On a Cross and Arrow: Part 9.

On a Cross and Arrow

By Conner Cogwork

Twilight and her five friends are transported during a botched spell, across dimensions to... Ponyville, Equestria? But not the same one that they knew. Sitting on a bench is Harpsy and Babar. The Doctoress avoids apples from an aspiring Applebuck. And in a library across town, six stallions join their forces as they try to decipher the appearance of filly look-alikes of themselves around Ponyville!
Image credit to Stellarina! Thanks SO much!

Part Nine

Under a Midnight Star

----------------------------

She snorted, before blinking, and looking around.

Night-time had fallen, and everypony was snoozing away. Everypony that was, except Twilight Sparkle apparently. She sat herself upright and rubbed at her eyes, taking a look at her companions.

Dash was snoring, loudly, on her back, Applejack seemingly in a contest with her to see who could make the most racket. Rarity was tucked away in a corner, in a pile of blankets, as she murmured something about dream stallions. Pinkie, surprisingly, was the most serene of the bunch, hooves curled up daintily as she snoozed.

And Fluttershy... she found herself tearing up, as she realized that the yellow pegasus had fallen asleep sitting upright, head resting upon the hutch door, as Angela snoozed as well, curled up as close as she could to the timid pony's head.

I can't do this. she then realized. They're counting on me, and I can't do this. But I can't do THAT either...

I know what I need to do.

But... I can't...

The unicorn planted a hoof on the ground, as she lifted herself quietly.

I can't... please...

She got onto all fours, looking over her friends that she'd come to love. That she'd come to trust. That had come to trust her.

I... can't...

She wasn't sure who she was pleading to. But beads appeared at the corners of her eyes, as she realized that she was beginning to walk away from the group. Towards the cave's entrance. She knew what she had to do. For all of them. But her fear... the relentless, unyielding fear...

I.....

...just...

...can't.

Within minutes, the lavender pony had exited the safety of the HEDGE's shelter. The field and foliage about her was lit by the moon, giving her enough to see by. It also allowed her to see the hamlet that she had come to see her home, far in the distance...

... and the one building whose lights were still on at this time of night.

Slowly, alone, undisguised, and with a lump in her throat, Twilight began the long walk towards Ponyville.

----------------------------

Nopony was on the streets. She had never had cause to stroll through them at this time of night before, save that one time when she had to lull a star-bear to sleep. But she decided she had to do this more often. It was relaxing.

At least, she thought was relaxing, up to a point where she turned a corner, and spied the lit windows of the Ponyville Public Library. Then that knot returned, choking her as bad as before.

I-it's not too late. she told herself. I could turn around and go back. Yeah. I could go back to the HEDGE. Go back to sleep. Nopony would have to know. I could wait till tomorrow morning, and try the spell again. I could do that... yeah...

...but is it FAIR to them? To make them wait any longer? To have them wait on me to make a spell I have no idea how to control, that I can't reference anymore? I don't have the book. I can organize, write, and memorize... but I'm absolute crap if I don't have a book backing me up. Even if I DO cast it tomorrow, there's no guarantee, absolutely none, that I'll be able to do it successfully on my own.

I just... I need help.

But the one pony who can help in this world... can I do it?

Can I... face him?

Somewhere within that inner monologue, she had begun walking again, without even realizing it. As she looked up from the ground, she realized that she was no longer viewing the great tree from a distance. She was right at its door.

Her door.

HIS door.

She shook as she lifted a hoof... and knocked.

There was silence at first. For a second, she was hopeful that everypony inside had simply dropped off to sleep with the lights on.

Then the door-handle began to turn. She hadn't heard anypony come to the door. The knot tightened as she braced herself, coming face-to face with...

... nothing at first. The door finished its wide swing open, before an owl flapped out from behind it. The bird let its eyes rest upon her, before perching itself on the door-handle.

The unicorn took a tentative step inside, before looking back at the nocturnal avian. "I guess you're not called Owlowicious here, are you?"

"Who?"

She simply rolled her eyes, before looking around. Books were left open here and there, cluttering the floor, stacked on the tables, and littering the desks. And she didn't make this mess. Suddenly, she had a new appreciation of what Spike did for her, every time she went on a studying binge.

Which was apparently what her male half was doing right now. Her heart froze as she spotted him, hunched over a desk, head down low, relentlessly pouring through the heavyset text that was laid out before him.

His back was turned. He hadn't seen her come in.

Her hooves felt like lead as she stepped towards him. She could hear him speaking in a voice that was pitched low enough as not to disturb the assistant sleeping upstairs. Her ears perked forwards as she tried to make out his words.

"...there are four explanations, that each answer the question of 'why?' in different ways. These various means of explanation can be divided into the four general types of causality, as follows..."

Aristrotle, she realized, recognizing the words. He's reading Aristrotle's rules of Causality.

His head shifted as he continued reading.

"The first cause, the 'Material Cause', is the physical matter, the mass of 'raw material', of which something is 'made'. Of which the subject itself consists of."

He moved his head as he went to the next rule. "The second cause, the 'Formal Cause', tells us what, by analogy to the plans of an artisan, a thing is intended..."

"...What it is originally planned to be."
"...What it is originally planned to be."

Dusk's head rose a couple of inches. He wasn't sure, but it had sounded like somepony else had spoken the rule alongside him.

He looked back down as he recited the third rule. "The third cause, the 'Efficient Cause',  is that external entity, an outside force..." he found himself trailing off.

"...from which the rite of change, or the ending of the change, first starts." Twilight finished, behind him.

He didn't move. Didn't even budge. The stallion instead raised his head up level, as he spoke the final part from memory alone.

"The Final Cause is that for the sake of which a thing exists, or is done... including both purposeful and instrumental actions..."

The mare that was seated behind him opened her mouth, unable to stop the words from spilling out.

"The Final Cause, or telos, is the purpose, or end, that THAT something, is supposed to serve."

A moment of silence descended between the two. Neither pony moved, neither one spoke a word, but the both of them were now keenly aware of this second presence that was in the room.

Finally, the lavender stallion asked the air quietly.

"What... is your final cause? What... what do you want?"

She almost choked right there. The lump that was in her throat felt so large and swollen, it was like she would gag on it, should a misplaced word pass through her lips. What do I say? How do I even begin?

How would you want to be told?

"...All we want..." Twilight finally spoke. "All we want... is just to go home..."

Dusk remained still for a few seconds more... before slowly turning around, and looking upon his own double for the first time. His mane was slightly in disarray, purple eyes half-hidden by hair. But it still allowed the femme to see his pupils shrink, as he took her in.

He got to his feet, and walked quietly towards her, before seating himself in front of his filly-self. To her credit, she didn't bolt or freak out. Instead, they kept their eyes locked on each other, studying features and differences. Face-to-face with nopony else but him and her own self.

At length, the colt spoke again.

"My name is Dusk Shine. I am the prized student of our benevolent leader, Prince Solaris, ruler of Equestria. And I am also the librarian of the Books and Branches Ponyville Public Library."

"And... and you?"

She tried her best to swallow that lump.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am the prized student of our benevolent leader, Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. And I am ALSO... the librarian of the Books and Branches Ponyville Public Library."

There was a pause, and then a nod. "We... we at least seem to have the same taste in bags." he attempted to joke, nervously.

Twilight looked to her side. She had been carrying her saddlebag this whole way. She didn't even remember having put it on, leaving the HEDGE. Her horn lit as she probed its contents... and found, to her surprise, a book floating out. She stared at it, before facing her doppelganger again.

"Here." she simply said, as she levitated the green volume to him. "I'm... I'm hoping it's not overdue?"

Dusk took the book into his own hold. It was the book he had been rather afraid had gone completely missing. 'Supernaturals'. He offered her a grateful smile, before hovering the book and placing it in its proper spot on a nearby shelf.

Another bout of uneasy silence descended. This is ridiculous. Dusk found himself thinking. I talk to myself all the time, and now that there's TWO of me here, neither of us can think of anything to say!

The lavender mare then whispered. "I'm sorry."

He shook his mane, and trotted a bit closer. "I've spent days looking for you."

"I know. I'm... I'm sorry we put you through so much trouble."

"Why did you hide away? We could have helped."

"We didn't want to effect your world anymore than we possibly could." She directed her eyes to the floor, a depressed look on her face. "Though if the past week has told me anything, it's that it's neigh-impossible to accomplish."

Despite the tone and situation, the unicorn stallion found himself chuckling. "How many of you are here, altogether?"

She looked back up at him. "Six. All mares."

He didn't need to make any wild guesses as to who the other five fillies were. He seated himself again as he spoke. "Butterscotch?"

"Fluttershy." Twilight nodded.

"Rainbow Blitz?"

"Rainbow Dash."

"Applejack?"

At this, she couldn't help but give her own chuckle. "No change there. Still Applejack."

"Oh... uhm, then... Elusive?"

"Rarity."

"And... Berry Bubble?"

"Pinkie Pie. I know. I was rather frightened too."

The both of them shared an uneasy laugh, that died off as they resumed staring at each other. The silence was deafening. From above, came the soft snores of a baby dragon.

"…I had thought you had all come here on purpose. But it really was an accident, wasn't it?" Dusk asked.

A nod. "We were just trying to visit Manehatten. Applejack said she knew the place well, and I had found this book-"

"Exploring the Aether for Fun and Profit?"

Twilight's head shot up, a surprised expression on her face that made the colt smile. His horn lit up, and a book flew from the numerous stacks, over to hover between the pair of ponies. It was the same traveling spellbook

He opened the tome to the same page that contained the teleportation spell. "This is purely conjecture on my part... but you mixed up a portion of the Teleportation spell with the dimensional viewing spell that was directly below it. You tapped into our own dimension, thinking it was a leyline for Manehatten, didn't you?"

As the purple mare read over the rift-viewing spell, and its lengthy list of warnings... she found her ears burning, realizing what she could have avoided, had she not gone off at the spur of the moment. "It was the frequency." she clarified. "I tuned into the wrong one when I tried to perceive the leylines. I used the one in that view spell, instead of the one listed in the teleportation ritual."

"I found this book a few days ago." the stallion began, reading over the book as well. "When I first started reading, I was really excited to memorize some of these spells. But before I even got to this page... something happened."

Her eyes turned to the side, as she regarded her double with curiosity. "What... was it?"

"There was a surge of magic energy outside of Ponyville. I'm surprised no other unicorn sensed it. When I went to check it out, I found a hill that was soaked with leftover PKE residue."

Twilight gaped. "Our... Our teleportation spell..."

"And then, when I got back to the library, there was Butterscotch. Wrapped up in a hat and scarf." He shook his head as he chuckled. "Sounded weird. Said he was sick. Checked out 'Supernaturals'..." he then turned his own eyes to the side to meet hers. "But you already knew all that, didn't you?"

Gulping, she nodded. He then continued his spiel. "After 'he' left, I got back to the book. I found the teleportation spell, and my first thought was 'I know ten ponies... but there are five in particular I'd love to invite!'... then I remembered that Butterscotch was sick, and so, I moved on to the next spell. Once I finished reading it... well..."

"The pieces started falling into place." the femme equine finished. "You had a hunch... that something had happened."

"Yes. After I read the spell, and referenced the Rules of Causality, I decided to pay Butterscotch a visit. Turns out, he wasn't sick, and he didn't have the book he'd checked out, nor did he remember doing so. And then later that same day, Blitz flies in and tells me that our timid friend had met his 'match'..."

"And it just kept getting worse from there." Now Twilight was fully shame-faced, looking at the floor. "Dash invaded Blitz's home. Applejack got into an argument with her 'cousin'. Rarity out and tricked us, when she went to meet with herself for the express purpose of romance. And Pinkie and Berry... we very nearly dodged a bullet there."

"You've certainly made our lives very... interesting, these past few days." Dusk admitted, looking at his doppelganger, a worried expression on his face.

"You mean we've made them a complete disaster. I tried my best to leave your world untouched. And I've failed." Her entire frame seemed to sag.

"H-hey now," he started, a hoof going out towards her, almost touching her shoulder. "Even if things didn't go according to plan, you know... you still managed to save us."

Her head tilted upwards slightly, causing him to retract his foreleg. "Save you? H-how exactly?"

"Well, think about it. Either our worlds are naturally a-synchronous with each other, or you also somehow traveled back in time by about an hour. Either way, if you and your friends hadn't touched down in Ponyville... if your Fluttershy hadn't shown up in the library, pretending to be sick..."

"Then more than likely, we would have wound up in your horseshoes. I would have gathered my friends. Applejack would have suggested Manehatten, and Blitz would have donated a feather. Knowing me, I'd have botched the spell, and then we would have wound up in your world instead... Solaris's mane, there's probably another pair of dimensions out there where that's exactly what happened. We'd have wandered around Ponyville, looking at all the unfamiliar ponies, trying to find a familiar face-"

"Lyra and BonBon." the filly suddenly stated.

That drew a surprised glance. "Who what now?"

"Lyra and BonBon. The first ponies we recognized here, were your Harpsy and Babar. In our world, they're known as Lyra and BonBon."

Dusk's eyes went slightly wide at the thought, but he shook his head. "Either way, the point I'm trying to make, is this: We owe you. If you and your group hadn't come here, then more than likely, we would have been undergoing the very same thing that all of you have."

Twilight let her eyes dip low in thought. Her male self had a point there. She could easily imagine the frustrations she would have suffered, had six stallions landed themselves in her world. Her imagination relived those past few days, through a mirror as she ran around the Everfree forest, tried to track down a captured colt, and then chased a pair of fleeing stallions from the village.

"We still caused you trouble." she stated. "You must have been really frustrated, trying to find us..."

"Well... I did have my moments, yes..." he tilted his head down to look into her eyes. "But that's all in the past. You're here now, T... T-Twilight. The only thing I REALLY want to know is... why didn't you come forward sooner? I know you said you didn't want to effect our world, but… you know that we would have still helped. Why didn't you let us?"

The filly found herself stuttering as she lifted her head. "B-because... I... I was scared of you, D-Dusk." she answered, tears forming at the corners of her lavender orbs. "I was SO scared. By Celestia's Mane, I'm STILL scared of you! Can't you feel it?! I've had this lump appear in my throat, every time you've been near me. Tell me, aren't you feeling it now as well?"

The purple stallion shifted his eyes to the side as he gulped. He WAS feeling it right at the moment, actually ever since he'd heard her voice, but he had been trying his best to ignore it.

"I'm sorry D-Dusk, but I can't explain this... this irrational fear! I mean, seriously! You're ME! I'm YOU! The only differences between us are our genders, and that just... just makes things even MORE awkward! How am I supposed to FEEL about you?! Do I treat you like a cousin, like Applejack does hers? With abject aggression, like Rainbow? D-dare I even consider the route that Rarity took?! I'm... I'm so confused, and it scares me! There's no guide on how deal with situations like this, cause this situation's never happened before! At least I don't THINK there's a guide! If there is, I haven't read it yet!!"

Dusk found himself becoming a bit edgier as his reflection continued her outpour. He'd never been good with emotional fillies, and now not only was he dealing with one, it was himself in femme form. As her voice continued to increase in volume, he found himself pointing up the stairs, going 'shhh!'

Instantly her eyes widened, and hooves clapped to her mouth. They both sat in silence, looking up at the bedroom above. Thankfully, the quiet snore of a snoozing dragoness continued uninterrupted.

"Sorry..." Twilight whispered, rubbing the tears away from her eyes. "I didn't mean to... get so carried away..."

The colt shook his head. "It's alright. She's slept through worse." he assured, before a corner of his mouth quirked in a smile. "Though I imagine you already knew that."

She gave him a nod, and for the moment, they let the previous topic pass away. They were content to just sit there, listening to the sounds of Spine's breathing.

"I miss him, you know." Twilight quipped, her eyes still misty.

"Your 'Spines', you mean?"

"I named him Spike." she replied. "I left him in charge of the library. Right before we left, I told him it would probably take us... two, three days, before we came back from traveling..." she found herself sniffling again. "I... I hope he's doing alright. I-I never got him his pizza..."

"... peppers and emeralds with extra cheese?"

"His favorite!"

He found himself chuckling, despite it all. "I'm sure he's doing fine. You know how, um... how they are, when it comes to pizza." He looked back up to the loft, and sighed. "I'm willing to bet he's holding down the fort, just like Spines would, if I had left. It's a little strange to think of her as a guy… but their personalities are still the same, despite whatever gender they are, am I right?"

Twilight nodded, eyes still concentrating on the loft above them. "That's been one of the things about this world, that has comforted us. Every pony we meet here, still acts like the pony we knew back home. When I saw and heard Spines for the first time, it comforted me to no end to see how similar she was to Spike… You should be proud to have someone like her in your life."

"Believe me, I am." came the reply. "Getting Spines when I was growing up... even though she's not a pony, she's as good as a little sister, to me..."

Another bout of silence passed, before the colt turned back to his visitor. She was regarding him with a new light in her eyes. "A sibling..." she whispered. "The same with me and Spike. He became my little assistant... but he'll always be my little brother first..."

Somewhere in there, both unicorns began the same thought process. I don't know how to deal with you... you, this pony who is me, but isn't. We have so much in common. So much that we've both done. So many feelings we can't understand. If I can't think of you as a cousin, a rival, or a lover... can I think of you, as a friend? Can I overcome my fear, and think of you, as somepony close to me? Like...

Slowly, tentatively, Twilight and Dusk each extended a hoof. Their movement paused for just a second, before they finally met and touched each other, simply holding hooves, staring at each other in the library's low light.

"Dusk..." she found herself speaking. "I've tried to perform the spell again to get us back... but I can't do it. I can't find our thread. I... I need help. Please help us. Please help my friends. Help us get back home. That's... that's all I ask for. Please?"

The colt allowed a smile to grace his lips, before nodding. "Sure thing, Twilight. I'll do everything in my power to help you... sis."

And it was then that the mare suddenly found herself breathing easy. The lump in her throat had disappeared. In its place... she didn't know. It felt like something. Like a tingle, maybe. Like... a spark? She knew that whatever it was, it was bright. He really doesn't mean us any harm. He's nothing to be afraid of. He IS me. And yet... he's not. But in a good way. He's... I can think of him like this. I can think of him, like I think of Spike...

As my brother.

She returned his smile. "Thank you, b-brother. I was... I was so scared, that you wouldn't agree. I don't know why still, but... I thought that..."

The purple stallion allowed an eyebrow to raise. "It's because I'm male, isn't it? Despite how similar we are, you originally thought that by virtue of gender, my thought process would be significantly different from yours... right?"

She lowered her head, ears drooping in a nod. However, her head was tilted back upwards to face his, as he gave her a reassuring gaze. "It's okay. I know a lot of us men out there tend to be... rough. But I'm not them. I'm you. And besides occasionally exploding over a scientific conundrum, you know how that is, I try my best to not perpetuate the masculine mindset stereotype. Seriously, sis... did you really think you'd turn yourself away?"

The filly allowed herself to sit up straight, as she became more at-ease. "I did... but I know better now. Thank you, Dusk. I-I never should have doubted you. Though, I have to wonder. Did you really think we were going to invade, or replace you, like pod-ponies?"

He flushed. "You heard that? Uhm... well, you see... I didn't have a lot to work with, so..."

Twilight found his blush rather amusing, and stifled a giggle. As she did so however, it turned into a yawn. A rather hefty one at that. By the time it finished, she possessed a set of rosy cheeks herself.

"Eheh... sorry about that. It IS rather late. Guilty conscience drove me to wake up and seek you out."

"Wow." He blinked, before looking back at the door. "So... are you heading back to your friends? Going to tell them that I'm willing to help?"

"I really should." The femme student turned her head towards the door, thinking of the looooong walk it had taken from their hiding place to here, before turning her head back upwards towards the bedroom, her face a picture of longing as she thought of her own bed so close at-hoof. "But I have to think... should I wake them now, or wait till the morning?..."

Dusk caught her line of sight, and chuckled again. "You know... that bed up there, is as much yours as it is mine."

A new heat suddenly overtook Twilight's face. "Oh! Oh, no, i-it wouldn't be right of me. I mean, this is YOUR dimension, not mine. I-I can walk! It's just..." again, her body sagged from weariness. "... right on the edge of the Everfree Forest..."

"Yeah, I had figured." he replied, taking to his hooves and walking around his double. "Really, I insist. Stay for the night. I'll just drag out that second bed and sleep in it tonight. You can have mine. I'll have Owlowicious wake the both of us up in the morning before Spines does, and we can go get your friends then."

The filly grimaced. "The second bed? Isn't that thing still full of lumps from when Applejack and Rarit- um, I mean, uh, Elusive, fought inside it?" Idly, she wondered if males had sleepovers or not.

"Well... yeah, that's true... but it'll still sleep." The colt continued walking towards the stairs. "Besides, if it's that uncomfortable, there's always the floor."

"Dusk, I-I..." she bit her lip, before finally airing the words she had been thinking. "Do you want to... y'know... share the bed?"

He stopped in his tracks, and looked at her in disbelief. Slowly, he turned his body back around to give her a long gaze. She returned his look with equal curiosity.

"...um... are you sure that'd be... proper?"

"Well... why not? Either way it's okay, I'd still wake up with myself."

"I know, I know. Still, what I mean is..." he trotted forward, placing himself in front of the lavender mare. "Do... I mean, we know each other... we know who WE are... but do you trust your own... 'brother'... enough to do that?"

Twilight stood her ground, noting that the flush she was seeing on his face, was similar to her own. "Do you trust your own 'sister'?" she asked back.

The twin purple ponies stood there, facing each other, the question lingering in the air. Around them, the night snoozed on.

----------------------------

"Good morning girls!"

Rainbow Dash muttered a plea for ten more minutes of sleep in some arcane language that incorporated copious amounts of yawning and mumbling.

"C'mon girls! Up n' attem!"

"Twaaaiii-light?" Applejack moaned, stretching her back out and wincing as a couple of joints popped. "What's up, sugarcube?"

"I'm up, for one. And the rest of you need to be too. Come on, let's get to it!"

"Oogh... my stars, what time is it?" Rarity whined, as she removed her sleeping mask. "Twilight, I must protest-...T-Twilight?"

Fluttershy snorted herself awake at the noise, and found herself looking around quickly, heedless of the mesh pattern that had imprinted itself into her cheekfur. The one pony whose voice they were hearing, they couldn't find anywhere inside the HEDGE.

"Wooow, are we playing hide and seek?" Pinkie bubbled, effortlessly perking herself awake. "If we are, you got GOOOOD, Twilight!"

There was a chuckle. It came from outside the entrance. "I'm not hiding, silly filly, I'm right over here!"

Twilight, outside the HEDGE? The apple farmer was the first one to scramble to all fours and gallop over to the opening. "Twi? What in tarnation's going-"

She paused as she poked her head out. There was her purple unicorn friend, standing there a couple of feet from where the cave of the warren began. She seemed well-rested, her eyes bright and open, and her saddlebag secured tightly to her midsection.

What AJ had NOT been expecting was for a stallion of similar hue and breed as her friend to have been standing a foot or so behind and to the left of the student. His own eyes were quite wide. Apparently, he hadn't been expecting anypony to actually have been hiding in there.

"TWILIGHT!!" Dash screamed, causing the orange pony to grimace from the pegasus's sheer volume. She had stuck her head next to AJ's, and had just witnessed the same scene. "WHAT'RE YOU DOING?! HE'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!"

Twilight blinked, and looked behind her at Dusk, who returned her blinking. She then faced her friends again, a smile on her face. "That he is, Rainbow. Why don't you come out and say hi?"

The two fillies were flabbergasted, their jaws hanging wide in absolute shock. They didn't even budge when Fluttershy squeezed past them and joined the two unicorns.

"Oh, h-h-hi. there, um, Dusk." the yellow pony spoke, her mood somewhat lighter than one would have expected. "Um, I'm... I'm Fluttershy. You probably didn't know, but, um, that day when you thought Butterscotch was sick? Um, well... that was actually me. I-I'm sorry for trick-"

He silenced her with a smile and a wave of a hoof. "Twilight told me all about it. And she returned the book. You have nothing to apologize for, dear."

"Oh, oh I'm so glad to hear that!"

"Twilight!" a grandiose voice spoke, before another pony- A certain white unicorn- squeezed itself out of the burrow. Her eyes quickly and calmly took in the sight of the colt, while Dusk did his level best to not ogle her frame. "Why, it appears to me you've been quite busy last night! Does this mean that..." her blue eyes began to glisten. "Do you... are we actually?!"

The magician nodded, before her expression turned serious. "Okay, listen up. Fluttershy, you can release Angela now. Everypony, get packing. We have about fifteen minutes before the rest of Ponyville wakes up."

"Come on, it's time to go home."

----------------------------

It was an interesting-looking procession that wandered through the streets of Ponyville in the early hours of that morning. Seven ponies overall, two of which looked like they could be twins. There was barely anypony out on the streets at that hour... which allowed the group a relative peace with which to use.

"So, finally went n' listened t' reason, eh sugarcube?" Applejack joked, tossing a fond smile in Twilight's direction.

"Yeah... I guess you can say I did." she admitted, a blush of shame on her face. "I'm sorry I was so, well, scared guys. But you were right. This really IS the better way."

"I'm glad you came around to it." Dusk chuckled, looking back at the group. "I still don't know why you chose to do it at one in the morning, but I'm not complaining!"

"Good heavens, Twilight." Rarity crooned. "So late at night? And you didn't even wake us?"

"I had a bad case of guilty conscience. Especially after seeing Fluttershy. You holding up okay back there?"

"O-oh, I'm fine." the pegasus assured, rubbing the spot on her cheek. The indent had almost finished fading. She looked down to her side and smiled as Angela hopped alongside her.

"Guilty conscience, huh?" Rainbow Dash questioned. A cocked eyebrow said that she wasn't completely convinced. "You sure something else didn't come up? I mean, what REALLY changed your mind? You were pretty set against having anything to do with Dusk, yesterday."

"I was... but that was the fear talking." the purple unicorn explained. "I was so worried that he wasn't going to be understanding, or accepting. If anything, I was afraid he was going to make us into enemies of the state. And it scared me, because, well, thinking back on it... I was so certain that that was exactly what I would have done, in his position. You know what they say. Sometimes, you're your own worse enemy."

"Ouch. Low blow there, sis."

"Sorry, bro. No offense meant, you know."

The exchange caused everypony in line to blink and look amongst each other. "Sis? Bro? A-ah mean, ah can see why y'all're goin' th' family route, but... really, siblings?" the farmer questioned.

"That's another thing." came the reply, as she turned her head to look at her friends. "I didn't even know how to RELATE to Dusk. Over the course of our stay, all of us have developed different relationship ideas, regarding our male selves. Fluttershy and Rarity, the both of you came to see Butterscotch and Elusive as 'partners'-"

This caused the two named ponies to dart their eyes down as they blushed. Twilight continued, unabated. "Rainbow Dash, during her short encounter, came to think of Blitz as a rival."

"Psh, as if." the pegasus piped up from her spot. "I can fly circles around that imposter any day of the week."

Many among them rolled their eyes, while the two leading ponies exchanged a whisper. "She's Blitz's double, alright." the male shared. "Have to admit, it's a bit weird to see his nature wrapped up in a small form like that!"

This got a chuckle out of the magician, before she started again. "Pinkie Pie. I could see, from the short time you two were together, both you and Berry became really fast friends."

"Well, why wouldn't we be?" the pink filly squeaked "I like to throw parties. Berry likes to throw parties. Oh, and we both enjoy sarsparilla and slushies and muffins and meringue and Pin-the-tail-on-the-pony! I mean really, what's not to love?"

"And Applejack." The hat-bearing mare perked her head up at her name. "It's mainly thanks to you that I figured out my... connection with my double. You and the Applejack of this world came to relate to each other as cousins. That the both of you shared the same family."

"Well... that's true, Twi." the applebucker conceded. "Ah admit, when mah colt-self asked me fer another chance at bein' family... ah got rather relaxed an' easy. It felt right. Like he really were mah cousin. B-but still, what's yer story? Ah mean... ah already got sibling conniptions whenever ah'm around Applebuck. You?"

The two purple unicorns gave each other a look, before the male gave his 'sister' a reassuring smile. Twilight returned the smile, before speaking again. "It's because, well... last night, when I went and took a chance... when I went and spoke with Dusk... the both of us managed to feel something powerful. It felt really strong, stronger than just friendship... Like you said, it felt RIGHT. It was then that I realized that I was feeling the same way about him, that I felt about Spike."

"And Me, the way I felt about Spines." Dusk spoke up. "Once she introduced herself to me... once we managed to actually sit down, and talk... I realized that my heart was going out for her, the same way it did with Spines. It was there that we started calling each other brother and sister."

"And it's worked really well for us so far." The filly looked back at her friends with an honest smile. "I can say that I... feel right, whenever I'm around him now, instead of having that awful knot in my larynx. Good thing too." She turned her head back forward as she breathed a sigh of relief. "Otherwise, I NEVER would've gotten any sleep last night!"

There was a tumbling noise as a miniature pony pileup occurred, the sound causing the two leaders to pause and stare in confusion.

"S-sleep?" Rarity's eyes were wide. "Twi, you... you didn't come back to the Hedge after meeting Dusk, did you?"

"Well, it was a rather long walk, and I was... well, falling apart at the end of it, to put it bluntly, but still-"

"Twilight." Dash spoke up this time, her mouth trying to wrestle the words through her lips. "You guys didn't... I mean, with Dusk? You didn't, like..."

Both unicorns raised an eyebrow at the same time. "What're you getting at, Bli- er, Miss Dash?" the stallion questioned.

"N-now now." Applejack assured everypony. "You remember Rares, Twi has a second bed, right? Ah'm shore it tweren't anythin' that were..." she then turned her green eyes to the pair and coughed twice. "*a-heh-hem* IN-appropriate. Right, Twi?"

They got confused lavender stares for a few more seconds, before they blanched, the meaning FINALLY registering in their minds. Both boy and girl students blushed furiously, before they began sputtering at the same time. "How-! Really-?! You-! With him/her?! He's/she's my brother/sister! How could you even-?!"

That was all the mares needed to know, as they all laughed at the twin's expense, slowly straightening themselves out and getting to their hooves.

"Oooo-hoho! Ooooh I'm sorry, sugarcube." the farmer apologized, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Yeah, we know you two'd never do that. But that t'were too precious. Th' both o' you! Hey Pinkie, make that thar count 'Twenty', y'hear?"

"Gotcha!"

While Dusk looked at the girls in confusion, the bookfilly merely shook her head, the blush still present on her face. "Very funny, fillies. Now come on, we still have a ways left to go to the library. Barring any MORE unforeseen events, we should make it there in plenty of time."

Eventually, the great tree became visible to them, causing their pace to pick up a bit. As they drew closer to the library however, one more last unexpected event transpired.

Fluttershy yelped as she ducked down. Pinkie, who had been trotting in front of her, had seemingly suddenly bucked out both rear hooves behind her.

"Oop! Sorry about that!" the party pony apologized, before her hind legs began spinning in place. "Whooop! It's happening again~!"

"The Whopper...!" Twilight stared at her twitching friend, before quickly spinning her head to face her double, his own eyes wide open as he watched the Pinkie Sense go off. "Dusk! P-please... tell me you didn't!"

The colt looked at her, before sighing and shaking his head as he reached a hoof out to the library door. "I left a note behind for Spines, before we left this morning. I'm sorry, Twilight. You've explained things to me..."

"But the rest of them deserve an explanation too."

----------------------------

    To Be Continued...


ON THE NEXT CROSS AND ARROW

"She's HERE!! She'shereshe'shereshe'shere~!"

"COLT-CRUDDER?! That sounds a bit TOO close to Colt-Cuddler if you ask me!"

"Ah'm sorry cousin. Mah name tain't JayJay... and it tain't Jonica Johnagold either..."

"You... you DID say you wanted to see my real cutie-mark someday, didn't you?"

"I-I didn't think this through. But you're right… we're siblings now. And that's just going to make this whole thing so much more… painful…"

"O-oh, I believe you Fluttershy. Angela wouldn't have… well, I suppose you would know… um, but still. You knew that I was you. And… and yet, you… like me?"

"MISS RARITY! BIG SISTER!!"

"Ah want'd y'all t' stay! Ah wanna git t' know you better! Ah wanna be FAMILY wit' you!"

"I think I love you!!"

"I think I love you t-!!"