being only from the morning, her memory felt fragmented. Stress had a way of doing that. Nothing jumped out at her until she got back to waking up. The mare had remembered something then, like part of a dream. The more she poked at it, the more artificial that memory felt, like she had been forced to remember something else. With that realization, it came back to her in a flash. Not a dream, a nightmare. About a sinister mirror in the Everfree Forest.

But it had been real, she was now sure of that. It baffled the mare that she could forget the experience, now that she had remembered it. It was unsettling, in a way. Whatever the mirror was, it was certainly magically powerful enough to nearly cause her to forget about it entirely. But it was also her best chance to find some answers.

The Everfree Forest was no less foreboding than when she had entered it the day before. More so even, because there was now something new and sinister in the woods. Fighting the urge to panic, Twilight forced her way deeper down the path.

Once she had entered as far as she dared, the unicorn stopped and took a calming breath. In the new silence, Twilight closed her eyes and focused. Her horn began to glow softly in the deepening gloom.

Detecting the casting of a spell was a simple task. It didn't even need a spell of it's own. Instead, it was a tingle at the fore of the mind, the base of the horn, proportionate to the power and proximity of the spell. Finding a particular magical signature like that of a unicorn, on the other hoof, was a much more difficult. It required a rather complex spell, and only worked over short distances. The more power put in, the more pinpointed the result.

Given her predisposition to magic, Twilight had rarely ever had any problems finding what she needed. This attitude, combined with the relatively minor amount of magic she expended, made her results even more difficult to cope with. The power she had built up, instead of moving outwards and reporting back to her, was forced inwards. The resulting backlash dazed the unicorn, letting something else hit her.

It was like nothing she had ever experienced with magic. A wave of... static, for lack of a better term, that seemed to exist anywhere and everywhere to her magical senses. It was a flood that was cascading over her mind, defying all attempts to see through it. And like a valve forced open, it was hampering Twilight's attempts to turn off her spell.

As it pressed down, the lavender unicorn felt herself being physically forced to her knees. The power was not painful, but she could feel it eating at the edges of her mind. This was something no single pony was ever supposed to touch, lest their sanity be shattered.

She had experienced a similar revelation as a filly (though a frightfully powerful one) when she had observed Princess Celestia display the limits of her magical abilities. The scale of the princess' power had been so great, it filled her mind, it drove out all other thoughts. This was indefinitely worse. It would overwhelm her, leave the unicorn a near-lifeless husk, as her mind forever struggled to comprehend it.

While panic is a terrible emotion for the control of spells, it does a wonder when all that's needed is raw power. Acting on years of constant use the unicorn grabbed at her magic, using it as a shield, without a single thought.

"I'd rather not... spend the rest of my life... thinking about this... Thank you..." Twilight muttered under her breath, voice strained.

She struggled back to her feet, eyes tight shut in a measure of fear and concentration. There was a tingle at the fore of her mind as the force tried to push her down harder. Were she able to see it, the glow around her horn intensified, then wavered. She tried again. An over-glow emanated from her horn, blazing lavender and purple.

The light broke the darkness of the clearing for a second, before it's edges began to spark. Little spots of black began to appear, swallowing the pure energy. Twilight felt her control slipping. Felt the blackness rush forward to claim her mind and magic.

In response, the lavender mare put every bit of power she had into one final push. There was no control, no direction, no limits. She gave a yell that would have made Rainbow Dash proud, and opened her eyes. They shone a pure white, chasing away the dark fragments. Unhindered, Twilight's magic surged around her horn into a double over-glow. The very power of the struggle lifted the unicorn into the air, her horn pointed to the sky.

Then, there was the crack of a whip as the magical energies broke apart. Twilight was hurled backwards, as though a buffalo had slammed into her. She didn't have far to go. A dead tree at the edge of the path blocked her passage with a sickening thud.

The impact knocked the breath out of her. At the same time, the magic around her horn dissipated instantly as exhaustion set in. There was barely time to understand that she had hit something before Twilight flopped to the base of the tree.

The unicorn blinked slowly, trying to get her bearings. Her eyes slowly faded to normal, and dimness returned to the forest eves. Dead leaves and dry twigs rained down on top of her, though she was far too tired to notice or care.

Twilight lay there a long while, gasping for breath. She felt completely spent, as though she had gone through the entire Running of the Leaves at a flat gallop. At least her body felt that way. Her mind, despite such magical exertion, was still moving at full speed.

She had to ask herself what had just happened. What was that, and why was it so powerful? She was definitely going to need to get into her- the library to do some research. This wasn't going to be as easy as she had first thought.

These surface thoughts, or course, only masked the reality of her emotions. Despite narrowly escaping danger, there was still the residual terror of... well, as cliché as it was, a fate worse than death. There was also a numbness at the fact that she would have to find some way to deal with this if she wanted to get home. More preferably, a way around it.

By the time she had once again pulled her roaming thoughts back into line, the pain in her body had subsided to only a dull ache. She had a new plan. A tenuous one, to be sure, but a plan. The mare pulled herself to her hooves, wobbling slightly, wincing at new little pains that seemed to appear.

Despite wanting to take a long nap, Twilight forced herself to limp slowly out of the forest. She did not want to pass out anywhere inside its limits. After a nap, this would all probably seem easier. All she had to do was convince her friends, who currently had no knowledge of her and probably downright disliked her double, that they should help her. Nothing simpler, right? Then she had to research a potentially mind destroying source of magic, and attempt to work past it somehow to get home. Easy.

Had the others been there, it might have formed a sarcastic conversation. Complete with sage advice in guise of common wisdom and probably a spontaneous argument besides. As it was, all the unicorn managed was a weak chuckle as she struggled to safety.

Late evening found Twilight collapsed in her makeshift hideout, sleeping as only the bone-weary can. The unicorn rolled over, which would be reasonable on a bed, but here earned the mare a jab in the ribs with a stick. She bolted upright and, for the second time that day, regretted the action.

She made a face as she sat down again, slightly dizzy, and tried to take stock.

Twilight felt okay, sure her body ached a bit, but it was nothing to worry about. The unicorn called on her magic and had to concentrate rather hard to produce any effect. So her magic was still rebuilding itself. That she could deal with. Her mind was slowly clearing, coming back to her last plan. Try to get help from her friends.

It still seemed workable, even now that she was no longer out of her mind with exhaustion. The real question she had to answer was: "Who would she ask?" It presented a real problem. Certainly with whatever background she could glean from Trixie's diatribe and the actions of her double, the other Elements of Harmony probably wouldn't give her a warm welcome. She would have to take in all the facts and see which pony was the best to approach.

Rainbow Dash was out of consideration almost instantly. Celestia bless the mare, she was loyal, but that was the very thing that would make it difficult to talk to her. She would likely not listen to a word Twilight said, but rather try to pick a fight to regain some of her pride. When she didn't want to listen, there was no real way to get through to her. Besides, who knew where Dash was, and if she was napping on a cloud or at her home, it would be impossible to reach her anyway. Worse, trying to find her might even attract more attention, which was something she really didn't need.

Rarity quickly followed on the 'do not approach' list. While she was reasonable, she had probably been humiliated by Twilight's double. If anything, the white unicorn was a bit prideful, so there was little chance of her not shutting the door in Twilight's face. If there was some other pony to vouch for her, it might be different, but that was the point of the whole plan, anyway. Further, Rarity was the most likely to call down some from of law enforcement if she persisted. Something Twilight would most certainly have to do to get anywhere with the mare. There wasn't much call for police in Equestria, with nearly non-existent crime, but she still couldn't afford to be detained.

Pinkie would certainly hold no grudges (it simply wasn't in her nature), so she would be easy to talk to and explain the situation. The only problem was her inherent... Pinkie-ness. Given what Trixie already thought of the unicorn, Pinkie's crazy manner would probably do more harm than good. She could imagine that conversation: "Hey Trix! This is a Twi! She looks just like that big meanie Twilight, but she's really nice! She wants to get into the library and look at stuff! So, can we? Can we huh?" Trixie would probably assume Pinkie was crazy, or that it was part of an elaborate prank. Which, to be fair, was not exactly unlikely where the pink party pony was concerned.

That left Twilight with both Fluttershy and Applejack as friends to convince. She had her doubts about Fluttershy, having only been able to get into her confidence through Spike's (though unwitting) help the first time. Still, it was better to try than not, since the timid pegasus wouldn't risk making a scene. Applejack, on the other hoof, she had a good feeling about. The farmyard mare had a sense of honor and country wisdom she could appeal to. At the same time, she would probably be willing to hear the unicorn out before passing judgment, if she pleaded her case well.

Her plan now solidified, Twilight rose from her protective hedge. With a quick glance around for any observant ponies, she slipped out and into the dimming evening. Stars were just starting to show through in the waning embers of the sun, and she fervently wished she had her telescope, or anything else to take her mind off her problems for even a short while.

With a sigh, the mare turned towards the edge of town, angling towards a certain yellow pony's cottage.

The journey was quick, given that the darkness let Twilight move a little more freely without risking prying eyes. The unicorn emerged from the woods onto the path that lead to her friend's house, and took it in for the first time.

Unsurprisingly, it seemed much the same as she remembered it. There might have been a few more homes for small critters on one side, less birdhouses on the other, but really, nothing far out of place. If Twilight gave it more thought, she might realize that most of the structures in Ponyville tended to have a few little inconsistencies upon repeated viewings. It would be fascinating, had she thought of it, rather than being focused on her destination.

The mare trotted up the path, noting the absence of any animals outside. Fluttershy had probably already seen them to sleep, which meant she was home, relaxing. At the door, the unicorn gave a sharp knock and a brief call of her friend's name.

"Fluttershy?"

The response was instant. A delicate crash was heard from inside. It baffled Twilight as to how the pegasus managed to do that. Knocking something over was most often noisy, but she managed to dampen the effect somehow. The unicorn made a mental note to discover the correlation between timidness and physical laws later. After further thought, she added a similar note for essentially everything her friends did. There had to be some magic behind it all. Maybe.

She was shaken from her reflections by a little sound to her left. Turning quickly, she caught the briefest flash of yellow and pink in the window, followed by a small 'eep'. Twilight was about to say something more, when a little voice from the inside spoke up.

"Umm... I can't talk right now... I'm... I'm..." The pegasus' voice dropped lower as her confidence faltered.

"Please Fluttershy. I know how it looks, but I really need to talk with you!"

"I'm sorry... but can you please go away?" Was the only answer.

Twilight sat in silence on the door step. She had been right, the timid pony wasn't going to listen to her anytime soon, and time was what she needed most. The mare decided to stay a little while longer, in the hope that the other pony would open the door.

She had been sitting for several minutes when she heard the soft squeak of hinges. The door opened a crack, enough for an eye and snout to look out. The yellow mare went wide eyed, closing the way again with a soft gasp. Twilight lowered her head and sighed. This wasn't getting her anywhere.

The unicorn got to her hooves and turned away from the quaint cottage. Despite her expectations, she still felt profoundly sad that one of her friends (or at least a pony that looked so much like them) would be unable to even speak to her. After walking a short way, she ducked back into the trees, taking a shorter path towards the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres.

Passing the unvarnished truth before AJ might be her last option. The mare valued the truth. After all, she was the Element of Honesty. While Twilight had never been able to get scientific proof, maybe being the bearer of that particular gift gave her some insight into the truth in others. At least that was her last, best hope as she walked on.